"Poison?" Ama didn't like the sound of that one bit. Only the nastiest and down-right cruelest of beings used such methods. "Did the poison's effects eventually wear off? And are there healers amongst us? That would be something really useful to know, you know...just in case."
The young demoness' horse appeared to be veering to the left. But a quick readjustment of the reins fixed the problem.
::She gave a nod and a wave to her friend Dionne as she rode ahead, but was sad to see her go. She had enjoyed her time with the Sonari, despite the danger, and looked forward to speaking with her more. She only hoped the woman would not get herself in trouble before they caught up to her.::
"Poison? So are you saying those dog-like things we encountered may have been made and not bred?"
::She shook her head in wonder, not sure now how to proceed as she was not a leader of men.::
"We will need to be wary of this poison. I would recommend a quiet approach myself. It got us far on our last visit...just not far enough.
The problem is that that may not suit us all."
::She glanced at the large Soren.::
"I am not a leader of men, Commander. Perhaps you would have some insite?"
::She looked to Ama as she awaited an answer::
"I have some skill in medicine, but I lack the magickal abilities of the Healers of Galena. I don't know what our friends here are capable of."
"I do not aim with my hand; he who aims with his hand has forgotten the face of his father.
I aim with my eye.
I do not shoot with my hand; he who shoots with his hand has forgotten the face of his father.
I shoot with my mind.
I do not kill with my gun; he who kills with his gun has forgotten the face of his father.
I kill with my heart."
All this talk about these elves were starting to make them sound more dangerous then he had thought. With a poison that turns them into mindless brutes, he would hate to face off against his friend Miro or even the commander of the Sentinels if they or he were hit by one of those arrows. He looks over to the other Soren.
The one that turned into rage, did he survive? If so, how was he cured?
Turning to Dani, "Aye, those dogs you saw were likely to have been created. I saw many malformed animals which seemed to have been caused by the ill forest. Be it the water they drank or something else, they grew similar malformations as the elves themselves."
Then to the group Zarr and Ama,"He survived. We had a mage in the group. I am not sure what sorcery he used, but he drew the poison from him. I am not sure the effects would wear off on their own. I would just say sever the limb that becomes infected." He bellowed out a bit of laughter at the morbid humor.
"Mind you, the lad was fresh. He had no battle experience and ended up taking three arrows if my memory served me. Still yet, it was minimal compared to the brute we encountered shortly after. One of the downed elves ingested an entire vial of the poison and I watched him become a beast before my very eyes."
He thought about speaking up to the warven, but decided against it. However, the warven's excitement for the upcoming challenge got Miroslaw pondering. He truly enjoyed the fight with the brute. For the short while it stood, it was indeed a formidable opponent. While he doesn't usually enjoy a fight, with a true challenge he tends to lose himself in the thrill of the fight. A rare occasion that the brutish monster provoked. While he didn't enjoy the risk of death, he found himself hoping to face another of the brutes.
He chuckled as Dani mentioned the idea of stealth. The thought of Zarr and himself sneaking around those elves was laughable. Soren never conceal well. They are simply too large. "Not sure stealth will be the best option." He continued his horse forward as they spoke. He had almost forgotten how unnatural it was to be on the back of another creature.
Death is no more than turning us over from time to eternity. Whether that eternity is damnation or salvation is determined in the time we have.
Pondering over what had been said through out the group he began to do what he usually did. He looked to each member, gauging them or sizing them up to be quaint. It was something Zaedus had always done, better to know your allies and work with their strengths and weaknesses than to just blindly accept everyone will work as one cohesive unit.
He weighed every plan with a counter plan in his head, another thing he could not help but do and a folly it was. no matter how well you plan, there is the random variable that what you plan for never happens.
Judging by what had been said through out, it seemed diplomacy was out of the question. Some had faced hostility and usually that was a good bid in on just killing on sight.
"Well, I say we head out then, no use in planning the unexpected. Besides if these "elves" are as vile as you say, I see no reasoning in letting a problem escalate into something more."
Zaedus reared his horse back towards the road, and started to move forward at a slow pace so Dani or Mirrow could take lead, they have been there or know where their destination lie. better to let one of them lead.
::The tales Miroslaw had to tell unnerved her a bit. Perhaps she should have reached out to the House of Galena for a Healer afterall. There was no fixing that now, they would have to do the best they could.
The ride was slow, due to the speed of the larger mounts and the inexperience of the riders. In the end they had to push on a bit after the sun had fallen to reach the place where she had camped with Dionne on their previous journey and hoped to find her there.
She would take time to tend to all the horses, seeing them properly taken care of while providing direction and advice to any willing to help with the other needs of setting a camp. Starting a fire. Cooking a meal. Etc...
Once done, she would remove her cloak and instead of using it to make a tent, she strung it low in the branches of trees to give a wider covering, even if it was open on the sides.
She would offer the space to the other women first. Ama, and Dionne were she there. Then the Commander and the Soren, should they decline.
She herself would be fine sleeping in the open for one night. These people had given their time for no known reward to help her. She would give what she could to help them in return.::
"I do not aim with my hand; he who aims with his hand has forgotten the face of his father.
I aim with my eye.
I do not shoot with my hand; he who shoots with his hand has forgotten the face of his father.
I shoot with my mind.
I do not kill with my gun; he who kills with his gun has forgotten the face of his father.
I kill with my heart."
Ama gratefully accepted to share the sleeping quarters beneath the make-shift canopy, so long as they were willing to use her own cloak as a blanket of sorts. But before they settled down for the night, some bellies needed filling, including her own.
"So long as someone else starts the fire and provides the meat, I can help with the cooking. If not, then I have some dry rations I don't mind splitting."
Getting there before the rest, Dionne hid her horse and went hunting. She wasn't sure what the plan was and how long they'd be there, hence fresh food would be essential.
Tying her horse, she tracks back for a little while before begining her hunt - She didn't want trouble alone.
Catching but a couple of rabbits, Dionne makes her way back to her horse, tied not far from the prvious meeting spot, walking into the camp her bow in hand, and rabbits on her belt.
Miroslaw would not take up Dani on the offer, even if the girls declined. He began working on a comfortable piece of ground for himself, piling of a mixture of loose dirt and plant life. He did not bring his bedroll because he was usually able to get an adequate nights rest without one. With the proper preparations and even with limited knowledge, a fairly comfortable place to rest can be produced. He did get some strange rashes a few times he has invoked this method, but nothing more than a bothersome itch.
His weakness was the rain. He always tried to position some filled branches over the top of his sleeping spot, but it never seemed to be very good. It was, at best, leaky. He usually ended up fairly wet regardless. Only difference was that one took more effort. "Heres to hoping it doesn't rain" he muttered to himself as he decided against taking the effort.
Miroslaw had little skill in the way of cooking for fire starting. Thus, he refrained from offering any services in that area. Unless the group didn't mind eating come charred meat, there was probably a better cook. He also did not feel inclined to jump at the opportunity to tear up his hands while attempting to start a fire.
As he worked on his sleeping arrangements he said, "I've a bit of dry goods as well. Jerky, nuts, and cheeses." Thats when he noticed Dionne trekking into the camp with a few rabbits. "I would be willing to share for a portion of those rabbits." He smiled as he revealed his jest, "Nah, but really, help yourself." He set his bag of goods down in the middle of the camping area free for picking.
After finishing his preparations, he took a moment and thumbed through his book on herbs for a potential poison curing herb that may have some effect on the poison these elves utilized. Perhaps he could find something n the area before they arrive.
The Warven declined upon the offer of shelter, not out of courtesy but mainly for the experience of being out in the open again. It gave him a sense of freedom knowing that the stars were over him instead of a roof.
He would visibly, although intentionally wince when Dani said his title. Not really a good idea but who was he to tell off a stranger in the sense of the word. He settled himself and his things to form around what may soon to be a camp fire.
The campfire. Well, unless someone collected wood within the past few moments they would have nothing to burn. With that he stood back up, and headed out into the brush to get some dried twigs to start. Once done with that Zaedus rummaged around looking for fallen limbs or smaller branched to use as the main source for the fire.
After a few minutes of rummaging he returned cradling some wood. He arranged it neatly and grabbing a few twigs and dried leaves he held the small wad and waved his hand over them as it began to smoke and smolder. He blew on it several times before a small flame caught the tip of the tinder he had.
Upon arriving to the camp site, Zarr was relieved to hop off his horse and walk around a bit to stretch his legs. He was too old to be traveling on top of a mount, jumping up and down on his... pride.
After a few stretches of his back, he finally joins the group. Everyone seemed to be helping in one way or another. Whether it was setting up where they would sleep, gathering food, starting a fire, or lending a hand. He felt useless until he remembered about the new supplies he had bought the night before. The old Soren walked over to a tree and sat down next to it digging into his supplies. He pulls them out one by one in front of him, mumbling to himself as always.
Zarr has lantern... no, its not dark yet... Rope?... No, we not hanging anybody yet... Cantee-
Looking left and then right to make sure nobody was watching him, he then takes a quick sip of his canteen he had filled with alcohol and places it back in his pocket before continuing on his supplies.
Uhhhh... A fire?!... No no, the wolfman already made one... Hmm, what's this?
He pulls out his spy glass and places it to one eye, while closing the other, as he scans the woods around them and then stops as it points at the ladies in the group. Zarr gets nervous and almost drops it, hoping they had not seen him peeping on them.
Not a good time to use this...
He finally pulls out his smudge paints. A big smile formed on his face. He had plans for it, and it would seem that tomorrow it would come to great use.
::And so the night passed with everyone chipping in a bit to help each other.
The fresh meat from the rabbits was good and did well to offset the blander rations used as filler.
Thew girls shared the spot under the cloak, should Dionne join Dani and Ama.
Everyone woke the next day a bit stiff from sleeping on the hard ground, but ready to head out once more.
Dani was up as the sun began to rise and snacking on bits of leftovers from the night before as she began to break camp. She would greet each in turn as they woke and continue her work until all were ready to depart.
Once on the road again, she would describe the location as best she could to those interested, and once again defer to the Commander for input on how to proceed.::
"The trail we will turn onto once we near the village will take us directly to it. Small huts are scattered about the ground, simple in design. There are also look out posts set in the trees. When we were here last, they were unmanned until we got closer to the center. That may have changed now after we escaped. They may be expecting an attack now.
The huts get closer together the further you get into town, and more orderly set. They had guards patroling the ground. We did not get any closer to be able to know what to expect past that.
Have you thought anymore of how best to approach, Commander?"
"I do not aim with my hand; he who aims with his hand has forgotten the face of his father.
I aim with my eye.
I do not shoot with my hand; he who shoots with his hand has forgotten the face of his father.
I shoot with my mind.
I do not kill with my gun; he who kills with his gun has forgotten the face of his father.
I kill with my heart."
The old Soren was a deep sleeper. He could be heard snoring rather loud by the camp fire that had already died out hours ago. Zarr slept face up with one axe in his hand held across his chest. This was the position he would always sleep, prepared for any attack. At his age, he needed more sleep and was no longer acustomed to waking up early.
Dionne didn't couldn't sleep, and instead, decided to distance herself from the party and up on a surrounding tree. Even there she didn't feel safe, waking up every couple of minutes to ensure that there wasn't anyone sneaking up on her.
Once the morning hit, Dionne took the bow from her back, and waited. She doubted it'd take long for the rest of the group to spot her as she made no effort to conceal herself, but even that little time would make her feel a little bit better, and time to think, something she wasn't able to do all that well while trying to watch her back at all times.