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	[u]Weather[/u]: Still cold, as befits threat of oncoming weather. In the time since the skirmish, the temperature has actually dropped a little.   
 
	[u]Time[/u]: Mid to late afternoon. The field processing of the Ankhegs has taken a bit of time, and the sun traveled a notable distance in the sky by the interim. 

	[u]Ambience[/u]: The air took on a more acrid note; musky, acidic, but not exactly sterile as the insides of the great beasts were left open to the wind. Those winds blew with the same penetrating chill as ever, and the otherwise quiet of the lands around was near to absolute.   

[center][color=darkgray][h2]*****[/h2][/color][/center]

	Mosswater's and L'Rose's wagons figured out how to get themselves out of the bind they were in when the Ankhegs attacked. It turned out to be a much easier task when a horse-sized bug wasn't trying to eat them at the time, which would become an excellent lesson to pass along to future generations. To wit, they were now able to move freely back up the pathway to the main road, should they desire to. But at present, it seemed like none of them had an immediate want to leave the scene of the slaughter just yet. In fact, those remaining in their wagons began to climb slowly down to do their little parts to help with the butchering and harvesting of the giant buggies. 

	Lizbeth's eyes lit up when the possibility of learning how to swing a weapon from Kathryn came up, though she did look to the others with a similar sort of expectant gaze; the look one gives when they want something but feel a little guilty attempting to articulate their feelings. She stammered a little bit, saying, [color=darkgray]"Do you think, um, maybe I could ... more of the, hmm. Maybe I could learn about magic? How long does it take to learn your spells? Can I hit things with weapons [i]and[/i] learn more magic? Can I learn both over the winter? You can train in winter, right?"[/color] The expression describing a stereotypical child in an equally stereotypical candy store bore weight in this moment, as a starry-eyed Lizbeth looked ready to gobble up knowledge from as many sources as possible. 

	Cecily answered the question put to everyone, concerning if they saw what scared the Ankheg, rather absently. [color=darkgray][i]"No. I, ah, did not. Wasn't that all of you that scared it? It looked like that from here."[/i][/color] and seemed almost relieved to see Lizbeth suddenly find excitement in possibly learning something new, even if it might just be her guests humoring the girl. For the meantime, she did as best she could to rein in her niece's exuberance by giving her a task. [color=darkgray][i]"Lizbeth, sweetie? Help me with this wine dilute, please?"[/i][/color] The elder L'Rose procured bottles from her wagon, some empty and some full, and began mixing drinking water with wine at a ratio which favored the water. [color=darkgray][i]"Make sure everyone gets a bottle, okay?"[/i][/color] Cecily shifted her attention to the rest of the group and addressed accordingly, [color=darkgray]"Drinking and cleaning - That will give you your legs back if you drink it, and it'll clean you up better than just water. Keep those stains from setting."[/color] Lizbeth did as she was told, cheerfully passing out the bottles to whomever wanted them. 

	Tarace didn't really do much at all throughout the course of this, but did gratefully take a bottle and drank deeply from it, explaining it was, [color=darkgray][i]"For his nerves."[/i][/color] Barbal, being a perpetually scowling sort of Halfling, reinforced Kathryn's answer to Baronfjord, [color=darkgray]"Yeah, them were Ankhegs. Lucky they weren't the big ones, might've had some problems there. But they were big enough, I suppose..."[/color] His voice trailed off and his eyes darted about as if searching the inside of his skull for a retreating thought. [color=darkgray]"I've seen them before. Not unheard of around here, mind you: 'Bane of Field and Forest,' they're called. Dead stupid as all Hells. Mostly eat dirt, too. They'll upturn cropland and pick off a few herd animals every year, but unless they're a ways south of here, they're supposed to lay eggs and sleep through the cold months. Why, if we found a suspected Ankheg burrow, we'd set at them around springtime with turpentine traps and have a big feast of..."[/color] Mr. Mosswater stopped, his ears seeming to twitch at the tapping and cracking sound coming from Kosara's great, greenish-yellow hulk of potential bug-meat. And then he snapped. [color=darkgray]"WHAT THE HELLSYA DOING?"[/color] He quickly recovered and stomped over to her butchering site. 

	The gruff Halfling pinched the bridge of his nose as if warding away a growing headache and took on a forced patience, saying through gritted teeth (at first), [color=darkgray]"O-right. You'll get some good meat that way. T'ain't all you'll get if you're not careful, and you'll ruin some good shell that way."[/color] He pulled a sturdy knife from his belt and tapped on the shell segment just behind the main claw of one of its front appendages. [color=darkgray]"See here? The tenderest, tastiest meat comes outta this place right here, but you have to cook it inside that shell. When it comes out, you can split it open easy-like, add some seasoning, and close it back up 'til it cools some. Beautiful, that. Just beautiful. BUT NOT IF YOU KEEP CHIPPING THE CARAPACE!"[/color] 

	At a distance, Tarace took another long drink from his bottle and confided in Cecily, [color=darkgray]"I kind of like it when he gets all surly like that."[/color]

	Be it in a manner that was as loud as it was instructional, Barbal gave Kosara (unless directly prompted to leave) a crash course in removing the chitin from the creature to get at the meat without damaging it, what parts were best left inside the shell for immediate preparation, and a deep dive on a couple of his favorite Ankheg recipes. In short, the assistance that the Tiefling requested was given by the angry man, along with a few pointers to help out with her budding kitchen skills. Just in the most ass way possible. He also made it a point to take Kathryn up on her offer, [color=darkgray]"Yeah, I'm sure we'd be fine with taking some of this off of you - mind you, the meat I'm mostly after is the stuff you're not getting with this field dressing. When you're done hacking the carapace and the big cuts of meat out, we'll just take what's left, if it's no trouble to you. I aim to make some winter sausage. Never could with Ankheg before, it being a spring meat. [i]But again[/i], the sheep belonged to Farmer Laurent. This is his land, not mine. I'm just helping him."[/color] 

	Lizbeth, who at this point was passing out the last of the bottles to the party, paused at Victoria and smiled. [color=darkgray]"I like the way you sing. I don't think I can do that, though."[/color] The pause lasted an odd moment longer before moving along to Baronfjord. [color=darkgray]"I think this will help settle your stomach, Mssr. Chedgusah. Small sips?"[/color] She gave one to Kosara but retreated quickly, not wanting to get involved in the lecture from Mosswater. When Kathryn was given hers, she was met with the simple, childlike request of, [color=darkgray]"May I please try out your hammer?"[/color]