20 Ymiden 723
”Karem help them!” gasped Elise Shmickel, as she and Oram approached the sad collection of improvised lean-tos and half-ruined tents. The Chief Ranger followed Elise’s gaze towards “them”, a desperate-looking knot of men, women, children, huddling near an inadequate number of tattered tents and improvised lean-tos. He suppressed a groan, trying to stay positive at least as much for the other Ranger as for himself, and spurred Rocky closer to the group. Karem might or might not help the survivors of Havardr, but Oram had come to do precisely that.
The Havardeens regarded the newcomers in dull silence as they neared. One of the men rose and approached. ”You come at an ill time,” he called out. ”We’ve nothing to trade. Or steal.” He pointed at the ragged remnant behind him. ”Unless you have come to aid us, I suggest you move on.”
”We have come to aid you,” Oram assured the man. ”I am Oram Mednix, Chief Ranger. This is Ranger Elise Shmickel.” A glimmer in the man’s eye suggested that he recognized the name, but none of the other onlookers reacted.
”Rangers,” he said flatly. The name did not appear to please him. ”And where have you been before now? We have struggled to survive for the last two tentrials and you appear only now?”
Next to him, Elise spoke up, starting to explain, a bit defensively, that Darbyton had been hit as well, and that they had been regrettably preoccupied, but Oram gently stopped her short. ”We can talk about what we have done for the last two tentrials,” he said to the man, ”or we can talk about getting through the next two. I would prefer the latter. What about you?”
The Havardeen gave both Rangers a sharp look, obviously struggling to bite back whatever bitter retort had formed in his mind. After a trill he snorted sharply and then said: ”Yes, let’s talk about that. I am Odnar, by the way,” he said, gesturing to a cleared out area in front of a knot of lean-tos.
As they took their seats, Odnar said: ”I’m afraid I have little hospitality to offer you. We have thus far been able to scrape together enough food to stave off starvation, but not much more.”
”We have some food, but not much,” Elise explained. ”We came here not knowing what we would find. But you’re welcome to what we have.”
Odnar nodded appreciatively. He seemed somewhat mollified from their earlier tense words. ”Any little bit helps,” he responded.
Elise excused herself to retrieve and distribute the food. The refugees grew animated at the arrival of a meal, even though it only came down to a few mouthfuls for each person by the time it was divided out. They did not, Oram noted, squabble nor push and shove. On the contrary, they were quite efficient at dividing up the food on a scheme that they all seemed to agree on.
Odnar seemed to note Oram noting this, for he pointed out: ”We Havardeens have always worked together. We have neither time nor use for quibbling and carping in our midst.”
Oram, continuing to watch the distribution of the food, nodded absently. ”It looks like there are about twenty of you here,” he offered. ”Is this really all that is left?”[/knowledge]
”Twenty-five in all, counting myself,” Odnar answered. ”Four of our people are currently out foraging.” Oram noticed just then an older woman setting aside portions of the food, and it was not lost on him that none of the others took this amiss. ”As to whether there are more, I don’t know.” the man’s face grew grim. ”It is possible that some others have turned up elsewhere, but if so, they were not many. The pirates killed everyone they got their hands on, even women and children. They killed Linca and Orik. They killed by the score.”
”By the hundred,” added a female voice. Oram looked up to see the older woman he had noticed earlier, setting aside food for what he assumed was the foraging party. She looked knowingly at the hunter. ”You said you are Oram, yes? You make fish baskets?”
The Chief Ranger was a bit surprised that that would be something he was known for here. ”Yes. They are for freshwater fish though,” he replied.
”We know what they are for,” the woman rejoined. ”I am Wourna. My husband bought a couple of your traps. We Havardeen mostly catch whales and other sea fish by boat. But we also have use for catching river fish, especially when we move overland.”
Oram looked at Wourna questioningly. ”Do you have those traps now? Do you need more?”
”We were able to save two fish baskets when we went back to the camp afterward to see what could be salvaged. We could make more ourselves, if we had tools.”
”Tools are one of our biggest wants at the moment,” Odnar cut back in. ”People didn’t think to grab them when they fled the attacks. And the pirates plundered those. All we have are some knives and sewing needles. Not even a hatchet or a machete for cutting branches.”
”Do you have anything at all for fishing or hunting?” Oram asked.
”A homemade bow with a handful of arrows, and a couple harpoons,” Odnar answered. ”We *did* grab things that could be used as weapons.”
”We had a falchion that could have doubled as a tool,” Wourna added ruefully. ”But it got damaged during the fight, and broke when we tried to use it; we have not the means to fix it.”
Oram thought over the things he had brought with him. ”Elise and I brought tools that you may borrow for now,” he offered. ”But we’ll need to get you your own soon. I have a bow and some arrows I can give you, too, if you want another bow.”
Odnar nodded enthusiastically. ”Definitely want that, thank you!”
The Chief Ranger continued: ”As for shelter, I have a pair of magical crystal turtles given to me by Saoire herself that can turn into shelters one can stay in. Not quite enough room for everybody here, I don’t think, but a lot of people could stay there.” He explained to Odnar how the turtles worked. He both suspected and hoped that Saoire would approve of making a gift of the turtles to those who needed them.
Elise had by now finished distributing the provisions and had rejoined Odnar and Oram.
”This is the aid we have on hand for you,” Oram concluded, nodding towards his fellow Ranger as she sat next to him. ”We can talk now about what else we can get for you.”
