Fiona had seen Tobias's scars before; she'd been in a less than ideal condition at the time, having just lost a fight rather soundly, but she remembered them well enough. Most of the group had some sort of scarring, many from battles, making those along the thief's back somewhat unique. Fiona wasn't sure if scars were something to be proud of. She supposed they could be, if gained for a good cause. All of Sana's recent damage had been earned saving the enslaved, and while the scarring would mark her forever, it would hopefully bring back memory of a time when she'd done good. Fiona had only a few, little scars, nothing major as of yet, and for that she had to consider herself lucky.

"Yeah, one moment," she answered, when Sana had climbed up to hang some clothes. She glanced at Mortosh departing to take up a watch, realizing that it would be quite useful to have someone who required no sleep or rest, and did not mind the rain. It was then she noticed that Vaeri had fallen asleep, fatigue having gotten the better of her. Standing, Fiona considered the elven woman for a moment before taking off the blanket wrapped around herself. Fiona folded it up neatly, and carefully slid it under Vaeri's head, so she would not have to rest entirely on the cave floor.

Clad in just her underwear and the tunic Derrix had given her, Fiona made her way over to her discarded jacket and leggings, scooping them up and handing them to Sana to be hung. She then went back to her horse, searching through the saddlebags for something else to cover herself with, settling for a second, smaller blanket, which she tied loosely around her waist.

“Moradins beard, I shouldn’t have set out with that storm brewing. I’m soaked to me bones and cannot see shite,” a course voice grumbled as heavy footsteps trudged through the mud and muck as the rain poured down in sheets thick as lead. A short and stout figure pushed on through the storm, not knowing which way they were going at this point and just trying to find shelter. A spiked helmet rang with taps as the water fell from the sky, obviously a curse upon the land thought the heavily armored one. Looking up, eyes of amber red blinked as sounds started to ring through the thunder rolls.

“I must’a be hearing things, been out on the trail too long,” grumbled the figure as words sung broke through the sounds of the maelstrom. “Bloody hell, now me eyes be playing tricks on me. I don’t be needed no visions out here on this forsaken road,” growled the figure as a light like the call of heaven burst through the top of the forest canopy. “I best be checking it out, if I be seeing this, maybe something worth killin’ and eatin’ be seeing it. Could use some fresh meat, this dried bark they be callin’ jerky got me backed up like beavers dam.”

After a quick adjustment to the large pack hoisted over a spiked armored shoulder the figure pushed forward. Their eyes focusing on the light as its source grew closer and closer. It was hard to keep an ear out due to the sounds of the storm but the voice on the wind wasn’t horrid. “Least ain’t being no elf squalling out,” the figure reassured itself before cringing at the thought of listening to one of them harpy singing. As the stout one came close to the light as it suddenly faded away. “Well bend me over and turn me into a harlot, now ye shut up?” a voice hissed but kept pressing on and began to cut through the trees.

Thankfully the rain was beginning to die down and there was the smell of meat on the air. “Fooood,” the voice said in a slightly chipper voice with a pipe that had long been snuffed out by the rain lay clenched between teeth. Tilting a head to the side the figure stopped in the tree line as it watched an odd gathering of folk huddling under the roots of a large oak tree. “Well, ain’t that quaint,” the figure muttered to themselves as a woman up in the roots locked her legs under another root and swung down to take some clothing from a fiery haired youngster.

“Okay Fiona, got them,” Sana said as she took the clothing before righting herself back in the roots of the tree and began to hang up the fighters clothing. She stayed there as she waited to see if anyone else needed their clothing tended to before she jumped down, her lean legs swaying over the edge of the root. “Hopefully up here they’ll dry pretty quick but I guess as long as they are dry by morning it doesn’t matter,” Sana said before taking anyone elses clothing that was handed to her and leaping down from the roots, landing softly in the clover covered floor of the make-shift cave.

“You the one that was catter-walling out there in the storm earlier?” the figure asked as they stepped out of the tree line and made their way into the cave, dropping their pack on the ground next to them with a thud.

“Who the hell are you?” Sana exclaimed as she looked at the figure. She couldn’t make out the persons features due to the helmet and the hair plastered to their face but it was obvious they were a dwarf of some sorts. A helmet was worn on top of a large head on a short but very broad body that was adorned in the oddest fashion. They wore elven chain over their torso that was held in place by a belt that was riddled with various items, the oddest of which was a collect of axes that seemed to be the size of throwing daggers. Two Cross bows hung from the back and two battle hammers from each side of the belt. The persons arms were covered in spiked armor that went from their shoulders and covered the top of their hands.

“Who the hell you be?” the figure grumbled back.

“The bitch that is about to kick you the hell our camp, that’s who,” Sana hissed.

“In that get up?” the figure laughed, its voice going slightly higher in octave as it did. Sana went from mad to stunned as the person pulled their helmet off and pushed their white hair out of their face to reveal it was a woman, a dwarven no beard wearing woman. “Only thing you gonna do in that is catch a cold or one of me spikes up your backside. Whichever suits your fancy.”

Sana stood there, looking at the woman in slight shock. She had met dwarves in the past but they had been decent to be around and always male. She half thought that dwarven women were a thing of legend. Sana looked around at the rest of the group, her mouth slightly agape.

“I… I got nothing, you guys?” Sana asked.

“Apparently. Listen, I just gonna rest me haunches here ya toothpick,” the woman stated as she bent her knees and her butt fell into the ground by the fire. “Oh yeah, that be toasty nice,” she commented, totally ignoring those around her as she removed the pipe from between her teeth and knocked out the wet leaves on the heel of her boot. Reaching into her belt pack she pulled out some dry ones and packed the pipe before placing it back between her lips. Running the back side of a silver ring on her finger the pipe lit quickly as she puffed away, a content smile on her lips.

“Excuse you,” Sana said as she stepped in front of the woman.

“Excuse you, you blocking the fire,” the woman said before reaching out and pushing Sana by the legs out of the way. Sana slipped to the side and looked at the rest dumbfounded. “Hey, carve me off a bit of that beast, smells good!”

“I will not!” Sana hissed.

“Well, that ain’t no way to be hospitable!” the woman said before pulling a knife from her belt, leaving forward and carving off a chunk of meat. “Oh, name be Shela, who be you folk?” Shela asked as she pulled the pipe out of her mouth and took a bite of the meat. “Oh yeah, that be tasty!”

The Corpse
It was a dark night, the tall, dark figure decided as he peered up into the sky. Most nights, he could just barely make out faded, distant points of light in the sky - he wracked his mind for their word for a moment. Stars. Most nights, when he looked up, they were up there, quivering out of the blackness. But not tonight, so tonight must be an exceptionally dark night.

It must also have been raining. Yes, that was water falling on his grey skin, soaking his clothes, running in rivulets down his limbs. He could feel it, when he focused on it - the pitter patter of raindrops on his head. It reminded him of something lost to the ages. From when he was alive.

He took a step, then another one. He'd paused his pace for a moment, as he'd been weighing the limited sensory information from the outside world. He wasn't blind, or deaf, or anything like that. Everything was just... muted. Like he saw the world from the end of a long, dark tunnel, and half the color was drained out of it. His hearing was like his head was submerged with water, and he felt things as though through several layers of... something. At least, that's what it seemed like, compared to what few memories he had of... before.

Gradually, Oscar regained the shambling gait that defined his existence. Always walking.

There was something in the distance, a pale, flickering light. Like a star. But stars were always way up there, and this was down here... not a star, then. A fire? The corpse began to move towards it without really knowing why.

As he drew closer, he began to hear noises. Voices. There were people, and they were saying something - but their words were still too distant for their meaning to penetrate the numbness in his brain. Closer.

Before he knew it, he'd stepped out of some bushes and into the cave, making quite a racket as he did so. He jerked his head around, trying to study each figure in turn. An elf, a shirtless man, a goblin, a girl with strange, bright hair, an angry woman, a dwarf, and old grey man...

They were armed. Oscar hoped they wouldn't try to hurt him. He hated when people tried to hurt him. His efforts to stop similar situations had never really worked but it might be worth trying. He cleared his throat loudly, and rumbled through broken teeth. "I... am... Oscar. I will not hurt you."

The Thief
Tobias rose and handed his shirt to Sana, doing his honest, level best not to eye Fiona as he did so. "Tie this up too. I'll keep the pants - wouldn't want any of you ladies to be too tempted." He was just turning back to sit by the fire when a racket exploded into the cave.

Two things were instantly clear about the figure - it was a dwarf, and it was loud. A second later, Tobias became pretty sure it was a woman, judging by the lack of beard. Sana and the dwarf instantly went off on each other, and Tobias felt compelled to intervene before any eyes ended up on arrows.

"Easy, Sana," he said, laying a hand on her shoulder (hoping neither she nor Hugh would stab him for touching her as she was undressed). "We've got plenty to go around, right?" He tried to make eye contact with the woman, hoping to stare a silent message into her. The dwarf might be dangerous, and pissing her off won't make her less so. "You're a traveler, right? Isn't there some sort of... road hospitality rule?"

He turned to the dwarf and bowed sharply. "Apologies for the roughness, Lady Dwarf. We are the humble adventuring band known as the... Cinder Seekers. My name is Tobias, the group's pretty face. Pleased to make your acquaintance."

Just then, a new figure arrived. It walked like a person, but one glance at its gray skin, white eyes and tattered clothes made the thief certain it was not one. The monster said something, but Tobias wasn't listening.

The rogue sprang back and grabbed Fiona, interposing the girl between himself and the new arrival. "It's a zombie! Kill it, kill it with fire!"

Words and commotion seemed to flare around Derrix as he diligently dressed his plump kill with his sharp knife, eager to save as much of the animal as possible. For once his eyes focused and did not see what was no longer there, but rather stayed in reality, examining his mundane task with content vigor.

The repetitive motion was admittedly relaxing to Derrix, so much so he managed to drown out the arguments around him with simple thoughts and ideas. His steel blade scratched the flesh of the animal as he separated skin from muscle, and the metallic smell overtook him, despite his proximity to the already cooked and savory aromatic chunks he had prepared for the small green boy and perhap his other new comrades at arms.

He labored over the animal with a short smile, happy in his current state of simplistic bliss.

Derrix felt the tug of the boar’s hide as he scraped the fat from a fold he had peeled off of it’s side. His attention was shattered and he followed the inertia of the tug to a midget stealing his animal rather brashly.

“Excuse me,” Derrix started, his brow furrowed with confusion as he golden eyes looked the woman over, reflecting off the licks of the fire before him.

“But that boar is not yours.”

A sudden groaning voice took his attention once more and he flung his vision over to the silhouette of yet another visitor to the cave. He pursed his lips into a line, figuring silence was his place in the matter.

"Hello Oscar I am Zam" the aforementioned Petal introduced herself to the Zombie because he seemed friendly enough she then pointed towards Mort and introduced him "And that Mortosh Celjust"

At hearing his name the jawless skeleton stood up and turned towards Zam and saw her with Oscar he quickly raced over to them both stopped and held his hand out to shake with Zombie

The wet squishing of hooves walking through the mud was the only sound in the forest asides from the quiet howl of the wind and steady drumming of the frigid rain. The steed, dark as charcoal strolled through the woods carrying its master, a lean looking man in common street clothes, who looked mildly annoyed, but other than an occasional blink did not seem to acknowledge the weather around him. His left hand loosely held onto the reins of the horse, the right resting on the pommel of an odd sword sheathed on his hip.

For the past hour he had been traveling towards a large pillar of light he had seen. He had been riding for days. He wasn't really sure where he was going, but that had been his modus operandi for the past 4 years.

Eventually he saw a small trail of smoke rising in the air rising from the woods. Perhaps an encampment? He directed his steed to weave through the trees, coming about to a great tree-cavern filled with quite the number of colorful characters. He walked his horse into the cave, careful not to bump into anyone or anything and dismounted. He had the face of a foreigner, with pointed eyes, tan skin and hints of elvish pointedness in his ears that stuck out of his hair. It was difficult to tell much more about him, since his shoulder-length hair was soaking wet and covered much of his head.

"I hope I'm not encroaching. I would greatly appreciate a bit of your food." As he said this, the man walked over and carved a slice of the hog meat without waiting for a reply with his utility knife. He walked back over to his horse, now laying on the floor and sat down cross-legged, his sandals poking up into the air. "Name's Kazuo." The man points at the horse, "This is Trombe." The horse whinnies a greeting to the rest of the people in the cave,

Fiona had barely finished covering her legs when an unannounced visitor arrived in their cave, a dwarf woman. This was certainly something she had never seen in her brief travels, and judging by Sana's reaction, not something she had seen either. Immediately it appeared to be heading towards a confrontation; the dwarf woman, Shela as she introduced herself, was incredibly rude and forced herself upon them, expecting hospitality, and Sana seemed inclined to deny it to her, even though she was mostly naked. Derrix as well did not seem eager to part with any of the boar.

She should have expected this. Sana's beacon had succeeded in guiding the group to her, but undoubtedly others had been caught in this storm, and they would be drawn to the light as well. Fiona supposed they were lucky the woman hadn't attacked on sight. Few of them were ready for a fight. For her part, Fiona had no armor, no weapon, and no real energy for action.

"We can work this out," she said, as soon as she thought most of the group would hear her. Tobias was backing her up, so that was good. "It would wrong of us to turn people out into the storm if they mean us no harm. Conversely..." she looked down at the sitting dwarf, "it would be fairly rude of a guest to demand more than is offered to them." She didn't know what sort of customs the dwarf was used to, but where Fiona was from, visitors did not overstay their welcome, or take advantage of given hospitality. Not if they wanted to continue receiving that hospitality.

Of course, then a zombie arrived, introducing itself as Oscar, and Fiona found Tobias directly behind her, yelling in fear and asking her to kill it. Tensing up slightly, she considered getting closer to her horse, where her sword was strapped down, but Mortosh approached the being instead and greeted it. It didn't seem violent, so... that was good.

And then another arrived. How many travelers were in this area? Had the beacon been visible that far away? None of them seemed very cautious about approaching a group that was well armed and obviously dangerous, which was both refreshing and annoying to Fiona at the same time. This one, at least, Kazuo, seemed a little more well-mannered.

"I'm Fiona," she said, waving briefly to the newcomers. "There's some food to spare, but as you can see, there's quite a few of us now. Please take only what you need." They'd probably be on their way come the morning, once the storm broke. Though they'd have to be sure to keep a night watch now (an effective one) in case any of these new arrivals were planning on stealing from them in their sleep.

Zam had set herself on Oscar's Shoulder she was leaning against his ear "So Oscar Mortosh was wondering how long have you been undead? or awake as he refers to it" she herself was a bit curious on the matter.

Mortosh was leaning against a tree parallel of them observing the other newcomer Kazuo seemed to be a well-mannered sort of possible elven origin,
Oscar's mannerisms seemed to suggest that like Mortosh preferred to avoid violence, The Dwarven Woman Could be counted as Oscar's Counterpart Where Oscar seemed to be meek the dwarf was loud "Zam Stay With Oscar I Am Going To Continue My Watch"

Shela sat there munching away on the piece of meat she had snagged, if one could call it munching. She effectively shoved the entire piece of meat into her mouth and was sitting there chomping away as if she hadn’t eaten in a year; mouth agape for all to see each chew as she masticated the flesh, a wiry grin of pride on her features. She ignored Sana who was standing to her side trying to burn a whole through her with the angered glare she was shooting the dwarf.

As another new comer came by Shela rose a thick brow, wiping her mouth with the palm of her hand. “By my mines, when the last time you ate something? I’ve seen more flesh on an elf than be hanging on that bag of bones of yours,” Shela remarked as she continued to chew, a few pieces of meat flying out of her mouth as she spoke. “Whoops,” she muttered, picking up the pieces that fell on the ground and shoving them back behind her teeth. Seeing the skeleton hold out his hand to the skinny fellow Shela furrowed her brows. “For fuck sakes, you people not feed anyone around here?” she asked looking around at the group. When Tobias spoke up Sana shifted her glare to him.

“It’s called manners!” Sana snapped, stepping over to Epona and in one quick motion picking up her bow and nocking an arrow into place.

“Oh hush it stick,” Shela grumbled before looking over towards Tobias. “Pretty face? You ain’t got a beard, full and thick and you call yourself a pretty face. Now, that one over there, he be a piece of meat I wouldn’t mind getting to know,” Shela attempted to say in a sultry voice towards Hugh that ended up sounding more like an orc being raked over hot coals.

Sanas eyes narrowed to slits as the dwarf attempted to make a pass at Hugh, a possessive growl passing over her lips as she pulled the string back on her arrow and took aim. “He’s mine bitch,” she hissed, ready to release the arrow at Shelas skull. She was in no mood for this woman in any way, much less her making a pass at her man.

“Touchy, touchy. Fine, he be yours. No loss to me. Maybe if her grew that beard out though I could show him real fun,” Shela said chuckling as she continued to chew her stolen food. “Oh shh, no need for killing, just feed the damn thing and let it be on its way,” Shela said as she watched Tobias flip out at the zombie. “If he be needing brains, you ain’t in no harm.” She just shrugged after smirking towards Tobias and then looked over towards Derrix and said that the Boar was not hers.

“Want it back?” Shela asked before opening her mouth wide and sticking her tongue out, the masticated flesh resting on her thick tongue. “Didn’t think so,” she said with a chuckle before pulling her tongue back and swallowing. “Mighty fine meat, you got talent there who ever cooked this.”

“How dare you walk into our camp site and just steal our food! This isn’t some free for all buffet you cock knocking ale swiller!” Sana spat.

“I never swill!” Shela said as she turned her head slowly and narrowed her eyes towards Sana, placing her hand on the hilt of hammer. She was about to draw the weapon and Sana nearly released her arrow as yet another new comer came into the camp. “Well lookie here! Kazuo was it? Names Shela, that be some fine meat if I do say so myself!” she said with glee as she pulled out a large flask and took a long drink before handing it over to Kazuo. “Finest ale this side of the underground,” she said shoving it over to him.

“What the fuck is happening?” Sana said confused as she looked over at Fiona. “That’s the last time I sing that fucking song,” she growled.

Before Derrix could agree to getting his meat back, the midget swallowed it. A few thoughts popped into the golden eyed man’s mind as the fuss around the cave began to swell, but a short exhale and a cold thought reminded him he wasn’t in Charlin, allowing both a gut twisted homesickness nauseate him as well as a solid pit of disappointment.

With stiff straining joints the man lifted himself back to his feet. He crossed his round arms as he examined everyone around the fire, including the newest thief that had snuck in to join the midget in robbing him of his kill.

His eyes flickered over to the mouth of the cave, where the rain glimmered like falling silver across it’s mouth. The man took quick strides out of the cave, while drenched in his own thoughts. In a few moment he reappeared by the glow of the fire, and in the cloud of smoke that started to pollute the upper atmosphere of the cave, in his hand was his ashen colored sword, it’s razor edge catching the red reflection of the fire, giving it a dastardly image.

He rose a brow as he looked over the midget, and then the new thief, then back at the others. He bit his lower lip and shook his scarred head slowly, as if punctuating his thoughts.

His powerful shoulder snapped back and swung forward, heaving the blade in a flash through the air, cutting the wind with a whistle. A bone snapped loudly and the sound of flesh ripping overtook the whistle of the blade as the ashen sword severed the corpse of the pig directly down the middle, splashing crimson across the surrounding green clovers.

With a satisfied yank, Derrix snatched the lower half of the animal by the tail and lifted it chest level. He examined the cut as he lowered his other hand that held the blade.

He looked over at the midget and nodded, a satirical smile of respect bowing his lips, “from honor I gift this pig’s ass, to it’s equal, an ass of a pig.”

He leaned over and dropped the bloody rump onto the dwarf’s lap before nodding to the rest of the cavern crew, “and I leave the head to all others.”

Derrix wiped his ashen blade of it’s scarlet stain from the pig on his tunic before flipping it over in his hand. His serious lips turned straight once more as he turned and made his way back out into the rain, but not before snatching his bow that was propped up against the wall of the mouth.

Kazuo sat back watching the whole scene play out. Seemed like the lady-dwarf was making it her business to piss off everyone else in this cave, making "advances" at random men, insulting appearances of people trying to converse, showing her chewed up food to the guy with the weird scarring. She did give him ale though. With his spare hand he grabbed the flask and looked at it. His mother had taught him to not drink alcohol. It dulled the senses and ruined your coordination and ability to think, perhaps your greatest strength in a fight. Also it smelled rather foul, but he wasn't going to say that aloud.

Shela's reward for her stunning behavior was having half a boar carcass dumped on her lap. Kazuo looked at the thin slice of meat in between his fingers, at the carcass, at the scarred man, then back at his meat. He had made sure that the slice was so thin as to be less than a mouthful, nothing that would be missed but...

"If you want it back, I don't mind." Kazuo extends the meat out. The emptiness in his stomach wasn't worth the enmity of the guy with his big sword out.

Sana held her bow, with the arrow nocked in place, in one hand as she ran her free hand through her wet hair and sighed deeply. This was a bit much for even the best of days but with everything else that had happened she felt the urge to just go ahead and skullfuck the dwarf with her arrow and get it over it. She looked over at Derrix, taking a step back somewhat as the events unfolded. Seemed she wasn't the only one that was tired of this but his reaction seemed to be a bit nicer than the options that were dancing through her head. Shela on the other hand just sat there, puffing away on her pipe as if it was an everyday occurrence and a broad smile came over her features as he dropped the hogs rear end into her lap

"Well I haven't have a nice piece of ass in a long time, much obliged!" she exclaimed as she patted the butt of the boor and proceeded to carve off some more. "Anyone else want some?" she said as she shoved a piece into her mouth, still holding the pipe between her teeth as she did. Reaching over she took her flask of Ale back and took a long swig. "Now, that is what I am talking about! good food, ale, and friends! Cheers!"

"Friends?" Sana hissed and then shook her head. "Oh screw this, I'll be with Derrix," Sana said grabbing her quiver and slinging it over her back, before she headed out of the cave.

"Woman is gonna catch her death of cold wandering out there in nothing but some bandages and no boots," Shela commented as she swallowed the piece of meat. "So Red, what you folk doing all huddled up here in the middle of no where?" Shela asked as she puffed away on her pipe and began carving off pieces of meat, handing out some to Kuzuo. "Come on, eat!"

Derrix looked back swiftly at the other thief that sat with the midget, “keep it, it is yours.”

The midget started to bark words that fell as blurs on the man’s ears as he continued his withdrawal from the cave, whistling to his horse. The white beast trotted up to him, droplets running down it’s muscular sides. Derrix patted the stallion roughly and with one swift motion, he climbed up to sit on the soaked leather saddle.

He kicked his feet into the stirrups and popped an arrow out of the side satchel and loosely pinched it in the hand that he held the bow string with.

With the chill dispersed wind of the wood passing through his thin wet clothes, a sturdy curved bow in his hand, and a horse underneath, he felt like he was on the plains again, almost.

There was a certain feel the plains had that this forest just didn’t emulate, and a certain respect that just wasn’t here; this land felt empty and in consequence, it added a soft and pained pang to the beat in the hollow of his already strained heart

Having allowed herself to expect that the rest of the night would give her an opportunity to rest and relax and prepare for the next day, Fiona was getting a bit exasperated by the situation. She empathized with Derrix's insult directed at the dwarf, and had been thinking similar things herself, but clearly this Shela was the type of woman who only fed off of such things. Showing that she'd gotten under their skin would only embolden her.

Which she'd certainly managed to get under Fiona's already, and with both Derrix and Sana storming off, it seemed to fall to Fiona to be the hostess of the cave, so to speak. It was a job she didn't want; sleep sounded nicer, but she couldn't until she was reasonably certain this dwarf, this corpse, and this other newcomer were trustworthy enough to lower her guard around.

She thought about calling after Sana to try and get her to come back, but stopped herself at the last second, figuring if anyone would do it, it would be Hugh. One less person to help her deal with the newcomers, it seemed. She sighed, tiredly, running a hand through her still damp hair and trying to work out a few tangles, before looking down at the sitting dwarf. Assuming that "Red" was referring to her, she answered the question.

"We're on a job," she explained. "Collecting ingredients to help treat a rare case of cinder sickness that sprang up in a village orphanage. We've collected one of the five things we need, and we're on our way to the next."

Shrugging as the man called his horse and rode off after the gypsy woman left, Kazuo popped the piece of meat in his mouth and placed his palm back to its resting place on the pommel of his sword. It was quite good, but seeing it chewed up not one minute ago made it feel worse in his mouth than it should have and he was not inclined to have more. His other hand waved at Shela, declining the meat she was offering him. Still, the bit of food helped him relax, his body visibly loosening as he leaned back and studied the odd people he found himself sitting with in the cave. Trombe exhaled loudly behind Kazuo as Shela spoke in its direction. The horse didn't seem to like her.

"Easy, easy." Kazuo said softly to the beast. He patted the flank of the horse a couple of times before returning his attention to the conversation at hand. Cinder sickness? He was pretty sure he had heard of it before. If he was thinking of the right thing, it was like getting burns from the inside. Nasty stuff. Seemed kind of odd for such a simple task to need so many people. Cinder sickness didn't really have a reputation for being that hard to cure. It wasn't his business.

"So what brings you to this part of the woods, Shela?" It was pretty obvious that everyone in this cave but him and Shela were a bit on edge. Maybe her telling a bit more about herself would help defuse the tension. Or the question might backfire and piss off everyone even more. It was worth the gamble. After all they'd only have to make it through this night. The weather did not seem like it would keep up into the next day.

The Corpse
Oscar was perfectly still as he awaited the inevitable. Swords, torches, roaring and blood. One of them, the shirtless one, had already reacted to his presence, springing back in fright. He did not want to kill them.

Then, something unexpected happened. A frail, light voice came from somewhere... a greeting? And one of the ones he hadn't been able to see clearly ran over to him, and held out an empty hand. The corpse peered at him... it was too dark for him to see clearly, but, it came to him soon enough. "Dead... like me."

A memory slithered through his foggy brain. The hand meant something... he was supposed to do something with it? Limply, Oscar jerked his arm forward and slapped the other undead's palm with his. Close enough.

Someone new arrived, and everyone else was talking. Two of the humans left in a huff, obviously displeased with the newcomers. The voice came from somewhere again, even as the other dead one left. Oscar let his head loll back and replied in no particular directing.

"Awakened? I have been dead... I do not know." He wracked his decayed brain, trying to find the right words for time. "Years, now. More than one? A long time, I have been walking." Oscar twitched, his whole body convulsing, but carried on impassively. "May I stay here? Out of the..." what was the word? "Rain?"

The Thief
Tobias stepped away from Fiona as they whole party proceeded to not erupt in a flurry of zombie-slaying, coughing quietly. "Eh-heh... anyway," He said, patting the girl's shoulder absent-mindedly.

The rogue was uncharacteristically quiet as the scene unfolded. Someone new showed up with a funny sword, Derrix and Sana threw a hissy-fit about the food and stormed off, Shela the dwarf took it all with enviable good cheer, and Fiona was trying to explain their situation.

"Well," he said, clapping his hands as the scene was winding down. "Those two just don't know how to have any fun at all." The thief sat next to the fire, eyeing the zombie spasming in the corner of his vision. Everyone else may be content to have it in the camp, but Tobias wasn't. "I'd stay on Sana's good side, though. Much easier said than done, I know, but she's got a temper on her." He chuckled slightly, procuring a bit of stale bread from his pack and gnawing on it. It reminded the thief of home, somehow.

He nodded encouragingly as the one with the sword - Kazuo - asked the dwarf for her tale. "Yeah, let's do stories! After this, I'll tell the one about how I slew a giant and made off with his treasures!"

Sana kept her arrow nocked in place as she began to walk away from cave. The rain was letting up but the chill was still in the air and Sana wasn't exactly dressed for such weather. Two thing pieces of cloth wrapped around her most delicate of areas was all that protected her from the elements, her bare feet falling softly into the mud and muck of the forest floor as she grumbled to herself. She understood Derrixs anger on some level, one did not just waltz into another's camp and set up shop. Sana wasn't a particularly couth woman but there were some lines she didn't cross.

She made her way deeper into the forest, stopping at a tree and leaning back against it as the rain dripped down from the leaves above her. Yesterday had been horrible, today wasn't turning out to be much better. Running her tongue over her lips, she licked away the moisture as she lowered her head and stared at the ground, watching her toes wiggle in the mud as she lost herself in thought; her body shivering violently from the cold.

Back in the gave Shela contently puffed on her pipe, carving off pieces of meat and handing them out to those that wanted some and periodically taking a long pull from her flask of ale. A thick brow rose as Fiona mentioned the cinder sickness.

"Oh yeah, I read a flyer about that in a few towns back. Nasty shit ol cinder can be. Worse to deal than a night of elvish cooking," she said as she pulled the collar of her elven chain to the side to reveal a large black scar on her chest that looked like the remains of an over cooked carcass. "Burns like hell but the worst part is when one of the boils erupts," she said. "Boom!" she yelled as she threw her hands up in the air.

"Blood be so hot it be like molten steel bubbling on the hearth. Lands around you settin fire to anything it touches, your flesh chars as it heal. Left me with that nasty little reminder. Tell ya what I'd rather dance with a were under a pale moon than go through that again," she said letting go of her chain as she chewed on the tip of her pipe.

"Me? Oh I just be traveling. Ya know, see what be out there. Been done adventuring long time, longer than most ye been alive I reckon. Well maybe not that one," she said pointing over to Vaeri. "Can never be sure how old one of them be, they don't age like us normal folk," she said taking another puff off her pipe.

"A story eh? Well, I guess I could tell ya of the time me mates and I were out dungeon diving for treasure but wasn't nothing much exciting bout that. Oh I got one ya may like," she said as she pulled a necklace out from under her mail and held up a tooth that was nearly as large as her hand. "Could be tellin ya how I got this here Dragons tooth. Right good story there, lots of high adventure and more fun than barrel riding down the White River!"

"Nobody owns a cave. As long as you don't try eating any of us, you should be good, Z-man." Kazuo tucked his wet hair behind his ears so he could better hear what Shela had to see. It seemed like she actually had a good tale or two. Maybe a good story really was all that was needed to get everyone other than the two outsiders and the sleeping elf to relax. Speaking of the elf, when Shela pointed at her, Vaeri turned to the side. This didn't seem to be anything more than a coincidence, however.

"I guess traveling for a similar reason as Shela. Adventuring. Seeing the world. Getting stronger. You know. Usual stuff." Stuff was punctuated by a sneeze that was quiet enough to feel more like an apology than a sneeze. Maybe the rain had affected him a bit more than he let on. In any case, his clothes and hair were drying out pretty quickly. He'd probably be fine.

Drizzak shook the sleep from his eyes once again. Had he drifted off again? He was just so relaxed and calm by the fire, with his allies around. No fights for once. No conflict. While it was fun, even he got tired of it at times.

Everyone seemed to be okay within the cave, and Drizzak saw that some new faces were joining them. That was nice. New allies to fight with, and bleed with. Talk and laugh with. There was fun to be had. Battles to be won. And here he was, sleeping on the floor of a cave by the fire and waving at them like an idiot. In a loincloth and nothing else. He might as well have introduced himself.

"I Drizzak. I fight."

How embarrassing. That is, if he felt embarrassment.

The night had finally rolled in as the sun set in the east but dark clouds still rolled through the sky hiding the moon from sight; the chill in the air grew in intensity even as the winds died down. Sana tilted her head back and looked towards the leaves as a chill ran down her spine. Something was off. The cold was one thing but her burns were at least sated in their desire to cause her pain from it. There was something else in the air, something that should not have been there; something hostile. Sanas eyes narrowed as the pull in her gut began to knot, her head lowered and turned to the right and then the left as she surveyed the forest around her. It was so silent, she could not even hear the others speaking in the cave anymore. She had not wandered far enough for such a silence to invade her senses.

The snap of a twig broke the silence and her heart felt like it was ricocheting off the wall of her chest as she held her breath. Her fingers gripped her bow as she drew the string back; amber flecks flickering against the dark orbs of her eyes as they darted around. A slow breath passed through parted lips as she spun around towards the sound and took aim yet there was nothing there; nothing but a dense fog rolling in fast. Was whatever that made the sound hidden in the fog? The fog came in quickly as if it was a living and breathing thing. Sana felt helpless as tendrils whipped out from the fog, wrapping around her and sending her into a bewildered stupor. A scream ripped from her vocal cords as she dropped her bow and arrow to the mud at her feet before she was pulled deep within the fog. Suddenly the fog was gone as quickly as it had appeared, along with Sana. Nothing remained but her scream on the air, her weapon on the ground and her foot prints in the mud.

In the cave Shela leaned back on her elbow, puffing away on her pipe with an amused expression on her face hearing the weak sneeze. “Hope you wield a blade better than you sneeze,” she jested with mirth in her voice. “Well it looks like we are all just a bunch of waywards looking for a good brawl. So any of you see any action as of late? I haven’t been able to gut anything in weeks and I think me hammer is getting thirsty for blood once again.”

“Me thinks I be keeping with you all. Cinder is nasty but hunting down something on the road while ya all look could be a smashing good time! Yes, that be it! Tomorrow I trek with you, show you what a real mad woman can do. We have some grand stories to tell in no time at all,” she exclaimed as she righted herself and slapped her knee, proud of the decision that she had made. As the goblin spoke she turned her head, her teeth grinding against the wood of the pipe for a moment, never have been too fond of their kind but his short words were enough to break a grin on her features. “Drizzak fight? Must have fought something mighty to be turning gold. Soon you be worth more dead than alive with that pretty skin,” she pipped before she heard the scream rip through the cave.

“Told that woman she catch something wandering out there like that, sound like something done caught her,” she said as she pushed herself to her feet and popped her neck. “We check it out?” she said as trudged towards the edge of the cave, heavy footsteps falling against the ground as each step grew faster and she built speed. She wasn’t waiting for an answer; the chance for a battle right then was too appealing.