09-02-05

Characters involved: Lesperance, Nadia, Nivik, Nixia, Taye, Nadenka, & Pabla.

Salamandastron: Western Side

Lesperance passes the apples between his procession, keeping one for himself. A dagger is withdrawn from its thigh sheath, cutting the peaches into slices that he then passes out in equal amounts. The pouch of nuts is left in the midst of the group, so that they can take them as they wish.

Nadia takes her bit and starts to nibble quietly

Nivik defaults his supplies to the pair of young vixens, his tail flicking to and fro. "Eh, I ain' hungry. An' someone should stay on t'e bounce."

Lesperance nods and cuts Nivik's apple in two, giving the halves to the kits. "As you say, then. But I can eat and take your place." the hob turns his head up towards the mountain. "Though it makes me wonder what might be keeping them."

Nadia does the same with this new bit as the older bit..

NiXia finally pokes her nose out f the curtain eyeing the beasts.

Having received his orders from the Colonel to greet the party - she was otherwise busy - Taye exited the mountain and... failed to find anyone. And so, he has begun to wander, his wanderings bringing him in a westward direction. Thus it is not surprising that he soon spots the small party and moves towards them.

Nivik chuckles, "Naaaw..." He takes a look up towards the mountain, then about, somehow missing Nix...it /is/ a little late, and black fur isn't hard to miss as such. He does, though, eventually spot Taye. "Beas' on the beach!"

Nadenka turns to see who Nivik is talking about

Nadia does the same as her sister

NiXia shuffles down the steps, her halberd slung over her shoulde, eyes gleaming white, her irises snowy. "Ere now..." she whispers to herself, waving sage smoke away from her head.

Lesperance's free paw drops towards the second dagger, but he shakes his head. "Hold off, Nivik, till we know who it is." he lowers the dagger he had been using to cut the fruits with. "Good evening, friend." his ear twitches a bit, eyes directed towards Taye.

NiXia turns in the subject of most popularity, judging that no one's noticed her yet..."

Nadia waves to the hare smiling slightly

Taye doesn't reach for his own weapons, having already received word as to who to expect. "Evenin', sah." He inclines his head, jogging the rest of the way over to the small gathering. "Private Taye, here t' welcome you int' the mountain."

Nadenka giggles at the hare's accent and waves

NiXia taps her shoulder with the enormous blade. the voice sounded familiar...and the name..." she plays with the hem of her skirt, Eying the hare balefully."

Nadia waves "Hello."

Lesperance sheathes the dagger into the sheath on his right thigh. The paw rises to form a fist over his chest as he bows slightly. "My thanks, Private Taye. I am Lesperance, this is Nivik," the paw motions towards said squirrel, "Veronica," a vixen that stands from where she had been sitting. (spoofed as she isn't on at the moment) "Along with Nadia and Nadenka." he motions to the kits.

NiXia shifts position ,thinking back now. her halberd knicks her shoulder a bit a she swears, slightly louder than a whispers...

Nivik gives a single wave with a pair of fingers.

Taye looks around at the assorted company, nodding his head to each. "Pleased to meetcha. On the behalf o' the mountain, I welcome ya." He, for his own part, hasn't noticed Nixia, or if he has, he only notices her as another member of the gathering and nothing more. "If you'll follow me, I'd be glad to direct ya straight away."

Lesperance nods, looking at the others, making a gesture, "Aye, lets be about it, the hour grows late, and the kits have been walking all day." he himself picks up a pair of canvas bags, hoisting one over his shoulder. Veronica picks nothing up for her part, moving to stand next to the hob and waiting.

Nivik chuckles, and stands up, stretching before he unstrings his bow, "An' I've been runnin' circles about the happy l'il group. I coul' stand to lie down a spell."

Nadia stands up and starts to follow as well..

NiXia watches. Ah well. talking would just bring attention to herself, and another arrow-halberd showdown... she plops down in the sand with a sighs, rememberring her vest is still in the cart. no wonder she's freezing...

With a simple nod Taye turns, directing them back the way he has come. "Jus' this way, then..."

Nadenka follows the group quietly

Salamandastron: Level One

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You have come to a large intersection of paths. Passages lead off in

every direction, turning and spiraling off into the distance. There is a

clearing of sorts where they all meet, a circular 'room' which gives space

for traffic to pass smoothly in all directions.

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Visible Exits:

[Up] to the Second Level [Down] to the Caverns

[O]ut Along [P]assageway [D]ining [C]hamber

[K]itchens [S]tore [R]oom

[S]econdary [I]nfirmary [F]estival [H]all

[M]ain [H]all

Lesperance follows behind the hare, looking around curiously as this is his first time past the entry doorway at all. "Nice construction, here." he looks back along his procession, insuring that everyone made it in and nobody got side-tracked.

Nadia follows behind Les

Nadenka follows behind her sister, looking around curiously

Taye looks back over his shoulder at Lesp and grins, "Aye, we have us some smart ancestahs t' build a place like this..." He stops when the reach the first level intersection, turning around to look at the group. "The guest dormitories are up the stairs 'n' right across through the opposite hallway, 'n' the dinin' room's jus' there... I'll inform the Colonel that ya've arrived. Is there anythin' else I c'n do for the lot o' you?"

Nadia shrugs and glances around curiously...

Nadenka isn't paying attention to the hare and is just looking aroun

Lesperance ponders thoughtfully. "Well, not a lot of wood on the beach, so if you don't mind we'll move to the dining room to wait, and get something to eat?" he motions to the indicated door, looking back at the kits, then returning his violet eyes to Taye.

Taye shakes his head quickly at the 'if you don't mind', smiling. "'Course I don't mind. I expect yer hungry, 'n' I expect I'll join ya, too." He reaches a paw up, brushing his headfur away from his brow and the mostly-healed gash, there. It was starting to tickle. He nods his head towards the dining chamber. "I'll inform the cook that we've got a bunch o' hungry beasts comin' in. Shall we?"

Lesperance nods and moves towards the door, holding it open for the rest to enter before he himself follows.

Nadia follows behind Les

Nadenka follows her sister quickly

Salamandastron: Dining Chamber

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This is the dining chamber for the mountain of Salamandastron. It is a

veritable cavern, the necessity of feeding so many hares making the room

so big. Dominating the room is a huge banquet table made of solid oak.

Nobeast knows how such a venerable object came to be here, but its

presence is undeniable. Smaller tables skirt the outside of the room,

each sitting near a large torch burning brightly in its sconce. The chair

at the head of the table is different from the plain maple chairs that

occupy the rest of the room - it belongs to the Badger Lord. The massive

object is graced with a carving of the very mountain it is in, with the

sun setting over the sea.

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Visible Exits:

[M]ain [H]all [K]itchens

[O]ut

Lesperance enters and moves to take one of the smaller tables, pulling the chair back and holding it for Veronica, as well as the kits, before he himself moves to sit. He waits, letting his eyes roam around slowly, a faint smile upon his muzzle.

Nadia sits down nearby Les legs dangling off the edge of the seat...

Nadenka giggles as she sits next to her sister and kicks at her paws, her tail swinging back and forth behind her

Nadia kicks back with a giggle

Entering from the kitchen where he has informed the cooks of the new need, Taye exits holding a tray of soups in paw. He finds the group again and walks over to them, setting the tray down on the nearest table. "Eat up, folks."

Nadia looks at the soup "What kinda soup?"

Lesperance takes a bowl for himself, and retrieves one for each of the kits and the older vixen as well. "Many thanks, friend." a spoon is retrieved, and the hob begins to slowly work on his soup.

Nadenka takes one of the bowls and sniffs at it and repeats her sisters question, "Yah, what kinda soup?"

Taye grins at their curiosity. "Just a basic vegetable soup." And before they ask what vegetables, he leaves it at: "A mixture of stuff from our gardens. 'Tis good. Try it."

Nadia shrugs and starts to eat

Nadenka sniffs it again and smiles, "Thanks" she says before she starts to eat it too

Lesperance settles back, waiting patiently as he makes his way half through the bowl before pausing to speak again. "So.. the last time I was here, I was asked to disarm myself before entering.. you mentioned nothing of it, so I didn't, but am wondering if I should?"

Taye eyes Lesperance thoughtfully for a moment. "Well... from what I've been told, yer of the friendly variety of ferret. But, uh..." Quick, Taye, cover yourself. "I'll take yer weaponry 'n' store it in our armory fer the duration o' your stay, so ya needn't worry about it."

Nadia watches the hare amusedly as she eats..

Lesperance nods, and moves back from the table a moment. From his back he unslings the quiver-like sheath holding a pair of three foot staves. Already placed within are the claw-tipped gauntlets, and added to it are the sheaths from his thighs, and the belt that carries the bronze throwing disks, and vials of lamp oil. All fits comfortably within the container, and this the hob sets onto an empty table.

Nadenka watches Les disarm with a grin, she didn't know he carried that much

Taye watches this process with slightly wide eyes. He, too, had not realized the ferret was carrying so much. "Very good, sah." Just then, a couple of beasts arrive from way of the kitchen, with a couple more trays. These are carried over to the table and set down. There a few platters with fruits, veggies and biscuits and such things, as well as some cheese. Plenty for the small group. Without much more than a word, the normally grumpy cooks head for the kitchens.

Nadia finishes her soup and now just watches the hare supressing a giggle

Nadenka finishes her soup too and reaches for a roll before turning back to the hare and looking at the table

Taye looks down at the giggling kit, then over at the other one. "Ya traveled with these two? Must've taken ya forevah." He

Lesperance chuckles softly, looking at Taye, "They're stronger than they look, and already promising fighters." he reaches out to ruffle the closest kit's head. "What took longer was just about every day we picked up someone new."

Nadia grins and nips at Les's paw

Nadenka giggles and reaches over to tickle her sister while she's occupied

Taye grins at the kits' antics then moves to sit in the nearest unoccupied chair. "So how long will you all be stayin'? I'm sure yer welcome t' stay as long as ya like."

Nadia giggles and tickles her sister back

Pabla, another member of the party, who has been sitting here eating heartily, looks up as Lesperance speaks. She grins broadly. "Right, like me. Lesperance is like a magnet."

Lesperance gives a little shrug, smiling over at Pabla. "Indeed.. for good or ill." he winks at the mousemaid. "Well, I don't know, really. From here I thought we'd go to the Southsward, so theres no reason we couldn't say awhile, see what we can do to help out around here and the like."

Nadenka tries to tickle back while staying out of her reach, giggling the whole time

Taye inclines his head in a nod. "Well, we're still recoverin' from the battle fer Halyard, so there's a fair deal of work needin' doin' while the wounded recovah."

Nadia goes to pounce her sister

Pabla pipes in, glancing around her and then towards Taye, "I think this place is -amazing-! A whole town inside a -mountain-."

Lesperance blinks, and frowns a bit. "What happened at Halyard?" he pauses, between eating a bit of bread and some cheese. "News hasn't reached up to mapleleaf, yet."

Taye beams at Pabla's excitement, nodding to the young mousemaid. "I thank ya... It suits all of us, fer sure." His attention is drawn by Lesperance, but in the way of someone trying to pay attention to two at once, his head turns towards Lesp but his eyes stay on Pabla. Finally, though, he looks at the ferret. "A group o' vermin sacked the village... We managed to retake it, howevah. Lost a lot o' hares."

Pabla listens to Taye with interest, eyes widened. Battles and soldiers are foreign to her.

Lesperance frowns a bit, "I thought that didn't look right when we passed through." he shakes his head. "And these other vermin.. are they just retreated, or have they all been delt with? And do you know who they were?" the hob turns, taking a glass of water and sipping slowly from it.

Taye's nose wrinkles slightly at the thought of the vermin. "We took out a great deal of 'em, but they've just retreated. Haven't seen a bit of 'em since the battle, howevah, so they've retreated far 'nough to be outta our hair fer the time bein'." Pause. "They called themselves the Bloodthirstahs, sah."

Nadenka listens curiously to it all

Nadia does the same

Lesperance stills, suddenly. "Led by a ferret, are they not? Goes by the name of.. Daclon I believe. Yes.. I met him in Ruingate." the hobs eyes narrow, flicking to his weapons. He relaxes, eyes going back to the Private. "Well, indeed - I don't think it would be right for us to leave until they have retreated fully."

Taye considers this for a moment. "Mayhaps yer right. In any case, you'll be righ' safe here."

Pabla's eyes flick from Lesperance to Taye, noting the ferret's behaviour. "Are you going to go fight them, Les?" she asks him in a more serious tone of voice than normal.

Lesperance shrugs a bit. "I'll speak with the Colonel, first.. if she'll have my blades at her side, then yes I will." he nods to Taye, "I believe it - it would be right hard to penetrate the mountain itself."

Taye nods. "Only been penetrated a coupla times in its history, sah," Taye replies with a proud grin.

Nadenka is still listening carefully

"I'd expext that, good Private, seeing as how ardent the Long Patrol has been in the defending of it. I'm actually surprised to be welcome to visit this far in - my first visit wasn't just within the doorway." he smiles lightly, "Not that I blamed Zoe for that." Lesperance picks up a small piece of cheese, nibbling on it.

Pabla continues to listen to the conversation, while chewing on an apple.

Taye grins slightly at mention of the Colonel. "Well, sah... She said y'all were welcome fer the time o' yer visit, so it seems ya made a good 'nough impression the last time."

Lesperance smiles a bit as well, "So it seem, so it seems. Speaking of the Colonel.. will we be able to speak with her somewhat tonight, or shall we just wait until the morrow?"

Taye shakes his head, looking upwards. "No, sah, I'd just wait 'til mornin'. She's tendin' to one of our hares who had a bit of a relapse... Imagine she's still up in our infirmary. And, oh! That reminds him. "I almost forgot, sah. I'm s'posed to inform ya that yer welcome anywhere in the mountain, save fer the cavern cells."

Pabla glances to Taye with interest. "Why? Are there creatures in there?"

Taye smiles to Pabla, inclining his head. "Aye, miss. A coupla prisonahs."

Lesperance nods. "That is well, then. I'll let the others know as well." seeing as Veronica and Nivik went and passed out.

Pabla furrows her brow, asks curiously, "Why can't we go there?"

Taye's brow wrinkles curiously for a second, but he answers nonetheless. "Fer yer own safety, miss. S'pose you went down there 'n' just stood outside. All they'd do was be unpleasant. Now, if ya actually went inside their cells, ya'd most likely be hurt. Best t' leave their care t' our fightahs."

Pabla grins faintly. "Oh, I wouldn't go -in-."

Taye laughs, nodding. "'Course not, miss."

Lesperance moves on, standing to go look amongst the trays. "Any juice?"

Pabla tilts her head in Taye's direction, watching him curiously. "What do you do in the Long Patrol?"

Taye gestures to one of the trays, where a pitcher hides behind a basket of biscuits. "Just there, sah." He notices Pabla's curious watching and looks her way, blushing faintly. "I'm a runnah, miss. A scout. In the mountain my duties consist o' sentry 'n' courier duty, s'well as the usual patrols."

Lesperance looks, moving the basket aside. "Ah, my thanks, friend." he pours himself a glass, tasting it before nodding. "One of the more important duties, in my opinion.. Anyone else want some?" he offers up.

Pabla nods her head. "That sounds like fun. I was a scout once for a group... called the Kayde. In Mossflower. But I never actually did anything." She grins. "I think the Long Patrol is really neat. I hope we stay her for a while. It's much more interesting than Mapleleaf."

Taye nods at Lesperance's offer. "I'd appreciate that, sah." He looks back to Pabla, resting his chin in his paws as he looks at her. He grins. "Well, yer certainly not bored very often. I've nevah been to Mapleleaf... What's it like?"

Nadenka has arrived.

Lesperance fills up a second glass with juice, bringing it over to the private before he regains his own seat. He falls quiet, letting Pabla talk.

Pabla pauses, thinking for a moment. "Well.. it's a small town. New creatures come a lot, but you can talk to everybeast real easy. And there's a pub, and some stores, and an otter holt with a pond, and a town council." She shrugs. "It's peaceful. Most of the time."

Pabla adds, "There's lots of different types of creatures there too. I like that. Birds and cats and mice... everything!"

Taye takes a sip from the glass that Lesp delivers, nodding his thanks. "Aye, well... I do get a little sick o' seein' long-eared hares all the time. Must be nice to have lots of othah folks about."

Nadia sits up from a nap and yawns and says sleepily "Morning..."

Nadenka sits up too and looks around quickly

Lesperance chuckles a bit. "Its still nighttime, little one." he offers the two of them a smile.

Nadia ohs "Evening then."

Nadenka settles down and smiles at Les

Pabla nods her head. "But I don't ever see many hares! The mountain is full of you folk! What about a badger though? Don't you have a badger leader?"

Taye laughs at the thought of being excited at seeing hares, of all creatures. Then, he shakes his head, sobering up just slightly. "No, miss. Our good Lord Bludstripe passed on when I was youngah. None has yet appeared to take 'is place."

Nadia glances around at the beasts wondering why they went quiet..

Salamandastron: Dining Chamber

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