Most would think that the tall mercenary would be ignoring everything around him, simply paying attention to what was going on in his hands. They would be dead wrong. He was actually still paying attention to everything happening around him, as he did want to know what people were up to and inform himself on people’s activities. He did want to know who he was traveling with, who could be trusted and especially, who couldn’t. He could already give a break to three of the people here. The first obvious one was the dwarf, as he was the client. This was a given. The second one was the elf from the desert. Yes, this man had maybe not been on his side for his hatred, but he also wasn’t someone to put it up in his face and be rude about it. HE could also easily see he wasn’t someone who would really turn against anyone. Aavikanians were loyal and dedicated people, or so it was said. The last one; The girl. Innocent as can be and simple. She wasn’t any kind of trouble and plus, she was a singer. How could you hate the little one?

The others… Well, the trust wasn’t there at all. His first concern, however, was the wood elf. Her attitude, her presence, her seclusion. She gave off nothing that told him to trust her. And he wouldn’t either. The next was the delusional red-head man. The man seemed to simply be crazy… And you don’t trust crazy. The twins… Well, it wasn’t that he didn’t trust them, but he simply did not like their people. And so, did not trust them for that simple fact. The last man was a mystery, as he didn’t know what to think about him. He seemed to be a simple… Traveler. Something was off about him, but he just couldn’t but his finger on it yet. The one thing he had finally deduced was that the man probably had really bad eyesight, having put the previous information together now. Plus, he spoke about being a soldier, which came to be odd with his reactions. Definitely someone to keep his eyes on.

With that said, he simply went back to checking his weapon, inspecting it from stock to barrel, although still with his eyes wondering the camp. And of course, what did he see? Aaerynn getting off her branch as if noticing something. He stayed discretely fixed on her, watching her movements and actions. No warning of her actions, and it was as if no one had noticed other than him and the dwarf. Why didn’t she warn anyone? It would be courtesy to at least do that. He waited, seeing things unfold and she left. Well, wasn’t that just trustworthy.

Shaking his head, he finally turned his attention to the musicians, a light smile on his face as he heard the sing start. Beautiful really. He wrapped his weapon back up and attached it on is bag as he laid back and closed his eyes to listen. What a great song, oddly enough, sounded familiar, like he had heard it before by bards, especially in Attolia. What was the story behind it? He couldn’t remember, but he does remember hearing about it. What mattered was that it brought a smile on his face… The desert elf was doing something; he could hear it a little, but nothing that would bring the attention of the mercenary. 

 Vordan enjoyed the music while he could, and when he was done with it, he reached into his bag, pulling out three small glass containers, filled with very odd liquids and pastes, along with a sharpening stone. For the moment being, he would sharpen the blades of his weapons, waiting for the return of the elf… And even upon her return, there was NO CLUE whatsoever of what she had done. She said nothing really, only an exchange with the dwarf that was very short. Really? That picked a nerve in Vordan’s mind now.

Everyone came back to the camp and there was a talk of doing the first watch. Oh how this would be interesting. Immediately, the wood elf said she trusted no one and would take watch. Bullshit. That wasn’t going to happen. Just her? It wasn’t going to happen. He wouldn’t express it, but he would stay awake. Plus, he thought he might have something to compensate for his lack of sleep… If the mix worked. And so, Vordan stayed awake while most of the people were preparing to go to sleep. Elrithos had just used his makeshift ball as a pillow as he lay down and peacefully went to sleep. Perfect.

Somewhere in the middle of the night, Vordan stood up from his spot, having only been writing in his book for the past few hours. He was definitely tired, but it was about to change. He took with him the three glass containers and walked on by the camp… But suddenly stopped. His eyes turned towards the twins, a curious look upon him. They had something… They had a magical item upon them. He would feel it and he approached as silently as possible, kneeling down. What was it? His eyes wondered around, finally landing on the sword of the young man. A magic blade? How interesting… He walked off, noting this in his mind what he had just felt.

He knew Aaerynn would see in walk off into the woods without any reason. And really, if she questioned, then he would just turn the question right back around. He walked a little ways, not minding the darkness for now, and then stopped. He was far enough so that no one would annoy him or distract him. And so, he ordered the chains to come out from his gauntlet, the links slowly slipping out of his wrist and then removed the gauntlet. He stretched it out in a straight line and pulled out the mixture he had made earlier, running the paste along the steel links… And then, he spoke the ancient speech of the Makers, the magical words to bind and create magic items.

[b][i]“Ferrum Spina Nectunt…”[/b][/i]

A small flash of light emanated from the links, staying for a few seconds, and then disappearing. Did it work? Vordan wouldn’t know for now. He’d have to test it out the next night, as rushing to try new magic was dangerous. He had a reaction and he now had to research a little on the reaction. All to be safe. He grabbed the gauntlet once more, the chains dissipating and then, the next two vials. One, well, he decided to actually wait one more night… But he saw the blue flames burning inside. Well, one more thing to research on. Now, the last one… He had this mix for a long time. He never really needed to use it for its purpose, but he would try it this night. With a loud sigh, he uncorked it and drank it down. He coughed, the taste being absolutely gut wrenching. But, he would live through it.

All this being done, he came back to camp, back to writing in his book. Yes, he would be doing this for the rest of the night.

[center]____________________________________[/center]

The sudden scream had awakened Elrithos, his eyes slowly coming to open. He felt great. It was a great night of rest, even without being accommodated with proper facilities. Not that he minded it anyway. The food had probably heled in this case, and Elrithos rose to his feet as if he had been awake for hours now. He noticed that the scream had come from the excited dwarf. What was he screaming about? A good question, but he didn’t seem in any distress. Good, it would mean that he wouldn’t need to precipitate himself. The Aavikanian went and put on his armor and weapons, stepping back a little from the camp to warm himself up for the day with the practice of his blades.

Those watching would notice the near perfect movements of his blades slicing across the air, but that he didn’t seem to be taking an offensive stance quite often. No, to an experienced fighter’s eyes, he was actually practicing the deflection of blades and almost arrows coming his way, keeping the enemies’ weapons away from him and only striking after a longer period of time of defending himself. The second most noticeable thing was that his hands and feet were constantly in movement, noting that he was a static fighter and moved around a lot AND that he had incredible hand-eye coordination and a very stable footing. Clearly, he could be seen as a true warrior now.

Vordan him was still writing and looking around at his things… He hadn’t stopped the whole night. Yet, he seemed perfectly awake and rested.