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First of the Tenth Month, Western Year 998 - Prologue

The caravan master looked at his crew. Six members strong, some magic capability between a few members, and a surprising amount of young gents, one being very young. He was accustomed to receiving older folks - he supposed youth would be nice for a change, though he couldn't speak for how ready they were for the journey. They probably still weren't happy with him about his very early morning greeting, but he didn't care.

After for five days and five nights, he finally burst through the doors of each traveler at the local inn just before the sunrise, bellowing "IT'S TIME!" and waiting to make sure they sat up before quickly moving to the next door, partially for speed and partially to avoid the flurry of projectiles that sometimes greeted his call.

An old man, no younger than 60, with crazy white hair and battered travel clothes, he hadn't given a damn for what people thought of him for years. Rumors said that at the age of thirty he was handsome, had blue eyes and walked with the confidence of a king, and over the next thirty years became ugly, developed green eyes and walked with a slight limp and a less slight hunch. Whatever the rumors, the fact was that the caravan master was a fellow each traveler no doubt wanted to be rid of sooner or later, which was thankfully a key selling point of his - he boasted a maximum of 1 week travel time before arriving in the northern reaches. Another rumor was that his one horse was friendlier than he was and quite obedient... a rumor which was decidedly proven false as the horse failed to listen to its master for a full hour.

Complications aside, the caravan set forth to the rising sun on the first day of the tenth month, making its way up to and past Crassus Royal, the last civilized town before the northern forests. From there, it traveled through increasingly dense forest.

Three days later is when something went wrong.

In the midst of the Draulid, considered by many the most dangerous forest yet in the route to the north, the roads were of little more than dirt, and at this time of year, mud.


Third of the Tenth Month, Western Year 998 - All Characters


While the caravan had fared remarkably well the day before, the third day was of particular concern. Rain, fog, dripping trees and the distinct noise of a storm were all present and rapidly increasing in size and sound, as was a constant lurching of the caravan as it barely pulled through various stretches of mud, deeper and deeper each time.

The caravan lurched forwards, throwing everyone inside forwards, all piled atop each other to the sound of heavy rain, bellowing curses of the driver and each other's reactions ranging from cries of pain to enraged howls.

For those managing to exit the caravan, a dismal scene awaited: the horse, stuck in mud with rear legs at unnatural angles, the caravan with one wheel busted and the other halfway sunk in the mud, and the sight of the driver cursing and making repeated failed attempts to pull the horse up, himself with knees partially buried in mud. Foggy as it was, a clearing was visible in the distance ahead, and no end to trees in the distance behind.

"Goddammit, first time leaving the south and this is what I get, if this is how the north is gonna be, I don't think I wanna go there anymore!" exclaimed Jameson as he exits the caravan. It was rainy and muddy outside but Jameson wasn't going to hang inside the caravan with a bunch of sweaty, grumpy men, might as well get out and see what's the problem. One step onto the ground and his foot was already sunken up to his ankle, "Great, gonna have to get a pair of northern boots if I don't wash this mud off soon". He noticed the broken wheel and the caravan master struggling with the awkwardly sunken horse, "Seems like I'm gonna be stuck with this pair of boots".

Jameson waddled towards the caravan master and said jestingly as he stared at the horse's rear legs, "I don't suppose you're interested in having one of them seahorses right now. I can help you get your horse out, but I don't think it'll be in any condition to pull the caravan any time soon." He took another look at the wheel and then the surrounding forest, it was so foggy that he couldn't make anything out except for a clearing up ahead. Jameson started to wonder if he made the right choice venturing to the north, but it's too late to back down now, he's already about halfway there, and it sure beats the monotonous life down south. After a moment of thought, Jameson turned back to the caravan master, "So what's your plan sir? No way we're going north in these conditions."

Just a conversation continuation - only when I use a bunch of fancy formatting is it the "official" second post

The caravan master looked up and scowled through the rain at the man he recognized as the one with the weird metal tubes. "Horse inni't goin' anywhere soon!" He looked around quickly. "We'll need a shelter som'place, an' hell if it's in that caravan! Wait for a moment before those bloody pack o' sods come out n' have their fair share..." his last words coming out in a barely audible mutter. "Aren't ye goin' to help with this!" He bellowed as he pulled at the front side of the horse fruitlessly.

@ArenaSnow

"Sorry about that, got too distracted by the surroundings." said Jameson as he gave the caravan master a hand in pulling out his horse.

Ivan stepped out of the caravan a bit after the others, rubbing his head with a wince. He flinched as he saw the dire straits the horse was in, but knew his tiny hands would do no good, so he stayed well back. Even standing still as he was, He was clearly favoring his right leg, leaning on his left side a bit to stay steady. Every now and then he would wobble a bit, as if about to lose his balance, but remained stable for the most part. Either way, it wasn't like he was going back inside the caravan. It smelled like the devil in there after all the time they'd spent inside, and with all their belongings thrown about it wasn't like he could sit comfortably in there. He remained silent, feeling bad for just watching them work, but he knew it would be better if he stayed out of the way and didn't spook the horse.

@ArenaSnow @xChrome @EveryoneelseIforgot

With some aching in his joints, the knight pulled himself up with muffled grunts, rousing his muscles from the torpor of an interrupted sleep. He was glad to have sat near the front, so that his dusty, armored, unclean self wouldn't have had to fall onto anyone.

He stepped outside the wagon, landing heavily, and cringed at the horse's dislocated limbs. He struggled to walk in this deep mud, and moved to the edge of the grass, where at least some roots would've held the ground together underneath him. A regular man would've carried a lighter load over swampy earth, but hell if Robart would deaden morale any further by showing his face. He probably wasn't contagious. Probably. But no one wants to travel with a leper, for completely obvious reasons.

"Two enough to hoist up that beast? I'll lend you a hand if I don't get in the way."

In the short minutes in which Ivan had been outside, the young boy had become drenched in rain, his messy brown hair sticking to his face and blocking his left eye. He coughed miserably; foul weather was never good for his asthmatic lungs. Still a bit sore over the fact that he couldn't offer any help, he looked back at the caravan, trying to see who had just stepped out of it. ой. Это человек в маске He thought, running a hand through his soaking wet hair.

Raven stepped outside, and looked up at the sky for a moment before heading towards the front to help the caravan master with his horse.

"Oh, you already got it then." The young fellow spoke, noting as another member had already assisted the horse. Raven's hair was messy from the banging around in the caravan, and his face had a look of annoyance. "This weather is utter s***..." he grumbled to himself. Raven immediately regretted saying this, as a younger lad was standing not too far nearby, coughing. "Hey kid, take this. It's no raincoat, but maybe it'll keep the water off you for a little while." He said, handing his chainmail-coated jacket to Ivan. "Again, I don't think the cloth under the metal layer is waterproof, but it's better then the rain splashing all over you."

Raven took another look at the horse, and realizing they may need more help then he thought. The horse's legs appeared to be injured. He took off his gauntlets, and tried to help keep the horse's hindquarters up and steady as they pulled the animal from the muck. This was to keep it's hind legs from taking too much pressure as it was dragged out, to avoid causing them worse pain then they were probably already in.

Bladur had been one of the lucky ones to have been sitting in the back of the Caravan so he landed on top of most of the lot. He was more than sure that he probably would have broken something had he been landed on by even one of the occupants of the caravan, save for the sickly boy who had been traveling with them. After getting his bearings back once more, Baldur got to his feet and stumbled out of the Caravan with a grim look on his face. He observed the others trying to get the now obviously lame horse out of the mud. Baldur didn't bother helping the lot that were trying to get the horse out as he knew he didn't have that much strength left in him. Instead Baldur walked into the outskirts of the forest and began picking up stick so he could hopefully set up a fire using a little bit of his magic to keep himself and the others warm until they were ready to head out "if you ask me we should just put that horse out of its misery..." Baldur said to himself as he crouched down to pick up another stick.

Ivan smiled gratefully as he was handed the coat. It was far too big on him, of course, but that just meant it kept the rain off all the better.

"I dislike to say it," Piped in Ivan when Bladur spoke, "But I agree. with Bladur. The animal will take us no further, and trust me, legs do not heal easy."

Skylar groaned loudly as he picked himself up off the caravan floor and stumbled out after hastily shrugging on his coat. After a brief glance at the horse and deciding several people struggling knee deep in mud was enough, Skylar took a second to take in the surroundings and his companions. Clothes and armor abound but coats? Tsk. At this rate, everyone was going to get sick. Not exactly the best plan in this neck of the woods. The boy's coughing caught his attention and he muttered darkly as he dug through his bag.

"Oye, anyone gotta knife? I left mine back at town it seems." Skylar snapped, irritated at his own stupidity. "Gotta deal with this rain before we decide what do to. Don't want to deal with corpses on top of everything else."

Jameson heard Skylar while still struggling with the horse and said, "Skylar is it? I've got a knife, but may I know what do you intend to do with it? I don't think a knife can be of help in stopping this blasted rain." He stared at the horse's hindlegs and sighed, "Gonna need someone who knows some healing magic if we wanna get him going soon." Jameson was sopping wet with sweat and rain as he looked around to catch a breather. He noticed Ivan standing outside with an oversized coat and Baldur picking up sticks further away. "In a rain like this, that coat won't do you much good, best head inside the caravan kid, no one's looking forward to taking care of a sick boy", said Jameson to Ivan. "Oye Baldur! Do you know any spells to heal this damn beast?" yelled Jameson at Baldur in the distance.

Ivan sighed, but nodded, heading back into the caravan. Everything was thrown about haphazardly inside after the collision before. There wasn't much fresh air inside and it smelled somewhat of unwashed humans and their byproducts. Ivan had had quite enough of the cramped old caravan, but Jameson was right. It would only be worse for everyone if he went and got sick, which he was more than likely to given his current condition and the weather outside. Being asthmatic and very young besides, Ivan was likely a bit more prone to disease and infection than the others.
He shook the rain off himself, folding up Raven's coat and setting it gently on the floor. He then cleared a space in the clutter for himself to sit down, deeply regretting not having more sets of clothes. The ones he had on were the only ones he could afford, and they were soaking wet and sticking to his pale skin uncomfortably. He sighed miserably, squirming around a bit to try and find a comfortable position on the tilted floor.

"Well what I do with the knife won't make this day anymore miserable and might help you get that horse out." Skylar replied, standing next to Jameson. He glanced down at the horse and retched sightly. Those legs didn't look particularly pleasant. He knew a few healing spells but not for animals and defiantly not for broken legs to that... degree.

"Ahh what the hell, just take it. But you better return it to me the way it is now or we're gonna have problems." said Jameson as he drew his knife from his overcoat and handed it to Skylar. Jameson wasn't too keen on lending a stranger his knife, but any help now would be great and Skylar seemed like a decent enough man. Besides, if Skylar decides to give one of them the ol' stabby, Jameson had no problems blowing a stranger's head off either. "Alright, there ya go. Now show me whatcha gonna do."

Ivan curled up on the floor of the caravan, clearing his sore throat as he took out a handkerchief and started cleaning the mud off his bare feet and legs. He still felt bad about being the only one unable to help. If he was just a little older and stronger, surely he could have been of some use... He sighed, cursing under his breath.
"Блядь"
"бог чертовски подери"
"Я бесполезно, не так ли?"
He got up and started pacing back and forth, still muttering words of self deprecation to himself until he started biting his knuckles, forcing himself to quiet down.

Skylar winced as he drew a thin line across his palm and wiped the few droplets that smeared the knife on his coat. Blood pooled in his hand and he started whispering into it quietly. His blood swirled together into a small sphere before turning to a shimmering blue. He snapped one last word and it exploded outwards. A translucent blue dome covered the caravan and a few feet around it. The rain washed down the sides of the dome and flowed away. A blue sigil floated an inch above his palm and he stared at it intently.

"Okay that's that. How people live without magic, I'll never know. A week without it and I wanted to die." He passed the blade back to Jameson. "Won't keep out the cold but it'll keep the rain off us while we figure out what to do."

The sound of the rain suddenly stopped. Ivan hadn't expected the storm to cease so soon. It seemed odd, so he walked out to check on the situation only to find the caravan and a small area around it surrounded by a faint blue glow, as though they were inside some sort of globe. "Vat happened? This is some sort of wizardry?" He asked, looking around. The storm still raged on outside the dome, and the caravan and horse were still stuck deep in the mud, but at the very least it kept the rain off.

"Holy shit..." those were the only words Jameson could muster as he stared at the blue dome surrounding the caravan with disbelief. One moment the rain was falling on his hat like fallen rocks, the next everything was just silent, the sound of raindrops falling onto the dome barely audible by those inside. "Uhh... yeah... thanks for returning my knife and... uh... this shelter..." said Jameson as he took his knife back while looking at Skylar wide-eyed with a smile, trying to look appreciative. He took a moment to pat most of the rain off his coat and hat and said to Skylar, "Didn't expect to see another mage in our midst, need help with that wound? Should have a bandage somewhere on me." Jameson fumbled around his coat and took out a bandage, he noticed Ivan outside again. "Hey kid, you don't happen to have any hidden talents we should know about do you?" said Jameson jokingly as he wrapped up Skylar's wound.