<strong>Scene 2: Tamaa and Princess Aishah<br/></strong><br/><br/>Man, these poor guys can't catch a break, can they?  After another hailstorm of questions, they looked at each other, looked over their shoulders at the barrier, and then looked at each other again.<br/><br/>"Do you want us to open the barrier or not?" Bill asked.<br/><br/>"We'll open it for you, of course, but we're boiling animal fat in our spit, and I've to tend to it," Gregory added.<br/><br/>So, the pair of you accompany the pair of them to their little outpost.  It's basically a little campsite.  They have some gear strewn around the back of a wagon, a pair of logs around a little fire, and a tripod holding a metal frying pan, where white fat is sizzling.  Again, it took some time, but these are their responses to their questions:<br/><br/><div class="quoteheader"><div class="topslice_quote">Quote</div></div><blockquote class="bbc_standard_quote">Can you fly over it, dig under it or go around somehow without opening it.</blockquote><div class="quotefooter"><div class="botslice_quote"></div></div><br/><br/><em>I don't know why you keep asking this.  We can't fly.<br/><br/>I think they mean can something fly in.<br/><br/>Oh, right.  No, I don't think so.  Sometimes you'll see scaled flying creatures swooping against the barrier.</em><br/><br/><div class="quoteheader"><div class="topslice_quote">Quote</div></div><blockquote class="bbc_standard_quote">Speaking of opening the barrier, is the reason because the town has farm land and planted crops beyond?</blockquote><div class="quotefooter"><div class="botslice_quote"></div></div><br/><br/><em>We haven't any crops to speak of yet, but we are starting to clear some fields inside of the barrier.  No one goes out, 'cept adventuring parties.</em><br/><br/><div class="quoteheader"><div class="topslice_quote">Quote</div></div><blockquote class="bbc_standard_quote">How long have the two of you been part of the community?</blockquote><div class="quotefooter"><div class="botslice_quote"></div></div><br/><br/><em>Less than a year.  Five months for me, three months for Greggy.  We were both sailors.</em>The pair went into a long, detailed history.  Though they had served on different ships, their stories were very similar.  They were both members on a crew: Bill an assistant to the cook, and Gregory a rigger.  Both were stranded here when their ships were lost at sea.  Bill thought the place was okay, especially since things were improving.  The trail was becoming manageable.<br/><br/><div class="quoteheader"><div class="topslice_quote">Quote</div></div><blockquote class="bbc_standard_quote">Is there any other mercenary groups about?</blockquote><div class="quotefooter"><div class="botslice_quote"></div></div><br/><br/><em>We see adventuring parties come and go.  In fact, we saw one earlier today.</em><br/><br/><div class="quoteheader"><div class="topslice_quote">Quote</div></div><blockquote class="bbc_standard_quote">Are there adventurers looking for work?</blockquote><div class="quotefooter"><div class="botslice_quote"></div></div><br/><em>There are adventurers, but we don't know if they are for hire.</em><br/><br/><div class="quoteheader"><div class="topslice_quote">Quote</div></div><blockquote class="bbc_standard_quote">Any goblinoid tribes about beyond the barrier.</blockquote><div class="quotefooter"><div class="botslice_quote"></div></div><br/><em>We don't know.  We have never seen any goblinoids.</em><br/><br/><div class="quoteheader"><div class="topslice_quote">Quote</div></div><blockquote class="bbc_standard_quote">"You know the both of you could be seen as leaders,  if you suggest that the town build a bathhouse.    Building a bathhouse would bring in more females.   Especially building a bathhouse where a female can get naked and bath.  However,  I can see your point.   You really shouldn't want more females for the town."<br/></blockquote><div class="quotefooter"><div class="botslice_quote"></div></div><br/><em>Easy for you to say, ma'am, but there aren't many females in Tide Pool.<br/><br/>None, in fact, except the ones that come with adventuring parties.</em><br/><br/><div class="quoteheader"><div class="topslice_quote">Quote</div></div><blockquote class="bbc_standard_quote">Guardmen, would you help us to learn the way aswell? We might be uneducated girls, but if we go picking flowers from the jungle and wash ourselves in the streams, we need to know how to open the barrier and close it after us... right? And if half of the population knowns how to do it, its ot an secret.. but.. it would help us girls immersely.."</blockquote><div class="quotefooter"><div class="botslice_quote"></div></div><br/><em>We can show you, but...</em>Here, both Bill and Greg showed Aishah their left hands.  On their palms, there was a rune.<em>You need to be marked by the wizard.  I'm sure he'd mark you, if you asked.  It isn't painful.</em><br/><br/><div class="quoteheader"><div class="topslice_quote">Quote</div></div><blockquote class="bbc_standard_quote">What else have you seen coming from the jungle ? Things we need to worry about?</blockquote><div class="quotefooter"><div class="botslice_quote"></div></div><br/>Here, the two men sighed and started listing things that they had seen: giants, the undead, monsters, monstrous humanoids, giant vermin, and some aberrations.  A lot of large reptiles, too.  That was a daily occurrence.<em>We see 'em so often that we often eat 'em.</em>