[Tirñea]

	The warmth the fire brought was comforting, and the way it danced about was hypnotically alluring in the darkness of night. Gently waving, pluming, and spitting, it demanded attention which Tirñea was happy to provide as her eyes grew heavy.

	When offered the flask she stirred briefly, realizing she'd been addressed. Vacantly she stared at the flask for a moment before shaking her head, returning her attention to the fire. "No thank you," she sighed, a drowsy smile flickering on her face like the light of the flames. Quietly she stared, her body tired but mind not ready to fall asleep quite yet despite her eyes almost being closed.

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	When she opened her eyes again, the pale light of dawn through cloudy skies illuminated the dry grass and earth that currently occupied her perspective. Somewhat dazed she pushed herself up off the ground, her arms only lifting her far enough to raise her head and chest. Feeling disoriented, Tirñea tried to assess her current situation and recalled having decided to sleep under the stars. Such a decision was sleep idled and perhaps poorly judged, and only now did she begin to realize why she'd woken up.

	She was cold, the fire having gone out in the night leaving her quite chillier than she was used to. Silently she scolded herself, pushing herself further up so she could sit cross legged whilst readjusting her blanket to better bundle up. Once finished she found herself staring down at where the fire had been last night, once again mentally scolding herself and deciding to look into the purchase of her own tent once they reached the city. She had some funds, enough to purchase a tent, maybe. She didn't know what things were worth here yet.

	After sulking for a little Tirñea began to feel a bit warmer, and soon realized her mouth was quite dry. Unhappily she unbundled to reach for where she'd set her bag down, dragging the pack towards her so she could rummage about inside it. Hastily she pulled out her waterskin, took a quick drink, then rebundled with the bota bag now in hand. Feeling a little less unfortunate, her attention was drawn to the softly brightening horizon as gloom moved in to replace the darkness in the sky.

[hr]

[Calieo]

	Calieo stirred, semi-conscious, as she twisted and stretched out on the cowskin rug beneath her, the layer of woolly hair much softer than the caves and fissures she'd used as shelter in the mountains. She hadn't removed her armour so the difference wasn't too drastic, but still as she began to awaken she noted how rested she felt. 

	Eyes slowly opened to reveal the living space from yesterday, the faint glow of daylight filtering in through the windows. It was early, but past sunrise, and this meant it was time to get moving. Slowly Calieo rose, rolling over onto her hands and knees before pushing herself to stand up. The mace swung from it's chain at her hip as she did so, and somewhat protectively Calieo reached down to pull it up for inspection. Cupping the head of the mace in both hands she stared down at the wicked looking cage, her eyes examining the gilded sun for a moment before she lower the weapon back to hang at her side.

	"Denise!" she called out, the hint of a whine to her tone. Wasting no time she left the living room and made a quick rounds of the house, finding nobody leaving her with the closed door to the bedroom. Rushing she stuck her hands out to push the door open, instead slamming the rest of her body into the wooden barrier when it did not yield. The knight rebounded off the door, somewhat taken aback that it hadn't been easy to push open. She quickly recovered though, and promptly began shoving at the door whilst sheer confusion strangled her mind.

	Somewhat forcefully she shoved herself off the closed door, stepping back and staring it up and down. The presence of a palm sized protrusion made from a different material than the door caught her attention, and prompted immediate investigation. Aggressively Calieo slapped at, shook, jiggled, pushed, and pulled on the doorknob, her fiddling eventually rewarded when she deduced the protrusion could be twisted.

	"Denise?" Calieo called out as she pushed the door open, greeted by the sight of her guide and their host huddled close to one another atop some sort of wooden frame with legs. They were covered, but it was obvious the two of them had disrobed as their armour and cloth dressings were scattered on the floor. "Denise, the night has gone and we must continue our journey. Once you armour yourself you can find me wherever those other people are. And you, other woman; your floor skin was considerably more comfortable than frozen stone, and your obsession with useless creature hides is perhaps not entirely ridiculous," she chattered, calmly directing orders at Denise, then offering her semblance of a 'thank you' to their host.

	Without giving either a chance to respond she exited the room, closing the door behind her with a needlessly forceful slam. Feeling quite well rested now that she was properly awake, Calieo rushed into the kitchen and raided the pantry for more dried meats to eat while she went to find those other people she'd been with yesterday. Taking with her a large slab of salted meat, she fiddled with the front door for a moment before pushing it open and starting her brisk walk back to where she had last seen everyone else.

	The simple and closely connected streets were easy to navigate, and after entering the area with more dwellings and less grass, she wandered back to the last place she recalled everyone together. None of them were present, but people were awake in this little settlement, already going about their simple lives, which hopefully meant that the specific people she was looking for would soon arrive. For now she was in good enough of a mood to wait, standing patiently in the street nibbling on her breakfast.