Watchers of the Wake [Sonia/Gagel]

[Tiz]

"We've heard lots of things. Nothing concrete yet."

Tiz listened lazily as the papers shifted around on the desk. Leaning back in his chair, arms crossed, his bright green and curious eyes scanned the room looking for something. He wasn't sure what. Though he looked disinterested, his voice was engaged and it was clear he was, in fact, paying attention. The Lycian Knight before him was sorting through his things.

"Okay. Well, I doubt the Marquess would have requested a group if just anybody could do this." The swordsman scratched the back of his head, trying to figure out just what to do with this issue. The Marquess had written to the town asking anyone to, as a favor, deal with the issue that one of Worde's neighboring villages had been dealing with-- apparently, the water sources were drying up, and no one was sure why. Hunters had come through with reports of hearing a beast in the woods, though with no confirmed sightings, everything was hearsay. The Marquess didn't want to pay the high price of sending a military detachment to what could end up being a bunch of rumors anyway, and so, once again, Tiz found himself at the mercy of his sympathy and kind heart towards the League he'd once served. He almost cracked a smile as he counted all the favors he'd done for the League since leaving service a few years ago. He sometimes thought he might as well join back up.

"Correct. While we're without any real confirmation, we can't rule out the possibility that there is something out there, something potentially dangerous, that our people wouldn't want to engage themselves. We need... Force. Someone who knows what they're doing in case things go south. After all, why send some poor farmers to hunt for the problem when we have you, and others, at our disposal?"

He couldn't help but a chuckle, and a childlike, goofy smile emerged from Tiz's red lips. His green eyes finally made contact with the man sitting at the desk in front of him. "Okay," he said, still smiling, "I'll bite. What have you got?"

"I've heard Liches. I've heard Ogres, I've heard a Cyclops, I've heard a wyvern, even. We've really heard it all. Any experience there?" The man sounded genuinely concerned, and a scowl was written upon the Knight's old, wrinkled face.

"'Fraid not," Tiz admitted sheepishly, scratching his head again. The sword at his belt begged to differ, but there was some truth; Tiz had nary an encounter with monsters since the Battle of Ostia. He neglected mentioning that; it was likely this man already knew his service record, and what was more, it probably didn't matter. Anyone who could fight was a better candidate for this job than any civilians.

The man in the chair sighed, standing, and walked to the window. He crossed his hands behind his back and admired the nice view, a beautiful countryside that gave view to a forest, shrouded in darkness, beyond. "I feared as much. We won't send you alone, of course. In fact, I believe we've found another... companion, perhaps. Someone who also fought in Ostia."

Tiz leaned forward quickly, but not too eagerly. He was intrigued, and his eyes showed it; he was never, ever good at hiding his emotions. His mouth was open with anticipation. "Ostia?" He asked, as if the name was unfamiliar to him.

"Indeed. And another, though... We know less about his origins. He offered his help, and you have it, should you need it." He fixed his gaze out the window, neglecting to turn to Tiz.

A smile still written almost permanently on his face, the young man stood and placed a hand on his hip. Happily, he responded. "Yeah, I'll take 'em both." The two men exchanged farewells, shook hands, and Tiz was wished good luck. Stepping out into the office, he felt it best to wait outside the building to see who would come, and shortly after, he would be prepared to leave.

[Gagel]

"Here we are at Worde" Gagel said to himself. After several days of traveling, he finally arrived in the place in Lycia called Worde. Most of the land was filled with forests as he walled through. The sounds and smells of nature...just how he liked it. Along the way, he did make a few stops to enjoy the scenery (if he saw anything particularly interesting). He came a long way to come over here to find some work. While Worde clearly was not much of a gold mine as Illia, he heard rumors that there was something interesting going on in a village not to far from where he was. Even if the payment wasn't high, he was still looking for something to shake off the feeling of idleness he had been baring for a while. Looking at the map he had, he still had about several hours before he reached his destination. Enough with the sight-seeing now, as there was still quite a ways to go.

____________________________

A few hours later, Gagel reached the town he was looking for.....and it wasn't much like he expected. The place looked like it was in a drought. Hopefully, he wouldn't have to stay here to long. If this drought was major, he may thirst to death here if he was here longer than he had to. Looking for somewhere to rest, he approached a nearbye Tavern. Before he went in however, he noticed an ad that was hanging at the doorway. It seemed to be one for the job he has been hearing about. After he rest at the tavern for a little while, he manages to find where he was supposed to be. When he approaches a building, he sees a young man who was already there. He seemed to be a fighter himeslf. Mabyeb he wanted in on the job too.

"Hey," Gagel said to the man. "Do happen to know anything about the ads for an adventure of a sort?"

[Sonia Zobek]

Despite having sworn to do everything she could to eradicate the monster plague through Lycia, Sonia’s least favorite territory to work in was Worde. Worde and Laus had enough monster activity to keep her solely there for years, and Worde’s proximity to Ostia had even garnered some of the border forests earthly scars from the wretched beasts. All manner of undead, sickly creatures seemed to roam the forests now, making it hard for hunters and natural fauna alike to roam the forests they once called home.

But the woman had picked up a flyer in a tavern essentially begging for anyone with the stones to investigate a few sightings in particular, and at that point there was no way for Sonia to turn a blind eye. Besides, the rumors she’d heard while making her way to the rendezvous point did pique her interest - all manner of creatures had been thrown out as the potential culprit of some former water sources drying up. Whatever it was, it was big and thirsty, it seemed, and warranted investigation.

Adjusting the fur cloak and shield on her back, Sonia sighed as she finally spotted the small guild office she’d been told to go to by one of the men who’d posted the flyer. They hadn’t told her who to look for, or even if she’d be with others. Sonia hoped not; others meant complications, potential mistakes that she wouldn’t make. She’d been doing this for a while now, and adding more heads just meant trouble.

But of course, she spotted two men by the door who looked out of the ordinary among the hunters of the town - one a great armored man with long blonde hair, and another who was a bit shorter, with a sleeveless overcoat and sword hilt that looked much too nice for a simple mercenary. Sonia sighed; it seemed she might have other hunters to deal with today. Hopefully, she thought, their swords would be made of silver. Even better, hopefully they were here for another job.

Approaching the office, Sonia considered simply passing the men and going inside to check in first, but as she heard the flaxen-haired lad ask of the ads, she stopped. Looking over at the pair, she rested her hand on her blade’s hilt. “Seems we may be answering the same notice.”

[Tiz]

Tiz slumped down against the wall after a while, wondering if he were even in the right place. With his luck, chances were he was supposed to meet somewhere else. After what felt like hours but was really just a few minutes, Tiz hung his head, wondering if his companions would show. If not, he would try to tackle the woods alone; but that was a fool's errand, and even he knew that. Wistfully, he looked around. He'd never made it out to Worde; it was a quaint little place, albeit infested with monsters in the woods surrounding most of the villages, including Worde itself. Probably a very dangerous place to live, Tiz guessed; nothing like Caelin, were his parents and little brother had lived for a few years now.

He yawned. He wondered where Myscha was; if she was somewhere in Lycia, he might find her. Though, in truth... She hadn't told him where she'd be going. She could be in the Isles, Etruria, or hell, even Ilia for all Tiz knew. He puffed a cheek full of air, trying to forget about the whole mess. In the time he spent stuck in his head, Tiz was finally approached by a large, imposing man whom he had never seen before. With quickness he was on his feet, a hand extended to shake with a bright smile on his face and a characteristic green gleam in his bright eyes. "Ads? Well, um... If you're looking for the guy who's headed into the woods to deal with this water issue, that'd uh... Be me." He chuckled awkwardly, free in his demeanor. "Name's Tiz. Pleasure to meet you, ah...?"

His eye caught another glipse; a woman who looked like she was born straight out of a harsh Ilian winter; a woman who looked like battles with bears was a regular weekend activity. Beautiful though she was, she looked much more battle hardened than he himself did. it didn't say much; to be fair, he wasn't an outdoorsy type, but this woman gave him renewed confidence in their situation. Neither person, though, was a familiar face-- he'd been told one of them fought in Ostia, but he wasn't sure which one.

"Hi." Tiz said offhandedly, smiling at her. Her eyes were bright but her face was serious. Maybe she could do most of the legwork, Tiz thought. "Seems so. I'm Tizato Ciel. What are your names?"

[Gagel]

Gagel shook the man's hand, but not with much meaning. Light hearted. This guy's too light hearted. Yes, to have every person in the world take things as seriously as he did was too much to ask for, but still. Though, he does not appreciate it when people judge his character on first hand appearence, so he should wait before he passes judgement on him. But mabye not too long.

"Well, it is nice too see you too, Tiz." Gagel said with a smirk on his face. "I'm Gagel."

Gagel turns around to see a beautiful, but hard looking woman stading behind him. "You mean you're in on the job as well?"

[Sonia Zobek]

Sonia frowned as she further looked over the two men, wondering if it was too much to ask what experience they had with monsters and the like. The one, Gagel, looked like he could be capable enough, but his armor looked almost untouched, as if it had never seen a true battle by man or monster. To add to it, the more she looked over the man’s sword, the more it appeared to be a beginner’s blade - one made of iron, heavy and not wrought for lithe combat. And the other, Tizato, seemed to have a better forged sword, but looked to be dressed for drinks in a tavern instead of facing a likely fatal threat. Looks weren’t everything, of course, but they also did tend to say a lot about a man - and for both of these men, things continued to look less promising than she’d hope for taking on whatever it was affecting the water supply.

“Surprised?” Sonia said, albeit a bit ruder than intended towards the blonde man’s question. While some mercenaries were progressive-minded, there were still many she dealt with that thought the affliction of being a woman was enough to render her skills in combat non factual. Those were usually the men she could have beaten in a fight, and easily, but she didn’t take petty duels for pride any longer. Those days had long since passed.

“Sonia.” The woman nodded with arms crossed over her armored chest. “My name, that is.”

Pausing briefly, Sonia wasted no time getting to the task at hand. “So no one’s been able to get a beat on the beast that we’re looking for, hmm?” Looking up, she squinted as she estimated how long the had before sunset. “Sun’s still high, so we should be able to at least track and scout the beast today. at least figure out what we’re dealing with.” Maybe Sonia wasn’t happy to have to work with others, but she wasn’t so immature to let her discontent take her focus from the task at hand.

[Tiz]

Tiz grinned, feeling a bit giddy. Good company was always a must, especially when the circumstances went dark-- and he recognized, through his happy demeanor, that they very well could. He was feeling light, bouncy, and ready for action. It wasn't necessarily that he was excited to see what was waiting for them, but more, he wanted to restore the sense of safety this town had had, as well as provide them with what was inarguably the most necessary and fundamental ingredient to a good life. If the three of them could provide that, that would be all Tiz needed.

Still beaming, he looked between the two of them. "Seems like all three of us are." He tossed off, scratching his shoulder. "Surprise or no, company's company." He winked at Gagel, then turned to Sonia. "Pleasure." His Sacaen accent broke through just a touch, through his clear Lycian overtone was still present. And truly, it was; Tiz was accustomed to meeting fresh faces, and the more people he could get to know, the better. Especially in this context, it would be important, he thought, for them to all be trustworthy and reliable, since in a pinch, things could go pretty south. He hoped, though, it would be an easy in-and-out mission. The more he thought about the monster, the less positive he got.

His brightness diminishing, Tiz crossed his arms, a more serious expression on his face as he nodded to Sonia's remarks. "I guess not," Tiz said reluctantly, wishing they had more information to work with. Looking up in the sky, he noticed she was right: they had plenty of time to at least get a good start, if not find out quickly exactly what it was they would be dealing with. Sighing, the swordsman shoved his hands into the big pockets of his cloak and turned to set off.

---

Before long, the tree line was before them, and the town not far behind them. It was no wonder that the water supply was the problem-- with the rivers in such close proximity, it probably spelled trouble really quickly as soon as something went poorly. With so many small branches of the river running between the forests, if the delta was in danger, the entire area would be. Tiz realized this was probably a bit more serious than he'd anticipated.

Hands still in his pockets, he turned to the other two. Coughing awkwardly, he addressed them. "So, either of you any good at tracking? Or should we just follow the river to its mouth to see what's up?"

[Gagel]

Gagel shrugs his shoulders slightly when Tiz asked him if he was familiar with tracking. Gagel knows well about tracking other people from his outdoor life, but they are dealing with an unknown beast at the moment. Mabye it would be different, mabye it wouldn't. He wasn't sure. "Tracking humans, yes, but not monsters really. It is probally not that much different, but if you think the mouth of the river is the best place to check, we should head there first." Gagel was a bit eager to face whatever monster was causing this, though his allies probally couldn't tell. He spent hi mercenary life fighting bandits and robbers, but he never fought any monsters before. The challenge seemed very promising too him, but since he is working with other people, he can't get too careless.

[Sonia Zobek]

It didn’t take terribly long for the trio to reach the edge of the tree line, but the elongated silence between the group made it feel much longer. Thankfully for Sonia, she focused on her pre-hunt ritual, mentally reciting a small chaplet of prayers she’d had memorized since her youth. The words were timed in her head with her steps as her hand moved over a small set of beads in the pocket of her cloak, and her eyes were focused on the treeline as she thought through what they’d have to observe to find whatever beast was causing the problems for the region.

The hunter wondered what animal could possibly benefit from damming so many rivers. Sonia assumed they were dammed somewhere, at least, since there wasn’t any drought affecting the area as of late. Beavers would dam rivers for protection from predators and store food for winter. Obviously this was not the work of a mass group of beavers, but was there some sort of creature at the root of all this? Sonia hadn’t ever run across revenants or bonewalkers that could do something like this; clearly whatever this was more intelligent than them.

As Tiz asked about their tracking experience, Sonia waited for Gagel to finish before responding herself. “Following the river is a decent start,” she said, looking towards the river. “We don’t know much past the rumors, and what guesses we have tell us this thing is big. Keep an eye out for any large tracks, broken tree bark, piles of feces, things like that.” With as little as they knew, it was crucial the group found out whatever they could before they crossed paths with whatever this thing was. Sonia sighed, continuing to run her hand over her prayer beads.

[Tiz]

Tiz shrugged, hands still in his pockets, a small smile still written on his face. If that's what they thought, that's what the group would do. It seemed reasonable enough; in his own experience, Tiz would've just followed where the now-dry river would have been running... He assumed it would take them where they needed to be, dangerous though it may be. He hoped, and silently prayed, that whatever it was out here wouldn't see or smell them coming from a mile away. "Sounds good to me." He offered lightly, taking the forward position along the trail, though he was likely the least accustomed to following tracks or tails in nature. It was, though, in his nature to move forward without hesitation. Usually it got him into trouble. He hoped this time it might not.

"Soooo," Tiz said, breaking the silence. "I know your names, but... Not much else." he turned his eyes quickly between the two companions, wondering if they were as curious as he was. It was in his nature to also be nosy, and while he had no way of knowing what they thought, Tiz knew that he thought stories were important. "What are your stories? Everybody's got one. And I--"

Suddenly he heard a loud, blood-curling growl from deep in the forest that shook the trees, loosing some of the leaves around them. They fell slowly, but together, as if a giant earthquake were about the shake the entire area. Tiz's eyes widened quickly, and with attentive ears he picked the spot he assumed the noise had originated from. With almost no time to say anything or react in any other way, Tiz parted his legs and bent his knees, kept a hand on his sword, and with as much energy as he could manage, augmented his celerity and dashed off through the forest, leaping off the ground and forward through the treeline, kicking dirt up behind him as he flew.

After covering a large part of the forest floor in a matter of seconds, he immediately stopped, and another loud roar shook him off balance and Tiz crashed down on the ground before he had time to bore his feet into the earth to prevent his fall. What he saw before him made him gasp as he lay covered in dirt on the ground.

[Gagel]

Well then, it looked like they would be going to the mouth of the river. Gagel couldn't wait to get his hands on whatever is causing this problem. But if it is anything like a monster, well he just hoped he would be ready for it, but he certainly won't run away. He wouldn't do it in someone's wildest dreams. Tiz seemed to be interested in his past. The first though he had was about the time he saved his home town in the western isles. But that also brought up the issue of his missing brothers and sisters. He certainly was not interested in talking about that. But then, a loud startling sound was heard. It didn't sound like any animal he seen before. Tiz immediatley raced to the source of the noise. Without much thinking, Gagel dashed after him, thinking that they found their culprit........and it looked like they did.....

[Sonia Zobek]

Sonia rolled her eyes as Tizato began to try and start up small-talk between the small group. Sure, the woman wasn’t averse to a chat every now and then, but now, out of all times, it seemed a bit, well, ill-advised. Considering there was some sort of monster out in the woods that they were targeting, they instantly became targets themselves. Sonia wasn’t looking to lose her life today, so a conversation was out of the question. Not to mention, she wasn’t the type to make friends that could easily be ripped in half at a moment’s notice, but she figured the two men wouldn’t be too keen on her letting them know that particular piece of information.

While the armored woman had begun to tune Tizato’s questions out, she instantly snapped back into reality as she heard the deep growl shake the very forest they stood in. They hadn’t even reached the mouth of the river yet; how could they have already happened upon the monster already? Sonia instinctively drew her silver sword, holding it with both hands as she narrowed her eyes and lowered her stance. Of course, it was apparent Tizato had other plans as he dashed off after the sound.

Rolling her eyes with a huff, Sonia began to sprint after him. “Keep up!” Sonia yelled after Gagel, moving faster than the heavily armored man thanks to her natural celerity. Soon she caught sight of Tizato again, though she was gaining on him much quicker than before, telling her he had stopped. Sonia skidded to a halt as the roar cut through the forest air, taking a low stance again as she moved towards where Tizato lay on the ground, eyes wide and mouth agape at something in front of him. As Sonia approached, she couldn’t help but be surprised at what stood barely a stone’s throw from them.

A maelduin: lower body of a horse, upper body of a man, though their skin was darker and more ashen than a true man. Thankfully for them, it stood with its rear facing them, its attention clearly torn elsewhere, likely on some sort of hunt given it held a large longbow with an arrow nocked. Sonia held her breath; of all the creatures, what in the world was a Maelduin doing so close to the edge of the forest?

Not willing to sacrifice one of their party members to the maelduin’s hunt, Sonia grabbed Tizato’s collar and quickly dragged him behind a thick brush, hoping Gagel would take the cue and hide as well. Sonia held her finger to her pursed lips while looking at Tizato before looking up, watching the Maelduin as it stalked about, waiting for his prey to appear. Hopefully for them, it wouldn’t be three humans on his roasting spit tonight.

[Sonia Zobek]

St. Elimine, watch over me and keep me safe.

Sonia had been quietly stalking the maelduin for over an hour now, quietly shadowing tis movements and trying to understand where it was going, and why. Her companions had fled at the sight of it – unsurprising, considering the threat it posed to their lives. Sonia didn’t mind in the slightest, though – in fact, it was her preference to continue on alone for this one.

Silent prayers for safety and progress had been running through Sonia’s head, her way of remaining calm, cool, and collected in the face of the threat in front of her. Her fingers occasionally lifted from her hilt one at a time as she recited the prayers in her head, keeping track of her place in the chaplet she was running through mentally. Of course, while it was instinct to be scared, terrified even, of the threat in front of her, she couldn’t run as her companions did. While the maelduin was strong and fast, if she could locate where it made its den, the monster hunter could lay a trap and take it out while it was off guard. It was risky, but worth it to protect the nearby villages that this beast would terrorize if it got too close. Sonia was willing to take any odds to protect the innocent.

Sword still drawn and clasped between steady hands, the Etrurian watched carefully as the maelduin – still with bow drawn – moved down the dried-up river. It was checking for prints and such, just as any hunter in search of prey would, sniffing in the air with its flattened, wrinkled nose. For being such a large beast, he’d barely made a sound since Sonia had begun following him, clearly just as experienced a hunter as any.

[Tiz]

Tiz couldn't hold his breath for much longer.

Hoisted high up in the tree, slung along some branches near the top, the swordsman rested himself in perfect silence only about two meters above the maelduin that was hunting them. It was funny to him, if only slightly, that something they'd decided to hunt together was now hunting them. And while Tiz wanted to be sure of his battle capabilities, the truth was if this thing so much as smelled him, he'd probably be dead meat. He'd been lucky the forty-five minutes he'd been in this tree that it hadn't found him yet... And he'd been launching himself between trees to hide for the past hour.

When he'd ditched Sonia and Gagel, it was clear that this would be a cat and mouse game, and the mice would be separated. And while in some scenarios that might be beneficial, Tiz was quickly realizing that perhaps, in this case, it was not. In fact, it may have been true that the only way the trio could take this thing down would be together; however, that would be difficult if Gagel had also left. And for that matter, Tiz wasn't even sure where the woman had gone off to after she'd recklessly pulled him back. He wanted to sigh, but as he heard the hooves of the maelduin below him, he declined himself the simple pleasure. It grunted again, and Tiz almost let out a squeal. His cheeks were red, and when he did finally let himself breathe, it was slowly and quietly, and it almost made him faint. This was not good. Not good, not good, not good.

And then he saw it. Through the thicket of leaves and branches, he was high enough to see an alcove near the side of the large waterfall at the center of the river flowing into the village that had been dammed. The maelduin's lair? Surely it would be a bad idea to try and get there. And yet...

Tiz looked down again. The maelduin was still close, but had taken some distance from Tiz's tree, likely in search of the other two companions. This would be his chance to move, but if he did, he would have to do so as quietly as he knew how, and even one mistake might mean the absolute end of both this adventure and his life. One arrow in the back, and he'd be done. Especially because he didn't have armor... And his father had always told him it was important to wear something more than a cloth longcoat and leather boots. Cursing his fate, Tiz decided to move.

As he leaned his leg over to an adjacent branch, he make the first noise of many to follow. His face immediately went red and he ceased all movement as the branch creaked slightly under his weight and he heard the maelduin became more alert and immediately move back to his tree. Of course this would happen to him... He had been taught as a solider that splitting up was never a good idea, and here he was, splitting up from his company. He beat himself up, wondering if his four years in the military had actually taught him anything about team combat. Clearly it hadn't. At least not now.

In time, the beast settled, but didn't move. Tiz was able to move himself with uncanny gracefulness onto the adjacent branch that would take him to the tree to his left, closer to the beast's nest. If he could get back there, he wasn't sure what he would find or what he could do, but it would at least be interesting, and it would give him a place to think and compose himself while the beast continued his hunt. He didn't have anything to trap it with, but if he could get out of the open, where he currently was, that would be good. And that nest was the only place not out in the open.

After about another hour, Tiz had maneuvered himself to a tree about twenty yards from the entrance of the maelduin nest, which he could see now clearly was exactly that. The roar of the waterfall that was now much closer could now mask the sounds he was making in the tree. As long as he could keep his movements slow, and the branches in tact, he might actually make this work out.