If Darc noticed anything about Livia's eternal outburst, he didn't show it. One advantage of having nothing but a big smile and no other facial features; it was hard to tell if he noticed anything. In the moment that Livia was venting her mental frustrations, Darc simply turned towards Selena and Katherine as if wondering what they were talking about, and then back to Livia when she asked him her question.
"I shall get the resin tonight. If all fairs well, I may even be able to get it to you before you sleep. But if not, I shall certainly have it by morning. My kind isn't... Adapted for the daytime, so if possible you should find me. Otherwise, if you do not find me tomorrow during the day, I shall find you tomorrow night." The path the group took was long, but eventually they would arrive back towards the entrance that lead to the Drunken Dragon. The group found no difficulties aside from the walk, and even that felt much shorter than the treacherous journey that Livia and Katherine had to go through. Gadget even found a lantern with some oil still in it. Once the group was above ground and in the tavern proper, Selena spoke up.
"I suppose this is where we part ways. Unless you truly do need to find Lucilia, and even then I intend to split up and search." Selena nodded to the others who then departed to look for Underhaven's patron. Selena and Darc remained behind for just a moment.
"Do come see me again, Katherine. If you ever feel like the surface is too bothersome, Underhaven will always be a home for you." She smiled, winked, and left to search for Lucilia. Darc merely glanced over to Livia.
"I'll see you later." And with that, the Underhaven Underdogs departed, leaving the two sisters to go about their own business.
@Rune_Alchemist
Fortunately for Ethan the zombies appear to be shambling aimlessly, allowing him to sneak by them under the cover of darkness. Though their hollowed moans and erratic footsteps were never far from his ear; the more of moved towards the village, the more he heard the undead around him, some even so close that the young man could feel their breath on his skin. Or perhaps it was just the wind. In this pitch blackness, it was hard to tell. Minutes felt like hours as Ethan sneaked, ran, and hid, but it would all pay off as he finally reached the last village. By now night had fully descended and the skies were black; not even the stars or moon would guild Ethan's path. He could see a duo of torches from before moving towards the village, and the village itself seemed to have a brazier of sorts and a makeshift wooden fence around the area. What goods they produced was hard to tell in this pitch darkness, but Ethan could also hear a river some distance away. His journey was finally coming close to an end.
@Searat
Shutting down one's mind, as strange as that sounded, worked in Antaeus's benefit. Injuries like what happened to the girl was actually somewhat common for the young miner; cave ins, while rarely deadly thanks to the foreman's caution, occur regularly enough that Antaeus is aware of how falling rocks could easily cause painful wounds close to the stag's kick. Just as well Antaeus knows enough to stave off death from such wounds. Firstly he would need bandaging; these injuries need compression otherwise the wound could shift further and cause more damage. The orc, seeing the wounded girl, came and assisted Antaeus as best as he could. But all he had was his oar, some rope, and a bundle of herbs that he picked.
Fortunately all these things Antaeus could also realize that it would be enough to save the girl's life, if only for a moment. He could use what remained of her jacket as a makeshift bandage to compress her injuries. The herbs the orc had also looked very similar to the ones Antaeus has seen used on the injured miners; while the exact benefits of these herbs escaped his mind, he knew that they were needed to help reduce swelling and stave off infection. The rope that the orc had could also help bind the bandage down and there was also enough rope for Antaeus to jury-rig a stretcher, another tidbit of emergency care he would remember during a few close-calls in the mines. While the construction would be incredibly crude, with the oar, another branch or stick of roughly the same length and strength, and a few cuts of the rope, the two of them could easily bring the girl back to town where she could be taken care of by the priests or someone with more medical experience than either two.
All these things would occur to Antaeus the moment he laid eyes on them. All he needed now was another stick big enough to serve as the second handle for the stretcher. Either he or the orc would need to look around the forest though perhaps the Stag had knocked over a sapling in the trail of his destruction. Speaking of the beast, surely if left unattended to deal with the girl it's body would be eaten by scavengers. While perhaps not important to Antaeus taking on the White Stag, even if he had help, would be a tale worthy of some reputation back at town.
If he had some evidence that he truly did manage to do it and didn't simply make up the tale alongside these two strangers. But time was of the essence.
@Zeroth
Jo would end up finding not Barthen himself, who seemed to have stepped out of the store, but one of his assistance. A rather thin looking young man with dirty blond hair and scratched up glasses on his face. The way he looked through them as he looked at Jo gave the impression that he wasn't sure what to make of the Tiefling. Or maybe he just had really bad eyesight. Either way the young man seemed a bit nervous.
"Ah. G-Gear huh? Right so uh, leather armor and a dagger, pretty s-s-sure we got those somewhere. Just lemme go check on something right quick." The young man left rather quickly. Perhaps he was scared of Jo. Or maybe he was just nervous about making a bad deal. Either way an older gentleman eventually arrived after the young man had left. This man wasn't Barthen's either, but he seemed much more composed than the young lad.
"We've some arms and armor, certainly. Right this way sir." The older gentleman would direct Jo to a part of the store where various tools and simple weapons were hung up upon racks; things like axes, knives, spearheads, and so forth. There was quite a variety of blades available.
"We've knives for different types of purposes and styles. We have these cutting daggers here for example, good for day-to-day business. Trimming plants, eating food, skinning game, that sort of thing. If you're wanting a proper fighting knife, the boys up at the militia often buy these instead," The old man takes up a thin, needle like dagger down for Jo to see. Unlike the other daggers this one didn't seem to have a sharpen edge.
"An empire specialty. A stabbing knife, when you want to make sure your enemy is down for the count. Slashing and slicing might impress most folks, but if you really want to make sure whatever you're fighting stays down, you'll want this." The gentleman doesn't press any further however and puts the dagger back before showing Jo the armors.
They had some padded jerkins and some leather breastplates, and when Jo would hold or try them on, he may find them to be quite heavy.
"Got a couple bits of armor, not really something most people here buy. If you want proper protection you should try and speak to the Torag priests. But a few hunters we have in town do wear a bit of leather just for scratches and cuts but it's harder to work with than you might think! Sure, leather shirts might seem easy to wear when you're just standing and walking, but try to run or fight while wearing ten pounds of soggy tunic! But if you're good with that sort of thing, I won't stop ya. Either way daggers are all two gold pieces each, and the leather armor is ten gold."@Expolar
"Indeed I am. You must be one of our new visitors. I hope you'll come to find our town as a new home. We don't have much in the ways of attractions right now, but there's plenty of opportunity for those willing to work for it." The old man, Mayor Nicolas, wipes his hands on a cloth that was on his belt and extends his hand out to Sihlas to shake.
"I take it that you're also looking for some work? While I'm sure everyone in town may have some task for you to do, you seem like a scholarly sort. I may actually have a job for you, if you don't mind doing a lot of writing."@Kangutso
