Dreadlords Hammer and Anvil

[Tinker Smithe]

The woods. Horrible place made up of organic life. The trees were fine. They were useful. Everything else was not. Vines. Bushes. Birds. Squirrels. Worthless. All of them worthless. If not for the moss, ferns, and little friends skittering around beneath it all he would truly detest such an environment. Why couldn't nature just consist of trees, ferns, moss, and little friends?

But that was a line of thinking for another time. Tinker had business to oversee.

A large satchel on his sides was shifted around to being in front of him. It contained only a single item: a large reinforced box made of iron and wood. He pulled it out and gently set it upon the ground. It was open and within was a collection of thirty dolls made from cloth and clay all roughly the size of pixies. They looked like Anirian scouts complete with spears that more resembled short needles on sticks than actual spears. Little blades and hatchets sat on their belts. By all accounts they were toy soldiers for some noble kid.

A soft wave over the tops of them with his hand. Each one touched and after seemed to perk up as if awakened from slumber. They crawled out of their box in an orderly fashion. Tinker stared at them a moment then was saluted by all the little scouts. They split themselves up into groups of five and headed off in different directions. They were out to patrol the perimeter for any potential threats.

After they were gone, the dreadlord to be closed the box and returned it to his satchel. Then he looked around. Mushrooms were everywhere. Best he forage a few and bring them back. He didn't know which was which to be safe to eat. But Evie would. She could divide them up and a use for the toxic ones could be found later.

So he went about picking up every mushroom he could find.

=======================

Tinker would return to the camp with arms filled with mushrooms. It didn't matter to him what everyone else was doing. He went straight to Evie and would dump them on her lap. His eyes on her he would simply say, "Here."

A nod to follow then he would just leave her before she even responded. He needed to set up his own tent still after all and that was his current objective.

Everleigh Ebersol Alistair Krixus Kristen Pirian Drastus Tal'deneshaar

 

[Alistair Krixus]

Alistair watched Bull storm off with an emotionless face as he continued to guide the horses over to a tree. His lips were turned down into the slightest frown, but he eventually looked over to Evie. With a simple nod, he gave his confirmation.

"I'm in."

He did not need to know all of the plan, all he needed to know was that Bull would get taught a lesson. Whether he learned from the lesson was up to him.

It only took a few minutes for Alistair and Evie to get the horses situated before they could turn to their own tents. Alistair offered to help Evie set up both of the tents in order for things to move quicker. That meant he was close by when Tinker came out of the forest and deposited a thing of mushrooms in front of Evie and only mentioned a single word.

He said nothing, as he understood that Tinker and Everleigh had a strange relationship, one that he was not going to completely understand any time soon. If it was him, he would have gotten mad, but it wasn't him, so he would keep his mouth shut.

"I'm almost done with the tents. I'll finish up the rest."

Everleigh Ebersol Kristen Pirian Drastus Tal'deneshaar Tinker Smithe

 

[Kristen Pirian]

That sounds like a great idea. Or, we could share. Mines good for two or three.

Kristen was rather quick to decline. "Oh! Th-that's alright! I did come prepared with my own and it would be unseemly to intrude!"

They had been on a few missions together, knew one another well enough. They survived the Punishment Game (no hyperbole there in Kristen's opinion!), helped one another through Vel Numera, and Drastus even helped Kristen in honing and fine tuning her Curses. Still she was bashful, and she didn't quite know why.

Which, of course, made hearing the following comment, I basically am chocolate, scorch her cheeks with redness. All she could do was giggle in a quasi embarrassed fashion. "I...what? Ha, ha! I, um...Ha, ha, ha! Well! I shall...er...endeavor...to keep my mind clear whilst...oh this tent isn't going to set itself up, now is it? Ha...ha, ha!"

She tucked away the chocolate for now, at least until they got their work done and they could sit and relax and enjoy the confection in peace. She started to set up her tent. Tinker came back, and mild curiosity coaxed Kristen's gaze to follow him as he, unceremoniously, dumped an armload of mushrooms onto Everleigh. Kristen's expression pulled long. Well...that was rather brusque and rude, was it not? She made no further judgment on it, and kept working on her tent.

* * * * *​

Bull, quick and efficient, had his tent set up. He pulled out a hatchet from his travel pack and went about to the nearby trees, hacking away at thin branches that would make for good tinder for a fire.

Tinker Smithe Drastus Tal'deneshaar Everleigh Ebersol Alistair Krixus

 

[Drastus Tal'deneshaar]

Oh! Th-that's alright! I did come prepared with my own and it would be unseemly to intrude!

Oh, how good it was to watch her squirm. Gods, he enjoyed it. "Can't intrude, if its an invitation." The grin would have a wink added to it.

As expected, or rather intended, his remark about chocolate brought all the color he loved to see to the surface. Her giggle added all the more to it. As he spoke he already had his tent free and began to set it up. Drast remained silent as he watched her stammer with a pleased expression.

It would be a very quick process for him, well practiced from the years of setting it up on the road, of learning to do it from his father, of ensuring he could have it set up for the both of them. So when she still paused to watch Tinker return, he didn't give the other Initiate any notice his attention was already divided between two important tasks.

"Done. How's yours coming along?" Drast asked with another smirk. It was a cheeky remark, he full well knew she wasn't going to be finished when he asked. He then rose to his feet and grabbed his bedroll before tossing it into the tent.

---

Everleigh Ebersol | Tinker Smithe | Alistair Krixus | Kristen Pirian | @RunBullEvieGonnaGetYa

 

[Everleigh Ebersol]

Everleigh looked up at Tinker, her face calm and cool, almost indifferent to her first friend’s presence. And then he rained mushrooms over on here. She sighed. Of course.

“Yeah, yeah, thanks Tinker.” Everleigh said with a roll of her violet eyes, picking up a mushroom (a non-lethal one obviously) and then with perfect aim threw it right at Tinker’s head, watching it bonk off with a satisfied smirk. At the same time, this was plenty a good idea— Not just because mushrooms were a good food source and Everleigh could eat all the poisonous ones no problem, but also because now Everleigh had a believable, but most importantly, faultless way of having Bull get a taste of his own medicine.

And so without missing a beat, Everleigh began organizing the mushrooms, from the ones that were harmless when raw, to the ones that were harmless when cooked, to the psychedelic mushrooms and then the ones that were poisonous all the way around. Every now and then she’d pop one of the poisonous ones, psychedelic or not, into her mouth, chewing quietly as she formed the perfect plan.

Tinker Smithe Alistair Krixus Kristen Pirian Drastus Tal'deneshaar

 

[Tinker Smithe]

Basic tent went up quickly. Blanket covered ground. Bedroll over blanket. Rest of his bags placed around bedroll.

Tinker was done. The others hopefully were as well. Not that he cared all that much if they were. Be their problem not his if they didn't have shelter for the night. He didn't even care if they ate or not. Food had been obtained for them. Evie was in charge of it. She would do whatever it was she wanted to do. Probably make them eat like she was always doing to him.

Other things needed to get done. Night required warmth. So he picked up his hatchet and went back into the woods. Needed the materials required for a campfire.

The dreadlord would walk out of the woods with an armload of limbs and logs. His hands full of stripped bark and dry leaves for tinder. They would be dumped in a location then he would go back into the woods. Again and again and again. Three places for fire had been set up. A large one in the middle for everyone and two smaller ones on each side of the clearing for security or segregation. Whichever option the others chose for themselves.

Tinker already knew what he was going to do.

Alistair Krixus Everleigh Ebersol Drastus Tal'deneshaar Kristen Pirian

 

[Alistair Krixus]

Alistair sighed with satisfaction as he finished up his own and Evie's tent. He turned back around to speak with her to see that Tinker was now dumping fire in three distinct spots. It was true what they said. The work was never done.

The soon-to-be dreadlord moved over to the piles of wood and began the process of stacking the logs in an ideal configured to be set a flame. He ensured there were gaps in air intake near the bottom to provide long-lasting flames.

While he continued his work, he looked over at Drast and Kristen. He assumed those had been going through much the same what he and Evie had gone through. All four had to deal with...anti-social carriage partners.

"Hey, you two. How was the ride? Hard to believe, but Bull is quite the conversationalist." He said the last part with a toothy grin and followed it up with a chuckle to show that he was joking.

Kristen Pirian Everleigh Ebersol Drastus Tal'deneshaar Tinker Smithe

 

[Kristen Pirian]

Done. How's yours coming along?

"Just a little bit more," Kristen said. The back two lines of the tent still needed to be pulled taut and the pegs hammered into the dirt, but after that she could get her gear and her bedroll inside and relax. A few more minutes and she was done.

Right on cue, as it so happened, Alistair called to them. Kristen brightened, smiling back to him. "'Twas pleasant enough. I find that the travel between the Academy and the place of a mission to be a welcome reprieve."

She glanced to Drastus, a considering look in her eye, as if she were silently asking him something. And she was. Originally Kristen had been planning only on sharing the chocolate with Drastus, but...Alistair could be trusted, and Everleigh could certainly keep a secret. Why not share with them too? Tinker, she figured, wouldn't be very much interested, and Bull would make for a unwelcome guest.

So Kristen rummaged through her pack again and took out the cloth-wrapped confection and with a nodding gesture to Drastus for him to follow made her way over to Alistair and Everleigh.

"Soooo..." she said, looking around conspiratorially, as if a Proctor might be waiting to ambush them from behind one of the trees. "Don't tell anyone, but I happened to come into the possession of a lovely treat."

Kristen lifted up a flap of the cloth, revealing the corner of a big bar of chocolate.

Beaming, she asked the two of them, "Would you like some? It goes quite well if you melt it and spread it over crackers or biscuits."

Drastus Tal'deneshaar Tinker Smithe Everleigh Ebersol Alistair Krixus

 

[Drastus Tal'deneshaar]

Just a little bit more.

Came her response. With a playful nudge as he stepped around to join her, he crouched down to help with one of the pegs. "Here we are then, Lady Pirian." He replied with a smirk, his voice loud enough for only her to hear.

Hey, you two. How was the ride? Hard to believe, but Bull is quite the conversationalist.

Alistair called out to them and Kris was the first to respond. "Oh yeah, quite the experience. I'll be writing a book on it." Drast added with a laugh. "Really? Bull just sit there trying to lick his eyeball?" Another little laugh.

Kristen then gave him a look, a question? Totally misreading the glance he gave a nod and a grin. It wasnt until she pulled the chocolate free that he realized he played himself. "Wait, Kri-fuck." too late. She had started to cross over to the other two. Gone were his dreams of more chocolate.

He followed her over to the other two, his hands clasped behind his head as he stretched. "What a delivery Kris, ill let Chas know you can sell for her." He teased with a laugh. "We just gotta make sure Bull can't smell it."

Everleigh Ebersol | Tinker Smithe | Alistair Krixus | Kristen Pirian | @BullyWonkaAndTheChocolateFactory

 

[Everleigh Ebersol]

Everleigh had finished sorting out the mushrooms, behind Alistair— he was definitely quite efficient when it came to setting up tents, Everleigh wasn’t sure if even she could beat him in that— but was thinking little of what the other initiates were doing. Not that she was exactly concentrating on her task at hand, discerning what was poisonous and what wasn’t was practically second nature to her. No it was, more than anything, her mind at work to devise the perfect plan to get back at Bull.

For talking shit about Tinker. For trying to take the orb from her in War Games. For having no eyebrows. Revenge was needed. Bull was lucky he hadn’t said anything about Liliana or Zael on top of it, else Everleigh would be considering doing something worse than a prank.

Everleigh barely glanced over at Kristen and Drastus, if anything she was expecting some snark from Drastus— which to be fair, there was— but there was something far more surprising. Everleigh looked up from her seated position to stare up at Kristen, a flicker of genuine surprise in her violet eyes.

“You’d… share food with me?” She asked softly, her tone pathetically incredulous from the notion. How novel. Someone wanting to share food with her, even if it meant there’d be no mouth to mouth contact of any sort, Everleigh couldn’t say that someone had ever offered to eat beside her. Or really, during meal times, the only person who would sit next to her was Tinker and mostly because he had given up trying to run away from her at this point.

 

[Tinker Smithe]

He was being left alone. No one was paying attention.

Tinker would be overjoyed if he was not focused on drawing a circle within a circle over and over and over and over and over and over and over again into the dirt.

What was Atropa trying to test him over? What was he being taught? Not a test of his golem. Why during a mission if it was? Having it fight soldiers or other dreadlord candidates would be simpler and more revealing. A practical method of determining durability and quality.

No. Atropa was testing him. His skills. His mind. His value.

Circle within a circle. A circle moving a circle....

How long it had gone on that he sat there? No matter. His focus was torn away. The patrol had spotted something. An intruder? Something to look into. Something that needed done.

Tinker rose from his spot by his tent. Hammer hefted. Back towards the woods he left. Back to his little scouts. Back to the disturbance from his work....

Everleigh Ebersol Kristen Pirian Alistair Krixus Drastus Tal'deneshaar

 

[Alistair Krixus]

Alistair was a little confused as Kristen moved over to him like she was holding the world's biggest secret. When the cloth was pulled away to reveal what he assumed was some type of candy, he looked back to Kristen to see if she was pulling some sort of prank. No, that was impossible. This was Kristen.

"Sure, I'll take a piece."

They weren't given treats at the Academy too often, so this was a rare chance for them all. She had said it goes well with crackers, so maybe it was a type of cheese.

He took a piece that Kristen offered to him and rather than wait to melt it, he nibbled at the corner, just wanting to see what he was dealing with. The sweet flavor that he discovered was surprising, at first. It took a moment to get used to it primarily because Alistair did not eat a lot of sweets.

"I would say yes, Evie, before she decides to retract the offer. It's really good."

While they were all talking, Al noticed Tinker once again enter the woods. Was he just going to keep entering the woods and then coming out with things they needed? Hopefully, this next time he would come back with a toilet with plumbing.

There was always the chance that Tinker might need help with something, but he did not come across as a guy who worked well with others. He was also rather blunt, so if he did need help then he would just ask...Well, he would actually probably just tell them to help.

Kristen Pirian Everleigh Ebersol Drastus Tal'deneshaar Tinker Smithe

 

[Kristen Pirian]

We just gotta make sure Bull can't smell it.

Kristen stifled a guilty (but very satisfying) snicker, the captured sound coming out in a rather unladylike snort from somewhere above her throat and behind her nose. She was trying as well to quell a smile but simply couldn't, her lips writhing around in the battle like the waves of an unsteady sea.

She did manage to get a better hold of herself when Everleigh spoke. The other girl's surprise went right past Kristen, who hadn't been at the Academy long enough to have picked up on some of the nastier things said of the Poison Eater by her fellows. "Of course!" Kristen said. "'Tis my treat, and I should hope that this sends us off well on a successful mission together."

Alistair confirmed the savory quality of the chocolate, and Kristen made a small affirming gesture toward him, saying See? It's delicious! with one smooth motion of her hand.

Kristen broke off a piece for Everleigh and handed it over for her to accept. "Here. Enjoy!"

She hadn't yet noticed the obsessive circles Tinker had drawn in the dirt by his chosen lot, nor that Bull had gotten back from his firewood gathering and had begun to dig a small firepit by his own claimed area. Both of them, however, left the other four alone for now.

Tinker Smithe Everleigh Ebersol Drastus Tal'deneshaar Alistair Krixus

 

[Drastus Tal'deneshaar]

Drastus ate his chocolate whilst the others talked.

Everleigh Ebersol | Tinker Smithe | Alistair Krixus | Kristen Pirian | @EagleScoutBull

 

[Everleigh Ebersol]

Everleigh looked from Kristen to Alistair, seeing him nibble at a corner and then confirm that chocolate was indeed delicious. Everleigh knew it was, actually having a bit of a sweet tooth that contrasted greatly against her love of spice. And she had made it, in secret, for a few people as a joke on Heart and Hearth. Still. For Kristen to offer her such a gift?

Everleigh slowly reached out to take the chocolate that Kristen was so generously offering, glancing over at Drastus and then down to the dark square. She brought it to her lips, a slight curve of a smile briefly showing before she bit into it. Yummy.

“Thank you.” Everleigh said to Kristen. “It’s really good.” She added and then stood up. “These are edible, these are edible when cooked, and don’t touch these ones.” Everleigh said, pointing at each pile of mushrooms she had created, before pivoting on her heel. With the chocolate still in her hand, she went off to where Tinker had gone into the woods.

Why?

Because she had every intention of sharing the chocolate with him.

Tinker Smithe Alistair Krixus Kristen Pirian Drastus Tal'deneshaar