It takes a little while for the bickering to die down and every one to find their assigned places, but before long a party order is established. Even the curragh is holding its position off shore, as it is supposed to.

Callum and Ravn lead the party forward, across the slightly decaying paving stones of the courtyard towards the building that housed the Bird-Woman.

The building is square with two wings, of different sizes, pointing towards you. (See map on website www.galinia.org.uk) Part of the roof has fallen in and there are two doors, one set into the centre of the building, the other in the wing furthest away from you. Both doors are closed.

Madelyn is not happy with the way Ravn spoke to Elsbeth, but manages to keep quiet about it. She is proud of the young woman for sticking up for herself, and when the apologies are made, she tries to forget it too after all there is no point in holding grudges!

Falling into step at the rear of the party, they walk up the quay side to the first building, she glances back to see if the curragh is holding it’s ground as Rolf requested, and it is still there.

“Well I guess we need to pick a door”, she comments to no-one in particular.

Deciding to put aside the disputes without comment, Rolf looks at the two doors. "We'll go through the door in the wing." He says in response to Madelyns observation. "Ravn, Callum, be careful now." Rolf makes sure an arrow is notched, ready to be drawn and loosed at a moment's notice.

Zhiri, who has tagged along happily next to Yuri, watches the preparations with interest, before murmuring to him:

"Are your companions normally this rude, or is it because I am a woman?"

Peter slots into his assigned place and looks for Zhiri, who should be walking next to him. Seeing her behind him walking with Kerim and Yuri, he shrugs his shoulders, settle's his armour and shield, and prepares for what ever might come next.

Before the party settle in Kerim is seen to give Rold a quick comment and nod of his head, accompanied by a flushed face.

Once in step he seems to have recovered his usual self, not that this consists of much really for he doesn't often seem to be consulted upon much other than money matters.

After a short while he remembers Zhiri's question and makes to tie up this loose end.

Tilting his head to indicate acknowledgement and apology at once he introduces himself.

"Many apologies Zhiri" with a noticeable absence of gender specification "Much is not occuring as it should of late that has seen me overly occupied."

He screws up his mouth slightly as if somewhat unsure of how to proceed

"Please don't assume you are not met well because you are a woman."

He pauses, realising he has still forgotten to introduce himself and then backtracks to his original intent.

"Oh but it seems I forget myself, I am Kerim, my charge is that of establishing trade within this new land, favourable trade under the acceptance of the wardens. Now back to your question" he pauses for breath.

"It is such that I think not that a woman has any less say or place in this land. To opine such is blinding an eye to opportunity. Though of course I can speak only that from which I support. I am afraid learning of the many cultures here is not as simple as I had wished. Observe for instance our travelling companions, if only the diversity could be harnessed."

Kerim then bows to Zhiri "Again, a thousand apologies for my delay answering when you asked. My family has a saying 'A trader loses a sale for every buyer he cannot talk to'. The same I think can be said for friends."

Kerim looks to be about to add more but silences his chatter as the party move into the building.

Callum looks on in surprise and disbelief at the bickering and recrimination that erupts for no apparent reason in the party. He signals to Rolf that he is well before carrying on forwards to retrieve his spear. "The beast is dead, we live. It is enough!"

"Come on then, mighty warrior priest" he says to Ravn. "Let us find the riches to which our victory entitles us". WIth that, Callum walks up to the central door and delivers a hefty kick to it.

OOC:Rolled 3 for the Open Doors roll

Elsbeth falls in toward the back with Madelyn, her eyes watching. Inside, however, she is in turmoil. What was making her so moody? Was it Madelyn? Was it these Norse warriors who seemed so much to grate on her? Was it Rolf commanding her?

With a sigh, she softly calls Laddie to her. Her hand on her weapon, she waits, seeing what the bonny Celt warrior stirs up.

Nodding as Rolf chooses the door in the wing, Madelyn cocks her head slightly with a smile, Yes, that is the door I would have chosen too, she thinks to herself.

With her sword drawn and her shield in place, she is about to step forward, when Callum kicks down the other door! Looking from Rolf to Callum, then back to Rolf, she shrugs before saying, “I guess we will be taking this door now though!”

Ravn stands at the ready by the door in the wing when Callum marches by, heading straight for the central door.

"But the Constable said..."

His objection is halted by the crashing sound of Callum's heel against the woodwork and wooden splinters flying through the air. At first, Ravn is stunned by the directness of the Celt's aggressive manner and his blatant disregard for Rolf's instructions. Hmm, a wild one...

Then, a heartbeat later, the runecaster positions himself, back against the wall, next to the wing's doorway. His eyes are turned toward Callum but his ears are against the door. He holds his breath as he listens, prepared for anything and expecting even worse...

As Callum moves over and knocks the central door down, Rolf manages to shrug as he turns his attention to the other door. "It's the center door for us, keep alert." he says in general warning to all.

Callum's choice of door matters little to Edgar, who sits on Mandrake's shoulder straining his ears, alert for any noise, especially the first stirrings of that terrible song should there be another of the bird-women herein.

"I would call it 'preoccupied' rather than 'rude'", Yuri replies to Zhiri, shrugging his shoulders.

"So, who is the little red... thing... friend of yours?", he asks, his curiosity finally getting the better of him, plus changing the topic would be a good idea.

"That's Ishar," Zhiri murmurs, watching the others approach the door. "Yes, you might be right," she adds, giving Yuri a mischievous smile.

Satisfied that Callum’s knock-on-doors maneuver has not managed to draw any host of enemies to come charging out the side door, Ravn hurries after the tall-haired fighter as he enters the building.

At the doorway he stares into the dark interior of the house, trying hard to make out shapes within before entering. By Odin’s all-seeing eye, it’s darker than Hel in there!

OOC: I have changed Ravn’s portrait to something slightly more befitting, though I am still not entirely satisfied. Hope it doesn’t cause too much confusion.

The door splinters as Callum kicks it, and he almost recoils from the smell that eminates. It is a like a combination of rotten meat, faeces and stale vomit - all rolled into one.

Far from being dark the building is fairly well lit. Originally a two storey building, the floor of the upper floor has fallen through and there is a gaping hole in the ceiling allowing light through to the ground level.

Those immediately in the doorway can see piles of debris covering the floor, and what looks llike it could be a massive nest perched on the edge of what remains of the upper floor. There is a squeaking noise coming from it.

Looking a little longer shows the edges of the upper floors are still intact in the ends of the building, leading to speculation that the upper floors in the wings might be intact. There is also the body of a doghead suspended by its feet hanging from one of the roof beams and next to it the lower torso and legs of another doghead. It looks as if the upper body was just ripped away.

As Ravn and Callum move ahead, Rolf steps up to cover them, and regrets it. The smell smites him worse than the death kneel of that bird thing. Gagging, Rolf manages to choke back the bile burning the back of his throat. After a moment, Rolf is able to turn a small measure of his focus to his surroundings. The place is well lit, the building looking even worse for the wear on the inside than the out.

He notices the giant nest looking thing overhead, hears the squeaking coming from it. "Uller." he mutters, feeling yet another burden descend on his shoulders. The thing had offspring. The slain dogheads offend his sensibilities as well. "Stay close." He orders, "Madelyn, Elsbeth, you guard this entrance while we work our way to the other doorway." He motions with the head of his still notched arrow, "Callum, Ravn, to the right if you please." Something in his tone gives the impression that he's feeling a bit annoyed at the lack of following his orders from before.

A small cry escapes from Edgar's throat, as the raven realises that what must be the bird-woman's young in their nest will soon be no more.

After the recent experiences of all, he can not argue that this thing must not be done ... but neither can he bear to watch the slaughter of what are, to him, mere fledglings.

But still he does not move, though his talons grip Mandrake's shoulder tightly, and his wings twitch. Perhaps what is to come is unwatchable ... but someone must bear witness.

Ravn merely nods at Rolf’s command, not wanting to speak for fear of using whatever little unputrified air his lungs contain. With a careful crouch he moves inside and a little to the right, holding his spear in an upright position to catch any more flying horrors in midair. He tries to avert his attention from the nest and the squeaking sounds from within, but curiosity forces him to give it a quick look...

Kerim watches with interest, but is not shocked to hear the screechings of offspring.

As Rolf gives orders he listens, his cheese ready to find lodgings in his ears again.

When Rolf finishes Kerim adds "Warden Rolf, young would not come of one alone, another must surely come. The dead ones cries of agony, be it female or male, must surely have carried upon the winds, definitely by half enough of a signal for the other to return. Would that it be I surely would I be fierce and unyielding in my defence. We must practice caution and be prepared."

Kerim pauses to take a breath.

"Effendi, suggest I that we post defensive guard of missile and split upon each wing to catch and not be caught. Furthermore" he says, holding up some cheese "Prepare."

"One final word warden Rolf. It has occured to me that the slain may have left the partner here on the nest, it may lay in wait for us already, intelligence it did possess I think...Burn the place to be sure we could."

OOC: If Ravn didn't like his portait, well then try find one that suits an Arabic trader??

Rolf considers Kerims words. "Aye, Kerim, there might be another about. But I'd not have us weaken ourselves by splitting up. It took us all to combat the one before. And while our hearing might be as much a burden as a boon against such creatures, I'll take the risk. If any would rather plug their ears, I have no objection. As for burning, there are young here and I'll not burn them without cause."

Elsbeth smiles gratefully at Rolf's comments. She too would not needlessly harm young, even those of something evil. "I be thinking that this one's mate might be close by. But I agree- t'would not be a thing of good to needlessly kill the young. Some could keep watch and others find a way to secure these wee ones?"

Zhiri considers the dilemma, her attention flickering between the others for a moment.

"It is all very good to think they are just innocent young, but even as venemous snakes will bite when startled, no matter how nice you are to them beforehand, all things must act according to their natures. If you think you can change the nature of such a thing, you will be sorely disappointed."

She hums softly for a moment.

"Either the creature was valiantly defending its home against invasion, and we are in the wrong, or we have just ridden the world of a source of evil. By saving these young, you might be unleashing much sorrow upon strangers one day in the future when they are as large as that other one."

With a frown, glancing back towards the docks, she smoothes a crease in her dress.

"I would not like to see more than one of those at a time."

Elsbeth looks now at the newcomer, really taking notice of her. She shook her head at her own lack of manners in not getting to know her, but with the bird-thing and her own problems, who had time? Still, the woman had a good point.

"Aye," Elsbeth responds softly. "I too would not want to be meetin' more than one of those beasties! But to be sure, there be creatures that have evil intent and then those, even as my Laddie, who can be turned to evil. I do be agreeing that the wee ones might be more than we be ready to handle, but shouldn't we be takin' time to look first 'ere we do away with them?"

She looks guiltily at the others scouting, but continues. "By the by, I'm Elsbeth Marva Treveri, Druidess of the High Druid, of the Clan Treveri. I'm not sure we've met."

Zhiri turns a brilliant smile on Elsbeth, her eyes glinting with barely repressed laughter.

"This is because we haven't. Your menfolk are all too busy congratulating each other over arrows and kicking in doors. They like making a noise I've noticed." Her grin suggests that she's including Elsbeth in some kind of universal sisterhood where the only criteria of membership is an ability to laugh.

"I'm Zhiri. May the stars shine their light on you all your nights." She sketches a passable salaam, touching brow, heart and lips before winking again at Elsbeth. "I'm not from around here."

As the others enter the building, Madelyn steps up to the doorway, heaving at the smell. She is slightly relieved as Rolf asks Elsbeth and herself to cover the doorway.

She peers inside at the talk of young in a nest, and casting her eyes around the place, she sees the dogheads hanging from the rafters and spots the nest perched on the edge of what was once the upper floor. Listening to the talk of her comrades about whether or not it is right to kill young, she realises that she has a way of solving this matter. Stepping within range of the nest, she pulls her holy symbol free of her clothing, and grasping it in her left hand she closes her eyes and whispers a few words of prayer.

OOC: Detect Evil

Kerim listens as each in turn makes comments about wether to harm the young. He nods and returns Zhiri's greeting, even though it was aimed at him.

He then addresses everyone who seems to care, one way or another, and adds.

"Farther from my comments it has been my discovery of questions that must be asked.

If spare we do these young from the fate of their sire outside, what of killing the remaining parent? Nest bound as they are a long painful starvation is their likely fate.

Past this I can see only taking them with us is the only solution, a feat that perhaps one might undertake if it were not so that we wish to explore this island and make it safe for Rolf's Lord.

Bound also we are not to leave the young at port here for those settlers who may follow on ship.

The greater picture of good must be viewed and perhaps a harsh and undesireable decision must be made here to fit the larger scheme."

Kerim, obviously sees killing the young not so much as a decision of the heart but one of common sense with little alternative.

"Where we have no answer for the future best I think it is that we be sure to leave no loose end that later will trip our ankles."

No more posts here, but we continue on the new site .....