Sera lets out a muffled sigh. "Sure, I guess we'll find the lost little sheep."

"Very well." Councilwoman Teppen leads you all to the apothecary to speak with the surviving bodyguard. You see an Ulfen man lying in a bed, recovering from his wounds. He is wrapped in bandages and you can see that his nose, fingers, and toes have taken on a black hue that can only come from severe frostbite. "My name is Yuln Oernstag. “Would that I could go with you. My ancestors would ridicule my lack of valor for fleeing rather than fighting to the end. But I faced enemies that even the greatest warriors in the Linnorm Kingdoms have faltered against, though I think I slew at least one of them before they dragged Lady Argentea away."

"You don't have to be their servant to gain the knowledge you seek."
"Yes, I do. It knows more than I could ever hope to in my lifetime. It requires things of me."
"But at what cost? At one point you will no longer be who you are. It will take everything from you."
"You don't know that for sure. All my life i've looked to the stars, to know something greater than myself."
"For that kind of knowledge..it is not free. Don't you see? Servitude and insanity are the only things you'll know."
"I can resist it. It has taught me things already and given me powers beyond anything I could hope for."
"That's how it hooks you in. Knowledge doesn't await you. A more horrible destiny does. Let me help you."

Jasun snapped out of his memory, noticing the large blonde woman, a tall woman, with a mean axe. She looked powerful. Dangerous. Oh, hello. What have we h-

Another interruption. The cold caused his patience to thin a little. Now a middle aged woman. He forced a smile, and listened.

"Well, I cannot speak for the rest of these newly mostly introduced travelers here.." he said, "But you can count me in. Jasun Halifax at your service." he said, bowing slightly.

Then we went to go see the man with black fingers and toes. Oh my, that looks bad. Euch. "Well, Yuln, it appears your tap dancing days might be over. The good news is..you're alive." he said, making light of the situation.

Sera stifles a groan at the sight of an Ulfen, giving the man's blackened fingers and toes no more than a brief look. The cold was brutal if you let it be, everyone knew that. However, she keeps her features relaxed and pleasant...ish. "And what were those enemies?"

Yuln laughs grimly at Jasun's dark humor before responding to Seraphina. “We thought they were just bandits at first—outlaws who hide like wolves in the forest. They were no match for us. But then came the cold fey of the north. They appeared among us and the battle turned quickly. My people speak of the winter-touched all the time, but I never expected to meet them this far south.” 

"And..these winter-touched?" Jasun stroked his chin, "What can you tell us about them?"

"I-I'm okay, I just--!!" The firbolg stammers out to the small group following her as she tries to catch the flying paper flitting off elsewhere. With her bangs in her eyes, she doesn't see her paper having been nabbed by someone, only to then knock right into them and stumble backwards. Thankfully, she able to keep balance and not fall on her butt. She parts her fringe a bit, just enough to get a better look at the other person she bumped into.

Heat rushes to her freckled cheeks in embarrassment when she hears the larger woman speak about holding someone responsible for littering. She's about to request for it back when the middle-aged woman approaches them. Rose's eyes dart back and forth between Ionnia and the goliath, making sure that the other doesn't read too much into what the letter was as it was extremely personal to her. When the woman finishes, she speaks, "N-no bother. My name is, um, Rose." She gives a quick bow to the group, albeit a bit nervously. "Please take us to the apothecary..." The firbolg requests but before she follows, she gives Jirel and pleading look with big brown-green puppy dog eyes. "Can I please get my letter back? I-it's extremely personal to me!"

After (hopefully) obtaining her letter, Rose carefully folds it back into her pouch and follows behind the group. When they visit Yuln, Rose cannot hide a frown thinning onto her lips at the sight of his frostbitten toes and fingers. Though, not one for conversation (and more of being a listener), she shuffles to the back and allows the more charismatic looking folk do the talking.

She tries to see if she could possibly remember anything about the winter touched Yuln spoke of...

Arcana: 3

“The Winter-Touched are Fey creatures who have sworn themselves to the White Witches of Irrisen, those who stole our lands from us during the Winter War. Tiny sprites no taller than the length of a man’s forearm. But don’t be fooled by their small stature. Legends say they have taken a sliver of ice into their hearts, and their touch bears the harsh bite of winter. Just look at what the little bastards did to me.”

Rose: When you were a little girl, you heard scary stories about Fey creatures that served evil ice witches from Irrisen, how their touch brought frostbite and how even the strongest steel was only half as effective and silver was what you needed to defeat them with.

"I see." Jasun nods. "Great, I appreciate the information. Don't worry, your piano playing days shall return. One day." he says, unsure.

"Before you go, take my longsword. It is silvered, so it will be able to pierce there magical defenses. Clearly I won't need be needing it for some time."

"Hmm~ I have no need for a blade, I don't think. Though perhaps another here might best benefit from it." Zaf looks again to the tallest in the room. Even one appeared to be rather unassuming, such a thing didn't seem to matter much to bird boi. "O, another few questions, if you do not mind. Did the fey both your men and these bandits? Did they appear to take anything or one else with them? Corpses, included. And might you be able to describe exactly where it was your Lady was taken? So that we may have a physical starting point to go from." He inquired, leaning more and more into the man, blithely invading his space until pushed or warded away.

“Will or won’t?” Jasun raised an eyebrow, unsure if he heard the toeless Yuln correctly. “Either way, a starting point would be most helpful indeed.”

"No. My men were able to kill the bandits with ease. It was the fey that killed my men. They stole the lady's valuables, as well as whatever horses they didn't kill in their assault. They took her deeper into the woods. I tried to follow them as far as I could, but it was a struggle for me to fend off the Winter-Touched and the bandits on my own. I had to go back. But  they were working with those bandits, so they must have a hideout deeper in the woods."

"I won't be needing the sword." He clarifies. "The cold must be getting to me."

Sera sighs at the mention of wintertouched, swearing out an impressive string of curses under her breath. "Lovely. Guess we're headed into the woods after some damn winter-fey." The white-haired woman crosses her arms. "This is why I left," she adds under her breath.

"A fine, blade, Sir Stubs For Hands." Jasun smiles, looking at the longsword. "Between you and me.." he leans in closely. "I'm not a huge fan of the cold myself. Don't tell anyone though, i'm trying to act as manly as I can around these new people." he winks, making a clicking sound with his mouth. He stands up. "A brave man you are. I wish you well on your recovery. Who needs toes anyways, right?" 

He turns to Sera. "Come now, my dear. What a wonderful time of year for a woodland hunt, wouldn't you say? Although, you have my curiosity as to why you left?" he asks in an attempt to get to know her a little better, and for sheer curiosity.

Yuln takes a quick look at Rose, Sera, and Jirel. "Trust me son, I totally get why you would want to look manly." He whispers. "If it wasn't for this damn frostbite, I'd jump out of this bed and go fight with you."

Sera sighs. "Because up north, the jadwiga and their damned winter-fey are everywhere," she replies to Jasun. She runs her fingers through her short hair. "It's a good enough time for a hunt, I suppose. That'll be the one good thing about this, getting out into the woods again for a good, challenging hunt."

Yuln: "I know, right?" Jasun says, bobbing his eyebrows, getting his drift. He holds his hand up for a high five, but then catches himself with a nervous laugh and lowers his hand. " Be well, brave sir."

Sera: "Ah, yes, of course, the Jadwiga.." Jasun admits, having no idea what you're talking about, but, trying to fake it: Deception: 7. 

Insight: 20

Sera nods, still frowning. "Seems like some things just keep on popping up, though. Like winter fey." She sighs. "Let's just get this over with."

Whew. I'll have to ask her about that later. Don't want to look like an idiot right off the bat.

"Post haste, of course." Jasun said. "Might we get something warm to eat first?" he casually suggested.