Chapter One Part II

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Continued from Coldridge Chapter One, Part I.

Thaeloc after seeing the limb get ripped off the undead that he had struck in the face cutting off it's attack before. He grips the wet old clothes on the under water undead male and swim down to the floor looking for a large chunk of rock or coral to smash the head of the undead into. Having dealt with undead several times before and from books and scrolls knowing damage to the head is the best way to end the undead life.

The Undead Male howls in seeming agony when RavenClaw snaps his arm at the shoulder, rendering it useless. As a matter of fact, it snaps it right off and it floats upward, likely to end up on shore somewhere. He tries to use his claws to slash at the nearest target, which given Thaeloc's hold on him, seems to be the Degn himself. With his remaining arm, he tries to uppercut his claws into Thaeloc's stomach, the look in its eyes rather fierce as black, spoiled blood clouds the area with a billowing of black and the stench of metallic rot.

The Undead Female screeches loudly enough in obvious signs of pain from Cecile and Naledi's assault on her that all of the chained figures turn their heads to watch their sister's predicament. Easily twenty plus heads turn, casting a dim, white glow that direction, their attention entirely snagged. Some struggle against their bonds, while others just continue to sway with the current. The undead female then tilts her head back then, attempting to bite into whatever she can reach of Cecile's neck or face while struggling against the vampire's hold on her. Her feet also kick wildly in the water in an attempt to kick Naledi during her escape.

Naledi's shoulder hurt like hell and the blood still clouded her vision but the contact of her elbow with the undead's sternum was satisfying in that she was able to break contact and unhinge those jaws from her flesh. Not wanting to keep her back to the creature, the elf whips around to face her assailant. Thankfully, the flailing legs aren't near enough to make contact but the elf reaches out in an attempt to snatch one in her hands to give a sharp twist of the undead's ankle.

RavenClaw pauses to stare up after the arm he's managed to dislodge, looking for all the world like a dog that's lost its bone before he manages to snap himself back to attention. He's been in wolf form for far too long, it seems, and he shakes his head to bring his focus back to the fight, his long locks--normally tied back--waving about with the undersea current. Seeing that Thaeloc appears to have the male undead under control for the time being, and is far too deep now to chase after, Raven brings his attention toward the reddish tinge drifting his way and spots Cecile and Nadeli struggling with the other of their assailants. He turns to gesture silently to Olwen, pointing toward the female undead and quickly swimming his way over to join the fight. He chances a look downward on his way, and immediately regrets it as his gaze is met by far too many vacant stares from the other chained undead below. Gritting his teeth, Raven drifts in between Nadeli and her opponent, snatching a hand out to try and crush the female undead's throat and prevent her from taking any further bites out of the two ladies.

Olwen curses herself for being distracted by Ravenclaw's manly physique, she needed to snap herself back into battlemode and fast! It's not like she hasn't seen a handsome male before, but goodness gracious. The tiny woman clears her throat as best she can underwater, blowing a few bubbles in the process. Raven's motion is spotted and she swims that direction, cringing the sea of lackluster eyes locked on them. Seeing as she is wearing thick gloves, the half-gnome aims a punch toward the undead woman's mouth - she seeks to leave a surprise for her as well, another tiny explosive. If it does the job the monster's head will be blown clean off. She waves for everyone to move out, though it's up to them if they get the message.

Cecile does her best to maintain her grip on the zombie, which is no easy feat thanks to the movement of both her and the water currents both. Thus, there's a constant effort just to keep her arms locked in place, so that others could do additional damage to the ensnared ghoul. So focused is she on this that the sudden movement toward her is noticed too late to avoid, and with ease the vampire's face is bitten into, causing a scream of pain and rage. That the wound is healing already matters not, as the shock causes her grip to slacken considerably. As Naledi tries to strike, the surprise movement ensures Cecile is knocked free, in time for RavenClaw to approach and go for a trachea crush. Meaning to capitalise on this, there's an assist on the pirate's part, a push forward sending her toward the zombie's back. The goal now is, provided the target stays distracted by the frontal attack, to use her nails to tear through clothing and flesh to reach the spine proper, so it could be assailed. As for leering at the werewolf proper, well that could happen later.. when she wasn't trying to survive against a mindless threat and they were all back on land.

Katyin continues to glide through the water, even turning over pebbles and perilously sticking her fingers into random divots, grooves, and holes, but she cannot find the key anywhere. Then, in the distance, something catches her eye and she moves through the water toward it, swimming as fast as her weary, battered body will allow. Alas, it is just a piece of sea glass, and her search continues mostly in vain.

When Olwen's surprise detonates, a few different things happen. First, the creature's head completely explodes in a disgusting mash of bone fragments, muscles, and rotten brain matter. There is a flavor in the water now that is unable to be avoided. The scent is there too. The second thing that happens is her body turns into a wispy black smoke that coils around RavenClaw, Olwen, and Cecile. Slowly it begins floating upward until it is no longer visible. The third thing that happens, is every single one of the bodies chained up begins rattling their bonds. They all shriek and howl in kind, as if mourning the loss of their sister, and the discordant sounds pierce the water so loudly that it is painful to hear. They start to struggle then, pulling at their chains and trying to unshackle themselves. It seems that they are all angry now, and whereas they were all content to watch before, now they want to participate. Their sister has been killed and she must be avenged. Here's hoping that they find the key before any of them succeed in escape.

Cecile, so focused on claiming a trophy, registers the movement from Olwen approaching. Remembering that boast from earlier, she does indeed back away before things get explosive, attention now turned to the remaining zombie. Turning her body downward, the vampire now swims toward the new target, intent on nearing while Thaeloc keeps it busy. The goal now is to seize one of the legs by the ankle then swim away, so it could be ripped free and perhaps used as a club later. Whether she manages this depends entirely on the Degn though, and keeping it in place for a clean grab.

The undead male thrashes on his way down as Thaeloc seeks to drag him further below. He does not go easily, however. He reaches up and attempts to claw mindlessly at Thaeloc's face with his claws, and once he has himself mostly sorted he kicks up off the bottom to hopefully remove himself from Thaeloc's grasp. He isn't happy though, and it shows in the way his wound-pocked face grimaces at the Degn. It is while the creature is distracted that Cecile literally rips his leg off, and he howls in seeming pain. Enraged and with an unnatural speed, he reaches forward with his one arm and tries to get Thaeloc in a choke hold. If he succeeds, he'll give his best attempt at snapping the Erol's neck.

Naledi's hands which were meant to snap the ankle of the undead woman come up with nothing but water. Thankfully, the other members of her party are more adept with fighting than she and, with the help of Olwen's gestures, she is able to swim away enough that the detonation of the undead's head doesn't injure her in the process as well. Except now she has to deal with the grossness that comes along with exploding undead heads. Not. Pleasant. And there was still the other undead to deal with, but Naledi isn't sure what became of it and there was still the need to search for the key--which was the whole reason they were down here in the first place! The rattling of those chains is unnerving to the elf who decides to go in search of Katyin and the key before they have to fight a whole army of undead creatures, trusting the others to handle the combat.

Thaeloc smiles as the male undead zombie trashes and start to try to grabble with the fighter. During the moment of distraction of Cecile ripping the leg clean off, cause the undead to go into a more frenzy attack, being more reckless and leaving openings that are easy to notice and capitalized on. When the cold wrinkled clawed holds reaches up for Thaeloc's neck as they turn and wrestle sinking deeper and deeper to the sea floor. The Degn slides his arm up by the undead elbow and twists locking the arm and wrenching the shoulder as he attempts to grab the undead by the throat and push the button and twist the handle and rip his Adam's apple right out of the dead throat.

Olwen shakes her head with a slight gag as the cloud of blood, meat, skull, and brain matter floats around them - it was disgusting and she felt her stomach lurch at the rotten taste invading her mouth. The little firecracker pushes on, yet becomes a bit unnerved by the rattling of chains and kicking up of ocean floor. Find that key, Katyin! Cecile's trophy earns an underwater chuckle, bubbles spilling free from the mercenary's lips. She gives an A-OK! signal to the vampire, then swims in to help Thaeloc in his quest. Spotting a shard of skull, Olwen thinks up the perfect trick. Grabbing it, she charges it up with energy and swims forward - this attempt will be to embed it deep in the eyeball of Thaeloc's undead foe, popping it like a grape and freeing the rotten jelly within. Olwen will give the Degn a warning shove, then swim off. Blowing up zombie heads might become a specialty yet.

RavenClaw has scarcely enough time to pull back from the undead who throat he was throttling before Olwen's surprise explosive takes its head apart. He pulled his arm back just in time, shielding his eyes from the explosion as he treads water away from the defeated undead. Gore and black ichor swirls around him, messing with his senses momentarily. Waving his hand to clear the water in front of him the werewolf take stock. The remaining undead seems well occupied, and Katyin and Nadeli are--he shivers, sensing the many eyes upon the group before hearing and seeing the struggling corpses below. The party does not have time to waste in finding that key. Putting his faith in Thaeloc's seemingly bottomless durability, Raven turns and swims downward to join the the pair currently searching for the key, squinting every so often as his hand reaches unconsciously to adjust a phantom pair of spectacles that has been woefully left behind on this journey.

Katyin moves along the bottom, still unable to find the key. The various zombies writhing in their bonds disturbs her though, and it shows in her eyes. She cranks her fire up so that it will burn brighter, though it takes a lot of effort to maintain given they are underwater. There's a surprising resilience to her fire though, and the pyromancer keeps swimming along the bottom on a panicked hunt for the one thing they need before they can leave the water behind.

Olwen scratches some more at the scale, feeling it bonding ever more to her flesh - how long before it made itself a permanent part of herself? She forgot the exact specifications she'd been told in the past. She shakes this worry off and focuses on the task at hand, dismantling the one-legged zombie. Thankfully the others were still in bonds. Seeing as Thaeloc is still holding on to the Zombie in a less than romantic choke-hold, she lunges forward, attempts to wrap her hands on either side of the rotting corpse's head and twist it clean from the neck. The mercenary wants to scream and to curse, but it's a futile attempt underwater. Find the damn key! She thinks.

Cecile drops the leg that she's managed to rip free of its joint, intending to come back for it once the threat was gone and the quest near its conclusion. Back to the second zombie the pirate then goes, mindful of those currently near it. Instead of going for the torso as with the first, this time the goal is one of the male ghoul's arms, and disarm it in a literal sense of the word. As this further delimbing is tried, she is careful to stay well out of Olwen's way, rather than spark a disagreement that got turned into a powderkeg.

As the undead male tries to thrash, Olwen gets a good grip of his head and pulls it right off, spinal column intact. The body flails a bit, stabbing and cutting at nothing in an odd display of magical mishaps. When Cecile glides in to pull out his remaining arm, it rips the heart from his chest too, effectively putting him to rest permanently. Just as the female before him, his body turns to a black smoke type magic that coils upward and disappears on the breeze above the water. The rest of the undead begin howling like a pack of wolves, only in supernatural, eerie notes. They pull more violently at their bounds, and a few of them manage to get free in the distance, noticeable by the loud SNAP of the chains. One by one, it seems these creatures are freeing themselves, though they are too sluggish to begin their hunt just yet. Once those instincts kick in, however, the group may be in quite a bind. Best to find the key, now.

A key can be shining around the neck of a body that is weighted to the bottom of the ocean floor with what appears to be a cinder block. The body, though bound, is animated, posing only a slight threat. The key glimmers in the dim light, the flash signaling its existence.

RavenClaw was all too correct to switch priorities, it seems, as the other creature's death knell has managed to agitate the horde. The snapping of chains hits his ears one after another as he swims hurriedly past Naledi and Katyin, scanning the ocean floor for any sign of the key. A distant glint catches his eye, and he kicks his legs, drifting down toward it. A grimace creases the werewolf's face, bubble curling away from his lips as he stares at the keeper of the key. Another undead, but this one seems thankfully bound for the time being. Gauging the zombie's animated wriggling for a moment, Raven quickly snatches at the key, snapping the cord around the undead's neck and clamping the prize between his teeth. He turns to the group, waving animatedly and pointing to the key in his mouth, than toward the surface. With a last look at the other creatures' sluggish awakening, he paddles quickly towards the shore.

RavenClaw gets a hefty, textured, stone key.

Naledi is thankful for the mermaid scale, not just because it helps her breathe underwater but rather it helps her glide through the water more easily. The elf was a decent swimmer prior to this endeavor, but the gnarly chunk taken out of her shoulder made swimming painful. Still she was determined to help find the key. She spies a brightness in front of her and she can only assume it's Katyin and her fire powers. The howling and shaking of those chains cause a panic in the elf who recognizes the need to get out of the water as soon as possible, and she pushes through the pain to swim faster. She catches up to Katyin but soon a man who she can only assume is the wolf from the shore races past them. Trusting his instinct, Naledi follows after him but at a much slower pace. She pulls up short when she sees Raven waving his hands and pointing at the key between his teeth before kicking off towards the surface. She spins on the spot to make sure the others see that the key has indeed been found and only once she's sure everyone is aware, does she angle herself towards the surface.

Katyin watches as RavenClaw finds the key, and the look on her face is hopeful and somewhat enlivened. It's like someone has healed some of her weariness, and she soon follows suit, swimming after RavenClaw and waving the others up. She uses her hands, lit up in an orange glow, to try and further get the group's attention, and only once she has succeeded, will she eventually break through the waves and swim as fast as she can to shore. Coming up and out of the water, she hacks up a bunch of sea water before peeling the mermaid scale off of her cheek. It no longer holds any magic in it, so she chucks it to the side and shivers on the sand. Katyin is freezing, and the toll that the cold water took on her is obvious in the way that she shivers. The pyromancer forces herself to sit up though, rubbing at her arms. As people emerge from the water, she smiles, counting every person to make sure they're accounted for. The whole ordeal was a close call, but she looks thankful that everyone made it out alive.

Carlie emerges from the east and approaches the group once everyone arrives, pointing the direction she came from. "I set up camp. I didn't want to just...stand around and be useless, so Emmie and I started a fire and did what we could to establish things for tomorrow. Obviously getting those supplies can't happen tonight. There isn't enough light and I'm sure the water took a lot out of all of you." Then she pauses, looking between each person. "Was the mission a success? Did you find the key?"

Katyin's teeth are chattering a bit by now, but she nods to Carlie. "He found it." She motions to RavenClaw. "I guess he's 'Atlas'." She uses air quotes. "I'm Katyin," she says to the key holder. "What should we call you?"

Olwen stomps out of the water like a woman scorned, hair hanging limp and sticking to her cheeks, what isn't up in a bun anyway. She is glaring forward, picking pieces of rotted meat from her clothes and hair. The scale is torn off of her skin and tossed to the side, rendered useless - though air rushes back into her lungs in sweet currents. "Stupid Karn-da** undead." is muttered, kicking at the sand in irritation. "I'm really gon' make tha' Pumpkin pay fer this." Carlie is glared at when she arrives, though the woman softens at the mention of camp. "Bes' job." RavenClaw finally gets a look, then a low whistle. "Goodness, Atlas. Ye sure can handle yerself." Cecile gets a wink, then Thaeloc receives a nod. "Thanks fer the help."

Cecile disposes of the arm, sighing because her roughness had crushed the bone, rendering it useless as a trophy. Looking around at the other group members, she thusly spots RavenClaw's gesturing and nods despite it being redundant. Not hesitating, she now ascends, emptying her stomach the instant the surface is broken again. No time is wasted after that, the shore moved toward so those already there could be joined and the next phase of the plan listened to. While this happens, her shirt is torn some, to create a makeshift hairband once the mess is pulled into a ponytail. As for Olwen, she's grinned to, and then RavenClaw gets an admiring glance.

Thaeloc before he followed the others and swim out of the water, he looks at the other undead tied down to the floor. For a moment he wants to stay and fight some more the bloodlust for combat pumping in his veins. Weighing the odds he turns and swims away keeping the chunk of rock in his hand as he walks out of the waves. Finding a piece of drift wood and unties on of the sashes of Bytor he wears on his person around the rock and wood making a fast make shift club. Thaeloc gives a nod back to Olwen as his breathing calms down looking around. "So what next? Got the Key."

RavenClaw stumbles ashore, still not quite used to walking on two legs again yet. Stone key still firmly locked between wolfy canines, the wolfman shakes his head vigorously, spraying water from his hair before reaching to smooth it back behind his pointed ears, the wet locks reaching down to the middle of his bare back. As if finally realizing just what a stone key that's been dangling from a seasoaked corpse for Karn knows how long actually tastes, Raven spits the object out into his hand, gagging a little and wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. He makes his way over to the torn sweater he had left behind on the beach, kicking at it lightly before deciding to abandon it and just go shirtless for now. Turning to the group, he smiles a little sheepishly. "Uh..." His voice is rough for a moment as if he hasn't used it in a while, before he clears his throat and tries again. "Um, hi. I'm Raven. Or 'Atlas,' I guess?" He nods to Olwen, then makes his way to Katyin, dnaging the key in front of her with his index finger looped through the ring. "So this battered thing is what we went swimming for? Care to explain why it was at the bottom of the sea wrapped around an undead's neck?"

Katyin looks over at Olwen curiously, wondering what she means each time she swears about a pumpkin. "Excuse me, Olwen?" She asks, shivering a bit violently now. "What is this pumpkin that you keep going on about? I need some context." She forces herself to stand then, walking some to try and get feeling back into her malnourished body. She's even weaker than she was before, even if she looks a lot cleaner. Carlie shadows her every move, fretting over her friend in a not so subtle way. She practically haunts Katyin's every step. RavenClaw's question makes her frown, but she's quick to answer. "I don't know why it was around an undead's neck, but the group we were with last, there was someone named Guy, and he entered the water one day and lost it. He didn't return, and Carlie and I were too afraid to go in after it alone. Carlie can't swim, and I was afraid to go by myself. I wish I had more of an answer for you, but that's all I have." Thaeloc's question has Katyin glancing his direction, and she answers him once he's done speaking. "Carlie said that her and Emmie made camp to the east. It's nighttime now. We make camp and I guess go on a supply run tomorrow. Carlie mentioned there were supplies near the wheat field that direction. We'll rest then get those in the morning."

Carlie eventually frowns, looking around. She sees a body nearby though and approaches it. It's wearing a cardigan. The teenager has no problem rolling that dead body around to steal the cardigan from it, running back to Katyin and making her wear it. It surprisingly has no smell, and it's big enough that Katyin is able to bundle in it to some degree. It's a dark shade of blue, and Carlie smiles to the pyromancer and gives her a big hug before taking her by the hand and leading her to the east. "Camp is this way. I can't believe we found tents, but there's three. I don't care which tent I'm in as long as I'm with Katyin."

Katyin chuckles low, letting Carlie take her hand, though she is a bit slow to follow behind her. Every muscle in her body is screaming, and her stomach is singing harmonies with them. "I'm not picky who I share a tent with either. Everyone down there was amazing. You should have seen them, Carlie." The pair fall silent then as they make their way all the way east, then turning to head south.

Carlie leads everyone to camp, and while she's there, she asks, "We need two people to play lookout tonight. You know, just in case. The rest of us will sleep. Are there any volunteers?" For whatever reason, Carlie rests her gaze thoroughly on Thaeloc. She doesn't say anything of course, just stares.

RavenClaw frowns at Katyin's explanation, but follows after her and Carlie in silence until they reach the campsite. He watches Carlie's action with particular attention. He hadn't had much time to interact with the child before hastily leaping into the sea, and only now has the chance to eye the wounds on Carlie's legs. He makes a mental note, silently slipping the key into the pocket of his trousers as they arrive. "I'll take night watch," he says rather quickly, before anyone else can volunteer. "I probably have the best senses of anyone here, and I haven't taken any hits yet." He glances at Naledi and Cecile in particular. "The two of you were both hit pretty hard. If you managed to pick up any of the supplies we passed, best take care of your injuries while we have the chance. And Carlie's," he adds, looking back at the teenage girl. "Those are some real nasty looking wounds, miss."

Naledi's ascent through the water is thankfully uneventful but she stumbles up onto the shore a little less gracefully. She pulls off the mermaid scale, tossing it aside, and takes a few deep breaths before she winces as a breeze hits her wound. Her hand reaches across her chest to grasp that shoulder as she follows the others up the shore but the elf is quiet, simply following the group as they walk towards the camp and listening as Katyin recounts to Carlie what transpired. She's happy to know that Carlie and Emmie didn't run into any trouble while they were in the water, relieved that they weren't idle either so that perhaps their task kept their minds off of what was happening below the surface. The moral part of Naledi wants to offer to take night watch but the realistic part of her knows that it could potentially put others at risk--injured with no powers as she was. "I'm fine," she tell Raven with a half smile. The elf follows the werewolf's gave toward Carlie and the wounds on her legs. "You alright?"

Olwen wrinkles her nose when Katyin mentions the Pumpkin, that gourd putting a sour taste in her mouth. "There's a Jack-o-Lantern o'er in Karchan. Gives ya tricks n' treats. I took a gamble an got me a trick, apparently...said a vacation'd be nice. She tol' me, yer gon' get a vacation on October. Goin' somewhere ya ne'er been before." She strikes an open palm with her balled fist, "I should brin' er a souvenir, eh?" Raven's offer for the nightwatch causes her to cant her head in assent, "I did put dibs on ya, eh, Atlas? Tha' means we're shackin' up an' lookin' out fer monsters." The mercenary digs in her pocket, "Here," is said to Naledi. "Ya look like ya could use this more'n me righ' now." Hopefully she doesn't regret this decision. You give a dark, red, herbal potion to Naledi.

Thaeloc not a fool knows that the stare after being asked for volunteers for a night watch is easy to tell he was one of the ones wanted. "Yeah I can stay up and keep a watch going. Might give me some time to see if there are any rocks around here that can be napped down to a better edge then a rock on a stick." Reaching into his pocket he pulls out one of the red potions he had found on the ground and leaves it on the ground. "Figure out who needs this more right now, I took no damage and others have more of a need for it right now then I do."

Thaeloc drops a dark, red, herbal potion.

Cecile scowls when it's realised that her shirt had gore which didn't come off in the water and likely never would. A shrug and the blouse is then removed, revealing both a grey undershirt and the majority of her tattoos, without embarrassment. The soiled garment is put on the corpse for lack of knowing where else to place it, and then she follows the guides. As the need for a lookout overnight is made, there's no hesitation from the vampiric being. "I can help keep watch too, if you need an extra one, since the night's made for predators. Only get tired when the sun's at its peak. This is suggested just to have something to do, while making sure not to get off on the wrong foot with Olwen, who'd seemed to have staked her claim. As for RavenClaw's observation, there's a wry smile and she retorts, "Nothing but certain types of magic or blood are gonna help keep me healed up," casually revealing her nature even if it was sure to cause hostility with Thaeloc... not that she knew it right off. Whether the offer was accepted or not, she'd go along with the decision and then just spend the night in quiet contemplation.

Katyin looks pleased as they reach camp, sidling up to the campfire as soon as possible. Being a pyromancer, the fire does her a world of good, and despite the grunts, groans, and screams of the monsters in the woods, Katyin has decided to take this moment to herself to just soak up the warmth and put the misery this place invokes behind her for a few minutes.

Carlie is surprised when RavenClaw volunteers so easily, but she wears a slight smile. When he mentions her legs, the teenager looks a little surprised, then a little bashful. She points out at the wheat fields stretching out for miles in front of them, but to one spot in particular. "There's a knapsack way out there. I can't see it now because it's dark, but I'm pretty sure it is packed full of supplies. I thought to myself, that knapsack is all the way out there, alone, and I can see for miles around if anything is headed my way, so it should be safe for me to retrieve it on my own." Her mouth pulls into a frown again, and she shuffles from foot to foot. "The wheat though. Something about it is cursed, I guess. I got halfway to the knapsack before the wheat started whipping my legs like razor blades. Took some chunks clean out. I ran back here, to this spot, and once I was out of the wheat, it didn't cut me anymore." Carlie's frown deepens. "Tomorrow we have to go out there and get the knapsack that I failed to get." She pauses again before looking at Naledi. "And yeah, I'm fine. I'll have scars, but at least I'll have a story or two to tell when I get back home, you know?" The teenager offers the elf a small smile before she shuffles from foot to foot again.

Katyin snaps out of her daze to listen to Carlie's story, and she simpers in response. "Carlie, don't blame yourself for that. I'm just thankful you got away. Maybe we can all figure something out tomorrow. If we procure the knapsack you're talking about, we can travel back down the beach and into the forest, then hit the cabin. I feel safe when we're there. You told me you did too." She swallows hard then, starting to feel better already. The thought of crawling into a tent isn't half bad when you're exhausted, after all. "So Raven, or Atlas, if anything gets near us in the night, wake us up. We'll take it on as a team. I think that's where my group failed. Everyone was so busy fighting each other left and right that we never worked together." Her gaze skips over to Olwen then, "And sorry about the pumpkin. That hardly sounds fair. This place...is not fair, to anyone. I really hope that I'm not fated to die here. I have so much left that I want to do with my life."

Carlie falls quiet for a moment, then helps Katyin up. "You're not going to die here. And neither am I. You're just tired. Come on, let's go get some sleep. Olwen and Atlas got this under control. They volunteered and everything. We didn't even have to draw straws!" With some coaxing, Katyin and Carlie say their goodnights and enter the middle tent. There is some shuffling around, but at least one more person can fit.

RavenClaw nods to Cecile, conceding the point and opting not to speak on it further, given certain company. He'd already had his suspicions--werewolf nose and all--so her flippant remarks don't really garner much of a reaction. He does raise an eyebrow toward the wheat field as Carlie replies and explains her wounds, a low whistle passing his lips. "Angry wheat. That's a new one. Guess we'll tackle that one in the morning." As more than half of the group suddenly volunteer themselves for the watch after he does, Raven turns to the group with a wry smirk. "Okay, we can't all stay up. You're just gonna have to trust me and...Olwen, right? on this one." He points to Thaeloc in particular. "You're the only bloke here I even recognize, Thaeloc. I know you're all honorable and noble and stuff, but go to bed for now. I'll give you a bark if there's trouble, then you can come out swinging that club you worked so hard to make." He walks over toward one of the empty tents, calling back over his shoulder. "I'm borrowing this for a moment. No one steal my pants after I drop 'em off, they're all I've got for clothes." Raven disappears for a moment, the soft silhouette of his form caused by the fire suddenly changing shape and dropping to the ground, before the mottled, shaggy shape of his form emerges again, trotting over by Olwen before sitting down near the fire to keep watch.

Naledi shoots Carlie a wink when she takes her leg injuries in stride, commenting on how the scars will give her a story to tell. "Yeah they will. You can tell everyone how strong and badass you are." Turning back towards the group, the elf looks up in surprise when Olwen offers her the potion and she can't help but grin. "You know Lanterna? I got 'trick' this year, too. Only it didn't make sense. She said I might be feeling powerful? Maybe that was the trick, eh? Making me think I was about to get some cool ability but it never actually comes." The elf shrugs her shoulders and winces, but hands the potion back to the feisty woman. "Here, you keep this. I'll be alright and I don't want to leave you without anything." A small smile is given before she waves towards Raven as well. "Thanks for taking the watch you two. Try and get some rest everyone," she says to the others. The elf then moves towards the left-hand tent and crawls inside where she plops down and carefully eases off her vest lest the material fuse into the wound as the bleeding clots and the dried blood coagulates. Now clad in her bralette, Naledi takes some time craning her neck to try and get a better look at it and prod at the tender skin. Eventually she gives up and curls up on her side, willing sleep to find her. Maybe next time she'd wake up back on her houseboat.

Naledi gives a dark, red, herbal potion to Olwen.

Olwen is peeling her leather armor off and shaking out bits of meat and sand, setting the next to the fire for the moment. She is clad in her form fitting pants and shirt, though soaking up the warmth of that fire as it helps to dry her out. The petite woman has a seat and shakes her hair loose, seeking to redo it into a bun and keep it from her eyes. Honestly, she could use a bath, but that was a far away luxury at this point. She'd settle for just being dry. Boots removed, excess water is dumped out. After a time, she would put all of this back on. Though for now things are calm. "Olwen is righ', yeah." is said to Raven, huffing a laugh at the 'Angry wheat' comment. "I got fairly good sigh' in the dark...but no provokin' wheat ire this eve, I thin'. Soggy undead was enough excitement for now." Naledi's return of her potion causes Olwen to quirk a brow, "Alrigh'...let me know if'n ye change yer min'." All of the Volunteers bring a smile to her face, making her a bit more curious after Cecile's comments.

Thaeloc moves over near the fire as he loosens the straps on his armor leaning back as he uses stones to chip away the edges of rocks working them into a point and edge. "I might get some sleep thanks for the offer but I want to make sure we are prepared for tomorrow with what limited supplies and lack of weapons. I might be able to produce one of two tonight that are sort of functional for a few uses if any monsters attack."

Cecile, as she isn't needed for guard duty, notes where Olwen and RavenClaw end up. Giving them privacy, she then walks toward the tent where Naledi and Emmie were currently hunkered down. Seating herself beside it opposite the pair on guard, the vampire then closes her eyes, to keep watch in her own way. After then scoffing to herself about people who have to rely on weapons to survive, she then lets the conscious part of her mind wander, both for the privacy of others and to think about her daughter waiting to be picked up from Mahtohs.

So with Emmie and Naledi in one tent, Katyin and Carlie in another, RavenClaw and Olwen volunteer to stay up and be the lookouts throughout the night. Thaeloc remains up to hopefully fashion some crude weaponry, but may eventually get a little sleep.

Last modified on October 24, 2020, 21:02:27