The Crowfeather Bandits I - RPLOG
From Rusted Promises
Participants
Date
25/2/479
Log
The canyon is the right one. It got to be, as it is the only one. The stones of the road is hidden under a cover of fresh snow and the wind is like a whip to the face and the curves of the road make it impossible to see far ahead. It does not come as a surprise that bandits would lay ambushes on an important trade route with conditions like these.
Fenris is riding atop his shaggy, purple buffalo, which is a rather interesting sight. A huge, tiger striped bunny on an even bigger buffalo. What a pair. The rabbit has his oversized ears tied back carefully to rest against his back, though they do blow about a little in the wind. Thanks to his thick, fluffy fur and long coat, he seems unbothered by the chill. He is also rather more heavily armed than usual, a number of large weapons situated in holsters on his mount's harness. He hums as he rides.
Lucas stands at he opening of the canyon, a hand resting on the belt holding his weapons, fingers tapping at the handle of the pistol in it's holster. He pulled a hand away, adjusting the leather sleeve resting on it's harm, the leather squeaking softly as it settled. "Should have broken this armor in more..." He muttered, tail trying to sway from side to side to stretch out the leather. His head pitched from side to side, cracking as he began checking his weapons, ears catching sound of the appraoching buffalo.
"So, this is the place the merchants spoke of?" a young voice can be heard saying as its owner appears into view, a youthful squirrel dressed up like the heroes of romantic fiction, large tail gently swaying with the winds. "Very well, let us find those dastardly villain old friend and show them the error of their ways." the squirrel says to his companion in a distinctive trill to his sing-song voice, an accent a well-travelled being would associate with Andrussian.
The elephant sighs at his companion, looking up at the taller being briefly. "I'd say this is the place." He looks over at Lucas and Fenris, glancing at them up and down judgingly. "Winds preserve us.. this looks like a motley crew if I've ever seen one." The elephant is wearing heavy robes, and with each step forward he taps down the staff he's holding. Strung from his neck are various rolls of prayer beads, many of which are inscribed with what are clearly mathemagical symbols. "I hope you're right that this may be a good way to explore this land. Even if it means getting up close with the rabble."
As the beings gather it becomes clear that the weather is only going to get worse. Snow is starting to fall and the wind has picked up even more, flinging the tiny flakes of frozen water through the canyon and against the group of four.
Fenris raises a hand in greeting to the others, his oversized ear giving a little twitch at the conversation between the Elephant and Squirrel, but if he actually heard anything, his easy smile does not show it. "Let's get moving, shall we?" he says lightly, tapping his mount into a slow walk, snow crunching beneath the beast's big hooves and steam puffing from its wide nostrils. His brow furrows in concentration for a moment, though it is hard to see what, if anything he might be doing.
Lucas seeing the elephant and squirrel, he double checks his dagger before stowing it and unsheathing his rapier. He nods to the the rabbit and then to the pair. He faintly hears the conversation between the elephant and squirrel, but not enough to gleen any information. "I'm ready if you guys are I suppose. Oh, Lucas Riverkin, by the by. Pleasure to meet you..." He looks to the rabbit and nods. "Though I think I recall briefly meeting you at the training grounds in firmament. Don't think I caught your name I'm afraid."
The squirrel takes off his hat and takes a short bow in front of his two other travel companions, "A pleasure, good sir. You can call me Aloysius, and please do excuse the grumpiness of my companion. I fear that his keen interest in divine maths left little time for him to refine his tongue." With that said, the squirrel puts his hat back on and walks towards Fenris, "An odd creature you have, stranger. How, dare I ask, did you manage to procure such an oddly coloured mount?"
Jugu stays close to his companion for now. The elephant pulls himself forward slowly, moving unhurriedly with the inertia of stone itself. "Let's." He peers over at Lucas as he introduces himself, raising an eyebrow. He looks forward again, not introducing himself. Instead he slams his staff down and closes his eyes, murmuring to himself as he calls upon the moisture that surrounds them and manipulates it with mathemagic, seeking to counter the inclement weather with some of his own power.
While the elephant's magic can do little to keep the wind from whipping at the group, at least the snow is no longer soaking them. As the party presses forward, they pass a couple of curves in the road, but they alway more or less cancel each other out. It is not long into a somewhat straight section of the canyon as suddenly a yell is nearly drowned out by the wind and several boulders fall from the cliffs behind them.
"Tezky's brother, right?" Fenris asks Lucas, as they walk, "I remember. You can call me Fenris. Since that's my name." He turns a smile on Aloysius and his little elephant friend. "Always a pleasure to meet new faces," he says, "And it's sort of a funny story how we met." He pats his lumbering mount on the shaggy shoulder fondly. "See she was-" he is cut off by the cry and the rumble of falling stone. The rabbit stops his story immediately and wheels his buffalo around to scan the clifftops and throws up a hand, willing falling snow and stone away from the group and hoping that a volley of arrows aren't already on their way.
Lucas nods his head at Fenris. "Yep, we're twins, not that you'd notice from looking at him and me." He nods to the elephant too. "Pleasure to meet you-" He looks around at the yell, eyes casting to the boulders falling. He sees Fenris trying to stop the boulders and widens his stance, trying to add to the rabbit's math with his own, throwing his hands out to push them to the side with a gust, hoping to at least throw the boulders out of the way of the four of them.
The squirrel continues walking with the group as he listens to Fenris's quickly interrupted story. The willowy being quirks his brows and turns around to look up, "I see that the bandits around this parts are ever so fond of impractical tricks. I do wonder how long does it take them to clear up the path between each ambush." Aloysius says with a shrug.
Jugu grows alert as the rumbling sound of tumbling earth rains down around and behind them. The elephant's floppy ears twitch as he regards his surroundings and quickly assesses the situation they're in. Frowning he moves close to his squirrel companion and touches his shoulder, calmly visualizing another set of mathemagical phrases in his mind to try and raise a protective coat around him from the very earth itself.
