"Scarface didn't give a toss about the priest," scoffs the wounded thug. "All he cares about is money. He was paid for our services. By the Hykranian who was with us. The one with the amulet. Tall and skinny. Tough as nails, though. Had a nose like a hawk's beak -- sharp and hooked."

The thug looks up at Valeria and Kesta hopefully.

"You gonna get me out of town?" he asks, glancing around at the busy street not fifty paces away. "I'm a dead man if you don't."

Amaya found someone of interest and her eyes followed him until he ducked out of sight. This wasn't good. The young archer took the arrow off the string and dropped from her position to the ground below, tucking, rolling and getting back to her feet in one deft move. Swiftly she made her way over to her new comerades, all the while looking around for more suspicious men. "There's one guy I noticed looking at you guys in particular. When he noticed me looking at him, he ducked out of sight." the scout told them. "We better get moving since there might be more like him around."

Valeria didn't answer the question but merely asked another of her own.  "And who was the Hyrkanian?  I'll bet he wasn't working for himself."  She turned to glance at Kesta and asked, "If you arrest him, how long can you hold him for?"

She smiled at Amaya and winked, mouthing, 'thank you'

The thug shrugs at Valeria's question.

"We were not introduced," he sneers. "It is best not to ask questions when you work for Scarface.

"I did see him, however, talking with another man at the Vulgar Unicorn. Another Hyrkanian, I would judge, but a bigger man, with cavalry boots -- and scars on his face as well."

Kesta shrugged.

"Depends on how many connections he has," she said. "And it sounds like he is well connected -- in the underworld, anyway.

"And the question of how long we can hold him ignores the fact that we do not know who he is, or why he wanted this priest questioned. Though it sounds as if he did not get the information he wanted.

"I think we need to try to find out what sect this dead priest belonged to. There we may find more details."

Turning to Amaya, she nodded in approval.

"Good spotting, soldier. Can you find the man if we stroll through the market?"

Turning back to the injured thug, she offers some hope.

"You have answered our questions, and I will try to get you released to my custody -- to help with our investigations. But I can't just take you out of here without permission. It may take some hours, but I will return before sundown."

She signals for the prison guards to put the man back into his cage, and then casually strolls with the others towards the busy marketplace.

Valeria frowns and says, "I didn't mean Scarface, him I would hope to see hanged.  I meant the man we just spoke to.  I somehow doubt he will survive long on the streets if this Hyrkanian suspects that he has spoken to us.  Or in Scarface' case, if he even suspects that he has thought about talking to us.  From my experience, Scarface is a vindictive bastard."

Then she practiced drawing the priest's symbol until she was sure she'd got it right.  "What do you folks enjoy for dinner?" she asks.

The young scout stowed her bow on her back and pulled out two daggers, given the many people and tight space it was likely better to have weapons for short range at the ready. "Ready when you are, boss." she told Kesta, followed immediately by a slightly surprised "What?" when Valeria asked about dinner preferences.

Valeria smiled, "I still need to cook dinner.  What do you guys like?"

"Lamb stew." Amaya answered, not exactly sure if the cook was going to be able to deliver that.

As the group of soldiers strolls away from the open-air prison where the enemies of Aquilonia are held captive, the cook and the scout discuss the merits of various spices in stews -- rosemary and lemon with olives vs cumin and paprika with dried apricots, for instance. Kesta, their leader, sets the direction and stops once or twice at various stalls selling leather goods, knitted scarves, pots, and pans, all to disguise the fact that she wants to get close to the place where Amaya spotted the man watching them question the thug.

After a wide sweep, however, as they approach the general area, she pulls the lithe young blonde close to her and whispers in her ear, as if flirting.

"If you see him, squeeze my arm. Don't stare, don't react, but let me know where he is."

OOC: Alma should make a Spot roll to find the man again in the crowd.

Valeria checks the meat on one of the stalls but she's not entirely sure it's even lamb. Of course if it is, as she suspects, goat, then she'll have to assemble a panoply of piquant spices,from cumin through fenugreek to the hottest chillies the market provides.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:50, Wed 14 June 2023.

Amaya nodded at Kesta's instruction and started looking for the shady guy, however, Valeria's special interest in meat has her slightly distracted.

ooc:17:12, Mon 12 June: Amaya rolled 14 using 1d20+4.  Spot check.

Once or twice Amaya thinks she catches sight of the man who had been watching them at the prison pens, but each time, she thinks not. These Turanians with their beards and their swarthy skin and their colorful turbans. They all look the same!




After half an hour or so of strolling in the marketplace with no results, Kresta shrugs and declares that she must go and see the sergeant about getting their informant freed into their custody.

She details Amaya and Dawn to watch over Valeria, their cook, as she shops for the evening meal and then jerks her thumb at the others to follow her to the Parade Grounds where the officers will be found.

OOC: I can see some of you logging into the game, but not posting. Even a quick one or two-liner would help -- give a sense of who is there. Just tell us what you look at, what you might consider buying. It's a big, bustling open-air market -- the Souk. A place of curiosity and bargains. A good place to get your pockets picked!

Please send me a roll to avoid getting robbed. You can choose your skill among these:

• Gather Information
• Intimidate
• Knowledge: Local
• Sense Motive
• Spot

Make the roll and perhaps try a description of how the skill helped you avoid the thief. One line is plenty.

The game thrives on your input as well as mine. Thanks

This time, when the thief came to try to rob Valeria again, she saw him stealing from three other people before he approached.  Amid the dance of buying this and rejecting that, not only did she ensure that  each of her belongings he reached for was apparently coincidentally somewhere else but, while he was concentrating on robbing her, she stole his knife and turned to look deep into his eyes, fingering the blade and saying, "Not today my friend."

He was not remotely intimidated though, slightly to Valeria's disappointment.  The urchin gave her a wry grin and winked.  "Later sister."

He didn't try again to steal from her though and pretty soon she had all the ingredients for a tasty maybe-lamb-maybe-goat-or-even-camel stew in Bharati style

" Why did I ever join the bloody army? I could be back hone..and bored." He just answered his own question. He looked at the others in his unit. " Now what?"

Amaya knew the city and the potential dangers of thieves and cutpurses, having once been forced to resort to similar methods for survival. So she stayed away from places she knew where rogues were at an advantage. Trying to steer Valeria clear of the more hazardous places the scout soon realized the woman knew her way around the streets of the souk. So she quietly stayed behind her as the cook haggled for the best prices for meat and ingredients, her own hands never straying too far from the daggers she carried.

"So, Dawn? - What's with that tome you're always carrying around with you? Are you a writer, working on a heroic tale? Like the heroic tale of Valeria who single-handedly defeated our hunger-pangs?" she asked light-heartedly, now that Kesta had left.

Valeria simply smiled at Amaya's joke. She was after the past few days supremely confident in her abilities.

Kesta returns from her visit with the sergeant with a big grin on her face.

"We did well," she tells the others when they gather in the ancient stable that has been converted to a barracks for the invading Aquilonian army. "So well that they're sending us on a special assignment. No more patrol duty for us."

She sweeps old straw away from the dirt floor and crouches down to draw in the dirt with the point of her boot dagger. It is a sketch map showing the upper reaches of the river that flows into the Vilayet Sea here at Sun City. She points out various locations as she scratches their outline in the dirt.


"The Nezvaya River flows from west to east, out of the tribal lands through this wide valley in the hills.

"At the far end of the valley is the Sun Dome Temple. They say this is where the sun once landed on Earth and a fragment is still encased within the great dome. It is where the pilgrims travel to. And that's the problem we have. At various locations along the river, bandits have been attacking the pilgrims' wagons.

"We're being sent here," she stabs the knife into an area towards the bottom of her map.

"It's called the South Bog -- sounds attractive, right? There's a ford here across the river and there have been several attacks of wagons crossing this ford.

"Our job is to go there and stop the attacks. Find the bandits if we can, and kill most of them, but bring some back for hanging in front of the crowd. Good for morale."

She chuckles and grins at each of the rest of her squad.

"We leave at first light. We take the wagon we had. Valeria can drive, and we walk.

"Any questions?"

Valeria has no questions.  She ensures that the team can enjoy a delicious meal that evening before setting off tomorrow.

20:59, Today: Valeria the Cook rolled 24 using 1d20+11.  Craft (Cookery) to cook deliciousness for the troops.

This message was deleted by the player at 22:50, Fri 16 June 2023.

Kesta bristles at the barbarian's question, but contains herself.

"There's the door, blondie. Go join another squad. No one seems to care much, long as you pull your weight.

"But if you fight with me, you'll get glory and treasure.

"Up to you."

 Just being a grunt. I posted in the wrong thread, sorry.

 As I stated before, I am a huge fan of anything dealing with Conan and Conan's world. And rpg dealing with such are few and far between. So I am not going anywhere.

 If you know of anyone that might be willing to run a character or two in Hyboria, like in the books. please let me know. Many thanks.

After their return from the souk Amaya had stayed silent and kept to herself, joining only when Kesta came back with news from the Sergeant. The scout looked at the map and did not like what they were sent to do, hunting bandits could quickly turn around to them becoming the hunted. But obviously nobody would care about her feelings. Demius' words had Amaya perk up, it seemed the man was low on morale, something that could work against the squad when they had to work together as a team. The scout decided to keep an eye on him, he was not trustworthy...

Valeria working with her pots and the stove briefly distracted the archer and she smelled the wonderful aroma of a decent meal.

"So, when's dinner ready?" the scout asked the cook, not paying too much attention to the discussion between Kesta and Demius.

Valeria rolled 23 on craft (cookery) I'd say that was pretty damned wonderful don't you?
Valeria smiled as a mother might smile atan inquisitive child. She offered a spoonful of the broth to Amaya and asked her. "Soon enough, you tell me, is it salty enough? Is the spice sufficiently piquant?"