Whisper the Snowy Owl, Frostbite the Wolf, Eclipse the Chevallian Destrier, Lisette of Ashford, Cosette of Ashford arrive, following Killian.

Whisper the Snowy Owl, Frostbite the Wolf, Eclipse the Chevallian Destrier, Lisette of Ashford, Cosette of Ashford leave, following Killian.

Whisper the Snowy Owl, Eclipse the Chevallian Destrier arrive, following Killian.

It is early morning in the Gray forest. Patrols often start in the morning because otherwise one will would end up wandering around in the forest while it is dark. This patrol is being lead by Lord Killian. The party is just starting gather together.

Carissa, a Malvici bodyguard arrives, following Eirene.

Carissa, a Malvici bodyguard have been dismissed.

Sergei is already here, dressed in leathers from boots to longcoat, and just a single steel longsword hanging from his belt. The big merc is slouched back against a tree, a rolled smoke hanging in his lips as he adjusts the wraps around his wrists a bit. Just waiting on the rest to show up and figure out what the deal is.

Conker, the Ornery Red Squirrel, Dame Barkley, a chocolate tri beagle arrive, following Joslyn.

Led by Lord Killian, which might explain why he's late. He rides up to the meeting point at a bit past the appointed time, looking a bit out of sorts. He's got his armor on, but his saddle bags are heavy, one of which particularly bulges as though stuffed full of..armor. He reins in when he approaches the others, "Apologies, I thought I should bring armor that was a little less conspicuous in case we were attempting to move quietly," he says to the others as he dismounts smoothly, offering nods and smiles.

Rickard appears in short order, bedecked in his usual array of forestal hues. He idly pats the sheathed dagger at his hip, and glances around as the gathering of people grows. His falcon companion is nowhere to be seen.

Eirene has had enough reports brought back to her of the wildlife and mutations to the Shavs that she wants to see it for herself this time. Dressed in sleek black leather, the Malvici doctor checks her weaponry once again, the sword and dagger at her hip, the longbow at her pack. "These assholes probably have like six ears and shit so who knows."

Thesarin is standing in full armor--not quite the stealthiest profile, all told. He has a sword sheathed at his side, and is casually carrying a hunting spear with a broad tip. He watches Killian approach in silence, a dour expression on his face. "Strange things to see here, true enough."

Shard also arrived early, and she looks much as she did in the previous patrol--she's in black leathers apart from the oddly dyed and patched hooded cloak, with no apparent travel gear apart from her weaponry and that pouch she wears hanging from her neck. She's apparently traveling on foot again as well, as there's no sign of a horse, and as the others arrive she studies each one carefully through narrowed eyes.

The path continues on into the forest, looking all wide and opening on this summer morning. At least it does now while they are at the start of the woods.

Joslyn is dressed up in her leathers, suited more for quiet movement and traversal, the skirt that normally lines the outside of the corsetted waistline, and in the absence of silk, she does seem to be wearing something resembling a more armorlike appearance, the pale leathers keeping her covered and secure. Alaricite hairpins are held in her hand, with her hair held in place today with something rather more plain looking, ready for whatever comes next. She gives a little sidelong glance towards Shard and Sergei. "Think we'll run into those same things again?" she wonders.

Sergei, like the annoying prat he is, finger guns Shard and winks in her direction. "Dunno about six ears-- mean, might have, but I didn't notice them for you know, being hit by a tree." A familiar voice and flash of silk distracts him from Eirene to see Joslyn grinning lopsided, "hallo honey, out for another romp?" He tips his head off towards the path, "maybe, knowing my luck." Plumes of grey smoke trickling from his lips and nose as he speaks, and dark eyes cast out to those he doesn't know as they arrive. A nod to Killian, Rickard and Thesarin.

Killian listens to those around him as they begin moving, and makes some quiet adjustments, "Lady Joslyn, Master Corsetina, Mistress Shard..if you'll fan out to the fore, we will not hinder your movements as much with our..less than graceful approach shall we say?" he suggests with a small grin. He looks around to Sergei and Eirene, "nothing against either of you of course, I merely hope for at least a few to keep me company is all..honest..I promise." He smiles slightly, "I assume things like 'keep your eyes open' and 'be careful' go without saying and such, so I'll just say that I pray the Gods watch over each of you as we go forward."

Eirene shudders a little at something as she looks from Sergei towards Joslyn. There's a grimace but it quickly fades. "Which things," she asks in her low husky voice. "The multi-men? I've only seen the bodies..." She checks her weapons once again and hand firmly on the hilt of her longsword. "No offense taken," the Malvici says back to Killian.

"I'm about as subtle as a tree to the ribs," Sergei chuffs, amused, "no offense taken." Echoed much the same time as Eirene had mentioned it, and the Merc waits for the others to move off before he does.

"Look, just avoid getting smacked into anymore trees and you'll be fine. Or avoid trees altogether," Joslyn pointedly looks around the forest, making a face. "Or... well good luck with that!" She gives a nod towards them, and than gives a little nod towards Eirene. "Did you make anything out about them?" she wonders, before nodding to the orders Killian issues. "Yes, Sir," Joslyn says, stepping into a more formal military stance, she heads off to form the cone, taking one of the flank positions.

Joslyn, Shard and Rickard scout on ahead of the rest of the party as they make their way north into the summertime forest. At first the path is wide and easy to navigate and then it becomes narrow and more wild with trees and foliage to either side. It is also darker. The party, walks and travels and walks. For a while things are uneventful.

Joslyn checked dexterity + stealth at difficulty 20, rolling 15 higher.

The leather-clad form of Rickard disappears following an acknowledging salute. He draws his weapon, and takes up a position nearby, scouting the area as best as he can. He tries to keep the other members of his party within sight at all times, as well as staying within their sight. Easy, right?

Joslyn checked perception + survival at difficulty 30, rolling 10 lower.

Shard checked dexterity + stealth at difficulty 20, rolling 15 higher.

Shard checked perception + survival at difficulty 30, rolling 8 higher.

Rickard checked dexterity + stealth at difficulty 20, rolling 38 higher.

Rickard checked perception + survival at difficulty 30, rolling 18 higher.

Shard slips into the trees ahead without a word, pulling up the hood of her cloak as she goes.

Thesarin hangs back from the others, not stealthily, but without a word to his companions. He does look to Killian with a bit of a grin, at one point of the march. "Done this much before My Lord?"

The scouts are pretty sneaky as they range on ahead, not stepping on twigs or anything like that. Joslyn notices a pit trap covered by brush resting on the trail right where the party is likely to walk. Shard notices a trip rope over the path beyond the pit. This trip rope is connected up in a tree to a large wasp nest. Rickard here hears a whimper off in the distance to the northwest. A human whimper. They are all three ahead of the party and they all three see tracks as well. Human tracks, large wolf tracks and giant human tracks. The tracks seem old.

Killian gives a small laugh and a smile to Sergei, "Don't worry about it, there's a time and place for a tree to the ribs, but since we're going into the tree's let's try to avoid that part as well." His voice is low, and drops even lower as they move. He gives a little warble to the owl on his shoulder, and Whisper, who had appeared to be napping wakes up immediately. The owl looks around, then flutters on silent wings off of the Knight's shoulder and up into the trees, gone in just an instant. He loosens his swords in their sheathes but does not draw them. Glancing towards Thesarin he asks, "done which part before?" curiously.

"Well, there's a hole over here, so..." Joslyn moves the little bit of brush around the pit out of the way. "Just watch your step, I suppose?" she offers with a shrug, looking around to see wht else the others may have found, though the footprints eventually draw her attention. "Enemies, do you suppose?" Joslyn wonders aloud to the other pair, speaking in low whispered tones.

Rickard promptly stops in his tracks as he hears the whimpering, and holds up a fist. Assuming someone looks at him, he taps an ear, and then points off in the direction of the whimpering. "Heard something." A beat. "Human." He says, quietly.

Thesarin shrugs, motioning vaguely toward the whole of the expidition. "Time in the forest. Nice day for it, really." When Rickard motions to stop, he holds still, lowering his spear slightly. Making ready for something.

Shard examines the trip rope with a wrinkled nose. She straightens, then digs her heel into the dirt on both sides of it, marking the spot for the others coming up. At Rickard's words, her head turns toward him, and she moves in his direction, her gaze flitting toward where he is pointing, while one hand moves to the hilt of her short sword.

Eirene decides to draw a surgeon's scalpel from her belt instead of either larger blade. It's small but deadly sharp and shiny. "Done what, march onto monster infested forests to find a herald's army," she says to Thesarin. She stops at the signal and falls quiet, listening for the sound in the direction pointed.

Eirene gets a small thin scalpel with an alaricite blade from a black leather belt with a silver falcon buckle.

Rickard wields Ebon Hilted Blade of Woe.

Shard says, very low, "Could be another trap. Circle around?"

For once in his life, Sergei is actually quiet, only giving Killian a bit of a smirk for the tree-advice. He drops his smoke and presses it out on the way, avoiding the traps the scouts point out -- and any low hanging branches. The merc is otherwise keeping ears and eyes alert to the wilds around him. Head turned to Rickard when he mentions the whimpering.

Joslyn gives a nod towards Shard and than looks to Thesarin. "Sounds like a good idea to me."

Killian actually stops as he's walking, and looks at Thesarin, blinking for a moment. "You.. You do realize I'm an Ashford, right?" he asks, "I mean, we literally live in trees..build houses right up in 'em and everything.." He eyes the fellow for a moment, then just shakes his head slightly, looking slightly bemused. "Monster infested forests do offer the most entertaining traveling conditions," he says, listening forward for the scouts as they follow.

Sergei checked dexterity + stealth at difficulty 20, rolling 0 higher.

Eirene checked dexterity + stealth at difficulty 20, rolling 6 higher.

Sergei checked perception + survival at difficulty 30, rolling 7 lower.

Joslyn checked dexterity + stealth at difficulty 20, rolling 14 higher.

Eirene checked perception + survival at difficulty 30, rolling 1 lower.

Shard has rolled a critical success!
Shard checked dexterity + stealth at difficulty 20, rolling 32 higher.

Shard checked perception + survival at difficulty 30, rolling 17 higher.

Shard is super sneaky. Even her party will likely struggle to pick her out in the woods, but they know she went this way right? Eirene, Sergei and Joslyn manage to be rather quiet themselves. This group is quite discrete and it is likely they will not be noticed. The whimpering noise starts to get louder. The only tracks this way are normal animal ones and normal human ones. It looks like maybe three people went this way. That has be good right?

"Shhhh..we have to be quiet." A woman's voice says in Crownlands Shav. The whimper is heard again and then dies down. It sounds like the voice of a child or maybe a young person who is injured and there regressing somee. It could be that too.

Shard is able to draw closer and she realizes the voices are coming from behind a group of dense bushes. She can even peek behind the bushes without being seen. She sees a woman who looks to be about forty and two women who look to be in their late teens. One of the women has her leg wrapped up with linen. The linen is stained with blood and she looks dangerously pale. They are dressed like Shavs and look to be too skinny for good health.

Killian checked dexterity at difficulty 20, rolling 15 higher.

Killian checked perception + survival at difficulty 20, rolling 12 higher.

Rickard checked dexterity + stealth at difficulty 20, rolling 27 higher.

Rickard checked perception + survival at difficulty 20, rolling 11 higher.

Thesarin checked dexterity + stealth at difficulty 20, rolling 9 lower.

Sergei keeps low to the ground and is actually quite good as keeping himself quiet this time around, but he doesn't get close enough to actually see where the whimpering comes from. The voices though, he can hear, and his head tips. "From the crownland tribes," he says low and quiet to Joslyn and Eirene-- whoever is closer. Sergei tips his head peeking to see Shard, and her potential scope.

Thesarin has rolled a critical success!
Thesarin checked perception + survival at difficulty 20, rolling 22 higher.

The Lady Eirene knows the whimper. She's heard similar before. Wounds are her specialty. She looks to the more mission oriented scouts and scowls. "Wounded," she mouths silently. At her hip is her healing supplies, which she motions to with her hand.

"Do you suppose they speak Arvani?" Joslyn wonders. "Well..." Joslyn grimaces, moving to sneak along with Shard, though she'd gotten quite ahead of her.

Killian continues along the main path, having faith in those who have slipped off into the trees. Mostly because he has -no- clue where they are, which is a good sign that they're good at the whole 'stealth' thing. He focuses on trying not to be a one man marching band as he moves through the forest, eyes and ears open, watching ahead and listening for anything he can pick out.

Shard considers what she sees for a long moment, before she carefully pushes back her hood very carefully. Then she puts an index finger to her lips and holds it there, and lifts her other hand, slowly, deliberately, and snaps her fingers, just once, at the bushes between herself and the three women.

Thesarin makes quite a bit of noise as he makes his way through the forest. As the group on the main path continue they notice the tracks that are a mix of human, wolf and giant humanish tracks heading north. It seems they attracted some attention on the main path, because a raven shows up. One of those ravens with sickly green eyes. It looks over the party, caws out a warning and tries to flap off.

Thesarin looks up at the bird, as it starts to fly off. "Fuck." He points his spear at the raven with a curl of his lips. "It's a scout! Someone kill it!"

The oldest of the three reaches for her low quality steel dagger upon hearing the snap against the bushes. She seems nervous, but also seems to have a good level of self-control and composure. Her daughters are not quiet as brave at least right now. The injured one whimpers with renewed fear and pain. "Who goes there?" The mother asks in Crownlands Shav.

Killian checked dexterity + archery at difficulty 15, rolling 8 higher.

"Abyss Shard--" Sergei hisses low, creeping a little more forward. He might be heard, good chance, his voice does carry-- but there's a distinct furrow to his brow as he looks to the other mercenary. It's a woman and her children, GODS!

Rickard checked dexterity + archery at difficulty 40, rolling 3 lower.

Killian stoops, scooping up a loose rock and winging it off towards the raven with the best he can muster. Which, is actually beyond pathetic, he throws -way- too hard, and cracks the rock against a tree, ricocheting it between three trees total in a way that would actually be fairly impressive had he been -trying- to see how many trees he could hit. It's probably loud too.

Caw...caw the raven abyss scout goes soaring away from the party.

Killian checked intellect + war at difficulty 20, rolling 22 higher.

Thesarin checked intellect + war at difficulty 20, rolling 3 lower.

Joslyn checked intellect + war at difficulty 20, rolling 15 higher.

Draw bow, nock an arrow, pull back the drawstring, and... Bah. The arrow goes wild. Rickard utters a few coarse oaths, and slinks off to go grab it, watching the raven soar off.

"They must be running from something," Joslyn says, biting her lips with a grimace. She looks back to Shard, remaining where she is for the moment.

Shard shakes her head at the woman, and while she keeps that finger near her lips, she moves the other hand that snapped, very deliberately, and points at her still sheathed sword, before shaking her head again. Then she points over her shoulder, holds up three fingers, and points at the younger woman's injured leg. "They have a healer," she says in Northlands Shav, followed by, in a tone that's half apology, half warning, "Compact," in that same tongue.

Killian watches the raven fly off, "Great..that thing's no doubt heading to draw its masters towards us as quick as it can fly." He looks around, and offers Rickard a small smile, "nice shot though, I think if I hadn't thrown that rock and spooked him you'd have had him, sorry about that." To the others on the path he says, "into the woods, follow the direction the others went, we need to get off this path. The thing will come back here first, if we can get into the trees and circle we might can throw whatever is coming off track. Rickard, find the rest who were scouting and let them know we need to move faster," he says as he heads the direction he -thinks- they are in, moving off the path.

When Sergei hears Shard speak up in a Northern tongue he presses further from the shrub he was hiding in -- okay, giant man in leather armour might not be too great a sight. He keeps low though, hands out without weapons, speaking Crownland Shav in a low voice, nodding to Shard, "we can help." and looks back to Joslyn and Eirene.

"Fuck." Thesarin looks over toward Killian, and starts to stretch at his shoulders; he seems to be favoring the left, just a little, as he does. When the other man barks out his instructions, Thesarin gives a thoughtful nod, and moves off the path and into the trees. He has his spear readied and his eyes open as he goes, waiting for the hammer to drop.

"No worries. Next time." Rickard offers with a light shrug, and then nods, before heading off to inform the other scouts. Slow is smooth, smooth is fast, fast is good. He nocks another arrow, just in case.

Thesarin wields a thick-set hunting spear from the Lodge.

Killian wields Bringer of Dawn, a shimmering alaricite long sword.

Joslyn moves a little closer, hands held aloft, and one of the standout features of her, she hopes, is a rather innocent appearance and the lack of visible weapons. She doesn't speak shav, so instead of speaking she simply inclines her head towards the women in as non-threatening a gesture as she can muster, giving them a gentle smile, in her apparent hope to be encouraging. Looking sidelong to Shard and Sergei.

Eirene tucks away the blade and nods to the others as she takes a step closer. "I'll do what I can for her, if they permit." She scowls a little. "Tell them I am a healer, with herbs and whatever the fuck else they need." Her hands go for a pouch at her belt with Lagoma's flame on it and she starts to pull out medical herbs and supplies as a show of if.

Eirene gets a small tin pot, labeled 'Wounds', with a waxy ointment from a first aid pouch embroidered with a candle flame.

The mother looks over toward Shard and the rest of the party who are now drawing closer. She has the wary expression of a woman who has had a hard life and has learned not to trust. She sucks in a sharp breath and seems largely uncertain for a few moments as her attention strays between them all. The uninjured daughter looks hopeful and the hurt one seems too badly off to really care much about anything safe for her pain. They seem to understand Sergei the best. "Thank you." The mother finally says. She puts her dagger away. The more trusting daughter says in Crownlands Shav. "We are being hunted and my sister is hurt, really hurt. You can help her?" She asks, tears on her lashes.

The Raven is gone and the path is quiet. At least for the moment.

Eirene checked intellect + medicine at difficulty 15, rolling 38 higher.

"They're being hunted," Sergei rumbles out first, in Avarni, to Joslyn and Shard -- though Shard might have picked up on it already. "Ah," he nods, flicking back easily to the tribe tongue and noding, "this one, is a healer." he gestures to Eirene, "she will help, alright? Just let her look." he assures. "Who's hunting you?"

Shard gestures emphatically between Eirene and the injured woman, as the former shows herself. "Healer," she repeats in Northlands Shav, although it's clear she's not entirely sure the concept is translating through the word alone. She looks about to say more, but it's clear Sergei asks the question she was going to first, and, instead, she gives him a tight nod, half turning in place to both look out in the direction they came from without entirely taking her eyes off of the three Abandoned they've found.

Killian approaches the others out of the trees, just in time to hear comments about being hunted. "I'm afraid the hunters are going to be heading this way soon," he warns quietly, before shifting over to crownlands shav and saying quietly to the woman. "I am Killian of the Ashford Family, forgive us please for our haste, but if something is hunting you and your daughters, we need to move quickly as possible. Are there others hiding nearby, we can get you to safety but they need to come now."

Eirene kneels beside the young woman and offers a gruff nod before peeling away crude wrappings. "I'm a fucking trauma medic," she says for the sake of the others more than her patient. "I'm used to dealing with dirty wounds in bad conditions." She speaks in her low husky Arvani. She starts to clean off the wound with a tiny jar of alcohol but stops as the others join them, eyebrows arching in unspoken question.

Joslyn nods to Sergei, biting her lip. "Exactly as I thought," she says to him, drawing a little breath. "Tell them we'll keep them safe from whatever hunts them." she offers, looking around, as if expecting to see the foes anywhere.

Shard's eyes narrow. "If they're coming then we can't lead them here."

The mother and the unhurt daughter look toward Sergei, seeming to understand him and seeming to be glad that someone speaks their tongue. The daughter starts to speak. She seems the most willing to talk. "It is O..." The mother then silences her with a shake of her head. "Another tribe" The mother chimes in with. Then Killian is here, speaking of the hunters being near. The unhurt daughter winces with fear. "The slaver's beasts." She says and this time her mother never tries to silence her.

Thesarin moves in with Killian, carying his spear in both hands, keeping his eyes open and around the woods. "We're spotted." He says it in a low growl, and then turns to face the woman and her daughters, with a deep frown. "One of the Slaver's damned ravens." The words are in Arvani, but his attention seems very directly focused on the three shav'arvani women.

The wound looks to be some kind of animal bite and it looks pretty bad. It even has this greenish color and a smell. Could the wound be tainted? Possibly. Even if it is not this woman will likely die without good and quick medical treatment or at least lose her leg.

"We'll keep you as safe as we can." Sergei says in Crownland Shav again, looking between the three abandoned, dark eyes turning afterwards to Joslyn. "Slaver." He pushes back, speaking commons again. "What?" balked soon after towards Thesarin in confusion. "Well we can't sit on our asses much longer--" he looks to Killian then, and orders.

Thesarin checked perception + survival at difficulty 15, rolling 9 higher.

Shard checked perception + survival at difficulty 20, rolling 7 higher.

Killian eyes Shard, "A raven has already seen us, they know the part of the woods and will search it, they can't remain here." He looks around, "if we can get them back to where the horses were picketed, we can carry the wounded girl more readily," he is speaking in crownlands shav at first, but switches to Arvani and repeats, making sure everyone is informed. "We'll have to make a fighting retreat though I suspect."

Killian checked perception + survival at difficulty 20, rolling 0 higher.

Rickard returns, having informed the other scouts of the need to pick up the pace. He nods to those gathered, and then takes up a (hopefully!) concealed position from which to keep an eye on the rest of the group, weapon at the ready.

Joslyn checked perception + survival at difficulty 15, rolling 7 higher.

Joslyn checked dexterity + stealth at difficulty 30, rolling 3 lower.

Rickard checked dexterity + stealth at difficulty 30, rolling 19 higher.

Eirene mutters about 'Not that bastard' again and then tells the others, "I have to do something fast or she'll lose the leg." But then they have company.

Sergei checked perception + survival at difficulty 20, rolling 14 higher.

Eirene checked perception + survival at difficulty 20, rolling 34 higher.

Shard pushes to her feet. "You do that," she says to Killian. "Get them to your horse. Just don't go back to the path until you have to." Why? Because that's exactly where she's going, as she suddenly springs back along the exact route Killian took to reach them.

"Tainted, coming this way," he warns in a serious voice, "we're out of time, Lady Eirene can you move the girl yet?" he asks seriously as he moves to the opposite side of the family, facing away from them and into the forest, his second sword now drawn. "Shard, they're already here" he calls quickly.

The sounds of something or rather somethings can be heard drawing closer and closer in this direction. It is hard to tell what or who is drawing near, except that is certainly nor than one and likely even more than six creatures or men. The party is easy to spot at this point and it seems likely the arriving group will be able to pick out their location.

Killian checked intellect + war at difficulty 20, rolling 15 higher.

Joslyn checked intellect + war at difficulty 20, rolling 4 higher.

Thesarin checked intellect + war at difficulty 20, rolling 9 higher.

Eirene checked intellect + war at difficulty 29, rolling 6 higher.

Shard checked intellect + war at difficulty 20, rolling 8 lower.

"Tainted, coming this way," he warns in a serious voice, "we're out of time, Lady Eirene can you move the girl yet?" he asks seriously as he moves to the opposite side of the family, facing away from them and into the forest, his second sword now drawn. "Maybe ten minutes at the outside, probably less once the beasts catch our actual scents and get excited."

"Ten minutes can be over with pretty damn quick," Joslyn points out. "We'd best get into position to intercept what we can, maybe lay a decoy somewhere?"

Sergei looks to Eirene then the wounded Abandoned girl, leaving the explaining to Killian. "I can carry her easy enough, but--" he tips his head, looking back after Shard. "--what decoy we got to use, honey?" rumbled up at Joslyn.

Shard darts off of the track Killian took once she's a fair way up, but she's still heading in the general direction of...whatever is coming, this time at a roughly 90 degree angle to the rest of the party. She's not moving quietly any more. One might suspect that's probably deliberate.

Eirene grunts as she wraps a fresh bandage around the girl?s leg. "She may even be bitten by something tainted. It's going green. We can move her now but I have to treat it or she'll lose the limb and I don't have my damn bone saws with us." But they have bigger problems. She draws the scalpel again and says, "We can try to move her but she'll be slow as hell unless you carry her," to Sergei.

Eirene wields a small thin scalpel with an alaricite blade.

Eirene is able to bandaged the girl's leg and keep her from losing more blood. She is stable to a degree, but the healer is right. The girl is in bad shape and is in danger of losing her leg if not her life.

Joslyn points after shard. "I suppose she's volunteering," Joslyn shrugs towards Sergei. "Maybe... maybe somebody aught to go with her?" Joslyn suggests, though she defers to Killian on that call.

Killian nods, "That's the plan then, Lady Eirene you stay close to the girl, Sergei, if you think you can carry her then we'll entrust her safety to you. Lord Thesarin and I will take rear guard, the rest of you cover Sergei and the civilians." He looks in the direction Shard ran off, "I believe we can depend upon Shard to circle back and rejoin us or otherwise keep her wits about her..let's move folks."

"Good man." Thesarin rumbles toward Killian, and turns to the shav'arvani women, switching to his native tongue. "I am Thesarin. These people are here to help you. We need to carry her-" he motions toward the injurerd woman- "with us. Try to escape them, and we'll fight them off if they reach us. Stay ahead of us, leep moving, don't look back."

"You know, I dunno if anyone's ever said that for me before," Sergei manages to laugh a big, ducking down to bring an arm about the wounded girl's back and another carefully under both her legs before hoisting her up. At least Eirene won't get a sore back while the patient's elevated like this! Some quietly rumbled down to the girl in Crownland Shav, before he's looking to Eirene for a go ahead-- and Killian to you know, do the boss thing.

Along the main path they arrive first. There is a large black canine like creature with sharp intelligent sickly green eyes. This beast is larger than an elephant. It seems to be leading a party that includes at about six dire wolves and six brutish looking shav men. The canine speaks in Crownlands Shavs, which is odd alone. The voice is raw and strained, broken up by growls. "Find them...find them..and the rest. Might know of the daughters...this way..." It says, looking off to where he party is.

The Shav women are willing to go along with the party. Thesarin and Sergei speaking their language likely helps and it probably doesn't hurt that Shard seems rather like a Shav herself, at least to them she does. The mother nods toward Thesarin. "Thank you." She says simply and they go along with the plan.

The injured Shav is whimpering as Sergei lifts her, but she certainly isn't fighting. Her sister stays close, giving her soft words of encouragement.

Shard, still running noisily, cups both hands to her mouth and sends up a wolfish howl. Loud. Blatant. Challenging.

The giant wolf-like demon looks in Shard's direction as he hears the howl. "New omega for pack! Get her!" He says toward the wolves behind them and the six canines charge in her direction.

Thesarin takes a moment to place a hand on Ereine's shoulder as the medic starts to move. "The wound is Tainted," he says in a low rumble. "I'd stake my life on it. Better her leg than what it would take." He turns to look at the sound of the wolves, and their riders. "Fuck." He keeps moving, watching the rear, holding the spear out at the ready.

"I think we've lingered here long enough," Joslyn says, biting her lip. "Shard is distracting them some, hopefully she'll find her way to us, but if we want to put any distance between us and them, we need to start moving as soon as possible. I don't like the sound of that thing."

Killian moves with the group, staying back a ways, "we're not giving up on that leg or getting them all out of here safely yet," he calls back, "let's pick up the pace people!" He moves constantly, as though homing on something unseen, keeping directly on a line between the creatures and the cluster of the mother and daughters. He whistles a shrill whistle, sheathing his swords for a moment and calling Whisper down from the sky. A small stone is taken from his cloak, attached to a small leather thong, and then he whispers to the owl before tossing her back up into the air, the creature flying off away from the oncoming enemies, on the path they will retreat on.

"Oh of all the stupid fucking..." Eirene just sighs as she hears the yelling. Seeing... something distantly on the oath she shakes her head. "Fuck this noise. Let's move back for the camp's and a shit ton more people." She keeps her alaricite weapon close, taking an ice pick stance to slash and stab with it even as they move.

Shard takes off running, as fast as she can go, even as she frees her sword from its sheathe and sweeps it out to her side. "Seek out the daughters of the god, for he is no god at all!" she shouts into the wind. Her voice is defiant and mocking, nearly sing-song, and she turns her course just so, heading back toward the place they were at a short while ago, where all the traps were laid.

Shard wields a rubicund short sword with a black leather wrapped grip.

Shard checked dexterity + dodge at difficulty 20, rolling 34 higher.

Shard checked dexterity + dodge at difficulty 25, rolling 30 higher.

Shard checked dexterity + dodge at difficulty 30, rolling 51 higher.

Shard checked dexterity + dodge at difficulty 35, rolling 30 higher.

Shard checked dexterity + dodge at difficulty 40, rolling 11 higher.

Shard has rolled a critical success!
Shard checked dexterity + dodge at difficulty 45, rolling 62 higher.

No one has to tell Sergei twice. He has his charge in his arms, and he moving at quick pace with the occasional word cast down to the wounded Abandoned in he's carrying. With no free hand to draw a weapon he's just fixed and getting back to the camps.

The six wolves charge at Shard, but she is able to dart away from all their attacks. They snarl and growl. They are now in melee range.

Shard checked dexterity + medium wpn at difficulty 30, rolling 25 higher.

Eirene has joined the line.

Thesarin has joined the line.

Joslyn has joined the line.

Killian has joined the line.

Sergei has joined the line.

Rickard has joined the line.

It is now Eirene's turn to speak.

Six brutish men and one large demon wolf are close to the man party now. Shard is in a battle with six dire abyss wolves. She seems to be doing quite well though.

Pure madness erupts in the forest as the wolves close in on Shard, a blur of blacks and grays and a single, flashing red blade, but somehow only the blade connects, drawing blood as it chops deeply into the side of a dire wolf's head, though it doesn't bring the large creature down. As Shard spins away, she kicks off of a large tree root and runs again, once more in the direction of the road, teeth bared as much as her six pursuers.

"Keep moving," she yells at Sergei. "The fuck is that," she says of the demonic wolf. Not her first demon but her latest. She stops to try to recall anything about this particular kind of demon. And what kills it best.

Eirene checked wits + occult at difficulty 25, rolling 20 higher.

It is now Thesarin's turn to speak.

Thesarin checked dexterity + medium wpn at difficulty 30, rolling 6 higher.

It is now Joslyn's turn to speak.

Joslyn wields Ruby and Rose, a pair of alaricite hairpins.

Thesarin is moving with the others, trying to keep away from the creatures chasing them--but it's not going to last. When one of them comes into reach of his spear, he turns around and lashes forward, driving the point into the thing's flesh, trying to push it away. "Fuck off!" Not a battle cry for the songs, but delivered from the heart.

Joslyn checked dexterity + small wpn at difficulty 30, rolling 52 higher.

It is now Killian's turn to speak.

Killian checked dexterity + medium wpn at difficulty 50, rolling 1 lower.

It is now Sergei's turn to speak.

It is now Rickard's turn to speak.

Joslyn moves with the others, looking to the shavs that come for her, she takes a swing at one of the nearest, growling out something in another tongue, she shouts it as she drives her hairpins deep into his flesh, eyes filled with fire, and her face contorted into a rictus grin.

Sergei for lack of a better term, if just trying to keep the fuck out of dodge. If he can keep the Mother and Uninjured Daughter close to him, and behind the line of fighters; he'll be happy. That, and hopefully the Injured Daughter is still concious in his arms.

Joslyn says in Sylv'alfar, "Tell your fucking master that I was fucking ready for him!"

Killian grunts at the question of 'what the thing is' and responds, "it is an affront unto the gods," he calls out in his response. Striding forward, he smiles and clangs down his visor, drawing both of his swords. He digs in briefly and then charges, rushing to meet the oncoming beast without hesitation or worry, his swords flashing and slicing at the monster but not quite managing to gain purchase upon it as he shifts and slices.

Rickard checked dexterity + medium wpn at difficulty 50, rolling 4 lower.

Shard checked dexterity + medium wpn at difficulty 30, rolling 12 higher.

Killian checked dexterity + dodge at difficulty 50, rolling 17 lower.

A quiet growl passes Rickard's lips as he leaps out of cover and attempts to stealthily stab the ever-loving fluff out of the demon wolf. Of course, his luck has to run out some time.. and the time is now. He ends up stabbing air, tucks, rolls, and slides to a halt, glancing around to note the positions of the pieces on the chessboard.

Shard continues running, but as the same wolf she hit lunges at her again, she takes the opportunity to swing once more at the injury she's already inflicted in its face--this time, taking half the creature's jaw with her. It stumbles, twitching, but does not get back up.

Shard checked dexterity + dodge at difficulty 20, rolling 41 higher.

Shard checked dexterity + dodge at difficulty 25, rolling 2 higher.

Shard checked dexterity + dodge at difficulty 30, rolling 13 higher.

Shard checked dexterity + dodge at difficulty 35, rolling 14 higher.

Shard checked dexterity + dodge at difficulty 40, rolling 6 lower.

Killian takes serious damage.

Thesarin checked dexterity + dodge at difficulty 30, rolling 17 lower.

Thesarin checked dexterity + dodge at difficulty 35, rolling 13 lower.

Shard takes moderate damage.

Thesarin takes serious damage.

Joslyn checked dexterity + dodge at difficulty 30, rolling 40 higher.

Joslyn has rolled a critical success!
Joslyn checked dexterity + dodge at difficulty 35, rolling 102 higher.

Rickard has rolled a critical success!
Rickard checked dexterity + dodge at difficulty 30, rolling 100 higher.

Rickard checked dexterity + dodge at difficulty 35, rolling 11 higher.

Shard has taken down one of the wolves on her and five are still standing. They snarl and pounce at the warrior. She is quite nimble, but one of the wolves manages to clamp his teeth around her leg, biting past her leathers and inflicting a wound. Maybe this is how the Shav girl got so badly hurt?

The demon is being attacked by Killian and Rickard. It goes for Killian, reaching out with his claws and digging through a weakness in his armor. The Ashford Lord is seriously injured. Thesarin and Joslyn fight with the brutes who all attack. Joslyn is able to not only dodge the one who attacked her, but counteracts attacking taking him down. Rickard is charged by two of the bruts and he is able to counter attack too. Joslyn and Rickard are super impressive as they evade those blows. Thesarin gets attacked by two bruts wielding old shot swords. He is also seriously hurt. Poor Eirene, what she sees is a lot of people who will need tending to, if they live at all.

Killian has joined the line.

Joslyn has joined the line.

Eirene has joined the line.

Shard has joined the line.

Sergei has joined the line.

Thesarin has joined the line.

It is now Killian's turn to speak.

Killian checked dexterity + medium wpn at difficulty 50, rolling 9 higher.

It is now Joslyn's turn to speak.

Joslyn is caught up in the melee, her eyes squinting as she anticipates and dodges the attacks coming her way from a pair of brutes, sidestepping the first, she snarls, maintinging her rather unsettling smile, spinning around to dodge the other, she uses that momentum to ram her hairpins straight into it's throat, grunting as she pulls back, kicking him away, speaking once more in the tongue of sylv'alfar.

Joslyn says in Sylv'alfar, "Your Horned God is no god!"

Joslyn checked dexterity + small wpn at difficulty 50, rolling 71 higher.

Killian grunts, the monstrosity digging claws into his armor as though it was paper. "Seriously, got to get Rubicund or Diamondplate," he growls out, blood flowing freely down his side. He swings his swords in rapid succession, the steel used to batter aside the creatures next swiping claw before he ducks in. Bringer of Dawn flashes with an almost surreal light as he slices it in and up towards the joint at the underarm of the claw that swung at him, trying to dig in and sever tendon and muscle to limit the creature's threat.

Rickard has joined the line.

It is now Eirene's turn to speak.

"Alaricite," the Malvici calls out, even as Killian's blade of the same slices through. "Kill it and we might free the men." She keeps on Sergei as they move, but she lashes out at the wolf to try to buy a bit more space.

There is a flash of Alaricite from beside Killian, as Joslyn arrives to bring her own rapid brand of unique assistance, she jumps into the giant, practically throwing herself upon it, hands rapidly moving to poke it full of as many little holes as she possibly can, in between ribs and in the most sensitive places, she growls some more, releasing her hold on it, and quickly moving with Killian in the half retret. "Alaricite," Joslyn agrees, smiling over towards him. "Let's take this fucker down."

It is now Shard's turn to speak.

Eirene checked dexterity + small wpn at difficulty 50, rolling 14 lower.

Shard checked dexterity + medium wpn at difficulty 30, rolling 40 higher.

It is now Sergei's turn to speak.

It is now Thesarin's turn to speak.

Thesarin checked dexterity + medium wpn at difficulty 30, rolling 4 lower.

It is now Rickard's turn to speak.

Shard spits a near breathless curse as she feels those teeth digging into her leg, and she retaliates by plunging the tip of her blade into the eye of the wolf performing the mangling bite, then whipping it out and across the beast's throat, opening up great bloody rents in the creature's hide. To add injury to more injury, she kicks it away from her, even as the others close in again.

Thesarin lets out a howl of pain, as he starts to fall back under the warped shavs' blades. He sends another jab in at the injured once-a-man, and snarling in his native languate. "I am Thesarin! Chief of the Greenwoods! My skin is covered with the names of men I've killed! Famed men, known men! Any of you got a name worth remembering? Any of you got names at all?" His spear jabs out, trying to cover both of them, only hitting air.

There's a look-- and it looks to Sergei, the team has it covered. That and Eirene might well stab him if he loses a patient; who knows there are risks. So he doesn't even bother calling back to tell the group he's heading on, pushing forward and calling the Mother and Uninjured daughter to follow him and get back to the camps.

Impressive as ever, Rickard dances about the battlefield, thrusting cold steel toward his foes. Choke on it, bastards! ... He listens for signals to back off, and hearing none he goes in for another attack. Eat cold steel, bastards.

Rickard checked dexterity + medium wpn at difficulty 30, rolling 27 higher.

Rickard moves to close distance with Thesarin's brut, and raises his dagger in dramatic fashion, bringing it down with the fury of a man possessed by the heat of battle. The brut falls, and Rickard resumes the hunt for his next victim.

Shard checked dexterity + dodge at difficulty 20, rolling 52 higher.

Shard checked dexterity + dodge at difficulty 25, rolling 19 higher.

Shard checked dexterity + dodge at difficulty 30, rolling 9 higher.

Shard checked dexterity + dodge at difficulty 35, rolling 28 higher.

Shard checked dexterity + dodge at difficulty 40, rolling 26 higher.

Thesarin checked dexterity + dodge at difficulty 30, rolling 3 lower.

Eirene checked dexterity + dodge at difficulty 30, rolling 2 higher.

Killian checked dexterity + dodge at difficulty 30, rolling 3 lower.

Killian takes moderate damage.

Thesarin takes moderate damage.

Rickard checked dexterity + dodge at difficulty 30, rolling 17 higher.

Joslyn checked dexterity + dodge at difficulty 50, rolling 1 lower.

Joslyn takes very serious damage.

Sergei is running of with the injured Shav girl and the other two follow after him. He is safely out of the range of combat. Shard continues to fight against the remaining five wolves. One is injured, but so is Shard. Considering what she is up against, she is doing quite impressively well.

Rickard and Thesarin fight the brutes. Rickard takes one out, dropping their numbers to four. The demon wolf is badly injured, but not bad enough to swipe at Joslyn, digging through her armor and inflicting a nasty wound against her stomach. That one blow almost killed her. This is looking bad.

Killian and Thesarin are injured by the brutes as they get hit with their swords. They are bleeding all over the place and are looking close to falling as well. Things are not looking good.

Killian has joined the line.

Shard has joined the line.

Joslyn has joined the line.

Rickard has joined the line.

Sergei has joined the line.

Thesarin continues to be pressed back by the brutish creatures' onslaughts, taking another blade between the plates of his armor. There's blood running onto the ground, but he stands, sturdy and tall as old oak.

It is now Killian's turn to speak.

Thesarin has joined the line.

Killian checked dexterity + medium wpn at difficulty 50, rolling 7 higher.

Eirene has joined the line.

Killian nearly crumples to the ground as one of the brutes dashes in, gouging another large rend through the Paladin's armor. He staggers, and his voice raises as he calls out, "Keep falling back!" as he braces himself. When the beast lunges again he leaps right into the claws of the monster, taking another huge blow as he does. He drives Hawk's Talon into the beasts shoulder though, swinging upwards on that point and driving down with the shimmering alaricite sword he wields. He thrusts it straight down into the top of the creatures skull, with a sickening and audible crunching as he slams it home. He lands amidst the monsters crumpling form, trying to wrench himself and his blade both free of it as he looks quickly around for a path of retreat, his blood pouring through the ripped armor.

There is a hard hit from the demon wolf, Joslyn screams out as she's struck, the force knocking her back and the wind from her lungs. Drawing her breath, she uses the first once being struck to yell. "Fucker!" Joslyn shouts at the demon, after having been swiped very thoroughly and picked herself back up, she hefts her alaricite once more, a grimace on her face as she grits her teeth, blood pouring over her formerly pristine armor. Of course, then Killian manages to kill it... she tries to not look too disappointed, but she also fails.

The demon wolf has been taken down and lies in a body mess of demon dog body. The four remaining brutes look quite confused and then rather suddenly break and try to run. The wolves around Shard start howling and back off as well. They seem confused.

Shard has joined the line.

Eirene has joined the line.

It is now Shard's turn to speak.

Shard doesn't hesitate. Even as the wolves start to back off, she suddenly presses the attack, moving in on the one she's already injured, intending to finish it. She doesn't seem as though she's feeling particularly merciful today.

Shard has rolled a critical success!
Shard checked dexterity + medium wpn at difficulty 20, rolling 53 higher.

Thesarin stands, spear out, watching the almost-men run. He doesn't give chase, though; he's content to stand bleeding in the woods, taking deep breaths. "Still alive." Breathe in, "still alive." Breathe in, "still alive."

It is now Eirene's turn to speak.

Shard takes the first quickly, hacking at injuries it's already sustained, much like the one before. Then she whirls on the next, plunging her blade straight into the side of its neck and near severing its spinal column before it even seems to realize that the battle, for the prodigal, hasn't actually ended yet.

Eirene takes a few steps backward as the creature claws at her. The wolf's massive paws slash at her midriff but the crimson and black steelsilk seem to deflect it as much as her own natural speed. "Let them go, they were just puppets." She looks to their wounded and scowls deeply. "I need to bind your wounds before your fucking guts spill and your blood becomes grass food."

Killian has other things to worry about than chasing down any fleeing enemies, as he staggers back from the dead demon wolf. He manages to sheathe one of his blades, clutching at his side in pain as he looks around. "Did we lose anyone?" he calls out, trying to regather his view of all of his forces, catching a tree to keep himself upright. "We need to keep moving, there might be more of them out there," he calls out as he begins moving that way.

Sergei is /nowhere/ to be seen -- with luck he's close enough to the camps soon to starts sending in assistance to the poor lot bleeding all over the forest.

Joslyn lets them go, making a bit of a face as she turns towards Eirene. "If you could, Lady Eirene. That fucker packed one hell of a wallop."

Eirene pulls out her vial of bourbon and takes a sip before offering it around. She starts with the worst of their number, staunching the flow of blood and applying tightly woven bandages for now.

Shard eventually rejoins the others, moving at a decided limp, with a very, very bloody and dripping sword still unsheathed in her hand. Apart from her chewed up leg, however, she looks remarkably intact, and most of the blood on her doesn't appear to belong to her at all. Her attention is drawn immediately to the massive corpse of the dead demon wolf, and her eyes narrow, forehead wrinkling as she squints toward it.

Joslyn gives Eirene a bit of a look as she works on her, a quizzical expression, she nods. "Yeah... Sometimes that's how it feels," she agrees.

"We all made it." Thesarin starts to turn away from the direction of the fleeing brutes, and looking to the others. He looks half-dead at least, bleeding from numerous wounds, but he's still standing. He looks to Shard, and gestures toward the wound on her leg. "You need to get that cleaned. Quickly."

Killian moves, perhaps more slowly than the others, as he heads back to the camp. He tries to make sure he's still bringing up the rear of the small column, as he keeps his sword out. If he happens to use it from time to time to brace and keep from falling, well, it's likely forgivable. He staggers in after the others and curses, "everyone is okay?" he asks, worried, looking around as though to reaffirm that everyone made it safely out. He's incredibly pale..not unusual for him, but even more so, the young knight's face as white as his snowy hair from his blood loss.

Shard lifts a hand toward Thesarin, visibly distracted. "In a minute." She moves over toward the corpse and drops to her uninjured knee, to look more closely at it.

Eirene has rolled a critical success!
Eirene checked perception + medicine at difficulty 30, rolling 132 higher.

"I'll live," Joslyn says over her shoulder to Killian. "I've had worse, but it just, fucking hurts," Joslyn winces a bit as Eirene works on her and she gives a sigh towards everything. "So... could've just started with the big one," She says, grimacing.

Eirene is a trauma surgeon. Evac and war wounds are her specialty. With no grumbling and no hesitation she starts to stitch the worst of the wounds. Seeing Shard's bite, she motions her to sit. Our comes a different vial, holy water. "Yeah, the demon was controlling the others. Not surprised," the occult specialist says. "Shard, right? This is gonna sting like all Abyss but that's what will be burned out of your leg..."

Killian eyes Joslyn, "Err, I did?" he points out, shaking his head slightly. He pops a couple of buckles on his armor, pulling the breastplate off and setting it aside as he grunts, grabbing a cloth bandage and pressing it to the wound as he awaits the attentions of a healer. In the meantime he waves over a couple of the soldiers, "Get ready to break camp, we're going back," he instructs.

Killian is overheard praising Sergei for: A soldier who follows orders above seeking personal glory, is certainly worthy of praise.

Shard pulls herself reluctantly away from the corpse when she's summoned, although the wrinkle in her forehead seems to have mostly smoothed itself out. "Strange," she mutters, as she sits down. The injury is most certainly a bite--no mistaking it for anything else. "Shard, yes. And yeah, alright. That thing was talking, I heard it."

Killian will, once he's been seen to, look after the mother and other daughter and try to put them at ease since he speaks their language, reassuring them.

Thesarin nods, and starts toward Shard. Slowly, but steadily, despite the numerous injuries. "It was." He looks to Shard, with a faint, weary smile on his face. "Is that the strangest thing about all of this?"

Thesarin is overheard praising Killian for: He knows his business, he kept us together, and he put himself on the front.

Shard gives the slightest shake of her head. "Oh, that's not what I was saying was strange." Except that's where she stops talking. Instead, she braces herself, and breathes deeply.

Joslyn eyes Killian and nods. "You did, I didn't. Would have been smart to gain up on it from the beginning," she says simply, moving to settle down, drawing a deep breath.

Eirene says, "Not the first demon I've killed. First one I've heard talking." She pours the vial of blessed water into the wound and chases it with a bit of alcohol. Also offering her flask of drinking alcohol to Shard. The injured woman requires a bit more work but first comes the immediate wounds. She'll be busy for certain.. "Let me suture this closed them."

Shard checked composure at difficulty 20, rolling 3 higher.