Chartose nodded and went to load-up supplies, still wary even until their host dematerialized that what they were in could still be a trap... But the news meant he could allow Tricia to be a bit more at-ease as that small wolf-pup the bard carried around would bark for some sort of attention, resulting in a peculiar no-rules game of Marco-"but I don't want to get wet"-Polo.

He then suggested that they save some of the food and supplies for the rest of the group, since by now the knighted ebonfort taste-tester had quite thoroughly verified everything was safe to eat and delicious. He himself had some baked fish on fried rice, and left some of the raw eel for Tricia before loading his pack down with food and anything else that would be immediately useful upon their return.

While Alya had been the first to leave, Chartose lingered behind, if only to have a moment alone to summon Becker from Green Falls, loading him down with whatever valuables he could not personally carry before sending him back to the inn in Green Falls; it only took a few seconds and he was assured the white-elf would not miss any of it.

He then toweled-off Tricia, loaded the warm dry covers back over her, and made their way down the passageway and back into the mild chill.

[hr]

After leaving the cave conditions became much more harsh upon Tricia; despite the challenges they faced, the two persevered with keeping the fires going through the cold nights, knowing that Tricia would be the first -and perhaps only- scream-raptor to walk into Fridgemount. Chartose's nightly bonfires were a common and somewhat popular occurrence within the expedition, often gathering the attention of anyone in the expedition that wasn't seeking solitude on almost any particular night.

The hurricane-like blizzard and white-out conditions however, tested the pair almost to the breaking-point. Being so close to the knights ever since leaving the caves, he no longer had the chance of sparing Tricia the dangers of the expedition even as it came to the point of nearly killing them all. But as luck had it, a solitary tower stood ready to provide shelter from the blizzard.