44 – Crossroads
You decide to ask Irene if she would allow you to tag along while she investigates. You are interested in her methods, in what she could learn, and frankly, also in her. She agrees with a smile, and so your interesting day begins.
But before starting with the investigation, you decide to share some of your ideas with her. You tell her what you think about these invaders, how they are cunning, and not averse to using people and then just killing them to hide any possible traces. And also, that you believe that they are quite strong and that this village might be doomed unless some serious defense is put in place. All this was most likely them gathering information before a strike....
You also speculate however that they might not be so sure they can win an open confrontation. Many villages could have been razed already, and instead they seem to be taking their time. So they are either not ready yet, or maybe they do fear something. Maybe even just the fact of becoming known in the surrounding region....
Irene listens politely, and agrees that your hypothesis seem reasonable. But she does caution you that there might also be other possibilities, and that no battle is lost until it's been fought. As such, she suggests you try to approach this situation in a positive, propositive way. But anyway, you think you managed to impress her, at least a bit, with your intelligence and your logic.
You follow Irene for the entire day, as she carefully inspects the places of the murder and of the riot first, and then as she interrogates a few of the people involved. And you feel quite humbled. She seems truly an expert at soothing people's nerves and making them feel comfortable, and then at asking questions that they are not wary of. Though she does not discover, in this single day, anything new compared to what you already knew, she manages to obtain more detailed recollections from nearly everyone, and all that without scaring the people she interrogates.
Apart from this, the day passes in a rather uneventful way, though you do have to admit you enjoy Irene's company quite a bit. She's.. different from the other women you know. Calm, intelligent, cultured. And attractive, yes. Though she's a few years older than you...
You sleep soundly this night, and wake up well before dawn to prepare your things for the journey. Irene comes to say goodbye, as she will stay here to try to find more information about this situation. You prepare all your belongings and then help with overseeing the last few tasks before the caravan can leave.
The caravan is composed of forty people and twenty carts. Lord Tilash will send with you thirty soldiers, mainly taken amongst those that came from the south just yesterday. You, Kalz, and Kalz's men will go with the caravan at least until the crossroad south of here. Kalz will be in command of the caravan at least until that crossroad. There, if everything goes well, you will leave the caravan and head east to Nokos, to work on the second part of your task.
Lord Tilash sees you off, and you think he's sincere when he says it's been a pleasure to know you. You guess you did manage to make a good impression, and that's a good thing. And then, after one last check to the carts, the caravan sets out.
(You have started once again to study the sword and the book of etiquette)
The next three days are rather peaceful as the caravan moves south on the road. You do not meet anyone, there are no quarrels (most assuredly because of the thirty soldiers traveling with you, of course), and you start once again to study your book of etiquette, and to train with Kalz's men in order to improve your sword skills.
As the third day of travel ends, you reach the crossroad where you should leave the caravan in order to head for Nokos. Since it's so late, you decide to pass the night together with them. But the night is not as uneventful as you would have liked.
You toss around in your sleep, wake often, and always you know you dreamed of... something. But, the details of that dream keep eluding you. At last you fall into a deeper slumber. And then you dream again. It is a strange dream, you feel.... not alone. As if there was someone else there, while you're dreaming. It's a strange sensation, and you feel like you're shaking.... as if someone was... shaking you...
You wake up as Kalz shakes you vigorously. It's still night, and you hear a cacophony of noises. Animals, men, things moving around. You are confused for a second, as Kalz shakes you once more.
"Come on, get up Kyoss! We have a big problem! There's a huge storm approaching us, we need to secure the caravan, the animals. And also to find if at all possible a way to find some shelter for ourselves!"
You are now wide awake and notice the strong winds, the first drops of water on your skin, and the churning clouds above you, visible even in the night sky thanks to the frequent flashes up there. It seems you only have a few minutes before the storm arrives. You help Kalz securing a couple of carts, and then take shelter under a tent, along with a few mules. And then the thunderstorm hits you.
And it a terrifying event, with howling winds that threaten to tear apart your very tents, and with a heavy rain mixed with hail. But the most frightening thing are the lightnings that strikes the forest around you. Luckily, the center of the thunderstorm seems to be a bit to the west, maybe even just a couple of kilometers. You see tens and tens of lightnings striking the forest there, in rapid succession, as the rumble of thunder shakes your camp.
The thunderstorm lasts for a couple of hours, and then slowly fades to a drizzling rain. As the sun rises, you see the last clouds moving away, pushed by the rather strong breeze blowing westward.
The camp is in disarray, but nothing serious happened. And today should be the day you leave towards Nokos, following the eastern road.
But do you want to do something else, or maybe to do something before going east? This is an open update, if you don't vote anything, you will just depart for Nokos and travel in the same way you did up to this point. Of course you need to convince Kalz if you want to do something drastically different.
Remember, you can check the map at the start of the thread if you want.
EDIT: the question has been raised whether or not Kyoss should speak directly. For now I didn't have him speak. More info a few posts below.
http://www.rpgcodex.net/forums/inde...multiple-choice-lp.72636/page-36#post-2192609
Please also vote on that