Their journey began quietly.

There was no great sendoff, no men and women waving them goodbye and wishing them luck. They slipped out of the Barrier like thieves carrying their prize in a leather case. Revna wondered if the townspeople saw their mission as a lost cause and figured they would spare the doomed adventurers their mournful gaze. Revna didn't care either way. She knew she'd accomplish their mission one way or another, though she didn't plan on ever returning to the Seven Villages.

It'd been many years since the Dottir woman was outside the Barrier, and she'd been a child then. Unable to understand the chaos and savagery of the demons. She had been scared, though. Revna remembered that. They scampered about from place to place like rats, always hiding in the shadows, afraid of monsters of this world and not.

She wasn't scared now though. She was exhilarated. [i]Finally[/i] doing something instead of hiding in the mountains, wasting her days away. She chatted amiably with her companions, getting to know them, sharing stories and jokes when she could. 

As they travelled on, down through the mountains and into the plains, Revna grew sullen. Bored, perhaps, or maybe the tedium of travel was getting to her. She'd envisioned hacking down beast after beast, slaying hellspawn and bandits everywhere she went. Revna expected to feel different outside of the Barrier, free from the world within the world. [i]This[/i] was just like travelling from one village to another. No excitement, just the slowly changing scenery. It [i]did[/i] change, though.

Gone were the verdant pines, the sweet-smelling grass, the gently bending streams. The trees stood as bare totems, sentinels in the dying land. The grass turned to dust beneath their feet. The streams dried into rocky and barren beds. A raw hill country stretched before them. Revna fell behind the group alone and sulking, letting her mind wander and entertain dark thoughts as she bounced back and forth in her saddle.

She was brought back to the colorless world by a familiar song, one [i]too[/i] familiar to her in the taverns throughout the Seven Villages. Sung by drunk Pendrians nostalgic for the days of old and their long-dead prince. After five years of hearing that song incessantly, she started bloodying the face of anyone who sang it within earshot of her. Word got around, and she didn't hear it anymore.

Revna's father had told her the [i]true[/i] story of Prince Charlie. The coward prince who fled the palace at the first sign of trouble with most of the guards and his retinue, leaving the few palace soldiers and Norrgard warriors to defend the aged king and queen. Her mother, princess of the Dottir, included. She had little love for Pendria royalty, her feelings on the Norrgard complicated, and nothing but distain for the beloved Prince Charlie.

The woman groaned like a bear and reigned in her horse and her anger. "Brother Orsic, will you [i]please[/i] sing something else? I'd even settle for one of those boring hymns your order loves," she called out. Harsh, but those who knew her understood that this was an act of [i]extreme[/i] charity and patience; most people who belted out that song were several teeth short by the third line. She rode on in brooding silence.

The group slowed nearly to a stop as they evaluated their situation. 

[quote=@Illogical Jim]”Hmm, Katrina?” he asked sheepishly, “Do you suppose we're near the site you mentioned?”
[/quote]

"What does it matter? This all looks the same to me. Dead. Nothing will bother us if we stop here, or ten miles from here," Revna said, annoyed. "As long as we get off the road." Her bruised cheek from the morning barfight had swollen considerably since they'd left, to the point where it pushed against her eye and reduced her vision to a dull haze. Without a word, Revna drew the relic dagger from her belt and a re-opened the wound, allowing the gathered blood to drain. She wiped her face with her travelling cloak and sighed in relief as sight returned, returning the weapon to its sheath. Revna was tempted to just dismount and hole up for the night between two nearby hills, but figured she'd wait for Katrina's input. She [i]was[/i] their guide, afterall.