Foster

A Heart Frozen (Ebonfort)

Chartose froze -not physically but emotionally- when he saw Rilana had a totem, and even mentioned that she saw his earlier; he did not want to risk telling-all on a bluff... but this looked less and less like a bluff as she guided him to her tent, as being pulled would not really describe it when he was more anxious to get out of public sight than she was.

The tent interior was slightly warmer, and a fair amount warmer than the lean-to he kept setting-up beside the fire for Tricia and the rams. He even saw the little multi-headed beast that seemed quite fond of nipping at him and Tricia when it wasn't napping.

"Then you know I can't just send her away, or even say she ran back to warmer climates only to suddenly appear in the streets of Fridgemount shortly after our arrival." He paused, choosing his words carefully "She really wants to visit Fridgemount, personally."

A Heart Frozen (Ebonfort)

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.

---

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.

The Wolf Hath Returned from the WILDS!!!

"Stay awhile and listen."

A Heart Frozen (Ebonfort)

Chartose looked at the offering of food all laid-out, the cottage, and the warmth coming presumably from the well-spring. He could already tell that Tricia wanted to. It was hard for him to believe that anyone would just offer such things for free. The sheer unlikeliness of such a near-impossibility kept him on edge even as he watch his scream-raptor shuck-off her own saddle and covers and take a quick dip in the far end of the spring.

"And what do you seek in return for these, services?" Chartose asked as he slowly took note of all the glowing crystals jutting from the walls and cieling; he would have had many more questions to ask, trying to catch any signs of deception from the white-elf hostess, but strictly business seemed the best way to cut through the modesty. Having a calling and a purpose was all well and good, but he wasn't going to think she'd let some strangers take advantage of her hospitality. One the other hand, the Ebon-knight was stuffing his mouth and the homunculus stood as a placid observer of the serene landscape.

Rather than pig-out and fight over food with an Ebon-Knight, Chartose went about hanging-up Ticia's winter covers, which would just happen to function as a vanity-screen for the elf and half-elf. He could've sworn he heard the homunculus give-off a disheartened-sigh after he'd finished.

FRAMEs (Mech combat, political intrigue & corporate struggles)

(I really wanted to wait for Aristro to call Marlene off, but I suppose the regular MPs would be just as super-effective)

---

Marlene was stopped from maintaining her blocking-post between the headquarters and the 'ports by a very loud, very angry buzzing sound; indicating her mech was being very brightly "painted" on several radar-scopes, followed by a stern warning from the port-authority to cease and desist, the local authorites would take-over from there...

Shrugging in defeat, knowing their foe was likely to be long-gone, hopped off from the parking-ramp and went to assist in recovering Sarah's battered frame.

Later:

Marlene woke-up from her spot in the halls just outside the infirmary to a shrill cry of “KILL THE FUCKERS!”, a loud clattering, and “BASTARDS!”; she bolted into the room, only to see Sarah collapsed on the floor beside her hospital-bed; it did not take a genious to figure out what happened.

"Take it easy. You took a large gash to your tender bits." She said as she calmly walked-over and offered to help the frail little bundle of mayhem to her feet. "Do you remember what day it is?" She asked, a bit more concern showing.

The Walking Dead: To Greener Pastures

At the sound of a gun cracking, Wilhelm racked his bolt, thumbing the loose round from his hand and into the chamber in the process as he made a much quicker check behind the locked door than he hoped for. Encountering a walker on the other side, and with adrenalin fueling his desire to clear the building, he promptly stabbed it through the skull, the wrenched the spike so violently upwards that it tore a ragged gash out of its skull; the corpse schlumped to the ground as he quickly pocketed the meds he was after.

He then doubled-back to see a slightly elderly black 'gent with a rifle pointed into the breakroom, in some sort of heated high-stress discussion.

"Oi! If you turn-around, you'll be shot...." He sighed, this was almost ridiculous... "Mind explaining what's in front of you that's got your boom-stick so out and trigger-happy?" He asked, making sure the floor-plate on his magazine clattered that unmistakable sound of a well-used gun just a bit as he swung his fist upon it for emphasis.

FRAMEs (Mech combat, political intrigue & corporate struggles)

I could assume Marlene is given a stern scolding for frightening people and told to stop engaging things.

Then timeskip to ze hospital.

A Heart Frozen (Ebonfort)

(Narrator puts on T-shirt that reads: "I'm with Alya")

---

As Chartose moved-on, still heavy-hearted at abandoning a party-member (even an oafish one), his spirits returned when they came to a cave, offering shelter from the wind and the promise of someplace warmer than the outdoors for Tricia to rest in. Alas, the cave was so much colder that he quickly realized this was no ordinary cave; a point further reinforced by the reaction by the many roots whenever a curious knight would wave their torch at the woody protrusions. The tangled roots had become such a nuisance that Chartose had to dismount, leaving nearly all the coverings on the scream-raptor.

Then a sudden gust of wind, lights went out. A momentary panic as Chartose calmly lit a candle and placed it in his lantern, which should prevent the lights going-out a second time; although the light from the small lantern was quite dim, it provided a warmer and more comforting glow than the blue sword the wereperson used.

It was then that he saw a large mass of the leadership had disappeared, and tried to rally those who remained as they tried to find the rest of the group. Backtracking yielded a literal dead-end, it was growing still colder for Tricia, and he could see their resident mute had started to wander-off just as he was sure he saw the faint blue of Svarak's sword. Quickly, he hurried-up to her, but quickly found himself calmer as he approached despite being absolutely sure they were now going the wrong way. By this time the Charr mercenary reasoned that the mute was quite handy with that flute, able to keep up with the improvised flourishes of the strange melody coming from somewhere in the distance ahead.

FRAMEs (Mech combat, political intrigue & corporate struggles)

<Snipped quote by Foster>

1. Wait... Is someone really killing people at random? Did I miss something?

2. Wouldn't there be a lot of people fleeing for safety?

@Dark Light

1. Yes. Well, actually it's an exclusion-zone. People fleeing towards the docks be getting shot at (warning shots first) "Mali checkpoint style".

2. Not really, since a siege is pretty much designed to prevent escape (or relocating their objective). Once the threat is gone there isn't much left to actually escape when medical is already en-route.
-Shooting at them should give them the hint to retreat the other way.

A Heart Frozen (Ebonfort)

On account of a literal "snownado", and the resulting cleanup, delays in making a decent IC reply and/or drop of quality will occur.

Chartose right now has the two basic choices of either helping fight the treants, or sticking with the group. Pragmatism and knowing nobody will help him suggests he should do the latter. Plus spears don't seem too useful at hacking tree-limbs. Despite knowing this is the better of two choices, he's still pretty conflicted about abandoning someone.

He'll also be taking Lyle's ram. For safe-keeping.