lunadarkwoodx

[lunadarkwoodx]

There could be no doubt that the Warg was dead, it wasn't a gamble that either of the refugees were willing to take and so they delivered it to the gates of hell with a bloody strike after another, the land sick with blight was stained with a dark ichor that smelt of sulfur and resembled the thickness of blood.

The Warg howled in anguish as it bled from its open wounds and stumbled about, dizzy and sick with pain that it wanted its pound of flesh. The spikes embedded in the skull of the beast and it came to a finish with a sickening wet sound of breaking bones, the spiked weapon caught the light of the fading sun from an burst eye socket and for a moment cast a refracted light prism of red and gold.

She reached for her axe, the first blow upon the beast and it's gained another notch, another scratch for a beast defeated and had to be cleansed with fire and water. "Never underestimated someone who grew up in the woods, I fight like someone who wants to live. Blind a beast of its senses and you've dug the creature a grave." She does not ask where he learned to fight, her head is spinning with the gore they had caused and she couldn't bare to learn anything new.

Meteor hammer returned, Alrik held the chain near the ball as he turned it idly while the loose end piled beneath him, the grip still in his hand. With a turn of his wrist, the grip sent a pulse that turned the blunted orb into a spiked ball - the poison might be overkill, but the witch had no intention of dying out here in the woods or allowing Luna to succumb either.

Luna lunged and tore into the creature, something that Alrik wasn't expecting as she gouged out the wolf's eyes and tore apart its snout, he waited for a beat, watched the blood spill, and heard the beast howl through the blighted tendrils of infection. In his mind he saw a flame, the world passed it by and burned away one at a time. The turning of his hammer slowed, the cries of the wailing monster were further away now.

An opening emerged, and the spiked meteor hammed came crashing down upon the beast's skull. The warg's head was pushed immediately into the ground with a sickening crunch, the spikes protruding from one of the shredded sockets of its eyes, gray matter spewing amid the blighted tendrils. Alrik turned his wrist again and the spikes retracted before he tugged on the chain and pulled the hammer back toward him - gathering and coiling the length of it again.

"Dead is dead." Alrik said with some finality, "Where does a woodcutter learn to fight like that?" He asked, for a moment he'd have thought she was more beast than a person.

#person: alrik #( troupe 1 ) #( troupe 1: nornwatch keep )

[lunadarkwoodx]

Exhaustion hung on her frame, they had travelled over many miles through mountainsides, deserted lands sick with blight and far have they travelled still in cages over rocky terrain with monsters that poked at the women who was prisoners, lucky they were to not be used for food instead as the men who had been chosen for the slaughter were taken screaming and raw food was made from their flesh, they didn't wait to kill before the Darkspawn bit large chunks of skin.

A weary laugh slips from her lungs and a smile bloomed at her face even if it didn't meet her eyes, sorrow had kept them company for so long to remember what joy felt like. Freydis lifts her arm as a invitation and Luna nodded with thankfulness before she settled with her head on Freydis's lap to hopefully get some rest, she felt protected and warm with the other near.

Luna didn't wish for Freydis to be in the cage with her but she was grateful she didn't have to endure the horror alone, a calloused hand reached to eclipse her frame, resting on her shoulder with an absent minded stroke of thumbpad against her shoulder as Freydis sang, sleep came quick for Luna, knowing that for a brief moment, she was safe.

(END)

The idea of Luna sleeping made Freydis nervous, though she knew that she needed rest. Would the darkspawn see her as a weak link? Pluck her from the cage next? Or would they even notice? It felt wrong to deny her of even this small comfort, and Freydis’ resolved that if the darkspawn saw it that way so be it, so long as they pried Luna from Freydis’ cold, dead hands. 

Freydis chuckled slightly when Luna asked her to sing, the sound of it hoarse as it escaped her throat. “Don’t you think we’ve all suffered enough?” she questioned. But still, she lifted her arm and offered Luna the choice of her should to lap on which to rest her head. However Luna chose to position herself, Freydis lowered her arm across the woman’s shoulders. To some, it might appear as an act of comfort, but it was a marker of defense; an indicator that should the darkspawn wish to try to slip her way into the eternal night of the tunnels, she was already accounted for. 

The sensation of thirst clawed at Freydis’ vocal cords, though she doubted she had the skills to sing any more pleasantly in any other circumstances. Every so often she glanced down at Luna to see if she managed to drift off to sleep, and rarer yet her rough, calloused thumb would sweep over the cap of Luna’s shoulder trying to offer what little comfort could exist in their small, underground world as she sang: 

As a child, it was the place names Singin' at me as the first thing How the mouth must be employed in every corner of itself To say "Appalacicola" or "Hushpukena, " like "Gweebarra" A promise softly sung of somewhere else

And as a young man, blessed to pass so many road signs And have my foreign ear made fresh again on each unlikely sound But feel at home, hearin' a music that few still understand A butchered tongue still singin' here above the ground

#person: freydis #( troupe 1 ) #( troupe 1: nornwatch keep )

[lunadarkwoodx]

AMANDA SEYFRIED InStyle Mexico | May 2023 photographed by Josefina Santos

#( the wolf within the wild )

[lunadarkwoodx]

Heartbreak has an ability to move life forward in a way completely unexpected, Luna never thought she'd be learning how to fight, defend and harm others who might wish harm to her and yet it was a necessity if she was to survive the days that would come. The shadows were long, the land was sick with blight and she was grateful for those who helped her along the way so that she might become less of a victim and more of a fighter. She had not come into the troupe that had travelled to Nornwatch tower prepared for what lay before but she had learned quickly that she would have to grow stronger and ruthless if she was to endure, her compassion had helped her grow in allies but her survival was not ensured and she feared that others saw her as a weak link. She was grateful for Rykard and the wolf spirit that existed within him, even if she had yet to turn into a werewolf, there was a kinship there for another of her kind.

She reached to hold the battle axe, years spent wielding a heavy woodcutters axe to chop through wood had prepared her for the weight even at first it seemed to pull at the muscles within her arms, she took a breath and told herself she could handle it. She wrapped both hands around it and swung it like she was coming down on a piece of wood to chop. "Have you ever sliced through bone with this axe?"

For: @lunadarkwoodx Where: Nornwatch Tower - Courtyard  When: Flashback to the first few days after the troupe arrived at Nornwatch.  Notes: Training help connect

For many of the refugees that had escaped to Nornwatch Keep, war and the destruction that came as a result of it were just stories. Stories of atrocities happening on distant lands, far from the lives they carved out for themselves. Nothing like that would ever happen in Iskaldrik…until the Magi attacked. Amongst the group were merchants, tailors, farmers, cobblers, and carpenters. But a smithing hammer held similar properties to a war hammer, and a battle ax was just a more aggressive rendition of a woodcutter’s ax. For the first time in many of the survivor’s lives, they found themselves reaching for weapons that they had never fathomed even wielding before. The effort was inspirational to some, yet futile to others. Rykard saved his own broad judgements and instead focused his attention on those that seemed to stand a fighting chance. 

“Here,” a large hand wrapped around the handle of a massive battle axe, gripping it near the top near the blade as he offered it to Luna. The weapon was heavy, but the giant of a man made it seem light as a feather in his hand.  He passed it off to Luna with the confidence that she could lift it high enough to use it.  In an ideal circumstance, he would have something with less weight for her to practice with. But Rykard himself was forced to learn on weapons much too heavy for him when he was just a boy, and those early experiences honed him into the fierce warrior he was today.  “Hold it with both hands and give it a swing,” the Barbarian encouraged.

#person: rykard #( troupe 1 ) #its perfect bb thank u #( troupe 1: nornwatch tower )

[lunadarkwoodx]

Her father had always taught her to avoid certain topics while inviting others around the campfire, to not discuss politics, religion or money and yet Luna had a curiosity to find out what made others tick, what was the fabric of their identity and she figures with the way that Mikhael speaks openly of his faith that he would not hesitate to diverge deeper into the topic given the opportunity, plus she figures her days are numbered so if she offends by a natural curiosity so be it.

"I have never served a God, who is your one true god?"

A sideways smile paints her face "I'm never alone in the woods, people aren't the only company to keep. There are woodland creatures who prevent me from being alone, plus the trees and the sun above are constant company. The moon gives peace and comfort like no other."

“It is,” he agrees, a soft smile flickering on his face as he thinks of his mother’s efforts and his own. Mikhael is proud of what he has accomplished, proud of how he has grown through the years. Most importantly, he is proud of all those he has helped, and how he has been able to spread the word of the One God as he has done so. “It is thanks to the One God that I have made it this far, and I want to thank His Grace by protecting his creations across Taravell.”

It is in moments like this, when Mikhael is speaking of his faith, his face lights up, his devotion showing through his words. 

“Regardless, being a warrior is not the only profession worth respect,” he continues, his smile turning kind as he speaks. “I have heard of the dedication of the woodcutters in Iskaldrik and I find it admirable. I must admit that from what I have seen, I don’t think I would be able to live in the woods without a lot of company.”

#person: mikhael #( troupe 1 ) #( troupe 1: nornwatch tower )

[lunadarkwoodx]

Alrik threw his hammer with great aim and it was as if a chisel and hammer was used to separate bone within the shoulder of the diseased beast, a sick snap revibrated through the air and a distressed yowl of pain indicated that their blow had done damage. Salivating with black tendrils of ichor from the Warg's mouth communicated quickly that the Darkspawn was not the type to give up when it was outmanned but with rather take whatever aimed to kill it down with him to the pits of hell.

Her hatchet is still embedded in the Warg's shoulder as it stalked without aim, made mad and dizzy by the pain and she only has one weapon left, a small knife that Alessia had gifted her and even as the Darkspawn wheezed through broken lungs, Luna surged forward and thrust her knife into the left eye of the Warg before pulling it back covered in blood and foul blight and sought to purge it into it's right eye socket.

To dull the senses meant that it would have a harder time trying to find them before death came for it and with her final blow, she severed it's nose from its snout.

With some accuracy, Luna lobbed her hatchet and landed it in the creature's shoulder, writhing blight seemed to snap in response - incensing the beast into a greater rage. It lunged, and Alrik took his opportunity as he aimed his hammer at the spot where Luna's hatchet had landed.

The chain snapped taut as it struck the hatchet's poll, the weight of the meteor hammer enough to shatter the bones of the creature's shoulder as a sickening crunch filled the air. Alrik's hammer ricocheted back and was struck by the steel bottom of Alrik's waiting boot. The soft underbelly exposed by his previous attack, the warg was struck next in the breast with accumulative force. Enough to break the bone there next.

"Careful." Alrik said as he watched the infected creature sputter and blood spill from its gums. The bones he'd broken would have punctured the wolf's lungs, possibly its heart as well. The warg was drowning now, but it was still dangerous. "Cut off a wolf's head and it can still bite."

#person: alrik #( troupe 1 ) #( troupe 1: nornwatch tower )

[lunadarkwoodx]

It isn't the first time that she hears mention of the light, it's spoken of around pints of piss-poor ale and around flickering fires that are built to keep the refuges warm but as the wood sick with blight burns and soot reaches skywards, she fears for the air that they breath and tries to not think of anything that is taking root within them for being in a land so sick with blight.

"It is good to hear perspective from someone who doesn't speak from a point of resentment." She nods and begins to understand that the troupe is made of all different kinds and she is grateful for the ones among them who come from the wilds with wolves souls. "Having hope for the light in the darkest of hours could only bring good tides."

“All tools can be dangerous in the wrong hands, but we should not judge entire groups for that reason,” he interjects softly, not quite discouraging her point of view but offering a perspective of his own. The world cannot be willfully evil, and neither can be the One God’s creations. Mikhael chooses to believe that there is no inherent evil in sentient species, because he cannot afford to believe anything else. If evil is inherent, then he never had a chance, and he cannot live on if that thought becomes a reality. He has fought all his life against the weight of his heritage and he refuses to let it consume her. 

“No need to thank me for the barest of kindness,” he denies with a shake of his head, a soft smile on his face. “The world might be dark but the One God watches over us, and I know that even in the deepest of darkness, there will be light.”

#person: mikhael #( troupe 1 ) #( troupe 1: nornwatch tower ) #hehe i luv it

[lunadarkwoodx]

Luna knew that one day her father would be gone, that she would remain long after he had drawn his last breath and yet she hadn't known that the story would take such a dangerous and horrifying turn. "I wonder what will come of us, how they will tell our stories and if we will live long enough to have another generation come after us." The blight had made the land sick and infected with disease and it seemed to care little for stopping, the Darkspawn grew in shape in the night. Hope was a dangerous thing, it could keep one going and draw desperation from even the most damned.

"That brings me comfort to know." The direwolf was a dear friend, had sensed the wolf in Luna long before it had begun to emerge and she is grateful for the wolves that she calls friends, being with a pack would give them protection no matter how dangerous the road gets. "It's okay, it's best that he died before he saw how bad fate was going to be. This isn't a place I would wish him to live in."

"That is very true." He placed the cup back on the table, leaving it be for the moment as that line of conversation made him rethink his newfound habits. "At the end of every story is the beginning of another... As long as we live, there will always be light in darkness." Those were words of hope but also words of need, for he firmly believed there could still be a future worth living - regardless of the land they were to live in until they could go back home once again -, he had to believe because if he didn't what would be the point in all the effort?

The grin quickly faded into seriousness as he heard of the news about her loss, it was stupid of him to ask such questions when times were as they were. "And she missed you... You know... Wolves don't forget those they found trust in. She probably even went to see you a few times when she wasn't with me... Unfortunately fate has led us elsewhere for some time, but it was fate that brought us back together I guess, so maybe she'll come by to greet you when we're in a better situation" A soft caring smile lightened his features once again for just a second. "I'm sorry for your loss, Luna..." He finally had to say.

#person: tek #( troupe 1 ) #( troupe 1: nornwatch tower )

[lunadarkwoodx]

"It was peaceful and yet the trees had outlived us all, they had seen generations of families and could tell stories of the history that had come before us. Some fear the woods as it offers no sympathies to those who become lost within its paths but if you step with caution and keep your wits about you, a whole world of beauty opens up." The Ironwood forest kept its secrets in between the generational pack of werewolves whose gene had gone dormant and forgotten until Luna had changed the tides of fate and the blue color that the wood could burn under the Darkwoods skilled hands.

"I'm glad to know you too." The sun was gone and they were deep into the caverns that made up the mountainside that they journeyed through, yet having someone who she liked by her side as she travelled into unknown lands made the stilled breath that came from a place with little oxygen and far from her rich trees who kept the cycle of breath steady a little easier to pass through her lungs.

"It's all I know." A quip of a smile on her lips and she hopes that her skills will be enough to endure, feeling safe with Freydis she braves words that she might be better off keeping to herself as they're secrets of the earth. "The way these rune glow is similar to how Ironwood glows when burned right." an eerie blue shone out from the cave wall within the mountain.

Freydis listened to Luna describe the forest and it made her think of her own experience growing up in what used to feel like living amongst endless fields that had surrounded her childhood home. The two settings were in stark contrast to one another. For what the ironwood forest had in green dappled light and aromatic pines, the midlands likely matched in warm beams of the sun and miles of golden wheat. It was comforting and saddening all at once to listen to someone listen to describe the place they were homesick for as well. 

“What was it like to grow up in a place like that?” Freydis asked, particularly interested in the end of Luna’s description. The fear of becoming lost was not what plagued Freydis in her early years when leaving the house was necessary, she feared travel beyond the edges of the mill and wheat field for other reasons. The idea of the ability to leave home and venture out as far as one pleased was foreign to her in her childhood. That fear was faced on a consistent and necessary basis once she had defeated the jarl that preceded her and assumed the position herself. Over time, the world felt wider and the fear became smaller.

“I’m glad to know you, Luna,” Freydis responded softly. “We’ll make it through this part of the journey sooner than you know.” Freydis had no idea how long they might be buried under tons of rocks, but it felt like the right thing to say at the time. She would try to at least distract Luna for as long as she could manage, finding their conversation to be a small comfort herself. “I assume you know a lot about ironwood?”

#person: freydis #( troupe 1 )

[lunadarkwoodx]

It was not known when Luna's mind had begun to fade, only that now it was gone. Somewhere in between the cages and the caves, her sanity had dissipated and the dream had taken hold. Living in an altered reality where her only duty was to attend to mother and her children meant that she was far from pain. The sky hadn't been seen in days and yet she could feel the moon becoming more full in shape, a change was almost near.

A bowl of flesh is near, becoming muddy with blood and grit and she reaches for a scrap of flesh within it and feeds it to the baby that she nurses in her arms. It is not known weather the baby is eating men's flesh or darkspawn sick with blight only that the babe coos with appreciation. "The world is made better with such sweetness in the world, it is an honor to serve at her side."

Mother asked and Mother received. There was no room on Shenuvun’s head to fight the compulsion, nor the song of the blight. The light that kept her alive, kept her immortal, was fading and slipping through her fingers but she did not feel worry. Not since she had allowed the glory of Mother to touch her, to wipe away the fear of the dark and the caverns. There was no fear in Shenuvun anymore, there was no space for it, only for the joy of the song and of the lives she helped bring upon the world. 

“We witness a joyous occasion with every life we bring forward,” she agrees easily with the mortal, a smile dancing on her lips even as her cheeks strain. It had been far too long since she had smiled as widely as she did not.

#person: nuvi #( troupe 1 ) #( troupe 1: broodmother midwife )

[lunadarkwoodx]

The wolves mind is gone, if the last few fortnights have felt like a dream then she has fallen deeper into the hole of wonderland, gone from a present consciousness and where consequence and reality could touch her. Horrors surround them in their new days and she grabs a linen with blood soak on it to pass to Alessia to swaddle the joyous new babe.

Mother cries out, hungry for more and so their brothers that snap at broodmother's children is taken down with the small knife that Alessia had gifted her during the first few nights at the Nornwatch tower. A howl of pain and Luna carves pieces from their skin to throw into mother's mouth. "May she keep strong, oh blessed beautiful. She is the mother I've never known."

Once upon a time, a mother with dark bags under her eyes and recovering from a near-death-experience handed Alessia Hart their little newborn baby and told her that her time would come. She looked at the wrinkly, wet little creature and decided that she would rather raise a bucket of worms. She hadn't meant it, but clearly the Gods must have read her mind.

Unlike worms, these children were much bigger and had many more appendages. Unlike her younger self, the witch's now currently clouded mind saw nothing but passive joy with the miracle of childbirth. She smiled absently as she picked up another one of the newborns. "Truly graced. Look... another boy. What a blessing. He will serve Mother well." Alessia carefully placed the creature into the writhing pile of male offspring. She was covered in fluids she couldn't name, even if she had been in her right mind. "Please pass me another linen. I fear a young one ate my last one."

#person: alessia #( troupe 1: broodmother midwife ) #( troupe 1 ) #hehehe

[lunadarkwoodx]

It happens again, the women who held herself like a weapon, Alessia who held no punches and seemed to have survived the unspeakable extended a kindness towards her. She can't help but find that she does trust the witch when she says that she'll protect her, in fact there is a comfort from being beside the other that she wants to keep. "Why would you protect me? Are we friends?" There's a quirk on her lips, she is teasing in this moment because she wants to be friends. She wants to know that she isn't alone and she wants to know that there are others who will look out for just as she will look after them. The world can be lonely and maybe Alessia is willing to defend all but she wants to know even at the edge of the world, that she is at least one friend that she can call hers.

"Noted." She does not know what a elve can do, she is curious but she does not ask as she does not want to seem unprepared. She merely is grateful for the information and that she is seen as a threat instead of a victim.

Alessia relaxed when it seemed like Luna was a sensible woman who didn't make things obvious and kept things quiet. She also felt a flicker of renewed hope in her chest. If there was anyone that she was most invested in seeing out of this safely, besides herself, it was those like her - the magical. Those who had suffered unjust fear all their lives but also had the upper-hand of being weapons themselves. Luna, and the elve. She knew little about the others just yet but Alessia could already say that they had an advantage to get out with just a witch, wolf and elve in the cell so far. Right now, it was all about survival - survival was selfish. "You see the really pretty woman with the dark skin, black hair and pointed ears? She's an elve. Don't look too long yet. The three of us together likely have the best chance of getting out if there's a fight and we can't get to any weapons."

"Stick close to me and I promise I'll try to protect you. These darkspawn are bound to make a mistake sooner or later... we need to be ready when that time comes."

#person: alessia #( troupe 1 ) #( troupe 1: nornwatch keep )

[lunadarkwoodx]

Her fathers death was no longer the only one she had witnessed, she had seen innocent men, strangers who she had never learned the names of being led like lambs to the slaughter, flesh that were chopped into food for the Darkspawn bellies. Sleep evaded her as when she closed her eyes, she could still hear their screams of terror as the skin was peeled from their bones without mercy or kindness. Witnessing such cruelty and savage acts was as if a death sentence hung over their heads, any minute they could be dragged from their cages and be designated for the slaughter.

A breath who was held within her lungs released heavily at the question "I've never had too before, I am good with an axe. I'm a woodcutter, I can chop through the hardest of wood. I imagine such a life could prepare me to slice through flesh and bone if need be." Her stomach threatened to rise at the thought, although she tried to ensure herself that she could handle their horrific fate.

Death had become a bitter taste upon the princess' tongue. It had clung so heavily to the air around them, hung from their shoulders as if it eagerly awaited its own next meal. The men had been stripped from them, killed before understanding had settled upon their minds. And now what remained were groups of women, many who feared the creatures upon the other side of the iron bars, or the sickness that settled like a blanket upon them. It begged to give them comfort, to slip into their beings and make a home for itself. The first sign of such a thing would spell out the death that quickly awaited them.

"It would indeed be what they deserved," a soft smirk settled into the curves of her lips, the image of driving her sword into a creature's chest rip upon her mind. But how this would come about still clung like a shadow to the edges of her mind. They could not afford to take the darkspawn head on, not unless they wished to lose more of themselves. Especially given that they did not possess any sorts of weapons, that Aytaç were aware of. "Can you fight?"

#person: aytac #( troupe 1 ) #( troupe 1: nornwatch keep )

[lunadarkwoodx]

The wolf is stronger then the human whom it hides inside, the wild is a part of her and yet she can tell being foolish enough to deny the wild would only bring about her ruin. It is scary as she has yet to turn into a werewolf and has no one explain what the process means, what she is turning into and being supernatural has never been a reality until she awoke into this new world with the most harshest of wake-up calls. It feels like a fever hazy dream and yet the wolves have been the only ones who have been able to grant her comfort in the rare bouts of sleep. "I won't, I think whatever is coming might be the only thing that is capable of saving me from the monsters who are biding their time in the dark."

"Don't fight it." He says it immediately, without thinking too hard on it because it's something he himself has actually thought very hard on. Because that first time he'd tried everything to just ignore it, fight it off as long as he could. It'd been futile under the light of that first full moon, bones were going to break and reform, build him up into something out of children's stories. Swallowing and taking a second to compose himself, he looks sideways to her and he starts again. "It's part of you." It always had been, just like it had been with him, just like it had been with his father. Her father too, that's why he felt like he kind of needed to stick by her. They were walking the same path in more ways than one.

#person: etienne #( troupe 1: nornwatch tower ) #dont worry bb

[lunadarkwoodx]

There was markings of the darkspawn that conveyed their kills, the marks were numerous and their grins were bloody. Fear was found in a lump in Luna's throat, no matter how many times she told herself to be brave, to remain strong and to carry forth the resilient legacy that the Darkwoods had carved for themselves with their trade as woodcutters.

She could feel a change within, a power that was growing as she could hear and see things in the distance that she should not. Gifts that she not have before the sky with alit with Magi and before she had to leave behind the only home she had behind. She needed rest, heartbreak urged her to shut her eyes and to escape into the dreams of wolves where she could feel the wild within and the forest was thick and dark with trees, where the blight couldn't touch them. Freydis seemed as if they might be a comfort in a land sick with terror and so in a vulnerable moment, she asked for what she needed. "Will you sing me a song as I lay down to rest please?" It was what her father did when the nightmares pressed in and she wanted a moment of innocence, before the monsters had begun to surround them.

A smile tugged at her lips, having others to protect allowed for a show of inner strength. Luna was grateful that they had Freydis while being held captive by such horrors. She didn't know what was to come but she knew, she would made stronger for it because of the women who were with her. "I understand." If she was to be held prisoner, blessed it be that she had such strong fighters within the cage with her.

Luna’s sense of restlessness was apparent to Freydis. The claustrophobia and threat of the environment they found themselves in was enough to put anyone on edge, but what Freydis observed of Luna felt different from what she was experiencing herself. Elevated. Even before Luna explained the additional context of what she could sense and feel, Freydis suspected something else impacted Luna. When she first met her in the tunnels, it seemed like some compounding circumstances made that leg of the journey harder on her than the others. 

Freydis naturally leaned in slightly as Luna spoke, perhaps to be a better listener or simply because in the cramped quarters of their cage it was easier to at least share proximity with someone she knew. None of the things Luna described were things Freydis found herself forced to endure–well, other than the general stench, and each thing Luna described seemed less pleasant than the last. While true rest had evaded her, she had at least managed to doze off once or twice, but with the constant sound of carnage Luna described enduring Freydis was certain her counterpart hadn’t known a moment’s rest. “Is there anything that can be done to distract you? Or drown it out?” Exhaustion would almost certainly cause a steady decline in her condition, and if it could be avoided, Freydis was willing to try to help.

The question caught Freydis off guard. Or rather she was a little surprised someone would consider her strong in this situation. Anxiety prickled along her spine like needles and Aytaç had been forced to intervene before Freydis crossed the precipice into sheer panic. Surely she was a little more level-headed since their interaction, a little more within herself, but strong? Strong didn’t feel aligned with Freydis’ true emotion, but it might be better not to reveal that chink in her armor. “There’s no alternative. Not while all of you are still here,” Freydis stated simply of her ability to keep herself as grounded as she could manage because at least that believed.

#person: freydis #( troupe 1: nornwatch keep )

[lunadarkwoodx]

"Tell me of the nature, do they have tall trees or forested creatures?" As she kept a gaze on the blighted ground that surrounded the Nornwatch tower, she decided she did not care for goodness or happy endings, she only hoped to one day reach a place where people are happy and safe. Darkspawn moved in between trees who have rotted with sickness and where only rot grew, despair pressed at her shoulders and she had a feeling of apprehension that they wouldn't going to make it to their final destination alive.

A laugh hollowed with lack of mirth breezed from her lips and she could feel herself hardening, before now she had not realized how soft and full of comfort her life was, she had always worked hard and grown calluses on her hands from days spent wielding an axe and chopping Ironwood and yet she was completely unprepared for the terrors that lie ahead. "It'll be long before we're able to taste clean air again but it will taste so sweet once we finally do, even if we are in a land sick with blight, I must keep hope that this will pass too."

The ocean was certainly a place Prospero steered clear of more often than not. He had happened upon Caribella before. The black market was of interest to him sometimes, but he never truly dared to go there. If he did, it was an in and out kind of situation. But he could understand why someone would tell stories of the ocean, of the open skies and the birds that weren't ravaged by the Blight. It sounded beautiful when you thought about it at face value. When someone saw it in person though? Well, that was a different story. He only hoped that it was as beautiful to Luna as her father had made it seem. He didn't dare to ruin the illusion for her. Lysara was indeed beautiful when it wanted to be. One should just never pull back the layers.

"Well, there's a lot to tell about Lysara. What would you like to know? I'm mostly familiar with Northreach, but I've been quite a lot of places." His job did require it after all. A bounty hunter went wherever the bounty was. Even to somewhere like Iskaldrik. He still had a reward to collect for the job that had brought him here in the first place. Hopefully they made it back to Lysara in one piece for that to actually happen. "Fresh air? Yeah, somehow I don't think fresh air is something these Legionnaires are used to." He would have attempted to give her a semblance of fresh air, but these Iskarans were very touchy when it came to magic so he decided against it. "Lysara has much better air to inhale. Definitely not rotted," he stated jokingly.

#person: prospero #( troupe 1: nornwatch tower )

[lunadarkwoodx]

Witch hazel carried healing properties, it indicated injury and yet when she looked at the stranger in the woods, the only obvious signs that could be seen with the naked eye were signs of exhaustion and short busts of sleep. Luna had suspicions that there was a camp in the Ironwood forest who sought sanctuary and the question confirmed what she suspected. It was not for her to refuse help to anyone who stepped foot in the Ironwood forest in search of it.

A couple paces to the left in the deep of overgrown thickets where no path was tread witch hazel grew in the underbrush of a more dominant plant. Adjusting the plant so the yellow leaves could be seen in the light of day. "Take as much as you need, we have forged from this plant for generations and it always grows back strong."

Luna did not what it was like to face the world hungry, she always had shelter and someone at home to warm the fire. These years, her grandparents grew older and could no longer go into the woods to harvest Ironwood and so they remained at home, reading stories, tending to the fire and the ever boiling stew that warmed their hearth.

She had no seen anything beyond these trees and there was a growing curiosity for what existed beyond that although she wanted to grant the stranger peace in their voyage, her curiosity out won as it might be awhile until she met someone who didn't hail from the coal mining town down below. "Where have you come from?"

By now Juneau had travelled to what she would reckon was every measurable inch of Iskaldrik. Several years into her mentorship under Ivar had afforded her the ability to travel through the various mountain ranges, flatlands, and forests of their country, and a modest bit of Lysara just beyond the borders. However, the travel was often fraught and under the cover of night. Still, Juneau felt a sense of pride and superiority that she had been cast out from her home community only to have what she saw as the privilege to experience so much in comparison to her former family and neighbors who seemed to cow at the very sight of the fence line at the edge of their villages and homesteads. 

However, while Juneau had experienced many places and things, she was still averse to interacting with humans if she could help it. Ivar had assured her that the Ironwood Forest was a neutral zone of their purposes, safe even. It had taken the younger werewolf a while to believe that, and over a year to muster the confidence to wander through the forest alone. Now, she was comfortable enough to venture away from their party and forage to replenish medicinal herbs and rations that were typically running low by this leg of the journey. Mercifully, she had never encountered another human–at least not until today. 

Juneau, being so shocked to see the cloaked figure, didn’t realize should any conflict arise she had the upper hand by being to the stranger’s back. That advantage didn’t last for long as the human woman rose to her feet and faced her. Juneau ducked behind one of the thick trunks of a nearby tree, only glancing out slightly when the other woman spoke. She could always run and then return for the food later hoping some other curious forest dweller hadn’t gotten to it first, but instead, she thought back to the youngest ward they had in their party at the moment, a small boy barely into his teenage years who was ill-prepared for the trip and was struggling with exhaustion and injury. 

Rather than running, she chose to take the other woman’s words at face value–that she wasn’t a threat, and they truly were safe. Only stepping halfway around the tree that she had been using to conceal her, Juneau quietly asked, “Is there any witch hazel nearby?” She could snatch the food and harvest whatever herbs there might be as soon as she was pointed in the right direction.

#person: juneau