"No," Reya stated shortly. The Orc was confused. With a sigh, she leaned forward.
"My mother died after I was born," she said softly. "My uncle raised me. I never knew who my father was, my mother never said."

Mage?! I'm a Priest! Donny didn't know whether to be insulted or shake the Dwarf's hand. He loved magic, that was true, but he could never menorize the complex formulae that the mages used for their spells. Instead he looked into divine magics, where the gods granted the ability to a person. Donny did not think it qualified him to be a mage.

Slowly he walked to where the blue dye was to be administered and did his best to cover his disdainful expression. Quietly, he muttered incomprehensible words in protest. He pulled up his sleeve and let the man do his work.

So much of what Reya said made no sense to Zane. It was too far beyond his limited understanding of how people interacted with one another. He assumed everyone had a family - a mother, father, brothers, sisters, uncles and such - even a tribe to belong to. To be alone in the world just wasn't in his small minds ability to grasp, not really.

Zane couldn't think of anything to say, so he went with his gut.
"Its okay. We are in the caravan both of us now. I've got your back."

"You might want to talk to your friend first," Reya said reluctantly. It was what she wanted from this big guy, why did she suddenly feel so dirty about it?

"I wonder when we leave?" she added, desperate to change the subject.

Zane sheathed his blade then rubbed his over-large chin. It made him like a Gorilla in contemplation.

"Hmmm ...," Zane mused. "I figure once the paint dries. They won't want us to leave before the paint dries."
He grins at his own cleverness, before a frown develops. He has forgotten something yet again. He eyes Reya speculatively then leans in slightly. In a quiet, sheepish voice totally at odds with his size, he asks,
"What do you want me to talk to Mehairme about?"

The hours passed, and several entrees were denied access, either for inexperience, lacking of presence or simply didn't fit what the dwarves were looking for.

Turning around to the persons who were picked, 4 mages, 3 Bodyguards, 3 Scouts, and 1 yellow-mark. "I thnk we over hired..."

The joyous dwarf comes besides the surly one. "I always said that 6 spaces was moronic, we need to be correctly protected if we are going through the shortcut in the flaming hills."

The dwarves talk just loud enough to be overheard, but they started walking over to the circle of cars and the horse feeders.

Another dwarf, with a fullplate on and a sledge hammer strapped to his back walked over to the new hires. "My name is Adgar Stonefist, I'm your commander for as long as you are in contract with the Stonefist caravan, any questions you might have before I show you your lodgins and explain your positions?"

All Donny could do is stare at the Dwarf in full plate. One day I will have a suit of full plate. He realized that his mouth had been hanging open and shut it with a loud click.

"I..I have no questions sir." Donny said to the Dwarf. He tried his best not to sound nervous.

The dwarf came over and talked to them - all the new people. It was nice to be in a crowd and to be part of something. It was almost like being back in the tribe minus the people yelling at him.

Zane struggled to pay attention to what was being said, but he rapidly lost the dwarf's name.
Abbie Stonefist, or Stonefish, or something like that.
Stonefish caravan ... was that their new tribe. Was Stonefish like a Totem Weapon?

The Shaman said something and it felt like a good idea to say something similar.
"Nothing here!" he blurted out.

The dwarf looked pretty tough. His armor was shiny and impressive. Zane wondered what he would look like in such a suit. His mind wandered into fits of day dreaming.

Joram moved with the rest and listened to the Dwarf. That comment he made about the pass didn't sound to good, but he wasn't about to open his mouth until he'd heard the rest of what the dwarf had to say. Full information would be helpful.

"No questions now, maybe after the briefing."

Reya said nothing, just stared back at the dwarf.

"I think it's apparent what we're here for," Mehairme said, smiling. She shivered lightly in the cool morning air, then yawned with an odd delicacy, her open maw hidden behind her hand. "Mmm. Shall we get on with it, then?"

"Good, you are all smart." Stonefist looked at them up and down. "Red marks, you are all with me in the patrol. Yellow and Green marks, you are in the front of the caravan and on top of the carts, have to keep a good eye to the front, the back and the sides."

Smiling, he turned to the last group. "Blue marks, come with me. You are going ON the carriages, we don't want you getting tired before the action. Also, if any of you are spell preparers inted of inspired, I reccomend you prepare ways to deal with large groups and a way to stick behind the big guys with swords."

"Anything else? If not, We take off in an hour, look for your posts."

Donny let himself be shuttled to a carriage. Once there, he began to load his stuff on top of it. He plopped himself down next to his bag of gear and got out his sling. I will have to fight at a distance, he told himself.

With the sling in his hand, he immediatley fell asleep. His unconscious body was slightly propped up by his bag of gear. His mouth hung open.

"Blah, blah blah." Stonefist looked at them up and down. "Red marks, you are all with me in the patrol. Blah blah, blah blah blah, blah blah ... blah."

Smiling, Stonefist turned to the last group. "Blah blah blaaahhh blah (yawn) blah blah blah bleah."

"Anything else? If not, We take off in an hour, look for your posts."
Zane knew exactly were he was supposed to go. He began following Stonefish around like a big, disfigured puppy dog/Orc. It was pretty simple actually ... as long as there weren't any other plate-covered dwarves running around, how could Zane get lost?

"Yeah," Reya demanded, stepping forward. "You said something about 'lodgings'. And what about gear? Is there someplace on this caravan to put ours and is there anything you think we should have?"

She was going to have to shop quickly for a bedroll and a waterskin, she was sure of that. With a caravan leaving, you could be sure every shopkeeper in this town was open and ready to do business.

But were they going to give her a horse to ride or did she need to get one quick? Loaded wagons were slow, she could walk part of the time but if she needed to ride out as a scout she was going to need something! It would have to be a pony or a mule, maybe a light horse if she could talk the dealer into throwing in a saddle. Not to mention feed. Food - the caravan would probably feed her but what about her mount? Mountain passes didn't have enough grasing to feed a caravan.

"Your Lodgings will be tents, set up every night when the Caravan is not in forced march. Scouts will be provided with horses if needed, the slower red marks or blue marks will have to raide the Wagons. Think of it as a hayride."

Stonefish looks up and down the red marks. "Yo, Tusk-Face. Tell me why you wanted to join this company?"

"....lemme see that chunk of grani....ZZZZ." Donny was mumbling in his sleep from on top of one of the wagons. He was half sitting, half lying down, and slanting to the side a little oddly. Every so often he would snap awake and say audibly, "Are we there yet?" After looking around for a few seconds, his head would bob slightly in the morning sun, as he passed out once more.

Someone had to nudged Zane to let him know that he was the 'Tusk-Face' that Stonefist was talking about.
"Huh? Oh, I joined because Mehairme told me to," he replied honestly. Still, he felt something should be added.
"I also felt it would be fun to do. You know, marching, killing stuff, marching some more, keeping things safe for the Chief - fun stuff!"

Reya's eyes narrowed as the chief turned on Zane. Was he testing him? If there was anything scarier than a group of dwarven guards with their axes, it had to be an Orc bodyguard.

"Good Answer Tusk-Face. I like the way you think, you are going to be my personal guard." Stonefist looks around. "Green marks and yellow mark, go to the front of the Caravan, you will be provided with horses and basic equipment, anything other than that you will have to provide for yourselves, I reccomend you get some tinder and a way to light it up."

"Green marks, you stick real close, you will need each other when scouting. The rest of the Red Marks, keep an eye on the Blue Marks."

From Behind Stonefist, a dwarf covered in tribal tattoos of varied colors came up. "Got my new cannon fodder Stonefist?" the dwarf said without a hint of joking.

"Look Ironlock, you can't call the recruits Cannon fodder, they get scared. But yeah the blue marks are on the wagon, we are setting out tomorrow so all of them are still preparing."

Ironlock grins at him. "Yeah, being nerveous is what keeps them on their toes and alive. Anyway, tell them to meet me tonight, the Blue marks and my Red mark, gotta know them well."

"Yeah yeah, which reminds me..." Stonefist looks around the camp. "New Marks! Dismissed for now, go do wathever the hell you want to do, I want to meet you all here when the signal sounds and the fires are up, ok?"

"Huh? What?" Donny opened his eyes and looked around. The carts and wagons were there, but everyone was gone. His face felt tight and hot. I fell asleep in the sun again? That's just wonderful!

Donny grabbed his bags and jumped off the wagon. It looked to be about noon. He walked towards the tavern for some food and water. Maybe the others were in there too. Hopefully they could tell him what was going on. An then later, to get rid of the sunburn, he might have to practice that healing cantrip he learned at the abbey.

Zane's ineffective brain made the leap in understanding. He was to follow Ironfish ... fist ... whatever. He could do that. He trotted up behind the Chief and took his station. His attention wandered and it gave his gaze a deceptive scanning quality. Now all he had to do was stay out of trouble.

How much trouble could Stonefist get into anyway?

Reya glanced up at Zane but the orc seemed happy. Giving him a nod, she headed to the front of the caravan to meet with the other scouts and to learn what basic equipment they were going to give her. As it seem they weren't setting out today, she was gonna need another room for the night, but there was at least time to do some gear shopping.