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"Young folks certainly have to blow off steam, but you've got grow up sometime." he says to the middle-aged gnome.
"Oh, you're right, Father. You're right. People grow up eventually. Antonesko got married and settled down. So did Vladislav, though he tried to get out of it for a while. Grigor did too, and he was the happiest of the bunch, I think, but he disappeared in a battle in the wars following the Vanishing. He was in the Duke's personal guard. We assume he died, but his body was never found. His parents still hope, but I think it is for naught."
Numalar sighs.
"Piotr... I never did find out what happened to Piotr. Last I heard he was headed to New Stetven and was going back to his old ways. But that was a while ago now. I fear things didn't go well for him."
Numalar shakes his head.
"We gnomes don't age as fast as men, so I find the friends of my younger days have all outgrown me. Antonesko could be a grandfather soon, I think. But I'm getting there. Slowly but surely."
"Angus, keep your shirt on! We'll head out in the mornin'. My brother waited a year, I'm sure he wait for another day." Scarlet grabs a mug of ale, slaps Angus on the back and heads up to the Fey and Kobold guests.
"Erevenywg. Eat up. Unless we forgot something?"
Scarlet realizes there is probably some custom she doesn't know about. If the kobolds don't have food, she gets a plate of meat and soup for them, as well.
Sidling over to Jhod
"You make a grumpy old man look positively happy tonight. Let your angst out for a moment and see that these people may grow to respect you more if you aren't so judgy."
He then wanders off looking for more drink and a parapet to stand on.
"I'm not the one hunting for respect here son. Just remember people judge actions, not words. They might be too polite to say it out loud, but they do, that's just human nature."
"Young folks certainly have to blow off steam, but you've got grow up sometime." he says to the middle-aged gnome."Oh, you're right, Father. You're right. People grow up eventually. Antonesko got married and settled down. So did Vladislav, though he tried to get out of it for a while. Grigor did too, and he was the happiest of the bunch, I think, but he disappeared in a battle in the wars following the Vanishing. He was in the Duke's personal guard. We assume he died, but his body was never found. His parents still hope, but I think it is for naught."
Numalar sighs.
"Piotr... I never did find out what happened to Piotr. Last I heard he was headed to New Stetven and was going back to his old ways. But that was a while ago now. I fear things didn't go well for him."
Numalar shakes his head.
"We gnomes don't age as fast as men, so I find the friends of my younger days have all outgrown me. Antonesko could be a grandfather soon, I think. But I'm getting there. Slowly but surely."
"So, you got someone back in Brevoy waiting for?"
"Angus, keep your shirt on! We'll head out in the mornin'. My brother waited a year, I'm sure he wait for another day." Scarlet grabs a mug of ale, slaps Angus on the back and heads up to the Fey and Kobold guests.
"Och aye, but if we dornt lae suin he's jist gonnae hire it tae someain else." Angus calls after her. "An' what's sae wrang abit mah manly chest 'at Ah shooldnae tak' mah sark aff?"
"Hmm? Oh lala, vamme an sí."
The kobolds looks at each other, smile toothily at Scarlet, and go back to eating.
"*Cough*" Illthir gets her serving of ale down the wrong place in response to Svetlana's inquiry. This wasn't a question she had expected here and now. Once she managed to get air properly again she started her reply. "Well ... I had heard some really intriguing rumours coming from down here so I decided to check them out. Just wanted some more material for my songs. Turns out my material found me first heh. Now those Kobolds were certainly much less hospitable!"
It hadn't been a fun experience but, with a bit of alcohol and a warm place, Illthir could afford to laugh a bit about it already. A little at least. Brr I'll never want to be in one of those dam cells again! With a shudder she raised her mug and declared - "A toast! To not being under ground and having real food!" - then she downed the last of her drink.
The kobolds raise their cups with everyone else with much gusto.
Scarlet drinks, all in one slurp. She wipes the leftover wine off her mouth. "Real food! Yeah!"
"Yeah! That's how it's supposed to be!" Illthir cheered. Then she looked around so she could refill her mug and continue to chat a bit with Svetlana. "So how do you like your party so far? I think it's really nice!"
"Oh, I think it's wonderful. I've never made Oleg's mom's moon radish stew before."
o_O?
The party eventually winds down and people slowly head to bed.
"You can sleep in my rutabega- I mean, sleep in the bunk I'm sleeping in, Erevenywg."
Scarlet looks at the fairy and mentions something to her before heading off to bed.
Illthir stumbled into one of the lower level bunks. She had been enjoying herself vigorously and was now looking forward to replenishing her energies. Even if disturbed, as long as it was nothing too earthshaking, she'll soon be snoozing happily.
Zokon will eventually goto bed, having had a good evening.
He will remove his armour and such allowing himself a good relaxing sleep
"Night All."
"Dornt gie tay comfy, laddie. We're leavin' fur mivon, first hin'." Angus says from the bunk across from Zokon's. Seconds later he begins snoring, his eyelids still ajar.
Those of the party can sleep through the nocturnal lumber mill that seems to reside within the dwarf find their second night back in the bunks better than the first. With a full (magically seasoned) meal in their stomachs they find the narrow lumpy mattresses suitably soft and comfortable.
Scarlet begins to drift off beside long and chilly-footed Erevenywg, who unexpectedly curls up and begins warming her feet against Scarlet's exposed back.
After that, Scarlet eventually drifts off to sleep and the dream....
Then a funny thing happens. A dark winged shape cuts through the starry night like the quick shadow of a summer cloud over a field of brilliant daisies. The wings extend blotting out the stars and roar like wind though there is none begins to build. Out on the horizon over the dunes, Scarlet sees a wall of utter blackness rise up and over the desert swelling to incredible size. It comes so quickly that it is upon her before she can turn to flee. A tsunami! A tsunami of water! A whole ocean's worth drowns the desert as far as the horizon killing everything in its inexorable path washing Scarlet miles from her camp in seconds. It drags her to what looks like the edge of the world and off a the side. She falls, and falls into some bottomless gorge of utter blackest night and a terrible gurgling voice rises from the depths and hisses: "Bring me the Stag Lord!"
points of actual hp damage. She is also fatigued and unable to regain arcane spells for the next 24 hours.
"Scar-lets-karab!"
Starlight enfolds Erevenywg as she works some fey magic seated next to the struggling Scarlet. She begins by spreading an arc of glittering dust about the bed and floor.
"Mmmmm?" Illthir wiggled around in her bunk, not quite sure where the weird insistent lights were coming from. Bleh. And there was someone speaking - how rude! "Mrphm!"
With a supreme effort of will she forced her eyes open and glared around the room searching for these mysterious disruption. ? There it was - there were certainly something strange going on in Erevenywg/Scarlets bunk. She blinked and tried to make sense of what she saw...
...but most of it seemed eerily familiar, yet just a step away from her comprehension like some strange dream. But she did recognize one spell - a healing one - and that didn't really make her understand the situation any better. Worried, and still very sleepy, she asked no-one in particular. "Uhh, what's going on?"
Scarlet twitches as she slumbers, sometimes violently. She doesn't wake up despite the appearance of fresh new bruises.
You know, if ya kill me, how am I supposed ta kill the Stag Lord? Silly ghost. Scarlet feels like her lungs are going to burst. It takes all of her strength not to swallow the water. But it's a fight she's losing.
A different voice cries out and seems to surround her. Scarlet can't hold it any longer and gasps-only to breathe in air. Or water, she's not sure but her body seems fine with it. And the tick bite seems to have shrunk, too. She feels a lot of her inner power return.
Erevenywg notices something is amiss, and begins casting multiple magic effects on and nearby Scarlet.
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Before going to bed, Numalar speaks quietly with Jhod, asking him to prepare lesser restoration. He mentions that he would be happy to make a traditional "donation" to Shepherd Kavken's ministry.
Numalar tosses and turns as Erevenywg begins her magic...
"Wha...?" Numalar looks up groggily.
"Heyy... what are you... oh." Numalar stops as he sees she is healing Scarlet. He then watches quietly.
When he is done, he says quietly, "I na-man gúl, Erevenywg."
Erevenywg beams over the praise.
"Mmmmm?" Illthir wiggled around in her bunk, not quite sure where the weird insistent lights were coming from. Bleh. And there was someone speaking - how rude! "Mrphm!"
Worried, and still very sleepy, she asked no-one in particular. "Uhh, what's going on?"
Groggily, Celyne rolls over and mutters, "You're talking in your sleep... shhhh." Then she closes her eyes again and falls back into deep slumber.
Zokon will actually most likely remain asleep throughout, he is safe and comfortable and will have relaxed .. for once, plus the chainsaw next to him will drown out all else.
"Not that ..." Illthir muttered back at Celyne and pinched herself just to double-check. Ow! "Not *just* that..."
No there was something else going on. She'd gauged enough crowds (and recognized one of the spells) to know (well educated guess at least!) that Erevenywg wasn't sacrificing Scarlet to her dark and terrible gods. But that still left many possibilities open. Curious she slipped out of her bunk and headed over to the fairy, the gnome and the red. "Why does she need a Cure spell this late? Did we miss some part of Svetlanas dish?"
"Uhum." Illthir frowns. Why in the middle of the night then? But fairies... Maybe? Scarlet seemed to still be asleep at least. And not overtly suffering so... With a shrug Illthir started to head back to her bunk. "I guess we can ask Scarlet tomorrow..."
Starry night makes way for red tinged dawn.
A cock crows from the roof of the main house.
Through the haze of sleep and the noise of dwarven snoring, Celyne, Illthir and Numalar hear a slight commotion outside. They hear the sound of men talking in concerned tones, and the whinnying of an exhausted and frightened horse.
"Bring me the Stag Lord...bring me the Stag Lord...zzzzz" Scarlet snoozes through the commotion.
Celyne moves and presses her ear to the wall or door closest to the conversation and tries to overhear what is being said outside...
Illthir shuffles out of her bed and looks expectantly to Celyne, since it looks like she might be hearing something interesting. Or making a very good attempt at least!
Alia had spend a lot of time working on her projects, well into the night. When she was not busy working, she used the opportunity to let Vega go free in closed rooms, working on taming him...she hoped that eventually she could let him free-roam and he would stay near...much like Celyne did with Luna.
That, and the hearty meal, made her very tired. When she spent time at her grandfathers, she often fell asleep to the sound of a hammer hitting an anvil. A dwarf snoring, or a Fey whispering incantations both were not likely to wake her. Not here, at the trading post, where she felt save.
In the morning, she wakes well-rested. Realizing something is going on outside, she looks around to see if anybody knew more than her already, then waits on Celyne's report since nobody seems to speak up with relevant information.
She hears Oleg say "I think that's Sadie one of the horses that was stolen about two months back."
Kesten calls out: "Hold it right there."
Everyone hears the sound of heavy footsteps overhead. People upstairs head for their door, and out onto the stairs down to the bailey.
The sounds of loud footsteps wakes up Scarlet, who gradually comes to her senses. For once she's a bit less active than she usually is. She turns to face
Erevenywg and gives her a hug.
"I think I owe you one. Thank you."
Scarlet climbs down and gets her weapons ready. "What's that noise, anyway? It's enough to wake the dead."
Alia gets up, and stretches a bit. There was a lot of noise, but no cause of alarm, it seemed.
And no hurry, then...
Of course, whatever was going on outside, her companions would get the group involved - thats how they did things. But that didn't mean they had to rush towards that outcome.
"I sure hope whatever it is, it doesn't interfere with breakfast."
It wasn't that breakfast in the wilderness was BAD, but a proper meal was a whole different experience.
"Oh only one way to find out!" Illthir cheered brightly and threw on some more outside-appropriate clothes. As an afterthought the grabbed the rest of her gear and headed outside, emerging with her armour over her head and flailing arms. Dammit! This thing never cooperates! I wonder if skalds can get squires ... Luckily it didn't take much wiggling until she could see again and personally find the source of the commotion.
The sounds of loud footsteps wakes up Scarlet, who gradually comes to her senses. For once she's a bit less active than she usually is. She turns to face Erevenywg and gives her a hug.
Scarlet climbs down and gets her weapons ready. "What's that noise, anyway? It's enough to wake the dead."
Numalar throws a coat on and rushes outside.
"So what's all this then?" he asks nobody in particular. He looks around the courtyard to see who might have just arrived.
"We're about to find out."
Standing in the bailey is a ragged, pale horse. Oleg holds the horse by its bridle and tries calming it.
Upon its back is a vaguely man-shaped bundle under a tattered and bloodstained cloak and scarf and tall wide-brimmed hat with a plum set at a jaunty angle. He seems to be moaning incoherently.
Kesten (who has already called twice now for the man to dismount) moves forward to pull the rider down from his steed. Some of the other guards are there to help him and back him up.
Taking her sweet time, Alia packs up her stuff. They would likely depart again, soon, so getting that done now would mean no need to hurry, later...and more time to enjoy honey, fruits and nuts - in a different season, foraging while travelling could have supplied some of that, but these days....winter was coming - and Svetlana's pantry was stocked well enough.
Zokon wakes but takes the time to belt on his sword and grab his bow and arrows.
Then he heads outside