A commotion from behind Mortimer drew his attention. He turned his gaze from Ffamran to a snowbank a small distance away. The skeletal crow that had lived for nearly as long as he had was firmly stuck in the mound of snow. Well, lived was a relative term. He idly wondered if Creaky was brought here as well, or if coincidence brought his crow to this place. Mortimer shrugged. Didn't matter either way. He had his crow, and he felt just that much more whole. 

A few short strides brought Mortimer to the snowbank. He reached down to pluck Creaky from the pile of snow, but the crow tried to peck at him. It cawed loudly and stared at him. "That's not nice," Mortimer muttered to Creaky. He tried to pull the bird out of the snowbank again, and this time, he was allowed to. Once he freed Creaky, he set it back down. When it was in one of its moods, the bird wouldn't let anyone hold it. Creaky shook itself free of the loose snow that had settled on its bones and went through the actions of preening itself. The bird had no feathers to fix, but it seemed to be a habit that had stuck with the undead crow.

Once it was seemingly satisfied with it's preening job, Creaky flew up onto Mortimer's shoulder, a feat that still puzzled him to this day. Mortimer gave another glance around the burned village. No souls to be put to rest here. Some dark magic had to be behind this. But was it from the Darkness, or something completely different altogether? 

[b][color=#99ffcc]"Green Sage Sophia."[/color][/b] Voices drew Mortimer's attention away from the burnt husks of houses. A black haired woman in leather armor and another woman wearing clothing not suited for snow and ice. He approached the women as they talked. The name was what originally caught his interest. He searched his journal on the Green Sage and spoke up as the one woman finished speaking. 

"Unless you've been hunting for sport or starting fires in her forest, I doubt that there's a need for an apology." He nodded to the women. He smiled at the woman that had been speaking. "I don't think I caught your name."