[CLOSED] OVER THE RIVER AND THROUGH THE WOODS

[katabasis]

WHO: Marcus, Julius, Tsenka, Silver, Matthias
WHAT: Hunting apostates
WHEN: Sometime in Harvestmere
WHERE: Somewhere in Wildervale
NOTES: OOC Info

Despite what the words 'isolationist mages' might imply, it's difficult for any group of people to completely fall off the map—particularly, when they've arranged to leave behind a forwarding address. Returning to the abandoned homestead the group once occupied reveals a concealed cipher, a message written in some old field code from the days of the Mage-Templar war, which points them roughly in the right direction. With that context in mind, little rumors picked up on the road or in public houses while moving in it take on new life.

A woman traveling with children who neither look like her or one another could be refugees from anywhere, or it could be a mage passing through with a number of young charges. A stranger who owns no land appears with a set of tools for repair, stays for two days until the job is done, and then disappears again. A ghost story about screams heard coming out of some dark wood, recounted in a tiny tavern by a shepherd fresh from fields which lie at the edge of the trees, might be a particularly over-embellished tale of an animal's wail or it might be someone's clever idea of discouraging anyone from traveling certain wooded paths.

Indeed, given a few hours travel through that dark wood during daylight hours and the group will eventually catch sight of a cluster of scraggly buildings in various states of salvage through the trees.

Comments

discussion.

[luaithre]

Where most buildings and structures remain dark at this hour, now hearth and candlelight press illumination against the drawn curtains and shutters of the homestead they'd been gifted for a day, its owner surrendering its use while she stays elsewhere, lending them privacy and the room necessary to contain them all. The kitchen is the best gathering point, a heavy table surrounded by stools and chairs, a lowlit stove in the corner, the smells of flour and grease and old smoke thick in the air.

Also thick in the air: this revelation, and the short silence that follows it. Marcus has posted himself in the corner of the room, but a prickle of sensation down the back of his neck is more akin to how he might feel if he were at its centre. Unease settled in his bones.

"They'll need our assurance," spoken up, first, "that we've no intention on informing."

This has not been expressly stated—little has, just the explanation of what is hidden in the forest—but Marcus takes it as a concrete given, his focus lifting towards Silver, first.

[overharrowed]

It isn't clear, even to Julius himself, if he's taking it differently because Marcus is present. It doesn't not matter, though the extent to which it shapes his reaction is hard to gauge.

Regardless, his expression is thin and tense. Though Marcus looks toward Silver first, Julius doesn't wait for him to speak before interjecting quietly, "So we're clear, what exactly are we talking about? Beyond not informing." Because they need to sort that, yes, but not only that, and Julius's first concern isn't the report.

[hornswoggle]

"Any of it," John answers smoothly.

Because yes, it is a given, that John Silver will keep this secret. Even if only Julius and Marcus are fully aware of all the different layers there are to John's decision.

"What we've found, and what we do to manage it."

Manage.