Hakaja Kek

[Blaeringr]

Prompt: @Dr Jackal please tell us why Kek has come to Carisport and his short term goals.

[Dr Jackal]

Kek had seen only four summers when the stars changed. He remembers that there had been much fear and confusion, but then ... nothing had happened. Or at least, nothing particularly different had happened. The Te'keli had disappeared, but the Hakaja had had little contact with them, and the Guar and the Yomdoh and the Kregga remained as fierce as ever. And there had come different beasts, but they were often less terrifying than the ones from before the changing stars. For the Hakaja, life went on.

It was only two years that the Hakaja observed a strange, skinny humanoid with dark skin and long ears bumble through their wood and realized: this world is not the world we knew.

Kek was selected as an emissary and traveled cautiously through the woods, following trails and then rivers down to until finally he found a settlement. He was surprised by the different sorts of people that lived there -- many kinds of people, and living without fear or violence. Kek studied the town for days before cautiously entering and taking on some odd jobs to pay for meals and a space in the stables. When a caravan came through a few days later, they hired him as a guard.

Kek continued to work as a guard, changing from caravan to caravan -- whichever one was heading someplace that Kek had never been. Carisport is a new town for Kek. He come because he had been thinking that maybe it was time to try a sea voyage, although the idea of the open ocean made him uncomfortable. Still, he needed some coin to pay for passage, so he needed to look for whatever jobs were paying.

[Blaeringr]

It was a week ago when the hulking but ageing person contacted him. He smelled of smoked herbs, noticeable even in the smokey building that these town people gather in to drink, smoke, tell outlandish tales, and occasionally fight.

"Neil" as he asked Kek to name him wanted to know about the Hakaja at first, and shared stories of his own people, the Dzimeen. Neil was curious about all these new kinds of people (it seems the Dzimeen came to this world recently too) and explained that his culture was already used to a blend of different kinds: goblins, hobgoblins, and bugbears all mixed together with their own quirks.

He seemed especially interested in hearing about rivalries among the tribes of Kek's people and how they were handled.

Edited October 17, 2023 by Blaeringr (see edit history)

[Dr Jackal]

Kek didn't answer directly, but instead took a moment to think before speaking. It wasn't that he distrusted the bugbear, but until the Hakaja were ready to greet the world in friendship, every disclosure needed to be carefully considered.

"We have a saying," the orc rumbled. "'I against my brother. I and my brother against my cousin. I and my brother and my cousin against the world.' Rivalries teach us to strive and to struggle, to give pain and to know it. They are ... encouraged. But one knows when a rivalry has gone too far, or when they must be set aside for a time."

He paused a moment. "It has not happened in my lifetime but our tales speak of threats so dire that they united the tribes. In the youth of my mother's mother, a great black serpent awoke, with breath that would melt skin from sinew, then then sinew from bone, then bone itself. The five tribes came together and slew the creature at great cost. Afterward, there was a great feast and grievances were forgotten."

The orc shrugs. "But before the sun rose on the next day, Te'keli Oghronon murdered Guar Ka over a past insult, and things became as they had been."

[Blaeringr]

Neil smiles slightly - mostly in his eyes - and nods.

"Life is the prize, whether you choose to compete or not. You sound like a competitor."

[Dr Jackal]

 

 

Hakaja Kek

HP: 22/22 ~ AC: ?? ~ Speed: 25
Fort: +5 ~ Ref: +7 ~ Will: +6 ~ Per: +6
Sheet link

 

 

"I do not think I agree with you, friend," Kek answers slowly. "The days of our lives are coins, and the wagers we make -- our choices --- are how we compete. The legacy we leave behind to our kin -- that is the prize. "

He looks eastward, somber for a moment.

Edited October 21, 2023 by Dr Jackal (see edit history)

[Blaeringr]

Neil thinks on that a moment.

"Seems to me like we say the same thing. Days are coins. Good choices mean more days for us and our kin. Yes. Legacy means more good days for those after. Yes. Life is the prize. Same idea. You do not beg for prize."

He looks slightly amused at this point. "Yes. Competitor. Yes."

Feel free to roll perception here.

[Dr Jackal]

 

 

Hakaja Kek

HP: 22/22 ~ AC: ?? ~ Speed: 25
Fort: +5 ~ Ref: +7 ~ Will: +6 ~ Per: +6
Sheet link

 

 

"Hrm," Kek says noncommittally. "You mentioned a job, yes? I would hear more of it. And I might be able to find others who might lend their blade."

[Blaeringr]

"Good. Job, yes. My hold needs help getting a relic back. Situation makes it bad for us to send own warriors. Can discuss some details now, again if you find friends. Week from now? New Year? Good day, new year. Fix old problems day."

Shoruuz/Neil goes into a little more detail with Kek, promising the full story next week on New Year's.

[Blaeringr]

3rd of Renewal, year 20 - on the road

---

Kalen is curious about the concoctions Kek is working on, and at one point approaches to question hom about his alchemical work: "What are you working on there? With the knives you carry, and your fierce appearance, would I be far off to guess some kind of poisons?"

[Dr Jackal]

 

 

Hakaja Kek

HP: 22/22 ~ AC: 18 ~ Speed: 25
Fort: +5 ~ Ref: +7 ~ Will: +6 ~ Per: +6
Sheet link

 

 

Kek makes an irritated grunt and snaps the book shut. "I am a healer," Kek says firmly. "If I study poisons, it is to determine a course of treatment. If I carry knives, it is because I often enter dangerous situations to treat the wounded. And if I seem fierce ..." he pauses and gives a quick snort of amusement.

"If I seem fierce, then I am not sure what that says about my people or about your own. In my clan, I am considered rather meek and gentle."

[Blaeringr]

4th of Renewal, year 20

---

While most patrons are enjoying the play, Kek notices the proprietress, Jane, come out of the kitchen with a worried look on her face and blood on her hands.

She notices Kek and quickly comes over to him.

"Are those tools you carry around just for show," she says indicating Kek's satchel with healers' tools, "or do you know something about treating wounds?"

Jane explains to Kek that there is an injured woman on a cot in the kitchen. She's unconscious, bruised and bleeding, and Jane isn't sure if she's going to make it.

Is Kek interested in helping out and tending to this unknown woman's wounds?

[Dr Jackal]

 

 

Hakaja Kek

HP: 22/22 ~ AC: 18 ~ Speed: 25
Fort: +5 ~ Ref: +7 ~ Will: +6 ~ Per: +6
Sheet link

 

 

"Take me to her now," Kek says, standing up and stepping quickly toward the kitchen. "And tell me what you know of the injury."

[Blaeringr]

Her name is Gail, as Jane explains to Kek. Gail is a brewer who supplies several establishments in town, and gathers most of the herbs herself for her ales. Jane found Gail out the back side of her inn, past the courtyard, beaten senseless, with her latest delivery smashed and spilled next to her.

Gail's face is badly bruised, but she seems to have taken several blunt blows to her abdomen as well.

Kek is able to slightly treat her bruising, and put pressure on a few minor cuts until they stop bleeding, but he's really at a loss at determining the exact nature of her internal injuries.

If Kek wishes to spend more time on this, further checks may be made each hour.

Jane seems busy running her business right now, and has trusted Kek to oversee the situation with Gail for now. Kitchen workers occasionally come and go, giving Kek and Gail space.

[Dr Jackal]

 

 

Hakaja Kek

HP: 22/22 ~ AC: 18 ~ Speed: 25
Fort: +5 ~ Ref: +7 ~ Will: +6 ~ Per: +6
Sheet link

 

 

Kek continues to tend to the woman. Face and abdomen. Strange.

When the opportunity presents itself, he flags down Jane. "Does this woman have family or a mate who should be informed of her status? I am also interested in what enemies she has." He shakes his head. "Head and stomach ... this was meant to inflict pain. To send a message."