Forums » Fantasy Roleplay » Trip to the Churchground [closed]

The men had packed for the trip, Haku had double checked, even triple checked what they needed before heading down to the ship, with Landi and surprisingly, Ikarus, as well as the two invisible guards Landi and Haku had to bring, in tow. Four bags among them. Each man had a bag among them. Haku had one extra bag on him, his medical bag that he rarely ever had to use, and it had been collecting dust in his office since.. well, there was no reason to use the supplies in there. Boarding the ship in the evening, they gave the captain the map where they were taken across the water to the nearest port. The ship trip was uneventful, silent, and speedy.
Come the mornnig, when the ship landed in the busy port, they disembarked, and because landi had suggested a wagon, Haku agreed and found one at a decent price. It was small, carrying the bags and one other person in it. Since they have traveled during the night, and haku, more easily rested on a boat than Landi, had insisted that Landi rest in the wagon first. It was a small wagon, more like a cart, that the vendor insisted on getting a horse with it. Haku was reluctant about that, since he was capable of pulling a wagon, but Landi's possible insistence of getting the horse, they had a horse and a small wagon. Three men, four bags, two invisible guards that never spoke and were never easily seen but there, getting ready for the journey of however many days it could be to get to this church. While Landi and Ikarus were busy doing their own things, Haku had taken out the map to study it, making sure that he at least could remember and know where they were to go....

Illiandi, liking wagon travel well enough, knew that the one-horse and two-wheeled open-bed structure was better walked-beside than continuously ridden in. As such, after he took his turn sleeping, the man had ridden only long enough to pull his armor on. Leather, brown and green, with sheep horns decorating the shoulderpieces, he might look like a guard himself, walking alongside the wagon, if ever a guard had so studious a nose and foxy-features. The sheep jaws that jutted forward of the helm did what they could to hide how he looked.

"What do you think? A full day overland? Two?" Towns huddled closer together, even stricken ones, and they had a week to spare on this mission of generosity. The letters that they had sent back and forth between themselves and their destination were stored at home; Landi had felt more secure with a paper-trail showing where they had gone. He glances first over to his husband, and then to their companion, for whom this was likely a joyous occasion.

Ikarus, unlike his companions, was not a particularly seasoned traveler. This, however, didn't make him scared or even particularly nervous, since those that he was traveling with were his friends. No. Oooh no.
Ikarus?
Ikarus was excited. So very excited. He'd always loved the ship, and was quick to find himself at the highest point that he was allowed to be in for most of the journey, leaving his bag below deck. Even when they got off the ship, Ikarus was raring and ready to go.
Quite actually bouncing in his step, he was more than happy to let Landi take the first rest in the cart, practicing on keeping his wings tucked properly under his arms so he didn't frighten the cart horse.
His bag was hung over both his wings, and shoulders, getting used to the feeling of carrying things that way for now. Turning to walk backwards, Ikarus kept behind the cart, since Haku was the one with the map, and Ikarus was in this for the adventure. He was not, as mentioned, a seasoned traveler. Every vacation he could get off their little island was fun, and exciting.
"Where is it we're going again? What's the name of the church? How many people live there? Do you think we'll actually run into any trouble? I've never seen someone rent out a cart before. What happens if something happens to the cart?" And excited Ikarus was going to ask all his excited questions, spewing them out as they came to him, and probably even forgetting a few of them along the way. "Is it a big church? I don't think I've ever been to one. Sol used to tell me about palaces though, and temples, but I don't think they have the same things out here. What's this region called? Where are we actually?"

Haku had been brooding and quiet for the start of it, keeping the map to him, and turning it as they walked along the path. The gentle clop clop of the hooves of the horse that pulled the cart was calming to him. He glanced over to Ikarus jabbering away and smirked. "I don't... actually remmeber as the last letter we got was with a name.. Toby. Just... Toby. The last few letters were more formal than that with the name, which escapes me now." Since Haku had been focused on the new name at the bottom of the last letter. "It's a church, yes... and I don't know what we'll be running into." he frowned as the last letter tated,. that there WERE dangers. That part had Haku make sure everyone (save Ikarus) had some form of armor. Landi was decked out in his. Haku only had thick pants, a leather and mail chet piece, and his bow, arrows, and dagger. "I have never really been to a church either, Ikarus, so we'll be relying on Illiandi on how to talk to these people." if they were people. Haku hadn't seen their faces either. For all he knew, these could be furrefolk, which he had no issues with, with his history of places. At the question of where they were, however, Haku gave Ikarus a cheeky grin and pointed to the map. "I believe we are here." then he pointed to the ground. "Here.. and here. and in a few yards, we'll be up there.." Haku being an ass? yes, yes he was.

Preferring to leave all but the contents of his belt pouch and his sling in the wagon, the minor nobleman didn't bother to burden himself with more than the armor. While not as heavy as the sort his paladin brother wore, his fragile skin was unforgiving and the armor, despite its good make and the underclothes beneath it, would still eventually bruise and chafe. Occasionally keeping an eye, such as he could, on their bodyguards, who moved like heat-mirages beside them on the rutted road, Ikarus' good cheer kept him smiling. "I think the Parson only gave his title, yes? And then this Toby person," Landi supplies. "And they call it the Church of the Light, I think, the same as what my brother serves, though who knows if it's the same faith."

Resting one hand on the cart's side to help him keep the slow and plodding pace, he says, "It's likely to be a small church, perhaps with a room for prayer and a room for the Parson's family. I used to run one quite like that, long, long ago." Gradually connecting down to this foreign soil as he walks, mingling his attention with the life forces to get a practiced 'taste' of them, he keeps his influence very light as his tone takes on a somewhat story-telling cadence. "A famine came to visit me and mine, too. Later we learned it was because a volcano named Laki had exploded. It was across the sea from us in a different land, and it still killed off the first of our crops. Overplanting to compensate for that killed off the rest. Took a lifetime to recover from it."

At first, Haku's joke works on Landi, since he stops when Haku first says 'here'. Looking around, confused, he then jogs a few steps to catch back up and staaaaares at Haku. "We can't really be at the Church already, can we?" he asks serrrrriously.

Bouncing along in the excited way, there didn't seem to be any real signs of fatigue from Ikarus. Attentive to his friend's story, the winged man kept track of what things were likely to look like when they got there. "A volcano? Why did that kill off the crops? Did ash smother them or something?" Ikarus had read about volcanos a very long time ago, but he didn't know much about them.

Then he was right up alongside Haku when the man started to answer his questions, or at least some of them. Violet eyes flicked to the map when it was pointed to, and then to the ground like there might be a sign or a name of the region. But Haku's little joke doesn't get by Ikarus, and the winged man rolled his eyes with a huff as he fwapped Haku on the arm with the back of his hand. "Gee, you don't say. Your powers of perception are always so remarkable, Haku." And Ikarus looked back to Landi. "Nooo. He's joking because he doesn't know where we are besides 'here'. I don't know about you being our guide, Haku." Ikarus continued to joke, since out of all of them, Haku was probably the best one to be navigating with the map. But still. Any low-hanging branch near the path would be subject to Ikarus jumping or reaching up to try and touch the leaves.

Haku hadn't expected Landi to have been listening! he had felt Landi connect, which he wasn't going to stop the man. He'd rather have some pre warning to what could be out there than anything pop them, which could till happen... from the sky. He flinched and laughed at the two of them, rubbing at his arm as he was hit. "No.. we aren't at the church yet. we till have a good day or two to go I believe. We just tarted out not too long ago you two." he looked at the map again and then squinted out into the distance. "we keep going forward. I believe there might be a bend somewhere around here. We keep to the bend." he gave a nod, as he glanced over to Ikarus, and then smirked. "better me with the map than Illiandi. can you read a map Ikarus?" he unfolded the map and then held it out for the man to look over.

Staring back and forth between his husband and his friend, it takes him a moment to catch up, and then says, "Oh, no, I'm sure Haku knows where we are." Laughing with the other two, mostly because they do, Landi says, "Did you know yet another person talked about eating me the other day? Ikarus, you've started a horrible trend back home." Finding nothing but the usual roadside flora and fauna, they'd be steering fair clear of those towns that didn't welcome humans or human-kin, he knew, and likely far away from those dens of filth that provided shelter for the demons and undead of the world. He trusted Haku's navigation.

Dropping back in the walk, Landi reaches into the wagon to pluck up their Green-Emporium Enchanted waterflask, and drank deeply from it. Carrying it back up to the fore, he passes it over to Haku as he passes the map to Ikarus. "How far past nightfall do you want to travel? I didn't pack but one glowglass and my tinderbox, myself," he asks his husband.

Lifted his head in a 'humph' nod like a spoiled girl, pulling off the action probably better than he should've been able to, but that was beyond the point. Laughing back at Landi, Ikarus waved his hand dismissively in the air over his shoulder.

"That's because you look tasty, Illiandi. A little butter, some spices; it'd be great!" Still joking. Eating people was a whole separate topic which was probably only worth discussing in dire survival situations.

Though after a jump for a leaf which he missed, Haku was offering over the map, and if by nothing more than reaction, Ikarus took it. He looked to the paper, and then around to their surroundings. His lips pursed up in a scrunch as he thought, and turned the map around a few times until it was back to it's original orientation. Looking over to Haku, Ikarus shrugged. "I can read the map, I guess. I can tell which way the turns and the paths go, but I don't know... how to read the land. I don't know, except for you telling me, that we're going the right way right now, and from there I can read the map." As in, if he ever got turned around, they could follow the directions backwards if Ikarus was leading.

Still, Ikarus studied the map, and his expression turned into that intense focus that suggested he was remembering everything that was on the piece of paper at the moment. He'd learned a long time ago that being able to copy things that had gotten lost (especially maps, yes) was a useful, and important thing to do. Plus, that way, as they went along, he might be able to keep track of how close or far they were from their goal. Letting the more experienced travelers work out how far they would go, and where they would rest.

Haku chuckled to the reply that Ikarus gave Landi. "Again, only a joke, Illiandi, I don't understand why you got hung up over this." He shook his head as he watched ikarus take the map and was handed water in its place. Haku nodded to landi and then drank, slow and long, and handed it back to Landi after. "So then what you're saying, Ikarus, is that if you studied the map... and if I told you what things were what.. you might learn it? Good. We might need that. I could try and Teach landi, and maybe one day we'll see what we can do about that.. but, hm?" He looked over to Landi as Landi asked a question, which had Haku silence himself. He looked out again along the path. "well if we travel early in the morning with minimal resting, only to pause for short meals when needed, we can travel all night, even if we have to, if one of us rets in the cart for a few hours at a time..." He canted his head in thought. "I wouldn't want to bring out light, as that might attract attention, but to eat we have the spoon, yes? we could do that. I don't think we'll travel through the night though. The horse would need water and rest too." Speaking of horse, Haku had put a hand to the horses sweated neck, to feel it, and test it. "we might need to rest here soon to give the horse a break. And some water."

Illiandi, ancient and patient, still in the spirit of bickering (and being mildly weirded out) points accusingly over to Ikarus as he starts up again. "Do you hear him? Now he's even trying to make a recipe! It's foul, I say." Making a 'pff' sound himself, he receives the waterflask back and passes it over to Ikarus in any case. "I don't think you'll have any luck teaching me the map. You can tell me that something is supposed to represent a forest, but that doesn't mean I can make some squiggly lines be real trees while we're passing them." Map making was something of a legendary scrying to him, due to his brain damage, but he accepted in as it was. Besides, with his empathetic and directional link to his husband and brother, he sometimes had two fixed points to navigate by anyway.

"Here's as good as any. I'll fetch the pail down. Ikarus, will you fill it when you've taken your own drink?" The waterflask had been a lifesaver for them more than once, and it'd probably be the one thing Landi would get out if the wagon were to burn. The grueling pace Haku picks is slightly daunting, and Landi knew Ikarus might grow to regret bouncing around (as he'd regret his armor), but he does not complain outloud about it.

"Do either of you eat and drink?" Landi asks, apparently of no one. He gets no answer.

Cackled as he danced away from Landi's pointing finger, doing all in all a good job of keeping his wings still around himself, and using his arms to gesture. "What's your favorite spice, Illiandi? We could get a bath of it together for you!" But he's laughing too hard by now, and comes back in to take the water flask, and trying to get an arm around one of those armored shoulders of his friend, just to show it was all in good fun. Taking a drink, he looked to the spikey, horned armor. "You remind me of a beetle."

He gave a pat to Landi's back while Haku spoke, and then nodded to the questions. "Yes. If you told me what the map meant in the real world, and how to get directions, I could navigate." And as Haku says they'll go straight through the night, Ikarus doesn't (yet) see a problem. He's likely to stay revved up for quite some time, simply on the excitement of the whole thing, and the end of the trip, well, possibly in the cart. But he'd try!

As Landi decided here would be good to stop now, Ikarus would hold onto the flask, and wait for the pail before filling it on the ledge of the cart, walking it in a wide berth around the horse, Ikarus set the water down a bit away, too used to a sheep which hated him to immediately trust animals. He backed away from the pale.

Haku arched a brow as Landi was further teased. He only smirked at that. He was hearing. He didnt' stop it nor keep it up as he watched the horse stop and the scene unfold before him. He shook his head. It's best that we rest often here Illiandi. we don't know the lands here, and as benign as it looks now.. I don't know what we are in store for. The last letter said to be highly careful of dangers on the trip. I'm being careful." If that meant them getting there in two days rather than one, so be it. Haku reted against the cart as the water was filled in the pail, and the horse drank what it could. Haku looked around them. It looked.. empty. There didn't seem to be very many sounds of the wildlife around them. that was slightly unsettling to the skilled game hunter that could probably catch meat for them along the way. He frowned as he scanned the treeline if there were trees. he scanned the horizon. "if you want to keep going after this we can. we have all day. If you feel up to it after we rest for a dinner, we will, but only if we feel we need to." He murmured. He looked back down to the map.

Illiandi is caught on the verge of answering before he realizes that Ikarus continues to jest. He's unable to cook up a good level of annoyance though as the lanky youth tries to get his arm around sheep horns, inch-thick leather, and various other bone ornamentation. "There's no beetle parts on this one, and you're drunk with excitement," he chastises, very lightly. "This one's got sheep bits, and the last one had world-tree fragments."

To Haku, he calmly reminds, "I didn't complain about resting or not resting, Ipo. The pace is yours to set. I trust you to manage the group well." Taking advantage of the break to check the goods in the back, Landi makes sure that none of the sacks of rich soil, or the bag of carrots, had shifted. The shadows around them were small but starting to lean toward the east. Resisting the temptation to pull out one of the carrots for snacking or horse-bribery, since like most normal horses, he was disliked by this one, Landi waits and rests while waiting for Haku to call for movement again.

Ikarus smiled as his friend cautioned him in that way that Landi was prone to doing. "Yes, yes I probably am. But I'd rather be drunk with excitement than sitting lonely on the dock." Still, Ikarus watched the horse intently as it drank, watching how the neck tensed with each swallow, and finding it fascinating. He wasn't around animals much, let alone large ones. Ikarus looked over to Haku as he waited a ways away from the horse's head. "What kind of dangers? Did it say? Like poison plants or monsters or something?" He was a little spoilt from being in a place where actual monsters were more likely to be the cause of things than bandits or thieves. People no longer seemed so much of a danger to him. Which was good, as far as Ikarus learning how to deal with people, but it could present itself as a danger, if he wasn't careful.

Haku looked up from his brooding thinking as he was talked at. He looked from Landi to Ikarus and then gave a nod. "hm. I didn't say you were complaining, Illiandi." He arched a brow andthen looked over to Ikarus. "... the letter didn't specify what.. kinds of dangers. I would assume bandits, probably.. but.. of the furre kinds.. I would assume. There's.. a reason why did haven't stopped in any of the towns out here yet.." because haku knew what would happen. they'd either be chased out or threatened and then followed.. simply because they were human, or "human looking" despite Ikarus's wings. he licked at his lips. "I wish I knew how to answer your question, but it looks like we'll have to ask them when we get there." He watched the horse, now that it was done, paqtted it's neck, dumped the pail out, and then set it back in the wagon. "everyone ready? If you are hungry, we have the spoon, and the bowl. we'll stop again when we get to a place that might be clsoer to town." however likely that was. he clucked at the horse and pulled gently at the reigns to get the cart moving again. He was quiet again, as he examined everything around. The trees, if there were any. The ground, how the grasses looked. Again, ther was that sparseness of birds or crickets, or any kind of wildlife noise. Only when the sky grew a dusky purple and orange did haku slow the pace down to a crawl again. "... make your decision. Stop and eat or you two think you can keep walking and trade out for sitting in the cart to eat?" He glanced to either of them.

Landi does not rise to bicker-bait with his husband, who was likely distracted in his own worries. Instead, the next segment of travel, well into the late Tuesday afternoon, is spent with him trying to teach Ikarus a simple round of "Come Follow," ending up laughing whenever Ikarus or Haku, should they try, gets confused between what their ears and their mouths are having to do at the same time. It helped a bit that the pace of the song was in time with the plod of the horse. Should the other men sing, their voices would likely blend well as two baritones and a tenor.

When Haku calls for a second break, however - or at least, he sortof does, rather tossing the decision back to them - Landi looks around as well, and says, "In either case, I'd like to sit. We also don't have to use the spoon tonight; we still have some of Makwa's vegetable soup in a jar." He looks over to Ikarus to see how the youth was still driving himself.

Being an easy man to entertain was helpful in many situations, and the day was quick to pass with Landi's singing, and Ikarus trying to sing Landi's song, and doing a fairly poor job of it. Most apparently trying to make up any words he lost with similar sounds that weren't quite words. He'd also take up any chance to find a good, tall stick. Not using it so much as a walking stick, as much as something to hang across his shoulders, and play around with. Though as the sky turned dark, Ikarus was mostly just walking, no more bouncing. But it wasn't quite being 'tired' right now, as much as it was just having gotten out all the excess energy from his previous excitement. "I'm okay to keep going, if we want to do that." Not deciding for the whole group, because Landi wants to sit, and Haku hasn't rested yet, Ikarus just speaks for himself. Using his stick to try and lightly tonk Landi on the helm with it. Seeing his friend in armor just made Ikarus want to poke the poor gent. Haku was saved from curious pokings because he was wearing much less 'armor' and much more 'heavy clothing'.

Haku arched a brow as he watched Ikarus with teh stick. he smirked as landi got toyed with, and he canted his head. "well...I suppose we can take turns in the cart while we keep going.. Maybe for another hour or so.." he looked at the map and then looked down the road. The air wasn't sticky humid like Nasmara was. There was a light breeze, but the air was still until then. He nodded as he agreed. "Illiandi can sit first, and eat as he needs, and then Ikarus, and then I will." he stated. "If you think you can eat while the cart moves around, we will keep moving. So hop on in the cart. We'll keep moving until then." he waited, and watched. Always on alert. Danger didn't mean fear to Haku. Danger meant to be alert, and looking out all the time. haku knew dagner. He had to survive the woods, and town when he was younger on his own. No one had taught him how to act or what to do then. A bit wiser now, and armed as well this time, he wasn't fearful, rather alert, and cautious. If Landi got in the cart, Haku gave Ikarus a questioned look. "You're next in the cart for sitting and eating." He reminded as he clucked the horse, which reluctantly continued on if landi sat in the cart.

Illiandi has enough experience with staves to have neatly disarmed Ikarus should he choose to, but he tended to let his friends get away with far more than strangers. Listening to the plan, he climbs up and even removes his boots for twenty or so minutes he's owed. Drinking of the vegetable soup and again of the water, he keeps a passive eye out as well for their invisible guards, which sometimes can be 'seen' as a ripple along the sparse, crabby grass.

Not having a good sense of time, however, Illiandi needs to be reminded when his time is up, after which he uncomplainingly turns his socks inside out and then replaces the boot before walking on. The hardworking horse, this time, gets a treat as Landi passes a carrot over to Haku for to feed him. Anytime Landi gets too close to the animal, it snorts and stares with just a bit of white showing in its eyes until the armored, slight man backs off. Simply traveling can be both relaxing and dull at the same time, like a cloak of wool around the senses even as they're stimulated all at once. The only sign Landi seems willing to show of fatigue, however, is when he pulls the helm off and sets it in the wagon, sweated and red-faced even with his rest.