Trotting through the forest with a measured gait, he seemed to be alone from the bandits, though his footsteps were silent as a predator. Decades of stalking through the forest had given rise to a certain way of movement that would allow him and his companions to move unhindered and unheard through the otherwise silent woods. Occassionally there was a rustle as one of the other bandits dashed from bush to bush, but their green cloaks made the transition almost natural, apart from the occassional dull glint of a blade. The girl beside him on the other hand...no so much. She was having throuble moving through the undergrowth, occassionally stumbling as she snagged a root or her foot played onto uneven ground. "You'll have plenty to help out with once we get to the encampment," Archibald said as he scanned the horizon before ducking beneath another low growing branch, "best not tire yourself out now."

Her second question caused him to grimace. "That visage you see is probably a front," he said after a brief pause as he stepped over a large root, "a ruler has to manipulate his enemies and subjects with equal ease, either through force or seemingly kindness." He turned to face her, his single eye fixing her like a dagger through her heart. "Royalty are scum." Slowly turning back around, he continued forwards. "They indulge themselves while their people suffer, are well fed when others are starving and post guards while others battle nature," he said, clenching his fist, "a ruler should watch over all his people, not only himself." His mind flashed back to the fat blob of a man who sat on the throne. He got so angry that he slammed his fist into a tree hard enough to shake leaves and a few hard shelled nuts off. "Royals and rulers are leaders in name only..." he muttered as he continued forwards. It was then that one of the scouts, a female archer, stepped out of the bushes. "Archie, Jehannen patrol ahead, bearing north towards the encampment, 6 man strong" she said, stone faced, "orders?"
"Harry them with a few volleys and then retreat away slowly, leading them back towards the exit," Archibald said, equally stone faced, "after that, slip away and return to the encampment. I expect to see everyone unharmed." With a simple nod, the lass disappeared back into the undergrowth and one could pick out the forms of a few of their band splitting off. Looking back towards the others of the party, he could see the wyvern having trouble moving through the brush. He scoffed loudly. Such a cumbersome beast moving through the forest would definitely make a trail. He just hoped he had made the right decision by letting them follow him. "Jehannen patrols ahead," he said matter of factly, pointing in their vague direction, "we'll head east cut across Sion valley before continuing back towards the encampment. Don't get lost, it gets more treacherous that way." Archibald couldn help but shake the hope that one of the royals would trip and fall into the valley. It would remove one problem at least.

Unfortunately, they traversed the valley with little incidence and neared the camp. Slowly, the trees and bushes gave way to crumbling stone walls and moss covered pillars. A few places were patched up with wooden palisades crudely tied to a few wooden pillars with alternating ropes and vines. A distinct smell of burning wood permeated the air and the gentle ringing of hammers on metal betrayed the presence of a blacksmith. There was a general murmur in the air and one could almost feel that this was a small settlement. As the approached, Archibald held up a hand and stopped everyone. "Iwisa, come out, I know you're watching us," he said, looking up into the branches of a tree. Multiple rustles betrayed the positions of the guards as they stepped out of hiding, weapons drawn. "Archibald..." muttered a boy, no older than 15, "I see you've brought companions..."
"More out of necessity than choice I can assure you," Archibald replied bluntly, "and you can lower your weapons now."
"How do we know its the real you and not some shape shifting Jehannan?"
Taking a deep breath, he took a few steps closer to Iwisa who in response drew hsi blade form his scabbard. Stopping a few inches away, he leaned in...and pulled the hair covering his right side up. Iwisa's face instantly drained and he signalled for his men to put arms at rest. "Now open the gate," Archibald said smugly.

A few seconds later, a makeshift wooden draw gate swung up, allowing a view of the interior...and it was not a pretty sight. Tents and makeshift shelters dotted the area, and one could spot a triage center being tended to by an old man with a staff. the injuries ranged from missing limbs and malnutrition to grazes and bruises. Children were listlessly drifting around until they saw Archibald and the rest of the party filter in. "It's Archibald!" they shouted before congregating around him like a swarm of locusts. "Not now kids, I have something important to do," he said as he gently pushed some aside. "Follow me," he said gravely to the ones behind him as he started to weave his way through the tends, "and try not to knock anything down."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In what used to be the castle keep, Archibald had instead created a meeting room made from crude wooden chairs, a large log cross-section and a badly drawn map of the region. "We take in the refugees of Grado who were displaced by the invasion of Jehanna," his eyes flicked to Alvin, "whom the Grado military had not been able to protect." Taking a seat at the head of the table, he invited them to sit in the rest of the chairs, "As you can tell, we are ill equipped to deal with a sudden influx of dependants," he said, bidding anyone to look out of the arrow loophole and see the state of their camp, "we're quickly exhausting any food we had and our usual hunting is insufficient to keep us going." If one looked out now, they could see Darius and Aiph handing out the stolen food to a grateful populace. Steepling his hands in front of his face, Archibald leaned onto his elbows. "Where the royalty fails, the outlaws have to step in," he said spitefully, his eyes drilling into Alvin. He let that sink in for a moment before he asked his real question. "What is your purpose with the stone?"