Chapter One: Journey Into The Fey Forest

Ashwyn smiled at his explanation. "A wise practice." She nodded. She moved expertly over the roots and and rocks of the ground until she was sitting near Sigurd so she could speak with slightly more volume without waking her companions.

At his question she nodded. "I've been through worse than that." She leaned back against the trunk of another tree. The low rumble of his voice and the look in his eye as he looked at her gave way to his concern but she decided not to point it out. "What about you? I know you're tough, but you still took quite a hit."

Sigurd went back to staring off into the darkness, "if that spell was used in a silver mine is have been concerned. But a human in a loincloth waving a stick and shooting rocks is hardly any cause for concern." He let his head rest back against his tree and sighed "That and a life time of training makes it easier"

The muscles in his jaw twitched slightly as he thought back to the battle. The gnome... As smart as he claims to be he didn't have the mind for battle tactics. The quest they're on requires information. Information they didn't have, had Zane tried to subdue the warrior rather than impulsively blast him they hopefully would have gotten some answers.

"From now on, we hang back with the others I may not always be able to close the distance with a lucky Axe throw..." That way, he though to himself, he'd have better control of the battlefield.

Ashwyn nodded at his suggestion of hanging back with the others. "I tend to agree. While I believe their expertise will come in handy while we're here, it's clear neither one is used to battle. It's better if we stay close together."

She frowned. "That warrior still bothers me. He couldn't have been alone. I feel like we haven't seen the last of them. If only we could have talked to him." She shook her head in frustration.

She allowed the silence between them to grow for a moment, just taking in the sounds of the forest. When she spoke again, her voice was even quieter. "What do you think we'll find here? Do you think we'll find answers? Or are we just walking into one giant war?"

"we don't even know what it is we're looking for..." He sighed "we're just put looking to see what there is to see. Any answers we do get we'll have to extract from someone, the centaurs were no real help in that regard... Docile farmers..."

Sigurd could feel his eyes growing heavy, the battle must have taken more out of him than he though. "You mentioned guiding my people through the forest, and that's been bothering me. We don't need guided through our own forest..."

Nodding about the centaurs, Ashwyn was actually taken by surprise by his next question. Guess I didn't offend him as much as I thought I did... She thought.

"In general, no. You don't." She tilted her head up, focusing on the breeze as it flowed through the leaves. "It was.... Complicated." He hadn't been all that interested in her history before so she was unsure how much he wanted to know. "How well do your people know one another? I know you tend to be more... Connected... Than human villages are. And your tribe isn't too terribly large. But if I mentioned a name.... Would you know who it was?" She knew that the memories of the Spell Wolves of Thunderknoll were very strong. She just wasn't sure how strong.

Sigurd stifled a yawn, "depending on what their role in the village was. If they were a fighter then I would know them for sure, we're not as connected as some think we are, yes our wealth is spread evenly for the most part but being my father's son I have duties and I've spent most of my apart from the rest of the village. Training our fighters is the closest I get to social behaviour. But you ask me who our bakers or priests are and I couldn't begin to tell you" it hadn't dawned on him until now just how seperate he was from the village, even his parents would frequent the markets just like anyone else. Maybe it was his pride it didn't matter though. He wasn't there now.

Ashwyn nodded. She hesitated for a moment before she spoke again. "Do you remember Lucas Osion? Mid-level fighter.... Born roughly 90 years ago."

Sigurd thought for a moment "Yes. Third youngest of nine, runt of the family, penchant for disobeying orders, decent in group combat, lacking in single combat, quick wit to almost an annoying degree, became feral, avoided containment and was forcibly relieved of duty." He recalled autonomously as if reading a personnel dossier. "Lack of direction wasn't something I was aware of." He rolled his head to the side to look at her, Ashwyn face was telling enough but it wasn't for Sigurd to make any assumptions.

Hearing his life listed off like that... So impersonal.... She didn't blame Sigurd. It wasn't as though they were friends. She hesitated a bit, trying to control her breathing so her voice wouldn't crack when she spoke again.

"The reason I started guiding people to your village was because of your father. He wanted tourist to come through to provide more income to your people. Lucas was assigned to me as a sort of... Assistant slash body guard." She swallowed the lump forming in her throat. "He accompanied me on every trip. We grew.... Close."

Se cleared her throat and sat up a bit straighter. Her mind was already threatening to replay the same events that regularly plauged her dreams. She turned to Sigurd in a desperate plea to distract her mind. It was then she noticed something. The curve of Sigurd's face as the moonlight hit it through the tree cover. She blinked, realization dawning on her.

"You were there. The night Lucas.... How did you put it? When he was forcibly relieved of duty?" She leaned forward a bit to look at him better. "I didn't realize...you looked so different in the sunlight...." Her voice was soft, almost as if she were talking to herself now. "You were there... You ended it. Didn't you?"

Sigurd turned away from her again and spoke plainly "yes. Not the ideal situation but it had to be done. Normally we would try to disable and detain. But for some reason he had become stronger than I thought possible. If you were there and you saw it then you understand." His voice was cold and direct but his memory replayed the night so clearly. Lucas wasn't the first and sadly wouldn't be the last.

Ashwyn watched him turn away and instantly knew that it had hurt him as much as it hurt her now to remember it. "Of course." She nodded to his words and turned away to stare out into the dark.

"I had never seen him that way. So strong....Out of his head..." Her eyes stared straight ahead but they didn't see the dark forest. She was lost in the memory. A rabid werewolf tearing at the trees and bushes. Chasing her with a speed she hadn't known was possible. "I must have fired a dozen arrows. He didn't even slow down." In her memory she saw Sigurd and several others tackle Lucas to the ground. It took all of them to subdue him.

"I lost everything I had left that night....everything." Her hand strayed to her stomach briefly before she shook her head, pushing the memories back again. She cleared her throat again and spoke to the ground. "I was with your healers for the better part of a month. I didn't spend much time in your village after that."

"for what it's worth. It was quick." Shifting his back against the tree slightly Sigurd closed his eyes and tried to will himself to sleep, each feral was a failure for him, one more person he couldn't save and thinking about it again was making him mad.

She nodded. "I know. Thank you for that."

She sighed, her body slumping slightly. The memory of such heartbreak was tiring to her. She turned to look at Sigurd again and saw his eyes closed. "I'm sorry, you need your sleep." She paused before continuing. "...I'm sorry. I'm sorry you had to do what I couldn't do." She said softly. If she had ended Lucas when she had the chance...when he had asked...then Sigurd wouldn't have had to do it himself.

Meanwhile Lopiena slumbers long and deep, oblivious to the troubles of her companions. As dawn nears, the forest becomes a chorus of birdsong loud enough to disturb even the deepest sleep. Drifting between dreams and wakefulness, Lopiena listens to the songs of familiar friends, new songs never heard before, and even a birdcall that sounds like...someone weeping? Nah, must still be dreaming. Shifting slightly to pull her blanket tighter, she dozes lightly until everyone else is ready to rise.

As the rain started to fall, Ashwyn wrapped her cloak around her body and pulled the hood over her head. The tree cover protected from most of the heavy hitting rain, but the water still fell steadily from the leaves. It wouldn't be long before they were all soaked through. She stood and walked over to her pack and grabbed some of the larger leaves from a nearby bush. She pulled some twine from her pack and began to weave the leaves together. Luckily they were large enough that it only took a couple dozen. She fashioned a sort of blanket and then wrapped it over her pack She watched the rain run off of the leaves and down instead of soaking into her pack and she nodded to herself in satisfaction.

She was just finishing securing her makeshift blanket to her pack when she heard Lo shifting. Before she could even turn to greet her, she heard sputtering from behind her. Turning it was to find Zane, already soaked and flailing about. Apparently he'd been laying under a particularly large leaf that had been filling up with water, then it all fell on him at once.

"Peh-Wha-ahck!" He shouted as he sat up. He was looking around in a panic for a moment before he realized what was happening. "Ugh...great. Rain...just what we need." He grumbled. He scrambled over to his bag and pulled out spare clothes and pulled them on over his others, trying to cover his head.

Ashwyn sighed. "It can't be helped. No sense in waiting around for it to stop. It's not going to get any dryer." She threw her pack over her back and turned back to the others.

Sigurd's eyes opened slowly to the sound of the rain on his armor. Without so much as a word he rose to his feet and turned to his companions before stepping through them. He made no effort to shield himself from the downpour as he stood on the path ready to continue. The sound of rushing water had deadened his hearing and washed away any scent if there was any to be found. He hated rain for this but it was just a part of life and the way things had to be, the smell of freshly wet ground was at least a relaxing aroma.

"Mind your footing. Fallen logs will be slick and the possibility of getting stuck in the mud will increase as the rain continues."

Slowly rousing to the sound of rain falling, Lopiena inhales the moist air deeply. Nothing more beautiful than rain in a forest. She turns her face up into the life giving water, barely resisting the temptation to lick the tree. Hearing her companions moving around, she folds her blanket around her staff and tosses the bundle near her pack. Still not entirety awake, she reaches for a branch that isn't actually there and falls out of the tree...fortunately it's not a big drop and she jumps into a standing position, apparently unharmed. "Well drat. So much for graceful entrances," she grumbles, giving the impression that this sort of thing happens all the time. Returning to her pack, she puts the (slightly damp) blanket away and pulls out an oil-slicked cloak. Grabbing a couple of rolls and some dried meat, she glances at the sputtering gnome and pulls out a well used but functional wide brimmed hat.
"Zane, would you like to try this hat? It will keep the rain off your face, " she offers. Not waiting for a response, she places the hat near Zane, closes the pack and puts it under her cloak. Adjusting a few straps, she smiles at her companions.
"Thank you for waiting, everyone. I'm ready whenever you are."

Looking into the clearing Ashwyn frowned. On a nicer day this would be a good place to rest for a moment. But with the storm it didn't look inviting at all. She knelt down to look closer at the water but it wasn't clear if it was just standing water on regular ground or if it was an actual pond area.

"I don't like the looks of this clearing. We should go around." She said, her voice loud to reach over the roar of the rain.

Zane frowned from behind her. "I am unaware of any swamp land within these woods, but I agree. I don't believe we should cross this."

Sigurd nodded "without a map of any kind we don't know the topography of the terrain. Some creature could have made depressions to catch prey in these conditions, it's best to go around. I'd rather not lose a party member to knee high puddles."

Looking left and right, Lopiena considers the alternatives. "We should head upstream, the water will only be deeper downstream and there will be more debris," she shouts above the storm. Watching the movement of the water, she turns left and starts heading toward what looks like the calmer edge of the clearing. Since movement is so restricted, she doesn't want to hold up the group, so she walks several feet before even checking to see if the rest are coming.

Screaming and dropping her quarterstaff in shock, Lopiena at first tries to grab a branch or a root or something to keep from being pulled into the water. Only finding mud, she tries to focus on whatever grabbed her arm. The thick, slimy tentacle looks almost impervious to damage, even if she could reach her dagger...desperate, she tries a parlor trick she'd learned as a child and points to the tentacle with an open hand. "Flame!" A small fire blossoms in the air around the tentacle.

(The flame is from the cantrip Druidcraft; for everything else I rolled a 1. This could be bad...)