Tsking to herself after the first failed shot, Cara follows up with two more arrows at the same target.
Round 1
Bestowed with enhanced prowess by Geedra's boon, Cara releases a quick double-shot at the same target she had visually marked moments before. The first shot nicks the corner of the rail on the cart and glances wide, but the second bites into the goblin's chest, causing the raider to shriek out in agony as he stumbles back into the rail behind him. He yet lives, but his suffering looks to be exquisite.
The lead goblin, Grindtooth, produces another flask from a satchel, this one filled with a dark red liquid. He cackles in glee as he hurls it at Katie, yelling "Burn, humans!" as he does. The flask explodes with forceful flame, scorching Katie and sending a shower of cinders, embers, and curling fire over those around her.
The rest of the goblins release another salvo of arrows, splitting up their targets. One fires at Katie, and two each aim for Skäne and Cara. Most of the shots go wide, but the arrow aimed for Katie looks as though it will strike true, but Skäne interposes his shield between his protege and the incoming projectile at the last second, batting the missile to the ground.
Map (goblin with red dot indicates one hit by Cara)
Cara: 17
Goblins: 13
Katie: 13
Skane: 12
Geedra: 11
Krosh: 2
Grindtooth Bomb: ranged touch
Cara moves forward 5 feet, then fires two arrows at the same target. "One thing I am sure of today, no goblin will eat my ears."
Katie grits her teeth through the flames, and sucks in a bit of air before bursting into a clear song once more. Her allies are good at fighting on their own, but while inspired by the clear tones of a bard...
Well, she would rather they be done with these flatheaded things sooner, instead of later. She draws her sword, readying herself to join in the melee soon.
Geedra casts Bless on the party, improving their chances to hit just a bit more.
Round 2
Katie strikes up a song that reverberates with arcane power. The intonations hum through your bodies and promise decisive victory. Geedra adds a spell of her own to the mix, enchanting her allies with further boons.
Skäne rushes forward to harass the rearward goblins, bringing his blade to meet the one behind Cara's target. The goblin yelps as the gap is closed, and hunkers down, perhaps hoping that the measure of cover gifted by the cart's side will help him, but the blade finds its mark. A high pitch squeal erupts as the goblin is cut.
Krosh eyes the fire-throwing goblin Grindtooth as his target, meeting him with some fire-throwing of his own. He gestures forward with his hand and the magical flames surge from his palm, rushing forward and vaguely taking the shape mid-flight as an owl. Grindtooth ducks out of the way, however, and the flames continue on until they dissipate into the air.
Round 3
Cara fires off another pair of arrows at the goblin she had marked before, but in his fervent desire to survive, he finds his way clear of both arrows.
Map
Cara: 17
Goblins: 13
Katie: 13
Skane: 12
Geedra: 11
Krosh: 2
Round 3 Continued
The goblins look a little frantic now as Skäne has advanced upon them. The two he is near immediately drop their bows and pull out their blades - short and scavenged things covered in pits and blemishes. They both let out shrieks as they stab and thrust downwards at the ulfen warrior. Their strikes are pathetic, however, barely dinging against the viking's armor.
The rearmost goblin leaps from the cart he is on, grabbing up a polearm with a short, wide blade affixed to the end. He shouts out a battlecry as he swings it wildly, trying to hit Skäne as well. But again, the goblin's blade slides harmlessly off of his armor.
The remaining two bowman let loose arrows towards Cara, hoping to put down the enemy archer. One thuds into the snowy road in front of her, but another slashes past her arm, drawing blood.
Grindtooth stamps his feet on the rooftop and screams. "JUST DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE." He hurls another explosive and the flash goes end over end through the air, sailing over Katie and Krosh and landing right on Geedra's head. It shatters with a roar of flame.
Cara chuckles at the bowmen's feeble attempt to harm her before continuing to focus on the same injured target from earlier.
Geedra lets out a loud stream of vile curses after being doused fire.
She focuses on Grindtooth and casts Ear piercing Scream at him, striking him with a silent volley of sound,
Damage and dazed for one round.
"It occurs to me that if we wore the rimepelt coming in, people might not be messing with us now..."
Katie moves for one of the goblins in melee with Skane, running her fingers along her blade to infuse it with magic before she goes for the fences with a big twohanded swing.
"Skane, feel like pretending to be a wolf next time we have to deal with the locals?"
:
Singed by goblin flame Skäne gives a baleful stare at the goblin polearmer, then returns to favour with a vicious overhand swing;
:
:
At Katie's wisdom the vikngr merely shoots her a look;
"First things first Rosten. Kill these little Puka!"
Round 3 Continued Continued
Katie, her blade now readied, pads forward to join her unofficial mentor in the melee, coming to his side and chopping at the goblin that had just been injured by Skäne's own blade. Her devastating blow is more than enough to finish the goblin off, the edge of the sword carried near effortlessly through the raider's shoulder and into its torso.
After a momentary exchange with Katie, Skäne looks down hard at the goblin with the horsechopper and delivers a massive counterattack, nearly cutting down the attacker with one swing. As the blade cuts a grievous wound across the goblin's chest, it coughs up blood onto the ground and staggers back a step, nearly losing grip on its weapon.
Geedra moves her hands and intones a spell, gesturing towards Grindtooth. The bomber yelps, looking left and right for the source of the sound that only he can here, but shakes off the worst of its effects.
With Grindtooth distracted by the sudden sonic force, Krosh launches another mass of flame from his palm. Once more the fire takes on the shape reminiscent of an own as it soars up to the goblin. This time, the bomber isn't on his toes, and the flames crash square into his front. Bits of embers and cinders surge across his form and he lets out a howl. "You hit Grindtooth with FIRE?! GRINDTOOTH HITS YOU WITH FIRE!!
Round 4
Cara focuses on the goblin she had struck before. Her eyes lock onto the target, a mystical sheen humming across them. As she draws back to fire, Katie's song steadies her breathing and Geedra's spell stills her hands. One arrow streams through the air, and no sooner is it loosed than another one is following it. Both projectiles pound into the goblin's throat. It lets out a barely audible gurgle and then drops soundly.
Only three goblins and Grindtooth remain, and the ones on the ground aren't looking to keen on continuing the fight. Grindtooth himself, however, is overcome with rage and hurls a bomb at Krosh. The flask explodes on the half-orc, who lets out a grunt as he is burned by the attack.
The remaining two goblins, perhaps hoping Grindtooth would call off the attack, continue the fight. A chop from the polearm-wielder is deflected by Skäne's shield, but it is a close one. The other goblin in melee stabs down at Katie, but the sloppy blow misses. The remaining archer fires at Cara, but the arrow sails harmlessly overhead.
With Grindtooth appearing to be the most obvious threat, Cara fires her two arrows at the bomb-hurling antagonist.
As Grindtooth makes his molotov play, Skäne presses home, hoping to hack his pole armed foe in twain then move onto the next...
:
:
Geedra scolds the two ‘regular’ goblins. ”Goblins run home now! Tell tribe Geedra am strong wizard now. Grindtooth am not coming home!”
Intimidate
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Katie thrusts the tip of her sword into the ground, summoning up all of her terrifying presence into a glare at the goblins.
"You heard Geedra. Get."
As Skäne trades parried and glancing blows with the polearm wielding goblin, Geedra and Katie do their best to forcefully persuade the goblins to abandon this attack and flee. In response, the goblins shift their gazes momentarily up to Grindtooth for instruction who is currently hefting another bomb aloft. They look at him just in time to see one arrow slam into his neck, piercing all the way through his throat to protrude from the back. There is a brief moment of stillness as Grindtooth blinks and all is silent, until Cara's second arrow hits and shatters the flask he is holding, causing an explosion to fling the bomber from the rooftop and send his now-burning form down onto the snowy floor.
The goblins don't need anymore instruction than that, and throw down their weapons and flee.
Krosh rushes over and kicks snow onto the burning goblin corpse, quickly snuffing the flames.
"Quickly," Ringeirr says aloud as Krosh is dousing the flames, "we must hide these bodies. By Whitethrone's law, we are all murderers now, twisted as it may seem."
You waste no time in gathering the bodies and dragging them into the alley, stripping them of valuables.
You stash the bodies in the alley, burying them in a mix of snow and discarded crates and other scraps before returning to the cart, whjere Ringeirr speaks again.
"The safe house where this fish needs to go is close. Once we rid ourselves of these carts I will take you straight to Mortin and we can get you papers and make this whole thing....well, a little easier, anyway. What's that you mentioned about pretending to be a wolf?" "Yes, someone should wear that...that will help us move along better. Skäne does look the part of one of these wolves in human form a bit already - no offense."
Ringeirr pushes the cart forward, across the street and down a side street. The path curves around some buildings to the right, and continues through another one of those covered alleys, with a wooden plank roof spanning above you over the street, connecting the buildings ahead of you to your left and right. Along the street to your left is a thick copse of gnarled, snow-cloaked pine trees. The street goes ahead thirty feet, fifteen of it beneath the alley covering, before banking right again.
You all notice a slim, black-robed and hooded figure at the other end of this street, beyond the covered portion. It seems to be looking around, but its back is to you. It moves with fluid precision as it sweeps around the area, its motives unclear to you. As it turns to walk to the right towards a snow-covered wagon you can spot just poking out from around the side of the farthest building on the street, the slightest flash of light sweeps across the front of the hood - like a smile of sunlight sweeping across the edge of a sword.
Ringeirr gasps and ducks behind the cover of the first building closest to you, pullin Cara, the closest standing to him, along and whispering for everyone else to follow suit.
"That's one of the mirror men," he says in an anxious whisper. "They are some sort of magical spies of the White Witches...they can speak to them no matter where they are, and the jadwiga can use their witchcraft to see what they see. This is not good...We have to hide from it, or else make sure it ignores us. Or kill it, but that's risky if there's anyone looking through him right now. I don't know. We could hide your weapons again and keep pushing the cart, and let Skäne do the talking if we're stopped..." He peers around the side of the building slowly and cautiously, and then pulls himself back with a start. "It's headed this way! We have to think of something."
perceptions:
geedra
katie
cara
skane
krosh
Geedra takes the advice and tries to hide as well.
Stealth
Skäne nods;
"Those that can leynask should. If questioned I will tala the creature as a vetrvagr ... "
Not having any faith in her ability to hide herself, Katie does try hiding her sword and buckler on the cart.
She's always been too fidgety to properly hide. Swords, though. They don't fidget.
Geedra, Krosh, and Ringeirr make for the trees that stand a short way from the street. Moving towards them reveals that the snow beyond the edge of the road is deeper than it had appeared, and while the trio is able to make it to the trees successfully as the mirror man walks towards the cart, they do leave noticeable tracks in the snow.
Katie shrugs and stuffs her armaments down into the cart and stands near Skäne, who prepares himself for his best winter wolf impersonation...
The mirror man, having still been investigating things at the other end of the covered alley, inclines its robed head towards the two Ulfen and the cart of fish, its strange, fluid movements carrying it with purpose towards them. It stops about ten feet short of the cart and now you can see it more properly. Gaunt and lithe, the ebon cloak it wears comes down to its knees, revealing pure white, sinewy lower legs with ice-blue veins splayed across them. Its hands that extend past the sleeves of the vestment are likewise pale and sickly looking, complete with bone-white, brittle fingernails. Tassels of grey fur line the helms and sleeves of the cloak, the edge of which is stained a deep crimson, upon which a series of glyphs or other markings are embroidered. Around the neck is an intricate and impressive adornment of tiny silver-framed mirrors linked in a neckpiece of sorts.
The strangest and most eye-catching feature of this man though is the mirror beneath the hood that serves as its head. Clouded and the color of platinum, the completely smooth, featureless mirror faces you, and somehow you know that whatever makes up this creature's existence is looking at you.
Hail, White Wolf. Is this your slave? It is...colorful. What have you in this vessel, and what is your business. The voice is calculating, superior...not at all conversational. You get the sense that the mirror men have much higher standing than winter wolves here.
Geedra stays hidden hoping the wolf leaves her friends be. She does nothing while the situation proceeds.
Skäne eyes the strange creature, then smiles with a suitably wolfish grin;
"Hail Skuggsjamaðr ... She is indeed mine. A pretty fuglsrödd ... She sings for her supper or becomes such! Har!"
The Winter-Ulfen barks a laugh, then nods toward the cart;
"Fiskr. ... Stinking, but the sturgeon eggs are truly a krás und... worth gull "
He rubs his fingers together still with that wolfish smile
The mirror man "looks" at you long and hard with its sightless face, which proves to be a most unsettling experience. An entrepreneurial wolf. How droll. And where did such an enterprising wolf-man come upon such a stockpile of pungent morsels. Has he taken up fishing as well? I suppose carrying on with your kith, howling and slobbering and marking territory can get tiresome after a spell.
Skäne speaks out of nowhere, obviously responding to the mirror man by his words, though you heard no utterance from the creature. You assume the creature, without the anatomy for speech, is communicating with your compatriot telepathically.
Next to you in the tress, Ringeirr is sweating bullets, his back flat against the closest trunk. He has a throwing axe in his hand, fidgeting with it nervously. His sharp exhalations show as steam in the cold air.
Krosh merely looks down to you as you wait, his silvery gaze peering from behind his bone helmet. He shrugs.
You can hear Skäne speaking, but the mirror man and Katie are both silent.
Katie just has to roll with it and makes a point of not looking directly at anyone, taking her cue from Skane on this one.
She really wants to fold her arms, but since she can't really tell if that would be too aggressive for the current situation or not, she settles for balling her hands into fists.
Geedra stays hidden as well as she could, pausing while hoping the other two were successful in their social interaction with the human wolf.
:
Skäne's wolfish grin wavers slightly as alien creature stands unmoving before him. Clearing his throat he answers an unseen question;
"Indeed Skuggsjamaðr. Coin is coin. Even us vetrvagr know the value and power of gull . As for where I came across this scaled auðr . The wild. On patrol. My veiðr if you will... Har!"
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The mirror man remains silent, but takes one graceful yet assertive step towards Skäne. It leans forward, putting its reflective visage closer to the Ulfen. Both Skäne and Katie can feel a slight alien cold resonating from the silvery glass. A chilling wind blows through the alley and ruffles its ornate cloak, causing the intricate linking of small mirrors to jingle. Katie from the side notices a similarly ornate hilt of a blade beneath the robes on its side.
The mirror man glides past Skäne to the edge of the cart and runs its gaunt hand along the side of it as it steps the length of it, gazing at the fish. Its cold "face" sweeps over the spot where Katie stashed her armaments, and it doesn't appear to have noticed that they lie there beneath the fish. It turns and faces Katie and Skäne.
The voice shimmers into your heads. Katie now experiences this creatyure's alien telepathy, its metallic, cold, hollow, reverberating voice filled the head. "These fish will be delivered to the Western Storehouse, do you understand? Slave, turn this cart around. Out of the Howlings with the both of you. I will visit the Storehouse in one hour. If these fish are not there, the spikes atop the city walls will house two more skulls. Do you understand? It taps a slender gray-blue finger against the side of its "head." And do not think I will not be able to find you if you disobey.
The mirror man adjusts its cloak and sweeps away, from the direction you came, its gait stony and fluid all at once. It turns the corner and disappears from view.
She waits for the scary mirror man thing to turn the corner before asking the relevant question:
"Skane, what did you do?"
Skäne frowns as the creature addresses him, and his scowl only deepens when it departs.
The warrior growls a retort to Katie;
"I told it you and the veiðr were my fé ... I think it believed me, but nei how I acquired it..."
The Ulfen in wolves clothing turns to the others and relays the interplay and consequence
Geedra rejoined the group after the wolf had left. ”Geedra am not sure about wolf. Group need to sram now. Reingeer, group done with fish? Only am slow group down now.”
"Okay so... we have to deliver these to the storehouse, and to the safe house. This could be..."
No. Heck with it.
"This is bad. Shelyn's pen, what are we going to do..." She rubs her temples, trying not to panic over the idea of picking a fight with half the city.
"If it was just Skane, once the rimepelt was done the guy'd be none the wiser, but I just HAD to be there... so that won't exactly work. And I'm no good at disguises..! I just hit things with a sword! Is there a way we can make this a hit things with a sword problem? I'm good at those!"
Ringeirr raises a hand dismissively and shakes his head. "It will be all right. We deliver the fish to my contacts, you get papers from Mortin and we get into the city proper. I'll take you to meet Solveig once we are in the city, and then you'll be with the Heralds and that mirror man having seen you won't matter. But we must be quick and careful until that time. The safehouse is just around the corner down this street. Let's move."
Ringeirr doesn't give you time to answer or protest before he grabs the cart and hurries it down the road, the way the mirror man had originally approached. Krosh walks up to stand amidst you as he watches the tenacious man run with the cart. "I like him."
You follow Ringeirr and within a few minutes he has stopped the transport outside a small house at the end of the street. It looks mundane and unassuming, blending in with the rest of the dwellings. Ringeirr knocks on the door, which opens a crack a few moments later, and you hear some muffled whispers before the door opens wide. A man, woman, and a few children, all human, stream out of the house and start carrying the fish outside. Ringierr walks over to you, an obvious sense of relief settled upon him.
"A network of neighbors connected with the Heralds will see to it that this fish is distributed to those in need. I know it's something likely beneath you, but you have my thanks for this," he says, cracking a small smile. A moment later the man and woman from the house approach you to thank you also.
"Ringeirr said you helped him get us this supplies," says the man, a stocky middle-aged fellow with coarse blonde hair and a cleft chin. He wears well-worn work clothes and a heavy fur jacket, a long curved knife with a hilt of bone at his side. He looks strong, and the look in his eyes is familiar - someone who has seen some rough battles. "You have our gratitude...too many folk die of hunger and cold within the walls of the city."
The woman chimes in. She stands a little taller than the man, her platinum blonde hair knotted into a long braid that hands down to her thigh. Her long grey coat covers a peasant's dress of soft blue. Her smile comes easy to her features, her bright green eyes twinkling. "Harren is right. It is terrible, but you've helped give us a little fuel to keep surviving, keep fighting. A wonderful deed. I wish we had something to offer you in return. We have a fire inside and some extra space to sleep, if you are in want of any respite. My name is Anja, by the by."
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Katie starts to squeal. She then covers her mouth.
She can't stop squealing into her hands for about six seconds.
After she's done she takes a bold step forward and, unusually for someone so typically unlikely to talk to people she's unfamiliar with, grabs Skane's arm and tugs it towards Anja to goad him into a handshake.
"It's good to meet you, Anja. This is Skane. Ingvarssonn. We're all very happy to meet you. Also I'm Katie. Rosten. But that's not important... you two should say hi. It's been a long, troubling day."
:
As Katie makes their collective introductions Skäne shoots the bard a hard look, then nods a returned greeting to the tall woman;
"Excuse her. She is oft œrit excited. We... I þakka you for your lǫð ."
The burly warrior enters the abode, clasping Anja's shoulder as he passes;
"Food and a warm hearth would be most fagna Anja Hvítrhaddr ."
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Geedra makes sure to grab one fish her herself before handing the cart over. ”Geedra hungry too. Fish am tasty,” she says, taking a large bite out of it with her pointy teeth.
Perception
She crooked her eyebrows at seeing the woman examine Skane closely. ”Him not throw pots. Better than Poog at least,” she says, pointing at finger at the warrior.
Anja's eyes flicker to Katie when she has her outburst, but her face swiftly relaxes into a warm smile. "Well met, Katie Rosten." Her gaze turns to Skäne again when the bard introduces him, and she nods as well. "Ancestors smile upon you, Skäne. And on you all." When Skäne moves past and puts a hand on her shoulder, she puts her emerald eyes upon him again and smiles warmly before stepping aside to allow access to the lodging. "Do come in."
The man, Harren, speaks up as well. "Indeed. We've bread and cheese to spare, and some soup. I believe I can scare up some drink, if you'd care for some." The stocky fellow heads inside to start making preparations. Krosh and Ringeirr come up behind the gathering, with the latter looking back over his shoulder.
"We can rest for a short while," he says, still looking back. "Cannot wait too long to press on to Mortin's, however. But, it may be good to lay low for a spell, after that mirror man...ancestors guard us." Krosh turns his head and look down at Ringeirr, peering out from the holes in his bone helm.
"I like you Ulfen folk. Always on about your ancestors. Not so different from the spirits. It is good to respect those who are gone but still here." The half-orc claps Ringeirr on the back. "Worry not, Smuggler. I will call on the spirits to shroud us. Go and eat, I will keep watch."
Entering the house, you find that, though warm and cozy, it is very cramped due to the amount of people and supplies currently occupying it. The main room that you enter into has a thick woven rug covering the center, and most of the remaining floorspace of bare wood is currently filled with furniture, crates, sacks, and barrels. On the right wall is a hewn-manteled fireplace, and a small boy with red hair is currently stoking it. A small stack of wood sits next to it, heaped on a flattened burlap bag. A series of candles of varying sizes sit atop the mantel, offering a bit of extra light. There is a table in one corner, currently stacked with papers and quills and other such objects, and a small stool near it is filled by another person hastily making notes.
An opening in the wall to your left leads into the kitchen and eating area, where a cooking hearth is also alight, giving heat to a heft iron cauldron. A set of three tables fill most of the kitchen's remaining available space, all of them haphazardly occupied by cutlery, dishes, loaves of bread, root vegetables, cheese, and butter. The adjoining dining area has one large table in it itself, which is also bespattered in foodstuffs and dishware, with a few of the mismatched seats filled with other folk.
A second exit from the main room, in the wall directly across from the entrance, leads further into the home. It is difficult to see down that way due to the procession of children carrying fish that way, and then returning back outside to the cart to grab more. You do hear the sounds of footfalls on steps coming from that direction, however. Aside from Harren and Anja, you gather there to be about a dozen folk here currently, about half of them children.
"Excuse the conditions," Harren says, heading to the kitchen. "Find anywhere to sit or lean as you will. There's some open seats this way," he says, gesturing to the dining room. "Mikael, go down in the cellar and see if there's any ale left for our guests," he adds, speaking to one of the boys sitting and nibbling on a crust of bread. The bow, brown-haired, freckled, and strong-looking for only being about 10, hustles out of the dining room and weaves through the other children, disappearing beyond.
"Yes, make yourselves comfortable," Anja says. "Ulrich, these fine folk helped Ringeirr get these fish here. This is Katie and Skäne and...I'm sorry I didn't get the rest of your names. This is Ulrich, another of us who helps get supplies out and about."
Ulrich, a tall, thin man in simple workclothes - a loose linen shirt with the sleeves rolled up, and sturdy brown trousers - stands from his spot making notes near the table in the main room. His sandy brown hair is pulled back and tied into a long ponytail behind him, and grey eyes look out from behind his spectacles. He gives a firm nod. "Thanks for that," he says, his voice deeper than what you'd expect from a man so lean. "The people here need all they can get, certainly. Also welcoming to see non-Ulfen aid...you do us a great service."
Picking your way through the house with all the hustle and bustle is a touch irritating, but Anja gets you to the dining room where you can all find seats. She assists Harren in getting food to you, the clef-chinned man chopping and cutting while the platinum-haired woman brings it to you. She lays out a spread of warmed black bread and butter, fire-scorched rutabagas, hunks of hard, salty cheese, and a bowl of roasted walnuts. Finally, several wooden bowls of soup are set on the table. You can see that it is mostly broth but does boast hunks of fish and potato.
Anja sits as well, pushing the food towards you in insistence. "Please, don't be shy." She smiles again, removing her long grey coat and letting it drape on the back of the chair she is seated in. Despite the arctic bite of Whitethrone, with the crackling fires and many bodies in this particular home, it is quite warm, especially in furs and armor. "Are you native to Irrisen?" she asks, her eyes on Skäne. A moment later she flicks her sight to Katie to include her as well.
Replying to Anja, Geedra points at herself. ”Am Geedra.”. She holds up the small half eaten fish, ”this be Geedra fish. Am yummy, thanks for asking,” the goblin laughs as she finds a spot to continue eating and a mug of spirits to slake her thirst.
”Elf is Cara. Quiet type. Good with bow. Usually am nice.”. She waits for the others to finish off the introductions.
When introducing the group to Ulrich: "Ah, Geedra, and Cara. I apologize for not getting your names outside," Anja remarks, smiling down at Geedra with the fish. "I prefer mine in a stew, or spit-roasted. " She looks to Cara next and gives the elven woman a nod. "A skilled archer and hunter is in good company amongst Ulfen, you are most welcome here."
Cara blinks a few times. "Thank you, and for your hospitality," she says.
Ringeirr pipes up as well. "The big fellow outside is Krosh. He's...eh..well, an interesting..he closes wounds with magic, so..useful." He shrugs.
Hungry, Skäne wolves down the soup as the others make their introductions.
When Anja queries his homeland, the warrior shakes his head between gulps;
"Irrensi? Nei. I hail from Bildt in the Land of the Linnorm Kings. A place of the forn ways. A place of blakkr skies and red verkr ."
He nods to himself, as if remembering the place like it was a dream or story told once.
"He was a local fixture for a good while... We met a little bit after my mom and dad threw me out of my room for--well why doesn't matter, let's not get into me."
She waves a hand at Anja as if to say she should put it out of her mind. "But we're just traveling buddies. I drive him crazy, half the time, really. Pretty sure I'm in little sister territory, there... Always have, but my sword arm's good and his arms are both... well, you know, so we sort of wound up watching each other's backs before too long!"
Anja listens intently to both Skäne and Katie as they speak, nodding along with punctuated sips of soup. "The Land of the Linnorm Kings. I hear that is where our people are free. What is it like there...beyond the black skies and red deeds, of cours."
At this time, the lad Mikael brings up a box holding a few jugs from the looks of it, and takes it to Harren, who pats the boy on the head and sends him off again. Sifting through the box, he grabs up its contents and comes to the table with one armful of alcohol and another of mugs. He sets everything down - the drink-ware is a hodgepodge of wood, clay, and pewter vessels - and starts pouring and filling the cups. "A few jugs of ale still. Not the best you've had, I'm sure, but fair for these parts. Also a half flask of whiskey to be had. Help yourself," he says, leaving the jugs on the table after pouring as well as the half-full glass flask of whiskey.
Anja pushes the mugs around towards those present. She pours a nip of the whiskey into her own soup and then offers the flask to Skäne.
Geedra picks up one of the heavy jugs of ale, spilling a bit of it as she fills up her mug. She takes a long drink of it, wipes her mouth with the back of her arm and burps loudly. ”Not bad manners, am just good ale,” she says with a grin.
She turns back to finishing off the remainder of her fish.
Skäne takes a pewter mug, drawing a deep draught of ale as he listens to the table chatter.
At Anja's offer of the whisky he nods with a smile and accepts adding a dash to his own soup;
"My þakka . It is a hard land... but aye, its folk have sjálf-vili at least."
The normally gruff warrior mellows his tone a little, meeting Anja's gaze;
"Perhaps once we fullkominn our auðit quest, I will take you there to see my homeland."
Anja blinks a time or two, but the corner of her mouth twitches into a smirk. "That would be...something, to be sure...but it is very hard for an Ulfen to leave Irrisen, I'm told." She sips ale from a wooden mug, keeping an eye on Skäne. "A fated quest? That makes sense...fish-delivery seems a bit...outside of your combined talents. What are you doing here?"
Geedra waits for one of the others to handle this. She wasn’t sure mentioning the hut of Baba Yaga would get her anything except a funny look.
Skäne eyes the others as Anja asks regards the nature of their quest, then sips some more soup before answering;
"Best we not say. Should you be questioned by the servants of the iss-íviðia , you will sjá little save this meal."
The warrior's words are cautious, but not dismissive.
Anja stiffens slightly at the sudden cautious stone. She swallows her mouthful of soup and nods. "I understand. But I will say...if you all are actively working against the witches..well, you should be commended, and please know that you have the gratitude of us all."
Ringeirr, who you notice now is standing near a window and peering out of it, looks over to the table. "She's right," he says. "And Skäne is right when he says the less you know of all this, the better. I think it's best we move on once you're all done your meal. We aren't out of the thick of things yet."
”Tomorrow group need leave. Be nice sleep here get good rest. Am leaving tomorrow. Woman and Skane can tell stories tonight,” Geedra says with a smile.