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JP with Lorem, Lucian, Omni, Winteroak and Bandorchu

Markus and the Odonine miner were stunned at Tarmen's acceptance of terms. The man on the horse laughed at Tarmen's nod, as did his two companions.
"Dogs." He said in Helian. Spitting again.
"Tarmen. No one else will agree to these terms." Markus said calmly imaging what kind of ordeal the man must have been through in the caves. "It's meant to be an impossible demand. To force us to run or just give them what they want..." Before Tarmen could protest the leading rider started shouting over their heads into the assembled miners and soldiers. When he was done he spoke to the old man and turned his horse galloping hard back to his group.

"He offered a place among his war band to any Odonine willing. The others will be put to the sword. A pox on Koshnem and his line." Markus translated with the help of the miner who spat at the retreating figures.
"We have one hour to lay our weapons, hand them the women and await our fate." He finished.

And just like that, Tarmen’s frail plan had fallen apart. He had hoped they would be led into Aquilo where they could maybe ambush them. At least they had a better plan thought of before this fiasco.
Going back to the settlement, he had a hard time meeting the other’s eyes.
“They just wanted to toy with us. We have one hour to prepare and then we will see who Zin desires today.”

As your group gathered to discuss your plans you saw the Odonine miners murmuring and whispering among themselves. They were pondering the offer.

Tarmen snapped on the men, uncaring if it would push them towards the deal.
“Talk all you want about the damned deal! The only place he has saved for you is either as a slave or as a skull for his personal shitter. If that is the fate you seek, then get out of Aquilo before I cut you down myself.”
He glared at Markus for a translation before returning to Alexis and Voah.
“We can’t trust the clansmen here, so have them in front before you use our own men. All of them are on horseback, so I’d say board up what we can and make them come into range so we can cut their horses down. Anythin’ to add?”

“I see Koshnem truly commands the uncontested loyalty of his people.”

Alexis threw a scathing look towards the wavering clansmen.

“Gonna climb that forge before things go down. Maybe I can pick off two or three on their way here.”

She pointed to one of the buildings.

“We should see if we can fashion some stumbling traps. Won’t be so high and mighty when they’re off their horses.”

The Arbiter’s paced, her thoughts kept going back to the mine itself. She had more confidence to brave the ruins now that she knew what to expect and safety wasn’t far. If the miners were afraid of it, chances were that the clansmen wouldn’t follow. If they were overrun, it was a good place to fall back to, at least for the men of Ostiarium.

Gonyaul finally made his way to where he heard and got a sneak peek of Voah’s speech. He had not really been paying attention to the shouts and side conversations, many of the people here didn’t even speak Helias after all. He finally saw his people, they were all together.

He casually walked up to the group as if meeting a bunch of friends for a picnic. He wasn’t armed to fight, instead he looked like he was about to dance in a theatrical performance.

Markus looked at Alexis hefting his battle axe. "Most men here are Aghul or part of clans under his banner. Most will not take the offer. Anyone who does will be condemning their people." He paused looking around. "Although some here belong to conquered clans...' he explained.

Alexis nodded her understanding to Markus and was glad to finally catch sight of Gonyaul approaching them.

“There you are. We’ve been looking for you. We could use some of your creative ideas here…”