[Cailin - 4th day - Main Camp] #118

"I don't know much about bears, we don't have them at home. I think. But I'm pretty sure that we don't have greenish bears though." she looks at Maya, expecting her to know more.

Dana bluntly said "I can slay it if we have no choice..." Had she known just how big was that green bear she wouldn't have said that.

Maya looks around at the others and her heart sinks just a bit. "Listen. I am not a fan of staying near him, but Addie and Dana make some compelling arguments. I have spent years in some of the wildest areas on earth and have interacted with many indigenous people. I am definitely not for supporting any sort of attempt to combat this person, but I might be the best one to talk to him. I am relatively harmless in appearance and have little in the way of skills or equipment that would threaten him. I also have the ability to make my way through the area to get to where he is, provided Vincent can give me adequate directions. And, despite my obvious limitations, I do have some ability to try to negotiate with him. I do not know of anyone else more qualified."

She makes eye contact with all of the members of the council and her own companions. "It should be me."

Looking at Maya and then at Addie Dana say "Given circumstances, the lore about toxic mages and his unusual animal friend, nobody should be going alone. I agree that being mundane and generally unarmed increase chances of sucess but should you go, the rest of us should not be very far from there in case things go badly. "

Maya nods. "I could support that. But not so close as to give him the idea that I am bait for a trap." She looks around "It sounds like this is our plan. If so, I should probably leave in the morning. I guess my only real question is what am I negotiating with him? Is this just a talk to feel him out or do we really have something to bargain for and with?"

Dana said "I'd like to know how he got here and if he knows why WE are here... I mean we are very far from settlements, perhaps he can give us some insight about our situation."

[Cailin - 4th day - Main Camp] #119

"You know, you're making some huge assumptions... First among them that it is possible to talk to someone like that..." she shakes her head "I'm not saying they don't talk, but they prefer to do so before they kill you. And should you go there, he will ask you why he should free you and not enslave you or something..."

Dana looked at Caillin softly say "You assume that we cannot talk to him, that all he cares about is enslaving people. Now we have never actually met the guy.... Except Vincent - what do you think Vincent? What is he like?" Dana faces Vincent and waits for his thoughts...

Maya nods. "He might do those things, yes. But he did not harm Vincent and I see no reason why he would harm me. Don't get me wrong, I am all in favor of just leaving the area, but it seems that the vote is angling more to someone going out there, either to talk or fight, and I think talking to him is the better option. I think I am a good choice to send there, for the reasons I already mentioned."

[Cailin - 4th day - Main Camp] #120

"You're missing the fact that Vincent wasn't exactly let go... What will you do if he wants you to tend to his garden? Does this risk counterbalance what we could maybe gain from him?"

"Do we have any other ways forward? With him maybe we can get some information. If we avoid him, what is the other plan? We can't just stay out here, right?"

Maya looks thoughtful. "I understand that risk and am willing to take it. Besides, I think others will be available to back me up if something like that happens. And, just to be clear, I still think that the best option is to just leave the area entirely, but I do think I am a good choice to send to talk to him if that is our decision."

[Cailin - 4th day - Main Camp] #121

"I'm all for the leaving without telling anyone option. if it is possible..."

"Wait he didnt harm me because if I died or mutated and lost my wings he'd have to get food himself... I think..
Being an eagle was blurry..." Vincent said holding his head.

Descending the hill in order to get away from the 'tribunal' meeting, Lindsey can't help but worry she'll get sucked into this toxic shaman mission regardless of what she does. Rick seems insistent on committing everything to that task. "I guess I'll have to worry about that if it comes. Hopefully out of sight is out of mind..." Reaching the girls tent, she pushes back the flap and sees Niyaf sitting on one of the back cots with most of the other human girls clustered around her. Niyaf starts when she hears the sound of the tent opening but then obviously relaxes when she sees Lindsey. "It's going to be okay Niyaf," Lindsey comforts, "Muhammad is going to be punished. It won't make up for what he did, but it should keep any of those other boys from doing the same thing."

Niyaf sobs, "I hate this place! Why are we even here? As if this wasn't bad enough, the guys think they can just take advantage of us like there's no rules anymore! Why!?" Some of the other girls almost start crying as well, "Yeah!", "I don't want to be here anymore!", "What's going to happen to us?!"

"You girls just want to give up?" Lindsey asks. "You don't think you're strong enough to handle this? Well, you might be right, I mean, we're just kids, right?" She shakes her head, "Don't give them the satisfaction! We might not be the strongest, but as a group we can handle this! If we stick together, we'll be fine and we'll find a way back home from wherever this place is. There's some sort of man made structure down the way and we should be heading there soon. That might give us some idea of what's going on and where we are. Maybe even who put us here!" The girls seems to be calming down some and the thought of finding out more about their situation seems to have re-energized them some. "But first we have to get there, and that means getting through today. I know this seems crass Niyaf, but we need to keep going. What happened to you was unforgivable, but the council is dealing with it as best we can. You need to be strong and keep going. We all do!" Niyaf wipes her eyes and sits up a little straighter. "Now we need to keep up our strength if we're going to be moving soon, and there's practically a feast going on out there, so lets go out there and get something to eat. Together!"

The pep talk seems to have worked as the girls let out a ragged cheer and they all start moving towards the entrance of the tent. Moving against the flow, Lindsey makes her way back to Niyaf and helps her up into a standing position. Hugging her tightly, she whispers, "Don't worry. He's going to get what's coming to him. I promise! He won't get away with this." Niyaf finally looks up and meets Lindsey's eyes, finally nodding after a few seconds. "Okay, now lets go get some food, it will help you feel better." With an arm around the taller girl's waist, Lindsey propels Niyaf forward to follow the rest of the girls out of the tent.

Emerging into the light, Niyaf and Lindsey join the rest of the girls as they head towards the campfire where the feast is in full swing. As they approach, the weight of eyes from the camp is almost palpable as many of the other kids turn to look between Muhammad, sitting at the table, and Niyaf, in the middle of the girls, waiting expectantly for an explosion. Lindsey speaks quietly, "Be strong, we've got this, lets get some food and not give them what they want." The girls straighten their backs a little and almost march up to the table of food, vaguely reminiscent of their previous performance with the hunters. After Lindsey gets her own portion, she steps away from the table and almost runs into the girls in front of her who are standing around instead of taking seats. Looking past them, she realizes most of the tables are fairly well occupied by boys, the least full one being the one with Muhammad. Pausing for a second, Lindsey seems to make a decision and mutters under her breath, "This won't do!" Stepping past the front girls, she says, "Come on, I'll take care of this..."

A little puzzled, the rest of the girls nevertheless follow her as she walks towards an open space on the other side of the fire. She concentrates for a moment and then looks off to the side expectantly. A few gasps can be heard as a large shape appears on the edge of the camp and resolves into what looks like a boy... if boys were almost seven feet tall and translucent. Striding forward, the figure stops in front of Lindsey and she points at the ground in front of her. The thing turns and gestures with its hands as dirt starts to fountain up from the ground in front of them. Pointedly ignoring the stares and whispers from the rest of the camp, Lindsey watches as the spirit finishes its task and starts to walk back out of camp. Stepping forward, she walks down the carved steps and sits in front of the table that had been excavated out of the ground. Motioning for the other girls to join her, she quips, "See, I told you we'd be strong together!" The other girls gingerly step down into the sunken table area, although some of them are clearly weirded out from what was obviously something unnatural. "It seems like there's lots of magic centered in our camp here. I'm not a mage like those others with Maya's group, I can't cast spells or anything like that, but I do have some friends that can help out," she motions vaguely in the direction the spirit went, "and I'm going to make sure we stay safe from here on!" There's obvious mixed reactions among the girls as they take in what just happened, but there seems to be a general acceptance given everything else that's happened recently.

Addie chews her lower lip a bit, and twists one foot in the dirt, to show her reluctance to disagree with Maya – then reflects that is entirely possible that the other girl – no, woman – won’t pick up on those human body language signals. “All I can do is hope that being so close to the people in the small camp has made her more comfortable around humans from her own age range; it certainly feels like she is less skitter than she was before.”

Once she is done with the body-language disclaimer, she speaks her bit. “I don’t think anybody should head off alone. We just talked about the dangers we know of and the ones we don’t, and while I think nobody here is more at home in the wilds than you, you still only have two eyes, have to sleep, and presumably are not immune to mistakes. But it is more than that – where do you find us afterward? We can’t exactly agree to meet at 2pm at the corner Soybucks. What if something pressing comes up that calls for a change of plans, how do you find out?”

"I think if we go that way, it should be kind of like those old style rocket ships that launched in stages. A solid group, that sets up a small camp somewhere that with at most a not-too-long walk can keep commlink contact with the big camp – call it halfway, although I don’t know if it is actually half way. Then a few, with a mix of strengths, goes closer to actually see the area we think this guy is in, around this polluted lake. Then maybe – emphasis on maybe – we make a move to talk to this guy, but I think it would make sense to fall back to the small camp first, communicate with the big camp, spread information around, and possibly go back with a different mix of people to provide support for the actual approach.”

She makes a bit of a face, then adds “You aren’t going to like this part, I think. I don’t think it should be you to approach him. Your survival skills are too valuable. To survive we may need to travel far to get out of here, or we may need to start gathering a lot more of our own food. Either way, I think everyone here has a better chance to survive if you are around. If the magicians think my ‘ware makes me look too threatening – I don’t know if they do think that or not, just saying – then we can see who else is brave enough to do it. But our magicians, you, and Rick are people who we really shouldn’t risk if there is any other option.”

Dana moves around angrily "Addie the things you say are appalling and are going to destroy everything you have going at this camp. Following your logic the Orcs should dominate the camp because they are stronger and we are in the wilderness. They are needed more than the rest. What will you answer them if they ask to get one of the 'useless' girls as entertainment? I mean it makes sense right?

Sacrifice someone useless to gain the favor of useful people. What I describe is acutally what is currently happening. Didn't you had a discussion about rape? That rape is the result of exactly the same kind of thinking, stronger people should get more.

Should I damned to special privileges because I can do magic? Perhaps someone should rub my back or wash my legs? Why not warm my bed? Where would you draw the line? Leaders should lead and warriors should fight. None of them can do their job if we are starting to grade how important each of us is.

If anyone is going to talk to a mage it should be a leader. Perhaps Maya or Rick, yourself if you consider yourself a leader. I should be there regardless to keep whomever goes safe. I like your suggestion about logistics, we should have some communication and backup and so forth."

"Dammit... now I think about Addie rubbing my shoulders." Dana thinks and finds herself embarrassed and excited by her own argument... That perhaps she should be treated better than the rest. Perhaps "everyone are equal before God, is just an excuse of weak people" She represses these thoughts thinking "No, this is a test to my values, to the core of my code. I should resist this kind of thinking". It works for now, but she'll have to make up her mind sometime in the future.

"Um... i'd go get him." Vincent said. He gets the feeling they don't notice him.

Maya looks around the group and considers the various choices being put forth. As she is about to say something, Rick breaks his silence by bellowing out. "Enough! What is wrong with you people?" He stares hard at Maya. "Maybe it was for the best that you left. Your leadership skills fragging suck. When did run or kill this fragger turn in to sit down with him for tea and cake? There is no way can you expect to reason with this guy! His kind are bat shit crazy and nothing they do will make sense to a rational person..."

Maya shuts her mouth and bites her tongue a bit as Rick continues. "OK, here is how it goes. Each of you gets a chance to put your paw in on the options to leave or go find and attack this mage. The option to sit down and talk is not on the table. Got it? Then I vote."

Rick looks around at the others then adds. "I can even give the goody goodies a vote, since they are here and will be affected by what we decide. Now vote!."

Simon is the first to stand. He looks angrily at Maya and snorts as he votes to fight. Sim is next and looks at Rick with some trepidation, eventually bowing his head and voting to leave. Rick smiles at him then looks to Addie and the rest.

Seeing how she was sidelined by the experienced leader Dana say "From these options I give my vote to you Maya as you wanted to leave anyhow." Dana's heart was clearly not at that vote, she seemed distant and cold when she said that. Dana knew so much, she was going to reach out to that mage. She got this far in life by trusting her own internal compass, not by democracy or convincing argument - Dana has always followed her desires and consequences be damned.

Maya nods at Dana but gives her a sharp look. Something about the girl's voice did not seem right. Oh well, she will need to deal with that later.

Raf listens and listens. And listens.

In terms of real experience, both his father and the people to whom he would delegate authority were decision makers. Some slow. Some quick. Some in consultation, some alone. But all decisive. And obeyed.

In terms of theory, however, he knew that group decision making was common in lower-level project teams. And he also knew that studies had demonstrated that such teams completed from 80-90% of their work in the last 10-20% of the allotted time.

So he listened. And was patient. And while he listened he kept working.

And then the moment came when he stepped just a short distance from the rest of his small camp companions and with three quick whooshTHUNKs but a trio of arrows into a tree some twenty meters distant. He went and collected them, putting them back with the others into his little mutant-skin quiver.

Then he walked back and started whittling on another piece of wood he'd spotted and grabbed on their walk here. "Who gets the next one?"

Maya, already having cast her vote to leave the area, watches as Raferty demonstrates his bow. She smiles at him and comes over. "Very nice, Raferty. Could you make one for me? I have some skill with a bow."

The boy smiled and shrugged.

"First come first served. Guess you've got dibs. Another four days, I guess. Hopefully we won't even be out here that long."

Addie was ticked with Rick; no doubt the debate had been dragging on, but she felt this was in large part because of lack of information, and that the longer it went the more it made her point about scouting.

Of course, she should be letting others decide, and just looking for the right opportunity to stop messing things up... but scouting would have given her more opportunity there, too.

And it was SO HARD not to push her opinion.

And now Rick had cut that off, and insisted that they choose between extreme options. Maybe Maya had been more right than Addie wanted to admit?

Out of the two. Her instincts said attack. To see a problem and deliberately turn her back on it was intolerable. But everything she had done had become wrong, so did that mean she should vote avoid?

Then Rafferty pulled out a bow, and proved it worked.

"You made that? That is amazing! And with no real tools... wow!"

Then it hit her. The realization had been building for a while, but finally she could put it into words. Darn but this was going to make missing how things worked out sick, except that she wouldn't have to worry about it.

"You know what? You we aren't victims and we aren't weak. I don't mean in a pep talk way, I mean seriously this group is kick ass! Someone who knows how to make bows? More than one person who knows how to use one? How many awakened? A couple of people really experienced in the wilderness and several with some training? A lot of muscle, experienced leadership, several teenagers with internal commlinks, a ton of bravery and determination, basically anything you look at, we are way better than random."

"No way we were chosen at random, or just bought here to die easy. We are meant to survive, or put up one frag of a fight on the way down. And we have people here smart enough to figure out what is really going on."

It takes effort to back down from full public speaking contest mode, but she forces herself to damp it down. "Not that it was perfect of course, they can't have known everything about us, I'm sure we don't all measure up to what they saw in us. But as a group we are pretty amazing. So I have to go with attack. I don't know that it is the right choice, but I think it is wrong to have all this potential and decide to not do things with it."

Safely in her own thoughts, he adds "Grabbing an Addison must have made sense, they just didn't know that I don't measure up to the name. Well, hopefully I just have to fake it a little longer."