[IC] Death & Taxes (Session 2)

"Stop volunteering me." Nera remarks. Not that she disagrees with Nekurr's plan. "But fine, everyone wait here while I...check it out. Let me just, get over to you kid."

"All right!" the child says, his voice hitting a shrill timbre that cuts through the sound of insects and frogs. "My Pa is named Bressel Galbernost. This is our farm. I'm Peppin. My Pa's gonna be so excited to meet a real-life cat lady! Uh... Can you climb over the fence? Do you have claws? Can you jump real high?"

Tronus whistles and goes to rummage through his pack, "I'll need it back least I'll have to start thinking of you as that ones big sister..." Tronus adds handing over a coil of rope.

"Got it," Peppin says. "I can tie it to this spiky thing..."

Okay, just need to climb this with everyone watching...

Rope in paw, retractable claws on her feet out, Nera begins to scale the wooden wall.

Safely on the other side of the palisade, Nera finds farmland. Tall stalks of golden grain stretches far into the distance, swaying in the breeze. This whole place smells like moldy bread.

Peppin breaks into a run, his pet razorwing half hopping, half flying to keep up with him on its leash. Still, the kid only comes to Nera's shoulder, so the Catfolk has no trouble keeping up. Peppin's path leads past something that at first looks like an adult Human, but passing by, Nera notices it's some sort of fake person made of wood and straw. After perhaps five or six minutes of running through the fields, a small farmhouse is visible on the horizon. Peppin runs up to the house, shouting, "Pa! Pa! I have someone you gotta meet! I've got a Cat Lady friend!"

It takes a moment, but a man who is presumably the boy's father eventually comes out of the house. He seems quite shocked to see Nera. "Who— Who in the goddess's name are you? What've you done with my boy? If you've harmed a hair on his head, I swear..."

Nera doesn't flinch as the father flings accusations her way, used to such comments. "Now sir, I am sorry for trespassing, truly; I am Nera. I am here on very important and official business." She holds up the rolled up writ , not bothering to unfurl it.

So this must be what it's like to be a guard.

With her other paw she points to Peppin, paying attention not to touch him in case this -rightfully- protective father tries anything drastic. "I didn't do anything to your son, it was by chance we met, and he wanted you to meet me. So here I am."

Tronus pulls down his rope and sighs, "It's like his luck is spreading..." Tronus mutters with a frown looking at Nekurr. He stows the hemp pile now for cutting later to use as a fire starter and makes his way back to the others and waits for rapid footsteps or a meeting to occur with this Mr. Galbernost.

Peppin looks angry. "She didn't hurt me! She helped me get Butterbean back!" The boy's father looks to the tethered razorwing. The creature shakes its body from head to toe as if shuffling off the fatigue of its awkward run–hop over. The older man then snatches the writ from Nera's paw, unrolling it and regarding it quizzically.

Hearing Nera's footsteps speed off, and the beginning of a distant exchange, Bruv will crawl through the creek water, under the clearance of the palisade if he is able, to get to the other side.

Nekurr fully confident of the Nera's skills smiles at Tronus and tosses him a coin "Blessed be Fortuna!". He generally stays around half-doing cat things...

The elder Galbernost looks at the writ, then at Nera, then back at the writ. Finally he harrumphs. "Well, far be it for me to be afeard of a lady." The man hands the paper back to Nera. "You look harmless enough. What is it you're after? And why in the name of the goddess didn't you just use the blasted front gate?"

***
Back outside the village, Bruv finds the current too fast to swim in easily, so he finds a root stretching into the water and uses it to slow himself down. He notices bubbles and ripples in the water a few yards away, and a pair of reptilian eyes surface and regard the Orc unblinkingly. Whatever they belong to, it seems to be big.

Bruv climbs out of the water to wait with Tronus and Hildar. "'ey got 'is, yea?"