Forums » Fantasy Roleplay » The Bookbinding (presently closed)

Glenn hadn't expected it to be the copper haired beauty that opened the door. "Ah... good morning, Miss Fyonae," he said and couldn't help a smile of his own when she smiled his way.

Not wanting to bring the dirt inside the house, he left the bucket with the dug up herb plants just outside the door and stepped inside, offering a quick 'good morning' to Jack as well.

Miss Dotta had in fact already made him breakfast, but Glenn rarely said 'no' to the offer of food, so helped himself to a hunk of the bread with butter and some of the raspberry preserves when Auralia offered.

"Mr. Tom," Glenn starts. "You know anythin' 'bout the voice I been hearin'... talkin' 'bout the dragon and the heros and stuff?" he asked, diving right into the subject weighing heavy on his mind with all the subtlety of a bull in a china shop. "Like somebody tellin' a story in a play."

“And here I thought my punishment was at its end. Now I have to eat the slop you poor buggers eat?” Thirgud grumbled as he sat in his bed toying with the frame. He glanced back up at the guard. “I thought, I were gonna be let free today.” Thirgud struggled to his feet, leaning heavily on his good arm, before walking over to the bars. “Or am I just to get roasted like the rest of you for havin’ too much sense to stay here?” He growled at the guard’s back as the man walked away. He looked over the tea and bread for a short moment before shoving it aside. “You’re fancy lord ain’t gonna save you from a bloody dragon. He’s probably gonna be outta this town the second that thing’s shadow darkens his keep again.”

A deep sigh escaped Thirgud as returned to his raggedy bed, clutching his head in pain. Sobriety was not coming easy to him and especially now in such a dire time the shakes could impede his work. He grimaced at the shoddily made bed frame. Given time he might manage to work something loose and with luck fashion a method of escape. He was not so much worried about the guards keeping him in the dungeons indefinitely as he was about an attack leaving him stranded in the cell while the keep burned. Fate had already dealt him a poor hand. He had no intention of simply letting fate run its course again.

Grateful for the lodging as well as the food, Fyonae would offer Glenn another smile as he greeted her before bustling into the kitchen to see if Auralia needed any help setting out the food, perhaps draining the eggs and setting them out as well. Eventually she wandered toward the table and took a slice of the bread, completing the portion with a smear of butter and preserves. Settling her back against a wall, where the morning light cast little shadow, she propped herself in a standing position to munch the bread - which was outstanding. She sighed softly as she took the first bite and nodded appreciatively toward Auralia. "This is a great way to start the mornin'. 'Tis Delicious."

After a moment she found herself curious about the conversation Glenn struck up with Tom, listening attentively, for she had yet to figure out why the voice had been heard. She watched Jack, too, her glance perhaps slightly wary though she tried to hide it, for she wondered about him still, and his reactions the previous night. If he looked her way she would offer him a bright smile however and ask how his burn fared. "I 'ave another aloe stem, if you need the salve.." she reminded the young man, happy to offer it despite their newfound wariness of each other.

"Shut your mouth, will ya!" the guard demands of Thirgud in exasperation. He moves back toward the cell as he continues to address the inmate, his voice falling into a fierce whisper as he gets closer. "None of us want ya here any longer than necessary! If the captain, or worse yet, Lord Cullan or one of his advisors hears ya running at the mouth like that, they'll keep ya locked up for good. Just eat your breakfast for heaven's sake, and shut up!"
_____

Meanwhile, Mr. Tom smiles at Glenn's question and tries to give his daughter a reassuring nod. "Well, my boy, I can't say that I know much on it, except that it happened to me - once. It was peculiar, giving me insight into things I ought never to have learned naturally. But whether it speaks true, I cannot say. I believe what I heard to be true, or at least mostly so. But I would warn you not to go blabbering of it all around. Folks will likely find anyone possible to blame for their misfortune. But I wonder, can you tell me exactly when you heard it yesterday? Were there any events that were the same each time you heard the voice?"

"Wol... " Glenn started through his hunk of bread, "the first was when the lizard turned inta a dragon an' I was with Fyonae an' Roxi. That's my little cousin. An' Auralia. Jus sittin' in the shade."

He scratched his head a little. There'd been so much chaos and confusion that it was a bit difficult to point to exactly what else had been going on at the time of the narration.

"Then 'gain when I met you, Mr. Tom, yesterday, right after the dragon left. Said somethin' about the dragon going to its cave of treasure and plannin' his next attack.

"Then once more, later in the day, when it talked 'bout ordinary people doin' extraordinary things."

As he slowly recounted the three times he'd heard the narration, an inkling of idea started in his head and he couldn't help but cast a suspicious glance at Auralia. She'd been there each time. But the idea of her being some dark sorceress that was secretly bringing destruction into their midst seemed so ludicrous that he couldn't make himself say it out loud.

"Up you get
The dew is still wet
If you're late
You'll be full of regret

I'm still tired
I'd rather be fired
Then roasted alive
If that's what's required."

Thirgud sang, his smirk remaining as he returned to his bed for some extra rest until the guards were not paying attention. Once they were gone he would pick up his bread and eat it by the bed frame he was gradually dismantling. He was dehydrated but the muck they served here was a last resort for him.

Jack had returned Auralia's good morning and thanked her for the delicious looking spread, making sure to throw in a compliment about her cooking. He greeted Tom and Fyonae as he entered the kitchen with Glenn, still wiping sleep from his eyes and forcing a groggy, lackluster smile.

Mornings were never his friend and he tried his best to hide it, his face the only thing visible with his ensemble of linens and leathers. He gathered food onto a plate when Auralia gave the go-ahead and thanked Fyonae for her offer of more treatment.

"That would be great. Thank you." He smiled at her, sounding more cheery, despite his deepened, hushed tone.

His wound was on fire when he had woken up, as the healing process began, though he succeeded in ignoring it. A soothing, cool salve didn't sound bad at all and he was more than grateful for the lass.

When his plate looked filling enough, Jack began to make his way to the living space again to leave more room for the others, when Glenn asked Tom about the voice. He froze mid-walk, his back towards them, looking straight ahead with concern in his eyes. He turned slowly, as nonchalantly as he could manage, and settled to become part of the conversation. His plate in one flat, gloved hand while he ate with the other.

He only listened as Glenn would probably ask what was needed, what Jack wanted to know. After Tom asked what the common denominator to all of this was, Jack peered all around with only his eyes, his face still pointed down at his food. He hadn't noticed Fyonae's cautious gaze earlier, though he looked at her now and continued to sneak glances at her as Glenn spoke of the voice.

Jack hadn't been there for the first two narrations and he looked at the man with interest. Looked at him as he looked at Auralia with a slow recognition. Jack looked at Fyonae. Both men had an air of unease and it quickened Jack's pulse, a leery tension swirling about them.

Fyonae had been there the whole time too, hadn't she? That's what he heard Glenn say.

Not human...

She was so kind and caring, all smiles and good intentions. A respectable friend to them!

Can't be trusted...

Jack's earthy eyes darted briefly before he groaned quietly and touched a hand to his chest, wincing to put on a show.

"Would you mind helping me with that salve again?" He asked Fyonae, evident pain in his eyes. "It's really flaming up."

It wouldn't be so unbelievable that he would ask for her aid, seeing how he acted the night before. He was 'too scared' to do it himself. He put his, now empty, plate on a table and quickly thanked Tom and Auralia for their generosity then walked to his cot.

Whether Fyonae would follow him or not was up in the air, though he would sit and wait regardless.



( i'm sorry it took me so long to post, i've been busy af thank you all for being so patient and cool!!
also, feel free to interrupt whatever jack is doing and make everyone leave the house to make our way back to thirgud )

As Glenn responded to Tom, Fyonae too seemed to be staring sidelong at Auralia, as she went over the previous day's events in her mind, linking the strange written monologue in her mind with the appearance of the kind blond woman in her mind. Strange.. the thought trickled through her mind like a brook over pebbles, and she had to keep the suspicion carefully from her face. Oblivious to Glenn's own secret thoughts, Fyonae's were interrupted by Jack.

As the young man rose and wandered back to his cot, Fyonae too rose, having finished with her own bread and soft boiled eggs. As she turned to follow Jack, another thought crossed her mind. If Auralia was somehow part of it all, then did her father know? He seemed genuine about helping Glenn understand, yet it was hard to tell if he truly believed the strange narrative had happened. She found herself grateful that Glenn was so straightforward to have even asked the question. At least someone was trying to get answers.

Before stopping by Jack, Fyonae moved back to her own cot to retrieve a stem of Aloe from her pack, then wandered back to the young man as he waited. Splitting it down its length as before, she slid the goo into her palm. If Jack wanted to apply his own salve she'd hand it over, otherwise she would wait for him to pull his shirt up so she could carefully smear it over the wound, her touch soft and careful. As she worked her green hues stayed riveted on the burn, so she could avoid looking Jack in the eyes. Still... she couldn't help the sudden smile that lifted her lips briefly. "So... Auralia is pretty eh?"

Her words were conversational, the tones perhaps soft enough it didn't carry to the kitchen. She'd seen Jack staring at the blond beauty and couldn't help good naturedly slipping a word in to see how he'd react. At this point, any information she could glean on the other woman seemed beneficial. "Had you met her before?"

Whether or not Jack would answer, if he let her put on the salve, Fyonae would be quick about it, then stand and offer a nod. "That should last ya the better part of the day I should think...

Jack was standing over his cot when Fyonae entered the room, his back to her. He was working off a glove and though she couldn't see, his elbows and shoulders were moving with the effort. He turned to say something at the sound of her, but stopped when he saw her busily emptying the contents of the plant and preparing to help him again. Just as he had asked.

He thanked her when she approached him and gritted his teeth before he touched her hand with his bare one. He thought for a moment that it had all been a dream. That this was it. This was when they see him as the hideous monster. Though nothing happened when he scraped the gooey stuff from her and he visibly relaxed. He couldn't lift his shirt up for her to apply the salve, or rather he wouldn't. He had embarrassed himself enough and his pride simply wouldn't allow it.

Strangely, he had made no move to undress at all as his intentions weren't to soothe his wound, as much as it did burn, but to ask Fyonae what kind of game she was playing with them. About the voices in their heads. More so, he wanted to throw any blame off of Auralia and that made such assumptions come easy. This red-haired lass was nice, but maybe she was too nice.

Now he didn't know how to go about it and hesitated, a panic rising in him as he listened to the voices from the kitchen and some clattering of plates. They stood there, with Jack looking down at her, aloe starting to ooze between his fingers. When Fyonae spoke, presumably, to break the palpable tension the silence hung in the air, it was enough to give Jack a push.

"What are you?"

He answered her question with his own, his voice a ragged whisper. His eyes held genuine concern, even sorrow, with no hint of malice. Jack didn't want her to be against them, though something was happening among them and he couldn't shake the feeling that it wasn't good. Especially seeing it dealt with a dragon.

He looked her over while waiting for an answer, the noises of the others still carrying.

Auralia had been cheerful throughout the breakfast preparation with plenty of "good-mornings," "thank-yous," and "you're-welcomes." But as the conversation turns to that of "The Voice" from the previous day, she seems to grow uneasy. She finds her way to a chair tucked into the corner of the kitchen and ducks her head as her cheeks grow crimson.

"Yes, yes. I see..." Thomas replies thoughtfully to Glenn while following the young man's eyes to his daughter. "And did anyone else hear this voice? Or have you told anyone else of it?" His glance passes toward the two in the living area.
_____

As the guard returns to the fireplace, he mutters something to the other about being glad once this louse is released. After a few minutes, he leaves the hall. The other sits with his back almost to the cell and his hands over his ears as the crazy drunkard weaves another less-than-comforting song.

"I dunno, just Auralia and them two," the large youth replies, thumbing in the direction of Jack and Fyonae, then craning his neck a bit to see what the two were up too, feeling a tad bit jealous at the attention Fyonae seemed to be paying the man.

But he couldn't try to listen in on their conversation and pay attention to Tom at the same time, so returned his gaze back to Tom. His face wrinkled slightly as he caught sight of Auralia looking abashed in the corner. It simultaneously seemed to validate his suspicions and made him feel guilty for even thinking it.

"Auralia told me not to say nuthin' bout it out and to talk to you bout it first, so I didn't ask Aunt Dotta or nobody else," he says in a very straightforward way.

By the time Jack had asked his question, Fyonae had set her lips into a slightly grim line, one copper eyebrow raised as she waited for the hammer to fall. He'd somehow figured out she was less, or more, than normal, and if his own expression was any indication, he didn't like it. She didn't answer at first, but let several agonizing moments of silence drip by before she sighed, lifting a hand to run it through her hair absentmindedly. Her green eyes flicked toward those in the kitchen, and she could see their own gazes sweeping the two every so often. Nerves twisted in Fyonae's gut. Would he alert Lord Cullen, or the guard, or even their small group? People feared what they didn't understand. Her own people didn't understand, but in honor of her father's memory, they tolerated her.

A troubled gaze softened her expectant one as she re-met Jack's eyes. "I am no danger to ya Jack. Nor to anyone else here. I want to stop the dragon, same as anyone." Well.. same as any good intentioned person, and now she wondered if Auralia and her father weren't part of what had happened in town the previous day. Had she called the dragon? Created it even? Such magic hadn't been seen out in the open for a long while.

"I am a person, just like you. But some god somewhere deemed it a good idea to change my spirit into a wolven one." Her tone, far from challenging, seemed weary and colored with a hint of bitterness. Her usual cheery smile replaced by a resigned one. She shrugged a bit. "Ye c'n tell the others, or even Lord Cullan, and they'll run me out, or put me behind bars like Thirgud." Here her voice hardened slightly, and she kept Jack's gaze as long as possible. "Your choices are your own, but I can 'elp this town." Her lilting brogue pulled at each word, drawing each one out, as she spoke. Then, she pointed at the goo nearly dripping from Jack's hand. "Ye'll want to put that on. It c'n 'elp."

With that she spun, dress flaring a bit around her legs, and walked quietly back to the kitchen, where she met Glenn's gaze an offered an encouraging smile, having only heard part of their conversation before she left. Turning she gathered any used dishes from the table and took them toward the kitchen, speaking to Auralia as she passed by. "I am 'appy to help with the dishes. You 'ave all been very kind to serve us a meal as well as offer yer 'ome."

Jack listened to her intently, his stubbled face casting a shadow on her's. It was stern, more serious than it had been in the mere hours they'd known him, and it looked foreign and strange. An unusual nature for unusual circumstances.

When she said the bit about being wolven, Jack was almost relieved. He thought she'd been a dragon! Half dragon anyway, sent out to lure them into their clutches. The shock of her being non-human had already come and gone with their initial touch and so he only calmed when the mystery was solved.

A werewolf. Lycanthrope. Wolven? Whatever they called themselves, he was no expert.

Jack continued to listen to her, hearing her heart in her words, and almost smiled at the bravery in the last. Even just having met the woman, - this creature -he believed her. Perhaps it was because he could be a creature himself. It wasn't so unbelievable to believe she was good, was it? You're just as much of a freak, Jack. He started to feel a pang of guilt in his gut and it creased his rich eyes. He was so ready to accuse, to sully the good lady's name, when she was cursed as much as he. Your top half's an ass too.

He looked at the goo when Fyonae pointed it out, deciding he would indeed put it on rather than waste it. It had made his injury feel better after all. He opened his mouth to say something to her, but she turned heel to join the others again, leaving him to feel worse. Even still, she fussed over his well-being. Jack would hunch over with the salve, his free hand lifting his shirt enough for him to messily slather the treatment and let it stick to the fabric when he straightened up. He rubbed his hands together then on his pants, pulled his glove on, and sighed, shaking what had just happened off of his face.

He walked into the kitchen soon after Fyonae did, in time to watch her collect the last of everyone's dishes, including his. His expression had returned to it's general, cheery accord and it grew when he spoke.

"Thank you for your help, Fyonae. It feels better already."

He would thank her during a lull in conversation, if there was any upon their return. His tone was light and vague, as if nothing else had happened between them. He wouldn't tell them, or anyone. Just as he would hope she wouldn't tell them of his affliction and especially if it meant Fyonae would be dragged off for it. Probably burned at the stakes.

Her secret was safe, though Jack couldn't help but look at the lass in a different light. How did she know how safe they all were? He was no expert, yet he did know the beast that dwelled inside couldn't always be controlled. The full moon and all that. His gaze lingered on her for, probably, too long to be appropriate after his thanks. To another, it would seem like a look of longing and Jack wouldn't notice if someone saw.

"And thank you again, for your hospitality." He remembered himself and broke his stare, smiling as he looked at Tom then Auralia, who appeared to be a little frazzled.

His smile shrank and he looked at the other two men, curiously. He knew they had been talking about the voice and now wondered if they found any new information, where he could not. And why did Auralia look so ashamed?

He found himself hoping that she was human now. Just an ordinary human that had nothing to do with any of the oddities going on.

"Did you find out something new?" Jack looked at Glenn, awkward, lingering pauses accentuating his words.

"No, not yet," Tom interrupts before Glenn could answer Jack's question. "But I believe that perhaps you all should. And you've all heard this voice, yes?"

It's Auralia who interrupts this time with a hoarse, "Oh, Da...," and panicked expression on her ghostly white face. She starts upward, a pleading in her eyes, as she mentally questions her father's sanity.

"Calm, my child," her father replies as he moves to her and places a hand on her shoulder. "In all your life, I have never allowed harm to befall you, and I don't intend to start today. One thing have we both long desired - to have a home, a place to call our own. Can you not see that it will never happen unless we choose to trust people? These are your friends, are they not? Can we not trust them?"

Auralia's eyes blink back burning tears as she glances at the other three gathered in the kitchen, intentionally avoiding the gaze of each. She heaves a heavy sigh and moves her hands in a resigned shrug before nodding back at her father.

He smiles and kisses her forehead as she sits down with downcast eyes. "My brave little flower..." Then he turns to the others and continues, "Auralia is not my born daughter; I took her in after finding her abandoned in the woods. It was when I picked her up and held her in my arms that I heard a voice within my mind. It said that the nameless child had been left in the wood by the Fae after having been exchanged for a changeling. I don't know why I believed it - perhaps because the thought made no sense to have been my own. I took the child and a few necessities and immediately left my village; I dared not run the risk of having her meet the changeling at some point.

"She is, as you all have doubtless seen, a lovely person and not at all the type we have heard the Fae to be. But there is... something... about her. I do not know whose is this voice you have heard, nor from whence it comes. Neither can I say whether it intends to be heard. But perhaps it is a gift.

"And now I beg of you all, not only for our sakes but for your own as well, to keep this knowledge under wraps. As I said earlier, Glenn, frightened people will blame any scapegoat they can find."

As he speaks, Auralia remains almost motionless except for a few sniffles. Her eyes search out Fyonae at one point, as she hopes that perhaps the woman in the group will at least take pity and not insist upon turning her in to the authorities.

Glenn's face scrunched a little as he tried to keep up with the story and then, subsequently, what it actually meant when connected to the dragon and the story teller.

If Auralia was switched out for a changeling, then she was the normal human, right? He heaved a thoughtful sigh and scratched his head. But maybe the fairies turned her into something or maybe she had a Fae creature lookin' out for her?

Glenn found himself nodding to Mr. Tom's instructions to keep quiet about the voice, simply out of a habit to respect his elders. But could he ... should he ... keep it a secret from Dotta? Keeping secrets wasn't something he was particularly good at, particularly from his aunt.

And of course, just cause Auralia was "a lovely person and not at all the type we have heard the Fae to be", didn't mean she weren't responsible for the dragon. Maybe she just didn't do it on purpose. Everyone knew Fae were a dangerous lot and often unlucky. And no dragons had ever showed up before she came to Aspenlee.

"You think that story teller will tell us how to stop that dragon then?" he asked, the question mostly directed at Auralia herself, though posed to the room as a whole.

Thirgud is still around, but not likely to do much while he works away at his bed post. Eventually he manages to work lose a nail and slip it into his pocket. With that he would bide his time and rest. Maybe give the tea a taste. But mainly try to ignore the hangover.

As the father calmed his daughter's protest, Jack's chest tightened and he swallowed dryly. Well, that looked suspiciously like guilt. His eyes ping-ponged between them and studied Auralia before landing on Tom to listen. She looked so young now, like a frightened child, teary-eyed and all. He probably would have looked away from her regardless, a gloom in his eyes.

Confusion soon distorted Jack's features when he looked at Auralia, as if trying to decipher what she was. Did her father say she was a Fae? She came from the Fae... She didn't look all that magical, though neither did Fyonae. He wondered what a magical, powerful being looked like. Then he wondered if she would affect his curse, only for a second, excitement mingling with caution.

No. No, Jack. You know not to mess with the Fae.

All of this ran through his mind in a moment, though he looked unexpectedly defeated. All of these strange things stemmed from the blonde beauty after all. Too good to be true, that's all it was. He stared at Auralia now, who's eyes he couldn't meet, as she looked up to Fyonae. When he followed her gaze to the wolf-woman, a slow realization made his eyes wander the room in thought.

The voice, it chose them for a reason. Something they all had in common; They were all aberrations! So thought Jack, anyway. Which made him look at Glenn, countless possibilities running through his head of what he could be. What was different about ol' Glenn. He couldn't ask him outright, he supposed. When the man in question spoke, Jack was startled out of his thoughts and blinked his dry eyes, wondering how long it had been since he did blink.

"I'm not sure we can count on a voice that nobody truly knows about," he started, glancing at everyone. "Maybe we should do what that old drunk suggested."

His tone sounded almost accusatory as he felt a momentary resentment for Auralia, his hypocrisy surfacing again. He felt lied to and though he was doing the same about his own oddities, he felt this was different. His eyes lingered on her face before he asked,

"What do you think?"

She didn't appear to be in the mood for talking strategy, but Jack felt she knew more than she was letting on. She had heard the voice just like the rest of them, he would bet some coin on it.

The second guard returned rather hurriedly to the keep and had a quick conversation with the other before hurrying away once again. The guard left inside gives Thirgud a glance before removing the hulking set of keys from the wall and walking toward the cell. His manner at least is less jarring than that of the one who brought breakfast.

"Well, mister, looks like you're in luck - you'll be free to go soon. Captain Thenley says extra troops are due within the hour, and they'll be taking you and some woodsy lass up into the mountains to warn her folk. Says she spoke real well of ya, so you'd best be on your best behavior... They're bringing a cart round just now. Ah, at least you ate something." He almost seems anxious to keep the silence at bay as he unlocks and opens the cell door. "We can wait outside for the cart."

Unfortunately for Thirgud, the sun is none too gentle this morning as it hovers just above the horizon.
_____

Auralia shakes her head at the questions being posed in her direction before responding quietly and haltingly, "I - I don't know... I w-wish I did." She lifts her head with pleading, searching, troubled eyes. "But, you must believe me, I - I don't even know what's going on... or, or when, or how, or why." A shaking hand reaches to her forehead. "I'd help if I knew how, but I just wish it would go away - that it never happened in, in the first place."

The guards actually gave him some good news as he lazed on his uncomfortable cot. He pushed himself up. "Oh joy of joys. I get to leave the watchful eyes of the guards in the barracks to enjoy the watchful eyes of the guards in the woods. How can ever repay you for the news? Shall I sing your praises to the gods that they might make the dragon swallow you quicker than others?" His commentary continued during the entire walk through the keep. Upon exiting the barracks he raised his good hand over his eyes, practically hissing as the light blinded him. "Damn bright out..."

He leaned against the wall and let out a deep sigh. "Its almost commendable how you lot follow orders even when there's a beast well beyond your abilities to slay poised to burn everything you've ever known. Taking care of the trivial things must give some comfort in those times before death." He grinned at the guards. "You think, what you're feeling is akin to what a criminal feels on his last meal? Just going through the motions of something so ordinary when they know this day is anything but." He shrugged. "Suppose we'll know in the land of the dead when discussing our days with those you executed. Think they'll be happy to see you?"

((Lol in case it wasn't already obvious ol' Thirgud clearly doesn't like being told to be a good boy and will make you face your own mortality as revenge))

((Oh my word, I love it!))

The guard stammers and tries to interrupt the half-mad drunkard's speech, which was exactly what he'd been trying to avoid in the first place. He tries, unsuccessfully, to break in multiple times with, "I me...," "Oh, no, not...," "I don't...," "That's not...," and so on. He breathes a heavy sigh of relief as they enter the courtyard and find the cart almost prepared. The captain nods at the guard as he finishes giving orders to some of Cullan's troops.

"I believe we'll be ready to head into the village in a few minutes," the guard informs Thirgud after the man stops for a breath.

Captain Thenley approaches and addresses the drunk, "Well, I see you have your feet about you this morning - hopefully your wits as well. Our neighbors in Birchwood have agreed to help us rout this evil from our land. Apparently you spoke to one of the ladies from the mountain yesternight about a weapon to bring down a dragon? I cannot say I have any great faith in such a weapon. However! Seeing as the Birchwood men will accompany her to warn her folk, I have decided to allow your presence as well." Then he leans in closely over Thirgud's shoulder and whispers, "But should you give those soldiers any reason to doubt your motives, they have my order to contain the threat by any means or force necessary." He straightens back up and adds with a grin, "Have a nice day!" before turning on his heel and walking off to oversee the departure toward the village.

Thirgud is loaded into a cart, and he and enough troops to relieve those stationed in the village and at the road overnight begin the descent toward Aspenlee.