More eyes to see you with, my dear...

[Quila Oris (John M.)]

Quila helps with barricading the front doors (both doors to the streets), only closing the one to the shared courtyard for now.
When the room starts darkening due to the clouds and foul weather and Moktli asks if anyone needs a light source she says "i'm good for now. Maybe later if it starts to cool down a lot?"

Nodding to the arrow comment she says "well I am down to 10 arrows, need to restock those soon somewhere. There was no pressing need to do so, that is until I met you lot today."

Quila sits down with her back to the wall and uses the time to try and rest. She will take her part in any watch schedule the group agrees on.

[Quila Oris (John M.)]

Nov 15, 2021 14:30:28 GMT -12 DM Bob said:

Quila only recalls that occasionally mental artifacts can either repel or attract those either directly contracted - or form a general emotional or empathic field. Theories abound, but there's a saying that a portion of one's psyche, will, Ego or Id needs to be imbedded within such relics. And like any dispossessed mind?

They tend to go insane over periods of extreme isolation, magnifying minor idiosyncratic flaws and quirks hundred-fold or more.

Quila shares her thoughts on the matter of the supposedly psionic artifacts from the ancients with the group, closing off with the remark "so the bird behavior or Hawking's wandering could be due to the poles near the gate malfunctioning."

If she feels she has an audience, she further thinks aloud: "To know more we would have to be able to investigate those poles and balls from nearby. Seeing what is behind the gates would help too. Maybe the city was divided into sections with each their own protective gates and poles? Making sure no slaves escaped? It is all possible and quite an interesting mystery if you ask me. This would have certainly required advanced knowledge of the Way, maybe even psionic academies."

[Skrye [AC3; 48/48HP]]

- Valmera listens to Quila - That could be a matter for tomorrow, as now we'll have to deal with the birds and the undead.. - Looking then to everyone - So, any decision in regard to the treskels or shall we focus in barricading the door from inside?

[DM Bob]

Together you wait. It grows much darker within that first hour; the sound of wind whispers, moans, then screams over the next half hour. The screaming air holds as dust, dirt and sand batter the ancient brick walls.

Squawks and screeches, flutters and starts.

You believe the buzzard-like guards have moved or sought cover. The cat's ears perk up. Hair is seen standing on their furred necks.

It's not often one has such cover during a sand squall.

[Attilius]

Nov 16, 2021 13:44:23 GMT -12 DM Bob said:

The cat's ears perk up. Hair is seen standing on their furred necks.

Hawkings quickly stands and snaps his fingers to get everyone's attention quietly. He then points at the cat's agitation as he straps on a tortoise blade...
[21 PsP's]

[Quila Oris (John M.)]

“It’s probably just the sand storm they are agitated about Hawkings”

Quila rises, straps on a tortoise blade too and walks to the door at the courtyard. She listens intently for a second.
If the sand squall starts subsiding and the room becomes a bit lighter, Quila says “It sounds like the birds are gone. Shall we take a look outside? Maybe Mohkti and Ibubesi can stand ready with a weapon too, just in case.”

[DM Bob]

The storm has not subsided but the caws fade... perhaps after another half hour of hiding like an ock'n in their shell.

The cats eventually relax a tad. Sand trickles from a few spots above.

[Attilius]

The halfling's relaxation Mimic's the big cats. He clearly is taking some unspoken cues from the large felines. He sits back in his corner bed and renews his mediation.

[Coden Rokos (Jesse H.)]

Calidane rouses himself from stupor after an hour and pulls his waterskin out of his pack. He takes a deep draught from it, then runs his finger in a circle around the lip while he mutters under his breath.

"Anyone need water?" he says, holding the skin out.

[Attilius]

Hawkings takes the water skin and smells the opening. If the water smells fresh and clean, he'll drink with a nod of thanks then pass it along.

[Coden Rokos (Jesse H.)]

Not only does the water smell fresh and clean, but the waterskin is full to the brim after Calidane drank from it.

[Quila Oris (John M.)]

Quila takes a sip of water as well from Calidane's waterskin. "Oh that tastes really nice, thank you so much Calidane."

Quila moves to give Calidane a bit and looks around the group before broaching the topic of the Law of Celik by saying "How do we want to do this between ourselves? If I understood the Law of Celik correctly nothing is for free and upon all kinds of penalties one ought to pay for stuff. But to be honest, that seems like a despotic trader's invention. We would be busier keeping tabs on eachother who owes what than we would be securing water sources, clearing out the Old City, and discovering relics of ages past. But I guess we do not want surprises in the group, hence why I bring it up now in a safe setting for each of us."

[DM Bob]

Baxby answers. "After this," the tari waves his hands about, "I think it might be best to stick close to the bridges and the New City. We could try to clear a few o' these blocks, make a name for ourselves. Iffin we manage teh kill these kes'trekel or even them stone lizards? Or even stun an' take 'em back for sale? I 'magine that an arena master would love teh have some of them statue makers or even them birds if they be young nuff. I ate a kes egg once too. Tasty when they fresh, ya know?"

[Quila Oris (John M.)]

(OOC: Bob, having been here for a month and also having frequented the inn and been in contact with several folks from the House, do I know there is an active beast/arena trade?)

"Did anyone see any nests or eggs in warehouse 2 where the kes'trekel roosted before we scared them off and made them get their extended family to come and impress us? Cos Baxby's got a good idea here."

Looking back at the tari, Quila asks "so if it were up to you, we would not wander this far from the bridges as we are now?"

(OOC: Bob, I'm confused with the scale of things again. We are only a couple of 100 yards max away from the South Bridge are we not? I figured it'd be 300 yards tops from the towers of the south bridge. This is only the third block from the bridge right? I don't know where I got the idea from, but I figured the first block was sort of secured or at least cleared/deserted already by House Maraneth and its agents.)

[DM Bob]

That scale seems about right.

Most of the excavations from House Maraneth have stuck extremely close to the outer walls, having cleared a direct path to ancient gates that allow easier travel to the mysterious trading partners to the west and south-west of Celik. The emptied river banks cause overland travel difficulties as far north as Kalidnay and as far south as the Obsidian Plain. It is difficult enough for the House to hold this inside route. You can correctly assume that perils such as: the Greys, flocks of kes'trekel, basilisks, and other attracted beasts such as the sand howlers give them enough to worry about and likely keep them from scavenging more than that block or so in.

The buildings in the first block beyond the south bridge are pretty picked over. These are perhaps the first ruins that Maraneth encountered. Not saying there isn't anything there to still be discovered, but chances are less. If Maraneth could hold a greater chunk of these ruins? The outside camps might be allowed to settle here and perform the duties that pioneers were used for in the colonial expansion of the Americas. In other words, cheap fodder to clear the way for the House to occupy and operate.

There is a very open beast trade in Celik. They brag about their sales to Balic, Altaruk and even as far as Tyr.