Elthana returns Gewyn's look and responds, "You know what I meant, but you're right, we didn't lose."
She then hobbles up with the rest, really getting sick of not having the full movement of her body. She promises herself if she is ever cured, she won't take it for granted ever again.
As they reach Shionne and Vin, she asks Vin, "Who is Bry'ze?"
While they all get settled, ready to hear what Shionne has to say, she looks at Muir with a questioning gaze.
Muir nods in agreement once again "Well I will begin then. You all saw my side conversation With Terry. I told them that Rynwell was the one behind all of this, which led to the conversation with Terry. Here is what I learned. Rynwell's corruption has been an issue for years, but they had to let it be for the sake of the land. However, now that she is gone, a big chunk of the faewyld will die, unless Shionne takes it over like she did with spring and winter...her other sisters. Terry believes this is bad and that we should work on getting Shionne back to the faewyld as soon as possible. Rynwell didn't kill Tialha and Mireah, Spring and Winter sisters. Each of the sisters were wards of specific parts of the Faewyld, not just keepers of those lands but they embodied them, they were intrinsically linked, and also linked to one another, this is how all of the parts of the land kept their peace with one another, they were all united under one being, the sisters, The Trostani princess... Tialha died a long time ago, a sickness overtook her and her land of winter died with her, it was a loss felt not only by the remaining sisters but the land as a whole. It birthed something within Rynwell, she was angry at the world, They all feared that whatever sickness took Tialha had seeded itself in Rynwell, so they tried to help but, she blamed the other sisters and drove Mireah's away, after a lot of infighting the remaining sisters split, literally. Mireah left the faewyld" Muir pauses a moment and looks at Gewyn "That could be how our friend here is a fey but I digress. Shionne took on the spring, but embodying two seasons, two parts of the land took its toll on Shionne and took up all of her time, This made Rynwell even more upset and the anger was felt amongst the autumnal lands, Rynwell disappeared within her land wandering the corruption and blaming the rest of them for Tialha's death, that's when we locked the corruption out, we closed off the autumnal lands and left Rynwell alone, it's what she wanted and was better than losing another land of the faewyld... It seems Rynwell's anger grew and festered int our world."
“This all seems a them problem,” Sam responds in a bit of a snort.
”They had all this corruption and dying lands and such. Sounds like to me they did their best to ignore it. Then it came to our lands…” Sam looks to the others to try to gauge their thinking. Can’t. So he continues.
“Seems to me closing the portal and any others is the best thing for our world. They ignore their problems. Banish them, cast them away and let them fester. We need them seeping over here and making our lives harder less than I need a second butthole. What do we gain by allowing their problems to become ours?”
Vin gives a quick reply to Elthana in elven on who Bry'ze is then settles down to listen to Muir tell his tale. What a tale it was too. He couldn't really fathom four beings as one all split up like that and now one sister is forced to do everything alone. He thinks on it and realizes that Shionne is effectively a god if her life is tied to the existence of an entire realm. What would fill the void if an entire world perished? Vin had an idea that he knew though he has no proof. Mireah came here then? Is she still alive? So much has happened he's not sure what to expect anymore but it means the portal to the feywild was probably open for some time with nothing bad happening until Rynwell came. Vin has a thought pop into his head though and asks "Does that mean Mireah is still in our world somewhere?"
As Sam adds his thoughts to just closing off the worlds Vin looks to them and says "We gain friends. Allies. Another world that can help us protect ourselves from other realms that wish us harm. Realms we didn't even realize were there until now. A threat we might need help with one day. It's one portal. like a single door that can easily be guarded. I'm confident that we can get a good set of guards at the portal on our side to ensure nothing bad like this ever happens again. I could picture an entire building designed around it to allow travel between worlds but also make sure danger doesn't cross through it. I don't think anyone would suggest just leaving the portal unattended after what happened here. It sounds like they might even need help on their side and what better way to setup up good relationships then with the being who... I guess now controls all of that world?" He looks a bit questioningly at Shionne/Terry.
Terry finishes translating the things said for Shionne, especially that which is said in common, though he does seem hesitant to admit and translate exactly what he had divulged to Muir personally, and was now being repeated back for the group.
Shionne takes a deep breath and let's out a sigh which seems unbecoming of her status, she takes a seat, another thing no one had seen her do until now.
"I'll speak this tongue, in this land, it seems fitting. Though it is forbidden for me to utter in my home plane, Sam is right, lots of bureaucratic nonsense" she begins in Elvish, translated for those that do not speak it by a very surprised looking Terry. Shionne's emotional exhaustion seems to put her inna place of mental grounding, as she continues "Muir is also correct, we sisters were born as one being, the Trostani princess, we were born to bring the lands of our plane together and keep peace, this was back before the time of the closing, before all realms were shut off from one another, this plane had a keeper of the gate, though their name is lost to me...
Vin tells me that he saw a glimmer of what Rynwell once was, before she became corrupted, and before her grief turned into rage and her rage turned to madness. I don't expect understanding in why I did not deal with her myself before, I'm not sure you'd be able to understand what it would mean to kill a part of your own soul, but perhaps I was just being selfish, and that selfishness cost your plane dearly. I want to extend my deepest apology for my sister and for myself, and I also want to give you all my thanks.
If you have questions then please ask them. I owe you all that much, and more."
Elthana's head is spinning so fast with all the information, she has to sit down herself. No questions really pop into her head as she tries to process the information, save but one.. "Can you cure me?" she asks Shionne in elvish.
"Keeper Yen, yes that was it, so long ago..." Terry translates as Shionne's attention fades slightly as she apparently wonders what could have happened to him. when Elthana asks, Shionne's attention is brought right back, "To heal you, I would need to take you to my home... I'm afraid the powers I have left to heal extend only to the production of some Berries" she stretches a hand out and a small berry bush rises, twisting from the ground and immediately fruits with ten berries familiar to Muir.
"Muir says Mireah left the fey lands, suggesting perhaps she has been in this world, yes?" Sam asks after a time, allowing the others their questions and answers. "It sounds like that would have been some time ago, Mireah who knows where in this land? I cannot help wonder how this meshes with the fact that you, Shionne, and the tiny fey and such were in such danger or dying being so far from the weakened portal. If you were on deaths door, surely Mireah is already lost? And would have been long ago?"
Sam shrugs. "It's just the stories seem to know work from one end to the other to me. Maybe it's my Half-Orc brain..."
"But for questions for you, I guess mine would be: Is it safer for the people of Hokum for the portal to remain open or for it to be closed? Regardless of what is good for you or yours, what is good for the Hokums?"
"Mireah separated from her lands before she left, the burden was placed on me and so she should have not suffered the same fate... I helped her turn away from us all, I helped her have her freedom. She is still out there somewhere, I feel it.
As for Hokum, I do not know, the corruption in the lands of autumn could have perished along with Rynwell, it would mean the deaths of thousands, but it would likely keep Hokum safe... The alternative is, if the corruption spread before the land was destroyed, This would be bad for both Hokum and myself, the seed that corrupted Rynwell would likely attempt to lure me to similar fate, but I will not know what has become of the faewyld until I return."
Sam is still skeptical and doesn’t find any of these answers reassuring. He cannot help but wonder why Shionne is still here when the portal is available and notes she hasn’t addressed the idea of a guard post at the tunnel yet. He suspects bringing his concerns up with Shionne would just lead to more answers that don’t really answer anything so he saves his questions for now…
Muir nods as Shionne speaks. He waits until she has done and looks at the other before speaking "So it seems to me then that you need to go back and fix your lands. However, we need to keep a line of communication opened and that's through the portal, if we are to prevent something like this from happening again. It also seems that there needs to be, as Young Vin said a guard for the portal. I propose that a Keeper once again take up that position as Keeper Yen had done. Perhaps Hirsi who has proven herself on this mission would take this up or Master Gore since he is familiar with the caves, woods, and town of Hokum. Of course this could include a small regiment of guards, as Young Vin suggested, to aid the Keeper. This would allow us out here to focus on helping rebuild Hokum, but also looking into any other irregularities found across the realm, that is if you all agree to join me in this endeavor...." Muir turns to Elthana and addresses her plight "I am sorry I do not have the skill to rid you of this curse but the Clerics of Hermes who should be in town should be able to do it. I will talk to them if you'd like and have them help you."
As Terry translates the common back to Shionne for her, she answers "the time of the closing and ever since, the portals between all of the realms have been odd, closed to those who wished to use them, broken, but still some things slipped through, things which should not. The fact that I was able to come through after the invasion tells me that this portal is opening once more, back to its former state, before the closing. I hope this means the other planes too will wake... Someone should also speak to Old Thicket, his home was the land of Autumn, I fear he may not wish to return to the faewyld unless he has a home there, I would consider placing him at the gate within the palace court to act as a guard of sorts from our side, but it would be his choice, we will guard the portal now regardless, now that we know it is waking up once more..."
Elthana listens, a bit crestfallen when Shionne tells her there is nothing she can do here as there is no way she was going to the feywild. She looks to Muir as he suggests the Clerics will be able to help her. She gives him a halfhearted smile and shrugs. She is starting to think she might be stuck this way for the rest of her life. The thought of it is starting to push her into a depression and its hard to continue listening to the rest of the conversation.
Her mind starts to wander and she really hopes they can move on from this situation. She knows they need to help finalize all the things so this doesn't happen again, but she was seriously done with this place. She gets up and walks away, letting the rest figure out what was needed.
Sam moves up to stand side by side with Elthana. Silently he reached out and pulls her next to him for a moment and then lets her go. She doesn't have to say what she is thinking, it is what anyone would be. "We will get you fixed," Sam says. No embellishment or drama, just a statement of fact. Shortly after Sam watches her walk away and he turns to the others.
"There is still much of the caves unchecked. There could still be more spillage and corruption left from the hag, there could be dust and dead ends," Sam notes. He then turns sour and adds "There's still a few of them spiders we fought and damn but I hate those things... But I think I hate letting them live and spread even more. We could head back in and try to clear it out before morning..." Sam isn't pressing the issue much. It's not their job to clean up all of Hokum's issues. Truth be, their job is finished as far as Sam is concerned. Most the rest should be handled by Hokum and whatver the Council sends forth. Not that he is unwilling to help, he's just also willing to let those in charge take charge.
Muir feels for Elthana and despite there much to be done in the caves, he understands she is not well. "Perhaps we move on to town and find the clerics. One of them has to be able to help Elthana. She is in need. I know their healing capabilities will return her to her normal self. I have no other questions for Shione. It seems they need to get back as soon as possible. We also need to talk to Old Thicket as well and let him know what has happened"
"we will begin to make the journey back, we have directions from Muir, and we must tend to the damages to our realm" Terry pipes up translating for Shionne, they both begin to make their way toward the cave and enter there.
The group is left alone, in the snow and the dark. The sun long dipped out of sight over the horizon by this point, though the evening is still young. The bitter cold makes the warmth of the cave seem welcoming should the group want to rest and wait til the morning, but they also know that the town, the people they saved, Iver, and the scout clerics are all awaiting news within the confines of the trade post building just a nights journey through the woods...
Sam isn't celebratory when the High-Fey announce they are leaving but he is far from upset. His concerns about what may or may not still reside in the caves are assuaged by the fact that Shionne and her retinue can fend for themselves (or not, for all he cares) and the caves can be gone through to ensure safety for people-kind at a latter date.
"Much as I want to get El to the clerics and hopefully get her righted to sorts, I don't think we should leave the people huddled here without a proper guard or escort," Sam considers aloud. "Don't want them being enticed to the portal unawares or any such. And there could still be random red caps on the trip back to Hokum. Would be nice to think we got them all but we certainly can't be sure..."
"Would be nice to let them know what is going on though," Sam continues, his hand dipping into his rust colored bag. He slowly pulls out a fuzzy, warm ball and weighs it in his hand for a bit. It is dark already, not like he thinks he will be "needing" to draw another. No reason not to take a chance and hope... He tosses the ball about five feet from him and kind of wills his owl Hootie to appear. It does not. The balls rustles and shimmies, grows and growls... and instead of a small owl it is a mastiff that appears with a good shake that goes from it's head all the way down to it's butt and tail. It turns around once as if to reacquiant itself with the world and then a low growl grows into a deep chested "Woof!" of a hello.
"C'mere buddy!' Sam says immediately in a happy "talking to a dog" voice and he crouches down and reaches out to them. Boris watches as the mastiff shakes it's tail happily and then runs into Sam's arms but the giant boar is indifferent. Órga lifts his head and gives an exaggerated yawn.
Sam scratches the dog's sides vigorously and shows it much joy and love but he looks over to Órga and talks to them. "Was kind of hoping Hootie could fly a message to Iver and the survivors we left at the tower. This one wouldn't know the way... Think you would? A nice run through the woods might do you some good maybe." Órga yawns again and sets his head down upon his giant paws. ((Does Sam think the lion would be able to return to where we left them barricaded? Órga was pulled and alive during that time, I believe... Not sure how much we can expect him to run to a specific spot though? If Sam thinks they can then perhaps a message could be written and attached to a makeshift collar?))
"Probably safe enough to split up," Sam notes, "But not sure the time difference makes any risk worthwhile?" Sam looks over to Elthana as he says this and feels a jolt of pain knowing that every hour is hurting her but still not being able to justify it to himself to rush her there and leave everyone else behind.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
Muir nods "Let's put all the cards on the table so to say."
“Or at least tell our tales…” Sam grumbles in agreement. His skepticism likely apparent.
Elthana returns Gewyn's look and responds, "You know what I meant, but you're right, we didn't lose."
She then hobbles up with the rest, really getting sick of not having the full movement of her body. She promises herself if she is ever cured, she won't take it for granted ever again.
As they reach Shionne and Vin, she asks Vin, "Who is Bry'ze?"
While they all get settled, ready to hear what Shionne has to say, she looks at Muir with a questioning gaze.
Muir nods in agreement once again "Well I will begin then. You all saw my side conversation With Terry. I told them that Rynwell was the one behind all of this, which led to the conversation with Terry. Here is what I learned. Rynwell's corruption has been an issue for years, but they had to let it be for the sake of the land. However, now that she is gone, a big chunk of the faewyld will die, unless Shionne takes it over like she did with spring and winter...her other sisters. Terry believes this is bad and that we should work on getting Shionne back to the faewyld as soon as possible. Rynwell didn't kill Tialha and Mireah, Spring and Winter sisters. Each of the sisters were wards of specific parts of the Faewyld, not just keepers of those lands but they embodied them, they were intrinsically linked, and also linked to one another, this is how all of the parts of the land kept their peace with one another, they were all united under one being, the sisters, The Trostani princess... Tialha died a long time ago, a sickness overtook her and her land of winter died with her, it was a loss felt not only by the remaining sisters but the land as a whole. It birthed something within Rynwell, she was angry at the world, They all feared that whatever sickness took Tialha had seeded itself in Rynwell, so they tried to help but, she blamed the other sisters and drove Mireah's away, after a lot of infighting the remaining sisters split, literally. Mireah left the faewyld" Muir pauses a moment and looks at Gewyn "That could be how our friend here is a fey but I digress. Shionne took on the spring, but embodying two seasons, two parts of the land took its toll on Shionne and took up all of her time, This made Rynwell even more upset and the anger was felt amongst the autumnal lands, Rynwell disappeared within her land wandering the corruption and blaming the rest of them for Tialha's death, that's when we locked the corruption out, we closed off the autumnal lands and left Rynwell alone, it's what she wanted and was better than losing another land of the faewyld... It seems Rynwell's anger grew and festered int our world."
“This all seems a them problem,” Sam responds in a bit of a snort.
”They had all this corruption and dying lands and such. Sounds like to me they did their best to ignore it. Then it came to our lands…” Sam looks to the others to try to gauge their thinking. Can’t. So he continues.
“Seems to me closing the portal and any others is the best thing for our world. They ignore their problems. Banish them, cast them away and let them fester. We need them seeping over here and making our lives harder less than I need a second butthole. What do we gain by allowing their problems to become ours?”
Vin gives a quick reply to Elthana in elven on who Bry'ze is then settles down to listen to Muir tell his tale. What a tale it was too. He couldn't really fathom four beings as one all split up like that and now one sister is forced to do everything alone. He thinks on it and realizes that Shionne is effectively a god if her life is tied to the existence of an entire realm. What would fill the void if an entire world perished? Vin had an idea that he knew though he has no proof. Mireah came here then? Is she still alive? So much has happened he's not sure what to expect anymore but it means the portal to the feywild was probably open for some time with nothing bad happening until Rynwell came. Vin has a thought pop into his head though and asks "Does that mean Mireah is still in our world somewhere?"
As Sam adds his thoughts to just closing off the worlds Vin looks to them and says "We gain friends. Allies. Another world that can help us protect ourselves from other realms that wish us harm. Realms we didn't even realize were there until now. A threat we might need help with one day. It's one portal. like a single door that can easily be guarded. I'm confident that we can get a good set of guards at the portal on our side to ensure nothing bad like this ever happens again. I could picture an entire building designed around it to allow travel between worlds but also make sure danger doesn't cross through it. I don't think anyone would suggest just leaving the portal unattended after what happened here. It sounds like they might even need help on their side and what better way to setup up good relationships then with the being who... I guess now controls all of that world?" He looks a bit questioningly at Shionne/Terry.
Terry finishes translating the things said for Shionne, especially that which is said in common, though he does seem hesitant to admit and translate exactly what he had divulged to Muir personally, and was now being repeated back for the group.
Shionne takes a deep breath and let's out a sigh which seems unbecoming of her status, she takes a seat, another thing no one had seen her do until now.
"I'll speak this tongue, in this land, it seems fitting. Though it is forbidden for me to utter in my home plane, Sam is right, lots of bureaucratic nonsense" she begins in Elvish, translated for those that do not speak it by a very surprised looking Terry. Shionne's emotional exhaustion seems to put her inna place of mental grounding, as she continues "Muir is also correct, we sisters were born as one being, the Trostani princess, we were born to bring the lands of our plane together and keep peace, this was back before the time of the closing, before all realms were shut off from one another, this plane had a keeper of the gate, though their name is lost to me...
Vin tells me that he saw a glimmer of what Rynwell once was, before she became corrupted, and before her grief turned into rage and her rage turned to madness. I don't expect understanding in why I did not deal with her myself before, I'm not sure you'd be able to understand what it would mean to kill a part of your own soul, but perhaps I was just being selfish, and that selfishness cost your plane dearly. I want to extend my deepest apology for my sister and for myself, and I also want to give you all my thanks.
If you have questions then please ask them. I owe you all that much, and more."
Upon hearing about a keeper of the gate Muir quickly moves past everything Shionne says and asks "Was it someone named Keeper Yen?"
Elthana's head is spinning so fast with all the information, she has to sit down herself. No questions really pop into her head as she tries to process the information, save but one.. "Can you cure me?" she asks Shionne in elvish.
"Keeper Yen, yes that was it, so long ago..." Terry translates as Shionne's attention fades slightly as she apparently wonders what could have happened to him.
when Elthana asks, Shionne's attention is brought right back, "To heal you, I would need to take you to my home... I'm afraid the powers I have left to heal extend only to the production of some Berries" she stretches a hand out and a small berry bush rises, twisting from the ground and immediately fruits with ten berries familiar to Muir.
"Muir says Mireah left the fey lands, suggesting perhaps she has been in this world, yes?" Sam asks after a time, allowing the others their questions and answers. "It sounds like that would have been some time ago, Mireah who knows where in this land? I cannot help wonder how this meshes with the fact that you, Shionne, and the tiny fey and such were in such danger or dying being so far from the weakened portal. If you were on deaths door, surely Mireah is already lost? And would have been long ago?"
Sam shrugs. "It's just the stories seem to know work from one end to the other to me. Maybe it's my Half-Orc brain..."
"But for questions for you, I guess mine would be: Is it safer for the people of Hokum for the portal to remain open or for it to be closed? Regardless of what is good for you or yours, what is good for the Hokums?"
"Mireah separated from her lands before she left, the burden was placed on me and so she should have not suffered the same fate... I helped her turn away from us all, I helped her have her freedom. She is still out there somewhere, I feel it.
As for Hokum, I do not know, the corruption in the lands of autumn could have perished along with Rynwell, it would mean the deaths of thousands, but it would likely keep Hokum safe... The alternative is, if the corruption spread before the land was destroyed, This would be bad for both Hokum and myself, the seed that corrupted Rynwell would likely attempt to lure me to similar fate, but I will not know what has become of the faewyld until I return."
Sam is still skeptical and doesn’t find any of these answers reassuring. He cannot help but wonder why Shionne is still here when the portal is available and notes she hasn’t addressed the idea of a guard post at the tunnel yet. He suspects bringing his concerns up with Shionne would just lead to more answers that don’t really answer anything so he saves his questions for now…
Muir nods as Shionne speaks. He waits until she has done and looks at the other before speaking "So it seems to me then that you need to go back and fix your lands. However, we need to keep a line of communication opened and that's through the portal, if we are to prevent something like this from happening again. It also seems that there needs to be, as Young Vin said a guard for the portal. I propose that a Keeper once again take up that position as Keeper Yen had done. Perhaps Hirsi who has proven herself on this mission would take this up or Master Gore since he is familiar with the caves, woods, and town of Hokum. Of course this could include a small regiment of guards, as Young Vin suggested, to aid the Keeper. This would allow us out here to focus on helping rebuild Hokum, but also looking into any other irregularities found across the realm, that is if you all agree to join me in this endeavor...." Muir turns to Elthana and addresses her plight "I am sorry I do not have the skill to rid you of this curse but the Clerics of Hermes who should be in town should be able to do it. I will talk to them if you'd like and have them help you."
As Terry translates the common back to Shionne for her, she answers "the time of the closing and ever since, the portals between all of the realms have been odd, closed to those who wished to use them, broken, but still some things slipped through, things which should not. The fact that I was able to come through after the invasion tells me that this portal is opening once more, back to its former state, before the closing. I hope this means the other planes too will wake... Someone should also speak to Old Thicket, his home was the land of Autumn, I fear he may not wish to return to the faewyld unless he has a home there, I would consider placing him at the gate within the palace court to act as a guard of sorts from our side, but it would be his choice, we will guard the portal now regardless, now that we know it is waking up once more..."
Elthana listens, a bit crestfallen when Shionne tells her there is nothing she can do here as there is no way she was going to the feywild. She looks to Muir as he suggests the Clerics will be able to help her. She gives him a halfhearted smile and shrugs. She is starting to think she might be stuck this way for the rest of her life. The thought of it is starting to push her into a depression and its hard to continue listening to the rest of the conversation.
Her mind starts to wander and she really hopes they can move on from this situation. She knows they need to help finalize all the things so this doesn't happen again, but she was seriously done with this place. She gets up and walks away, letting the rest figure out what was needed.
Sam moves up to stand side by side with Elthana. Silently he reached out and pulls her next to him for a moment and then lets her go. She doesn't have to say what she is thinking, it is what anyone would be. "We will get you fixed," Sam says. No embellishment or drama, just a statement of fact. Shortly after Sam watches her walk away and he turns to the others.
"There is still much of the caves unchecked. There could still be more spillage and corruption left from the hag, there could be dust and dead ends," Sam notes. He then turns sour and adds "There's still a few of them spiders we fought and damn but I hate those things... But I think I hate letting them live and spread even more. We could head back in and try to clear it out before morning..." Sam isn't pressing the issue much. It's not their job to clean up all of Hokum's issues. Truth be, their job is finished as far as Sam is concerned. Most the rest should be handled by Hokum and whatver the Council sends forth. Not that he is unwilling to help, he's just also willing to let those in charge take charge.
Muir feels for Elthana and despite there much to be done in the caves, he understands she is not well. "Perhaps we move on to town and find the clerics. One of them has to be able to help Elthana. She is in need. I know their healing capabilities will return her to her normal self. I have no other questions for Shione. It seems they need to get back as soon as possible. We also need to talk to Old Thicket as well and let him know what has happened"
"we will begin to make the journey back, we have directions from Muir, and we must tend to the damages to our realm" Terry pipes up translating for Shionne, they both begin to make their way toward the cave and enter there.
The group is left alone, in the snow and the dark. The sun long dipped out of sight over the horizon by this point, though the evening is still young. The bitter cold makes the warmth of the cave seem welcoming should the group want to rest and wait til the morning, but they also know that the town, the people they saved, Iver, and the scout clerics are all awaiting news within the confines of the trade post building just a nights journey through the woods...
Sam isn't celebratory when the High-Fey announce they are leaving but he is far from upset. His concerns about what may or may not still reside in the caves are assuaged by the fact that Shionne and her retinue can fend for themselves (or not, for all he cares) and the caves can be gone through to ensure safety for people-kind at a latter date.
"Much as I want to get El to the clerics and hopefully get her righted to sorts, I don't think we should leave the people huddled here without a proper guard or escort," Sam considers aloud. "Don't want them being enticed to the portal unawares or any such. And there could still be random red caps on the trip back to Hokum. Would be nice to think we got them all but we certainly can't be sure..."
"Would be nice to let them know what is going on though," Sam continues, his hand dipping into his rust colored bag. He slowly pulls out a fuzzy, warm ball and weighs it in his hand for a bit. It is dark already, not like he thinks he will be "needing" to draw another. No reason not to take a chance and hope... He tosses the ball about five feet from him and kind of wills his owl Hootie to appear. It does not. The balls rustles and shimmies, grows and growls... and instead of a small owl it is a mastiff that appears with a good shake that goes from it's head all the way down to it's butt and tail. It turns around once as if to reacquiant itself with the world and then a low growl grows into a deep chested "Woof!" of a hello.
"C'mere buddy!' Sam says immediately in a happy "talking to a dog" voice and he crouches down and reaches out to them. Boris watches as the mastiff shakes it's tail happily and then runs into Sam's arms but the giant boar is indifferent. Órga lifts his head and gives an exaggerated yawn.
Sam scratches the dog's sides vigorously and shows it much joy and love but he looks over to Órga and talks to them. "Was kind of hoping Hootie could fly a message to Iver and the survivors we left at the tower. This one wouldn't know the way... Think you would? A nice run through the woods might do you some good maybe." Órga yawns again and sets his head down upon his giant paws. ((Does Sam think the lion would be able to return to where we left them barricaded? Órga was pulled and alive during that time, I believe... Not sure how much we can expect him to run to a specific spot though? If Sam thinks they can then perhaps a message could be written and attached to a makeshift collar?))
"Probably safe enough to split up," Sam notes, "But not sure the time difference makes any risk worthwhile?" Sam looks over to Elthana as he says this and feels a jolt of pain knowing that every hour is hurting her but still not being able to justify it to himself to rush her there and leave everyone else behind.