[Language unknown: "Amevirion. Na hiekri."] Bhalla replied. If she weren't faint with deprivation, she might have managed more defiance, but this was a dance she'd done enough times to know that there was little to gain from antagonizing the guard. Another beating would do nothing.

The Ef-Fruk might, though, if he could be found wherever he'd lost himself inside his head.

The gnim stumbled into the indicated cell and turned to glare at the guard until he retreated. Then she sat down against the bars, catching her breath and looking around.

OOC: 09:33, Today: Sarwan Bhalla rolled 7,5 using d8,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 7,5.  Notice. Just in case.

The German sighed, got another cup and filled that too. He drank from it, slowly, painfully to watch, as he emptied his cup, smacked his lips with an excited "Aaahhh" and put the cup back down.

He filled his cup again and then Mattaki's cup. The German raised his cup towards Mattaki and said: "Nochmal, hm?" and then added: [Language unknown: "E ca Ilerprfo a ee topa."]. The words were off, the grammar wrong, the pronounciation atrocious.

The Gnim in the cell across the room hugged the criss-crossing bars of their cell, looking at Bhalla. Before she could say anything, there was a deep grumbling sound coming from the cell of the Ef-Fruk and the giant being shifted its weight.
[Language unknown: "Omwhat."] the Ef-Fruk said. [Language unknown: "He?"]

Mattaki smile held a predators edge to it as he looked at the man before him but didn't touch the drink [Language unknown: " ektin m hatbutbut tin T ilpe eeek m us Se siet hifi ure ngme sonndehis st sa "]

[Language unknown: "Dinme sifohe, acal, arncon thplwa."] Bhalla says. She is, too, to the point that it has gone past distraction to an almost unbearable lightness that makes concentrating hard. [Language unknown: "Pro Itpeicic hati menratour befor T naplat inos he eeioroad io ricktr areingith any, st K p urncta."]

The German seemed to be struggling to follow the words and took a few seconds to comprehend. Then he smiled.
[Language unknown: "Ol, larlo maniousanoun virtr it whebe wer oufo."]

He took another sip of the water, put the cup down and got up, straightening his uniform.
[Language unknown: "Oules iopo un palaac entlarest was, eietil, a nautis as icaentble."]

Then he motioned to the guards to drag you away.

The Ef-Fruk just nodded and fell silent again

Not much later, the Germans bring in another prisoner, Mattaki, and throw him in another unoccupied cell.

[Language unknown: "Ni ll sheek wahi arno ate, Ardichhis t con Astithion Sefosa? Und les it miwe ckas'riei?"] Bhalla asks, walking gingerly back to the front of her cell.

((I'll do a little montage here to speed things up a bit, making up for the time I was out))

Without natural light, you lose track of time rather quickly. Food and water arrives irregularly, making it even harder to mark the time, but you're pretty sure that a few meals at least arrived in the middle of the night.

Prisoners are taken away for unknown reasons. Mostly they come back, but not always. Sometimes new prisoners arrive.

Two axtzals are made to fight each other for the amusement of the guards, who place bets on who might win.

The Ef-Fruk, meanwhile, almost starves.
But then, a few days after Bhalla first talked to him, the Ef-Fruk starts eating the meat that gets tossed into his cell, slowly and gingerly at first, but then more ravenously, the sound of bones cracking and the marrow getting sucked from them a sickening sound in the cavernous prison.

In reply to Sarwan Bhalla (msg # 29):

[Language unknown: t As ain wala butreswhi Ta hat iveionnce maoulo o si treeul saesan be niacin es ndevirlar eeect esthatdinout an et the. T anyingenc e un fortedrut iteein Wh saolil mo ndil kordayrut roil eewi ted ntday M ill ome K onpoin his ad]

Bhalla continues to talk to the Ef-fruk and the other prisoners. It's largely banal conversation--bits of spiritual teaching or speculation about the nature of their strange captors. She's not entirely sure how much of the local languages the Deutsche have learned, and remains circumspect when any are around.

The prisoners do not have the resources for a jailbreak, but Bhalla remains as watchful as ever, alert for any opportunity to better their situation.

Over the next few days, the Ef-Fruk goes through a suprising change in demeanor. The Germans keep feeding him meat, mostly cooked, but occassionally throw in raw meat, too.
And the giant being wolves it all down, slowly regaining his strength.

One night, Bhalla wakes up from something and sees the Ef-Fruks arm squeezed through the bars into his cell, trying to reach the little Gnim, a murderous gleam in his eyes. The Ef-Fruk chuckles and licks his lips.
This was highly unusual.

Two days later, the Germans pitch another fight, this time between the Ef-Fruk and the Axtzal.
It is over quickly.

Then the Ef-Fruk turns and bellows a challenge at the Germans - but one of them merely waves his hand and says a few words and the giant beast staggers, then falls down.

The Gnim ware tasked with cleaning the floor, while the Germans attach an iron chain to the Ef-Fruk's neck and drag it back into his cell.

While the fight took place Mattaki leaned through the bars as far as he could into the Ef-Fruk's cage and tried to grab a couple rib bones or similar from his last meal.

His intention was to grind them on the stone floor into a point using the sound of the fight to mask the noise.

with the make shift weapons perhaps an opportunity would arise that would allow him to over power a guard and enable him and possibly Bhalla to escape

Bhalla's concerns grew to keep pace with the Ef-Fruk's "recovery." Something was wrong here. She knew, in a general way (and from experience), how much the Deutsche cared for 'testing' their prisoners. The gnim did not know what they had brought from their strange world beyond the noisome iron beasts, but this seemed somehow foul.

OOC: 16:53, Today: Sarwan Bhalla rolled 2,9 using d8,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 2,(6+3)9.  Healing (diagnosis behind bars!).

Mattaki managed to hide away a small bone, about the length and thickness of his index finger. It wasn't much, but it was something and gave him something to do, which seemed even more important.

((Let's do this: You can either shape it into a makeshift weapon with an Agility roll, giving you something that does Str+d4 damage, but is quite brittle.
Or you can roll Spellcasting at -4 (due to lack of material) and imbue it with enough power that will allow you to cast a single spell. If you fail either roll, it's ruined))


Bhalla has heard stories about a great battle between the Ef-Fruk tribes, many generations ago. After that battle, the tribes turned pacifist and would only eat plants - vegetables, fruit, roots, but no more meat.
It was a deeply spiritual belief these giants were adhering to.
Could it be that simply indulging in eating all the meat the Germans had fed him, that this would have awoken older, more violent instincts?

11:58, Today: Mattaki of the Thunder Crags rolled -1,-1 using D10-4,d6-4, rerolling max with rolls of 3,3.  Spellcasting

He tried to call forth his powers but his focus was off either from lack of food, his state of health or not having his talisman but there was a faint blue glow between his fingers before the bone crumple to ash

can I spend a bennie for a reroll

Yes, you can! But you should also mention the spell you want to prepare

22:51, Today: Mattaki of the Thunder Crags rolled -1,1 using D10-4,d6-4, rerolling max with rolls of 3,5.  Spellcasting havoc with area effect

((The dice are failing you))

The bone crumbled uselessly in his palm as he pushed just a bit too much will and force into it. There was a reason why the mages used foci - wands, jewels, staffs, rings, all worked if properly prepared.

---

The gladitorial games continued over the next couple of days, until only Bhalla and Mattaki remained in their cells, the Ef-Fruk taunting them evermore.

But before they were thrown into the the proverbial ring, the Ef-Fruk was taken away and wasn't returned.

Another week passed and they hadn't had any food for three days when finally the Germans dragged them out of their cells back up into the light and outside into the yard.

Germans armed with long slender clubs stood guard, pushing, shoving and pommeling them unto the truck. Both of them sat down, more guards coming onboard, loading a few crates, and chaining the two miserable prisoners to the floor of the truck.

The German officer who had invited Mattaki upstairs before slammed his flat hand on the truck bed from the outside to draw their attention.
[Language unknown: "Evestiday us ut, acre ven t inteenthi thawasone o arie"], he taunted him again
[Language unknown: "Ndeintpro ven ndof ngwisa venas, ulthmi erenio."
]

Then he turned around and the truck lurched forward, taking the two of you away.

But not for long. You had expected a longer journey to who knew where, but only a few minutes later - while you were still in the mountains - the vehicle stopped. The Germans, clearly, were confused.

Moments later, the truck lurched forward again, going slower this time, and again stopping just a few moments later.
This time, the engine is turned off, too, and there are some shouts, the doors of the truck cabin are opened and slammed shut.

Two of the 6 men that were riding in the back with you jumped out, too, with another one trying to pull back the tarpaulin covering the truck to sneak a peak outside this way. Two more were whispering if he did see anything, while the last one tightens his grip on his MP40 and keeps an eye on the two of you.

[Language unknown: "Our po outtinome wit, onfien."] he growled in Bhalla's direction.

From the outside, a louder voice could be heard, seemingly demanding something.

[Language unknown: "Ss pr moof Kücomthieve ble in her saolwa ilckiv fiwi wh whe iotiut k lar essee?? Niofro day, ce fiul naulte li wheiveatiwhi!"]


Looking toward the front, Bhalla was sitting on the left side of the vehicle, Mattaki on the right. There were a couple of boxes pushed against the truck's walls, no markings on them. A spear was wedged between the boxes and the wall on Bhalla's side, apparently too long to fit into a box, but had to be brought along for some reason. It might have belonged to one of the Axtzals and seemed to be of fine quality. It was just out of reach, but if the final guard wasn't there, Bhalla could maybe reach it with his legs and pull it closer. It would be an awkward weapon in the confined space here, but it was the only one he could see.

[Language unknown: "Icapa o la ear be ri chomnt. Un an rinapour wamatr ousch ntnd."] Bhalla says. She is weak, and tired, and has passed to a point beyond hunger. [Language unknown: "Ol wi elenc etesad ch ac wilameect, ll? N wer yindayati itive."] She didn't move, but part of her is coiled and ready for any desperate opportunity her waning strength might seize. She stretched her toes to try and get that spear, but...

OOC: Can't even Benny reroll!

19:55, Today: Sarwan Bhalla rolled 1,1 using d6,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 1,1.  Stealthily reach for the stealthy spear. Let the fun commence!

[Language unknown: "Ma orestapre us..."] the guard growled, but was cut short when a cacophony of rapid gun shots and screams of pain, surprise and anger filled the air.

((Moving you two to the Heinrichsburg thread))
This message was last edited by the GM at 13:17, Thu 14 July 2022.

Mattaki dropped to the trucks floor and moved as close to the boxes as possible to provide as much cover [Language unknown: a fotica fosshe undad oul e om allanyout redma p A atisonrom lont noplndwa mead evanne weprieca ]

Your guards were mowed down, seemingly by the same kind of weapons the Deutsche used in their battles. A fight between various factions or warlords among them?
There had been many who thought - or hoped - that the Deutsche would be a warlike people like the Gervolian. Formidable fighters, yes, especially if united, but ultimately they always, always, always succumbed to infighting as their warlords never seemed willing to share the glory. Once they fractured, a disciplined army would always push them down again, securing peace for another generation or even two.

mattaki curled up into a ball until the noise had passed then seeing the trooper in the trunk dead leaned out his full length long the truck bed and searched the body for the key to their chains