Chapter 7: Wherever You May Roam

"I understand. I've seen you excited. Ill not the most level headed person. If you get a crazy idea, fill me in first. I might just go along with it and help."

He looks about in a conspiratorial fashion. "Say, do you know anything about the college? Did you study there?"

Her expression lightens a little when Uelten implies he’s ridiculous. But she blushes.

Um, my great grandmother was expelled. My brother wanted to go but - she shakes her head. Anyway for all we’ve learned about the war. All we’ve realized they knew.......I’m glad I never went.

"Shocking," he replies drolly at the part about being expelled.

"I have two ideas: the governor's mansion and the University. Both are rumoured to have caches of magic. I'd rather get there before the looting starts in full."

She smiles.

You're in most of your wild stories, aren’t you. She chuckles and looks around. Coreene can tell us more soon. I’ll have to check in with my kids. And, she shows her burn, but this time there’s levity covering her worry. Sometimes I don’t think right. She winks, pauses, and then hugs him surprisingly hard.

Embracing her lightly in return. "Well you better start! Future generations will want to hear my epic, and I haven't finished it yet."

She hops up with a melodramatic flourish. Well, then! Uelten Swan! Snaggletoothed Bard of Hara! I will take you to the ruins, lead you through the maw of danger, and usher you home posthaste to write your epic!

While Wil peruses the list of potential officers, Yelnar has an idea. "Wil, you could take someone with you on your scouting mission to get more of a sense of them. Perhaps someone from further afield, I think I know someone who might be."

With the air of an absent minded professor, Yelnar wanders off. After 30 seconds or so, he remembers to check if Wil is following, as he realises he didn’t actually ask. He blushes a little, but says nothing.

They make their way through the camp, and Yelnar eventually approaches a large half-orc man. He nods at him as he approaches, and politely waits for him to finish his current conversation. This gives him time for the gears in Yelnar’s brain to grind, desperately trying to summon forth the man’s name. Thankfully it arrives just before he approaches them.

"Zhaar, isn’t it?" says Yelnar, before gesturing to Wil "This is my friend, Wil."

"Zhaak actually" come the deep rumble of the half orcs voice. Yelnar’s shoulders slump slightly, and the large man bursts into laughter "Haha I’m just messin with ya, noticed you were thinkin pretty hard on it, got you good!" He then steps over to Wil and offers a handshake. "I heard about you, did some things back in the city. What’s your plan this time Yelnar?"

"I thought I remembered hearing you say you weren’t originally from Hara, is that the case?"

"Yeah, I came from the Shattered Range Mountains in Ardraven, before the fall of the tribes."

Yelnar cocks his head sideways a little and a puzzled expression comes over his face. "I’ll have to get you to explain more about that sometime if you’re OK with it, but business first. We have somewhere we’re thinking of taking folks that might be safe, but want to send folks out to check things out first. Wil here is going to be part of that scouting party, and it’d be good to have some folks who’ve been out in the world some to go along, whaddaya reckon?"

"Sounds OK to me" he looks at Wil "Whaddaya say big rig?"

Any friend of Yelnar's.

Wil looks way up.

So, tiny, happy to have you. Do you ride? We will be taking horses, moving fast. Trying to find and mark safe places for the group that follows, marking any dangerous spots. The usual scouting stuff.

Wil's smile and chuckle shows that "tiny" is all in fun, and that "big rig" didn't bother him.

Zhaar chuckles heartily and says "Yeah, that might work, I hope you got a big horse for me. I wonder what’ll be faster, my draft horse or your pony?"

We can have a race on a slow day.

Wil turns to Yelnar.

Thanks for your help. I think the name we mentioned will be good squad leaders.

He signals Zhaar.

Let's go find Verrian. And a horse for you. Oh, and do you happen to know any clerics or healers that would be a good addition to a 4 person scouting team?

Zhaar cheerfully admits that he doesn't know many healers, but he'll keep his oversized ears open. He lets Wil know to contact him when the departure time is known, and goes back to oiling and sharpening his wicked-looking sword.

---

Word travels quickly through the camp, reaching the ears of the party members and the resistance as well, that Coreene has returned from her reconnaissance mission and has information to pass along. The group reconvenes at the meeting hall they used the night before, ready to hear whatever news their eagle-eyed friend has gathered.

It's late morning by now, getting on toward the noon hour. The threatened rain has yet to materialize, but there's an unease in the air that smells of rain soon to come.

The chairs in the town hall are still positioned in a circle as they were during their little meeting the previous evening. Verrian arrives first and assesses the light. It's nearly noon, but the gray skies are sending only dim light through the windows, so she lights a couple of lanterns anyway as she waits for the other members of her party and the resistance to arrive to hear the results Coreene's airborne reconnaissance.

Yelnar arrives, and is glad to see Verrian, he has had a troubling thought he needs to raise with her.

"Verrian, I have had a troubling thought about Ildemu. You may already have had similar, but it has only just occurred to me. Obviously here his task was to unleash that elemental (though that may have been a side effect rather than the goal), but it appears he fulfilled his task in Viamard as well - what was he after there? We seem to be one step behind him, it would be nice to try and get ahead, I am sure we'll meet him again. Did you notice anything before he teleported away?"

Verrian listens to Yelnar's concern and ponders his question about Ildemu's purpose in Viamard. "It's just an educated guess, but I suspect that the goal in Viamard was to drain the magic from all the highly powered mages in the area. Your mother, for example. Maybe they have a way to convert stolen magical energy, or to store it. If so, maybe they were able to take that magic to Hara and use it to help release the elemental."

She shrugs, looking both apologetic and frustrated. "I share your uneasiness. You're right - we are always a step behind. We simply don't have enough information about him and the Crows, or their actual goals, to anticipate their next move."

Swan enters, holding the door open for Ember who appears from behind him. They take their seats left for them, and listen to the murmer.

"Sorry I'm late, I was waiting for, well, Ember to get me a handkerchief." He wipes his eyes. "There's a lot of dust," he explains.

He suddenly claps his hands. "Have we heard from Coreene? I haven't seen my best friend in, like hours. I worry."

Ember sits on her hands and smiles at the others, waiting patiently.

Wil wanders in and takes a seat.

Elora silently arrives, stowing a journal.

Coreene is almost a little sad to change back into her normal body. While her mission was serious and somber, she was going to miss the feeling of the wind in her feathers and sensation of freedom that came with flying.

Her heart weighs heavily as she enters the little meeting hall that they've set up. Seeing everyone in and seated, she offers them a small smile before she gets to business and begins her report. "I am pleased to announce that the city is no longer under the control of the Crows or rampaging fire elementals." she tells them. "In fact, the city seems to be fairly devoid of people from what I was able to see. Most of the survivors have set up camps in the countryside, probably no more than twenty people to a camp." She looks around them all, but doesn't make any lingering eye contact.
"I uh- I'm sorry to say that there... I don't think that there were many survivors from the attack... A little over half of the city has been destroyed. Everything on the eastern side of the river is nothing but rubble and ash." She looks down, trying to work down a lump in her throat. After a deep breath, she continues. "Everything between the main gate and the river has also been destroyed. The remaining damage appears to be in random pockets and trails spreading from the crater."
"The- the crater itself looks to have cooled mostly. Most of the earth within it turned to rough glass from the heat. There might be something worthwhile at the bottom, so climbing gear might be useful for the scout team to bring with them. That area also appears to be near where the district governor's house once stood. Many people avoided that area, since anything metal had a habit of super-heating itself when you got too close. I guess we know why, now." She wants to let out a laugh at the discovery, but her throat is too tight to let it escape. "There is also a building nearby the crater. Its completely untouched, and I think it might be made partially of whitestone. It would be worth checking out, and there is an avenue near the gate closest to here that leads almost right to it. Other than that, I am unsure of what supplies we would be able to salvage from the city. There may be a cart or two that could be put together to get things back, but I wouldn't count on it."
Coreene finishes her report, and stands for a moment in silence, trying to see if there is anything else she can think of that she say. No thinking of anything, she sits down.

Ember leans forward in her seat with a huge grin (minus the no survivors part). Coreene is okay! And she was a bird! And now Ember gets to go on an awesome adventure with a bard who is a little more unhinged than he lets on! She's able to push the shame from earlier down and focuses on the task at hand.

That is so cool that you could find all of this out, Coreene. Thank you so much. She looks around to see if anyone seems motivated. I know Uelten and I were going to go look for magical tools. Should a different group look for settlement stuff? Just in case stuff gets weird at the college.

A very small part of her hopes stuff gets weird at the college. She tells that part to shut up.