Ending. Lunarian Temple.
It was a somewhat erratic flight as every sudden surge of pain in Valthyr’s left wing caused the raven to dip down precariously, only to recover again rather shortly above the ground. That way, Lord Coswain would also be able to keep track of the man-bird’s progress as they moved back towards Dawnhaven. It appeared that there were no further threats there to be seen, even though at least he was very much aware of the fact that there still were some out there, likely.
Valthyr had no clue about how the Lord’s house looked, not even if he actually had one or could merely call a slightly more luxurious bunk in a milita’s barrack his home. He just made sure not to lose track of the heavily armed man as he traversed the skies well above his head.
He had not lived long enough to be a Lord by being stupid. They were all dead and gone, he was still alive so he was not going to let his guard down. a glance up it was hard to tell where the bird was but he knew it would be up above somewhere and he knew the route back to the town as he rested the heavy sword, his shoulder pauldron with his dagger in the other hand for quicker use. He had sent the guards to their duties and honestly he did not know the metal of the men assigned to the town, he would rather trust Daphne, Hector and his wife over them for now. It was not like the Prince had made the best showing.
He really just wanted to get a hot meal right now before he got dragged out on some other duty, if the goddess was merciful he could focus on his wife instead, which he would not lie was far higher on his mental preference.
Not much else to do he resumed the trek back to town and whatever awaited.
Through the frigid air whizzing past his feather-clad ears, Valthyr could still hear the clanking of Coswain's armor from deep down below. The atmosphere wasn't exactly clear, but one reason for that could be the stench of many chimney fires now seeping in. As much as this was an unwanted by-product of Dawnhaven, its presence was not entirely unwelcome to the druid as it was a clear sign of how close they already were without truly knowing.
The man-bird decided to grasp the opportunity that presented itself to him: Had the Lord ever seen a completely docile raven from very close up, ever ? Like... sitting on the man's shoulders like close. As a human he would likely have halfway flattened Lord Coswain and as the wolf turned him outright two-dimensional perhaps, but now he really just weighed as much as a humble raven.
He crowed on his next, this time more gentle dive down to alert Coswain, then flared shortly before his feet touching down on the shoulder plate. Wings tucked away and feathers de-ruffled back into proper positions, small black eyes looked at the Lord's face just half a feet away or so.
For a man who lived in strange times, dark times and a seeming end to all hope, he had never seen what happened to him…happen. The noise and a rush of air and displaced wind as a caw sounded and soon he had the sound of claws clattering onto the metal of his shoulder guards. He adjusted and slowed his pace till the bird found its balance and carried on.
Today has been a odd day, a odd place.. least this one was not trying to kill him, get him killed or run away increasing his chances of the above.
”Sure, You helped me, i'll help you. Suppose we better find you some clothes.” He said directly but not harshly, it was a cold night and he had left them goddess knows where In the town.
”Friendly. Royal Guard” ” He called out when they began to reach closer to the town, the last thing he wanted to be was shot by a jumpy guard with a crossbow.
Valthyr felt a slight anxiety encroach upon him as he saw the guards and some crossbows first aimed at them and then put down again as Coswain issued orders. What were these people thinking right now ? He could see pairs of greedy eyes tracking not the Lord, but him as he just sat there on the man's shoulder. Clearly that was highly unusual to say the least, but then again... wasn't this whole village ? The guards probably, hopefully, considered him to be some sort of pet until further notice.
His claws clattered a bit further on the shoulder plate as he turned left and right to inspect his surroundings. A raven's field of view was quite different from a human's and he had not yet seen the part of Dawnhaven they were now entering anyway. What a hell of a day had that been so far: Arriving, entering a murder scene, receiving instructions from what he could only suppose was the prince of the very kingdom of Aurelia... Only that Ayel guy was someone he could happily forget about.
”Keep leaving it like that and youl shoot yourself, at least keep the bolt out if you want it drawn.” He said as he spotted a guard who seemed all.too comfortable with his crossbow. Familiarity was one thing but he knew how dangerous forgetting it was a lethal weapon. He made his way past the guards without pause, he knew it looked odd to have a shoulder Raven but damn it was not kind of imposing.
It had only taken a few minutes to satisfy the guards, his damaged armour and sword discoloured from the acidic blood was pretty well in his favour.
Once he had passed the guard post and they were somewhere quieter away from the way they entered and more inside the town again.
”So, what's next? Clothes? food? I'm not directly under the commander, so my place here is…grey tl say it shortly.” Lord Coswain admitted, just status in the town and so was… certainly complicated.
A raven’s throat had been designed by nature to do anything but replicate a human voice, but Valthyr tried his best nonetheless and uttered a
”Clothes.” that was on the verge of becoming unintelligible. Given that there had been only two possible interpretations in the first place, he still held hopes for Coswain understanding what he was trying to say.
He was unsure why he asked that but somehow the crazy again worked out, the Crow come man made a cow that was longer and vaguely worded like… Food was a short word and this was longer, so that had to mean clothes… It made sense in a very dumb way. If it worked however?
”Pretty sure we came from…. This way we go, i'm like some figure from the borderlands old religion's.” He had a limited understanding of the town as barely had time before 7 days of enforced waiting by snow as he walked with a crow on his shoulder.
”Just give me a tap when you think i'm going off track.” Coswain was Well honestly unsure utterly what he was doing in life right now, but he would help someone who had volunteered to fight alongside and they needed help. He could respect that and it was that and it led to the Temple too where his wife lay resting too.
He remained vigilant and just shared a few words as he met passing guards, he had seen nothing and he thought that the main force should have returned to town square or be on the way soon.
It almost seemed as if the Lord was asking him for help, but didn’t the Lord know that Valthyr could beat his rather tight limits on understanding Dawnhaven by a very large margin ? Frankly speaking, man-raven had no clue about when or when not to give a tap. He needed to finally turn back to a human and start talking, but preferably without being naked in the freezing cold and with people watching. The druid knew that his clothes had to be where they had started the unsuccessful hunt, that was the only clue he had.
As they traversed through town, Valthyr finally spotted something that gave him some hope for the rest of the evening not ending in disaster: the tavern. That was the only fixed point he could remember and he could now try to reconstruct what had happened next from memory. Rushing out together with Daphne, running into Flynn and Mr. Unbearable, then heading to the crime scene… Too bad that his own, fluffy cat trails had vanished already and his far too large wolf tracks had not started there yet. He could spot a couple of human tracks that roughly went into the direction he remembered the crime scene was located though. Hopefully nobody had fully cleaned that one up yet, then it would be easy to find the place where the unsuccessful hunt had begun. His clothes had to be there still.
The raven crowed a second time and pointed his beak into the direction of the tracks. He also unfolded his left wing to give Coswain’s cheek a gentle, feathered nudge.
Being directed by a Raven was certainly an odd experience, he saw lights in the tavern from afar, it's windows were barred and little lines of light were visible from closed shutters that were probably blocked. He had decided to aim for the crime scene, they could trace from there hopefully bird…man..cat..wolf could locate it from there. That seemed the right plan as he heard a caw and a wing brush his weather beaten skin.
”Sure.. ok, i think we are on the right track?” Coswain asked as they headed into the streets off the sides of town, did it look about the right direction?
He had ran off at such a pace and was so focused they had a rather fuzzy idea where things were.
The raven answered with yet another bird-like sound – a pretty binary way of communicating, but it worked somehow so far. According to Valthyr’s memory they were getting closer indeed, and ultimately there was confirmation in the form of a small heap of shaggy clothes appearing in the druid’s field of view. He flew off Lord Coswain’s shoulder almost with a sense of joy in his moves, but the injury on his left wing, arm, paw or whatever other shape it could take instantly reported back painfully. The landing was more of an accident than anything else, but still soft as it happened on the druid’s own shirt.
He would really have liked to be able to tell Coswain to just turn away his eyes for a moment, but he couldn’t. So the transformation back, including the brief intermediate stage of a very big, rather bulked up and naked man trying to get back into his stuff as quickly as possible, had to happen in plain sight.
”Still no shoes and no home, but… hopefully I will be able to fix that.” he could now finally speak in a more intelligible way. The druid took a look at his arm and it did not look good. Large blood clots had already haphazardly sealed the wound, but it was a dirty mess of a depth yet to be investigated.
”Do you know a healer in this place ? I basically just arrived two hours ago or so and have no knowledge about this village. Except how to be dragged into trouble instantly, it appears.”Lord Coswain decided to turn the corner when a large naked man transformed into being, so he gave him his space. It had to be bad enough to get naked every time you needed to do something like that. And that mad was not small, he made Coswain who already was not exactly small in all his armour and kit…feel small. That was a challenge.
” Sya might have room at the Inn as long as you got coin or work, in short term.” He said with an easier tone now he was talking to another human, talking to a bird was … weird he had to admit. He rested the sword and sheathed it with a pained expression at enemy acid marked blade, he had neutralised it best he could but damn that was not expected.
”Welcome to Dawn Havens quiet peaceful life. Adonis Coswain, Lord Castellan formerly anyway of the Captial.” He said with a laugh as he gave a proper introduction, having been in rather less social situation.
”Normally id know, but everyone's going to be locked down anywhere they are. With Feast, Inn perhaps , maybe the lodge? Prince gotta have asked healer to check on Princess, Hold still big guy.”He pulled at a pouch and found a clean cloth he kept and tightly bound it over the wound area to keep any more infection out.
”Pretty sure Prince sent a sage to the Lunarian Temple? That's another option? I'd rather find a safe than an army surgeon. ”He asked, he was not sure of the best approach and wondered what the giant Druid thought would be best for his injuries. What idea would work best for the man though?
”Valthyr Naffron. I just arrived, so I really appreciate your sharing of knowledge.” Coswain so far had appeared to be a nice guy, so maybe there was a glimmer of hope for the druid’s stay in this interesting place.
”I’ll try the sage then.” He had never been in an army, so the reference to one of their surgeons made much less sense than it probably did for most other people, but ‘surgeon’ in itself sounded more like his arm would be chopped off than the actual problem be fixed. Added bonus points for sage being a Lunarian. This was a special place, but still he would feel more comfortable in the hands of someone who comes from at least roughly the same region as he himself instead of someone who might have had his or her fair share in the war.
”You… don’t also happen to know where one might get some shoes ?” Valthyr pointed down onto his feet which still had to make very direct contact with the snow around them and put up a slightly ashamed smile. After all this, he must have appeared like someone who could barely solve everyday problems to get along in life, didn’t he ?
Truth be told, Lord Coswain was not a nice mam at times, he had done horrible things for the King in his name, Lance Company had been remorseless, brutal and excited orders regardless of how they felt. They were not good men and women. They just got the job done. But it also did not mean he could not respect a comrade of a sort though.
”Well met. After all this over, I suggest we get a bloody ale, though not sure even if i can afford to get you drunk.” He said to a rather massive man with a Frank tone of a soldier but it was comradery from their shared adventures.
”That fit? Market, get someone to make your custom. Only one other even close to your size here. ” There was no one bar, maybe the giant Ivor who would even match this man in size.
Sage, that also led to his wife…that could be agreeable. He really was worried about Seph…she was tough but even the strongest Steel could break.
”Temple it is… truth be told be glad to, my wife is resting there. He decided to admit, he could be honest and what man would not understand worrying about your partner?
They began to walk and he walked slowly towards the Temple, a person escorted by a guard should not be stopped and he doubted anyone would challenge them too hard.
"I could try myself at brewing ale if you'd like to, assuming that I am actually allowed to settle here." Wasn't that ironic ? He had already met the prince himself and helped investigate a murderous crime, but not even got the very basics of administrative affairs settled yet.
"I will try the market, otherwise... well, gonna have to improvise. Where I come from we're used to making a lot of thigns ourselves, but not everybody does or can do everything."There was nobody to challenge them at all, just as Lord Coswain had anticipated. It appeared most of the townsfolk were still busy feasting or already too drunk to care about much at all anymore. The way to the temple was as free and uneventful as it possibly could be given the most recent events, so soon they found themselves in front of Selune's temple.
"So let's see after your wife I'd say. Does one... does one just knock at the door or is there another procedure to follow ?" Valthyr realized he should be grateful if nobody knew yet he actually was a Lunarian. Just whom of their people would not even know some of the very basic customs ?
The questions were an odd mix, but mostly what he expected, they would have to be careful as they might have protection for the Temples that he did not understand.
”If you can work, you're likely good. Beer is always good, never have too much beer in town. You'll probably be able to buy leather at least from someone, maybe barter to rent some tools and a workbench. ” He could agree, Beer was safe but also damn did people need a damn drink in these times. Shoes, yeah, leather, pelts were available and tools could probably be gotten from a worker for a fee.
”Normally yes… But i'll call out, it may be…. Protected. Godess does not take kindly to those who harm her domain.” He did not expand as he did not really understand just that Temples Could be protected and he had heard nasty things happen to those who tried to attack the defensive magics. Those of even a not so actively faithful but respected the goddess and her power.
”Lord Coswain, I come in peace with a wounded man to the sanctuary to seek aid and help from a sage,l”. He called out loudly not straying too close to the building, he did not want to anger the goddess without cause…
He paused and waited, he knew they would take time to lower any defenses they had up or built.
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