Quest Disinclined to Acquiesce (Open)

[Ardal]

He traveled deeper into the maze of hallways with the group, but was unsure why. He wasn’t a soldier; nor could he couldn’t talk his way out of a bad situation if it turned up. He watched all the others play there special roles. He couldn’t find any clues, track any trail, or protect the team form harm. This situation is way over his head and had no idea how he would be able to do to help. On the other side of the coin, he’d be a Dek if events in his life went slightly different; as well as understand their desire for equality. Despite this he still followed clinging only to an idealistic sense of justice. Well, on the up side; the men behind this didn't seem to be too bright.

He was ill at ease, to say the least, as he followed his way down to the depths of the ever darkening path. It was dreary and miserable place to be and he had no idea why anyone would willingly choose to stay here for any extended time. As they found their way down to the shanty town; a sense of terror filled his very being down to his very core. This had a probable chance for where he could very well have ended up. As the men approached he was still and quiet scared to make a sound that would compromise the mission; he just waited to see what the others would do.

To see the living conditions that couldn't even be called meager made the thought of equal rights be all the more necessary in Wind Reach. This however, did not excuse the assault or the escalated attacks that were pending.

[Kanri]

As the others stood around discussing petty matters, like how much their head hurt, symptoms of a concussion, and dancing. What did that have to do with anything. Kanri was tempted to just take off by herself. but she wouldn't be safe. Not if she was next. No, it was better to stick to the group, no matter how terrible their prioritizing abilities were. But she couldn't remain inactive forever.

Maybe if she started off, the whole group would follow. Like startling a flock of birds into flight. Scare one, and you'd get the whole flock. She started moving towards where Ardal had pointed out the men had been standing. She could almost imagine seeing them there herself, she thought. The question was, where did they go? Then, she noticed the scrap of clothing left behind. It was perfect! If they could get one of the Kelvics to smell it, they could track down the offending party.

Kanri pointed it out shyly and respectfully to Red, the Endal. He seemed pleased but still despairing. Then, he asked where they could find hunting dogs. Hunting dogs? Why did they need those? Why not ask a Kelvic to hunt down the Deks? Not only would they be able to smell just wonderfully, they were also easier to communicate with because they were almost human at times. If the leaders in this group were that stupid, they hardly deserved to find the offending Deks! Kanri despairingly threw her hands up in the air and trotted a little ways away to watch the group make its chaotic decisions from a distance. She hardly wanted to be associated with such feather-brained people.

They eventually came to a realizing a started off. "Good riddance!" Kanri exclaimed under her breath. Then, before they could get out of her sight, Kanri hurried followed them. Not at the very back, but somewhere very near there, somewhere she could be safe.

[Farlen]

Farlen was a little insulted at the notion of hunting dogs. Why would they need those when it was very clear to everyone he was Kelvic; perhaps by his eyes or perhaps by his manner. And so he addressed the Endal with a little more boldness than he expected. "Excuse me sir, but I think you won't find a better nose in the whole of Mizahar than mine."

But before he managed a reply a gentle tap sensation lingered on his shoulder. Startled, Farlen immediately spun on his heel, arms readying to knock out the person behind him in an act of self deface. Fists already forming - when a familiar voice addressed him. The owl Kelvic. The good archer. And so any sense of distress escaped him and his harms flopped lifelessly bu his side and a pleasant smile took shape within his features. "Yes Ishgrameer." he replied a little quietly. "We need to find this location Bronaugh Den. Will you come with us?"

However without waiting for a reply, Farlen turned back to the Endal. A note of embarrassment in his voice. "Well I can sniff it out. I can. But not in this body."

Placing his tray on the floor and unbuttoning his shirt and the button in his trousers, Falren gave them all a little grin and suddenly he was no more. But his place took a cat, a lynx, though a little smaller than they usually were, weaving his way out of the clothes.

Finally when the group began moving on he took the scent of the cloth and assisted in guiding them all. And finally they found them selves at the entrance of a hallow in the mountain. For a hollow is exactly what it was. A place where no human no animal should live. That was the place of the Dek. And upon the arrival it suddenly occurred to Farlen that he didn't really want to be there. He didn't want to endanger his own lonely life for that of strangers. What had they ever done for him, that he would give his all in return? Why had he even come along? Perhaps old habits do die hard for he was never used to thinking on his own. Never had he any reason to. Merric did the thinking, Falen did everything else.

[Iosha]

Looking around at the tattered hovel the Deks decided to squat in Iosha decided to dissipate her spell. She could tell from the amount of scattered personal items that a lot of people must live in the cave. It looked like a refuge to the Dek, and by the way the men approached their party, these men held some kind of authority in their small community. Iosha looked at the two men blocking their way, and Iosha could tell Wind Reach has sucked the life out of their vacant eyes. Iosha knew Deks were considered slaves to the higher castes, and Iosha could relate to their situation in Wind Reach because she was a slave herself in Ravok. However, she was more of pampered slave used mostly to impress her Master's clients, or she was the woman who shared his bed whenever her Master's desired it. Iosha was snapped out of her personal memories by the voice of the larger Dek. He first asked what are they doing here than he asked them to leave. Looking at the two men, Iosha knew the two men wouldn't have much of a chance against the group if they decided to attack. Iosha decided to make her presence known to the Deks,. and she walked in front of the crowd. She crossed her arms and said in a stern tone of voice, “No...I don't think you have authority to ask us to leave. Now we are tracking the perpetrators that attacked the Endal Red Daghul, if you tell us where they went than we might leave on our own a cord. Now...tell us what we need to know. If you can't tell us what we need to know. Than please step aside, so we can find someone to else to give us our information.” Iosha knew the last part sounded like a threat, but she had to show them that she meant business.

[Ardal]

The two men stood in front of them inhibiting their march forward he recognized the man that spoke as the “leader” of the Deks in the hallway. They had found who they were after but Ardal didn’t alert the group that he knew this fact. He stood silent to Iosha’s questions. As if just waiting them to get frustrated and leave.

The plight of the Dek started to weigh heavy on Ardal’s mind and soul. He had grown up with some of these people even knowing some by name. These people had so much taken from them, and now the group had come to, as they most likely in their eyes as it seemed, take away the little they had left. He had not wanted for the entire caste to be brought before the actions of the few. His thoughts drifted to that if things went slightly differently in his life he’d be here in this pit as a Dek maybe even as one of the attackers.

Ardal slipped away from the group and the commotion and took a better look at the conditions these people were forced to live in, now their revolution made much more sense. These were people just as much as he and the others were. Why can’t they be treated as such? He felt that he and his conscience would be better on the side of the Dek. He wouldn’t say anything to the group of his thoughts on possibly defecting.

He was on the fence; he wanted to help these people but didn’t know how. He detested violence, he wasn’t a good talker nor did he have any power or leadership to sway the minds of the Inartan people. But he wanted to, if the cause was indeed noble, help in any way he could.

His thoughts were interrupted by a hand on his shoulder he looked up to see one of the Dek look blankly at him “You don’t belong here; you should leave.” Ardal nodded and complied. He walked down the corridor and turned a corner but stayed there he wanted to talk to them without the others present he wanted to hear them out without their “target” present. Perhaps even to join their cause. They most likely would give him the silent treatment like they did the others but he had to at least try. He sat in the shadows out of the way of the path back waiting for the group to give up and leave to talk to them again.

[Phoenix]

Iosha’s words sparked the barely contained hostility of the Dek man into a raging wildfire of anger and motion; the command had barely left the Konti woman’s lips before the nameless man was snarling with anger, launching his bulky form at the slight woman. The rest of the search party had stopped upon entering the cave, hesitating as if they were crossing the threshold into someplace they weren’t supposed to be, never mind the fact that this was a Dek hideaway. The searching party could go wherever they pleased, especially here.

Being the only one that seemed to realize this, the Konti, an Outsider, had stepped forward and was now in danger. The Dek that charged her had the advantage of size, strength and surprise. Though he wasn’t harmed, if he managed to get his hands around the little woman there would be no way she could come away unharmed.

“How dare you!” Inflated with more purpose than he ever should have embodied because of his Caste, the Dek’s roars of frustration filled the Den and echoed painfully in the party’s ears. More roars joined the first as Dek, previously having gone unnoticed among the refuse of the cave, jumped up to assist their leader.

“You will get nothing from us!”
“Get out of here, Scum!”
“Go back to your furs and rot in them!”

There were five in total, including the man that lunged for Iosha. Of the remaining four, two bore makeshift staves that seemed to be just thick sections of fallen tree, while one actually had a short, rusted sword that he swung wildly around his head. The final Dek wielded a club that looked more like a board pried from a piece of furniture, nails sticking haphazardly out of the end that he swung at the nearest party member.

If the sudden change of events startled the group, they had no time in which to dawdle if they wanted to survive. Working together and subduing the Dek by any means possible would be the only way out of the Den.

“Get them! Get the Dek scum! Kill them, and their leader too!”

The shout was heard clearly over the fighting and the yelling of those engaged by the rabid Dek, but it was hard to tell where it came from. The voice was unfamiliar, but it seemed to have come from behind the group at the entrance of the cave. Having gone furthest in and found a place to stand apart from the group, Ardal was the one to notice that the mysterious figure at the back of the Den had disappeared once Iosha was attacked.

[Iosha]

Iosha took a step back from the clearly enraged man and thought to herself, “Well...maybe I should have been more diplomatic...son of sand crab! Now he is a pissed!” The man bellowed loudly at her, and he lunged at her trying to grab her. She quickly jumped back out of reach knowing she had speed on her side. Iosha started to back up trying to keep out of his range. She kept her eyes darting around the room looking for anything to defend herself with. Iosha thought to herself if she survived this encounter. She will have to start carrying her sword at all times. Suddenly, Iosha eyes fall upon a rusty knife laying on a plate with a loaf of bread. She dove for the knife and took up the hilt. Now on all fours, Iosha was about to stand up, but the large Dek kicked her hard in the stomach. The force of the kick sent her rolling into the wall. Keeping her hands tight on the knife, Iosha sat there for a moment trying to regain her breath, but the large Dek was on top of her. Quickly, he reached down and pulled her up to her feet by her silver blond hair. He said something to her that she couldn't understand because he grunted it in Nari. Iosha knew she had to quickly get away from him otherwise he might kill her. Iosha reached back and grabbed his hand holding her hair. She quickly brought the knife hand and cut her hair to get away from his grasp. Once she was free of his grasp, she turned around to face him, and she wildly made a swift kick to his manhood. However, the Dek was ready for her attack, and he caught her small foot. Once he had her foot, he yanked her toward him and with all his forward momentum closed lined the skinny konti woman in the chest. The pale woman hit the ground hard, but everything went fuzzy when Iosha's head struck the stone floor. Iosha struggled to keep her eyes opened as she looked up at the two faces of the Dek gloating over the defeated woman. Iosha was scared since she knew she would be leaving behind her daughter, Lutes to cruel world alone if she died by the hands of the Dek. The large Dek was yelling down at her in Nari, and she wasn't sure what he was saying, but suddenly, she heard the hallow voice in the back of her mind, “I will not allow myself to be killed by a filthy human! Once, he kneels down over me, I will slit his throat...oh yes... It will be a fine death for a pig like him...” Iosha eyes stared up at the Dek with hatred. She knew it was either him or her, and if she needed to end his life to preserve her so be it! However, she knew the repercussions by her Goddess Rak'Keli and her fellow healer will be with her the rest of her life. Iosha waited and suddenly she heard new voices enter the room and started to yell in Nari. Iosha saw the big Dek turn around gave orders to the other Deks in his group. Still staring up at the Dek, she hide the knife in her sleeve, and she waited for the large Dek to make his move. She knew if she was going to see her baby again, she would have to end the Dek's life, so she waited patiently to strike.

[Ishgrameer Windwalker]

Ishgrameer had silently followed the party as best he could. After briefly chatting with Farlen he found no reason to voice any opinions, he was not a diplomat nor a leader, and he could do more good by just making sure all went well. However after they had arrived within the Dek hideout, the situation had become anything but peaceful or diplomatic. He could sense something amiss in the movements, and body language of the Dek's, specifically one, who was quite rabid. Ishgrameer had tentatively reached for his bow just in case things got out of hand, which they appeared to be heading by the tone of the room, something amiss in the air. Then everything exploded, and conflict ensued, antagonized by shouts originating from the back of the party, but he couldn't imagine any among them would incite such violence.

The Konti women-Iosha he believed-had gone down fast, as a Dek much stronger in appearance close lined her. He admired the strength with which she resisted the Dek, and tried to fight back, but on a physical level she was outmatched. The other Dek's were advancing, and he hoped that they could exit this unscathed. He pulled ready his bow, and loaded an arrow, keeping a second one in his hand; he made his way aside thus that he would not his any of his companions. He took aim on the Dek who appeared he would try to finish Iosha. He took a deep breath, aimed, and loosed the arrow, which sailed through the air, as he quickly loosed the second arrow. The arrows were aimed at the Dek's knees, thus that he would collapse upon impact. He hoped that with their leader downed, the remaining Dek's would lose hope.

[Ardal]

He sat out of the way hoping that the others would follow suit. He soon realized that he didn’t even plead his case to the others; it looked like he just fled like a coward; thus, rendering his plan moot at this point.

He then, watched and froze as the situation quickly escalated. Watching these men overpower the defenseless woman and slinging racist slurs her way. Whatever sympathy he felt to the Dek plight prior was now washed away. It was all too much and he was worthless in a fight to be of any help.

He had seen an unknown silhouetted man at the start of this riot but as he looked back he had disappeared. His curiosity was gnawing on his mind like a dog trying to break free from its leash. He had to see who this man was and where he went off to. Not knowing what of the many paths he could have taken; he tried to find any clue or scrap he may have left behind to see if the others with better noses could track him down. After a few futile moments, he gave up and charged at one of the attackers. Anything that he could do would be better than doing nothing.

He ran up and tried to tackle the nearest one down, unsuccessfully. He then tried swinging body blows wildly. He was, doing very little other than distracting the one man from attacking Iosha. He would have been better suited if he had a bow and a few arrows. One of the other attackers hit him across the back with a makeshift club knocking him down. He was now being kicked and beaten while defenseless without a weapon. He curled into a ball to protect himself at least a little. He was in trouble, he had jumped in over his head on this one.

[Red Daghul]

Red's heart seemed to beat at his chest as he watched Iosha lead the charge into the Den of Dek. The Endal had hoped to slip in unnoticed by the Inarta in the room seeing how he was endal if they wanted to find anything out he would have had to be unseen as a higher caste. It was in this that his planned back fired as he had fallen to the back of the group which then let Iosha lead, and now his heart beat his chest for being so careless.

Pushing his way through the group to the front he was pained to see he was to slow, and now the silver haired maiden was on the ground looking as if she had taken a few heavy blows. Now it was the Endal's turn and with out a second thought his talon sword slipped from it's sheath echoing the sound of metal releasing from it's hiding place.

Two arrows flew by through the air the target of which Red was unaware as his eyes seemed locked on his target. Spinning around he brought his blade across the Dek's back that stood in front of Iosha, and then using the force of the spin he brought a second attack against one of the Dek with a staff. The attack was parried, but it took a nice chunk out of the staff, and Red looked straight into the eyes of the Dek wielding the weapon. "Run now, or I will cut you down, you know this to be true" it was a weak play in Red's mind, but maybe it would scare off the Dek when they understood they fought against a endal.