>>355827
Not much to do except sleep till morning.

In the morning I'm woken up by Idra while Rakuen finishes packing up a new bag he found somewhere. there's also some new weapons that probably came the gnoll. I smile and give Idra a kiss before getting dressed, noticing that Rakuen seems to be avoiding looking at either of us whenever possible. I also notice that my coinpurse is sitting on a table, with more in it then I've ever seen at one time before.

Idra fills me in on what happened as I eat a small breakfast before looking through the small pile of stuff in the wagon myself. I also take a look at the lantern meant to serve as a light for inside the wagon and discover that, while ornate, it's still a pretty normal oil lantern, so I fill it from the oil stores and place it with my stuff.

INVENTORY

Dasaki:
GOGGLES, worn on head, protect eyes from a number of things.
VEST, worn on body (pocket space for 6 items, contains COIN PURSE (284 coins), FISHING LINE, 2 RATIONS)
LUTE, worn on back or held with both hands, can be used to play music and doubles as a crushing weapon. Each use as a weapon puts it more out of tune, too far out of tune and music fails all together.
NEVREAN KRIS, worn in sheath or in main hand, a stabbing weapon with a vicious, wavy blade.
OIL LANTERN, held in off hand, the lamp from inside the merchant wagon, OIL LEVEL: 100%

Rakuen:
CLOTHES, worn on body (pocket space for 2 items, contains JOURNAL, FIRESTARTER)
BACKPACK, worn on back (space for 15 items, contains FISHING LINE, TRADE RECORDS, 2 RATIONS, INK, QUILL, 2 FISH, 4 VEGETABLES, 2 CLEAN SHEETS, CLEAN BLANKET (small items that don't use slots, BANDIT'S ORDERS, LOCKBOX KEY))
SHARPENED GNOLL DAGGER, worn in sheath or in main hand, a weapon meant more for stabbing, though as it's sized for a gnoll, it becomes more of a sword in the hands of a smaller nevrean. Because of the extra metal shaved away for the sharp edge, this blade is a bit trickier to handle, but much more dangerous when it hits.

Idra:
MENDED CLOTHES, worn on body (pocket space for 6 items, contains FISH, RATION)
IMPROVISED LARGE QUIVER, worn on back (space for up to 50 arrows, contains 20 HUNTING ARROWS, 16 BANDIT ARROWS), two smaller quivers bound together, they lose a portion of the capacity from each but allow more capacity overall.
GREEN JEWELED RING, work on finger, a silver band with a small green gem set in it.
GNOLL SHORTBOW, attached to quiver or used in both hands, roughly the same size as a standard hunting bow, it has a slower draw but more power.
GNOLL DAGGER, worn in sheath or in main hand. Though crafted for a gnoll, the size is roughly the same as for a talyxian blade.

Unused: 16 RATIONS, 14 VEGETABLES, 2 CLEAN SHEETS, 3 BROKEN BANDIT ARROWS, HUNTING BOW

Nevrean can't into bow, with those puny bird arms D:

Is there anything I should change around? There's still room for more food, but the added weight might also slow us down a little. I suppose I could try looking for something to put some lamp oil in as well, it's both useful and valuable.

Maybe switch the GNOLL BOW with the HUNTING BOW.

Do the orders say where/who to bring the ring two? That seems like the obvious thing to follow up on.

>>357060

Do you mean forgot the GNOLL BOW completely and stay with the HUNTING BOW that she had when they found the wagon? And where did it say anything about a ring?

Maybe you or one of the others can break a piece of wood off the wagon or a nearby tree, and tie the clean sheets into bindles to carry more vegetables or rations... or possibly even tie a clean sheet around one end of the hunting bow to create the bindle, which would help you carry more stuff without the difficulty of it weighing you down when in combat, since you can just put the bindle down at the first sign if trouble. Of course, you'll have to fold the sheets before you tie them, probably.

The orders don't give specifics on the what, where and who of anything related to them, presumably the bandit would have been given this information orally to avoid things getting messy if caught and searched, and only had the orders as a reminder.

I decide we should go ahead and tie the hunting bow to the side of Rakuen's backpack, as it could at least be worth something in trade once we get to the town and could provide a valuable replacement if Idra's bowstring snaps. The bow itself is too short to make a decent bindle, even if one of us knew how to make such. However, Idra stuffs Rakuen's old bag full of food and carries it by hand, just as easily dropped if needed and giving us a few extra days worth.

With all our gear in order, we leave the wagon and the bodies behind and set out north, traveling for most of the day. It's fairly uneventful, with nothing bigger then a rabbit crossing our paths until around nightfall when something much larger starts to rustle through the brush near the road...

oh boy weapons ready

>>358540
Yeah you might want to, uh, keep your guard up.

Rakuen and I draw our blades while Idra steps behind us and pulls out her bow. The rustling continues as we step back from the bushes, I turn back to Idra and give her the signal to fire into the the brush. One of the barbed arrows flies from her bow, whizzing just over my head and into the bushes as a cry of pain fills the night.

Rakuen and I stumble back as the creature bursts from the brush, the three of us coming face to face with a very large, pissed sergal. Black fur and clothing to match that of the gnoll back at the wagon, the bandits must have seen us leave...

>>366028
uuuum...
shoot it in the face.

with your knives.

>>366028
shoot it in the dick or PCH

>>366028
Quick, while he is disoriented slash at his tendons to cripple him!

just fucking DO SOMETHING DAMMIT!

Idra readies another arrow as Rakuan and I charge, the sergal bringing it's own sword into a wide swipe in an attempt to hit both of us. Idra looses her second arrow, the sharp tip piercing his cheek and throwing his aim off, though he still manages to slice a few of my longer feathers and catch Rakuen in the side...

Rakuen gets thrown off into the brush from the force of the hit, while I still manage to land my attack, the curved blade of my kris slicing through the sergal's flesh and bringing him to the ground as his leg crumples beneath him.

I leave Idra to finish the sergal as I run to check on Rakuen, I find him laying in a heap. The plants having broken his fall quite a bit, but a deep gash in his body from the sergal's blade and his bright blue feathers already turning red...

It looks extremely bad and I'm not sure if we can save him, I'm not sure what Idra's knowledge on the topic is either... I collapse as I look down at him, a final sound behind me as Idra puts the sergal down for good before coming over and giving a cry of horror as she sees him.

Im not certain if you bird-beaks can do mouth to mouth, so have idra breath into his mouth and cut the end off of your sheath, and put the sheath in his wound, try to seal it off as well as you can. Suck on the tube, try not to choke on any blood. This will clear his lungs of blood, which will come out in a pink foam. Take any cloth at hand, and stuff it as far into the wound as you can to prevent more blood from entering his lungs and killing him. Its comparitively safe to move him, so you can if you have to. After all this, wrap him up warm because the damage will have him in shock.

>>381543

Apply direct pressure on the wound and bandage your friend up.

>>381730
Mouth-to-mouth? He took a sword to the side, he didn't drown in a river.

Take the cleanest cloth any of you have, apply direct pressure to the wound, and try not to move him. If this is a well-traveled road, someone will probably come along to help, if not, then one of you will have to go off in search of someone who can. Only move him if you're sure that there's no broken ribs or internal damage. Worst comes to worst, you'll have to haul his dumb ass to the next town.

Put bandages, or the cleanest cloth you have, over Rakuan's wound, then apply pressure to keep the blood in. Do not move him; he may have broken bones or internal injuries. Bind the bandages down if you have enough cloth to do so.

Whichever of you two that can run the fastest for the longest should hurry to the nearest town that'd have a healer. Only carry your coin, to pay the healer, and the clothes on your back. Leave everything else behind, it would just weigh you down.

>>381781
The treatment I suggested has nothing to do with water. His lung is likely pierced, and will fill with blood. regardless of water, he will drown if the blood is not removed from his lungs, and forcing air into his lungs while pressing his chest will force the blood out.

>>382110
then you seal the wound to prevent further internal bleeding and external exsanguination.

I'm not really sure how beak to beak would work in this situation, and none of the sheaths are really suited for something like that..

Idra seems to know what she's doing as far as sealing the wound goes, taking one of the sheets we'd taken from the wagon and tearing strips and clumps off of it. She uses one of the clumps as a rag to clean him up, his breathing is shallow but seems stable enough.. I hope.

She then takes several strips of the sheet and wraps them around him, tying them off tightly as a makeshift bandage.

>"I'm not sure what else I can do, the wound is deep and I'm not a healer."

I nod and look over him, not wanting to lose one of my friends and companions. "I understand, but after that, I don't want to split up until we know it's safe..."

>She sighs a little and nods in agreement "As much as a healer would help, I agree that splitting up could be worse for him if there's more.."

We sigh together and gently wrap the blanket around him and move him into a hidden spot in the brush. We move the corpse out of the road and into the brush on the other side of the road, not wasting the time to check it's body as we rush back to settle down and guard Rakuen.

Even being a trade road, there's no guarantee that someone will pass soon, but we have to hope they do or else we'll have to think of something fast...

Do you have the tools and materials to make a crude stretcher? A couple reasonably straight and sturdy branches for poles, and a sheet or blanket could make one. Then use the fishing lines to stitch it back on itself around the poles. Wouldn't stand up to much weight, but Rakuen's pretty light, isn't he? It'd be better than sitting in a ditch, praying for the odds to roll in your favor.

We sit for a while, watching Rakuen as we quietly talk about what to do now, knowing just sitting here is a bad idea but that Rakuen is in no condition to be left alone or to move on his own.. We eventually come up with the idea of a stretcher, if we can locate something to support what's left of the sheet we made his bandages from.

Idra and I start to look around the brush in an attempt to find enough sticks suitable to make the stretcher, I manage to locate the sergal's sword, metal still gleaming red with blood as the moon light reflects off of it. That detail aside though, it's the length that catches my eye, large enough that Idra would have to use both hands to wield it, and almost the perfect length to act as part of the stretcher once the sheath was put back on.

I have a bit of trouble moving it on my own without the tip dragging, but I eventually get the sword over to the sergal's corpse, it's not a pretty sight as Idra had apparently wanted to make sure this one wasn't getting back up, neck and torso both ripped open by what more closely resembles claws and teeth then the dagger she was carrying... I quickly check what's left of it's clothes for pockets, finding little outside of a couple coins and a rather simple, if large gold band on it's finger, pocketing both before slicing the belt to release the scabbard that I quickly slide over the long blade.

With the edges covered, it's a lot easier to carry the heavy weapon, hoping Idra had luck finding enough for the other support as I return to where we left Rakuen. However she hadn't found anything, the plants here too small and twisted to form branches long and straight enough for our need. Once she sees the sword though, she has an idea..

We lay the sheet out on the ground and gently lift Rakuen into it, then fashion a different type of carrier. The sword being the sole support as Rakuen hangs in the sheet below it, the sheath pulled off enough for each end to rest on one of our shoulders as we carefully lift him up.

Now all that's left is to pick which way to go... Heading forward, it's unsure when we might run into another town, or even a house at all. But heading back, we'd have to walk right past the wagon again which would risk a third run-in with the bandits. And we're going to be moving extremely slow with Rakuen and all three of our supplies being carried by 2 people...

Keep heading forward. Heading back would almost certainly encounter bandits, so forward couldn't be much worse.

Forward.

With the strong possability of bandits behind us, we continue forward, with myself in the lead and our torch lit and hanging frop the end of the stretcher in front of me as we make our way into the nght. Things are very slow going as we walk in silence, not stopping once as the sun starts to rise on the horizon.

Even after daybreak, we press on ahead, knowing our partner's life depends on us as we look for any signs of life ahead. We eventaully have to stop and rest, having gone far enough that the plants had began to change as we sit under a small tree, keeping Rakuen between us as we scan the road. We talk quietly for a little while before Idra raises a hand to silence me then points out into the distance on the road, following her hand I spot what she had, a small wagon being pulled by a single horse heading towards us from the direction we'd been walking.

Things could be dangerous still, or whoever this is could help us, but we need to decide what to do quickly.

>>403247
Hail them, I guess?

Get Idra and Rakuen under cover as best you can, and have Idra ready her bow, just in case things go bad. Step out into the open, wait until you can see who's driving the wagon, then hail them if it's not obviously enemies.

>>403272
I'll second this, but with the modification of not stepping out into the open until the friendliness of the oncoming cart is established.

>>403303
Well, if you think you can effectively hide Dasaki's bright blue plumage amongst all this green and brown in the time you have, go for it.

I help Idra get Rakuen hidden in some of the thicker brush, hoping the dried and dying plantlife is enough to hide the other nevrean while Idra slips behind the tree with her bow at the ready. I carefully make my way back to the road, the thought that we might well look like some kind of bandit ambush nagging at my mind the entire time.

As the wagon draws closer, that thought only grows stronger based on what I can make out; the wagon, though small, is of obviously high class and the beast pulling it appears much more well bred then the pair that had been slain at the other wagon. I gulp lightly as they draw near enough to make out who's at the front of the wagon, my eyes locking with those of a rather large agunder.

I still can't quite make out if they're friend or foe as they draw closer, I start to shake a little though as I realize there's a rather large crossbow leaning against his seat in the drivers box, the size of the weapon making Idra's bow look like a toy.

This is the moment to make a final decision on my actions, that weapon would mean trouble if it was pointed at me, and the fact that I'm in tattered and bloodstained clothes could mean both a traveler in trouble or a bandit fresh from a fight...

Stick your hands in the air, and slowly step into shouting distance. Yell out that you need assistance; You and your two friends were attacked by a bandit, and one of them was grievously injured. You would be eternally grateful if they would give the three of you a ride to the next town or nearest healer.

If this request is met with skepticism, call out to Idra to drag Rakuen up to the road for all to see. Also say the both of you will strip your weapons and drop them here to be picked up when the wagon passes, if that'll make them feel safer.

Run straight at the wagon while waving your arms about and peeping wildly!

Peep! Dasaki 2012/08/20(Mon)09:50 No. 445612 ID: aced8d
File 134548144703.jpg - (280.73KB , 1364x964 , IMG_0001.jpg )

I decide to risk getting shot and step into the road, attempting to wave the wagon down for assistance. As expected, the driver wastes little time in hefting his crossbow to the ready, though thankfully he doesn't fire it at me and instead slows the wagon down as he approaches. I decide to risk it all as I move into the center of the road, leaving him with only two options, to stop the wagon entirely, or just run me down.

To my immense relief, the wagon slows to a stop and he steps down, the weapon still pointed at me as he finally speaks.

>"Who are you, and what's so important that you had to force us to stop like this?" He asks, his tone alone made me tremble almost as much as the bolt pointed at my chest.

"My name's Dasaki, I have a companion in need of urgent medical help and was just hoping to get a ride to the nearest town or healer." I reply while the agunder narrows his eyes at me.

>"Let me guess, attacked by bandits? Your feathers look a whole lot like some that were in one of my master's wagons a ways back down the road, you wouldn't happen to know anything about that now would you?"

I'm unsure what to do as I stand there with my arms raised, staring at the weapon for a moment. It might not be a very good idea to lie to someone pointing a very large weapon at you, but if I admit I was there then he might shoot me anyway since we looted the wagon ourselves...

>>445612
"I got injured when some gnoll bandits jumped me and my friends. We made camp for the night in one of your master's wagons so they could bandage me up. I'll admit we took some food and coin, but we're not bandits. We're just a down-on-our-luck travelling bard group."

I gulp a little and try to explain to him what had happened. "Yes, we were there, but the gnoll was the bandit, not us. We stumbled onto the wagon just after the attack and the gnoll caught me in the head. We only took shelter inside for the night after I was knocked out. I admit that we took some things, but it was only what we needed and we would willingly give them back to you if we have to."

>"You keep saying 'we' and 'us'," he replies as he holds the weapon steady, "but I have yet to see anyone but yourself. If they're out there, they better come out with their weapons sheathed or left on the ground."

I look towards Idra, hoping she'd heard everything well enough to know what to do.


=====================================================================
--------------------CONTROL HAS SHIFTED TO IDRA----------------------
=====================================================================


I sit in the cover of the tree as I watch and listen to Dasaki and that agunder talking, something just doesn't feel right about all this, but I don't have many choices at the moment and Rakuen is running out of time.

Shoot the driver in the neck or heart then take the wagon for yourselves. Desperate situations call for desperate measures! Just leave no evidence.

>>450297
Shout out "Idra, are you alright? Rakuen's getting worse and I don't know what to do!"

>>451609
No

>>451716
upvote this

Shooting the driver isn't a very good idea when he has a weapon pointed at Dasaki, and who knows what sort of person is still inside the wagon, since it's not big enough for cargo and an empty wagon wouldn't need that sort of protection. I decide the smartest course of action right now is to do as the agunder said, I gently set my bow on the ground and step out from behind the tree and announce myself. "He tells the truth, we have a gravely wounded companion here and only wish for a ride to the nearest town."

The agunder seems to take our word a little better when I step out like that, and lowers his weapon a bit, looking back at me before nodding at Dasaki.

>"Alright then, bring this wounded companion out, let me see if it's really serious enough for my master to share his wagon with commoners." he half-snarls, apparently not liking the idea at all but still willing to agree if it's needed.

Dasaki nods and rushes over towards me while I step back behind the tree, I pick my bow up and sling it over my back before we carefully lift Rakuen off the ground again and carry him back towards the road. Once we get close enough for the agunder to actually see Rakuen, his eyes go a little wider as he lowers the crossbow completely.

>"Ignoring the fact that you ruined a very expensive sheet with his blood, you were right in stopping us for help. If you'll agree to give us that sword as compensation, we'll take you into Haven. However, with your friend having to be stretched out like that, there's only room for one of you two in the wagon, the other one will have to ride up front with me."

Both Dasaki and I immediately agree that they can keep the sword, as neither of us have the strength to use it properly anyway, now the only decision to be made is who rides with the big guy, and who rides in the wagon with the unknown rider...

>>453578
Idra, in front and Dasaki in the wagon

Idra helps me load Rakuen into the wagon before leaving me to climb inside the now cramped interior, sharing the remaining space with what must be the trade master, a white-furred female sergal that seems to appraise me while never speaking. The ride itself is extremely uneventful compared to the rest of our journey and we arrive in Haven shortly before the main gates close for the night.

We stop outside the first healer's office we come to and Idra goes in to get a real stretcher to carry Rakuen on. Once we manage to get him onto it, the wagon wastes little time in continuing onwards, leaving us to deal with healer in a city that neither of us know much about...

Idra and I carry Rakuen into the healer's building using the stretcher, not knowing what to expect inside as she hadn't told me anything. The first thing that hits me as we step in, is the smell of herbs and medicine filling the place, much stronger than I remember anywhere else I've been. The healer herself comes out of a door just in time to go wide-eyed at the sight of our companion, quickly directing us deeper into the building towards one of her healing rooms. The healer herself even takes me off guard, I would have never expected a gnoll to be a city healer, let alone a young female like herself, but this isn't the time to think about that...

She ushers us out of the room after we set the stretcher down, informing us that she'll need at least several hours to work and that she would be able to work her best uninteruted and that we should find something to keep our minds off of things until sometime tomorrow. Neither of us has ever been here before, nor do we have a map as we step out onto the street. Looking around we appear to be in a lower class part of town, but not so low that we should fear the people after dark, there are lanterns lit at the intersections and there seems to be an inn or tavern a few streets down judging by the activity in the distance, not that either of us is quite in the mood for drinks. I suppose we could ask one of the people passing by about the town, or we could just go wandering off on our own as well.

Hug Idra and say, mostly for yourself, that you're sure that Rakuen will pull through all right now.

The both of you head up to the nearest pub and take a seat there to take stock of what you have and figure out what to do next. Even though you two are not in the mood for drinks, they still have hot food which is better than what you've been eating on the road.

>>487678
this

I lean against Idra and wrap my arms around her, sighing a bit. "I'm sure he'll be fine, we got him here as fast as we could." She nods in response and pats me on the shoulder, I can tell she's just as worried as I am though. I look around once more in the dim light before it hits me, this isn't the kind of area where people go around after dark with a lot of stuff, so I pull Idra back into the building for a moment to leave a bit of our gear with Rakuen's pack. I leave behind the lantern while Idra leaves her bow and arrows with the bags, leaving us both armed with our blades, though our clothes still stand out a bit in their current state but not much can be done about that, at least not until a clothing shop opens in the morning.

We make our way towards the building we saw before, it's not much to look at but it's undeniably a tavern by the sign and the smell of alcohol on the people either leaving or being escorted out. We make our way through the crowded common room and find a small table near the back, away from most of the bustle to sit at and wait for someone to come serve us. The food isn't anything fancy, meat and vegitable stew with a chunk of bread, but it's certainly hot and more filling than what we'd been eating, and getting water instead of beer or wine saved a small bit on the cost, though it earned us a few odd looks from nearby tables. (-3 coins)

"So what now, now that we've made it to a trade city?" I ask, before eating a bit of the bread.

"I don't know," she replies, "I'm sure the healer isn't going to be cheap though, we'll probably have to find some way to earn more soon enough."

I nod and reach back to feel my lute, somehow it's managed to survive the trip. "Well I can try my hand at playing for some again, though a big city like this is probably used to much more skilled players than myself. I'd rather none of us have to try selling ourselves though.."

She shudders and silently nods in agreement, the rest of our time is spent in silence as we finish our meal and leave, making our way back to the healer's for the night as we decide to sleep on the floor in the side room. Chances are we wouldn't be the first, or last to do that while she works on someone, just as chances are we wouldn't be the only ones that spend more time wondering about the morning than we do sleeping..

The healer herself comes in to wake us once morning finally dawns, she yawns softly herself before telling us that Rakuen will live, but will need a lot or rest and time to heal properly before he can leave her care. Idra asks her about the cost, which comes to 200 coins for the healing and another 50 for an extended stay, which thankfully seems to include room for us with him. However, this is almost every coin we have and I wouldn't feel right trying to haggle with her..

I pay the healer and slip my much lighter coin purse into our bags, the gnoll gives a weary smile before she puts up a closed sign on the door and retires to her room somewhere in the back. Idra and I just sit down on one of the beds provided for us, unsure what to do now but knowing that we have to do something to get some more money.

We have the entire day ahead of us, and a few options to choose from, Idra could probably get some work as a guard or doing physical labor, and I still have my lute. We still have a good amount of rations left as well, which we should eat before they spoil anyway, so we won't have to buy food for a little bit as well. I suppose we just need to decide what to try first...

Go do bard things. also, explore the town.

Idra and I sort through our gear as we decide what to do, I pick up my lute and make sure it's tuned enough to try my hand on a street corner. Idra sorts through our food stores while I'm doing this, finding that our fish is no longer fresh enough to be considered safe to eat, she has little choice but to throw out the rotten meat. She also passes me a blood-stained book, which turns out to be the journal Rakuen had been carrying, as one of us should continue to keep record of what ws happening for him.

After an hour or so, we're ready to head into town. Lute in hand and a dagger on my hip, I'm going to look for a good place to play for some coin, while Idra explores the town. She'll have a better chance of getting some coin as a guard or labor for someone, plus an armed merc would be a lot less apealing a target than a nevrean bard.

We both take some vegitables for rations as we leave, saying our goodbyes for the day as we head into town.

===========================================================================
Pick your character, Dasaki or Idra
===========================================================================

I flipped a coin.
Idra! What kind of things are you good at, and what can you find around town related to that?