"Um, I can cast the same armor spell that Arkady current has protecting him, but that fight started and ended so quickly I didn't think of it." Aishe says, still looking very abashed and uncertain. "In fact, I can only cast that and the illusion I tried on the zombies, apart from some cantrips. Unlike a real wizard, I don't have a huge repertoire of spells to choose from."
Looking directly at Yagello now, she asks him "I don't want to feel that useless ever again while my friends are in danger. You're a warrior, so perhaps when we get a chance you can start teaching me to use something other than magic to fight with? There's nothing wrong with my reflexes, but I simply don't have any training in combat."
"Healing potions would have been a good idea. However I don't know if anyone in Heldren actually has any to sell, except maybe the apothecary, and even then I doubt we'd have had the coin to buy them before recovering that hidden cache of jewelery in the carriage."
Sarya sheathes her sword and puts her shield away as she makes her way back to the group. She stands with her arms crossed, partly due to the chill in the air and partly due to her frustration with how things have played out thus far. She remains silent as the others speak of the fight with the undead.
She frowns when Arkady makes a mention of her "trick". "Not used to using that on someone other than Zev or myself."
Her attention turns toward Aishe and Yagello as they have their conversation. "If you're still planning on burning the bodies, there's two more in the other carriage. Women. Probably servants." Her tone is disturbingly matter-of-fact.
Realizing how negative she's being, Sarya decides it might be best to at least try and be positive considering morale is so low. Sarya sighs and unfolds her arms. "You fought well, Yagello. I'm glad you're here." She wasn't used to offering up compliments and it showed. Her words came out far more awkward than she anticipated and her tone was all wrong but at least the message got across.
Sarya offers a half smile before spinning around and walking around the site, occasionally kicking some snow into the air as she walks around lost in her thoughts. Zev trails along behind her, seemingly a completely different animal than the one that was viciously attacking the undead only moments ago.
<She's changed far more than I would ever have guessed...> Aishe thinks to herself as Sarya walks away. <I hope I never get that callous about the bodies of what were once living, breathing people...> She shivers and hugs Growler close, but the chill air has nothing to do with the coldness Aishe feels right now.
Yagello's mood softens considerably upon hearing the kind words offered by Aishe and Sarya, and he even feels a bit guilty about the long hard look he gave the half-elf mere moments ago.
With his battle focus now draining away, he gives Aishe a smile,"Now you're speaking my language!I would be honored to share some of my battle knowledge with you."He points to the body encased in ice,"In fact, if you're not opposed to recovering that poor soul's longsword, we can go over some basic swordplay techniques later tonight."
Hearing Sarya's grave news, he continues his conversation with the half-elf sorceress,"Come Aishe, let's continue with these bodies. They won't get a proper burial in the traditional sense, but returning their remains to the earth might beget some benefit from their senseless deaths."
As he goes about his work, he sends an admiring look Sarya's way. Something about her cool detachment and open frustration with the battle's missteps resonates with him and brings to mind a warrior woman he holds dear in his heart.
After helping Yagello with gathering up the bodies of the slain for proper burial, Aishe walks over to the body of the man encased in ice. Bowing her head, she speaks to his soul, as though offering a prayer. "I hope you're with the gods now, whoever you were, and we will try to see that you and the others here receive a proper burial in time. I'm taking your sword, if that pleases you, so that my friends can teach me to fight. Hopefully I can use it to extract a measure of vengeance for you before this over. Rest in peace, friend." That done, she picks the sword up from the snow and cleans the frozen gore from the blade, then turns back to the others.
As Aishe speaks to the fallen soldier and picks up his blade, Arkady gets a thoughtful look. "I hadn't thought of this particular use before, but ..."
He holds out his hand and speaks quietly, then begins moving his open hands over the body. As he does, the temperature near his hands rises slightly, and the ice begins to melt. It is not a fast process, but much faster than nature would provide, and he seems pleased to be able to do something for the dead man.
Awaking from her near death experience, Caelia gasps quickly as though breathing air for the first time. Sitting up slowly, she looks blankly at Sarya who had just healed her. Turning her gaze away from Sarya somewhat shamefully, Caelia concedes her recklessness moments earlier "Yes, yes of course, I should be more careful... I'm no warrior."
Unused to being the patient, Caelia struggles to her feet probably a little to quickly, and stumbles a little realizing she is still stiff and weak. Grasping the carriage to hold herself up, Caelia smiles weakly "My apologies friends. A healer is no good to her patients when she puts herself in harms way like that."
Yagello shifts his weight uncomfortably from foot to foot before offering Caelia his hand. "I'm glad you're feeling better, Caelia. Do you need some further assistance or maybe some water to drink?"
He pauses for a moment as if weighing his options but then decides to speak again, "I don't mean to rush you, but time is quickly getting short. Are you able to heal Igmar so we can get on our way to the forest?"
He asks the question yet his intent is quite clear as he takes two steps towards the woodlands path.
Sarya decides to stay out of everyone's way as they attend to their tasks. She takes a seat on one of the crates and rests her chin in her hands as she watches the others; Caelia tending to Igmar, Yagello and Aishe collecting bodies, and Arkady melting the frozen man.
She eventually finds herself staring at Zev in her boredom, the wolf having taken a seat in front of Sarya. Her eyes flash, betraying the fact that an idea just popped into her head as she gives the wolf a smile.
Sarya reaches into the crate and pulls out some clothing, holding it up to herself. She looks down at Zev and gives a playful smile "What do you think?" Zev merely continues staring at Sarya with the same bored look in his eyes that she had only minutes ago. In return, she offers up a fake pout. "Shows what you know."
The young druid continues playing around with the clothing as a way to pass the time. She seems to be having a rather good time with it until she pulls out one of the nicer outfits. Sarya stares at the dress in admiration before holding it up to get a better look. She eventually holds it tightly against her body, spending nearly an entire minute studying it as she walks around with it pressed against her. She casts an inquisitive look over to Zev who still only returns a blank look back. A hint of sadness crosses her face as she tosses the dress into the snow, a heavy sigh escaping from her. She speaks to Zev in a somewhat defeated tone, "You're right. It's dumb."
Sarya sits back down on the now empty crate, looking a bit more upset than she did the first time she took a seat. She taps her foot impatient before calling out to the others. "Are we done? We've got a job to do."
Looking up from where Yagello and she have gathered the bodies, Aishe turns upon Sarya in annoyance. "Yes, we're almost done, no thanks to your help! Since you're so bored by us treating these dead with some respect, why don't you stop picking through the dead women's clothes for dainties, and do something?"
Perhaps it's a counter-reaction on Aishe's part to the fear and distress she feels, but the look on the half-elf girl's face as she speaks to the druid is full of anger. "By what right do you sit there and criticize? I've said not a word or made any action against you since I saw you again this morning for the first time in years. Yet you treat Caelia and I with contempt. Be done with you!"
Grabbing her spear from where it leans up against the ruined carriage, Aishe swings back around to the others. "So, are we ready to go? Our imperious little wildling is growing impatient with we poor peasants!"
Sarya stands and looks around at the clothes she has scattered across the snow. She feigns a hurt expression as she responds to Aishe. "I wouldn't say I was going through a dead woman's clothes." She smiles and makes her way over to Aishe and Yagello near the upright carriage. "After all, last I heard, Lady Argentea was still alive." Sarya turns her attention toward the collected bodies and motions toward them. "They are not."
Sarya paces around with her arms crossed as she continues to speak. "We waste our time here with these corpses. But I'm sure when we find her body, Lady Argentea will be happy to hear her corpse will be treated with respect."
Sarya looks at Aishe, a smug smile on her face. "The fey creatures and bandits went south into the forest. It's best we follow." Her smile grows slightly as she whispers to Aishe. "Right, peasant?." She gives the other woman a playful wink, amused by her anger.
Looking a little uncomfortable at first, Yagello's face now twists into an angry scowl. "Enough fighting between the two of you! I've worked alone most of my life, but I'm smart enough to know that this isn't how good teams work!"
He waves his arms wildly in the air, "Why do you think our country is slowly decaying and falling apart? It's because its damn noble families are constantly bickering and trying to outdo each other! It's why they hire men like me to run their stupid errands! Are we no better than THEM?"
He takes two more steps south towards the start of the forest, "If you two continue to fight like this, I might as well go into those woods alone. We need to trust and count on each other; otherwise, we might as well go our separate ways and die alone in this harsh cold."
Yagello pauses and takes a deep breath. He's not quite sure where this outburst came from, but now his face is very red, and a blood vessel pumps noticeably on his forehead.
Arkady watches the exchange silently as he works to thaw the fallen soldier. When a break occurs, he looks at Caelia.
"How is Igmar? If you are able to treat his wounds, we can continue on. In the meantime, I believe practicality says we should examine the dead to see if they carry anything that could be of use to the living."
With that he pointedly returns to his work, checking the soldier's pack and pockets as they clear the ice.
Caelia sighs at the bickering, nods at Arkady and pushes herself to her own work. "Of course Arkady, I'll get right on it." Passing by Aishe, Caelia gently places her hand on her shoulder and speaks quietly "It's okay Aishe, let it go for now. Tell you what, maybe give me a hand with poor Igmar."
Kneeling down beside the dwarf, Caelia mutters quietly "I'm sorry Igmar, this was all my fault." Pulling out her first aid kit, Caelia quickly and deftly pulls the right supplies out and gets to work.
The dwarf now stable and breathing regularly, Caelia puts the kit in her backpack, and holds her hands over his wounds. Suddenly, her hands begin to emanate a warm golden glow, as Caelia whispers a quiet prayer. Gradually the life returns to Igmar, and the wounds subside a great deal.
Sarya looks at Yagello in disbelief as he starts rambling on about nobles and teamwork. She blinks a few times before reverting back to her normal, stoic self. "Fight? With my dear friend Aishe? I wouldn't dream of it, Yagello. Just blowing off some steam with some innocent teasing. Right, Aishe?"
She faces Aishe, her face almost looking genuinely apologetic. One might get the impression she was actually sorry if her words didn't mask so much sarcasm.
After Arkday's repeated castings, the frozen torso collapses to the ground. The Varisian searches the formerly frozen guard's torso and other remains, but does not find anything of value beyond the breastplate and the longsword.
Taking a brief look at the other corpses Yagello and Aishe had been gathering, Arkday notes that they are all curiously ill-equipped for combat, with no weapons or meaningful armor. Arkady guesses that the attackers likely took most items of value after the defeat, which puzzles Arkady. Why would they leave behind the obviously high-quality sword and armor in plain sight if they could take almost everything else?
"Tha..thank you, Caelia. I'm not quite sure what happened. I'm usually pretty hearty, but I guess those zombies pack quite a punch. I'm glad everyone is doing okay though."
Igmar stands and brushes himself off, trying to shake the soreness from his body.
"I do have one more cure spell, if someone would like it. Caelia? How are you feeling?"
<And I actually was happy to see her again this morning, after such a long time... but the changes have obviously been for the worse.> Aishe looks at Sarya from head to toe, gives the briefest of nods by way of acknowledgement, then turns towards Yagello. "Your point is well made, and absolutely correct. I'm still upset by this business, and emotion got the better of me."
Looking at the row of corpses laid out in the snow, she asks "We can't light a pyre for these dead, it may alert any bandits or fey in the vicinity. I'd suggest placing them in the carriage where they will at least be safe from the carrion eaters until they can be given the proper rites."
Aishe glances back at Yagello again. "If you think we can spare the time. This ambush happened yesterday, so I don't think another few minutes will make that much difference, but then again I'm not the one who is being asked to track the kidnappers through the snow."
Yagello gives Sarya a look of disgust before turning his head towards Aishe. It's patently obvious to anyone who's watching that his entire expression undergoes a drastic transformation from negative to positive when moving between the two women.
Flashing a light smile, he says, "Yes Aishe, we should have time to place the bodies into the upright carriage. If you make sure these doors stay open, I can do most of the heavy lifting. The tracks are well marked,so unless we get fresh snow, I'll have no problems following them."
After a few minutes of work, Yagello moves closer to Aishe, so they are only a few inches apart. "I did have one question for you about our mission. Undead or fey are one thing, but what kind of sanction did your leaders grant us for these bandits?" He points to a sap protruding from his belt, "I can capture them alive if needed, though I am much more proficient with my blade. Don't get me wrong, I'm no stickler for the laws of the state but like to know the parameters of my assignments."
Having thawed out the soldier, Arkady muses on the fact that he was left with his sword and breastplate. "I just had a thought ... I don't know anything about arms, but I know that the process called "cold forging" makes them particularly troublesome to fey. Could one of you look to see if these are made that way? It might explain why they were left behind." He concentrates a moment, studying them.
Arkaday takes a close look at the objects, concentrating, but does not sense any magical energies coming from either the breastplate or the longsword. While concentrating, he has a chance to examine the items more closely.
The breastplate is a proud piece with the bright greens and blues of Taldor, but otherwise appears ordinary. The sword does not appear to be made from the same materials as Igmar's cold-forged weapons, leading Arkday to doubt its usefulness against Fey. Like the breastplate, the sword appears ordinary.
Sarya frowns and rolls her eyes when Aishe ignores her "apology". "Fine. Be that way." She marches toward the forest in a huff, calling over her shoulder to no one in particular, "I'll be in the forest. There's no reason for me to be here."
Sarya will go into the forest to be alone, traveling south until she finds a downed tree or something similar to rest on while she waits for the others.
Igmar looks around, a bit confused as to how things got to this point.
"Hey, Sarya, let me join you. I need to walk around and work out a little of this soreness. Once the others finish with the bodies, they can join us."
Despite his confident words, he waits for Sarya's consent before catching up to her.
Nodding politely at Igmar's suggestion, Caelia smiles and stands up. "Hold a moment Igmar, let me take care of the both of us before we bound off into the forest." Lifting her hands out in front of her torso, light seems to faintly shoot out in many different directions, mending wounds and filling those nearby with a gentle warmth.
Sarya stops suddenly when she hears Igmar call after her. Her head bows slightly, the girl seemingly contemplating either speaking or turning around. Instead, she continues onward without a word after her brief hesitation.
As Sarya puts some distance between the group and herself, Zev stops and gives a glance back at everyone before rejoining Sarya as she treks into the trees.
Igmar looks off toward Sarya—barely noticing the healing from Caelia—and waits for her to turn around. When she doesn't, he bows his head slightly and returns his focus to Caelia.
"Much appreciated, Caelia. You are quite the skilled healer. I feel almost back to normal," he says with a grin that wouldn't have seemed likely moments ago. "I apologize to everyone for wasting our time. Shall we head off to the forest?"
That done, she picks the sword up from the snow and cleans the frozen gore from the blade, then turns back to the others.
Aishe looks a little embarrassed at Yagello's question regarding the bandits. "I'm sorry, but we didn't discuss anything about capturing the bandits or the fey. The village elders are mainly concerned about finding and stopping the source of this unnatural winter before it spreads and destroys even more crops. As it is, Heldren will be facing starvation next winter... I mean the next true winter... if we can't do something about it."
Finishing up with placing the bodies in the carriage, Aish collects her weapons and pack, and follows the others into the woods. She leans over to Yagello again as they walk along. "Given what the bandits and the fey did here, I think that worrying about whether to take them dead or alive is probably a moot point anyway. I suspect we're going to be fighting for our lives again very soon, so better them than us..."
"Given what the bandits and the fey did here, I think that worrying about whether to take them dead or alive is probably a moot point anyway. I suspect we're going to be fighting for our lives again very soon, so better them than us..."
"I tend to agree. This is not a simple matter of apprehending a thief. I don't think anyone will be concerned if the villains are brought to justice 'in the field', as it were."
Arkady brushes himself off and joins the group heading deeper into the woods.
Yagello nods to both Aishe and Arkday and simply says, "Understood..."
As the smell of the forest hits his nose, his attention switches back to the mission at hand. He is glad to be back under the cover of trees but also angered at the seasons being perverted in this unnatural fashion. He scans the tree line looking for any signs of the fey or bandits, while also listening for any unusual sounds.
If everything checks out, he turns to Aishe and quietly whispers to her, "I worry about your friend the wildling. This lone wolf routine is not going to amount to anything good if you ask me." He also gives the half-elf an encouraging smile and says,"Things might get really hairy really quickly in these woods. Stay with me, and I'll do my best to protect you." He punctuates his remarks by reaching out his arm and gingerly patting Aishe on the shoulder.
Not far into the forest, the group finds Sarya sitting on the ground, her knees brought up to her chest and her head resting against a nearby tree as she plays a rather unenthusiastic game of fetch with Zev. Well, unenthusiastic for Sarya anyway. Zev appears to be having the time of his life, bounding happily in the snow with equal excitement after every toss as if each throw was the first.
Both Sarya and Zev freeze in place and lift their head towards the group as the sound of snow crunching beneath their shoes reaches them. Zev quickly turns his attention back to Sarya, dropping the bite mark ridden stick onto the ground near her. Sarya grabs the stick and stands as the others draw closer, dusting herself off and collecting herself before they draw too close.
When they reach her she eyes them over with a rather disinterested look in her eyes and speaks in an equally disinterested voice. "Fey are creatures of nature. It's not like them to leave such an obvious sign of their presence. Keep your eyes and ears open...we're probably walking into a trap."
Aishe will quietly call Growler to stay nearby, while she follows along behind Yagello, staying on the trail and trying to keep an eye out for anything hidden in the snow-bound forest. Using a length of rope, she'll fashion a crude sling for her spear, and carry her loaded crossbow instead, with a cold-iron quarrel at the ready.
Grabbing her scimitar, Caelia smiles lightly and quietly adds "No, don't thank me Igmar; it was my fault for getting us into that mess in the first place."
Standing up, Caelia quickly catches up with the others. Noticeably more cautious, she draws in behind Yagello and Aishe, and does her best to not make trouble.
The group heads into the forest, following the trail. As they pass into the forest, the air becomes noticeably colder still, and snow begins to fall. On the ground, walking becomes more difficult through the accumulated snow.
Yagello and Aishe watch the thickening layers of trees for any immediate threats, but the forest is still and quiet for a half an hour of walking.
As it enters the full expanse of the Border Wood, the trail passes through a small clearing among the taller trees before continuing uphill and out of sight. A large chest lies half-buried in the snow, apparently dropped or discarded by those who hastily passed this way.
<Why would they have brought the chest this far if they didn't intend to carry it all the way to wherever their lair is?> ponders Aishe quietly. <This seems an unlikely place to leave something like that.> Stepping forward to within 20' of the chest, Aishe casts Detect magic and concentrates for a few moments, checking the area for any magic auras which may indicate a trap or ambush.
"Well...", Sarya pauses at the sight of the discarded chest in the clearing and puts her hands on her hips, "...this is most certainly a trap. Who wants to be the decoy?" She turns to the others, a wide grin on her face, "No one?"
Sarya shrugs as Aishe approaches the chest and follows behind her, drawing her sword and shield as both she and Zev creep forward. While Aishe scans the area with her magic, Sarya takes a more direct approach to locating danger. She crouches down, scanning the snow around the chest for any signs of recent foot traffic. Zev follows suit, pressing his nose to the snow, trying to locate any still lingering scents.
If it doesn't look like the area has been recently visited, Sarya will approach the chest, her eyes paying more attention to the forested areas and the hilltop than what's in front of her. When she arrives, she gives the chest a curious kick to get an idea of what may be inside. She's had enough undead surprises for one day.
Echoing Sarya comments, Yagello warns, "Every fiber in my body is screaming this is a trap, so everyone be very careful."
Not wanting to be too far away if they get attacked again, Yagello moves next to Sarya, doing his own examination of the buried chest. His eyes periodically pop up and scan the boundary of the clearing, almost expecting an ambush to come from that direction.
Sarya and Yagello do not notice anything amiss as they approach the chest. The trail leads directly to the chest, where there appears to have been a lot of walking around in circles, before the trail continues up the hill.
As Sarya crunches through the snow around the chest, her ankle catches on taut branch that suddenly goes slack. Off to one side, a rope that was imperceptible before can be seen snaking quickly into the high trees, and immediately above the chest, a large spiked log comes crashing down through the branches.
Igmar approaches behind his companions slowly, shield out and ready for anything out of the ordinary
Igmar and Aishe manage to avoid the log, falling into the soft snow on either side.
When her foot catches the branch hidden in the snow, the realization of what is happening sinks in quickly. Of course it'd be a trap and not an ambush. They were chasing fey. Sarya lets out a curse through gritted teeth as the sound of snapping branches fills the forest.
Her eyes go wide as she follows the rope, barely reacting in time to put her shield between herself and the log to lessen the impact. Still, it connects with alarming force and sends her tumbling face down into the snow.
She lays motionless like this for several seconds before groaning and pulling herself up onto all fours. Her breathing is uneven between coughing spells as she struggles to regain her breath. She lashes out against the ground in anger and screams out a few choice words as she slowly begins to collect herself.
Eventually, Sarya leans back into a sitting position. As she brushes her now dampened hair out of her face, she looks around at everyone else with a weak expression, still breathing heavily. "Well, at least no one is dead." Despite the pain, she manages a smile. "Did I mention I really don't like fey?"
Following behind the others, Caelia stops dead in her tracks at the mention of a possible trap. "Be careful Sarya, these creatures have proven to be malicious in their intent."
Watching the others move forward with baited breath, Caelia holds out her hand as the trap springs "Look out!" Wincing as the log crashes into Sarya, Yagello and Zev, Caelia takes a few cautious steps forward once the trap clears.
"Is everyone okay? Just hold on, I'll tend to wounded."