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Holmes: In the colony, there is a sound of a drum beating, as if from far, far away. Okhfels awakes to the sound of it, it being familiar to him. The surrounding tent of the Forge does not keep out the cool morning air, and that, or the sound of the drum is chilling.
Okhfels stumbles out into the morning mists.
Okhfels looks about, trying to locate the source of the sound.
Haikain sits up, yawning and rubbing his eyes. He was sleeping at a nearby campfire, now burnt out.
Isadora rolls over and grumbles, then decides it was time for the morning run anyway and heads outside to investigate.
Holmes: Thuuum, Thuum, Thuum!
Holmes: The sound seems to carry from very far off to the north.
Okhfels: "Have to go... Have to go..."
Holmes: As if it's echoing across the valley.
Okhfels hurries about, gathering up his sword, gear, a little food, a skin of water...
Okhfels passes Isadora, looking pale.
Haikain eyes the agitated Okhfels with curiosity, and starts to gather his own kit
Isadora, jogging after Okhfels, pauses by Haikain. "Just me, or did he look like he'd seen his mother's ghost?"
Haikain swings his pack onto his back and falls in with Isadora, though a couple steps back. He gives a nervous smile. "I actually have a funny story about that..."
Okhfels mumbles to himself...
Okhfels turns around suddenly and nearly runs into Isadora.
Isadora "What's going on?" Isadora asks Okhfels, pulling up short and thus risking a collision with Haikain.
Okhfels: "Garaumbadaurr... it's the drum. It's calling me. I have to go."
Haikain steps smartly to avoid said collision, and watches the conversation...he doesn't want to intrude on people he doesn't really know.
Isadora: "Go where? What's Garaumbadaurr?"
Holmes: There's a sudden crash to the south of the colony. Some tremedous collision and a flash of light in that direction. The sky is oddly colorful above in patters that seem to wave about for a moment. Then the odd lights subside.
Okhfels: "Garaumbadaurr. It's... Earthshaker. Heartpounder. My company... we... I have to go."
Okhfels hikes the waterskin over his shoulder, and looks off to the north.
Isadora: "Are you coming back?" Isadora looks in the direction of the crash, torn.
Haikain stares over at the crash and lights, then back to the two he's with. He's obviously torn between the two .oO(What a great place to spend the night...)
Okhfels: "I don't know. If..."
Okhfels: "I don't know what I will find."
Isadora: "You have to come back. I have work to do." With that incoherent message, Isadora whirls and sprints in the direction of the explosion.
Haikain blinks a couple times, then looks steadily at Okhfels. "Well?"
Okhfels pauses a moment.
Okhfels: "Come... come with me. Someone may need to come back, to tell the tale."
Okhfels runs, first, to Elahra's tent. He scoops her up for a kiss and a hurried, incomplete explanation, then starts running off to the north.
Holmes: Elahra stands there, kissed, watching Okhfels head off. She shakes her head, bemused, and heads back into her tent.
Haikain tightens his backpack straps, makes sure his cart is secured somewhere, and buckles on his machete, then follows Okhfels at a steady pace

Holmes: The drumming is definitely sounding nearer now. The pair, Okhfels, and Haikain, clamber up a hill. The drumming may be coming from the other side.
Haikain pants, having run this whole way to keep up with the larger mans longer legs. He wipes his brow and gives the hill a practiced once over.
Holmes: In the distance to the North, the great peaks of the Scorpion Ridge loom near. They are dark and brooding.
Okhfels pushes on. "Rest later. Gaurombadaurr calls."
Holmes: Just after saying this, the two of them look back to the top of the hill. The faint sound of some voice chanting, some big voice, comes over the hill along with the continued drumming sound.
Haikain gives Okhfels a "I'm just along for the ride" look
Okhfels motions Haikain down, and crouches. He starts to creep up the hill, sharp eye out for anyone who might be watching him.
Okhfels isn't looking at Haikain...
Haikain bellyflops and crawls after Okhfels with surprising ease, for such a dumpy-looking guy
Holmes: As the pair reach the top of the hill, it drops off sharply into a defile beyond. Below, in the middle of the ravine is a shrub with a large, ornately carved drum sitting in the middle of it. Circling the drum, the suource of the repetitive sound, is a troll festooned with the feathers of some very large bird.
Holmes: A pretty substantial troll. All 13 feet of him.
Holmes: He seems quite preoccupied with the drum. At one point he scans the surroundings, but then goes back to his chanting and gesticulating at the drum.
Holmes: Somehow the ritual seems ill intended towards the drum.
Haikain catches Okhfels eye and gives him a questioning glance
Okhfels pulls back from the edge and whispers to Haikain. "I have to get that drum back from the troll. Help me, and I will owe you."
Holmes: Haikain remembers something that a dwarf once mentioned to him about Trolls. "They're not smart. But they know the spirits of these mountains, some of 'em."
Haikain whispers back. "Done. Now, I don't know too much about these creatures, but I've had it on good authority that they're not very smart. But they also know local spirits, especially in this kind of terrain."
Haikain: "Now, I don't know any of the spirits around here, but I'm sure we can outwit him."
Okhfels: "Hmm... maybe one of us can draw him off..."
Haikain: "How heavy is that drum?"
Okhfels: "I can carry it."
Haikain: "Aye. I guess that means I'll draw him off, then. How long do you need to get it and get back over the hill?"
Okhfels looks down at the slope. He makes an estimate.
Okhfels: "Give me a little time to swing around down to the left. You draw him to the right."
Haikain: "I shall. I'm sure I don't need to tell you to wait until -after- he's distracted to act." He winks and starts scootching to the right.
Okhfels stays down below the ridgeline and moves off to the left.
Haikain gets over a good distance, then scoots down the hillside and stands up, brushing himself off and tapping his lip in thought
Haikain: he waits a couple more minutes to make sure Okhfels gets to a good position, then closes his eyes
Haikain: he stands still for a couple seconds, the starts to do a flowing kind of dance, from the waist down, in time with the drum. he flows up the hill and crests it during a particularly rythmic portion of drumming, eyes still closed
Okhfels watches from further down the ridge
Holmes: The troll sees Haikain, and is momentarily confused. But then it takes a step in his direction.
Haikain sways and starts a chanting singsong. His arms form abstract shapes and his feet draw patterns in the dirt, all symbols associated with the island spirits of his home.
Holmes: The troll stops and watches the dance, understanding that it's about spirits. He decides to put off eating Haikain for a moment. Meanwhile Okhfels steals in behind him, his bare feet making little noise. He grasps the drum and carries it off quickly and easily, his scouting tactics evident in his movements.
Holmes: Just as he crosses the top of the hill, the troll looks about and catches him out of his peripherial vision.
Holmes: It screams a terrible war cry, and chases off after Okhfels.
Okhfels dashes as fast as he can for the ridge, going up the slope at an angle, forcing the troll to come straight up the steep slope at him.
Okhfels reaches the top, and unlimbers the drum and his sword. He bangs the drum once, causing a vibration to spread out through the ground, then swings around to face the troll coming up the slope at him. "Come to your doom."
Holmes: The troll seems shocked by the sound somewhat as it comes up over the ridge. It's so large that the rise doesn't seem to give much advantage in the height department - which says a lot given Okhfels height (he actually doesn't look as small as most men would against it).
Holmes: Ockhefels moves quickly with the sword the smith gave him, and leaps at the creature. Before it can respond, he's slashed the back of it's leg badly. As he passes, the thing flings an arm at him, and bats him back the way he came. Okhfels lands back by the drum - a lesser man would have had his ribs smashed, but Okhfels merely grunts a bit and stands back up.
Holmes: The troll tries to take a step, but nearly stumbles. It stops, taking assessment of the mess that it's leg is in. It cannot pursue.
Holmes: Instead it takes a huge bone from it's back, with feathers attached to it with sinews, and begins rubbing it back and forth. Something seems to be forming in the bone...
Okhfels grabs up the drum again, and runs down the hill, shouting a cry of victory.
Holmes: The troll roars after him in pain and frustration.
Haikain dashes down the opposite slope, then cuts back to catch up with Okhfels
Holmes: As the two make their way back to the camp, the roars become less and less loud in the background until they can no longer be heard at all.

Holmes: The world whirls around. All is color and light. And then there's a crash. Looking out the window, there's a lake there. Where there was another building before. The spell has obviously gone horribly wrong.
Egani steps out on the porch, scratching his stubble and looking around.
Holmes: The surrounding landscape is certainly not Sel-Kai, and probably not even the island of Sel for that matter.
Holmes: The lake before Egani is almost as big as the island itself.
Holmes: And a huge stand of white trees forests the far shore. Eeerily...
Egani examines the time of day and weather, making rough guesses about the distance.
Isadora jogs up, having snagged a soldier along the way. She rests her hands on her knees and looks the house up and down, trying to catch her breath.
Holmes: Inside Egani notes Marcia not too far off. She seems motionless...
Egani , hoping to share a common language, "Hello...I seem to have...well..."
Egani: "Sorry...", and goes to check on his wife.
Sebastian trots up. He turns to Isadora and quirks an eyebrow, "More new arrivals, my Lady?"
Holmes: Isadora realizes that this is the Sel-Kai dialect of Shay. She can understand it barely.
Holmes: Sebastian is, of course, a native speaker.
Isadora: "Okhfels left," Isadora says to Sebastian, irrelevantly. She then adds, nodding to the house, "At least this one brought his own tent."
Egani examines Marcia.
Isadora makes a "You do the talking this time" gesture at Sebastian, hoping she correctly identified the dialect.
Sebastian: At the news of Okhfels departure Sebastian looks a bit perturbed, "Damn," he mutters. "He is coming back isn't he?" He then looks up, "Oh, yes, definitely Sel-Kai native... the architecture would be a dead give-away even without the accent."
Isadora: "Do the houses fly in Sel-Kai, too, or is this a new inconvenience?" she asks Sebastian, starting the trek up the hill.
Isadora: "I don't know. He wasn't sure if he was coming back."
Isadora: "Not that I care, but we could use the extra arms. The smith will be upset."
Sebastian mutters again, "And I had such plans..." he turns back to Isaroa, "Well, some house fly, but I think that the remoteness of our location indicates that this was unintentional."
Isadora: "You never know," she says grimly. "We could be the next fashion."
Holmes: Marcia seems to be unresponsive for a moment, and then - snap - suddenly she looks at him. "Oh, Egani, what happened?"
Holmes: She smiles at his visage
Sebastian snorts. "I hope not, things are already plenty complicated as it is."
Isadora: "You can never trust mercenaries, anyway. They come and go, no reliability." She seems to be talking to herself as much as to Sebastian.
Egani helps her to her feet with a hug. "It seems that we've travelled a bit. Come see."
Holmes: Sebastian notes that the house is pretty large by Sel-Kai standards, but also very, very run down. That's the pre-impact assessment. Now it barely stands, ruined from it's fall from the sky.
Egani steps back onto the porch with a smile. "Greetings!"
Sebastian gives Isadora a, "Good cop, bad cop?" look.
Isadora nods slightly to Sebastian. "What the hell's all this?" she barks, to Egani and his house in general.
Egani looks down over the edge of the porch to see what we landed on. "Well...I am Egani and I'm new here. You are?"
Egani: "Oh, this is my lovely wife, Marcia"
Isadora: "I'm Isadora, and I'm in charge here--which, unless you're secretly Rhiani, makes you my problem." She nods to Marcia.
Sebastian bows politely. "And I am Sebastian. Welcome."
Egani: "Where is here?"
Isadora doesn't look terribly official at the moment, dressed in running clothes with her hair quickly tied back, but the soldier behind her seems to believe it.
Isadora: "The Green Lake Gardening Society. Rhiani are the next camp over."
Sebastian: "A long way from home my friend..."
Egani mutters quietly while looking back and forth, "Isadora, Sebastian, Isadora, Sebastian, Is..."
Egani: Gesturing to the lake out front, "that would be Green Lake, then?"
Egani: "And, um, what do you do here? Just garden?"
Sebastian: "I think it might be a good idea to explain yourself before asking too many questions..." Sebastian gestures at Isadora, "Lady Isadora has many things that she must attend to..."
Holmes: Marcia comes to the door behind Egani, "Who are you speaking to, love?"
Isadora: "Right. If you think gardening isn't enough to worry about, you obviously don't know the natives. They're psychotic."
Egani: "Marcia, these are our new neighbors, Sebastian and Isadora. They were just explaining the natives of this new land to us."
Isadora: "Right, I was saying they're crazy. Almost as crazy as houses falling out of the sky. How did that happen?"
Egani: "Well, that's really the heart of the matter, isn't it? My real question is this...Did you do something to summon me, or what?"
Egani: "I guess if you're in charge here, you should be explaining what you need, that would make you go to all this effort."
Isadora: "Not that I know of." She eyes Egani. "I recall saying quite a few things to Kuor last night, but your name didn't come up."
Sebastian: "Salast would be the one to talk to about that I believe, but I really think I should get to know you better before we try to find him..."
Egani: "I was engaged in a small ritual when an abnormality in the flow of essence snatched me up. The only thing that I can think is that something made this happen."
Isadora shoots a look at Sebastian. There was that thing with Archelaus...
Isadora: To Egani, she says, "If this was a small ritual, please avoid any large ones during your stay."
Sebastian: "Hmm... I don't know enough about magic to say what happened. But as I said, there is Salast, and of course that strange astrologer fellow."
Egani: "Ah, well actually, this effect really had nothing to do with my own pursuits. Truth is, I wouldn't know how to do this if I wanted to. Perhaps I should speak with them. Can you send them 'round?"
Sebastian: "By the way, if it's not incomprehensible, what 'small ritual' were you performing?"
Egani: "I was trying to form a sophisticated control kernal for an automaton. It's not really the historical use for the ritual, but it's pretty close, and a really great new application. Why do you ask?"
Egani: "It's a kind of spiritual healing, really."
Isadora frowns. She has no idea what that meant, but it sounds suspicious.
Egani: "Look do you folks want to come in or something?"
Sebastian: "Well, it's my business to know. The Lady Isadora-" there is a slight emphasis on her title "-is responsible for the encampment, and I am responsible for knowing what's going on so that she can make wise decisions. Not that she really needs much help in that department." Sebastian smiles, "And yes, it would be nice to get out of the sun. My Lady, what of yourself?"
Isadora: "What's the worst that could happen? It'll disappear again, and take us somewhere better than this. Which is to say, I'd be delighted to come in, good Egani."
Egani conforms pretty closely to the Shay ethnic norms (which I don't recall) but is a little small (short and thin), and is wearing a stained apron of some kind. Marcia is stunningly beautiful but seems a little off somehow. Egani is virtually always fiddling with something in his hands and has to remind himself to look at the faces of the people he's talking with, except for Marcia.
Sebastian: As they step inside Sebastian takes a deep breath, he looks delightedly at a small boquet on a stand by the door. He bends down to inhale appreciatively. "Ah, the smell of home, it has been quite a while."
Egani raises an eyebrow. "Home?"
Sebastian shakes his head, as if to clear it. "Ah, nothing, nothing. Do you, by chance, have any tea?"
Egani: "Marcia grows...er...grew a wonderful array of roses in our side garden...I'm not actually sure if they came with..."
Egani: "Oh, sure. Marcia, will you see to that?"
Holmes: Dhazari, and one of his men come along to see what's going on. Their eyes are very large as they approach the house.
Egani leads the guests into the cluttered parlor and clears a couple chairs of crates. "Please, have a seat."
Holmes: "What...is...this?" says Dhazari, still outside. "It looks like a home from Sherezak from the descriptions I've heard."
Egani: "Is that a friend of yours, outside?"
Sebastian is too distracted to answer, his eyes are roaming the room absorbing everything.
Isadora: "After a fashion. He's one of the natives, so whatever you do, don't lie to him."
Egani leans out the window of the parlor to examine the 'native.' "Hello, your friends are in here...would you like to come in?"
Sebastian continues to wander around the house, picking things up an examining them before returning them to the exact spot they had lain in, leaving everything appearing undisturbed.
Egani: Marcia offers the guests some curried goat in flat-breads -- left over from last evening.
Sebastian smiles in thanks, and takes the food. He is careful to eat first in order to illustrate things to Isadora without saying anything...
Isadora will accept and eat some food after Sebastian, still bemused about the whole thing.
Egani: "Is that native man wearing normal dress or is that somehow ceremonial? What is the normal weather here?"
Sebastian glances outside, "About like it is now: too hot and too humid."
Egani: "This really is too much."
Egani: "I think it's just starting to sink in that this isn't a dream."
Isadora: "Get yourself a drink," Isadora says helpfully. "Maybe three."
Sebastian smiles, "Speaking of which, did I tell you that Laura brought a small decanter of excellent brandy with her?"
Sebastian: Then Sebatian's face falls, as if suddenly remembering something troubling.
Egani: Marcia brings in a steaming pot of the powerful black tea favored in Sel-kai and enough cups to go around.
Sebastian inhales, a smile almost returning to his face.
Sebastian: He looks up, almost appearing embarrassed, and smile depreciatively, "You wouldn't happen to have any tea that I might purchase from you, would you?"
Isadora looks at Sebastian curiously for a moment, a trace of sensitivity surfacing in her nature. She dismisses it and drinks her tea, not wanting to embarrass him with questions.
Egani: Sensing the undercurrent and changing the topic, "So, it sounds like there may be influences that caused my diversion to this place, but you are either unwilling or unable to commit to them. These people, Salast, an astrologer, and perhaps Kuor...what is their relation to you?"
Isadora: "Salast works for me, the astrologer is another drifter--although he didn't bring his house or make any noise--and Kuor is the great lord god of the Orhan pantheon, who has been disregarding my recent attempts at prayers for delivery from this hellhole."
Sebastian simply sips his tea appreciatively. In silence.
Egani: Ah...so, it really would be good to know if either of them had a role in my arrival.
Sebastian: "I can see why you might think that, but perhaps you could tell us a bit about yourself first..."
Sebastian: "There's plenty of time for finding Salast later..."
Holmes: Dhazari comes to the door of the house, and behaves as if it's an tent entrance. Seemingly he's had enough of looking at the outside, "May I enter this tent?"
Holmes: Egani doesn't recognize the language.
Egani: "Your native is restless..."
Sebastian looks up, "Dhazari, this is Egani, he does not speak your language, but he offers you his hospitality. Please enter and be welcome."
Egani: "What can I tell you about, good neighbor Sebastian?"
Egani sees that some of the curried goat dish is offered to Dhazari.
Egani: "I live...d in Sel-kai and built things. This house is the property of Count Phorik, my patron. I'm married to Marcia. And I have no idea where we are."
Sebastian carefully takes a piece of paper from somewhere and begins folding it. "Do you think the Count might want his house back?"
Egani: "I rather expect he would, particularly if intact."
Egani: "...But it may be easier for him to rebuild than to move this one."
Isadora laughs. "I'd be happy to write him a letter with directions, so he can come and get it."
Egani: "Out of curiosity, where are your houses? Is your town over one of the hills?"
Sebastian: "Well, 'town' isn't quite the right word," Sebastian resonds without looking up from his delicate work.
Isadora: "Shantytown, however, might do." Isadora shrugs. "It's a temporary sort of place."
Egani: "Ah. Do you opperate a mine then, or something?"
Isadora: "We garden. I said that already, but I understand that the house thing must be confusing you."
Egani: "Truthfully, do you just garden here? Do you perhaps mean that you farm?"
Isadora: "Farm?" Her eyebrows shoot up. "What a peasant sort of job. Certainly not."
Holmes: Dhazari looks about, fascinated by the building.
Egani: "Well, I wasn't imagining you out in the fields with oxen and hoes, exactly.
Egani: "Anyway, have I supplied enough information? I believe that Marcia and I would be keen to have a tour of your operation, if such is available."
Sebastian holds up a intricately folded paper bird critically. He looks at Marcia, back at the bird, and at Marcia again. "Madam, may I offer you a gift in gratitude for your hospitality?"
Sebastian: Sebastian turns back to Egani, "Sorry if we seem inhospitable. But these are unfortunately dangerous lands..."
Egani: "How exciting!"
Egani: "Does this Dhazari garden too?"
Isadora: "Yes, it's fabulous," Isadora says dryly. "I think I could manage a tour of our little tent-city. You might want to get your bearings before you go anywhere alone with Dhazari, though."
Holmes: Dhazari looks at those speaking, hearing his name. "Does he have a question for me?"
Holmes: "I have some questions."
Sebastian: "I will translate if you wish."
Isadora grins at Dhazari. "He wants to know if you're a gardener. He's a bit confused right now, so go easy on him."
Sebastian turns to Egani, "Dhazari has some questions for you if you are willing to answer them."
Holmes: "You know I'm no gardener," he says disdainfully. Then, somewhat humorously he says, "Tell him I hunt flowers."
Egani: "Can you explain his role in the local scene first? I would then be happy to."
Isadora snickers into her tea, letting Sebastian handle this part.
Egani: Marcia accepts the folded paper, finally figuring out what it represents, and slips it under a decorative pin on her bodice. A light blush appears on her cheeks as she thanks her new acquaintance.
Sebastian bows slightly to Marcia, and turns back to Egani, "Well, Dhazari occupies an interesting position. Let me tell you about it, and then I'll go see if I can root out Salast and convince him to visit you."
Egani: "Well, I'm looking forward to that tour. Shall we? Perhaps we can stop by his house along the way."
Egani: "Or, tent, I mean..."

Holmes: The day is nearly over when Okhfels and Haikain come back into the camp.
Okhfels strides into camp. His weariness at having been pushing himself as hard as he could all day is balanced by his rather profound pride at the prize he bears.
Haikain follows, red-cheeked and wiping his brow. While obviously exhausted, he sports few of the scratches and knicks that Okhfels gained from the journey.
Holmes: Some of the Rhiani come to the edge of their camp to see what it is that the big man is carrying.
Isadora comes along also when she hears of his approach, hurrying without quite appearing to.
Haikain drops back a couple paces and trys to make himself presentable
Egani is trying to keep everyone straight and now follows Isadora to meet two more people.
Holmes: From the Rhiani camp, Elahra comes running. "This is quite a prize."
Holmes: Her look suggests to Okhfels that maybe she thinks that she can share it with him somehow?
Isadora, not really understanding the significance of the thing, stalls by letting Elahra and Okhfels talk. She says to Egani, "This is Okhfels, a mercenary who blew in a few days ago. He's good with fire."
Okhfels scoops Elahra in close. "It is! I had no idea it was anywhere near here."
Egani: "You seem to have a lot of people showing up for being the middle of nowhere."
Haikain gives Isadora a nervous smile, and then nudges Okhfels. "I shall go recover from the journey. We shall speak again, soon."
Isadora: "Yes, we're all the rage. I think it's because we're the most interesting thing around for miles, except maybe the goblin army to the north."
Egani remembers himself and greets the mercenary.
Isadora grins back at Haikain, still trying to figure him out. She'll track him down later. To Okhfels, she nods.
Holmes: A tall grey-haired man looks at Egani. "It's no coincidence that the paths of all of these have converged here and now. It's the fate of the stars."
Holmes: "Pardon my manners," he continues, "I am Archelaus."
Haikain rolls his eyes as he trundles off, giving Egani a polite nod in passing.
Egani: "Ah...the strange astrologer."
Okhfels puts his hand on the drumhead and looks across it at Isadora. "With Gaurombadaurr here, we'll have a little easier time with those goblins."
Egani smiles and returns the nod.
Holmes: "I take it you are also an adept from Sel-kai. From what I gather? What is your field, Egani?" Archelaus continues.
Isadora: "Really?" Isadora says to Okhfels, looking more interested. "How does that work?"
Egani: "Oh, I studied with the A'kesh. I build and fix stuff. Did you create an abnormality in the Essence this morning?"
Holmes: "Create an abnormality? Me? Well, not as such. I mean, the ritual did cause an effect, which could be discerned as an abnormality. But it was completely intended on my end. I mean all magic has an effect..." he ponders this.
Egani raises his eyebrows meaningfully toward Isadora.
Okhfels proudly explains to Isadora. "Gaurombadaurr is the battle-drum from my old unit... I don't know why it's here, but it's here. It is a strong spirit, an earthshaker."
Holmes: "Play it, Okhfels," says Elahra encouragingly.
Isadora: "That's... wonderful," Isadora says to Okhfels, nodding back at Egani and wishing desperately that Sebastian were here.
Okhfels: "Are you sure? It's not a dancing-drum, Elahra... its job is to terrify."
Holmes: "Oh," she says, a tad crestfallen. "Well, we should hear it anyway, no?"
Okhfels looks over at Isadora. "People should stand back, I think."
Isadora: "You heard the man," Isadora calls to everyone gathered around. "A little space."
Holmes: Elahra backs off respectflly. As does Archelaus. Some soldiers gather near at this point. They seem attracted to the thing.
Egani takes a step back and observes the drum intently for the magical effect.
Okhfels waits until people have moved back. He motions them back until they're at least ten feet back.
Egani: "It doesn't work if people are too close?"
Isadora will move back just far enough to satisfty Okhfels, and no further. She's not afraid of some drum, right?
Okhfels: Once the area is clear, Okhfels brings his hands up over his head. "No... but I don't want anyone to get hurt."
Okhfels brings a double fist down in the middle of the drumhead. The sound is tremendous, but even worse is the tremor that rumbles through the ground.
Holmes: The crowd stands back as the sound reverberates through the valley.
Holmes: After some playing, however, some of the Rhiani warriors, and soldiers stand near to hear it, as though impressed by the sound of the thing.
Okhfels nods knowingly to them.
Okhfels: "Yes, Gaurombadaurr calls to you..."
Egani shrugs and wanders off after Isadora to find out about Salast.

Holmes: Adrienne, makes her way back along the row of tents, and approaches the supply building. Before she reaches it, Fazeris comes out from between two tents, and into her way. "Pardon me, governess. Could I speak with you?"
Isadora looks at him curiously. "So formal--I'm worried. Of course. A house just landed up the hill, but it'll still be around later to take care of. What is it?"
Holmes: Fazeris grins at her Jaded humor. "Perhaps somewhere a little more secluded?"
Holmes: He gestures to a nearby guard.
Holmes: "Somewhere where the little people can't hear?"
Isadora: "Don't forget, those little people stand between us and the Rhiani. But come--the finest chairs my tent has to offer are yours."
Holmes: *
Holmes: *
Holmes: Back in the tent, Fazeris sighs as he sits. As if to say, the best here is crap, and I'm barely tolerating it. "I don't think I can stay here much longer."
Holmes: He gets a little more serious, "But while I'm here, I have news from your mother."
Isadora had just been falling back into her normal careless posture in her chair, but now she sits forward. "What news?"
Holmes: "I suppose that your sister has told you of her betrothment?" he says, in a seemingly oblique maneuver.
Isadora: "She mentioned it, yes."
Holmes: "Well, Leuta isn't the only one that your esteemed mother has plans for," he grins at Isadora expecting a pained reaction.
Isadora looks first confused, then shocked. "What? Are you insane? Or is she?"
Holmes: "Well, I'm certainly in my right mind," says Fazeris, but I've always found your family to be...well, that wouldn't be polite.
Holmes: "But I assure you, she seeks to marry you to the profit of your house," he says with dead seriousness.
Isadora drains her entire wineglass and sits back, waving a hand a little shakily for Fazeris to continue. "What else do you know? And don't worry too much about politeness; the air out here isn't good for it,"
Holmes: He smiles, "I think she's trying to get Marvars to let you off the hook so you can return and marry."
Isadora sits silently for a minute, stunned.
Holmes: He pauses, "You know, I wouldn't be surprised if she petitioned my father for us to marry. It would be a coup for your house. "
Holmes: Again, he smiles waiting for Isadora to be taken aback at the notion.
Isadora shoots a hard look at him. Is he serious? What's the game?
Holmes: "I'd be honored, of course, if this were to happen, though I think it's not likely," he says sanguinely. "Our house being so much higher up than yours."
Holmes: "I have a proposition to make," he says. Then immediately, "No, nothing like that. I can help you back home."
Isadora: "Of course," she murmurs noncommittally to the first things he says, hiding any other commentary behind the act of refilling her glass. "And how do you propose to help me? I would be greatly indebted, of course."
Holmes: "Well, yes you would, and that's the point," he goes on. "First what I can do for you. I can try to dissuade your mother from any such actions right now. She might listen to me."
Holmes: "As for what you can do for me, well, there are new elections that have been called for in the club," he goes on.
Holmes: "Some problems with the accounting, you know."
Holmes: "What I'd need from you is to sign your vote to me, and endorse me. So many of the club members seem to follow your lead. If you say to vote for me, I'm certain to win re-election," he finishes.
Holmes: He seems dead honest about the whole affair. Isadora knows he relishes the position this all puts him in - but he seems to be playing fair at least.
Isadora: "Yes, I heard there were some... irregularities." She broods for a few seconds, tapping her fingernail against the glass. "You would need to take this note back with you, of course?"
Isadora: "I'll tell you tomorrow." She looks troubled, as if the decision is harder than it should be.
Holmes: "I can wait that long," he says. Then he bats a bug off his neck, and says, "But not much longer than that,"
Holmes: He gets up to depart. "Thanks for the hospitality."

Shadow World

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