"I'm almost positive this isn't a spirit. It's using illusions to throw its voice." Shalelu says, scanning the hills. "But I can't see where the caster's hiding. It might be a good idea to retreat and talk with the others. If we can't leave the road, it'll be much harder to get food."
Torra nods at Shalelu's plan. At least this invisible whoever wasn't trying to extort them. But why would they not want anyone to set foot into these hills? A mystery for another time.
The dwarf backs out slowly, then begins to move back towards the caravan. Should they reach it safely, they inform Sandru and the others of the encounter.
Ameiko looks concerned at Torra's report. "Ulf, how long will it take us to get out of the Giant-Downs and the territory of whatever this is?"
The guide rubs his chin. "Absent any catastrophic weather, in about six more days, we'll be faced with a decision of heading northwest or northeast. That should take us out of the Giant-Downs, but I'm not sure how far this 'spirit's' territory reaches."
"We have enough supplies to avoid going hunting and gathering for the rest of that time." Sandru muses. "Did you get a sense of what the spirit was?" He asks Torra and Shalelu.
The elf woman shakes her head. "Only that it was using an illusion of some sort to speak from a place it wasn't."
”Talk is easy. I can say I’m the Last Azlant, doesn’t make it true. The Wikkiwaks wanted our food. Now this fella doesn’t want us finding food. Seems like a pattern to me. Nobody is asking my advice but I say we continue on and forage as we need to. Put his words to the test.”
Perched on his shoulder, Andochtuir's hedgehog-like familiar suddenly looks up and pokes his creator's chin with its prickly arm. "What is it, boy?"
The familiar remains silent, looking around at the assembly. "Go on." The alchemist encourages it.
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Perhaps to the surprise of those present, the hedgehog familiar made from animated hairs then opens it's 'mouth' and actually speaks . "W-well I-i was j-just thinking it s-sounds like t-that common h-hoodlum trick. V-ven... Ventro... um..."
It withdraws, trying to hide behind the alchemist's neck.
"Ventriloquism," Andochtuir nods, patting him on the 'head'. "I've been trying to teach him how to talk. Obviously, I had some success - he's surprisingly quick on the uptake. I named him Zhu Zi - supposedly a Minkaian plant famed for its resilience, endurance and strength. Which seemed to fit with our caravan journey as a whole. Obviously, he has a ways to go to grow into his namesake," He smiles.
"That aside, I think Ritti's right. Someone is trying to trick us, and if it is resorting to common acts of deception, it is obviously not who or what it claims to be. Perhaps we could talk to it and confront it with this. Or ask probing questions on the history of the Storm Giants to unmask it. Then see what to do when it revela sitself. If it doesn't, I would suggest we ignore it and continue foraging as normal."
Yuto, standing quietly nearby, offers his support. "I-if it comes to co-confrontation, I will be ready to defend the ca-aravan. But until then, I thi-think we should proceed carefully, but don't let it dictate our actions. If we have to keep going, then, let's keep going."
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There's a few moments of silence as Zhu Zi speaks, with most of the caravan staring at him with a mixture of shock, alarm, and disgust. Then comes the rapid muttering of gossip and speculation, but no one objects to his words.
"We've got enough supplies to get us out of Urjuk." Ulf points out. "If there is a giant spirit that might raise a bunch of dead giants to hunt us down, I'd really rather not test it."
Koya touches her lips thoughtfully. "While the Song of Spheres favors the bold with luck... there is a difference between exploring boldly and looking for a fight." She muses. "I don't doubt your skills, of course." She says to the heroes. "You've fought an ogre mage and a building full of ninjas."
"There is a risk to the rest of us, though." Romia says. "If this voice can, like it claims, raise a whole lot of dead giants, we'll lose a lot of people." She looks at Sandru and Ameiko. "It's a gamble."
Ameiko remains quiet, thinking hard, when Losk speaks. "Giants are bad news, but if it's lying, getting more food'll be good."
"What does our future path look like, once we've left Urjuk?" Sandru asks Ulf.
"Depends. There're two paths we could take. The easier way or the harder. The second won't leave us as able to restock, but the first leaves us in a much more open position - people will notice us."
"We'll leave that question to later." Ameiko says firmly. "For now, I'd like to continue the forage. I'll go with the party to see if we can't negotiate with this 'spirit-guardian,' and to help deal with it if we can't." She lifts a hand when Sandru looks ready to object. "Between Shalelu, Torra, Andochtuir, and Yuto - and anyone else who'll come - I'm sure I'll be safe enough. Besides, I do know how to fight." The heiress' lips curve up in a half-smile before she grows serious. "Besides, in the worst case scenario, Teruko and Amaya are equally heirs to the family name." Teruko looks distinctly alarmed at this statement, while Amaya is as stoic as ever.
Sandru sighs. "Alright. I know that look. Ulf, you'll stay with the caravan while the foragers go out - same with the guards. If there are undead giants coming, I want to be ready to make a fighting retreat."
The caravan's mutters are distinctly unsettled as they settle in to camp for the night.
The next morning, the caravan sets out once more beneath clear blue skies. The radiance against the snow - which is at last starting to recede as they pass through the end of it - is nearly blinding, but the foragers head out despite the "spirit-guardian's" warning.
The spirit-guardian's voice thunders out across the snowy hills, the deep rumblings of an avalanche. "You were warned!" The threat is punctuated by an unearthly howl.
The voice incants a spell in the distance, and a thick, soupy fog surrounds the crest of the hill, concealing whomever is inside it, and even blocking Yuto from sight.
Shalelu curses, uttering a quick prayer under her breath as she draws her bow, hands dancing in strange patterns as her eyes remain focused on the thick mist.
Ameiko begins to sing a song that sends a surge of arcane energies to Yuto, who feels his feet lighten, letting him get through the snows more easily.
Ritti snorts quietly, ”Anyone tough as he was talking doesn’t need to hide in smoke.” She springs on top of the snow and circles around to the far side of the mist. Given how long their trip will take, she doesn’t want to waste any of her precious potions without good reason. She gambles this isn’t going to be a fight that requires them.
Sanity Score: 40 | Threshold: 3 | Edge: 20
Stunning Fist (4):
Ki Pool (4):
Shozoku (1):
Inspired (1):
Shuriken (30):
Shuriken Earthfire (2):
Thunderstone (1):
Scabbard (1):
Pot Mage Armor (9):
Pot Blur (2):
Pot Cat’s Grace (2):
Pot Invisibility (1):
Serene Ring (1):
Thunderstone (1):
Cat Boots (1): (if worn)
Effects:
Mage Armor – AC +4 – 1 HR
Torra had taken the disembodied voice's words at face value, so the dwarf is a little upset to hear that it might have been trying to deceive them. For now, they try to make the most of this forage expedition, knowing that every minute was precious.
Thus, when the guardian's voice booms over the snow, Torra is not quite surprised - they had been dreading and expecting the retaliation for their defiance of the spirit's warning. Circling to protect Shalelu's exposed flank, the dwarf closes their eyes briefly and plants their feet, trying to feel the subtle tremors that might indicate the approach of an enemy.
"Th-thanks!" Yuto mutters to Ameiko as he feels his feet going lighter and asks Suishen for its power, the blade bursting in flames as the fog raises.
Torra advances, extending her senses through the ground. From the earth, she feels a muffled vibration in the center of the cloud - something is definitely in there, and it's large.
Ritti, meanwhile, circles around the cloud, her boots carrying her easily over the snow as she falls into a stance that will let her better fight whatever hides inside.
Atsuko, meanwhile, begins to speak a rousing tale, empowering her allies and inspiring them to greater feats of valor.
Inside the cloudy mist, Yuto sees a huge shape that lashes out with a tremendous greataxe. The unprepared samurai is unable to bring his shield to bear swiftly enough, and is knocked back several steps as it cleaves through his armor and sends a gush of hot blood down his side. An icy chill creeps along the wound, numbing some of the pain, but not nearly enough.
Meanwhile, Torra feels the figure move slightly away from them, out of range of her sensitivity to tremors.
Yuto shouts in pain as the axe cuts through him "Wh-what's th-that? Wh-where it is?"
The young man moves to protect Ameiko, while Suishen triggers see invisibility.
Like his friend, Andochtuir closes ranks around the Kaijutsu Heiress, though he lingers slightly behind Yuti to heal him from behind.
"Everyone! This thing is striking at us from the mist, hoping we will try and move in to endanger ourselves. But the cloud will last mere minutes at most! We can just stay back, wait for it to dissipate and fight when it's forced to reveal itself!" He then calls out to his allies.
"Th-that is true and a goo-good point" Yuto raises his voice, his wounds thankfully healed "B-but what if it just cr-creates more of those? C-can you vent o-out the mists with your po-power over nature To-Torra San?"
Yuto slashes at the mists, trying to strike at whatever hit him, but to no avail - even with Suishen granting him sight of the invisible, he cannot see anything inside. With that, he retreats out of the mist to guard Ameiko.
Andochtuir also rushes to guard Ameiko, touching his friend's shoulder and healing him with a burst of miraculous power.
Shalelu nods grimly at Andochtuir's suggestion, readying her bow for the oncoming attacks.
Ameiko draws her rapier, which shimmers silver in the bright sunlight and its reflection off of the snow.
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”What?! You don’t wait for game to emerge, you flush’em out! Drop a fireball in the center of that mist and he’ll come out or burn!” Ritti rolls her eyes. Even to her, it sounded like a ham-handed lie… but the idea behind it was right. Drop enough fire bombs and you'd smoke him out.
She pulls her one and only thunderstone from her kit and hurls it into the center of the mist towards the rocking outcropping, hoping to disorient her spell-casting opponent before she goes after him.
Sanity Score: 40 | Threshold: 3 | Edge: 20
Stunning Fist (4):
Ki Pool (4):
Shozoku (1):
Inspired (1):
Shuriken (30):
Shuriken Earthfire (2):
Scabbard (1):
Pot Mage Armor (9):
Pot Blur (2):
Pot Cat’s Grace (2):
Pot Invisibility (1):
Serene Ring (1):
Thunderstone (1): x
Cat Boots (1): (if worn)
Effects:
Mage Armor – AC +4 – 1 HR
At Yuto's question, Torra shakes her head with a tight motion. It was flattering that Yuto thought she had power over nature, but the truth was far more limited. She tenses, waiting to see if the creature hiding inside the cloud would be indeed flushed out by Ritti's clever maneuver.
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Torra prepares to launch a blast of earth at anything that emerges from the mist. Meanwhile, Ritti (in an exercise of cleverness) attempts to bluff their enemies out by tossing a thunderstone. While her words fall flat, the explosion of noise certainly doesn't.
Atsuko takes a few steps back, readying her bow and aiming it at the cloud of mist.
The thunderstone's explosion is met with an equally loud howl, chilling the air with its very noise. Torra feels shifting movement within the mists, and a familiar type of oversized wolf appears at its edges. Immediately, Torra hurls her blast at the winter wolf, but its toughened hide deflects the projectile.
Shalelu releases the arrow she's had nocked for the past few seconds, letting it fly at the creature. The arrow goes quite wide, soaring into the deeper mists.
The wolf emerges to the edge of the mists, giving the others sight of it as well. With a deep inhale, it unleashes a barrage of icy wind at the gathered heroes.
With a roar a giant who looks like he might well be old enough to remember when these hills were full of his people explodes out of the mist, axe in hand.
Atsuko fires her bow at the oncoming giant, the arrow striking home in his chest.
Despite his injury, the mighty goliath rushes towards Andochtuir, clearly disinterested in anything he has to offer. The half-elf has the chance to strike at the oncoming behemoth before they clash. His fauchard rips through the giant's invisible armor, cutting into his flank.
Roaring, the giant slams bodily into the half-elf, knocking him to the ground, and brings his axe down as he passes, chopping bodily at the alchemist. Despite his many sorts of armor, the blow follows through, hacking hard into his hip and sending icy pain down the leg and through his torso. Pain muddles his mind, nearly knocking him out, but he clings on valiantly.
"Andochtuir!" Ameiko's voice is nearly a scream of terror, but she doesn't have long to contemplate his state, as the giant attacks her, swinging his axe over Yuto's head. The samurai does what he can to protect her, but it there is only so much he can do, and the axe blurs past him, smiting the Kaijitsu heiress, who yelps, stumbling back as blood oozes from a nasty wound on her shoulder - several inches deep.
Yuto screeches in pain from the frost, while Suishen quickly reacts casting protection from energy on him.
He follows up with a series of attacks as the giant approaches, trying to stop him from hitting Andochtuir and Ameiko "Oh no!"
Recovering himself from the surprise and trying to focus, he emits a challenge over the giant "Over my dead body! You will have to fight me first!" marking Ameiko as his ward.
With a quick movement of the flamming katana, Yuto attacks the feet of the giant, putting his own honor on trying to bring him down before he can keep harming his liege.
Then maneuvers to strike with an iterative back movement, his courage emboldened by Atsuko's song.
And if the giant stands up or casts, he takes the opportunity to attack again.
Reeling from being suddenly flash-frozen and then almost shattered in a single hit by a thusfar invisible giant, Andochtuir doesn't have much, if any time to come to his bearings. But rather than his own impending death, what worried him much more was Ameiko's scream of pain.
"Fall back," He whispers, searching her eyes. "You need to live. If anything happened to you, I wouldn't forgive myself."
Gritting his teeth, he attempts to tap into the energies required to heal his grievous wounds...
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As the giant thunders towards him, Yuto's prepared strike lashes out, cutting the creature's chest. He stumbles a low growl of pain in his chest as Suishen's searing blade sends smoke wafting up into his nostrils.
The samurai follows up, striking at the giant's heels and knocking him to the ground in a thunderous crash. Suishen flares brightly, warding its wielder against the icy chill of the giant's attacks as he strikes down at the fallen behemoth. The legendary sword slices another burning wound in the giant's hip, and he half-screams in agony as the fire burns him further.
Andochtuir draws upon the healing energies that he has tapped into, desperately hoping that the giant will not be able to strike him - but whether it is because Yuto has knocked him down or because he's just not fast enough, the greataxe's blow never comes, and most of Andochtuir's wounds heal swiftly.
"Fall back, Torra!" Shalelu retreats, tumbling back out of the way of winter wolf's threatening jaws, but isn't able to escape him so easily - the creature snaps back at her as she goes, going for her legs rather than anywhere more immediately lethal. The unfortunate elf hits the snow hard, knocking the breath from her. With a grunt, she gets to her feet, glaring at the white warg.
Ameiko hesitates, looking down at Andochtuir, and quickly chants a spell, tapping him and releasing another wave of healing energy. Now that he's fully healed from the giant's attacks, she steps away, trudging through the snow as best as she's able.
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Ritti hears the unearthly howl, feels the thundering steps of their enemies, and hears (more than sees) the pitched battle on the other side of the eldritch mist. Judging by the cries, the fight was going badly for her people. Giants and big wolves… real, REAL bad. The thief is pretty sure she can’t survive a hit from a giant… so she better make sure her first shot is her best shot because she’s likely to only get one. It will take a lot of skill and a bit of luck to make it happen.
Commending her foolish soul to Irori, Ritti triggers the shozoku and vanishes from sight. Then she dances across the snow (again thanking her boots for not leaving a trail) through the mist. She moves as far as she can through the impenetrable mist and arrives on the fading edge of the fog, ready to flank the giant and deliver a brutal reprisal.
To buttress her courage, she repeats a mantra in her head Bigger they are, harder they fall… Bigger they are, harder they fall…
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Torra stumbles a step backwards, hoping to draw the wolf away from Shalelu.
the dwarf screams. What would constitute a "good" wolf in her view is not part of the discussion right now.
The snow explodes around her, sizzling and dissipating in the suddenly superheated air. Earth and rock fly upwards and are flattened as if by an invisible hammer, pounded into red-hot shards, the impurities burned away until only the gleam of raw metal remains. These the dwarf aims at the winter wolf, sending them across the short distance separating them to strike the beast with overwhelming force.
Torra hops away from the wolf and unleashes her powerful blast at the icy creature. It strikes his(?) shoulder, sending him stumbling a few steps back, but his quadrupedal form keeps him from falling any further back. The raw power of her elemental fury sends aches throughout her body, but she's able to maintain her focus.
Ritti activates her shozoku's invisibility and carefully approaches the conflict, navigating the mists as best she's able.
Atsuko repositions, continuing the inspiring story she had begun earlier.
The winter wolf turns and snarls at Torra. "You're next." It lunges forwards, its jaws hissing with icy breath as it snaps at her legs. The fangs sink into her stony flesh, grating away at her muscles and tendons, and then it pulls back, yanking her feet out from under her despite her dwarven stability.
The giant growls, shoving himself to his feet, which allows Yuto the chance to strike at him again - however, Suishen deflects off of a field of force that surrounds the giant's body. He roars a battlecry.
With a powerful heave, he brings his axe down on Yuto first, unleashing a hail of blows that the samurai simply cannot completely protect against. Although Suishen's magic protects him from the icy chill of the giant's axe, it doesn't stop the sheer force of the attacks from cutting into his body and sending searing agony up and down his right arm as it cuts deep into his shoulder.
The alchemist takes a steadying breath as first his own, then Ameiko's healing energies rapidly knit together his flesh and bones. "Thank you. Now go! We'll handle him. We've been through worse," He promises the heiress before turning to aid Yuto.
Adjacent to the toppled giant, Andy scrambles up after him and tries to punch him in the heel with his spiked gauntlet as it rises, but his clumsy attempt deflects off of the Forcefield protecting it. Perhaps he shouldn't have tried to do it while also drawing his sword!
Standing and with his sword now out, he strikes into the giant's side again!
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Yuto clenches his teeth as he tries to keep on his feet when the massive axe hits over. To his own surprise the skin endured by Andochtuir's magics is more resilient than expected.
Resolved to protect Ameiko and his friends, he keeps attacking despite the massive size of the opponent "I praise your resolution to protect your people's lands, but my liege absolutely needs to pass by!"
Yuto continues his attack on the frost giant, who is unable to ward off the first attack, which burns a nasty-looking cut on his stomach, his axe comes down, knocking away the second series of attacks.
Though Andochtuir isn't able to land a heavy blow on the giant as he rises, the spiked gauntlet knocked away by his foe's armor of force, as the half-elf gets to his feet, he is struck in turn by a horrifically powerful blow that sends him staggering for a few heartbeats, ripping open a new wound on his chest.
However, he rallies swiftly and strikes home on the giant, slamming a bloody hole into the huge creature's thigh. His foe howls in pained rage, his hands twitching on the axe, but he doesn't release it.
Shalelu grunts, getting to her feet carefully, but the winter wolf is prepared, launching another attack at her as she does so. Although the fangs take a chunk out of her thigh, she is able to keep her footing this time, and rapidly falls back as quick as she's able, and though the snow slows her considerably, she's able to escape the reach of its jaws (for now).
Ameiko chants another spell, directing it at the giant, but the giant seems totally unaffected by it.
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Seeing her moment, Ritti slides unseen up to the giant. She becomes visible just as she delivers a brutal, lightning-fast, combination of punches and kicks to his freshly wounded leg and kneecap.
Sanity Score: 40 | Threshold: 3 | Edge: 20
Stunning Fist (4):
Ki Pool (4): x
Shozoku (1): x
Inspired (1):
Shuriken (30):
Shuriken Earthfire (2):
Scabbard (1):
Pot Mage Armor (9):
Pot Blur (2):
Pot Cat’s Grace (2):
Pot Invisibility (1):
Serene Ring (1):
Thunderstone (1): x
Cat Boots (1): (if worn)
Effects:
Mage Armor – AC +4 – 1 HR
The winter wolf turns and snarls at Torra. "You're next."
"Good."
A rather surprising thing to say when an enormous wolf is chewing on your tibia, but better Torra than Shalelu. At least in Torra's opinion. Without bothering to get up, the dwarf sends a spray of pebbles at the wolf's paws.
Torra doesn't even bother rising, unleashing a burst of powerful earthen projectiles at the winter wolf, which is struck square in the paws. It yelps, hopping a few paces back, but doesn't fall.
The giant is not so fortunate, as Ritti emerges from her invisibility and unleashes a hail of vicious blows on him, shattering bone and knocking him to the ground - within moments, he's dead, without even having the chance to make a sound.
Atsuko scrambles through the snow, leveling her bow at the winter wolf, and fires an arrow at it. It soars swiftly through the icy air and slams into the beast's flank.
As the chill blood of the fresh wound sprays out onto the snow, the winter wolf howls - a furious, mournful noise. "Kjaerulff!" A name, perhaps? With that, it retreats, dashing out of the combat and through the mists, and swiftly getting far enough away that it'll be nigh-impossible to catch up with it.
"That's... that's the last time we go out looking for a fight with enemies that we don't know the nature of." Shalelu says grimly, gripping her injury tightly as she puts away her bow. "And make no mistake - that's what we did. Ulf told us that we will be out of this place before we're out of food, and we were warned to not hunt here."
Ameiko winces, looking thoroughly abashed, but forces herself through the snow to the others. "I think we should get back to the caravan. If he wasn't alone, I don't want to be out here any longer than we need to be."
Ritti searches the giant corpse, hoping to find something of use to the caravan.
"M-maybe we were l-lost in translation. It seemed he w-would not let us move thr-through his lands..." Yuto looks confused at Shalelu's statement.
He does check Ameiko and the others are reasonably ok, then kneels to check the giant, and finally walks up over the cairn to see what exactly the giant was guarding.
After the fight, Andochtuir heals his new wounds, then tends to Ameiko and Shalelu afterwards should they wish. If the former accepts, the normally stoic warrior can't entirely hide being a bit nervous when channeling the energy to her injuries. "Thank you, again. I'm... glad you're safe." He softly says during the process.
He looks up sharply when Shalelu voices her displeasure rather harshly. "Are you all right?" He asks her, not unkindly. "I understand you might be upset; he struck me quite badly as well. But we decided on this as a group. There was no way of knowing it was an actual giant, what with the trickery involved. It was a risk, and while it might not have paid out, that does not make the decision faulty. The course of action was reasonable and we might very well have to repeat it in the future. You never know if down the line, foraging conditions might get even worse."
Though she's somewhat clumsy thanks to the cold, Ritti is able to work together with Yuto to pick through the giant's pockets. He doesn't have much - just his clothing, his tremendous greataxe, a wand that's almost long enough for it to be a rod in a human's hands, and a gold-plated astrolabe.
Atsuko identifies the wand as a partially charged wand of elemental touch .
Torra, meanwhile, is able to recognize that the astrolabe would probably sell for quite a sum at 500 gold pieces in Avistan. It might be worth less here, though...
"No." Shalelu replies to Andochtuir bluntly. "I was mauled by a winter wolf." There's a trace of dry humor to her voice, but it vanishes as she continues. "Still, I stand by my statement. If Ulf thought we needed the supplies, he'd have told us. We weren't aware of what was out here - only that it didn't want us here, and was making some grand claims and threats." She sighs.
Ameiko looks at the dead giant. "He would've left us alone, I think, had we not come here." She looks thoughtful, then her eyes darken as she turns to gaze at Andochtuir. "But Shalelu's right about one thing - we can't afford this sort of thing again. You were lucky this time, Andochtuir, but if he'd hit you a few inches up, he might've taken off your head."
"I'm not saying we don't risk foraging." Shalelu adds. "I'd be foolish to do so. But I am saying we shouldn't rush in recklessly when we know there's danger, but not what kind of danger it is."
The alchemist glances between Ameiko and her elven friend and sighs. "All right. Next time, we will thoroughly scout out every potential danger before acting."
"Even though that will often not be feasible," he thinks. It was a dangerous world. Threats were everywhere and if Shalelu and Torra had already failed to glean anything in their previous run, could they have here? But it was the brush with death talking, not common sense. There was no point to be contrary, so he withdraws to the others searching the giants and instead takes a brief flight through the surrounding area, looking for what could have been hidden heere worth guarding.
If nothing is found, he returns to the caravan with the others afterwards.
Andochtuir doesn't find anything noteworthy where they are - save for the fact that the overlarge hill nearby which they fought is almost certainly an old barrow for a dead giant. Perhaps the frost giant wasn't lying when he said these were sacred grounds...
Atsuko looks concerned and informs the others that a winter wolf like the one that fled may well attempt to attack the caravan again and again - especially since it might not have the same compunctions as its now-deceased companion.
Shalelu frowns. "If it gets the chance to rest and recuperate, it might really cripple our guards or - more likely - our animals. I don't think we should go rushing off after it - at least not Ameiko and I."
The Kaijitsu heiress looks conflicted. "I don't want us to lose anyone or anything to that wolf... but I won't demand that anyone here go after it." She sighs. "However, now that we've gotten it angry, it might be best to finish the job."
Ritti pipes up, "I'm in. Good or bad, you don't leave a job half-done."
Yuto glances at the others, nervously shifting on his feet. His voice trembles slightly as he speaks, "I... I don't think the wolf will come after us again, a-at least not while we're all together. We hit it hard, a-and it saw us defeat the giant. I think it's smart enough to know that it's not in its best interest to attack now."
He pauses, fidgeting as he looks toward the horizon, scanning for any sign of movement. His eyes narrow in concentration for a moment, before he turns back to the group "But... just in case, I'll keep an extra eye out for it, make sure it's not lurking around"
Yuto then looks at the others, his tone more determined though still carrying a hint of hesitation "W-we should grab whatever food w-we can forage and head back to the caravan. We can't a-afford to waste time out here"
"I think I can track it."
She looks at Shalelu. "It will not attack us when we're all together, but when we're alone... or worse, when someone in the caravan is alone. Most of them can't defend themselves as well as we can." She inclines her head to Ameiko. "We made a mistake coming here, let's not make another by leaving a dangerous foe where it can strike at us without warning."
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Shalelu nods slightly. "You all are fairly healthy. I think you can manage it. You," she looks at Ameiko, "however, will be coming back to the caravan with me. And no, I'm not going to take any answer except 'Yes, I will' from you."
Ameiko sighs, nodding, though there's some resolve that hardens behind her eyes. "Alright. Stay safe, you five. I don't want any corpses coming back with you." Her lips quirk upwards in a slightly pained smile. "But I think you'll probably do alright."
The five heroes move out, Torra in the lead, following the trail of blood (which swiftly fades) and the footprints of the white wolf. It takes them nearly twenty minutes before they arrive at what Torra identifies as a frequently-visited area - from the tracks, it looks like the winter wolf has been living here for quite some time. This, then, must be its den.
Yuto's hand lingers close to the hilt of his blade while glancing nervously at Torra as she leads the way "We need to end this. If it's been here for a while, it knows the area better than we do. We can't let it have the advantage"
He grips Suishen tightly, ready to act, though the tension in his body betrays his fear "C-can you bring your cold blessing to e-everyone before we engage th-the wolf Suishen?"
"Is it just me, or were we just publicly admonished for heading into unknown danger by Shalelu and Ameiko, only to be immediately sent into unknown danger - by Shalelu and Ameiko?" Andochtuir wonders as the group follows Torra, only to shrug. "Women." He sighs.
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"Yes." Suishen replies bluntly. "They must come to touch my hilt."
Ritti steps forward and hesitantly puts a finger on the sword's hilt... given her last experience touching the sword.
Yuto watches as the group come to touch the blade's hilt to combat the wolf's breath if it happens again.
Andochtuir’s remark earns a brief, uneasy chuckle from Yuto "I-it does feel like that, do-doesn't it?" he replies quietly, though his voice betrays his underlying tension.
When everyone is done, he slowly moves into the animal's den, shield and sword at the ready.