Returning to the Briarpatch

[Jim Roberts]

[Feb 7 afternoon (or early evening) – The Briarpatch]

> And not long afterwards with a proper sendoff, Finfin, Mithi, Tramma,
> Josie,as well as Lord Erik atop his steed Miracle, walked through the
> Dimension Fold Tunnel that led them in an instant off to The
> Briarpatch.

And emerged an instant later, as near as anyone could measure, out of
the same black and white ringed Tunnel that opened up in the hedgerow
ringed clearing of what had started as Waystation Five, but had since
been renamed The Briarpatch. The massive bulwark of Huntress Gil’s tall
and thick hedgerow was the most obvious addition to what used to be a
simple overnight travel spot, turning the place into a defensible complex.

Not as sturdy as an actual castle like Sibley, or one day Fort Resolute,
nor perhaps as handy as a wood walled palisade where defenders could
fire from walkways and parapets at attackers on the outside. But in its
short life, it had already served to protect its inhabitants from
attack, namely, the horde of undead zombies the Green Death shamen had
recycled from a previous battle with the Josie and the Wild Women of the
Woods. These undead were fought to a standstill and eventually defeated
in the maze of twisty passages connecting the interior to the outside
world by none other than Laquendi and her Ice Station Omega team of
Keeryte “volunteers”.

And in the middle of the large clearing inside the huge circular hedge,
three new buildings had been added to the more modest Waystation. All
three were “A Frame” buildings, stout and efficient, showcasing their
dwarven construction. Two set parallel on either side of the original
small waystation were outfitted as barracks on the lower level, with a
storage loft in the peak above. The other was a large stable, entirely
appropriate given the number of Riders that made the Briarpatch a
regular stop. These new buildings had been positioned so that they,
along with the original Waystation building, formed an “inner core”,
connected by log walls, a defensive bastion set within the hedge’s wall.
This way, should a team like Laquendi’s ever again need to fall back
from defending the choke points in the hedge’s maze, they would now have
a secure spot for their retreat.

Grown from a simple Waystation, the Briarpatch was now a key outpost of
the patrols from both Fort Resolute, as well as Gil’s “Wild Bunch”
operating from out near the River Ferry. The outpost was garrisoned by a
mixed force of tribal warriors from Fort Resolute and Royal Lancers or
Mikhailene episcopal levies from Castle Sibley, with a rotating
selection of 3 or so Keerytes providing a key component of the
leadership. This garrison made the base their home to assure that there
would always be a core staff at the facility.

From what the Pussycats, Wild Women, wizards, and other recurring
visitors could determine, this was in no way a “hardship” posting for
the young ladies. For all that naysayers claimed that this part of the
forest was “in the middle of nowhere”, the more nature loving members of
the Sisterhood found the posting quite convivial, being outnumbered by
the men posted at this remote station. Though as the Keerytes were
junior leaders, dating within their Command Strucure was generally Not
Done. So the various unattached and interested braves that frequently
came a’courting were a welcome benefit,

As the Away Team exited Finfin’s Tunnel, all could see that Vowsister
Orah, the only Keeryte present in full Greens, was supervising some
drill work led by the handful of Initiates in their Blues, while both
Laquendi and the kobold envoy Beekin looked on. And the junior Keerytes
had no lack of volunteers from the men sharing this posting; each
volunteer having his own perhaps entirely personal reasons for wanting
to impress the ladies.

An instant after their arrival, an elven Initiate whistled sharply.
Demonstrating a move that had clearly been rehearsed, all of the
Initiates commanded a single line facing the newcomers, each Sister
standing to attention with arms at her side. The fading sun glinted on
each Sister’s unsheathed longblade of choice, each being held at the
“Carry Sabre” position, blade held upright with the back resting on her
shoulder.

“Silim… MA!” the elven Initiate called out, and all of the Blue clad
Keerytes performed the straight back curtsey of a Keeryte Under Arms,
blade held vertically, slightly away from the body. The salute complete,
all returned back to the “Carry Sabre” position, awaiting further
instruction. The line of men behind them, at the same time, performed a
variety of salutes, varying wildly based on their origin and training.
It was not a close order drill that would have impressed a dwarven
Barkdar, or senior sergeant, but given the limitations the Keeryte
“junior officers” were facing, it was impressive, and obviously
rehearsed for the benefit of the incoming VIP.

With Beekin on one side, and Laquendi on the other, Vowsister Orah
walked up to the Lord of Fort Resolute atop his loyal steed, and gave a
Keeryte curtsey of her own. “Lord Erik,” she intoned formally. “Welcome
to the Briarpatch.”

Off to the side, the elven Keeryte second in seniority to Orah had a
greeting for a different party member that was not nearly so formal.
“Hiya, Josie!” she greeted the redheaded Pussycat. “You came the long
way around?”

Josie grinned. “Hiya, Arwen! If Lomi were here, she’d be grumbling that
she KNEW we shouldha taken that right back at Fort Resolute.”

Any hope of restoring any dignity back to the formal welcome of Great
Chief Erik was undermined when two young children rushed out of the
nearest building, each squealing “JOSIE!” in unfeigned delight. Soon,
the Pussycat lead singer had a young boy wrapped around one leg, and a
girl around the other. Only for as long as it took the redhead to kneel
down to their level, at which point she was pulled into a three way embrace.

“Hiya, kids!” Josie managed at last. “I’m thrilled to see you! Does that
mean…?”

“Hiya, Josie!” a somewhat older voice interjected. Following along
behind the two youngsters were a young couple that some were able to
identify as Keshin and Siaye. Those particularly in the know understood
that these young marrieds considered Josie to be their “co-wife”, even
if the stuffy greater Forest People leadership refused to sanction such
a marriage. Not out of any objection to there being a surfeit of wives;
that was not at all uncommon among the Forest People. Rather, the
sticking point was that Josie was a Flying Tiger, with all of the
resulting political entanglements that presented.

“Kids?” the blond young woman named Siaye asked. “Can you let us into
that, too?” Room was made, and all five managed a fond group embrace.

To the rest of the Away Team, a smiling Tramma explained, “I thought it
would be diplomatic for me to Send to Chief Caenry to let him know that
we were coming. And the dear man clearly thought to invite his foster
daughter Siaye over so that the family can be reunited.”

“Thank you for thinking of that,” Finfin quietly told the silver haired
bard. “That was very well thought indeed.”

Tramma beamed at the compliment, and then turned to Fort Resolute’s
leader. “Lord Erik?” she asked, her tone now somewhat more formal. “I
would like to continue introductions, but first, may we send Josie and
her family along? I think they have some catching up to do.”

Still in the embrace, Siaye said, “We’ll meet you at Papa’s place.”
Linguistic purists might have noticed that the word she’d used did not
exactly translate as “Papa”, but the term mapped into each listener’s
native speech in a close approximation. “He’d very much like to invite
our visitors over to his camp when convenient.” She giggled, and added,
“And both he and his wives have offered to put Josie and Little Joe up
overnight, figuring the grownups might be busy.” There might have been a
little confusion at the name collision, but as each child nodded at the
mention of their name, it did not take a human expert to understand that
the “Josie” referenced here was the little girl, and not the Pussycat
singer.

“That would be a fine idea,” the Lord of Fort Resolute replied. “Please
tell Chief Caenry that I accept his very kind invitation, and will be
there shortly.”

“Oh yes, and so I don’t forget,” Siaye smiled. “Papa said to tell you
that he got word to the scouts, and you will get plenty of warning
before they head back.” With that, Josie (elder and younger), Little
Joe, Keshin and Siaye made a hasty departure, while Tramma picked up on
the introductions.

“Lord Erik the Red, may I introduce you to Beekin, envoy of the Upwinder
kobolds.” If the kobold had noticed that the handsome knight had been
staring intently at him, Beekin did not comment, suspecting (correctly)
that the Church Knight was checking the envoy for any taint of evil. And
of course, none was found.

With an ease borne of extensive practice, Erik smoothly dismounted from
Miracle, and stood before the kobold before giving a courtly bow. “I am
pleased to meet you, Beekin.”

Possibly to everyone’s surprise, the bow that Beekin returned was no
less correct in every possible detail. “Thank you, Lord Erik,” Beekin
replied politely. “It is my fervent wish that your people and mine can
become not just allies, but friends, and I thank you for, as I am
hoping, your willingness to support our Cause.”

There were a number of other pleasantries and chit chat exchanged before
Tramma gently pulled Finfin and Mithi aside. “Erik and Beekin seem to be
getting along nicely. Do you think you can spare me for a while? There’s
some business I need to catch up on before tonight, but I’ll meet you
all at Chief Caenry’s camp.” She winked at Mithi and added, “I think
you’ll be glad of my errand.”

“Oh! Before I forget,” Mithi blurted suddenly. “The Abbot sent this for
you.” She quickly pulled out the envelope of sealed instructions she had
been told to hand to Tramma.

Tramma looked at it curiously. “Sealed instructions, seriously cool,”
she marvelled. Her eyebrows shot up when she saw that one side said,
"Trouble with gnomes?” and the other simply “For Emergency Use Only".
“Sure, why not, it’s been that sort of day.” Shaking her head, she
scribbled ‘Try this one weird trick!’ underneath where Ben had neatly
printed ‘Trouble with gnomes?’ before tucking the envelope away safely
inside her coat and blouse.

Or so she thought, but more on that later. At the moment, she was more
focused on her own mysterious errand, since it seemed the gnome problem
was in abeyance until around nightfall.

With that errand out of the way, Mithi looked expectantly over at
Finfin, silently indicating that while the others were still busy with
introductions, this was HIS choice.”By all means,” he agreed. “I do not
believe it likely that we will find ourselves in a diplomatic disaster
immediately.”