RTBP: Bringing Chief Caenry Onboard

[Jim Roberts]

[Feb 7 early evening – Chief Caenry's Camp]

> 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.”

Fortunately, the elf did not turn out to need to eat those words. Josie
and her family had already left, but a pair of Keerytes were quite happy
to escort both Teleportation teams the relatively short distance to
Chief Caenry’s camp. As was usual with the Forest People, they did not
winter together in one central village. Rather, they lived in a
collection of smaller camps, some only holding a single extended family,
others a few, all within roughly an hour’s travel in the interior of the
Honeyskin Tribe’s hunting grounds. And while the Chief’s was one of the
larger of the Honeyskin camps, the small collection of wigwams were only
enough for his immediate family, and perhaps a few others. And, of
course, a guest wigwam, as visitors from other tribes were not at all
uncommon.

Chief Caenry was not a large or imposing man. Somewhat on the shortish
side, he was quite charming as he invited the new arrivals in, his eyes
sparkling as he watched the joyful family reunion of his foster daughter
and the missing element of her family. He was, however, initially
slightly taken aback at the sight of a kobold amongst the visitors. But
Beekin’s affable charm and good manners, on top of his acting QUITE
unlike any of his brethren by NOT attempting to pillage the place,
quickly won the Chief over.

It was not yet time for a formal dinner, but the Chief and his wives
invited the newcomers to sit around a central fire, sharing mugs of tea
or anything stronger, should anyone wish. And nobody did. Caenry’s only
regret was that he did not have enough of a new brew to hand to serve
ALL of his guests. Some of the traders from the Stone House people had
sold the locals a particularly fine blend of coffee called “Sinfully
Dark Roast”, or something similar, and as a good host, the Chief
suspected that this must be a Stone House favourite. Both he and his
wives were delighted when, at Mithi’s prompting, Finfin produced a small
bag of the key ingredient and offered it gratis to their hosts.

The preliminaries out of the way, the talk then turned to business.
After Erik made it it abundantly clear that he was NOT seeking to forge
an underhanded alliance with the Honeyskins and that the Stone House
Great Chief instead was trying to find a way to formally present the
notion to the collected Forest People Leadership, the Lord of Fort
Resolute filled Chief Caenry in on the the proposal.

Chief Caenry seemed intrigued, but dubious. He quite liked the notion of
exchanging the much hated Green Death kobolds for the Upwinders,
particularly those like Beekin, but he foresaw an entire litany of
problems getting the rest of the Forest People Leaders to agree. And the
observant could quickly see that he was forecasting much the same set of
problems that the Flying Tiger Streak Lead Gilbert had predicted, and
had been fully shared at the Fort Resolute conference.

The Honeyskin Champion, Seuth, also seemed fascinated by the notion. The
Green Death were a recurring and deadly menace to not just his braves
and scouts, but to the Honeyskins themselves. The sneaky kobolds seemed
to have a knack for striking where the Honeyskins were weakest, and
there was a long standing blood feud now between the tribe and the
kobolds. Seuth, for one, stated that he’d be QUITE happy to see the
Green Death removed once and for all. Though he could also see some of
his less flexible fellow Champions also having problems with the notion.

“Having the Upwinders there should save the lives of your braves and
scouts,” Sir Erik pointed out. “Also, you won't have to worry about the
Green Death kobolds hitting one of your isolated family outposts.”

“Eh, that’s never been a huge problem,” Seuth told them thoughtfully.
“Just says there’s one side of our hunting grounds it is a bad idea for
people wanting privacy to set up an isolated camp. We have been known to
sucker them in for a bit of judicious pruning that way, so the little
bastards are a bit wary of rushing in for an immediate raid if they see
a lone wigwam near their swampland.”

Soon, Seuth and Beekin were sitting together, talking up a storm as they
discussed the specifics of the swamp currently claimed by the Green
Death. Together, kobold envoy and Champion stared intently at a detailed
hand drawn map, one that the keen eyed would be able to recognize as a
parting gift from Lomi.

“I never understood how you ladies found out some of this,” Seuth told
Josie and Laquendi admiringly. “Lomi’s maps are the best we’ve ever had.
She gave us details of areas we’ve never dared try to get into, between
the kobolds, their traps, and all the natural hazards.”

“Huntress Pilinde handled some of that,” Josie explained smoothly.
“Amazing what a druid with wild shape who understands what sort of
creatures can easily get around in any given sort of terrain can find
out, with a little help from her friends. Even,” and here the Pussycat
paused to sniff disdainfully, “one so in love with turning into a wolf,
of all things.”

Like most of the combined Wild Women/Ice Station Zero mission, the lead
singer had been advised to keep certain topics of their winter
experiences close to her chest. So Josie carefully left unspoken that
the most useful ‘friends’ for ‘getting around’ in that dismal swamp to
gather the information involved in making that particular map had been
around 2 feet tall, flitting along silently above all the hazards, and
visible only when they willed it. The local Fey were even better than a
druid using wild shape at getting around unseen by even the canny
kobolds of the Green Death tribe.

“Pilinde is a boon for scouting requiring that set of skills,” agreed
the Drow.

On balance, both Champion Seuth and Chief Caenry, after talking further
with Beekin, were generally agreeable that for their part, they would be
open to exchanging neighbours like Beekin and his ilk with the current
Green Death infestation. But sadly, the issue was not entirely up to
them; this would have to be discussed and decided among the entire
leadership council of the Forest People as a whole, as it would not at
all be merely an internal Honeyskin issue. Whether or not the various
other Chiefs would see the notion in a favourable light was,
unfortunately, quite debatable.

That led to the question of timing. The easiest way to get any sort of
group discussion going among the Right People, a requirement before
there could be any sort of consensus, would be to raise the subject at
the next conclave of the Forest People leadership… currently scheduled
for next midsummer. Easily half a year away, and as the Settler leaders
had already discussed, that would not fit in with the Upwinders’
increasingly urgent need for sanctuary.

For a while, Erik discussed with his hosts the notion of a Grand Tour,
where the Lord of Fort Resolute could travel from village to village,
personally appealing to each Forest People group’s leadership in turn.
Atop his proud steed, Miracle, and blessed by Heimdal’s Traveller’s
Mount, the Great Chief could through several villages a day.

Chief Caenry, however, was dubious. Not about the face to face
interaction; that he thought was a FINE notion, and was not just good
diplomacy, but showed a fine respect for Forest People Tradition. That
tradition held that should anyone be requesting a favour, the onus was
on the requestor to travel to make that appeal in person. But he was
concerned that any schedule attempting to “blow through” multiple
villages each day would only allow for the barest minimum of time in
each, which would not meet the minimums of courtesy that more than a few
Chiefs would expect from someone wanting a favourable reaction to a
startling proposal.

Lord Erik winced, but only just refrained from slapping himself on the
forehead. Of course that would be entirely inappropriate. One village a
day would be more reasonable, the Great Chief and Chief Caenry agreed.
Only a small part of each day would be needed for travel, leaving most
of the day, and an entire overnight stay, available for diplomacy.

Of course, that would lead to the problem of scale. There were a LOT of
Forest People villages to cover, and Lord Erik could quite literally
need to spend a couple of months riding circuit to reach each one. And
then again to handle any followon questions or concerns… and possibly
AGAIN before any discussions were resolved. At that rate, he might as
well wait until the midsummer Conclave.

This realization, however, triggered a most pertinent question. Was
there any reason that a Chief… even a settler Great Chief like Erik,
could not call an additional conclave early, and not wait for the
midsummer meeting? Seuth and his Chief looked at each other as they
pondered the question, and both began to chuckle.

“The only reason that does not happen more,” the Chief replied, “is that
most simple reason. Cost. It costs A LOT to house the Forest People
Chiefs and their retinue for a meeting. So villages tend to do it
rarely, and vote and campaign to see WHO is the lucky host each year,
each village campaigning to ‘win’ this honour when they can best afford it.”

Champion Seuth was also rather amused at the notion. “Do not let my
Chief hear this,” the Champion pretended to confide, fully aware that
his Chief was, in fact, RIGHT there, “but this is good time for extra
Conclave. Winter is ending before long, and this is good time for
villages to NOT have their Chiefs.” With a sly look at Caenry, Seuth
added, “Villages can often get MORE done that way for the early growing
season.”

Far from looking offended at the honest assessment, Chief Caenry
continued to chuckle. “So if YOU would be willing to host Conclave,
Great Chief Erik, I and many, MANY other Chiefs would support it. If,
for no other reason, to get free party out of it, and get out from
underfoot of our hardworking people.”

“Here at the Briarpatch?” the Norse knight wondered out loud. “Or at
Fort Resolute?”

This triggered some additional discussion. Sending the supplies to the
Briarpatch would be a challenge, but one easily within the abilities of
the Lords of the Gelmir Vale, and their allies. But the Briarpatch, and
the Honeyskin lands in general, were up at a top corner of the Forest
People lands. Fort Resolute, in many ways, would be much more central…
which would make it that much more likely for the extra Conclave to be a
success.

Sir Erik nodded. “I will need to check this with my superior, Great
Medicine Man Kenobi, but I think we have a working possibility here. If
he agrees, I can begin to spread the message about the new Conclave
myself, extending personal invitations to those I can, and asking for
others to pass the invitation along to their neighbours I won’t be able
to reach.”

“The personal touch would help,” Chief Caenry agreed.

“If I might add a suggestion of my own?” Beekin asked graciously. At the
other leaders’ nod, the kobold envoy added, “If you can delay this trip
for a day or two to allow me to scout the Green Death area to confirm
that it IS suitable, I would be honoured to come with the human Great
Chief and help present the Upwinders’ case.”

The local leaders looked at each other, and all nodded. Beekin WAS
indeed a credit to the Upwinders, and meeting the envoy in person would
indeed be more likely than not to help their case.

“Miracle can easily bear both of us,” Erik mused, “and that would allow
you to meet Grandma Rayga if I chart my path to go out to the
Holymolders. I understand from Abbot Kenobi that she would like to meet
you.”

“And I in turn,” the envoy replied politely, “would like very much to
meet her.” Beekin looked pointedly in the direction of some approaching
footsteps and added hastily, “If, of course, I am not axe murdered first.”