The Merchants Or Menace?

They carry on down the road for a short way, until they are sure that they cannot be seen from the city any more. Then, they turn the cart off the road and make towards the spinney, as marked on the map that Boris drew up. After half an hour, they come to the spinney and see, to their relief, that two of Boris' men are waiting for them, along with all of the party's horses and equipment.

Together, Bennett, Yaz, Will and Boris' men remove the top layer of barrels and start to open them up. The rest of the party all squint as the barrels are opened and total darkness is replaced by the bright sunshine. They all get out of the barrels and stretch yourselves, glad to be out of them, especially Winnacer who is totally bleached of all color and bathed in sweat.

They thank Boris' men for their help and decide to start out on their journey to Holitze immediately. They know that the best way to get to Holitze is to travel in a direct line there, which will also avoid any main roads. Boris estimated that it would take them around one and a half days to get to the village providing that they kept to a steady pace. By setting out immediately, they should be able to reach Holitze by dusk tomorrow.

You all mount your horses. So as to move as quickly as possible, Winnacer, Bennett, Xavier, Jihan and Will all take either a gnome or a dwarf with them so that no one need walk. For those of them who are unused to riding, the first couple of hours on horseback are something of a trial, especially to poor old Robert who clings to his horse for dear life. However, they are only moving at a regular walking pace, so it is not too difficult for any of them to keep control of their mounts.

The first task is to go to the bank of the river and meet up with Viirin. The journey only takes 20 minutes and Yaz sees that the giant wolf is lying amongst the bushes and reeds on the bak as instructed. The wolf is finishing off a duck that he managed to surprise when he sees Yaz approaching. Picking the remains of the duck in his mouth, he hurtles towards Yaz, as if he were an old friend, wagging his long tail furiously.

They ride on for a couple of hours, following a path that runs in the right direction for them to go directly to Holitze. The scenery is flat lowlands. At the start of their journey, they find themselves moving through agricultural land. In many of the fields that they pass by, they see a number of farmers at work as the harvest season has now come and the corn needs to be gathered in before the cooler temperatures of the Fall starts. However, after an hour, the fields have gone and there is only gently undulating lowlands.

They carry on your journey for another hour without seeing anything. Then, on the horizon, they see a covered wagon heading in the same direction that they are going in. They stop and debate what you should do in the situation. The wagon is so far away that it is unlikely that they have seen the party yet. The terrain here is so open here though that it would take a long detour to get around the wagon, which would mean that they would be unable to reach Holitze by the end of tomorrow. They spend a few minutes debating the situation and then decide that they have little to fear from one, slow-moving cart. After all, they took out two companies of Nyemetz just three days earlier.

They carry on in the direction of the wagon and gain on them quite quickly as the wagon is moving slowly. They can see no outriders or anyone walking alongside the wagon. Content that the wagon could not contain a large force of heavily armed men, they carry on towards it.

As they come to within a few paces of the wagon, the driver of the wagon hears the sound of them approaching and peers out at the party. They see that the driver is well-dressed and has the look of a foreigner about him. He pulls on the reins of the wagon to stop it.

Keeping their hands close to their weapons, they approach the wagon, coming around to see who is riding aboard. They see that there are three people at the front of the wagon. The driver is well dressed, a man in his early forties wearing embroidered brigandine armor. He has a longsword at his side. Next to him is a young lad, probably no more than twenty, dressed in padded armor with a shortsword. On the far side of him is a heavily built man in his early thirties. He is wearing chainmail and has a bastard sword with him. He has the look of a bodyguard about him.

The driver smiles as they come up to him. He is speaking to the others quite loudly in a foreign tongue as he sees them and then he starts speaking to them in broken Bohavian:

'Greetings be there to all of you kind sirs' he says smiling at them.

He then spies Xavier, who is still in the form of the orc sargeant. Upon seeing him, the driver starts to look a little afraid, but then tries to calm himself and continues:

'Miklosh Toth I am, sir. I am merchant from Pannon ia. From Hradetz Kralovye come we. There sell we goods. Go back now to Pannonia.'

The party greets the man and start talking with him. They chat for around five minutes, trying to sound out the man. They notice that the wagon behind him is completely sealed by the canvas and it is not possible to see inside.

Min starts barking at the wagon. Will tells him to be calm and the dog quietens, although continues to stare at the wagon.

Miklosh is very chatty and also very inquisitive, he asks them quite a number of questions about who they are, and where they are going. All the time that he is talking, he looks a little nervous, particularly whenever he looks at Xavier and Min.

'I hear that many brigands here be. Three of us only there be and worry we of attack. Not strong against attack we be and good prize for brigands. I see that you are a strong group well armed. Would you accompany us to your destination? Pay we one gold piece per day for you each if help to protect me you will.'

As the others slow to a stop; Faewen'il stops her horse in the back of the group and simply sits there and lets the others speak, occasionally rubbing at her backside or flicking insects away from her face.

Jihan looks up at Miklosh gravely, noting the others beside him. Min's barking at the wagon lead him to squint suspiciously at it and frown slightly, though he says nothing. He continues to stare at the wagon and its hidden contents as Miklosh talks, then slumps forward onto the horse and drops his head.

Bennett accept the merchant's offer, though he asks him a question:

"First thing we need to know is what kinds of goods you are carrying. If it be something distasteful or morally repugnant, we cannot accept the offer."

Bennett appears to be less interested in moral justification than he is in satisfying his own curiosity.

Miklosh grins as he hears Bennett's question:

'Our goods for to trade no are distasteful. They very tasteful! Goods they were fine salami, paprika and spices. Most have we sold In Hradetz Kralovye. Little have we left. Think I little dog like salami. Why he have interest in wagon mine.'

At that point, Miklosh murmurs something in Pannon to the young lad, who disappears into the back of the wagon. He then emerges with a large salami in his hand which he gives to Miklosh. The merchant throws the salami in front of Min. Min, however, simply looks at the salami for a second and sniffs it a little. He then goes back to staring at the wagon.

Winnacer, recovered from the barrel escape, eyes the merchant with suspicion. He greets the man cordially, introducing himself simply as Winnacer - without the pomp that he often has displayed. Winnacer tells Miklosh that they will happily accompany him and his wagon, but that they will be turning eastwards later tomorrow and so they will not be able to accompany them any further on their trip. Miklosh thanks them and says that he will be happy to pay them the agreed price for accompanying them for the next 24 hours.

They carry on with their journey, accompanying the wagon as they carry on moving. Winnacer rides Juggernaut next to Miklosh and they talk as they move on.

Miklosh continues to be very curious as to who they are and where they are going. Winnacer informs the merchant that they are gemstone speculators, privately funded, en route to examine a possible new vein of the precious rocks in the Jeseniky Mountains, explaining why they will be turning eastwards shortly. Miklosh just nods and doesn't inquire as to more details concerning where the vein may be.

The merchant keeps looking at Xavier in the form of the orc, and then again at the three gnomes. It is obvious that he is very curious regarding the makeup of the party. Eventually, curiosity takes the better of him and he asks the inevitable question:

'Hear I that Nyemetz not let gnomes live free in Bohavia. How you have gnome and Nyemetz with you?'

Winnacer answers that Xavier is not a member of the Nyemetz, but is simply working with them as a bodyguard. At this news, Miklosh seems to relax a little and he starts to come out with even more questions. He asks them what their thoughts are as to the Nyemetz. Winnacer gives as evasive a reply to this question as he can and, before Miklosh has a chance to question him in more detail, he turns the question around and asks him about Pannonia's relationship with the Nyemetz.

Miklosh is as defensive as Winnacer was, and seems to be giving an official line rather than his own thoughts:

'Pannonia independent country is. No have war with Nyemetzko, no have war with Slovensko. They have war with each other. No want more war with Pannonia. Pannonia have own war with Sulimans to south east, so Pannonia not want war with them. Peace treaty with both Nyemetz and Slovenes have Pannonia. Peace is good. War is bad. I not warrior. I am merchant and war no is good for business. I drive wagon to Brunn. At Brunn take we boat back home to Peshti. We make a little money. Have a good life. Then I buy more goods and once more will them to take to Bohavia. Is simple life and no safe, but other know not I.'

After having finished telling them a little more about his homeland, Miklosh turns the conversation back to the party and their experiences and observations. He asks a lot of questions about where they have been recently. Every time they mention a town or city, he always asks the same questions:

'Know you how many Nyemetz have garrison there? Has city walls or no?'

Once that avenue of conversation has been exhausted, Miklosh draws the conversation round to the war with the Slovenes. He is very interested to know what they think of it, and what information they know about the Nyemetz moving troops to the front. He also asks them whether they know of any castles and fortresses in the country. He carries on with questions about the dwarves and the elves and what their thoughts are towards the Nyemetz.

This rambling conversation takes several hours and it is soon getting dark. Winnacer decides that it is time to stop for the evening, knowing that they should easily be able to make Holitze before dusk the next day. Miklosh is also pleased to be making camp.

The terrain is still very open and it is easy to see, or be seen, from a distance of well over a mile here. Winnacer picks a spot next to some bushes and stops the party.

Jihan virtually falls out of the saddle as they stop, twisting to land on his feet at the last second. He looks around again, as if burning the surrounding foliage and area into his mind, then walks towards the nearest trees. There he sits throughout the night on the ground with his knees curled up under his chin, his arms around them. A chipmunk comes up to him, sniffing at him and looking him in the eye questioningly. Seeing that nothing is wrong, it curls up in the fold of his leg and sleeps there for the night. It doesn't even appear as if he knew it was there.

And all is done in silence...

The rest of them get on with more useful activities. Firstly they pitch their tents a short distance away from the wagon of Miklosh the merchant, not wanting to get too close to it. In the center, between their tents and the merchant's wagon, Will builds a fire. Darry and Tharnald take the cooking utensils from the ass and the foodstuffs and start to cook a hearty evening meal for them all. Miklosh offers Darry some herbs and spices for the meal, but Winnacer politely interjects, not trusting the motives of Miklosh still. Both Miklosh and Darry are a little disappointed, but do not make a big scene from it.

The gnomes retire early but the rest of the party stays up for a while. Will takes some time helping Yaz with his reading and writing skills for a while, but then Yaz tells him that he needs to carry on trying to learn how to speak with Viirin. The two owls that Yaz has befriended, Heathcliff and Gertrude, fly up into the bushes where they cast their large eyes over the camp beneath them.

Miklosh is still bombarding Winnacer with questions, going back over the same subjects as he was asking about on the journey. At around 11.00, Miklosh runs out of questions. He yawns a little, then thanks Winnacer for his time and tells them that he is feeling tired. He walks to the wagon along with the young lad and the two of them seal the flaps of the wagon behind them. The bodyguard remains outside on guard, a heavy crossbow sitting on his lap as he guards the front of the wagon.

Winnacer organizes a watch system once Miklosh has left. With so many members of the party, organizing a watch is easy, and Winnacer arranges for there always to be two on guard, so that one can watch the merchant's wagon and the other can keep an eye out for intruders.

Before retiring, Yaz asks Will whether he could have a few words with Min. Will agrees and asks Yaz whether he could accompany them, to which Yaz agrees. Yaz, Will and Min move some distance away from the camp and Viirin follows them also.

Once they are well out of sight and earshot of the wagon, Yaz starts to cast and gesticulate and then Will hears Yaz start to bark at Min:

'So, Min, it's nice to have an opportunity to talk with you' barks Yaz.

'You too' agrees Min, wagging his tail.

'So, tell me Min, it was obvious that there was something about the wagon that attracted your attention. Could you tell me what?' asks Yaz.

'Sure' replies Min. 'Something inside wagon Min smell. Not spice or meat, but something that lives, or someone. Min not smell that smell before. But Min not like. Creature or person smell bad. Min not like.'

'Master Charaz' interjects Viirin at this point. 'I must say that I concur with the emotions of my diminutive colleague here. My olfactory senses also detected the presence of a being that I have not come across during my past. For reasons that I find hard to explain, I also must admit to feeling somewhat ill at ease in being in the presence of said creature.'

Yaz thanks both Min and Viirin for their answers. He then tells Will that he thinks it best if he summons the others so that he can announce his findings to them. Will goes over to the tents and arranges that Tharnald and Darry keep watch while the rest of the party (with the exception of Jihan) come to join Yaz. Once all are assembled, then Yaz tells the rest of them the opinions of Min and Viirin.

Winnacer was already very suspicious concerning the merchant's motives from the questions that Miklosh asked him incessantly. The news that the animals have detected the presence of something out of the ordinary in the back of the wagon serves to increase his curiosity and unease.

Winnacer recommends that they try the invisibility ploy, perhaps invisibly poking a hole in the back of the canvas and taking a gander.

Faewen'il shakes her head at Winnacer's request:

'I nae be learnin the invisibility spell this mornin. I can't be makin no one invisible, not until tomorrow mornin after I've learned new spells for the day.'

Winnacer shrugs at the news and decides that he will wait until the next morning to question the merchant in more detail. He then returns to his tent, from where he intends to keep an eye on the merchant's wagon for the remainder of the night

After the conversation regarding the animal's thoughts has finished, Will approaches Jihan softly, touching his arm lightly:

"Jihan, young brother, we may have a development brewing with the merchant and his questionable goods. We need you."

Jihan is silent as Will approaches him, and does not respond immediately as the half-elf touches his arm. His eyes are glassy, and his face is fallen, hopelessness etched on his features. Very slowly, he reaches down and picks up the small chipmunk that was sleeping in the warmth of the fold of his leg and, without waking it, places the small creature in a hollow bole in the tree against which he was leaning. He then looks up at Will, his eyes almost dead in their sockets. Holding the bard's gaze for a few moments, he lets his head drop and then attempts to stand, using the tree behind him for support. He staggers a little as he comes to his feet, and allows Will to help him go towards the fire with the rest of the party.

After the party meeting, Yaz lopes off in the direction of his wolf friend, and throws himself on the ground directly in front of where the animal lay. He starts making nasal grunting noises and growls. Viirin grunts an acknowledgement and blinks his eyes lazily. The two remain in this position for a time, then eventually Yaz becomes more animated, first pointing to various objects around the camp and asking for translations (tree, orc, horse, goblin, human, fire, plant...), then acting out situations for the wolf's comment on how to express them. Yaz does his best to parrot back each and every new word, trying to get the accent right. He frequently bursts out laughing and rolls about on the ground, while Viirin's tail occasionally thumps the dirt floor, making it obvious that both are enjoying themselves.

As the evening continues, Yaz decides that Viirin must have had enough of acting as his teacher during the evening as he notices Viirin's attention wandering. He allows Viirin to go off from the camp in order to hunt for some game, as long as he doesn't touch the horses.

Yaz then makes his way inconspicuously to the back of the caravan. The bodyguard looks up at him for an instant, but seeing that it is just the kid, pays little attention to him. Then, Yaz's eyes wide and intent, his tongue out the corner of his mouth, he climbs up into the wagon and attempts to peer under the tarp covering to see what's inside.

There is a rustle from beneath him as Yaz gets to the rear of the wagon. Looking down, he sees that it is Jihan, who has been under the wagon looking to see if there were any secret doors or other ways of accessing the wagon. Jihan doesn't speak with Yaz, continuing to stare ahead with the glazed look in his eyes. He crawls out from under the wagon, presumably not finding any entry from beneath.

The wagon is sealed totally by the tarp, secured from the inside and so it is impossible to lift it to see what is inside. There is a glint of metal in the moonlight, and Yaz sees that Jihan has Link and Recht in his hands. Silently, Jihan takes both daggers and neatly cuts a slit in the canvas with each of them. The two of them then slip to the ground and listen to hear if there is any reaction from inside the wagon. All seems to be quiet, however.

Breathing deeply, the two of them rise from the floor and then peer through the small slits that Jihan has made.

It takes a couple of seconds before their regular vision changes to infravision, as it is pitch black inside the wagon. They see the sleeping form of Miklosh laying on a thin pallet on the floor of the wagon. Next to him is the young lad, also fast asleep. Then they both let out a silent gasp of surprise.

On the other side of Miklosh is another figure. The figure is large and muscular, around 7' tall. It has a hairy hide of a deep golden brown color. The creature has a head not dissimilar to that of a bear, with wedge shaped ears rising from the top of its head. They can just make out that the creature's mouth is filled with rows of spiked teeth. The creature is wearing robes of a midnight blue color. Written on the robes are runes of a type that neither of them have seen in the past. Close to the creature is a staff of ebony.

Apart from the three sleeping occupants, there is little else of interest in the wagon, just simple journeying materials such as cooking utensils and the suchlike.

Having seen all that there is to see, the two of them drop from the wagon, wary that the sleeping occupants may waken at any time. Using the same degree of stealth that they employed to get to the rear of the wagon, the two of them make their way back to the camp. Yaz wakens the rest of the party and informs them as to what they have seen.

'It sounds like a bugbear to me' says Will. 'I have read of their kind before, though never saw one before.'

Winnacer continues:

'Well if it really is a bugbear, then it looks like we have a Slovene amongst us. So what should we do about this situation?'