Outracing the Flames RPG

[Maeggaladiel]

The horse's chesnut ears swiveled backwards as Fionn approached her with the saddle. Apparently she hadn't planned on carrying him for another whole day.

"I'm riding you. Get used to it," Fionn told her, plopping the saddle down on her back. "We have a long way to go yet, you old nag." He scratched her at the withers and then patted her on the neck as he went to work. He pulled on the girth strap that wrapped around her stomach and held the saddle in place. The horse did not protest.

After several moments, Fionn tightened the girth strap once more. As he expected, it was already loose. She had held her breath when he first put it on. Had he tried to sit in it, it might have slid sideways and thrown him off. He grinned.

"Hah," he told the horse, waggling a finger in her face. "I'm not that dense, you mule. Thought you were going to dump me as soon as we broke into a trot, didn't you? Didn't you?" The mare avoided eye contact. "You'll keep me on my toes for the entire journey, won't you madam? Just remember who it is who'll be grooming and watering you."

This ongoing battle of horsey and human wits had lifted his spirits significantly since this morning's occurrences. It really wasn't much to brag that you had outwitted a stubborn animal, but it kept him focused on the task at hand, always expecting some mutinous maneuver from the beast he was now mounting. She started to walk sideways as he climbed into the saddle, but he grabbed her reigns and held her steady.

"You're no match for Fionn of Bregoware," he said with a grin. "You and your kind are beneath me." He looked down at the horse he was straddling and grinned larger. "Literally, in this case."

[Naria]

Wulfham


She was walking into camp with Brand at her heels when she saw Vaenosa come through some trees and into view. She had something heavy and big on her back. Incana hurried her pace to see what the young woman had brought them. Incana was thrilled to see that Vaenosa's surprise was meat. She thought to herself that this amount of wild boar should last them a few days and immediately began to think of ways to prepare the animal.

As if her mother's voice was reading aloud a recipe in her head, Incana remembered, To roast wild game you will need to have a very hot fire; after you have made sure of this dig a shallow pit in the centre of the hot coals. Then you would find flat rocks and line the bottom of the pit with them and place the meat on top of the rocks covering the meat with the remaining flat rocks and coal. Incana remembered also that the hot coals and the fire will heat the rocks thus cooking the meat inside.

This of course would take all day to cook the wild boar but Incana started preparations towards getting the animal ready for their supper. After Brand had skinned the animal Incana took over, once again thinking that she hasn't done much to help the group so far, she used her knife and made a swift upwards stroke and opened the pig's belly. Its innards spilled onto the ground, the blood quickly absorbed by the dry soil. She was sure that her mother had taught her another recipe on how to prepare and cook an animal's stomach, but she couldn't remember. It would come to her eventually that was one meal Incana enjoyed eating. She finished separating the different parts of the animal and placed what she could fit into the fiery grave. Not knowing what to do with the remaining pieces of meat she asked Dorran, "Do you know a way in which to dry meat? There is still some wild boar left here." He nodded at her question and Incana could tell, by the quizzical look on his face, that the young man had something in mind.

After Incana had rinsed her hands and blade of blood with water she took some lunch and sat down next to Brand. She ate her last spoonful of stew and rinsed it down with tea that Dorran always kept fresh and hot for them. Incana then made a bold move and started a conversation with the man sitting next to her. She was nervous and hesitant to do what she was about to do, but after a period of uncomfortable silence she spoke to Brand. "Since Vaenosa is asleep and will probably be this way for awhile I thought I should let you know as to why she is acting the way that she has been lately." Incana paused to clear her head and brushed some stray hairs out of her face with her fingers and continued, "You see my mother and her mother knew eachother through their different duties they had and spoke quite often in the village market. My mother would bring in clothing that she had made or mended for certain villagers and Vaenosa's mother would bring in fresh vegetables to the market. There were a lot of people in the village that both of our mothers knew and in turn they knew of us. When we were younger I never talked or played with Vaenosa, she always seemed to be in her own world most of the time. I was close with my mother at that age, but Vaenosa was very close with hers and panicked it she lost sight of her. I never understood why she acted that way and it bothered me for many years." Incana took another sip of her tea and went on. "My mother had talked to me on several occasions about Vaenosa, but I had a feeling that she never was telling me the whole story. I finally got the whole story the night we returned to our homes after I volunteered for this journey. She had recognized Vaenosa in the village square that night and wanted me to know the truth before we set off." Incana swallowed hard and with a slight quiver in her voice she proceeded to go into Vaenosa's past.

"Vaenosa's father had taken in a stranger that was in need of a place to stay for awhile before moving on. One night the stranger went mad with rage and killed her father, beat her mother and with no one around to help her he took advantage of a very young Vaenosa. So, do you see why she would act the way that she has been?" Incana went on, "I have talked with her in passing when we see eachother in the village market however, it has been at least two years since our last encounter and that is why I wasn't sure if I had recognized the right person at the beginning of our trek." She thought to herself and said, "I think it was the way that she rushed into camp, so bold and angered. It is a behavior that she has shown me before in the village, it has been a couple of years now but it hasn't left my mind. This is why I have tried to defend her actions and why I have tried to talk with her since that night." Incana paused and picked up the twig that she had earlier and pushed some dirt with it, then softly peered into Brand's eyes and said "I know she means well bringing back a gift of food shows this. Maybe she will let her guard down with the group, I will talk to her when we are on our way again." She smiled at the man feeling a weight lift off of her shoulders.

[Eowyn Skywalker]

Finally on their way, Eostre thought to herself, a slightly rueful expression on her face. Certainly, she had been eager; even desperate to abandon the seeming exaggeratedly long stays, but whatwith the two newcomers to their party, suspicions were rising in the already cynical woman's mind. She wanted to know more about the whys, the hows, the wherefores...

She wanted to ask Osmond why he had sang, and ask why it seemed to be so directed towards Meghan. Perhaps he liked her. No one likes me, she had thought softly while saddling up her horse to prepare for the ride out. She had went through the motions almost mindlessly before mounting once more and preparing to follow the group out.

By this point, she was already strongly aware she was probably the least trusted member of the party. Perhaps because she lived with her uncle, perhaps because she seemed cynical and uncaring...

Perhaps because Meghan had utter control over the party. Meghan, the cheerful member who (Eostre supposed) could never stand in the face of chaos. Meghan, the one who could very likely destroy the party if she remained so naive... why was every one of them so ridiculously naive?!

At least the two new ones seemed well hardened to destruction, if they were trustable...

With these thoughts in mind, Eostre followed the party out from the camp.