[Hanako] Chapter 13: Start of a Journey

[Throndir]

"Have the collars off...? Yeah they're kinda annoying..."

[Asta]

"I can imagine. Let me take a look..."

Hanako set about opening the collars for everyone present, but to avoid a commotion she did her best to obscure the fact that all she needed to do was think about opening them.

Requested Bluff to make it look like Hanako isn't taking the collars off any special way:

Rolled 1d20+9 : 16 + 9, total 25

[Throndir]

You proceeded to reach over to Zinnia, then made it seem as if you were removing the collar manually. She seemed confused at first, but eventually realized that the collar had slightly loosened. A moment later she simply pulled it off.

"That was... easy... I don't know much about slave collars, but you would think they would be more... difficult. When I tried charming the slavers, it would tighten on me." Zinnia commented.

Soon enough you went around to each woman. Most of them were confused, but they were too grateful to care either way. Soon enough, the other women were free. Though, even though they were free, you had found out that most of them didn't have anywhere to go. The group was varied enough, but some had been fleeing from their villages when demons arrived to 'play' with the villagefolk, and a few other girls had been snatched off the roads. There was one of them who had been an adventurer, though, had chosen to live quietly when the demons had come.

"Hanako... You have some fairly dexterous hands." Zinnia said, choosing to specifically sit beside you, slightly biting her lip as she did so. "What else can you do-"

Another pebble shot off from Kari straight to Zinnia's forehead.

"Hey..! I wasn't even using my natural gifts! I was just being friendly!" Zinnia complained puffing her cheeks.

Kari glared and eventually turned away, her back facing towards you and the tree nymph. After that, she mumbled in response. "Thou art to close to the hero."

[Asta]

Hanako coughed.

"A-anyway... I'm not exactly sure what to do with all of you. We aren't really headed somewhere I would consider safe, and it's quite a way to walk back to the estate. Not to mention that it's probably just as dangerous to travel that way."

She had chosen to ignore Zinnia's flirtations for the time being, since the question of what to do with all of the formerly enslaved women was a more pressing issue.

"What do you plan on doing from here?" she asked the group.

[Throndir]

"W-well... My village is gone, I was travelling with some others until we were caught up the slavers. I... I don't know." One of them responded.

"I plan to lie low again... I would cross into Isikawa, but there's too many demons. Some of my adventurer friends had attempted... But I doubt they made it." This particular woman looked more well-built than the rest, though she was in rags, she had a fine tone to her muscles.

"I have an uncle in Elstergen that would take me in." Another one commented.

The other three humans kept quiet but only nodded or shook their head. These three seemed a bit more depressed than the rest, and from the conversations they had before, you had the impression that like the first one, they'd have no where else to go.

"Well girls... I have an idea. Why not stay with me for awhile while we wait for Hanako to come back to us later? It's not safe to travel alone anyways..." Zinnia next pointed to a set of trees. "I'm not as well-versed in the magic my people use, but if you give me a day, I can make trees grow into something like... a protected home for us a bit."

[Asta]

"I suppose that could at least keep you safe for a while. Then we could probably escort you back to Elstergen." Hanako remarked. "In the mean time, let's see what I can provide to help..."

She turned to the more brawny of the women. "I know you're laying low, but you could probably arm yourself with whatever the slaver's had on them to provide a little self defense. It's up to you if you plan to leave on your own that is."

"For the rest of you, let's see what I can rustle up as a means of protection."

She clapped her hands together in a very Edward Elric manner and invoked the Golemancer ability, calling up the little menu and selecting a variety of options that were available to her. After a moment, she completed her task and summoned forth two golems, giving them the order to provide protection to Zinnia and the others.

Golemancer Blessing used, 2 Medium Golems made from rocks and stones nearby.
STR: 16
DEX: 14
CON: 14
WIS: 14

"These two should help keep you safe, but you'll probably still want someone to keep watch. I don't know how observant they are. Their orders are to protect you and they'll fight anything that threatens you. Beyond that, they wont be much use."

[Throndir]

Once the golems were created you were now tired. The slaves were amazed at your creation of the golems, and a few of them were confused that you didn't even need to chant at all. Soon enough the golems were created, they moved slower, but they did look sturdy.

[Asta]

"Well, that takes care of that." Hanako said, and put her hands on her hips satisfactorily. "Now what?"

The question was directed to Kari and Trudy, their destination was still some ways off but the trio likely needed some rest before continuing.