Warning and Recruitment

Elara was pleasantly surprised when Dreli volunteered to help with warning and recruitment. The pair of you set off early in the morning, and she explains her plan while filling her satchel with some nearby edible plants.

"We don't like to stay in any one place for too long, that's usually when The Order comes knocking. But we realized that certain areas are safer than others, and try to collaboratively maintain a few different sites in the woods. I figure we check those out first, warn anyone we find, and hope that a few are willing to join for this attack."

She stops collecting plants for a moment and looks at Dreli, "Sometimes I think I'm too soft for all of this. If you didn't take care of things outside the ruins, The Order would've probably caught up to us already." Her gaze lowers to the ground. "We don't even know if we can hurt these things. How do I convince people to risk their lives trying?"

She nods quietly. "I understand, and honestly I think we're going to need that strength and resilience to get through..." Elara stops talking and stands still for a moment before whispering to Dreli. "I think something is following us," she looks at her feet and points them both in the same direction, "Something over there." she mumbles softly.

The pair of you continue along your path, cautious but failing to get a good look at whatever seems to be following from that direction. The Order doesn't tend to do things with subtlety, so Elara doesn't think it's them, but the woods have other less than friendly occupants so she stays alert as well.

Approaching one of the sites, Elara makes a short bird call to announce herself before walking in and explaining the situation to the pair of men inside. They appreciate the warning, but scoff at the suggestion that they should join in on any assault.

We're barely surviving as it is, and I don't make a habit of acquiring powerful enemies. This is a suicide mission, I see no point in it.

They are not convinced, and Elara doesn't seem to know how to convince them. If Dreli has any argument for participating, she can do so and roll a WIL save to see how persuasive it is.

The men exchange a few silent looks, and reluctantly agree to join in the effort, conceding that their current 'defense only' strategy wasn't effective. They start packing up their things, and head in the direction Dani and others are planning on rallying folks together.

Heading towards the next nearby site, Dreli catches a glimpse of something in their periphery following them once again. Whatever it is, it seems to be fairly large, over 6 feet tall. It doesn't seem as though Elara has noticed it.

Her eyes narrow and Elara quickly turns in the direction gestured, loudly calling out "I don't got time for this, is that you Teven?"

You both stare in that direction and after a few moments a large figure walks forward. They look like a large man, almost 7 feet tall, with the head of a dark brown canine (kind of a mix between a dog and a wolf in terms of appearance). When he speaks, it comes out like a scratchy growl. "What is it you and your friends are up to Elara?"

He looks towards Dreli and his widen for a second before he sniffs and takes a few steps closer to her. "Did you come here with two others? One older, one younger?"

Teven nods, "The older one..." he pauses and unsheaths a dark metal short sword that gives off a subtle blue glow. "This blade was how he met his end." His face shifts into more of a grin and he adds, "I guess you could say, you owe me one."

"If I knew how to get out of these woods, I would have left long ago." he replies to Dreli, "But if you both tell me what all of the recent excitement is about, I'll consider us even."

"Since when do you care about anyone but yourself?", Elara chimes in. "And what do you mean by excitement? What have you heard?"

"Oh I've heard some things, seen some things. There was an escape from Valleyview the same night a bunch of Robes were slaughtered. Then I stumble into you both warning people about a crackdown coming, and trying to get people to help you take on The Order." Teven says, with a tone that hints that he may know more. "If your little crew is going to cause chaos in my hunting grounds, I'd at least like to know what this is all about."

He smiles broadly, "You're far too much fun to be hanging out with this one." and Teven gestures towards Elara who rolls her eyes.

Teven continues, with a more serious tone now. "I have my reasons for staying out of The Order's way, but I agree that they deserve some wrath. While I won't fight them with you, I can help with this." and he flips the dark metal short sword in his hand so that he's now holding on to the blade and extending the hilt towards Dreli. Dreli can see that he has a second sword of the exact same make at his other side.

"You're pretty fired up about this, but sometimes it pays off to cool down a bit. Hit a Sweeper with this, should slow down enough to give you all an opportunity." He looks Dreli in the eyes and lowers his voice, "Don't let this fall into their hands, and kill any Robe who sees its effects."

Elara looks at the blade with wide eyes, and turns to Dreli. "This could make all the difference for the trap. We should head to the others and see if we can stop these things in their tracks once and for all!" Another thought dawns upon her though, and she adds "Except we still have a couple more groups to warn... unless..." and Elara looks at Teven.

"So you want me to warn your members in the area?" He chuckles, and bows in an exaggerated manner. "I'll be happy to kick them off of my turf, but tisk tisk pawning your responsibilities onto others. This new friend of yours is a bad influence on you Elara... you should keep her around." and Teven smiles in a manner that bares his sharp teeth.

"I'll tell anyone in the area to head to the north or south for safety, or back towards the east if they wish to assist with this battle. Just remember what I told you about the blade... and if you get caught, don't you dare tell them where you got it." With that, he quickly slinks back into the woods and disappears.

Elara charts a path back towards the area where the trap was being set, which goes around the area the bait group was going through to try and lure a Sweeper. It will take a little longer to get there than going through, but this approach will be the best way to ensure the element of surprise is maintained.