Griznuq Gaming

Cameran recognized Sargent Farkus immediately. The borderline slovenly Sargent of Kurr's guard was a man that Cameran had encountered once or twice and though they had never spoken, Cameran knew the Sargent's reputation well.

Capable, but untrustworthy...stupid, by and large, and mean: a bad combination indeed.

Cameran hadn't previously been aware that Farkus was in Fitzsimmon's pocket, but by the way that the self-important Sargent was bullying the Courier Master the relationship was clear.

Farkus left the encounter smirking in what appeared to Cameran to be gross self-satisfaction and the youth from earlier had an arrogant gleam in his eye even as he tried to seem like he wasn't paying attention.

The Courier Master was shaken somewhere between furious and deathly frightened.

And while Cameran had a little more information, he still had no plan whatever.

/whew! Got right under that 2-year mark!

*Bump*

“Mahiya, though, is not the only one sending messages. The mere fact that agents of Zyxu were defiling the Ring of Mists means also that The Void is speaking to it’s children.” Ashe felt the need to explain to his kindred that Zyxu Archeon was The Void’s champion just as Zebulon was Mahiya’s.

He thought better of it and left any explanations that were sought would quickly be answered. So he continued, “Maccabeus along with the help of a Wolfjaw daughter found an ash ring.” Again, Ashe let the weight of his words drop over the crowd like a hushed and eager blanket. Invoking the name of Wolfjaw was as though he was speaking of druid royalty. Orion Wolfjaw had attained a near deific status by communing so intimately with the natural world and more specifically, wolves, that he was blessed by Mahiya with the gift of “Kula’Myrthyn”. In the common tongue that meant “at one with”. “It was an ash ring that was wreathed with the impaled husks of what are believed to be Xanthakian Shadow Riders. As I said, change has arrived”.

Cailyder gently took Maragarn’s hand at the mention of the ash ring. While Maragarn had never so much as whispered that his Vallenbrush was taken by the defilement of the Archeans and their life eating magic, all of his mannerisms screamed of the tragedy. The typically jovial satyr was indeed shaken and Cailyder suspected that little would console him. She had to try.

“That is not the extent of the infection. It continues to grow. There is a fey friend of Threshold that wardens the Goldleaf Trees, a dryad named Whisper with whom I am very close.” Ashe’s tone became noticeably sullen and filled with worry. “She has become sick…as her trees have become sick. Whisper is a dryad and I need not tell you that her and her trees are one. She is the soul and essence of the trees and the trees are likewise to her. Her sickness was foisted upon her by twigjack nettles with a heart of defiling poison. They had attacked the Goldleaf Trees and fouled them with an ichor of The Void.” A sadness crept into Ashe as he realized how dearly he felt for ailing fairie. She had become more than his friend, she was his consort. She was his bastion of peace in his world of tragedy past- a past he tried to leave behind but never could. She had a way of making him forget the burden he often struggled with so he could just be a man with nature. He prayed Maccabeus would succeed.

“I sought Zebulon’s wisdom in this foul matter. The only way to save the grove and Whisper is to seek a seed that will spawn from a Vallenwood on the Day of Rejuvenation and plant it in the hallowed grove. Zebulon fears that the agents of Zyxu will also seek the seed to twist it to their nefarious ends…the devastation of which I dare not think on. Maccabeus, along with his stalwart friends, are in search of the seed and even now they rush to the Valley of Mist. Their task is not an easy one and the dangers are many even in the sacred Valley of Mist. I believe deep down in my roots that others we would call allies are in motion as we are in motion. We must be open to listening to Mahiya’s voice for the song rings from many…and from places we may not expect.” Ashe knew he was speaking though it seemed to him that he was not saying the words. His cadence came as a melody to all that heard him.

“Mahiya’s blood flows through us all and as such we are, all of us, connected. We are not connected simply to each other but to the very fabric of Mahiya. To the trees and the water they drink, to the mountains and the snow that caps them, to the flame and the air that it breathes are we connected. When you gaze into an animals eyes you are staring at yourself and all others. When The Void takes any of that, it does not return it to the Great Cycle but rather it feeds an endless, eternally hungry chasm. Many years ago Zebulon came forth and lead our kind to the defeat of Zyxu Archeon Champion of The Void. We are here now to answer that call once again!”

Duthash Gyth Aryor VY. 237 (May 30)

After a night of pacing his rooms, Camaran set out for Vallensun Keep, hopeful that he might be able to spot Sayre and his companions when they might emerge from that keep on their investigation.

He still hadn't figured out how to help without actually interacting with the counselor, but he was optimistic that an opportunity would present.

Sayre emerged from the keep soon enough, with an odd and rough-looking outlander in tow, and Camaran followed the pair to the Courier's Post.

Although it was yet early in the day, there were always a number of youths near the Courier's Post...youths with no home, for the most part, looking for a running task from the Courier Master that might earn them a breakfast. By way of camouflage Camaran set himself to telling the children a story which, combined with a little slight-of-hand to make a stone disappear from a hand and reappear behind an ear, allowed the actor to hide in plain sight while watching the interactions between Sayre and the Courier Master.

This brief observation made another thing clear to Camaran: Sayre's companion was a wary fellow, indeed. By the looks of his dress, the outlander was a trailmaster, and by the looks of his bulbous eyes this trailmaster was very uncomfortable.

The two investigators weren't at the Courier's Post long, but they were there long enough for Camaran to see that they were being watched by one of the older youths in the square.

When Sayre and the outlander left the square, apparently headed back to the Keep, this youth slithered off, eyeing the pair with a look of disgust and pride in his young eyes. What he did not notice was that Sayre's odd outlander companion had made note of the youth, much as Camaran had.

Camaran hurried his story along to the children, trying to keep an eye on both Sayre and the suspicious youth. The youth disappeared around a corner in short order, and Camaran headed to the Keep, hoping to arrive there to see Sayre and his companion arrive there such that Camaran might not appear to be following them.

Although he still didn't have a plan, and that bothered him.

The only thing that bothered him more than not having a plan was that a half of a hand later, as he neared Vallensun Keep, Camaran spotted Sayre and his companion in a carriage that rattled past and rolled down the broad avenue towards the city gates.

This sort of frustration would only be assuaged by a breakfast with Sabine...Camaran plodded on towards the keep.