Kess narrows her eyes dangerously as she stands so close to Wuzig, scimitars aloft. There was an ice to her voice; a threat, backed by a history of living in the north.

"I suggest you consider your actions in the next moments very carefully, bugbear, or you may find yourself short an arm... or even your breath."

Initiative: 24

With eyelids still groggy, Wuzig remains seated and looks around, his head shifting back and forth slowly and deliberately as he sees the six of you. He's visibly startled by the imposing elf standing in front of him with two scimitars drawn, and he even shows a brief flash of confusion and fear in his eyes, as there's some sense of frightened familiarity at what he's seeing, or else he just recognizes the tactical superiority the elf holds on him.

He also glances down and notices that his weapon is no longer by his side, a fact that only adds to his feeling of resignation. Finding himself totally surprised, outnumbered, unarmed and in a very vulnerable position, the bugbear responds to Kess by slowly raising his hands in an obvious sign of capitulation.

Vesper was ready to cast a combat spell as the Bugbear awoke, but she quickly saw that it wouldn't be necessary when the bugbear made the smart decision and decided not to start an unwinnable fight. She lowers her hands when it raises his. "Well. Good job us for making that one quick. What were you doing, hanging out at this bridge with a weapon?" She asks Wuzig.

Krackle would try to remain hidden behind his bush while taking a moment to try to quickly bury the stolen weapon. Gently tapping the dirt with his tiny staff, he would cast mold earth, causing the loose soil under the weapon to part and the mace to drop out of sight before it quickly closed back up.

stealth again.. 8

Chrys puts away her javelin... only to draw out her warhammer instead.  She steps very slowly to Kess' side and slings the hammer over one shoulder.  Tilting her head, she turns to Vesper and says "'Ey, Vesper, try it again, but use that spell o' yours... maybe Wuzig here don't speak common so good."

"The only thing my spell does is send him something that only he can hear. It wouldn't change his ability to understand it or not."

The bugbear looks over at Vesper when she asks the question, then glances back nervously at Kess. 

"Sleeping. Wuzig like it here. Pretty and crik make nice noise."

"Always carry weapon. Like you have weapons. Woods have dangers. Not have weapon now, you take?"

Chrys narrows her eyes thoughtfully.  "Dangers, eh?  Like what?  Bears, boars, maybe even a goblin or two...?"  She trails off with that leading question expectantly, looking to Wuzig for an answer.

”Yez... bearz and boarz. Big onez dangerous. Some goblins in forest, but they not danger to Wuzig. They too weak to defeat Wuzig.”

"How far are the goblins from here? Do you see them often?"

“See goblins some, they walk in forest. Wuzig not know where hideout. Wuzig no like crowded caves. Like forest and sky. Like hunt alone... not with bossy goblins and bosses.”

"You said that the goblins have a boss, is the boss a bugbear, like you?"

Lumen has had his vicious mockery spell ready to release on the other side of the creek, and, as the others manage to disarm the bugbear, he brightens and slowly moves across the log to join them, lightly strumming his lute, listening to the conversation. He waits for him to reply to Vesper’s question and then steps in.

”Wuzig, I am Vork. Nice to meet you.” His voice sounds a lot more rough-hewn and simple - not at all the refined and resonant baritone you’ve heard thus far.

”This is a nice spot. We didn’t want to startle you or fight so we tried to let you sleep and moved your weapon away until we leave. Do you like music?”

He begins to pick some heavier chords that remind him of anything he’s heard from bugbear camps he’s bumped into in the Spine. If he seems to like it he will used prestidigitation to add some fun dancing lights and sparkles to the rhythm of the percussive music. His goal is to win this bugbear over because he knows that they are much more useful as allies than enemies.

Realizing that Wuzig was likely more likely to snore a snot bubble than take a swing at any of them, Kessdarra finally relaxed, sheathing her blades, though she didn't take her eyes off of the bugbear for even a moment. She never kept her hands far from her blades, however.

"Sorry for the rude awakening. We just saw that large club of yours and we weren't sure if you would be more prone to try and club us over the head or talk to us. Besides, you don't strike me as the type to really bother anyone... do you, Wuzig?"

”Many goblins has boss. Wuzig follows no boss. See some goblin this moon, no bugbears. Wuzig only bugbear near crik.”

(Lumen, roll a performance check.)

"Are you able to identify their boss for us or not?"

Performance 18

The bugbear seems a bit humiliated at Kess’s last comment, but perhaps it’s just that he’s not used to finding himself in such a helpless position. He tries to preserve at least some sense of dignity, while still resigning to the fact that he’s been beaten.

“Wuzig no bother you, but Wuzig strong with many victory. Bother many foes, in battle, bu’ not foolsish. Know that elf with two swords is strong too. Saw one like you many moons past. Wuzig not want to die, so puts hands up and no bother. Not know any goblin boss near place here. Say before... Wuzig hunt alone.”

He appears to be somewhat appeased by Lumen’s music. Wuzig relaxes a bit and slumps down against the tree, taking slower, deeper breaths. He’s a little mystified by the magical sparkles, but he remains calm  

"Yeh... like story noise. Not same, bu’ tinks of home tribe when Wuzig young. Wuzig think Volk be shaman making magic lights. Maybe stay sleeping by nice crik if dwarf armor not make loud sounds. Dwarf not quiet like elf.”

By this time, Ellywick has scampered across the log and joined you all on the other side. He remains quiet, but you can tell that he’s quite intrigued by the whole episode, and certainly glad that a battle with the bugbear was avoided. 

"Shall we get going then?"

Lumen bows at the bugbear and nods at Vesper’s suggestion