The clattering of hooves and wheels on rough ground, along with the general chatter of traveling men. Sunlight filtering down through the ever present haze of dust disturbed by the caravan. And the warm smell of a thick stew bubbling on the back of the cooks cart, near the front of the caravan. These were the things that awoke Kyoht from his sleep, as he sat up and rubbed weary sleep from his eyes. His muscles were a little sore, mostly from sleeping on the rough hard grain of the passenger carriage tops thick boards. Steadying himself on the light rocking of the carriage he rolls himself to a standing position, before taking stock of his equipment, checking the condition of his bow and ready arrows. Finding all well, he crouched down slightly near the forend of the carriage. “Finally up lazy? You've been sleeping all morning!” Kyoht turns his head to the voice, to see the grin of an armored horseman riding alongside the carriage. “What would you know? Your the one sleeping away in a cart while I stay up all night guarding your backsides!” With a laugh the horseman waves a hand at Kyoht before spurring his horse forward. “I'll grab a quick tin of stew for ya Archer! And with those eyes of yours no wonder your always on nightshift!” he replied as his horse rode off to the cooks cart. 

Kyoht sighed, moving to a sitting position on the edge of the cart. He was always battling misconceptions about the colours of his eyes. As it stood, most of those on this particular caravan believed that his eye colour gave him extraordinary night vision, while in truth he spotted things with his ability. Even after explaining such to those of the caravan, the belief that his eyes gave him night vision still seemed to persist, and any explanations otherwise were usually treated with mock attention. In fact, often people called him “Gold Archer”, or just “Archer.” Kyoht preferred to think it was for his award winning skills at archery or his vocation, rather than in any reference to his eyes. Although Gold Archer was a better name than some he had heard upon the lips of others. Letting out a breath, Kyoht leaned back resting on his arms and enjoying the mild breeze brought on by the motion of the carriage. Al in all, the caravan trip was going well and he didn't really mind staying up all night, as it really meant less things to do. Since the caravan had been on the road steady for two weeks now, he had adapted to change in sleep, and now found it rather easy to stay awake in the nighttime hours. It also had the benefit that he could be alone with his thoughts, as the others working nightshift didn't make irritating conversation. And since those on nightshift didn't have to join on gathering tasks to fetch water or firewood for the moving caravan, and that suited the gold archer just fine. The less he had to do the better. 

He particularly enjoyed this caravan, even though it was a little different than hose he was used to. This was an express caravan carrying some sort of important passenger. As such, instead of the regular goods and materials carried in the other carts, there was instead just firewood, barrels of water and extra rations as the caravan had no intention of stopping at all. Food was cooked in a special stove and pot arrangement on the back of a cart, and any water needed was tapped from a barrel on another. Horses and oxen were fed on the move, and horses were swapped out in shifts to keep them fresh, and allow them access to a special water trough attached to one of the carts. Those not on horseback, rode on the carts providing protection for each cart, and help handing out various supplies as they were needed. Kyoht was fortunate enough in that aspect as well, as there was nothing really to assist with on top of the carriage, other than to pass on the needs of those inside. 

That said there was definite downsides. Due to the height of the carriage already Kyoht had no canvas tarpaulin over his head to fend of weather, and he had already been soaked by rain twice on the journey. He had a thick oilcloth poncho given to him a the start of the trip, but that only did so much in the torrent of water they were doused with from the previous water. He had used it moreso to keep his bow and arrows dry, than for his own person. The second being that he was essentially confined to the top of the carriage for the trip leaving him with a small square of space to walk on. Sleeping on top of the rolling carriage wasn't the easiest either, as the wheels always seemed to find ever rut and hole in the road. And since there was no stopping, he had a small steel bucket for anything else which wasn't the most pleasant of options. The caravan had only stopped twice on the journey. Once because the carriage had thrown a wheel, almost pitching Kyoht off the top of the carriage in the process. The other when they were ambushed while traveling through a thickly wooded area, were they ended up losing a cart with five dead in the ensuing battle. Otherwise they made good time on their journey, and lay only two days more from their destination. 

Wakened from his thoughts by a call from the horseman returning with a steaming tin of stew, the Gold Archer waved a hand lazily in acknowledgment. Leaning precariously off the edge of the carriage roof, he grabbed the tin from the rider, wincing slightly at the hot metal on his hands. Thanking the man, he watched as he spurred his horse to pass out a few more tins to carts rearward of the carriage. Carefully clutching at the stew, he put it to his lips and took a few gulps of the hot mixture. It was a rather well put together stew, tasting well even with the limited supplies the cook had to work with. The downside was that stew tended to be the only thing that the cook seemed to make, and Kyoht was rather tired of it. With a sigh, he looked out over the scenery of trees and bushes watching idly as the caravan continued to roll on. 

The next few days that passed were uneventful, and instead of combating monsters he found himself combating the ever present boredom. As the day passed, he saw more and more traffic on the road alongside the caravan, and he could hear the chatter of the various guards riding about the wagons and the carriage. Standing up to his full height, he squinted his eyes to see as best as he could in the distance. Staring for a few moments eventually brought the welcome sight of their destination: Stoneham. Pacing back and forth on the carriage rooftop, he watched the various people moving about on the road, as he idly twirled an arrow in his hand. 

It was a few hours before the caravan stopped outside the gates to the city, and everyone gathered together to get their allotment of pay. Clambering down the carriage, the Gold Archer felt the rough and solid surface of the ground beneath his boots for the first time in a few weeks. He took a moment to steady himself he unstrung his bow, as those in the town probably wouldn't be happy with him walking around with a strung longbow. Walking slightly bandy legged he came to the line of men standing before the caravan master, and after a few minutes he stood before the man. The caravan master looked at the Gold Archer for a moment, before staring down at a scroll he held unraveled in his hands. “Kyoht. Archer. Nine gold.” He said sharply, and Kyoht watched as the cashier reached into a small chest palming nine of the shiny coins to give to him. “Nine gold? What do you mean nine gold?” Kyoht commented a little angry. “You said twenty at the start of the caravan!” Unperturbed, the caravan master looked at the scroll again. “Well seeing as you didn't provide your own food, water, arrows, or horse, there were deductions on your total.” He replied, simultaneously signaling to two larger guards flanking slightly behind him. With a sigh, he accepted the coins offered, and stalked away from the caravan highly irritated. He had originally set out on this for the promise of twenty gold, and the feeling of only nine in his coin purse was much less than he figured he would have at this point. 

Sweeping under the arch of the gates, he was greeted with the bustle of what seemed to be a slightly excited crowd. AS he moved along the street through the people, he found that most of the people avoided him well enough, instead of the usual busy jostling crowd he would find elsewhere. Either way he moved gingerly through he crowd, unused to such crowds of people. He wasn't sure why the town had such a crowd of people in it walls at this time, but he was sure it wouldn't take him too long to get to the bottom of the matter. Following his ears, it wasn't long before he stood with a somewhat motionless group of people before the small platform of a town crier. He drew a few strange looks form other bystanders, obviously standing out slightly form the crowd in his mussed up and unwashed state. Listening to the news of the day, he learned that there was a big to-do over at the town hall, something about gathering people to find some sort of Death Magician. He smirked slightly, he was sure things weren't actually as described. He didn't really quiet believe all the claims spouted by the crier, but there was enough to pique his interest. 

As he turned and walked away form the crier, Kyoht though on the matter a little. [i]I'm sure an enterprising individual could make some good coin locating this “Death magician.” Surely the claims of his superior power are blown out of proportion due to fear and rumour.[/i] Buried in his thoughts, it was a little while before he realized that he was thoroughly lost. He stood off to the side of one of the main streets, as various scholars and tradespeople walked passes, eagerly chatting to each other. Frustrated, he realized this was why he didn't like towns. The constant buzz of various noise emanating from the bustle of life bothered him, and the constant press and shifting about of people lessened the usefulness of his Zephy Aura. In fact it was even more irritating in the fact that at close range he could feel the ebb and flow of people as they shifted air about his person. With a quick breath he plunged back into the crowd, resolutely making his way toward what he thought was the center of the town. Navigating by the general flow and thickness of the crowd, after a while he soon came across a large group of standing people, near some sort of large fountain. 

Shifting through the press of standing individuals, he finally made his way to the edge of the crowd near the front of what seemed to be the town hall. He continued to make his way through the crowd, threading his way amongst standing crowd in a way as to not actually touch a single person. He wasn't quiet doing this deliberately, it was just how he was. He always moved carefully, some part due to his ability, the other from a lifetime of living a life amongst the edge of a forest. Eventually he came to the rough and cool stone of a building skirting the square, of which he leaned against nonchalantly. Tucked into the slight shadow of the buildings wall, the Gold Archer gazed out over the people who made up the crowd. His golden eyes reflecting the light ever so slightly in the shade of the building as he let himself relax slightly. He wasn't sure who would be serious about this call to hunt this death magician down, but he figured it would be best to get a good sight of those he might potentially be working along with first.