Finding Meno

16th of Cylus 718

Once an isolated and dying township, an influx of academics, adventurers and thrill seekers have made Scalvoris Town their home. From scholars' tea shops to a new satellite campus for Viden Academy, this is an exciting place to visit or make your home!

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Finding Meno

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16th Cylus, 718
As the couple sat down together, toast on the table and hot tea steaming in their mugs, they were quite content. Their daughter was playing outside, no doubt the three girls were together doing something. "Inseparable, those three," he said and she smiled and nodded. It was good for their girl to have friends, and she was happy. They both were.

Until the moment that the men appeared behind them.

It was there and over in a flash - they were one trill sitting at their table and the next, they were gone. Father had time to stand, knocking over his chair but then the hands were on him too. Six were taken that trial, three men and three women and those who took them were looking for something specific. And whilst four of them were found wanting for lacking, or for exceeding the expectation and desire of those who took them there were two.

And those two were Just Right.

The weather was awful.

There was no other way of putting it. Scalvoris was used to cold weather, to snow storms and freezing temperatures and this was bad, even for them. Despite the heat of the volcano which ran underneath them, Scalvoris Town was covered in a blanket of snow and there were blizzards which would literally kill in a matter of moments. It was during a particularly bad trial that there was a brief reprieve in the weather. People who had been trapped indoors or who just wanted to see the outside, made their way out.

It was during this reprieve that a call went out. A child had gone missing and there was an immediate search party for her. They couldn't afford to wait - those who were there were asked to help. One of the Elements was calling out for any and all who would help, to come and do so.

What they knew was that the girl lived with her father - her mother had been killed by a wild animal two arcs ago, when out hunting. The woman had been mauled to death, apparently by a wolf or other large predator. Just a few breaks ago, there had been a cry, a high pitched scream and neighbours had run in to find out what was wrong.

The father had been frozen, solid. Kneeling on the ground outside touching a snowcrystal which was known to freeze, but not like that. Yet there he was, frozen in place. The back door had been open and there was no sign of the girl. They didn't know what she was wearing, but they wondered if she might be trying to make her way to her grandmother's house just outside Sweetwine. The little girl was named Meno, she was six arcs old and was, by all accounts, a sweet little thing. Would people help?
Off Topic
Ok - so this is the sister thread to "Frozen" in Almund. First post is getting together and gathering any information you might gather and then we'll be off on a trek. Lets have some fun!!
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Victor Amielle
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The weather was awful. Victor could not recall it ever being that bad in his native Lysoria or in any of the places that he had visited during his expeditions. He was not sure why that was the case, why it had been snowing for trials on end, and why so many people were freezing to death, whether it was due to all the unusual phenomena occurring on Scalvoris or whether there was some sort of dark magic involved, and truth to be told, he had no interest in finding out. The Transmuter was normally an inquisitive man, but the extreme cold had made even him more inclined to huddle in front of his fireplace than to venture outside and play the part of a supernatural detective.

He had already gone a little stir-crazy – a first for him, he had never been cooped up inside that long before – when there was finally a reprieve in the weather. He had almost forgotten what the world looked like in fact, and he immediately put on some warm clothes – a coat, gloves and boots, among other things –and went outside, taking a deep breath as he did so. He had never been that happy to breathe fresh air. That moment of happiness did not last long though. As he took a walk around the neighbourhood, a bit of most disturbing news reached his ears.

A girl had gone missing, and her father had been frozen solid. He immediately decided that he would help. He was not the most compassionate of men, but children were a different matter, besides, the story that people told was most unusual and had piqued his interest. He wanted to find out more. As a mage, an explorer and swordsman he was uniquely suited to finding the girl and bringing her back alive in his opinion. These people needed him!

“Victor Amielle”, he announced to the member of the Elements that seemed to be gathering a search party, not only because introducing yourself was polite. “I would like to join you. I’ve explored the Sweetwine Woods before, and I’m in the possession of a certain item that provides me with a perfect map of my surroundings, no matter where I am. You just need to tell me what the grandmother’s name is and approximately where her house is located, and I’ll take you there. We’ll find the girl in no time!”

He had debated whether he should reveal that he owned a magic item and come to the conclusion that it would do more good than harm. The map was of course not the only thing that he had brought. He had also retrieved his sword, among other things, as venturing into the woods unarmed would have been nothing short of foolish. He just hoped that there would be others. As he took a look around, he realized that he was still alone.
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Due to one of his Awakenings, Victor's eyes glow with a soft silver light.

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Victor owns a Ring of Reversal. He's always wearing it, unless stated otherwise.

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Freya DuCarinos
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Freya awoke early into the morning darkness, the coolness of her room having stirred her from slumber in harsh shivers. Thick blankets rested over her body, but no matter how many furs and fabrics she laid within, it seemed she couldn’t get warm without the heat of the fire there. Groggy and grumpy, she decided to rise for the day and went about quickly throwing warmer clothes on before ripping her door open to venture downstairs with cloak in hand. She had her dagger strapped and hidden against her forearm and her short sword at her hip, though she barely knew how to use either of them. Nevertheless, in her line of business, Freya needed the added protection to keep her safe. Besides, what was so hard about sticking them with the pointy end?
Draping her cloak around her shoulders as her foot fell onto the last step of the stairs, Freya noticed the Knight’s Rest seemed rather empty. Even Naomi was nowhere to be seen which was a rarity. Normally the red headed woman was out and about, taking breakfast requests and serving mead in large quantities. Something was different about today as both Whit Freidston and Zana were missing. The only noise Freya hear were voices beyond the door and, for a moment, she panicked. With her hand on the hilt of her sword, she approached the entrance to the Inn and opened the door slowly, the sound of the wood creaking sharply turning the heads of those that stood beyond it.
In the darkness, there were lanterns lit to show the way, the paths barely made visible by the eclipsed sun. Freya could see the family gathered around others in the lamp light, their red hair sticking out like a living flame against the light of the lantern. Around them stood others, some of which nodded their heads before ambling off to the east. What was going on? Obviously, the family hadn’t found out about her devious business investments so what could the commotion be?
“Naomi..!” Freya called, stepping out into the snow as it seemed the weather had lessened from it’s previous rampage the previous trials. Turning towards the biqaj, Naomi pointed, signaling the family should return inside as Freya did the same. While the weather was nice, it was still colder than the beyond and she could care less for it…
“Mornin’ Aphina, care for some breakfast?”
“No thank you,” She answered, “What’s going on? There’s hardly anyone here.”
“Oh, it’s very sad—” Just then, Whit walked passed, a dark look on his face as he exited into the back rooms. “Don’t mind him, he’s just upset about the accident.”
“What accident?”
Looking around, Naomi waved Freya over towards the fire so they could speak privately about the matter, not that there was anyone around to hear them…
“Usam Brutten. He was a family friend who died just a few breaks ago. ‘Course, it was odd, just like everythin’ else around here, but his daughter, Meno, is missing.”
Freya eased up a bit, “Oh, how unfortunate.” Was her generic reply. If the matter didn’t involve her, it didn’t concern her. She was more than happy to end the conversation now than press on for anymore information, however, Naomi frowned and tugged Freya closer by her wrist.
“Aphina, he was our friend. Meno was a good girl and it would devastate the community if they were to find she perished in the snow. You have to help them look for her. Please..?” Naomi asked, her face contorted in a way that would make anyone’s heart melt. Freya sighed…
“Alright, I’ll help look her.” At least for a couple of breaks, then she’d give up and go drink. That sounded like a good plan. “What happened?”
“Well… The Element said that someone found Usam outside, kneeling in front of a snowcrystal. They’re known to freeze, but not the entire body. Someone supposed Meno saw what happened and ran to her Grandmother’s house just outside Sweetwine. We’re afraid she might’ve gotten lost in the wood, though know one has been able to get in touch with her to know if Meno made it or not.”
“How far is Sweetwine?”
“About half a day’s travel.”
“Half a—?!” Freya closed her mouth, obviously regretting her help in this though that thought was pushed aside immediately. Helping to save a little girl from freezing to death was important… “I’ll go get my things.”
Naomi smiled and patted her arm, “Thank you, Aphina.”
Freya returned the smile before retrieving her things for the journey and heading out to the meet up location that Naomi had given her. Just as she’d gotten there, a man claimed to have had a perfect map that could find anyone anywhere, something she wasn’t too keen on trusting. The rest of the folks around her seemed to agree as no one spoke up to provide him answers.
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Qit'ria
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Qit'ria was beginning to get rather annoyed by all the constant coming and goings to Scalvoris Town. It took most of the day to walk one way, then the entire journey back. She was considering saying to hell with it, and not bothering with it at all. But she couldn't. Not while that curse remained punctured into her chest. Once it was removed, she was cutting herself off from the hubbub and annoyances of city life. Faith and the occasional piece of food or drink were the only good things in any of them anyways.

She bundled up as she pushed her way out of Cally's another delivery dropped off, looking about at the abysmal weather. Even for one as unlearned as herself, she could tell something just wasn't quite right with the weather in Scalvoris. But whining about it was pointless, no one could control the weather, one just had to prepare for it and endure it. The weak froze to death, and deserved it. A harsh but necessary lesson. Making her way out of town, only to be stopped by the only other person she would even consider stopping for.

Her fur trader approached, "Lassie, I would normally never ask ya to do anyt'ing t'at weren't strictly business, but I feel I mus'. A wee lass is missin' out there, an Element is roundin' up a search party. I knows ya ain't exactly a people person but I know ya travel them parts and them woods more than mos'. If ya're already headin' that way, it shouldn't be too much a bother to help fin' her. She's just a wee thing, an' her Poppop froze in the storm."

Qit'ria's face wore her normal annoyed scowl, but within her heart, she knew she had to help. And she hated that she had to, for her own sisters. No one had gone looking for her, or them. She shook off the feeling, nodding at the man but saying no more. What was there to say? A tracker would be needed, particularly one suited to the area. And unfortunately, that was her. She was about to step away, before turning back. "Gimme furs. Girl size. If find, I give her."

The man obliged, picking out some child sized furs, bundling them up in a single roll. Qit'ria put them under her pack like a rucksack, just as she did when delivering furs to him. She checked all of her gear real quick; her own clothes intact and warm, her javelins, sword, chakram, knives all at the ready. She went to where her business partner directed her, seeing a small crowd growing. She shook her head. A crowd would make things worse. They would trample tracks, destroy any traces of the girl, possibly scare her off if she saw them coming. Children never made sense.

Kashehino was slinking through the crowd unseen, "Could just go it alone darling. You don't need their help, nor do they need you. What's the worst that could happen? You're in the wilds every day. Forget them."

Qit'ria felt this was sensible, and slipped away from the crowd, doubtful anyone would bother to worry about her arrival or departure. She left the gates, not bothering to look at the guards there, her eyes scanning the snow, looking for smaller footprints. She moved off the well traveled main road, so as to seek out any that deviated southward. She used no torch, preferring the natural light, preferring to go as unseen as was possible. She knew that if the girl walked herself, she'd find her tracks soon enough. Children were never as sneaky as they thought themselves to be.
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And so, they came. Those who were here to help Meno, to find her. In this weather, there was a very real concern that she must be in a lot of danger. So, each of them was spoken to individually and then a group formed.

To Victor, the Element who was organising this nodded his head, speaking up of the map which, Freya was right about, sounded a bit too good to be true and possible something not to be trusted. "Sounds handy," he said, of Victor's map and he nodded. "Grandmother's name is Louise. We believe her home to be roughly in the middle of the Sweetwine, though it's not well mapped, and we're not completely sure. We're going to ask people to go in pairs and threes.

Glancing around, he nodded to Freya. "You two, then, go together. If you find her, report back here. Here," to Freya (being the woman, obviously she was much more inclined to use such) he handed a first aid kit and some warm clothes for the girl, should they need it. They were also given a map, showing a route / area they wanted them to search. After all, they had a wide area to cover and limited people to do so with.

And so, Freya and Victor set off as the Elements continued to organise the search with others. Time was of the essence, they knew, so people were leaving. Qit'ria, too, left although she was alone and as Freya and Victor made their way, presumably following their map to the route and their part of the woods to search, they would see that Qit'ria was there, just a little in front of them.

Qit'ria, of course, was following the tracks which she had seen. But she could only follow in a very general direction for, whilst she had seen some tracks, the wind whipped around them and the snow still fell, albeit lightly compared to before. Tracks were soon covered. However, the tracks which Qit'ria was able to make out, as she made her way in the same direction as the other two, were perhaps strange, maybe concerning.

Here and there, in more sheltered areas where the wind had not yet made the tracks vanish, Qit'ria found small tracks - the right size for a human child. But more than that, following said child there were a lot of tracks ~ and there were so many of those that they were obvious to all three of them. Of course, that there were a large number of animal tracks might be all Freya or Victor knew, but Qit'ria was a huntress and lived this way, in this world.

They were wolf-tracks. Made by a pack of at least ten, very large, wolves. And, Qit'ria knew, they were following the little girl.

Ahead of them, Sweetwine was still a few breaks away, by the time they saw this it was only a few breaks into their walk. The winds whipped around them and howled into their ears, whispering urgency perhaps, for them finding Usam's daughter, Meno.

In the distance, maybe ahead of them but hard to tell in this weather, a wolf howled.
Off Topic
To be clear - you can all see each other and are obviously heading in the same direction!

n your next post, please include an OOC which chooses one colour out of the following.

Red
Orange
Yellow
Green
Blue
Pink
Indigo
Violet

Thank you!
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Victor Amielle
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The Element didn’t seem to be too impressed by his map judging by his somewhat lacklustre comment about how it was handy, but Victor didn’t care. He smiled. He knew that the map worked, and he was quite looking forward to hearing the man’s apology when he brought the girl back alive and in one piece. He only wondered who he was going to be paired up with, considering that he seemed to be the only one who had volunteered to help search for little Meno. He looked around to see if somebody else had arrived while he had been talking to the Element after all. As his gaze fell on Freya, his eyes lit up. She looked quite appealing - but did she know how to use that sword of hers?

“Are you any good with that?” he asked and pointed at her weapon before he gestured for her to come with him. “It’s best if we don’t waste any time”, he informed her. “Otherwise we might only find a block of ice, and I for one don’t want to have to tell these people that the girl is dead. I wonder why her grandmother lives in the middle of the forest though …” That seemed strange to him. Old ladies were not particularly well suited to life in the wilderness, unless that particular old lady had a few skills that he didn’t know of – such as magic – or wasn’t what she appeared to be. Maybe he would have to talk some sense into her once the girl was safe.

“I think that we have to walk this way”, he said as he took a look at the map, narrowing his eyes slightly as he did so. He wrapped his coat tighter around his body – the bad weather had let up a little, but it was still rather cold and windy - and quickened his pace. He had decided that they were going to search the area of the woods that they had been told to search – unless Freya disagreed in which case he would probably just ignore her as that was not the right time to disobey orders. As he walked, he noticed something – no, not something – somebody. There was a person in front of them, moving in the same direction that they were. He gave Freya a sign to stop for a moment and looked at her questioningly. “Do you think they are looking for the girl as well?” he asked.

The stranger in front of them was not the only thing that had caught his attention. He could see animal tracks here and there in some of the more sheltered areas that the wind hadn’t been able to reach. He couldn’t tell which animals had made them and whether said animals were dangerous or not - he was an explorer who studied unusual phenomena and occasionally searched ruins for treasure, not a hunter – but he knew that it was better to be quiet when there were wild animals around, at least. For that reason he stopped talking which would probably come as a welcome surprise to his companion.

He had unfortunately not been able to identify the tracks, but the howl that he heard in the distance was unmistakeable. He shuddered and froze for a moment. “Wolves”, he whispered to Freya and fell silent again as he didn’t want the wolf – or the wolves, where there was one, there were bound to be more - to notice that they were there. Perhaps they would be able to avoid its attention if they only moved quietly enough. He just hoped that little Meno hadn’t come across it yet and that they weren’t already too late because he intended to save her!
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I pick green!
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Due to one of his Awakenings, Victor's eyes glow with a soft silver light.

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Victor owns a Ring of Reversal. He's always wearing it, unless stated otherwise.

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Qit'ria
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The tracks were quickly disappearing, but that mattered not to the huntress. The route to Sweetvine was an obvious one. As her partner in crime had stated, she'd traveled it herself many times. But as she went along, she saw the little person's tracks, presumably the girl's accompanied by first one set of canine tracks, and later several. Wolves. She scowled. Qit'ria had never liked wolves, or dogs in general, especially after that run in with that hunter, his stupid dog, and mean dragon bird. She cast a glance over her shoulder, seeing now that the rest of the search party was organized and heading out, albeit slowly.

She studied the tracks closer, seeing that these wolves were rather large, certainly several adults, and well fed, not scrawny, starving ones. That meant they probably wouldn't be desperate for a meal. And that was a very bad thing. Desperate predators were predictable. They made mistakes going for the kill. But this pack, they would be careful and cautious in their hunt, she was sure of it. And the little girl was the meal.

Qit'ria touched her opposite hand to the Aye-Aye mouse totem bracelet upon her wrist as she continued to stalk along the trail, moving a bit quicker. She reached out to the power within the totem with her own inner magic, sending a single tendril into the precious relic of hers. Once within the totem, she didn't pull upon the form of the mouse, but rather, called to it to aid her nose and ears. She knew from her days as the mouse that both of those senses were much stronger than in her Sev'ryn form, and knew how to Echo them. Or rather, she knew how to Echo one at a time.

But she called on both, and felt that shadow within her heart stir hungrily. It was pleased by her feeding it, she could tell that. The hunger was so strong, and it asked for more. But she refused it, for now. And soon, her ears twitched as sounds she couldn't hear before became readily available. Her nose could pick up unrecognizable scents dancing among the winds. Qit'ria could feel the drain of having called on both, but knew she'd need them. Too many odds were stacked against her in this case. She'd need both speed and stealth, and in order to use those she had to know where she was going. She had to hunt the girl before the wolves could.

And that's when the howl rang out through the darkness, her ears able to pick the direction, and she began jogging off toward it, drawing a javelin into one hand, keeping her other free. She continued to sniff the air for a scent that wasn't simply wet dog or her own clothes, trying to find one that may belong to the girl. Thankfully, even with the winds, being Cylus, there weren't a lot of ambient plant smells. Snow did a wonderful job dampening down the others. She continued to keep her ears perked for her own protection.

As she followed the pack's tracks, she realized something that disturbed her. These wolves weren't in any sort of hunting formation. She'd followed enough tracks to know that pack hunters liked to split up and ambush from multiple sides. It was prey that traveled together heavily, for protection. It meant one of two things to the huntress. Either this pack was much larger than the ten or so she found here, with many others spread about. Or these wolves were being coordinated by someone or something. She knew wolves could be trained and controlled, as that hunter a few seasons back had made her realize.

Qit'ria picked up her pace, both trying to close the distance between her and the pack, and distance herself from the search party. Her trained eyes followed the tracks, looking for any that broke away from the main trail. She also knew the route well enough that she was confident in her ability to leave the trail and get ahead.

"You can use those following. They don't know these wilds like you do, and serve no use to you darling. Make them useful, whether they like it or not."

Qit'ria knew what Kashehino was meaning, for the thought was there in the back of her mind. She broke off from the tracks, heading on a more direct southern route, picking up her pace, focusing on her strides and breathing now. She was on a beeline for Kura's house. It was an ugly structure, didn't fit in with the pleasantness of her woods. But Qit was fairly certain that Kura was not a grandmother. She didn't even look old or saggy yet. Which meant her cabin wasn't the destination.

So she hoped to draw the others into following her shortened trail for a couple of reasons. The first was to hopefully lead them to a false destination, so that they'd investigate the Councilor's home to no avail, slowing them down. The other was if Qit'ria was looking to cut off the wolves, she'd need something other than a young girl, or herself, to distract the wolves. A handful of foolish people that stumbled instead of stalked through the wilds would make a perfect bait for a hungry pack. After all, there was more meat among them. She pressed on, focusing on maintaining her quickened pace, and searching for smells and sounds that stuck out.
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Freya DuCarinos
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The Biqaj groaned inwardly when the elemental ushered her in the direction of the ‘Map Man’, instructing her to work with him to find the girl, though not before handing her a kit and some clothes with a lantern for guidance. It took the woman a moment to realize the child might not be as well dress for the weather as she’d assumed and somewhere within her mind, it click how serious the situation was. She nodded to the guard, then turned and made her way towards her partner, only to catch him eyeing her— mainly her sword. Why should he care that she was armed? They were strangers going for a hike in the woods to grandma’s house. Pointedly, she rested her hand on the hilt as she stepped up next to him. Lo and behold, his greeting comment was one she expected, “Would you like to find out?” Her accent told that she was not native born to Scalvoris, but her common was smooth enough to be both charming and intimidating.

Freya listened as the map man spoke, pulling her cloak tighter around her when a gust of icy wind shot up against her back. “I agree, we should get moving, else we turn into ice blocks as well…” She muttered the last bit with a sharp shiver. Truth be told, she didn’t think much of the grandmother being in the woods and decided best to pick his thoughts while they journeyed together. “Why is that odd? Many natives live in the woods. Settlements and cities aren’t for everyone.”

The scenery changed as they made their way out of town and onto the paths leading to the Sweetwine Forest. She stuck close to the map man, but as they ventured further and further away, she decided to hang back and allow him to lead since he had the magic map. Maybe he was telling the truth and the item was indeed divine, but until he proved to her that such a thing work divine intervention, Freya was inclined to consider him insane. Though that did beg the question of the Immortals. She’d only ever been witness to a handful of events, if even, that made her question her belief in the otherworldly. Sure, she knew they were out there but to be involved in the lives of ordinary people such as herself or the man in front of her… Freya couldn’t believe it. There was nothing special about either of them to warrant attention from a God and really, she came to the conclusion she wouldn’t want the attention…

Lost in her thoughts, Freya shook her head free from them when the map man spoke up, “What?” She questioned, eyeing the path ahead only to see another person there. “Do you trust every stranger you see?” Came her quip, a thin hand falling to the hilt of her sword. “I’m sure not every person out in these woods will be looking for a little girl. Is there any need to follow them? What does your map say?” Freya stopped next to him, nodding towards the parchment. “If they’re going in the direction we are, then we should hang back and wait to see what she does.” But that would only work if they hadn’t been spotted by the stranger yet.

Freya had no reason to look at the ground until she noticed her partner’s gaze there and saw for herself, the tracks leading away. She knew not what they were, though they looked predatory at best, and only assumed the worst until she heard the howl of a wolf not too far from where they were. It only took a moment for the options to lay out within her minds and she turned to the map man, gauging his reaction. His too spoke of worry at the sound of the predator.

“We don’t have the numbers to fight off a pack. It could also be a trap...” Freya spoke the obvious. “If we leave the path, will your map get us back?”

Looking to the lantern, Freya’s accented voice carried again. “We can use the oil from the lantern to cover our blades and light them aflame, but it will bring the lamp to near extinguished. But the fire might scare the pack away if the girl is there.” Whatever he decided to do, Freya would follow.
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Orange!
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16th Cylus, 718
For a while, they moved in the same direction, going towards the same place, but then Qit'ria started to veer off and Freya and Victor were less sure about that, should they follow her or Victor's map? Certainly, Qit'ria was going in a direction that was in the directions of the tracks... ish. But as she moved more towards Kura's house, the tracks were less evident and Victor and Freya were more inclined, it seemed, to follow the map and the tracks.

But either way, it was the separating out, even just that small amount, that the pack needed. Pick them off, one by one, and Qit'ria was one. As the group felt the wind whipping against them and they heard the wolves howling again. But there was a danger in those howls, something about the sound of them had changed. Like they'd moved from communicating to threatening, snarling and yipping and sounding like they wanted to confuse, confound and intimidate. The weather made that much easier as the sounds seemed to come from all around them, suddenly.

Wolves in front of them, wolves behind and whilst Freya and Victor were close enough together that, as they started to make out shapes through the snow, or maybe it was their imagination, they could at least stand together.

Qit'ria, by her choosing, was alone.

There was no sign of the child, no little girl, but as Freya and Victor looked around, there were no more shapes. The howling abated, just at the same moment as a pause in the wind whipping around them. It was, for a moment, silent. Sweetwine was in front of them, and as they stood together, Freya happened to glance at the treeline and there, she saw a flash of red. What it was, she couldn't say although it looked like a person or animal, maybe, but it was there and, as she blinked, it was gone.

Victor's map, the footprints and everything they'd been told pointed towards the area of the Sweetwine where Freya had seen the flash of red. In the area in question, suddenly, all the birds took flight, rising into the air like a black cloud as something caused them to simultaneously take wing. Snow flurried from the trees as the flight of the birds disturbed it and, ahead of them, the Sweetwine woods seemed to be almost waiting.
Off Topic
Ok, so no longer together, Qit'ria has broken off. You are still able to get back together, but there is no compulsion to.

Thank you for your colour choices. Now, last choice is an item. Please choose one from:

Cloak
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Hood
Coat
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Thank you!
word count: 459
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~~Red in hoof and claw... ~~


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Victor Amielle
Approved Character
Posts: 509
Joined: Wed Jul 26, 2017 3:29 pm
Race: Human
Profession: Researcher
Renown: 382
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Wealth Tier: Tier 8

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Finding Meno

“Perhaps after we are done here”, Victor replied as Freya asked him if he wanted to find out and pulled his gaze away from her somewhat reluctantly. He was quite interested in a little fight – and perhaps something else, once they were done fighting – but he also realized that any further delays would likely be detrimental, and he wanted to find the little girl and have the people of this island celebrate him because he had found her and saved her life. There was also the matter of little Meno’s grandmother. His companion did not seem to have any problems with an old lady living in the middle of the woods which he found strange to say the least. Where did she come from that she considered such things normal?

“Grandmothers are usually old”, he pointed out as he walked next to her and groaned inwardly as he hadn’t thought that he would have to explain that to her. “And old people often have health problems. I remember what my own grandmother, back home in Lysoria, was like. If she had insisted on living alone in the wilderness, we would have had a huge argument as nobody would have been able to help her in case of an emergency. And then there’s of course the fact that this particular grandmother’s relatives have to walk through a potentially dangerous area every time they want to visit her. Do you think that’s a good idea?”

He raised an eyebrow.

“Of course not”, he replied as she asked him if he trusted every stranger he saw and rolled his eyes because what she had implied seemed completely ludicrous to him. “I was only considering that possibil …” He broke off as he heard the wolves howl again and froze. There was something different about their howls now, and they seemed to come from all around them. He could make out shapes in the snow as well – or maybe that was just his imagination playing tricks on him. “Whatever you do”, he urgently whispered to Freya, remembering what his teacher had once taught him. “Don’t run. The wolves will see you as prey, and I doubt that you will be able to outrun them.”

He prepared himself for the wolves’ arrival, but as he did so, he realized that he could not hear the howls anymore. It was almost as if the wolves had disappeared again. He sent a silent prayer to Delroth, the Immortal that he worshipped in order to thank him. He was by no means a coward, but running into a pack of wolves was something that he could definitely do without. He decided to walk on. He would not turn back now that they were so close to their destination. He was still much more inclined to follow his map than the tracks. One of the objects that he had found the night that the dead had come to life again had earned him Delroth’s blessing, and this one would lead him to the girl, he was sure of it.

“We should do that”, he replied as she suggested lighting their blades aflame. It was an excellent idea, and he wondered why he had not thought of it. From what he knew, most wild animals were afraid of fire. “And let that person be for now. I don’t think they are walking in exactly the same direction.” He looked in the direction where he had last seen them, furrowing his brow. “As for my map, it will always get us back. Look!” he said and pointed at his magical map. “I think that we need to go there.” He broke off as he noticed the birds somewhere in front of him take flight. They reminded him of a cloud, dark and ominous. Something had apparently disturbed them, but what?

He moved in the direction that the map pointed, ever watchful of his surroundings.
Off Topic
Coat!
word count: 662

Appearance

Due to one of his Awakenings, Victor's eyes glow with a soft silver light.

Items

Victor owns a Ring of Reversal. He's always wearing it, unless stated otherwise.

Potions

N/A
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