He signals for the others to follow. You are passed by nine soldiers, who all regard you a little suspiciously, but don’t seem to think you’re much of a threat. They are followed by a bunch of mules, some of which are tied together, and are guided by men who are less armed.
They keep coming, and coming, and coming…
Dozens of men pass by, as well as hundreds of mules. Every mule is loaded down with all sorts of things, mostly in cloth or leather sacks and saddlebags. If you really take notice, you’ll see that every six mules are led by one mulejack. Those who are not soldiers or mulejacks seem to be all sorts of folks. Some are better dressed and have better weapons. Some look like real salt of the earth people (you know – morons ;)). Some are women who seem to be along for the pleasure of some of the men.
Some people greet you, some look sharply away. One, in particular, looks a glee as if in a moment of recognition, then fear, then tries to hide his face as he passes.
He’s one of the salt of the earth people.
glee is probably spooked by this, right?
I know I would be.
ETA: I mean, if I’d lost my memory, I’d be a bit paranoid about some stranger looking at me a bit queer. What happened?
I’m certainly interested in why this fellow appears to recognise me.
However I’m not spooked by a bunch of people peacefully passing us by - but I am very disappointed that I consider ‘salt of the earth’ people as morons.
I whisper to the rest of the party asking:
:whisper back:
We should probably try to ask one of them a question or two. They may know stuff we don’t.
It was a joke. Ever see Blazing Saddles?
But some of the people in this group do, indeed, look very poor, and show the physical signs of a lifetime of hard labor.
[ Cleavon Little ]
Hey! Where the white women at!
[ /Cleavon ]
Did Anyone else notice the one man’s glance? If I did, I would like to point it out, knowing these guys are amnesiac
I’d say that you all noticed it.
takes the nearest Party member by the arm
I think, maybe, we should ask that one a few questions.
That would be glee.
I’ll fall into step with the marchers, pick one who doesn’t look scared of me, smile politely and ask:
‘May I walk with you?’
If they say yes, then I ask where they are going.
The person you have chosen is one of the mulejacks. He is happy to have someone to talk to.
“We’re goin’ up to Azadmere. We bring them grain and stuff, and we bring back fancy weapons and gems and rocks and stuff in the autumn. I hate it, cuz I don’t see the missus for months. And the Jarin women up there are real cold to the likes of me, them bitches. And I ain’t seen the Khuzdul women, but I heared they got beards. I don’t fancy no bearded short women. I hate spendin’ me summers up there in the mountains. It’s cold. And then I spend me winters in Kaldor, and it’s cold there. I hate the cold. Cold women, cold weather. Hey, speakin’ of cold women, what do you think about the new queen?”
“So”, he continues, “Where you lads from? You talk like nobles. Are you nobles?”
Are we all in on this conversation, or is it just him and glee?
You’re all welcome to join in 
I suggest it may be easier if we each talk to a different person?
glee: May I walk with you? Where are you going?
mulejack: We’re goin’ up to Azadmere. We bring them grain and stuff, and we bring back fancy weapons and gems and rocks and stuff in the autumn. I hate it, cuz I don’t see the missus for months. And the Jarin women up there are real cold to the likes of me, them bitches. And I ain’t seen the Khuzdul women, but I heared they got beards. I don’t fancy no bearded short women. I hate spendin’ me summers up there in the mountains. It’s cold. And then I spend me winters in Kaldor, and it’s cold there. I hate the cold. Cold women, cold weather. Hey, speakin’ of cold women, what do you think about the new queen?
glee: I’ve been out of touch for a while - you know how it is. What do you think of the new queen?
mulejack: Where you lads from? You talk like nobles. Are you nobles?
glee: You spotted that pretty quickly! (smiles at mulejack) I’ve had a good start in life, but for now I’m just travelling.
Following glee’s lead I too will pick out somone in line and start asking questions.
“I reckon she’s a real nice lady. Shame about that other one, we thought he’d be king instead. At least we didn’t get that bastard son o’ the old king, may Peoni have pity on 'is soul. And the girl! Can you imagine? They say she ain’t real nice. Ruthless, they say. Blimy, I’m glad we got the one we did!”
NAF, you manage to sidle up to a young girl. She’s maybe 16 or 17, and very pretty. She takes one look at you and looks a bit bored and/or disgusted. She’e trying to get the attention of a well-armored man who looks to be in his late 40s. He’s not altogether disinterested in her.
Who do I get to talk to?
Don’t lose track of each other!
Koldanar reminds you that by marching with this caravan, you might be going the wrong way.
You are walking with a few soldiers.
Back to you:
“Oy!”, one of them mentions, and not to you, “Queen Meliem’ll have us overrun by Pagaelin by year end! That’s the end of our southern border! We’ll be knee-deep in barbarians!”
“Who are you?!?”, you are asked by another soldier. “You look like one of them Pagaelin. I ought to stick you with my sword!”
glee: May I walk with you? Where are you going?
mulejack: We’re goin’ up to Azadmere. We bring them grain and stuff, and we bring back fancy weapons and gems and rocks and stuff in the autumn. I hate it, cuz I don’t see the missus for months. And the Jarin women up there are real cold to the likes of me, them bitches. And I ain’t seen the Khuzdul women, but I heared they got beards. I don’t fancy no bearded short women. I hate spendin’ me summers up there in the mountains. It’s cold. And then I spend me winters in Kaldor, and it’s cold there. I hate the cold. Cold women, cold weather. Hey, speakin’ of cold women, what do you think about the new queen?
glee: I’ve been out of touch for a while - you know how it is. What do you think of the new queen?
mulejack: Where you lads from? You talk like nobles. Are you nobles?
glee: You spotted that pretty quickly! (smiles at mulejack) I’ve had a good start in life, but for now I’m just travelling.
mulejack: I reckon she’s a real nice lady. Shame about that other one, we thought he’d be king instead. At least we didn’t get that bastard son o’ the old king, may Peoni have pity on 'is soul. And the girl! Can you imagine? They say she ain’t real nice. Ruthless, they say. Blimy, I’m glad we got the one we did!
glee: That sounds right. You obviously know what you’re talking about.
Listen, I think my friends want to go the other way (i.e. where the mulejack came from) - are there any good inns back there? And do we need to watch out for bandits?