Playing in the Sandbox

The odds and ends are just equipment for the wagons or tools to help with supplies (like a ladder for one example).

Alma walks over to one of the wagons. Climbing into it, she looks at the others. "I... I think I'd like to try and get some sleep. Please, um... please wake me if you all decide to go somewhere." She directed the last part at Skaimos, before laying down as best she could and tried to get comfortable.

Skaimos made sure to close the doors to the outside behind him. While it would be nice if they could secure themselves somehow from the inside, the was probably going to be the best situation they could hope for.

"Alright, then, let's get some sleep everyone. Ladies in one wagon, men in the other. Mykaila-sama, if someone comes in, be sure to wake up Lex-Iya-san. She's probably going to be the one who will stop the caravaneer from shouting for the guards the moment he finds us "intruders" sleeping in here."

Skaimos climbed into the other wagon, and tried to get himself comfortable. He then closed his eyes and tried to go to sleep.

The Pixie just finds a spot that's hidden to sleep in, with the hope that she'll be able to wake up and help quietly warn everyone before anything were to happen and stuff...

Tordek lumbered into the men's caravan and got out of his plate armor, because sleep would be quite difficult with it clanging all about. He hoped that for once nothing went wrong with the simple plan of "go to sleep".

Ok, you all wake up to the sound of Mykaila speaking and some men being rather loud.

Cyrtanthus curses quietly to herself as she realised just WHO was talking... She had hoped so much she'd be the one to wake first and worn the others if something like this were to happen.

Skaimos opens his eyes. He doesn't know where Cyrta is, but he sees Tordek beside him. He uses Send Thoughts to communicate with Alma. "Lex-Iya-san, we have company. If you recognize our visitors, let me know. If not, well, we'll get ready for a fight." Skaimos nudges Tordek, then peers out of the back of the wagon in order to see the owners of the voices.

---

Rolling for Perception...12+1(Wis)=13. Also, is it daylight already?

...And how does Cyrta know who's talking?

Alma's sleep had been restless, at best. She collected herself as much as possible before looking out to see who the intruders were.

Alma doesn't actually know the caravaneer they're here to meet personally so she can't say if he's one of the people who are talking to Mykaila, about why you guys are in here and why they shouldn't be hauling you off as thieves. All six of them do look like people who would work here though. Only a couple of them have swords on their person, neither of which are drawn.

Tordek wakes up and hears the conversation outside.

"I knew it," said Tordek, putting on his plate armor.

Alma gets out of the caravan and walks over to the door in what she hoped was a calm, authoritative manner. "Excuse us gentlemen. We're sorry to intrude, but we were hoping to speak to the Caravan master about arranging transport. My companions and I," she put her hands on Mykaila's shoulders, "came last night. We were unable to find lodging, unfortunately, and it was urgent we speak to you as soon as possible, so we let ourselves in." Technically she wasn't lying.

(Diplomacy: 18+5+3=26)

One of the men replies, "Then I don't suppose you'll mind us searching the lot of you for whatever you were here to steal then?"

"Hey," says another of the men, "They could be telling the truth." A third man scoffs at this but, the second man continues, ".... and if they are we can charge them for lodging and to replace the alarm spells."

"Oh, that's not bad. Probably worth more than whatever they were here to steal anyway." responds the first.

((I meant the fact that Mykaila was talking was seen as a bad thing in the Pixie's mind... After all that could mean really bad shit is going down if she's talking first to other people. She's both just a kid and also their charge to keep care of.))

The Pixie... Just stays back and hidden in her hidy spot, trying to not be seen as she waits to see just how bad everything is at the moment.

"Well, if we're lying, then you have come across the worst thieves in all of Chiheisen." Skaimos climbed out of the wagon. "If we were thieves, either we decided to break in just as all the merchants were opening their shops, or we literally broke in and decided to sleep on the job rather than, say, grabbing some merchandise and get out. As it stands, we apologize for any inconvenience, and would be glad to pay for lodging and repairs for the alarms."

Skaimos considered saying that the men were free to search them, but felt that it was best if they didn't have reason to put their hands on Alma. Hopefully, any costs would be more than made up by the reward gotten at Hanko (assuming they could get there safely).

---

Rolling for Diplomacy (if necessary)...Nat 20 +5 (Trained)+ 3 (Chr) =28.

A fourth man, one who was standing at the back before, comes forward while chuckling. "That's ok, you don't really have to pay for 'lodging' or the alarm spell, we've got someone hired already who does that as part of his services." He steps inside the building, past Mykaila who steps back out of the way, and examines the shelves for a few moments. "Well, your story checks out I suppose, boys go make sure nothing's missing all the same." He then turns back to Skaimos and says, "So, why did you folks choose here of all places to spend the night?"

Assuming it's safe enough to exit without attacking... The Pixie comes out this time. "We needed travel... So we figured sleeping here would be easiest to request travel once we wake."

"Well I'll be! A.... actually what are you?" the man replies first in surprise but quickly changes to puzzled. "Travel you say, well if you want to head to Hanko you've come to the right place. Anywhere else and you haven't."

"Last I checked that was where we were headed, right?" The Pixie asked looking to her allies, then turns to the man that talked. "Oh, I'm a Pixie... A type of fey. That's all I really know..."

Satisfied they weren't in danger of a meeting with the guards, Alma steps back and takes a seat, content to let Skaimos work out the details with the caravaneers. This proved to be a mistake, however, as she let her mind drift back to the events of the previous day. She felt sick.

"Well, first I'd have to ask how many of you there are and how you're planning on paying." He says, still looking at the Pixie curiously.

"Just the five of us," said Skaimos. "We have some money on-hand, but we are also willing to offer our services, in either getting the caravan ready to go, or on the trip itself. I'm not sure if banditry is a major problem along the route, but Cyrta-san here can get a bird's eye view to scout for any intruders, and I believe most of us are willing to fight to defend the caravan if need be. Also, as a psion, I am capable of sending my thoughts over great distances. If you would like to communicate one of your employees back here, I may be able use my abilities once a day to send and receive a message." Skaimos paused for a moment, then continued. "Unfortunately, I must confess that I am still somewhat inexperienced as a psion. Due to the vast distances we will be traveling, I can only guarantee the message will be received for the first three days. After that, it would be approximately 50-50 if I am able to get a message over. And after..." he thought for a moment. "...16 days of travel, Kabikyo will be entirely out of my range." Skaimos shrugged. "Take that as you will."

"So, I guess the main question for you, good sir, is this: Is there anything we can do for you?"

"You talk to well of my skills... I wouldn't be able to keep up if I flew that high..." Cyrsta admits.

The man replies, "Banditry is a major problem along every route kid. Message sending and probably not eating a lot are nice perks but, can you guys do anything else? Any traveling experience or survival skills? Stuff like that. I'm sure the kid there can't fight but, how about the rest of you? We're a little short staffed in the guards department so far and I need to hire on a few for this trip anyway."

"I'm quite skilled with fire magics..." Cyrta offers. "Also I am very stealthy... So I could sneak around and then set the enemy on fire if the need arises."