Kaito looked at his boss first with a bit of confusion and then started to smile. Jazdia had basically thrown the Orc under the bus. For someone dedicated to law, order and justice she sure had a more practical, darker side. A trait that the fox certainly appreciated. The elf's little scheme certainly had made his day. ” Well played”

For a moment the kitsune thought about the situation. So far their party had been reacting to the inputs of the enemy. If it was up to Kaito they should search for ways to gain the initiative and force them to react to their moves. When the other forces your hand, you’re more likely to make mistakes. ”hmm, I doubt we’re gonna find the prince in Pesti. It makes no sense to place him on top of some bomb. Considering who went there my guess is we’re gonna find a pile of corpses. If we’re lucky Chounan and Yvonne might have kept someone alive to question. But if I was our enemy, I would not place anyone at a trap who holds valuable information on the op I’m running. We’ll have to see if there is anything useful to get from Pesti”

The fox paused a bit before he continued. ”Anyway, we should extract our resources and hope they are in decent shape after triggering the trap. If the prince is really in Fanghorn they have two options; stay put in a well defended position or relocate to somewhere else. They will be more vulnerable on the road than in the castle. So I think it is safe to assume that they will stay put. Especially if their trap did not take out a good chunk of the pursuers. It’s not like we can lay siege to the place with just 8 people.”

”So we either need to come up with a way to get into the castle or a way to force them to leave and hit them on the road. Like torching the place down to the ground or having the king send an army. Would he make a move now that his favorite orc got blown up?

"Even if I am right, it is still fifty-fifty odds. My initial plan was to scout Fanghorn and got a good look if the Prince was there. Then ride back to Rascade to inform Fred and put him in a situation that he can't refuse to send an army. That option is still viable, but The Enemy's curtains made it a lot more complicated."
The cold air morning air caused Jazdia to shudder occasionally.

"The reason why we retreated back to Pesti is for our own safety too. Now the north bridge is closed there would be no easy way for us to escape had Matilda and her team got overrun by the enemies. We can't let ourselves be trapped between hammer and anvil."

"We can lure the enemy out a lot easier if only Fred is actively doing his part and not cowering under the pretense of secrecy." Jazdia groaned, which seemed to be the only expression she showed after a long while. Indeed they should asses their 'resources' as Kaito put it, but broken comms were unexpected. She decelerated her horse and turned to Solomon. "What's the status of your shadow in Pesti? And was that...a Leshen?"

---

Solomon rode close to the others as they made steady speed towards Pesti. Unfortunately, the ride would not be as fast to give the horses ample energy to pace without racing themselves to exhaustion. Likely, whatever skirmish Matilda and her team encountered would have ended by the time they arrive in favor of either side. Still, the possibility existed. Either way, the force had to regroup.

“The protections of the fort are beyond what one would reasonably expect.” said Solomon at the end of the conversation between Jazdia and Kaito. “I agree with jazdia’s assessment. Even had Pesti not been a trap, regrouping would have still been an appropriate decision. Since this new development, may only Fanghorn be trapped.”

The image of Fanghorn was beginning to fall out of view as the horses. It would be several more minutes before Pesti would show over the horizon. Jazdia moved her horse so now that she and Solomon were riding next to each other. She inquired about the shadows of Pesti, and of August. Solomon wasn’t aware she even knew he called upon him. Though given how she was able to see through the very walls of Fanghorn, it was not a surprise.

“I cannot say for sure what the shadows are doing at Pesti. While my connection to them lets me command them, I do not have full vision of their endeavors. That said, I do know that they all still exist, and are still roaming about. I call feel that much.” Solomon paused as the horse created space between him and Jazdia. It decided that it would rather skirt around some debris along their path than attempt to jump over it. After the short distraction, Solomon resumed.

“As for the leshen as you say, he is not such. I can see why you would confuse them. No, that was a siabrae. Undead of the forest, and an unlikely being to have formed. His name is August Fernby. Like most undead, he had a normal life prior to his death. He loved the forest, and he died protecting it. The circumstances of which are tragic. I recommend you speak with him if you want to know more. My purpose for calling upon him as I did was to finish what Cedar started. Like Cedar, he is a druid, able to command the wilderness. Once August is finished with what was set, he will join us in Pesti. If further assistance is needed, then he can be of more tangible aid, unlike the shadows.”

"Resurrected druid huh?" asked Jazdia with a raised eyebrow. Like what Cedar had currently demonstrated, Druids were difficult folks to deal with, and she reckon the difficulty would be at least twofold with an undead druid. But Solomon assured her of his purpose and seemed confident that this 'siabre' would be more approachable and cooperative than the first impression about him suggested.

"Yeah, I think I can see the trace of Cedar's works," she said, recalling gleaming sands that had been sowed on some parts of the road. She activated her eyes again and had a quick scan toward the treelines on both sides of the road "Pretty sure I didn't ask him to disable the entire road, and I can't see him anywhere nearby."

Without lowering the speed of her horse, Jazdia reached her thermos, pulled the cap, and drank her already-cold tea without bothering to reheat it.

"Let us hope August can finish his task quickly. We might need all extra hands we can get."

[GM Post]

Being rudely awakened in the middle of the night was not a nice feeling, but at least it had proven that the warding construct worked as intended. Three of them were set up, each ridiculously complicated, but the customer had generously met Asevor's equally ridiculous price tag. And he of course delivered, just as it was proper.

The outer layer was a powerful scrying mask, an ingenious design traded from a Tretagor archmage many years back. The most rudimentary masking was a simple tug of war, where a strong enough attempt will punch through like an arrow through a sheet of parchment. This one instead deflected the scry, rebounding and dispersing potential result into a much larger potential area that an accurate pinpointing was nothing more than a pipe dream. The downside was that it's less effective the closer the distance involved were, but it was not an insurmountable barrier to someone of his intellect.

Then the second and third constructs came in play. By utilizing part of an object or a person, Asevor was able to create a decoy that'll mislead predictive magic to its position. Meanwhile, the third construct was an illusory one that replay the one-day happenings in a certain room, overlaid with the second ward. The entire thing was fragile enough, and with the rigged explosives it'll be irreparably damaged from the concussive blows and the shrapnel. Finally, once it's gone the paired construct would sounds an alarm to alert Asevor that the trap had been sprung.

Thus the garrison was alerted and prepared for combat, that brute Ragnar couldn't even be bothered to conceal his lust for violence. Thankfully the archmage held the highest command in this clusterfuck of an organized treason when the client weren't present, thus he kept the northlander in leash. For now.

"Lord Asevor? What's that?"

"Just a little spy, my good baron. If my amulet wasn't faulty, it's an undead of some sort." A nondescript black blob floated in the air, isolated and compressed within a glowing sphere of arcane energy. His amulet said it's an undead, and a short cast of detect undead indeed pointed at it yet again. Did another one of these triggered his room's warding just now? Troubling. "I'll take care of this one, and any that happen to be in this fort. But outside my presence, always assume that you are under watch."

Let's see. Wrinkled hand reached into the silken nightrobe, taking out a small leatherbound book. Flipping to a certain page, Asevor cleared his throat before making some gesture in the air.

"Koriloth's purge undead should do, I believe. Let's see. This goes here..."

It started with a line, then quickly grew into some sort of cantellated tesseract. Carefully adding one last line, Asevor injected mana as the spell construct rapidly collapsed into itself. From the center it pulsed outward, barely a small gust of wind to unintiated mortals but easily felt by those attuned with magic... or to undead, specifically, the feeling that something was trying to dismantle their very existence.

The shade in the prison quietly dissipated. Any other in the fort itself also lost capability to maintain themselves, though the walls broke the spell from affecting the outside. But this should at least deter the necromancer from sending more minions inside. Intangible spies really were the most annoying to deal with.

Trouble didn't end there, of course. Mere minutes later there's report that the bridge to the north collapsed in an explosion. Then the men sent to check on it was stopped at the gate, where apparently some throny bramble grew and blocked the gate from opening. It's still growing quickly, even. And since it's a magical phenomenon, of course they call upon the magic expert. Asevor took his time getting dressed, of course. As a professional he had to be presentable. Besides, he need to retrieve all of his rings and trinkets and whatnot.

"Interesting."

The growth weren't just outside the gate. It's surrounding the entire wall, all but trapping them inside the premise. Two of the pearls on his amulet glowed, this... druid and undeath. What an odd combination. Asevor performed a series of gesture over his right eye, and soon enough a circle filled with geometrical pattern formed like a fancy glowing monocle.

"Ah, yes. I see, so that's how it is." He turned, pointing at one of the adept mages. Of course he's not going down there himself, that's what underlings were for. "You there, can you use detect magic? Yes? Good. Bring five men down and break apart the druidic influence around the overgrowth, and be quick about it. Comes sunrise we'll be neck deep in thorns, and we cant have that can we? I'll deal with the caster."

The foe was underground somewhere, if the flow of magic was accurate. That'll render most of his offensive arsenal moot, how annoying. But thankfully it was an undead creature, then Koriloth's workings should still be effective even if it's only an approximate imitation. Leisurely he formed the same spell construct, though this time directed in a wide cone downward instead of an indiscriminate pulse.

Asevor released it once. Then another. The growth stopped halfway through the third attempt, though from his observation the enemy had fled instead of truly purged. Well, that was to be expected. No sense just standing there taking attacks while fueling such a large workings. It simply wont work.

"He had fled, I will keep watch to ensure he'll not return." Again, there's no way Asevor's getting down there. He's far too important for a henchman job. "Well, what are the rest of you standing around for? Clean up the bramble outside the gate, and check on that bridge!"

”You think Fred is going to send an army without definitive proof that his brat is in Fanghorn? We only got tracks from the location to Fanghorn and barriers blocking our vision. Certainly very suspicious but moving an army against one of your Barons will put all the nobility on edge. Stability of the kingdom vs safety of your son. That’s a difficult call.”

There was still a degree of uncertainty about the prince's location. For a moment he wondered if he could come up with a way to get more definitive proof. Kaito pondered the idea to infiltrate the castle, using his ability to magically disguise himself. But if they had magic barriers to keep prying eyes out, they might have also implemented defenses against his illusion magic. Going in there alone would be taking huge risks. Something he’d rather not do if not entirely necessary.

Looking over his shoulder the kitsune noticed that the doctor was following them. Based on what he said Kaito deduced that he had used some form of necromancy to resurrect some forest being in order to finish the bear’s druidic magic. Quite an ingenious way of using necromancy he had to admit. Getting rid of all those plants would certainly be a drag for whomever was in that castle. They might just have to get beyond the walls to cut it away by hand or dispel the magic.

Suddenly an idea started to form in the fox’s head ”I have an idea but it is a little bit risky. It will require us to get closer to the castle again but might give us more information then we have now. With all that druidic magic going on outside of the castle and the village, some people have to get beyond the walls to clear it all up. We could try to capture one of them and see if we can get any additional information out of that person.”

---

“Agreed. Hopefully Cedar also returns. I do not believe August would be too keen on replacing him. Then again, if we require it, there are more than August among my acquaintances.” said Solomon. In the brief moment of silence that followed, Solomon pondered what Kaito had said. The purpose of this diverse team was to keep the political factions from knowing of the prince's absence. There was enough pressure to declare war against Meche, so having someone work in the background to secure the prince was ideal. Though their methods thus far had been flashy, there was not much evidence to indicate the crown had any dealing with it. Should an army be sent, then there was no hiding it. And like Kaito said, it would not do well in the political relations internal or otherwise to instigate a civil war.

Kaito spoke again, with a plan to help gather more information from Fanghorn Keep, ”I have an idea but it is a little bit risky. It will require us to get closer to the castle again but might give us more information then we have now. With all that druidic magic going on outside of the castle and the village, some people have to get beyond the walls to clear it all up. We could try to capture one of them and see if we can get any additional information out of that person.”

“It is too late for that.” said a voice harshly. It was clear, deep, and seemed to have come from below Kaito’s feet. Near by, the earth separated as two pairs of horns attached to an elk skull glided across the path leaving a tail of raised dust. Like a crocodile with their head exposed above the water, August had appeared, much sooner than expected. Miraculously, the horses did not seem disturbed by his presence and he even managed to keep up with their pace.

Despite the soil parting by his jaw, August spoke again without obstruction, “I was driven away. Some pathetic mandrake attempted to purge me. Just before I left, mana wrenches began murdering the thorns. I would have gone back and buried them all in roots, had I the freedom.” there was some contempt in his voice. If it were not for Solomon, he would have leveled the fort. Even with the spell caster and his purge undead spell, August would have seen to its destruction. At times, Solomon’s compassion, if it could be called that, was a real thorn in August’s side. But still, he owed much to him for his second chances.

“They are more focused on the bridge it seems. They left the southern gate free to thrive. They’ll bottle neck themselves by sunrise.” August’s voice calmed down as he finished his report. “In the mean time, I shall join you towards Pesti.”

[GM Post]

Yvonne glanced at the mercenaries trying their best to pen her in. Then her sight flickered toward Chounan, much in the same situation on the other side. The heat from the fire baked at her back, contrasting the cold plate of Matilda's armor in her grasp. She sighed. Oh well, one last attempt, then it's mass murder.

She let the orc captain go, as gently as it's reasonably possible under the circumstances. Then, mace in hand, she charged into the enemy ranks. A few spears were thrusted in response, a very textbook maneuver, but their timing and reach were mismatched. Drilled and experienced in combat, but mostly not quite veteran yet. Come to think of it, now that the fire brought some extra illumination, most were young faces.

Maybe this will work after all.

Judging the distance, Yvonne halted and built up her inner strength as she swatted the spear that extended furthest. It didn't break but was ripped out of the wielder's grasp with a yelp of pain, the return swing repeated the feat on another. The spears flew in an arc to clonk the people around, a moment of chaos that she perfectly utilize to tear through into their ranks.

A different power built up in her lungs as Yvonne howled, an inhumanely loud cacophony closer to a beast than a human. The effect was immediate, the mercenaries seized in sudden terror before almost at once they turned tail and fled.

"I'LL RIP YOUR ARMS OFF AND BEAT YOU TO DEATH WITH IT, MOTHERFUCKERS!"

Some shook off the effect sooner than others, but the sight of their companions fleeing (and the threat they're hearing right behind them) kept the rout going strong. Most of them stumbled on the fence, but it wasn't built to keep humans out. Within moments they climbed over and vanished from sight, leaving terrified screams behind.

That was easy, for once. Stretching her arms, Yvonne went off for a repeat performance to relieve Chounan before finally managing to drag Matilda into relative safety.

*****

Several minutes later, the communication device on Jazdia buzzed for attention as the paired device reestablished connection.

"Is this bloody thing working? Hello? Oh finally! Whoever designed this need to get a spanking, I swear." Yvonne's voice could be heard from it, somewhat distorted and a bit high-pitched in a way that resembled a chipmunk but at least it's connecting. "Short version, it all went to shit. I think Matilda got a face-full of explosives, she's got shrapnel all over. Currently unconscious again, but she got some scrying orders out to missus Verny here. Supposedly prince's in Fanghorn. For sure this time. Small fort on a hill, there's stone wall, village attached next to it, in view of the river yeah? He's in the garret up there. What to do now, boss?"

"So it is either they are not really aware of what happened in Pesti, or simply trying to keep us out of their city..."

There was a powerful mage warding the entire place. That explained the curtain and anti-scrying magic deployed in Fanghorn. Once again the unconventional agent had proven his worth. Unlike Matilda and--

When Jazdia busied herself contemplating a certain orc captain, she heard a ping on her communication device. Huh, it seemed the commpass was not as damaged as she had imagined.

"Yes, come in!"

At first, it was a distorted voice akin to a dying chipmunk. "Is this-- yiikk working? Hello? ---- wiikkk yiikkkkHello? ----"

"I cannot hear you. Grip the device tightly then speak."

Oh finally! Whoever designed this need to get a spanking, I swear."

Oh, she would be more than happy to deliver the feedback on this obsolete piece of junk to Old Man Anderson himself just for the fun of it. But that could wait.

"Cut the chatter, Miss Yvonne. What's happening over there?"

"Short version, it all went to shit. I think Matilda got a face-full of explosives, she's got shrapnel all over."

"Is she dead?

Currently unconscious again, but she got some scrying orders out to missus Verny here. Supposedly prince's in Fanghorn. For sure this time. Small fort on a hill, there's stone wall, village attached next to it, in view of the river yeah? He's in the garret up there.

"The description matches, yes.

What to do now, boss?"

"First is to make sure you are clear to move out from Pesti. How is the situation over there? How many of them you are dealing with, and who are they? The prince can wait. We are currently on our way to provide you with some assistance."

Uncanning Matilda was surprisingly easier than expected. Some of the screws were tightened beyond normal means to remove, but a bit of extra juice and it twisted out just fine. Then it's a matter of removing the plates off the orc. Some part didn't look pretty of course, and by that Yvonne meant the mounted crossbow, but eh. Mattie will not have any problem getting replacement.

"Kindean mercenaries, they're paid to guard the mysterious cargo by a shell company. Their leader was caught in the explosion, and unfortunately he didn't have plate armor to protect himself. We scattered the rest of the company, about twenty or so. Amateurs, got no armor and a few weapons. Dont think they'll rally but who knows, I'd rather not stick around." Now that their situation was reversed, it's not impossible for a strike from the dark to inflict damage in a moment of carelessness. Even with Verny's darksight.

"Say, if you're coming here maybe get the cart we hid earlier? Ain't no way to move Mattie on a horse. Ah, would be great if our bear can leg it faster too."

Meanwhile in Rasacade, on the same frigid dawn, Fredrucus stood at his palace's highest section, watching his city spring to life. Though there was a lockdown and a threat of war, people didn't seem troubled by it. Shops were open, with or without customers, and streets, though somewhat sparse, were still populated by shoppers and common citizens alike.

Kindean people were hard workers and his father's decision to reform the country was a no-brainer move.

His father, King Jonas was a very strict and paranoid man. Though a visionary leader, he trusted nobody unless there was a stake to keep his allies stayed in line. There was no occasion for him to go without deploying a full platoon on his itinerary and there was some occasion when those who breached the security code got mercilessly executed. At one point in his life, Fredricus believed it was due to the rough upbringing caused by his warmongering grandfather who didn't take the defeat of Kindence after a Ten Years war very well, and now at some point he still did.

The alliance between the royal family and noble clans was built on fragile associations. It was a legacy from his father, but he did not blame him. Jonas was always a role father and leader to him, but Fred had no desire to be the copy of his predecessors.

Instead of brandishing fear and intimidation, he chose to be practical and understanding. In exchange for their loyalty, he distributed power to those clans. A sign of trust, and promoting them to take their part to make this country prosper. It worked for so many years and to think someone would break this status quo had made him enraged. Even more so when his spy reported that one of the Delving whelps was caught sneaking from his tomb. He had to take refuge in the highest pinnacle of his castle to cool his head off.

The scheme their orchestrated was not that surprising, but they did the extra mile to desecrate his father's resting place as well. Right in the most critical times. Only animals are capable of doing such preposterous things.

The noise of heavy climbing steps causes Fred to draw his sword and spin around. He was a king, but make no mistake, the aging monarch was still capable of personally lopping off a traitor's head from their treacherous shoulder.

"Your highness..."

Despite having a blade pointed at him, his chamberlain astutely knelt. For someone who just experienced a rude awakening that highlighted his vulnerability, it did ease Fredricus' nerve a bit.

"... I bring news from Squire Anderson, they have finished the search on the tunnels, and found the body of the Black Serpent Guild Master Gerrald, as his highness requested."

Fredricus sheathed his sword. "What about Henri?"

"They didn't find him."

"So what the heck did they find? What about the weapons?"

"Indeed His Highness, the soldiers found the weapon stash. It says the amount was enough to arm at least two and a half thousand people. The place seemed to have been abandoned just recently."

"Seemed just recently?" the king glared tensely. So Jazdia's report was true. there was a potential rebellion hiding under his feet. Nearly losing a grip on his trademark calmness, Fredricus blared. "Who dares to do that?"

"I beg your pardon, His Highness. I do not now, simply relayed what the squire said."

"And what are the fates of those contrabands?"

"The royal guards are still transporting the crates as we speak."

The monarch sighed. Clearly, there was no way Delving could plan all of this by themselves. He must have supporters, other nobles, and clans to cover their backs. It felt like everyone was turning against him and he could no longer differentiate between his own allies. Could he trust Matilda? Where was his son? Was there anyone in this country that doesn't want him dead? Could he even trust his own chamberlain?

"The body of the aforementioned individual had been secured by Madam Antigne and her team, His highness." the chamberlain reported, again his timing could not be any better. at least it was something else Fred could divert his attention to. If chance allows, he would go down to the wizard's laboratory right now and commended Antigone to use whatever spell to make the dead sing. But right now he doesn't want to act brash. He could imagine how those pesky nobles would mock him behind his back for using testimony from a talking corpse as sole
evidence-- no, he will need another piece to connect the dots, and he expected his hirelings to bring him just that.

"Very Good. Summon the Squire at ten o'clock. I want to hear the full report from him. Dismissed!"

"As you wish, my liege."

"Local mercenaries? Who hired them? And for what purpose?"

Jazdia soon realized that half of her message was lost in transmission, probably colliding and overpowered by Yvonne's incoming message.

"Say, if you're coming here maybe get the cart we hid earlier? Ain't no way to move Mattie on a horse. Ah, would be great if our bear can leg it faster too."

"The bear is not with us. It would take some time to refit the cart with one of our horses. I can do that for you, but if you want to depart quickly, I suggest you look for another transport in that village. Hang tight, we will be there for one hour! It seemed the diplomatic approach is no longer viable from your end. You are free to defend yourself, but keep the body count at a minimum, yeah? Do you still want me to bring the cart or not?"

Kaito and the others continued their way towards Pesti. What started as a rescue mission for the prince seemed to evolve into a rescue mission of the other teammates. But that is kinda the shit that happens when you walk into an obvious trap. From what the fox could hear of Jazdia’s conversation, it sounded like a shit show going down at Pesti.

The kitsune turned his head once more towards their team leader. ”“Any relevant information coming down the line about what we can expect when we arrive?”

"Unnamed local mercenary," The connection was so bad whatever was said from Yvonne's side was still on hold, so she turned to Kaito instead. "Rings any bell? I believe they were not part of Miss Noble's company. Their leader got injured by the explosion, so the situation is a complete mess over there. A misunderstanding I reckon, and considering nobody was trying to defuse the situation, we should at least expect pitchforks and torches. Classic!"

She waited for a moment. Still no reply from Yvonne yet.

"Say, I am wondering if Matilda brought an important trinket with her, something that indicates her service in the small circle around the king himself. I am sure the investigation would be a lot easier if that was the case."

As the Mercenaries freaked out from Yvonne's terror, he put off his combat stance and signal Veronica that the area is cleared with his hand signs. He went straight to Yvonne and Matilda hurriedly to give them a hand. Chounan offer Yvonne a hand to disarmed their party leader's heavy armor so that they could bring Mathilda in safer without a heavy burden armor.

"She said it's some sort of trading company, Smith something but it's almost definitely a shell. Looks obvious to me, it's to trap whoever come investigating, but only Mattie talked to them and she wasn't exactly coherent in the short moment she's conscious." Yvonne winced at the estimated arrival time. That's long enough for those merc to gather somewhere and set up a plan, and their healer was out of contact. What a mess. And then the villagers probably will come investigate sooner than later too.

They've been had rather good.

"Uh, if I wasn't clear enough - ain't no other survivors from the explosion. Well, if there's some they'd be burned at this point, whole place went up in flames." Damned tool was choppy, likely damaged. Thankfully messages still partially went through, she just needed to not talk at the same time as Sparky. "Cart would be great still, Mattie's too banged up for a ride. I can rifle through her pocket for stuff, I guess? If old Freddy give identification to anyone it'll be her."

Bombs and mercenaries. It sounds like some fun party has started over at Peski. If the scene was as chaotic as Jazdia described, the local villagers were going to join the festivities too.

”Torches, pitchforks and mercenaries? Sounds like a wild party. We better hurry otherwise we’ll be missing all the fun. Anyway, those mercenaries could be pretty much anyone. Give a man some gold coins, a spear and a shield and he will pretend to be a fighter until the actual fight starts. Without the name of their commander or notable members it is hard to figure out who they are.” Spoke Kaito swiftly as he let his horse increase its pace.

---

“To be so unaware of the trap laid for would be meddlers, I doubt the mercenaries are of any repute. Especially given their lack of armaments, organization, and recently their leader.” Solomon chimed in, tagging along the end of Kaito’s observations. He looked ahead down the road, Pesti still not within sight. The sky remained dark, though near the edges of the distant horizon was just light enough to threaten the coming dawn within the next few hours.

“Retrieving the cart will add to our travel. There will be further delay since it will limit the horse’s mobility.” Solomon only really caught half of the conversation, the half that Jazdia spoke. It was clear the the cart was being requested. As it stood, time was very important. Already much would be lost due to the trek between the two villages, giving Yvonne’s opponents plenty of time to regroup, perhaps even strengthen their armaments. Being disorganized didn’t necessarily mean being less of a threat. If there was an explosion, then the village would be riling, and they wouldn’t know friend from foe.

[GM Post]

"Ya know what, nevermind. I'll figure something for Mattie, meet you halfway?"

Rifling through Mattie's pocket did yielded a slightly scuffed piece of the king's order, complete with the royal seal and old Freddy's signature. It'll be useful in the near future, probably. Thankfully it wasn't yet time to make use of it - a spark of ingenuity coupled with a few well-placed blows later and Yvonne and co managed to kludge together a rather crude but functional travois out of the tent and spears and whatnot scavenged from the mercenaries' abandoned stuff. The party slinked away as the villagers finally gathered in sufficient number to investigate, a procession of torches and hushed whispers trundling forward to the ruined granary.

They didn't quite get too far, with Chounan's horse gone and Yvonne's own ride relegated into pack mule, but the group made it clear away from the village by the time the first ray of sunlight pierced through the eastern horizon. There'll be issues ongoing there, but that's someone else's problem now. Yvonne was more than willing to wash her hand off the matter.

A grin broke through Yvonne's visage as she finally spotted the other group coming from the distance, made visible by the crack of down. About damn time, yeah?

The gloomy night has faded, along with the mist among the trees. Their pace was faster, for the trail had become easier to follow. Yet, to be able to discern the silhouettes of persons on the far end of the road, Jazdia had to activate her eyes, hopefully for the last time this morning.

"Glad you made it out alive!" she greeted as they arrived at their unspecified rendezvous point. The elf spared another moment to give up her assessment after she dismounted from her horse. "And glad you you didn't bring additional company."

Jazdia recognized Chonan and Veronica, and of course, Matilda herself, who seemed a little bit worst for wear. Scanning her purely out of concern ... her prior assessment was definitely an understatement.

Guiding the horses, and by the extent the party off the road, they gathered in a clearing surrounded by enough trees and foliage that at least give them some cover from the passing patrol. Then, Jazdia spoke again.

"We cannot go far with this makeshift sled. But that's the least of my concern. It appears that the enemy's capability to coordinate their countermeasure is not as sophisticated as their magical enchantment." Jazdia yawned, though the sun had arisen, the light it radiates was hardly replenishing. "Still, there are some riddles and decisions we must solve and pick. But first, a full report would be nice. Just keep it simple."