Vaarea was eager to be the navigator for the trip, every person that walked up had offered to let her lead. Until the other ranger walked up and swiped the map and headed off in the direction towards their destination. Vaarea was rather appalled at the human with so much arrogance. Flustered and frustrated, as well as saddened, she dropped to the back of the group with her brother and went silent. She strung her bow as they walked, paying keen attention to landmarks and paths as well as directions. Just in case the other ranger wasn't as good as she thought she was.

"Can you believe her? Taking the map like that and just walking away without a care? Those humans really have some guts..."

"They all are like that, I dont know what to tell you Sister. Just be glad that we get to test our skills and stretch our legs... Living a human life was really getting on my nerves."

"I guess youre right... We will have great times in battle wont we?"

Vakim nodded and shifted his backpack's weight a little. Carrying his Anvil everywhere was proving to be difficult, not that he expected any less. He looked around and surveyed the area before stopping to pick up a rather straight tree branch. He paused a moment, then continued, using the branch as a walking stick.

Sal

Sal was happy that Gytha welcomed him so warmly. He also took ban's hand and shook in a friendly manner. "I've never been to the Kots River. Is it especially dangerous?" Waterways were not Sal's forte. He was more oriented with town Layouts and building designs as he had worked under the rich and supported the poor in making sure they had the homes they desired.

He was also wondering how much further it would be to get to this town. He didn't like complaining as he thought others would look at him like a whining little baby. But his feet were getting so so sore....

@Kelewen@DeadlyPhoenix

---

Ceridwen had been walking somewhat towards the front of the group as they went towards Alpton. The Paladin, Cleric and one of the Rangers had started their own little conversation about the place, which Ceridwen was happily listening to. As much as she had little patience for those who followed any god other than the glorious true one in her patron, she had to admire Paladins at least a little. Unlike Clerics they tended to garner their divine power from the sheer force of their own will.

It wasn't until the Cleric, who'd introduced himself as Sal asked a question about the River Kots that she decided to chip in for herself.

"Oh the River Kots is for the most part completely harmless. That is providing that you're capable of surviving a minor bandit attack or two. And in some patches the Sylv Fish can swarm, proving quite deadly to someone taking a rather unfortunate swim," she recited from heart. She was actually surprisingly proficient in her knowledge of this worlds nature, from the common to the surprisingly obscure. But of course her knowledge wasn't perfect,

"Oh, although it is possible that I'm thinking of the Kot Carp found in the more southern river Sylva. The two always get messed around in my head," she stopped walking for a moment to think, sighing and shaking her head as she drew a blank, "oh, since we're adventuring together for the foreseeable future, perhaps I should introduce myself. Ceridwen Phrys, Warlock. Some of my closest friends call me Ceri, an informality which I'm not extending to you in case you're wondering,". A small curtsy followed her invitation before she resumed her methodical walk, her staff used as a walking stick.

@Oni_@Gareth@Zi@Kelewen@Masterkeun

Ban looked over as the Warlock spoke explaining the different threats in the river and on the path. He could also hear the Goliath brother and sister, he assumed, whispering to each other about the navigator. He looked over at them with a small sigh. "Sorry we offended you. We did not mean to come off as rude. I can understand why you are upset. If you would like you can still lead us the rest of the way if you know a better route?" He asked them curiously. He did not want anyone in the group to become mad at each other...it would mess up the dynamic and this was to be a long task at hand.

Mable's smile faltered as the two of them ignored her. It was expected so instead of worrying about the music she picked fruit as they went passing them around to the party. It'd be good to eat as they went in order to keep there strength up. A small smile played at Mable's lips as she picked fresh apples. In a friendly and soft voice she asked Vaarea "Do you know of any good towns in the area or should we stop early for the night to set up camp?" While she waited Mable watched the group mostly listening trying to stay close to Ceridwen to play music to cheer her up playing her music. Mable assumed her behavior meant that she was lonely or love lorn. In response Mable played her the best love songs Mable knew.

@Oni_@Zi

@DeadlyPhoenix
"We seem to have a nice strong group with us," Morthos said to Esmeralda as they walked, "a solid front line to keep me from getting pounded on and to keep the enemy occupied while you do your thing." Looking at the group one very obvious thing was they had a lot of people, they wouldn't be sneaking anywhere with all of these people. "So, do you think we should try being social? They are our team mates now after all." Morthos wasn't one to trust easily, but he'd have to deal with all these people until the orc threat was neutralized. The people he was most interested in was the goliath siblings, and the warlock girl. The goliaths because he's never seen anyone like them before, and the warlock to try and learn who she had made her deal with. A few archdemons had spoken to him in dreams before, trying to tempt him with power, but Morthos chose the hard path of knowledge instead.

@Masterkeun@duskshine749

Ban looked over at the bard and looked up to see where the sun was in the sky. He could see there was still some daylight left. "Well we still have enough day light to keep moving. That and I am sure that the town will have an inn for us to stay in." He said looking back to the path. "If we keep a steady pace we should get there before dark." He said smiling at the bard. "I am Ban. What is your name?" He asked her curiously. Yang walked up to her sniffing her before head butting her leg playfully. "This is my wolf Yang." He said petting between his ears.

Esmeralda smiled at Morthos as he gave his assessment of the group around them. "Yes I guess we should get to know them more. After all we could be giving our lives in order to save the kingdom if it comes down to it." She said pulling down her hood. Her long black hair blew softly around her shoulders in the wind as she looked at the front of the group. "Who should we speak to first?" She said not really wanting to talk to them but she knew they had to. She was never the one to trust people right away.

Sal

Learned quite a bit about the river from the warlock he just met who had introduced herself. She seemed alright enough to Sal even though he hadn't really spoke with her beyond a sentence. Not enough time to know a person that was certain. Sal sighed, oh well sal thought there's always time for that later on he supposed.

Just then he saw the outskirts of a town on the edge of the Horizon as the path led away from the River. Sal let go of his white robe, spread his hands in the air and said "Hallelujah we are there."

---

While she couldn't say for sure, the bard in the party seemed to have some kind of infatuation with Ceridwen. Ever since she'd given out some rather sick knowledge on their immediate surroundings, the girl had been following her at a rather uncomfortable distance. Playing - of all things love songs. She suspected that there may be an incredibly small chance that the girl just really liked listening to such ballads in her spare time, but surely there was no need to subject everyone else to them?

She considered just slapping the lute from her hands, but that would seem just a little aggressive and if she could hold out then she intended to. Instead, she devised a genius plan, no public embarrassment or judgement directed towards either party. She reached out with her mind, seeping into the conscious mind of the girl. A single word embedding itself into her - stop. It was clear it was not a thought of her own, but rather one of Ceridwens. She never tended to use her awakened mind two ways, instead, using it instead to provide orders to her informants in the city. On the rarity that she did allow them to reply, however, the words did seem to imprint themselves in their own voice, only in her native tongue of Elven.

The cleric, Sal, announced that the town was ahead. In a grandiose manner befitting a priest of his ilk. "And here I was thinking we'd be walking forever. I hope the trek was worth it," she said relieved.

"Let's go with the goliath siblings, I'm interested to see what their story is." Morthos said this to Esmeralda then walked himself over to the siblings. "Hey there, I don't think we've been formally introduced. I'm Morthos, expert in all things fire as well as any monsters we may fight while we're working together." Of Morthos and Esmy, he was the more charismatic of the two, which is why he took the lead if they ever needed to talk to anyone. Or the more common case, talk their way out of a situation they found themselves in.

@DeadlyPhoenix@Zi

@duskshine749@Zi

Esmeralda followed Morthos's lead as she normally would have. She knew that he would make the right choice on who to associate with. He was a better judge of character then she was. She had heard other people say they were getting close to town which was a good thing. They could get to know each other in order to make a proper plan. She looked over at the goliath siblings. "My name is Esmeralda. Its nice to meet you two." She said wanting to keep it short and simple. If they were to ask about her, she would tell them...but she did not like talking about herself in case they were to find out about her...not so legal friendly past.

As they drew close to Alpton, Gytha grew quiet so that she could concentrate on watching the forest on the west side of the road. Occasionally, she glanced across the Kots River to the opposite bank, watching for movement. She spotted no immediate sign of danger, but it never hurt to be cautious and she readied her bow and knocked an arrow loosely to the string.

There was no telling how bold the orcs might have grown even in the short time since the king's last report. Until she knew otherwise, she had to assume it was possible the orcs had overtaken the town.

"Perhaps Vaarea and I should scout ahead?" she posed to the group, unaware of the grudge the female goliath was harboring for her.

Mable stopped immediately at the instruction bowing her head politely. Mable turned to her comrades petting Garth's wolf when it was near and generally enjoying the trip. When they reached the area near town Mable shook her head at Gytha happily "I'll scout ahead if you don't mind. I may not be stealthy, but very few towns turn away a bard as it helps business. If you still want to go I'd be happy to travel with you as two rangers may be more suspicious then a bard with a bodyguard. Mable blushed not wanting to offend Gytha for questioning her plan or suggesting she accompany Gytha @Kelewen

---

Ceridwen was completely surprised by how obedient the bard was to her command, immediately stopping her music and wandering off to talk to the other half of the group who had been walking somewhat separately from herself, the cleric and the paladin. This was promising, the bard seemed easy to manipulate and they were good at pretty much everything if she could completely indoctrinate her she would have no issues skirting around town guard and the like. But all that for another day, she couldn't let anyone else know about this, to them it should have seemed like she stopped of her own volition.

The party stopped in their tracks, some simply because everyone else had and others because they were scouting out the dangers that may lie ahead. Ceridwen believed the rest of the way to be safe, but she had no reason to believe that they would have their own schemes at hand so she decided to let them amuse themselves for the time being. Two rangers would be stealthy and effective if they got along and didn't start bickering.

Then the bard interjected herself into the equation saying that the town would never turn away a bard. That was true, but they'd also never turn away the kings appointed. Besides, Ceridwen wasn't sure that it was hostile townsfolk that they wanted to scout out, rather than the possibility of dead ones.

"If I may interject myself, as much as sending two stealthy members on ahead sounds like a plan what if you get captured? Then we'd just be down two people against the same number of Orcs. There are strength in numbers and if possible I'd like to keep our number the same," she said, giving off a half hearted smile.

Gabe heard voices as he flew low over the treetops. "Orcs." He said to himself. He dropped into the trees near where he had heard the voices coming from. He couldn't see the beings well from his vantage point but knew how to get their attention. He shot a bolt past one of their heads before calling to the group, "Retreat, orc scum, or meet your death." He fired again, hitting the ground a couple inches from another creature's foot. "I will not hesitate to kill every last one of you orcs if you choose not to heed my command." He was fast to move to a new area, knowing even orcs were smart enough to figure out where his voice was coming from.

-----

Back in town, Gaby looked at the map. "You said my brother went in this direction?" She asked the man beside her. "That doesn't make sense. Why would he go back the way we came from. Is he hunting the orcs that nicked my wing?" She didn't bother waiting for a reply before burying herself in the map. "Retrieve the doctor for me, please." She said, glancing at the man.

@RokkuHoshi

Ban pulled his sword when he felt the wind gust from the creature landing. "We are not Orcs. Stand down now!" He said pointing his sword at the unknown man before them. He was really hoping nothing bad would happen this early on. But you must always be ready for the unexpected in times of war. "Relax...we are here to fight the orcs. We do not want any trouble." He said still keeping his guard. Yang was on crouched down growling at the intruder and Ban whistled to tell her to keep calm. Yang would be able to attack on a seconds notice but Ban did not want to risk that just yet unless he had to.

"If I may interject myself, as much as sending two stealthy members on ahead sounds like a plan what if you get captured? Then we'd just be down two people against the same number of Orcs. There are strength in numbers and if possible I'd like to keep our number the same."

"Then we won't get caught," Gytha said confidently. "There is some danger in splitting up," she said then, partially agreeing with Ceridwen's point. "But if the town has been taken over by orcs, we need to know that before exposing ourselves. What if we ..."

An arrow whizzing by interrupted the ranger's thought. Someone was yelling "...meet your death," as a second arrow almost impaled her foot. With her arrow already knocked, she let her reflexes take over, drawing the bow back as she located the strange form darting through the trees. Leading the flying thing just slightly, she let the arrow loose just as Ban was shouting something in an attempt to diffuse the situation. But in her mind, once something was sending projectiles her direction, the time for talk was over. There would be plenty of time to sort it out once the threat had been removed...

Gabe groaned in pain as an arrow pierced his biceps. He hid behind a tree, hoping not to get hit by a second arrow, as he studied the one in his arm. "Too finely detailed to be orcish. Maybe stolen." He set his crossbow down in front of himself before attempting to remove the arrow. As the arrow was removed, he knocked his crossbow to the ground, unable to retrieve it without being in the open. "Last option." He said to himself, drawing his twin shortswords. He leapt from the trees, heading for the archer that had hit him. He then tried, and failed, to stop his movement once he saw the group was not orcs. He ended up crashing into the archer (or the ground if she moves) with a painful groan.

Mable rolled left as the arrows shot past putting away her lute in favor of her sword and shield. The sound of the man's hard feet on the ground. The winged man charged there Ranger holding two swords. Mable stepped firmly in the way her shield ready as the man flew down into her barely keeping her footing as he drove her back several inches towards the ground. The effort was almost to much as the man clearly charged in gliding fast. Mable coughed as the two came to a stop a foot in front of there ranger. Mable was happily surprised her shield survived the wood a little scuffed, but nothing to serious. Mable tilted the shield up so the creature slid off. Mable smiled warmly resting her rapier at the creatures throat gently. The poor thing might be insane, so she hesitated hoping it could be reasoned with. "Good evening, nice day were having. Quick question, Why shouldn't I ram my rapier through your throat and see what color your blood is?" The words were sharp clean and to the point. Mable wouldn't hesitate to kill the man the group certainly had the numbers for that.
@RokkuHoshi

Gabe was quick to look around. "You're not orcs." He said sheepishly. Dropping his swords, he took a step back and raised his hands. "If you're really here to help fight the orcs, then the town is gonna wanna meet you. Just let me see my sister one last time before you decide to kill me." He reached for his swords slowly to slide them in their sheaths, but would stop if warned or threatened. "Could one of you grab my crossbow?" He asked, pointing at the weapon which laid by the tree.