Age of Ice and Blood: A Pathfinder System Heroic Fantasy Quest

Thirty-Third Day of Ashinu-hamba (Ashinu Descendant) 1348 A. L. (After Landfall)

"Curious as cats," you hear Tom mutter under his breath, in English which none of your companions can easily speak.

"If we weren't all that we would not be here to begin with, my friend," you reply, causing his mustache to bristle and his cheek to flush. He mumbles something about not meeting you. "Then loyalty breeds its own blindness, goodman," you say, still in good cheer. Since the storm the journey had been clear, surely a few hours to get to shore would not be of any great import, not with Tender assuring you that 'the spirits of the Great Sky shall be calm for two turnings of the sun and moon.'

At that Tom is not the only one who speaks under his breath, though in Antonio's case it is regret and not grumblings you hear. Even that much of foresight is something most captains would kill for. Truth be told most lords as well in harvest season or on campaign. Yet that is not the only bit of magic you see done that eve.

Inge stands in the center of the deck and takes by turn a sip of Magian Wine and rubs an oil over her eyelids, for sharper sight the alchemist says, but it is not with eyes of flesh she is to look upon the land. Instead she climbs to the crows nest and from there you can hear her chant softly in the tongue of her folk, an almost-song caught in the wind from the sea and twisted 'round and 'round until it seems that from the waves other voices too are singing, wordless and fair. Then in the span of not half a dozen heartbeats she stops, letting out one long breath that is heavy with steam such that you can see even from the deck.

Her voice comes down distant, but clear: "There is a wide place in the midst of a forest of oak and ash where tall stones rise from the palm of the earth like clawed fingers, and there a camp of tall men like us who are not of the Knikut with many fires, eight, no ten, and at each fire there are men five or six. Some are armed though many are not, a camp for the whole tribe and not just for the warriors. They wear the green of the trees and the brown of the earth and they are woodswise, though the sky betrays them. They aren't alone, but their guests they do not keep in good company. Four men there are who are tied with their hands before them with a long rope bound to the stone."

"So they caught some of the bastards from the ship and are holding them prisoner," Antonio musses. "Pity we don't know shit about the folk 'round here to tell if they have some reason for it or are just playing pirate."

Inge continues her careful accounting of what she sees: "Two of the bound men look like guards, they are wearing quilting like what goes under armor, the third is... strange. He is wearing a tall hat almost like a jug, growing narrower towards the top, that glints a little silver I think, but he is too far to know for sure."

Though Esha does not know whence the man hails Ziku does, and he looks troubled for it. "A Prince or High Lord of the Nokuma who dwell in the eastern side of the Blue Sea, it has to be."

"How do you know him for a prince?" Antonio asks, gaze suddenly sharpening.

"Silver they say in those lands comes from the stars and it is sacred to the Thousand Gods, and so only one blessed by them be it priest or great noble may wear it openly."

"Such a lord would certainly make a good random for those willing to set upon those marooned on their shores like beasts with fresh meat," you say, more with disgust than surprise.

"I would not judge them too harshly," Ziku offers softly. "The land is harsh and even in reach of the sea some starve in winter, easier to trust that you will gain something from taking a stranger captive than by seeking their gratitude. Add to that they are all unlikely to speak each other's tongues."

"You want us to try to negotiate for their release?" Antonio guesses, and by the warrior's nod he guesses aright.

"We have the means to make ourselves understood, mayhap even gifts to smooth along the meeting. Under the gaze of Inoko men might be freed and we will have gained a friend where before we had none."

You are reminded of what Esha told you, that the priests of Inoko tend to try to sway the powerful and the wealthy to the worship of their god, yet even under the most suspicious of gazes the man does not seem to be anything less than earnest and as far as it goes he has a point... as far as it goes. Many times now you have been in a position to meet a new people for the first time and in most of those cases weapons had been drawn. Is it worth a gamble for the sake of marooned sailors?

What do you do?

[] Go ashore and try to negotiate for the release of the captives
-[] Write in who you wish to take

[] Sail on, this is not worth the risk

[] Write in

OOC: Eagle Eye is a very practical spell, but 'invisible sensor' is not very mystical. Hope the fluff I made for it works here. It works of like a very limited form of projecting your consciousness outside your body.