Knights of Anathaeum Hungry Folk and Sickly Spiders

[Josai]

The village of Aegerslant was nestled away amidst the woodlands of the Vale. East of the Reach, and near the borders of minor houses, and all the peoples who toiled amongst the soil there in. It was one of the many villages frequented by Knights Sworn, and the squires they brought in tow. Between the bounds of the Wyld and the holdings of man.

Such circumstances tended to result in situations that needed the skills of those Knights of Anathaeum.

Syr Josai, and her Dawn counterpart would lead the patrol. and the Squires would follow. It was some days march from the Monastery, but the path was well traveled, and safe for those familiar with the land. Which, Syr Josai could not truly claim she was.

Most of her time was spent in the healer's hut, or the archives. From time to time, she would assist with an experiment or two in the nymphaeum chambers. Still, she remembered her days as a scout. And active missions were not so far removed from her experience.

"The reports read," She recited out loud as her spear's butt prodded at the earth ahead of her. Her large lizard companion, Snoot, slowly plod behind her on all fours, weighed down by packs of supplies and all manner of tools. "Spore spiders are infected with unknown disease, mushrooms harvested from their dens are inedible and they have become prone to seclusion in their burrows." She looked back at Haelyn and Ashling. "The giant arachnids tend to be docile, and friendly toward people," she looked back to the mission report. "Strange that it has become avoidant, especially when Jasper has always been such a trusting creature,"

Ahead of them, Aegerslant's amber stained windows gleamed gold in the sunlight. It became clear that this old village had learned how to use ancient trees as part of their architecture, working their tavern into the trunk of a great old-growth that still stood strong and proud. Homes nestled in the roots of other large trees, and some even seemed to grow out of the side of the trunks, like little fungal caps. Rope bridges crisscrossed like old webs higher in the canopy.


Josai's face scrunched up. "Additionally, their vegetable gardens have taken to spoiling, and plants have had a hard time taking root," she looked up at the village that loomed ever closer as they marched. "Whatever could have caused all this?" she wondered aloud.

Ashling Delaney
Haelyn Ravielle

 

[Faramund]

"I'm not sure. Suppose we'll just have to try and find out," Syr Faramund replied, taking a firm hold on his horse's reins as the village of Aegerslant hove into view. Of all the wild and wacky places the Vale possessed, Aegerslant was one of the few Faramund was familiar with. Tucked away beneath the trees, and in some cases into them, the woodland settlement had become something of a haven for the Order's knights over the many years it had existed.

Pre-dating even him, it had been one of the first the Knight Sworn had come across during his many, many solo rangings throughout the Vale. The people here were simple folk. Honest, and kind. A little strange, perhaps, but then who wasn't around these parts?

Upon hearing of their plight, Faramund had been one of the first to volunteer to accompany Syr Josai on her quest. A familiar face could work wonders when it came to getting answers, Faramund had discovered during his stay with the Order. And despite being something of a magical oddity, the dawnling was very much in tune with the Wyld. He couldn't shape it to suit his needs the way others could, true, but he understood it better than most.

And understanding, as it would so happen, was the key to unravelling this mystery.

"Anyone care to hazard any guesses?"

Josai
Haelyn Ravielle
Ashling Delaney

 

[Ashling Delaney]

“It could be a number of things. Anywhere from fungi, parasites that were present in whatever they ingest, some sort of bacteria in the soil, an airborne virus, to something more dark and magically inclined.” She added. Brows furrowed slightly while she thought over those options, trying to narrow out the possible from the impossible. However, they’d need more information than what had been provided to rule anything out.

Ashling had never been to Aegerslant and was quietly taking in the beautifully secluded scenery as they drew closer to it. This was her first mission, the first of many hopefully. Although she was nervous about the outing there wasn’t too much that scared her, even oversized spiders, surprisingly. The only thing she was still uneasy with was men but that was to be expected, considering.

“Is there anyone or anything that doesn't want them around or might even thrive without them present?” Unfortunately she didn’t know much about the area's culture and what inhabited it, a learning process for sure. Ash was not too familiar with those in their group, knew most of them in passing. She was still unsure of why she’d been picked for this mission but knew to trust the process and just.. Go with it.

“If it only affected the spiders and none of the villagers nearby, I think it would be safe to assume it couldn’t be anything airborne, right?” She questioned waiting to hear the others opinions on this strange situation.

---

Josai Haelyn Ravielle Faramund

 

[HRavielle]

Haelyn had spent the majority of their trip keeping her mouth shut. She was still getting used to the whole playing nice and working together thing that the Knights had. She was happy to be with them but it was an adjustment. There had been quite a few times she had bit the inside of her bottom lip to avoid saying something she would (probably) regret.

"It is some kind of dark magic. It sounds like someone wants this land for themselves. The spiders and the plants are both things that thrive here and help the villagers."

Haelyn realized that she had said the most words she had spoken in a while. She was chatterbox who felt like her voice had been taken. It hadn't, of course, but that didn't change the feeling.

"What do the spiders consume? I can help with the spoiling of the plants and the mushrooms but my magic can only do so much if it is a perpetual problem," she tried to give a genuine (and not sarcastic looking) smile at her companions.

Her mind was already going through the list of diseases she knew that causes issues like the ones the villagers wrote of.

---

Josai Faramund Ashling Delaney

 

[Lorinna Astarel]

"Anyone care to hazard any guesses?"

Lorinna shook her head.

She had met the spiders before and was already trying to steel herself for another meeting. Fighting the undead unnerved her less than the friendly arachnids.

Her expertise was quite limited within the Order. It had turned out she had all the magical talent of a dwarven brick. Instead she could run for days in full plate, duel for hours on end and ride as well as half of the knighted members of the order.

It definitely wasn't for her to figure out what was going wrong. Until there was a problem that could be dealt with using brute force she was moral support.

 

[Ophelia Tirion]

Like Ashling, this would be Ophelias first quest with the knights. It had only been a couple weeks back when she had met Syr Chadwick and Hector. The young elf had not expected to be sent on a quest so soon yet here she was, how her knowledge of poisions and certain enchantments would be of any help yet she was uncertain. From what the others spoke of this definitely seemed like more of a job for her sister, but golden child Delilah was not an option, not now atleast.


During the ride over to Aegerslant Ophelia had kept her thoughts to herself and only opened her mouth in polite, basic conversation, the whole time fighting her fear for riding horses. She preferred the trees, matter of fact, the young elf preferred simply having her feet on something solid and not wiggling around in the air like some court jester.

Ophelia did find it strange though that both the spiders and plants would be acting strange and possed traits that were out of character according to there intel, "The problem could be in the water." She would offer up her opinion as a possible reason for the change.

 

[Josai]

Josai rest her spear against her shoulder as she came to a stop before the village, folding the field notes and tucking them back into a pocket hidden away beneath her robes.

"Good," the big hatted dusk knight said simply. "It sounds like we have a few paths to follow." She looked to the band of squires that were gathered behind her and Syr Faramund. Each of various degrees of experience and know how. Strengths and vulnerabilities that needed to be accounted for.

She narrowed her eyes beneath the shade of her wide brimmed hat. "Water can carry many sorts of maladies," she thought to herself. "As can foods," she looked to the village. "We have a sizeable party," she thought aloud. "Best to split up into teams, I think, A pair of you investigate the stream that feeds the fields to the north and west, while others check in with the spore spiders," she looked to Syr Faramund, as a villager walked by, eyes wide. She bowed her head to them gently, and when she straightened up she nodded.

"Would be good for some of us to split up and ask questions of the village folk," she looked to Faramund. "Dawnling," she said with a teasing smile. "I've heard tale that you range the wilds often enough," she began to walk into town, passed the arch-gate that stood over the road, her spear-butt gently thud against the dirt road. "Have any good connections in town we can inquire with?"

Ophelia Tirion Lorinna Astarel Haelyn Ravielle Ashling Delaney Faramund

 

[Faramund]

"One can only hope," Faramund mumbled in reply to Ashling's question. An airborne virus -one that could harm humans and spiders both- could well see the whole party into an early grave before they had the chance to do anything about it. Even the remarkably gifted Syr Josai would not have been able to dig them out of a mess that severe, and she was one of the best healers Faramund had ever had the pleasure of knowing.

Fortunate, then, that they were only theorizing.

Listening on, Faramund gave a small nod of approval as Squire Haelyn added to what Squire Delaney had started. Greed and magic; two more for the slowly expanding list. Time would tell if they were close to the mark or not. For now, they were good avenues to follow. A place to start, so to speak.

Scratching at the back of his neck in thought, Faramund decided to take a note out of Squire Astarel's book, keeping quiet as the group strolled into Aegerslant like royalty come to visit distant relatives. And it doesn't get more distant than this place, Faramund thought with a smile, taking a look around as the light danced above and between the leaves over their heads.

The arched gate loomed over the group. Passing beneath its shadow, Faramund turned to Josai with a grin as the dusker posed a question. "Not so much connections as acquaintances, friend Josai," he spoke warmly, his voice firm against the gentle breeze tugging at his cloak and whiskers. "Ealdorman Crumblefoot, Keeper Hobbs and Hunter Malleck were the big three the last time the Path led me here. Ealdorman Crumblefoot is the... well, he's the ealdorman. As for Keeper Hobbs, he owns the local tavern, place called 'The Hollow.'

Raising a hand, his sword heavy against his side, the dawnling pointed towards the aged oak standing proud in the centre of the village. "It's pretty warm and cosy in there. Kind of like the Knoll, only with less alcohol." Shutting up before the Squires took him for a drunkard, Faramund let his hand fall. "Hunter Malleck might be your best bet, though. He is... or was the leading expert when it came to the surrounding woodlands. As soon as something went amiss out there, he would have been the first to notice."

Stopping by the side of the road, Faramund took a moment to get his thoughts in check. Glancing at the oak, and the rope bridges connecting it to its neighbours, the knight let out a sigh. "So, I s'pose this is the part where we split up," he turned to his companions, gave each of them a look. "Think I might start by following Squire Tirion's suggestion. If something's fouling the waters around these parts, we'd best deal with it, real quicklike." He raised an eyebrow.

"Any takers?"

Josai Ashling Delaney Haelyn Ravielle Ophelia Tirion

 

[Ashling Delaney]

Haelyn had, roughly, the same idea as she did when it came to this possibly being intentional. Though Ash’s ideas continued to grow the more everyone weighed in and as much as she wanted to voice those thoughts, she kept them to herself, for now. There were far too many avenues that this could lead and pinpointing just one was just not ideal.

Ash looked at Ophelia as she thought over what the woman said. “You’re right, it could be. It’s easy to corrupt the water in many ways. If it were in the water, I’d assume the people would become affected by it as well. Unless they don’t take water from that area or find a way to purify the water” Either way it was a trail to follow up on.

“I’ll check on the siders” Ash offered when Syr Josai mentioned them splitting up “It might help to see if any type of healing helps or if it gets rejected.” She wasn’t sure where else her abilities would come in handy, so this route would be picked first. Hopefully get some answers and find some links between them.

“I’ll just need someone who knows the way to them to accompany me there since I’m not familiar with this area” Ash shrugged softly.

---

Josai Faramund Haelyn Ravielle Lorinna Astarel Ophelia Tirion

 

[HRavielle]

Faramund was heading to check out the water sources and that is where the chlorokinetic thought she would be most useful. While she had no control over water with her magic, she was practically an encyclopedia of all nature with her love of learning and the earth.

“I will go with Faramund,” Haelyn volunteered with a smile.

She may be used to being a lone wolf but the Knights were a good organization and she was excited to be a part of fixing the world instead of just trying to fix it on her own.

“I’d also like to see how their irrigation works,” she added as she stepped over next to Faramund.

 

[Josai]

"Very well," Syr Josai said as her head bobbed beneath her wide brimmed hat. "Squire Delaney, with me, Squire Ravielle, with Syr Faramund, that leaves Squires Astarel and Tirion to gather what information you can from the villagers," there was a sudden realization on the spear toting knight's face, lips pursed in surprise.

"It may be good for you to take some notes of your conversation if you can," she let her spear rest against her shoulder a moment, and dug into her satchel, pulling from it a leather bound collection of paper. She unbuckled the strap, and revealed the little hoard of materials inside. Sheets of paper stitched together with twine along a spine, and a waxed cloth spine. A little treasure in its own right really. She tore out a page, and plucked one of the charcoal sticks she kept sheathed along the inside, handing them over to Lorinna. "You know your letters, right Lorinna?" she smiled, and bowed her head. "Let us randesvous later, at The Hallow," she said with a nod and then ventured off toward the spider dens.

Some steps away from the group, as her wide brim hat bounced along with her step and the charms that hung from the neck of her spear rattled and chimed, Josai spoke. "Have you had a chance to work with spore spiders before, Ashling?" she would ask, as they moved through the town square, heading south and west. "Rather fascinating creatures, really," she flipped through her journal, and found some sketches she had made of old Webster, looked at them for a moment, then offered them to Ashling. "They have entire little worlds upon their backs," she said and pointed at the forest of mushrooms she had sketched in fine detail, thick wiry hairs poked out from between the fungal growths. "Some produce edible fruit, while others produce poisonous caps, or," she laughed a little to herself, "more experimental substances,"

Ashling Delaney Lorinna Astarel Ophelia Tirion Faramund Haelyn Ravielle

 

[Ophelia Tirion]

When the group began pairing up, Ophelias original thought was to join Faramund by helping test the waters with the assistance of an easily compounded potion, as those were her strong suite. Instead though she found herself partnered up with Squire Astarel. This would be her first time working along the side the women, therefore they were unfamiliar & leaving Ophelia unaware of what to expect.
"Where would you like to start ? Perhaps the farmers?" The young elf would suggest to Astarel as the pulled her decieving, bottomless satchel tighter around the shoulder, ready to hit the road again.

 

[Ashling Delaney]

“I have not, I’ve yet to even lay eyes on them. But” Ash answered Syr Josai. “I’ve heard about them, not enough to make a true image of them, of course." Where Ash came from, there wasn’t much that was seen outside the walls of the prison she’d grown all too accustomed to. She had missed out on a alot growing up but this was her chance to change all that.

She kept her pace alongside Syr Josai but her eye’s explored the village, as silly as that may seem. Every village was different, they all held an entirely different personality and it fascinated her. Ash took hold of Syr Josai’s journal, careful to not scrunch the pages in the process. The spore spiders were unlike what she imagined they would be, but seeing them in this drawing made her more excited to see them for herself. Looking closer to where she was pointing, Ash couldn’t believe what she was seeing. “That is amazing! How is that even possible?”

“Experimental, as in, we should check and make sure that substance hasn’t been affected as well?” Ash laughed and gave Syr Josai an elbow jab while continuing to look over the drawing. “You drew this?” There was so much detail to it, tiny ones at that. “You’ve a talent of bringing things to life on paper, its incredible work!"

“These spiders, they’re docile correct? And do you happen to know what it is they eat? If they’re affected directly, which it sounds like they are, it could be something they ingest.” She finished looking at her journal, handing it back off to Syr Josai. “Has anything similar happened to them before?”

---

Josai

 

[Faramund]

"All right, then." Nodding to his dusker counterpart, the dawnling bade farewell to the rest as he gestured for Haelyn Ravielle to follow him. Now that everyone knew what they were doing -hopefully- there was no reason to hang around. The sooner they solved this mystery, the sooner they could all go home. Or so the knight hoped as he led the way through the forest village in search of answers.

"So, Squire Ravielle, where do you wish to go to first?" Faramund asked, waving to the villagers they passed by. "We could check out the irrigation channels. Or take a look at the brook that feeds them." Allowing time for his suggestions to hang, he continued, "we could also follow the waters right back to the source."

Looking to his companion, he gave her a warm smile. "Take the lead, show me what you can do."

Haelyn Ravielle

 

[Josai]

Ashling Delaney ​

Josai smiled proudly, the shadow cast by her wide brimmed hat giving her an almost menacing look. "Why, thank you, Ashling," she said with knowing warmth in her voice, as if she were glad to hear another speak a truth she'd learned long ago. "I do pride myself in my sketchwork," She smiled brighter at the squire's questions, and happily listened as they continued to walk.

The Dusker took back her collection of notes. "Quite right," she added brightly and with a quick snapping shut of her notebook. "The spore-spiders are naturally docile on account of being primarily scavengers," she cast her eyes out to the path ahead of them, only to have her eyes marvel at the largess of the old growths that served as the pillars upon which Aegerslant was built.

"They lead largely sedentary lives, often beneath burrows, or the root systems of ancient growths, much like the ones around us now," she realized something. "My apologies, I may have gone on too long about something non-consequential, back to your root question," she paused in her step a moment, eyes wider by a fraction. "Pun not intended," Josai carried on with her stride as they reached the edge of the town proper, still on a well trodden foot path. "They also eat vermin, young-macro slugs, bark-blight-beetles, not to be confused with bark beetles actually afflicted with the blight, and other such harmful beings to the longevity of trees," she paused for breath, thought a moment more on the squires line of questioning. "There was a case on record where webster had gotten their mandibles on macro slugs, during their spawning season..." she looked over to ashling. "But that doesn't happen for another few cycles of the moon," she paused, and pointed to a loam in the distance.

It was an unnatural earthen structure, a hill that looked built up around the base of a fat old oak, stouter and taller than those in the village. "That's odd," Josai said as she saw yellow leaves and brown dotting the mostly green crown of the old woodland spirit. "The leaves don't usually change color for another month,"

Ophelia Tirion Lorinna Astarel​

You see a cloaked man, skulking about. You notice some of the villagers eye him with a casual suspicion. As if they needed another take to decide if they knew him or not. Pleasant folk that they are, they say nothing to him.

One man, wheeling a load of potatoes across the road, stops, smiles, and waves. "Ay, Malleck's that you?"

The cloaked man scurries off, north bound.

"Guessin it wasn't, Malleck then," the potato man says to himself, and goes on wheeling his load toward the Hollow.

Maybe, some part of you remembers that to the north, beyond the woods, lays the Tenpence Barony.

 

[Ashling Delaney]

Although she was new to the order, she was not new to having a keen eye for detail. More so for things that just didn't add up, things that were unusual in their placement. And so, as Syr Josai continued to explain the spore-spiders, she kept her eyes on their surroundings. Granted, it wasn't an area she was familiar with. But what they were looking for should stick out like sore thumb, that is if one kept their mind open enough to see it.

Her steps slowed to a stop when Syr Josai paused, ash already wore a knowing smile, anticipating the words she would say next just by the look on her face. Laughter wasn't far behind, though soft and mild, Ash shook her head. "Please don't apologize for giving me information, even that which you deem irrelevant. Even the smallest detail isn't irrelevant, at least not to me." She added before letting Josai continue. If they ate things known to be acquainted with same area or even lived within the ground themselves, it would be easy to assume that these vermin might be affected by the same disease. Which, if they were it might be easier to pinpoint where it was coming from.

Ash followed the direction of which Josai pointed and she found herself surprised by the sight. She wasn't sure what she had expected to see but it wasn't this, it was an odd structure but beautiful all in the same. While Josai pointed out the change in the color of the leaves, she noticed that it happened to be the only tree nearby that held the yellowing leaves. Unless, of course, there were some further back that they couldn't see. "If it's the same thing affecting this tree, it has to be something deep to have found its way into the roots.. Right?!" She questioned while also moving towards it to get a better look.

---

Josai

 

[HRavielle]

Haelyn walked alongside Syr Faramund with a pensive look on her face. He was asking her what they should do first? He wanted her to take the lead? She was used to her mistakes just having an effect on her but now they would affect others as well. Shit, she thought as she went through the little knowledge she had.

"I think we should look at the irrigation first because I do not believe this is natural. There is something about it that screams sabotage. Why are none of the villagers getting sick? Irrigation, first!" She reiterated with a small smile.

---

Faramund

 

[Faramund]

"Very well," Faramund replied, wrestling with his horse's reins as it reared its head. The irrigation channels were as good a place to start as any. Close. Easy to inspect. Pick a spot to start diggin' and work your way out, the old instruction went. Faramund didn't know if they taught something similar at the Monastery; he had learnt most of his lessons a long time ago, in a land far, far from away from Aegerslant and its ditches.

With Squire Haelyn in tow, Faramund followed the paths through the village. Though the majority of Aegerslant's infrastructure was built in and around the looming trees, there were a few buildings that remained free of the forest's shadow. In a bid for self-sufficiency, and to avoid putting too much strain on the forest itself, the people of the village had taken to growing crops away from their homes, in places better suited to the task.

It took six minutes to reach the destination Faramund had in mind. Open fields covered in wave upon wave of golden wheat stretched from one side of the clearing to the other. Sunlight, unimpeded by the canopy of leaves, shone down on the opening, bathing the two newcomers in warm light. Though the time had not yet come for harvesting, there were figures moving amongst the wheat. Upon noticing them, the figures stopped, waved. Faramund waved back.

"Well, here we are," he said, letting go of his horse's reins as the beast moved off to chomp down on some grass. "Let's take a look around, see what we can find. And while we're at it, you can tell me what exactly makes you think we have a saboteur in our midst."

Haelyn Ravielle

 

[HRavielle]

Haelyn had fallen in love with Aegerslant immediately. Their love of nature was infectious and she wanted nothing more than to go explore one of their houses when all of this was done. She even wondered if they might let her help build one since her magic would be quite useful to them. Those were things to ask after they figured out what was going on. There would be no houses to build if the village was gone.

As they came to the open fields, she just smiled at the workers and took in the beauty of the waving wheat. There was something about pre-harvest wheat that was just beautiful. The way it danced in the sunlight called for her to join.

"Hmmm?" Haelyn brought her attention back to Faramund as he spoke. "Oh, I think it is sabotage because it isn't affecting everyone. If it were natural, it would be hitting the inhabitants but instead, it is taking out their food and the spiders. They want the land, they don't want the people dead though."

---

Faramund

 

[Josai]

"An astute observation, " Josai thought aloud, still a moment as she rest her spear against her shoulder and looked over the tree and its burrow mound once more. "Lucky for us, the Spore-spiders love to burrow down near the roots of the old growths," she noted, and nodded before she ventured toward the old tree once more. "Have you been practicing your channeling, Ashling?" the sworn knight asked. "When we enter the burrows, we will be closer to the energies of the wyld, and even the loch," she bobbed her head, and the mouth of the burrow. It was a dark maw that opened up to great them. The silver strands of spore-spider's silk glistened and gleamed in the early day sun as it filtered through the leaves.

The wind stirred and the great crown of pale golden blades rustled in whispers and shakes.

"Listen," Josai said as she stopped before they eneterred the burrow. "It is as if the tree itself is speaking to us,"

If Ashling could hear the song of the wind through the leaves, she might hear the pain of the old oak. Might feel its want to be healed. Not for its own sake, but for all those other old sentinels and parts of life that were connected to its own web of root and fungi.

Ashling Delaney

 

[Ophelia Tirion]

woods, lays the Tenpence Barony

Ophelia looked to Squire Astarel and nodded her head toward the cloacked figure that seemed to cause a murmur amongst the villagers. "I think we have our first lead." A sleuthing smile crossed her lips. "What do you think? A straight forward approach or follow him around abit, see what he is up to."
Ophelia felt the latter was a better option. If the pair were to approach the man head on they risked him hitting the road rather quickly and they would have a chase on their hands, or he would simply brush them off thus still giving away their element of surprise for the suspicious figure would now be aware of them.
Whereas if they went with her desired option it would be easier to get the information they needed - worst out come they simply wasted time.
The young elf looked expectantly at her new found partner, she had always been one for action but Tirion was part of a team now and that ment making decision together.

_______

Lorinna Astarel

 

[Lorinna Astarel]

Lorinna was glad some of the others had the faintest idea how irrigation systems and infections work. As a young girl she had been expecting - and hoping - that she would follow in her sister's footsteps. She would learn needlework, an instrument and how to dance.

She would enjoy dancing and being wooed and live a life of relative leisure despite being rather tall and gangly for her age.

Instead the agreement her father had made had seen her instead learning the sword, the rapier, the spear and even the quill. She could in fact take notes quite well. She could deal with dangerous men even more adeptly.

Lorinna smiled back. Following this lead would be better than trying to make conversation with the villagers. Then she realised the obvious.

"It is going to be hard for them not to notice us, so I suppose we had better ask some questions along the way so that it doesn't seem that we're giving chase."

Ophelia Tirion

 

[Ashling Delaney]

“I have, but I don’t feel as though I’ve really gotten the hang of it. I’m trying though.” Ash idly played with the leather cord hanging from her pouch, she was a bit hesitant to answer simply because she felt as if she should be further along then she was by now. Paying close attention to Josai’s words and drawing her gaze towards where she gestured. They always said beauty could be found in everything if you really looked at it and that truth hung before her.

The way the beams of sunlight illuminated off the satin like threads was a vision she wished she could capture. “This has to be one of the most beautiful things I’ve seen yet” Ash murmured. Listen, Josai had said and she did just that.

Eyes closed as she cleared her mind of all thoughts and opened herself up to that which was around them, listening. Her heart felt heavy as she heard the oak whisper a melody of torment, a cry of help that had gone unanswered, until now. “I can hear it. We can’t leave here until we’ve found a way to fix this.” Ash said quietly and opened her eyes. “I wonder if I can heal it” she questioned. “Once we get where we need to go, that is. Though, I’ve a feeling it would only be a temporary fix until we’ve found the cause of the problem.” Ash then stepped up to the entrance “Lead the way!”

---

Josai

 

[Josai]

Josai smiled at Ashling, a glint of pride there in her eye. "Very good," she said coolly with a nod. "Agreed, we are oath bound to do what we can to bring this old growth back to health, and it is as you have guessed, traditional healing will only provide a moment's respite, we must get to the source," she adjusted the brim of her hat, gave a determined nod, and walked in to the burrow.

Inside the cave's mouth, the air immediately grew cooler. The feintest kiss of mist and dew came against skin, and silvery webs gleamed with the last traces of that sun's light which did pour in through the entrance. Along the slivery webs, where the thread matted and clumped, there could be seen, with keen eye, a rust colored growth clinging dryly

"The lichen and moss have turned dry," Josai noted. "Oft, they indicate sweet air and good water," she hmmed. Her spear rested against her shoulder, she jut out her left hand, and twist and crooked her fingers as she pressed their pads together to form seals.

A bright blue sphere appeared beside her, like a wisp, made of brilliant azure water. It cast a soft light along the walls of the cave, and illuminated their path in its gentle cool glow. Ahead, a chittering sound could be heard, and some strands of silk seemed to bob and move, as if pulled on by something.

The sound was hard. Like heavy stumps pounding against the soft earth.

"That's odd," Josai said, squinting her eyes out. "That almost sounds like a warding signal,"

Ashling Delaney

 

[Ophelia Tirion]

Ophelia nodded in agreement with Lorianna. Her normal means of finding out information might not do as well in this circumstance. The pair began to approach the man.
The elf cleared her throat to make themselves known, she shot a glance to her counterpart uncertain of what to expect of the out of place figure ahead of them.
If for some reason he ran, she would give chase. During her short time away from home Ophelia had come across one to many unpleasant situations that taught her a few things, one of them being how important it was for someone of her circumstance to be fit.
"Excuse me sir, do you mind if we have a word with you?"

Lorinna Astarel