Session #46 - Relic finally obtained

[istainion]

Day: 12, Time of day: Morning
Location: The ruins of Berez, near the well

(Remarks marked by * are written in abyssal, remarks marked by - are written in celestial, the rest of the entry is written in common)


After the battle we fought against the impossible, I can only say that it has been a while since I have rested that well. This time, relieved from the existence in my body, created by some hag who almost seemed too friendly in the first moment, then a complete disaster the very next one. She wanted the truth, I delivered.

It was a humid morning, the mist was located in the distance, surrounding the remains of Berez. We made camp around the outskirts, close to the well. I've seen enough crazy things in Barovia to firmly believe that something is held there, if not the relic that we couldn't find, then maybe a secret pathway. * I know that the others think I'm crazy and that's absolutely fine with me. Instead, I firmly believe it's the best turn this could take before we part ways.

Once everyone was awake, we prepared ourselves to travel down the well. The thought alone is rather unpleasant, as well as the potential fear of having someone shut our way out during our absence. I heard the fire genasi sigh and complain.

"What better way to start the day than going down a spooky well that stinks." Yshvara felt similarly. "It's about as good as above the ground." Such early pessimism after being cured from something that would have destroyed us within 10 days. Pyre shrugged at the blond woman. "We might avoid the rain." Once I had everything packed, I got up. "Maybe Shevat can do some fancy magic to make the scent a little better." Clearly, I was just teasing, but I am rather certain he would be capable of such things, being a man of nature in all kinds of ways. He might have relied on it more than once.

Shevat confirmed that he is indeed capable of such a thing, but it might not be as powerful as we'd hope. Apparently, he would need to keep casting it and he fears that it might attract the enemy's attention. Well, it looks like Pyre is not going to have a very good time. "But don't worry, Viiris, you will get used to any kind of smell. It is the adaptability that makes us so strong." Shevat suddenly said, directing the whole topic as if I was the one who complained in the first place. "I was not ... Complaining about the smell ..." I heard Pyre snort in the background with amusement. "Well, that's good! This whole realm reeks of corpses anyway!" Ysvara said with mild enthusiasm.

Location: The ruins of Berez, Well

Once everyone was ready to go, we approached the well again and took another glance down. We decided who would go first. Yshvara offered to go first because of the potential stench, but knowing her strategy in battle forced me to speak up. "So you have more space to run back to, am I right?" I tilted my head, giving her a playful (mocking) look. "I ... Don't know what you're talking about." The woman responded, blinking with her eyes before avoiding contact. I smirked to myself, saying "Neither do I ..."

But clearly, we all knew that she wasn't the right person to go first. If anyone, it has to be someone who can take a hit. Before we could even discuss our next candidate for this fantastic opportunity, Pyre demanded to go first and lead us deeper inside. Truly, I did appreciate the gesture and also believe that she'd make a suitable scout. Would she not have gone, then I'd be the next to volunteer. She climbed her way down the ladder, making sure to keep her eyes wide open for any enemies. By time, the rest of us followed, keeping enough distance in between of us to make it through the narrow pathway.

Eventually, we found the remains of old water, making you wish away your sense of smelling more than any place before. I was uncertain if that ceiling in Vallaki with the corpse was any worse than this. I was beginning to doubt it.

The deeper we followed the path in, the more water began to gather, until it reached our calves, soon, our knees. Arabella wasn't having the best time, given that she's nothing but a gnome sized undead. It was a surprise that she hadn't requested us to carry her. Pyre did offer her help, but Arabella kindly declined. * I cannot deny that the sight was at least somewhat hilarious. At least she won't have to breathe.

Our path led us to one, bigger room. From the mere looks of it, nothing but a large body of water was visible. I could merely observe the view from the entrance, while the others ventured deeper inside. What they didn't realize is that the ground went deeper when they wanted to explore the walls, forcing the two ladies, Pyre and Arabella to begin swimming. I'm rather concerned about my armor ... Hopefully Yshvara's ability to clean off dirt is powerful enough for us to present ourselves with some decency when we happen to meet people afterwards. I have no other desire than to wash my clothes, clean my armor, weapon, shield and the rest of my being.

With Pyre heading to the west and Arabella to the east, we discovered a hidden storage in the wall. It was an open space, but contained an illusion spell to make it appear closed. Arabella found a human skull with a scroll in its mouth. She removed the spell and discovered it was one specifically for water breathing. An ability that Shevat previously casted on us during the underwater Temple spectacle. * Great memories, here's wishing I'd forget them.

Arabella made a brief dive to explore the eastern area and once she came back to us, she told us there is a path leading down through the wall. It became clear what they wanted us to do. What concerns me, however, is the perfect positioning. Are we meant to follow this path? Whoever keeps something here, would they not have what it takes to reach there? This has to be a trick ...

Our gaze was resting on the druid. He is familiar with the spell, can't he use his spell instead? It was unfortunate, indeed, but he didn't prepare the spell for casting at the current place and time. That was leaving us with little choice than to use the scroll we are provided. We have no time to waste, we have wasted too much, each passing second is a waste in this realm. Our gaze was resting on the water as Yshvara held the scroll in her hands in an attempt to cast it. This murky water ... To breathe it in is rather ... No, I am without words to express the disgust toward it. To make sure the scroll will work, I did my best to assist her through Ilmater's will. (Guidance)

It took a moment, for she is not entirely familiar with the spell, but from the looks of it, she was quick to understand the basics of it and casted it onto each of us, with an exception for Arabella. What we did not expect, is that the scroll backfires the effect on the one who casts the spell written on the scroll. That there was a trick involved could be  foreseen, but we finally witnessed what it was.

Yshvara slowed down entirely. It was not an act, I made sure of what when I observed her body language. It's a side effect, a spell that she is under. (Slow / 1 hour) Moving at about half her regular pace, it became clear that we must keep an eye on her. The scroll was cursed, such a surprise. None of us are affected negatively though, that's probably a relief. Those thoughts would soon disappear as soon as each of us dove to move through the small opening.

Location: Berez, inside the Well, into an unknown cave
Note: Enemies were made of bones but had no necrotic energy to them, instead they were awakened by Fae/dark nature magic, similarly to the (rigged) magic (barrier) circle. (Likely Baba Lysaga's doing)

The small underwater entrance led to a larger opening where each of us carefully got back to the surface, entirely drenched. We were located at a type of cave with a hill at the center and three larger piles of bones around each corner. When I took a closer look to detect any signs of necrotic energy, I utterly failed. We made our way up the circle, again, no necrotic energy could be found, no signs of undead, merely a hunch, a guess.



At the center of this hill or platform, there was a magic circle drawn with a small box in the center of it. I assume that, as soon as we enter the (rigged) circle, those piles will receive a signal and they will be ready to fight us over this box. It was not a surprise that Pyre, with her recent fixation on boxes, felt urged to have the box, and nothing, but the box.

I had a feeling that it may be the relic that is inside, which encouraged my will to obtain it and to finally reclaim it.

Through Pyre's experience and profession, she could easily tell us the nature of this barrier circle. It is meant to send a signal as soon as someone enters it or removes something, fueled by fae magic.

We also learned that the purpose of this circle is to force the magic out of the content of the box, as if draining it. Whether this energy is gathered and used for something else is unclear. It might be the relic, but it may also be the last gem we have been curious to find, but I highly doubt that.

I turned to Yshvara and requested her to make a copy of it in her sketchbook. It might be interesting in the future. She did complain when she reached out to it. "Oh well, I don't know why I do this on request ... But well ..." She sighed dramatically.

Again, our eyes were resting on the magic barrier in front of us. We were frozen in our steps. It is clear that each of our actions will interfere with it. There was one option we had, Yshvara came up with a plan, she would make an attempt to animate the box and have it move on its own. But, the box didn't react. There is interference. She assumed that the box was magical as well.

It was a shame, but the next suggestions kept following. Torvial suggested using his spiritual weapon to knock the box from its spot, and I honestly had the same thought. It was interesting to see his thoughts are similar. Then again, we do not know the requirements for the circle to react. Any presence could do it. We continued to discuss, varying from levitating it, to knocking it over.

Then Pyre suggested using a trick that we've seen only a few times, if not just once. She mentioned something about heading to the aetherial plane for a moment to step inside the circle, but my concern was, once she is inside, how will we get her out again and not trigger the effect of the circle? * Foolishness. At least she admitted how absurd her plan was as well.

She told us to be concerned with that later when she is at the center of it and before any of us could interfere, she was already gone. * Reckless, she is and what she is likely going to remain ...

She reappeared inside the circle, unharmed, for now. Nothing happened just yet, it seems like her plan to enter was a success. Will leaving it be the same?

She inspected the box and told us more about it. The box appears to be magically locked and it is the mechanism of the box itself to drain the energy from its content. The box appears to be positioned on what functions like a magical pressure plate. Removing it might trigger the exact same result as entering.

The woman reached for her bag, taking the other magical box from it and she tried to compare the two. The one on the circle is a little bit larger. Does she intend to exchange it? Then she may want to rely on her supernatural swiftness if that pressure plate can be fooled. With the little choices we have, all we can do is to rely on her. Unfortunately, Pyre wasn't fast enough to exchange them.

The arcane glyph underneath the box turned red. Each of us knew what that meant. An explosion followed at the center of the barrier, barely anything was visible for us to see at this point. Luckily, she was quick enough to avoid any fatal damage from it when she jumped away. (-25 fire DMG)

A strange sound followed. The whole platform was shaking, giving us a similar experience to an earthquake, filling the surroundings with dust and stone. In the distance, the three piles of bones began to react and magically formed three animalistic structures. One large creature and two smaller ones appeared.

<Battle Start>



The battle started and some of us started splitting up in smaller groups to take down the numbers efficiently. It seemed successful, but when the large, almost draconic creature came close, things immediately began to change for all of us. Caught in a large-scale attack, some of us were threatened with permanent death by petrification when the draconic creature positioned itself around the center, opening up its jaw and letting out a strange type of mist. (-37 poison DMG - Poison breath) Yshvara was the first to go down at that moment and Pyre barely had the strength to stand. Stone was starting to form on my skin as well as it did on Pyre. I lost my ability to move away from my location as well.

"Restrained, low on health, petrification ... You see, this is why we don't f*ck with boxes ...", The fire lady to my right complained. That was rather funny coming from her.

Hopefully, we'll live through the end of this. Seeing the situation become as terrible as it is, I held my hand in the direction of the creature in an attempt to banish the creature away from us ... But it was a failure. * My powers have let me down ... Damn this ...! And stabilized Yshvara for the time being, with an attempt to focus my healing on her, but Shevat already hurried to her to get her back up. (+37 HP) That's a relief ... And as soon as the large creature moved again, Pyre was the next to fall. A dire situation, it was ... Arabella was the one who healed her back up.

When Yshvara got up, she got a hold of Shevat and disappeared into the distance, away from the platform. I appreciated her attempt to keep the druid safe. From there on, Shevat was able to turn Pyre into a Giant Ape, boosting her vitality, but the process of petrification remained. If we can find a type of cure for future purposes, then this is worthy to invest in! The situation began to look up, from there on out. At least for most of us, Both Pyre and I were about to lose our lives if it wasn't for Yshvara's support.

We broke free from the petrification that suddenly weakened. That ... Was a relief. This isn't exactly a great place to die. - Now I am in her debt and the thought is ... Unpleasant.

The enemies were taken down one after another, returning to what they once were ... A pile of bones.

<Battle End>

We sought the room to find any clues, hints or maybe additional artifacts, but none were found. So, our attention was focused on the content of the box, but we decided to postpone it for when we are above ground. Shevat was more concerned with the petrification we were facing, contemplating for a long duration as he observed the bodies of the previous victim, Pyre.

He recalled that only the most powerful magic users have the strength to dispel it. ("Greater Restoration '') There also exists a herb that can cure it, but it's extremely rare, boosting the market price (of Silvermoon), exclusive to the budget of a rich person. As for the rest of the victims, it means the end of their life. What we have witnessed was luck, pure luck and excellent teamwork. - I should probably treat Yshvara better after this ...

That's when we realized that Shevat, who relieved Yshvara from the slow spell, also relieved her from the ability to breathe underwater. She is now vulnerable to drowning. While I did promise her that we'll get her back up again, the act of drowning is ... Terrible. I suggested the woman go first, so that we can get her out of the water sooner than later.

On our way back, we put the plan in progress. While the distance seemed shorter than it did with the water breathing ability, she ran short on breath. When I saw her struggle, I quickly grabbed her and pulled her up to the surface with the help of the rest of them. He first examined her, then splashed some water in her face to wake her up, while most of us expected the druid to use a lifesaving technique, specifically the rescue breathing. No matter how silly it was, it was effective, and the woman immediately sat up to couch out the excessive water from her lungs. - Truly, I did pity her. No one should experience the cruel reality of drowning ... And especially not around murky water

We discussed the origin of this creation, this location, the scroll, the magic barrier. While Yshvara assumed the Mad Mage as well as Stasia to be the cause for it, while everything points at the hag. "... Also, Stasia, she is super dead.", Pyre pointed out, during the discussion. "... Yeah, that is true ...", the blond woman agreed. Pyre began to smile to herself. "That makes me smile ... That brightens my day."

The hag has stolen the relic. If this turns out to be the relic then who do they intend to point out next? It was fae magic. She may have passed it onto others, but if she enjoys solitude, could we truly suspect anyone but the count? They seem to have a deal going on and Strahd did reveal interests in Vallaki's relic as well, even if it ended up in Stasia's possession. Stasia would have used alternative techniques with it, and I doubt that growth vitality is something that a * filthy necromancer like herself can work with. Using the holy saint's bones is ... Far more terrible and suitable in all kinds of awful ways.

Once I pointed out that it was likely the hag's doing, they did agree. But in the end, it could have been anyone, anything. All we can do now is to make rough, estimated assumptions.

Arabella grew curious about the identity of Stasia, wondering who she is and the others didn't hesitate to enlighten her. "Oh, she was ... THE worst.", Pyre said, rolling her eyes. "Just a lady with an attitude problem, that's who she was.", I added, confirming that she wouldn't want to have ever met her. "Normally that is okay", Pyre said. "But she was ... Like ..." Then she shook her head, grunting with a sound of what said "I am at a loss for words." Shevat returned a sad expression. "... And we lost a dear friend to her." Most of us gave a nod. She apologized. "My condolences." Torvial said. A brief silence was shared among us, before Yshvara spoke up. "Well, he is free now. And that way, he shall remain." I looked at her, then went back to Shevat. "He might get back to us ... Right, Shevat?" I referred back to our talk at the beach soon after the struggle and loss. Shevat turned to me, looking me in the eyes as if he tried to recall what I meant before he nodded. "I hope so. I'll do my best, even if it takes a hundred years. I will find a way." ... Yeah, let's hope for the best

Location: The ruins of Berez, near the well
Note: Vineyard's relic has been obtained (shaped as a pine cone)

We made our way back to the surface and right next to the well, Pyre reached for the box. Using it as a place for disposal if nothing would be inside the box. We all knew how possessive and territorial she is with boxes, so none of us interfered with her actions. For now at least. I got a little closer and tried the glasses to identify the box. All that we got out of it is merely that it is a magical box which is magically locked. * Now, hopefully we get that thing open without the genasi going feral over it.

When she couldn't detect anything, it was as if her eyes grew wide and she began to shake it like a wild animal. The first symptoms are already present. She heard a sound from inside. "It's definitely not empty this time ... Interesting." Pyre mumbled with a surprisingly serious tone of voice. Having seen Arabella's excellence on the arcane field, I looked in her direction, requesting her assistance before Pyre would make an attempt to destroy the box.

We learned through her that it could be unlocked by password, or even by a lockpick, but it is going to be extremely difficult. The specific locking enchantment can also be dispelled. A default use of the spell will be enough to unlock it, the enchantment is only of a second magic level. Shevat offered her services. "If you want to open it right now, I may be able to do it." It didn't take the fire genasi a second to immediately nod with enthusiasm. "Absolutely. Please." It became an agreement, until Arabella suggested to wait until we are ready to fight, assuming that this might draw us into battle.

I honestly didn't care much for it, but I need to know what we almost died for. I merely needed to know whether or not I was right about the relic. Pyre felt equally impatient. "But ... But it's locked! We should open it!" Yshvara sighed, giving in to the pressing urge of the redhead. "But if we die from it ... Then ..." Pyre looked back at her. "If we die, then it's on me. I'll take responsibility if we die." Well, that is helpful. "... But only if we all die." What the hell's with that?!

After we managed to force a short rest, it was time for her, with the help of Shevat, to finally unlock it.

I decided that it was best for me to merely take my distance, visually imagining everyone to die and needing to prioritize the life of two people with the diamonds that I hold in my possession. Shevat, also, took his distance, casting his spell at the equally large distance that he took.

The box was placed in the center of us, Pyre stood closest when she used her sword to open up the box. Arabella was sipping some tea in the distance as well, watching this all happen. As soon as the enchantment was gone, Shevat confirmed, yelling loud enough to be heard from the extremely large distance.




Inside, she found a pine cone. "There's ... A f*cking pine cone in here ..." Pyre muttered. Seeing that no danger was near, I closed the distance in between us. She kept moving it around, observing it from different angles. When I got closer, I saw the light reflecting off the pine cone, it wasn't from the same type of material. According to Torvial, the pine cone radiates a lot of magical energy. Meaning, the battle we fought was of value and this is likely the relic of the Wizards of Wine, the vineyard, north west from here. With mild frustration she placed the pine cone back inside the  box and handed it to Shevat. "This is more your thing, enjoy. I'd like the box back when it's empty but it's good for now." Torvial observed it from a short distance. "Is this what you are looking for?" Yshvara turned to him. "It sure looks like what we're looking for."

Still unsure about what it was, I asked them "Then, what is it?" Somewhere, I had the feeling that this was more the relic than anything else. They assumed it to be one of the greater spirit gems, but then it would at least look like one ... "You can always identify it?", Yshvara suggested. I reached for the glasses with a nod. "I guess then I will." Previously, she sounded so certain about the identity of the artifact.

Shevat held it out to me to take a closer look at it. We learned that it is indeed a magical item that stimulates plant and crop growth. As I suspected for this whole time, yes, this is indeed the relic. Finally, we are getting somewhere. No longer are we cursed, or suffering. We're healthy as we are, living and we made it out of the murky, disgusting water with nothing but absolute luck. It felt satisfying once more to make this much progress.

"So this is what is stolen from the vineyard?" Shevat wondered. I looked up to him and confirmed. "Yes, this is exactly the purpose the relic from the vineyard had." I also learned that the land where this relic is planted becomes extremely fertile. "... And we got it." I smiled to myself. I'll make sure that we won't overlook a single clue nor task, this one, was almost forgotten if I hadn't told them. That's also when I finally told them my conclusion related to the well. "This might be related to the hag, the creatures we fought, everything." Pyre added, once again, the type of magic that was applied, confirming the theory.

"Shall we make haste to the vineyard then?" I looked to the others, requesting agreement to head to our next destination. They agreed. The travel between Berez and the Wizards of Wine takes about five days. So, there will be a number of days traveling ahead of us and protecting what we have while it's in our possession.

Day: 12, Time of day: Evening
Location: Main road, north of Berez
Note: A suspicious, deceitful hunter from Krezk has spied on us during our rest

We took the fastest, but also the safest route to head to the vineyard, following the mainroad from here. But nightfall came and we needed a rest, knowing that traveling at night is entirely unsafe in this realm. The travel was tiring, the road was in an awful state. Nature has grown wild during the absence of travelers, it was thanks to Shevat that none of us were caught in any of that. We managed to make it to a crossroad again.



Once there, we set up camp and divided the watches between all six of us.  Splitting it in sessions of two per watch. Torvial was very willing to assist us to set up camp and did most of the firewood gathering. First watch was Pyre and Shevat, the second watch was shared between me and Yshvara and the third watch was given to Arabella and Torvial.

During the first watch, nothing happened. Then, it was my turn and that of Yshvara. While I was occupied observing our surroundings and keeping my eye on the aasimar woman, I suddenly heard a twig snap behind me. Immediately, I stood up and drew my sword. In the distance, I saw a figure hiding behind the bushes. I turned to the others and alerted them of the potential threat. As soon as I did, I saw the figure run away. "For f*ck's sake ..." The silhouette was running east from where we set up camp. "Someone was here", I told them. "They just got away in that direction." Then I pointed in the direction.

"Is there anyone around here that could survive that?" Yshvara wondered. Indeed, it is odd, it has to be someone capable of daring to stray away from the path that we are all warned not to. "It's probably not even human ...", I mumbled back. Shevat looked at all of us. "Should I follow them?" Pyre agreed that it was a good idea, but Yshvara and I were against it. Pyre was also ready to run and rather eager to catch them. "But there was someone there! ..." She said. "But I don't even know if it was a person ...!" I looked back at Shevat again. "So, don't, Shevat. This could be a trap." And as soon as I said that, Pyre ran past me to the forest in an attempt to chase them down.

I turned around and quickly tried to stop her, but she was simply too fast and I wasn't prepared for absolute idiocy coming from the group. She simply dodged me and sprinted into the dark. "I hope she survives ..." Yshvara nervously laughed. I grit my teeth. * Like hell I'll let her die because of her own, dumb decisions. I, too, turned to the forest to chase after her. "Well, if she intends to get us killed, then there is nothing I can do about that ..." I heard Yshvara say before I got away. That is indeed what I intended to prevent from happening, including this suicide attempt.

I wasted so much energy running and chasing this foolish woman. I got stuck behind a number of roots, branches, bushes. Everything was there, and she continued to dash after it like a possessed being. When I caught up, I found Pyre on top of a person who was face down onto the dirt. I grew wary of the situation, this person, it could be anyone. Pyre still looked fine, she was safe. Not much later, Shevat as an owl also arrived. * Why did he come after us as well? The fool ... Now what if he gets hurt?!

I heard the man begging below her. "P ... Please! I just ..." his helpless voice called out. "... Were out for a walk?" Pyre filled him in. "Look, I just ... I just! Saw some light and I wanted to check! I didn't mean anything! D-Don't kill me!" The unknown man yelped. She forced the coat off to see what was hidden beneath. It looked like a young man in his late twenties with short, dark hair and dark eyes. This person didn't look familiar at all. The owl landed on my shoulder as I approached the scene. "P ... Please! I just wanted to check what it was!" I looked at Pyre with a dark expression. "For f*ck's sake, Pyre ...!" She looked at me with big eyes, yelling back at me "What?!" I sighed at her. "Why are you always so reckless like some sort of wild animal who is chasing whatever you like?!" Almost hissing at her with frustration.

"Well ... Youuu said that someone was there~ And I found them!" She pointed at the man below her, who had nothing better to do than to apologize over ten times. "Shush, we're talking." She shushed the man. "Well, YES, it was a calculated risk ..." Pyre admitted. That didn't lift my mood, even a little. "I hope you will never do it again ..." I said out loud, keeping the same tone as before. She tilted her head mockingly. "What are you going to do about it?" I let out a short laugh. "Oh, you'll feel it by then." I threatened her but she remained cocky. "You couldn't even keep up, babe." I let out another laugh, adding a sneer on my face. "Oh, we can do it again." I said to her. "Yeah, sure, Viiris ..." Pyre lifted her brows with an unimpressed expression.

"Alright." She turned to the man. "Who are you?" The man almost got startled when the attention was back on him again. "Uh, my name is uh ...", he tried. I reminded him to use his full name to refer to. Stefan Doryanescu is his full name.

"I'm in a really bad mood, so you better not be playing with us ...", I threatened the young man. He let out another yelp. "No play! No play!" Pyre leaned in, looking down on the man in an equally intimidating manner. "So, Stefan Doryanescu, why are you running into these woods in the middle of the night?" The man grew nervous, but explained his story. "I'm a trapper and we needed food. I need to feed my family, so I took a little bit more of a risk than I usually do." I took a close look, but he appeared sincere. (27 insight/nat 20) The man carried a trap with him so he does appear like a type of hunter. On his back, he carries a bow with a quiver with arrows in them. "You know that the forest is very ... Dangerous at night, don't you?" I asked him, frowning upon the whole situation he caught himself in. "I'm very, very aware! I swear, I won't do it again!" I took a step closer. "So, if we have difficulties traveling alone at night, why don't you?" I crossed my arms over my chest, glancing at him with an expecting gaze. "I mean, I have difficulties as well. I have been around these woods for a long night, I know my way around a little bit." Pyre grew interested in his knowledge. "How well do you know your way around these woods?" A pause followed. "Uh, fairly well?" But when she asked for a shortcut to reduce our traveling time, he merely suggested the obvious. To cross through the woods. It was entirely pointless.

I looked at him again, narrowing my eyes. "Where are you from?" The man looked past Pyre, over to me and answered. "I am from Krezk." And he does appear to be sincere, again. "What does a man all the way from Krezk, which should actually be having a better time than Vallaki, doing all the way here?" I asked him. I was certain I had him right where I wanted him to have, because this is the most illogical thing he has said up until now. He looked at me with panicking eyes. "I really needed food! And well, there is not a lot of food going around at the moment. Those hunters have not been able any boars, rabbits or deer, so I thought, maybe past the bridge ... But I haven't had much luck either. I have been a bit farther away than I should have." I sighed loudly, slowly approaching the trapper stuck to the ground. "Why do I always need to deal with these kinds of fools ..." I complained and kneeled down to hand him some of my food. (3x rations)

He looked down on it, then back up again. "Um, thank you?! That's very kind of you, good sir! But uh, I have ... Twelve siblings." Pyre looked at him, doubting the fact that he has supposingly twelve siblings. Yes, that was definitely a lie and mildly ungrateful as well. I just need some rations for myself as well. I sighed, burrying my palm deeply onto my face. "I don't have that much food, I'm sorry ..." He looked up, with another attempt. "I'm sure if you give me six, we can share." I became unsure if he tried to simply make a deal with me, fool me or is simply desperate to survive. Then I let him know, I only have food for a single day for myself. "Oh, please! I'll take whatever you have!" He begged to me. - This was unusual ... It's been so long since a person so desperately tried to reach out to me for help ... I felt compelled to give him more, but I had nothing left to give.

I felt the owl's eyes resting on me, and it made me nervous. "Don't even look at me, Shevat ..." The man noticed the owl. "Is something wrong with the owl?" He wondered. Pyre looked at the man underneath her. "Oh, that's not actually an owl ..." She said to him, but I fought it. "It is! It's a strange one, a very strange one." I glared back at Pyre, telling her without the use of words not to spill whatever information. She is too trusting toward this stranger! She rolled her eyes. "Yes, it's a demon." It felt in my nature to argue with it, saying that I wouldn't cooperate with demons but she shrugged it off. The owl put his wing in front of his face. (facepalm) "I ... I'll take the food and get out of here! It'll take a few days until I can get back, so ... Can I get more food to go back?" Pyre felt urged to smack the back of the stranger's head.

I checked if this man is using a disguise, but he panicked at the sight of my use for guidance, thinking I will use magic to attack him. His story changed, he now only has three siblings. When we took a closer look, we noticed that the man only has three copper on him, uses no disguise and has only the necessary for hunting and traps, but indeed, no food. The bow is very well designed, in excellent state, the same counts for the quiver. Pyre noticed the lack of money and exchanged it for a single gold piece that got the trapper excited. "I have never seen that much money in my life!" he said with excitement.

"You're going to take this and get the hell out of my face as quickly as you can, or I will change my mind and designate you ..." Pyre said to him. Again, I felt compelled to add something. This sore loser is just making me want to pity him. - He's ... Not a lot differently from an average, helpless citizen that I can't simply turn my back on. Whether or not it was truthful what he said. I handed the trapper another six gold pieces. He put it in his pouch, while he looked at Pyre before he bolted away.

My gaze was resting on Pyre again, I glared at her. I took a rough grip around her collar and pulled her closer. Shevat flew away from me at that moment, not to get caught in anything. "If we get hurt on our way back, then I won't get you back up." Pyre looked at me with an unimpressed look on her face. "You're so concerned ... You didn't need to follow." This conversation began to take an unfortunate turn. "... You're right." I said to her and immediately let go of her to make my way back. "That's what I thought~" She yelled after me. "Like, you know, you could just leave me~ But no~" I turned around to hiss back at her. "Shut up already!" She came after me, lifting her arms playfully. "What~? I mean, you were so concerned about my wellbeing, you came after me." I felt the pressure growing, the nervosity got to me. "Watch me ..." I said to her as I picked up the pace. "Are we bonding~?" Without any difficulty, she ran past me to continue teasing me until we got back to the others.

. . .

Yshvara looked at us when we got back. "Well, for starters, it's a good thing you're still in one piece ..." I interrupted her to glare at Pyre. "Tell Pyre." I think she could use a good amount of scolding. "So, what was that all about anyway?"

Pyre explained that she pursued the person down because she believed it was a threat. Yshvara agreed, but I disagreed. These lands are tricking us all the time, it could have been a bait to a bigger threat. That didn't change Pyre's mind, because in the end, it was not. It could have been the count in a disguise, if it wasn't already.

We explained what happened in the forest, and once we were done, I continued my watch while the others rested. And soon afterwards, I could rest again as well.

. . .