[Jynx Anthropic]

Danus Maximus. Helas Folly. Morning.

The Imperial is sitting down on a chair next to the unconscious man. (I've only been here for one day and so many things happened. Yet the Jarl will still stubbornly refuse Imperial access in this damn town.) Thought the Imperial. "Barkeep, give me a bottle of Honeybrew mead." said Danus. "And does this town has a damn healer?"

[X(S.a.R.a.H)X]

Gorbad Yak-Bogadbu, his forge, morning

The argonian shook Gorbad's hand in a formal greeting and gave the chest-piece a curious look.
___________________

"This one's name is Jormaw, son of Argonia. A fine piece of work, orc, but you seem to be lacking of its completion."
"I'll tell you what- you need some customary leather to match that chitin, usual leather won't fit without causing discomfort."
"I'll provide the boiled netch variety if you can get someone to fetch those materials you need to make the spear."
"I myself do not have the time for such errands. I'm new to the town you see and I've yet to set up a fishing spot by the river, so I'll be quite busy."
____________________
The leather was supposed to be the comfortable part of this armor. Much like a very thin pillow between the users shirt and the chitin armor. Apparently Jormaw thought it was supposed to be something else. Or perhaps he was thinking about how the armor would feel on a reptile or khajiit? Gorbad hadn't thought about that aspect before. He was too far in his work already to do any changes now. He realized Nellis was his best bet at this point, to fetch some iron and corundum for him. He wondered if Nellis would recognize quality wood when he saw it, but Gorbad doubted it.
"I know a miner who'd be more than happy to fetch me some ore, but he's not going to be able to find any quality wood for your spear." he paused and felt he needed to say something about the chitin armor as well.
"As for the armor, it's almost finished. It'll be just fine with the leather I have." He said and continued by talking about the spear, "The spear will cost 100 gold if you don't bring wood or ore, but if you bring the wood for it I'll cut the price down to 75 gold. What do you say?"

[Betsy Humpledink]

Jacqueline, Valton Farm, Early Morning.

She finished milking the goat and secured the lid on the tin. She put it down against the wall of the barn and opened the door to let Henry out.

“No runnin’ off, ya hear me?” she teased him.

She checked the chickens’ cage for eggs and found three nice and big brown eggs. She exited the barn and closed the door. Henry and Apricot were munching on a patch of juicy green grass and the two chickens were finishing off the last of the oats. Carrying the eggs in one hand, Jacqueline took the milk tin in the other and walked back to the farmhouse.
The door was open so she assumed the others were awake. She entered the house and went over to the dining table. She placed the small tin on the table, making sure it wasn’t in the sun, and found a small bowl to put the eggs in so that they wouldn’t roll off and fall to the floor. "Good mornin'" she greeted Roymund. It seemed Alguidar was not up yet.

Jacqueline grabbed the bucket used to bring water to the kitchen from the counter and carried it outside. Maybe they could boil the eggs and have them with their breakfast along with the goat milk.
She went over to the well and filled the bucket with cold water. She noticed a small pile of firewood stacked up against the back of the house and decided to grab some for the fireplace.
Back in the house she put the bucket on the kitchen counter and placed the four pieces of firewood on the embers left from the night before. With a bit of effort she managed to produce some small flames.

All this work so early in the morning had left her quite thirsty, so she found a pitcher and filled it up with some of the water from the bucket. She grabbed her cup from the night before and filled it up with the crystal clear water. As she enjoyed the cold drink she made a list of things that needed to be done.
The cows needed milking and feeding, and they should be let out on the field. The gate and the well needed fixing and they would pobably need more firewood in the evening. She didn't know what kind of crops Alguidar had growing and what needed to be done to them.

[x_JeNnY_x]

Roymund Inventius, Valton Farm. Morning

Roymund continued to root through his pack, pulling most of it's contents out onto the table before replacing them inside. It took him awhile due to his arm, though it was starting to heal and had already scabbed over he felt alittle embarrased about showing a weakness infront of two people he barely knew.

He heard Jacqueline come back into the farmhouse, she placed a couple things down onto the dining table "Good mornin'" she said whilst making sure her selection of goods didnt fall from the table. "Morning, I'm heading into town before breakfast. Need to drop off a couple things at the general store" he nodded to the slabs of venison still out on the table "Need anything picking up?"

Roymund continued to collect together his belongings, after a few moments he had gathered everything. "Whittle, Meat, Skins, Horns, Purse, Flint, Tinder, Be--.." he stopped mid thought, "Hmmph.. Still set out.." his eyes switched between his bedroll and Alguidar "Doubt he'd mind me staying a couple more nights."
Finally he tied up the satchel, Slung it over his shoulder with a grim sigh. His eyes were drawn back to the corner of which he was due to sleep, his thick travellers robes, Iron sword and journal where still displayed beside his bedroll.

With a shrug, he continued to the door and awaited the Bretons answer.

[Robyn Howlett]

Jacqueline, Valton Farm, Morning.

"Nah, there ain't anythin' I need at tha moment but thanks for offerin'" she smiled at him. "I dunno if there's anythin' Alguidar needs. How long does it take to get to tha town from 'ere?"

[Lou]

Jormaw, Gorbad's Smithy, Morning.

The argonian pondered Gorbad's proposition carefully. He didn't want the orc to ruin such a remembrance of his past, nor did he want to be
looking for quality wood which he had no experience in. Jormaw gave thought to demonstrate a material reaction to the orc. He proposed:

"I'm no master smith, like yourself. But I've seen this mistake of using usual leather in the process of chitin-shaping, so let me show you something."
From the depths of his garb he took out a necklace with a chitinous carapace of a torchbug at the end of it, he drew the carapace out from the rope.
Jormaw clawed a small piece of leather from Gorbad's work place, placing it on top of the carapace. He produced a heated salve from his saliva,
placing it on his finger and smoothing it over the leather. The leather became shaded slowly, before heating into an ashen glow of red and greys.

"The body sweat from battle will seep through the leather to the chitin, causing a chain reaction of heating that will be reflected back into the leather."
He managed a small laugh, "not to mention that this chitin is black in colouration, creating even more heat to gather in the material, bringing about a 'roast'."
Glimmering back into a smile, he continued. "You'll need leather that is unique enough in quality to seperate the heat levels and still give enough comfort."
"The dunmer of Morrowind mastered this technique and learned to use the leather of a netch that is boiled in troll fats for a procedure of weeks."

He gazed over to the orc, hoping his pride would not be the bane of his existence."So perhaps a reconsideration of my offer might be in order, friend."
"I'll provide the boiled netch leather and 70 gold, if you can gain the materials needed to make the spear and actually craft it." "With or without help."
Jormaw tried to act courteous in manner, but long years as a roughened mercenary gave him a demeanour of resorting to hostility in negotiations.

[+++CAZZY]

Gorbad Yak-Bogadbu, his forge, morning

The argonian did know a little of chitin, that Gorbad had to admit, but what Jormaw hadn't realized was that Gorbad had already taken care of the heating problem, not that it'd be necessary in the cold of Skyrim. However, the argonian didn't seem to have any experience of finding quality wood, nor did he want to mine anything, so Gorbad accpeted the boiled netched offer, but he'd use that on the legs and the boots and leave the chest-piece as it is.
"I'll use the boiled netch lether on the leg armor and boots, but the chest-piece is already done and will not give any heating problems." He showed the ventilation holes he'd made in the armor, smaller than the tip of an arrow but there were plenty of it, giving an almost chain-mail like too the chitin on the inside.
"70 gold and boiled netch leather for the boots and leg armor sounds like a good deal." From the corner of his eyes he saw Nellis stumbling out of the inn on the other side of the road. Apparently he'd been drinking yesterday, or parhaps this morning as well? Gorbad wasn't sure, but waved to Nellis to come to his forge for a chat. He explained that he needed a few chunks of both iron and corundum ore from the mine, which wouldn't require Nellis to go even as deep as the spiders lair. Nellis was on his way almost before Gorbad finished speaking. He turned his attention back the Jormaw and asked, "Deal?"

[Jordyn Youngman]

Roymund Inventius, Valton Farm. Morning.

While awaiting her answers, Roymund gazed out amongst the local nature. His eyes drawn atop the trees, the bright morning sun hassled those who made homes high amongst the trees. Her voice broke him from his minds wanderings.
"Nah, there ain't anythin' I need at tha moment but thanks for offerin'" she smiled at him though he did not see "I dunno if there's anythin' Alguidar needs. How long does it take to get to tha town from 'ere?" she asked.

"Ten minutes at a brisk pace, I'd say." he turned back to look inside "Best not to wake him just yet, reckon he's got enough on his mind and would need the sleep. Should be back within the hour."

Roymund stepped outside, sliding the door closed as he passed. Once out of ear shot of the farm he began to hum lightly to himself. "Nice day outside, lad." he said to himself "A handfull of good fellows and a place to stay, not bad luck for a grumpy sod" he let out a small laugh.

His humming soon turned to a quiet ditty from his days amongst the legion.

"If ever i'll 'list for a soldier again, devil shall be me sergeant.
Poor old soldier, poor old soldier.
If ever i 'list for a soldier again, devil shall be me sergeant"

[Fanny Rouyé]

[KALAMARI's Character] Nellis Nelsh, Valton, morning.

"Finally some work." Nellis thought with a small smile on his face. The crazy dreams hadn't bothered him last night nor had he been possessed by the demon voice again. He was all-in-all in a very good mood. As he walked over the bridge to get to the other side he saw fish swiming in the water and the morning sun shone with a pleasant warmth, reflecting over the water's surface. He checked his pick-axe one more time, it was there. A short walk later, a few loose stone-kicks and a humming glad tone of a song Nellis hadn't heard before but somehow could whistle, he reached the mine. A guard greeted him, a lot of quality wood was stacked up here just waiting for a carpenter or mason to build the reinforcement here. As it was now, there was just a camp with a tent and a small fire at the entrance of the mine and of course the huge amount of wood. "Didn't Gorbad mention he needed quality wood for a spear as well?" Nellis thought. Yes that was correct. Nellis didn't know much of wood though, but ore he did. So he asked the guard,

"What type of wood is that you've got there?" He wasn't hoping for any specific answer, but it turned out the guard was actually somewhat of a wannabe mason and carpenter himself and replied.
"This here is birch." He pointed further to the north at a white tree with black.. dots.. on it. "It's quite solid, it's just as good for house building as barricade building."
Nellis decided to ask if it was any good for weapons, and see if he could buy a small piece of the wood as well.
"Does it make for a decent spear, would you say?" To which the guard replied with a surprisingly warm laugh and nodded. "Indeed, it makes for a very good spear. Why?"
Nellis explain the smith was looking for quality wood to fill in an order, and without him understanding what just happened, the guard said Nellis would take a piece of the birth away for free. The piece was almost as long as Nellis and had a diameter as big as his fist. He left it by the guard and explained he needed to mine some ore as well and went into the mine.

[Julie Ann]

Jormaw, Gorbad's Smithy, Morning.

Jormaw grinned at the blacksmith "Dreek sos ya, you are the wise one of your kind, orc. It's a deal." Before Gorbad had a chance to respond, he
offered up the hare he caught earlier "In my old tribe, we used to tradtionally offer up our catch of the day to Pale-Ones that succeeded against their
adversaries, so here." The argonian dropped the jackrabbit into the old orc's arms before proceeding to place seventy gold on the counter.

He walked out by a balustrade before turning his head leftwards in Gorbad's direction, giving speech, "I'll be back later to drop off the leather."

~~~

Jormaw, Valton, Morning.

Jormaw left the smith's company to return to his shack and collect his sack of fishing equipment he had bought yesterday.
He gave thought to pose the local farmer questions about the river, knowing how difficult rangers are to find in these provinces.
The lizard waddled out of his home with his tools, lumbering them over his right shoulder before heading off to the nearby farm.

[quinnnn]

Alguidar, Valton Farm, Morning

The night was long. Nightmares haunted the farmer. A giant hand held him above the flames that were burning his house. The hand that saved him brought him slowly towards a faceless creature with pointy ears. He could hear laughter in the background. As he got closer, the face turned into a giant mouth. Alguidar became smaller, he could see rows of teeth, all stained in blood, as he hovered the dark pit. He desperately hanged on to a finger of the giant hand.

"Let go..." whispered a female voice in his head. "Don't be afraid... just let go... I'm here for you..."

The hand turned into ice, Alguidar lost his grip and he suddenly woke up. He was soaked in sweat due to his warmth sleeping clothing, useful for the snowy lands of Windhelm, but too warm for the nights on the Rift. "Just a dream." He thought, reassuring himself. He looked around after his first night spent in this house, he was confused for a moment, there was a familiar Breton face near the table. It took him a while to remember he was in Valton as he thought about yesterday's events. "What's her name? It was hard to say... Jack...? Jacqueline! That bedroll, must be Roymund's. Aguaar! Oh, poor Aguaar."

He sighed as he got out of bed. The house was bright, sunlight was pouring through every window. That never failed to improve his mood. He dressed up in clothing more appropriate for this climate and walked up to the table.

"You two got up early! Any trouble in the farm?" He asked Jacqueline, as he stretched.

[Sammie LM]

Gorbad Yak-Bogadbu, his forge, morning.

Now that Nellis was on his way to fetch ore and perhaps even wood, and he's have to wait for Jormaw to bring back the leather, he found himself suddenly without anything to do. He did, however, have a nice rabbit in his hands, apparently a traditional offer his old tribe used to do. A nice gesture, but Gorbad had little to no experience of cooking. He wasn't hungry right now either, so he hung the rabbit at the left side of his door on a wooden beam and looked at the rising sun. It was making its way slowly from east to west, soon a fourth on its way there. He sat at a stool near his forge and closed his eyes for a second, and felt the subtle breeze of the wind on his skin. He wondered what Nellis was doing right now...




[KALAMARI's Character] Nellis Nelsh, Shimmermist Mine, morning.

He felt home at the mine. Yesterday’s slightly adventurous events wouldn't make him feel afraid in a mine. Sure, he'd run on the sight of a.. What had the others called it... A Chaurus? For all Nellis knew, it could be named "Death in the blink of an eye" or something similar. He shook his head and went deeper into the mine until he found the iron ore veins. A few minutes later he'd gathered four of the chunks into a small bag.

He wondered if he would be able to carry all the ore and the piece of wood back to Valton on his own. That was a problem for the future he thought and continued to the maze-like, high-roofed part of the mine with the corundum ore. A strange thought occurred to him while he was inspecting and hacking on the corundum. What if he'd surprise Gorbad by bringing him some orchalium and moonstone as well? Just as he thought that, he saw the Chaurus again, ripping apart an advlt man as he was made out of... Out of... Nellis didn't even know a material or thing that would fit there. As easily as a mammoth crushes a chicken perhaps?

It was easier working with the corundum, and as he picked he saw something blue drop on the ground from the vein. He picked it up and inspected it. A sapphire! This would be worth quite a bit at the general store he figured. Either way, he put it away safely in his pocket and whistled that song he had sung on his way to Shimmermist mine. Not until he was finished did he stop whistling. Where had he heard that song? What was the songs name? Was the voices coming back in the form of strange music? He touched Fiona's ring and thought of putting it on, just to be on the safe side. Surely he was just over-reacting again. He took a deep breath to recollect his thoughts and was soon on his way out of the mine again.

[Monique Cameron]

Nuramon, Valton (surrounding woods, Valton streets, at home and the inn.), Day 3, morning.

After he and Sargon had finished their breakfast they parted for the days. Nuramon had forgotten to speak to Sargon about his dream, and was stuck with it alone. It didn’t took him long before he decided to grab his bow, arrows and shortswords to head out in the surrounding woods to track some deer or boar.

It never really got to tracking since he was soon lost in thoughts while he simply wandered the woods and enjoyed the beautiful nature. Before he realized it, it was dark and instead of going back home, he picked out a tree and formed a bed of branches and leaves high in it where he would rest for the night. The moons were the last thing he saw that night.

He was greeted by cheerfull chirping of the birds and by the warm sunbeams that herralded another clear day. He jumped out of the tree with much ease and landed quietly on his feet. He felt great after he had spend the night in the woods instead of his house in Valton. To him there was something refreshing and energizing to sleep in the open.

He figured that by being gone for the whole day and night might have Sargon and others wonder where he was and thus he decided to get back to town quickly. He started running at a quick, but steady pace and before he knew it he was back in town.

Before he got in view of his house he could hear a person yel and knock on his door. When he got closer he sniffed the air but the man’s smell rang no bells.

“What’s up?” Nuramon asked while he came up behind the man. “That’s my door you’re trying to burst in.”

The man jumped startled by Nuramon, since he hadn’t hear or feel him get right behind him. He quickly recovered though. “We need a healer in the inn and Jal said that you had some alchemical knowledge and might be able to help. Wounded man,... arrows. Hurry up!”

Nuramon nodded. “give me a second.”

He opened the door and ran inside. Instead of putting his weapons away, he immediatly ran towards a closed closet and took out the ingredients he would need to help the wounded man. He also took a mortar and pestle. He ran back outside and closed the door behind him. “come on.”

As he ran through the streets he noticed that most of them were still empty, although he could hear the blacksmith was already working. He quickly made his way to the inn and when he entered he saw most people had made place around a table on which lay a man. I guess that’s the guy.

He tossed his bag next to the man and quickly inspected the man’s wounds. An arrow wound on his left shoulder and another one on his right arm. He also saw someone had tried to stop the bleeding with fire. “I wish you hadn’t done that.” He murmered. “It will make the healing more difficult, since the burned flesh will make it harder to heal.”

He took out his mortar and pestle and threw some blue dartwings and crushed them with his pestle. He added some bees to the mix and when they were also crushed he took out a little bag with powder of a bearclaw. He added water until it became some sort of mudlike substance.

“Alright,hold him.” He ordered some men.

He started feeling around the wounds and was shocked to find out that they didn’t even bother to take out the arrowtips before searing the flesh. Two men came forward and held him to the table.

“Whoever tried to stop the bleeding, next time make sure the arrowtips are removed.”

He took some clean towels and handed them over to another man. “When he starts bleeding use the towels to svck the blood up.”

Nuramon took a knife and started cutting in the wound to find the arrowtips. The wound started to bleed again and the man had a tough job not to get in Nuramon’s way while he tried to catch the blood as good as he could.

When he found the tip and the bleeding was getting les, Nuramon took the mix and smeared it over the wound until it was completly covered. He then took a large chunk of hanging moss and covered the wound with it. He then used bandages to keep everything inplace. He repeated the same action with the right arm of the man.

When he did all he could do for him he stood up and stepped back. “The paste and moss should help heal the wound better and faster, restore his strength and take away some of the pain.” Nuramon explained. “I would like to move him to my place, so I can keep an eye on him.”

“Can someone help me with moving him?” he asked.

[Kayla Oatney]

Jacqueline, Valton Farm, Morning.

Jacqueline was lost deep in thought as she stared out of the kitchen window, trying to identify the crops growing on the field outside. She thought maybe some of them could be potatoes, but if they were they would have to be quite a different kind than the one that grew back home in High Rock.

"You two got up early! Any trouble in the farm?" She almost chocked on her water in surprise. She had not heard Alguidar get out of bed.

"No, Sir. But yer well's fallin' apart. Nearly fell in. I ain't meanin' to be rude, but yer farm's in a real bad shape." She put the now empty cup down. "Roymund said he was goin' to tha town before breakfast 'n he'll be back soon. I was thinkin' of milkin' tha cows now if that's alright." She hoped she wasn't coming off as rude to the farmer by doing his job.

[Holli Dillon]

Danus Maximus. Helas Folly. Morning.

The Imperial watched as an elf came and perform the healing on the wounded man. "I'm impressed." Said the Diplomat. "Nulius, go and help the healer." The Imperial then sat down near the fire to warm his hands and drink some honeybrew mead. "Oh and come back when you're done."

Wolfgar. Campsite. Night

(OOC: This is just that bandit raid on Asap's camp from Wolfgar's point of view

"What in Oblivion is taking Rolaf so long?" Said Wolfgar. "The bastard probably got arrested over a [censored] or is just plain drunk." Said Ulag."Well if he is not back by tomorrow noon we'll have to move to another location and he would be kicked out of the group. A minute later Valborn the bosmer came into the room. "We have good news. I was out scouting for supplies and I found some Nord alone in the camp. He has some good valuables we could take. Also while I was gone I got 3 new recruits. Peasents that I convinced to join us for promise of gold." Wolfgar's sour mood changed and he smiled. "It looks like you made up from that mistake. Take two men and attack that camp."

(later at the camp) The three bandits moved to the camp. The night time is silent. The would elf, from his youth as a tribesman in Valenwood, Approached the Nord, who is setting up a camp fire, like a predator sneaking up to it's prey. Hopefully the other two aren't too clumsy and alert him. The plan is simple sneak up and slit the traveler's throat, then take all the loot. However it did not go as planned. The Nord was alerted, probably because of he heard something. the bosmer grabbed his hunting bow, he pull the string, and released hitting him in the shoulder. "Haleth, you should be enough to finish him." he said to another Bandit. That bandit unsheathed his sword and charged to the victim. However the victim will not go down with a fight. And slayed the bandit. However that same Nord mounted his horse and galloped out. He got away despite the wood elf attempt to kill him with an arrow. "Damnit! take what we can from the camp, i'll get the body. Though hopefully he bleeds to death"

[Danial Zachery]

Roymund Inventius, Valton Farm. Morning

Roymund kept up his happy outlook the for the journey, he often came across this way when he knew a payday was just around the corner. Whilst humming another old ditty of his, he passed an Argonian fellow heading in the farms direction. He offered a curtesy nod, but didnt hang around to chat. He had business to attend to, and his coinpurse knew this far too well. He kept up this act until he arrived at Valton's gate, "Best put on a little show, You'd only look daft whistling and smiling to yourself you dozy oaf" he told himself.

As he stepped into the towns main grounds, he offered a grunt and a vague nod at one of the guards stood against the gate. Kicking loose dirt as he stepped, he headed straight for the General store. Along his walk, he had began to notice how empty the streets were. Locals still dotted about the streets, but much fewer and far between.

As he passed Helas' Folly Inn he heard some commotion from inside, though he could pick up no specific words from inside he could make out raised voices and a large selection of accents and tones. He could make out the guard captains voice amongst the rabble however. "Guess that Dunmer's got his hands full with the local drunks.." he endulged himself with a mocking scoff at his own joke. Upon arriving at the General store, he stepped straight inside.

Roymund Inventius, General Store. Morning

As he stepped inside the building, he caught Annika amidst his eyeline. "Good morning, Fair lady" he said, his tone had switched back to his friendly one "I trust you are well this fine eve'". She replied with smile and claimed to be of good health. "I hope you've kept some money aside for my quarry" he said, slinging his pack from his shoulders onto the bar. "The full deer as promised, excluding a few scraps of meat for my dinner" he laughed alittle as he spoke, "I believe our agreed on price was eighty septims for the goods, though i'll take seventy in respect of the scraps i've taken."

After a few moments of small talk, Roymund had recieved his wage for his troubles. "I'd ask also that, if you're pleased with my cuts of venison, that should you be asked about a reliable huntsman, you'd offer my name. I'm staying up at the holds farmstead as a guest of Alguidar's."

Annika had told him of the horse she'd found and he'd passed the news to her of the horse-owners death, they exchanged the usual pleasantries before parting ways.

Roymund Inventius, Valton streets. Morning

Happy of the now lack of weight in his pack, Roymund looked around the streets. His gaze landed on the blacksmiths workshop where an indimidating-looking Orc stood. "Jeez.. makes Alguidar look like a Bosmer." he thought with a smirk, "Wonder if he knows anything about arrow-heads..". With a shrug, he headed off towards the Orc's work-bench.

[Nancy RIP]

Roland, Helas Folly, Morning


The steady rhythm of hoof beats and the cacophonous clanger of war filled his head once again. He was back atop his brown courser riding the line. The red banner of the legate grew closer as he spurred his mount on across the broken and blood soaked ground. A booming crash resounded from his right. His horse slid to a stop as it reared back on its haunches, almost tossing Roland to the ground. He swung his gaze to the right. The siege ram had broken through the walls of the holdfast. He looked through the gaping hole in the Stormcloak defense and what he saw brought horror to his eyes. Women and children lay in the streets with the men, their bodies pierced by the iron tips of legion arrows. Almost every other house was leveled to the ground and engulfed in flame, the result of the Imperial siege weapons. Roland sat there atop his horse for what seemed like an eternity. He watched as the legionnaires poured through the gap in the walls, watched as they cut down anyone in their way. A shriek rang through through the clamor of the battle and Roland's eyes fell upon its creator. At the back of the holdfast a young girl was being pulled into the keep by a soldier garbed in the leather of the Stormcloaks, her hand was outstretched towards a motionless body laying in the charred dirt. She wailed again and fell to her knees. The soldier grabbed her arm and drug her into the keep. Roland looked back to his left, towards the weathered red banner of the legate as it slowly marched closer to the holdfast. He then turned and looked back down the valley he had come from. He pulled on the reigns, turning his horse, and dug his heels into its ribs.


Pain once again woke him from his feverish nightmare. Everything blurred together. First the searing heat and the the sharp pain once again. It all seemed as one to Roland, but then the soothing numbness came. Like dousing a hot fire with water his pain subsided. He drifted off again, back into his sleep.

[Sasha Brown]

Alguidar, Valton Farm, Morning

"Milking the cows, heh?" Alguidar looked her up and down. "What a helpful young Breton. I sure could use some extra hands around here. Could even hire her..." He thought before continuing. "Good. Yes. If you know how to do it... It can be dangerous. Father told me to watch when I was younger. I stood behind the cow. Next thing I remember I was on the floor crying! Ha Ha Ha!" Alguidar laughed while pointing to a scar in his forehead. His face became serious again as he finished his thought. "Never stand behind the cow."

[Curveballs On Phoenix]

Jacqueline, Valton Farm, Morning.

"I'll be careful, Sir" she giggled. "Back home in High Rock I used'ta help my ma with tha livestock before work, so I'm pretty good at handlin' cattle. Real nice animals."

She left the house and went over to the barn. In the milk room she prepared a bucket and a clean rag and checked to see if the milk tins were clean and ready for storage.
The cows didn't seem to care about having a stranger among them. Jacqueline could easily move among them without them paying her any mind. She kneeled down by a black cow and began cleaning the cow's udder and began milking it. She was surprised at how little milk the cow gave her, and after giving it a taste she realised that the cow was giving bad milk. It seemed the people who had been tending to the cattle had not been milking them properly and regularly. "Poor girl" Jaqueline sighed and patted the cow.

She carried the near empty bucket of bad milk outside and found a small brook where she emptied the milk. She drew water from the well and rinsed the milk bucket. On her way back to the barn she fetched a small bag of coloured ribbons from her cart. Back inside the barn she tied a red ribbon around the cow's left ear.

She proceeded to milk the rest of the cows, checking the milk between each cow. In the end seven of the cows had red ribbons adorning their left ear, only three of them had blue ribbons on their right ear. She had managed to fill four tins of milk from the healthy cows. She hoped Alguidar wouldn't be too disappointed.

She slipped out of the big side door on the barn wall connected to the pasture. Before letting the cows out to graze she wanted to have a quick look at the fence meant to keep the cows inside. With everything else going wrong on this farm there was no harm in being extra careful. She gave the fence a few light kicks at places where it looked fragile as she walked a quick round. She couldn't find any major faults that could break at the moment so she decided it would be safe to let the cattle out. Pulling the doors open she called for the animals to come out, though they didn't need much encouraging. They mooed happily as they trotted out into the sunlight.

She jumped over the fence and went back to the farmhouse. "I'm afraid yer cows are sick. They're givin' bad milk. Only three of 'em are in good health."

[Sudah mati ini Keparat]

Jormaw, Valton Farm, Morning.

The argonian made way to the farm which he had heard had the closest building to the river. On the road he came by a rather gay looking fellow, even
by saxhleel standards. The man gave a nod of courtesy, but the lizard simply ignored him. After all- no point in wasting time with a traveller (by his looks).
Jormaw then caught a small building's view in the distance. He also smelled it from this range, for such rancid cow dung was much too common a give away.

After trailing across a pebble road which heated his sore feet to an extreme degree, he was pleasantly happy to be on the bare grass again.
From here he looked to what appeared to be a farmhouse. He saw a small human woman enter, although it seemed like she didn't notice him.
"Must be my scales, they blend in well here," he thought. After trudging carefully up to the door, he gave it a knock with the side of his fist.
But he might of overdone it. Or perhaps misjudged the strength of the wood, because it resounded loudly. He sighed to this small miscalculation.

The saxhleel waved his large tail about the ground. He reflected: "I hope they didn't think the knock meant I was a guard or some bandit coming to rob them."

[Sian Ennis]

Alguidar, Valton Farm, Morning

Alguidar looked outside at the sun's position. It was higher than he thought it would be. In his life as a farmer, he got used to waking up early. Clearly, that wasn't the case today and yet, he didn't feel as rested as he should. He remembered the vivid nightmares, the heat, the numerous short moments of semi-consciousness. It was a rough night.

He was hungry but that had to wait. Starting the day later than usual meant he had no time to lose. He stepped outside to a beautiful day. He was amazed with all this life in the shore of the Treva River that he still didn't have the chance to contemplate. All the flowers, trees, birds. It was quite a contrast to his old farm.

Since the Breton was making her way to the barn, Alguidar thought his time would be better employed somewhere else. He didn't know if she'd do a good job but anything would be better than nothing. He turned the corner around the house to find a crop field. It didn't look as bad as he was expecting. These fertile lands ensured that the lack of care was much less dramatic for the crops than it was for the animals. Many crops seemed ripe. There was garlic, leek, cabbage. Most in good condition. Then there were tomatoes and potatoes. The trained eye of the farmer could tell right away that half was probably ruined. Some were past their time, some had pests, some didn't survive the occasional frosts. Some apple trees were also planted but again, about half were wasted. The farmer recognized a disease affecting the leaves, without proper treatment, they weren't going to make it.

Alguidar picked up an empty crate from his house and started to go through the apple trees, picking up all that looked healthy. He started thinking about ways to sell them. "The local shop would probably buy them. The local inn will also need them. Yes, my products will be cheaper than the ones that come from further away. I could also sell them myself for bigger profit. Yes. Yes. Might talk to Jacqueline about that."

With a full crate of apples he went back inside to get another. The hunger started talking louder though and as he started thinking about breakfast, Jacqueline returned from the barn.

"I'm afraid yer cows are sick. They're givin' bad milk. Only three of 'em are in good health." Said Jacqueline.

"Yes. I thought so. Saw them yesterday before going to bed. They're not looking good. They need to recover. Food. Water. My mother used to pour a few drops of a recipe she had in their water. That's it. We need..." Alguidar was startled by a loud knock on his door. Didn't sound like someone knocking, sounded more like something had been thrown against the door. Thoughts of Aguaar's death, wild beasts and bandits filled his head as he picked up his axe.

"Stand behind the door, if a bandit comes in, you stab him from behind!" He whispered to Jacqueline.

Alguidar quickly opened the door, two reptilian eyes stared at him from the other side of the doorway. Having lived in Windhelm his whole life, Alguidar wasn't used to seeing Argonians. Startled by the circumstances, he held his axe between them, expecting an attack, and cried out:

"State your business, lizard!"

[Baylea Isaacs]

Jacqueline, Valton Farm, Morning.

The loud knocking against the door made Jacqueline think of the guards from the night before. She quickly retrieved her knife and did as Alguidar instructed. Leaning against the wall out of sight from the doorway, she waited.

[Mrs shelly Sugarplum]

Roymund Inventius, Valton Forge. (Late?)-Morning.

As Roymund approached the forge, he noted that the Orc was sitting down with his eyes shut. "Must be on a break" he thought, shoving his hands into his jacket pockets.
Upon arrival at the forge, he took in the sight of weaponry scattered about the workshop, Swords hung from weaponracks, Hammers rested against on tables. He eyes rested on the Chitin-material by the anvil. He frowned at the material, He knew it looked familiar but he couldnt place from where.

He switched his gaze back onto the Orc, "Master Blacksmith, Might'n i have the pleasure of your services?". A frown still stood on his face, though it had lightened, the Chitin was clearly bothering him.

[suzan]

Gorbad Yak-Bogadbu, his forge, late morning

His thoughts were interrupted by the unmistakable sound of boots on soil and then boots on wood. He opened his eyes in time to see an imperial man approach him. He had a rangers look on it, and his outfit showed as much as well. He greeted Gorbad warmly but had his eyes on the chitin as if it was going to jump up and attack him at any moment. Gorbad thought it was a bit strange but didn't comment on it. Instead he wondered what the man was in need of. Hopefully he wasn't going to order something new, because Gorbad was still waiting for Nellis to return with the ore and possibly even wood. So Gorbad said,
"Greeting hunter, I'm here to fill any order you might have, as long as I have the materials for it." He stood up from the stool and put his orcish gauntlets back on before he continued. "What do you need?"

[Cool Man Sam]

Roymund Inventius, Valton Forge. Late Morning

"I'm looking for arrow-heads, preferably Iron or Steel should you have the materials" his eyes momentarily shifted from the Orcs to his forge, scanning over the display, then back onto the Orc "I'm unsure of how you make them, but you look like a fellow who knows his trade well. Their for fitting these standard thirty inch shafts" he smoothly withdrew a bare-fletched arrow-shaft from one of the looser compartments to his satchel, and offered it to the Blacksmith. "Keep it, should you accept the order, as way of checking the width of the arrow head. I'm not so good with small measurements. I'd require twenty."

Roymund kept his tone polite through the conversation, atleast from what he knew of politeness. Generally, he came across either overly polite, and therefore strange, or plainly rude. Whilst awaiting the Orcs responce, a candle had been lit in his head "Chitin" he told himself, almost feeling the need to say it aloud. "Wonder if they have much troubles from these creatures here, Certainly havent seen any by the farm."