The party forms up and start moving again, Edgar still perched on the same mule as Mandrake. Travel is fairly fast as there is a wider path here, although the ground on either side still leads into swampy ground. It is not too long before you see a column of smoke rising in the distance in front of you. And then the swamp on your right hand side gives way to seacoast and things feel much more comfortable. The smoke still rises in the distance and is getting closer. By late afternoon you approach the smoke, and you can see that there are actually two columns - the first was a large fire, which is has died down somewhat, there are still a few flames but it is mainly embers and smoke now. The second fire is smaller and appears to be a cooking fire. There are three men by the fire. Two are standing slightly away from the fire and watching you approach, while they are not taking an aggressive stance it is clear that they are armed and ready. The third man is sitting, huddled in a blanket, staring in to the flames - almost as if he is watching the large joint of meat, which is roasting on the fire. Off to one side is a large bird, perhaps an eagle, pulling at a large chunk of raw meat. |
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Rolf, leading the others along the trail, breaths a sigh of relief as the sea appears on the right. The clear, sea seasoned air is far more suitable than the heavy stench of the swamp. Seeing the smoke, he pushes onward a bit faster, until he sees the three. Stopping, he measures the men for a moment. Raising a hand in greetings, he says, "Hail, friends. Rolf Liefson greets you." He keeps a close eye on the three and keeps his hands clear of his weapons. His glance looks over the remains of the larger fire, to see what it once was. |
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Peter shoulders his new shield and seems to walk almost with his hand on his dagger, as you walk away from the dead dogheads. When Rolf slows and halts the party some way from the fire, his fingers tighten slightly on the dagger, as if he is ready for action. |
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G'd 'nough |
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Smilo spits. "Good nough fer me," said the hobbit after Elsbeth preforms her rights. [later] "Ay! don eagles eat ravens?" When everyone gives him a hard stare, "Whad I say?" |
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Elsbeth rides silently, lost in thought as is her wont, the wolf padding along beside the horse. She breathes deep of the sea air, enjoying the fresh scent. As they approach the small gathering, Elsbeth looks intently, then rides around the left side of the column. "Greetings and well met," she calls out. Her greeting seems directed specifically at one of the standing men... |
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The younger man steps forward (he looks to be in his 20's) and speads his arms in the universal sign to show he is not reaching for his weapons and appears to be about to respond to Rolf, when Eslbeth makes her greeting. He pauses for a second as the older man steps forward and mutters something to him, and then he turns slightly to face Elsbeth, and seems to relax as he smiles. "Greetings and well met indeed, Lady. I am Jesse and this", indicating his companion, "Is Rethe of Clan Pagini. Our new friend by the fire is Yuri, although we know not much of him. What brings you and your companions so far from civilisation?" |
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Edgar regards the eagle carefully, retreating back down the mule towards Mandrake, for protection, and keeping his beak firmly shut ... for the nonce. |
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Leaving the site of the doghead corpses, Herloch shows more excitement at the possibility of either tracking down those who killed them, or more of them. In either case the promise of confrontation is before them, made stronger by the sight of the sea and the columns of smoke. While meeting Jesse and Rethe, the priest of Thor keeps quiet and notices the reactions of his comrades. Peter seems especially nervous, though for the first time Herloch is somewhat impressed that he would be contemplating combat. Turning back to Rolf and Elsbeth, Thor decides that they should do the talking. After all, he really has no idea where the group is headed to, or why. Looking to Smilo, he taps him on the shoulder to get his attention. He whispers, "Hey, between you and me, I know that you could take that druid in a fight. If it had gone any further, I would have bet some money on you. And, I don't even have any money!" He smiles and slaps the Hobbit on the back to emphasize his point. |
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"Greetings and well met indeed, Lady. I am Jesse and this", indicating his companion, "Is Rethe of Clan Pagini. Our new friend by the fire is Yuri, although we know not much of him. What brings you and your companions so far from civilisation?" Elsbeth's brow furrows as she looks at them but a smile comes to her face. She glances at Rolf, realizing she really should let the leader make introductions, but then dismounts. "It lovely to be seeing a friendly face," she admits. "I am Elsbeth Marva Treveri of the Clan Treveri. We travel to explore the lands with Rolf, our Warden." She sighs. "The Gods have been most tolerant of us, being so far from home. What brings such as you out here, if I might be asking?" |
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Rolf nods slightly at Elsbeth's glance, showing his support for her stepping forward. After all, if these people are well disposed to her, it should make things all the easier if she steps forward. At her question of what brings them to this place, Rolf turns back, a sign of polite interest on his face. |
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Callum wanders off to one side and just stands there watching. He also tries to discern what's burning to produce the large fire |
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"Ah! a Treveri? Well I should have guessed that, in this neck of the woods I suppose." Says Jesse with an infections grin. "Why, we have come a-visting to see your laird - I haven't seen him for a while. Perhaps you could let Yuri accompany on your journey, we would only be able to accompany him to the next village at best, as we need to make haste." As you inspect the pair, you see that the older man, Rethe, has the tattoos of a druid, and from the complexity is certainly senior in rank to Elsbeth. He seems to defer to the younger Jesse, even though Jesse only has Druidic tattoos that show less rank than Elsbeth. The larger fire is mainly ash - but you can guess from the shape and the very few remains that it might once have been a wagon. There is the smell of a funeral pyre in the air ... |
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Druid |
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He whispers, "Hey, between you and me, I know that you could take that druid in a fight. If it had gone any further, I would have bet some money on you. And, I don't even have any money!" He smiles and slaps the Hobbit on the back to emphasize his point. "Err, thank ye," replied the confused hobbit. OOC: What druid? |
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What druid? Oops, I should have made it clear. The one that drew a scimitar on you, Elsbeth. |
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That Druid |
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"Oh that," said Smilo with a smile. "Yep, if it came down to it, I could whip er." |
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The man informally introduced as Yuri looks to be in his early to mid twenties, though it is hard to tell due to the fact his face his streaked with dirt, blood, and more recently, tears. Snapping out of his zombie like state, Yuri realises he has been staring into the fire so long his eyes are dry, such was his torpor that he forgot to blink. Blinking rapidly he looks around and seems surprised to see so many more people near him, though only his eyes give any hint of emotion. Shifting his attention back to the fire, he balks at the roasting meat. His wounds still fresh, Yuri gingerly stands up with the aid of a quarterstaff, and turns away, taking a few steps before realising he is heading towards the true source of his revulsion, the remnants of the funeral pyre. Changing direction he aimlessly walks away from both fires, his right hand clutching the staff, his left holding the blanket around himself. Before he can no longer feel the heat of the camp fire, let alone escape the illumination, Yuri's legs weaken and he sits back down to earth with a thud and a groan of pain. There, after carefully crossing his legs and placing the staff across his lap, he sits, looking out into the approaching dusk. |
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"Ah! a Treveri? Well I should have guessed that, in this neck of the woods I suppose." Says Jesse with an infections grin. "Why, we have come a-visting to see your laird - I haven't seen him for a while. Perhaps you could let Yuri accompany on your journey, we would only be able to accompany him to the next village at best, as we need to make haste." Elsbeth smiles. "My Great-Uncle will be glad to see you, I be thinking," she replies. "Though I'm wondering what has happened here..." Her voice trails off as she sees Yuri stumble away. She's seen that pain, more than she wished. Forgetting her greetings and all else, she moves quickly to him, placing her hands on his shoulders. "It's alright, ye be among friends," she tells him. "Yes, we'll be glad to have him with us," she replies, only idly aware that she is making a decision without Rolf's input. The young woman closes her eyes and offers a prayer to the Goddess of the Land, the Earth. A prayer to help this man in his pain, at least the pain she can heal. (OOC: Cure Light Wounds, 4 HP) |
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Yuri looks at the person standing above him and cannot help but smile up at the pretty face of the concerned woman as she speaks to him. Looking back out over the countryside his shoulders visibly relax as Elsbeth casts her healing spell on him. Looking up once more Yuri shows his gratitude to the woman's kind words and healing with a calm and soft "thank you". Then, for whatever reason, he realises what a sight he must look and tries to wipe some of the grime off his face, though he only succeeds in ridding himself of some larger flakes of dried muck. |
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Peter starts to relax some what as Elsbeth and Rolf chat with the strangers, but watches Yuri intently as he wanders away from the fire. |
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Jesse sketches a slight bow to Elsbeth as she proclaims her lineage, and a slight smile plays around his lips. He nods as Elbeth offers to take Yuri with her and her party, and then smiles more fully as she tries to help the dazed man. And than still looking to Elbeth, "You and your colleagues are welcome to join us for a meal," says Jesse, nodding to the meat cooking, "The dogheads killed to horse first - so the wagon had to stop, I guess, and it seemed a shame to let it go to waste - but if Yuri is coming with you. You might as well have the rest of the meat, because we won't be able to take it with us." and indicates a small sack lying on the ground, that contains some the rest of the cooked meat. |
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Flea slides off the horse after Elspeth and moves to its head when she goes over to Yuri. Flea looks at the embers of the fire, wondering why they had been burning such a large fire and looks over the men who have greeted Elspeth. She notices how Yuri seems to look better after Elspeth's touch. "What do you think they have been burning?" she asks the rest of the party generally. |
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As the food is offered, Rolf nods. "My thanks, friends." Turning to the sad Yuri, he continues, "Your company is indeed welcome." . |
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Elsbeth smiles at Jesse's comments. "Thanks to you for your offer," she replies, shrugging off her backpack to remove a small piece of linen. "My friends will appreciate it. I don't eat meat." She wets the cloth with water from her waterskin and hands it to Yuri. "What happened here?" she asks him gently. |
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Yuri takes the cloth from Elsbeth with a grateful smile, before (in his bewildered state) realising he has been asked to (or was that told he was to?) accompany them. "Thankyou again. I guess you're the lucky souls who get stuck with the hapless survivor", he jokes, not really finding any humour in the comment himself. After managing to rub a little of the grime further into his skin, but thankfully getting most off, Yuri decides not to offer Elsbeth the linen back, at least not until he's cleaned it. With a sigh and shifting around where he sits to better face Elsbeth, which proves just how painful his body still is, Yuri, forcing his voice to remain even, begins his reply. "They finally got them all", he sadly states, before continuing on to clear up his ambiguous statement. "We started off with three caravans all those years ago", he sighs as he tallies up the years, "five now I believe. I'd been with them for a few before then, before they fled into the mountains. I didn't really want to go, I don't think Symon thought it was a wise idea either, but he never spoke out... unity of the elders and all that. But I wasn't about to desert them. They are... were my second family. And finally today it comes down to this... to me." Yuri frowns and pauses, contemplating something, before his face takes on a rather annoyed look and he yells across to Jesse, "you were going to try to feed me our HORSE!?!?!!" Instantly realising he's just shouted in Elsbeth's ear, Yuri adopts a very apologetic attitude as he whispers a "sorry" to her. |
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Mandrake notices Edgar's response to the eagle, "You know, some people are impressed by size, strength and power in things. Of course, when you are a small member of a small race, you soon learn that such things are not always the best. "I wouldn't like to be on the receiving end of those talons however, but if it came down to it, I'm sure the two of us could keep it at bay." |
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"Caaaark !" Edgar replies to Mandrake, in a convincingly birdlike manner, continuing in much lower tones so that only the Gnome can hear him, "That eagle was circling above us on the journey here ... it may have been spying on us." |
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Yuri frowns, briefly puzzled by something, "oh yes, I'm Yuri", he introduces himself, oblivious to the fact he has already been. |
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Elsbeth winces as Yuri yells but nods at his apology. Inwardly she sighs in relief as she realizes (she hopes) that is was only companions the man lost and not actual family. Though still a loss, at least it wasn't as tramatic as losing a close loved one. "Good to meet you, Yuri," she replies softly. "I be Elsbeth. Nobody's asking that you be breaking fast with anything you'll not be wanting. Just be at peace, as you're among friends now." |
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"Sorry", Yuri replies sheepishly. "I don't suppose you have another of those blessed healing spells handy do you? Or can wield a mean bit of poultice and bandage?" |
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Mandrake listens to Edgar's response and, talking quietly as though mumbling to himself, replies "Humm, now that is interesting. "I don't know how long we shall be in the company of these people and their bird, but if you feel so inclined, you can stay close to me. I offer you a shoulder or a arm, as you need it, but just warn me before you land." Then calling out to those around the fire "That is a fine looking eagle, but I trust that you can keep it from attacking my pet, otherwise I must ask that you tether or hood it whilst we are together." |
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"It has the smell of a funeral pyre, Flea", answers Peter quietly ... |
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