Azura shows up a little after sunset. "Oh! Etienne! I'm so sorry. I was going to demarcate eruv so I could come along with you without it violating Rabbinical law, but Berk wouldn't tell me how far away the posts should be; he thought advising on boundaries is still melachah and doubly worse because he'd be telling me with the expectation that I'd be doing his job when he was-- oh forget it. Anyway, did you find them? Can I help?"
I'm assuming that they Mari[e][a] have reported back.
"I'm debating my options, but I haven't made a decision. Abdul and I have been discussing. Most of the camp are women and children, there are three men, and they don't appear to be armed, but do seem to be in control. Most of the women and children appear to be of semitic descent. The men do not appear to be Jewish or Muslim.My hunch is that the men are deserters and are using the women and children as cover to get away. Things could turn ugly. The timing of things, when we found them at dusk wasn't favorable, either. So I waited for the first star after sunset, hoping you'd arrive, and also so they wouldn't be interrupted on their sabbath, if they're observing." Étienne's demeanor is cloudy. He isn't normally stuck for making a decision, so this is something knew for him.
"Got any ideas?"
Azura frowns in thought. "You're socially apt and are not hindered by the Gift... You could leave behind the bulk of our force to avoid making them feel threatened; talk to them, get a feel for whether the women and children are prisoners, or if the deserters are actually protecting them. Ben can translate Hebrew for you if necessary-- and he's good in a fight so he's a good man to have at your side if things do turn ugly. I can teleport into a good hiding place, where I can pop back and alert the others if you need backup." She shrugs. "...Oh. And you'd probably be safer if you weren't wearing a red shirt." (Doublet of Impenetrable Silk on both Etienne and Binyamin, no botch.) Their tunics turn a brilliant sky blue colour.
"Yes, well, I don't speak Hebrew or Castilian. If I could speak the local language, I'd just walk in and act as a dandy. I have to bring someone else along with me, and that is where I'm really conflicted, because if I'm wrong I give them two prisoners. Or I have our grogs surround the camp and the rest of us go in, and you keep an eye out on us. Or we go in all as a group."
OOC, there are the three choices, Esteban and Étienne going in alone. Surrounding the camp and having the same two go in Everyone moves together. Can I get an intuition roll from you, amul?
"I think it's not a coincidence that there are about two dozen women and children and only three men," One-eyed Maria says thoughtfully (in Castilian). If we approached them with mainly women...capable-looking women," (One-eyed Maria looks significantly at Marie the Scout as she says this) "that might make them a little less nervous." She then looks around and realizes that there are only three women in the group (counting Azura, who, if she goes with them, would have to stay in the background and not interact with the refugees in order to not trigger the effects of the Gift).
"Which...may not work as well as I thought it would three seconds ago."
"Marie...do you think you can handle dealing with the men in the camp, mija?"
"You could pose as a dandy, with Esteban and Ben as your 'servants' - the countryside is dangerous, after all. Ben can translate any Hebrew for you, and Esteban any Spanish. Should the men become hostile towards you, it should not be a surprise." She then attempts to cast Doublet of Impenetrable Silk on Esteban, and botches.
OOC: Not sure why it's a botch, you're not in combat or otherwise stressed?
Something tells Etienne that the grogs had best be ready for a fight. Best have them surround the camp.
He's right. It is not a stress die in this situation.
Also, are you familiar with the more esoteric commands on invisible castle? If you roll 1d10.open(10), then it will automatically check for botch (actually, it is exploding the 10, and will present a sum total of all the dice, but it gives you the individual die rolls, so it works perfectly well for situations where there is only one botch die).
OOC, I knew it.
Suddenly Étienne's demeanor changes, and his resolve is evident. "Abdul Fati, translate for me, please. I think this is a trap, or at least a feint or test. I'm going in acting as a dandy, and I'm going to try pretending to be drunk, but it will fail quickly. Anyone have some wine I can spill on my tunic? I want all the grogs to carefully surround the camp, and be ready to converge when shouts go up. I think it will get ugly fast. " Abdul Fati translates the orders from Castilian to Arabic. He will pair up with one of the grogs, probably One-Eye.
To Esteban, he says, "I need you close by to translate, I'm sorry to be putting you in danger, if things turn bad, get behind the grogs as quickly as you can. Your tunic has been strengthened, but you aren't by any means invulnerable."
"Azura, can you redo my tunic? It's after sundown." As he says this, he wishes Ra'am were here. His staff would surely change the scope of the battle in a jiffy, but this was his assigned mission and he'll see to it. He fastens his sword and scabbard around his waist. A wicked Falchion he picked up while in the Levant on missions for Prospero. "Azura, how do you plan to deploy yourself? You can stay close by and pretend to be my niece or something, or go with the others and stay out of danger. I don't know your combat capabilities."
Confirming that everyone understands in Arabic (translated to Castilian by Abdul Fati), and Latin, he'll send them off.
After it's been a while for everyone to have moved into position, he Esteban, Levi will wander into the camp. If he has found wine, it'll be liberally spilled on him, and he'll come in singing a bawdy tune in Norman French (which should be understood as French 3).
Well, I thought it was stressful. We're in a strange place about to start a battle. I won't argue with not having to take a Warping point though 
Azura clears her throat. "Uhh. Combat... capability?"
"Yes. Combat." He says in a deadly serious tone, any sense of playfullness and flirtatiousness about him has gone. "This is almost certainly a trap of some kind. I'd suggest staying with Abdul Fati or your shield grog, but I may need his axe, so give him permission or direct him to act, then."
OOC: thanks, I totally missed the redshirt reference.
"Étienne, do you want me in melee or at range?" One-eyed Maria asks. She is prepared for either, having bought both her bow and her sword.
"Melee. It's too dark, and I think we have noncombatants to be concerned about. The trap is the three men pretending to be deserters. I don't think they are, I think they're trying to draw us out. So, I'm springing the trap." translating via Abdul Fati before they leave.
The three men step into the encampment. The refugees have next to nothing in terms of camping supplies. Everything has been scavenged and is in great disrepair. There is a single small tent, which apparently has been stuffed full of the children. They don't even have proper bedding.
The three men are all standing between the women and Etienne's group. One has a spear with a rusty metal head. The other two are armed with makeshift clubs.
They tensely wait for you to say something.
We'll go with a guile roll (no skill) to tell a convincing lie (appear being drunk). Com (3) +Guile (0) + die roll of 4=7. Before getting close to the camp, he'll have poured some wine (via Azura's bag) on his tunic and taken a couple of swigs, then spit them out.
In Norman French, "Ho there, I seem to be lost. I was traveling with my physician and cook here. Looking for a manor hereabouts, you see it? My father has some business to acquire certain artifacts..." If that doesn't work, he'll switch to Latin and repeat. He will not go to Arabic. If no one responds, he will shrug to Esteban, so he can translate into Castilian.
The men respond to the French.
The 1st man, with the rusty spear: "You go. We want no trouble.
2nd man, with club, to the 1st: "Wait, they have a chiurgeon? Some of the women are sick, Alain. Perhaps we should ask them to..."
1st man (Alain), responding without taking his eyes off the three covenfolk: "They're Normans, and we're south of Aragon. You think they'll show mercy to these women? Bah. They'll want payment, and we have no coin, no meat."
"Payment? Payment for what? Information? Sure, let's bargain. I'm looking to buy some special wines for my father, he collects rare wines. You know a place like that around here? I've got some food I'll share. Mostly bread, but some dried meat, too. It's probably kosher, as I have a few Jewish folk in my retinue, who prepare the food." He indicates the food bag on Levi's pack donkey. Levi gets it and hands it to Étienne, who throws it to the men.
"Can you lower your weapons? I'm not interested in violence, I'm interested in commerce."
The men seem uncertain about what to do. Several of the women press slightly closer, but a snarled word from Alain, "Order!" keeps them back.
"Kosher food? Alain seems deeply suspicious. "That is quite a miracle in the middle of Muslim lands. We....we are not from around here, but there seems to be vineyards all around. Castiblanco is but a day's ride from here, to the south and then across the river. Follow the road and you will find it. Someone there can help you find your wine."
(Folk Ken target 9 to realize that he is directing you somewhere that would give them a day's head start to flee)
The second man speaks, unable to wait any longer. His accent is markedly different from Alain's, but still clearly marks his as a peasant from areas Etienne has traveled before. "Please, monsieur. You said you have a physician? We have wounded. We have children who are sick." He glances at Etienne's two companions, guesses correctly and pleads directly to Esteban in Normand French. "Please, sir, I beg you. Her wounds are infected, and her daughter....some kind of fever. She's speaking in tongues." He crosses himself at the thought.
Folk ken roll is unsuccessful, 2 + die roll of 3=5. No idea, since he has no idea of the geography. Hwever, it doesn't matter as it isn't his primary goal.
"If you want our help, surrender your weapons, and you have it. This isn't just Muslim lands, fellows. Muslims frequently had Jewish people working for them, as they were effective and able administrators, literate and familiar with local customs. One of my closest friends was a teacher in Salamanca for a few years and he's Jewish." It should be becoming obvious to these men that he is entirely sober. He stairs down the one trying to maintain order. "Let's make a bargain, you drop your weapons, surrender yourselves to me and we get to work caring for these people. I give you my word that they and you will be cared for." Bargain roll, something's being exchanged... Com (3) +Bargain (6) + Reroll, + 2*7=23.
Relative to the other people behind him, do they look significantly better fed? Folk ken roll of FK(2) + Die Roll of 6=8.
The three men lower their weapons. They're willing to surrender their weapons, but only if you really do have a doctor with you. Esteban quickly establishes his credentials, and the men drop their weapons.
They do not look better fed. In fact, they look like they've had a lot less sleep and food than the others. What's more, once they surrender their weapons, it is clear that Mathis, the one pleading with the doctor to help the woman, has a broken shield-arm. Nicolas, the third man, seems to be in the best shape of the three. Etienne gets the impression that the other two men think very poorly of Nicolas.
Alain opens up the pack of food and tries to maintain order among the women as they divide it up.
There are six people in the tent, all in need of medical attention. A woman is bleeding and poorly bandaged. Her daughter is in some kind of delerium. The others are bad, but those two are the worst.