Questlander

Chapter 12: Motol's Encampment

Upon reaching the camp, the group of five dissolved leaving Kael and Oren at the entrance. The two missionaries ran left, towards a large tent marked with the red and green elun tree of Motol's emblem. It was an enormous and circular structure held together by large wooden poles and wrapped in interweaving canvas sheets.  Smaller tents, of similar design, were erected all around, like petals off of a flower. Lef meanwhile sprinted forward, towards a double storied house. This house had a raised porch that encompassed its exterior and contained a significant amont wear and tear throughout the structure. Its clay roof paneling was cracked and its timber exhibited a dullness in its coloring.  Behind the rear of this building, a large area had been cleared, and from what Kael could observe was being used as an active lumberyard.  And finally, at the edges of Kael's sight, at the other end of this clearing, loomed large barn, towering over the trees.

 Throughout this entire complex, numerous people were indulged in their work. The mercenaries, humans and dwarves as Kael could identify, were all performing jobs related to the lumberyard. Many of the mercenaries were busy chopping down trees which were then taken by another team to be dragged towards the lumberyard, and finally others were sawing the wood into carriable pieces. These pieces were then passed onto the white garbs missionaries who were carving  small rectangular wooden chips out of these wood chunks. These pieces were the size of a playing card, although smaller in width but thicker in its depth. These pieces were then passed onto other missionaries but, from the distance Kael was standing, he could no longer observe the next part of the process. 

Kael felt quite impressed by the whole operation going on. A whole array of people, of different races and different places, were all working together in tandem. Although, observation alone could not explain what was occurring here. He turned over to ask Oren, but she addressed him first.

"Follow me Kael. I am going to have to take you over meet priest Pagur. You will have to talk to him first before you will be able to move around the camp freely."

"Huh. Why is that exactly?" inquired Kael.

"Well he is the head of this whole operation and is in charge of the welfare of the camp. Also,  from what I came to know, he needs to be sure that no one comes onto the scene that can potentially disrupt this project. But don't be worried. From the past four weeks I have been working here, the priest is actually easy going and quite compassionate. I believe it is more of a formality and gives him a chance to have a one on one with us to talk about the Mage Motol."

Oren motioned Kael to follow and she began to head, left towards the large canvas tent. Kael did not have any objections and so gladly followed her. Kael recollected that Merry of the promenelle elves had suggested for him to meet with Motol and ask for his aid. Perhaps meeting with this priest and understanding what was occurring here, could potentially help him find this Mage and convince him to aid him in his quest.  

"Well preaching is to be expected of priest." surmised Kael as he continued to converse with Oren. "But you speak as if your not a follower yourself. That actually has me confused. You are definitely not a mercenary, so I thought you were at least associated with the missionaries."

"Well your partially correct. I am associated with the missionaries only because they employed my services. So in truth, I am neither part of these missionaries nor I am apart of the mercenary crew. I came down from Lawrence merely for the business opportunity."

"Then what exactly..." however, Kael stopped midsentence. He turned over to the house that Lef had entered.  There a repetition of three shrill cries of a whistle, reverberated throughout the camp. 

Immediately, the entire camp was in an uproar as the mercenaries sprang into action. Every mercenary, as Kael could observe, ran hither and thither, hooting and hollering as they abandoned their posts, leaving jobs unfinished. There were axes still stuck within the trunk of trees, logs left right along the trails, and heavy loads just dropped onto the ground. It was as if a tension had just snapped and now these mercenaries were a torrent of energy all running wild.