We've got Visitors (Lorki, Open.)

[Vrelt]

Icy blue eyes surveyed the makeshift camp, with a few tents set up haphazardly around a blazing fire, fish hanging over the fire on long sticks. The little band of vermin had done pretty well for beasts that had never set paw in Mossflower before, as most of these thirteen beasts were former pirates, or from the Northlands. They had kept themselves out of conflict during most of their time spent around the forest, including the battle for Fort N'Tashi. At least, most of them did. Most of the once large crew had deserted, joining up with the other vermin in the battle, while a few stayed, mainly the older, more wise of the crew. There were a couple of younger beasts, though, who stayed because of their respect for their captain. And respect he deserved indeed.

Vrelt Darkfang had been this crew's captain when they sailed the seas, setting fear into the hearts of goodbeasts and vermin alike. He was no ordinary pirate, however. His background was far more varied than the other beasts in his crew, evidenced by the tattoos all over his arms, showing that he was no simple former pirate. Of course, he never lost his ship, Vrelt decided to give up pirating and explore this land he had never been to before. His ship was given over to the members of his crew that wanted to stay pirates, while himself and thirty other beasts left, searching for fortune in Mossflower.

The captain had no qualms with goodbeasts, for the most part. He hated it when they got self-righteous, considering themselves above other beasts, mostly vermin like himself. Vrelt had done his fair share of wrongs, mainly as a ruthless corsair, but no beast knew that. Once a goodbeast got a look at him or one of his crew, it was clear that most had an extremely low opinion of his kind. Vrelt knew he certainly deserved it.

Vrelt was sitting by the fire, with the thirteen other beasts that stuck with him, watching the fish cook. He had his impressive saber in paw, running a rag over the blade, to shine and clean the blade. Many vermin dream of having a sword like his, a truly elegant weapon, fitting his personality well. The captain was protective of his saber, for many vermin envied it, wanting to kill him and take the sword away. No beast had managed to defeat him in his time possessing the high class weapon. His reflection could be seen on the clean blade now, and the ferret was proud of what he saw there. He was told he could never make it as a pirate, or make it in Mossflower; it was clear he proved those beasts wrong. Vrelt was in good health, his fur still clean, and his eyes bright, confident in himself and his position over this little band of vermin.

His studying of his reflection was interrupted when the beast sitting next to him, an older rat, with many scars over his body as evidence of his career as a pirate, spoke up, his ears twitching. "I 'ear somebeast comin' this way, cap. Sound's like there's more than one." Vrelt took this old rat's council seriously, and turned his attention away from his saber, listening for what his first mate said. There it was, the sound of paw steps.

Vrelt placed his paw on the hilt of his saber, a smile on his face as he looked around the fire at his crew. "Sounds like we've got some visitors, mates. Be ready for anything. Don't draw you weapons unless they attack us first." The crew had much experience in combat, much like their captain, and they appeared relaxed around the fire. Though that was all for show, all of them were tensed, ready for a fight, but under orders not to act aggressive to anybeast they didn't know, unless that beast attacked them first. The captain sheathed his sword, standing up and looking around the camp, it was noon time, so he could see quite well around him. Vrelt prepared himself to meet whatever was heading this way, hopefully it was friendly, for the ferret did not want his plans for lunch to be interrupted.

[lorki]

(Sorry it took me a awhile to get to this. Busy week ^^)

Soko had originally felt awfully uneasy when she'd heard the first proposal that she ought to go out and invite whatever 'good natured' vermin she found out in the woods to visit the abbey. The idea was noble at it's best but... terribly ill timed. Even she was still victim to a few nervous individuals, none of whom were outright offensive, but plenty who had made a clear decision not to associate with her. She had tried for months to be understanding, attempt to give them their time and their space... but she was growing ever impatient. Not to mention the shadowed outrage over the newest editions to the abbey. Sleet and Redin were perfectly understood to be killers- and not necessarily on rare occasion. Even Soko found trusting much to the duo difficult, but the stress and anger and fear expressed by many of the abbey dwellers dwarfed her own unease. Adding a few more 'friendly faces' to the mix was sure to excite a panic.

And yet she'd been given the task to extend a peaceful invitation to the wandering vermin of mossflower. She wondered if it was a lie, "Oh yes, do come. Everyone is friendly. You are more than welcome." Surely she couldn't falsify the abbey to that extent. At least they were trying, she told herself. They were making an attempt.. or better yet- She was making the attempt in their favor. And, in classic Soko fashion, she still couldn't be sure if she necessarily agreed she ought to be doing it.

Either way, she'd taken it as a chance to get out. The sable had denied a guide, seeing that as more like someone to do the killing should a situation go south. Being a fairly unconfrontational creature herself, Soko wasn't particularly concerned about a fight. Not to mention, she hadn't really expected to find anything anyhow. She was no tracker, wasn't really that great at sneaking about the forest and, in fact, didn't even know she was intruding on Vrelt's camp until she was, almost literally, running him over.

Being a beast unaccustomed to traveling through the forest, Soko's eyes stayed primarily on the ground directly in front of her. Even taking this precaution she tripped regularly and made slow, loud progress through the woods. She only looked up when she heard a sudden voice, and was surprised to find herself standing mere feet away from a campfire... and about a dozen or so other beasts. Most were sitting, looking at her with a casual curiosity. Her attention, however, went to the one who stood. She shook the shock off her face with a slight smile, a bit amused by her own obliviousness. Unsure exactly how to start off she held a paw out towards Vrelt, who appeared to be the leader of the group. "Sokana Kehure," she introduced herself, "My apologizes for interruptin' your lunch."

[Vrelt]

(And I've got to sorry for not replying earlier; family came up on the weekend so I couldn't get on my laptop and post.)

The former corsair captain was disappointed; he had thought that it was more than one beast heading toward their camp. It wasn't as if he wanted a fight, he merely was disappointed because he was wrong. Though it was easily excusable, for this new arrival to the camp had made enough noise to sound like more than one beast was walking through the forest, moving quite clumsily in fact.

Vrelt measured up Sokana as she spoke, as if she did not even realize that she had wondered straight into a vermin camp. The Sable appeared close to his age and in pretty good shape; these days, most vermin that were by themselves were not well off, only those part of some kind of group had a strong chance of survival. He wasn't able to look over the newcomer much more as she stuck out her paw, which struck the ferret as unusual; he was a rough looking beast, with tattoos covering his strongly muscled arms, a sword sheathed at his side, and most beasts would recognize the ferret as a corsair. Sokana seemed to think she was his equal enough to want to shake his paw.....

The ferret was clearly intrigued, and he stretched out his own paw, grasping the offered paw of the female in his camp. "Vrelt Darkfang at your service, ma'am." Any beast that was courageous enough to speak directly to him without any flattery or another sign of vermin cowardice was either very brave or very foolish. Sokana seemed to be a mixture of both, considering that she stumbled upon his camp seemingly by accident, and then made up for her clumsy move by proving herself unafraid of the pirates. That was why Vrelt addressed her with a measure of respect, she displayed no fear over being confronted by the captain, acting as if she had every right to speak on equal terms with him.

He released her paw, matching her slight smile with one of his own, and he gestured to the fire. "Why don't you take a seat 'round the fire, mate? There's enough food for everybeast an' you can explain how you ended up in our camp." Vrelt was curious enough to give the sable an invitation to join his crew around the fire, she proved herself brave already, and that was a rarity. The ferret was going to try to recruit the female into his crew, a captain could never have enough beasts in his crew that demonstrated a level of fearlessness. Vrelt figured that the sable would join his crew without question, since it was best for vermin to stick together, now that Fort N'Tashi had fallen. Well, even when vermin were in power, it was still dangerous to live in Mossflower.

[lorki]

"Vrelt Darkfang at your service, ma'am."

Soko smiled slightly to herself. Perhaps it was a naive thought, but a well placed smile and a handshake seemed to be able to get her around a good chunk of this forest. She noted, however, that it worked much better with groups like this than it did even in the abbey. She felt oddly bitter for a moment, recalling that she still couldn't get a straight hello from half the abbey beasts.

"Why don't you take a seat 'round the fire, mate? There's enough food for everybeast an' you can explain how you ended up in our camp."

"Of course, thank you." Following his suggestion, she found herself a seat and casually sprawled out with the rest of them. "Right.. how I ended up here," she paused, feeling a bit foolish, "I'm from the Abbey.. er.. what use t'be the fort, actually." She tapped the red pommel hilt at her side with one paw, reminding herself that she had a reason to be doing all of this. "I guess, for obvious reasons, they thought it be best t'send me out 'ere and let you know, as well as any other wanderers you may know, that the Abbey extends an open invitation t'anyone interested." She stopped for a moment, trying to gauge the response of the ground. In a bit more of a resigned voice, she added, "however, they are a bit of a... fearful bunch, I'm sure you know... They're making a solid attempt at spreading some goodwill, I'm just not sure how much more it will become than just an attempt."

In hindsight she realized the excessive use of 'they', but who could blame her? There wasn't much like being the singular one of her species, somewhat scorned and then sent out into the woods to do the sort of thing half the abbey was too scared to even consider. She couldn't help but feel a bit detached. Either way, she'd done what was asked of her... and she hoped it wouldn't end up with her being chased out of the camp.

[Vrelt]

"I'm from the Abbey.. er.. what use t'be the fort, actually." She tapped the red pommel hilt at her side with one paw, reminding herself that she had a reason to be doing all of this. "I guess, for obvious reasons, they thought it be best t'send me out 'ere and let you know, as well as any other wanderers you may know, that the Abbey extends an open invitation t'anyone interested."

The pirates glanced around at each other when Sokana spoke of her mission. This group had managed to stay free of any major conflict, and they figured it wasn't likely for their captain to get them involved, especially not on the side of the Abbey.

A loud laugh boomed from Vrelt as he took his seat, but a smile was not on the ferret's face. It was more of a laugh of disbelief than anything else, he knew these self-righteous goodbeast types well since his arrival here, and it seemed unlikely to him that they would extend a welcome to vermin. Even if Sokana was indeed from that Abbey, it wasn't a place Vrelt had ever considered moving to. "Hmmm. Beasts from that Abbey are ready t' let a bunch of our kind join with 'em? I haven't been in Mossflower long, but I know enough about those so called goodbeasts."

The pirate captain paused, to gain his composure, for he was about to go on a rant about these prejudiced beasts. Vrelt looked into the fire, watching the flames dance around, lapping at the fish hanging above them. He spoke again, his voice noticeably calmer. "I doubt beasts like us are truly welcome, Sokana. It wouldn't be a life I would want, living in amongst those prejudiced beasts." The captain looked away from the fire, locking eyes with Sokana as he spoke again, an slight edge to his voice. "Tell me th' truth now, are you truly welcome there?"

Vrelt decided he would hold off on trying to recruit this beast into his crew, at least until she had a chance to explain more fully about this mission of hers. The captain was definitely unafraid of traveling to the Abbey with Sokana, just to see the reaction of the goodbeasts, when they saw another vermin enter their dwelling. That was certainly a possibility in his mind, perhaps he would go there, just to see what the residents would think of him. Vrelt doubted he would stay more than a couple of days, as the benefits of living at the Abbey were outweighed by the advantages of staying uninvolved with them.

[Grath]

"I would welcome ye anytime, ferret." It was a cultured voice, with the overtones of the northern plains. A huge white shape moved forward, entering the firelight. She was a badger, dressed in simple homespun, and unarmed. She bowed her great head politely to Sokana.

"It is good to see ye again, my friend." Her actions were reserved, but her deep voice was warm and friendly. New pink scars traced through the fur of the badger, but otherwise she seemed to be none the worse for disappearing during the great battle at the beginning of the summer.

She bowed her head to Vrelt, a short nod. "I am Carwyn Northclaw, who is called the Pike and the Ghost. It is good to meet you." She eyed the band of vermin, who were looking rather uneasy. "I do not mean you harm." She added, for their benefit.