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Sovereign's Will: A Fantasy Roleplaying Game. [CONCLUDED]

Cedar winced inwardly.

This elf woman clearly could not take the hint that he was being turned wrongside out by these temptations at the table, and needed a diversion very very badly. Better still, a reason to end the breakfast, and get away from it entirely.

"Muh apologies" he droned placidly, trying very hard to avoid letting his frustrations enter the tone. "Mebbie I's not used tuh bein indoors. Mebbie it bein autumn, an all. Fughet I said anythung."

'Do you want me to spell it out for you woman? I'm about to break, and it will be a spectacular shitshow. Is that what you want? Is it? No? Then stop playing grabass with the fat bastard, and get this shit away from me before that happens!' He raged inwardly. Letting those thoughts burble under the surface was both dangerous and cathartic at the same time.

He resumed his desperate search for a means of evading the trap that was still closing around him, when he became aware of Reinhold, seated next to him. He had been entirely too preoccupied with trying to keep his fragile self control in line that he had not really registered the old hunter's stealth in taking the opposite end of the bench. He looked at him with the corner of his eye, andbsaw a man with a smoulderimg expression that spoke volumes-- The man was having just as much 'fun' at this table as he himself was.

An idea flicked into his head, then he discretely nudged the hunter's boot with his foot, momentarily getting his attention. He furtively cast his eyes at his plate then back at the man, making a pleading expression with them.

'Please take some of this off my plate, and be discrete!' was the silently broadcast message.

He reached for one of the bread rolls the server had placed there, then tipped his head down and away from the host, giving a false facade of trying to put it in his mouth without causing a scene, but instead, discretely passed it to thebold hunter, who's scowl became confusion.

He did his best to quickly cast his eyes back toward the mountain of food on the table then back again, with a plaintive expression for the man, trying despetately to communicate his predicament. Reinhold still looked confused, but accepted the roll and subtly pocketted it under the table.

Cedar's gut protested having the bread pass that close to his face, as its freshly baked aroma hit him between the eyes, giving out an audible gastric growl.

Reinhold's confused expression flattened into deadpan understanding.

"Muh apolagies again" he muttered demurely. "I's clearly hungrier an I though'." He deflected. "Vury fine cookin'. Muh compliments."

His paw visibly shook beneath the table.

"We would greatly appreciate it if you could indulge us about this guest." the hunter covered smoothly. "His companions as well, if you be so courteous."

Sovereign's Will: A Fantasy Roleplaying Game. [CONCLUDED]

Cedar's ears twitched at the unusual sound, and his eyes went wide for a split second as it cascaded across the taught drum skin of his consciousness.

Far from being alarming, it was actually a welcome diversion from the slowly closing trap that he found himself in: if he failed to take any of the food, it may anger their host. If he took some of the food, his composure and self control could break. (He was an avid practitioner of 'avoidance' based self-control. If you dont put yourself in the situation where something will tempt you, you wont be tempted, and you wont succumb. It's arguably the single best reason he did NOT have any bastard bear cubs on wild mothers back home... If he increased the temptation, the risk that he would break would only increase, possibly beyond his ability to stop, and that frightened him). If he took food and didn't eat it, his host would surely notice.

There was no winning move, and the feeling of being caged was palpable for him.

The mysterious noise was a very welcome diversion from the trap, perhaps, even a way out if he played it right.

Very carefully, he held his empty plate out for one of the servants, and motioned for them to please fill it, muttering under his breath in a low tone for only that one server, that the serving utensils were too small for his hands. At least with some of the food served, he could sidestep an angered host.

He trained his full attention on the sound, and swallowed hard once more, banishing the salivary flood his body was trying to drown him with.

If he could keep that blessed distraction in his ears, then discretely call attention... he might continue to overpower the intense, visceral urge to bury his head in his plate, and escape the trap.

He trained his ears harder, tuning out the Baron... only to be met with suspicious silence.

"Di'd anuh'buddy else jus' hear fertive whisperin', or were it jus' me?" He ventured aloud, taking the risk of sending drool everywhere after a fresh swallow.

He hated having a way out dangled in front of him, then snatched away just as quickly. Now he was forced to try conversation as a distraction, and risk baptizing the table.

There were certain real and unavoidable reasons you did not invite bears to sit at the table, and expect them to obey table manners...

Sovereign's Will: A Fantasy Roleplaying Game. [CONCLUDED]

Cedar eyed the baron cautiously, and waited for the man to actually take a bite before even permitting himself the very idea of taking any of the food.

If there were to be a torture special made for a being such as he, this would be among the top contenders.

A powerful instinct to lay claim to the entire table and eat like a beast until he could no longer swallow (then continue trying to eat anyway, should any food still be present) was clawing and howling in the back of his psyche like a rabid dog, while the dignified and human part of him struggled and fought to retain composure and control.

Remaining quiet and dignant in posture and poise amidst this assault on his senses was pure existential agony. He doubted his companions truly realized the degree to which his self-control was being tested by this exchange. Had this truly been a genuinely friendly invitation to dinner, from a truly trusted friend, he would have been at ease, and indulged in a way only a true and real friend would have understood, but that was not what this was. This was a fattened hog placed over a vicious trap, hungry and eager to ensnare... or at least, had every potential to be. The cruel memory of being trapped in the Rascade dungeon was about the only mental defense he could bring to bear against this most heinous crime of civility.

He did his best to not shake, and discretely swallowed the drool that was threatening to baptize his face if not attended to.

'For fuck's sake, don't drag this out!' He cursed inwardly at his companions.

They were likely completely oblivious to the thin vaneer of composure that was holding back the flood...

Sovereign's Will: A Fantasy Roleplaying Game. [CONCLUDED]

Cedar nodded appreciatively at the baron, but said nothing until after the servants had displaced several of the chairs, and replaced them with a low but sturdy bench.

He had something similar in his cabin, but with a much less elaborate (and much taller) table. He would have to lean over to use this one. The cutlery was fashioned for much smaller, and more delicate hands.

So much for manners.

He moved to the edge of the bench, such that most of his weight would be over one set of its legs, then sat down; a loud creaking being the only voice if opposition to his presence at the table. He had to admit, that was more hospitable than he was used to, and for some reason that made him wary and uneasy.

This 'baron' von 'whatshisface' was being TOO hospitable.

He discretely sniffed at the air, taking in the room, the food, lingering scents from prior occupants and activities, while glancing about.

...

Why did they try to distract him with food? That had to be the most uncivil thing about this: teasing a poor bear like this, and especially in the fall!

He HAD to keep his head about this. HAD to.

Sovereign's Will: A Fantasy Roleplaying Game. [CONCLUDED]

Cedar interjected at the opening for questions, pausing his work on doing a simple patch-up on the guard captain's more serious injuries, where he had been focused on preventing the deleterious effects of a concussion, and staunching the slow internal bleeding. She wouldn't be at 100%, but shouldnt be worse off than aches, pains, and slight dizziness. She HAD said to conserve energy, and he felt he had better to as he was asked.

"If we's goin' inside... shud I put muh clothes back on? Folks tends ta get da wrong idears 'bout meh if'n I aint wearin' muh drawers, dontcha know."

He huffed, then resumed his work while talking.

'Alsos... if'n deys gone an' dun us an in'jry.. wont dey be 'spectin' us innere? They WUZ playin' hoopty-doo wit' da scryin, ta lure us off... i'it were a 'remote detonation', at means summat as gone an set it off, an' at summat knowed we's been ta Pesti... "

He made a dour expression at Matilda, who had not stopped frowning.

"An dey'd knows dey give us a bloody nose. Walkin' up ere with snoots full a prickles be a dead give'way, no? Dey gunna throw us inna hole fer sure."

Sovereign's Will: A Fantasy Roleplaying Game. [CONCLUDED]

The bear nodded, then set to work. Despite her bravado, she was hurt worse than she looked. The armor had protected most of her body from some kind if searing heat flash, and had taken the brunt of numerous tiny impacts. Tiny bits of earthenware shard prickled from the breastplate's surface, and tiny bits lingered below the skin on her face, neck and ears. Those were easy enough to fix.. the bigger worry was deeper, as if some impressive hand had slapped her very hard all over her body at once. There were blunt force injuries inside her skull, inside her chest, all through her arms and legs. Whatever had struck her, he was glad it only hit her once.

"Ya piss sum wizz'rd off er summat?" He gruffed, guiding bits of debris out of her face with a healer's touch. "Don' smell li' magic dou... "

He paused a minute to marvel at her.

"Wha' hit ya? Ain't ne'er smelled da likes. Mebbe summat I should look ou' fer?"

Sovereign's Will: A Fantasy Roleplaying Game. [CONCLUDED]

Cedar's eyes went instantly to the tall, stern woman in the cart, swaddled in bandages.

Matilda. She stunk of a kind of fire and burning he was unfamiliar with, and the stench of blood and sweat, which he was. A second snuff of the air revealed the blood was hers. If his face would have allowed it, he'd have frowned.

"E'scuse me." He gruffed, then padded around the group, then climbed into the back of the wagon, causing it to rock and lurch.

She did not look to be in a very talkative mood. Some stange truce between despair and burning, murderous fury burned on her countenance, and it made his fur bristle with unconscious warning. He locked eyes with her for a few seconds, trying and testing to see if he could continue his approach. The wait felt dreadfully long, despite being only about 2 seconds in reality. The prickle of deadly warning did not abate. Very few 'humans' (using the term loosely) could illicit such a reaction in him, his brother Oak, and their father, being the only others he had felt it from, though wild creatures of sufficient strength or desperation could do it on occasion...

'Yer hurt." He gruffed, keeping the needed respectful distance.

Her countenence twisted into a put-out scowl, wordlessly expressing a sarcastic 'no shit.' If he was reading her body's mocements and her scent right, she was 'fed up' with people making that observation about her, and wanted to be left alone. There were undertones of worry, doubt, fear, .. mingled with blood rage, fury, and a will to do brutal murder. It smelled... volatile.

"I kin fix i' bett'r. Don' gotta be wrapp'd up li'e a big bag a meat. Lemme up 'ere, would ya?"

Sovereign's Will: A Fantasy Roleplaying Game. [CONCLUDED]

Dawn was breaking on the horizon when Cedar came huffing and snorting down the road, and back to the forest edge near Fanghorn castle. To his surprise, there was nobody there at all, except the old hunter Reinhold.

"Hey--" (short, huff) "Where e'ry buddy a'?" he huffed at the man, who seemed more than a bit put out at simply waiting around all damn night. "They tells muh ta blocks da damn roads, an' they decided ta go an' run off? I swears-- Em kids is dumb as rocks..."

Put out, he shambled over near where the man was secreting himself in the underbrush and laid down to cool off. He really didn't understand the thought processes of other people some times.

Sovereign's Will: A Fantasy Roleplaying Game. [CONCLUDED]

The elf woman asserted she would keep an eye on Reinhold, but it was not the positive affirmation from the man himself that he really wanted. The implication that some manner of expediency would called for was not lost to him, and he thought for a moment, what the best plan of action would be, quickly formulating what, at least to him, seemed a reasonable and plausible use of time, resources, and cost-efficient travel.

He snorted, then took off toward Fanghorn, only slowing down when he could truly see the palisade in the moonlight. Working quickly, he planted seeds in an unusual pattern, mixing several types based on what he had determined of their growth and magical properties earlier, and snatching up seeds from the moonlit grasses and wildflowers along the road leading to the small sprawling village to further augment his supplies. This much work, this far from the wild and robust magical nexus of home, in so short a time would be terribly taxing for him, but he had the advantage of time on his hands, and so he took the opportunity to plan this out, and plan it well.

The first area of business, was the road just as it was entering town.

Carefully, he grabbed an end of old dry plant stalk out of the ground, and used it to draw on the surface, laying out quadrants, sextants, and plotting areas of influence in the ways his dad had shown him. He didn't have a forest to work with, but he could maybe set up some low-level self-sustaining reactions, with proper placement and planning, and that's exactly what he was doing. Marking, measuring, and sewing appropriate seeds in the dark. A more or less circular area filled with grapes and green briar, surrounded by a larger circle filled with grasses, flowers, small shrub seeds, and anything else he could scrounge up that was growing wild in the area that provided the needed influences, surrounded it. Small dark spots dug and covered over in the silver light.

Carefully, he trotted up behind the farm houses and away from dogs and others that would give him away, and snuck in close to the curtain wall, then proceeded to seed the curtain wall edge with 3 roughly triangular wedges of a circle near where the walls of the keep and palisade met, and across the north most exit, before sneaking back along the side of the river, toward the south end of town again.

Getting in near the south gate was the hardest and most risky part of the plan, but also, in his assessment, strictly necessary if this fort was to get completely cut off, and reinforcements rendered unable to enter or leave with any degree of rapidity. It required getting in tight up against the buildings closest to the gate, and had the highest risk of detection and being shot at. At the very least, in his current costume it would be unlikely to draw a very large force-- just enough to chase him off into the night most likely, should he be detected. He did not really seed it as well as he would have liked, due to the difficulty of getting in close enough, but he did seed it at lest partially, then took off across the fields, and then back over the road to the south and east, and toward pesti.

There, in a close area where the road had to go through dense forest, he paused a moment, and smiled to himself. Nature had provided a means to an end for him, in the form of forest edge wild roses. In a fit of puerile self-indulgence, he snuck in and collected several of the mature rose hips from the heavy brush, chewed them happily, then spat out the seeds into one of his paws for use here and later. Once more, he seeded the road as it entered the wood, and then seeded the area just before it to help influence that growth. If all went well, that road would become an impenetrable wall of roses and thorns once it was set off, then took off once again, back west, past the group, and then south toward the bridge.

The sun was beginning to peak out of the horizon by the time he had finished his work there-- Roses and green briar, with grape vines all around the support pylons of the bridge, and influence gathering caches on either bank.

He was physically tired from the rapid pace of the work, the excessive running needed to clear the distances needed, but he began the final push.

First, the regions of influence-- With them up, sprouting and closing the bridge and roads would be much easier, as he only needed to guide what he had set up, then allow it to continue growing without him. By midday, there would be impenetrable masses and tangles at those locations.

Retracing his way back, as the sun was rising, he returned to the forest edge near Pesti, and worked his magic there.

He was a panting and snotty nosed mess by the time he made it back to the meeting area...

Sovereign's Will: A Fantasy Roleplaying Game. [CONCLUDED]

Cedar was momentarily startled by the unannounced intrusion into the private conversation he was having with Reinhold.

"Oh, ya wants meh tuh plug up da roads? Won't da locals get upset? I mean-- I's can do it, but em farmers' gunna be right cross wit' us nex' year when theys wants ta send in their goods 'n such. Thinkin' it'll keep em from runnin' off with the lil' tyke are ya?"

He returned his attention to Reinhold.

"I knowed at em barstards went an killed yer friend-- Dayum, We's even found da body man-- Stuck 'im in da back an lef' im dere... But lissen tuh me a minute, wouldya? We catch em barstards as did it, we gonna squeeze em till they eyes pop out. I's knows some crows as'd like tuh eat em. But we gots ta be sure 'eys really da ones as did it, unnerstand? Odderwise, ya runs da risk a killin' some odder ol fool's frien, and den HE want OUR eyes popped out, ya? Dun worry-- We'll git em. An when we does, we'll git em good. Bu' righ' naow, we gots ta keep our heads, unnerstan?"

The long eared elf woman nodded, and affirmed that yes, she knew, and yes-- that was one of the reasons they needed to be closed.

Cedar huffed out a sigh, then returned his attention to Reinhold once more.

"I ain't just no ord'nry talkin' bear, ya knows. I's a MAGICAL talkin' bear. Look like I gots work tuh do. Prolly gunna take all nigh'. I wantcha ta tells muh ya gonna keep ya head in all dis, aright? I dunno why, but ya reminds me a muh pappy sommow. Dun wantcha ta git hurt no moar an ya already is, aright? Look like I gotta tear up da groun' scamperin off inna nigh' ta go clog up some roads 'n bridges. I'sl come back soon 's I can- Stay outta trouble till 'en, a'ight?"