Yelena nodded to Semyon. [Language unknown: "Vor, ort!" ]

The sniper smiled at Lena and nodded before she looked back to the cat-woman. [Language unknown: "Ionencith, u thou beou oreev ine preck. Aces om chpl chil e pontnc,"] she gestured toward Lena, [Language unknown: "us Es ll ca unoer ce artho usti. Thahastho con."] She pointed to the Axtzal as she mentioned him by name.

Yelena turned to Lena and again nodded. [Language unknown: "Com trabletic alno earourthu rom n prodinent sslaun seiv ng nce orecomion eimoielo ck ee Blesomand. Aianic oner miate en arver lailwhom th, urpa?"]
This message was last edited by the player at 01:22, Mon 18 July 2022.

Bhalla nods, apparently oblivious to being talked about as if she were an animal, as if she were not a participant in the conversation. [Language unknown: "E noti iv eehis. It eauil vir pe el nein ectentshe."]

She turns to the axtzal. [Language unknown: "Ncereamen monc comwerwit ll inlasimi anarou lotho peek Ulmaulha, era we thuas i ureus in nont. Sere oloun ere."]


19:53, Today: Sarwan Bhalla rolled 1,2 using d4,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 1,2.  How well does Bhalla understand squeeing Lena?

Lena didn't care.  She was going man to man to woman to man again (the gender disparity was expected here however) asking for ration packs.

(Bhalla misses the finer aspects of Lena's exclamations)

A few minutes later, Bhalla and Mattaki are chewing on dry potato bread stored in small metal cans, as well as some dark brown bitter-sweet bars, washing it down with water.
It wasn't particularly good, but it was the best that either of them had had in days.

Mattaki in particular could tell that these were rations fit for warriors - easy to carry, easy to eat on the go, and probably carefully put together to make sure the troops would have everything they needed to be sustained before a battle.


The rest of the soldiers went to work, siphoning gas from the shot-up truck, hauling down the crates and breaking them open. Inside the crates were various artifacts - wristbands, rings, an ornate dagger or short sword.


In another crate, there were more weapons of ancient make - spearheads, arrows, short swords, but none as ornate as the items in the first crate. There were also a few slim tablets with markings etched into it.

Now that the former prisoners were off the truck, Julius got a closer look at them, too. The one who had been introduced as Mattaki looked similar to the lizard man he had seen in his vision, but his skin pattern is more ornate. The fingers and toes of Mattaki are also webbed, something he hadn't noticed on the other one in his vision.

Once Bhalla and Mattaki had gotten some food and were eating, Yelena sat nearby. [Language unknown: ”La any ich i tinpo men ngsan mo re Wheainest on? P ilna set ngngur caosroai, san wape anyhatate t saou pron ndel rolo wilanywer u nteon con.”]

Bhalla ate slowly despite her hunger. She had seen prisoners gorge themselves, only to lose what they had eaten when their bodies stubbornly emptied overfull bellies. Once the gnim had eaten enough for her thoughts to clear, she began drawing in the dirt with a fingertip. Arrows pointed to Mattaki and Yelena, along with various sigils of the Axtzal alphabet. [Language unknown: "Miac lat nti lat maday diee traametra a ckliom."] Bhalla chanted, repeating the words three times...

10:33, Today: Sarwan Bhalla rolled 7,4 using d6,d6, rerolling max with rolls of (6+1)7,4.  Speak language. Spending 1 extra PP to loop in Mattaki.

Mattaki leaned forward[Language unknown: ac eenthaera werourent u p osofil mi witle erstioare pre moaiio paeees maing pre laons dinwerrea a M di sa u... ul omevisac pl ng iveforeauoer la oreou, a ounno wit et Di labemi te iv ll unec-hebe tr fo th ce rearo andhoures]

Bhalla smiled as she felt the still-not-entirely-familiar magic settle into place. <German>"You may ask them yourself, Mattaki."</German> She turned toward Yelena. With the spell in place, the gnim's language was clearer and obviously came more easily. <German>"They have a fortress in the pass. There are many warriors there, and prisons. And...tests. They are trying things to see what works. Where have they come from?"</German>

OOC: We've got 10 minutes of fluent German for Mattaki and Bhalla.

Yelena listened to Bhalla and nodded. <German> "I have seen the Fortress in the pass. It is essentially impervious to what we can bring, except perhaps for a quiet, night time infiltration. Which would be very risky. Do you know if this is their only concentration of power? Or have they spread out further? And are there many more captives in their fortress? How many warriors do you estimate are there?" </German>

She took a deep breath and tried to answer Bhalla's question as best she could. <German> "They are from a country called Germany or any of several countries allied with them. Countries are, hm, large political units where we are from. I am not certain how the Germans figured out how to get here, but there seemed to be some sort of tunnel they created. It travelled between where we are from and where you live and have lived. The Germans appear to have used that tunnel to come here and invade your lands."  </German>

Mattaki nodded he felt the magic settle over him it was different to his but still magic all the same..

He turned to the being that Bhalla was talking to

<german> please excuse me I am Mattaki of the a thunder Crags a warrior mage of my race. I noticed a dagger in that box over there it belonged to one of my companions if it is here then he must be dead I would ask to be given it so I can carry it in honour of his memory<german>
This message was last edited by the player at 18:54, Tue 19 July 2022.

Yelena nodded at Mattaki. <German> "It's nice to meet you, Mattaki. I am Yelena. And I imagine most of the items on that truck did not belong to the Germans. If you'll excuse me a moment, I will retrieve your friend's dagger. And I am sorry for your loss." </German> She looked over at Lena and gestured toward the two, indicating that the Soviet was hoping the American would take over during Yelena's brief absence.

Yelena immediately peeled off and went to look at the goods in question, locating the dagger without difficulty. She picked it up and made her intentions known to any Soviets standing nearby. [Language unknown: "Oun nttani e ut p nt ofacre eautinintven, Llun waesitil ng u wh."] It wasn't a question. [Language unknown: "Papl, pr wiera whe, fi ilpa somoreticort ereresver si tomen di koreenres thapropro. Di dinastwhe e utard nc aresondin e k aveer enciouthoous eenthinot."] The last she said without expecting an answer, but it put everyone on notice concerning her thoughts on the matter.

OOC: Let me know if anyone tried to stop Yelena

Konnikov waved over the officers, <Russian=translated into English>"It's time we withdraw.  This area is too close to the fortress and they too well armed for my tastes.  We have a pair of locals, we can gently retrieve information from, possibly forge alliances.  Regroup, plan, and then act once we've decided the best forward course.  I'm not giving up on the mission, but right now I believe that the capture of Kemmel is unattainable under current circumstances."</Russian>

He waits to see what Major Lewis and Captain Jackson have to say.

Max waited for the translation, but it took barely any time for him to nod agreement. <English translated to Russian> "I agree. This little battle, quick as it was, might have drawn the attention of that fortress. Even if it didn't, we are not ready to have anything to do with the stronghold."

He looked over at Lena and wondered what information she was gathering, then looked back at Semyon. "If we are able to make allies we might be able to make an attempt at the Nazis with some combination of stealth and misdirection. But there is nothing I've heard or seen that would suggest we are equipped to make an attempt just yet." </Englsh translated to Russian>

Lena in the meantime had come up with someone's bread ration, by some miracle of cajoling.  She seemed almost oblivious to everything else going on.

"[Language unknown: P wit!]"  She reached forward holding out a little piece of the bread.  "[Language unknown: Ecore out ectomethi?]"  The way she said it was like she was asking a little child or perhaps a dog.  Affectionate, but, well not exactly respectful.

<German>"I am Bhalla of the lineage of Sarwan."</German> Bhalla said, ignoring the sing-song woman. She kept her attention on So-viet. <German>"The Germans have killed many thousands. First they only killed. Now they conquer. They stay. They take slaves. They build. Their weapons are powerful, and they have many devices. They carve deeply into the Empire of Fakad."</German>

As he had since linking up with the Allies some time ago, Zholdin continued to facilitate communication as necessary.  Which was of course, more or less every single conversation at this point.  As Yelena made her intentions known, the commissar shrugged his shoulders slightly in complete indifference, wordlessly making his opinion on the matter quite clear.

Turning his attention back to Sarwan, he quickly returned to his role, translating the creature's words into both English and Russian.  He still wasn't quite sure what to make of the creature, but really, anything that killed fascists couldn't be all that bad.  Americans excepted of course.

On the Soviet CO's order, the Lieutenants herded the troops back into the truck, now with the addition of Bhalla and Mattaki, making the back of the truck even more cramped. It didn't help that the Axtzal insisted on keeping his spear with him, too.

Konnikov noticed that a few of his troops had quietly switched their Soviet guns for the MP40s of the Germans. They were running low on ammo, he knew that, and there was no way to get supplies. Soon, they'd have to completely rely on German guns, and even then, resupplying would be a challenge.

The truck had no room to maneuver here, so Chupakhin, their best driver, carefully steered the truck down the mountain in reverse, constantly looking into the mirrors. The going was painfully slow, but the other truck would hinder any pursuers just as much.

And then, something occured to him.

Yes, they were unable to resupply. But the Germans were just as cut off from the German war industry as his troops were from the Soviet factories.
The Nazis might be able to manufacture ammunitions here, maybe rifles - but there was no way, there could be no way, that they would be able to manufacture trucks, or tanks or any other complicated machinery.
And they'd run out of gas, too, at some point.

It was an interesting prospect, but didn't cheer him up as much as it could have.

Eventually, torturously, the truck hit a patch that was large enough to turn and they made good speed after that. Chupakhin was sweating heavily when he was finally able to turn the truck around and actually see directly where he was driving.

[Language unknown: "Chpros outderare nt en, avedinint Ourersine?"] Chupakhin asked.

<german>it is similar with my people these, what did you call them? Nazis..... They raided out homes and our nests destroying our eggs. The warrior mage caste banded together as one to hold them off until the nests could be emptied but has cost us dearly<german>he held the dagger in his hand gently for a moment

<german>I do not have skill with the thunder rods you carry but I can call the essence of the land to do my bidding and can make my own thunder if needed I will gladly offer my power to your mission if you will have me<german>

Yelena offered the requested dagger to Mattaki once they had all settled back in and conversation began again. She listened to the reports from what she hoped would be new allies. She directed another question toward Bhalla. <german> "The Empire of Fakad, is that where you are from? Their weapons are powerful, but they can be injured or killed just like anyone." </german>

Her gaze next went to Mattaki. <german> "I'm sorry to hear about the destruction the Nazis have caused your people. Hopefully we can stop their advances and eliminate them from these lands." </german>

She raised an eyebrow. <german> "When...when you say the essence of the land does your bidding, what sorts of things can you ask of it?" </german>

<German>"The Empire of Fakad is where you are,"</German> Bhalla corrects, but otherwise gives the Axtzal time to answer. Bhalla, after all, will continue to have some ability to communicate even after the spell ends.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:29, Thu 21 July 2022.

Mattaki picked up his spear and looked at the trooper next to him with a, lit stick between his lips<german>may I? <german> he took the cigarette and started talking to the little flame, elemental at the end of it feeling it he encouraged it to grow and a flame grew at its end at the same time his, hand started to take on the appearance of fire.... He allowed the flame to get a little bigger before telling it to go back to sleep.

As it died down he passed it back to the trooper.

<german> you see I can speak, to the elements among other things <german>

Konnikov had once again taken to the back of the truck to "ride with the men", but when they turned around the driver had leaned out to ask directions, so Konnikov leaned forward and answered, [Language unknown: "Houul p il wasoneivencetra, icen is."]  He then motions for Zholdin to come over, [Language unknown: "Rutverpro Inassiic, en chfor British stal American comanyverughiou t tha iehas m ener urngnahaon, ener staon beeeit li he outhassom cebethleon llmen pohoie."]

Yelena watched the display of elemental control with obvious interest. She didn't recall seeing anything similar from any of the BPO or Nazi mages, though perhaps that had more to do with random chance than anything else.

OOC: Is Julius on board? Or Zholdin? They might have a little to say about magic...

She nodded at Mattaki's explanation after his impressive demonstration. <german> "Amazing. Perhaps...there are ways of using that to disrupt the machinery of the Nazis. Do you need a flame already in existence to start a fire? Or can you simply make one where none was before? I ask because you've seen things they have that explode." </german> She made sound effects and hand motions to suggest explosion.

<german> "If you are able to make their things explode before they shoot them...it could cause catastrophic results for the Germans." </german> The sniper squinted briefly before returning her gaze to Bhalla. <german> "How, um, how large is the Empire?" </german> She understood it might be difficult to describe given the lack of similar measurement units. <german> "And how many people? Are they all like you, or is it a combination of those like you, and those like Mattaki? And possibly others?" </german>

Lena, for her part, listened carefully.  The OSS was going to love this.

Sorry for the short post it's been a crap week.

I'll close this thread at start a new one in a bit. Everybody continues there.