"That's good." River says, stepping up to the young woman so she can examine the needlework. "May I watch you work? I've been told that I'm supposed to be able to do this kind of thing, but I never needed it in my pool. It seems very complicated. Are you making something for the baby?"
Putting a gentle hand on the woman's back she channels some of her innate power, trying to help ease whatever malaise affects the woman. She isn't the sharpest when it comes to human emotions but even she can tell that this isn't normal behaviour.
Samuel nodded. "Well, I suppose that's that. Let's leave the shop talk off of the table and enjoy the meal before Samael's eyelids become wide enough for his eyes to fall out, hmm?
Samael and Saman seem to have been satisfied enough to comply, and began eating in earnest.
"Thank you." River says, folding herself up on the floor and watching Leona work. It's rather peaceful, the rhythmic clack of the needles and River lets herself drift, simply appreciating the moment.
The rest of dinner is spent in quiet conversation, tales of heroic deeds, and eventually drinking to the deceased and lost. Time slips away from everyone, with River eventually reappearing, and the lot of you decide that you have taken up enough of Samuel and son's time. With the recommendation of an inn nearby, you part ways with the mercenary crew in good spirits.
The May Pol is a small establishment but provides good lodging and food, both dinner and breakfast, for 2 gold pieces. The more investigative of the party ask around about the going-ons in town, but you don't get any information that Samuel hasn't been able to supply you with. In fact, some of the patrons turn into doomsayers the moment the Gouged Eye is mentioned, and it's easy to tell that the conspiracies they speak are not based on truth or reality.
The next morning, with one last gear check, your team heads to the north gate. Despite being called the "north gate," it really turns out to be an archway large enough for a few wagons to pass through side by side. Not even a fence, let alone a gate. Augustus' has been completely abandoned, or so you assume by the lack of noise and activity.
The plains lay before you, and off in the distance is your destination: the World End Mountains.
So close to their target, Crow rolled his neck and got down to business. "I would suggest that we start to move in formation, now. Either River or myself at the front or rear - I would suggest River take the rear, as her speed and ranged attacks will allow her to attack foes at the front more easily - and the good doctor and Edmund in the centre."
Statistically, they were more likely to run into problems at the front, and Crow preferred to be the one to 'find' any ambushes or traps that might be before them. His armour was solid and he had a good chance to spot a problem before it occurred. And if neither worked he could heal himself in a moment.
"If the walking wall of metal stops, we stop. Got it." Jebediah checks his belt and scarf, gives everything a tug to test his fit, then motions towards the gate and the road. "shall we then? There's plants that need cataloguing, traps that need sprung and a whole missing town to find."
and perhaps some rare ore to pick up...
River nods her agreement, it's probably better that she's not at the front. She's well aware she has a tendency to get distracted by things. It isn't usually a problem because most people get distracted by her in return, but there have been one or two occasions where she's been jumped and probably should have seen it coming.
Besides, if she's at the back she can talk to Edmund.
If the weather is unseasonably warm or cold, Edmund will cast a charge from his endure elements wand in the morning, but otherwise, the spry old man is ready for an exhilarating day of walking. His tweed walking jacket and stalker cap strike just the right tone as he pulls on thin leather gloves and grips his walking stick with very little intention of actually using it.
Edmund is both pleased with River's company and with the lack of actual rivers to tempt and distract the "young" woman.
River walks happily alongside Edmund and, after a few minutes, starts telling him about Leona.
"I think she was sad." The naiad concludes. "Could you make her better somehow? Children shouldn't have sad parents. It's not good. Then they become wicked step-mothers and the children get banished to the forests."
"You know," Jebediah chimes in over his shoulder, slowing up to walk beside River for a moment, "If memory serves, the woman just recently lost a family member to a bloody end. I'd think it a bit inconsiderate to 'make her better' when she just needs time to deal with the loss. Besides, if she were ill I think Sam and his boys would be asking us for help, hm? They all saw what the lot of us can do; certainly they'd at least ask for advice if they thought it was needed. I'm sure she'll be fine."
"You know," Jebediah chimes in over his shoulder, slowing up to walk beside River for a moment, "If memory serves, the woman just recently lost a family member to a bloody end. I'd think it a bit inconsiderate to 'make her better' when she just needs time to deal with the loss. Besides, if she were ill I think Sam and his boys would be asking us for help, hm? They all saw what the lot of us can do; certainly they'd at least ask for advice if they thought it was needed. I'm sure she'll be fine."
River visibly shrinks into herself at the Doctor's words and drops her gaze to the floor.
"Okay." She says softly and then falls back a few paces to take up position as rear-guard alone, and further away from the goblin.
Edmund sighs to himself as River retreats. He smiles faintly at Jebediah then gently shoos him away, falling back to walk with River. ”Humans don’t have as long of memories as you do, my dear, since our lives are so much shorter. As such, the expression ‘Time heals all wounds’ means that grief usually fades with time. If we come back that way in a month, and the good woman is still isolating herself, then there is cause for concern.”
Crow considered the issue. He understood grief, to a point. But he'd never really experience it himself. Sadness that a friend had passed, perhaps. Fear that an ally was lost and fell during a fight. But grief? He wasn't sure he'd ever been close enough to someone. No parents, no brothers, no sisters, no children. Lovers had been fleeting and physical.
As a result, Crow had only ever seen grief. He'd caused it more than once, and it had never bothered him. Yet the woman's pain clearly upset River. It occurred to him, however, that to feel nothing at the death of a loved one would be far, far worse than the pain she felt.
Edmund sighs to himself as River retreats. He smiles faintly at Jebediah then gently shoos him away, falling back to walk with River. ”Humans don’t have as long of memories as you do, my dear, since our lives are so much shorter. As such, the expression ‘Time heals all wounds’ means that grief usually fades with time. If we come back that way in a month, and the good woman is still isolating herself, then there is cause for concern.”
"Okay." River says softly. "I'm sorry Edmund. I don't understand these things sometimes. I didn't mean to cause a problem."
”Now, now, you haven’t caused any problems at all. Don’t even think that.”
The walk through the plains north of Pol is surprisingly peaceful, if somewhat dull. The group manages to keep themselves busy through the slow hours of travel with stories and (mostly) cordial conversation.
Night falls and you camp out, alternating guard shifts as adventurers do. With night falling, the baying laughter of hyenas reach your ears, but they do not seem hungry enough to try to approach your campsite (a few spare bombs from the good doctor certainly wouldn't embolden them, either.)
The next morning you wake, refreshed and ready for another thrilling day of travel. The World's End Mountains could be seen from Pol but as you close the distance they only get bigger. Those of you without an athletic streak may begin to worry about the climb. The mining town is another 18 miles from the base of the mountain, a daunting climb for those who are unprepared.
Crow begins seeing signs of hunts. Errant arrows carelessly lost, tracks of humanoids near watering holes, and signs of camps left behind. Each track inevitably ends towards the same place: to the mountain.
It's not much longer before you are at the base of the mountain. The sun begins to lower along the horizon. It is nearly 6 PM by the time your group arrives. The mountains seem to be looking down at you from here.
Dr. Castle points out the large groups of prints tracking through the woods. "Hunting party, perhaps?" He taps his chin and digs through his bag and belt for a moment, pondering. "One way or another the orcs are involved; are we stopping by to chat or staying aloof for now? I could perform some reconnaissance first; if they're on edge we can avoid them but if they're in a mood to talk I could probably win us some favor if they have sick or wounded, hm?"
River and Crow have a system by now where they trade off the two hours rest they each need and spend the remaining hours of the night completing minor useful tasks. It's a pleasant night and one that she rather enjoys these days so the day spent travelling the mountains is done with River in a rather good mood.
Unfortunately she still knows little about the ways of men, so although she sees a large number of footprints, she does not understand the significance of them.
"From what little I know of them, these orcs don't seem like the sort to appreciate people sneaking through their territory. I know that I brought a gift, and with healing and other gifts it would probably be best to simply approach them unless they're being especially aggressive." Crow shrugged with a clank.
”I also brought a gift, according to what my research suggested they would like. Would be a shame to antagonize these orcs when we brought along the means to befriend them.”
With enough daylight to fuel you for a few hours, the group decides to make use of their time and gifts to visit the orcs. The tracks are very easy to follow to the point where even River may subconsciously follow the trail while her mind wandered. It was very hard to move a group that large stealthily and it appeared as though they didn't bother trying.
As you follow, you come to realize that the orcs are avoiding the threshold of the mountain even as they move around it, sticking to the flat ground of the plains and even going out of their way if it would be quicker to move into the hills.
The trail leads you to a small, dense forest of thick trees sporting green fascicles. Not generally the type of tree you find in this climate, not this far down the mountain, anyway.
___________
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"Do we wish to enter?" Crow said, a little dubious about trying to go into the wooded area. "Our war party, or whatever it is here, looks like it likely went in." The fact these orcs were avoiding the mountain suggested they had an idea what had happened.
Dr. Castle steps in front of the party, holding his hand up to Crow. "Stop. We've been spotted. One Orc in the trees, just ducked away." He crosses his arms, tapping his finger for a moment. "Well if they didn't know we're coming, they're about to. I think maybe we should wait here and let them come to us. We advance on them like this and they might just take it as aggression. Either way they're bound to want an explanation. Speaking of which..."
Jebediah pulls out two vials, drinks one, the sips and spits the other one back into its vial. "Speaking the local language never hurt."
"Umm..." River doesn't have any idea what to do here, normally she just walks up to people and tries to talk to them. "Should I go first? Most people don't find me too scary."
"If you can speak their tongue then it's as good a plan as any. Just be ready to fall back quickly if they are aggressive." There was a chance they'd take a small woman in a dress as a weak representative, but it was just as likely they'd think the same of the Doctor or Edmund. And they might take Crow as a challenge. No path without risk, but River was fast and hard to hit.
"I don't know." River replies. "What do orcs speak?"
"Orcish, although some will speak common to help with trade, negotiations and the like," Crow said, smiling behind his helmet.
"I'll try then!" River says, a smile appearing on her own face as though to match Crow's.
With things decided she skips forwards into the trees, calling out first in common and then in sylvan.
"Hello? I'd like to talk to you please?"
Jeb jumps after River with a start. "Nonononono, wait! River!" He fumbles around with his belt and pack as he darts after her. damned waste of a dose... "River, stop!" he holds up a vial and a potion. "Drink this, then taste this and spit it back into the bottle. That way you'll at least know if they're saying "hello" or "die" before they start loosing arrows at you."
"Oh. Ok!" River says, taking the vial and sipping it daintily. She then opens her mouth and the liquid flows smoothly back into the vial without any visible assistance from the fey.
"Thank you." She says, in goblin, before turning back to the trees.
"Hello? Am I talking your language now? We're here to meet your chief! We have presents."
As River runs and yells forward, she only makes it a few steps away from Jebediah when a cloud of smoke rolls in from the forest near where the orc departed.
None can see the assailant through the lingering smoke that overtakes River and Jebediah, but you can hear a very threatening voice coming from behind it.
The voice is unnaturally deep, and the bellow is loud enough to scare off birds from the trees.
"That's not very friendly!" River calls once she gets herself under control again. "Just want to talk! We're looking for missing people!"
Crow tensed, hoping that whatever had happened wasn't a start of hostility. He shouldered his greatsword and scanned the area, hoping that they hadn't missed an ambush.
The smoke lingers shortly before disappearing completely, leaving River coughing out her words However, there is nothing where the smoke came from, and everyone feels... light headed, whether they breathed in the fog or not.
As you look around for some sort of assailant or creature that could have done this to you, a feeling of dread passes through your minds. If it weren't for the entrance of the forest being directly behind you, you aren't sure if you'd know where you were.
Crow grunted, staring at the smoke intently. He was used to feeling fear, dread and suchlike in combat. Fear was the biggest murderer of warriors to stalk the realm, and he was good at controlling it.
He scanned the fog for magic, poison, and simply because he could, the influence of demons. It was unlikely, but he did it anyway.
Edmund holds his head and tries in vain to clear the fog, literal and mental. He tries to concentrate to determine what sort of spell that was.
”That was a…a…I can remember, I think…. It was a…a spell of some sort, I think. Most distressing. Most distressing indeed.”
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Gritting his teeth, Jebediah shudders visibly as the unknown effect chills his mind. He turns back toward the forest entrance, tugging River along by the cloth of her pants leg. "This. This is why I said we should wait for them to approach. I don't know WHAT in Azmodeus's soggy ass that was, but I don't think it was an Orc. Unless the gouged eye tribe are suddenly VERY into magic and very afraid of visitors, I think they've got neighbors who don't want us here."
He shudders again, trying to shake off the disquieting unease as he thinks. "Wait. It said 'my' forest..."
"That wasn't nice." River says, looking a rather odd shade of green against her blue skin. "I tried to ask nicely."
"The fog is tainted, and affecting you. Let us fall back to the edge and recover for now," the ogre-blooded fight suggested. "It doesn't seem to affect me as much, so I'll fall back last." He didn't move away, and only searched what he could see for clues. He didn't want to mention them to the others until they recovered, either. He didn't want them to wish to follow. It put him at a disadvantage, but...