Liberty Beguiling

Using Brim's proclamation as a diversion Xan moves ne t to Azul whispering to the dragonborn as discreetly as possible, "We do not have these ones flocking to our banner like we did before. There is little trust and no wish to join us in most of them. Things may change,but I wouldn't turn my back on anyone here."

Grinding his teeth, his brass scales pulled taught as Xan finishes his rundown. Growling out  "This path of unearned redemption is going to end with knife in our back, and our plans in ruin." Looking to Sofia perched on his shoulder he says in draconic  "Keep an eye on that one" pointing to the man Xan ided as having betrayal in his heart. "Once the rest of our forces get here, we need to meet and come up with a viable plan. And pray that Athena will bless us with the wisdom to find the path we are meant to walk."

Dimi is hesitant to profess his gifts in front of the other bandits, but does attend at Brim's side, mumbling something to himself quietly.

Aleixo watches events pass with interest and quiet contemplation, he finds himself sat next to Sval. "An interesting turn of events, I would not have picked him out as god chosen, though it means nothing unless we know which god has marked him out as special. Though he chose wisdom and restraint here over compulsive acts. Perhaps there is hope for him."

Sval nods. "He seems more level-headed than the rest," the ranger says. He looks between Petros, Xanathos, and Dimitrios as a thought occurs to him. Brushing aside the cold void in his chest, he says, "The touch of your gods seems to be much kinder than the touch of mine." He punctuates the sentence by pointing to his chest. The emptiness there spread as he took in the scene. "At some point though, we're going to be made to realize that a 'change of heart' made after a defeat isn't really one at all. I think some members of our group are too trusting."

"We should act with caution." Aleixo nods his agreement. "But given free choice, if they can prove worthy of trust they should have the chance to earn it. Perhaps a test taken unknowingly is in order?"

Closing his eyes for a moment he says a quiet prayer to Athena, as he reviews the situation. Thinking over the new men that they are responsible for, the parties desire to reform them and the harm they have done to the community. At the last thought an idea strikes him and he yells out in a gravelly voice to the nearby bandits, reminiscent of the military commanders he has met during his travels. "Listen closely. Before this moment, you preyed upon this community, menacing it's citizens and leeching off of their resources. But today,  you have the option to take a new path. To give back to those who you have harmed in the past and to make your community better." Looking over to Petros and the rest of his companions. "The lands have been plagued by several beasts, and we have been tasked to help. If my companions agree, your first task will be to bring us the head of Tuskgutter the boar that has been seen in the area. This will be your first step in proving your loyalty to the land's new order and making amends to those you have previously harmed with your actions. So line up and wait here for the rest of your orders." 

Locke beckons to his men, who, for the most part fall in, but there's some obvious reluctance amongst those who Dawid pointed out earlier.

Brimblebread ambles up to Azul and tugs a bit at his side, beckoning him to lean down. In a hushed tone, she gestures towards Locke and his men, "I don't wanna challenge you on it Sir Azul but I don't know if that's the best way to motivate them. Maybe mention more about the satisfaction of helping others and also the pay. People seem to like that kinda thing I noticed, and if they know they are being paid more betterly than when working for whatshisname... Capricornicopacabana or whatever, then they may be more inclined not to run at the first chance!"  

Azul glances down at Brim and nods these men would probably only reliably fight for gold. Noticing one of his companions had found the bandits stash he waives Locke over he asks "Answer truthfully, how much did you and your men earn in an average week?"

Locke shrugs. "About 25 silver, some more, some less and Capricornus takes a quarter of what we find as his tithe."

Nodding at the Tiefling Azul quietly says "Thank you"  before he amplifies his voice again speaking to the rest of the former bandits shifting his eyes to those who were reluctant to fall in earlier. "The new order that we bring to these lands will no longer tolerate banditry. But that doesn't mean that loyalty is not rewarded. If you serve us, these lands & it's people with loyalty, kindness, and honor each week you will receive 25 silver coins as payments for your efforts. We require no tithe for your service, your commitment to the new order will be the only tribute that is needed."

This news seems to be much better received, coin being a language spoken by everyone present. Locke's men are also immediately happier to take up the newly suggested exploration duties than a deadly mission hunting a killer boar. With Azul's permission, the tiefling begins assembling a scouting party to accompany some of the chartered adventurers.

Under advisement from Azul, Locke picks out the four of his men who he considers most loyal to him to assist in charting the immediate area. Aleixo, Brimblebread, Sval and Xanthos take Jericho, Dimitrios and Dawid with them to supervise the effort. The five bandits who Dawid identified as less-than-trustworthy remain behind with Azul, Melanthios and Petros. Once the larger group has headed out into the wilderness, the tension in the air is palpable. The remaining bandits outnumber their keepers, but having seen Petros and Azul in action, none of the outlaws is willing to make the first move. Fortunately, nobody does anything stupid in the first couple of hours and a short time later Amiri, Linzi and Valerie arrive on foot with Yiorgos, Yiannis, Nicholas and Constantine, who it seems has, for the time being, decided to stay after all. After a brief greeting in wake of the reunion of the two parties, Valerie marches about the camp like a true soldier, organising the rag-tag group of former-bandits and beginning the work of making the forward base more defensible. The scouting party is out for around six hours in total, before returning to Thorn River Camp in time for dusk, by which time a swath of undergrowth has been cleared for a neat grid of tents. Once a watch rotation has been established, the explorers bed down to get some rest in preparation of the work to come the next day.

The next morning, Petros takes Aleixo, Azul, Brimblebread, Dawid, Dimitrios, Jericho, Melanthios, Sval, Xanthos and two of the bandits who Dawid identified as untrustworthy south to explore the region where Sophia indicated that moon radishes could be found. Around midday the dozen travellers stumble across an arrowhead-shaped clearing consumed by a large patch of the delicious vegetables. In the centre of the patch are four moaning kobolds lying on their backs, with three overfilled baskets of the spicy roots lying nearby. The little draconic humanoids shriek and clamber to their feet when they see the large group of horses approaching.

"Relax, fighting on a full stomach is a bad idea and it seems there is plenty to go around." Aleixo smiles as he steps forwards, his arms open in a sign of non-violence. "We had hoped to speak with you anyway."

Sval, who had been scanning the edges of the clearing for signs of an ambush, looks at Aleixo as he steps forward. The Norscan shrugs, and heads forward with his friend. 

Rolling lethargically onto its front, the front most kobold pushes itself upright on its spear. "This our radish patch, biguns! You go find your own!" It shouts, but does not leap to attack the obviously good-natured Hellenian.

Aleixo holds up his hands a little higher." We haven't taken any radishes , and would not without your permission. We would like to bargain for some though." He gives a bow. "And to ask some questions. We heard that some kobolds are fighting humans near here sometimes, but before they used to be at peace, maybe we can help put things back to normal?"

Azul nods along with Aleixo's words, his snout sporting a wide smile. With a small bow of his head he enthusiastically begins speaking in Draconic "It is good to see you kin. I am Azul of Clan Kassis. It's been far to long since I've spoken the tongue of our people,  at least to anyone other than my owl and horse." Reaching up to stroke Sofia's feathers as he speaks looking back down at the kobolds he say " We truly mean you no harm we are here to help the people of this land. Though we are not of the same clan you have my word that no harm will come to you kin." Azul crosses  arm over his body and taps his left shoulder as he makes his promise. Speaking once again in Hellenic he gestures at his companions and says "These beings are good people, we just want to help and bring order to these lands. If there is anything we can do to help you and your people, we are more than willing to lend our talents."

As the party approached the small draconids, Brimblebread had been working to arrange a smattering of freshly picked white gardenias around the brim of her hat, doing her best to keep them in place alongside the slightly-wilted lavender stalks. She looked up when she heard Aleixo begin to speak and had slowly tiptoed forward and up behind Azul as he too addressed the lot in a strange tongue. 

The black-scaled kobolds leer warily at Azul as the dragonborn speaks. "Dragonborn talk lots," the lead kobold snorts derisively. "Words, words, words. Sootscales no trust shinyscale words. You want bargain? Bring head of King Grabbles! They maybe we talk."

Brim peaks out from behind Azul, her face awash in equal parts curiosity and wonder, "King Grabbles? Who's that?" She ambles forward a bit and raises the brim of her hat a little, allowing the sun to illuminate her pale green complexion. "I didn't know there was another king around here."

The kobolds seem to immediately relax slightly when confronted with the little goblin. "The Mite King! He stole Old Sharptooth and now our tribe is cursed!"

Xan looks down from his horse, looking grumpy and out of sorts, " How about you tell us what Old Sharptooth is, because otherwise your story makes very little sense, if you would be so kind." He adds with a smile that seems a bit strained.

"The Might King?"  Her brow arches,  "Is he real strong or something? Oh dear it sounds serious..."

Melanthios seems far less interested in parlaying with the tiny dragonkin than he has with the other humanoids they'd encountered so far, and is content to let the others lead the interaction while he sips from his wineskin. "So often these kings become villains. I'd think the words should be synonymous in most tongues." he comments to himself.

Several of the other kobolds cross their arms and roll their eyes at Xan when he asks such a foolish question. "Yes!" The little kobold at the front urgently tells Brimblebread with an earnest nod of his head. "Grabbles strong. Slay many kobold warriors. He king of Old Sycamore."

Azul's scales ruffle at the Kobold's hostility. It was a bit of surprise to him, the Kobold's that lived near his clan were always very respectful of the Dragonborn and other Dragonkin. But these are lawless lands it is unsurprising that it's inhabitants are a bit uncouth. Looking at the lead Kobold, his amethyst eyes hard but still friendly Azul says "We have heard other complaints about these mites, but this is the first we have heard of a king. It is a problem that we were considering solving. We would greatly appreciate you sharing any knowledge you have on the mites and their king. For instance why tensions are high between Mites & Kobolds?" His voice calm and even hoping to ease the being's hostility.

"Golly this does sound quite serious, friend. I know when my own clan found itself in the path of some real angry gnomes, it left us desperate. We too eventually turned to outside aid through a clan of orcs that helped us drive the mean gnomes away." Her gaze grows distant as she thinks back to the experience for a moment. She'd been quite young then, but she remembered the frantic experience. Looking back, she gives a firm nod, "Please don't mind my big friends here, they mean well. If traveling to Old Sycamore and meeting this mean Mr. King Might is what it takes to bring you some peace, then I am in."

Petros slides off his horse onto the ground, and says "Indeed, we shall be more than happy to solve this problem for you.  It is what we do.  We would like for you to be friends and allies.  Tonight, however, we need to get back to our camp, and I have promised a beautiful young lady some of these radishes for a stew she is making.  We would be honored if you would join us as our guests at this feast.  I hear that her stew is so delicious that you will never want to eat these raw again.  What do you say friends?"

The kobolds glance at one another, at the radishes and then back to their 'leader', before nodding an affirmative. They seem convinced. "Biguns kill Grabbles. Biguns save Old Sharptooth and break curse. Biguns give kobolds moonradish stew! ...Sootscales say friends." The kobold extends a tiny claw for Petros to shake.

Petros grasps his claw with one hand while lightly clapping his opposite shoulder with his left hand.  "Petros say Sootscales friend too.  Help Petros gather moonradishes?"

The little kobolds face, a moment ago so earnest and determined, falls when it hears Petros mock its speech. "Rikrak know he not speak so good... Rikrak try his best... better than big man's dragon..." Rikrak slumps off dejectedly to gather radishes while his companions glare at Petros.

"My apologies friend.  I meant no offense.  It is my custom to try to speak as much like my friends as possible to honor them.  And you are absolutely right that your Helenian is better than my dragon.  To show you I meant only to do you honor, I would like you to ride my horse back to our outpost while I walk.  It is the least I can do for the offense I have caused."

Sval stifles a laugh at Petros' mistake, but raises an eyebrow at the quick courtesy that the man offers in return for his folly. He was as silver-tongued as the trickster, this one. And likely more honorable. He stands back away from the patch, but does remove his hood and lean against a tree to show that he was not a threat to the kobolds.  "He handled that well," Sval says quietly to Aleixo. "He has a diplomat's tongue."

Rikrak nods and lifts his chin a little, handing Petros the wicker basket to hold while he fills it with radishes. "Big man should be careful what he says.... not everyone as nice as Rikrak... how are you called?"

Taking the basket, Petros replies, telling him his name and setting about gathering the radishes.  Going on, he continues, "Rikrak, if you would, can you tell me more about this area and your people?  I don't want to make any more mistakes with my new friends.  I confess I know very little about the area north of the city and about kobolds."

"Sootscales live in caves in hills. Biguns say 'Kamelands'," Rikrak explains. "Mites too, under Old Sycamore. Goat man live in old bigun place by Tuskwater. Forest tricksy. Big beasts and fey."

"Goat man?  What do you know of this goat man?  Is he nice or mean?"

Rikrak shrugs. "Goat man sits in his cave and tells other big men what to do. Like chief!"

As the rest of the group picks radishes Azul seeks out Rikrak and asks in draconic  "Are there any other dragonkin in the area? We have heard that there is a Tatzlwyrm, but I have not seen or heard tale of any other kin in these lands."

Rikrak slowly looks over at Azul, but his only response is a solemn nod.

Azul's eyes narrow at the Rikrak's demeanor change. The little one had been fiery in his dealings with Azul and his companions, his solemn mood on this topic strikes Azul as worrisome.  Speaking in a calm but friendly voice "Petros speaks truly, we hope to be your allies. It is my hope that any other kin in the area are honorable & friendly beings. But if any Dragonkin pose a danger to you or the people of this lands, we would be honor bound to assist. Rikrak I would be most grateful for any information you can provide on the lands other Dragonkin, whether it be for good or ill. " 

"East," Rikrak replies in a clipped chirp. "Big black. Best not to say name. Bad luck."

"Sounds like a worthy foe" Aleixo's eyes light up at the thought of fighting a dragon. "We would be glad to help keep you and your people safe!"

Rikrak looks blankly at Aleixo for a moment and then bursts out laughing, before returning to the serious business of gathering moonradishes.

Aleixo's eyes narrow into a grin of confidence. "You doubt our abilities? Never mind, you shall soon learn. First we will return old sharptooth, then once these lands are tamed, we will bring down this Black Dragon you fear so much."

Once the radishes have been gathered, the quartet of kobolds accompany the explorers back south to Orion's trading. At first he and Sophia seem pleased about the heroes' return and eager to hear news of what transpired at Thorn River Camp. However, Orion's expression quickly sours when he sees the kobolds traipse through his gates. "First bandits, now kobolds? Do you intend to befriend every godsforsaken creature in the savanna?" He demands in a flurry of spittle.

Petros tries to take Orion aside to discuss in some privacy.  "Yes, Orion.  With every one that is willing to be friends.  Would you rather be enemies?  Rather that you and your family be always in danger?  There is a saying that my mother taught me before she died.  'The best place to store your extra food is in the stomach of a friend.'  Because they'll do the same for you net time, Orion.  We are building something here.  Something that will make us...will make you safe.  Not to mention wealthy.  I'm sure you could make good money if you start up trade relations with the kobolds, yes?"