Vyctar simply nodded at Sun Snake's words, without commenting on them before allowing the two Kai Lords to walk forward.

Meanwhile, Zahira chuckled; it was clear that the Kai's antics, if nothing else, were amusing her.

About the only thing she was thinking was if this was the correct tunnel.  They'd been wrong before...
This message was last edited by the player at 13:54, Wed 01 Aug 2012.

Zahira followed Rain's gaze, her inquisite look asking the question for her.

"Colonel," said Sun Snake, coming out of the huddle with Sabre Fox, "it appears we have an identity at least to our own lost Vakeros. The man was a Vakeros called Haxadrom, with ties to Toran. Does the name mean anything to you? If our mutual opponent is looking to sow confusion and dessent, you could well hear this name before long. A distraction to place your antagonism towards Dessi, rather than somewhere closer."

Sun Snake sighed again, and then resumed looking onwards, letting his footsteps slow to bring them closer to the group again.

Vyctar shook his head, but before he could say anything, Zahira moved quickly forward, looking at the Magnakai with undisguised curiosity as she asked:

"You're suspecting an Helghast, are you not, Lord Sour Snake?"

That was a pretty easy association to make, especially for people who deal with such creatures on a daily basis; I do hope you'll trust me on that, Snake!

Of course, perhaps there's a specific reason for the specific question... who knows, right? ;)

Not a problem, it is a natural suspicion anyway, and besides Sun Snake is not wedded to it, so it's not like he was trying to keep that line of thought a secret. The only real reason for a Helghast concern is because a shapeshifter could actually appear to Haxadrom's father, whereas a normal person is simply a Vakeros.


Sun Snake gave a mostly neutral though not fully friendly look towards Rain Feater, before his mind fully caught up with Zahira's question. He gave a look backwards to Sabre Fox before engaging the mage. "A Helghast? Not especially," he said speculatively. "There is a concern that a Helghast could use a specific family or military connection in our lands, but...no, I think it more likely a man." Sun Snake raised his eyebrow. "Why, do you have a reason to think I should lend this idea more weight than any other?"

Sun Snake himself seemed to be weighing sharing something, and with a look to his two fellows, decided to relent. "We have heard that at least one Nadziran has been working with the Acolytes. Perhaps working 'with' them is too strong. It seems to be after the Deathstaff too, after ther acolytes had finished. And the rumour appeared to be that the Nadziran had commited a few Helghast to a contingency plan for raising Vashna."

Sun Snake looked to Vyctar. "I presume a rival, rather than an ally?" he asked speculatively.

The Drakkar colonel smirked at the comment.

"That entirely depends on wether this Deathstaff you're speaking about is the source of power being used to create the monsters, or not. But I can guess that, either way, he's your enemy, so if you were to be attacked by his minions while we're togheter, we'll obviously help you fight. But I said it before, and I'll say it again: finding the monsters' source is the only thing we're working together towards."

He then looked at Zahira, and added, in a scloding tone:

"And I see no reason to bring Helghast in this discussion; as always, you are too reckless, Zahira, and I'd really like that to stop. I need you alive, and after all this time, you really should have learnt to avoid being this reckless - courting danger like this might get even you killed, and you know it."

The young girl looked suitably chastised, and answered, in a apologizing tone:

"It was my emotions; they got the better of me again."

She paused, but then grinned and added, bouncing back from the scolding as if it was nothing:

"And after all, that's a perk and not a fault of mine, isn't it? You've said so in the past, after all..."

Vyctar grunted, and said, his tone serious:

"Perhaps. Just try too keep yourself safe."

She nodded.

"I will."

Then, she grabbed Rain Feather's hand, and added:

"Beside, with such a powerful Kai as Lady Rain in our ranks, I'm sure nothing will happen to me!"
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 20:12, Wed 01 Aug 2012.

"Either way, I think its safe to say that knowing our luck, the Deathstaff will end in the hands of the Acolytes for us to go after. I cant think of anything stronger at the moment that could be creating the monsters"

Looking at Sun Snake, Fox spoke

"Do you think I could have that ring Snake please? I would imagine it would come better from me to Halador about his son since he knows me"

Sun Snake handed him the ring.
This message was last edited by the GM at 06:33, Thu 02 Aug 2012.

Taking the ring, Snake slipped it onto his finger.

"Ill make sure it gets back to Halador" He said quietly.

Looking round at the others, he spoke again.

"Lets get that Deathstaff" He said smirking. "Lead on!"

Vyctar smirked at Sabre Fox's entusiasm but did not commented on it, limiting himself to follow.

The group continued in silence, and eventually, the darkness got to the point where they could all just barely see each other, and everything more than a meter in front of them was completely shrouded in darkness.

Eventually, the group reached a wider cavern, which contained a small lake. They could not see enough of the cave to see where the lake went or wether there were any exits from it, and after looking around a bit, the Colonel turned to Sun Snake.

"We should camp here - it's evident that it'll take some time to explore this cave completely. Would you like to organize our watch schedules, Lord Snake?"

The man offered a superior smirk, and added:

"After all, you're the ones with less numbers - it seems only fair for me to let you decide who'll be keeping us all safe while we sleep. My men are at your disposal."

"Before we set camp, it may be a good idea to make sure that there is nothing in the water that will try to interrupt said rest. I do not wish to almost end up an Agarashi's plaything again."

She would keep far from the water, not quite trusting if anything lived beneath the surface,  She'd draw Breakwater to lean on- she was exhausted, that was for sure.

"Ill see if my talents can also come into play" Fox smirked

If there was anything in Vyctar's tone or the situation as a whole to be worried about, Sun Snake did not show it. He gave a terse bow and looked to his fellows as he addressed the Colonel. "We already made a brief camp earlier, and Rain Feather's point has merit." Sun Snake then looked to the exhausted woman. "Rain Feather, you perhaps should rest but stay close to Sabre." Sun Snake looked to Sabre. "Are you ok to keep watch then?"

Sun Snake then looked to the Colonel. "I can conduct a sweep of the immediate area and the lakeside to make sure we are not alone. My vision may not be as good as Sabre's in the dark, but there are...other senses. If you have a couple of men who have decent night vision or a feel for watch duties, then one could come with me and one could stay with the watch."

Sun Snake looked to Sabre Fox again. "Can I trouble you for a blade?"

"Well I can keep watch, but I cant say that I wouldnt mind some rest" Fox said.

Looking at Snake strangely he spoke

"What happened to your own weapon?" Fox asked puzzled

The Drakkar Colonel shrugged at Sun Snake's request.

"All of my men are trained to take up night watches, Lord Snake - any one of them will be able to help you in what you need."

It seemed the man was not really interested into which one of his three soldiers Sun Snake would take, and as for the Drakkarim themselves, they were all standing at attention, showing no sign of any emotion in their body, whereas their mask his any from being visible on their face.
The Colonel's eyes did, however, parked with interest at Sabre Fos'x question, and he turned toward Sun Snake, openly very, very interested in his answer...
This message was last edited by the player at 12:40, Thu 02 Aug 2012.

"There's something up with the lake. I can't tell what, but... I'd take a closer look, Snake. Make sure nothing wants to make a meal of us, okay?"  She leaned heavily on her spear, looking at the lake.  She wasn't going anywhere near it, that was for sure.

Before Snake had a chance to respond, Fox's ears seemed to prick up to senses around him and his eyes darted around the cave. Finally he spoke, addressing the Colonel primarily

"Colonel, we should move camp over there" He said pointing near the lake. "Theres enough for everyone to camp there, and it forms a defensive rock layer that we may need. It gives easy access to the water and will keep our fire hidden. Plus the lake itself may provide an escape, however.........."

At this point he looked over at Rain Feather

"Ill take your word that the lake could have something hidden in it, but even at that camp, the mud would keep us at an advantage should anything appear"

Next Fox pointed across the cave

"Theres another exit over there" He said, knowing the others could not see it. "Its darker than most in here, so there must not be a light source in there, its a very steep incline, so we should watch out for that if we explore that after we rest"

Finally he pointed above the lake itself.

"There is something up there too. There is something up there too glinting in some cave opening. But to get to it, we would have to cross the lake then climb the wall. Im pretty certain I could both cross and scale the wall with my equipment, but im not so much as going in that water if something is lurking there as Rain said."

Concluding he took a deep breath

"But for now we really should move camp. We should be pretty much out of sight for anyone passing through the area if we do"

"Let me get a better look..." she says quietly as her eyes flash green again.

Zahira had moved near to Rain; while she studied, she knelt and put an hand into the lake, filling it and then drinking the water all at once. After having swallowed it and waited still for a moment, she smiled to the group and said, looking mostly to the Colonel:

"It isn't poisoned; you all can drink safely."

"Fine, be like that," that Sun Snake lightly to Sabre Fox regaring the weapon, but there was an odd pointedness to it. "I'll use what I have then." Seeing the Colonel looking to him, Sun Snake nodded. "Sabre is proud of his blades." Sun Snake flexed his hand, indicating them - or rather what was being worn on them. "If you ever strike up a campsire, perhaps I will show you I am not quite unarmed. Not much of a reach weapon, though..."

Sun Snake said no more about it, looking towards the other Drakkar and the lakeside itself until his team started sharing their information.

"I can feel no minds - no living minds, at least - out there, Rain Feather." Sun Snake looked again in to the darkness. "The lake is actually fed from and part of an underground river, so I cannot guarantee that this state of affairs will continue. Is that what feels strange regarding the lake?" Sun Snake's tone of voice showed he did not believe it could be that simple.

Sun Snake biased himself to that he would be hidden from the glinting area. "Colonel, perhaps your men would be better served moving the camp from any prying eyes...and perhaps figuring out a way to get to that area higher up..."
This message was last edited by the player at 19:10, Thu 02 Aug 2012.

The colonel shook his head.

"As I said, we could better explore this area tomorrow, when we're more rested and ready for everything."

He gestured to his men to follow Sabre Fox and build a campsite where he'd indicated they could, then turned toward Sun Snake and asked, blunt:

"So, have you decided on the watch? I'd have no problems in having my men take one each, but I thought you would prefer to have somebody you trusted more for the role."

:) If you lot can agree on a set of watch schedules in the OOC thread, I'll open threads for each as appropriate, and then, after Sun Snake communicate your group's decision, I'll close this one - we're nearing the 1000 posts, and that way, we'll start the new thread with all of you waking up after this rest.

"We're staying the whole night? Then we may well have the whole acolyte camps down on us by then." Sun Snake shrugged. "I would suggest we move at first light and not waste time exploring. I will see what I can find now. The aoclytes have bred a more accompdating Kraan for their use, so if any of this network widens or allows access to the outside, we may well become very easy to discover come morning."

Sun Snake detailed the plans for his watch - taking a seemingly random Drakkar with him - and let Sabre Fox and Rain Feather speak to the colonel regarding their own plans.


Sounds like Snake first, Sabre second, and Ran last, unless Sabre has a last minute change of heart? Narratively, with all that Rain just went through, letting her have an unbroken rest right now feels right.

That's assuming this isn't all a giant trap about split threads, and we're about to get attacked!

"If the Acolytes do pass through here, then we will see them immediately from this camp and they will not see us. We should be able to hide safely enough" Fox said

Those watches sound good to me :)

Remember, you're stopping not because you are tired - it's because the Drakkarim are. You can't know, of course, but they've been up and about for almost two days, scouting the area, thus they need the rest.

Vyctar nodded to Sun Snake's decision; his soldiers had already set up two tents, and two of the sergeants were now lighting a small fire, while the third one was stopping to set up a third tent, the smaller one and clearly meant for the soldiers themselves.

Zahira sauntered to the bigger tent after waving friendly to Rain, followed by Vyctar shortly after; the last tent was left empty, clearly having been prepared for the Kai lords themselves to take.

I'll be opening everybody's private threads shortly; none of you has Divination's Meditation improvement, so you're all taking the END recover as usual, and you need to tell me in the OOC thread if, as always, you're going for the WP recharge, or if any of you is actually going to reroll CS.

And with that, once we're done with the watches, I'll be opening a new thread. Meanwhile, this one is close. :)