"A pyre? In the middle of the woods? I think not. I certainly don't plan to spend enough time and effort to gather enough wood to burn them and then sit around waiting for the last of the embers to dies down when they are naught but ash. Since none of us have a shovel, I'd suggest simply piling them up a decent distance from camp and let nature take its course."
'I suppose that is a fair point. Pretty distasteful to just leave the bodies to.. nature, as you say, but there's not a lot else we could do that would not attract attention.
Might I make another suggestion then? Given how it is rather dark, we should stay here for the night. It is a decent enough camp, and we would have the opportunity to ambush any other bandits who might return to the camp.'
"I wouldn't suggest tossing them," Avizzi says, finishing the unloading process. "Or at least pile them far away. Leastways, do that unless you want another of these"--he nods to the bear carcass--"in camp again."
As the others go about their business, Avizzi finds a knife and heats it in the fire before dousing it in some water to clean it off (at least a little). After that, he begins to slice the bear meat and set it to cook, also scrounging the camp for any other foodstuffs to add. Soon enough, a mouthwatering aroma of cooking meat flows through the camp as Avizzi happily hums a tune by the fire, occasionally even singing in a low, soft voice in the tengu language.
'I am not that squeamish, Tam. Lets get it skinned, shall we? It will be worth something back at the trading post, after all.'
With that, she'd help Tam skin the animal, trying to watch every bit, but mostly spending her time trying not to gag at the smell of it.
Kaylee sighs and turns to Caelus. "Care to help me drag the bodies out of the camp? I'd rather not have any scavengers coming in here to feed on them?"
Caelus seems resolved and nods to Kaylee, "Indeed, let us find a proper spot for them"
Kaylee you manage to dig up eight large casks of a strange greenish liquor loaded onto a small wagon, carved into the top of the casks is the words STAG LORDS GUT ONLY. You also manage to find several sacks some of which are filled with gold and others are filled with carrots, potatoes and onions. You find
Avizzi you manage to dig up several pounds of fresh lamb and some sage leaves. You also find three crates that hold furs. You also find one very small box aswell, when the box is opened a sweet tinkling begins to play and inside there are 2 silver earrings and a small note:
Mites took the rest. Headed up the old sycamore.
"Anybody know what the hell this is supposed to mean?" Avizzi calls out, holding the box and note up in the air. Then he moves back to the fire, continuing to cook; he decides to make a stew out of the lamb, carrots and potatoes, fixing up a little garnish out of the sage and onions.
'Well, a sycamore is a tree of some sort, even a noble city dweller such as I know that much. I suppose we could go look for it at first light, if someone here knows what to look for, or we could head back to Oleg's to cash in our bounty notice for these bandits.'
Still busy with helping Tam skin the bear, trying not to be put off by the smell and mess created.
'Personally, I would prefer to stay out here and explore for a while, be it in these forests or east into the plains.'
'They are all 'trees' to me, I'm afraid.'
"Really?" Avizzi calls over. "To me, they're all climby-woody-leafers!" The tengu chuckles inanely at his own joke, in a better mood now that he's cooking.
After finishing clearing away the corpses, He tries to clean himself up as best as he can.
Caelus sits down at the fire with the cooking stew. "Hope the stew is as good as the smell!"
Shalia would pass one of the stag amulets to anyone on guard, under the assumption that the bandits use them as some sort of identification marker.. just incase some more bandits return in the night.
The tengu suddenly stops moving at Caelus' comment. Then he turns, ever so slowly, and simply stares at the human. This goes on for however long it takes for Caelus to begin cringing, and then Avizzi finally says, "It is."
He turns back to the stew, where anyone who can see him gets a glimpse of a smirk-like expression on his pale white-feathered face, while hearing good-natured grumbling about "Rejects of Pharasma" and that sort of thing.
"Welcome, archer," Avizzi says to Tam. Avizzi takes whichever watch needs him, even double-sitting with anyone if it seems like a good idea.
Caelus will stare unending, never flinching. He played games similar to this when he was younger with his twin brother.
Caelus' tone remains calm, "Seems my patience is being tested. Erastil knows that I need you lot to help explore the area! But this rag tag group of people here can't seem to get along. And I will tell you why, too many people thinking they are in charge, when really, were just here to tame the wilderness. I need to find my brother, and it doesn't look like its going to happen with this lot."
Caelus paces and points to Avizzi, "First we have the bird, captured by bandits and has no humility for it. He walks around with his own air of superiority to compensate for his tiny accomplishments."
He walks over to Shalia, "And then we have you, the noble lady bossing everyone around like your the Queen of the stolen lands..." He leans in close so that only he and Shalia can hear the next part. "Well I am a nobleman, and I've studied linguistics extensively, and all you are is a really good actor..."
Caelus looks around now at everyone staring at him, he takes a long breath "I apologize for my outburst. I am not usually filled with such candor. I will take first watch..." Caelus walks away
Shalia would glare at Caelus a moment, before turning back to the rest of the party and laughing a little.
'Crowning me already? How delightful! I have always loved some jewellery, after all.'
She'd then head to the fire and get some sleep.
"Firstly, little lordling," the tengu says, still staring at Caelus, "you're absolutely right--you do need us to help explore the area. Because you, with your fancy sword and fancy clothes and fancy everything, probably don't know your own noble ngọc hành from the wilderness!" Avizzi spits the tengu words out venomously, and even without understanding him, you can tell it's not nice. "Secondly, you're right again: there's too many people trying to be in charge, and it seems like you're trying to set yourself up as the 'right' one." Throughout this, Avizzi moves closer and closer to Caelus.
"And thirdly," the albino tengu says, now inches from the human, "I am no bird, and my accomplishments seem to have been far greater than yours. Or was it your chakram that slew that b~#%* in the stand, hm? Was it your eyes that saw that bear?" Poking Caelus in the chest with each your, the tengu raises his voice into a screeching caw as his anger builds. "Was it YOU that just fed everyone?!?!"
Avizzi stares the human for a second more, then spins off as Caelus breathes. "I'll take second," the tengu says, moving back to the fire and the leftovers of the stew.
--- --- ---
Avizzi doesn't sleep during Caelus' watch, and a ways in, the tengu walks a bowl of broth and meat over to the human. "Here," Avizzi says. "Pharasma's cold embrace may not warm you as it does some."
Caelus takes the bowl and salutes with it to the tengu, "Appreciated.." He begins to eat a bit of it before continuing. "You were wrong about one part. I'm not interested in leading this group, just here to find someone. I'm more of a thinker then a leader. A leader needs to make snap decisions, something I was never good at."
Caelus pauses for a second as he takes another sip of the broth, "I'd follow you if you weren't so full of yourself..." He says with a light chuckle
"Believe me," the tengu says with a small chuckle, "I'm no leader. No finesse, huh?" The tengu pauses a moment, seeming to think about his words. "I mean, sure, I'm quick, and agile, good in a fight. But planning? Most I got is sneak in, watch, and then break the guy's nose. It's as refined as I get."
Avizzi stretches, then moves to his cot. "Wake me when you're tired, eh?" he calls to Caelus before drifting off to sleep.
A few hours later, Caelus guesses that its about time to finish his watch, he heads over to the Tengu's sleeping form and gives him a pat to wake him. "Change of Watch"
Once the tengu is up and about, Caelus will head to sleep
Caelus' watch passed without much action. The moon rides high in the sky illuminating the small camp. Nothing seems to be amiss...
Avizzi wakes up to the smell of slightly burnt, very bland food. He rolls from his mat, springing to his feet, and shuffles over to Tam. The tengu seems still partially asleep, blinking to clear the bleariness from his eyes.
"You've cooked it too long, too solitary," the tengu croaks simply. "You lock a man up by himself too long, he gets boring and bad for you. Same with food."
Avizzi moves to his pack, rummages for a moment, then returns with some small wooden boxes. "Try these," the tengu says, opening one lid to display spices within. "Should make it good by the time the others wake up, and you can keep credit."
|
"You have a certain way with words, my friend. You have a certain flair for cooking as well. I remember last night's stew. This is your secret?" Tam takes a polite sniff and smiles at the aroma. He adds a dash as directed and moves the food a bit further away from the fire so as not to overcook it further.
Stirring the breakfast a bit, Tam says, "I should take a few lessons from you, Avizzi. Where did you learn to cook so well?"
"The enclave I grew up in was self-sufficient," the tengu says, scooping himself some of the food, "mostly because the rest of the townsfolk didn't trust us. One of the chefs took me under his wing." Avizzi thoughtfully sprinkles some herbs into his bowl before eating a spoonful, apparently oblivious to his own pun.
"After I struck out to the southlands of Brevoy, I really started finding some herbs and spices growing there. Hit some towns to find what wasn't in the wilds. Guess I'm just not a bland fellow."