The Summit Road Campaign Thread

"I will be your friend... *coo* ...think... *coo* ...won't interrupt..."

 For the first time since the beginning of their mission Druhdaar felt pangs of regret, as he saw Shiazala's suprisingly fierce reaction to his own harsh comments: he knew his own indignation at what he considered to be a subtle and ingrained system of indoctrination from the Path of Inspiration's zealots and their Quori mind-guides had mixed with his irritation at finding his green guides companions letting themselves being entangled in what the druid saw as a string of useless, unending philosophical considerations. The whole thing had gotten the better of his temper, and he found himself briefly wondering if he'd spoken out of turn, innerly cursing himself for it. He shook his great, tangled mane of hair in an attempt to clear his thoughts and erase the whole upsetting episode from his system: he knew there was no point in dwelling on these things... doubts could make you slow and muddy-headed... doubts could get you killed .

 He reminded himself they still had some hours of walking ahead of them: that should give time for everyone's nerves to settle, providing the touchy subject of Riedran life philosophy and Quori mind-control was avoided. He, for one, would stay out of the others' craw, as he should have done in the first place. He suddenly longed for the quiet, lone simplicity of the Adarian forest, and gave a tired, frustrated sigh as he plodded onwards.

 He'd first decided to ignore young Shiazala, but as she kept on making sour faces at him he slowed his pace to first stare down at the little girl with a somber, ominous glare... that quickly turned into a shy grin as the big man playfully stuck his own tongue out, after which he gave the kid a small wink as a peace offering - and something like an apology - before accelerating his pace to join the head of the column and Taran, who was scouting ahead.

 As he caught up with the young hunter and assured himself that the other refugees couldn't hear their conversation, he said to him under his breath, in his usual gruff tone:

" Better keep an eye on that Shifter, tonight. Feller's a bit rattled. Keeps on babbling about the Il-Altas. "

Shiazala grins delightedly at Druhdaar's wink and subsides with her faces, seemingly content.

The journey continues, now slightly more awkward after the heated argument. Dulamul keeps to the edge of the group, while Aleel and Bhuji stick close together. Lanan flatly ignores the rest of you. As you get closer to the monastery, Caelius notices a few flickers of movement here and there that indicate the Shalquar scouts are watching your group.

A little after midday, you all arrive at the cliff face that makes up the entrance to the Shalquar fortress. As you approach, there is no sign of any life or movement, even to Caelius.

Taran shifts uncomfortably in the stillness and silence.

"Um...Avai ?" He'd call out after a moment, "W-w-we are here with the r-r-refugees, m-may w-we c-come in?"

Juhaan

He's clearly uneasy with what Dulamul said about the changelings and his posture is now more aggressive towards him, even though he doen't openly speak it.
Depiste that he continues with his tasks, helping the others with the journey and a making sure no one gets lost.

At Taran's words, a perfect illusion falls away, revealing a simple stone building with four kalashtar and two humans arrayed outside the entrance tunnel in non threatening positions. However, you all suspect they could be ready in fight in the space of a breath. One of the humans, a woman with black hair coiled neatly on her head, steps forward. "Reztai," she murmurs. "Enter and be welcome. I am Inuu. Two of us will take you to the rooms where we will confirm you are still yourselves before taking you to the Master of the monastery." She gestures towards the shadowed tunnel as one of the kalashtar steps into the entrance tunnel and waits for you to follow before continuing.

Taran will nod quietly and will follow the Kalashtar

(OOC: As long as nothing else goes wrong before then)

As the first of you go into the tunnel, Sulaan follows, holding a wide-eyed Shiazala.

Aleel and Bhuji also follow hesitantly.

Lanan and Dulamul both stick to the back of the group.

The kalashtar leads you through the shadowy entrance tunnel, with Inuu moving behind all of you. You suspect if you wanted to leave, it would be less than easy to get past either fighter. Abruptly, the nameless kalashtar in front of you turns off into a side tunnel, where you move through a warren of chambers before you halt and Inuu speaks. "The new Adarans will come with me to learn about Adar and be checked over for injury or mental manipulation. The guides will go with Tyhareth to debrief and be mentally secured." She beckons to the refugees, who all hesitantly begin to follow her, although Shiazala and Dulamul both glance back at you. The kalashtar, Tyhareth, motions for you all to follow him down a different hall. As you move, he says simply, "I will take you to a room where you may rest. A telepath will interview you one by one to ensure no mental manipulation occurred on your mission. Once this has been confirmed, you will debrief with the local trailblazer and then be allowed to roam Shalquar until you leave, either on your next mission or for another reason."

Taran waves weakly to Shiazala and the others as their paths diverge, trying to keep a positive smile on his face.

"I-I-I hope... um, everything w-works out!" he'll call back to them.

Then, as they move down the hall, he'll ask Tyhareth "S-s-so... um, i-if the debriefs... is th-that when we'll know... um, d-d-did we... did we do okay?"

Tyhareth shrugs. "I don't know. I'm a monk of Shalquar, not a member of the Road. How you do your business isn't something I'm made aware of, for safety of Adar reasons, apparently." His voice turns a little dry at the end of the sentence.

Vishal tells all the refugees, "You will be fine. Just tell them everything." His voice a little soft but he keeps his eyes avoided from Dulamul. He then quietly follows the monk for their screening.  

"O-oh." Taran says, as they walk. "I'm... uh, I'm sorry?"

As their group is about to split from the refugees, Druhdaar stands glowering in front of Lanan and Dulamul. For a second it seems the air fills with tension as the big man jerks his hand inside his vest and pulls out a single, broken and yellowed tusk, that looks like it belonged to a very old boar indeed. Slowly, and surprisingly gently, the burly hermit extends it towards the shifter, all the while observing both him and Lanan, his eyes glowing with emerald intensity underneath bristling, bushy eyebrows.

" Okay, this is where you go do your thing. Take this, it brought me luck... may bring you some, too. "

He seems to become somewhat uncomfortable and he looks over his shoulder, shuffling his great feet as he sees the rest of his group filling away to follow their monk guide. After another awkward pause he mumbles:

" If things get... strange 'round here, you can always ask for us. If we can, we'll come check on y'all. Otherwise, your buddy here looks the capable sort. ", he juts his chin towards Lanan to illustrate his point.

 Another shuffling of big feet.

 Druhdaar scratches at his cheeks as he looks up towards the ceiling and heaves a deep sigh, then looks back at all of them - Lanan, Dulamul but also Aleel, Bhuji, Sulaan and little Shiazala - with a calmer demeanour, as if he's finally able to muster some sort of warmth and friendliness when one of the longest monologues he's had in probably weeks comes to its lumbering conclusion. After another mischievious wink at the little girl he turns his focus back on the shifter.

" Y'all will be all right. Just always follow your gut and things will... er... sort themselves... Mmmph. Okay. Good, then. "

After another half-grunt that could have been an apology or a goodbye - or both, neither of the refugees will ever know - the big man firmly turns his back on them and plows ahead of the rest of his group with brisk, impatient steps, only whirling back towards the rest of the green guides to grumble: 

" Whatcha all standin' here staring at me for ? Go on then, I won't hold your hands down these darn tunnels ! "

Taran (and anyone nearby who makes a successful Perception check, to DM's discretion):

Dulamul hesitantly takes the tusk from Druhdaar before turning and following the other refugees and Inuu.

Tyhareth leads you all to a simple, comfortable room with chairs and bookshelves scattered around. A pitcher of water and some clay mugs sit on the table, and a second door is visible on the far side of the room. "Feel free to make yourselves comfortable while you're waiting for the telepath to take you, but please do not leave until it is your turn," Tyhareth says calmly before closing the door behind him.

Taran heads over and pours glasses for everyone, before putting some of his dried mint in his own glass.

"I-I sh-shouldn't be nervous, right? We did good? Sort of? I- th-think?"

River enters the room with everyone else and makes her way to the corner of the room, where she squats down and watches everyone carefully.

After the monk takes her into the interview and then to the meeting-style room, River is visibly shaken up and nervous, her eyes darting around more fervently than before and hugging her sword to her chest.

Juhaan

"Fine. lets do this" he says uncomfortably while moving to the room to be interviewed.

After Caelius’s interview, he sits in the corner writing on a page in his wordbook.

Taran returns to the room, looking his normal anxious and unsure self.

Seeing River so upset draws him up short though, and he thinks back to how little he knows about the sweet little kenku who has been traveling with them.

"It-It's k-kind of sc-scary, huh?" He'll say after a moment of standing awkwardly staring at her, "Um... m-must have been... you know... with... stuff."

His panic at realizing he is terrible at comforting people changes into a different panic as a single thought pierces the fog of his thoughts. What would Sim do, if it was him and she was trying to make him feel better.

"Do... um, if you want, that is, just you look like... do you... want a hug?" he'll ask lamely.

Druhdaar enters the room, looking strangely subdued. Without a word or a glance at anyone, he calmly takes a seat in a corner.