ALYSON: Alyson says, "Lets patch our guys up first then go from there."
S'LCH: The vrusk was more then happy to follow the locals to what was hopefully food, and shelter. He was worried about what they would do with the prisoners... He was not a jailer, he didn't want to try to take care of people that would just as soon kill or enslave him
ALYSON: Alyson says out of earshot of the pirates and says," Trial them. If we get guilty verdict we sentence them to death."
ENSIGN FURY: "I would have an issue with that. If it later became known that we tried them and sentenced them to death, our own actions would likely come under investigation and we might find ourselves accused of murder because we did not follow correct legal procedure. If the kurabanda are willing to keep them as prisoners after we depart, I think we are on safer ground. If the kurabanda end up killing them, for whatever reason, then I don't think we could be blamed for their deaths."
This discussion continues as the group continues north through the freezing forest of towering bachanda trees, with everyone joining in with their thoughts and opinions. When the sun begins to descend and darkness falls on the forest, the kurabanda leader, whose name is Lomonada, speaks to George and tells them that they will arrive at the kurabanda encampment soon and so will press on through the darkness. Torches are lit to provide light and the group continues through the icy forest.
Two hours later, the group reaches the kurabanda encampment. The camp resembles a massive "nest" in the midst of the towering trees. Barriers surround the camp at multiple levels but are thickest at ground level. Within the camp are numerous shelters built into the trees at all levels from just above ground level to 50 meters up in the air. Lomonada, the kurabanda who led the group to the camp, tells them to wait and goes forward to speak to the tribal chieftain. The remaining four kurabanda remain with the group and are soon joined by dozens of curious kurabanda from the camp who gather in the trees around the group and watch them. They are particularly interested in Alzarix, who looks like a larger cousin of the kurabanda, as well as S'lch who looks like nothing they have seen before. This is also true of the yazirian, vrusk and dralasite pirate prisoners. Additionally they are clearly mystified by the giant metal robot that seems to be able to walk along the wide branches of the bachanda trees with ease, under the control of S'lch.
After a time, Lomonada returns with the tribal chieftain. There follows a long discussion between the chieftain and Ensign Fury, who has picked up enough of the language for basic communications (with the active assistance of the Vizoldt Chronocom), with occasional input from Lomonada. After an hour of discussion, the tribal chieftain departs and George tells the group that they will be given shelter in the camp and time to rest and recover. In return, the kurabanda want to know much more about the pirates, who have been raiding the kurabanda hunting parties and either killing or taking prisoners.
The days pass and, under the care of Gorman and Alyson, the group's medics, those who were injured are restored to full health. George has daily sessions with the tribal chieftain to tell what the group has learned of the pirates. He and Gorm also meet with the pirate prisoners daily to check on their health and ask more questions.
During this time, the group also learns more details of a possible pirate base some distance to the south and east of the camp. None of the pirate prisoners admit knowing anything about it but a couple do know that the pirates have some remote bases around this part of Volturnus that are generally used for research so it is not beyond the realm of possibility that there is a base not far away. The kurabanda indicate that it is about 5 days travel. The first two are through the forest and the rest are over the icy desert. The base is located on the shore of a very large lake. South and west of the base are desert while east of the base are fiery lava beds. A lake is to the north. Curiously, the lake is not frozen over.
With little else to go on, the group decides that a reconnaissance mission to the base is in order. Perhaps the base will be poorly guarded. Maybe it will have a subspace radio that the group can use to contact UPF forces on Truane's Star. Failing that, maybe it will have a normal but long range radio that they can try to use to contact the UPF base that is supposed to exist on Volturnus.
GM: Feel free to interject. Let me know what you are doing during the time you spend in camp. If you have some EXP, you might want to use it practice with ranged weapons. See the group's equipment list (on the website) for what weapons you have as well as ammo.
ENSIGN FURY: During the time at the kurabanda camp, George continues to improve his skills with linguistics and xenolinguistics by working with the kurabanda daily. He also works on his psychology skill during his frequents visits to the prisoners using mental tricks and games to try to coerce or otherwise tease valuable information out of the pirates. He considers trying to develop some skill with some sort of ranged weapon but decides against it. He will continue to focus instead on his martial arts training and make sure he is always in company with people who know how to shoot.
ENSIGN FURY: When the time comes to depart to find the pirate base on the south shore of a nearby lake, George is more than ready to move on. He doesn't know what fate has in store for them but hopes that their journey will eventually lead to some sort of contact with the UPF so that they can be rescued from this icy, desert planet. |