Kayn struggled to lift Kayn-dog up and carries him out into the darkness. He passes Vasha on the way, thankful for what she did, but sad that it had to be done. He doesn't speak to her, but he felt the bond she had with Kayn-dog. It was him that she bonded with, and he was afraid he had killed that bond forever. He never realized when he did the ritual that it would hurt her so much. It didn't even cross his mind. He only thought about the advancement in his power. He only thought of it as shedding his skin.

When he reaches an area with loose earth, he begins to dig, speaking to the dog as he does. Such magic is still new to him. A baby spawnbinder still learning how/when it is appropriate to use his power. It's there, digging the hole for his very first bound creature that he vows never to do that again. If he's bound a creature, he'll never risk that bond to bind another. He knows there's more powerful magic out there, some that will even reincarnate a person to a new body woven together by the mana in the world. Perhaps he can add that to the spawnbinder ritual. It will give the spirit a chance to live again. There's still so much for him to learn. 

Vesra was not expecting the dog to die. She let out a sob as her sister snapped the poor creature's neck. She cried into her hands as Ember patted her back, Kayn and Vasha left her. I would never do anything like that to you, she signed to her familiar.

After a few minutes, she wiped away her tears and rose to her feet. She followed Vasha to the edge of the darkness and gave her a hug from behind. Are you ok? She asked. I know you really liked the dog.

You can't stay up all night, Vesra pushed her sister. I'm sure someone else would be happy to pick up the watch for you. She could tell Vasha intended to keep vigil for the entire night, but the druid refused to accept that. If you are too exhausted tomorrow, how will you keep me- all of us safe? We need you well rested.

Kayn spends the rest of the night outfitting his saddle to fit on the gnarlid. He's been accustomed to doing this for many beasts of burden, so it wasn't the most difficult of tasks. It was merely time-consuming. At least the gnarlid will have gotten plenty of sleep and could traverse the terrain much easier than Kayn-dog did. Maybe Vasha will even grow to accept it.

He's able to create a tough slipknot that will adjust when the gnarlid goes into beast mode. He'll have to re-adjust manually when it reverted back, but it wasn't that bad. He watches the group for awhile as they sleep, allowing them to get a full night's rest. When morning comes, he dismisses Sear and finally gets a clear view of the carnage the night had produced. A large pile of dead goblins and a dead gnarlid and a freshly dug grave. He'll never forget Kayn-dog, but he couldn't dwell on the mixed emotions he was feeling. He'd do better next time, he was sure of it.

 Ato watched for some time, both fascinated and disturbed by what he was seeing take place. On one level he understood Kayn's desire to grow his power, but the method was troublesome. Ato had seen some things that had been difficult to watch, done some of those things himself, even. But this seemed different. He'd never been part of a group like this before, and a bond was growing between them. Seeing how the kor sisters were reacting... this could threaten what they were trying to build. That thought, more than what he'd seen Kayn do, bothered him, more than he expected after such a short time.

Eventually, he's seen enough of the process, given he understands none of it, and decides to get what rest he still can. It's clear that Vasha will be staying up and keeping watch, so he returns to his bedroll for a few more hours sleep. All too soon, the light and surprising heat of the early sunrise pull him back awake and he packs up what few belongings he has and makes preparations for the day ahead. He, too, notes the carnage - bodies, grave, and all. He'd seen Veythe searching the bodies, so didn't feel a need to do that again now that it was light out, but he did want to take a closer look up on top of the cliff where the goblins had attacked from. "I think I'll take a closer look at what's up top - anyone else want to come along?"

Kayn had the fire running hot and placed some herbs in a waterpot for morning tea. Rations would have to do for breakfast, as his traps and snares found nothing of worth. He began waking up the companions, eyes a little heavy from the night's festivities. But his gnarlid was ready and it watched the group as they began preparing for their first day's journey. He had it walk away from the group and feast on the remains of a goblin before they woke. He never knew that his race was so crunchy. It felt like eating a gooey insect, but it tasted wonderful.

Veythe stretched as morning started and munched upon her rations and water in most silence. She eyed the kor twins, curious about what they were up to, and frowned at the loss of Kayn's dog and this new gnarlid that he's got. She didn't quite understand what happened, she hadn't paid much or any attention before she fell back asleep. Her gaze swept past everyone and then landed on Ato as he got up toward the cliff and spoke. With a sigh Veythe got to her feet.

"I'll join you. Do you want one of the climbing claws I purchased?" Veythe certainly planned to use the one she reserved for herself.

Ato surveys the rough cliff/hillside appraisingly before answering. "I don't think we'll need them for this climb now that we can see it in the daylight, but I'm sure they'll be needed before too long.  If you have them handy, I'll take a set, so we have them just in case we need them up higher. Let's go see what we can find, shall we?" 

Vesra awoke in a pile of limbs with her sister and Ember. She hadn't intended to fall asleep, at least not without her sister. The druid could plainly see Vasha hadn't gotten a wink of slee, but that was a problem for later.

Ember warmed up a little mug of water, into which she druidcrafted a few tea leaves. Despite the temperature, there was nothing like a warm beverage to wake her up in the morning. Vesra noticed the goblin tracks leading up the hill as she packed up, something Ato had apparently noticed as well. 

"I wouldn't mind investigating," she said hesitantly. "But I'm not sure if we will find anything of use. Perhaps it's best to not get too sidetracked."

"Another set of eyes is always welcome, Vesra.  It shouldn't take us long to examine the area up above, and everyone is still getting up and moving anyway. And, of course, there is safety in numbers in case we meet anything... challenging." 

Spear in hand as a walking stick, Ato sets off, carefully picking a trail up the hillside, and roughly following whatever tracks the goblins and gnarlids left in their descent the night before."

Ellangil watched the ritual with morbid interest, then took in the conversation about the dog-thing and watched Vasha's demeanor change visibly. He knew what she was going to do and why she felt the need to do it, but he could see conflict within her even so.

The wet pop of the snapping neck and the dog's body going limp had an unexpected effect on him. He'd seen much death in his time, scenes of graphic and morbid violence, but this scene of innocence lost caused an unfamiliar tightening sensation in his chest. He walked away to hide his weakness.

It took a second, but Veythe realized that Ato was quite right. She flushed faintly as she dug around to hand over set of the climbing claws. She followed after Ato fairly silently after that. What was even wrong with her today? Veythe huffed and signed to herself stupid, stupid, stupid. Her perception was off. This frustrated her.

Waking up in the morning, the group notices the sky clouded over, blotting out the suns and painting the scenery around them in a dreary night. While foreigners might see the sign as a symbol for incoming rain, those native to Akoum know better: the "clouds" are in fact ash and gas, ejected high into the atmosphere from a volcanic eruption somewhere on Akoum. The small contingent of the group begins hiking up the series of hills which seem to crawl ever higher. You round one, only to find another off in the distance, climbing higher. Thankfully, the tracks are easy enough to follow, and after returning and grabbing the rest of the group, the entire group sets out on the next leg of their journey.

As the morning progresses into the afternoon, the group continues to follow the path of tracks for a bit before stopping to consider their course of action. Did they want to follow the tracks to a nest of goblins and whatever else waited with them? Kayn recalled the goblin that got away. What if a trap was being set, or another group was being sent after them? With these thoughts in mind, the group quickly abandoned the tracks, forging a path along the hills south before realigning and heading west once again. As the group pushes towards their end goal, they begin to notice the scenery change as well: the terrain was still desert, but the sand quickly disappeared, giving way to rock and dry, crusted dirt, which sat atop the ground like armored plates atop a great beast. The terrain made it much more difficult to follow the tracks, but Vasha's keen eyes picked them back up. Far off in the distance, a large plume of volcanic ash billowed up into the air: the culprit of the ash clinging to the air above.

Rounding one more hill, the group is slammed with the smell of sulfur and rotten eggs as they are faced with a spectacular and dreadful view. Jagged volcanic pillars grow from the molten volcanic rock beneath. The hill drops down at a fierce angle [difficult terrain] into a black valley, perhaps two miles wide, created by layers upon layers of volcanic flow. Black, ashen rock covers the landscape, with ribbons and streaks of glowing yellow and orange liquid slowly moving downwards to the south. Looking north, a craggly spike, the volcano you saw earlier billowing out volcanic ash, juts into the horizon, with copious amounts of lava drooling down the side facing you.

"The tracks are in the general direction we need to go," the druid inspected them. "But we'll be better off not running into another nest of goblins." She took a sip of water from her waterskin before following Vasha onwards.

It's bad enough that I have to deal with my sister signing to herself in self doubt, Vesra signed to Veythe as they walked, a kind smile on her face. Are you alright?

"We're in Lavastep territory now. This must be where the goblins came from," Kayn says to the group as the continue. "Be weary... they already know we're here." He continues travelling atop his beautiful gnarlid, traversing the terrain and hills as if it had no issue at all. 

"Lavastep are known to be aggressive to everyone they meet. It is no wonder they attacked us. They are very good at hiding too," the goblin adds, "and we could already be surrounded. But if we find their caves, we can have safe passage under the lava flows."