"I have everything here with me. I'll wait for you!"

The remaining three members of the newly formed expedition talked quietly amongst themselves as they awaited Lyra. After not too long, he reappeared at the door of the inn and waved the others out.

It seemed Siliwen was the only one with a horse - the rest carried their gear about their person and travelled afoot.

In the middle of the green the pole where the flogging had taken place was still to be seen, but the crowds had disippated and returned to work.

OOC: Milo knows the way best, but Siliwen and Lyra as locals also know how to get to the forest. It's about an hour to the south.

Siliwen felt uncomfortable to be riding while the rest walked.  She jusmped off her horse with an idea.

"It looks some of you are carrying heavy packs.  Why don;t you take what is necessary and just pack the bulky heavy unneeded things on my horse.  We will all be able to travel faster and be ready if any thing happens.  She had been trained to respond to my whistle."

"I think it would be best for all of us that way."

She vaults off her saddle and takes out a rope ready to lash packs together over the saddle and secure them firmly.

Haruuna gladly places her backpack with the food and bedroll on the back of the horse.

"Thank you for the kind offer!" she says.

   Lyra arrived back in a short ammount of time and listened to Siliwen's proposal to have her horse carry his things for him.

   "That sounds well.  ", he said, manuevering to tie up his gear with everyone elses'.

   His eyes wandered over the place where the kid had taken a flogging and shook his head, his eyes lingering on the spot for a few moments before he was able to look away.  Such foolish violence.  He still hoped that the child would not become bitter because of such harsh punishment.
This message was last edited by the player at 10:58, Wed 03 June 2009.

Siliwen takes care in tieing on the backs to her saddle.  Her father had made it for her and added extra straps and tied offs to aid in fastening down gear on it.  Siliwen used those and takes out her rope to tie a diamond hitch around them all so she will not flap around.

When done she turns ahd heads off down the path that will bring them to where they want to go.  As a child she had traveled with her father as he plied his trade and master leather worker. so she knew the surrounding area quite well.

Haruuna follows, glad to be rid of the pack's weight.

Milo accepted Siliwen's offer quietly. He conferred with her as the group set off down the trail, making sure that they were headed the right way.

The group travelled for several hours, the weather remaining chilly but mercifully rain-free. Lacking any specific directions, Milo and Siliwen led the party towards the centre of the forest.

Making their way off the beaten paths, Milo made sure that the routes they chose didn't hinder the horse too much. He kept an eye out for signs of passage by people, but found none.

After a few hours the light began to wane. Finding a good camping-spot was no issue; the group selected a roughly semi-circular clearing. No-one was quite sure how large the forest was, but Milo reckoned they'd be travelling for at least another day to reach the centre.

On the trail

"Siliwen moves at an easy enough pace for talking and walking at the same time.  She is curious about her companions, they are very diverse indeed.

How about she get to know each other a little better.  I am Siliwen, I have live in this area since shortly after my birth. My parents are both half-elves. My mother sews and tailors the clothes for the old Lord and his family, and my father is a master leather worker.  I have traveled with my father a bit when he goes out for trading and to various fairs out and about to sell his wares.  As I said earlier I have some skills with bow and a bit with sword and dagger.  and I can cast a few  spells. mostly they are just simple things."

"Who wants to share next?"

In Camp

Siliwen helps set up a basic but efficient camp since it will only be for over night. When the discussion got around to setting up watches, Siliwen speaks up right away.

"Could I have the first or last watch so she could get the hours of rest she needed to regain the use of any spells she had used up that day."

   Lyra listened intently, it seemed as if the young man was very good at doing that.  His brows perked up when he heard that she, too, was Half-elven.  Looking at her at first he'd thought she was of pure Elven blood, but even then she didn't seem the regular Elf even after just a few moments of being around her.  No Elf he'd ever known would offer their horse up for anyone of common blood.  The young man acknowledged her as she spoke, not interrupting of anything of the like, he seemed totally absorbed in what she was saying.

   Though he did become distracted as he thought about his early childhood, his eyes seeming somewhat distant as if staring into another time.  When she was done he smiled, "Thank you for sharing, Lady Siliwen.  I thought you an Elf upon first glance, for which I don't have a kind opinion of.  Please, excuse my behavior earlier if you were offended, I offer my apologies.  "

   He came out of his distraction rather quickly, his face brightening with his handsome smile, "There's probably not much you would want to know about me.  My mother is an Elf of the house Duphaneus, and my father is the noble Lord Sir Vernum Aprostius, a Knight of Xvern.  "

   His smile and words turned somber as he said this, he looked out to the distance, " I came here in search of my father, only to find his tomb.  "

   He grew quiet after saying that, seeming to be lost in his own thoughts on the matter.

   When they got to the camp sight, he began helping wherever he could.

   "If we're going in turns, I'll take the mid-watch shift.  I don't mind you taking first watch, who ever takes first and last will get more sleep, which is fine with me.  I'd much prefer it that way.  "

In response to Lyra

"It is just Siliwen," responds the half-elven young woman.  "And you do not need to appologized for your behavior, I took no offence at what you did or didn't say/"

"I am sorry that you did not find you father alive."  Siliwen's voice softened in compassion.

"Thank you for sharing your story."

Siliwen smiled at the young warrior, she did not realized how it changed her her appearance so dramactically.  Her face seemed to light up and her eyes sparkle.

Haruuna listens to the others' stories, then speaks up herslef: "I am Haruuna Dhacuul, a Hobgoblin of the Red Wolf Tribe. My people live far, far away, near the Dragontooth Mountains. I myself received a Call to Duty from my god, Nym-Weselyn. So I packed my belongings and started out to spread His glory through brave deeds and honourable behaviour. I might not be a good preacher, but I know that deeds speak louder than words. If you help people to overcome their problems they will listen to you more readily, even if you are different. I have encountered mistrust on my travels, born of ignorance and fear, but I have also been welcomed with open arms. The world is a great place, full of wonders and full of dangers."
This message was last edited by the player at 12:55, Mon 08 June 2009.

   He nodded, "Thank you, Siliwen.  I wish I had gotten to know him personally.  I heard he was a great man.  It was a strange matter walking down to his tomb.  It changed me in a way that nothing else could have.  It was, and still is, saddening for me, but I understood finally why I was put here after visiting the place where he was laid to rest.  There was an aura there that was palpable, as if his presence was so powerful that even after death it could not be extinguished.  "

   He listened then to Haruuna, he pursed his lips and nodded in understanding, "Yes, but it is fortunate that there are people out there willing to look past our differences and see what lies beneath rather than what we are on the surface.  "

   He looked as if he was going to say something else, perhaps going to share something else with them, but decided better against it, and merely smiled instead.  Something stirred beneath those light green eyes of his, though but he looked away too quickly for any to decipher.

Silvara can hear the pain the Lyra voice, that not knowing who your parents were.   IT touch a sore spot in her own parentage.  She had been realized but the two parents she has know from  the day of her birth and for many years thought they were her parents,  However when she grew up they told her of her birth.  A elven mother that had abandoned her right after her birth and as unknown but obviously not elven father.  She had told herself it didn't matter that she loved the two who had raised her as their own but there was still deep within her a desire to know who her parents were and why she ws abandoned.

The night passed uneventfully. Mercifully, the weather remained passable, if cold. The morning seemed to bring no promise of rain, with the sun shining unfettered in the clear sky.

The party broke up their makeshift camp, one or two of them shivering in the chill. Milo informed them that if they pushed hard, they might reach the centre of the woods by the end of the day.

For hours the group wound their way through the trees and underbrush. Milo led the way, 30 feet or so ahead of the group, where he could look out for obstacles and easier routes. The going was not easy; the forest didn't seem well travelled and there were no paths, so getting the horse through the dense growth and up and down the steep slopes was a chore.

A couple of hours before midday, Milo stopped the progress. He explained that at last he'd found some tracks - the signs of two men led along a path, which Milo reckoned ran roughly perpendicular to their present direction of travel, to the north-west. He estimated the tracks were some week or so old, and asked the group their opinion of whether to push on for the centre, or to follow the path.

[Private to Lyra Duphaneus; Siliwen: As you stand talking, you hear barking to the south-west. Sounds like several dogs.]

Siliwen turned her head quickly to focus on the distant barking.  Two dogs at least she could identify by the difference in their barking.  Perhaps a third as well.  That could be caused by several different possibilities.

"There's more than one dog is barking, It could be a pack of feral dogs or someone has riled up someone's farm dogs.  While these tracks are old I think we should investigate the source of the barking."
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:36, Mon 15 June 2009.

Haruuna nods: "Maybe we should do that!"

   Lyra listened and looked to the others with a quizzical look on his face.  He nodded, "Let's go then, but let's be be careful.  No telling what's causing those dogs to bark.  It'd be better if one of you could just scout it out just in case of danger.  "

Nodding in agreement, Milo agreed to remain a couple of hundred feet in front of the party.

Turning south west from their path, the group began to make their way towards the barking that had been heard. They remained alert; these were deep woods, far from settlment - who knew what could be found out here?

After about ten minutes of walking Milo called a halt from his vantage point atop a rise. He motioned for the party to approach quietly.

[Private to Haruuna Dhacuul; Lyra Duphaneus: You hear raised voices from beyond the rise. They're too far away to make out number or words, but you reckon at least two men.]

Siliwen uses her scouting skills to make her way to the vantage point near Milo  She keeps low and will not crest the hill except enough to peek over the rise to view whatever is there.

Lyra decided to wait back, or perhaps he would go in another direction.  With everyone leaving, he decided he'd take a much less subtle approach.  Doubting that in his heavy armor he could sneak like Siliwen or Milo, he looked around for a trail that a weary traveler may get lost on.

Hopefully he was savvy enough to get a lie across on them.  If it came to a fight, he wouldn't want to hit them unawares anyhow.  He started looking around.

Haruuna falls in next to Lyra, looking down at her companion, saying: "Neither of us is able to aproach them quietly, right? Then let's stick together and give those overgrown dogs something to blunt their teeth on should they feel like it!"

Lyra notices that contrary to her words the Hobgoblin woman makes very little noise moving at his side, even though she wears armour. She seems to instinctively place her feet in the right places, avoiding any loud noises. Only her Armour gave her away, clinking and creaking repeatedly.
This message was last edited by the player at 06:11, Fri 19 June 2009.

[Private to Haruuna Dhacuul: OOC:  Lyra is a he.]

Siliwen puts a finger to her lips and a soft breathy shust like the whisper of the wind as she peers over the crest of the ridge staying low to the ground.

[Private to Siliwen: Did I post anything about his gender?]

Haruuna shuts up.
This message was last edited by the player at 07:37, Fri 19 June 2009.

Lyra stood silently, nodding and waited for Siliwen to report.  He had his hand on the hilt of his sword, sliding his shield into place and grasping it firmly in his hand.