Lyra had slipped off her horse after a brief discussion of tactics with the group, crouching to use the bushes as cover as she slipped closer to the fight as quickly as she could. When she was close enough she dropped to her knees behind a bush and pushed a single branch aside to watch as the centipede curled up and died.
Moving out from behind the bush just enough to get a clear line of sight she touched the ground and sent out a call with a pulse of magic that she could feel resonating along the leylines. Sensing the call weakening she poured a burst of power into the magic and felt something latch on and come flying down the currents of power. With her other hand she held it out palm first towards the centipede and felt the final shape of the spell snap into place as an enormous badger appeared crouching over the corpse and snarled at the spider, smoke pouring from its mouth as its claws scorched the hide of the centipede.
Shaking herself a bit to regain composure as the end of the fight between the centipede and the giant spider culminated in the centipede being slain.
She grit her teeth and reaching into her belongings, called upon that spark that they were gifted with to quickly down the thick substance of her dendrite mutagen. Already she could feel her skin harden and become rougher, while her limbs became even more slender and graceful. She reached for her bow and took a similar defensive position to Lyra nearby. Peeking out to get a good eye on her target as she once again reached for her satchels.
She looked around to the others, waiting for them to strike the spider first before she would unleash her explosive arrow shot to detonate on the monster's massive hide.
The spider lurched forward and clamped down hard on the dire badger, the long fangs easily piercing through the animals' magically hardened flesh before withdrawing, waiting for the poison to do its job. The badger roared in fury and tensed it's muscles as it charged the huge insect, biting and clawing with wild abandon as it ripped one of the spider's long legs clean off.
Rose watched as the badger and the spider trader dangerous blows. She reached into her satchel and applied some of her strange compound onto an arrow and carefully lined-up her shot. Slowly drawing back the arrow, she once again called upon their gift to steady her aim as she loosed her arrow to fly towards her foe.
She clucked her tongue as she didn't feel her strike wounded the spider as much as she would have liked, but she found satisfaction that the creature continued to burn after being struck.
-Last Night-
Moira stares hard at the money Garek gave her for a long time. It was nothing more than a simple pouch of gold. Sure it was more than most earned in several months but that wasn't the important part. This was her first smithing job. Her first. Technically she did plenty while apprenticing under Gromff but this would be her first solo job. "Imma make the best axe ever," she says to herself. Then after a moment, "Wait, how does that go again? Shit, I need some practice."
-Today-
Moira stares at the fight for a moment, watching two titanic insects duke it out. Most fights in the wild only lasted a few minutes. Seconds for ambush predators. So this was a real treat. A gigantic spider vs a gigantic centipede. Along with the gigantic tree and gigantic fire bird in these parts, a theme was starting to show. But as awe-inspiring as it was, she knew neither could be left alone. The webbed ground around them showed enough evidence that the spider was a local menace. No matter who won, neither was going to live.
Moira hopes off her horse and slinks towards the fight to a bush within bow range and waits. Best to let them exhaust themselves first. When it seemed the fight was over she let the energy inside her flow, letting Erastil take the reigns and guide the magic. When she pulled an arrow from her quiver it glowed slightly from divine magic. Taking aim, she waits for a good moment. The moment an angry, firey badger popped into existence and attacked was good enough.
Domitian watched in awe as the two huge insects fought back and forth. It was truly magnificent to watch, the raw power of nature on display. He didn't even particularly mind the fact that one of them was a spider - they were just as much a part of nature as anything else was, and beautiful in their own way. This one, however, was clearly a danger, and if the land continued to be settled as they hoped it would become even more of a danger over time.
While watching the titanic battle unfold, he discusses with the others what he knew about these beasts and what they would have to watch out for. Trying to keep to range as much as possible seemed to be the order of the day. As the battle seemed to be winding down, Domitian would utter a few simple prayers seeking magical guidance, and ready himself to loose a volley. As soon as the badger appeared and began its attack, he let loose with a couple of quick shots across the distance to the spider.
As the attacks rolled in from every direction the spider spun impossibly fast to try and find the source of the pain, scattering bones in every direction. The moment it presented it's back the dire badger struck again, roaring in fury and pain as it swiped maniacally at the spider as an errant arrow lifted out of the bushes and buried itself in the side of the badger.
The spider let loose with a whistling shriek as another leg was ripped off with berserk joy by the dire badger and it toppled over. A split second later three arrows converged from different directions and buried themselves into the eyes, killing the ogre spider. The badger continued to shred at the dead spider, covering itself with green spider blood as it seemed intent on burrowing out the guts of the giant arachnid.
Lyra stepped out from behind the bush and walked up to the carnage with a look of disgust on her face. She waved her hand and the berserking dire badger vanished in a flash of light, causing the spider to collapse as a noxious wave of innards oozed out of the hole the badger had created. The druid stepped back quickly to avoid getting her boots slimed and covered her nose from the smell. "You know I don't mind these kind of creatures but I really could do without the smell."
She walked back over to where Mehaila was holding the horses and remounted, staying far away to let the others explore the dozens of remains that littered the spider's hunting ground.
Rose wrinkles her nose at the smell, not impressed with it as much as Lyra was. She looked around at the scattered items, trinkets and debris. The earthen jar and the flask caught her interest most as she carefully studied them.
Her eyebrows raised as she carefully identifies the properties of both of the strange items. "Oil...well paste would be more accurate. It appears to enhance the properties of stones that you can throw or sling. This strange one." She holds up the flask that was looked empty despite having weight. "Potion to allow one to temporarily disappear. I think one of you stealthy types might want it." She offered as she held it out to the others.
After looting the ogre spider's lair and Rosa successfully harvesting a handful of applications of spider venom the party remounted and did all they could to put as many miles between them and the bodies of the two huge insects. That night passed without incident and the next day dawned clear and cold, the party waking up to find frost on the grass and causing everyone to pull out cloaks and coats to stave off the cold.
The party was able to ride faster the closer they got to Oleg's fort, the familiar terrain enabling them to relax their guard and focus on speed. When they arrived they found the horse's Lyra had insisted on keeping hard at work as the guards under Kesten Garess used them to raise a pair of newly constructed gates at the entrance, heavily reinforced and much stronger then what had been there previously.
The guard captain was seated at the common dining area with a pile of scrolls in front of him as he read through new dispatches. A weatherbeaten woman with sturdy but worn leather armor was seated at another table greedily eating a third bowl of stew as Svetlana brought out a fourth steaming bowl with an amused smile. On the table next to the ravenous traveler was a large satchel filled to bursting with scrolls.
Svetlana's face lit up with a joyous smile as the tired group handed their horses to Lyra who led them to the pen she had built outside the fort and began to unsaddle and brush them. "Oleg they've returned! Come quickly!" she called before rushing forward and hugging Domitian and then Moira, appearing to be fully prepared for hugging everyone. "You are all safe! What happened?"
Moira looks around in a panic to see if anyone saw that stray shot or not. No one comments so she subtly puts the bow away and tries to act natural. She'd need some practice. That phoenix energy could make the world seem slow, which meant she could fire a little faster. But it meant her normally instinctive actions were off a bit. Have to get used to the much slower actions or else she might hit an ally that would stick around and b$@#% about it. While the others search the den, Moira tries to pick some choice pieces of carapace off the spider and centipede. Might be useful.
A day later they were finally back at Oleg's. Tired as she was, Moira perked up at the new gate. Kesten and his men had been hard at work. And the man himself had turned into a paper pusher. Literally. His table was covered in scrolls. What was going around here that he needed that much correspondence? Moira didn't get a chance to ask before Svetlana pounced. With a hug. Moira froze in surprise. That was not expected. "Uh. We," she pauses as the last few days play through her mind. "Way too much. Can I get dinner first?" Hardtack and jerky was fine but a hot meal went a lot further in helping put the past were it needed to be. While Svetlana gets food, Moira sits at a table next to Kesten's. "What's all that?" she asks, indicating his pile of paper.
Kesten paused as he was pushing a message into a pile of already read while reaching for a mug of what appeared to miraculously be coffee, a commodity that was a scarcity down here because of the bandits. "You're here? Hold on.."
He reached into the pile of unopened scrolls and rooted around before coming up with a sealed scroll carrying the symbol of the swordlords of Restov. He set it on the table in front of Moira and resumed going through dispatches while sipping at his coffee. "Seems in the past couple of weeks the bandits that usually haunt the area have been mighty busy running for their lives and a brave merchant was here not three days ago, said he hadn't encountered a single miscreant on his trip here. Had his wagon piled high with furs and singing like he was a newly minted prince when he left. So these-" he abruptly pushed the rest of the pile he had pulled the first scroll from over to Moira. "Are all addressed to a...hmm, Lyra Stoneheart? There is a bit of confusion since whoever registered you failed to record a name for your group so they sent all the messages to the person who filled in all the paperwork. Welcome to the land of success."
Moira smiles knowingly at the praise. "Bandits will likely not be a problem for a while." The happy glow fades quickly though. Bandits were far from the only issue here. "Might want to tell the powers that be to hold off sending people this way. Found a whole colony of Mites under a massive tree, deadly vines near a river, a f%$*ing phoenix, insects the size of a horse and someone is peddling artifacts that turn people into demons after a while. Three cases among the bandits, the last was their leader and he was one of the powerful kind. We've cleared everything we've run across but this place is far from safe." She frowns for a bit then hears Lyra pull off one of the saddlebags and grins at the clink of gold. "Wasn't all bad." She goes over to help and starts laying out gems, coins, magical items, and potions aplenty. The horde gets big enough to need another table. "Alright schmucks. Let's divy up." While they banter and argue, Moira regales Svetlana of their adventures with only the slightest of embellishments since they were already pretty unbelievable, and only leaving out one very important cave.
Later, after much accounting and arguing, Moira asks Kesten a question that's been weighing on her for quiet a while. "What's the safest way to send really expensive stuff cross-border?" Reflexively she touches Hunger, making sure it's still there.
While the erst of the group settled in, Mehaila would hug Svetlana and start to cheerfully gossip with her about the trip, as since she didn't have to fight anymore giant bugs for the moment, she was in a much better mood. You could never go wrong with company that wasn't companions you just spent what felt like years with in the wilds. While Moira and them discussed the scrolls for a moment, she compared her field notes with Svetlana about care of clothing and other things in the wild, as some of her stuff needed either new stitching or just replacing from the wear and tear. She hinted some at their adventure, trying to down play the assassin vine, and while she talked at length about how horrid not having a hot bath everyday was, she did somewhat under play their adventures, however she never did mention the cave.
During the talking over the loot and stuff, Meha stays slightly more near Dom than she had when previously not in their group. It was clear she had a soft spot for him, because out of some of the jewelry she would try it on and then ask what he thought about it on her. She wasn't overly worried with it all, since she already had the three pieces that really had caught her eye.
Kesten would turn on the bench to face Moira directly, his respect for the adventurers plainly evident after listening to their stories and seeing the pile of weapons, armor and various sundry loot they had accumulated growing with each saddle bag. "Secure transfer? Hmm...my first response would be to hire a group of adventurers to do it but in your specific case, why not transfer it yourself? If even half of what you told me is true then you are more than strong enough. It you can't tear yourself away then a courier or a heavily armed merchant would be your best bet. Courier relies on speed and most likely more than one magic item. In fact-"
He was interrupted by the woman from the other table sitting down across from Moira and giving the fighter a no-nonsense look. "What is it, where is it going and how fast do you need it there?"
This close Moira could see the woman was an older half-elf whose skin was tanned and lined from months if not years out on the road, her legs slightly bowed from the hundreds of hours she spent on horseback. Black hair cut just above her shoulders showed one or two white hairs and her thin frame, fluid movements and confident demeanor indicated a tough and experienced fighter. And this close Moira could see the older fighter was literally bristling with weapons.
Rose stood awkwardly, unsure of how to take the woman's affections as she politely smiled and stepped to one side to allow others to recount the tales of the past few days that seemed to stretch on and on and the many events that transpired between the last time they visited and how different the post even looked from when they saw it before.
"Cause I doubt I can just take a few weeks off to travel all the way back home," Moira says with an annoyed sigh. Protecting it herself was an option but she had responsibilities here. She looked sidelong at the half-elf women that interrupted. She looked...not really old but experienced. Thin but not unhealthy. And she certainly had a lot of weapons but that really didn't mean more then she had money and liked weapons. Moira gave her an appraising look. She slowly draws the greatsword off her back and slams it onto the table. "This, my teacher and as fast as possible." She let's the woman look over the weapon and watches her reaction. "Gromff Hammerhand of Winter's Rest, Brevoy, in the lands of House Garess. Also this." She says, slapping a journal on the blade. It contained her notes, or at least what she remembered about that night. There was enough hints into the process her teacher could figure it out. Which made the two together absolutely invaluable.
The woman reached out with both hands and lifted the greatsword, gauging its weight by lifting it up and down a few inches several times before placing back on the table. She reached into a scroll case on her hip and removed a large one before unrolling it on the table and revealing a detailed roadmap of Brevoy. She studied the map for a few seconds before rolling it back up and nodding in satisfaction. "100 gold."
Moira considers the woman for a bit and the blade. This was quite the risk. The blade was worth more money than she'd ever seen. Possibly priceless except to a very wealthy noble or legendary adventurer. The notes maybe even more so. Then again it would still take a master to decipher and utilize them. Also didn't make things any cheaper, just open more options. Maybe she was being overly cautious but it was her first. "But not the last," she whispers at it fondly.
She looks up and nods to the woman. "I'll give you 200. I want it back after Gromff sees it. The journal stays with him. Just shove the greatsword in his face and say 'Moira says I told you so'. Also tell me his reaction when you come back," she says with a mischievous grin.
"200 gold round trip and I can have it back in your hands tomorrow, granted this Gromff Hammerhand actually gives it back." the woman smiled wryly and pulled another scroll from a worn case on her hip. Unrolling it revealed a standard contract that the woman filled in, noting the destination, estimated time of travel, agreed price, special instructions and finally the names of everyone involved. She filled out another contract with the exact same information before signing both of them and turned the two contracts around to Moira. "Half the payment now, half when the sword is returned. Read both contracts and then sign both. Do that and hand over the 100 gold and I will be on my way."
Moira's eyes boggle. "Tomorrow? That's several days of hard travel," she exclaims. She'd have to travel hundreds of miles in mere hours. No one moved that fast. Except wizards.
Well with her wings she could go that fast.
Did this woman also have wings? No, she had a horse if the slight bow to her legs was any indication. How did a horse travel that fast? Wait, was it even a horse? She didn't actually look to see what was in the stables. But it didn't seem like she was lying. She was very professional actually. If that was the case, she could see them doing a lot of business in the future.
She looks over the contracts and sees all is in order. The journal stays. The sword comes back. The journal also had what she remembered of the Sky Citadels. Not like she could do much with that. Seemed like a dumb idea. If the magic keeping the thing afloat went out it was all gone along with anything underneath. But it was part of dwarven heritage so Gromff deserved to know.
She signs the contract and takes 100gp from the pile. They could factor that out of her cut later.
The half-elf rolled up a single copy of the contract and tucked it away before gearing up to leave by tightening the ties of the numerous scrolls cases she had strapped to her body. She next picked up a heavy traveling cloak she had tossed on the next table and threw it over her shoulders, pushing the hood back and shaking her hair clear. Next she pulled on a pair of clear goggles and wrapped the lower part of her face in a bandana. Once all her bulky scroll cases were in place she walked out of the fort and stopped once she was clear of all of the work going on. She began to work on the clothing over her right arm, peeling off the glove before rolling back the armor to reveal pitch black markings that swirled around her arm. Holding her arm straight out the fighter clenched her right fist once before splaying all of her fingers wide open, palm down.
The markings on her arm began to swell, absolutely blackness engulfing every inch of skin before an oily substance began to drip to the ground. Her black hair flashed to silver white as the liquid falling from her arm formed into a pool that grew to several feet wide. The black pool flashed with pearlescent shimmers for a few seconds before something disturbed the surface from beneath. The woman stood tall and certain as a creature clawed out of the oil and stood before her, shaking its body to slough the last of the evaporating fluid away. The ephemeral horse shook it's silver mane out as it neighed quietly at the fighter and nudged her chest. The woman gave a small smile as the markings on her arm returned to normal and she pulled the glove back on. Grabbing the horn of a shadowy saddle the fighter vaulted onto the horse and gave a nod to Moira. Clucking to the phantom creature the half-elf rode out at increasing speed until she was galloping fast enough to raise a dust plume behind her. Within a minute the rider with her strange horse were out of sight.
Rose listened aptly to the exchange between the two women. When the courier mentioned how much to deliver, she raised an eyebrow. At the return by the 'morrow, both eyebrows raised in surprise.
Her jaw dropped when she summoned her mode of transport. She shook her head gently and let out a sigh. "Now I see why her price, and can actually comprehend how she is able to travel so quickly." She muttered quietly, still quite amazed at the unique abilities of the costly courier.
She went over to Oleg and shrugged off her bag. "Oleg? I don't suppose you may be interested in a few tinctures and potables would you? Perhaps I can assist you with restocking your shelves?" She offered as she started pulling out a few of the many earthenware jars they had managed to collect.
The rest of the day passed wonderfully slowly, the party getting their first chance in weeks to take a bath and change into clean clothing, wash their dirty clothing, haggle with Oleg about offloading much of the goods they had acquired, enjoy a hot drink and watch the guards struggle under the effort of improving the defensive capabilities of the wall.
Finally the druid could not watch any longer and lent her magical aid, using her druidic magic and engineering expertise to shape the wood so that the planks interlocked. After helping Lyra would look around critically at the crowded conditions of the fort and state that they would have to either push the walls out or place buildings outside. With the 5 guards, their horses, the party and their horses there was no room. As it was Lyra was sleeping outside the fort where she pitched her tent and yet there was still little room to move.
The next day Lyra would lead three of the guards and a large team of horses to the edge of the forest where she would point out specific trees to be cut down, ensuring that only the plants that were crowding others would be cut down. This would make room for the trees and smaller plants to grow healthier and provided the fort with the materials they needed to expand.
At midday a plume of smoke appeared on the horizon and quickly turned out to be the half-elven courier riding at an impossible speed. As she drew even with the fort the rider braked hard and the phantom horse skidded to a halt without missing a step. Hopping off the horse the courier walked straight up to Moira and handed the fighter a note.
Once Moira was done reading the letter the courier removed the large bag from her shoulders and set it on the ground. With several grunts she began pulling hammers, tongs and other tools of all sizes and shapes, dropping them in a growing pile in front of Moira. When the pile reached the human's waist the half-elf stepped back and tipped the bag over. Out tumbled a huge anvil that weighed easily 300 pounds that thudded point down into the ground and did not move.
Next to come out of the bag was a beautifully carved chest of dark wood that had Moira's smithmark carved onto the lid. Inside was a set of flawless adamantine jewelcrafting tools. Finally the last item to come out of the bag was a large case of soft leather that unfolded to reveal a set of adamantine leatherworking tools.
-MW Artisan Tools (Weaponsmithing, Armorsmithing, Leatherworking, Jewelry) - These tools all grant a +2 circumstance bonus on their related craft skills.
"He laughed for a long time when I relayed your message. Don't worry about the other 100 gold, Master Hammerhand paid it for you. And he told me to tell you this...A master will form a connection with each and every item they craft. The hardest part about learning to be a smith is learning when to let go when a customer buys your babies." the older woman told Moira as she tied her bag shut and swung it back onto her shoulders. "Is there anything else?"
Once the second day in the small fort came, Mehaila would go down to Oleg and ask him about a scorpion tail whip. She had stumbled upon a passage in her book that described one, and she had a few ideas she wished to try with one. However, having no idea how hard nor common one was, she quizzed Oleg about it. She hadn't bothered to look at the gold the group had now, but she was sure it would not cost too much to retrieve one.
After that little bit of haggling, she would talk with Dom about ways to improve their traveling, and how to better use the surroundings to hide in. She felt some of their fights could have been avoided if they had better concealed themsevles
Moira looks at the pile of tools and shakes her head. "Worst. Courier. Ever. And your the only one I've met." She snorts at the line about when to let go when a customer buys her stuff. "Bearded bastard jipped me is what he did," she says, but smiles at the tools. Especially the box of jewel crafting tools. She gently sets it aside and grunts as she lifts the point of the anvil out of the dirt. She wipes it clean and marvels at the metal. Adamantine looked like steel from a far but you could always tell up close. At a certain angle it seemed to shift to a strangely shiny black. And everything the courier poured out did that. Adamantine tools? Who knew he had that kind of money? And he was giving her scrapes to work with for years.
Much as she hated how they parted, she was thankful for his tutelage. And apparently he didn't hold a grudge. If he could bury the hatchet so could she. She looks up at the courier, a little wistful, and smiles. "Thank you." Her smile turns from friendly to something decidedly not as she adds with utter calm, "Drop my tools on the ground again and I'll turn that horse to glue."
The rest of the day Moira is indisposed, organizing and sorting her new acquisitions.
Rose was enjoying herself taking a stroll around the post with her staff firmly in hand as she hummed. The most she could do at the moment was think and occasionally stop to jot some potential research notes and ideas in her book as she did so.
She smiled when Lyra decided to take it upon herself to help out with the repairs and such. She also had a little bit of a chuckle when the famed courier came back with not a sword, but a rather large amount of tools. They may not have been for her specialty, but she could admire the quality of them nonetheless.
With a snapping of her fingers she did have one thing to ask Oleg, since he was a trader and dealt with a variety of goods. "Oleg, I want to know if you have a documents or texts that have to do with the magic and science of alchemy." She asked in earnest, eyes hopeful that even if he didn't have it on hand, that perchance he could attain it for her.
"Done," Moira says, counting out the last gold coin. Items and money divvied, she leans back and stretches at the picnic table. She was taking a break from the manual labor of building a forge. Lot's a mud to make bricks, then sun to harden. Wood, metal banding, nails, fabric for bellows. All things one could find or make easily. But a lot of work to build from scratch. But her Masterinsisted she knew how to do it though. Turns out he wasn't just being annoying. Still took a long time.
"So what's next?" she asked.
Mehaila realized as they sold all their collected loot to Oleg, she still had that elven ring they had. She fishes it out of a pocket which her party would swear she didn't have, and holds it to Oleg to see. She then asks " I happened to have found this Elven ring. Do you happen to know what you would give for it?"
Oleg paused in his construction of the second story of the inn, hammer in his right hand and several nails held in his lips. It took him a few seconds to see what Mehaila was holding up for him to see and the reaction was...not quite what the elf would expect. He dropped down the ten feet with a heavy thud and stalked up to her with hammer halfway into a striking position. "Give. That. Back."
Meha dances back a bit, while Olegs reaction was strange and somewhat threatening, she wouldn't consider the innkeeper much of a threat. How could she after everything they had just survived? She does ask however " I can't just give it to you. I thought you would pay us for our treasure? Tell me what it is, I'm curious now."
"Because that is not YOUR TREASURE!" the human roared. He pointed his hammer at his startled wife and almost snarled at Mehaila. "That is the ring I gave my wife when we were married. That is the ring that was taken by force by the bandit's sadistic leader. You...you..."
Any further outburst was cut off when Svetlana placed herself squarely between Oleg and Mehaila, her normally sweet demeanor hardening with quiet anger. "You sound exactly like the woman who took that ring off my finger. She also asked how much Oleg would be willing to pay for it. Please give back my wedding ring." she held her left hand out palm up, calmly waiting for the the elf to place the ring there.
Once Svetlana and Oleg explain, Meha laughs softly and hands it back to Svetlana, without any issue. She says to them. "While I can appreciate getting paid for a job, you both should be ashamed. Have you learned nothing of our group. Why would I charge the owner for the return of their ring if you didn't contract us? For shame the two of you." Meha was a bit amused by them more than anything, and while she couldn't understand the lose of something so important, it still was something she thought would be upsetting.
Rose listened to the exchange back and forth between Oleg and Mehaila. She grew a bit tense when he took a rather stern tone with her, only catching parts of what was going on as she was busying herself with the potables and placing them on a table for Oleg to inspect if he wished to acquire any of the potions and oils they had managed to find themselves in possession of from their previous encounters.
She shook her head when Mehaila finally decided to give back the ring they had asked of her. We shouldn't be so ungrateful to our hosts as they are the only friendly face around for many many miles with no other place to stock up on supplies. She thought sourly, but held her tongue nonetheless.
Moira looked up from her part of the loot, a lot of awkward coins and gems. To be perfectly honest, it wasn't that much either. Oh sure this might be than a farmer or day laborer would see in a decade but for a smith or adventurer it wasn't enough to get more than the most mundane of magic items. The tools her master sent were worth far more. Made her wonder just a bit where it all came from.
Despite the shiny glow of money she was distracted by the scene Mehaila and Oleg was making. She didn't think he'd be able to hurt the elf with a hammer and was pretty sure she wouldn't retaliate violently. Still this was an odd reaction. At least until it was explained. Then it made perfect since.
"Anyway!" she says loudly to break the bubble of tension. "Like I said. We are far from done here. Bandits are dead. Kobolds befriended. Werewolves accidentally slain. Still a lot of land to explore right? So we taking a break or heading back out?"
"There is still much more to explore in this area." Lyra says as she pulls out the map she has been seen constructing since the very beginning. Rolling it out the lines of ink flash golden for a moment before she motions with her hand. "If our goal is to tame and settle these lands we've barely scratched the surface. In fact we haven't explored anything, everything we've encountered has been in the process of dealing with the Staglord. Why don't we rest for a day and then head back out?"
After the tense moment places out, Mehaila asks about the scoprion whip she has read about, and then goes to the rest of the group, though the issue still seemed weird to her. But with the moment over and the question posed, she was ready to set back off, however she could now understand a better made plan, something they had lacked somewhat previously.
After some thought she ventures forth"Let us rest and the set out again tomorrow, however we need some plan of exploration. Perhaps seeing the squares a bit south of here to the river? Or let's explore some more around tose elven ruins and tree we found. I wound enjoy looking on the ruins more. And whatever those kolbolds are holding back."
Rose breathed a sigh of relief, casting a sidelong glance at her companions. "I do wish we could not be so mischievous..." She said softly, but anyone trying to hear her probably could. She went over to Oleg, hoping that he had calmed since his interactions with Mehaila and maybe spare a moment upon some tomes that she wished to inquire about that held secrets to her alchemical wonders that she had yet to discover.
Once she had finished, she nodded in agreement. "A well deserved rest and to replenish my various resources." She gave a wry smile to the others, sighing a bit in relief having offloaded some of their more unneeded potables.
"Sounds like a plan," Moira says getting up. She really didn't need much more than that as an excuse to get up. He continued her work on an outdoor forge when A thought hit her. They would likely be away for a few days periodically to finish mapping. That meant it'd take weeks to finish with what little time she could fit between forays into the wild. So why not utilize that downtime to get some quality goods? Better materials meant hotter fire and more consistent heat. There was still plenty of work to do before anything needed to be shipped in but better to have it sooner in case of delay.
She wandered back into the fort to find Oleg. Hopefully he had cooled off. "Oleg. Let's talk business," she said with a mercantile glint to her eye.
The burly human grunted at Moira and continued with building the new building in the fort. With a bucket full of rough nails he climbed a wooden ladder that creaked under his weight and sat down on the edge of the second story. As he began to hammer he would call down to Moira "Ok talk."
Moira and Oleg would end up talking for several hours as the powerful woman explained her plan to the stubborn innkeeper and his usual scowl faded until he was seen waving his hands animatedly as he pointed around the fort. By the time the sun began to sink Oleg would have a list written by Moira of the materials she needed for her new forge.
Lyra would spend the day checking on the large herd of horses that she had created from the slain bandits, currying each animal to shed any remnants of the winter fur the lazy previous owners had failed to deal with. Using the tools she had brought at the very beginning of the adventure and magic the short red-haired woman would trim the hooves of every horse and improve their overall health. At the end of the day both the dominant mare and stallion bowed their heads in submission at the approach of the druid and listened intently as she spoke to them in a strange language.
Once the druid was done speaking the horses would trot away from the fort in a large group, spreading to the horizon as they cropped the grass in a widening circle. Only once the sun went down would the herd return to the safety of the fort.
The next day dawns bright with a mostly clear sky. Temperatures were high enough the the fort guards went without their warming cloaks. Peculiarly the few clouds that could be clearly seen were in the shape of winged dragons that cavorted and tore each other apart as they drifted serenely through the azure sky.
On the dawning of the next day, Mehaila looks out on the plains,having placed the order of the scorpion whip with Svetlana, due to Moira and Oleg speaking in great lengths about bricks and mortars and other stuff. She had her pack ready, her old rapier strapped to her pack on the wagon, while her newer one hangs at her hip. Along with the bow she carried, her time spent in the wild was somewhat transformative. Her colors were still black and yellow, but now they seemed to match the surrounding area a bit more. It still showed off a bit of skin as per normal, but the priestess seemed much more suited to do what she had to do.
Even as the day started out, looking up it seemed to be full of possibilities still. The clouds formed dragons dancing and dueling, creating a somewhat peaceful scene to leave out on. She looks about and asks the others. " Is there any final business we have? Everyone ordered in the supplies they need for the trip back? Lyra mentioned we had a few more spots to fill in, so I figure we will start with the closest."
After giving a few more moments, if no one had anything else to do or say, Meha would take the lead based on the map they had, or at least towards the uncharted parts. No sense in wasting what time they had left dallying, for they had many more places to explore and see, and things to revisit.
Moira left the meeting with a new impression of Oleg.Despite living on the frontier and not dealing with customers too often, he was still a master haggler, arguing all the way down to the copper sometimes. The fire of a true merchant still burned behind the surely attitude. The only reason she got a reasonable deal might have been more because he missed it than any real skill on her part. She could certainly be intimidating when she needed to but get Oleg going and he could bully his way through any conversation. But in a few days the first parts would start coming in and she could finally get down to business and that was a win no matter the cost.
Until then, they could continue exploration. Despite all that had happened they had barely touched the eastern part of the map. Moira double-checked her gear before mounting up on a horse from their growing herd. They'd could sell a few for good money or keep them around for a solid cavalry one day. Either was fine. She nodded at Mehaila, letting her have the lead.
Rose was idly writing in her book as she had her various mixtures bubbling and frothing in front of her, jotting notes as she carefully brewed her strange murky potion that she took such pride in after all her research.
She was so engrossed in her craft she slowly lost track of time and by the time she finished, she softly cursed at missing her chance to speak further business with Oleg at length. She let out an exasperated sigh, but she knew that she only had herself to blame as she went to speak with him.
Upon finding Oleg, hopefully able to spare a few moments to speak with him. She asked about any tomes that he could get shipment of that held any research done by alchemists of the region. She was willing to broker any deals he would require for such an exchange as well, as the knowledge would be well worth the price paid by leagues.
Afterwards, she decided to join up with the others. She knew that they did still plan on identifying the rest of the surrounding areas for threats and boons in order to meet the terms of the charter they had, no area could be left unexplored.
She met up with Lyra, leaning heavily on her staff, as they began to make their final preparations for the next days to come. She listened quietly as they decided what area they would decided to map out next.
As it seems everyone was ready to go, Mehaila starts to guide the party towards the west part, somewhat back towards where they came in the original travel to Oleg's outpost. As they walk, she shares her reasoning " So, I want use to fully know the trade route from Oleg's back towards Brevoy mostly, as we need to know how safe and what dangers we may face. And we could stumble on some interesting sites also. But if I recall right, there was a river, so we might wish to then turn back at that. Or once we reach an area we know has been properly scouted previously and secured."
This is all done as they travel on the horses. It would take a bit of time to go back on that road they first came in on, but Meha was hoping to fully explore everything to ensure proper trading.
The party sets out at dawn after resting for three days, selling off all they didn't have a use for beyond monetary and several leaving orders with Oleg for tools and other sundries to be shipped down from Brevoy. The day dawned warm for the region and allowed the party to ride without coats although a stiff wind made the long grasses ripple in emerald green waves. They move quickly through land already explored and look for a place to settle down for the night when Lyra's familiar comes streaking out of the sky with a scream, circling over the party twice before zooming east, back the way they had come.
Lyra stopped and turned her horse slightly so she could look back at the oncoming creature. Her brow furrowed in confusion as she stared at the charging beast. "Is anyone else seeing this!?"
Rose twisted around in the saddle to see exactly what her sister had seen. She easily can see the foggy cloud spreading and the vapor that was spiraling towards them. She could even see the creature within flapping furiously as it approached closer by the moment. However what she saw more clearly than her sister alarmed her and made her blood run cold as she stared at the creature in a mixture of wonder and horror.
"Aye I see it dear sister, and I wish it wasn't what it was! That's a dragon coming right at us!" She called out to the others, feeling nervous as it grew nearer to their party. Dragons were a rarity weren't they? She chewed her lip as she tried to think of all the possibilities of how they could fight it or fend it off and deter it.
Having ridden out front to lead, she was not as close to see as clearly as the others, Meha curses as she turns aorund and catches glimpse of the form. " This is not good. We just came from there. Be wary, and prepare to break apart. It can't chase all of us, and we could find our way back to Olegs... or what I feel may be the smouldering remains.." Her vocie held some dread to it, as it was not clear what the dragon intented, nor what they could even do to stop it. But she drew out her bow anyways, knuckles tight on the shaft as she got ready to defend them.
Moira turned and quickly spotted what had drawn the others attention. It was hard to miss. A fast moving cloud was approaching them and only them. Worse, there was obviously something in it with large, scaled wings. Then Rosa said dragon. Moira looked at her, surprised, then back at the cloud. Not good. "Scatter, but stay close enough to attack. Can't let it get us all in the first attack," she shouts. Putting action to words, she urges her horse a few feet forward and dismounts. Her riding was okay but shooting a bow from horseback was exceedingly difficult. Once on the ground she draws her bow.