Hidden 5 yrs ago Post by ERode
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"Fufufu," Katya said, cutting off her endlessly looping song when Muu suddenly popped out of nowhere, "A dagger, you say? A knife? Us Priests need none of that! After all, such things are of the dark and the earth. Rather, I have this!" With a twirl, the rosy-cheeked girl brandished her staff almost dropping it when one end smacked against the cart's side. "Its wood, its long, and it hits hard! Don't look down on a Priest, y'know? Unlike Mages, we do physical conditioning and melee combat too!"

She flashed an 'ok' sign at Oscar as well, swinging her legs back and forth. There really wasn't anything that Katya felt obligated to do, after all. It wasn't like it was THAT cold or windy. Heck, it was super pleasant, being out here with so much unspoiled snow. Popping up to her feet, she turned to check out the river again, ooohing and aaaahing about how pretty and clear it looked. "Hey, hey, Ettamri, can we drink that water? It looks super tasty!"
Hidden 5 yrs ago Post by Th3King0fChaos
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The snow looked nicer out here. With how far out they are there is no dirt on the top of all the snow making it brown, and there was no abundant shoe marks that crushed the snow in, it made the whole land look like a large sheep was sleeping and they were walking on its back. Argen watches the right side, he has most of his gear on the cart while he still carries his spear in his hand and uses it so if he trips he can catch himself, and his shield stays on his arm ready to go at any moment. He is on edge, but this is normal for Argen when he is on a mission as he is always worried about the next thing to come. In an attempt to keep himself light and still flexible he took off his cloak, yet it didn't matter much as with the sun up it was warmer, plus there was no wind so the cold was easy to handle. Other than Argen's many worries this was quite pleasant and really a nice pace.

Yet he was off from his normal self, more on edge as he would occasionally look back over his shoulder. It started when he began to hear a song being sung he was startled and stopped in his tracks for just a moment as it was awfully familiar as he said to himself in a faint breath, "Flavus?". His mind immediately refocused and he continued walking just one step off of where he was as he looks slightly back as he looked back to see it was Katya singing. Their voices were not the same, yet were close enough to trick him from time to time as he didn't pay attention to it.

Argen did keep his focus and composure through this peaceful trek, yet was having occasional flashbacks of his family as he listened to Katya's song. It was not a song Flavus knew but their voice was so similar in his mind it disturbed him, and it was an eerie familiarity as they both are similar enough. He didn't realize it when he met Katya but it now dawned on him as he watched Katya. However they were defiantly different, Katya is smaller than Flavus, blue hair instead of red, and he doesn't know Katya enough to tell how similar their personality truly is. But they are similar enough to make Argen need to make a double take before he accidentally says something that Katya wouldn't understand or would make him sound like a mad man.

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As the cart continued forward Argen perked up in the direction of the sound of moving water. As he looked he found a large river in front of them. His first instinct is to check the depth as he walks towards it and starts poking his spear at it. As he did he found going any farther than around 15 feet would be risky as he didn't know if it would just drop off any deeper, and he didn't want to get anymore of his clothing wet as he did with the tips of his pants. He just began to step out and began looking around at the area. Just watching the surroundings and waiting for someone to make a suggestion before he strips and walks into the water to check the overall depth as it would be the fastest solution, in his mind, to find a way across. Thankfully Ettamri spoke up quickly as she told each of them to split up into 2 teams of 2 as she stayed with the others and watched the cart. Argen turned in the direction to see what was there, more water, snow, and trees just about what he expected. Before taking off though he took his cloak and bag with him and then began to leave. He didn't need to wait on the Mage, he believed in the man in keeping up with him, and most don't like being left behind.
Hidden 5 yrs ago 5 yrs ago Post by Skyswimsky
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"You do?" Muu asked, not as surprised as she maybe should have been. It made sense, actually, some of them wore heavy armor and even had flails. It must have been Katya's size, that made Muu look down on her. The little priestess had quickly pretty much lost interest in any further conversation, however, and Muu decided that, even with her size, she was probably more comfortable using that staff than a dagger.

Instead, the Bladedancer turned to the Ranger that had approached them. Didn't he just call her name? Scouting? Not smiling, she responded. "Me? Not that I mind, but weren't you assigned to go with—" What was it? The idiot. That was a rather mean thing to say, considering Ettamri addressed everybody else by their profession at least. Literally not even a day out and the giant had done exactly what Muu warned her about! If she had to guess about who she meant it would have been... "—Siwon? While I, we, make camp here?"
Hidden 5 yrs ago Post by Searat
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"Good to hear." He replied to the gesture before he turned his attention to the blade dancer. She explained that, though she did not mind scouting with him, she thought that the fiend knight would be the one who would be the one accompanying him upstream. Oscar placed a gloved hand on his chin and thought for a short while. With a quick nod he replies to her. "Nah. I'm sure that she gestured to both of us. I mean it does make sense. We are the ones with the lightest armors and, honestly?, we are likely the most agile among the others." He then notices the other knight start moving away downstream. "The other team went ahead already down stream. Lets get a move on. The faster we finish this, the faster we find a way forward."

He announces to the shorter woman before leaving his wide brimmed hat on the carriage and dons the hood of the ranger's cloak. No matter how hard he tries, his hat simply wont do when he needs to be stealthy while on the move. The point and its sheer size alone is bound to attract unwanted attention when trying to avoid said attention. Grasping some snow from the ground he places it in his mouth to make his breath less noticeable in the cold environment. He finally placed what extra garment his cloak offered around his neck and positions it over his face to cover his nose and mouth as extra measure to hide his breath. With that done, Oscar gives a gesture to the blade dancer that signals that he was about to go.

Hidden 5 yrs ago 5 yrs ago Post by Skyswimsky
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'Gestured to both of us.'

"..." Yes, it did make sense. Not only objectively but also... "One second if you may, I'll be right with you." With all said and done, Muu walked up to Ettamri. "Ettamri." She simply said. Making sure to get her attention.

Not angry or anything. "Please don't call me idiot, again. Bladedancer is fine, just like how you used to." She still remembered that one, special, day, vividly, after all. "Thanks you. I'll be scouting then, now." There was no scorn, no sarcasm, no anger at all. Just one adult asking another adult, nicely, to stop. Simple as that. With that done, the girl quickly caught up to Oscar.

"So... you're an Archer, right? Worst case, you should stay behind me." She gave him a nod, checking once again if her three blades still have not frozen over before pulling her scarf up a bit more.
Hidden 5 yrs ago Post by Searat
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The blade dancer and the ranger looked at each other for a brief moment. He was about to speak when Muu excused herself for a moment and went up to the tall knight. Oscar winced slightly expecting another 'problem' to arise from the two like the time they were still in the city. But his worries were put to rest when the smaller woman only chose to speak some choice words to the party's leader and left it at that. "That was very mature and responsible of you." He comments to the blade dancer as they made their way upstream.

She then asked if Oscar was purely an archer. That got a titter out of the taller man. "While it may be true that I'm more effective with the bow..." Oscar lifts his cloak a little bit to show Muu the 18 inch machete that was currently in a protective leather scabbard strapped onto his belt and right leg. "This thing ain't for show. Saved my butt probably a dozen of times when I couldn't use my bow. But yeah, I suppose it's safer if I hang back a bit." Oscar finishes by letting go of his cloak and slowing down his pace, but still keeping an eye out for things. Things like ambush points, probable trap locations, and of course a way through the river without dying.

Hidden 5 yrs ago Post by GreenGoat
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Ettamri Belarence


"Hey, hey, Ettamri, can we drink that water? It looks super tasty!"

"Hah? Right out of it? What are you some sort of horse?" Ettamri came around the back of the wagon, looking for Siwon and Katya. "Boil it first. Someone has a pot here. Hey, fiend knight, go gather up any deadwood." She gestured broadly around the area, where dead wood would be inevitably be found, whether it be in the lightly wooded area, or the river side where driftwood floated down from upstream. "The more the better. We can use what we don't burn for another campfire."

She looked around for an obvious site for a good place to make a fire, and settled on a sort of a semi circle of rocks nearby the riverside. Easy enough to make an indent in the middle for the fire.

"Here."

Bringing the horses a bit closer towards the area, she started to look around for a bit of firewood herself, before the Bladedancer came up to her.

"Please don't call me idiot, again. Bladedancer is fine, just like how you used to."

"What's wrong with calling an idiot an idiot?" Ettamri snapped back. "If you don't like it, then go home. Or... do you want to settle it right now?"

Even with her weapons on the wagon, she still radiated confidence in her own abilities. After what was said in the plaza, there was no way she could just let her grudge go. Not after that insult.
Hidden 5 yrs ago Post by Rondo of Blood
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Siwon trudged along through the snow, keeping a lit torch near to keep warm. The Fiend Knight was awfully... silent in their travels. Perhaps it is because he stood at the back of the marching order, keeping to himself and occasionally keeping a look-out. Perhaps he resented his party for one reason or another. Maybe he didn't agree how argumentative one tangent was, while how jovial another was. Perhaps he was just tired. In any case, what kept Siwon from talking also seemed to have kept him "distant" from the rest of the party.

The truth however was much harder to grasp for the sane mind...

"Me? Not that I mind, but weren't you assigned to go with... Siwon? While I, we, make camp here?"

Hmmmm... I think your allies are calling out to you!

The Fiend Knight jumped with glee, pointing towards an unseen entity with a fierce smile on his face.

"Hah! I won the 'quiet game', you chatty demon! I told you I could shut up if I put my mind to it!"

Soon after his cries of triumph, he heard the commands of their warrior Ettamri. He would question why they needed a fire when he's holding one in his hands at this very moment, but he shrugged regardless.

"Of course I can gather deadwood! You've done the correct thing to make this request to the Fiend Knight Siwon, expert of all things 'dead'!" Siwon loudly announced, before turning away from the group once the Warrior and the Blademaster seemed as if they were about to argue again.

And thus began Siwon's adventure of searching for firewood.
Hidden 5 yrs ago Post by OwO
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Oh lord, they were going to fight, weren't they? What had Renauld done to deserve all of this strife? Perhaps he should have have refused the knight's demands to join. Perhaps he should have known that those willing to start shit in town would start shit outside. What was done was done, though. He had made a commitment. The trek over had been peaceful enough. Save occasional noise from someone trying to keep a bit warmer and the constant background drone that a singing Katya provided, they had been mostly silent on the way over. It was some song about something; Renauld blocked it out after the first hour.

Ettamri's orders didn't fall on deaf ears. Scouting out a way down river was a fine proposition. It made it difficult to get lost, at the very least. Argentum, his fearless partner in crime, had even already started without him. Rather than wait and stay to see what would possibly happen between the giant knight and the edgy female, he left with the shieldbearer leading the way. His gear was less of a necessity; what was in his bag was meant for him to survive if he got lost. Winter was the time for well-fed animals to hibernate... probably. If some of those wild animals weren't hibernating, that would mean that they would be hungry. A mere mage with a bunch of good-smelling and fatty foods was a great target for a wolf or a bear. It would be better if the knight protected all of their gear, so he didn't take anything with him save for what he wore and his staff.

"Say," he told Argentum as he hurriedly caught up, "if we run into trouble, we can probably make it across the river. I don't trust myself with the weight of a cart, but I'm sure I can make it so we can cross over it in a pinch."
Hidden 5 yrs ago Post by Th3King0fChaos
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Argen was happy to leave at a time like this, he can slightly hear the edgy girl and giantess begin to speak. He can't hear if they are going at it right now, but he has seen they hold some distain for each other that they can try and solve while he is away, or bottle it up and suck it up for this adventure and we can get through this and get paid enough to survive a little longer. As he continued he noticed the mage catch up and seemed to have a plan on if they get caught off guard, "Well, that's good. We always need an out, if we could cross the river most wouldn't follow in fear of falling in. And if not that the idea of it being too much energy for such a hunt would entice most to search for different prey".

As they continued forward Argen kept watch on the tree line to try and make sure they wouldn't just be ambushed without his knowing. With the mage they should be able a decent enough combo for most foes and even if they bite off more than they can handle, Renauld has a plan, and if all else failed they could hop into the water and run that way. Sure most of their clothing would be wet, but taking it off and drying them off as they freeze their asses off for a bit would be better than dying as most wouldn't follow such an idiotic and near suicidal tactic. As almost a light turned on in his head he remembered to finally ask, "I never asked but what spells do you have?"
Hidden 5 yrs ago Post by ERode
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Siwon, Ettamri, Katya - Setting Up Camp

With the main source of contention sent away before sparks could truly fly, all that was left was for them all to start on whatever tasks necessary to set up temporary reprieve from the cold weather. It wasn’t snowing, thankfully, and though the cold was bitter, it was bitter only when one stopped moving for too long, which none did. Ettamri, her assertions unchallenged by Muu, was free to set up a windbreak out of the tarp, the fireplace set up simply by shifting a couple of riverbank rocks around. Katya, of course, was just walking around the general vicinity. There were fish swimming in the stream, a fact made clear by the little priest’s exclamations of “Hey, look, there’s fish! We can eat them, right, Ettamri? Geez, Siwon, hurry up and get the fire started already!”

And then she began slinging rocks at those little swimming meals, to little real effect, the splashing water occasionally hitting her own coat and causing Katya to jump back. It was certainly clear that she had gone into full road-trip mode, not a shred of anxiety in her bones.

Siwon, of course, couldn’t really hurry up. Snowy terrain made stray sticks hard to find, and they were on the plains anyways, no real vegetation to be found. Romping through the snow and enduring his demon’s paranoia, the Fiend Knight didn’t have all that much luck at all, forced to scour the banks instead. Driftwood from the forest upstream, drenched and miserably cold to the touch, were all that he could find, and, well, something told him that it wouldn’t make for good firewood. Ettamri would probably break his kneecaps and leave him here to die if he came back empty-handed though, and thus, the Fiend Knight continued to pick up sticks where he could, occasionally taking a couple steps into the river itself to snag himself a couple of branches.

Indeed, it was in reaching for one of those branches that Siwon noticed it.

Noticed that the white branch he grasped wasn’t a fallen branch, but the bone of a beast. Red meat still clung to it, signs of the freshness of the kill. Now, the question could only be…what had been eaten, and who was eating?

Oscar and Muu - Up the River

The answer to that question emerged forty minutes later in Oscar and Muu’s winterscape romp. The snow made it a difficult stroll, even with Muu’s specialized gear, and the distance to the treeline was fairly far to begin with, a trek made slower by Oscar’s constant vigilance. Between trying to spot out ambush predators camoflaguing against the snow, looking for the silvery-glint of tripwires or the unnatural disturbance of pitfall traps, and trying to gauge the depths of the river itself, it all ate away at their progress, to seemingly little effect; the river became neither more shallow nor more narrow, leading them further and further away.

And that was when vigilance paid off.

Though the wind from behind them, numbing their ability to hear, the splash of red the white of snow and the black of bark was all too obvious, Oscar waving Muu down as they both dropped low. They hadn’t been spotted yet, not sensed by the monsters that lurked just past the brush, and oh, how monstrous they were. Eight, no, nine mud-skinned goblins surrounded the still-steaming corpse of a large elk, taking turns diving into its innards and pulling it apart. Ribs were snapped, chewed on, stripped of easy-to-get meat before being tossed into the river, food for the fishes. One of the larger goblins pulled off the elk’s ballsack, doing a silly little dance with it that drew the laughter of its friends, before summarily tossing that into the river as well. They chewed, they feasted, and despite the cold weather surrounding them, they were warm in their comradery and their dining, the snow around them becoming steadily redder and redder.

The two Silver Moon soldiers could count the weapons and armor of the gang of goblins easily enough: two crossbows, three short swords, two spears, a longsword, and a dagger. Armor was a mismatch of chainmail draped around them and leather, as well as untanned animal furs, but at least three of them had metal helmets of varying sizes.

Getting a drop on them would be easy enough, and if their initial ambush killed enough goblins, the rest would be easy enough. But they had no priest to heal them, no tank to shield them, no mage to sweep them. More importantly, goblins didn’t go for that much money to begin with. Was the risk even worth it?

Then again, if there was another bridge within the forest that they could pull the wagon over, taking out the goblins now would practically be mandatory.

Decisions, decisions, decisions…

Argen and Renault - Down the River

Downstream, the river became even wider, splitting off into individual streams. Some carved deeply into the marshy land, while others spread out, ice forming over them as cold water dispersed further. Each step through the frozen swamps was accompanied with a solid crunch of ice, but observing the network of streams from a distance, it was clear that the landscape there was made of smoother, more slippery ice. A broken ankle wasn’t a job-ending injury, of course, not when they had Katya to offer benedictions of mending onto them, but if the horses slipped? The effect that it’d have on the wagon would be much greater. There was no magical healing that could repair a shattered wheel, and a wet sack of grain was functionally worthless.

Still, the swamplands made for easy travelling otherwise, and the further they went down, the more dispersed the river became. If they truly committed to it, by travelling southwards enough, perhaps they’d reach the point where the river simply died off, leaving easy travels for them all? It was something to dream about.

Argen and Renault, of course, could also dream about the other future where they earn the approval of the giant female knight by dragging the log bridge over to where the wagon was, and flat-out repairing it on the spot. After all, a swift stream could only pull a large log for so long, and once it spread out, there it was: the thirty meter long tree just lying in line with the wider river, clear water flowing around it. Looking at it now, it was only maybe two to three meters wide itself, easy for adventurers to cross but requiring some other method for a wagon laden with grains to traverse.

It was the bridge though. It could be used.
Hidden 5 yrs ago Post by Th3King0fChaos
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Down the River



Collaboration of: @ERode @Th3King0fChaos @OwO

"I’m an ice mage," he told Argen "so I can make ice."



Argen looks off towards the deeper swamps as it might be advantageous to keep going, as the reason they are out here is to find a way to bring the wagon over. He looked back at the log and sighed as well because it would also be great to have a bridge to bring people over. And if they check the depth of the water near where they are it could be possible that it is low enough that the horse could cross with the wagon.
“Hmm, this would be a great idea having a bridge we could use. We would need to bring it back to the camp and that would be quite a bit of work and effort just to get it moving”.

As Argen looked back towards the deeper swamps as he continued, “Yet it would also be smart to check deeper to find if the river just disperses and if it does it would make sense to do that and not waste energy with the log. Besides to me it doesn't look like it’s going anywhere right now”.

Renauld had looked at the displaced bridge. Indeed, the large size of it was obviously too much for the two of them. If Ettamri had been there, they could have possibly moved it. It was much better to leave it there, though. He didn’t want to waste the group’s strength in simply moving a bridge.
"Considering my magic, I could secure the bridge here and we can have a slight detour. I don’t quite feel comfortable in moving a big hunk of wood that far. Going further, we could probably just check a few things out. Might as well, since we’re here already."

As Argen readjusts himself, he sighs out, “Well that settles it, time to head farther and see what is in the swamp”. As he begins to walk at a slower pace in anticipation of his companion catching up before assuming his normal speed. Argen did take note of how the water dispersed. Maybe it would flow out enough where there will be a ton of small areas where they could just go and walk across. Or they could just find a large area covered in ice.

Yet whatever is in front of them they will find it in due time, until then, Argen will take his time making sure they do not run into obvious traps, and hopefully they don’t find resistance here. Most creatures should be in hibernation or areas where warmth is more readily available and wind can be broken. As long as they stray away from the more dangerous areas like caves and stick to clearings there should be no problem with something trying to sneak attack them. All they need to do is keep their head on a swivel and keep their ears open.

Eventually, the river did indeed spread out wide enough that it was merely a trickle, ice crusting over it. By now, the two adventurers were a good one hour walking through the swamp, and it was clear that their vigilance was fairly pointless: no monsters popped up, nor even any wildlife at all. It was certainly peaceful, and this far away from the mountains, there were no caves hiding monstrosities either, leaving Argen and Renault to travel in peace.
No, perhaps there wasn’t nothing down this trail. There were, after all, some quite obvious tracks tracing through the network of streams now. Though snow would have normally covered it, ice froze the deep grooves in the swamp, leaving clear indications of a portion where a wagon must have been driven through.

"Seems like it was a good idea coming all this way. It seems this is the path taken by those before us. May it be good or bad this seems to be our way through". Argen says this after he inspects the tracks and fully erecting himself.

He looks back towards Renauld as he then says, "Well. We should start heading back and tell the others. It will be a walk and we'll be losing daylight if we just sit around".

Before they leave he takes one last look around, even if nothing is here,  Argen doesn't like the feeling he has. It feels like something is constantly gnawing at him, like there should be something but he doesn't know what it is.

"Indeed,." Renauld had replied, ”let’s head back and see if we can’t cross over here.”

Even if it was an hour away, having the ability to easily cross what remained of the river was great. For the cost of only a mild detour, they would be unaffected by the risk of falling into the river. The cart tracks leading further on were proof of safe crossing. Additionally, the tracks also could act as navigation. If the wagon that had made them got to the fort safely, then it would be a great route to follow. The problem was what if the wagon was ambushed or had gotten lost.

Still, it was an easy place to cross.
Hidden 5 yrs ago Post by GreenGoat
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Ettamri, Siwon, & Katya


If the fiend knight wasn’t having much luck finding dry driftwood, then she too wasn’t finding much. There was some branches and slightly larger branches, but most of the larger pieces weren’t at all that dry. That was no matter. Even if the larger pieces weren’t at all that dry, it was easy enough to deal with that.

She arranged what she found into that small semi circle, making a sort of a cone where the driest wood were in the middle and the wettest were outside. Others were piled up near it. An easy enough idea, where the dry wood burns and dries the wetter wood slowly, which then serves as fuel for the fire, to slowly grow bigger.

Fortunately, none of these were soaking wet. Even if they didn’t dry all the way through, what was left could be used as fuel for the next fire.
Dusting herself off, Ettamri called out to Siwon. “Hey, fiend knight, lend me your torch for a moment.”

Siwon looked at the bone in his hand worryingly, before looking back upstream. Weren’t there others from his party that were supposed to scout in that direction? Siwon thought about it for a bit as he made his way back to Ettamri. He held the bone at its cleanest part, holding it between his fingers to avoid getting blood on his cool gloves he was wearing. The smell of entrails is hard to wash out, and it’s too cold for the Fiend Knight to even consider taking that risk at this time…
Making it back to camp, Siwon dropped the bone a few feet in front of Ettamri before pulling out one of the many torches he purchased back at town. It was too cold for Siwon to discard his own lit torch after all. Lighting the second torch with the flames of the first, he handed it to the knightess.

“Who did we send upstream again? I found this going down the river, along with a couple other bloodier bones, too. Either they’re sharing with us their leftovers or there’s something nasty waiting for them up there.” Siwon spoke plainly, without a hint of concern in his voice. Of course, he was very concerned, but he couldn’t show that to Ettamri. If he looked too worried about the group, she might just send him up there to investigate, after all…

"Must be wolves about then." Ettamri took the torch, and shoved it into the pit. It made a small but cozy fire, drying the wood outside slowly even as it ate the drier ones for fuel. "Oi, turnip, there might be wolves about.” She called out to the priest trying her best to get a fish. ”Careful you don't get snatched up. Fire’s here if you manage to get any fish.”

She sat down on one of larger stones around it.

“Phew. Just drop what you find near there, fiend knight. Don’t worry about the scouts. They shouldn’t be dumb enough to fight anything they can’t reasonably kill. Ah, speaking of which, which family are you from?”

“Family?” Siwon tilted his head to the side in bewilderment. “To become a Fiend Knight is to forsake all worldly bindings such as family and friends. It is a solemn path that one dedicates themselves to!”

Of course such ‘dedications’ that Siwon had proclaimed were extreme hyperbole meant to make him sound cool and unique, but the Fiend Knight still thought of the question, and if he has ever even had a family to begin with. Setting the bits of gathered wood and branches to the arrangement of piles Ettamri had set up.

“What’s the pattern here? Based on smell? Darkest to lightest?”

“Driest inside, wettest outside.” She shoved in a relatively dry piece of wood into the set up. She was silent for a moment as she pondered what the fiend knight said.

“No family and obligation, huh?”

It was an odd thought for her, especially considering she was here because of her family in the first place. Could someone really just abandon their families, their obligations, their own birthright just like that?

“Ah… I can’t even imagine that.” Ettamri sat back on the rock, the boulder shifting slightly under her weight. “My family is… after all…”

Almost as if by a sudden flip of a switch, she sat up suddenly, and poked the fire. It was burning well, the heat drying out the outside wood even as it ate the drier parts for fuel.

“Ah, my kingdom for some tea.” She lamented to herself. Ettamri had an idea to warm up her alcohol for drinking, but she wasn’t sure if she wanted to share her drink with anyone just yet.

While Ettamri and Siwon were chatting it up, Katya was mastering the rock. Slowly, her movements became more refined, more swift, the small priest developing her own technique as she whipped the stones out like a human sling. Retrospectively, it would have been better if she just made an actual sling herself, but that was irrelevant to her. She was getting GOOD at this. Indeed…

Splish-splish-splish-splish-splesh-splash-splosh!

“YES!” Katya cried out, jumping up twice and looking at the others. “I did it! Look, look, didja see that, Siwang? Fufufu, seven bounces off the river, bet you can’t do that, smelly skinny guy!”

Scratching her head over the turnip's behaviour, Ettamri shrugged and simply poked the fire, having had no expectation the small girl will really catch a fish. Pretty good throwing arm though. Perhaps if she had something to throw she could really help in combat. Not that Ettamri had any idea what to throw.

Keeping her hand on her sword, she simply sat with her back to the fire, looking out for any dangers, but mostly on Katya. Who knows if the turnip got it into her head to dive into the deeper parts of the river or something.
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Oscar slowly let out a steady amount of air out of his lungs through his mouth. A sign that the sight he saw in the distance did not please him. Goblins. A LOT of goblins. Though what irked the ranger the most was the lack of respect they gave to the animal...no...it was an outright disrespect for the animal’s corpse. Though he didn’t reveal his irritation through his facial expression, other than a tightly knit brow. He eyeballed the distance between them and the little psychopathic midgets were ‘enjoying’ their meal.

He turns slightly towards the blade dancer in front of him and speaks in a hushed tone of voice. ”The goblins are about forty...maybe fifty meters away from us. They don’t seem that well armed or armored, the only real advantage they have against us is number.” He glances towards the group of the mud skinned creatures. ”I’ll move closer to the goblins. Shoot at the two crossbow wielding ones first and then take potshots at them while luring the rest here...” He pauses to draw out his bow. Notching and preparing a bodkin arrow for the sneak attack. ”Muu, I’m sorry to suggest this, but I need you to hide underneath the snow. Goblins are stupid creatures and once they see that the one that killed their friends is alone, they are gonna be overconfident and be out for blood. So I’m counting on you to be ready to ambush them when I say ‘Go’, alright?”

"..." Muu was silent for a moment as she ducked even deeper upon their discovery. Goblin's really weren't that much of a danger but they could be nasty nonetheless. And although they had the possibility to just turn back, it was Oscar that took the decision upon himself alone.

"Alright. Let's dispatch them quickly." She simply responded, and although she doubted the Goblins would back up even if it were two of them, laying an ambush would surely put them in an advantage. Slowly drawing her sword, to avoid it getting somehow stuck later in the scabbard, she scanned the ground around her for a suitable spot. Was she now supposed to be glad it had been snowing so much? Her winter cloak already provided plenty of disguise, but with all the snow around them it should be just about perfect.

"Help me out real quick... and make sure to do something about the tracks. Most Goblins may be stupid, but every now and then there's an odd one out. Let's hope this is not the case today." She told him before starting to dig herself somewhat into some loose snow that she could curl into. It was cold, but she had plenty of clothes, a few minutes surely wouldn't be that terrible, would it? And her blade was already ready, too.

”Sure.” The ranger then slowly backtracked to where Muu and Oscar’s tracks diverged from their single file marching order. He then re-traced the blade dancer’s own footsteps towards where she was currently concealing herself in the snow and getting ready for the ambush. Now it would appear that it was Oscar who made this different set of tracks, adding more to the illusion that he was alone. The ranger then returned to his own path and slowly crept closer and closer to the group of goblins with bow and arrow ready in his hands.

Once close enough to the goblins that he could practically hear their voices and the sound of flesh rending and bone breaking, he stopped. If he had to guess, he was about thirty five, maybe thirty meters away from them now. This was it, this was far enough for him to still be able to hit a target accurately, but far enough for the goblins that he could let loose another one or two arrows before he needed to fall back to the ambush point. Perfect to antagonize the goblins into chasing him. Letting out a steady breath, it was time to set the plan in motion.

In one movement, he sent a bodkin arrow careening towards the first crossbow wielding goblin’s head. Not waiting for them to realize that they were under attack, he pulls out another one of the armor piercing arrows and lets it loose on the other crossbow goblin’s head. Oscar, even when hunting, would oft target vital regions of the body. May it be: heads, necks, or even the upper torso; Oscar would make sure that he doesn’t screw around and get the job done the fastest and most efficient way of doing it. If he still had time and the goblins were still in the distance, perhaps he could pull off one more potshot at the spear wielding one’s throat before falling back? The length of the spear might be disadvantageous for Muu when their trap is sprung. If he could kill, or even maim it here, it would make her job far easier.

“Grawh?!” Oscar’s first arrow sailed true, a perfect hit that embedded itself in the eye of the first goblin. He scarcely managed a deathrattle before collapsing to the ground, steel have irreparably decimated his brain. The second shot, however, could not replicate the same feat; the head was always smaller than the torso, and though they were taken by surprise, years living in the wild, hunted by the invaders that so callously slew their brothers and their fathers, their elders and their children, ensured that their reflexes were on par. The arrow clipped the goblin’s head, leaving a long gash and sinking into the elk behind him as the dark-brown creature dropped down, yowling in pain.

Pain alone, however, wasn’t going to pause any counterattack. Adrenaline pumped through the crossbow goblin’s veins before he even hit the snow, and once he did, both feet lifted up to pull back the string of the crossbow, a free hand slotting in the bolt. But when he finally looked up, there was no ranger in sight.

“Gugor buim!” Around him, his hunting party dropped into defensive positions as well, the dagger-wielding goblin quickly tumbling by to snatch the crossbow from the still-warm hands of his brother. Scattering, they positioned themselves in the best cover they could find, three hiding behind the large, meaty carcass of the elk, while others scattered behind snowy bushes and bare trees. They weren’t smart, not in the way that they could make technological breakthroughs through their own intelligence, but they weren’t stupid either. None of them wanted to die, after all, and dying was the first thing they’d do if they ran at a hidden adventurer with a powerful bow.

A simple graze only annoyed the second goblin crossbower. Tch...I was too over confident. Should have shot at the heart or lungs. Oscar silently berated himself for his sloppy work as the ranger paused his movements. To the goblins, he was just another snow covered inanimate object like any other one that surrounded him...and it showed when the goblin he failed to kill scanned the area and failed to see the bow wielding ranger amongst the trees, bushes, and rocks. They scattered soon after. Oscar quietly watched as they scampered off to hide behind what cover they could get. Some dove behind the Elk carcass. Some hid behind trees. Others chose to squat behind bushes. They were anticipating another attack.

Yet Oscar stayed his hand from action. Seeing them hide, he memorized where were the most dangerous ones were positioned. But seeing as the one he failed to kill was adept in using his bolt firing weapon, it’s death took priority in the ranger’s mind. So Oscar waited. Waited to see who would be curious enough to take a look. Waited for those bold enough to move away from cover. Waited for his opportunity to kill another and antagonize them into giving chase.

Though learning from his mistake earlier, rather than aiming for the head, he would aim at their chests and try to perforate a lung or two. While it is true that they were quick in both movement and reflexes; it wouldn’t be that hard for Oscar to hit his mark. Other than being a Silver Moon Soldier, he was also a well trained hunter. Shooting a small white rabbit while it dashed through the snow would have given him a difficult time, but shooting at a goblin ten times as big, thrice as wide, and twice as slow? An easier time than compared to hunting a startled adrenaline fueled rabbit.

He knew that as soon as he takes his third shot, the goblins will know his position and would likely perform a counter attack, causing him to run away and them giving chase. That's what he was hoping for at least. If they didn’t, he wasn’t sure he could explain it to Muu, who was likely very cold underneath the snow HE asked her to cover herself with for the ambush, that the goblins were not coming after all.

Seconds passed into minutes as the impasse continued, the goblins pressed up against whatever cover they could find, each of them peeking out in rotation, cautious of the hidden enemy within the snow. No one wanted to pop up yet, no one wanted to see if they could dodge an arrow. Their decision, as a group, was one of cowardice, but it was effective as well. It was cold for everyone, but especially so for someone who was stuck hiding in place.

“Megru?” “Errt!”

Behind cover as they were, the goblins could afford some degree of free movement, after all, their own knobby little limbs warmed by movement. From the elk carcass, the dagger-wielding goblin began to saw away at the swiftly cooling meat, occasionally wiping the fats off onto the fur, before tossing chunks of flesh towards his compatriots. It gave away their location, of course, but it was fine. They only had to watch out for one direction, after all, and cold as it was?

Nothing better to chase away the bitter cold than to eat some fat, greasy, bloody meat.

Seconds passed to minutes, as the goblins waited and ate in turn, the snow turned pinkish in the wake of the flesh being traded.
It seemed that the goblins were playing it safe. None of them moving away from their respective hiding spots, but instead took rotations to look at the general direction where Oscar sat in waiting. He could have stayed there as long as he needed to, the cold never bothered him anyway while the sun was still up and about...but he couldn’t say the same for the blade dancer hidden in the snow. If they were not willing to make the first move, then he would move first. He watched the pattern over and over as the eight remaining goblins took a second to glance out of cover. Once. Twice. Thrice. They were following a sequenced rotation. He took note how quickly his window of opportunity appeared and disappeared. He waited and anticipated each head bobbing in and out of cover, until he was sure the next one to peek at him was the wounded one.

With an arrow nocked and ready in his bow, it was only a matter of waiting. Just as the last goblin before the wounded one ducked its head back into cover, he drew back the arrow and let it loose just as the wounded one looked up from cover. Hit or miss, he would start falling back to the ambush point, dive in and out of cover to prevent a bolt from striking him from the back.

“GRAWH!”

Another scream of pain sounded as Oscar dove away, performing evasive maneuvers the moment he released his arrow. A bolt thudded where he had been laying just moments before, and now, with their quarry in plain sight and on the run, the goblins hooted and cheered, the unharmed crossbow goblin swiftly reloading. With such a weapon, perhaps it was truly a better fit for goblins than humans, the monsters capable of leveraging the entirety of their body to reloading it. In mere moments, the second bolt was primed and fired, this time whistling over Oscar’s head.

Like sprinters in a race, two short sword wielding goblins, young ones still hungry for recognition amongst their peers, shot off after the ranger as well, one running straight for Oscar while the other arced off to the side. The river blocked off one method of escape, and the goblin sought to cut off the other side as well, his four limbs working in unison as he held his weapon in his mouth.

"Tch." The ranger was displeased by the fact that only two had given chase. A little offended even. He considered himself a rather potent threat. Seeing that only two had gone after him bruised his confidence. But, when life gives you lemons right? He could hear the snow crunching beneath the limbs of the goblin who dashed straight after him. The other one seemed to diverge from the path and tried to get ahead. Intending to cut him off further on.

But at the last three meters or so to the ambush point, Oscar abruptly turned and leapt backwards. And in that small span of time that he was in the air, he nocked a broadhead arrow and shot at the goblin charging straight at him. Causing a brief moment of surprise where he sent the arrow straight to its body while it was still set on going on a straight line. He would hope Muu was ready as the flanking goblin would be arriving soon and would likely take advantage of the prone ranger. He would only need to make one call, but if Muu hadn't heard him call out, he would really be in deep shit.

Muu had been waiting. For how long? She wasn’t sure. But the brunette wasn’t stupid enough to occur some sort of frostbite just for the sake of the ambush. Neither did she doubt Oscar… yet.

She had warm clothes, even wool socks, and her weapon already drawn. So, she had been waiting and waiting, remembering the advice of her Master to keep toes and fingers moving. And, as time was passing at the speed of one second per second, the girl could suddenly hear it. The fast shuffling of snow from not just one source. So, this was it then.

‘Go’ was the code-word, and would likely be called the moment something was in quick range to kill. With the element of surprise on her side, an unseen Dance of Death had just been another one of many teachings. Just one word, ready for her to go...

”Go!”

Go. There it was. The signal to spring into action. In an instant, Muu arose from beneath the white to witness… two goblins, exactly. Just a meter or two away. Stick to the plan.

Her target was easy to discern. A Goblin to the side of Oscar taking advantage of his position. Time was of essence. These were just weak monsters, with their only strength in numbers, so there was no need or time for too complex maneuvers. Nonetheless, even a singular motion had some form of beauty.

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ERode Odd One Out

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Siwon, Ettamri, Katya, Argen, Renault - Meeting Up

Katya was sorta sad that Siwon didn't throw rocks with her, even after she practically invited him. What a sulky loser. He probably has baby arms anyways. Fiend Knights always had baby arms, after all. Her Master said so. Every day was leg day, but no day was arm day. With a slight 'hmph', the small priest turned back to her stone-slinging duties, her body plenty warmed from exercise, even as her face grew rosier and rosier as a result.

Soon enough, Argen and Renault showed up again, neither of them looking to require healing. The fire that Ettamri and Siwon coaxed into life was crackling merrily at this point, blessed warmth drawing them in like moths to a lamp. They gathered around the fireplace soon enough, the horses stomping impatiently against the ground at this point; it had been almost two hours now, and it was tragically boring. Up above, the heavy skies have become a couple shades darker than before, night approaching gradually, rapidly. It wasn't a terrible idea, just camping beside the river, but on the other hand...this certainly wasn't the amount of progress they'd want to make on the easiest leg of the journey.

And as minutes ticked and ticked away, Oscar and Muu continued to be absences none of them could account for.

"Oh hey, Arg, Ren," Katya said, ignoring all the boring logistics, "Watch this!" She hopped by the riverbank once more, pulling out a smooth stone from the folds of her robes before whipping it out in a motion that was now wholly fluid.

Splish-splish-splish-splish-splash-splat!

It wasn't her seven splash miracle, but she wheeled around to face them again and flashed a victory sign. "I'm the best, right!"

And indeed, the blue-haired stonethrower certainly was the best. Was it intentional, or was it accidental? No matter what it was, it was hard to argue with the results of her miraculous throw; those who paid attention to the streaming river could all see a thick trail of blood blooming through the clear waters, a bulbous, dark form drifting lower and lower until it lodged itself against the rocks.


Oscar and Muu - Proceed or Retreat?

It wasn't even a challenge. With graceful steps polished over half a year of combat, Muu shot through the snow like an arrow, white clouds bursting up with each step as her scarlet scarf trailed behind her. In one elegant swing, she drew her short sword through the goblin's neck, the edge of the blade never touching hard bone. It passed through flesh and fat easily, and moments later, blood geysered out. Before he could even strike once at the prone Oscar, the mud goblin fell onto the man's leg, sanguine ichor dying his boot and pant leg a disgusting color.

If a healthy goblin could be slain instantaneously by Muu, one with an arrow in his gut posed even less of a challenge. Though it was valiant enough to heft up his weapon in the face of certain doom, valor without strength to back it up was merely foolhardiness; he too was dispatched in a singular stroke, a scarlet trail arcing through the air.

For a moment, the two adventurers anticipated a second wave.

But that wave never came. Goblins may be idiots, but they weren't fools. Even if they still outnumbered the adventurers three to one at the very least, Muu's display of martial skill was enough to convince them that taking her down would be much too costly. While their weakest died seeking glory, the rest made a prudent retreat, disappearing deeper into the forest. No doubt, proceeding further would mean another encounter with that band of goblins, and this time, they may be prepared for Oscar and Muu. But they were simply goblins, their numbers whittled down to size quite easily. And there may not be an ambush after that skirmish; humans knew to let sleeping dogs lie, and so did goblins.

Still, the whole encounter had taken no small amount of time, and they had yet to scout into the forest itself. Would it be prudent to continue into the forest, or to simply return, lest they be left behind by an impatient knight?
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Searat The Aqueous Rodent

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Oscar was left gob struck at the blade dancer's display of dexterity, skill, and agility when she dispatched the goblin that was mere milliseconds away from embedding an eight inch blade into his face as well as the goblin he shot at in such a short span of time. "Whoa..." Though, he was not left in shock for long as he realized that, perhaps, the others were coming to finish the job the two failed to do. In a split second, the ranger nimbly jumps toward a nearby tree and by the time he rolls up from the snow and has his body covered by the tree, he had already prepared an arrow to be loosed to the goblins...that were quickly running away from them. "That was anticlimactic." Oscar says as he takes a more casual stance while putting away the arrow he readied.

He then approaches the goblin that tried to stab him while prone, the creature was still gurgling and drowning in its own blood and spit. Its little hands desperately trying to keep the blood in. The ranger gently shakes his head side to side in pity as he picks up it's discarded dagger and approaching the goblin. In one strike, he drives the dagger straight to it's heart and see the struggling goblin go still in seconds. Pulling out the blood soaked dagger, Oscar then cuts off it's ears. Weather or not it was their mission, soldiers were still paid for killing monsters and bringing back proof.

"Sorry if this wasn't up to your standards of a fight, Muu. I would have loved to hunt them all down but chasing after them in their turf would spell our deaths if its just the two of us." He talks to the blade dancer offhandedly as he approaches the goblin with an arrow sticking out of it's gut. The body twitched slightly but it was already dead when he got close enough. He then uses the dagger to make an incision to where his arrow embedded itself and removed, cleaned, and placed it back into his quiver before also cutting it's ears off. "We should head back and report to Ettamri that we found goblins, managed to kill a few and scared the rest off." He looks to where the elk's body was. He could still see the corpse of the first one he killed but he wasn't too sure if he killed the other."I killed one or two more by the elk. I'm gonna head up there and cut of their ears as well as retrieve my arrows." He says to Muu as he begins to cautiously walk to the corpse, keeping an eye and ear open for traps or beasts looking for a quick meal.

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Ettamri Belarence


They were taking too long. Daylight was wasting and she had no idea if they were dead or not. Ettamri had a bad feeling about the entire thing however, as if something big might come.

"Hmm. Daylight's wasting. You, pha.. no, Arsen, was it? And you, mage Rinald." She stopped for a moment, as she turned slightly away, the words catching in her throat. "W.. Well done scouting. Drive the wagon, and lead the way across. We will make proper camp once the last of the day's light disappears from the sky. The ranger is with the blade dancer, they should be able to track us and catch up quickly to the slow wagon."

If they're alive, she thought.

"Oi! Turnip! Get back here, we're moving out." She called towards Katya before turning to Siwon. "You, fiend knight. Help me douse the fire, and gather the dried wood and coal for the next campfire. Make sure they're properly put out. We do not want to burn the wagon."

With that, she spread the firewood apart with another stick, ensuring the fire does not get enough fuel, before using the snow to well and truly make sure no embers survive. Piling what she has onto the back, she repeated the process until every thing was properly stowed. Mercy be onto the fiend knight if he didn't help.

"Check your equipments, we're moving out. We should at least be able to return to the road ahead once we get across the river."
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Argentum



Once they got back to the camp, Argen went over to the fire to warm up his cold fingers as he began giving the quick details of what they found, "We found a way to cross through the swamp as the water all but sputters out there, as well as there seemed to be ice tracks indicating this path was taken by a cart before us. It might be the place the others crossed and path used to make it to the fort".

Argen begins to look around it seems nothing really changed, seems Katya was throwing rocks, as she whips a rock across the river, she was good at it as he called out, "Nicely done".

As Argen was watching the river as they Ettamri talked to them, Argen responded to the mispronounced name, "It's Argen" as he stood up and began making last checks to the wagon before they began to head out as he looked towards the river and he found something he thought would not be seeing all day, blood in the water. He made a quick job over to the water to check what was there and to see what was there. A body, he took off his gloves and rolled up his pants as high as they could go and went in to try and fish the body out. In Argen's mind he thought, 'So my bad feeling was not because I was in danger', As he thinks it might be because up stream there was danger.

If he could he would bring it to shore and inspect what it was, it could have been one of their teammates and it would be bad news if it was. He also tried to make sure Katya wasn't looking.
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With the Goblins quickly dispatched, Muu decided there was no use in giving chase. Instead, assuring herself of Oscar's well-being. But he seemed fine enough.

"It's all well." She responded to his apology. "Better like that, then the other way around." Gazing into the forest they had just escaped too, Muu wondered. "But, yes, we should get moving. There's an ever so slight chance they might come back, with more."

Rather than waiting for Oscar to finish his business, Muu, too, decided to pick whatever valuables the Goblins had on them to carry. With both of them done rather sooner than later, they would soon return to the abandoned? camp.
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OwO what's this?

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Arriving back at the wagon, Renauld and Argen had been greeted by a skippy Katya. When the young priest threw that rock, the amount it bounced was easily twice as much as the young mage's average. So he thought. He actually didn't remember the last time he threw a rock like that. He just had a feeling that it was about twice as good as him. Still, rather than thrive in some bizarre self-hatred or smugness of being bested by a little girl, he gave a big thumbs up to Katya. He was happy for her.

Renauld was surprised. Ettamri was actually... nice? The names were wrong, sure, but it was a start. Perhaps it was Muu that brought out the worst in her. He was actually kind of liking being congratulated by such a polarizing figure. It made him think that she had a small change in heart, like she was warming up to them.

Then she called Katya 'Turnip' and his expectations crashed back to reality. Well, brief moments of platitudes were a nice change of pace. Ettamri called for them to go ahead, a proposition he wouldn't refuse, and check their gear. Renauld did just that. His 'gear' consisted of his single bag (which held all of its contents) and what he carried on him, so he had finished in no time at all. However, what caught his eye was the subtle change in the river's colour. Then, Argen squatting and trying to reach for something in that frigid, cold water.

"...Something happened upstream."
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