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[This is more business and bookkeeping than anything else.] EVERYONE will get provender for a couple weeks, not to mention extra mules carrying supplies.
TakashiYHL: You have quarters already, and you're welcome in the infirmary. They're willing to help you restock on any herbs or medicinal supplies, and I believe you already have a horse. Also, since you're well off, if you want anything "extra" you can probably try to buy it in town. Karsten: Takashi buys extra ink and parchment to take notes during the journey. If available he will try to buy some kind of waterproof scroll case to safely store the parchments. YHL: He can find decently-waterproofed leather, lined on the inside with a sort of tarpaulin. Karsten: Of course Takashi would try to aquire an adequate supply of the most commonly used herbs. In addition--if time permits--he will discuss with Frenil which kind of illnesses are most common in the Ashen lands and try to get hold of the necessary medicines. David: Once again Frenil will try to be helpful but he is not a healer, and so will only mention those diseases that he has seen prove fatal or almost so. Also, if Frenil knows anything about poisons, and even if he doesn't he will suggest that they be included in Takashi's, travel bag. YHL: I imagine that those weakened by sickness to the point that they can't keep up with the tribe are generally abandoned, too. Frenil knows poisons exist, though I doubt he knows much about specific poisons (other than What's Not Good to Eat If You See It Lying Around in the Ashen Lands). Mainly, though, the ones he knows of are ingested and slow to act (death by many herbal poisons is pretty gruesome), or injected (e.g. snake venom) and act quickly, but aren't used by humans. (I understand that harvested snake venom loses potency after a while.) Takashi knows quite a bit about poisons due to his homeland. And no, there's no equivalent of activated charcoal that either Frenil or Takashi knows of, except in (probably unreliable) lore. Karsten: At first Takashi thinks that Frenil is joking when he suggests bringing along some kind of poison. But once Takashi realizes, that Frenil is serious about it, he has a difficult time to decide whether to be offended or shocked. Finally he decides to simply tell Frenil that although he knows a few things about poisons, he would under NO circumstances deal in poisons or use it against another being. David: Frenil says something along the lines of "a time or two, with a really odd wraith patrolling territory we were passing through, our shaman would give me some substance to coat my arrows. In at least one case it seemed that the poison did more than my arrow, to which I owe my life. That is what I was thinking of." Then he gives an apologetic shrug. Karsten: Among the herbs should be something that can be used as sedativum, some kind of analgesic (after all Takashi expects that the group might have a few hostile encounters) and whatever is needed to cure the diseases that Frenil tells him about. There might be other herbs, that Takashi will take along, but I can't think of anything else at the moment. Oh, and I think he would want to take along a lot of clean cloth... Finally Takashi might need several waterproof containers to store the herbs and other medicinal equipment that can be damaged by rain or swamps, but since he is a travelling healer I would assume that he already posseses a few such items and would only need more, if he decides to take along more herbs and medicinal supplies than usual... YHL: Waterproof containers can be either glass or the leather-and-tarpaulin mentioned above, your option (some of each if you like, depending on what's being carried). Your funds are plenty sufficient to carry this, though when/if Takashi returns, he might want to live frugally for a time. :-) 'Course, some of the medicines, etc. were paid for by the Qenaren treasury...
FrenilYHL: The quartermaster will go to some lengths to find arrows that work with your bow (which obviously isn't Qenaren standard; they much prefer crossbows). Knowing that you ride well, they'll offer you the loan of a horse...though the breeding stock in Tenu obviously runs to mountain ponies. Extra clothing will be offered, though most of it will fit oddly. David: Would it be possible, since we're on the wall, to convince Aris to buy for Frenil an Ashenlander mount? YHL: I'm personally convinced that Ashen Landers would NOT be trading their battlesteeds to the Qenaren, unless they were getting rid of culls...and I wonder if culls would get eaten instead. (If you want to discuss horse-eating taboos, we can do that--but take my word on it, some nomadic peoples had no compunctions to eat fallen horses or at least drink their blood as necessary on a long journey.) Would YOU trade your battle-bred mounts to another people? The other side is--the Qenaren probably wouldn't be buying. Due to the mountainous terrain, most of the cantons are not suitable for cavalry fighting; horses are mainly used as burden-bearers. (The sole exception is Harava, which borders the desert. I doubt Frenil would be much familiar with Harava.) Oh, and for bearing messages on the rare occasions that going on foot isn't faster. However--this is what happens: Frenil goes and asks for a battle-bred horse...and the Qenaren stablemaster scratches his head, mutters something about "I'll get back to you." What Frenil discovers a day later, from a bewildered trainee (soldier-in-training), is that there is one battlesteed in all of canton Tenu (the province where he is right now)...and Cat, the battlesteed's owner, has agreed to lend Frenil the horse. What this implies about either Cat or the horse, Frenil probably isn't sure; he does observe that those who've heard of this find it extremely disturbing. He also learns the horse's reputation: a tough and not particularly pretty battle-bred Haravai (desert) mare, a blue roan; she has a vicious temper and isn't afraid to use either teeth or hooves. (I will tell you right now that any horse-calming tricks that Frenil knows are going to be less effective than he hopes. She's just bad-tempered, period...but unlike most riders, he has a chance in Gehenna of staying on her.) Apparently Cat deals with her just by having better reactions than she does. She has no name that anyone knows (unless you count "that vicious brute"). Rumor has it that she was culled from some of the Haravai's finest riding stock, and culled even from the breeding stock, because of her temper...especially after she killed her first two riders. (The third was Cat.) The one problem that Frenil's gonna figure out right fast is that Haravai horses aren't going to respond to the same signals (whatever they are--as long as they're not outrageous, that's up to you) as Ashenlander horses. But the mare *is* battle-trained, for what it's worth. David: If we have the time before we leave on this expedition, Frenil will try to ride the horse as though it had never had a rider before--get it used to him, and not being able to kill him--before mounting it and figuring out what it it does know how to do, and trying to train himself so that he will automatically give it those signs when he wants it to act that way. YHL: Sure. The horse is pretty smart, as horses go (which means vicious but not intelligent per se--the war-equivalent of Lippizaner training). The horse gains a healthy respect for Frenil, but it's grudging all the same; he'd better pay attention when he's riding her. Signals: so far he can sort of figure out how to get her to "charge," and to "rear and strike." Everything else is iffy; he's not sure whether it's her malice or if he's confusing her. David: In his mind he will call her Wrathblood (or if Ashenlander has gender distinctions then the feminine form thereof), but will not call her that out loud. And whenever he sees her, or when she indulges her temper, he bares his grin. When she's in particularly fine form he might even laugh--even if he is on the painful receiving end. He also can curse a very good (blue) streak in Ashenlander, which I expect he will need to do in her presence upon occaision. (it will usually be accompanied by a grin).
QorenYou get your supplies through the quartermaster since you're a soldier. You don't have riding, but presumably you can learn. ;-) If you want to requisition anything else, talk to me...or if you want to buy something reasonable out of your own funds, that's fine too.
To AllNote also that Kitseya, despite her poor condition, will be accompanying all of you. Commander Aris will tell you that she is a mage of some repute. From what you hear she's a passable, but not enthusiastic, rider. (As an islander, she must be rather better at swimming and sailing.) Cat will *not* be coming along; he cited "duties." One might wonder what sorts of duties these might be.
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