[D3 LM] Eyes on the Horizon

[Ahmina]

Ahmina wondered who's voice it was...but that might be a futile exercise

''It is more fortunate for you that you not believe us badigh or else you have discovered iday alakrab.''

[Kannon]

There was a laugh.

"Their stillsuits are poor." Which was like saying that they won't last long, better to not waste their water to the desert.

[Bomilcar Thorvald]

Bom just lets out an exhale as he tries to orient to the sound of voices. Not easy in this terrain.

[Ahmina]

''Hum anham. La tatamanaa eayilat harkunin alnajah. Limadha taqtuluhum baynama tastatie alsahra'a?''

(translation: They are. The Harkonnen do not wish them to succeed. Why kill them when the desert can)

[Kannon]

"Who are they?" Another voice, more tubal, in Chakobsa. "They look like Harkonnen spies to me."

[Dorian Drake]

Edwell stood alert and confident between Ahmina and Bomilcar, placing his faith in their abilities. He didn't understand some of the words spoken, but could tell the unidentified voices were testing them. It was best not to show weakness or hostility, just as Ahmina had cautioned.

He might endanger them by speaking out of turn, the question seemed intended for Ahmina.

[Ahmina]

Ahmina chuckles

'' 'adawat '' she replies '' 'adawat dida harkunin. Kalimatuhim yumkin 'an tadura altughat 'akthar min baka'ik''

(Translation: Tools...tools against the Harkonnen. Their words can do more harm to the tyrants then your crysknife)

[Kannon]

"Is any of them Lisan al-Gaib then?" A female voice from behind, slight mockery in it. "They are nothing like crysknifes. Whose tools are they?"

[Bomilcar Thorvald]

Bom remained alert through the conversation. The longer that Ahmina spoke in the fremen language while the other fremen spoke clearly, the more he thought this might be a trap set by Ahmina herself. He didn't relish the idea that if she was a traitor hed have to try to survive an attack here and protect Edwell. Seemed impossible odds to him. So he simply hoped and put his faith in her.

[Ahmina]

''You know who's'' she replied in the same dialect ''Show yourselve if we are to talk''

[Kannon]

"Not before we decide what to do with them. You say that we know who sent them. Maybe we do."

There was a pause, and shift to heavily accentuated Galach Edwell and Bomilcar could nevertheless understand.

"Why have you come to Dune?"

[Bomilcar Thorvald]

"Investigate Harkonnen," Bomilcar shouted, not hiding the fact that that's pretty much the direction his investigation was headed after today. The shout hurt quite a bit more than he had intended. It seemed volume in both loudness and quantity both caused pain during his speech.

[Kannon]

"And then what?"

[Bomilcar Thorvald]

"Depends on results," he shouts again. "Future's always changing." It was as honest as he could be.

[Kannon]

Silence told him this wasn't the best of answers, at least not to those people. He sensed they were in mortal danger. He'd have to think...

[Understand 2]

[Dorian Drake]

Edwell felt the tension in the air. These people had their own expectations and desires, the question is what were they. Was it simply the removal of the Harkonnens from Arrakis, or was there something more? Only by giving the right answer and showing that their interests could align would they make it out of this unharmed, much less gaining any advantage in their mission.
-----
LM3, Know thy enemy, Understand 7 + Truth 7, Focus diplomacy, TN 14: 2#1d20 7 7
Passed 4 successes, +2 momentum

[Bomilcar Thorvald]

The bodyguard let the silence stand for a moment while he considered the best way to respond that would keep them all safe.

He clarified. "Harkonnen could be punished. Maybe removed." He explained, suggesting he had no interest in standing in the way of the Fremen, that the investigation might weaken Harkonnen's position.

D3 LM, Understand + Duty, Focus: Danger Sense, TN 13, Crit 5: 2#1d20 3 7
3 successes

[Kannon]

"How can you do that better than us? Harkonnen have come from your Imperium."

He and Edwell realised that the Fremen were expecting a pledge of sorts, perhaps a sign that would tap into their ritual imagery, into their myths and values, something that would blend the arrival of offworlders with their own dreams. Practical answers would not do: for them, it was practical to just kill them and forget about them. If they were to survive, they needed to address some higher call. Ah, what a boon it would be to have a Bene Gesserit around, with their ability to manipulate religion!

[Dorian Drake]

OOC: can I spend a momentum to obtain information and have read up or deduced enough about Fremen to know what type of vow or pledge would be sincere to the Fremen? I believe it is sharing water, but that is OOC knowledge not IC (yet) and I don't recall 100%.

[Kannon]

[You can gain some depth by doing so.]

[Dorian Drake]

[You can gain some depth by doing so.]

OOC: Then I will spend a momentum to obtain information.

[Kannon]

Edwell would realise, upon search in his memory, that the natives of the planet are rumoured to be the descendants of Zensunni Wanderers who fled to Arrakis from enslavement and persecution, a long time ago.

[That you get for 1 point]

[Dorian Drake]

Edwell would realise, upon search in his memory, that the natives of the planet are rumoured to be the descendants of Zensunni Wanderers who fled to Arrakis from enslavement and persecution, a long time ago.

[That you get for 1 point]

OOC: 1 more to ask what kind of ritualistic oath or pledge would be meaningful to a Zensunni practitioner.

[Kannon]

A koan that discovers a paradox between harsh and direct necessities of life and submission to God would tap into their brand of mysticism.

[Dorian Drake]

After remaining silent and observing for some time, Edwell considers all the information he has about the Fremen, their past and their present.

He speaks up clearly, reciting an old Zensunni saying that reached deep to their flight from slavery, "Bind yourselves in the strictures of God's Will and you shall cast off the shackles of man. Would you strike us down because we are not of Arrakis or would you loose us on your Harkonnen persecutors?"