07.11c: Into the Woods

[kitsunenotsume]

The bandage is calmly and cleanly wrapped while the introductions are made, and tied off solidly (with a bit of use of teeth, being only one-handed) while each of the participants have their say. With his ambulatory arm, Caelund pulls a small box from a pouch at his belt, flicks out a few off-white tablets, and pops them in his mouth. He then replaces it to the appropriate receptacle, and tugs off the bloody shoulder-cloak as he stands to examine the group.

“Lord Raven, I appreciate the timely aid you provided earlier, and can assure you that my reference to waterfowl was not a reference to any form of waterfowl.”

He then faces to Krajk: “If you’ve a spare, I’ll prefer a javelin.”

The grey-clothed man then turns to face everyone*, the sash now neatly folded with the stained portion on the outside, and directs a comment to Lyra: “If one seeks to know what sort of hazards lie nearby, why waste time finding the elusive masters of a domain when you can encourage them to find you?”
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*: given a short time he clearly seems more awake, alert, and much less hindered by his aggravated and sling-bound left arm. Whatever was in those tablets certainly wasn’t a tic-tac, and the observant would note the iris-dilation characteristic to many stimulants.

[Rasanam]

Rasanam turns his attention away from Caelund and to one of his sketchbooks, drawing pictures of the manticore, along with a current best-guess at muscular and skeletal structure.

[The Raven]

To Lyra, "I'm pretty sure that commotion scared off anything else interesting in that area, so we might want to try a different direction." (Or attracted it, but the Raven saw no evidence of that)

To Caelund, "Oh, so 'duck' is some foreign slang then. I shall have to ask you for more details later."

[Krajk]

Krajk gives Caelund a thoughtful look for a moment, his nostrils flaring slightly as he does so*, and then pulls a javelin from his quiver and tosses it towards him. It's a quite gentle lob, mind you, underhand and lengthwise. The offer of a styptic is not repeated.

(*Fairly clearly not in a disdainful/disgusted fashion, though whether Caelund will read into it far enough to think 'scenting' is up to him/his paranoia - Krajk does look entirely human at the moment.)

[ShadowOfPreservation]

It seems like everyone is ready to go so, with a last glance Odin's way (interpret however you wish), she will start off heading in the general direction of the valley and its stream. Despite the newcomer apparently being OK with his role as potential bait, she's not too keen on pressing their luck by heading into the likely more dangerous mountainous areas.

[Joshua]

Well, there are still some creepy things. The forrest is ... in flux. Once you get past a certain point, shadows start merging into each other. Those with pattern imprint could try to force themselves not to shift shadow, but you're looking to explore. Thankfully this is a mixing, so, (the?) Raven and Odin's bird don't get separated from you.

After some time*, you come upon a small river, and on the other side of that is Amber... Or at least... an abandoned mirror of Amber overgrown with several years of vines and underbrush.
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*: The forrest suffers time dilations and flux... not as severe as the caves though.

[Rasanam]

Rasanam looks around. "Well this is interesting. I wonder what sorts of records we can find? Might be useful to know what brought this place down, make sure we don't make the same mistakes."

[kitsunenotsume]

Neither fully leading nor following, the grey man watches the surrounding studiously - both the environment and the people, as if committing each to memory, but his attention twitches between subjects erratically. He keeps pace with the group while using the javelin as a staff (more out of convenience than anything else) until the fallen City crests into view. Peering at the verdant and empty ruins brings a thoughtful smirk, before he hops down towards the riverbank and starts looking for a fjord.

"More than records, likely - probably a thing or two still salvageable. Besides, it's not like it could contain anything more dangerous than the original already does."

[Krajk]

"There's always a bigger fish," Krajk will comment. Curiously the sight of the overgrown city seems almost to make him relax an infinitesimal amount, though change (if even there was one) fades rapidly back into the overall impression of comfortable wariness as they draw nearer.

[kitsunenotsume]

Caelund chuckles softly as he makes his way along the beach. "Well, when you find a fish bigger than a certain sygil-drawing-dwarf, I'm sure we'll all be either dying to hear or already dead."