Location:
Llobrokor Mountains

---

Sucaria’s ears visibly drooped upon Fio not accepting the drink and placing it back into her own hands. She’d instead, then turn to Luna, walking quietly over and offering the drink to the Knight.

“It will be about a day's travel from here, and it will be quite the physically demanding journey.” Elnith responded. “You and I will likely be fine, though I feel as though one of us will end up having to carry Fio…though I suppose she could always attempt some levitation.” Elnith nodded, offering Sucaria a small smile as she’d walk over. “I do believe you should return her affections, sooner rather than later.” Elnith giggled, giving a small bemused expression over to the arguing Seelie and Fio.

“Grrr, I wouldn’t make threats if you’d just let me out human k-” She’d shout, before cutting herself off as Fio made her threats. “Yes ma’am sorry ma’am…” Wisp fluttered to the bottom of the jar, using one of her twisted hands to scratch the bottom of the jar dejectedly.

The peace though, would be broken by a shout just up ahead on the mountain path. Multiple shouts, in fact.

“She’s got a boulder! Run!”

Several men, wearing facepaint and sporting leather armor came barreling down the pathway, weapons drawn. Bandits! Running straight for them! A moment of likely preparation would follow as Elnith quickly drew her own blade, Sucaria hiding behind Luna and Wisp munching idly on a leaf…but just as it looked like they were going to engage, they just…ran past, not even bothering to engage or even look twice at the knights.

Coming down the mountain, just mere feet behind the bandits was objectively, a woman that Fio only came up to the ankle to. A giant! She sported short cut white hair, messily held back with a headband with a decorative horned headdress. Curiously, a scar could be seen on her forehead and one of her hands seemed to be a crude prosthetic that she didn’t seem to have much trouble manipulating.

Over her shoulders, a massive boulder and in her prosthetic hand, a hammer.

“...so they didn’t want help up the mountain?” Upon noticing Luna and the others though, her expression brightened. “Ah! More humans!”

Location
Harzel Plains

---

“...ah.” Grainne seemed to barely have heard Ethelred, being lost in thought. “Tch, I’m not. Who’d wanna work with someone that’s gonna give them more frostbite then that creepy elder beast up north?” She’d grumble. Well, if nothing else seemed like she still was as fiery as before.

“Glad to see you and Grainne still getting along, Sir Ethelred.” Lonan retorted with a light chuckle at the interaction. “She’s been annoyed she’s been benched because of her injuries fighting that wyvern.”

“Mhm…I wouldn’t say I was testing you, Luana. Your abilities speak for themselves and I wouldn't think a moment you wouldn’t do as I ask to the best of your ability.” Sorcha surveyed the land as she spoke, her gaze lingering on the fallen beast out in the distance, face soon wearing an expression of melancholy before shaking her head and turning her attention back to Luana. “I am aware of Druidic magics abilities. I learned some from the Tuatha myself you see, when I was a child. I think you may be underestimating it. Your spear is invaluable, certainly but Druids powers come from the land itself. You could say they come from the Betrayed God itself in a way.”

As the group approached closer to the castle, it was clear the full operation of dealing with the fallout was underway. All the Wyverns were being cleaned up, the fort itself being repaired. A small group of court wizards and druids could be seen out near where the Wyvern King had fallen, talking quietly among themselves.

As they approached the front of the fort’s gate, they were greeted by a rather oddly dressed woman.

“Oh, back already? I didn’t think-” She paused. “Well, I was thinking the people from Airedale would have looked…different.”

“I told you not to believe every rumor you hear, Lif!”

“Hey, I’m not that gullibly Lonny!”

“And I asked you not to call me that either.”

“Eh, but Lonan is a much less cute name…” The woman, dressed in what appears to be some blacksmith or similar occupation gear offered the group a smile. The large mechanical contraption sitting behind her not seeming to be a thought in her head. “Nice to meet’cha! Lif! Er, my name. That’s my name. One of Harzel’s knights. Gotta say Queenie, you don’t look anything like the rumors the guys spread about an old hag that uses curses to enthrall people or a demon using-”

“L-Lif! She’s our guest!”

“Yeah? And she should at least know what the other guys are sayin’ about her.”

“...Those are quite some rumors.” Sorcha laughed. “Nice to meet you as well, Lif.” Lonan if nothing else, seemed to let out a sigh of relief that she didn’t take offense to the rumors. “Sir Lonan, if you don’t mind I’d like my knights to rest for a bit and for my Knight, Luana here to take a look at the dragons corpse.”

“Of course, your majesty. We’ve prepared a room for you and your knights.”

“Hmm…hey, You’re from the Reinhardt family, right? You guys are supposed to be pretty durable, right?” Liff hopped over to Reinhardt, posing him a question.

If Luana did as Sorcha asked and took a look at the Dragon in question, she’d find it lacking in a bit of information s far as the dragon itself. Her divining spear showed it flying from the mountains, swooping over the forest. A clash with Reinhardt and the Wyvern, though as the Wyvern would blast the land below, and consequently Reinhardt alongside it, oddly it seemed like something was actively preventing it from being seen clearly even by her spear.

Aside from that event though, she’d see the Wyvern terrorizing the plains near the Harzel border. The further back she went though, the harder it’d be to glean any information. However, what she could tell though, was something pulling her towards the mountains as though the spear was telling her to seek more answers there. The fire and indeed, the entire Wyvern’s body as well, if she probed just a little with her druidism would at least confirm what the Queen had said. This thing and the fire itself if she went to check the blasted out area…was completely unnatural. Something had twisted this being into existence.

@Rune_Alchemist@Crimson Paladin@Guy0fV4lor

Luana didn't look any more pleased with her majesty. ”So, you know druidic magic as well?” She pursed her lips tighter. ”I’m well aware I’m not a master at it. I suppose I could try. I mean, if you don’t want to.” What more could Luana say? She told the queen the limits of her abilities, but it seemed like she wanted her to try anyway.

As soon as they got to the keep, Luana broke off and approached the corpse of the great dragon. She walked past everyone without as much as making eye contact with them.She looked at the creature with a steely gaze. It’s one remaining eye looking back at her. Neither of them blinked, even as it continued to rain ash.

The first thing Luana did was consult her spear. The interesting part wasn’t what she saw, but what she didn’t see. The dragon came from the mountains just like everyone had predicted, but it seemed that the spear was having a hard time showing her Reinhardt as the dragon’s flames washed over him. Surely he survived the attack somehow, but it was curious that her spear couldn’t discern it. Endless Eclipse had never failed to show her anything, so this was very strange to see.

”Alright you overgrown lizard, Let’s see what my magic tells me.”

It was weird to use her magic like this. She hadn’t been trained for it, and she had never fought anything quite like it either. So instead she used her magic to communicate with the earth itself. She could feel the surrounding dirt trying to communicate back. Then the distant trees. But while Luana had been a resident of a forest she never considered herself its neighbor. She felt like a foreigner, bumbling around and barely able to communicate with anything. But the world was at least reacting to her. When she looked up at the dragon though, there was none of that. It nor the flames didn’t resonate the same way the trees did, or even the dirt under her feet. And then it clicked for her.

Neither the fire nor the dragon were made from the earth, they were made by something else.

With a sigh, Luana lowered her hand. If Sorcha knew druidic magic, maybe Luana would be capable of learning some of it. But for now, she could tell that there was something very wrong with this dragon.

”By Aigorost's twenty-one eyes…”

Luana marched back towards the group. Unlike before though, she kept her eyes squarely on Reinhardt ”Not to rain on any hearts or anything…” Once she had approached the group, she looked at everyone present. ”But there’s something very wrong with that dragon. I would deal with everything you cut from it with extreme caution. I would recommend on holding off on processing it until we’ve had time to search the mountains.” She looked back at Reinhardt. ”When that giant lizard breathed fire on you, what happened?”

---

@Rune_Alchemist@BrokenPromise@Crimson Paladin

Reinhardt's eyes continued to scan the surrounding forest for threats as the group of knights made their way toward the keep where the the Great Wyvern had been slain. Raising his head, Elias inhaled deeply as if to pull the winds themselves into his lungs. There it was, the smell of Dragons; fresh enough to cause concern, yet faint enough for the breeze barely carry it. Whatever the source-- it was likely very far off, and unlikely to be a threat. The group had experienced a largely peaceful journey thus far-- but after his failings during the previous mission in the region, the Knight considered any lapse in his guard an open invitation for the same disasters to befall the retinue once more.

Even with the Queen present, he couldn't let himself relax this time--

Especially with the Queen present-- he couldn't dare lower his guard by even the slightest; not even for a moment...

A sudden movement broke Reinhardt from his silent vigil; his hand nearly going to his sword before realizing it was nothing more than an eccentric craftswomen... Perhaps some kind of blacksmith? Even if his guess was correct, she donned the strangest blacksmithing garb he'd ever seen... Though admittedly he'd seen very few blacksmiths apart from his Uncle beyond simply reading about them in books. Elias' eyes carefully scrutinized the Woman; observing her from toe to tip before doing the same for the strange construction behind her.

"The inheritance of Sigurd's gifts can manifest in different; sometimes even strange ways." he answered flatly; concerned over why such a question might be posed, "But yes. I myself am blessed by the blood of my forefather with both strength, and sturdiness."

Before he could inquire as to why such was currently relevant-- Luana posed another question; causing him to stiffen for the briefest of moments.

"I was briefly incapacitated." Reinhardt responded curtly, peering over his shoulder to stare at the Druid; his brow slightly raised.

Grainne was still as abrasive as ever. Ethelred felt a bit of pity seeing her taken out of the action. It was necessary to allow her to heal before putting her in danger again, but if he was in her place, he'd be a little miffed at being denied an opportunity for payback for the attack on the fort. The Frozen Knight was tempted to make a retort to her words, but it felt wrong to egg her on in this state. Maybe after she was back to full health.

Luana was busy divining what she could from the black wyvern's corpse, and Elias was busy answering questions. There wasn't much for Ethelred to do aside from keep his eyes open for trouble- after all, a meeting between Sorcha and the Harzel forces was a rather sensitive thing. Perhaps he could use this time to do some prodding of his own, on matters that he had a personal interest in.

"Speaking of rumors," Ethelred spoke, addressing Grainne. "Has there been any news coming out of Redwater Point? It's my understanding that they've been having some trouble, but I've been a bit out of the loop."

He didn't actually expect her to be receptive to his questions, but he might be able to get something out of her regardless.

@Guy0fV4lor@BrokenPromise@Rune_Alchemist

As Elnith and Luna talked, she'd notice her maid slink up behind them rather sadly and offer a drink. Without hesitation, Luna smiled, nodded and took the container before taking a drink from it and handing it back. "Thank you for the drink, Sucaria." Lunalel said before turning back to what Elnith said about "returning affections". "W-what!? Af-affections!? I-I'm not sure what you speak of." Luna retorted quietly before abashedly looking away.

But she didn't have long before there were a small band of bandits running at them. An eyebrow raised for some short seconds before her brow furrowed then unsheating her sword quickly in tandem with Elnith and pushing her other hand out as if blocking the gang from even thinking about moving toward Sucaria. "Come no furth...er?" She commanded before noticing the bandits running past them, away from a large woman now appearing in her sight-line.

The Knightess relaxed and lowered her blocking the bandits from Sucaria as she realized that their comment about "she has a boulder" had to do with this giant in front of them who seemed quite delighted to see them. "A pleasure to see a friendly giant here." Luna said with a bright smile. It was a small bit fortuitous to see a giant who could hopefully give them directions to the giant's city. "My name is Lunalel Lightsword, but please call me Luna. My companions and I were on the way to visit the City of the Giants. Might I ask the name of the Fair Giantess before us?" The Lady Lightsword asked with a smile. First impressions were always important.

"Tch, Sura-"

The mystic blade materialized from blue lights, as Fio swiftly tucked the jar containing Wisp into her bag. How irritating, idiot bandits deciding that they needed to charge in now. Shouldn't it have been obvious what the outcome would be? Did they really want to die that badly?

"-Create-"

But the bandits just ran right past them.

It was moments later that she learned precisely why.

The woman was enormous. It was one thing knowing how big giants were from an intellectual standpoint, it was another thing entirely actually seeing one in person.

It perhaps didn't help that Fio herself was so small, but that was a point she would never be willing to admit to.

Before she could calm down and speak, trying to stop her heart from beating quite so quickly at the realization of how massive this woman was, Luna had already stepped up and introduced herself.

Her blade disappearing, Fio gathered herself, straightened her hat, and stepped forward.

"I am Fio Fan Falisse, the leader of this expedition. This is Dame Elnith, and Dame Lunalel already introduced herself," she began, taking her skirt in one hand and curtsying politely, before gesturing to the knights in turn, "We come on behalf of Queen Sorcha Mulryan, seeking the knowledge and expertise of a skilled Giant smith."

As luck would have it, that hammer looked more like a tool then a weapon.

Though given its sheer size, anything hit by it would be dead all the same.

"Were those bandits causing trouble?"

@Rune_Alchemist@Pyromania99

Location:
Harzel Plains

---

“Hm, that bad is it?” Sorcha studied Luana. “I had assumed that anything made from it would be as cursed as it would be, but…hm, perhaps we can still use it in some manner with a properly skilled smith. As long as we store it properly it should be fine.” She glanced towards the massive corpse in the distance, a serious expression soon giving way to one of nonchalance. “Don’t worry too much Luana. Handling curses and the like is something in my talents. If you don’t mind Lonan, I would like to discuss Harzelslack and this dragon.”

“As long as its within my capacity to, I will.”

“Feel free to rest and do as you will for now…but keep watch. If that dragon was drawn by Reinhardt there’s a good chance it might happen again.” Sorcha would nod to Lonan before soon following the knight into the fort, earning a salute from the Harzel knights as she passed. If nothing else, the knights here seemed to have some respect for Sorcha’s knights.

“Redwater? Why you wanna know, ice-face?” Grainne queried as Sorcha left. “Apparently something’s got the people spooked. Increased fomorian activity, but the mayor there, uh, Conand I think his name is, assures the king and us its no more than usual.” She’d respond with a dismissive shrug. “One of our other knights looked into it but didn’t find anything of note aside from some unseelie causing mischief.” Grainne glanced to the side. “...hey want to spar?”

“I see I see….hm.” Lif was much shorter than Reinhardt, causing her to have to look up at him. “That means…you’d be good for weapons testing! Whatd’ya say you let me test a few of my inventions on ya? It’ll be fiiiine, promise! Live targets make much better test dummies then mountains!”

Location
Llobrokor Mountains

---

“Ah! They spoke to me!” The giant, briefly seemed stunned by this revelation as she’d set the large boulder down, then proceed to get down on her hands and knees, so that she was supporting her upper body on her shoulders, putting herself on the same level as the humans as she could.

“Oh aren’t you all just the cutest little things, ahaha!” Her good hand reached out and stroked Luna’s head with a single finger like one might pet the head of a cat or dog. “Names’ Gunnrun! Those little scamps weren’t botherin’ me. Thought they wanted up the mountain but the moment I picked up the rock there they ran. I think they’re skittish.” Gunnrun replied with a grin. “Nice to meet ya all, miss Fio. Dunno who this Sorcha lady is, but Elnith there has some armor made by us, huh? Looks pretty familiar…but if yer lookin’ for a smith I could introduce ya to my teacher. He’s one of the best….uh, probably not best to travel now though. Probably couldn’t make it unless I carried you all. Not that’d I’d mind.” Judging from the way she was looking at all of them, she almost wanted to carry them all.

@Rune_Alchemist@Crimson Paladin@Guy0fV4lor

There wasn’t anything Luana had to add to Sorcha’s comments. Unlike her queen, she couldn’t pretend to know the extent of her powers. If she thought it wasn’t an issue, it wasn’t something that she would press.

Of greater concern to Luana was Reinhardt’s reaction to her. It almost felt hostile. Maybe he was just uncomfortable around cute girls new people, or maybe he was miffed that she would request they delay harvesting the dragon. Reinhardt did seem awfully interested in its heart. But that was the thing, his request didn’t really make sense. Yes, getting a piece of the dragon to study was important, but why did the heart specifically matter? She was new to this and knew little about dragons. She didn’t know that much more about Reinhardt save for tales of how invincible he was. He might have been if he survived dragon fire. But that didn’t make sense. If he was truly invincible he would rule the world already. There had to be some gimmick that pertained to how strong he was.

Luana had a theory.

Reinhardt pretty much sounded like “rain heart.” If you took the rain out of it, you were left with heart. And he wanted the dragon’s heart. Perhaps the dragon’s hearts were used to fuel this special power he had. Maybe by consuming the hearts, he could grant himself their vitality. A sort of extra chance should something bad befall him. Maybe the reason why Endless Eclipse couldn’t show what happened to Reinhardt was because this power gives him the ability to warp causality. Something like that would effectively give Reinhardt a stockpile of lives, or chances to defeat his foes. An ability as strong as that would require strong hearts to power, and you couldn’t go much stronger than a dragon. She didn't know anything about this type of magic or have proof for any of this, but it sounded really cool. But really, Reinhardt was a fellow knight. She probably shouldn’t be trying to figure out what his weaknesses were. Then again, it helps to know where your friends are weakest so that you can help them get all the hearts they need.

Luana needed some way to kill time. “Keeping watch” seemed to be a pretty relaxed activity around here. Grainne looked like they might spar with Ethelred, and it looked like Reinhardt was being invited to do some weapon testing. Luana didn’t know how to feel. No one was talking to her, but no one was threatening to hit her with their weapons either. That just meant she could save one of her allies. Maybe.

”I’m sure Reinhardt would love to endure whatever you throw at him, but I’d like to talk with him a bit. If that’s okay?” She shot Lif a smile before turning to Reinhardt. ”Ideally, away from mountain cracking artillery.”

Cutest... little things...

Already this situation was not exactly what she'd been hoping for. She could hardly blame the giant for not knowing who they were talking about, but that really wasn't the issue.

Certainly, it was a bad time to be ascending a mountain. Fio could tell that much, which is why she'd already been intending on making camp. But the way the Giant spoke about them was simply confirmation of what she already thought in the first place.

She had no intention of scaling the mountain tonight if the person offering to carry them was going to address them like that. Every fiber of the Sword Witch's being screamed out not to accept it.

"... We'll be making camp for the night," she said, after only a moment's delay.

@Rune_Alchemist@Pyromania99

"The mayor says it's nothing? How strange," Ethelred observed. "Back when Elias and I were investigating the burned villages, we stopped in Redwater just as the Fomorians made an attack. After we drove them off, we spoke with the mayor, and he seemed oddly unfazed for a man whose town was just attacked with several deaths. At the time I assumed he was just numb from trauma or struggling to make sense of what had just happened."

He certainly couldn't forget that incident- that was the one where Od was abducted.

If the mayor was not taking the threat seriously even after having seen the aftermath personally, then Redwater might have more problems than malignant fey. He would have to worry about that later- for now, the primary threat to be addressed was the wyverns.

The second matter was Grainne's offer to spar- a proposition that he had not expected to hear. He couldn't blame her, though- after all, she was going to be left out of the wyvern hunt, and he knew how it felt to be a squire, wanting to get some combat practice in.

"Spar? Sure, I'll spar with you," he answered. "No magic, I presume?"

He was curious to see what Grainne could do.

@Rune_Alchemist@BrokenPromise@Guy0fV4lor

Luna wasn't sure how to feel about Gunnrunn using a single finger to rub her head like some small animal. Really, she didn't mind. At least she didn't try to outright squash her like many other creatures of similar sizes would do. And she offered to carry them to the city of the giants? Wonderful! Is what she would say, but she wasn't the leader of the group and, in fact, Fio even seemed to decline the offer to be carried there.

Their leader's reply was to merely say they were making camp. Luna's face changed from a sincere smile to a questioning look with her eyebrows furrowed ever so slightly as she pondered why Fio would decline the offer. "I... Well... Suppose we will be sleeping here for the night." Luna mentioned, frowning a small bit. They could have gotten finished travel but now they were going to camp again? Well, fair enough. Luna scratched at the back of her head. She glanced slightly at Elnith, wondering if she could gauge the woman's opinion on the matter. Her thoughts on the matter were fairly obvious if one paid attention to her.

The knightess had some small mind to openly object to Fio's decision but, she didn't want to speak against the assigned leader by Her Majesty. Not when it was over something not so dangerous. "Well, thank you for the offer regardless Gunnrun. I suppose Fio would prefer to get some rest before head out."

Location:
Llobrokor Mountains

---

“Aww…” The giant, Gunnrun seemed a bit disappointed for only a few seconds before smiling and sitting up, causing the ground to rumble lightly under her weight. “Well, that’s fine too! Don’t mind if I stay with ye all tonight eh? It can be rather dangerous out here and I would feel terrible if ya little ‘uns got hurt.”

“Aha, don’t be too upset Miss. Gunnrun. While we all appreciate the offer it does not appear you have any way to safely carry us.”

“...eh, you could all ride on my head. Or my arms. Or my-”

“Fio, allow me to help set up some tents.” Elnith would cut off her conversation with Gunnrun who’d merely pout a bit as she’d cross her legs and lean her back against a rock wall.

“Lady Luna…how did you like the drink?” Sucaria approached the knight with an inquisitive look. “...I made it…mom showed me how once…” She shot a mildly hurt look towards Fio. “...its good. Supposed to help re-energize after physical activity…”

Wisp, for the most part was staying quiet and was idly, boredly, etching something into the glass of the jar with her hands. Her back was to Fio and she seemed like she was up to something since the mage couldn’t see thanks to the fey’s back being towards her.

Location
Harzel Plains

---

“No, use whatever you want.” Grainne responded. She didn’t give much of a reason for it aside from drawing her blade and taking a defensive stance, both hands on the hilt and ready to engage. “Uh…normally we do first blood but…first one to get knocked over?” Whatever ulterior motives she might have had for requesting this, she seemed if nothing else like she did want to duel.

With a exhale, she’d carefully study Ethelred, before swiftly moving forwards towards the frozen knight, seemingly quite comfortable taking the first blow in the duel as she’d test the waters with a simple upwards strike.

---

@Rune_Alchemist@BrokenPromise

Reinhardt eyed the strange metal monstrosity behind the tiny Harzelslack Knight with caution. Though he hadn't the slightest idea what the contraption actually was; nor it's designed purpose, Luana seemed to identify it as some form of artillery-- and if the Woman's insinuations were to be properly understood... She wanted to test this weapon of Artifice on him.

Strong and sturdy as he was, the Knight was none too keen on the idea of being pelted by some kind of experimental weapon; especially considering it was of the same class as a ballista. Ballista bolts alone were enough to give the man pause when it came to testing his resilience; yet with how much metal was used in the construction of the device, imagining exactly what the weapon fired invited chills to the spine.

"I'll have to decline your invitation." he responded bluntly to the Inventor before gesturing toward Luana to follow as he distanced himself from prying ears.

"Something the matter Luana?"

@Rune_Alchemist@Crimson Paladin@Guy0fV4lor

”Okay.” Luana checked to make sure they were truly alone before looking back at Reinhardt. ”So for starters, I'd like to apologize. I'm not usually like this. I've grown quite comfortable fending for myself, but now I need to be on the same level as a frozen knight, you, and even the queen.” She coughed into her hand before averting her eyes. Just for a moment. ”That and her majesty doesn't have any issue telling me how to do my job in front of everyone. You can understand what that does to a proud hunter. Haha! But um, yea...” She squared up her shoulders and folded her arms. ”At the end of the day, we're both on the same side and swore an oath to the same queen. I may be new and a little irritable on my first day but that doesn't mean you have to distrust me. Sorcha gave me a task she wants finished, and if you want to help her, you need to help me.” Luana was a tall woman, but even she had to look up at Reinhardt. ”Now that it's just us, what really happened when that lizard burned you?”

Luna giggled a little at the interaction with Gunnrun before her attention was turned back to Sucaria. "Ahh. The drink? Well, perhaps a small bit bitter but I think I can feel myself being energized by it!" It didn't taste very good, truthfully. Coppery, perhaps, though it was difficult to say as such to someone that already looked hurt. "Much appreciated for the drink." Luna mentioned before looking toward where Sucaria had looked earlier, Fio. "And, don't worry about anything Fio has to say, if she said something to insult you. She's a bit of a grouch isn't she?" Luna whispered to the maid before looking toward Elnith putting the tents up.

The other warrior mentioned going to get the tents together. "For now, shall we help Elnith? It'll be nice to have a place to sleep for the night after all." Luna mentioned. "Course, I wonder if I'll be able to sleep after downing a bit of that drink you gave me." The knightess teased her maid.

I can use magic, and the duel is first to be knocked over. Not unreasonable, but a little curious.

Ethelred took his position opposite Grainne, using his lance and shield for weapons. When his foe charged at him for the first strike of the match, he thrust his lance at the incoming sword, intent on deflecting it. He could have used his shield- after all, that's what it was for- but he was not one to ever underestimate a foe, and Grainne's terms of the duel made him suspicious that she'd be using some form of magic. After all, would a a magic-wielding knight not have a magic-wielding squire?

It might be easy enough to freeze the ground beneath them in hopes of having Grainne lose her footing, but he didn't want to resort to such a below-the-belt tactic in a sparring match.

@BrokenPromise@Rune_Alchemist@Guy0fV4lor

Overhearing Luna and Sucaria's conversation, Fio shot a look towards them. Why on earth would she accept a drink that looked and smelled so much like blood? If it was genuinely supposed to be helpful, at least tell her what was in it first!

... and it it really was blood, the answer would be no, anyway!

Not the most use in setting up the tents, the Sword Witch instead focused on ensuring all of her belongings were laid out and properly cared for, as well as making sure nothing belonging to anyone else that was of any importance was forgotten. A mental task she was for more suited for than the physical.

At least, that was her intention, until she noticed that Wisp was facing away from her in the jar. And carving some sort of runes... as if she didn't notice. Even if Fio had missed her actions, she'd quickly have picked up on the activation of any sort of magic the unseelie attempted.

"Excuse me."

A slender finger tapped on the jar lightly.

"If you're thinking of breaking out, do you know what would happen to you if the jar broke with you inside of it?" she began, with a frown, "I wouldn't need centipedes to punish you if you did that. The glass shards would be enough."

She let out a mock sigh.

"Besides, bad girls who try to run away don't get any honey bread..."

@Rune_Alchemist@Pyromania99

Location:
Llobrokor Mountains

---

Sucaria shot Fio a mildly amused seeming smile, catching her eye briefly as the witch glanced over to hers. A brief amusement lost however, as her attention would be back on the focus of Lady Luna. The half fomor seemed a bit taken aback by Luna’s response, face coloring a mild shade of red.

“Glad…to be of service.” She’d respond. “I must…insist on sleeping. Travel is tiring.”

“Oh, Luna thank you.” Elnith would happily accept the help from the other knight with a smile. “Mhm, I miss my bed already truthfully. I know I’ve spent more time outdoors than inside but a nice, comfy bed always makes me happy you know.” She’d idly comment, finishing up one of the tents for the evening.

Gunnrun watched the small group of humans with some interest, though didn’t seem entirely sure how to interact with them beyond watching. Considering her size and giants typical genial and somewhat overly friendly nature towards humans she was probably trying not to cause an accident.

“So…what do you all need a smith for? I’m pretty handy myself! I can even use ancient smithing techniques and all.” She’d question the group as Fio went over to inspect her prisoner.

“Weh!” Wisp immediately turned around, trying to hide the evidence of her crimes with her body…which admittedly, would have done a decent job if she hadn’t also scribbled some on the bottom of the jar. “...Tsk, foiled again. I dunno what you’re talking about though, human shorty, but I wouldn’t shatter the glass I’m dumb but not that dumb! I’d just…twist it a little.” She’d giggle. “Anyways, bad girls also need honey bread to stay good girls so pay up and I’ll behave for the rest of the night, promise.”

Location
Harzel Plains

---

Grainne seemed a little surprised by something, but as her sword was deflected by the lance she clicked her tongue, glaring at the opponent in front of her.

“I said use whatever you want,” She’d respond, digging her feet into the ground. “Otherwise there’s no point to this.” She’d follow the strike Ethelred deflected with a powerful overhead swing that seemed more like it was aimed to actually injure than a friendly spar. He’d certainly have to deflect again or use his shield.

As the two’s sparring would continue, whatever outcome in the short few minutes that would follow, Reinhardt would become aware of a feeling similar to that when he first became aware of the Black Wyvern. A gentle breeze carrying the scent of blood gently caressed the fort and the soldiers working to still cleanup after the previous attack.

But it wasn’t as far as it had been just a few moments ago.

It was closer.

much closer.

“H-hey! Something’s coming!” From atop the fort's tower a shout and a bell could be heard as one of the Harzel knights raised the alarm. Something could be seen…rolling, across the plains at impossibly high speeds! It looked like a large, red colored boulder simply rolling across the land, crushing anything beneath it and it was heading straight for the fort! It was certainly not as large as the massive black wyvern, being the size of a large horse but it was moving almost faster than the eye could see!

@Rune_Alchemist@Crimson Paladin@Guy0fV4lor

Despite Luana's attempts, Reinhardt was not going to say anything else about the matter. This just prompted an eye roll from the hermit.

”Whatever.” She'd just have to talk to the queen about this later. Surely refusing to answer a pressing question like this was against some kind of rule? Reinhardt had sworn allegiance to the same queen she had, so there had to be some way to get him to speak.

But Reinhardt's refusal to treat her as an equal was hardly the most pressing issue at the moment. Something had decided to roll itself up into a ball and was headed right for them. Stopping something so large and so fast was outside of Luana's skill set. The best she could do was survive the thing's attack.

”Everyone, find cover!” Luana didn't think she had time to dig a hole or run to hide behind the black dragon's corpse. Her eyes scanned the ground until she found a rut. It was likely caused when moving some of the large wagons around on a rainy day. She dove into it and waited for the dragon to roll past her. While lying on her side, she gazed into her spear to get a better look at the creature.

"You do realize that twisted glass would shatter," Fio sighed as she channeled magical energy down through her fingertips. It wouldn't take very much to disrupt and ultimately entirely erase the unseelie's efforts, but there mere fact she was attempting it in the first place was unfortunate. Perhaps a light ward placed on the jar to avoid such attempts in the first place would be for the best.

"In any case, fine, I'll get you some honey bread," added the Sword Witch, rising to her feet to go to her pack. The fact she quite enjoyed it herself meant there was no real problem with carrying it around, and magic preservation techniques meant that it was unlikely to go stale. Indeed, all of their rations would have no problem surviving the trip as long as her sigils remained intact, no matter how perishable they might be.

"I wonder if you're familiar with the concept of 'release on good behavior'?" she questioned the jarred unseelie as she opened her pack, head tilted, before her attention shifted to the giant.

"I have no doubt in your talents, but we've been asked to speak to a smith who can work with dragon scale," Fio responded, "While it would certainly be a stroke of luck if the first giant smith with came across possessed such a skillset, I hope you understand why I don't want to make that assumption."

She didn't intend any rudeness, of course. It was simply the fact that it would be far too convenient, especially given that even a highly skilled smith would hardly be guaranteed know how to work with such a material as dragonscale.

It wasn't exactly a common skillset.

@Rune_Alchemist@Pyromania99