The day after the temple celebrations you feast at Clearwine Fort with Queen Leika.

You eat good roasted meat, drink clearwine out of a communal kylix, and Vasana, the thane of Apple Lane, is even given a silver spiral bracelet.

Talk is about current events: Kallyr Starbrow has captured the city of Jonstown and repelled a last-ditch Lunar counterattack at the Battle of Dangerford. The situation in Dragon Pass is still very tumultuous but Sartar is fully freed from the Lunar Empire.

Afterwards, the queen tells you that a pair of monsters have been preying on the sacred cattle herd cared for by the Varmandi clan. She asks you to travel to the Varmandi lands and kill the monsters. She then summons a young Varmandi herder named Heortarl to act as your guide.



Heortarl is only 16 years old, an initiate of Orlanth Adventurous, and member of the Varmandi clan.

The Varmandi are a small clan of the Colymar tribe, numbering less than 500 members. Their lands are in the Gejay Hills between Apple Lane and the Malani tribe, where they herd cattle and sheep. The Varmandi have had many violent feuds with the neighboring Orlev clan of the Malani tribe. Their chief is Korol Serpent-Tongue, who many outsiders consider little better than a bandit. The clan tattoo is a stylized bear.

It is the onset of winter and the first smattering of snow has just fallen. This is when the fabled clearwine grapes are harvested near Clearwine Fort to make ice wine. Livestock are taken from the hilltops into the valleys and ravines to get fodder.

Vasana enjoys the feast and the company.  She is honored by the Queen's gift and being entrusted to deal with the monsters savaging the Varmandi.  She is careful not to drink too much of the wonderful clearwine, however.  Never much of a drinker, her low mass tends to lead to quick and sometimes embarrassing inebriation.  Something with which she does not want to tarnish this evening.  As often happens, she listens more than she speaks as talk turns to current events, although she is always quick with praise for the deeds of her companions, singling out their actions during various encounters.

"Thank you, Your Highness, for the fine feast and gifts.  We would be honored to deal with the monsters harassing the Varmandi clan," she says after the feast, before looking over to her (half-)sister Yanioth and cousin Harmast.

While she has heard talk that the Varmandi chief, Korol Serpent-Tongue, is considered by some to be little more than a bandit, she reserve judgment until she has met the man and had a chance to assess the situation for herself.

She greets Heortarl and thanks him for agreeing to act as their guide.

Once they are done, she presents each member of the party with a zebra-hide cloak for the upcoming winter adventures (value 6L).

"Do you have any questions?" your tribal queen asks.
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:33, Mon 31 May 2021.

Erina loves a good feast, and she doesn't at all protest fine meat and wine. Indeed, by comparison to Vasana, the much taller redhead may as well have a hollow leg. Naturally, Erina thanks the queen for her hospitality. She offers to sing great poems of old to entertain the queen and the other guests.

The gorgeous maiden accepts the zebra cloak from Vasana gratefully and marvels at its wondrous pattern. She asks what manner of fabulous creature has such an intriguingly-patterned hide. It would be terribly rude of Erina to give "return gifts," as she is not the lady of the hall, nor is the occasion special to Erina in particular. So instead, Erina expresses her desire to stand with Vasana in the shield-wall in the future and to do great deeds of valor and martial skill, side by side.

She also thanks Heortarl for his work as guide, and she gives him a charming smile, her pearly white teeth and brilliant emerald eyes sparkling like the gems of their names in the firelight.

"I desire to know whence the monsters come, what kind and how many they are, and if they have any favorite haunts. With this knowledge, we can bring the best weapons to destroy them," she answers Queen Leika.

The queen smiles at thane Erina, her Vingan niece, cousin of Harmast.

“Terrible giant cats with long, deadly fangs called sakkars. They are said to be incarnations of Death. They feed on anything from cattle to dinosaurs. These monsters are deadly. They have already killed four cattle and seriously wounded one of the local herders.”

"I believe two of them have been sighted." she adds, looking at Heortarl.

The boy is obviously shy in the presence of the tribal queen. "Yes, my queen. Two."

"It should be simple to catch them, then, yes? They think they are the untouchable, so let us leave some bait for them, then slay them, to aid our kin and honor our ancestors," she said, grinning wide.

Tannis nodded as the Queen spoke, and then to Erina. He always enjoyed a good feast, and was gladly enjoying the meat and wine. "I believe that settles it, then. We leave out bait for them, and ambush the two creatures in the night."

Vasana gives the others a chance to ask their questions but does not want to burden the Queen with a lot of details.  She suspects that the townsfolk will know more about the situation anyway.  "We should get going then," she replies.  "The sooner we get there the sooner we can deal with the situation."

"Thank you again for your hospitality, Your Highness," she says before giving a practiced bow and departing with the others.

(OOC:  I wanted to give everyone a chance to get their questions in but it seems like we can move on.)