[h2][b][color=fff200]Sir Aurelian Asellius[/color][/b][/h2]

[color=fff200]"Nothing has happened since you contacted us,"[/color] Aurelian replied to Vyandar.  [color=fff200]"Judging from what the girl said, and what you found, I think we'll be lucky if we find enough to positively identify our missing scouts,"[/color] he whispered, not wanting the girl to hear his grim assessment.  Of course, giving half-elven, she probably overheard it all the same.

Aurelian was greatly relieved when the Dragonborn finally arrived.  The revelation that the attackers were giant insects, and the evidence of blood and aftermath of acid in the field dimmed the chances of finding the girl's parents or the scouts alive.  Depending on how ravenous these insects were, they might not even find enough to bury.  On one hand, it meant that they could afford to wait to assemble to proceed onward, but it also cast a shadow over the paladin's mood, that it was likely too late to save anyone.

The wait gave him time to anticipate his opponents.  There wasn't enough time to prepare spells, but fortunately most of his spells were still ready for use.  For an hour he had picked up an ant off the ground and examined it, speculating that their foe would be somewhat similar.  They'd probably be armed with massive mandibles and powerful acid, and protected by a hard exoskeleton, yet at the same time be unintelligent and driven by the simplest and basest of instincts.  According to Vyandar's sending, there were at least several of them.

From the Dragonborn's information on the dead Nuniel soldiers, Aurelian was able to explain to his companions that the insignia on their uniforms marked them as being apart of part of the Nuniel Army's Forward Scouts and Reconnaissance unit.  If they were snooping around in Coris, it was possible, the paladin surmised that Nuniel may be planning an offensive.  At the same time, however, the insects' slaughter of the camp may have slowed down his former country's plans- a silver lining in this otherwise tragic sequence of events.

As the emissary of Sol prepared to set out to find and slay these creatures, he couldn't help but think of the half-elf girl.  Once this was over, assuming that her parents had already been eaten, they should find the girl a new home.  Perhaps she had family, or perhaps there might be a local farmer that knew her and was willing to take care of her.  Whoever it was, it would need to be someone who wouldn't malign the girl for her mixed ancestry.  He hoped that the people of Coris were more accepting of half-elves than those of Nuniel.

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