Lauren Shrike's Story

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In the outskirts of Willowspeak, Lauren was thinking on what to eat. "I still have a little bit of dried deer meat, but I would like something to accompany it, hmmm perhaps some bread..." muttered the little girl as she was walking towards the town, sudenly she spotted a rabbit. "I could trade the rabbit's skin for some bread, and I can keep the meat for dinner" she thought. As silent as a night owl, she drew her bow and placed an arrow, the rabbit was still unaware of the girl's presence, his little nose was sniffing trough the grass. Lauren steadied her breath and stretched the string in her bow. Then she let go and her arrow pierced the rabbit's body in the head. She quickly got closer to it and started skinning him.

Now with a new package of meat and a small piece of fluffy leather she walked more confident in the direction of the town. It looked like a fairly common human settlement with a bunch of people walking around. She tried to sneak trough the people, an easy task due to her small stature, not that she is going to admit that. She was searching for an inn or a market, somewhere in wich she could trade her leather for a piece of bread.

But even though she can spend a week in a dense forest without getting lost, navigation in towns was far more hard for her, so she couldn't find neither a bakery, nor a market, and no signs of drunk people so she could now where an inn was. But Lauren is really stubborn so she continued walking around the town with a concentrated face, she was going to find a piece of bread for her lunch, no mater what.

He grinned as he walked down the street, a bag of bread under his arm and his lunch in the other, a fresh cooked chicken leg. Ed had smacked himself in the head when he'd come back with the troll's blood. It was the perfect ingredient for keeping water icy cold without letting it freeze. He'd given him a little money for lunch and bread, and told him he had the day off. He hadn't had a day off in over a year so he had absolutely no idea what to go and do! Maybe he'd go see what Ark was doing today, likely running errands for the candle hag.

He tossed the bone into a nearby wastebin and bumped into a tiny little girl wandering in the middle of the road. "Sorry there miss, didn't see you there!" He grinned and tilted his head. He'd never seen this person around town before, and that meant alot. He'd met pretty much every person in town and was a good friend with most. "Say, you're not from around here are you? You look lost. Are you lost? You're lost." He nodded decidedly and smiled down at her. "That decides it! We're friends now!" He grabbed her hand and shook it, grinning like a kid with a bag of sweets. "My names Allan!"

Zander made his way out of Aisha's place. He knew how to take a hint, the boy made his way through town. He had some time on his hands while he waited for the candles to be ready. He stopped by the market for a short while and browsed at some of the good people where selling. Nothing really stood out to him, so he left and was about to head to the bakery. That was when he saw her, a young girl, wandering around. He could tell she was lost by the look on her face and the way she tried to navigate herself. It was a little amusing to him, he finally decided to stop staring at her and wanted to make himself known

He walked over toward her and that was when he saw Allan walk into her. He stood slightly back and watched Allan introduce himself. Zander played around with his rings for a second for some reason he was slightly nervous.He debated with himself and wondered if it was a good idea to approach the girl. He had watched this short girl from afar and she had caught his eye in a way that made him feel a slight attraction to her. It wasn't love or even liking her, Zander just felt this girl had qualities that interested him. However, he wasn't going to tell her that. He wanted to know this stranger it was something about her that just made him want to talk with her.

he mustered up the courage and opened his mouth, he addressed Allan first "Hey Allan its good to see you."He then turned to the girl as if he didn't see her and played it casually "Oh, i'm sorry How rude of me. My name is Zander" he then stretched out his hand to shake her's.

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Lauren was (still) trying to find somewhere to get bread when someone bumped into her. "Stupididiotwhobumpedintome..." but her thoughts were interrupted by the guy's apology "Sorry there miss, didn't see you there!", she raised her head and found out the guy looked about her age, he then tilted his head "Say, you're not from around here are you? You look lost. Are you lost? You're lost.". She lifted an eyebrow and looked at the guy with a confused look, "That decides it! We're friends now!" he anounced with a smile, then grabbed her hand and shook it "My names Allan!", he introduced himself.

Well, Lauren was not really used to interact with other people except when buying or selling stuff so she was still looking at Allan with a confused look when another guy popped up. "Hey Allan its good to see you." he then looked at her "Oh, i'm sorry How rude of me. My name is Zander", and stretched his hand so that she could shake it. Lauren also stared at him for a few seconds before letting go of Allan's hand in order to shook Zander's. "Hello to both of you" she said withdrawing her hand and looking at both boys "My name is Lauren, no, I'm not from around here and I'm not lost" she looked at Allan during the final part "I'm just looking for a place that sells bread.". She looked at both of them again expecting an answer and hoping they bought that and didn't realize she was indeed kind of lost. She chose to ignore the fact that Allan wanted to be friends with her, that was the first time someone asked her that and she was still thinking on what to answer.

He looked up when he heard Zander speak and waved. He was a swell guy, when he woke up at a decent hour in the morning, which was rarely. When he heard she was looking for bread he dug a fresh loaf out of his bag and put it in her hands. "There ya go. New friends get free bread!" He pulled out another loaf and started took a bite out of it himself. "Shee? Shood fread." He swallowed and grinned, giving Zander a bit to healthy of a pat on the back, nearly knocking the poor guy over. "Zander here makes the best bread in town, don't you Zander? No need to answer, since everyone already knows it's true. Well, except maybe Lauren here, but she's about to find out." The sheer volume of air need to fuel his conversation was astounding.

"By the way Zander, I've got the day off. What d'you wanna do? Fish? Cards? Steal wax from the Candle Hag?" The last time they tried that, she'd beaten him silly with a broom, and while he'd had bruises for days, he still found the whole thing quite funny. "Or do you have to work today?" He frowned as he said it, because he knew he probably did.

Thoroark stared at the odd crystal,rubbing at his right eye for a moment as he stared at the swirling center. His gaze broken only when Aisha asked for the Phantomshade when he tore his eyes from the drawer that now contained the unsettling object to look towards her. He offered a small smile and a mock salute,chucking a coin towards the courier and stepping past him.

"Sure thing,I'll just drag Allan and Zander along, maybe even courier boy here if he's up for it." He said,ruffling the messengers hair as he began heading down the street for a little while "Any idea what were up against?,No?, well alrighty then. I'll be back somewhere between two hours and three days. If the bread tastes horrible it's because Zander's dead. Sound good?" He continued, half-sarcastically as he continued down the street towards the small group, consisting of Zander, Allan and some small girl that he didn't recognize. It helped that he was able to see over everyone else but even with that he couldn't pick out any of the girl's features.

The giant eventually got far enough down the street without having to stop to help someone to shout to the group "Hey!, Aisha needs more Phantomshade and I'm heading up the mountain to try and find some, anyone up for a field-trip? See what it's like running around on Aisha's 'simple' errands? You can even bring along your friend there and anyone else you feel like." He yelled to the group. Stopping in front of them with a broad grin,his arms folded across his chest,his monstrous sword now sheathed atop his back the handle peaking over his left shoulder.

Lauren accepted the bread Allan gave her, after smelling it she putted the bread in her shoulder bag, but, when she was ready to say thank you and leave, someone shouted to the two boys and to her as well. Lauren lifted her head and a little farther away in the street was the biggest human Lauren has ever seen. "What is that thing?! Is it a giant? Sure looks like it." Lauren thought as she looked astonished at the man.

But wait, did he say Aisha? Isn't that the name of the woman who makes the floating candles? It was the reason why Lauren was in this town to begin with! Lauren thought that floating candles would be really useful to launch fire arrows, but since she didn't have money with her perhaps doing a request to her was the easiest way to get some candles. "But I can't say that! I need to make them need me to go along... perhaps..." Even thought the giant man had said she could come she wasn't just going because he thought she was friends with these guys. Avoiding relationships was a part of her nature. After pondering for a few seconds Lauren spoke and tried to feign disinterest "Up to the mountain? Wouldn't you guys get lost? You should probably get a tracker. And lucky for you I'm a good tracker that could use some spare coins."

"Hehe, with this they will probably even pay me for doing this request" Lauren thought about the devious plan, she will go with the group as she wanted and get paid in the process! Even though she wasn't interested in the money at all, the point of the scheme was tricking them in believing she didn't want to make friends and was just going for the money. Now to see if they bought that.

He looked up when he heard Ark's booming voice echo down the street and he waved. At the mention of a job his eyes lit up. Something to do at last! His day off would not be wasted after all it seemed.
"Why not? I don't have anything to do today, and a little extra cash wouldn't hurt. I've been meaning to get some new hammers, and the price of steel has gone up recently."
He nodded to himself and smiled. He didn't really care about the money as much as he just wanted something to do, and Aisha's jobs always wound up being more interesting than she cared to let on.

He arched an eyebrow at Lauren when she piped up, then smiled and looked up at Ark. "Ark, this is my new friend Lauren. Lauren, this is Thoroark, but everyone calls him Ark, and no, he's not a giant. Pretty sure he isn't anyway." He ripped off another piece of bread and chewed at it for a while before speaking again, apparently contemplating the best way to go about speaking.
"You're welcome to come with us if you want, and Aisha probably would be willing to pay you for your trouble, but you're more interested in those candles of hers than cash aren't you? 'Course you are." He nodded again and grinned.

"I'll go get my things and let Ed know whats happening. Meet you at the north gate!" He ran off towards the smithy without another word. When he got there, Ed was gone so he left a note on the table and packed his bag. Tent, bedroll, some basic repair tools, some dried meat and fruit in case they couldn't find food, flint and steel, and a box of whet-stones. He then took off his work clothes, got into his traveling gear, and pulled on his armor. It only consisted of greaves, sabatons, a pair of faulds that strapped to the belt, a pauldron, and some thick leather gloves, but he'd found it was all he needed. He strapped his sheathed bastard sword to the belt, grabbed a waterskin, and headed for the north gate.

Zander looked at Thoroark and smiled. He hadn't had the chance to go on a trip in a while. Even if it was only going to be for a few hours Zander didn't care he just wanted to go and explore. He watched Allan as he took off to get ready which left Zander with Thoroark and Lauren. He looked to the giant "I'm going to head back to the bakery and tell Allora i'm leaving. Hopefully she will let me take some food with me."

He smiled and then headed off to the bakery where Allora was waiting for him. When he walked through the door way she yelled "What took you so long, it couldn't have taken you that long to pick up candles."Zander sighed and then told her the whole story from getting to Aisha's place to Thoroark's field trip.

After she was fully informed Allora could only shake her head at Zander. She finally spoke to him with a smile on her face and a hint of laughter in her voice "Well are you going to take some food for your trip or not?" Zander ran over and hugged her and then packed some food in a small sack. Before he left he hugged Allora again and promised he would be back soon. He decided he would let Lina and John know what he was doing before he left. Zander ran home quickly and found out from Ella that John and Lina went into town. Zander told Ella about his trip and she got excited and begged to come with. After convincing her to stay Zander made her promise to let John know what was going on.

She agreed and that freed Zander up to allow him to meet with Thoroark and the group. When he made it he had a sizable bag filled with two blankets, a sack of food from the bakery, and water.

Laren could only look at Allan with a surprised look "He read right trough me!" she thought, Lauren was used to being called a bad liar but that guy completely found out her plan. And that made her a little mad, so she made a pouting face. When he and Zander left to grab somethings she stayed behind, sulking next to the giant. No matter what Allan said, now that she was more close to him she could only realize the height difference between them make her look like a dwarf "I wonder if this is what rabbits feel when a human stands next to them" she wondered.

After a few moments of silence she looked up and asked him "What to you eat to be that big?" she couldn't hide a slight tone of jealously. After all she had been small her whole life, and it bugged her, but the only person she allowed to call her small was her protector, Daudt, and that was only because he was tall, but this man, Thoroark, was even bigger. Besides being really muscular and he had that gigantic sword that was bigger than her, she should be afraid of him but as she looked up to him, she could see that he was good looking and had a kind smile that made her at ease. But then she remembered she was almost breaking her neck in order to look at him in the eye, so she started sulking again.

Thoroark ruffled his hair as he watched everyone but the small girl who he came to understand was called Lauren run off to prepare. Well at least they were excited, they didn't quite seem to understand where they were going and why,other then it was an errand and they were getting coin. He adjusted his sword so that it sat more comfortably on his broad shoulders, the hilt dug into his shoulder-blade without his cowl to stop it and he was sure that by the end of this errand it'd have bitten through his flesh.

He was a little surprised by Lauren's question and chuckled at the hint of jealousy that seeped into her voice. He crouched to be at more even ground with her and smiled kindly yet again. "Well, As far as I was told upto the age of 5 I lived off of whatever I could scavenge, after that this town's been feeding me bread and beef as if they were trying to fatten me up for dinner. Either that or I eat Hydra Meat, Forest Boar, and if I'm desperate, Troll's Rind." He said without a hint of sarcasm,that is until he grinned,he was completely serious but she didn't need to know that,he began re-adjusting the sword yet again and pulled the sweet bread from a medium sized rucksack he kept tied around his belt, tearing a large chunk from it before putting it away again. He still had all his supplies left from his last grand adventure, it didn't take much equipment to fall down a hole and nearly get eaten.

"Once that lot get back we'll be able to head out, I know the mountains pretty well so I'll just say watch your back. This village is at a point in the world were Frost Troll's, Death Maw's and Ice Golems are common place. On the plus side, we have blue skies, green grasses and all the deadly thing's around the place make for great trading material." He joked, sitting down for a moment to sort all his gear into more convenient places, two ice pick's that looked more like miniature scythes at his belt, two bottles of fire brew next to them and the rest simply shuffled around in his rucksack. "What bring's you here anyway?, if it's Aisha's candles like Allan guessed then luckily for you the herb were going for is what Aisha needs to make some more, all her's died somehow." He said,rubbing at his right eye again as if it were irritated by something stuck in it.

"....the plus side, we have blue skies, green grasses and all the deadly thing's around the place make for great trading material." I would hope so, thought Micheal as he overheard the conversation from atop his stage coach. The two donkeys pulled the modest contraption along the cobbled street at a relaxed pace, their fatigue showing through the slowing rate of the clopping of hoof against stone. It had been a long journey from the last village. And just for some 'damned' candles. Michael would have to find a barn of some kind soon so he could put the poor beasts up in a nice stall. Spotting what looked to be an inn where he could get directions, Michael pulled the reigns back slightly to stop the animals as there was little to no traffic that would be impeded.

"Once that lot get back we'll be able to head out, I know the mountains pretty well so I'll just say watch your back. This village is at a point in the world were Frost Troll's, Death Maw's and Ice Golems are common place.” Michael paused for a moment as he lowered himself down the side of the driver's seat, stopping after hearing 'Troll' and then getting the slight urge to climb back up and keep going when he heard 'Death Maw.' Who the hell says something like that so nonchalantly? Resisting the urge to clamber back up, remembering he probably wouldn't have to deal with something so frightening on a business trip, he lowered himself the rest of the way down and adjusted his greatcoat, slightly shaken but by no means deterred.

“On the plus side, we have blue skies, green grasses and all the deadly thing's around the place make for great trading material." He opened the door to the coach and removed a small coin purse, smiling at the idea of good trading. Frost Troll blood could be useful. Whatever a Death Maw is might have some impressive teeth, maybe a corrosive poison that could be adapted into a cleaning liquid. Ice Golem... maybe there's an animation core that could be recycled into something, unless its some violent poltergeist has possessed a few boulders or something. See Michael, it's not so bad here. Bit nippy, though.

"What brings you here anyway?, if it's Aisha's candles like Allan guessed then luckily for you the herb were going for is what Aisha needs to make some more, all her's died somehow." Michael paused for a moment and only one word crossed his mind. Loudly and drawn out, more a wail than a statement. Shit! He turned to the speaker. For half a moment Michael was impressed with the size of the man who sat there rubbing at his own eye with a great fist, but he was too annoyed to care for more than that.

“Excuse me. Larger gentleman with the sword, you wouldn't happen to be referring to those floating candles, would you?” He spoke slowly and loudly so as to not bother walking the ten feet between him and the larger man, adding emphasis to 'floating' by waving his fingers in the air. Sure of his fears, the query was asked regardless. There's always hope.

He made his way through the crowd of people, dodging crate laden carts and people alike with the ease that only comes after having grown up in such a busy town. He finished his loaf of bread as he walked and wiped the crumbs away with his sleeves, eventually making his way back to the group. "So slow! I thought you'd be at the gate by now."

“Excuse me. Larger gentleman with the sword, you wouldn't happen to be referring to those floating candles, would you?” He looked up at the man riding the carriage and arched an eyebrow. He eyed the man up and down quickly. Long coat, lots of traveling. Carriage, a man of medium wealth. Apparently unarmed so not a noble or anything along those lines. A merchant he concluded. Allan had grown up playing this game with himself and had only grown more accurate over the years. He smiled up at the man and let the scene play out. Likely he would ask for the herb they were about to get for Aisha, in hopes of discerning the Candle Hag's secret recipe. If that were indeed the case then this merchant would probably be booted out of town with a few missing teeth at the least. But Ark was the leader of this little adventure, so Allan left the ordeal to his judgement. He sat on an upturned crate and double checked his bags to make sure he had everything he needed.

Thoroark heard the man yelling,referring to him as the 'Larger Gentleman with the sword' and then the following question. He turned around,still rather tall considering he was sitting on the floor and looked over a few of the shorter people at the man near the carriage. He grinned and wrapped a heavy paw around the hilt of his blade,intending to toy with the man,after-all he wasn't one to harm people,just one to scare the wits out of people for fun.

"Careful what you ask about stranger,I am referring to the candles yes. Though I warn you now,if you're looking to walk away with the recipe for it this town'll send you out to the wilderness on your arse within seconds. We all work together here." He yelled to the stranger, tightening his grip around the blade till his knuckles whitened,standing up with a face like thunder and thumping towards the stranger. He stopped a mere step away and even growled at the new-comer. "If that's the case..." Thoroark continued,unsheathing his sword slightly and looking as if he were about to pull it from it's scabbard...before letting go of the handle and grinning like an idiot,reaching the same hand out and placing it lightly on the man's shoulder.

"Then you're welcome to come along!,I was just messing with you, It's for the candles,I'm mounting a little field-trip into the mountains,Aisha worries about me when I hike up there so if you come along to 'make sure I'm safe' she'll probably be grateful enough to give you a few as a thanks. Without the herb the candles aren't going to be made anyway from what I know." He said with a kind smile,his posture much different from his earlier seemingly murderous intent. "Alright,whoever's coming head to the gate,Quicker we get this done the quicker I actually get to sit down and relax" He commented,smiling to himself as he strolled towards the gate. Picking his rucksack up off the ground by Lauren as he did so and walking off without checking who followed.

When Thoroark got up and started heading to the person who talked to them, with a murderous intent in his way of speech Lauren got preoccupied. She silently drew her bow, she was not standing idle and see someone get hurt, but then Thoroark relaxed and invited the guy with them. "He was only joking." she sighed. Lauren putted her bow away, and headed towards the gate like he said. But she didn't forgot what he said.
"Bread, bear meat, Hydra meat and a little of Troll's Rind. Bread, bear meat, Hydra meat and a little of Troll's Rind" she continued to mutter the ingredients to herself, she wasn't particularly disgusted by the Troll's Rind, she ate worse when she stayed in the wilderness for more than one month, but he said it in a joking tone, so he could be lying to her and that wasn't the secret for being tall at all. Because even though she was 18, she was still hoping she could grow up a little bit more. As she headed for the gate (Following Thoroark, because she still had now idea how to orientate herself in a town) she thought where did this plant grew, and what where the dangers that lied ahead of them, for the enchantress to be worried about Thoroark.

As soon as the tall man grabbed the hilt of that massive sword, Michael thanked his lucky stars that he was wearing his special gloves. Hopefully, should the large man be driven enough to do something, he'd think Michael to be unarmed. One dodge and a good strike to the knee and most people go down. Considering he was close to the coach mean that large hunk of metal might damage it and what was inside, but moving could have just provoked a reaction. Despite the fear, turned mild after so many encounters like this, he kept a straight face. Even cocked an eyebrow as if saying, 'really?'

"Careful what you ask about stranger, I am referring to the candles yes. Though I warn you now, if you're looking to walk away with the recipe for it this town'll send you out to the wilderness on your arse within seconds. We all work together here." The large man yelled back, standing and putting on a face meant to be fierce but Michael had to suppress a laugh. He'd seen this before on bandits half the man's size, and not a single one who did such a thing was in the right line of work. The larger man was in a street full of pedestrians and the 'we all work together here' comment betrayed that he wasn't going to do anything that would harm bystanders. Grabbing a sword he couldn't safely use around the townsfolk betrayed that his intentions were intimidation and nothing more, and that just ruined the whole effect. As the man walked closer, however, Michael grew ready for hand to hand and suppressed a smile with a frown and furrowed brow. Hand to hand with Michael was not a good idea unless you wanted a couple bruised, maybe even broken, ribs. Or, considering the tall man's height, lifelong sterility.

"If that's the case..." He stopped only a step away, causing Michael to nearly betray his faux fear with a laugh. The large man still clung to his sword, even slightly pulling it from the scabbard, but at this range it would have simply caught on the coach and then Michael could easily break something, possibly the jaw if the man had lowered his head in the swing. But since that could simply be a ruse to distract from the large man's free hand, Michael was prepared to simply aim for the manhood with a good kick should he be pinned against the coach. Not exactly honourable tactics, but neither was such conduct from the large man.

That was when the man let go of his sword and grinned like a drunken fool. At this point Michael did truly feel fear as he did not know what was going to happen next. The humour was not lost on him, that a friendly face was more frightening, but that was the nature of trading. If someone came out of a deal smiling, then it was usually a bad deal for the other person. This may be no exception. This feeling was doubled when the large man's great paw was laid on Michael's shoulder, the doubt about the situation piling up.

"Then you're welcome to come along! I was just messing with you, It's for the candles," said the tall man, Michael still unsure of his true intentions, "I'm mounting a little field-trip into the mountains, Aisha worries about me when I hike up there so if you come along to 'make sure I'm safe' she'll probably be grateful enough to give you a few as a thanks. Without the herb the candles aren't going to be made anyway from what I know." Michael stayed still and processed the situation. Blinking slowly, he thought, well... I can't possibly see this backfire in any way, and nodded, letting out a sound of reserved agreement, a simple hum of 'mmm.'

"Alright, whoever's coming head to the gate. Quicker we get this done the quicker I actually get to sit down and relax." So spoke the tall man, walking towards the town gate that Michael had just found his way from. As soon as the tall man no longer took up half Michael's view he breathed a sigh of relief. The sigh stopped as he saw the smaller girl putting what looked to be a bow away. Was she in on it, or fooled? Either a close friend or a perfect stranger, I wouldn't wonder.

Shaking himself from his stupefaction Michael moved into the inn and got directions to a barn where he could store his vehicle and the donkeys. Out of curiosity Michael asked about the candles he had come for and the tall man's information was confirmed when the inn keeper said 'she hasn't been making as many of those as she used to, lately.' 'Damn it all.' he thought to himself, then tipped the innkeeper for his assistance. Two choices were apparent. He could wait at the inn, hoping he wouldn't have to wait long in order to get word about the candles. Maybe take in the local sights. Or he could accompany the large man and his companion, plus whoever else was assisting, and help get what they needed to get the candles that much faster. Michael was leaning towards simply staying put until he thought of something. 'If they're friends of who ever makes the candles, this Aisha person if I heard correctly, then maybe they'll put in a good word for me and I can buy these candles for less and make a bit more of a profit. Hell, maybe this Aisha will be coming along and we could talk business on the way there. Worth a try.' And with that it was decided.

After putting up his donkeys and coach, buying some new food as what he had was getting stale, and, since supplies were low, buying some extra yarn, thread, and fabric in the event of necessary patchwork, Michael went to the town gate and yawned slightly. He wasn't tired enough to require sleep; it was the middle of the day and he was prone to keep odd hours. He was more mentally strained than anything. Nothing the last of the slowly drying bread wouldn't fix.

Leaning against the gate he eyed up the tall man and then shook his head. 'Yeah, that's not going to happen.' He then looked at the woman near him and thought, 'maybe in a few years. Could be the big guy's kid to boot. I like keeping my head on top of my shoulders.' As he thought about this, something occurred to him. He never got there names.

"You know," he said half jokingly, "that wasn't exactly what I expected when I heard of the 'Willowspeak hospitality' that people from nearby towns kept telling me about. I'm Michael. Would the person who makes these candles be joining us on the trip?"

He laughed as he stood up. The look on the merchants faces was priceless! "You'd do well to come with us Mr.Merchant. Your candles won't be ready until after we come back, so why not come with us and make sure it gets done quickly?" With that he walked off after Lauren and Ark, putting his arms behind his head and smiling as he did.

He heard Lauren muttering to herself as he walked up. "Bread, bear meat, Hydra meat, and a little of Troll's Rind." He shook his head and arched an eyebrow up at Ark. "Troll's rind? What have you been telling her Ark? Last time you tried to eat that even YOU were bed ridden for a week. It would've killed a lesser man." He took two long steps a in front of Lauren and turned, walking backwards now but facing Lauren. "Don't even think about trying to eat Trolls rind, you'll only end up dead." There was no smile on his face, he was being dead serious right now and it showed in his eyes.

He turned back around and kept walking, now between Ark and Lauren. "Not to say it doesn't serve a purpose. Prepared correctly, it's a pretty potent medicine. Got Ed through a real nasty fever." He wasn't smiling then either, though they couldn't see. That had been the worst week of his entire life, sitting there, unable to help his own father, well adopted father, as he slowly died. It'd been Ark who'd gotten the rind and Aisha that had made the medicine, and he felt more deeply indebted to them than he cared to admit.

Thoroark grinned and almost ignored everything going on around him until they reached the gate,standing tall and pulling his sword free of it's scabbard to check it for any nicks. The heavy weapon crashed to the ground,even cracking the cobblestone path.The spot he stood in was surrounded by similar cracks of varying sizes,yet none of them seemed to match the small pit that the sword now sat in,something was obviously on the giant's mind. Despite his seemingly brutish behaviour to some he was an emotional man.

"Hm?,No Aisha won't be coming with us....I'm the errand boy, she's the sorceress,mage,whatever you call it from your part of the world. Besides the town feels more at ease when atleast one of us hangs around, This village is kinda famous for housing unique individuals, champion's, heroes and what-not. Or atleast what the rest of Theransted likes to call heroes,it's the only way this little town can exist out here in Willowspeak. Not much else that isn't corrupted lives up this way if you haven't noticed. Atleast I'm never bored right?" He explained, checking the blade over and then pulling the hilt up to elbow height so he could lean on it.

The giant checked his equipment for a final time and then without another word or a thought of leaving anyone behind started slowly walking out of the village,if anyone was lagging behind they could easily catch up with the man. He was taking his time,His monstrous sword held in his right hand,hoisted up and leaning on the accompanying shoulder,a scythe sized ice-pick twirling slowly in the other and his eyes to the sky. Misted over in such a way that gave off that he was in deep thought and nearing on being unaware of the world around him. He would later, eventually start making his way off the path in a sharp diagonal,heading towards the only tree in the area that covered itself in firey orange leaves,the tree that's gnarled branches would point the group towards the frosted Willowspeak and whatever destiny awaited them.