Reclaiming the Wood (Tiffanian) GMed by Takimaru

[Takimaru]

Re: Reclaiming the Wood (Tiffanian) GMed by Takimaru

Status:

Spoiler

Llæwyn: HP = 80, PP = 60, EP = 42, Status = Fine

"That I do," replied Daelas, while even the previous coach drivers nodded to acknowledge that the sounds were also heard. Luckily, the veteran warrior was able to set his girl up on the coach without much further difficulty, with him and Idanar jogging over soon afterwards to help Maerwyn with her troubling recruit. The green-haired elf was soon sick of the girl's apparent disobedience, and let it be known.

"But..." whimpered the human girl, who still seemed unsure of how to handle the situation.

"Too bad. We have done more than enough for our part by freeing you, and we don't have time to waste. You're on your own, now," snarled Maerwyn dismissively before hopping off of the carriage. Idanar began to move as if to be helpful to the girl with a few last-minute lessons, but the female elf was quick to stop him. "Forget her. You heard Llæwyn, we could be in for some trouble if we opt to stay any longer. Let's go," said the younger swordswoman, and with that, the group of elves backed away from the carriages and retreated back into the wood. With their early departure, they were able to create enough distance on foot to remain undetected, even when the mounted soldiers did arrive.

Should Llæwyn look back from her relatively safe position amongst the trees, however, she'd see the two 'drivers' they set up having a conversation with the new arrivals that soon became heated, judging from body language. And while she couldn't quite understand all that was being said, she could at least figure that it wasn't the friendliest of exchanges, and the scene that unfolded confirmed this. The girl atop the carriage appeared to be forming something, a small, otherworldly gate that somehow reminded Llæwyn of the Void portals she dealt with in the forest before.

But no tanglevines came from this one; only fire, and this set the lead rider alight, with the second blast having hit a nearby patch of dry earth, her attempt at a follow-up shot having failed due to the pressure of the other mounted soldiers reacting. The mage girl, or whatever she was, soon found herself entangled thanks to a thrown weapon consisting of two weights connected with rope, and two of the other humans moved in to apprehend her in short order.

Meanwhile, the second 'carriage driver' attempted to get her vehicle moving with a crack of the reins, and managed to successfully spur the horses on, heading out towards the edge of the forest. One of the men soon gave chase on horseback, leaving the bound mage alone with four others (and their charred cohort), who began to curse and beat her for her apparent insolence. If these weren't some kind of slavers, they clearly weren't the most honorable of knights, as they didn't stop at that, proceeding to tear off what clothes she did wear; it seemed that they were intent on teaching her a lesson on the spot.

She kicked and screamed, but it was of little use against the quartet of warriors who were much larger and stronger than she was. Her cries were soon overtaken by the collective laughter of the other humans as they held her in place against the wagon itself while the first man pulled his trousers halfway down, taking his position behind the squirming lass. It was certainly an awkward thing to watch unfold, even from that distance.

"What's going on out there? Perhaps we should help?" asked Daelas, glancing back at the odd scene. "I swear I heard something like fire."

"Really? I don't see any," said Idanar.

"I don't even care," muttered Maerwyn, who didn't bother turning to look at the commotion. "Probably just the short-ears arguing amongst themselves, as per usual."

 

[Tiffanian]

Re: Reclaiming the Wood (Tiffanian) GMed by Takimaru

Everyone had heard the oncoming horses at about the same time Llæwyn had, and needed no convincing that it was time to go. Daelas quickly helped the new driver of the rear carriage up to the driver’s seat, but the front carriage had a bit more trouble with the skinny young woman who was to drive it. Maerwyn was clearly getting quite pissed, and for her part Llæwyn was none too happy with the situation either. They didn’t have enough time to fiddle around with some reluctant girl who didn’t know what she was doing. Idanar tried to move to teach her quickly after the green-haired warriors had set her up on the carriage, but the younger of them stopped him immediately, relating what the elder thought as well; they had to get moving, to avoid the coming potential hostiles. Quickly the five elves made their way into the woods, disappearing into the trees well before the horsemen appeared, though they still weren’t very far off.

Because of their proximity, Llæwyn peered back into the slight clearing when she heard that the horses had arrived, wondering what had come to greet them. By the look of it they were Brevnian soldiers, perhaps on patrol, though they had crossed into elven territory just under a mile before. There was a conversation between the new carriage drivers and the soldiers, one that quickly went sour and became unpleasant if one went by the way they were acting towards one another. The green-haired warrior was glad that she was looking, though, because she never would have believed what happened next; the girl that they had made to drive the first carriage seemed to open up a portal, like those that connected to the Void at the bottom of Grenwyll of late, but fire spurted from it, burning one of the soldiers to a crisp in an instant. The soldiers were far better at combat than she was, though, and soon they had disabled her with a strange throwing weapon Llæwyn wasn’t familiar with. While the soldiers closed in on her, the rear carriage quickly began to move, attempting to flee the men on horseback, one of whom followed along in pursuit.

The remaining four gathered around the fallen mage, who quickly set to beating her. It seemed rather quite unnecessary to Llæwyn, but at the same time pretty typical small-ear behavior. It confirmed, at least for her, something she had long suspected; the Brevnian government itself engaged in slavery, and was not terribly interested in freeing these slaves. When they began to tear the girl’s clothes off, of course, even more anger and hatred began to run through her. Small-ear pigs she thought angrily, her mind briefly flitting back to her experience with the tanglevine earlier as one of the men tugged down his pants. So little concern for their own kind, such abysmal lack of morals. And on our soil, too… What a worthless kingdom that shares our border.

When the others spoke up with their questions and turned, Llæwyn replied quickly. "The small-ear we had driving the first carriage was a mage. Burned one of the soldiers to a crisp. It looks to me like the soldiers are also slavers, or that Brevnia engages in slavery itself. The damned pigs are raping her now, as you can see. I would almost say we ought to castrate them and send them back with a message for their leaders, but we have noncombatants with us, and the Elders probably wouldn’t be pleased with us. Even if they are on our territory, it wouldn’t look good for the truce if we started slaughtering the small-ear soldiers" she said, wanting both to kill the blasted soldiers, and at the same time not to get involved. There was a lot of risk involved in attacking them, not the least of which being that these were actual soldiers this time, and they were outnumbered. They were likely far better than the slaver rubbish from before, more dangerous. Besides, this incident wasn’t worth provoking war over, at least not without the Elders' input.

 

[Takimaru]

Re: Reclaiming the Wood (Tiffanian) GMed by Takimaru

Status:

Spoiler

Llæwyn: HP = 80, PP = 60, EP = 42, Status = Fine

As the group moved on, away from where the carriage stood unmoving, with only the commotion of the riders and the defiant slave continuing, there came a moment of unnerving silence between the other elves, namely after Llæwyn gave her opinion on the matter. The most significant noise that could be heard at that time were the human girl's cries, which grew louder over time as she was doubtlessly violated by the lecherous soldiers.

"Kyaaah! Somebody please, help me! Ah... nnngh, stop... i-it hurts! Uwaahhh... uuh! Let go... please, no!"

While the strongest warrior of the five couldn't understand exactly what was being said in the human tongue, she didn't need to know the language itself in order to figure that they were cries of distress. Occasionally, these wails would be drowned out by bouts of collective laughter from the line of men having their way with her, and together, the combination of these various voices made for a most disturbing chorus of sorts. This was made especially troublesome by the fact that the elves could hear quite well, and though they had covered quite an amount of ground within minutes, the noises simply didn't fade away quickly enough.

Maerwyn pulled the hood from her outfit over her head, so as to cover her ears and hopefully muffle the sounds, but when she found that it wasn't enough, she began to pick up her already brisk walking pace, speeding to the point of where her movement was just short of a jog. Judging from her facial expression, the green-haired elf was bothered by this in no small amount, though she did her best to hide it with a mask of disdain. "Pathetic small-ears," she mumbled, with an overall tone similar to that of Llæwyn's own.

While Idanar and Talin also looked rather perturbed by the mage's repeated shrieks, they said nothing; after all, being unarmed for the most part, they were in no position to even help the three warriors with the battle that would undoubtedly take place if they were to head back in that direction. If anything, they would be more of a burden, and they knew it.

Daelas, on the other hand, had a furrowed brow and couldn't help but stop to look behind him intermittently, hesitating, but then moving on once he saw how far the others were ahead of him. After catching up, he matched strides with Llæwyn before commenting, "I hope the Elders give us clearance to do something about situations like these. It feels like... such a waste to have taken them out this far only to know that those in the wagon have been captured by slavers again. Like... the woman that we taught..." He grimaced for just a moment before returning to silence. If anyone seemed the most sympathetic towards the humans, it was him--after all, he did speak their language quite well, and treated them the best out of those in the group.

Should Llæwyn continue on, along with the rest, she would soon find herself at the foot of one of the trees used to ascend to the village, perhaps an hour or so later. From here, she was free to do as she wished.

"I'll let the Third know what happened, then," said Daelas with a shrug, making his way into the village first while the other two males trailed him.

 

[Tiffanian]

Re: Reclaiming the Wood (Tiffanian) GMed by Takimaru

There was a long moment of uncomfortable silence amongst the elves as Maerwyn turned to leave, Llæwyn following close on her heels. The only thing that could really be heard was the awful sound of the young human screaming in pain and desperation as the soldiers began to rape her in earnest, which was… truly distressing, even if it was a small-ear doing the screaming. The green-haired warrior couldn’t understand the words being used, but the fear behind them was universal. Maerwyn seemed to be trying to hide from it, to muffle it with the hood of her outfit as she picked up the pace, but it wasn’t working; elven ears were quite sharp, in this case not quite a blessing. But Llæwyn didn’t want to hide away from it, to escape it, not even as unpleasant as it was. It was a reminder to her of what she and her race were up against, the sorts of enemies they had. Brutal, piggish creatures who treated their own kind in such a distasteful way as a matter of course had no place in this world, at least not in her eyes.

Daelas spoke up after some time, noticeably hesitating as he walked away with the rest of them, always taking peeks backwards. "Do what about it?" Llæwyn asked rhetorically, "it was a waste to take them anywhere, we know that now. In the future we can send for a diplomat and have the damned Brevnian King reclaim his slaves all on his own. If the small-ears want to kill and soil each other it’s hardly our business. We aren’t their keepers, and frankly the fewer of them there are, the better off we are." Despite the cold, harsh words, there was a slight speck of regret deep down in Llæwyn. Those damned screams, she couldn’t help but hear a little bit of herself in them… There was a long while to think about it as they walked, as it took them a little more than an hour to get to the base of Grenwyll, though about halfway there Llæwyn decided to try and take at least one mind off it. "Maerwyn… what do you do with your off time? I’ve never seen you over at East Wood. You should come some time, have a beer or two on me. Fynn makes the best in town" she asked, suggesting a bit of a meetup for the two of them. She still wanted to gauge the younger elf’s feelings towards her, and perhaps Maerwyn could use some drinks tonight anyway. Once they had reached the village, and Daelas had made known his intention to go to the Third, the green-haired warrior said "I’ll report to the Elder as well, to see if I have any further orders to attend to" and began to follow along after him.

 

[Takimaru]

Re: Reclaiming the Wood (Tiffanian) GMed by Takimaru

Status:

Spoiler

Llæwyn: HP = 80, PP = 60, EP = 42, Status = Fine

Llæwyn's response to the male's inquiry was met with a thick and undeniably heavy silence, one that would put the previous episode to shame, where even Daelas failed to produce any words to break it; such was the case with the other males in the group. That task would be left to the strongest of the warriors present herself, and when she did so, the others turned their heads to listen. However, as it came in the form of a topic change, the group would at least make a polite effort to look back to the path leading upwards, with the exception of the recipient of Llæwyn's invitation. Her sudden offer to the younger elf did its part in throwing Maerwyn off-guard, causing her to blush with widened eyes despite the relative innocence of the sentence's actual content. "A-Ah... I um... well, I..." she stuttered in response, her hesitation to such a simple question almost baffling. However, she ultimately managed a proper one-word answer: "...Alright."

With that, Daelas and Llæwyn proceeded on to the Third Elder's house, which was made from a rather large tree, with countless stores of various medicinal brews and herbs in jars lining makeshift shelves. The Third was Grenwyll's leading healer, one who had personally trained the other apothecaries and medics, and some said that the many deaths she had bore witness to did no small part in contributing to her rather cool, logical nature.

When they arrived in her study, where she was found sitting and writing in a journal, the male warrior updated the wise old woman with a proper yet detailed summary of the events that transpired. After receiving the report, the Third paused for a long while, looking somewhat troubled. She paced a few times before turning towards the two. "I see. While this is an unfortunate situation, you did make the right call, Llæwyn. The safety of those living in Grenwyll comes first, above all else. Humans committing crimes against their own kind is most certainly not a new trend with their race. If we were to stop for one of them, they would soon expect us to do the same for all, so the line must be drawn somewhere. While it may seem heartless of me to say so, I would rather have a human girl subject to such a fate as opposed to you and Maerwyn sold into the slave trade. It doesn't please me to see violence as the first answer to anything, amongst any people, really, but as an elf and elder of Grenwyll, I will always put my people before the humans. After all, they would do the same as well."

"So... no, we will not be heading back for them no sending anyone else to do so. Only the humans are now to blame for any losses there, and we need as many warriors to at least stay within the village limits in case of another threat. Speaking of which, Elon and the human woman have already been sent back to Coralynth, along with two escorts, so I would like you two to remain within Grenwyll's territory for the time being. It turns out that they did not wish to part from each other, but a human spending the night here would have been far more trouble than it was worth, disguises or otherwise, so I made the decision to simply send them back."

With that, she took a seat once more at her desk. "Llæwyn, Daelas, thank you for your help. It is still a few hours before nightfall, so please rotate patrolling the nearby area until then."

 

[Tiffanian]

Re: Reclaiming the Wood (Tiffanian) GMed by Takimaru

Llæwyn’s reply to Daelas seemed to throw a pall over the group of elves, silence hanging over and about them like a dark cloud or a fog. It followed them the rest of the way to Grenwyll, and made the trip all the more unpleasant for everyone involved. Perhaps she should have been a little less harsh, a little less hateful… she had a lot of time to think about it as they traveled, in any case, though it didn’t help her come to any sort of conclusion. Halfway through her little diversion caught Maerwyn quite off-guard, the younger warrior turning bright red and stuttering about. Definitely smitten. There was no other way to explain that sort of reaction to such an innocuous request. Llæwyn grinned at her in response and clapped her on the back gently, saying "no need to be nervous, we don’t bite." Eventually the girl agreed timidly, which was good enough for Llæwyn.

Once they had finally returned to the village the group parted ways, with Daelas and Llæwyn moving on to the Third’s home. It was one of the larger trees in Grenwyll, and the green-haired warrior had always admired the way it had been constructed and laid out. All around the edges of the home little shelves had been carved, which held various herbs and medicinal components in long rows. She was easily the best healer in all of the village, and perhaps stacked up favorably with any historical doctor in all of elfkind. She had taught most of those who currently practiced, and had done much to advance the science. It was part of why Llæwyn admired her; she had incredible skill and intellect. The two found her writing in her study, where Daelas gave their report. She seemed upset by what had transpired, and there was another long silence, the older elf getting up from her seat and pacing the length of the study several times. Finally she spoke, vindicating Llæwyn’s choice. After that it was revealed that Elon and Betha were being escorted to Coralynth, so unwilling were they to part with one another. It was so baffling to her, why the little girl was so convinced that she ought to stay with the small-ear. Maybe she would find her true mother back home, and her mind would be changed…

The warrior’s day was not done, however; the Third commanded that the two of them to continue patrolling the area until nightfall, in part to replace those warriors escorting the elven child and her “mother” to Coralynth. "Of course" Llæwyn replied, finishing with her traditional salute before turning to leave. It was fine by her, she hadn’t even really done any guard duty today anyway thanks to the incident with the slavers. As she moved back to her position near the entrance she wondered idly if Maerwyn would take her up on her offer tonight, or if she would have to be prodded about it further. She put that out of her mind as she climbed back up into a tree, keeping a keen watch on the forest floor, ready to move around after an hour or so to another tree, repeating the process until it was time to go back up into Grenwyll.

 

[Takimaru]

Re: Reclaiming the Wood (Tiffanian) GMed by Takimaru

Status:

Spoiler

Llæwyn: HP = 80, PP = 60, EP = 42, Status = Fine

The remainder of Llæwyn's patrol proved uneventful, at least for the most part. She could still hear the distant sound of otherworldly air, though that was from quite a distance away, simply lingering as if to remind her that the forest floor still wasn't truly peaceful, not with the unexplained Void portals opening and closing all around them. Judging from the directions in which the echoed out from, this phenomenon wasn't limited to Grenwyll alone. It was as if the forest itself was clogged with the sudden influx of activity. And while it wouldn't have been rare in the past to encounter weaker versions of the creatures she had faced before, perhaps once every couple weeks at the most, now it seemed like the passageways through which they entered this world were opening everywhere, constantly. An unsettling feeling, to be sure. But even with that notion looming ominously over her, the experienced warrior would find that roughly two hours had passed without a real disturbance in her designated area.

When she returned to Grenwyll, evening had already fallen over the village. There was still some light out, but it was much dimmer now. Daelas met Llæwyn a bit further down from the entry point, giving her a nod to confirm that he was to take the rest of her shift. "Be sure to relax while you can," he reminded her. "I get the feelin' we won't have as many opportunities to do so, in the near future..." added the sentry rather ominously, though really, he was more or less spelling out the general tone in the village amongst the warriors. They had been stretched rather thin as of late, after all, and if it weren't for the evening causing an oddly significant decrease in the portals' frequency, none of them would get any rest. Still, with human politics added to the mix, it likely wasn't to be this 'boring' anytime soon. Most likely, nobody would miss the dead slavers, but on the other hand, Llæwyn didn't deal with them terribly often anyway, nor could she really determine the overall impact of the losses suffered by the small-ears.

The East Wood tavern was already rather busy, with Fynn visibly gliding to and fro behind the bar in order to prepare the drinks requested of him. Maerwyn was nowhere to be seen, but the raven-haired bartender was quick to shoot Llae a familiar smile when she did enter, reaching across the bar to remove a placeholder resting upon one of the barstools, a seat presumably saved just for her.

 

[Tiffanian]

Re: Reclaiming the Wood (Tiffanian) GMed by Takimaru

Nothing more disturbed the peace of Llæwyn’s neck of the woods during her patrol, no more humans approaching Grenwyll, no monsters in sight. And yet throughout the two hours she spent perched in trees and walking the forest floor, her sharp ears could pick up that all was not well in her forest. The sounds of that unearthly breeze moving through the trees could be heard from quite some distance away, the sounds of the Void coming to her clear as day. More of the portals were opening all over the place, some of them closing elsewhere. It was as if the world was rending itself apart, and the green-haired warrior couldn’t help but wonder why in the idleness of her watch. Was this some sort of small-ear plot? An attempt to exterminate her kind by magic, and then close the portals to control their space? That made sense, but then it didn’t. The elf had no idea how magic really worked, and besides that there had always been portals. They had been small and closed quickly before, though, and the monsters coming through had been much weaker than the tanglevines Llæwyn had faced. Every two to three weeks one would open up, and the elves had used these portals essentially as training tools… weak monsters were good first opponents for novice warriors.

When Llæwyn noticed the sun going down she began to head back to the village, her “shift” over. The light was quite dim by the time she got to the base of the great tree that served as the entrance, an ominous twilight settling on the forest. Daelas was there, coming to take over for her in the patrolling, and she gave him the customary salute. He seemed quite bothered by the situation they found themselves in, telling her to relax while she still had time. "I’ll be sure to… things look pretty grim lately, don’t they? We can only hope the others find some way to reliably close these portals for good before they get to be too big a problem" she replied, a somewhat rare moment of candidness about their situation with her senior. Still, the atmosphere here was such that it prompted such a response. The green-haired elf had never felt such an ominous air about the forest before. The idea that the humans might be getting bolder again only added to the dreary feeling.

In any case, Llæwyn made her way up into the village and then to her home, dropping off her armor and equipment before heading to the East Wood Tavern. It was getting pretty busy already, and the sun wasn’t yet fully down… Fynn did good business. He was clearly quite busy behind the bar as he worked to make drinks, but he still managed a smile for the green-haired warrior when he saw her, and he made a quick gesture of taking a little wooden placeholder off of her customary seat. She quickly took her place, smiling back at him. "Hey there Fynn, how’s it going? Pour me a tall beer when you get the chance, no rush" she said, making her order and then twirling a bit to either side on her barstool, checking out who else was around her. Maerwyn wasn’t there, that much she knew. Maybe the younger elf would show up later. In any case, she didn’t have much in the way of plans for the night. Her intentions were mostly just to have a few drinks and enjoy the atmosphere until it was time to go home and sleep.

 

[Takimaru]

Re: Reclaiming the Wood (Tiffanian) GMed by Takimaru

Status:

Spoiler

Llæwyn: HP = 80, PP = 60, EP = 42, Status = Fine

"Aye. Well, leave that to Aeron I s'pose... hopefully he gets back to us sooner then later. And if he doesn't... ah, I don't care to think about that outcome much myself. I'll even go to meet any human possible, if it means saving Grenwyll. At any rate, enjoy your night," was all that Daelas said before descending the hollow tree that served as the west end's entry point.

~~~~~​

Later, at the bar, Fynn took a little longer than usual to get to the green-haired beauty, thanks to a steady stream of requests from various customers, many of which Llæwyn recognized. He gave her an apologetic look by the time he did reach her, filling up a mug of the house beer from tap and setting it down in front of the warrior. "You look nice tonight," he remarked with a half-grin, unable to keep his eyes off of her once he did settle down in front of her, catching a well-deserved break from the hubbub. However, his face did take on a concerned look as he continued. "Hey... you know Maerwyn, don't you? One of the younger elves, kind of looks like you, more or less--or tries to, eheh. She was in here earlier, actually. Pretty much the first time I've seen her in the pub, to be honest. Either way, she went really heavy on the drinks--don't even think I've seen -you- down shots that quickly. Although uh, I had to cut her off before she had anymore. Told her she could use the room upstairs, but she refused, said something about short-ears and left in something of a hurry. Was kinda worried, I guess... wondered if that was anything you might know about?"

 

[Tiffanian]

Re: Reclaiming the Wood (Tiffanian) GMed by Takimaru

Llæwyn didn’t want to think of the consequences of Aeron failing either. Of course, skeptical though she was of his decision-making skills, she didn’t think he would fail in his mission. Even a half-wit like him should be able to outsmart some small-ears, after all. In any case, she bid Daelas goodnight and good luck on his watch before ascending the remaining stairs and entering into the village.

The bar seemed a little bit busier than usual, because it took Fynn some time to get back to Llæwyn. Looking around she recognized most of the customers that were sending requests up to the bar, the majority of them regulars or semi-regulars. She wasn’t too sure what she wanted to do for the night if Maerwyn didn’t turn up, but at the very least she would be able to enjoy the company of a few people she saw around her. By the time Fynn got to her he looked apologetic for having taken so long, a sentiment she waved off dismissively as he poured her a beer. She took it in hand when it was set down in front of her, raising it to the barkeep and saying "thanks" before taking a small swig. She wasn’t drinking just to get drunk today, and she wanted to savor the taste of her beer, and also to make it last for a little while. It didn’t do to get drunk all the time, after all. When Fynn complemented her looks with a little grin she rolled her eyes a little, making a "psh" sound before her next drink; she couldn’t have looked too awful nice, having not done much to prepare herself after the day she had had, at least in her opinion. Her long green hair was probably all out of sorts.

Fynn seemed to be taking a break from all the orders, standing in front of Llæwyn behind the bar for a little while, which she appreciated. It wasn’t a bad way to start the night, anyway. Of course, something seemed to be troubling him after the first little while, and finally he asked if she knew Maerwyn. "Yeah, I know her. I invited her over here earlier today, while we were out together" she replied, "why do you ask?" Apparently she had dropped by the East Wood Tavern earlier on, while Llæwyn was still on patrol, and drank quite a bit… more concerning, she had apparently mumbled out something about small-ears and left quickly. Today’s events must have troubled the younger elf quite a bit, and Llæwyn instantly began to worry about her, standing up from her seat. "Dammit, did anyone go with her? Do you know where she went?" she asked, worried that the girl might have done something stupid in her drunken state and gone off to find those slavers. "How long ago was this?" Once Fynn had told her what he knew, she would say "sorry, I’ve gotta go check up on her. Want to make sure she made it home okay" before making her way briskly to the younger elf’s home, knowing the way.

 

[Takimaru]

Re: Reclaiming the Wood (Tiffanian) GMed by Takimaru

Status:

Spoiler

Llæwyn: HP = 80, PP = 60, EP = 42, Status = Fine

"No, she was by herself," replied the raven-haired bartender. "It's been pretty busy, so I haven't been able to keep tabs on everyone that came and went. She rejected my offer to let her use the room upstairs and left pretty quickly. I did have Penril or whatever his name is follow her outside, to make sure she didn't fall off the railing or something, but neither of them have been back, so... I can only assume that he caught up to her. I'd say it was about an hour or so ago, maybe just a little more." When Llæwyn got up, showing obvious concern for the younger swordswoman, Fynn nodded in understanding. "It's fine, do what you gotta do. Hope she's alright. Take care of yourself, Llæwyn." He forced a smile for her, giving her a slight wave in farewell before she made it out of the bar.

Upon arriving at the front door of Maerwyn's home tree, Llæwyn would find that no response came, even after several minutes of knocking. Not even the slightest noise came from within. Wherever the younger swordswoman was, she certainly wasn't home.

 

[Tiffanian]

Re: Reclaiming the Wood (Tiffanian) GMed by Takimaru

Apparently Maerwyn had gone home alone, though Fynn had sent Penril after her to ensure that she hadn’t fallen off the rails. Penril… Penril… where had Llæwyn heard that name before? "Wait, you mean that jackass who hit on me while I was drunk?" she asked, dimly remembering a blonde elf… "He’s the one you sent after her?" Both of them hadn’t come back, and that had been over an hour ago, so that wasn’t good. Well, maybe it was better news than no news. After all, the somewhat sleazy blonde taking Maerwyn home and taking advantage of her wouldn’t kill her, unlike running around on the forest floor while drunk. And maybe she had misjudged the young man’s character anyway. Still, the green-haired warrior got up quickly and left, bidding the barkeep a quick farewell, leaving her beer not even half-drank on the counter.

It was a decent walk to Maerwyn’s home, and Llæwyn took it quite briskly, no delay in her step. When she finally got there she knocked on the door quite loudly, calling out for the younger elf, but there was no response, not even a bit of stray noise to indicate that anyone was home. That was troubling… Where did Penril live? Maybe he had taken her home with him… "Dammit" she muttered, knowing she didn’t have any way of finding them if that were the case. She had to come up with a plan of action of some kind, though, so she decided to head to the nearest entrance, hoping to find the guard and ask them if they had seen Maerwyn. Along the way she would ask anyone she came across if they had seen either Maerwyn or Penril, and if she ran across anyone she knew that she felt she could trust a little she would ask if they knew where the male lived.

 

[Takimaru]

Re: Reclaiming the Wood (Tiffanian) GMed by Takimaru

Status:

Spoiler

Llæwyn: HP = 80, PP = 60, EP = 42, Status = Fine

"Well, I... didn't particularly choose him out of the crowd, per se, he just kind of offered, so I figured he could at least ensure that she didn't fall or do anything too stupid..." said Fynn. He had been busy, after all, and given the massive foot traffic moving in and out of the East Wood Tavern at the time, it didn't seem likely that he could babysit everyone the way he did Llæwyn--which could say volumes about how the barkeep felt towards her, if she so chose to look at it in such a way. Still, that was about as wordy as his excuse would get. Fynn offered an apologetic look to the girl as she rushed out of the bar, unable to return to his usual duties until she was completely gone from sight.

~~~~~​

Llæwyn's efforts to track Maerwyn eventually brought her to the western entry point, where a younger elven warrior, Galein, was found chatting with a few villagers who looked to be enjoying a night out. Even when approached, he didn't seem to notice the green-haired beauty until she spoke to him directly. "Ello Llæwyn. Ah... Maerwyn? She said something about finishing a patrol on the forest floor, so I didn't think much of it. Used the entry point just here," said the youth, motioning over towards the nearby hollow tree that brought citizens of Grenwyll down to ground level. "I think one of the Fourth's nephews... ah, Penril, was it? He went after her too, said he wanted to make sure she was alright. Everything okay?" He raised a brow.

 

[Tiffanian]

Re: Reclaiming the Wood (Tiffanian) GMed by Takimaru

Llæwyn eventually came to the western entrance to Grenwyll, where she found one of the younger warrior’s named Galein on guard duty. He was talking with a few of the villagers at the same time, who seemed to have gone out on the town together. When she asked him about Maerwyn he said perhaps the most troubling thing he possibly could have. She had gone to the forest floor along this path, saying that she had to finish a “patrol.” Penril had gone after her later apparently, to make sure she was alright. "Dammit" she exclaimed, "she doesn’t have any patrol. Did you not notice that she’d been drinking?" This kid should’ve stopped her, it would have made everything so much easier. "Do you have anyone else in the area? We need to start looking for the two of them. I’ll go get my gear, and inform the Third as to what’s happened" the green-haired warrior continued, before dashing off at top speed towards the Elder’s home. It was on her way, and she could update her on the situation and get orders before donning her gear and beginning the search.

 

[Takimaru]

Re: Reclaiming the Wood (Tiffanian) GMed by Takimaru

Status:

Spoiler

Llæwyn: HP = 80, PP = 60, EP = 42, Status = Fine

Galein's look shifted to one of embarrassment as he glanced momentarily at some of the elves he was chatting with, and at that moment Llæwyn would recognize a detail about the company he was keeping--they were females, all of them. Most, by the expressions they wore, seemed very impressed with the young warrior, giving her the impression that he had been telling them some fantastic stories. While Maerwyn was indeed pretty by most elven standards, there certainly wasn't any sense in shifting one's attentions entirely to her even if she did pass by, at least not for one as eager to impress a crowd as Galein. "She doesn't have a patrol? Oh, uh... ah-heh. I... didn't really notice, to be honest. But I wasn't really..."

'Paying attention', was what he looked to want to say, if not for the witnesses nearby who would otherwise make the moment even more humiliating for him. Of course he wasn't paying attention, not with a handful of beautiful civilian girls to impress. "Well, no, it's just me here. Daelas is on patrol down below though, so... it should be okay, right? I mean... so long as she isn't in danger." He didn't quite seem to understand exactly what was so wrong with the situation. After all, Maerwyn was fairly competent as a warrior, and could take care of herself on the forest floor, at least against the more common threats seen down below--even if she was a little tipsy. Naturally, Galein wouldn't know about the incident with the slavers, nor any of Maerwyn's potential feelings regarding the events that took place near the border. As a result, Llæwyn's apparent urgency was lost on him, though he didn't fail to at least take note of it. Before Galein could properly close out his chat session with the girls, Llæwyn sped off towards the Third's house, leaving him in the dust. Had she waited around, it was plain to see that he'd have taken far too long to say his farewells to them, from the way things were going.

When she arrived at the Third's residence, the elderly elven woman answered the door slowly, only a little surprised to find Llæwyn standing before her. "Maerwyn went back down to the surface, did she? Hmm... that's odd of her. I certainly hope she isn't intending on doing anything about the humans, though even I wouldn't have expected as much from her, of all people. Please refrain from gathering a larger crowd, as we certainly don't want to attract any unwanted attention. But go on, and do take haste. I can only hope that she hasn't made it to the border by now..."

 

[Tiffanian]

Re: Reclaiming the Wood (Tiffanian) GMed by Takimaru

Llæwyn’s eyes narrowed at Galein at his embarrassed look and his reaction to what she had said. Closer inspection revealed that this group that surrounded him was all women… some of them prettier than others, but on the whole an attractive bunch. They seemed quite intent on the young male, and it seemed quite probable that he was telling them all manner of stories about his service, no doubt more impressive than the reality of his life. He almost came right out and admitted that he hadn’t been paying attention, which really made her quite angry with him. The green-haired warrior’s left hand balled into a tight fist, though she didn’t lash out at him. Instead she reached out with the other, lightly grabbing onto Galein’s shoulder and pulling him close. Her words were quiet, not meant to embarrass him blatantly in front of the girls, but clearly meant to get under his skin; "in the future, there will still be women after your shift is over. You want someone to fuck, find them when you haven’t got a job to do. Alright? Sound like a plan to you?" She was damn mad, so he was lucky to get that much consideration from her.

It took Llæwyn almost no time flat to get to the Third’s home again, and when the Elder opened the door she launched almost immediately into the explanation of the situation at hand, finding no time for pleasantries. The Third seemed surprised that Maerwyn had gone off on her own, especially on account of the humans. So was Llæwyn, of course, though she had noticed how the incident earlier had seemed to affect the younger elf. She was instructed to go after her, but not to gather a group so as not to call unnecessary attention to the problem. "Very well. I’ll find her as quick as I can" she said before turning to leave, sprinting the rest of the way to her home to pick up her equipment, and then moving down to the forest floor. If she ran across Daelas she would ask if he had seen Maerwyn or Penril, and if so which way they went for sure, but if not she would simply begin to run in the direction they had driven the carriages, all the while looking out for any signs in the dark of the two elves; mangled underbrush, snagged and torn clothing, anything that would give her a hint as to their trail.

 

[Takimaru]

Re: Reclaiming the Wood (Tiffanian) GMed by Takimaru

Status:

Spoiler

Llæwyn: HP = 80, PP = 60, EP = 42, Status = Fine

Llæwyn's subtle motion triggered a momentary look of fear of Galein's expression, one that he desperately tried to cover with a polite smile, although he only succeeded partially at the attempt. "Y... yes," was all that he could ultimately manage to stutter in reply, his blush being one of sheer embarrassment rather than one characteristic of a favorable reaction from the beautiful swordswoman's proximity. The group of girls, however, seemed to see it as the latter--or at least an opportunity to begin teasing him about it.

"So what was that all about, huh?" asked one of the elves, taking on a most suggestive tone.
"Oh, wow, I didn't know you were that close to her," remarked another.

"It... it's not like that, she was just telling me uh, official... details regarding our latest mission. It's a warrior thing. A-Anyway, I should probably get back to my shift..." he trailed off with a more noticeable tinge of nervousness in his voice. While Llæwyn's approach to disciplining the younger warrior was subtle in its own way, it didn't fail in embarrassing Galein indirectly, as his reactions caused the otherwise immaculate session with his 'admirers' to unravel at the seams regardless.

After her brief update with the Third, Llæwyn managed to acquire her gear with relative ease before returning to the entry point and descending to the forest floor below. Daelas was likely on the far end of his route by the time she made it to the bottom, being out of sight as he was, but it didn't mean that the swordswoman was without a lead. Footsteps off of the more used trails could be seen, and naturally, they led her towards the area where they had traveled earlier in the day. Without the otherworldly breeze echoing in the background, her sharp ears eventually caught a steady rustle of dried leaves. It wasn't the crawl of a tanglevine--though some of those could be heard in the far distance as well--nor the gait of anything other than a humanoid. When she caught up to the source, she would find that it was, indeed, an elf. It was Penril.

The blonde looked back and forth nervously, and he had good reason to. Though the sounds of void portals opening and closing were largely absent this time of night, slight stirrings could be heard about the wood, and Penril was unarmed, save for a dagger at his waist that he hadn't even bothered to draw just yet. When the smooth-talking elf saw Llæwyn, however, his face lit up with an almost comical look of relief. "Llæwyn! Ah, I'm so glad you're here. Maer...wyn, if I recall her name correctly, stumbled off into the woods faster than I had expected, and I'm fairly sure she went in this direction. But to be honest, I'm woefully under-equipped for this..." He motioned to the only weapon he carried at the time. While he wouldn't admit it readily, at least not to a beautiful elf like Llæwyn, he couldn't mask the typical signs of fright that his body exhibited. This part of the wood, closer to the edge, was still no place for a civilian like him, and it was a wonder that he had even bothered to travel this far.

 

[Tiffanian]

Re: Reclaiming the Wood (Tiffanian) GMed by Takimaru

Llæwyn could feel the fear she was inspiring in the young guard, which was more or less what she intended. She didn’t exactly want him to be comfortable. He only stuttered out a reply to her after a bit of a pause, blushing bright red with embarrassment. Good. Maybe next time he wanted to fuck around on the job he would remember the way he felt right now, and think twice about it. The girls he had been messing around with started to tease him about the green-haired warrior’s secretive little talk with him, and his blushing reaction, though she didn’t care, nor did she care what he had to say to them. She was on a mission as soon as she had delivered her message.

When she got to the forest floor Llæwyn couldn’t see Daelas, and reasoned that he was probably on the other end of his patrol at the moment. Still, a quick look around showed her where she needed to go. There were some tracks off the beaten paths, in the direction the group had led the carriages earlier in the day. Neither of the two she was pursuing had been intending to cover their trail, so even in the dark it wasn’t terribly difficult to track them. Her path outlined for her, the green-haired warrior began to run at the fastest speed practical, making pretty good time into the forest. There were many fewer portals opening and closing nearby, but there were still a few here and there, which was worrisome. Could a drunken Maerwyn handle a monster? Could Penril with all of his wits about him handle anything? She knew he wasn’t trained, so there was surely only so much he could do.

Thankfully it didn’t take Llæwyn long to pick up on the movement of a bipedal creature somewhere up ahead of her, the rustling of leaves and underbrush. It was probably one of the two she was looking for. Sure enough, in the light of the crescent moon, she could see Penril up head after a while. He seemed incredibly nervous, looking back and forth and side to side. Poor guy. Even just the normal forest sounds must have sounded quite unpleasant to him then. She could tell that the only weapon he had on him was a rather small dagger that he didn’t even have in hand, too. The green-haired warrior made her presence known somewhat gently, coughing softly, which alerted him to her and made him look… almost too relieved. She listened to him quietly, nodding a bit as she looked to see if there were more tracks that went on past him. "You did well to follow her this far. Still, you’re not prepared to be out here. Head back to Grenwyll, pick up a beer from Fynn on my tab if you want" she said when he was done, not minding the money. It was payment enough for his trying to find the younger warrior. She had apparently misjudged his character from their first meeting… After speaking with him she would dart off deeper into the forest, towards the spot they had left the carriages. She hoped she was in time to stop Maerwyn from doing anything too stupid…

 

[Takimaru]

Re: Reclaiming the Wood (Tiffanian) GMed by Takimaru

Status:

Spoiler

Llæwyn: HP = 80, PP = 60, EP = 42, Status = Fine

Penril's expression wilted just a little when Llæwyn addressed him. He appeared to take her compliment as more of a patronizing comment, but the shift in his visage may as well have been the realization that he was ill-suited to the task that he attempted to take, particularly in comparison to the warrior standing before him. Just the previous night, he had been attempting to woo her, only to find out now that he was utterly outclassed by the beautiful elf--and that she quite aware of this. While it shouldn't have been as difficult as it was to admit inferiority in this sense to one of the village's strongest warriors, for him, it just was. Still, he wouldn't argue with her; there was only so much assistance he could provide in this situation, and he would likely be a liability should a combat situation arise. "...Uh... a-alright. Take care of yourself, then, Llæwyn." Nodding to her, Penril then gave the swordswoman one last lingering look before turning back towards the village and heading off. It wasn't long before he was gone from sight, leaving Llæwyn free to move on ahead to where Maerwyn was.

Still, she traveled for a while longer, crossing stretches of the forest that had the noises of wild animals and less natural creatures alike echoing in the vicinity, an unnerving environment for anyone that wasn't a seasoned veteran like Llæwyn. Finally, she reached a familiar part of the wood, which even she, given the relative darkness of the evening, could tell was closer to the edge--a place they had been earlier in the day. A lone figure could be made out in the distance, traveling with relative haste. It didn't make any attempt to hide the noises it made simply by running through the dried leaves, instead content to speed towards its destination. As she closed in, Llæwyn would find that it was indeed Maerwyn, though the younger, inebriated elf failed to heed any words that were called out to her, and instead stubbornly headed towards the area where they left the carriages. She moved rather quickly for someone who had consumed as much alcohol as she apparently did, though her step was not without the occasional stumble, allowing the more experienced swordswoman to catch up to her. But by that time, Maerwyn paid her no mind, keeping her eyes glued to the spot ahead, where they had left the slaves to their fates. Her sprint slowed to a slow walk, swaying from side to side unevenly as she closed in on the scene.

Naturally, it was empty. No longer were there small-ear knights to slay, nor captives to save. The screams and the sounds of combat were replaced with an utterly peaceful, if somewhat unnerving, silence. The struggle itself was long gone by now, leaving only traces of its existence upon the forest floor, and Maerwyn looked distraught to discover this. Of course it was too late by now. The slavers were long gone, far beyond the safety of Brevnia's many walls and encampments, their cargo likely having been delivered by now. She had the chance many times to turn back, and every time the elf passed it up. But the realization of this failure didn't make things any less devastating for the young swordswoman.

"What have we done? They took her, along with the rest, and I couldn't move... I didn't say anything, I-I just... kept walking. Had the girl been an elf, we'd have been justified in stopping them, right?! The small-ear slaves deserved every bit of that... didn't they?! They had it coming. It was their fault... wasn't it? Tell me I'm right, because I just don't know anymore. If they're nothing like us elves... then why do they sound so much like us when they scream and cry for help? I couldn't... I couldn't do anything!" Collapsing to her knees, she broke out into a sob.

 

[Tiffanian]

Re: Reclaiming the Wood (Tiffanian) GMed by Takimaru

Llæwyn barely noticed the way Penril reacted to what she had said, because of both the darkness and her desire to make haste in continuing on. What she had said might have been patronizing, but from her point of view there was hardly any room for any other kind of reaction; she couldn’t have been angry at him for coming this far, but she surely wasn’t going to be taking him with her deeper. After all he was just an untrained civilian, with little in the way of weaponry. He had even admitted to being unprepared himself. Her fight with the tanglevines alongside Lynnea was fresh in her mind, and the green-haired warrior had no intention of going into battle with someone who would need protecting if she could keep from it. "You take care as well" she called out as she resumed her pursuit of Maerwyn. She was sure Penril would be fine; the forest was dangerous, but there were few portals disturbing the peace by now, and there weren’t terribly many wild animals who would risk a fight against a seemingly healthy adult elf, even if they might ultimately win. And now that she was sure she was on the right track, she was determined to move quickly, to catch the younger girl before she got to the border.

Even so, Llæwyn still had a ways to go. Sounds echoed amongst the trees all around her, both from animals native to these woods and awful abominations that had no place there. It was ominous, and she sped up even more, unsure if the drunken Maerwyn could handle the danger she might encounter. Eventually she came across territory that she recognized; she was very close to the spot where they had stopped the carriages during the day. The clearing was recognizable even in the dim moonlight, and the green-haired warrior cringed inwardly. This wasn’t a particularly pleasant place, and she didn’t want to relive those memories. And sure enough, she had caught up to her target. She could see that there was a form racing through the forest, disturbing dead leaves and underbrush as it went by, not being careful about its movements in the slightest. "Maerwyn!" she called out, quietly enough that it wouldn’t echo, and she picked up her pace even more. The younger elf stumbled once or twice, the alcohol she had consumed clearly having some effect on her, and so Llæwyn was able quite easily to catch up to her.

Of course, by the time she did so the two of them were at the fateful spot. The place where, early in the day, they had left the slaves to be taken once again by the Brevnian soldiers. All was silent here, more so than anywhere else in the forest, or so Llæwyn thought. There were still token signs that a struggle had taken place in the area, but of course no one had likely been here for many hours. Maerwyn collapsed to the ground, clearly quite distraught. The older warrior listened to what she said quietly, walking up to her and gently placing a hand on her shoulder. She let the girl cry for a little while, thinking over what she wanted to say, before quietly replying "I didn’t enjoy it much myself. It’s true, the small-ears suffer the same way we do. But they aren’t ours to worry about. We could have stuck our necks out and fought for them, and possibly been killed or even worse, but for what? The small-ears are barbarians who would rape and kill their own countrymen, and for what? Mere coin? Their own amusement and pleasure? Even if we had killed the soldiers, some ill would likely have befallen them when they returned to their home, because they were slaves, and small-ear society had abandoned them. We obviously can’t take them in. So what could we have possibly done that would have made the slightest bit of difference? Now come on, let’s go home again. People are worried about you. I was worried about you…" She wanted to get out of there, and quickly, for any number of reasons. Most of all, she just wanted the day to be over, with everyone safe.