The Hills

"this will be the first step in the rebirth of this land" father tulfgyr says with great purpose in his voice.

Bjornegar bristles at Tulfgyr's words. "Of what rebirth do you speak, dwarf? This land needs no rebirth. Our traditions are our own, and you outlanders will not change them." He rises up to his full six and a half feet of height, and glares down at Father Tulfgyr.

"My good man," Zenithral says stepping up to Bjornegar. "My companion here meant no ill will. He speaks of rebirth as a cleansing! A cleansing of the many things that plague this land. Your traditions are not one of these plagues by any means," he assures him. He smoothly glances down at Tulfgyr and back up at the towering tribesman.

Bjornegar' scowl deepens with each of Zenithral's words. "A cleansing?" He reaches out and shoves Zenithral - hard. "You think yourselves better than us. We have always dealt with orcs and their kin in the way we know best. Perhaps we should have dealt with yours the same way." He reaches for the weapon at his side, and the woman behind him gasps.

Zenithral stumbles backwards, slipping on the snow slightly before regaining his footing. "My dear man," he says firmly, trying to maintain an air of confidence. "This is no time to start a fight. We are trying to help. I am confident you know the best ways to deal with orcs, but we ourselves are far from useless." He doesn't reach for his weapon, but he's ready to if Bjornegar attacks.

Maverick finishes preparing the bodies to be burned snickering to himself as the half elf seems to be digging his own grave 'elves think they're so smooth all the time' he finally turns to the group and barbarians then asks "would any of you like to say a few words or should are you guys too busy?"

Seeing things begin to spiral out of control, and the barbarians anger mounting, Ug resorts to the only thing he knows that could Remedy any situation including the fury of the fiercest mighty barbarians . . . He begins to sing his mothers lullaby she sang to him as a tiny Ug.
"be calm little Ug,
"All will be well,
"Sleep peaceful tonight,
"For tomorrow we destroy ugly monsters!"

Alalla gapes at the disaster occurring before her eyes before pushing Zenithral and Ug out of the way to confront Bjornegar. She stands confidently in front of the man, owning a few inches more than six feet herself, and stares him in the eye, glaive planted firmly in the snow between them. "I know you cannot forgive the insults you have received this day, but given the orc plague that has entered your lands, perhaps you can pass over these ignorants and spend your time more wisely. Trust that I will deal with them appropriately."

Noticing that no one was paying attention or seemed to care about why they were here Maverick set the bodies alight.

"We need no *help* from your kind, elf!" Bjornegar snarls and draws his morningstar, muscles bulging with fury. He starts menacingly toward Zenithral, but is intercepted by Alalla. He takes a moment to size her up, but then shrugs and starts forward again anyway. Alalla's words have reached another of the tribesmen, however. The barbarian woman touches Bjornegar's arm lightly.

"I will speak to them, Bjornegar," she says. He turns to her in shock, arms falling to his sides. He glances back at Zenithral with a murderous glare, and then stands aside and bows to the woman.

The woman steps forward. She is younger than the other two tribesmen, but the deference and respect they show her implies authority. "I am Tansia, Chieftain's Daughter," she says to Alalla in an imperious tone. "Never have I beheld such rudeness and sarcasm from the people of the Towns..." At this point, Ug begins his song.

Unfortunately, without anyone present under the influence of alcohol, Ug's singing is revealed for what it truly is - absolutely, incredibly, mind-blowingly awful. The tribesmen can only assume that the lullaby is a taunt of the poorest taste.

When Ug finishes there is a moment of silence. Bjornegar's eyes seem to be popping from his head, and a vein in his temple looks close to bursting. Tansia's lips tighten, and then she announces, "No more will the Tribe of the Elk deal with the people of Ten Towns. No more will we bring meat and furs to your starving villages. No more will we protect your pathetic weakness from the other tribes of the Dale. No more will we tolerate your hunting of our herds."

She gestures to her two companions and the three begin walking away, Bjornegar grudgingly. Tansia calls out over her shoulder, "And if you interfere in our hunt of the orcs, I will let Bjornegar kill you."

"Sarcasm?" Zenithral says incredulously. "I meant no such—" He's interrupted as Ug bursts out into pitiful song followed by an unbearable silence.

"...and I'm a half-elf..." he grumbles, then she speaks again.

"My dear lady, now wait just—" He cuts off at her icy glare which chills him even more than the freezing winds. He stumbles backwards, speechless and in shock.

Maverick catches the end of the barbarian womens speech he turns from the warmth of the fire and sees the group walking away. He feels a twinge of guilt knowing that the tem towns will starve this winter without the caravan or the help of the Elk tribe. The svirfneblin runs towards the departing party before he knows what he's doing. "Wait!" he exclaims reaching them continuing in a lower voice "The ten towns have nothing to do with us. We are all adventures and outcasts and for good reason" he says looking back at the amalgamation of people behind him "They meant no harm or disrespect towards you or your people. Please dont take your anger out on the surrounding towns they will starve without you especially after the loss of this caravan. If you leave these towns without your grace and generosity their death is ensured" Maverick looks Tansia in the eye "the people of the towns need you please dont let the wrong doing of outsiders condemn the innocent"

Tansia continues to stare straight ahead, and Bjornegar confronts Maverick. "Chieftain's Daughter has spoken, runt," he growls. "Do not make excuses for them. You are all the same to us. Pitiful foreigners who have no business in this land." With that, the tribesmen leave.

"WHY DONT YOU JUST RAID AND KILL THE TOWNS YOURSELF THEN!" Maverick yells but is unsure if the elk tribe was even close enough to hear it. 'go team go team go' the gnome thinks bitterly 'Why did we even need to talk to them? We had no buissiness with them. what a mess' He stands staring at the retreating figures then turns back to the burning corpses 'too bad they're already on fire... could have chopped them up and pretended it was some game we hunted after finding the fallen caravan'

Ug stood dumbfounded in the snow, in shock that the beautiful melodious lullaby from his mother had such disastrous effects. Realizing he may have ruined everything he tries one last for sure effort to salvage the situation. Something that brings warriors of all kinds together to forget problems and become friends. He grabs a large bundle from his pack that rattled as he chased after the barbarians shouting.

"WAIT!!!! UG HAS FREE BEER!!!!!!"

As Ug comes running after the trio Tansia and Bjornegar continue determinedly on, but the third tribesman turns around to meet the goliath. He is an older man, but there is a measure of kindness in his eyes that was absent in the others. He accepts Ug's gift, and then leans forward and speaks in a low voice. "You and yours have done much to hurt their pride today, giant. This gift alone cannot make up for it."

He looks off into the frozen tundra. "I have walked this land for many years, and have seen truces and wars come and go. Chieftain's Daughter is a proud one, but she has been given a difficult task. These orcs we hunt raided our tribe while the warriors were away, and butchered her mother. They took from her body a family heirloom, a symbol of the tribe. It is a sash that glitters and glows. She has been sent to retrieve it. Find it and return it to Chieftain's Daughter, and perhaps she will forgive this slight."

He offers a smile and turns to go. "I would not let her catch sight of you before then," he offers as one last piece of advice.

Ug gives a grateful smile and promises to avenge the Cheiftans daughter and to deliver the lost item. He asks for directions the orcs were last seen heading before He nods his heads in thanks and turns and runs back to the adventurers. He is last heard shouting in victorious song (hopefully better than his last solo)

"If only her ale could fill every mug!
All hail! all hail! To the mother of Ug!"

Ug returns to the emotionally exhausted group and rehearses to them the quest if they are willing. Even if the caravan is lost perhaps they could remedy the trade relationship with the barbariabs to help the villagers. He also gestures the direction they are to head and tries to discern the best route if they choose to follow the orcs

"good job big guy!" Maverick says is slightly better spirits "I'll come along but I want to search the wreckage to see if there anything at all left to pocket... erm I mean bring to town!" With that the gnome begins sifting through whats left of the caravan