The priest was quick to fluster, Evie noted, biting her cheeks to keep from smiling. It was difficult for her to resist teasing people who were so easily affected, but she was holding up rather well for now. Instead of pushing the poor man further from his comfort zone to test his threshold, Evie was graciously smiling at him as he introduced himself, not a sliver of her mischievous inclinations showing. She really mustn’t break character, not when she had just begun to assimilate.

"It's a pleasure to finally be acquainted," Evie said to both men, as she handed over the waterskin to the Dark Mage. If her bare shoulder happened to brush gently against Tim as she did so, then it could only have been an accident. "My name is Genevieve, but please do call me Evie."

Evie gave both a subtle but lingering glance, in an attempt to glean information. She needed to find out how to act, which types of action would be most beneficial. The obviously bashful Tim would seem easy to win over. From experience, she learned that people like Tim would be more receptive of gentleness instead of a more aggressive show of attention. She watched as he instinctively casts his gaze downwards, and immediately took note to tiptoe around him. He was definitely one to befriend. Tim was the only dedicated healer she'd seen from this group, and she didn't want to scare him away. It meant she can't tease him as she pleases, and she resisted the urge to pout at the thought.

Talbot was harder to unwrap. Her initial observations led her to believe that he was that eternal optimist that liked to brighten up one's day. He played his music to lift spirits, after all. But Evie intuitively knew that there was more to him than that, and she also knew she wouldn't see this other side until they've escaped the confines of the desert.

"I've been meaning to ask—" Evie started, but immediately got distracted as she spotted a distant figure in the horizon, approaching the group slowly. Currently unarmed and very exposed, Evie took a few steps back and positioned herself strategically behind both men. She wasn't sure if this person was a Shepherd, but she sure as hell wasn't going to risk anything.

Evie pointed at the figure gradually nearing them. From here, she could make out his dark hair and heavy robes, both in stark contrast to the paleness of his skin. "Talbot, do you know who that is?"

Although the demise of both of his companions was going to be troublesome to explain away, the most pressing thought on Logan's mind was the fact that he was gambling on the Shepherds not being so jaded by the slaughter of their thousands of brothers-in-arms that they were going to accept his explanation without killing him. He shivered, despite the baking sand and burning air. Perhaps I should turn back? Perhaps they haven't noticed me? Perhaps- His internal debate was cut short at the sight of the closest Shepherds getting into ready positions. He couldn't back down now or else he really would be struck down as someone who was just there to cause trouble. Therefore there was only one option and he wasn't certain that he'd like it.

The Dark Mage tromped forward until he was within yelling distance of the lead trio(Which appeared to be made of a mage, a priest, and a dancer of some kind(Some sort of joke, eh?)), thought about what he was about to do, and then dismissed the thought with a shake of his head. The spellcaster glared forward at the group as his lips peeled back into a disturbing grimace that showed altogether too many teeth. He tossed the sack of rations and water forward, consistently keeping eye contact with the dancer as she seemed to be the one furthest from harm, and thus the most important. The lips shifted slightly as Logan spoke in the friendliest tone he could manage, spewing forth a font of information in the form of a self introduction. "Good day, travelers~! I am but a humble spellcaster, newly freed from a contract that bound me to some rather oafish fellows! I wish to travel with you for a time, as there is both safety in numbers and the chance of a lovely talk with colorful people of all walks of life, as I am certain that your troupe is made of such people." He made a stiff bow, clearly trying rather hard at something he didn't usually do. "As a token of goodwill I bring both water and food, and my exceptional talents in the art of magic. Or the water could be poisoned either unbeknownst to me or I could be a sleazy individual and be attempting to kill you with said food. I say that I'm not but I could be lying about that too but I'm fairly certain I'm not. But I could be. Now, I could also be lying about that but I don't like to lie because I prefer it when people tell the truth, but again I could be lying about that. Thus I suppose I should say it's a pleasure to meet you and mean you no harm unless I'm a liar which I hope I'm not." The voice trailed off into a series of panting gasps, the horrifying grin fading as Logan harshly wheezed in the hot air, before continuing with a panting: "...Well?"

That woman was flirting with him. Talbot closely eyed the dancer, his brows furrowing. She was a pretty woman, he had to admit. He really wasn’t one to go and flirt with girls, because he had had a… horrible experience with women. That was where he was going to stop thinking about it. He wanted nothing else to do with those kind of thoughts. They usually got him depressed, and a depressed Talbot was not a nice Talbot to be around. His brown eyes flicked over her, and a twitch of a smirk crossed his lips. She was introducing herself, wasn’t she? She was a sweet woman… But he felt as if there was something that he was missing.

”Thank you, Evie.” he said as he bowed deeply before her. ”I needed that water. I felt as if I was going to pass out without it, and you would have had to drag an unconscious mage back and forth the desert.” that was all he needed, really. The water and food made his day, and he would no longer have to worry if he was going to fall over and die. Talbot narrowed his eyes, feeling someone approach them. Evie said something, but before he could reply, he heard someone speak to them.

Talbot spun around, weakly grabbing for his tomes and narrowing his eyes at the new arrival. This… man. He didn’t seem like the type of guy he wanted to be around. Then again… he bore garbs similar to a Dark Mage’s. And he didn’t seem like the type of person to be an enemy… Then again, when he started to talk about the food that he was offering being poisoned, Talbot made sure that Evie and Tim were behind him. His hand went to his satchel, and his eyes flashed aggressively. Is he an assassin? he thought.

”Who are you? Get back!” he cried hoarsely, pulling out his Thoron tome and gripping the binds tightly. Even though he was weak and he wasn’t the leader of this little group, he didn’t want anyone to get hurt. ”Who are you to give us food and tell us it might or might not be poisoned?”

"Your welcome..." Tim replied with a nod. The ends of his mouth curled into a slight smile before returning to his usual expression of meekness. Tim hadn't yet learned all the names of his fellow Shepherds, so he wasn't sure how to respond to Talbot's comment, and he just stood there, shuffling his feet. As the Dancer lady introduced herself, Tim wondered what he meant when he told the Dancer he wished more Shepherds were like them. Do Shepherds normally not share there their drinks with each other? I thought these guys were supposed to be like brothers?

His thoughts were interupted when Evie suddenly took a step back, and hid behind Talbot and himself. A gesture that startled the young Preist, and made him jump a little, and flinch noticeably. He was thankful that he managed to not let out a high pitched squeal, as he often did when he was startled. She pointed to some figure off in the distance.

Tim turned around, to get a better look at whatever it was Evie was pointing to, and found the mysterious figure was much closer than Tim was comfortable with. It was a dark haired, pale skinned man wearing dark colored robes that were the sign of a Dark Mage, possibly even a Sorcerer. As the strange man approached the group, and started to talk, and threw down a bag of what he claimed to be food and water before them, Tim had an uncomfortable feeling about this guy. He knew that not everyone who practices Dark Magic was evil, Talbot was proof of that, but something about the way this man spoke was definitely off. His smile did nothing to reassure him. The longer Tim stayed in his presence, the more anxious he became.

But what was Tim to do? If this Dark Mage was indeed hostile, he had no means of fighting back. He was a Preist not a Warrior. His job was to stand back and heal wounds of his allies, not inflict them on others. At worst, all he could do was lightly bonk him on the head with his staff. What was Evie thinking hiding behind him? Surely Talbot would be better to suited to defending her if this creepy man decided to pull out a tome, and cast a spell all of a sudden. Running away would have been an even better option. That's what he would have done. He was tempted to do just that, but what kind of impression would that make? That he was a sniveling coward. That was the last thing he wanted his fellow Shepherds to think.

Tim shut his eyes, and took several deep breaths before opening his eyes again. He tried to put on a brave face, which wasn't that different from his normal face. "Um... uh... I-I- I think it's ok... Um... I think were fine... T-t-thank you,,." He replied as bravely as he could, which at this point wasn't much. He still stuttered a lot, and avoided making eye contact. He bit his lip nervously, and looked over at Talbot hoping he would know how to handle this situation better.

Rachel's attention was called away from Luna to the commotion going on at the crest of the dune where three of their number had been gathered earlier. She stood and motioned Luna to follow her, approaching the trio from behind. "Talbot, what's going on?" The Tactician quietly asked the Dark Mage, already making assessments as she gathered all information based on observations.

For starters the trio's body language suggested some amount of danger, as such Rachel's hand drifted to where she kept her Elthunder tome. Her eyes darted to the stranger approaching, his body language didn't seem hostile but she hadn't seen or heard whatever it was that put her comrades so ill at ease. She made a very quick judgement, if things were to progress as they were someone was going to get hurt, and no one has the energy to waste in this heat. She placed her hand on Talbot's shoulder. "Stand down for now, let's see what he has to say before you fry him." With that she addressed the newcomer, stepping forward with open arms.. "Hail stranger! Come here so that I might speak with you without the shouting and hostilities!"

It wasn't everyday that Logan got to see a man look so out of sorts when he approached. It'd been years, actually. Not since I'd first left the temple. It didn't help that what looked like the resident holy man had gone into shock at the mere sight of a Dark Mage. It was more amusing than insulting, really. The newest woman stepped forward with open arms, dragging the spellcaster's attention away from the muttering priest.

Well, at least one of them knew how to treat a stranger who was walking on the desert. Or didn't, as carrying an open mind and bleeding heart for any of the unruly folk that roamed Plegia's wastes usually resulted in that bleeding heart becoming a very literal description. He supposed that he couldn't complain, it allowed him to make a better point. The caster relaxed his shoulders, the rigid stance that he had adopted to make the stiff bows and poses vanishing into the smooth folds of his dark robes. Better to talk slow, then. I hope that they aren't all this... mentally challenged. He lifted raised both arms, mirroring Rachel's stance while he took several strong steps forward, halting again by the sack of food and drink. "I'll answer the questions in order, then? I'm me, of course, that point isn't really debatable. However, if you were to ask both my name and profession, I'd say that my name is Logan, and I'm a recently-unemployed researcher and practitioner of the elder arts. I also do both fortune telling and hexes if the money is right. Logan paused to take a breath, choosing to sit down next to his offering of rations instead of pressing his luck with another step. He seemed even more at ease, the words silkily smooth as he carefully pronouced each one. "As for the gift of food and water that I offer, I assumed they'd be helpful for negotiations and the like. However, from your point of view a man has just approached from the horizon, offering a boon that your group desperately needs, as well as a way to escape this desert with your lives. It sounds too good to be true, especially for wanted fugitives such as yourselves." Another pause, as if he was relishing in letting the knowledge sink in. "Yes, the Shepherds really should not be so trusting. Thus, as I assumed you wouldn't blindly take the food and drink that I offered, I mentioned the possibility that I could be a filthy liar and a scoundrel. I know I'm not, and as such I'd rather not have any of those trust issues forming right then and there."This part wasn't going to win me any friends. "I'm both a caster with a long range spell that I can use with pinpoint precision, and a smart man who's lived in this desert region for all of his life. Therefore if I wanted to kill you I'd have used said spell or merely poisoned the bags and not brought them too you, instead leaving them in your path. I could have even left you alone here, and let the day dry you so that the night may freeze you. However, I did not and instead brought you a bag of food and water that I say is untainted, and can prove it if need be. However, I'm fairly certain you need it more than I." Another, longer pause as the spellcaster attempted to gauge the reactions to this revelation. "So in conclusion to this rambling exposition: I suppose the best reason and explanation as to why I approached in such a manner is that I wished to enter into a sort of contract of mutual benefit, in which I could use the interesting people that surround the ever decreasing numbers of the Shepherds as a study, and in exchange the Shepherds could use me as they saw fit, be it battle or performance or labor."

Luna was quickly drawn away from her lovely conversation with Rachel by a commotion a little farther off. "Y'okay!" She said cheerily, eager to continue talking to the robed girl. She followed soon after to see the rest of their group engaging some sort of mage, and not the good kind by the looks of it. Moments later, Rachel called him over to offer some kind of negotiation. If he's got food and water, but also is a bad guy. We could just beat him take the stuff. She sighed before making a slight shrug. I best let Rachel handle this, she's very smart after all. Though, if he tries anything funny I'll blast him to bits! She thought the last part while simultaneously grabbing her Dragonstone inside her pouch. She stood silently next to Rachel. After the man had spoken she sat confused a moment, he used a lot of words but didn't really say a whole lot. He mentioned poison and killing them a number of times. At this point Luna was very much sick of this man, but she stayed her hand. She eyed him cautiously, waiting to see what Rachel would say.

"Disagreement?" Excel surveyed the woman one more time and recalled the appearance of Darrian. He was a fairly attractive man, at least in Excel's opinion. Perhaps they had some sort of falling out or were in a previous relationship. Yeah, that had to be it, she did seem like she could be royalty. Or at least, married into royalty. Perhaps.

At that moment, she had moved a little closer to him. Although he wasn't the type to look into body language too much, this, he did notice. "Shepherds?" he thought of a couple of people he'd seen while traveling who herded sheep. He couldn't imagine anyone wanting to kill people like that. Excel shook his head, his image of Darrian slowly corroding away. "I won't lie, I'm a mercenary," Excel tapped his armor, gesturing towards it. "But, there's no way I'd work for a sick dude like that. Anyone who attacks farmers is no one I'd want to be allied with," Excel exclaimed, plopping down into the sand. Fatigue was making itself known to him and his knees had just given way. Sweat was beading down his forehead now. It'd been awhile since he'd had a conversation, and even small things like this were beginning to put a toll on his body. Most of it was mental, however; as soon as the last drop of water had disappeared, the side effects of being in the desert this long had increased exponentially.

Excel looked up at the woman now, wiping some sweat off of his forehead and clearing his long strands of hair out of his face. "I hope this Darrian guy isn't an ex boyfriend of yours or something. If he was, then, I bet he was an awful date. Anyways, we've got to hurry up and get out of this place, I just drank and I'm already thirsty!"

Rachel didn't like this guy, she REALLY didn't like this guy. He's too smart for his own good, or at least he thinks he is. Makes sense as he fancies himself as a researcher or something. The tactician crossed her arms at the Dark Mage's would-be threat. She was almost positive between her and Talbot that anything this man could hurl they could return twofold, in fact she almost wanted him to try it, almost.

The tactician's eyes narrowed by the end of the man's speech, her mind produced a counter rather quickly, one that would hopefully expose his true intent of whether he meant to harm them or not. "Well, since you have so helpfully outlined all relevant information, what do you propose us poor, defeated Shepherds do? Surely you don't expect us to trust strangers who know who we are, even if they claim to mean us no harm. So tell me, from our perspective why would we even consider taking you with us? Why couldn't we just kill you for the supplies and be done with it?" Hopefully his response might shed some light on what it was he truly wanted.

As a means of precaution, Evie took to speculating the worst intentions such suspicious characters may have. She made the mistake of trusting so blindly once, and she had paid the price for it. But never again. Confident under the protection of Talbot and Tim—yes, even Tim with his shaky confidence and surprisingly endearing ungainliness—she held the mysterious newcomer's gaze as he locked his sights on her, an almost haughty and provoking look set in her eyes. If this man meant harm, it would serve them better if he were to think they were not afraid of someone like him. She looked at Tim, then back at the encampment where it was apparent that there were some too worse for wear, and the corners of her mouth turned downwards ever so slightly. They had numbers against this man, but it was questionable whether they matched his strength. Longwinded as he was, it seemed he had more energy to spare than some of the Shepherds combined.

For now, however, it seemed there was no need to start worrying about fighting. In a show of goodwill, the 'humble spellcaster' was quick to offer both provisions and his services to the team. He introduced himself in an almost pretentious manner, falling into longwinded rambling that she barely paid attention to. At that point, two more of the Shepherds came to the forefront—Rachel and Luna, if she remembered correctly.

Evie found safety in numbers, but it perturbed her that the man didn't seem at all worried. When it became obvious that the Shepherds were not as willing to accept him as he may have assumed, the Dark Mage simply launched into another rather verbose speech. Evie warily noted the deliberateness in his words and actions. The more he spoke, the less she trusted him, and she hadn't trusted him at all to begin with. Too smooth, too detailed, too certain. Evie could already list off a handful of things she thought to be suspicious behavior.

Luckily, the tactician seemed to be as wary as she had been. Evie didn't know whether questioning him would help—he seemed far too crafty to be tricked into revealing information—though it could be interesting to see how he'd respond.

While everyone focused on Logan, Evie subtly ghosted her fingers on Talbot's shoulder, hoping to get his attention without others noticing. "What do you think, Talbot?" she asked him, her words barely a whisper. Evie didn't want to divulge any of her thoughts, but she had come to the conclusion that keeping an eye on the lone wanderer might be for the best. At least this way, whatever shenanigans he was planning would have to be done right under their nose.

Talbot didn’t trust this guy.

While more people meant that there was more company, Logan didn’t seem like the type of person that he wanted to be around. The black haired mage watched him carefully, his dark eyes remaining on his features. Thankfully, Rachel was worried as well. Talbot’s lips twisted upwards into a light smirk before his thought process was interrupted by a hand ghosting over his shoulder. His eyes darted over his shoulder to see the pretty dancer lady. She was asking him what he thought about the situation. He began to mull over what had been said before opening his mouth and answering Evie.

”I don’t know what to think.” Talbot told her, crossing his arms. It didn’t seem like they were going to get into a fight, so he could stand down… for now. ”All I know is that we should keep a careful eye on this one.”

It pleased Logan immensely that his subjects of study were in such varied reactions. There was at least one newcomer, a woman of interminable origin who bore none of the traditional robes of a mage nor any visible weapon. The spellcaster allowed his eyes to linger for a time on this strange person, attempting to find out if she was more dangerous that her petite appearance said. It wasn't until the foremost woman, the one who carried both blade and tome, spoke once more that Logan's attention was dragged away and back to the conversation at hand.

He laughed, a sound that was surprisingly pure. The dark-haired newcomer had relaxed fully, stretching his limbs and leaning back against the hot sand as he lazily responded to the tactician's inquiries. "I'm not asking you to trust me, you know. Trust is something that people give when they have time to know a person. Trust is for peace, and lazy days where we sit around and drink ale together on cool nights. What I'm proposing is something rather different. I'm suggesting that we enter an arrangement of mutual benefit while also trying not to kill each other. An alliance of necessity, I suppose?"

"As for killing me, I seriously doubt you're that stupid. If you thought about it for more than ten seconds, I'm your best way out of the desert, and by killing me or beating me, you've effectively killed yourselves. I wonder which would get you first? The heat? The lack of water? Your pursuers? If I found you, then they can't be far behind." He held up his hand to show he wasn't armed(currently), before reaching over and into the pack of rations, carefully feeling around until he withdrew a canteen made of a miscellaneous hide. Logan waved it slowly at rag-tag army, carefully allowing the leathery outside to fluctuate as the liquid inside sloshed around. "Even if you don't believe me, I don't doubt you'll not believe in watching someone else drink water. If you really want, I'll take a swig and a bite from every one of these well-prepared foodstuffs, just to show my commitment to this alliance."

Much to Tim's relief, no one started fighting. Then two more of the Shepherds came to the join this gathering. One was wearing a tactician's coat. and the other was... a young girl? She must have been something really special to be part of the Shepherds. Tim didn't really have much time to think about that. He knew the Dark Mage was looking at him for a minute with an amused expression. Tim flinched, and shivered a little. Great, he probably thinks I'm a coward. Not that he would be wrong...

Thankfully, the strangers attention was taken off of him, and onto the Tactician. The two of them started to talk, which ended with the strange man offering an alliance. The young Preist wasn't sure what to believe. On the one hand, he really didn't like this guy. He seemed far to creepy for Tim's liking. The guy's nonchalant attitude about this whole situation made it more unnerving.

On the other hand, he claimed to have food. Tim had never been one to turn down a free meal. Especially in their current situation. And it wouldn't be Preistly to leave someone in the middle of the desert. What would be the right thing to do? Tim fumbled through his bag, and pulled out his Ward Staff, and tightly clutched the handle in his hands, while taking several deep breaths. Having a Staff in his hands made him feel a little better. "If you knew anything about our pursuers, then you can't blame us for being apprehensive, sir..." The Preist muttered.

Rachel gritted her teeth in irritation. This man had done absolutely nothing to put her mind at ease, in fact just about every single thing he did made her more inclined to avoid dealing with him entirely. We have two choices. Kill him and take his supplies, the only risks there are him hurting one of our number and then getting out of the desert afterward. Though we were faring fine before he showed up, we just need supplies and we'll make it. We outnumber him so he'd fall relatively quickly, besides if we deal with him now he can't backstab us further down the road. On the other hand we could spare him, take him with us, have easy access to his supplies, and have him lead us out of here. But he could betray us at any time. The question is, which choice is right? The smart move, or the gambler's move?

The tactician was torn, they had a clearly smarter course of action in just killing the mage and being done with it. But she really didn't want to kill anyone, even this loathsome character. No, she really didn't want to make this call, but nevertheless, a call had to be made. Rachel was thinking, hard. It was almost as if smoke was rising from her ears. Finally she turned to the troublesome dark mage. "Allow us but a moment to converse amongst ourselves." She turned to the small group gathered behind her. "We have two options, kill him and take his supplies, or allow him with us and open ourselves to treachery down the road. What do you guys think?" Rachel was at a loss, she knew she should've made a call, in fact she knew what call should've been made. It was the call her father would've made, but she just couldn't do it.