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>>1978593
"I could probably do a lot more if I stuck to the low speech, but you don't seem too keen on that." You say, frustrated as you tackle the next set of syllables.

"Yes, but you like to keep up appearances, yes? Zhou may be far more abreast on the realities of the situation, but his beastfolk follow a simple command structure. Lowborn speech won't do for that. You're better off talking through proxies like you were than using lowborn, but at least now you can understand them a bit better."

"Well, I can't hardly bring Tai along now, can I?"

"You forget there's another high speech speaker here as well." She says, pointing to herself. "If you want, we'll keep working on it during downtime on caravan watch."

"Won't me struggling through pronunciation do harm, like you said?"

"Yes, but the fact there is an effort being taken will not go unnoticed." She says, "I've spoken with Tai a bit, Zhou's folks were sent adrift as soon as the phoenix chained the bastards into the galley. You're probably the first bright spot they've had in a long while. Anyway, you've done well enough for two days work. Tomorrow the merchants should be here, yeah? Probably best if we get prepared."

Taking that as conclusion of todays activities, you carefully put the lesson plan away and duck out of Liama's tent and back into the relatively undemanding world of running a ranch.

>Action?

>>1978600
Confirm who we're taking with us this run. I will be back in a few minutes to go over the list that I have.

>>1979083
What I remember is:
Mari
Liama
Artyom
Zhou or the wolf-woman whom I cannot remember the name of
Some of the beastmen and/or Shadows

Any conflicts?

>>1979083
>>1979192
None that I see at the moment.

>>1979253
We'll see how many of the fodder we bring once the caravan gets to us.

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With another long haul on the horizon, with strangers in tow to boot, you figure you had best focus on the team that will be accompanying you on the trip. You've promised Marie that you'd take her over in the Casimiran lands and she's promised to play nice with Liama and the shadows. While the risk of her getting in a quarrel with them while your with the 'clients' is still present, it's hard to justify leaving your only flyer home when you've got valuable cargo. Artyom is another obvious choice, given he knows Purobka and will give the merchants a taste of what to expect out of the Casimiran. Liama is a shoe in, given her own mercenary experience and being both the leader of the shadows, and one of the few means of conversing with the beastfolk. As for the remainder, you could bring the shadows, and fill in the rest of the group with beastfolk lead by Lady Wu or Zhou, or you could leave them to their original assignment of gurding the ranch and just fill out the rest of the crew with your Zhou's people.

You eventually seek out Tai, wanting to heed Liama's suggestion of using a proxy until your grasp of highborn phoenix is better, and ask him to front the question to Zhou. The taciturn fox-man responds, and you can just about make out that he suggests himself for the role, if only due to the virtue of having ranged out with the scouts before. He also suggests that it may be prudent to leave the shadows at the ranch, not out of any capability reason, but more for the sake of present a uniform fighting force for the merchants.

With that in mind, you reserve your right to make a final decision. You briefly flirt with the idea of bringing Veles along, but you've already asked a lot of the old snake as of late, and you would hate to impose. In any case, you head back up to the ranch for dinner only to run into one of Serrak's men. He hands you a merchant disposition list, and curtly heads off. Opening it you discover that outside of his personal wagon, of which you have a direct stake in the profits, there are only two groups of merchants willing to head back into the Casimiran lands at the moment. The first is a food vendor that, according to Serrak's notes, is more interested in the adventure than any profit. The second is achingly familiar, wracking your brain, you realize its the same merchant that went through the first time the place was opened and discovered that Purobka had been attacked. Apparently he's going to try his luck once more. Serrak recommends that you give each wagon a separate four man team along with your own leading party, if only to keep in with Casimiran tradition. Doing some hasty figures, that'd leave Lady Wu with the three adolescent beastfolk and the shadows at the ranch if you were to follow Zhou's suggestion.

>Take yourself, Liama, Artyom, Marie and 12 beastfolk
>Take yourself, Liama, Artyom, Marie, 8 beastfolk, and the shadows.
>Other?

>>1979589
>Take yourself, Liama, Artyom, Marie and 12 beastfolk

The shadows are more capable than the beastmen. Better armed too. And McCain is going to be staying as well. If we have the time, get daisy too.

We'll take the lead with Mari, Artyom, and Liama
Second will have Zhou and the three most problematic beastmen
The third place will be 4 beastmen
And the 4 most experienced beastmen coming with us outside of Zhou bringing up the rear.

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You decide to go with Zhou's recommendation and stick with a full beastfolk compliment. You make the announcement at dinner, letting Tai relay it to the beastfolk. The little ones seem excited, and move to latch on to Lady Wu who barely moves, face full of unflinching indifference. Tai mentions he'll keep an eye on them too, as apparently their minder tends to give them the run of the place. Suspecting the stoic wolf woman has a far softer side than she lets on, you finish up dinner to hash out the finer details with your lead group. With supplies and munitions accounted for, all that is left is to wait. You retire to your room confident that you'll be more than capable of handling any challenge that the Casimiran can throw at you.

You wake the next morning to the smell of one of Tai's breakfast blowouts. Heading downstairs, you find a massive spread. Tai tells you that there's a number of perishables that he probably won't be able to go through with the fewer mouths to feed and so it is better to use them up now. You suspect its also so the phoenix man can have the ranch subsist off leftovers for a few days which will free Tai up for whatever new routine McCain is planning for your absence. Whatever the case, you thank your cook kindly as you shovel eggs, sausages, and curious mix of hash browns and vegetables onto your plate.

Moving out of the way so that the beastfolk can make their own dent in the bounty, you see that Serrak's men are already present with their wagon. It seems they've set themselves as the lead wagon and a heavy duty ox cart being tended to by equally heavy duty people. Squinting, you see the driver is actually human, but is built such that he could pass as a lighter skinned brother of the three orcs accompanying him. Behind their wagon is the food merchant, a spindly little man who is far cry from the red faced portly butchers you'd come to expect. He's only got one other person with him, a well built young man who's helping load the wagon. Behind them you see the couple who'd made the trek before, green tarped wagon and all.

>Head over to talk with the merchants before heading out.
>Gather up your crew, may as well be formal about all this.
>Other?

>>1979941
>Head over to talk with the merchants before heading out.
Make sure they all know what awaits them, Casimir manners and such, ascertain their ability to defend themselves, and explain to them that they are expected to follow orders given by us or any other members of our party should a combat situation arise.

Once they've all been given their briefing, duck in to get daisy really quickly, gather everyone we're taking, our supplies and such, and head out.

>>1979941
>head over to talk with the merchants before heading out
I can agree to this.
Wish the one merchant better luck this time, assure the other that we are trying out hardest to not have too much adventure. Suchwhat as that.


Sorry I'm late, my sleep schedule has been random lately.

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Giving yourself a quick once over to make sure you looks presentable, you sidle up towards the assembled wagons with Liama, Artyom and Marie. Clearing your throat, you wait until all eyes are on you before you speak. "I'm Sasha Masterson, owner of the Lion's Head Ranch and interim caravan guide. For the time being it is my job to see you safely to and from the town of Bralin in the lands of the Casimiran Centaurs. They don't speak our language, but several of our lead team know the lingo one way or another." You say, gesturing to the three behind you. "If you have questions about their customs and mannerisms, I'll try and field what I can along the way. Otherwise, they'll be of some help. Before we begin, I need to know, how many folks here are good in a fight?"

It's pretty evident that Serrak's men are, given the sly grins all around. You suspect the orc briefed them beforehand. The food merchant shakes his head in the negative pretty fervently, and his helper looks green enough. You expected the other merchants to say yes, and see the man about to raise his hand before a harsh glare from the woman makes him withdraw. Keeping your eyes on them, you continue. "Right then, we may run into problems with the wildlife, namely trolls, which I suspect at least some of you are familiar with. With any luck, this'll be a far more profitable venture than an adventurous one. In the event we do run into trouble I expect you to follow my orders to the letter. Understood?"

With a chorus of affirmatives you excuse yourself quickly, letting Marie and Liama handle the rest of the briefing. Grabbing another plate, you shovel some more food onto it before ducking through the gateway behind the house. Hurrying through the rookery, you coax Daisy onto your glove with a sausage before heading down into Veles lair. You're surprised to see the old snake not at his workbenches for once, but instead tending to the elaborate fire pit on the far side of the room. You gently grab his attention, and hand him off the food while letting him know that you'll be heading out with a group later in the day. Cheerfully talking of bribes and flattery, he takes the meal while wishing you luck. Reemerging on your end of the gateway, you see the beastfolk taking up flanking positions around the wagons and everyone ready. Unable to resist the urge, you take your place at the head of the caravan and with a shout of 'Wagon's Hooo!" your wagon train sets off away from the ranch and towards the Casimiran lands.

>Give me a 1d20 travel roll (lower is better) and any actions you'd like to take.
Next post will be in the morning, got the unfortunate distinction of having a closing shift followed by an opening shift so we'll have a brief ultra slow period tomorrow and the next day before we get back on track.

Rolled 11 (1d20)

>>1980255
well, we should have marie on pretty much continuous flights.

Also, ask the non-food merchant what he's selling anyhoo.

Rolled 15 (1d20)

>>1980255

>>1980265
I call veto on having Mari in the air all the time. If she wants to fly or we need her to, fine, but don't have her stay up.

Also, the non-food guy probably has paper.

>>1980319
Well, yeah, let her rest.
But at least regular flights. That shit is super handy.

>>1980336
Nah, mate. It's handy, sure, but it's unnecessary. Also, I want to spend more time with her.

>>1980372
well, fine, if you want to hang out with her.
Just, you know, make use of the sick airpower occasionally.

>>1980384
We will as necessary.

So, I forget. Do we have a wagon of our own for the more regular trips?
Or are we havin' to hoof it again?

>>1980427
We normally are on foot out there, and we are on foot now.

>>1980448
We should maybe think about one if we're going to escort merchants more than minimally. You know, next time.

>>1980456
Once there's a road, perhaps

>>1980466
Well, the merchants are bringin' wagons, so we're going to be taking the mellowest unroaded path either way.

>>1980475
Also, we're the guards. We need to be ready. Pluss, we don't need one. They have them to transport their shit.

>>1980485
Well, we can circle wagons with them, but I mostly want them so we can be lazy occasionally.

>>1980512
Laziness gets you killed. We use a wagon when going to town. Not when going through bandit, enemy army, monster-infested wildlands.

>>1980512
>>1980530
*Carrage

When we don't need to worry, we don't. When we do need to worry, we do.

Right now, we have peoples' lives and livelihoods in our hands. Including our own. We're not allowed to be lazy.
Try again once we don't need to worry about the Fallen, or the bandits, or enemy armies.

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>11

The caravan starts its journey in the most unremarkable way possible, with a slow trundling across the bridge. Zhou keeps his beastfolk in good order. You were somewhat worried about the merchants reaction to the beastfolk, but outside of the returning merchants being a bit leery, the others seem indifferent to excited. Curious about the latter, you move up to talk to the food merchant. "You know," you say, casually, "Outside of Liama, who has her own reasons, I've not met folks actually excited to see Zhou's people. The usual look is either confusion or suspicion."

The spindly little man gives you a wide grin, "I've made it my life's work to meet every single kind of people there is, rumors that the phoenix beastfolk existed were almost mythlike in irregularity on the mainland. Seeing a group here? Well, that just gives me a new goal to get into the empire, one way or another. After I meet more of the Casimiran, of course."

"I take it that is your reason on heading out here? It may be dangerous."

His grin gets wider, "Not as dangerous as getting an audience with the Old One I imagine. Took a dozen head of cattle to get the old bugger to wake up, but just getting that brief talk with him was worth it. Food is the universal conversation starter, and if I can broaden the horizons of the people I meet, mayhaps they'll be inclined to do the same."

Behind him, you see the youth roll his eyes in the back of the wagon, clearly having heard this particular line before. Making a note to get this guys story in full later, you drop back to the returning merchants. "Hey, hope this trip goes better than the last. You guys looking on making a big haul?"

The woman answers, cutting off the driver, "Something like that, we've got some luxury goods, non-perishables, the like. We'll see if its worth the trouble."

"Non-perishables?"

"She means alchohol. Gin, Brandy, Whiskey. The works. She read a book saying that those were prime trading material." The man says, earning him another glare.

"Something like that, alcohol is everyones friend. Especially if they've never tasted it before." She says, dancing around the subject.

Getting her angle you decide to not get her hopes up too much, "They have their own, actually. Vodka and possibly mead give that one of the major houses keeps bees."

Her face falls, "Really?"

>Only one way to find out. Artyom, fancy a drink?
>I guess we'll find out when we get there.
>Other?

>Either way, can I get another 1d20 travel roll please? Lower is better, as usual.

Rolled 9 (1d20)

>>1981761
I see no reason not to see if artyom likes it. Market research is good. No liking it too much though. This is someone's merchandise over hea. And we're on the job.

Rolled 2 (1d20)

>>1981761
Yes, really. Who knows, though. Maybe they'll like Whisky.

>>1981764
It's not over our head, and it technically is our business due to the fact that their success makes us richer.

>>1981842
over hea, not over head.
You know, someones' merchandise over here. That guys.

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>2

"If you're up for some market research, I can have Artyom try some." You offer, signalling the hussar.

"Oh, I mean, if you're offering. We can do a sample." The man stammers, fishing out a shot glass.

The man hands the reins to his compatriot and hops off wagon, glass and bottle in hand. Pouring carefully, he hands Artyom a double. Sniffing it carefully he brings the drink to his lips. Downing the contents, he swishes the stuff speculatively in his mouth before swallowing it.

[It is not disagreeable. Is this what they are selling?] Artyom says.

[Something like that, how's it compare to what's over there?]

[Weaker than our Vodka, but with more flavor. Good middle ground. Should do well. Is it normally served in such small portions?]

[Yeah, how do you guys normally drink alcohol?]

[By and from the bottle. If they can convince the Szlachta, they might sell out of their stock. Though the kozaks would be a better market, if they do come back.]

"Well?" The man asks, nervously.

"I hope you brought a good supply, they don't really do shots. More like bottles."

Letting the two contemplate the reaction, you head to the fore of the caravan as you approach the mountain tunnel. Revealing the entrance you guide the three groups through the low light before emerging on the other side. Shivering from the temperature difference you have Marie do a quick scouting flight through the valley. Turning up nothing, you head out with all haste. Zhou and his beastfolk take up outrider positions a good distance from the wagon, far enough that they aren't immediately visible from anyone spying the wagons, but close enough to fall back to defensive positions should they try their luck. With favorable weather and solid ground you keep to the level ground in the middle of the canyon to minimize jostling, especially given the liquid cargo on the rear wagon.

>Any particular actions you'd like to take?

>>1981869
I can't think of many, we've got this trip routine down.
Other guy wanted to hang out with marie, though.

>>1981869
I would like to talk with Mari (Really, just hand out in general). We'll work on Pheonix lessens on our watch with Liama.

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Leading the train through the outer badlands is a slow, tedious process. More often than not you're up scouting for level ground ahead of the rest of the party, making full use of Marie's eye in the sky to look for the most level terrain. Thankfully, being largely plains the route is fairly self evident and your first days progress is fantastic. Returning from one such scout, you take the time to talk with Marie.

"Not quite what I had in mind for getting your out into the Casimiran lands as promised, but good enough I hope?"

She smiles, "Well, given the last time I was here we ended up pulling a bunch of those Fallen off of Artyom and dragging him back to the ranch half dead, It's a marked improvement."

"That I can say for sure. With luck you'll be able to get a taste of Bralin proper. We're gonna need someone to translate for the merchants while they are there, and I've got to see about pushing those damned bandits out of Purobka so we can make use of it. Command will prolly fall to you during that period."

Letting the little harpy puff up with pride, you add "I've not fully decided on how I wanna handle the recovery force, but depending on how well these language lessons go I may or may not need to bring Liama with me on the sortie."

She gets a sly grin on her face, "I hope they go well, if only so you can leave her behind for me to boss around a bit." Seeing your look she adds, "Not too much of course."

You make camp that evening in the middle of the badlands, protected on the southwest side by a sharp upgrade. All things considered, you're surprised you made it so far on the first day with minimal hiccups. Fishing out the copy of the lesson plan, you retire to your camp away from everyone else and wait for Liama to head up to begin anew on your language lessons. Having opted to take first watch with her, you figure you can probably get a good deal of progress done while everyone is asleep.

>Give me a 1d20+3 roll for language learning and then a 1d20 travel roll without a modifier, lower is better. Rolls will be applied to action based on the modifier present.

Rolled 16 + 3 (1d20 + 3)

>>1982129
uh, okay. Language first.

Rolled 6 (1d20)

>>1982129
and now the travel roll.

Rolled 13 + 3 (1d20 + 3)

>>1982129

Rolled 5 (1d20)

>>1982129

Okay, I've got to sleep for a while.
I'll see you guys in numerous hours.

Rolled 15 + 3 (1d20 + 3)

>>1982129
Language

Rolled 5 (1d20)

>>1982129
And travel. Sad I missed you guys yesterday

Rolled 14 (1d20)

>>1982129
And travel. Sad I missed you guys yesterday

>>1982394
Fuck, sorry about the double post

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>19
>5

First watch is uneventful, a fact you take full advantage of as you dive into the language courses Liama has set out for you. It goes smoothly, and you figure that a few more productive sessions like these and you'll be able to address the beastfolk in the accustomed way. The only incident was when, right before you were about to turn in, a low keening wail came out of the west carried by the wind. Artyom, having been woke by the noise identified it as a horde of fallen, but one that was a good distance away. With no evidence outside of the one noise you retire to bed uneasily.

The next morning has you making tracks at first light. The merchants follow along without complaint, no doubt spurred on by the fear of the unknown. You keep Marie aloft for a good part of the day, mostly to keep an eye out for any signs of the horde moving through the badlands. Thankfully there's no sign of them in the immediate area and with the roundabout route you've been taking through the badlands to keep level, there's little chance you'll stumble across the battlefield that the trolls were feasting on during your last trip. Aside from that, you've really got to hand it to the beastfolk. Zhou's mob have been nothing but professional the entire time, and the language barrier between them and the merchants has only served to enhance the mystique surrounding them as some sort of 'elite' force of sorts despite their shabby appearance.

You end up making camp near enough to the plains proper, and you figure another good days travel should get you to the halfway point between the pass and Bralin easily.

>1d20 travel roll and any actions you'd like to take?

Rolled 3 (1d20)

>>1985008
Let's start conversing with one of the beastman leaders for practice. Might help us get accustomed to their linguistic peculiarities.

Rolled 6 (1d20)

>>1985008
I'll concede to D5LD. Continue work on Pheonix.

>>1985070
I mean, Liama's also essentially a native speaker, it's not necessary.

Rolled 14 + 3 (1d20 + 3)

>>1985008
Language roll

>>1985104
It's not a matter of native versus non-native, but rather getting used to and becoming more familiar with an alien people. Because I mean fuck, they're our aliens.

>>1985399
Hey, at least we're the ones with the rayguns in this scenario.

>>1985399
They're not Xenos, though. Also, we've been around them for plenty of time, and Liama is plenty familiar with how we should be speaking.
Overall, there's no reason to no continue working with Liama instead of wasting Zhou's time while he should be guarding or sleeping

>>1985477
Hey, it might be fun to talk to some of the guys either way.

>>1985503
Sure, but after we figure the language out enough to hold full conversations in high-born

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>3

Given how well the trip has gone so far, you figure a bit of language immersion is in order. Barring conversations with the merchants or actually relaying orders you try and keep yourself speaking highborn as much as possible. It's difficult, especially given the only real conversation partner is Liama, but you manage it rather well. The caravan itself trundles merrily along and near afternoon you get to the border of the badlands.

Recognizing the area from a few landmarks, you split off from the party with your command group and a squad of beastfolk. After clearing a few gentle slopes, you find the site where you burned the bandyta corpses. Investigating, you see two sets of tracks near the remains of the pyre some older ones that you suspect are the outlaws friends heading in the rough direction of Purobka, and a newer set heading southwest, deep into szlachta territory.

"Anyone got an idea on what we're looking at here?" You ask, finding it a bit difficult to slip out of phoenix after a half day of speaking nothing but it.

[Oldest are clearly bandits,] Artyom says, [Look to be near on a week old, not in any multiple of four. Others are likely hussars or kozaks. Likely hussars, since kozaks are missing. Fresher though, maybe a day or two old.]

[What direction are they headed, you know?]

[The krasick folwark is that way.] He says with some distaste, [But so are any number of other ones. We're between Purobka and Bralin, so any house wanting to move unseen and unaware of Purobka's fate would come through here.]

>Action?

>>1988111
Hm. I don't think we want to run into ANY of these groups.
Unless someone has a reason otherwise, we should simply give them a wide berth and continue on our path to capitalism.

>>1988145
We're going to murder the bandits and re-appropriate Purobka if possible. Killing some more of them before the siege wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing.

>>1988111
Still, though. We should go around the area and avoid encounters if possible.

>>1988111
Let's get our sales done so perhaps we can try our hand at starting that trading post up.

>>1991879
That's a given. We need to see if Lord Bralin would be pissed about us taking possession of the ruins of Purobka before we can set up anything on this side. Perhaps we could get away with building on the other side of the tunnel, but that would give away where it is sooner.

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"Better we take care of this after we get our charges safely behind Bralin's walls." You announce to the group.

Falling back from the site, you regroup with the rest of the caravan and continue onwards. You take care to give the directions the tracks were going a wide berth, circling around any potential encounters. Its a bit of a detour, but now that you are out of the badlands you've got a lot more level ground to play with. After setting up camp for the night, you check in with the merchants. On the whole, the groups are in far better spirits now that they are firmly within the greenery of the szlachta lands. Not wanting to disabuse them of the notion, you don't mention how the lack of a Kozak shielding force makes the plains just as dangerous as the badlands.

In any case, you're pleased to note that the returning merchants haven't lost any of their product to the lack of roads and the food merchant's stock is a long way from spoiling. When you check in with Serrak's men, you discover why the human cart driver looked so orcish from a distance. Apparently, some time prior, the man had lost both arms in some accident and had them replaced with artificial ones from Serrak's company. With his duster on, the harness by which the paired prosthesis work in tandem give his shoulder structure a profoundly orcish look. You've got a few questions about that, but in the interest of politeness you hold on to them as you return to your watch. Settling down with Liama, you're pleased to note that you'll probably be able to command the beastfolk in the 'proper' way by the time you reach Bralin.

>1d20 travel roll if you would, and any other actions you'd like to take.

Rolled 3 (1d20)

>>1993616
Travel roll

Work on language lessons again tonight.
When we hit Bralin, I say we go around on a date with Mari. Then see if we can talk to Lord Bralin about the possibility of re-taking (and us taking possession of) Purobka.

Rolled 8 + 3 (1d20 + 3)

>>1993616
Language roll

Rolled 17 (1d20)

>>1993616
Here ya go.
I'm glad the merchants are holding up well. Long periods on the road are normal for them, I guess.
And I guess the path is pretty smooth, since we've not had a single busted axle or tipped cart. I like it.

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>3

The watch is uneventful, and as such you are able to dive deeper into the mess of nuance and subtlety that is highborn Phoenix speech. You can't help but wonder who came up with this fiendishly difficult language. That said, you are starting to see the origins 'common' Phoenix. The lowborn speech in all likelihood arose from the lower castes within the empire eschewing the flowery speech for the sake of being easily understood.

{I do not see how a language like this comes about.} You say in frustration, annoyance tempered by the pleasure of being able to complain about a language in the very same language.

{It is something the schola have wondered about for a while.} Liama says, {There have been a number of attempts during peacetime to let a team into the empire to study any ruins that might shed some light on their history. They have all been rebuffed, the nobility prefers the myth of their divinity to any truth that might be discovered.}

The next day comes and goes uneventfully, the merchants have made excellent time and are ahead of schedule. Admittedly that schedule did account for the myriad of problems you've come to expect from a trip into the Casimiran lands, the lack of which has you suspicious and waiting for the inevitable challenge. Not wanting to jinx your good fortune, you keep your suspicions to yourself and just press on. You end the day within spitting distance of the valley that contains Bralin, and while you could probably roll up on them in the moonlight, you figure that would be a less than neighborly thing to do.

Making camp, you're approached by Marie. "Miss Masterson?" she ventures gesturing towards the merchants, "The folks here have been wondering what the game plan is once we're inside. I'm guessing you're gonna go clear Purobka with the centaurs but was that immediately or were we planning waiting a bit to see how things go first?"

>Response?

>>2002101
We're getting the trading done, or at at least mostly settled, before we head out to do combat.
I think.

>>2002101
We're not going to go for Purobka right off. The time it takes to sell everything will likely take more than a day, and I need to talk to Lord Bralin before we head out. You know, see if he'd be upset about us taking the land.
...I was also kinda wanting to walk around town with you before getting to that.

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You ponder the question a while. "I think I'll wait and see how things go. Got to meet with Lord Bralin anyway, no sense in rushing off and leaving a mess for you. Besides, there's some sights to see I imagine."

"Like what?"

"Well, for example there's a blacksmith there who made those blades I picked up. Been meaning to have you look at them and the process, you seem to know your knives after all." Letting the harpy preen at the compliment you wait a bit before continuing, "There's also the matter of the 'advisors' they have, you and Liama are probably my best source of info on that."

"How so?"

"You grew up in the citadel, yeah? And that's the remains of a land spirit, yeah?"

She frowns, "Yes, yes it was."

"Right, and these advisors claim to be fragments of the land spirit of this place. I figure you two are probably the most experienced with that phenomena out of all of us. If we can get an audience with the little bugger again, we'll need to be on the lookout."

"Not sure what I can help with, but I'll try and keep my eyes open Miss Masterson."

You leave it at that and return to your own bedroll for your final lesson on highborn Phoenix. The next morning you break camp and, confident in your speech skills, command the beastfolk to prepare to depart yourself rather than by proxy. Judging by the small smile Zhou has and the quick snap to alertness the rest of them exhibit, you appear to have spoken correctly. Thanking Liama quietly for her advise and assistance you take up position at the lead the caravan once more.

It's mid-morning by the time you roll up to Bralin. Judging by the continued state of disrepair of the fields on your approach, you figure that the constant harrying of the peasantry has continued unabated since your last visit. Handing your credentials to the pair of wary hussars at the gate, you have to wonder how you got lucky enough to make it here unmolested by House Krasick. Banking on the unknown nature of your origin, you make a mental note to step up awareness on the return trip. Filing inside, you note that even in the dire situation there are merchant stalls being actively manned by the locals, even this early. The centaurs give your party a wide berth as your own merchants, equal parts nervous and excited, begin hastily assembling their own makeshift shops in the 'foreign trade' section usually reserved for Kozak and visiting Szlachta merchants.

>Seek out Lord Bralin and announce yourself
>See if you can find the merchant Boris, he was looking for supplies last you were here.
>Help your merchants set up, they probably need the help.
>Have a look through the town, see what's going on.
>Other?

>>2005812
>>Help your merchants set up, they probably need the help.
And, once that's done, try to find boris. To get him TO the merchants.
Do our best to get the trade working.

Though, walking around the town is tempting.

>>2005960
We don't need Boris to trade. He's there for when people who aren't allowed in the walls want to trade. If he wants to trade with our merchants then he can find them. Word will reach him of their presence soon enough.

>>2005812
You ruined the not-so-subtle hint that it was supposed to be a date, dammit.

>Help merchants set up
>then have a look through town with Mari
>then announce our arrival to Lord Bralin

>>2007089
hey, if the hint is ruined, try try again. Go on that walk with mari.

>>2007189
We will, but we need to make sure that the merchants are set up.

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While under no formal obligation to help the merchants, you don't waste any time in helping them set up shop in their designated area. Serrak's boys are largely self sufficient, unfolding a table from the side of their wagon. Judging by how animatedly Liama is talking with them while inspecting the folding station, you suspect they bought wagons from the same manufacturer. Leaving them to their business, you focus on the other two. The returning merchants are setting up without complaint, and apart from the tedious task of unwrapping all the carefully packed bottles there's not much to help with. The real issue is the little food merchant who seems more keen on taking in the sights than he is getting ready to sell, which is unfortunate due to the significant amount of interest his wagon is generating.

Approaching, you see Marie having an animated discussion with a younger centaur that you recognize as Boris' skittish assistant. Turning to you, she says quickly, "That food shortage you mentioned seems a bit more dire than we previously thought, or at least the perception of it is. This guy's gonna clean up if he can get his head out of the clouds."

"What seems to be the problem?"

She frowns, gesturing towards the merchant ambling off towards the local merchant stalls "He's wanting to leave all the sales to the kid, poor bastard is way out of his depth. From what I can tell there's at least three offers to make a bulk purchase of the entire carts contents. I'm no sales guru myself, so I can't rightly say if that's good or bad, but there's the real threat of a panic it seems."

You turn to look at Boris' assistant, [Is the food situation here that dire?]

He flinches, but responds, stammering, [N-not really, but with the wars going on during planting s-season we believe that there are lean times ahead. No-one wants to starve and p-preserved goods are exceptionally valuable.]

"Sounds like the citadel food panics." Marie observes, "No actual threat, but didn't stop people from dropping sacks of isens on cans and the like."

"I've not heard of those." You say

"It was almost ten years back, back when the shadows were actually a thing." She says with some distaste, "Some caravan got hit by bandits operating out of first wood. Initial thought was another rebellion so food prices spiked, citadel near on had riots. Never affected us out in the ruins, we didn't have much in the way of money in the first place."

You sigh, you'd hoped to get away from the hubbub for a bit and enjoy yourself before moving on to bandit removal, but clearly your charge has other ideas. The youth accompanying the food merchant gives you a pleading look, clearly well in over his head.

>Convince the merchant to actually try and trade.
>Try and sort this out yourself (Give me a 1d20+3 business roll)
>Clearly the guys wasn't interested in money in the first place, so it's not our problem.
>Other?

>>2009302
Think you can help me convince him to do his sightseeing later, Mari?

>Clearly the guy wasn't interested in money in the first place, so it's not our problem.
HAH! It is our problem. If he doesn't make money, WE don't make money.

>>2009379
I want to ignore him, honestly, but we need him to fucking sell his shit so that we make more money.

>>2009302
>>Clearly the guys wasn't interested in money in the first place, so it's not our problem.

I’ll Second this archive reader just caught up

>>2013051
I was responding to that option. If you read my post, you'd see that I was actually moving to try to get him to sell his shit himself.