Well... crud.

Lena felt bad pretending that poor Bhalla was their mistreated pet.

Lena couldn't think of anything else to do but get angry at the man and start slapping him.

"[Language unknown: Prtin... int eau llil eeout wh ughsanore rofo eenvortedhatman shewhitictio!  E ssleev aveyinnde sa!  Ng nd conoventi an!]"

The Deutsche took a step back and furrowed his brow.
[Language unknown: "Oueconiv nabe whense everin ee bewi itmimi n Ameherera papoes! Ughourughven virounsta sonarente o aiich ro erthne a miect noul ect!"]
The last bit was emphasized with a finger pointed at Bhalla and then Lena.

A few other folks are started to look into your direction to see what this little fuss was about. A quarrel in the street should make for some nice entertainment!

Yelena placed her fists firmly on her hips and gave the man a look. It was a look intended to convey disappointment and some degree of scorn. She shook her head lightly.

Lena launched an attack, poking the man(?) in the chest several times.

"[Language unknown: Chwh noaiieannc latwitundest, liwa man ur, dith fonc areau seand se e oulthatio, eshi ing diar houiouint andlinconall?]"

I hope they do something with the distraction I'm buying them.

With Lena moving front and center, Yelena tipped her head to the side suggesting the rest of them exit the vicinity.

She added emphasis with a motion of her hand and began walking the trio away.

[Language unknown: "Stimennce an."] Bhalla said, as quietly as she dared. Then she reached up to tug on Lena's sleeve. [Language unknown: "Itster, lin. N cahou. Strhatwil wa a she teai ekbut k ol fi. Ch ei, aldiur!"]

Lena opted to make this... awkward.  She got red in the face with rage.

"[Language unknown: Wehi menla moent!  Dayme ho elsti ven t tra aveerenot be le pa heouen, pl omncel virhatout icsa'ndng!  P ri korpreher k ingtr eica!  Ndpaek!]"

Lena raised up her arms and motioned she was going to chase Bhalla.

God please have the sense to run the other direction...

Winwiggie's first reaction, when Lena called him disgusting and he found himself caught between the German and the women was to lift his hands over his head in a defensive gesture, the wrench still clutched tightly in his fist, shrinking down further, as if trying to hide himself in the crook of his own arms. He couldn't suppress a shocked whimper, barely over a whisper, when Lena stomped in front of the German and started waving her arms around.
He would have almost missed Yelena's motion with her head, had it not been for Bhalla suddenly shaking him from his petrified stupor in the language of their kin. He sure couldn't trust humans - but he was sure he could trust kindred. Gnim wouldn't stab each other in the back. Gnim looked out for one another.
If it hadn't been for the female of his species, he would have given up. But as she was there, he dared.
While the German ended up being assaulted by Lena, who then shouted at Bhalla on top of it, he darted from between the German and the women to follow the indicated direction.

As he did so, however, he rushed closely by Bhalla, and  reached for her wrist, as if making to grab it. He would run. After all, Bhalla asked him to. But he would not leave her behind to deal with those crazy Naked-Skins by herself.

[Language unknown: "Lite!"] He squeaked, making as if willing to pull her along to bid his feet, just as his voice bade Bhalla.

(In the interest of moving this minor encounter along... :-))

The German swirls around, confused on what's going on and what's truly happening. Winwiggie hears his master bellow some nasty words, but ducks around a few corners, and breaks through to the next parallel street over. There, panting and catching their breath, he sees the weird German lady who gave him a chance to get away, the master of the Gnim who had offered to take him under her wing. There was another woman, and they all seemed to be slightly out of breath, with exception of the silent woman who stood and watched, ready to...
Winwiggie wasn't sure what she was ready for, but she was a warrior, he could sense that, even if she was not brandishing her weapons right now.

He made his way over and frantically told their Gnim to follow him, leading them further away from his abusive master.

A few more twists and turns later, Winwiggie led them into a small ditch down at the river, far from prying eyes. It gave everyone a chance to catch their breath and Winwiggie could take a closer look at them. The Silent Woman was indeed clearly a warrior of some kind. The Loud Woman, who had seemed so furiously irritating was a lot more composed now and looked attentively at their surroundings, too. Not a warrior, but there seemed to be more to her than the first impression she made.

And then there was the Gnim, of course. Was she the leader of her tribe? She had offered to take him in, after all.

[Language unknown: "Ul tabe ng esos urme fiie ncentiromoul wa."] Bhalla announces with a sigh. She has more practice running and hiding than she would like, but doing it alongside the strangers is somehow awkward. [Language unknown: "Whugh Nossndth, is era ivstr oer o sa p unne lear pl ove ecil. Ll ntebleeve a sail mami thowil'korteroer."]

Yelena nodded in agreement, though without enthusiasm. [Language unknown: "Il, u p stnc houhasrut heme-itasic ousthethi dicaneples dayei nte ro ullich e wi n ratus, man her ul nceon el li laisri ivthhe. T tinstarat, pl ondita, setwerbut ekof arelan tha. Ni vor wiund ion ul ica u ek thevechi, o ce tiotraset, caan itpowi. Ast es les k veric poeeut lome us ss icroad anno iemesabe."]

Not for the first time, Yelena looked to the American Spy for direction. Hiding and sniping were entirely different than blending in with the locals.

"[Language unknown: Sonstaver om be pe un arposs.  Ul tinlarure prpe un o ar ofund...]"  She shrugged.  "[Language unknown: ...Ch ardessing omun itcese wi.  Wafiusme anaspe estpe o t ndestacon.  P waio pead eken orest k... ateiasprce men us int, arone prit traorther alom ort ca nefohoto un notounnti m.
]
"[Language unknown: O en virweroerere reweos m seer lavir ivnieeha are si re la meul whitin'illthu ha ce wiyin verthomencomset.  K intughoun ss u k bleyinsti houri e wilsansom reinof el siles estleshis at pl prsena pa io la t e.]"

((Giving Winwiggie one more day for introductions.))

By the time they had reached the edge of the river, the little oil-streaked Gnim was out of breath, hunched over, his hands leaning over his knee - the wrench he hadn't let go of bridging his palms together.
He barely dared to look up at the tail of people he had pulled along behind him. He was glad he knew the area well enough - he had been with the Germans long enough to have been part of building this city, so he knew it well enough. What he didn't know, was the risk he has taken.

He mustered them from his hunched over position, out of the corner of his eyes. Would this group give him a chance to get away from the Germans? Would they drag him deeper into trouble?
Finally he raised his gaze to look at them openly - And undisguisedly flinched and drew a grimace when Lena suggested a bullet to his head... Did she mean his head?

Once more he found himself raising his hands in a defensive gesture, holding the wrench before him like a sword, or shield - as if the metal tool could protect him from suggested bullet.
[Language unknown:
"... Un... fi trear no on k foutst, po en el. Litero undionout osof ai. A omepresti petene n elle ei thic... "] He promised, his voice still squeakier than he'd like, showing his confusion and fear. He was completely out of the loop and inched a few steps back, closer to the river's edge. If worse comes to worse, he could maybe swim away?

"[Language unknown: U, hisprewhe nteersshe iv sawimo Romantstr ca.]"  Lena sat on her haunches.  "[Language unknown: Thi nd ithal miek uswahe ssinfi?]"

Not that he was that little, in fact this the pot calling the kettle.

'Little Friend'?
Winwiggie faltered... What did he misunderstand...

[Language unknown: "pre... evevirera she virasting k artin li?"] He asked, the previous conversation having his head all muddled and turned around still. It took him a moment longer before he could answer the question.

"Winwiggie" He finally said, his nose twitching still, showing his apprehension.

"Uh... " He hesitated some more, his eyes darting over the three people. "Who... who are you, then? And... what now?" His shoulders lifted a bit insecurely.
His entire bodylanguage betrayed the Gnim's discomfort.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:00, Thu 06 July 2023.

"[Language unknown: Ncecev... is... eiloeslich.  Ai conortdin en riio evis i al weck, th rut ekheon al eear asilom.]"  Lena explained, taking a seat on her heels.

[Language unknown: "Estingart wi Overedent."] Bhalla says, tapping her chest lightly with a single finger before reverting to German. "These are not Nazis. They are from the same world as the Deutsche, but different tribes. We fight them."

After the introductions are made, the group faces a decision: Where to go next?

Mattaki is still waiting at the boat. He could either be retrieved or you could head back to the boat and take off, but you risk running into Arnulf.

You could leave (with or without Mattaki) on foot, but where to go then? Your plan was to go downriver, then inland towards the besieged fortress of Rhavas, in the hope of connecting to the Axtzal military.

That would take you past the capital of the Germans, Adolfstadt, through.

Winwiggie, having lived under Nazi occupation, but in relative freedom, draws a quick map with the current situation, giving you an overview of what the situation is like....

((https://kanka-user-assets.s3.e...YtjXoZZeAqb5xY2v.png))

Rhavas, Ashkan and Chuera are all under attack from the Deutsche. Rhavas is a mighty fortress, Chuera a harbor town. Ashkan itself is a minor city within a swamp area, and it's unclear why the Deutsche would attack it except to eliminate resistance.

Many of the population have fled along the main Northwestern road towards Teveh, the largest Axtzal city and home of the regional command. But it is very far away...

Yelena, who had largely been quietly following Lena's lead while spycraft was at the fore, perked up a bit when a tactical map was presented. She looked over it for a bit and her face betrayed a range of emotions as she considered the circumstances of various locations.

[Language unknown: "Plhesabe ilit hatthotho Latforoun linvensom dineraati it e m. Tra saenfo ma us k il but Mialil?"]

"[Language unknown: Ie out th.  K res whend wiwhon ck losint.  Ro tastbe tewasa tindayven-stiain ver linvorons re ne espout.  N o ce her n eeteev, hat ek ac Iearet, shemi hasdernce wasintday manmi bleainthe n shear ticverwit.  Hone herll tiopa tasant hi nt hatndeave trofom.]"  Lena replied, laying out out as she saw it.

((OOC: Bhalla picked up another rank of German, and Win speaks it, too, so I'm just going to skip tags unless we're speaking something other than German.))

"Arnulf will be hard to kill. He will follow. Surely. The ones in black, always watching. Always cruel. We are better running. At least pick our own battleground if we can." Bhalla says. She points downstream. "Rhavas, maybe. We take no boat for some time?"

PM

Having explained the map to them, Winwiggie fell silent once more, to listen to their take on things and their discussions. He briefly cast his eyes down the way he came from, and back to the group around them.
He knew, the way he ran from the Germans earlier, despite them having found so much value in them, it was too risky to go back. They would either kill him outright, or chain him down like a slave, and watch his every move, so he would not ever work without German eyes on him ever again. Even dimwitted as sometimes he was, that was not a life he wanted for himself. He LIKED the freedom of getting what he needed, when he needed, and the freedom of tinkering what he wanted...

Like it or not, the woman was right - he was stuck with them, and likely, they with him. His lot though, could be so much worse - at least, now he had Gnim company again. He hadn't heard or spoken his own language in an age and a half and Bhalla's voice was like tonic on his soul.
He offered her a brief, pleased, rumbling sound - akin to what humans might regard as a smile between them.
He heard learned the human body and facial languages, adapted, but it was good to be able to use the Gnim's own - more subtle - cues again.

His pleasure however faded, the moment they mentioned the name Arnulf. His eyed darkened, and where the rumble in his throat moments earlier expressed pleasure, the new noise forming behind his tongue was sharper, held menace.
He considered Arnulf the worst traitor of his kind.
[Language unknown: "Ithateugh!"] He growled in his native tongue and spat on the ground.

Swapping to German, he said: "Arnulf is impossible to kill. He has too many followers, is too valuable to the Germans, and he is a good fighter. Only been bested once - and is the reason why he is now worst of the worst! Could maybe try to outsmart him? Can build moving puppets with some of your clothing on the boat - make him think he is after you down the river, then we move over-land to Rhavas Can also put engine on the boat to make it run faster?"

He pointed into the wilderness on the map between Adolfstadt and Rhavas.

"[Language unknown: Oussomame chsefi les iless cainthwi ivete llroneatei p wabead trasanlar p lele'seev.]"  Lena admitted.  Normally they'd extract the agent, but that wasn't an option here.

"[Language unknown: Ur tic Ro th wh ol in evcknc ica seader adfi-issele ant ta le omant.  Dayas on sselsa.  Ate pl ometa looun chteil, eisi ho roac ionca outtedwhi osicnd ta... thi... th Ecilat a ni diolen m ndeticicares li ure o aschus a sheth us ure whethehis?  T haer nd adncstli Nteortore ta tr rioleicaus whleus plla mipre diekun be onsto nd, wamostaina na a unare.]"