"We're here to try and do some good." Loane adds. "Extra help can go a long way, especially when it comes to information."

Chen doesn't feel he can contribute to the negotiations with the guards, but he is ready for some refreshments. He dismounts (if we didn't already), and rummages around his his saddlebags, telling the guards: I'm sure we'd be happy to wait a while on the captain's convenience. Would anyone care for some tea? or soup? If the guards don't prevent him, Chen will attempt to set up a small fire nearby and place a pot of water on top. 

Persuasion? (for the effect of Chen's good nature on the guards' attitude?): 20

The soldier listens to each party member, his face flexing with each revelation and ultimately heading straight into confusion with Chen's offer.

He scratches his head, he looks back at the seemingly normal soldier whose been casting spells. The spell weilding soldier points at him.  They share a long look. Then the spell wielder nods and points at another of the soldiers. That soldier shares a long look with him then nods, and turns and high tails it into the camp. The five remaining sit there and watch Chen curiously as he begins setting up a pot to boil, though their eyes are watchful of the group. 

Eventually the soldier returns with another soldier in tow, this one wearing the patches of a lieutenant. He glances shrewdly about the group, "My name is Lieutenant Mallet."  He stares at Chen who is in mid-setup of a fire. Then he glances appraisingly at each of you.  "I've been briefed on your offer. Please, come with me." 

He leads you into the camp, leaving time for Chen to hastily break down his pot and pour the water back into his water skin, spilling it all over the place in the process.  A few minutes later Chen is ready to go and he leads you into the camp. Several soldiers are leaving a tent, glancing with grumbles at the group as they make there way off into the tent.  A troop of nearly twenty soldiers are waiting here milling about. One of them has a big wooden box at his feet that looks long enough to perhaps hold swords or other long handled goods. It's empty. 

The Lieutenant glances to one of the troop with Sergeant badges on his shoulder, "Sergeant Pale, please have some of your squad members hold these people's fine horses."  

He turns to the group as they begin to dismount. "We'll have your horses fed and watered over at our stables. We'll have shoes checked and so on. They look to be beautiful animals."  He reaches up and pats one on the face, scratching its cheek.  "Once your dismounted, please place your weapons in that crate. I understand several of them are magical. Half this squad will remain watch over them at all times while we're in the tent speaking." 

Tic, while hopping off his horse says, "I will remain outside as well, we aren't all needed for the conversation."  Toc nods to him, pulling out his rapier and placing it into the crate. "Surely you won't insist on my walking stick being left here."  The Lieutenant gives a knowing grimace, "I'm sure your 'walking stick' is more potent than a third of my mage cadre, but no, you may bring it...." 

Lieutenant Pale leads you inside the tent, as the soldiers lead your horses away. Inside, sitting on a cot is the captain. He looks a bit unshaven, and is scratching at a scar across his face that looks somewhat new.  There are five other soldiers in the tent that are standing in corners and near doors. Their eyes track the group. He looks up as you enters, looking at each of your with judgement. Once you're all within the camp he nods to the Lieutenant, then addresses the group, "Alright, Captain Rodery of the 14th Hillsfar Regiment. You have news about orc movements, and a green dragon as well."

Toc raises his hand, "Uh, sorry sir, I have reason to believe there may be spies about. Please, a few moments?"  

Toc begins weaving a spell, moving about the tent as he casts. You can see both the Lieutenant and the Captain quickly glance towards one of the soldiers in the tent in particular. He seems to be watching Toc intently, and then meets his superior officers eyes and nods reassuringly. They both seem to relax. The sounds of the forest and camp outside slowly fade away as a strange fog seems to spread throughout the tent. A few moments later its as if your ears pop and you can hear nothing but the breathing and shuffling of those within the tent. 

"This place is secure from prying eyes and ears now. We may talk."  He looks back to the rest of the group, stepping into the background as a servant might.

As Chen packs up Jahren smiles and says "you can owe me some of that tea later instead, eh?"

Jahren puts his dagger in the box and hands over his quarterstaff as well without complaint.  He is curious to see if they insist on him turning in any of his other items.

Meeting Captain Rodery, the half-elf greets the man appropriately and reports their incident with the dragon and the mephit messenger.  He then turns to Fianna and Mirica, remarking "regarding the orc war band, my companions have the specifics..."

When asked to hand over their weapons, Loane hands them over. She looks over each soldier, before stepping away to allow the others to put their items in. The Bracer of Flying Daggers is kept on her, unless one of them asks her to put it in as well. As they enter the tent, she gives the Captain a polite greeting. She remains quiet as Jahren recounts the tale on the boat, only interjecting once or twice for a quick addition. Her attention seems to be on the scar for most of the time, trying to figure out what might have caused it.

Medicine?: 14

The show turned out to be much less entertaining than expected. Mirica would go as far as to say it is no fun at all. Toc indeed wanted them to learn everything he wanted to know about the demons. She remembered the questions, but ...really? Anyway, first thing first - to befriend the regiment with useful information.

She smiled and nodded to Jahren "You could just continue." She looked at Captain Rodery: "But my companion is right, we did find out about the orcs." She retell everything they learned about the orcs including now coordinates (as far as it was possible) of the camp. "We do not know what do they plan, but our group was attacked. Most likely so will be other travellers."

Mirica finished her little speech curious about Captains reaction (both to the news about the orcs and the dragon, asserting if he is really interested to hear more or at all)

Perception 26

Insight: 14

     Fianna is about scoff at the idea of turning over her weapons but when Tic announces that he will be remaining outside she decides he'll be guard enough to ensure their items are still there after the briefing.  

     In the briefing Fianna finds herself nodding a lot, "mmhmm"'ing a lot and generally just paying attention but not stepping forward.  She feels a wave of reluctance wash over her when Jahren offers the floor to Mirica and her, but it quickly passes when Mirica steps up to provide their information.  Fianna does chirp in with a brief comment or gentle correction once or twice but her compatriots do a good job of passing along the details so she is able to remain mostly silent. 

     She is not totally passive in her silence, however.  Fianna does use the time to study Sergeant Pale and those of his men in the tent to try to determine their attitude to all this information.  Do they believe this varied band of non-humans? Do they car about this information or are they merely listening to act like they do?  ((Insight  18 ))

The Captain and Sergeant both ask probing questions all along. They seem somewhat interested in the dragon, but much more interested in the orcs. 

Loane examines the scar. For a warrior, it's not too uncommon to get nasty scars. Even with magical healing, often the healing isn't sufficient to fully manage a wound and the rest needs heal on its own. His seems to be caused by fire of some sort, since the skin is mottled and waxy, though more than that you can't say. 

Mirica, they do seem genuinely interested in the news as far as you can tell. Fianna, you are getting a bit of a strange vibe between Sergeant Pale and Lieutenant Mallet and Captain Rodery, but you can't figure out what about it. There are some shared looks a number of times and raised eyebrows. 

Eventually the Captain nods, "Very well. Oak Regiment appreciates the intelligence of troop movements you've been able to provide to us today."  Lieutenant Mallet sighs and takes his jacket off, handing it to Captain Rodery.  Captain Rodery smiles and removes his Captains jacket, handing it to Lieutenant Mallet.  The man who'd you thought was Lieutenant Mallet and is now wearing the...slightly better fitting Captains jacket smiles, rubbing his face.  "You can never be too careful these days. I am in fact Captain Rodery."

 Smirks dress the faces of the soldiers around the tent.

He continues, "To whom do I owe my thanks for this information?  It seems clear you're no average travelers on the road. What brings you into the forest and what do I need to know to make sure I'm not getting my men and women stuck in the middle of it." 

Chen's tummy rumbles as he tries to ignore his hunger and pay attention to the conversation in the tent. He knows the report about orcs and dragons isn't the real reason for coming, and certainly not worthy of such secrecy, but can't recall all the details about wizards and demons from before. He grins as the soldiers' subterfuge is revealed.

     Fianna turns and walks out of the tent to reclaim he weapons and her horse.  Assuming she is not restrained, she will wait for the others outside of these humans little fort...

Jahren smirks in appreciation for the trickery of the Captain and Lt.  He clears his throat and begins introducing the party...

"Captain, Lieutenant, allow me to introduce this newly formed band of brave souls intent on investigating some of the strange happenings in Cormanthor.  I present to you Toc, together with his brother our local experts, guides, and the inspiration for our journey into these perilous lands.  SinSin, the most skillful and nimble warrior you will ever meet without a weapon in his hand.  Don't let your men bet their silver on taking him off his feet, lest your entire camp be left devoid of even a single coin.  Loane, master of the seas and striking at the heart of your enemy without ever having been there at all.  Mirica, master of the wood itself, and conduit for its divine powers."  He pauses very briefly to look for Fianna but does not see her there.  "And last but certainly not least, I give you the mighty Chen.  I would advise you not to allow him to enlist in your ranks lest your supply lines be decimated, his appetite for the finest of cuisine being the only thing that may rival the fury of his maul!"

Pausing for a second to make a grand gesture towards the group, Jahren introduces himself in a much more subdued tone.  "I, your humble servant, am the one they call Jahren, here to chronicle the mighty deeds of these fine heroes here for as long as they'll permit me."

Chen gives a soft round of applause in the corner for the masterful introductions.

Loane follows Chen's lead and claps softly. She clears her throat before speaking up. "As Jahren has stated, we're here looking for information about a recent encounter your Regiment has had. We were hoping our information would make you more willing to share yours. There are strange, foul things in these woods as you no doubt know, and we're here for them."
She pauses, allowing others to fill in some of the more specific details. They have shown to put it in more eloquent terms previously. 

Captain Rodery nods, "Yes, very well, I'd be happy to pass on some information of our own, it's only fair. What is it you're looking for?"

Toc steps forward at his queue, "Captain, your 22nd squad encountered some demons at the old ruined fort near the Dulthamper. I have questions."

The Captain shakes his head, "And here I was thinking I might be able to tell you something. The 22nd squad is led by Sergeant Coon and is one of my most valuable, and simultaneously most irritating squads under my command. I'll share with you now that they seem to take my orders as recommendations, tend to go off at random, and are consistently getting into trouble, which they infuriatingly always come away from more shiny than before. He has both a squad mage and a squad healer that I feel like are hiding their talents and slumming it with a squad for no reason I can discern when they should rightfully leading a Cadre each. Anyway, they sent me only a vague report about it which I forwarded on to command at Hillsfar, which I presume is your source. The only thing I can say is, last I was told, the squad sent in a message that they were following up on some potential threat near the ruins of the elven court. I presume you can find it."

Toc, "You have no way to get them a message?" 

The Captain makes a sour face. He turns to one of the soldiers near the back, "Commander Shard, can you send Coon a message. Make sure it's firm. He's to give me a spot where he can meet some independents. Elven court is two days on horseback, so two days from now. He's to ensure he makes the meeting."  The Commander nods, and begins mumbling a sending spell. 

"It is done" he says in a voice with no inflection and no emotion. You get the impression Commander Shard might say it exactly that way even if he'd just been asked to drown a dozen kittens. "They will meet near the fountain of tears."

Rodery nods.  He turns back, regarding the group with patient grey eyes that seem to be piercing your souls. "If we could maintain open communication about the situation, I'd appreciate it. Commander Shard has met you now. If we learn anything new we'll pass it on. I'd really like to know what foolishness my squad has stumbled upon."

Toc nods, "Of course, it was a pleasure meeting you Captain."

(Unless anyone wants to say anything else....) 

The group exits the tent. Fianna can be spotted pulling her horse across the camp's yard as everyone picks up their unique weapons each steeped in its own history, and then heads to get their horses. Eventually the group is back out on the main road.  Toc turns to Fianna, "Everything ok? You got out of there pretty quickly. We are meeting the 22nd squad in the elven court in 2 days. You know the way, yes?  Would you like to lead?"

Despite not having seen the report or knowing any details, Chen nonetheless asks Rodery: Captain, did the 22nd provide you no additional details other than what was contained in the report?

     “I’m fine. It’s fine. Everything is fine,” Fianna says in answer to Toc as she spurs her horse forward toward their destination.  “Just got annoyed, is all.  Was afraid I’d say something...  antagonistic.  Figured it better to depart than ruin your chat, is all...”

     They ride on in silence for a while, not really uncomfortably but the air isn’t exactly cleared either.  Eventually Fianna breaks under Toc’s patience and explains further. “It wasn’t the deception... I can accept that little precaution...  it was their smirks about it.  The way their eyes twinkled.  It’s petty, I know, but it roles me that they felt they got something over on the group of non-humans.  But not even that, but the fact they delighted in it so...”

     “Everyone has their prejudices.  Their biases.  It sucks, but it’s true.  Even me.  I try not to but...” she’s at a loss of words for a moment so just fills in the gap with a shrug.  “They seem to delight in it though.  They enjoy their petty little prejudices.  They like them.  That... that scares me.”

     “I would have liked to have confronted them... to thrown it in their faces...  but I couldn’t.  I had to eat it so we could get their cooperation.  And that...  I think that’s what bothered me the most,” Fianna explains, riding side by side with Toc and staring stoically in front, determined not to let the tear she feels welling up to actually fall.

     “I’m happier fighting what needs fighting.  I dislike having to compromise...”

Mirica was riding behind Fianna and Toc and chimed in with a sudden defence of the humans. "You were alone for too long, that's all. Look at Toc - he jumps at his own shadow, sees spies everywhere - probably justifiably so. And you put up with it, because you understand why he is the way he is. (No offence, Toc) Those guys - they fight all day long, with not much to do in between. No doubts they are hunted as much as they hunt. They have to be on a constant alert without any means to went. This is by far not the worst way for a stress relief."

She made a pause but then added very seriously: "They accepted Toc's precautions without a word - as if suspecting some spies in their midst. But that squad of theirs...By the holy light of Dawnspeaker, what can be so "precious" about it? The squad screams "fake" with every word of description the Captain used. At best they simply lie, at worst - work for the enemy, whoever that enemy is. In the first case - guess it can be useful to have someone for show-offs. Not productive, but useful. But in the second case... We have to be very careful."

     “Precaution is one thing, the smirks after was something else,” Fianna explains.  “I do not think they’d have smirked like that after revealing their little trickery to a group of humans.  Maybe I’m wrong but... “ She shrugs.

     “But yes, from what you all have relayed to me about this 22nd squad,” Fianna adds, “we should definitely be prepared for most anything.”

Insight 13 to see if Jahren believes that the Captain is truly frustrated with this semi-rogue squad and doesn't truly know more about their demon encounter and what they are really up to.

"I conquer" remarks Jahren regarding the group's suspicion of the 22nd squad after they have ridden out of camp.  "It seemed to be that he secretly takes a certain amount of pride in his rogue squad that gets the job done through their own unique means, but it also would not be surprising if they've gotten tangled up in something beyond even their capabilities.  We best be ready for anything from them, including a lack of cooperation and tolerance for our intrusion."