The heterogeneous group of heroes reaches without further problems the spartan but practical huts that make up the village of the Bloodskull Tribe, on top of a plateau which is both reasonably reachable for those wishing to trade and easily defensible, taking advantage of the elevated position, in case 'less friendly' visitors arrive.

Many orcish-looking grunts have watched the advance of the visitors with more curiosity than hostility, but now that the village proper has been reached, many recognize Rash and welcome him far more warmly than Dench did.

Rash's family soon arrives too...

[[ OOC: At this point, just as, a few time ago, for the narration of the visit to Roxana's family, I 'left the guide' to Culuril, who certainly had a better idea than mine about that farm and that family, now I would 'leave the guide' to Mister_Whisker, who knows better than me what family Rash has and what role this family plays in the tribe. Obviously I'll answer, in case Rash asks for information on what Dench has been up to lately, but for everything else Mister_Whisker can narrate quite freely how the meeting takes place ]]

Rash can't help but beam as he sees his parents amongst those gathered...

"Mom, dad! It's been a spell, but I'm back!" he says, running over to throw an arm around each of them. "No pun intended with the whole 'wizard' thing... Hope nothin' got too crazy without me!"

His mother, Mazoga, is one of the few full orcs in the settlement. Big, strong, not particularly bright, but the elderly orc woman has a big smile as she embraces her son and welcomes him back from his adventure. She looks quite elderly... but anyone familiar with orc biology may realize that she probably isn't even 40 years old yet. After all, orcs age nearly twice as fast as humans. She is one of the village's healers, and though she may not have much in the way of booksmarts she is an expert on herbal remedies.

His father, on the other hand, is a human by the name of Jacque. The middle-aged human is dressed in finer garb than the orcs and half-orcs of the settlement, with some strange exotic instrument slung over his back. The man was once a travelling Bard until he found his way to the settlement and somehow found himself wedded to the orc healer. He has a rather strange relationship with the orcs... on one hand, he looks down on them as a bunch of dumb brutes. On the other, he does genuinely love his wife... perhaps because she saved his life when no one else could... and his children, even if he considers all of them to be dim-witted and somewhat 'less' than human. Jaque has left the tribe and his family many times to sate his wanderlust, but he always ends up back within a year or two. Perhaps Rashugri inherited a bit of that wanderlust.

Rash also has a few brothers and sisters amongst the tribe, four of them to be exact: his older brother Ugnash (named after their late grandfather), his sister Yevelda, and the twins Worthag (brother) and Ogash (sister). His siblings give Rash a moment to hug their parents, before they descend upon him demanding to know what great and glorious quest has taken him away from his family and his tribe for nearly a year!

"Oh, no, nothing too crazy, my little baby..." Mazoga speaks slowly, while embracing his newfound son "Some hotheads in the tribe would like to move from trade to war and plunder... but fortunately they don't have much following. They will resign themselves to doing honest work... or they will go and get hanged elsewhere" she shrugs.

"It's an idea that sooner or later will come to others too" comments Jaque. "What could dumb brutes be thinking? But you surprise me, my son..." the bard's gaze scans his numerous traveling companions (none of whom have orc blood in their veins) "I see you in good company... You've made good friends, it seems..." and noticing how close Anita is keeping to Rash, he adds, raising an eyebrow "Maybe even something more than a friendship?"

However, while the siblings try to get some stories of incredible adventures from Rash, the man casually puts a bizarre elongated instrument over his shoulder and, starting to play a cheerful and vibrant background with a sort of small bow, tries to getting to know the rest of the party: "Nice to meet you, ladies and gentlemen! Even more so, considering you're probably helping my son to keep himself out of trouble! The name's Jaque!"

Roxana gives Rash's father a nod. "Good to meet you, Jacque. I'm Roxana."  She glances over at Rash. "I don't know that we've done anything to keep your son out of trouble. He's well equipped to do that for himself."   She then turns towards his mother as well. "Good to meet you also."  She then looks over towards Rash. "Perhaps you should explain the reason for one of our fellow travelers making this journey?" 

Rash chuckles.

"Yes... she's a bit more than a friend," the half-orc wizard tells his father with a smile in reference to Anita.

He disentangles himself from his siblings with promises to tell them everything over dinner (or let Anita tell them... she's certainly good at making him sound cool!)

"Yes, I guess that is important..." Rash says, beckoning Kunnari to step forward. "Everyone... this young man is Kunnari... he made some very poor life choices and was going to hang for them. I had garnered enough favor with the local authorities by then though to request a more lenient sentence for him. He is to spend the next few years here with the tribe, and I think that will give him the perfect opportunity to learn a trade and become a respectable member of society. He expressed interest in perhaps becoming a butcher."

He pauses and glances at his sister Yevelda. Preparing food is generally women's work in the Bloodskull tribe.

"What do you think, little sister? Do you need an assistant?"

Yevelda approaches and studies Kunnari carefully... with a doubtful look, she tries to feel his muscles, while the boy blushes with embarrassment as he is subjected to that thorough physical examination.

"Perhaps you will have difficulty, initially, in moving or butchering the largest pieces of meat..." she concludes, staring into his eyes "With training and daily work, you will improve... but initially you will struggle. Probably, the first days you will arrive at evening destroyed, without even the strength to relax a little. You probably won't even have the strength to look for a fight with the other kids - you know, those things that are done just for the sake of seeing who is the one left standing in the end - or a friendly wrestling match, one of those where you emerge with most of your bones still intact".

"Oh, you mean it?" the boy tries to look apologetic - but it doesn't seem very sincere "Well, for me atoning is more important than some frivolous entertainment... I'll just watch the exciting entertainment you mentioned, refraining from taking part in it - I'll consider this as part of my punishment".

"What a serious and level-headed boy!" Yevelda gives an enthusiastic pat on the shoulder to Kunnari, who, caught off guard by the vigorous blow, staggers, but manages to avoid falling to the ground face first "I like him, Rash!" she smiles at her heroic brother "Alright," she turns to Kunnari again "you'll be my helper! I'm sure we'll get along!"

In the evening, the entire party is hosted for dinner (a dinner of meat and vegetable stew that's seasoned with paprika) by Rash's family.

Anita has the opportunity to talk at length about how Rash was carefully selected to be part of the group of heroes who succeeded in the noble but almost impossible mission of bringing back from kingdom of the dead a boy who died unjustly, whose death had left his betrothed pregnant and heartbroken. The ex-Zhentarim prefers not to delve too much into the role she personally played and above all avoids mentioning that she was originally part of a group of bandits and focuses the story mainly on the half-orc wizard, on how he put his mind to good use, magic and brawn in helping to solve dark riddles, in summoning allies during exploration and, finally, in teleporting behind a flesh-and-blood devil to lock him in a wrestling hold and force him to cease hostilities! Rash's siblings follow the narration in awe, without sparing admiring glances at their heroic brother - Mazoga and Jaque clearly understand better how the narrator is accentuating their son's role a little, but they still seem pleased and look at the girl with sympathy. "Considering everything you're telling us," the bard finally comments "it almost sounds like you're trying to get me to compose a ballad about my son!"

Zentromya, looked at with curiosity by everyone and often pointed out openly, even more so after it is discovered that she was the means that allowed the completion of the desperate mission, also lends itself to telling... but offers a more impartial, which does justice to everyone's role.

Balfby arouses no less curiosity, but the she-Yeth Hound tries to maintain her reputation as a wild and ferocious creature, growling and enjoying frightening those who come too close to her, and soon she wanders off into the night to hunt alone.

Aedion is much more eager to speak or make friends and, after Zentromya and Anita finish narrating the events of the main quest, he instead insists on telling everyone about the exploits of his mother Spira and stepmoms Aidwyn and Dawnborn.

Overall, Rash's family gets to see more supernatural creatures (and hear about more heroic deeds) than they ever did the day before - so much so that half-orc grunts from other villagers periodically peek through the windows (when not directly from the door, opened without too many problems with etiquette) expressing such obvious curiosity that Rash's parents regularly invite them to sit inside, one after the other... and at the end of the evening practically the entire village (including Dench, who comes quite late, among the lasts) is gathered around the table (and around the home, when there is no room left for other people around the table) of Rash's family.

[[ OOC: Everyone can decide if/how they want to interact with whoever is present at the dinner. Each of you can also decide, in general, what you would like to do over the next few days - at least you have specific plans (it is not mandatory to have them) ]]

"Excellent!" Rash exclaims with a grin as Yevelda takes Kunnari in to be her assistant. "Young man, I think you have a bright future ahead of you!"

Over dinner, Rash can't help but chuckle at Anita's slightly embellished tales of his heroics. But... pretty much all of it is factually accurate, and Rash will confirm that these events did take place whenever anyone asks in disbelief. And... he is pretty proud of wrestling with a devil. In the heat of the moment it was a desperate act of someone who had no idea what else to do, but there is no question in his mind that it's going to be a cherished tale for many generations to come.

"A ballad about me?" Rash chuckles. "I won't lie... that does sound kind of nice. But... maybe include the rest of my friends? As much as Anita may make it sound that way, I didn't storm into both a Zhentarim stronghold and a dungeon full of fiends by myself and vanquish everything! It was definitely a team effort."

"Kunnari, I wish you success in your endeavor to become a butcher," Roxanna tells the boy. "If you are truly sincere about this it could be a great life for you."

She settles in at Gaer's side to enjoy the dinner.  She's quite pleased to have Rash be the star of the story as it takes some of the focus away from herself.  With all of Rash's family there, she tries to at least say hello to everyone, though she doesn't really have any one person or anything specific that she's trying for. Just being social. 

(OOC - Roxanna doesn't really have any specific plans. As a cook, and she'd like to believe passable hunter, she might join any groups that might go off hunting to help out. Or offer to help cook as well.  And of course invite Gaer to accompany her.) 

A few peaceful days pass in the Bloodskull Tribe's camp.

Word spreads that Anita is Rash's partner and several half-orc girls, perhaps out of envy, begin to involve her in increasingly tough wrestling matches... The young ex-Zhentarim, less expert in this type of fight and less powerfully built than her opponents, often gets the worst of it at the beginning... ending the evening in pain. But Rash's family, in particular his siblings, who have taken a liking to her, help her improve her technique. So, during a match, Ownka Brokentooth, who had locked Anita in a painful stepover armlock and showed particular animosity in causing her pain, is surprised by the angry reaction of the foreigner, who manages to free herself enough to bite her hand savagely, demonstrating that her teeth, on the contrary, are perfectly healthy, not broken at all. That moment marks the turning point and Anita is seen with ever greater respect by the other half-orc girls; they now seem to have accepted her as one of their own.

Gaer and Roxana help with the hunting and cooking and therefore become greatly appreciated guests of the tribe.

Dench on one occasion tries to incite many villagers to take up arms and 'show the neighboring tribes what the Bloodskulls can do', but he continues to not be taken seriously enough by most... Indeed, when, angry, he begins to insulting those who don't think like him, a small fist-fight ensues and at a certain point the big barbarian, tripping over a stool and falling on it, is forced to update his nickname from 'Twelve Stools' to 'Thirteen Stools'.

The day is approaching when Zentromya should begin to teleport you back to Longsaddle, but the night before...

...Kunnari secretly summons you all: "Listen to me..." he seems partly ashamed, partly worried "These days, Dench has been trying to convince me to run away and join his followers. They have something in mind for tonight. I... I didn't have the courage to say everything before, for fear of not being believed and then being exposed to retaliation from that big bully. But tonight, instead of running away with him and his men to collaborate on what he has in mind, I came to warn you. Surely you can stop him!"

"Dench wants war" the aspiring butcher continues, after catching his breath. "And since he failed to bring the tribe to the war... he has decided to bring the war to the tribe! He wants to attack a group of Uthgard Barbarians who are on a hunting expedition in the valley nearby. The survivors will report to their tribe and there will probably be a counterattack... The Bloodskulls may find themselves in a war they didn't seek! You, however... I have seen you do incredible things... You are the heroes... You will stop him, right? The Bloodskulls... they were the first people to give me a second chance in my life... They don't deserve this... That jovial, direct and kind-hearted Yevelda even less than the others!"

"You have the horses!" Kunnari points out "I told you where Dench and his gang are going tonight... If you go right now, you can catch up and stop them... one way or another".

"Yes, that sounds like Dench alright," Rash growls. "That bloody idiot is going to get all of us killed at this rate... I don't know why he and his thugs haven't been banished yet."

But there really isn't time for wondering things like that. The important thing right now is to try to prevent an extremely preventable war...

"I think we should try to deal with this problem without bloodshed, if at all possible... we should try to get into contact with the Uthgard Barbarians before Dench does and warn them that an idiot and renegade from our tribe is planning to instigate trouble. Then we can leave it up to them how they want to deal with said idiot... it's a shame that Dench apparently learned nothing from the story of Mhurren's life and untimely death. Maybe we can convince my dad to come along and have a chat with them as well... he's incredibly persuasive when he wants to be."

(OOC: Also, since we've been here for a couple days, I think it's reasonable to assume we've been able to take a couple Long Rests. For that reason, I'm going to go ahead and switch up Rash's prepared spells a bit)

Spira watches the interplay between Rash, Zentromya and Dench in silence.  As the two groups part, she whispers in Rash's ear, "My sympathies.  Growing up in the same tribe as even a few hotheads like that must not have been too pleasant."    She otherwise says nothing on the subject until Kunnari brings his warning and Rash replies.  She purses her lips thoughtfully at the wizard's plan.  "You know this particular idiot best, Rash, so we should trust you on this.  But I think I can actually help best if I go after Dench and try to slow him down so you have more time to reach the Uthgarts, either on my own or with Gaer.  We've had some practice at moving through the wilds quickly and quietly; and if you come along, Roxana, I know you're no slouch at that either.  And I've got some ideas for when we overtake him."

=========

(if she can overtake Dench unseen, Spira's plan is to scare him into thinking the falling stone Zentromya threatened him with has been sent by a vengeful Heaven to overtake him by using her thaumaturgy spell to cause tremors in the ground under them (1 minute effect) and use a second casting tocreate a long echoing rumble issuing from a mountain ravine ahead of him as if an unseen boulder were rolling inexorably down from the heights above in a place he would have to cross its path to reach the Uthgarts.  )

"I like your plan," Roxana tells Spira. "If we can get word to the Uthgarts ahead of Dench, perhaps we can save the tribe from violence even if Dench somehow does manage an attack."  She looks to Rash, "That is if you concur with the plan."  

[[ OOC: @Rash, yes, many Long Rests taken for sure... go ahead and switch up prepared spells as you wish. ]]

"I know you can stop that brute, mom!" Aedion exclaims telepathically (in the minds of everyone present), flapping his wings excitedly - now that he has his warm fur suit tailor-made, he flutters more and more often around the group, instead of sheltering against Spira's body - except when Spira calls him back out of caution, obviously "You're smarter than him!"

"Not that it takes much..." Gaer comments "But yes," he smiles "you're right dear nephew!" and he is ready to 'go hunting' with his sister and Roxana.

"I'll come with you too" Aidwyn decides. "I will do everything to ensure that tomorrow's dawn is a dawn of peace, not of war. It's a shame that Balfby is already hunting, who knows where... but I think I'll be able to provide sufficient help all the same".

"We will be able" Dawnborn corrects, ready to follow her.

"Come on then" Anita went in the meantime to retrieve the wonderful Sharnshield horses for everyone. "Let's do it".

[[ OOC: So, if anyone has counter-proposals or improvements, please post accordingly; otherwise in my next post I will continue the narrative with
- Rash and Anita trying to get ahead of Dench and warn the Uthgarts before he can reach or attack them.
- Spira, Roxana, Gaer, Aidwyn and Dawnborn trying to reach Dench and slow him down somehow (first hypothesis: thaumaturgy). ]]

Rash nods.

"That sounds like an excellent idea to me," he says. "Just... try not to engage him directly if you can... Dench may be a brutish idiot, but he is a member of the tribe and I would prefer not to see him dead by our hands if it can be avoided."

With the plan concocted, Rash will go ask his father for advice on this issue... he knows that the Bard has a way of getting people to do what he wants.

"Hey dad... Kunnari just let us know that Dench is being an idiot again. I know, nothing new there... but this time it looks like he's trying to drag us into a war with the Uthgard Barbarians. Anita and I are going to try to deliver a warning to the Uthgards while the others delay Dench. Um... yeah, thing is, I know that no matter how much Anita likes to hype up my talents, negotiation is not among them if needed."

"Uthgard Barbarians?" Jaque opens his eyes wide in disbelief "It would be a bloody and cruel clash... The Uthgard Barbarians are predominantly human, rather than orcs and mixed bloods, but they are neither less tough... nor less ferocious. And they are definitely more numerous than the Bloodskulls. Dench must have become even more stupid than he was before - a feat not easy to accomplish, but I guess we have to face the facts".

"I will speak to these Uthgard that Dench would like to attack..." the bard quickly decides "At my age, I hoped to enjoy a peaceful retirement, but if it is about averting a war... Let me go to them. And tomorrow, I will speak to our tribe to boot - after what he has done, Dench cannot remain among us any longer. You, my son, who are the hero, do the heroic thing: reach Dench and delay him - 'possibly without getting yourself killed', I would have added until a few days ago; but" there is an unprecedented pride in the bard's gaze "the son who has recently returned to me has demonstrated what he can do. I would be an old fool to persist in not appreciating him. And I am not that fool. I trust you" he pats the half-orc wizard on his shoulder. "Just delay him safely; the part of the old chatterbox is mine to play. Everything will be fine".

"Are you sure it's safe for you to go alone?" Rash asks the Bard. "After all, the Barbarians aren't the only dangerous things out there... you might be unlucky and run into Dench before I do... or perhaps goblin scouts from the army we stumbled upon... I'm sure that Ugnash and Yevelda would be more than happy to decapitate Dench if worse comes to worse and you end up finding him before I do. Yevelda especially, considering how many times he's tried to bully her into being his concubine... you'd think he'd have gotten the hint after she broke his jaw..."

Rash will try to convince his father to take at least one of his siblings as a bodyguard, but if his father insists on going alone there isn't much else to do, Rash will go ahead and let the others know that his father will try to reach the Uthgard. Meanwhile, Rash has decided to make some preparations for dealing with Dench... this seems like the perfect opportunity to use the unseen warriors to their greatest potential (well, their greatest potential until his magical power is enough for him to upcast the spell).

“What was I telling you, my son?” Jaque sighs "I'm really getting old... It's been too long since I wandered the rugged slopes of these wild regions. Of course, there may be other dangers! And now that your mother knows me better, I don't know if she would still take care of me as well as she used to if I got hurt..." he jokes "All right, I'll take the boys... a night march in the fresh air will do them good!"

And so, the united group of heroes soon sets out on the trail of Dench and his gang. Starting to search near the point where Kunnari was supposed to join Dench, Gaer and Roxana manage to follow the tracks easily and consequently, thanks to the excellent quality of your steeds, you manage to regain ground.

Not as quickly as you would like, however, because the route often passes through sections that are inaccessible, or treacherous (due to ice), or covered with thick vegetation (such as sections of thick conifers).

In the end, however, the superiority of your means rewards you and Gaer and Roxana warn you that they are hearing the noise of a group of people, a little further ahead, moving among the snow and fir trees. You do not see them yet, but you must be near. Maybe just 50' - 60'. It's definitely time to take action to slow them down, if you want to give Jaque and his group time to find the Uthgard Barbarians and talk to them. Spira seems willing to try to approach unseen and fool Dench with the use of thaumaturgy... [[ OOC: Or at least, so OisinmacCameron declared in his last post ]] But if someone else prefers to do something different...

Do we have any idea if Dench's gang have stopped up ahead to make camp? If they have, Rash would ideally like to ritual cast Blinn's Unseen Warrior to create a spectral archer that can provide a major distraction... if not, he'll sigh and just use a spell slot. Also, casting mage armor

"Spira... take this with you," he says, handing her one of the little metal soldiers. "The invisible warrior can cover your retreat and distract the goons if they spot you. The warrior will remain within 30 feet of the figurine."

(the warrior is using the Archery fighting style, and it will wield a heavy crossbow)

No, they haven't stopped... they're continuing, to go and carry out their attack. So Rash will have to use a spell slot for Blinn's Unseen Warrior too.

Orders for the summoned warrior? Defending Spira if she gets spotted?

Yes, that is correct.