The sun is shining, as it seems to do so often in Sandpoint, when you arise the following morning. When you arrive at the Goblin Squash Stables (for those heading there), you see Aldern along with three manservants, and a set of horses for each of them and each of you.
"Good morning friends! A beautiful day for a hunt, don't you think?"
"Good morning, Master Foxglove," says Eloen. "I see you are quite eager for the hunt to commence. But what if your quarry proves to be more than you'd anticipated?" She looks over the horses, sparing a glance over her shoulder with the question.
Staying at The Rusty Dragon, Rigel smiled and waved good-bye to his companions. "Pleasant dreams." The priest went upstairs to his room, again pondering over the unexpected gift he had received before turning in.
Rising early, as usual, the cleric gathered his things, giving thanks to the Starsong Herself for the opportunity to travel the countryside, and in such lovely company. He met the others at the stables, eyeing the horses with concern. Like most folks, he could ride passably, but if they ended up having to chase an animal on the things he wasn't sure he'd manage.
"Good morning, Aldern. A beautiful day it is, I agree." Rigel started to respond to Eloen, ensuring that he would indeed call upon Desna's graces to heal anyone injured by a boar, should it be necessary, but instead decided to await Foxglove's response.
After awaking early, Ileana dives into the baking preparation, her mind alive with all of the goings-on. As she working things out, she talks to herself, "They say sleep is the best way to set your head straight... what was I thinking, getting caught up in a hunt. There's so very much work that needs doing around here." she says as she pounds the bread, mixing it more evenly, as she fires an older batch.
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Near daybreak, she wipes her brow with her apron, as she readies to head out. She grabs her hunting bow despite the fact she doesn't actually expect to go hunting, heading to the stables.
Once she arrives, her nose wrinkles with distaste. She never had gotten along with the owner very well. "Ummm, bad timing probably... but I've decided that there's just way too much work to do here in town for me to go on a hunting trip on such short notice. Things are really piling up after the festival... I'd expected them to slow down. If you need me, I'll be around, I think. Do you have anyone to track for you, or were you counting on me for that?"
Leona arrives at the stables shortly behind Ileana. "No idea, never been hunting." She says to Foxglove.
If Ileana tells her she isn't going she'll look a little disappointed but quickly shrug it off. "I can't track but I'm sure Foxglove can or knows someone that can. If we are going to do a feast for everyone this could be a great way to advertise the bakery." She gives a weak argument for her to still join them as her decent company was dwindling. "But if you'd rather stay I won't judge."
She returns to the horses looking them over."So, which one is mine?"
Rigel looked at Ileona curiously as she bowed out, noting that she had indeed come prepared to travel. The priest wondered what might have changed the woman's mind. Leona's subsequent arrival and attempt to pull the baker back in did not go unnoticed, and so the cleric didn't pile on, instead smiling at the inquisitor. "It would be a shame to be inside on such a lovely day, but responsibility and duty ever call. Perhaps we'll see you later, then, if you'll be staying?"
In truth, he meant to talk to the young woman about her talents with the fires on the night of the attack. While he didn't think she was a priestess, she certainly possessed some kind of divine gift. Rigel hid his smirk as Leona got straight down to business, as usual, asking about the horses. If Ileana meant to leave, he would offer her a wave before walking over to the equines and waiting to see which one would be his steed for the day.
"Well... it's not as though I -have- to stay. Only that I should. And if you were under the assumption that I would be doing the tracking, then I absolutely should go." Ileana says, giving a small shrug. "I can get a note to my family saying I had to head out... and I think you're right, it could be good for the bakery.." she says, trailing off, looking to the noble for his response.
But what if your quarry proves to be more than you'd anticipated?
"Oh I'm quite sure that won't be the case. Plus, I have you all with me, and I've seen what you can do with goblins." As he says this, he tries to force a genuine laugh but you can tell that he's still a bit shaken up from the goblin ordeal.
Do you have anyone to track for you, or were you counting on me for that?
"Oh, I can track a bit, but I'm sure you're much better. I'd be ever so pleased if you'd join us so that I can learn from your skills."
So, which one is mine?
"Whichever you'd like! Does one strike your fancy in particular?"
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Filona has trouble sleeping tonight. Being invited to a hunt was scarier for the gnome than the goblins. She wasn't a vegetarian, but she despised needless violence towards animals, even worse when it is for sport.
The next morning she wakes up and goes to Aliver's alchemy shop. So, can we start the training today?, she asks.
"If it's just an evening trip, I think that should be fine, actually. I can probably work on what I wanted to get done today, tonight... then just wake up a bit early tomorrow to catch back up."
She makes the necessary preparations as quickly as she can to send word back to her family before returning a moment later. "I've not ridden much... or at all. Hopefully the horses know what they're doing better than I do." Ileana says a bit sheepishly.
Eloen busies herself with preparing the horse. "I'm sure we'll have a quaint expedition. We'll need a travois of some sort to bring back any beast we do manage to fell, of course."
Rigel defers to the ladies to pick their preferred animals before he makes his selection, pleased that Ileana seemed to be able to join them after all. Not knowing much about prepping horses for travel, he leaves it to the stablehands to get the beast ready, instead making small talk with Foxglove and the ladies.
When they were underway, he continued to chat about the wilderness they were traveling through, feeling the thrill of discovering some place new even though it was just rolling hills and grass, for the most part. "Aldern, do you have any business you conduct? I would like to hear of your travels, if you've been anywhere distant and exotic..."
Aldern, do you have any business you conduct? I would like to hear of your travels, if you've been anywhere distant and exotic...
"Oh, I can't say I've done much very exciting. I'm primarily a land broker - my family owns a number of properties in Southern Varisia, and I take care of them and rent them out, nothing very exciting; but what about you - Desna is the goddess of travel, no? You must have quite a life!"
"In that case I'll take this one." Leona motions towards whichever horse had the darkest coat. "Such a pretty color." She comments as she starts checking the saddles and mounting up.
When she finally manages to get set up, she rides back over to Ileana. "Or you could just take an evening off and enjoy yourself for a bit. Everyone deserves a break every now and again right?" Considering how rare it was for TItus to leave town for very long Leona knew what it was like to be overworked.
Leona looks over to Eloen when she mentions a travois. "I'm sure Foxglove has everything we need but worst case maybe we could tie it to some sticks and carry over our shoulders?"
As they ride out Leona's attention is split between trying to stay on the horse, looking for wildlife, and listening to the others so she isn't paying too much attention to Foxglove despite her efforts. She tries to stay near the front of the group but would never take the lead, mostly because she had no idea what she was doing.
Recognizing the man's attempts to deflect the conversation to Rigel but shrugging it off, the priest grinned abashedly as they made their way towards the Tickwood. "Honestly? This journey to Sandpoint to witness the consecration of the Cathedral has been my first bit of real traveling. I came to know the Starsong at a fairly late age...I was an apprentice tanner until a few years ago. To confess further...I really don't have a plan beyond the travel here. And you know what? I don't think I've ever been more excited to know what comes next!"
The young man laughed, looking at his female companions in addition to Foxglove to see how they reacted to such foolishness. Still, he trusted his Goddess to guide him correctly, and judging by his present company, he had chosen wisely. Even the nobleman was making for decent companionship. Rigel wondered if he should mention to Eloen Foxglove's apparent fondness for her, but decided to punt the issue until later. All parties involved were adults, so there was no harm being done in being interested.
As the group approached the forest, the cleric made sure to let Ileana lead, since she had at least some experience tracking, though he'd make sure to stay close in case she needed support. If they only had wildlife to contend with, it likely wouldn't be an issue, but you could never tell this far away from civilization. After the goblin attacks, you couldn't be sure at all.
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Filona was having fun playing with the alchemist's seriousness. She brought in some colorful ornaments she could find from the festival's leftovers to his shop. Since I'm going to come here more often, to learn from you, I want to make this place a little bit more cheerful. You don't have a say in it, she comments with a bossy face. You know, I am really eager to learn, how about we start right now? I mean, this is a really good opportunity for both of us, isn't it?. she lied trying to make her presence unavoidable.
Her plan was simple. If he agreed to teach her starting now, she would have some freedom to wander around the shop. If not, then she would play the decorator and spread ornaments in the shop and maybe look in a drawer or two.
Ileana grabbed a horse with a stormy coat, deep gray, but with dapples of white like snowflakes... but then thinks better of it, eyeing the Desnan man. Thinking that perhaps they were more like stars than snowflakes, she offers him the reins before moving to a chestnut mare. It better matched her armor, despite being less inherently beautiful.
As they ride, she's quiet, her eyes on their surroundings, but also on the noble. Ileana didn't seem to react much at all to the perceived foolishness that Rigel had, self-doubts and all, it was simply the common thing for Varisians in the area to do exactly what he was suggesting. There were some that would 'grow roots' as it were, but around here, his need to simply move was not unheard of.
Ileana, for her part, was certainly Chelish in all the ways that Rigel was Varisian - not that it was any sort of racist connotation - simply that culturally, she was more akin to the former. She was happy to simply be where she was, helping where she could, and dutybound to ensure that everything was as wonderful as she could manage. Thankfully, her idea of 'wonderful' wasn't quite the same as modern day Cheliax, however.
Aldern continues to chat a bit with Rigel, but then slows his horse a bit to ride alongside Eloen.
"And what about you? You can't tell me that someone as impressive with a bow as you are hasn't spent time traveling around the region at least?" With that he flashes his best smile and waits for a reply.
"Yes, yes, fine - we can start now. I have a set of glassware that needs cleaning in the back. Think you can handle that?" His mood seems to be somewhat more sour than it was the last time you saw him.
Rigel's eyes lit up as Ileana offered him the reined to the mare with the lovely coat, smiling his thanks to the woman before leading the horse towards the group getting ready to depart.
As Foxglove lingered behind towards the elven woman, Rigel smirked but held his tongue, turning his head forward and towards their destination in the distance. He began humming a traveling tune he had heard a caravaner in Magnimar singing one day while out in the markets, trying to focus on potential danger but enjoying the slow ride through the countryside. He remained behind Ileana, smiling at any who happened to be looking at him, silently inviting any to conversate with him while not encroaching should they prefer silence.
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Filona goes to the back of the store looking for the glassware in need of cleaning after replying with a ferocious look Yes, master to the grumpy alchemist.
As she cleans the glassware, she does it slowly attempting not to break anything and worsen Aliver's mood. She does keep a keen ear on Aliver, though, hoping to hear someone talk in whispers with him, or to percieve a situation where he could be distracted, so she could look into his stuff more closely.
Eloen manages to haul herself into the saddle, though it's obvious that she's not a very experienced rider. Still, her natural agility makes it possible for her to control the horse well enough. She seems to enjoy taking in the fresh air of the ride.
"Me? I traveled here from Kyonin many years ago. I've lived in Sandpoint for the last twenty years. Occasionally we have to deal with goblins in local areas - tribes in the Tickwood, Brinestump Marsh, Egan's Wood... they present a problem to travelers and outlying farmsteads every few years. It's given me occasion to master combat archery, though realistically I have spent much of my time in town, as a simple guardwoman. I've seen a few of the forests not far from Sandpoint, of course, but I've not been to Magnimar nor have I really done the 'adventurer's gambit' of exploring places like Devil's Platter or the Tors," says Eloen conversationally to Aldern. She keeps pleasant but reserved throughout.
Not one for small talk, Leona focused her attention on trying to find any signs of the boar they were hunting. She was here for the food after all. Unfortunately, she had no idea what exactly she should be looking for so any 'tracks' she spotted were more likely just the standard wear and tear of the elements on the trees and ground.
Since Ileana had said she could track Leona would turn to her for some guidance. "So what exactly do boar tracks look like? Is that one or that?" She pointed towards pretty much anything that looked like an indention in the ground or a broken stick. "Is it this one?"
"Boar tracks will look like a pair of high heel shoes, with really pointy toes. They're broad and thick, and the heels don't always show up. They can also be long, parallel 'ruts' if they felt threatened.." Ileana responds, "We're also looking for mud puddles where they can 'bathe', and looking for trees nearby to be covered in mud from them cleaning themselves the rest of the way off."
As Leona begins to ask about various 'tracks', Ileana shakes her head. "Look for uprooted things, small burrows, and trampled down grass in broad swaths. Broken sticks are likely to be other things entirely. Boars are really big, and tend to wear paths in foliage as well. You can also look for dug up bare patches of ground near thick patches of brush." Ileana offers, keeping her eyes on the surrounding area as she talks, looking passingly at what Leona points out.
Rigel leaves Eloen to speak with Foxglove for now, focusing instead on the two women in front of him. He managed to hide his smile as Leona started peppering Ileana with questions about their quarry, his esteem for the baker increasing as she stayed patient and steadily tried to explain what they were looking for while politely looking at what Leona pointed at.
Riding up a bit further and gaining on the pair, Rigel swept his eyes about, looking for a bit of what Ileana had said.
Shrugging, he then turned towards the self-termed guardswoman, hoping to distract her for a bit. "Leona, you've served as a bodyguard here for a while, right? Anything interesting happen in that line of work? Travel anyplace exotic with your employer?"
Leona tries to keep a look out for any of the signs that Ileana tells her about. She doesn't take her eyes off the ground as she answers Rigel. "I don't travel, not in the job description. I'm supposed to stay here and make sure no one messes with Titus or his assets. I've just gotten a small break with him out of town." After a while of not being able to spot anything she was starting to get bored. "Not too many interesting things happen around here just a lot of bad. Most of my work with him is just to look scary so I don't get to know much about his personal life much less go on trips with him."
Aldern seems fascinated by hearing about Eloen's history, not taking his eyes from her as she talks, mumbling things like "incredible" and "what a life you've led" at even the most mundane details.
He eventually turns his head toward Ileana as she describes how to find a boar.
"Yes, indeed! In fact . . ." he trails off as he looks to the side of the trail you're on. More swiftly than you would have anticipated, he swings down off his horse and moves to the side of the trail.
"We might have something here! Ileana, come take a look - what do you think?"
Ileana purses her lips as the others continue looking and pointing out things, but that's the most annoyed she seems to get by the whole ordeal. She certainly doesn't seem to mind helping to teach. She continues to look for different signs of their passage on her own, but surprisingly, Aldern who couldn't take his eyes off of Eloen was the first to find them.
She looks to the pit, and begins to say no, but catches herself in time, "Yeah, and the ruts are surprisingly fresh. The next step is to look for a tree that he's wiped himself off on, and then follow the trail. But be careful, such a creature will charge and gore anyone who it perceives as a threat or food. We should tether the horses nearby, so they don't have to meet up with the boar."
Rigel thought about mentioning that Leona didn't look scary to him, but he wasn't sure if it would come across as a compliment or would irritate the woman. Besides, it wasn't completely true, anyway. "I see...so you lived her during these Troubles, then?" The priest couldn't quite remember what they had been called, but he was certain the context would be enough.
The cleric is caught off guard by Foxglove moving away from Eloen and to the so-called track, and even more so when Ileana confirmed it was indeed a boar. Perhaps the nobleman wasn't as foppish as he would like folks to think. Heeding the baker-woman's words, he tied his horse securely to a nearby tree, patting her flank before joining the others. "Surely it's not that bad...is it? It's just a pig, right?"
"It's just a pig when we kill it." Ileana says, selecting another nearby tree to attach her horse to. "But until then, it's a threat. Boars are borderline invasive species and basically ruin everything around them pretty often. And they're really volatile. They'll kill things just because they happened to come nearby, ruin crops." she says with a small shrug. "Extremely ill tempered. So... until it dies, assume it's every bit as dangerous as the goblins we fought, or more." she continues as she unhitches her shortbow from her pack and draws a pair of arrows out.
"You mean the Late Unpleasantness? The time when we lost all those people to a serial killer then even more to the fire. Yea I was. Weird time to bring that up but yea I was." She gives Ileana a glance from the corner of her eye after she answers. "Hey look it's literally anything else." She used Foxglove's spotting as a way to change the subject.
Following Ileana's guidance Leona started to dismount and secure her horse next to the others. "To be fair I do the same thing." She tries to joke when Ileana mentions it charges threats and food. "Well we saw how well the goblins did so let's get dinner." She pulls out her axe and waits for Ileana to lead the way.
As you're talking, most of you hear movement in the brush off the trail. Looking up, you see the tiny, bloodshot eyes of an ill-tempered beast glaring at you angrily above a mouth filled with sharp tusks. It seems that the boar has found you.
Aldern springs to a standing position and draws his rapier, ready for the boar's charge.
Eloen dismounts as quickly as she can.
As soon as Ileana sees the boar come into view, she brings her bow up horizontal and fires off a quick snapshot, already nocking another arrow within her grip just after she fires, bringing the shortbow back level with the creature, she takes a step back so that if it goes for her, it will wind up - hopefully - between multiple people.
The boar squeals in pain as Ileana's arrow sinks into its flesh. It turns its attention toward her, and charges! The boar's tusks catch Ileana squarely in the side and rip a horrific wound in her side.
Aldern springs forward, shouting "Ileana, no!" before stabbing with his rapier. He cuts through the creature's flesh, causing it to squeal in pain again.
Boar: 4/18
Ileana is utterly surprised by the creature's speed amidst all the heavy foliage and is foisted straight from her feet and onto her back by the charge, where she lies broken.
Eloen grabs her bow from the saddle, turns, fires, and of course misses.