Clovius and beyond

[Graybeard]

"This is now a settlement full of women," Therese said firmly. "Women should make the contact."

So that's what's bothering her, a confused Sister Rose thought. But why? And then she figured it out, a reason that Therese herself may not have been aware of on a conscious level.

"We're in troll country, Tim," she said. "The trolls are matriarchal. If the villagers deal with them at all, which Amalric says -- said -- does happen, the contact will be by the troll women. They will be expecting to deal with women as well. That's the way commerce works out here." And I wonder if that "commerce" takes -- other forms as well, while the human men are away. She looked at Therese reproachfully. "I wish you'd just said that to begin with."

Therese flushed. "Sorry. To be honest, I hadn't thought of it, I just knew there was something about having a man out there by himself that wasn't going to be right for approaching these people. I was grasping at straws. But you're right. We three human women need to do this."

Rose wasn't entirely happy with that conclusion, but what was there to say? "Desiree?" she smiled rather weakly. "Ready to go out and be a diplomat in the Northern Confederacy again?"

[Drusia]

I open my mouth to explain to Tim about the going-in-pairs thing. We do much the same in Snamish, albeit without concern for gender, when we head up into the mountains or down into the caves. Not that I've ever had that duty, but Kenny used to tell me about his patrols. And Eli, for that matter.

However, Therese takes care of it. I am careful not to smile when she explains it as one would to a child. Considering how many condescending lectures he's given me, I do enjoy when he gets some turn-about.

Some general snippyness follows. Therese and Tim argue a bit. Is it my imagination, or has Tim grown more forceful? Maybe it's because Therese isn't his superior?

Ah well. This really doesn't concern me, so I start to tune the conversation out. I'm sure Rose will handle -

Rose wasn't entirely happy with that conclusion, but what was there to say? "Desiree?" she smiled rather weakly. "Ready to go out and be a diplomat in the Northern Confederacy again?"

I blink in surprise. What?

"You want me to go down there alone and ask for directions?" I ask, just to make sure I didn't miss any steps.

Rose confirms that, yes, that is what she's asking.

"Oh," I reply. "Um. Sure. Okay." I take a rather pointless moment and attempt to brush some of the dirt off of my dress. An attempt to fix my hair without a mirror goes well enough, I suppose. I should probably stop stalling.

"Wish me luck," I say, heading off. Alone. Down the hill. Towards the people with guns. Well, one gun. A mini cannon, actually.

The walk seems to take forever. That's probably just me being nervous - the position of the sun doesn't change any, so it can't be the hours it feels like.

They see me coming. How could they not - I'm making plenty of noise. I do my best to keep my dress from acquiring any new dirt on the way.

One of them points a gun-cannon thing at me. I take a deep breath.

"Hello," I say, holding up my hands, both of which are open. "If it isn't a bother, could I ask you what route is best to take from here to reach Clovius?"

Please don't shoot me. Please don't shoot me. Pleasedon'tshootme. Pleasedontshootmepleasedontshootmepleasedontshootmepleasedontshoot---

-- Desiree

OOC: I assumed that Rose would confirm that. If not... whoopsie.
Also, since Desiree is pretty good with languages, just assume she's speaking the correct one (or close enough).

[Jack Rothwell]

Tamina watched the Priestess' approach with a mixture of hope and trepidation, absently wringing her tail between her fingers like a stress toy as she did.

"Umm... you sure she's gonna be k? Don't think I can get there in time if the women get shooty."

[Graybeard]

"Wait!" Sister Rose shouted. "I meant that you and Therese and I should all go together!"... but it was too late.

Therese rolled her eyes. "Shall we?"

Rose rolled hers. "We shall. First, I want to do something. Tamina, Tim, swe- Argus, stay put for just a minute -- and cover us, not that it will do much good."

Before she set forth to follow Therese, she stepped back under concealment, and the shape-shifting magic glowed around Rose's body. The changes she made were subtle, as usual. Her body was now shorter and stockier, resembling the physique of the women she could see in the village. Her facial features had aged a few years and her teeth were just slightly crooked. (I'll pay for that later, when I have to straighten them back out, she thought.) Her robes had been reshaped into the rough tunics of the village, and her hands were callused. (Her eyes, needless to say, remained green, although she'd made sure to add a few wrinkles around them.)

"I'm now 'Rosa', who has been guiding you through the wilderness," she told Therese. (Both women found this ironic; if any "guiding through the wilderness" had been done, it had been by Therese, who was clearly the most comfortable of the group in moving in this terrain. But roles had to be played.) "Let's go." The two women hurried in the direction Desiree had taken.

-----------

Desiree, for her part, had come upon the two women, now tending a garden full of vines bearing fruit that might have been squash or melons. Actually, only one was tending the garden; the other was carrying the biggest shotgun Desiree, or for that matter Rose, had ever seen, a weapon she should barely have been able to lift. The armed woman turned turned to Desiree. "I am Dvorah, wife of Shimshon," she announced in a formal tone. "This is Jeri, wife of Yuval. Who are you, who is your husband, and what business have you here?" The weapon stayed pointed at the ground... for now.

[Alberich]

"We're in troll country, Tim. The trolls are matriarchal. If the villagers deal with them at all, which Amalric says -- said -- does happen, the contact will be by the troll women. They will be expecting to deal with women as well. That's the way commerce works out here. I wish you'd just said that to begin with."

Tim gave a brief look of gratitude to Rose for that.

He didn't like this business of sending Desiree alone out front - if it had to be a woman, it should be someone who was not innocent of combat. Like Rose herself or Therese. But then he saw that Rose was thinking almost the same, and simply hadn't made her instructions clear; and was doing her damnedest to make amends. So he held his peace, watched from a distance, and made ready to intervene if he had to.

Unfortunately, he was afraid the kobold had it right - there would be no time to stop a bullet if these frontier women went "shooty." But at least this way Rose and Therese themselves would have some chance at it, and if a fight started, then he, Argus, and Tamina would be ready in reserve.

[OOC: So, Clovian names lean to the Hebrew. I like it. Easy to deal with. Drake Ator in the Tsuiraku thread is an exception, then, but that's no matter - there are always exceptions; and if any of his relatives show up there they will probably be more typical. "Sisera," Drake's father's trading partner, is an Old Testament name so that actually works well.]

[Graybeard]

OOC: Brief hold here while we wait for Desiree to respond. No pressure or anything.

[Drusia]

"I am Dvorah, wife of Shimshon," she announced in a formal tone. "This is Jeri, wife of Yuval. Who are you, who is your husband, and what business have you here?" The weapon stayed pointed at the ground... for now.

Um, okay. So far so good.

"I'm Desiree," I reply. "Unwed. As for business, I'm just here to get directions for my fellow travelers so we can reach Clovius. If you would allow us to come into town and trade, we'd like that as well, but we understand if you would prefer we keep our distance."

-- Desiree

OOC: Honestly, if Rose shouted after her, Desiree would have probably stopped and waited. On the other hand, this is fun, so no reason to ret-con.

[Graybeard]

A look of absolute horror filled the faces of the two women who were talking to Desiree.

"Oh, you poor, poor thing," the one who had introduced herself as "Dvorah, wife of Shimshon" said. "Come right in, you're among friends now, we'll be so happy to help." She slung her weapon over her shoulder and put a surprisingly strong hand on Desiree's arm and guided her into the house next to the garden, Jeri, wife of Yuval falling into line behind her.

As soon as they were in the rough-and-tumble house -- no surprises there -- Jeri called out in a voice that would shatter glass. "Asher! Come quickly!" As if spring-loaded, the face of what appeared to be about a 10-year-old boy poked around the door at the back of the room. "We have an emergency trip to Clovius to make," Jeri commanded. "Go prepare the wagon and hook up the reindeer right away." "Yes, mama," the boy answered, and darted through the door.

"You've come to the right place," Dvorah consoled Desiree while Jeri busied herself brewing a hot beverage that might or might not have been tea. "We're well connected in Clovius, we can get there yet tonight if we hurry, our reindeer are fast ..." And Jeri joined the conversation.

"We'll find you a husband before the night is through."

------------

"Should we go in after her?" Therese asked Sister Rose ("Rosa") from their concealment at the edge of the forest; apparently the trees had damped the sound of their voices so that Desiree hadn't heard.

Rose considered. "I don't think so. I wish I'd had the magical empathy up, but just based on body language, I'd say those two are more likely to help than harm. Looks like Desiree made instant friends." She chuckled, and for once, the expression had some actual humor to it. "She's good at that."

Therese may have had her own feelings on the "instant friends" part, but she wasn't convinced. "If you say so, but I'm still going to be prepared." She tucked her hair back up under her hat -- experience had taught her that in the places along the northern perimeter, it was better to travel as a man, even if the social dynamic of this place was, well, different -- and checked to see that her sword was at hand. Rose, for her part, started to cast the magical Empathy, then thought better of it; they were too far from the house that Desiree had entered for the spell to be effective, and her energy might be needed for something else soon.

Therese was still fiddling with her hair when the boy emerged from the house, and almost sprinted for the pen where two reindeer were hobbled, carrying harnesses. Rose raised an eyebrow. "Well, that was quick," she said. "Looks like Desiree has worked her magic. Against all expectations, I'd say we're among friends here."

[Alberich]

Tim, back with the boys and kobolds, didn't know just what to make of this. "Nothing comes free," says Tim. "She goes in the house and within a minute they're hooking up animals. Maybe she hired us transport but that's a mighty big hurry they're in. Maybe she overpaid?" Sometimes that happened with out-of-town travelers used to big-city prices. He kept his eyes peeled anyway.

[Jack Rothwell]

"Maybe they're just nice?" Tamina suggested, offering smiles and cheerful waves to the occupants of the town still outside.