They found more travelers in the night.

Chaos Factor: 6
Expected Scene: Ruven hunts for food and shelter that night
Test Expected Scene: 1d10=1 - Altered Scene
Next Expectation: They come upon a group of travelers in the night

--Who are these travelers?
Fate Roll: Meanings Tables, Elements (Character Identity)
2d100=15, 60 - Competitor Merchant - a merchant and his caravan, one who has a dislike for the Dranorrin

--What is the leading merchant like?
Fate Roll: Meanings Tables, Elements (Character Descriptors)
2d100=87, 77 - sneaky and primitive

The sun had begun to set when Ruven reined Nightwind to a stop, frowning. Bethtali glanced up at him then, following his gaze, toward a nearby hilltop. "Smoke - a campfire?"

"Too small to be a town or a wildfire," he grunted. "Too wet for that, too."

Bethtali trembled as she felt his muscles flex against her bare back while he craned his neck, peering at the fire. "What will we do? Join them?"

"Not yet," he said curtly. "Not until we know who they are."

He led the horse into a small copse of trees and dismounted, lifting Bethtali down from the saddle. Though she ached from the bitch-warmer, a small part of her missed it as she stretched her legs in the grass. To her surprise, Ruven thrust the reins of his horse into her hand.

"Stay here with Nightwind," he said sternly. Reaching down, he cupped her chin again, and her eyes went wide as they met his intense, blue gaze. "Do not think of fleeing with him. He is unlike to listen to you, and you seem unlike to survive long in the wilderness anyway. Do you understand me?"

--Does he convince her?
Coerce (Intimidation) vs. Will DC 11
1d20+6=9

Bethtali licked her lips, nervous. "Of course," she murmured. "I would be helpless..."

--Does she convince him?
Sense Motive (Perception) vs. Deception DC 14
1d20+5+1=26 - crit!

Ruven's face darkened. "...I cannot trust you, can I?"

"What?" Bethtali blanched. "N-No - of course you - "

He shook his head with a growl. "I see I have to take measures to remind you of your place. Come here!"

"W-Wait! Ah! Help!" As he moved toward her, Bethtali shrieked in fear.

Ruven lunged at her [Grapple: 26 vs. Fort DC 16, crit!], grabbing the girl's wrists and pinning her up against a tree. Though she struggled, he easily grabbed a rope from his saddlebag [Interact] and looped it round her, binding her to the tree [Interact]. As she tried to scream again, he grunted, "Quiet," and stuffed a handful of leaves into her mouth. She gagged slightly, eyes bulging, as she moaned through the impromptu gag. Ruven leaned against the tree.

"I wish you would not make this so difficult," he complained, for all the world as if he had not just physically overpowered and bound her. "I did rescue you from a family that likely would have killed you for having fucked me, or at least made your life miserable. You ought to be grateful. And I am teaching you how to please a man, too - a useful skill." Bethtali made a muffled noise of protest. He sighed. "Nightwind, do not listen to her if she tries anything. And you - I mean it. I would rather not have you die out here. So do not try any foolish acts..."

--Has the merchant's group heard the commotion?
Fate Roll: Fate Chart (50/50, CF 6)
71 - no

--Does he win her over at all?
Make an Impression (Diplomacy) vs. Will DC 16
14 - failure (if he hadn't just tied her up that would've worked!)

She struggled still, making muffled noises of protest. Ruven sighed. "Just stay here, eh? Let me see what we have to confront before we walk into it..." With a final nod, he left the nude, bound woman and began creeping up the hillside.

In the gathering dark, Ruven crouched low as he made his way to the top of the hill. Crawling on his belly for the last twenty feet, he peered down from the hilltop toward the source of the smoke. A campfire burned there, next to a sturdy-looking covered wagon. A pair of horses grazed nearby, and round the campfire the wagon's occupants sat, talking idly as their dinner cooked.

--Were there two guards?
Fate Roll: Fate Chart (50/50, CF 6)
98 - Exceptional no - there are no guards at all!

--Is Ruven spotted?
Sneak (Stealth) vs. Perception DC 16
1d20+3=13

As Ruven peered down at the group, he frowned. This is an odd way to travel, he thought, almost indignant. A man, a woman, and two young women, probably their daughters, from the look of it - but no guards? They must have some strange magicks, or else he is a confident fighter indeed.

Even as he thought this, the man sitting by the fire looked up, squinting into the darkness. "Here, who's that up there?" he called. "You're welcome to join our fire, if you like. But if you've ill intent, be warned - I am Kobal Skeberfeth, and I travel under the protection of Ashtim Yashfali, lord of the plains!"

Scowling in annoyance at his discovery, Ruven stood, his figure a dark silhouette against the dimming sky. "I have no quarrel with you," he called down the hillside. "I merely sought to know who was camping nearby." He strode forward, stopping a short distance from their campsite. "I am Ruven, called Skull Taker, a wanderer of these lands. I do not know Ashtim Yahsfali, nor do I fear him. But I see no reason to kill you, as yet."

As Ruven descended, the eyes of all the merchant's family grew wide, and the older woman tensed, putting one hand on the merchant's arm. One of the two daughters shrank back as he approached. But Kobal Skeberfeth himself seemed to recover rapidly from his surprise, and smiled broadly at Ruven. "A Dranorrin! A fair ways south from Kal-Dranor, are you not? Still, that is your tale to tell, friend...I am a friend to any people I meet on the road, whether they know my kind patron or no. Are you alone?"

"I have a companion," Ruven said, guarded.

"Are they sneaking around here, too?" Kobal asked with a laugh. "Invite them to join us! I have little chance to speak with your people, and I'm eager to hear the latest news from your homeland. Sit and join our fire - it will be a merry evening, and we'll all be the better for it. There's safety in numbers, you know..."

--Does Ruven believe him?
Sense Motive (Perception) vs. Deception DC 20
1d20+5+1=20 - no, but he isn't certain of his true intentions

"...I thank you," Ruven growled, "but we would make our own camp. Rest easy in the wilderness...they are dark lands."

"Are you sure you will not join us? There's a great deal of good, strong Yartinian wine!" Kobal called merrily after him as Ruven strode away into the darkness. But the Dranorrin did not stop, nor even pause. "Damned barbarian," the merchant hissed as Ruven disappeared. "A menace to honest traders across the northlands! I should kill him now, before more of his ilk descend upon these lands..."

"Was that a real Dranorrin, father?" one of the young women asked, wide-eyed. "He was enormous!"

"Eh! Hold your tongue, strumpet, or I'll switch you. He was a man like any other...just of a vile, debased sort." The merchant spat on the ground, glaring still in the direction Ruven had gone.

--Has Bethtali escaped by the time Ruven gets back?
Fate Roll: Fate Chart (Likely, CF 6)
1d100=69 (nice) - yes

--Has she absconded with Nightwind?
Fate Roll: Fate Chart (Very Unlikely, CF 6)
78 - no

When he returned to the tree, Ruven found the rope he'd used to bind Bethtali in a heap on the ground, the woman gone. Nightwind grazed peacefully, ignoring his master's muttered oaths as he knelt on the ground to examine its contours.

--Can he pick up her trail?
Track (Survival) vs. DC 13 (Trained, Easy adjustment since they're literally minutes old)
Assurance (Survival) gets a result of 13 - just enough

Spotting the trampled grass of recent passage, Ruven leapt onto Nightwind and wheeled the horse around. He snapped the reins and the great black horse trotted off in the direction Bethtali's tracks led, heading into the night.

Chaos Factor +1: 7
Added to Characters List: Kobal Skeberfeth