[h2][center][b][color=ed1c24]Novak[/color][/b][/center][/h2]

Novak was surprised at being let back in by the white-haired woman.  Whatever she said to the Yaga must have been very convincing.

[color=ed1c24]"Thank you, very much,"[/color] he replied as he re-entered the house, but not before glancing around to see if anyone else was nearby.  The wards had already failed to keep two people out, after all.

He took a moment to think, then the Yaga witch in the eye, and spoke.

[color=ed1c24]"Here is my case.  The caravan whom I belong to is besieged by the Krysa and Yaga, trapped and unable to flee.  They blame us for an assassination attempt of a Krysa noble, and will accept neither surrender nor withdrawal from their lands.  I only managed to slip out because they didn't recognize me as one of the caravaners.  If the caravan cannot get out of there, they will die whether by starvation or being killed for a crime they don't even know about."[/color]

This wasn't anything so far that the Yaga didn't already know, but he wasn't finished yet.  Lady Mie had tasked him with a contingency in case he couldn't find Dawn, and if Dawn was unable of get them out, he might not have any choice left but to go with it.

[color=ed1c24]"There's more to it than that- if the Krysa and Yaga cannot be convinced to let us go, or we cannot somehow escape, we are going to escalate things, and it will get bloody.  Lady Mie has ordered that, if all else fails, I am to head to Chawaga and seek the aid of the Oni clans, to come here and rescue what's left of the caravan by force.  If they want to bring battle to peaceful caravaners, we'll oblige them the likes of which they won't expect.  And heavens help the Krysa and Yaga if the rescue is too late, because if the Oni of Chagawa come all the way here only to find Lady Mie dead, the bloodshed probably won't stop there.  Unless, of course, the Krysa and Yaga can be convinced to let my friends go."[/color]

He wasn't sure how feasible it was, only that it was what Lady Mie instructed him.  Would the Oni listen to him?  Would they go all this way here to save Lady Mie?  And could it even be done before she and the other caravaners ran out of food?"

[color=ed1c24]"Look, I've been trying my hardest to piece together this puzzle myself, in hopes that with the aid of the folks from Dawn, we could gather enough evidence to convince the besiegers to let the caravan go.  But with the Krysa on edge and suspicious of everyone, with an intelligence officer snooping around on the orders of their Tsarita, it's difficult enough to gather the basic facts without painting a massive target on my back, let alone assemble a case that could bring pause to the rat-folk.[/color]

That was his case.  He turned to the newcomer, silently waiting for her to make her own case.  He was unsure if a goddess would deign to intervene in a mortal matter, but he needed to try every possible angle to help Lady Mie's group.

[@Click This][@Rune_Alchemist]