Taras looks abashed, "Of course, I apologize." He opens the door on the east side of the room, a pantry, and shows you a bed in the corner. "That's safe enough, and old Stellios won't mind you resting here."

Marika reaches Matteo's side shortly after Ullar. "Lady of wisdom, restore this man's strength, for the wisest mind cannot act when the body falters," she prays, laying a hand on the squire's wounded arm as she feels the Goddess's magic take hold.

And take effect it does. The spell is quite powerful, healing the most grievious parts of Matteo's wounds. However, he still carries the older wounds and some traces of the newer. He is now strong enough to move around and, if necessary, fight, but rather weak and totally depleted of magical energy.

As Taras sees the effect of Marika's spell fall somewhat short of full healing, he offers, "My grandmother has some skill in that area. Perhaps she can help." He then heads off through the door he opened moments ago.

After seeing to Matteo, Marika turns her attention to Sam. When she can convince the hyperkinetic little rogue to stand still long enough to be healed, she spends her remaining curative magic on him.

It seems that Sam is not particularly favored by the gods this day, as Marika's healing spell has little effect on him as well. He seems cheerful enough, but his wounds are quite telling, and in the estimation of the healers, the wind could easily disable him if it blew strongly enough.

Rhune looks around for a moment, "Petr, while my friends are being helped if you could show me a high window I will attempt shoot at any that come back inside the compound." She leaves her pack in a corner and taking her bow and quiver of arrows follows Petr to where he leads her.

Petr nods at her, "I will definitely take you up on that offer. We are very short-handed here and your bow would be much appreciated. Come with me."

The group hears silence outside until someone yells from outside the door. Petr leads you all through the door he came through. You all are in the westernmost room of the main building, having come through the north door. The south door is also barred and fortified. Petr leads you through the eastern door through some sort of pantry. By Petr's torchlight you can see there are various tubs here, and casks, along with a small bed in the corner and some haunches of meat hung from the roof.

Through the door on the other side, you are led into some sort of hall. It has long benches and a table of the same size. At the head of the table is a large chair. This room is torchlit all along the walls, and gives the appearance of a cheerful gathering place. There is a tapestry on either main wall, one of running horses and the other of some sort of geometric pattern. On the short walls are a stuffed eagle, a wolf's head, and a hunting horn. There is a large staircase here running up into the second floor, which is a gallery open to the floor. An older, heavy fellow with one arm looks down from there. "It looks like the goblins are waiting for the barn and the gatehouse to burn down before they come at us again."

At the mention of goblins, Rhune shudders. She had never seen the little creatures but had heard from some of her friends that they were rather vicious. Especially towards Elves.

Petr looks at the group grimly, "I hope our welcome was warm enough for you? If I would have known you were coming, I would have rescheduled the goblin attack for another time. So busy." He looks at the group. "I would ask what you are doing here, but I haven't time. If you aren't a gift from the gods, then I don't know what one is. Mercenary company, right? Well, I haven't much in the way of wealth, but if you can protect my home and drive those filthy creatures off, I'll pay you whatever I do have."

Rhune chuckles at his joke, "No that is not necessary. We were coming here anyway. While we get ready someone can explain why we are here." she replies to the man. He seems to be much like Stephanos.

"No need," answers Marika, echoing several of her friends. "We're glad for the shelter; the least we can do is help make sure it stands. Your brother Stephan asked us to come here, Petr, but there'll be time to discuss that when everyone is safe."

Petr looks somewhat amazed, "Stephan sent you?" He shakes his head, "Will wonders never cease? You are correct, though. Whatever he sent you here for, the safety of the settlement is most important. Once we have driven the goblins off, then we can discuss my brother's business."

Ullar, waiting for the rest to respond to this one, shakes his head. "I do not want your money Petr. If the rest are after it, go right ahead, but when I see someone in trouble it's my warrior's code which tells me to help. You'll have my services for free" he says, with a faint smile on his lips. "But.. I could use some sort of armor, a ringmail or something else."

Petr looks at the large fellow, "I am afraid we have little in the way of armor here, though perhaps Taras can show you to the armory and you can attempt to find something that suits you." He looks about, "As soon as he returns with my mother, that is."

Turning toward the hall, you see a stout middle-aged woman with black hair and a long green dress has just come downstairs. She embraces Petr warmly, leaving the short bow she carries on the table. She also carries a battle axe awkwardly on a silver belt. Following her is a small boy with dirty red hair sporting en equally dirty grey smock. He quietly peers at the group from behind Petr and the woman. You then hear some weeping and notice that another woman is crying in the corner of the hall. She is tall and young, with long blonde hair and pale skin. A baby sits quietly on her lap. Her face carries the tracks of many tears and frequently uses her blue apron to wipe them away.

Rhune looks at the young woman and wonders why she might be crying. Then light dawns on her and she thinks that is must because someone, perhaps the father of her baby, has been killed. She attempts to smile at the young woman, as she doesn't know quite what to say to her.

Ullar, surprised and confused by the looks of the women whispers to Rhune, Marika and Xania: "Ehm.. could you please take care of that crying woman? I can't stand it when ladies cry, makes my heart go soft.". Ullar blushes once more, as Xania, even while she is a little bit pale and has that funny mark on her temple is still making a huge impression on the shy-to-women-gladiator.

Xania smiles her thanks at Petr and his family. She looks at the crying woman, completely confused and looks back at Ullar and shrugs helplessly, as if to say, "I would but I have no idea how."

Marika sighs in sympathy at the sight of the crying woman. She has seen all too much of grief from her days assisting the healers at the Temple, and from before that as well...

After bumping into Rhune, Sam starts towards the corner of the room. Standing in front of the lady with the child, he gazes with wonder and a hint of sadness at the child. With that he hops backwards with a back-flip and then forwards with a tumble into a comical "tada" stance in front of the child, hoping to get it to smile. "Sir Samalot at your service my dear!" Sam then pretends to pull a coin out of the child's ear and proceeds to present it to the lady holding the baby. "I hope that I may improve your a day a little M'lady. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Sam." He blushes with a smile and reaches out his hand to grab hers.

Sam is still suffering too much from his wounds to do any flipping and bouncing about, but does his best to act the fool for the child's amusement. He does the coin trick rather handily, though, showing that he hasn't lost his deftness of touch. Showing that even further, he brings forth a beautiful blue scroll case and waves it in front of the child's eyes. The child being little more than an infant, just stares at the object, still relatively silent, while the mother looks with some apathy toward Sam's antics.

Marika walks over to the woman and crouches silently at her side for a moment or two. "That's a beautiful child," she says softly, and then waits quietly to see if the mother wants to talk. When Sam arrives, Marika smiles and watches his antics, but keeps a close eye on the woman's face so she can signal Sam away if she is not in the mood for magic tricks.

She does not appear to be, and Marika shoos Sam away. Sam pockets the blue tube and walks away. Marika leaves it to the others to speak with him about the item. The woman seems less than enthusiastic about Marika, even less so than she was about Sam. She looks, panic-stricken, toward Petr. Then she catches sight of Marika's slightly pointed ears and calms somewhat, "You are elven?"

"My father was elven, or so I'm told," Marika answers softly. "And two of the friends I am travelling with are full-blooded elves, from France. I'll ask Rhune to sing to your child later; she has a beautiful voice." She smiles at the child, whose eyes have turned toward the sound of her voice. "I'm Marika," she tells the mother.

Rhune looks down from the gallery at Marika, "Thank you for the compliment. Mother said that my grandmother could sing." she says with a smile

As the blonde woman seems to warm to her company, Marika remains with her, talking or just sitting quietly. The woman seems fascinated by the entire group, and for the moment at least seems to forget her cares.

Xania looks for a quiet corner and pulls out her spellbook and begins to study. When that is done, she joins the others. Her hand goes up every now and then to touch the scar, still self-conscious about it.

Petr points toward the second floor galley windows and speaks to Rhune, "My good lady, since you volunteered, I could use someone with a good aim to watch the south side of the settlement. You will still be close enough to hear whatever plans we make, and you can keep an eye on those blasted goblins. My thanks."

"You are welcome. I don't know if my aim is all that good, but I will do my best as long as the arrows hold out." she replies. Looking around to see if Asif is well enough to join her, "Asif, perhaps you could also join me. I beleive that you might be even better at the bow." she calls softly stepping toward the galley window. Ducking down a little she steps to one side of it and then peers out into the night, scanning for any goblins that might be trying to get into the compound. She plans to try to pick her targets as best she can, hoping to make her shots count. But if necessary she will rain arrows on the attackers. Her eyes are on the compound below, her ears on the others trying to listen to any plans they are making.

"May I join you too?" asks Krige, readying bow and moving toward the nearest window. "I practice shooting since my childhood."

She smiles at him and in elvish, "Yes, you may join me. I would like that Krige." she says moving over a little, as Krige comes to join her.

Petr intercepts Krige. "An elven hunter, you are? Indeed I am graced, then, for to have elves with bows on the windows will surely take a toll on those foul creatures. If you would be so kind, the windows to the north of the hall need guarding as well."

Hearing the most musical sounding words of the elfkind accent calling to him, Asif sheaths his two swords and with large steps bounds up the ladder to join Rhune.

"Let us teach these infidels a lesson. Elfkind and Desert Dweller, let us see whose archery is most true. I overhear sailor say Elfs are noted archers, we compare our differents styles, yes? We same time put the fear of Aten or whatever gods protect this place up these creatures and they run in terror!"

She smiles at him, "I will try my best, Asif. But I agree let us put the fear of gods into their hearts. Perhaps they will think twice about attacking further." her purple eyes glitter.

Petr shouts from below, "I'll need you two to spread out a bit, dark one. We don't have enough men to cover every wall as it is. Perhaps you could take the eastern windows? Or the tower?"

"As you wish Efendi! I care not from where I punish these infidels!"

Rhune looks over from her vantage point at the window and smiles at Sam's antics. As she does so her hand strays to her belt to make sure that she has all of her belongings. It seems that this action is purely unconscious on her part. She then returns to keeping an eye out for the goblins, ready with a notched bow if any should try to gain entry.

At the same time she realizes something is missing from her inventory, Rhune sees Sam waving the blue tube at the child downstairs.

As Rhune sees the blue tube, "SAM!!!" she shouts. "You give that back to me this instant." she stands up and walks downstairs toward him with her hand held out. As he gives it to her, "Don't ever borrow things from me again without asking me." she says in mock anger at the little man.

Sam immediately outstretches his hand with the blue tube in it. "I... uh.. I... Well you see.. you dropped it.. and then.. uh.. yeah.. thats it.. and then I found it.. and well here you are! You really should be more careful about how you handle these things Rhune. I swear, if it was not for me, I don't know where you would be today. Well go ahead, take it, I am not mad... just make sure that it is more secure in your gear before you go off fighting *flailing his hands every which way* and battling monsters!" Sam smiles a big grin as he hands her the tube.

Rhune takes the tube from the little man and places in it her pouch, "I will take your advice, my friend." she says scowling at him and then breaks into a smile.

After the tube situation has worked itself out, Taras returns from the second floor door on the east of the hall, passing Krige with another suspicious look. Walking behind him are an elderly woman and a young girl. Both are nearly the same size, though the younger is a bit robust while the woman is thin. The old woman has grey hair and wears a long black dress with a grey shawl. The plump young girl wears a mauve dress with a blue apron and head scarf. They walk downstairs with the old lady muttering the entire time. Upon seeing Sam, though, she smiles, "Come, child." When Sam approaches, she gasps at his injuries, "Foul creatures! To harm a young boy so. Come, son, Mama Kuzma will take care of you." As Sam comes in close, he feels the warmth of her magical healing upon him. Miraculously, his wounds disappear, and he is instantaneously back on his feet and full of his old energy.

"Tend to the other one, girl. Go on." Kuzma gestures toward the young girl. She shyly walks up to Matteo, "I'm Irina." She giggles and looks toward Petr, who is not smiling. She frowns and then lays her hands tenderly upon Matteo's chest. He feels some small healing power come from them, giving him enough strength to fight, certainly, though he is not quite up to full strength. The girls hands linger upon Matteo for a few moments, then, red-faced, she dashes to the woman at Petr's side (clearly her mother) and begins chattering away at her in some strange human language you all have not heard before. Urak perks up a bit, as the language sounds something like the one that the humans from the steppes spoke, but he can only make out enough that it appears the girl is speaking about how adorable Matteo is, and that is easy enough to make out just from body language.

Still frowning at his wayward daughter, Petr says, "Well, the clan is here, so I suppose introductions are in order. "My wife, Darya" gesturing toward the plump middle-aged woman by his side, "My daughter, who you have already met, Irina." He frowns briefly at her again for a moment before smiling, "My son Taras." He points toward the sullen fellow with the long moustache, "and his wife Alfana" now pointing at the plain blonde girl who held the gate open for the party. "Matvey, my son," gesturing toward the dirty boy near the staircase, "Kuzma, my mother," he says pointing toward the old woman, who waves her hand at him dismissively.

He then points up to the gallery and the one-armed beer-bellied fellow who stands there "Stellios, my manservant, and Masha, our blacksmith, Novannes' daughter, whose father and husband still lie outside near the stable." He seems clearly anguished at this last, and the pale blonde girl bursts out in tears again.