Fiona wasn't sure how to feel anymore. She rode in silence, at the head of the group, trying to fight her drooping eyelids to keep a decent watch on their surroundings. She was well beyond the mood to listen to stories from Tobias or the dwarf, which seemed to flow out of them simply from habit, with likely only the tiniest shreds of truth. Well, the tooth Shela wore looked real enough, so she supposed there was more truth there than what Tobias came up with. Still, the blabbering was helping to keep her awake, though she didn't know if it was worth the annoyance.

"You know," Zoe said, riding along beside the wagon, "I think tomorrow's going to be a good day. Or at least an interesting one." She loosely gripped her spear near the head, sticking it into the ground repeatedly as her horse walked along. Her gaze had a tendency to be a bit absent, but she was still paying attention, evidenced by the giggles that bubbled out of her during Shela's story, despite the horrific events the dwarf was describing.

She looked up at the sky about as much as she did the world around her, seemingly content to wander about with a group of strange people she'd only just met.

As the axe was in the air, the club was coming off his back. He leapt out after it similar to other warriors and their use of the hurlbat to keep the pressure on the enemy, that was a trick the hunter of his last tribe taught him. He didn't even have to dodge the wide swung glob as it splashed into a 'rooftooth' of the cave, he swung at the graceless monster with one hand and grabbed onto a piece of rock. Unfortunately, be it weakness of the rock from acidic tears or the force of the impact from the jump. But the tip snapped off and sent the barbarian falling to the floor of the cavern.

Thankfully he managed to land on his feet with the shock shaking up his thighs instead of falling on his side or getting impaled upon the 'floortooth' But now he was on the ground while it was still in the air loosing grace, he gave it a moment more to either fall or flee before he acted again with the club now in both hands as it should be.

The Main Group

The night went by slowly but uneventful, the fog did not come again and it seemed that no more were vanishing from sight but several had walked off of their own accord and there was no sign of them now. Shela shrugged to herself and just kept rambling on throughout the night and well passed after the sun broke. Each tale she spun more out landish than the next but she always seemed to have some scar or some trinket she had kept as a souvenir providing at least some shred of truth to the tale. Her words never came off as outright lies but perhaps severe embellishments. If anything the woman had stamina, never seeming tire of speaking. She did enjoy hearing her own voice and just naturally assumed others did as well.

It was well into the next day before the next village came into sight, the clouds still rolled over head but the smell of rain on the air was gone. The village was smaller than the last one, a single road winding through it with only a handful of buildings. Did not look as if they even had a proper inn, just an old stable that seemed to have been turned into a watering hole of sorts. The people in the streets froze when they saw the group of adventurers and scattered into the few homes, doors closing heavily.

“Well that is a right cold welcome,” Shela huffed as she chewed on her pipe.

The Eyewing Cave

The beast flapped and held into the air but slowly it descended, weaving this way and that as it tried to hold its altitude but there was not much for it. The axe tear in its wing threw off the eyewings balance and abilities. It blinked under the strain and with each blink another drop of acid fell only to crystallize as it hit stone. It would not take much to put the thing out of its misery but the claws at the end of the of each wings on the wings cut through the air sharply with each ragged flap and the acid was ever present.

"Guess they don't like people," Zoe said, shrugging. "Not sure why anyone would be that way. Can't imagine they've all had a bad day at the same time."

Fiona was beyond exhausted at this point. Listening to Shela all night had left her with a pulsing headache, but she didn't feel like expending the effort to try and make her stop. At this point, it appeared as though the dwarf was sticking to them, whether they wanted her or not. Fiona almost wished for a fight, so that Shela could actually prove to be useful.

"I can see why they might not be welcoming to us," Fiona admitted, looking over the group. They were a fearsome bunch, really, and without knowing their intentions, these people were right to be cautious. No doubt they knew of the other village's experiences with slavers and bandits. Not all outsiders were to be trusted. "Still... does seem a little odd."

"Well, nothing to do but go look around, right?" Zoe asked, starting forward. "No use waiting here. Maybe someone here has seen one of your disappeared friends."

Lob circled the falling eyewing, stepping in one of the fallen globs. Quickly he learned of his folly as the old cold was still acidic and still a danger! He limped in a crabwalk as he strafed to an (alkaline) pool to wash the acid off by sticking the foot in until the burning stopped. Now he knew the tears were a dangerous thing to be avoided as he watched in a low crouch and waited until he could leap up high with both hands behind him for a shattering overhead blow.

He was starting to guess if he killed it, it might pop like a real eyeball and send that burnstear everywhere, but it was a risk he was willing to take for the children. He felt the Claws bite deep in its frantic attempt to climb up him to be in the air, but he hoped to add his weight to crash to the ground and perhaps impale it on the floorteeth below.

Shela

Shela shook her head slightly as she hopped down from the wagon and grabbed her gear. slumping it over her shoulder with a grunt. Holding the pipe between her teeth she puffed on it a few times as she looked around. Her thick brows rose and she quickly removed the pipe from her lips and took a deep breath.

"Jasmine? That be a rare smell out in these parts," she muttered before shrugging again as she clenched the pipe back in her teeth. "Oh well, gonna grab a pint and then set up sleep somes where," she said before wandering over to the old stable/bar.

Stepping over to the rickety bar she climbed up onto a hay bail that was stacked in front of it since there was no proper seating and removed her helmet, putting it on the wooden sheet that was the so called bartop.

"Pint of ale would ya," she said flicking a coin onto the counter.

Eyewing Cave

If the eyewing could screech it would have as the massive club came barreling down on it, catching it along the top of the spherical creature and bringing it to the ground with a thud. The eye bulged but did not burst. The thick leather like lid closed as the acidity ooze pooled beneath it. that which touched the ground hardened but what still clung to the still warm creatures body remained liquid. There would be enough to fill several vials if done carefully.

Lob did it! He did it, he...didn't have any vials to catch the stuff in! There is no curse in Elvish, Entish, or the tongues of Men for this irony.

Now lob had to think, not his strong suit. Slowly lob walked around the cave and picked 'catch' back up as he tried to figure out what to do. He needed one gland from it to get its tears, but he never cut one up before so he had no idea how they worked. As he stumbled around, he smacked a tie into onre of the little crystals from its tears and gave a roar of frustration. That roar slowed down as lob thought about it and rubbed some sleep from his eyes...

Getting to work, Lob closed the eye with one hand as he used the flat of his blade to smear the eye-gunk over the closed eye as he blew upon it, watching it crystallize in exposure to air. Now it would be sealed good enough for him to bring it back. With a pleased grunt to himself. Lob threw the eyeball over his back, adjusted the rocks in his crotch, and marched back to the cave entrance.

Vaeri read through the trip. It was pretty easy to tell that going along with Shela's tales like she did with Tobias wouldn't be nearly as fun. So if talking wouldn't keep her mind distracted from this supposed fog poofing people away, her books would. The cold response she got from the villagers was nothing new to her. Vaeri reclined in her seat deciding to look over everyone's stuff while the rest of the group did whatever it is they were going to here.

Kazuo didn't seem particularly interested in chatting, or much of anything going on. The expression on his face was so blank, it was hard to tell whether he was asleep or awake. In the back of his head, he kind of wished for the fog to come back. At least that was something interesting. Kazuo would remain in his nearly zen state of boredom until something happened or he was directly addressed.

It was a bit of a dingy place, but Fiona hardly cared, as the presence of decent drink was enough to drown out any misgivings she had. She took a seat in front of the bar and ordered herself an ale as well, taking a long drink as soon as she had it in her hands. The village seemed none too friendly to them, but at least they were willing to serve them something.

Zoe chose not to partake in the drinking, instead sitting crosslegged against the wall outside, her horse lazily grazing on whatever she could find nearby. Her spear was horizontal across her lap, and Zoe's posture was highly relaxed, though not drowsy or sleepy. She watched with interest the houses around, with their closed doors and utter lack of visible people. The lack of much activity this time of day was intriguing.

Shela sat there going between taking long pulls of her ale and puffing on her pipe, sending small wisps of smoke up in the air and creating a thin haze around her. Looking over a the others for a moment before turning her attention to the one person that had decided to partake in a drink with her.

"So, Red, what be exactly going on here? Ya'll started out searching for stuff to heal that Cinder Sickness and now your people be vanishing? Or just walking off? Seems rahter odd to me," she said as she rested the empty glass on the bartop and let out a rather loud and obnoxious belch. Shelas nose wiggled somewhat and then she sneezed.

"What in the blazes. I dun see any jasmine around here, why do I keep smelling it?" she asked with a groan. The smell seemed to be around the town in general, mixed with the soft scent of fresh cedar. The smell itself wafted towards the eyewing cave to the northwest but seemed to be the strongest in the town and then to the east.

Lob followed the smell of fresh air to the entrance of the cavern, He didn't realize how bad it smelled in there until he had the clean air to compare it too. There were other sents on the wind, snent of fires and breads, animals, a town. He could also find jasmine flower on the wind with Her horse and a hint of cinnamon. It smelled like the town they left, but no smell of burning bodies. Perhaps they had gotten lost and came back to town, he didn't smell everyone so they might have split up again after more slavers.

He made his way to the town, an odd sight to be sure with a feral 'orc' tromping into town with god knows what on his back being carried by its tail with wings covering the eye. Sniffing and snuffing e made his way to the taern with surely a guard on his heels. Stepping in, he still reeked of batscratch smeared all over himself as he thumped the eyewing onto the table for all to see.

"FOUND ONE!"

Derrix leaned against the wall next to Zoe and took in a wafting breath, soaking in only the ghostly smell of lavender. He shook his head, even without the helmet it's grown apart of him.

He looked down at the latest addition and plainly spoke, "So, what's your name again?"

Fiona turned her head slowly to look at Shela, the fingers on one of her hands combed into her red hair. Her eyebrows were raised. "You're asking me?" she paused, taking a drink. "I don't know the first thing about what's happening. This isn't the usual for me." She never thought it would be easy, but somehow she thought it would be more orderly, more clear who was on her side and who was not, and certainly she didn't think magic would start making her allies disappear in the middle of the night. She wished Sana were here.

Then, out of nowhere, Lob reappeared, covered in... something, and slamming down a dead eyewing on the table, causing Fiona to jump back, eyes wide. She stared at the creature for a moment, blinking, and quite dumbfounded. "Oh... wow. That's..." It was excellent, she supposed, that Lob had gathered for them another of the things they needed, but it hardly explained things.

"What happened to you? Some of the others vanished, too. Did you see any of them?"

Outside, Zoe had watched the greenskinned one enter the tavern with a passing interest, noting the carcass on his back, before she turned her head to peer up at Derrix, greeting him with a bright smile. "I'm Zoenya dar Ravaris len Marrakash. You can call me Zoenya. Or Zoe. Whatever works." She listened as the eyewing was slammed down on the table inside.

"Never a predictable moment with these people, is there?"

Lob grinned from ear to ear, a proud puppy that brought the stick back. But as more questions arose, his head canted to the side slightly and the hellhound hood raised one ear quizzically. He sniffed and snuffed around for a moment before speaking up again as he found jasmine on the wind but it was faded.

Bad meat, sick, sleep. Wake in cave, find that, kill that. Find you, bring you. Smell alpha, alpha sunrise.

Probably more of a conversation than most get from him, he pointed to the east with a big grin and plopped himself on the table while grabbing a potato off a plate and eating it.

Shela rose a thick brown as she watched the half-orc enter the so called tavern and throw the eyewing down on the bar top. Tilting her head to the side she jumped down off the bail of hay, heavy boots hitting the floor with a thud before walking over to it.

"I say, I say, that is a good job!" she said as she picked it up be the wing. "Those creature be nasty little buggers alone, if they swarm they be those things nightmares are made of. And you sealed it, well done you beast of a creature, well done indeed!" she said before dropped it back on the bar top and walking over to the wagon, crawling into the back and making quiet the ruckus as she dug out some vials from the box.

"Alpha? Who he be talking about? That loud mouth with the bow?" Shela asked as she hopped down and walked over to Fiona.

"Yo Red, hold these while I cut this thing open. That goo hit anything but the eyewings skin or glass and it will harden right up and be useless. So once it starts flowing, fill a vial and plug the vial with another pushed into the top and don't you be letting it touch your skin or you can say bye bye to that pretty complexion of yours."

Vaeri's expression immediately brightened when she saw Lob return triumphant to the group, eyewing in hand. So the people who got poofed weren't killed after all! Perhaps just taken elsewhere. Maybe if they were lucky the others would be able to be found within a few days. She pulled her bag from the cart and walked in as Shela was explaining the deal with Eyewings and the mucus(?) they secreted. Although she was glad that Lob was back, she kept her distance from him. It was obvious from the smell what he had covered himself in, and she was well familiar with the technique, but even knowing that, nobody wants to stand next to the guy covered head to toe in poo. The cleric produced 2 vials and cork stoppers from her bag, handing one set to Fiona, keeping the other for herself.

"I hope you won't mind me helping out as well." Vaeri twirled the vial in between her fingertips once before readying the glass tube to capture the second ingredient in 2 days. It was rather lucky, really. Lucky in a good way for once. It was almost if the goddess of fate was deciding their journey by rolling dice the way everything was constantly changing.

Lob's face brightened as the cleric joined them, reaching into his waistline, he rummaged around until he produced the large green glowing rock and held it out for Vaeri's approval. He seemed perplexed by her avoidance of him but then finally his brain noticed the dwarf who was speaking and fidgiting with his kill.

"Who little one?"

He asked of the group while taking u another handful of unattended food but stopping from feeding his maw as he smelled his hand and made a face. He wasn't in the cavern anymore, he didn't need the disguise and now it made him stand out outside of the cave as much as not smelling made him stand out inside the cave.

"...Lob stink."

Fiona wasn't surprised that Lob couldn't provide them with the clearest information about what happened. Even if he had a better grasp on communicating with them, it was likely he didn't even know or understand what occurred. When he mentioned the alpha, though, and Shela inquired about it, it did give Fiona a thought, something that hadn't occurred to her earlier, likely due to her depleted energy.

"He's talking about Sana, yeah. Come to think of it... she did smell a bit like jasmine, didn't she?" It was stronger here, obviously, if the dwarf was making comments about it, but it was still an odd coincidence. Another strange thing about the town. For now, though, they had collecting the next ingredient to deal with.

She accepted the vials from Vaeri, following Shela's instructions for collecting the liquid from the eyewing. She was interested in inquiring after Sana, if there was any chance she was here, but she also didn't want to get burned, and had to focus.

Shela pulled out a small dagger and got to work, carefully slicing through the seal that Lob had created. As she broke through the crystallized material the eye lid popped open and the ooze began to flow. One by one, she took the vials and filled them before carefully handing them back over to Fiona and Vaeri.

Despite her brash attitude and thick fingers, she worked with ease and kept her mouth shut. Concentrating on the job at hand, her pipe clenched between her teeth as she worked. Once she was finished she picked up the creature by the wing and walked out of the make shift tavern, passed the rest of the group and down the road some.

When she felt she had placed enough distance between the carcass and the group she ran back and gave a wink.

"Stand back," she warned as she drew a small ceramic axe from her belt that had a strangely colored rope sticking out the top of the shaft that ran through the beard of the axe. A quick strike over the top of the rope with the back side of the silver looking ring on her finger and it lit.

Taking a step she threw the small axe, it flying through the air and the blade embedding into the eyeball of the Eyewing. A moment later the axe shattered in an explosion and blew the remains of the Eyewing into cindering pieces that tuned to crystallized ash in the air before falling to the ground.

"Well that takes care of that," she said as she puffed on her pipe before turning back over to the group.

"Okay, big boy, I'm Shela," she said looking over towards Lob. "You go wash, smelling rank you are."

Turning back to the rest as she climbed into the back of the wagon. "I say we sleep and then follow big boys nose, there's a large port city in the direction he pointed." Yawning she rested back on her pack and closed her eyes to get some sleep.

Vaeri followed the directions of Shela, her fingers moving quickly to collect the fluid and cork the vial before any could crystallize. Satisfied, she slid the filled vial back into the unknowable void of her backpack. Yawning, she stretched and left the building, returning to the wagon so the group's supplies wouldn't be untended. Nearby was Kazuo, slumped over asleep on top of a miffed looking Trombe. The horse had an air of resignation about it, as if this were a commonly occurring type of thing.