Subject: Re: The Chase; Out of the jungle and into the woods

The druid nods at these words.

"Several of our people have been taken already. One of our scouts lost her entire family, and went searching for them. She found and followed a small warparty of Murrkat into the jungle, but was forced to turn back. We paid for our laxness will the lives of our innocent. We have not been lax since. Now our hunters scout our lands constantly, and the trees speak to me of those who pass.

"Something evil stirs at the mountain, our people are taken, the dead walk. And a Chorrdath hunter and five men come fleeing out of the jungle, with Murrkat on their heels." He turns to face you, "I am almost afraid to hear your story. And I think there may be some things you do not know yet, but it is not my place to say them."

After this, the Belneth grows silent. The party follows him for less than an hour, when small halfling dwellings are spotted in the forest. They are not elaborate, but they are clean and well cared for, and show design with an eye toward maintaining the look of the forest. Many of them are difficult to spot until you are very close because they resemble the surrounding woods so closely. Rennik breathes deeply the air of the place, taking in the smell of cooking and the sounds of his people hard at work. This village flourishes, you can see it in their good homes and fat children. Only the tense look of suspicion on the faces of the adults show the worries that have recently come to this place. Even so, Rennik feels a tug of homesickness.

The Belneth leads the group up to a longhouse. It is large, but not ostentatious, the walls being simple cut logs mortared with forest clay. The door is a flap of leather sewn into the wood at the top and left side. Your guide pushes through and enters the dwelling, gesturing for you to follow.

Inside, it is tall enough for a man to stand, though Mission's head nearly brushes the ceiling. In the center of the longhouse a fire burns in a stone pit, and a dozen or so halflings sit around it on the hard packed dirt floor. At the far end of the longhouse sits the chieftain on a wooden chair. The only sign of his position seems to be the fact that he is not sitting on the floor like the rest of the halflings in the room. He is surprisingly young, younger even than Rennik, though his face is hard and bears many scars. Near one hand he keeps a hooked short sword, and near the other a heavy club. He studies the six of you with a flat expression, then gestures to a spot on the other side of the fire, and the druid says, "You are invited to sit."

When the group has taken a seat on the ground near the fire, the chieftain looks at Rennik and says, "Our belneth was to bring you here only if you traveled under trucebond. This bond will hold as long as no lies are spoken in this room. You are under my protection and may speak freely as long as this is so. I, Nukaru, swear this. Will you speak to me under this bond?" When Rennik nods once, the chieftain continues, "If you are not here as a hunter for the Chorrdath, and you do not serve the nameless ones and their jungle god," and here he spits in the fire, "then why are you here?"

Subject: Re: The Chase; Out of the jungle and into the woods

Garyth notes the suspicion and fear in the faces of the halflings as the group makes its way through the village. It's no surprise; after people started disappearing from the farms around Overlook the townspeople had been nervous, too. He tries to look as friendly as possible and continues following Rennik.

It hadn't been many days since Garyth would have chafed at following. But this was clearly Rennik's turf, and besides, they'd been through enough now that they were all equals and command is the least of his worries. So when the chieftan poses his question, Garyth waits for Rennik's response.

Subject: Re: The Chase; Out of the jungle and into the woods

Rennik sits before the the fire, trying to find a way to answer Nukaru's question that would not delay them overlong. The chieftain, called Kal'tenn or "first warrior," did not have time for long stories if the Murrkat were quickly sweeping through the forest toward his village.

"First, I wish to present you with the gift of this fur, a jungle cat and enemy of the Great Mongoose, slain and skinned by my own hand and offered in the spirit of trucebond friendship. I will do my best to keep my story brief, Kal'tenn Nukaru." He speaks in the halfling tongue. "The Nameless (he spits into the fire) follow close behind, and I do not wish to keep you from battle."

It was the Kal'tenn's duty to defend his people at the fore of his warriors, rather than directing them from safety. The first warrior had to command respect at all times and lead by example, which is why most were young and badly scarred. Nukaru is typical of a tribal Kal'tenn, though his many scars mark an eventful tenure as chieftain.

"I left my home to pursue a devilboar that claimed the life of my betrothed. These men accompanied me on my quest after the beast terrorized their lands. We were attacked by the Nameless (he spits again) and by the armies of the dead, and we learned of the darkness spreading from the mountain. A Logi kinsman of mine was among the dead, his soul stolen from his body by some evil power. Following the trails back toward the mountain, we learned that a child was to be born that would provide a body for their dark god, and we took it as our quest to stop such a ritual."

"We did so by stealing the child at his very birth, which you see there, cradled by his father, the warrior Mission." He motions toward Mission and Promise. "This act angered the god and his armies, and they pursued us through the forest. The child is..." he pauses, remembering the images of his future conjured at Promise's birth. "... belneth. His eyes hold great wisdom, and his destiny will be great...." he adds for Promise's sake, "though we have had little food suitable for an infant."

"But if the Nameless (he spits) capture the child, their dark god will walk the earth in the body of a powerful belneth of great destiny."

"Fleeing the mountain, we took the shortest distance through the jungle, which brought us near to the territory of the Great Mongoose. Alone, we will be overrun and slaughtered, the child taken. We have been attacked once already and nearly lost two of our number, but we slaughtered the nameless ones who followed and their half-elf leader. Their witch escaped, flying with unholy powers through the air."

He stops, trying to find a way to phrase his next statement so as not to offend Nukaru.

"We... travel toward the stone walls of the humans, home to the warrior Garyth," he motions to the guardsman, "hoping to find safety behind the many swords of their guards. We bring death to your door, and war with the Nameless who have plagued your people. If we stay... the armies will surely destroy this village. Their numbers are that great and arrows do little against the walking corpses of the dark god."

"We need to make haste toward Overlook, and we request your aid in speeding our flight and slowing our pursuers. To stand against them would be certain death, but harrying them from the shadows and treetops could mean the difference between peace and utter destruction for the entire island. I also beg of your generosity any bowmen you could spare to travel with us."