"I'm Valeri, but you can also call me Venom. It wasn't any devilsih-horned-rabbits, more like someone has enchanted the forest animals to become consumed by bloodlust." She turns to Vandran with a look of confusion before answering Chaos' question."I am in this town for some family business which I took care of already. What about yourself, Chaos Stone?" 

'What type of elf has white hair and purple eyes... Certainly none that I've ever met in my lifetime. Huh, suppose there is a great wide world out there..'  Valeri thinks quietly to herself, assesing Chaos's attire and appearance. 

Seth shrugs uncharacteristically in response to Valeri's look of confusion. 'Don't ask me,' he seems to be saying. But he moves slightly to one side and does not speak, content to let the two women sort out their own understandings - as long as they do not involve him, at least.

"Venom? What a peculiar choice of a nickname, but very nice, I support it completely. May I ask you where you got it from?"

'Some family business'? Great, more secretive NPCs. But uhm, if she is a friend of his, maybe we can rope her into following us... One more redshirt never hurts. "You can just call me Chaos. I'm a traveler, but currently I need to take care of a certain issue with Mr Vandran, which is why we are here." A pause. "Will you be staying in town, now that your family business is over? Does your family live here?"

“It seems that fate is dead set on having us work together Vandran,”

Valeri ignores the half-elf’s questions about her name.

“As it so happens, I accepted the request of Matron Hucrele to find her missing children. I can’t do it alone and so I was looking for assistance. Is your work, by any amount of chance, in the ‘Sunless Citadel’?”

"Hucrele? I see. We are not entirely uninvolved, I would say, although our goals may not ultimately align." Seth answers, somewhat thoughtfully. "If that does not bother you for now, I am sure you are welcome to join us. We share a similar objective."

'And another bastion against this Chaos would surely be appreciated.' 

"The more the merrier, as they say,"  Chaos comments with indifference, without as much as a look as the boring NPC. More help is welcomed no matter where it comes from, and it's better to keep an eye on the Hucrele agents instead of having them sneaking up from behind... Assuming the girl is not just a red herring, of course. Anyway, Leng implied that they should wait to be far away from the town before taking them out.

"We have wasted enough time. Let's go pick up Maryln,"  she says, walking off in the direction of the barracks.

"Maryln?" The wood-elf says, walking alongside Chaos. 'More help really is appreciated.'  She thinks to herself.

Upon entering the barracks, you see two long tables set in rows next to each other, surrounded by benches on each side.  It looks like this is both the communal room and the dining area of the building.  Currently only a smattering of guards are seated at one of the tables; it's no longer mealtime, and most of the town's forces are on duty.

Fortunately, Maryln Whitpike isn't one of them.  She, Gerno, Argus, and Theryln are present, each seeming to have been awaiting your arrival.  None seem too pleased to have their daily schedules interrupted, but nevertheless they each look at you expectantly.

"So which one of us is it?" Mary says, speaking for the other guards.  When Chaos's finger points at her, she grimaces, but rises to her feet quickly and grabs the pack by her side on the floor.

"O-oh, good," Gerno stutters, wilting in his seat.

"About time," Argus grumbles, though he does stand and give Mary a clap on the back.  "Take care of yourself, Mary.  You're still one of us."

Therlyn, reticent as ever, simply nods at you, stopping before Chaos.  "I wish you luck.  Please... bring the captain back to us safely, if you can."  With those few words, she brushes past you and leaves swiftly through the door.

Mary steps up to join you; for those of you who haven't met her, you are greeted by a muscular, dusky-skinned woman with startling blue eyes and long hair swept back from her head into a ponytail formed from many small braids.

Maryln "Mary" Whitpike

"My name is Maryln Whitpike.  You can call me Mary for short.  As some of you know, I'm a guardswoman of Oakhurst, and I've been instructed to provide you support on a mission to rescue Captain Karakas.  Commander Felosial said I was to follow your instructions within reason."  At this, her gaze shifts to Chaos, and her eyes narrow, before snapping back towards Seth.  "I hope we can all get along."

She pauses.  "But who are you, anyway?  I thought the Commander said there were only two of you."  She addresses Venom as she speaks.

Once a proper introduction ahs taken place, Maryln leads the group down the main road and towards a smaller, much less-used path leading out of the town.  "This is the Old Road," she tells you.  "I can lead you to the Citadel.  Everyone in town kind of knows where those ruins are, but few venture out there because of the goblins."

"The name's Venom." She introduces herself. "Thanks for agreeing to help."  Valeri seems to say this more to Seth and Chaos than Maryln, though she is included in the sweeping look of gratitude which Val gives everyone. 

"What's the story behind the ruins anyways?" Valeri asks Mary by way of breaking the ice. 

(ooc: Can I find that gashglue stuff here?)

"Oh," Mary says, smiling at Venom.  "Well, no one really knows.  There's some old rumors flying around that it was built by some kind of cultist following.  We're not really too sure what sort of a cult, though; it was destroyed a long, long time ago, and there aren't really any records about what happened at the time.  Some people say it had to do with a dragon.  I don't know for sure, though.  All we know is that something made that fortress sink into the ground.  That's why we call it the sunless citadel.  It's no dwarven ruin, but it still goes deep underground."  She frowns.  "If you wanted to know all the wildest theories people have, Gerno would be the one to talk to.  But I'd take everything he says with a grain of salt.  There may be some truth buried in his stories, but there'll be a tone of horse apples to dig through to find it first."

You follow the Old Road out of town under Mary’s guidance, and soon pass away from the vast farmlands and towards the Crag Mountains that loom in the distance.  The road can’t really be properly called such – it’s more of a rutted path, rocky and uneven from disuse.   As the day draws on, the freezing winter wind tears at your exposed skin; you’re all very glad to be appropriately dressed, though no one seems to relish the prospect of spending the night outside.  Fortunately the hike keeps your blood pumping, even as the sun sinks lower and lower into the sky, and the telltale signs of weariness begin to appear.

At one point, Mary lights a torch and holds it up to shed some light on the surroundings – but she makes no sign of stopping.   “It’s not safe to camp here in the open,” she tells you.  “I think we should make camp nearer to the Citadel.”

It’s as dark as deepest night by the time Mary finally slows your pace.  “We’ve arrived,” she says.  It’s been several hours since you left Oakhurst, and there’s little vegetation at the foot of the mountains.  There’s also very little you can see, outside of the range of Mary’s torch, but what you do catch glimpses of looks barren – you see no sign of any sort of fortress in the area.

“Watch your step,” Mary says as she lowers the torch to the ground, and as the light flares, you realize you’re walking next to a widening ravine to your west.  The light flickers against what looks to be a pillar – no, several, you realize, and they’re all worn and broken, lining the edge of the chasm.  You can’t see what’s on the other side of the ravine, nor what lurks in the depths in this darkness.

“So,” Mary continues, lifting the torch high and turning towards you.  “Should we make camp out here, or try our luck with the descent?  If you ask me, it’s a fool’s job to try to climb down into that pit in the dark like this when we’re tired.  But I’ll do as the rest of you wish.”

"We should stop camp out for the night. I have the Tent we bought, right he-"

Chaos stops abruptly. She remembers wanting to buy a Tent, after experiencing the harshness of winter when camping out with Karakas. She remembers thinking they should get one at the Emporium, when Lord Leng told them about it. Yet, she can't remember doing anything during the last two days - as if a big stupor had come upon her, making her numb and motionless. There were many things she had wanted to do, NPCs to meet, trying to recruit more redshirts for their trip - but it was as if something had compelled to stay still, forgetful of everything. Had she gone on standbye? Maybe the battery was running out?

She looks at Seth, confused. "Didn't we buy a Tent?"

Maryln, seeing that the three of you seem to have decided to camp out, begins to set up her tent.  "Can one of you build a fire?" she asks as she works.

Chaos turns to look at the guard. "Yes, I can do it, apparently, using my Tinderbox." She takes out the item, staring at it.

Then she frowns. "...Wait, Maryln, you have a tent? Where were you keeping it hidden all this time?" 

Mary stops working for a moment to stare at Chaos.

"... Attached to my rucksack, as it always was?" she says, before shaking her head and getting back to work.

Chaos, you're completely confused by her words.  You don't remember anything special about her pack.  In fact, you just vaguely remember upon leaving town that she had grabbed one.  You aren't even sure what it looked like.  Even though Mary just pointed it out to you, you're still not entirely sure.  It looks... like a lump of leather that can carry things?  You guess the tent must have been on there somewhere, at some point in time... but you just weren't paying enough attention to it.  Even now, it's much more interesting to watch your companions, than some inconsequential inanimate object, after all.

"...I see. I hadn't seen it, of course, or I would have remembered we needed another one. Which we clearly don't have."

Chaos frowns. Something feels very out of place. She turns to look at her companions in turn. "How is it possible for all of us to forget to buy a Tent, and not notice Maryln's Tent? And you, Maryln, couldn't you have said something about it?" She lowers her gaze, looking sad. "I thought this would be a chance to reconcile..."

"I can make a fire! Marlyn, is your tent big enough for all of us?" Venom looks at the tent strapped to her with a doubtful look. Valeri starts to look around for dry sticks and kindling to start her fire. Trying to be as helpful as she can in this harsh winter.  

"I'll be happy to share my tent with anyone who needs it," Mary protests.  "But I can only fit one other person in here, I'm afraid.  Two of you can use it while I'm taking my watch, but if you didn't bring a tent..."  She looks a bit mystified.  "I'm sorry, but I really thought you all would have come prepared for this."  She looks around.  "I can take the first or the last watch, your preference."

Chaos shakes her head, still confused, trying to get rid of the mist filling her brain. "O-okay," she says, "I sure thought that, too."

She walks over to the Dry Wood gathered by Valeri, and starts setting it on fire with her Tinderbox. "I have a blanket," she states more decisively. "Whoever has to stay outside can take it, and hopefully it will give some respite from the cold."

Looking at Maryln, a bit stiffly, "I'll take fourth watch. You can have the first one."

Mary eyes Chaos warily at first, but at the offer of taking the last watch, she gives the girl a firm nod, her expression softening a bit.