To the Southern Continent

[Graybeard]

OOC: I'm out of touch for a couple of days, so don't take inaction on Keyes' part as unwillingness to go with what just happened in town. I just don't have time to digest it before getting on an airplane (have a two-hour drive to the airport). Back in the saddle Thursday; go ahead and have fun with the kobolds (that doesn't sound quite right, does it ...).

[Sareth]

[OOC]But it certainly sounds like Jamie...[/OOC]

Jamie waved away the lack of a material reward glibbly, her other hand poking at the fire with a stick. The firelight on the skin of some of the younger kobolds gave her plenty of ideas of how to reward herself later. She grinned up at Leli. "Magic, huh? Any idea who might have been responsible? I've discovered that magic users tend to have trouble casting spells with a gun barrel between their lips."

[Jack Rothwell]

OOC Well since Grey's out til thursday I think a little fun with the kobolds'll fill the time in nicely/OOC

Tamina giggled at Jamie's remark and relayed the information to the kobolds whose human-speak wasn't quite as fluid. She mimed pulling a trigger at an imaginary target, somehow conveying the kobold's lack of digital dexerity in the process.

Leli answered the teenager's question. "We have an idea of who the culprits are. Most likely it's the Ralkin."

Tamina's eyes widened in surprise, she hissed under her breath. "Scum-bags." She supplied.

"They're a cult that've been trying to take over this territory for generations. We hadn't heard from them in a while, the last time they tried to invade was four or five years ago."

"Brought monsters with them last time." Tamina said. "Some had ten-uh- tinta- um... wiggly things." She waggled her fingers elastically to demonstrate.

"Using a plague like this is exactly the kind of thing they'd do to clear out the area. And it gets worse... we think they've got some degree of control over the infected victims. We were driven out the village yesterday because we underestimated them; they hit us with a co-ordinated attack that no feral animals should've been capable of."

"Where are they now?"

"That's the tricky part Tammy, we don't know." Leli sighed. "There's a dozen likely spots they could be hiding, and fifty plague victims who'll try to stop us every step of the way if we go looking. By the end of the week there could be a hundred, or two."

"Can't we fix them?"

Leli smiled at her student, by there was a tinge of sadness there. "I don't know. But we'll try, I promise you."

[Jack Rothwell]

The inpromptu meeting had run into a break while the kobolds at the perimeter switched positions. Tamina, despite her worries about the plague, had recovered enough of an appetite to get herself a portion of 'jungle chicken' roasting over the fire. As she ate she tried to think about a solution to the victims spreading throughout her homeland. She kept hitting dead-ends on that score; if it was beyond Leli's abilities then the younger kobold, with her more limited knowledge of magic, would have no chance of curing it herself. On the other hand, that didn't mean she couldn't help...

"Leli?" She said through a mouthful of chicken.

"Yes Tammy?"

"D'you think if I... ahh... added my heal to yours we could fix the sick peoples?"

Her tutor looked to the heavens for a moment, clearly unsure of what the answer was.

"It might help." Her face set in a determined expression. "Actually, I think that's worth a try. We'd definately have a better chance as a two. But if something goes wrong the effects could be much, much worse."

Tamina nodded in solemn understanding, magical misfires from applying the wrong kind of forces to a situation could be disastrous. Her tutor continued.

"If we could send out a group to capture one of the ferals and bring it back here... we could try."

"Think we should. Gotta help the peoples. Gotta cure the sick."

[Sareth]

"Sounds like a plan," Jamie responded, busily gnawing away at some food. "You guys do whatever mumbo jumbo you need, and everything gets better." She shrugged. "I'll help myself to more chicken. So, how you gonna catch one?"

[Jack Rothwell]

"Blowpipes?" Tamina suggested.

"That might work." Leli replied, and turned to Jamie. "We coat the darts in poison from the zek."

"Poison Frog!" Tamina made a jumping gesture with her hand, clearly starting to get hyped up at the prospect of doing some good. "When Ekal ate one last month went 'sleep for three days. Drooled a lot."

"Hopefully it'll work on one of the ferals. If not there always the big nets and clubs approach." The elder pushed to her feet a little stiffly and nodded at the pair. "I'll get some of the killikah to go hunting shortly, you'd be welcome to join them."

"I'm going." The kobold gave a needly grin. "Said I'd go hunting when I got home."

[Sareth]

"That wasn't exactly what I thought you meant by hunting," Jamie responded. "I'm in! So how do these blow dart things work?"

[Jack Rothwell]

"Put pipe in mouth and blow." Tamina said, although this time she mysteriously abstained from demonstrating the position. OOC It's childish, I know./OOC "And don't swallow the dart."

The kobold stood up and made her way over to a wooden rack, where some of the others were putting the weapons in question, and liberated a couple of the pair. She handed one to the teenager along with a handful of carefully weighted darts that gleamed with a faintly oily substance on their blackened tips.

"Umm... yeah! Also, don't stab your cla-, uh, finger on the end or your arm'll go dead. Isn't nice, I know."

[Sareth]

"Don't swallow it? You wouldn't warn me if people hadn't done it, but still..." Jamie arched an eyebrow and eyed one of the darts. "So, just in case, if one of them does end up sticking me, the effects wear off, right?"

[Jack Rothwell]

"Yeah-yeah. Takes... ahh... few hours, think. Haven't shot yooman's in a while." Tamina caught the curious look in the Jamie eye and explained. "Just poorchers... patchers... ahh... bad hunter men. Don't go hunting peoples for fun."

Leli chose that moment to look up from her discussion with the other tribals and signal to the pair that they were ready to go. The kobold nodded back and the duo made their way over. Stood by the elder were three of the villagers, two male, one female, that Tamina waved a hand in greeting at as they drew near and made the introductions.

"Jay-me, this is Alleece." She indicated the pretty brown furred woman, who smiled shyly at the newcomer. "These are Tallah and Riiki, brothers." The taller kobold men she indicated were also noticeably broader, and somewhat more fierce lookng than their female counterparts. Tamina spoke to the assembled tribals in kobold speak, clearly making a bi-lingual introduction. The one she'd identified as Tallah stepped forward and made a closed handed gesture across his chest.

"Hel-lo Jay-me, nice-to, meet-you." He said sheepishly, Tamina grinned and clapped her hands in approval.

"He's learning yooman speak." She supplied. "Most of the Killikah just learn basics, trade stuff and stuff."