As the boys slowly neared Jaim, He looked around, observing which trees and bushes may be of use. Pointing to a a bounch of young trees. "Take those trees and cut them at teh foot. Then cut them so they be as long as brisa is tall. Once cut into lengths, sharpen each side of it so you could use it as a spear. Take the thicker ends and push them into the ground with teh upper points looking away from our tent. Make it so that teh incoming enemies will be unable to rush through them without getting injured or impaled." As He was explaining to the boys what needs to be done he also showed them with his hands, so it be easier for them to understand his plan.

Pointing to a bunch of thorny bushes."take those out and put them back in on the sides of our camp". Knowing that will not be enough, after a short consideration, he decided to try something that was more of a legend than an actual truth. with a chuckle he continued with his plan. "also lads drink as much water as possible and pee all over the bushes. There are some who believe teh bullywugs are allergic to our piss, so if we manage to get some of it into their skin with teh help of those torn it be wonderful. Now get to work, you two got lots of it."

As he overthought teh plan and was at least partly content with it he called to Brisa. "Brisa. I need you to use that book and find any poisonous plants and any kinds of vines. The second being more important. We will need it for a surprise. now hurry we don't have much time left." He tried to remember all of the plan in his head and imagine how the fight will go, but it was too much. Jaim has never been much of a strategic person, usually he left that to others. Deciding it would be better and easier for him to draw everything out, he walked to a flat part of dirt, sat down and started to draw into teh mud with a tiny stick. Every now and then he would look up and around to check if the drawing had at least a little bit of resemblance to the reality.

---

Argurious cursed inwardly, finally he managed to sit back down and now he had to get up again. The amount of effort required to get back up seemed bigger to Argurious than the effort he put into fighting the previous night. Once back on his feet he took a big breath and slowly began to move towards where Jaim waited for them.

The task given was easy enough, but Argurios could hardly stand on his feet as it is. Partly he was happy that Jaim didn't give him some other job to do, but at teh same time he was worried he would not manage to do much because of his wounds. He squeezed his mouth and began to follow Aiden towards teh trees.

As they moved he remembered that in the village all that had trouble walking had a cane to help support themselves. After a short thought Argurious decided he could use something like that as well. "Hey Aiden if that offer to help still counts, id take it. Would you help me make a cane for me so that its easier for me to move around." At first he did not want to ask for help, but everyone was away from earshot, and he could really use some help. He looked at teh ground embarrassed. "And could you not tell anyone i asked ya for help."

Aiden listened carefully to Jaim's instructions and was about to get to it when Argurious approached him. He thought for a moment about the idea, and it didn't seem like a bad one. If it could help him move better than they should be able to finish this faster and more efficiently. While has hasn't exactly made a cane before, his family had worked with wood to make tools and such in the smithy. "Alright," Aiden started, "and don't worry, I'm not one to brag. Oh, but I will say one thing. You don't want to overuse it or else you will start becoming reliant on it."

He then got to work, and the first thing he made was the cane. It was crude, but it was sturdy and had a decent grip for the hand so that he could lean on it. "OK, how is that? Hope it works well for you," he said before he took another drink of water. "I'm gonna go get started on these spikes, and then maybe you could knock out the bushes and then meet me over at the trees. That way we will have that already done and in place before we set the spikes and have to get rid of all this water," he finished with a short laugh.

Brisa nodded quietly when Jaim gave his instructions. She knew she couldn't do both at once so she focused on vines since he seemed to think that was more important. She carefully wrapped all her other belongings up, including the bullywug skins she had carefully turned into a sort of greasy charcoal during their time in camp, and stowed everything in her bag except the book of plants.

She began flipping through the book, paying careful attention to anything that might be vine-like, and what sort of terrain and habitat it grew it. This was very similar to collecting herbs for Autry and she learned that quick enough. The disadvantage was time, or more correctly the lack of it.

Book and bag in hand she headed off to look in the area for the couple of plants she suspected she might be able to find. She wished Jaim had told her what he wanted them for, she might be able to find other plants that would serve the same purpose. Things like little whippy saplings could be used almost like vines, and conversely brambles were vines but not easy at all to work with.

She browsed along the river banks first, spotting lots of water hemlock, a very poisonous plant she knew from her studies with Autry. Unfortunately it had to be ingested and she didn't think that was what was needed. She would mention it though just in case.

A little further from the water's edge, when the tress started to get bushy and thick, she found some wild grapes, that was at least a good solid vine. She took her knife Argurios had given her and set to work.

It was dirty humid work and the bugs were plentiful but Brisa shrugged most of the discomfort off. After all since she had left home she had been uncomfortable most of the time. This was no different. She didn't even notice that she was stronger and had better endurance or that she just accepted the discomfort with little complaint. Those little changes didn't register but they made the work much faster than it once would have been.

Soon she had a large pile, for her anyway, of grapevines. Sadly it wasn't grape season so she wasn't able to collect grapes to add to their food supplies. She knew the young leaves were edible though and she had managed to squirrel away a rather large collection of them in her book bag. There was a good chance she would forget about them but right now she was doing her best to help wherever she could and collecting food seemed the logical step as she was gathering other things.

It took some wrestling and creative thinking but soon she managed to tie her bundle of vines up and began to manhandle it back to the campsite. The collecting was the easy part, dragging the heavy pile of vines back to the campsite was a different story and she was rather tired and sweaty when she got back.

Argurios took the cane Aiden offered him and tried to walk on it. At first he thought it was too short and clumsy and after a few steps he realised he was right, but mostly because the cane buried itself in the mud and was hard to use. “I think it's quite nice, thank you Aiden.” Argurios looked at the direction of the bushes and started moving towards them. He returned teh smile to Aiden and noded, speaking was hard for Argurious when he was standing so he tried not to as much as possible.
He wanted to prove to everyone he is not useless and above all he needed to prove it to himself. At first he was a tad clumsy with teh cane but by the time he reached teh bushes he got used to it and could already feel the usefulness of it. At that moment he remembered what Aiden said to him about getting to accustomed to it. Agreeing with Aiden that it might be dangerous to get too accustomed to teh cane, Argurios agreed with himself he will use the cane only when the situation required it, and would lose it once he could walk with less problems. Either way having the cane both lifted his spirits and dampened them

Reaching the bushes he slowly got to his knees and started to cut at the roots so he could later drag it to the camp.

After some time he managed to cut through the roots so it could be moved. He got back to his feet and grabbing it with one hand he drag it over camp to the position Jaim has told him too. By the time he managed the deed, he was breathing heavily and felt exhausted like he was working for a whole day. Not sure how much time has passed Argurious looked around and checked on others. Seeing Brisa dragging a whole bunch of stuff into camp and Aiden half way through with preparing the defences. Argurious once again saw teh truth of how wounded and crippled he was. It took him way longer than he thought to just cut one bush and drag it across those sorry 15 meters distance. The whole ordeal sucked him of energy. And the sight of Brisa dragging something much heavier with little effort drained his willpower.
Looking at the cane he held in his hand he was more thankful for it than before, for without the cane it would require him twice as long to drag the damn thing around camp.
After a few minutes Argurios managed to catch his breath and went to the next bush to work on it.

Jaim sat next to his drawing and watched how the kids were doing. Brisa Seemed to handle herself well with teh book and plants and seemed to know what she was doing.
Aiden was clearly used to working under orders, he was calm and simply worked at what he was told to which is a good trait for any soldier or follower. Also Jaim was surprised by the cane the boys thought up.
Argurious on teh other hand worried jaim. The boys wounds were noticeable and it was evident they made him slow and quick to tire. But the half orc will have to accept his current state and not let it eat away at his mind.

When he saw Brisa and Aiden finishing their work he called for them and waited for them to join him. Once they both came he gave them further instructions.
“Okay now i need you two to use the vines and the some of the wooden stakes, if you ran out make new, and first tie the wood together into frames that are half teh size of the bed. Onto those frames tie couple of stakes and buried the whole thing somewhere around the beach with teh stakes looking away from teh camp. At teh same time tie the middle stake of the frame as close to teh point as possible and let teh vine stretch back to teh camp. That way when the toads come in charging we can raise the trap from far and they will have no time to stop and as such will impale on on them. Understand? Now i ll go and help Argurious.” As He finished he looked at teh youngsters to see if they understood. Although he would not show it, Jaim felt proud of himself for thinking up of such a plan.

Brisa listened to Jaim talk but really had no idea what he was trying to set up. Nevertheless she understood the instructions on how to make the frames; she may not understand why but she understood the how.

She looked at Aiden briefly and shrugged looking back at Jaim.

“Ok then” she said quietly and grabbed some of the more pliable grape vines. “I'm not sure I understand exactly what you want in the end but I can begin with weaving the framework. Seems like you want something akin to a larger version of an herb drying frame.”

She set herself comfortably and began to twist the vine around the wood with a reasonable degree of skill. She wasn't an expert but almost anyone who lived in a small village knew how to make frames to dry meat, vegetables, fruit, and the like. Autry had to dry copious quantities of herbs so Brisa tended to work slower but make frames that were a bit sturdier...she hated to have to remake them every time a new batch of 50 bundles of whatever needed to be dried. Normally she would have used a sinew or even hide thongs but they didn't have that now. The vegetation was harder to work with so she would need even more time to manhandle her way through this.

She hesitated and looked at the pile of vines she had collected evaluating them before selecting a greenish one.

“I have lots of different weights of vines, we can use the heavy ones as pull ropes, they will be less likely to break and also lay out straighter. These others can be used as ties.” Then she promptly put one of the vines in her mouth and began to chew it a little, softening it up so she could knot it easier.

Aiden nodded in understanding. In fact, it sounded a lot like a larger version of a snare he used to use for small game. He turned to Brisa to try to explain it better, "Hes saying to make a frame that also has wooden spikes on it, like a snare of sorts that we will trigger instead of the prey." He laid out the material in the form that they would build it on the ground, frame first. He smiled when he saw her already ahead of him with the vines. He would take some that she had already chewed and worked, and then he would weave it through the frame he laid out, tightening it to secure the pieces together.

Then he had to make the spikes, which were more like multiple wooden spears that intersected and protruded ominously from the frame. when he finished putting it together with Brisa's help, he looked around wondering where they would put it. the best place would be their most open position, maybe between traps where it would look like an opening. Aiden stood up and inspected their trap. working on the camp's defenses had completely taken his mind off of what he did earlier for the time being and he seemed to notice something just now, "Uuuum...Brisa?" he called, now staring at his hands, "exactly how long does this color spell last?"

Argurious saw the other three talking and that Jaim did not wait for Argurious but at the same time,the body knew that waiting for him would be just a waste of valuable time. Argurious decided to have a breather, and simply watched the trio talk as he rested.
Once they finished he saw Jaim walk towards him.

Jaim wrestled with himself trying to think of a way to explain the strategi to the boy infront of him. Knowing what kind of a person was his father,he doubted this will go well.

"Argurious..." Jaim looked at the boy silently for a moment before continuing."you will be our rear guard this fight. I decided it best to leav it to you."
Argurious had no idea what rear guard was. But being optimistic he pushed his breasts out with a smile hoping for something that would suit a great warrior. "What does that mean for me, where will i be fighting?"
Jaim was hoping the lad would not ask that question and simply accept the order as a good solider. But a question demands an answer.
Looking away, as if he was checking on other kids, he answered. "That means you will be beside laodike from the start and only kill anything that passes past us three. You are not to move from your spot and engage an enemy.... understood?!"
It was obvious how all enthusiasm left Argurious as he realised that he was being protected and tried to be kept in less danger as possible. Like any youngster he tried to change Jaims order.
At the moment Jaim saw Argurious was about to argue the matter he cut him off. "NO but's you stay back,otherwise you can endanger our chances of success."
Turning his back to Argurious he grabbed the half digged bush, yanked it from the ground and started to carry it to where they need it. He was unhappy with how he handled the situation, but there was little to do about it now. "Come now lad there is work to be done."

With much less enthusiasm Argurious followed suit and began digging at the next bush. The two said little as they worked and because of Jaim fast tempo Argurious had to rest often and just watch Jaim work by himself.
Argurious did not know what to say to argue his position in the fight. Jaim tho being the one who made the decision and knowing why it was made, stayed silent because he didn't know what to say to make the situation better or to cheer up the boy.

After the work was done Jaim told Argurious to take a break,the later being so tired he just went to shelter and collapsed exhausted without even a glimpse of arguing intentions.

Jaim walked to the other two children. "Brisa Aiden, how are things going? I dont see any frames did you already bury them?"

"Yes sir," Aiden said with a hint of pride in his work. He then pointed over to the rope trigger that was laying to the side of the supposed holes in their defenses. "One good solid tug on that and the trap will flip out from the ground and swing into them. Brisa prepared the vines for ties and ropes while I put it together." He then looked around at their scrounged up fort and a thought occurred to him. "What will we do about their archers?" While there was plenty of protection from advancing enemies, they were greatly open to any arrows or bolts from those small crossbows. This reminded him, however, that he picked up one of the crossbows from the frogmen. He went over and grabbed it, it wasn't a big or strong as the one he took from the bandits, but it was easier to handle and faster to reload due to its lower draw weight. It should be plenty to take down a frog.

"I got this from one of the frogmen," he said showing Jaim, "but it only had seven bolts left. I could make a bow, but i only have a few arrowheads and it may be some time before its finished. I'm not sure how many there will be, but i could take some of them out with this small crossbow given I practice with it for a bit. Plus, with any luck, they miss us and I have another bolt I could use in an emergency."

Brisa had been tired from her work, it was more energy than she thought to gather, weave, and knot all the vines, but it had been done. She had devoted the remaining time to trying to figure out how to make the few spells she knew work for them. Firstly figuring that the frog creatures were...well...frogs...she thought they would probably be afraid or damaged significantly by fire so she had gone and piled a bunch of easily combustible twigs as well as large twiggy branches by the fire. This way they could quickly get the fire going strong as well as be able to create burning branches as makeshift weapons. She just hoped they didn't light the whole riverbank on fire doing so. But they would face that problem if it came.

She had memorized the color cantrip again with the intention of returning Aiden to his natural color but thinking about it she wondered if it would not be better to change Argurios to match. She decided that this time she should probably ask first though and she went to find Argurios where he was resting at the shelter.

They hadn't had much time to talk since they left the village and she was a little hesitant at first. She cleared her throat awkwardly as she sat down and cast a glance towards the sleeping boar-woman to be sure she still rested easily.

"Argurios, would it be a good idea for me to put a cantrip on you too to help you blend into the surroundings? Of course you would be stuck that way till I am able to cast the spell again; its a permanent thing; but if you think it would help us now I could do it."

"good job on the defences young-lings. About the archers, truthfully i have no idea. i am hoping their infantry will swarm us and make it hard for archers to shoot. also i am pretty sure they will rush us because there is no element of surprise, and as you could see their morale is not strong either. Probably just gonna try and swarm over us like a wave and try to make it quick. Also their archers are not so strong so once we get behind the bushes we should have some sort of light cover." He pointed to he makeshift wall made from the thorny bushes. which now that was complete was about waist tall and two bushes deep.
Jaim took a look at teh crossbow, it was a crudely made weapon at best, yet it was still deadly against large mase where accuracy did not matter. "Good thinking lad, but i must warn you, once they come you will have little time to aim, fire, reload, and repeat. Also its accuracy is questionable at anything further than 10 meters, so it might be more useful too shoot at groups of enemies. But if you ever do have teh time to use it, do so." jaim handed back the little weapon and hoped that Aiden will not try to use it mid fight and because of it get hurt. preparing the weapon can take a tad too long and preventing the user to be fully aver of teh fight going around him.
"now if you'll give me a minute i need to check on our defences.

Argurios at first didnt understand what Brisa was asking of him. Being so exhausted his mind was a tad slow. for a few seconds he just looked at brisa like a halfwit, then it got to him. "Hm.... well i dont really want to be stuck like Aiden for teh rest of my life, but since i cant move much or fight for that matter, i guess i should be as less visible as possible.and i guess we can always get help in one of the bigger cities as we pass through." Argurios looked at his lap for a moment like the answer was written right there on his trousers. Once decided he looked up. "yes make me like Aiden."

Jaim took a little stroll around the camp. The bush wall was solid enough to discourage most frog folk who have a sensitive skin, also there be some urine on it too, he chuckled to himslef at teh thought. The spike in the ground were nicely put as well. the whole thing looked like it could survive the night. Once he got back to the entrance he gave one last advice before the crazy night. "Okay we did good on the defences as we could, the night is getting closer and we need time to rest. so rest as much as possible and be ready to jump on your feet at any moment once the sun falls comepletly." Jaime nodded as he finished, and went to sit beside Laodikes head, his palm on her brow, soon after he dozed of. Not much could be done now and he knew it, and if the army did teach him one thing is how to rest in any conditions.

Brisa looked almost hurt at Argurios's statement. She even opened and closed her mouth a couple times, as if she wanted to say something but then decided not to. She could undo her own damn spell, most mages could, even if it took another day of study. Why would her friend think her so worthless? Hadn't she done, if not well at least better, as they traveled? Maybe because she couldn't fight he didn't think much of her other skills. She knew the rules of magic, the academic side of magic, as well as she knew her own name. That's where training always began...it never occurred to her others might not understand how magic worked. She only knew Argurios thought he would have to get help from some stranger in a city to undo the simple cantrip she planned to cast.

She hid her disappointment, and didn't meet his eyes as she called the spell up in her mind. She let the magic flow out of her into Argurios, turning his skin a muddy greenish color. Aiden was a grayish color, due to the fact it had been foggy and raining when she had cast her spell on him. Now in the clear evening without the rain or fog, she figured a more icky brown-green color would do better. It really was a revolting shade but it blended nearly perfect among the soggy greenery of the river bank. Except for his clothing and weapons of course, Brisa could only change one thing per casting of the spell. So, as when she cast it on Aiden, she focused on his skin as the most practical thing to camouflage.

“If we are still alive tomorrow I'll change you back. I can at least do that much” she muttered softly, still without looking at him.

She walked back over to their campsite and the shelter they had created from the tarp and boat, noting with some distress that the little wooden skiff had a huge break in it now. It must have happened in their fight but no one noticed. If they survivied they would need to be on foot again, and this time on the wild side of the river. As best she could remember of the little bit of map she had of the area all the villages were on the other side. Till they found a bridge or some sort of ford they were probably going to be forging through bush and tree for the next several days.

She knew they would stay here until Jaim moved on, she knew the others would want that. And Argurios was injured, not to mention all of them were physically exhausted in general. She had no idea, however, just how long they would be staying in one spot. She figured she'd better check on their supplies, what few they had, so they would be ready to go when the time came. It was fairly simple work that would allow her to practice her memory exercises.

All mages needed good memories and they had a variety of tricks and techniques they used to build up their memory. She moved quietly making a mental record of everything they had, while at the same time trying to recall the exact color of every flower they had seen since leaving home.

She looked over their supplies carefully. Aiden had lost his pack, but they had lost one of their party to the frogmen, or so she assumed, and his pack was available. Rumaging through it she saw it had a cape and a spare set of rough traveling clothing. They couldn't afford to leave anything useful behind and after pulling out the cape for herself, she had no cloak like the boys did, she set the pack aside for Aiden to use for his supplies. The extra clothing would come in useful for someone later she was sure. She also put their fallen comrade's knife in the pack, she had found it earlier along with a sturdy staff, on the riverbank. The staff she wondered about but maybe one of the boys could use it. She set it aside in plain view so they could take charge of it it if they wanted.

They couldn't do anything with the boat but the tarp they were using as part of their shelter they would want to take as well. It wasn't quite a tent but if they would need to travel the wild side of the river it would serve well for simple shelter. Her own satchel was rather packed full, containing all her carefully wrapped books as well as various components for her magery. There was no way she could add more to her satchel, she hoped the boys would have room in one of their packs.

Finally she looked at what sort of food they had. It wasn't much. Much had been ruined in the rain, they wouldn't want to loose what was left. She wrapped it all up carefully in a leather sack they had found in the stolen boat. She could tie it to her satchel if needed when the time came to go, for now that should keep it free of the damp and vermin.

Satisfied she had actually accomplished something she wrapped herself in her newly acquired cape, and tried to calm her mind. Now that she wasn't actively doing something her mind was free to wander to all the worries that plagued her, and all her fears for the future. She gave a heartfelt sigh and closed her eyes. She couldn't close her mind however, no matter how tired she was, and she slipped in and out of a fitful rest.

Time passed slowly or the small fellowship. as the light slowly started to diminish, the rain began to fall more violently, as if some god had decided its time to flood the world. The river by which the group has fortified started to flow faster and stronger, and teh waves grew bigger resembling teh waves of the sea. Yet to all the onlookers it was strange how such a strong and violent current did not damage any of its surroundings. another strange this was teh rise of teh water level or teh lack of it. For all teh rain that has fallen and the size of its waves, the river itself did not rise.

Jaim sat on the sand facing the river. 'any moment now' he thought to himself. Holding his sword in his right hand, the grip strong and even, teh left hand on teh ground. in this position he could explode forward or jump on his feet in an instant. He was absolutely positive that teh frog-folk will come from the river. For the most part he focused his gaze at teh river searching for some sign of teh enemy to soon befall the group. occasionally he allowed himself to check on teh youngsters around him. Brisa directly behind him, Aiden at four o'clock, both showed the signs of being tense but little fear. Jaim was pleased.

The night grew complete, there was no trace of teh sun anywhere. the night was cold, wet and windy. But to Jaim's surprise the frog-folk have yet to attack. "what are they waiting for? the night will not get any younger." he murmured to himself.
He turned to Aiden "Lad walk by the borders of a camp, make sure i can see and hear you at all times. something is off they should have attacked by now. Keep your eyes open, they might be trying to surround us once more." Jaim was getting worried that he might underestimate the frog-folk or that perhaps there is someone else leading them someone who knows how to fight fights.

Although the group did not knew that, they were the only living beings around.

Aiden walked around the camp so many times he lost count. Instead, he ad focused on the rhythm of his surroundings, so that in case he missed something with his eyes, he would hear something out of place. The crossbow he carried was a lot smaller and quite worse than the one he had stolen from the bandits before. But he figured it would suffice for now. He just held the crossbow in his right hand and used his spear like a walking stick as he patrolled, unknowing that nothing would ever come.

Over time, his concentration wore down as his mind drifted to other things. His regret for his hasty attack on the boar girl and his complete inability to protect his friends on multiple occasions. He found comfort in being able to help with the camp an being able to fight off the frogmen, so maybe things were starting to look better....maybe.

Orcpunx & Astarael42

As time passed, the more violent the river currents became, yet the river did still not flood its surroundings. Jaim knew the event was because of magic, but he didn't know if it would aid them or the enemy. He did know the frog people were incapable of such grand spells.

As the sun rose at dawn the river settled down the sunshine broke the dark clouds that covered the sky minutes before. Jaim was sure it was an illusion spell. trying to break the illusion he looked closely at the surrounding area trying to find flaws. Because he found none he decided to risk and slightly cut his forearm. the skin bled but other than that everything stayed the same. Finally deciding that this is no illusion Jaim relaxed and told the kids to do the same, for the frog folk will not attack.

A few hours later, at about midday, a boat came down the river with numerous people. On it was a mage who was responsible for the nights angry river and explained he used a spell to destroy any evil hiding beneath the surface of the water. He also changed the weather because he disliked traveling in the rain. Although the group welcomed his help in surviving the night and also helping Laodike to a degree they disliked the man because of his all knowing arrogant air he carried himself with.
,
The children traveled with the boat for a 10-day, a welcome respite from their own rather onerous travels. After the first night, one Brisa had re-learned her spells for the day, she reversed her spells on Aiden and Argurios. She was still quite hurt that her Argurios didn't even think she had the capability to undo her own damn spell but reversing it despite his disregard for her abilities didn't give her the feel of satisfaction she had hoped. Instead it only made her sadder and she withdrew into herself, speaking to others only when spoken to and for the most part going about life on the boat as if she were no more than a quiet shadow.

Even when they sat down with the mage to discuss his presence, and they learned that he had been investigating the disappearance of his mage friends up river, she remained silent. She didn't voulnteer anything about Autry or what she knew of the places they had seen, leaving that to the boys to discuss and just keeping quiet herself. They listened to the wizard as he explained that every town he had visited was empty and listened to him expound on what he was certain the cause was. Brisa was just about to speak up, to tell the man that it wasn't any of the crazy things he had come up with, only because his certainty was starting to get on her nerves. It apparently was bothering the two boys as well as they spoke up before she had to. She pulled her cloak tighter about herself and continued to listen.

The mage seemed to ignore them at first but as Argurios and Aiden added such specific detail about the town where the priests were and their fight with the priests as well as the destruction of their home town, he seemed to come to accept that the children might be a valuable source of information and he asked them many insightful questions. Even Brisa started speaking up now, answering questions here and there as best she could. Fortunately by some unspoken agreement the children didn't reveal anything about the clues and artifacts they had gathered. Brisa did take a bit of the mage's charcoal and draw a rough sketch of the holy symbol however, telling the mage that all the priests were wearing said symbol. They spent the better part of the day answering all the wizard's questions and by the end he was convinced to return to his search upriver in a few days; this time he claimed her would go by land so he could visit all the little towns on the way that weren't connected to the water way; from the pattern the children related to him he figured there would be clues in these little nothing villages that would help.

On the boat there was also a healer, a shaman who was able to help Laodike and Argurios with a mixture of minor healing prayers and natural remedies. Being a healer he recognized Brisa's training at once and while they were on the boat he helped continue her training, what little he could. His “magic” came from the divine magic in nature while Brisa possessed arcane talents; but while he couldn't help her develop her magical abilities much the foundations of the magic and the healing were much the same and Brisa was still able to learn much from him.

Four days after they had boarded the boat Jaim and Laodike said their farewells, taking off on their own mission that had been delayed from all the trouble. During the time Jaim continued his training with Aiden, teaching him more on how to use and maintain his spear. He left his own personal spear with Aiden knowing the lad would be far less likely to come upon a quality weapon easily.

The goodbye's seemed hardest for Laodike and Argurios, the two had been very much thrown together in the “sick bay” on the boat. Argurios had also paid as much attention as he could to those tending him, trying to soak up as much first aid knowledge as he could. The shaman caught on to this and often spent time explaining things to him that he might not have otherwise; in the end Argurios came away with a much better understanding of combat medicine and a small first aid kit, a gift from the shaman.

The remaining six days without Jaim and Laodike seemed rather quiet, each of the children lost in practicing and studying their own skills. Brisa remained withdrawn, often studying her books for hours at a time alone on the fordeck of the boat. At night she practiced her magic for the mage, very little of it was active...mostly she recited information, learned uses of spells, uses of different spell components, and techniques for various magecraft, things like how to properly harvest moondust, that would become useful in the future. The one thing that the wizard really helped her with was working on developing her very own new spell. With the ash-ink she had created from the frogmen skin and the tutelage of the wizard she not only created her own new cantrip she was able to pen it into her spellbook for future usage.

The wizard had kept his thoughts to himself, realizing that if he told her how impossible it was for a child of her age and training to create a new spell she would never try. Thus when she succeeded he was shocked. For all his arrogance and self assurance he wasn't a bad guy; he almost wished he could take on the girl as a student but he would be traveling back up the black road and he knew he couldn't ask the girl to return to so much danger. Being alone on the road was bad enough. Once they put the children ashore, however, he handed a little scroll to Brisa. It was only a short note, penned in the wizard shorthand, but if presented to a colleague of his in Baulder's Gate Brisa would be able to find help if she should ever need it.

When the children finally were put ashore they had traveled a great length via the river. They were rested and fed and reasonably well supplied as well. Their time on the boat had allowed Argurios to heal and while all three had less endurance after their relatively easy travel of late their skills and strength had definitely improved. With boots on the ground they would quickly build their endurance back up again.

The boat left the children on The Trade Way, just south of Daggerford. The city of Daggerford appeared to be untouched by the black priests however the children were reasonably concerned about avoiding unwanted attention. Throughout their whole journey on the river they had the pressing feeling they were being watched. All three of them felt the presence but since they talked little they didn't really discuss it. They never were able to catch anyone watching them; just the occasional feeling. With no proof what was the point of sharing.

By the time they disembarked from the boat and it turned to carry the wizard and his companions back upriver the three kids were rested and ready to travel by foot once more. They didn't stop at Daggarford, instead turning south and beginning the long trek to Baulder's Gate.

Brisa picked that destination, through all her hours spent studying in private on the boat she had come to put together a very rough timeline of the strange priest's actions. The three strangers had appeared in Baulder's Gate from some unknown location, Brisa suspected it was the land called Chult she had found in the map book she carried. They had purchased supplies for a long overland journey. They had traveled inland from Daggerford, following the list of towns they had listed it was clear they were following the Black Road. They had stopped at Twiddledale and turned around; most likely because Twiddledale was on the edge of a vast desert and travel across it was no simple matter.

Brisa shared her notes with the others once they were no longer on board the boat; as pleasant as everyone had finally ended up being she was afraid they might try and stop her. It was decided the best way to find the priests was to find out where they came from and that meant Baulder's Gate.

By the time they reached Baulder's Gate winter was not far off; and winter on the Sword Coast wasn't the most pleasant of affairs. Chilling winds and rains pelted the coast and made travel by land and sea incredibly difficult. What wasn't difficult was finding out information on the three strangers. They were well remembered as were all strange visitors up from the southern “jungles.” They had arrived several months ago and departed for the south on the last southbound ship running ahead of the winter storms. While in the city they had caused no trouble, spent good coin, and in general drew no attention other than to be dark skinned black haired strangers in a land of fair skinned natives. Of course all the gossips that they children talked to assured them that the jungle was just packed with these strange people; and reports ranged from devout assurances all of these strange humans were uncivilized heathens who ate babies to they were all wealthy artisans who brought up weapons and crafts formed from strange woods, metal, and stone. And everything in between. The only clear fact was that the southern jungles were strange places full of bizzare wonder, great danger, and vast riches...in that order.

Brisa had never seen a jungle, had no idea what one was like, but everyone in Baulder's Gate spoke of the land with awe explaining that the vegetation was so thick and dense you couldn't even pass through it on foot. Travel was limited to the few roads and waterways. And the only real city of any note was Fort Beluarian; a trade fort and the resting place for so many adventurers and mercenaries traveling to and from the strange lands. It seemed pretty obvious they would need to book passage on a ship heading to the Fort but for now they were stuck to wait out the winter storms.

The children were able to rent a room above a brothel; the prostitutes were surprisingly welcoming and protective towards the children and offered them the tiny abode at a deal even the kids could afford. And so the kids settled down to their first “grown up” winter in a bustling trade city. They got jobs, earned income, quickly became experts at bargaining and purchasing needed supplies, and in general took their first big step into full “adult” lifestyle despite the fact that not a one of them was over 16. It would be a long winter but one they would emerge from older, wiser, and with a variety of new talents.

Aiden spent most of his days helping out at the smithy, and on other days, he would work guard shifts with Argurious. On his rare off time, he would help out with things that needed fixing around the brothel, something he decided to do to help balance the low price that they were charged for their room. He had to admit that he was a bit shy and embarrassed at first being where they were and the sounds he would hear, but over time he has grown more accustomed to it. He was very grateful for their generosity and tried to do whatever he could to show it. Even getting into a few brawls here and there when 'customers' got a little too rowdy or abusive. The boy may not have been as large as a number of men, but he was still tough for his age and precise with his actions, which especially worked in his advantage of the person was drunk.
Aiden was the oldest in the group, and felt protective of the other two by now, like an older brother. He was quick to make decisions that he would believe is best for the group, or to give advice even if it wasn't asked for. Occasionally he would even less if he felt there wasn't enough for all three of them, usually claiming that he had eaten earlier and wasn't too hungry. He felt like there was always something watching him, and it bothered him, though he didn't share with the others as he didn't want to worry them, they all had enough on their minds. He would be sixteen by the end of spring, and it made him think about where he was in life. Aiden had seen people leave and start their own lives at that age. It may have been tad early to some, but to a lot of working folk it was fairly common. These past few months a seemed to make Aiden mature more than other people his age around the town though he often didn't hang around anywhere too often, either to tired from working or just wanting to go relax at their temporary home to see what was needed and to hang around Argurious and Brisa. It was when he was in their company that he truly relaxed at the end of the day, knowing everybody was safe an sound.

---

Today was like most days at the forge. Lots of parts for different farm tools and carts needed, though nothing out of the ordinary. 'The fun stuff' as Aiden would call it such as repairs for arms and armor, maybe the occasional simple weapon. It was pay day today and when he left, the blacksmith gave him his pay for the week. Aiden gave him his thanks and started on his way back to the brothel, greeting everybody as he came in and went upstairs to their room, hoping one of his companions might be there by now.

For Argurious these couple of winter months were harder than the road. At first it was a good break from the constant traveling and sleeping outside, the possibility to buy food at teh market was welcoming as well. even one of the ladies from the brothel took him with her when she went to buy ingredients for food and when he could he would watch her cook and learn. Because in winter there is not a lot of work at the farms because its the time when life rests. Argurious spent some time a week working with a large family that had a mill and a carpentry workshop. Other days he spent at the town leathercrafter where he advanced his skill by learning how to make fur coats and other fine clothes that the high folk of the town wore.
Both Aiden and Argurious were scouted by private security companies. Aiden was old enough, yet Arguious was too young for most, but his size and physical strength offered him a simple job right beside Aiden. Both boys proved their skills and earned a solid job as private guardsman. Although they were always as an extra to the team, it did not bother them. Both got along with others and it offered a good pay, and a chance to sharpen their skills. Both helped at teh brothel anyway they could, but mostly it was with fixing things and helping teh security kick out problematic guests.

After the second month Argurious felt more and more trapped. All three of them had one room. For which he was thankful, but at the same time it offered him little alone time. This made him go into town for a stroll to be alone.
He didn't know if it was because of his orc lineage or something, but he could hardly contain his sexual impulses. He tried to hide it from the other two. At first he had little problem, but with time it got harder and harder to focus on anything if brisa was close by. One time he came home as he finished with carpentry work he came into the room and saw Brisa laying on bed reading a book. The room was warm, enough for her to wear thin clothing. As Argurious looked at her his eyes could only see the body lines under the clothes. A surge of energy rushed through his body. Not knowing what to do he turned and almost ran outside. He spent the next 2 hours chopping firewood to calm down himself.

The ladies at the brothel noticed Arguriouss problem and one took pity and offered him help. Argurious said yes, but once he saw what she meant by help he declined. Trying to make things easier for himself, he decided to work as much as possible and train teh rest of his free time. He didn't see anything wrong with that. It improved his physical fitness and money income. He spent little time in their new home and what little he did he mostly rested, being exhausted from overworking. At first it worked but soon his body adapted, the work and training did not exhaust him enough to for him to be brain dead. Thoughts about Brisa and desire for her company slowly started to fill his mind more and more often. Deciding to approach Aiden with his problem Argurious waited for the time when both of them would be in the brothels main room, so that no one could listen in on their conversation. Just as he was about to bring up his issue, a fight broke in teh room and both of teh boys rushed in to help.

After that Argurious did not try to approach Aiden again, instead he decided to accept the help from the lady that previously offered herself. Believing that, as an adult, she knew what to do and how to help. The first couple of times was weird for Argurious, but after awhile he was able to relax and enjoy the sessions. Although it did help with his impulses, he felt empty and lonely afterwards. He could focus on things again,yet if he would let his mind wander his thoughts would still drift to Brisa. Although teh solution was not perfect Argurious decided to stick with it till they hit teh road again. At which he believed things would go back to normal.

When they first got to the city Brisa was overwhelmed. The tiny village of Twiddledale was long in her past and even Loudwater, huge by her standards, would be a pauper's town compared to Baulder's Gate.

Fortunately the letter given her by the mage on the boat had served as an introduction to a wizard named Hector, he lived in town who offered to take Brisa as an apprentice. Unfortunately Brisa knew she would need to make some money too, she couldn't leave it to the two boys to provide for them, they needed everything they could get and were stuck in town for the whole winter. Hector helped her get a proper job scribing for the city's clerks.

The hustle and bustle of a major port quickly grew to be routine, Brisa still didn't like large crowds of people but she had come to wall part of herself off so she could endure it. She had even been nervous settling in above the brothel but she quickly discovered that most of those who worked there were just someones daughter, sister, mother, etc...they were people just like everyone else and they were so helpful it was impossible not to respond in kind.

The boys often did repairs, heavy lifting, moving, security work, and the like for the brothel. Brisa took a different role. Thanks to the letter of introduction the mage had given her, she had quickly found work as a scribe, a rather elite and prestigious line of work. It paid well even though it was very tedious and boring. She was however able to make a decent living and work as an unpaid apprentice to the wizard.

From her first pay day she had taken some of her own money and purchased parchment, ink, and quills and her first project was to offer her services to the prostitutes. For many of them it was the first chance they had to send a letter to family and friends outside the town. Scribes were expensive and money could be put to better use, Brisa's offer was well received and she herself was surprised about how happy they were to get messages out. In fact she made it a point once every 10-day to ask if anyone needed scribing.

Her days were pretty routine; wake up early, head to the Scribe's office, work till well past midday, then head to to Hector's for wizard lessons, finally when the sun was setting walk home stopping by the market often to pick up some kind of fresh food to enhance their dinner.

She often found when she was walking home that it felt like she was being watched. It was an unnerving feeling. Her stops by the market helped her disappear into the crowd, she wasn't sure why but whomever or whatever was following her never seemed to follow her through the market.

She wanted to mention it to one of the boys but she was afraid they would think her silly and jumping at shadows. It became a daily thing and she was always tense when she came home, though unless someone was looking close they never would see it. She had become very good an concealing her emotions in this hectic city she didn't want people to know more about her than she could help. She finally told Hector who didn't believe her completely but he did offer to teach her a few self defense moves.

"A mage must always be ready to run, but sometimes we can't run" he always told her. She hadn't the physical strength that her two male companions had but she was fast and limber and she learned to use it. She only learned 5 moves, two with a staff, the rest just with bare hands, but Hector drilled them into her, adding them to her daily routine, making her practice every day, till they were instinct. She still couldn't hold her own in a face to face fight but the constant training meant they were as effective as an experienced fighter, she could react instantly and likely get away to either run or cast a spell.

She disliked the small space they lived in, it got crowded quickly and even though they had sort of come to a “personal space” agreement with each of the children having their own cot/sleeping space they were still almost on top of one another. The brothel had a large courtyard for cooking and even a massive washtub for laundry but it was always cold and the weather was getting colder by the day. Brisa tried to study out there, bundled up and looking like a giant pile of furs, but it was difficult. A new spell, taught to her by Hector, changed all that. The “warm” cantrip was perfect acting as if she was dressed in the warmest furs, and combined with her “firefinger” she could get a wonderful fire started in the cook pit in any weather. She was soon spending all her free time in the cook yard, cooking their meals, practicing her few fighting moves as a form of meditation, or studying her spells or the other books she had.

Today she was in a great mood, even the strange presence that constantly followed her around town couldn't get her down. Spring wasn't far away now and soon the first ships would be heading to Chult. She had purchased a bunch of fresh hot sausage pies for dinner for the three of them. Most importantly had finally perfected her first personally created spell, Camouflage, having tweaked it a bit with Hector's help. She was hoping one of the boys would allow her to test it on them when they came back, she just didn't know how to ask. She never could figure out how they really felt about having magic done on them.

Aiden came through the door, dragging his feet. It was a long day at the smithy. With spring coming ever closer, there was a large increase in customers coming in to make sure they had all the tools they needed or to make sure it was repaired and ready for work. He flopped face first onto his bed. "I don't think i can feel my arms." he joked to Brisa, "Could you check to see if they are still there? one may have fallen off in the street." He sat up with a smile.

"I guess Argurious hasn't made it home yet." He said looking around the room. "I swear, everyone in the town is coming to the smithy getting prepped for the springtime. How has your day been, Brisa?"

Argurious came trough the door full of energy. His training and constant working build his body to be like a machine. and as long as he would eat properly he hardly ever ran out of energy. The only thing that showed the days hard work were teh blisters on his hard lathered hands. "Hey guys. What have you been up too. I think we should soon start looking for passage down south. Today so many people came. It was wild. Everyone needs one thing or another before spring comes." He walked to his bed and put his extra earning into his hidden bag. "i swear my hands haven't been this abused since forever." He said looking at his palms.
He didn't worry about the other two seeing his bag money, because he knew they were all in this together and was no point in stealing from each other. "Also i think it be a good time to see how much money we managed to work up. We need supplies and stuff for the road." He said as he sat on his bed, looking at the other two. and for the first time truly seeing them.