292 réponses à ce sujet

[mysteriouspast]

(I know it's not my turn, but I'll be at work today and my action is not dependent on anyone else's so here it is....)

 

Rael loads a new bolt in her croassbow as quickly as her fingers will manage. Huh. Seemed so much easier last time.

 

(BAM! XD)

[Mahumia]

The wolf yelped before turning around, growling and with beared teeth. As she was still holding her daggers, Bartha swung forward by the motion. As she was too busy to remain on her feet, she was too late with defending her vulnerable position. The wolf launched forward and sank its teeth into her hip, causing her to scream out in pain. 

[BFace]

Tessa abruptly felt something crawl up her spine, almost like an itch.  She shuddered and wondered vaguely about it, but then her full focus was pulled back to the fight. She looked over the scene with what seemed like a sudden clarity.

 

She saw one of the wolves attacking the dwarf woman but she also saw that woman laying waste to the wolf in return.

 

She saw Beldin scrabbling to get to his feet and turned, raising her bastard sword over her head.  With a wordless shout, she brought it down on the one of the wolves still trying to get at Beldin.

~~~~~~~

(Attacking wolf 4)

3d6+6;2d6+1 → [2,6,1,6] = (15)

3d6+6;2d6+1 → [6,5,1] = (12)

(Link to rolls)

 

(Edited to add which wolf.)

Modifié par Bramblefae, 10 juillet 2014 - 03:32 .

[berelinde]

{Which wolf, 2, 3, or 4?}

[berelinde]

Beldin, Round 3, 10 health points damage against Wolf 4. Wolf 4 dies.

 

The wolves' ineffectual attacks give Beldin the welcome opportunity to get his legs under him. He brings his axe down in an overhand arc, carving a deep rift in the creature's shoulder. Overwhelmed and defeated, the wolf falls dead.

 

"Laugh that one off!" he bellows.

 

 

3d6+5; 2d6 → [1,5,2,5] = (13)

3d6+5; 2d6 → [6,4] = (10)

Attack vs wolf 4, Defense=12

http://invisiblecast...r/view/4565512/

 

Combat Ends!

 

Summary: The two surviving wolves flee.

 

As the second wolf falls, the surviving wolves yelp loudly, then turn and flee, their tails between their legs.

 

Combat Experience: Each character gains 50 experience points.

 

{Posting the two together in the potentially futile attempt to keep my post count down.}

[ChachiBobinks]

"Fantastic," Etienne muttered as he dashed back to avoid any blood splatter from Tessa's blade. "Now that we're done.. filleting everything.." 

 

His face had gone green and fought a retching stomach, deep breaths and whimpers doing him only the least amount of good. There was blood and gore everywhere. Previously, the only creatures he had slain (or seen slain) were those in the Fade. And Fade creatures didn't bleed as much as real ones. Nor did they smell, which was the part that seemed to be getting to him the worst. With a frustrated growl, he opted to shield his eyes from the carnage and look to Beldin instead.

 

Right. Beldin. 

 

Not only did the sight of the man not alleviate his physical duress, but it seemed to increase it. He took quick steps to the other man as his face blushed brightly. "I can.. heal you, messere." 

[BFace]

Tessa watched the two wolves run away, her weapon down and her chest heaving.  She felt that weird itch in her spine fade away and wondered if she’d imagined it. She looked around at her companions then, making sure everyone was alright.

When the redheaded mage offered to heal Beldin, Tessa walked over to Bartha to see how she was doing.  Time enough to deal with the carcasses after.

[Lorien19]

Laurelin lowered her staff when the wolves fled,her first instinct was to check that everyone was alright,pretty much like she would have done if her clan was attacked.

She noticed that Bartha and Beldin were injured,the redhead human,Etienne, offered to heal Beldin while Tessa checked on Bartha,while the redhead elf, Rael was still holding her crossbow.

Laurelin's gaze then turned towards Tempest  to make sure that she wasn't injured.

Then she approached one of the dead wolves.Quietly she knelt close to the dead animal and inspected it.

Her brow furrowed in confusion,she spent all her life in the woods,to know how each animal behaves and this was certainly not a display of normal wolf behaviour.

They are territorial and timid animals,so for them to stray so close to populated areas was extremely unusual.Especially this time of the year,when they can still find abundant prey close to the area they consider their territory.
And even if they were in the area they wouldn't attack a human unless they smelled something they identified as food nearby,but it was something else that worried Laurelin the most,they only thing that could drive the wolves so close to human territory, was a disturbance in their natural habitat..."But what sort of disturbance?"She thought.

 

Laurelin stood up and quickly glanced over the area that surrounded them "Something is wrong..."She said softly but still loud enough for the rest to hear.

[berelinde]

"I can.. heal you, messere." 

Beldin stood ready, braced against the next attack. His pulse pounded in his ears. Each breath burned in his lungs like a blast off the icy Frostbacks. Every nerve tingled with the thrill of combat... which was over.

 

He lived.

 

His blood cooled. The red mist receded from his eyes, and his breathing slowed, leaving only the faint nausea of falling adrenaline. He swallowed that along with a mouthful of blood he hoped was his own. He dropped to sit among the stubble left from this year's barley harvest, his long legs stretched out in front of him.

 

He took stock. His bad knee throbbed, and his good knee was only slightly better. His wrist burned. His arse hurt. Something was wrong with his face. He touched gloved fingertips to his chin and they came away red. Pain flared in his jaw, but he felt no great rifts in the skin.

 

He blinked, and peered up at the young man standing in front of him. It was the boy from the tavern, he realized, although here, in the clear light of a sunny field, he realized that their ages were no more than six years apart. He had discarded the gaudy robe from the night before, but the tunic he wore now was hardly less garish. Who did he hope to impress? A milk cow?

 

He rummaged in his pack until he found some bandages for his scrapes and bruises and paused to rinse his mouth before speaking.

 

"Heal me how, exactly?" he asked.

 

Beldin takes a breather, recovering all 8 points of health he lost during combat. He is at full health.

 

{He could have recovered 10, but he was only down 8.}

[ChachiBobinks]

Etienne felt like a right arse. He stood there stupidly and with his mouth hanging open, the slightest bit of horror on his expression over so much blood, and merely watched as recognition passed through Beldin's eyes. When the other man's reply to him was nothing short of dismissive, Etienne swallowed hard. "Right," he replied quickly, voice strained. "Glad you're well then. Everything's fine! I'll just be..." He paused, grimacing from awkwardness. Words were his strength - perhaps his greatest one - and his discomfort was immediately evident. "...be off, then." 

 

Swinging his staff back around his back, he nodded to the other man and turned to hurry off. 

[mysteriouspast]

One she saw that the wolves had fled, Rael unloaded and holstered her crossbow and started to rush over to where the rest of the party stood over the dead wolves that remained. Etienne was conversing with the man they rescued.

 

Halfway there, Rael stopped dead in her tracks. It was Beldin, bloodied but basically unharmed. Speaking to Etienne, he looked even bigger than he did in the Inn and Rael was paralyzed by fear. So she merely stood there, blinking like an idiot in the morning sun.

[TreeHuggerHannah]

Tempest looked around the battlefield, such as it was, now just a stretch of bloody, trampled grass. Etienne was seeing to Beldin - although Beldin seemed to be tending to his own injuries with the skill of one used to patching himself up after combat - and the dwarf woman, Bartha, was slightly injured but in no danger of death. Still, surely Bartha would be more comfortable if her wound was looked after.

 

"Bartha?" Tempest said, approaching slowly and trying to look as nonthreatening as possible. Now that everyone knew she was a mage, she wasn't sure how her companions would react to her. "May I tend to your injury?"

 

 

If the answer is yes, Tempest will help her. 

 

3d6+2+2=14 (Tempest has the Healing focus)

 

for

 

1d6+2=8 points of damage.

 

If Bartha refuses her help, you can just disregard the rolls.

[Mahumia]

With the adrenaline of the battle flowing away, Bartha became more aware of the throbbing pain in her hip. She put away her daggers, and looked at the increasing red mark and partitially torn armor. She cursed under her breath and moved her hand towards her flask with water when Tessa came over to her. "You're alright? Just a flesh wound here, so no need to worry." She turned her head in the direction of Beldin. "How're you faring? Glad we got here in time..."

 

She grimaced when she started to pour water from the flask over the wound. Her leg got covered with a reddish stain from the mix of water and blood. She grumbled: "Bloody mangy beasts... " She heard Laurelin saying "Something is wrong...". "Well, at least you don't try to convince me that they just wanted to play." 

 

Someone addressed her: "Bartha?" She noticed that Tempest approached her slowly and carefully. "May I tend to your injury?" She blinked a few times at the dark haired woman, a bit of a confused look on her face. "Uh, yeah sure. Why not?"  Her eyes grew big when a blueish light emerged around the womans hands. Dumbfounded she just stood still and watched as the light reached her hip and caused a strange tingling sensation as the wounds magically healed. Surprised she touched her hip: no pain... and it looked all normal again. She moved her leg and turned her hip: it all went smoothly. She looked up at Tempest: "I did not know you could do that... thanks. I expected to walk difficult for a least a week." She smiled at the mage. 

 

She looked at the dead wolves lying around the group. Her gaze went to her torn armour, and back to the nearest wolf. "I think you'll be of use after all..." She produced a knife and moved in to start skinning the wolf. 

[mysteriouspast]

The dwarf kneeling down to muck about in wolf innards seemed to rouse Rael from her stupor. She cautiously approached the group, keeping a wary eye on Beldin who was turned away from her. Surely, he wouldn't try anything in from of all of those people. As long as she was accompanied by someone, perhaps she would be safe.

[berelinde]

Joint Post: Etienne and Beldin become acquainted. There's a bit of miscommunication, a bit of feather-ruffling, and a some puffing out of chests, but it ends well, all thing considered.

 

Spoilers, because it's long.

Spoiler

"I'll be off then," Beldin heard the brightly-dressed young man say before he turned away.

 

"Wait!" he called after him, still panting from the exertion of combat but trying to keep his voice steady. "I'm a bit winded," pant, pant, "but I'll live. I thought I was done for. If you hadn't come along when you did, I would have been."

 

Under other circumstances, he might have tried harder to get that last sentence out without gasping for air after every other word, but in truth, he could not. He was fine, or soon would be, but he needed rest to do it, and he might as well put the time to good use. He patted the grass next to him as an invitation for the other man to sit.

 

"Breath through your mouth," he said, following his own advice. "The blood stink won't be as strong. I'm not sure if you remember me. My name's Beldin."

 

Etienne paused mid-step, then slowly turned. "Through my.. mouth?" Despite thinking the idea to be ludicrous, he tried it anyway. He didn't even make it to a third breath before he grimaced again. "Maker, how do people do this?" 

 

Pulling a handkerchief from a pocket inside his doublet, he watched he other man as he offered him a seat. It was tempting to decline and hurry off, presumably to a place where he wouldn't feel the need to explain himself. But Etienne was too polite to turn someone down - especially when he assumed they may still need his services. 

 

Instead, he stole a quick glance back to Rael as he moved to to sit next to the man. "I, ah... do remember you. Etienne's my name." Her reaction was unsettling. 

 

"That's what they tell you when you're a recruit," Beldin said, drinking some more of the water and offering the waterskin to Etienne. "'Breathe through your mouth,' they say. And then they count the number of breaths until you hurl. Everybody does, at one point or another, and no one ever lets you live it down."

 

His breathing continued to slow, and become more shallow as he grew calm. After the terror of finding himself alone and vastly outnumbered, it was only a matter of time before the post-crisis lethargy set in, but he had leisure enough to indulge in some conversation before he had to get up and move around.

 

{With a Perception(Sight) test of 7 vs TN=13, there's no way Beldin notices Etienne's glance at Rael, but he's thinking about their first meeting, and he remembers the girl who Etienne defended, as well as the reason for his own rapid retreat.}

 

He started to relax, to let his guard down, and then he remembered the minstrel's abrupt departure and Etienne's reaction to it. They knew... perhaps. Sweat trickled down his forehead, leaving paler rivulets through the grime.

 

He cleared his throat.

 

That minstrel girl who played last night," he said. "You and she must hear news from all over. Don't suppose you've had anything out of Amaranthine? I heard the name of a friend in connection with a right scandal, and I wondered if you've heard aught of it."

 

There. He'd said it. He doubted the boy was a good enough liar to deceive him if he had heard about it, and if he hadn't, Amaranthine was a long way away. He could ask anyone he wanted to in Vintiver, but he'd be halfway to Denerim before he found anyone who could pinpoint Amaranthine on a map, let alone convey its secrets. Maker knew he couldn't, when he last called Ruswold Valley home.

 

Etienne didn't know what was worse - the fact that Rael looked ready to pass out, or the concern that Beldin might as well. However, he specifically was not going to, since he had mastered the art of neither smelling or tasting the air. Plus he resolved that he would look the like the fool no longer. 

 

He still retched, though.

 

Hand firm against his lips, he quirked a brow. "Rael," he interrupted, "not.. minstrel girl." 

 

He had no clue why it came out so defensively. Perhaps it was the look on her face... or the one from the night prior. Either way, something about his dismissive choice of words burned a spot in the back of his mind. "And I imagine she does, yes, but I listen to few stories." More like he was told them by no one, but Beldin didn't need to know that. "I've not heard anything of Amaranthine. Nor its scandals."

 

Beldin allowed himself to relax a little.

 

"I apologize for the lack of respect to your friend," he said, "but we haven't been introduced, and I've no head for names. And you travel with several ladies..."

 

His gaze drifted over to where Tessa and Bartha conversed and stayed there. Sunlight flashed on the dwarven woman's hair, making it shine like spun gold, and something about the set of the human woman's shoulders was doing disturbingly familiar things to his larynx. He glanced away before his breeches tightened, too.

 

He cleared his throat again, and remembered what he was talking about.

 

"... And she was the only one who performed," he resumed the interrupted thought. "Unless you're a minstrel, too."

 

His gaze fell once more to Etienne's colorful attire and lack of an obvious weapon.

 

"I once knew a fellow who knew a man who inspired warriors with songs," he said. "It was quite a boon in battle, he said.Not that your friends needed much help there. Maker's Breath, they had some fine technique. From what I saw of it. Alas, I was in no position for a better look."

 

He had to set aside the comment about no names, and the one pointing out that he traveled purely with ladies, and even the... odd look he got on his face as he surveyed Tessa and the dwarf. They begged to be addressed, but something else he had said stood out far more. A secondary glance was shot at Rael and he lowered his voice.

 

"...you mean, you don't know her?" She had been so secretive about whatever it was that set her off when Beldin approached them. Clearly she was terrified. But if they had some sort of rocky history, surely he'd recall her face or name. She was remarkable, quiet unforgettable. His gaze returned to Beldin incredulously. "That's bizzare. And.. by the Maker, do I even look like a minstrel?" Beldin's glance had not gone unnoticed. His nose wrinkled as he smoothed out his coat. 

 

Worry was building. Perhaps his theory was proving right. If Rael was one of the bards from stories he had been told, he could be a mark. Or perhaps she was one herself, paranoid about who might be lurking around the corner to attack her. The latter made his pulse race. 

 

"I've never seen her before last night," Beldin said. "When she bolted, I had no idea what to make of it. I mean, she wouldn't know me any more than I'd know her."

 

He looked at nothing but his hands as they wound fresh linen around his knee.

 

"I know what I look like," he said with some bitterness. "A thug on a good day, and this long away from a razor, I must look a right brute. But none of us can help the way the Maker made us."

 

He fell silent for a moment, swallowed, and plunged ahead, "And begging your pardon, aye, you do look like a minstrel. Bright clothes, clean nails, nary a hair gone astray. When I met you yestereve, I expected you to have a pair of those daggers like your golden-haired friend, but here you are with a big stick and no sign of a scabbard. I don't take you for a fool, so you must defend yourself somehow."

 

"She wasn't scared of me when we met," he replied with a frown, "and she was sure I'd slipped a potion. Or...something." Maker, did he feel miserable. Surely Rael had a reason. She didn't seem judgmental. She was lovely. But he had been guilty of the same, perhaps, what with him practically running the other man off, so quick to make assumptions.

 

"I will figure out what had her scared, serah. And tonight you will find a warm bed, a fresh meal, and... a bath." The last part was added quietly.

 

Rubbing his face, he let out a laugh. It wasn't mocking in the least bit. Warm and inviting. "Me? A musician? I couldn't carry a note if she held it for me in those glorious hands!" There was a reason why he was never picked to sing verses. He was horrid. "No, I dislike dirt and..." He trailed off. Of course. He had set out with the goal to be as disarming as possible and clearly it worked "I'm sure I'll find a way to defend myself if need be, yes?"

 

At Etienne's last sentence, Beldin did not sigh, but he did allow his shoulders to slump slightly at the realization that he may have given the young man more credit than the situation warranted. To go unarmed under the very eaves of the Brecilian Forest was to invite a hundred misfortunes, his grandmother said, yet this man had done so. For all its neat fence posts and gravel lane, Fuldor's farm was surrounded by trees. He was armed himself, for all the good that did him, nor was Etienne the only one among them who appeared so unprepared. Two of the women carried staves, too, although theirs were more practical. Who carved runes into a walking stick?

 

But he lacked the acerbity to argue about it. They were getting along so well, it seemed a shame to give voice to questions that might change that. They had already saved his life once. He might as well agree to trust them with it. And his limbs were growing stiff from sitting still for so long so soon after exertion. He needed to move around, and he needed to complete the task that brought them here.

 

He smiled as amiably as he could at Etienne and stood.

 

"We'll catch a chill if we sit too long," he said. His eyes fixed on the crows flapping lazily overhead.

 

One for sorrow, two for joy, his lips formed silently, but the rhyme did not extend to the numbers he saw. There were over a dozen of them, spiraling over the field on their right.

 

Crows after the harvest was no mystery. The farmhands would have cut the barley and bound it in stooks to dry until they could bring it into the granary, but they never got all the grain. Some would always remain in the field, either standing on stalks the farmhands missed or half-trodden into the ground where it fell from the shaft. The crows would have come later, and eaten what was left. That terrible winter he'd been on his own, he had battled them as he combed the fields for whatever corn he could glean. If he'd been fast enough to catch them, he ate the crows, too. Anything to stay alive.

 

But these crows were not looking for grain. With a whole field for the picking, they would not circle over one spot.

 

"... What drove these wolves from their habitat..." he overheard the tattooed elf say.

 

"I think there's something going on over there," he said to Etienne, pointing at Laurelin.

 

Etienne had noticed a number of great, wondrous things during his time on the outside. One of those things was that birds were everywhere. He didn't really know, or care to know, one from the other so the fact that the amount of crows was unusual was lost on him. But he did look up in time with Beldin and pulled a face. "They're not necessarily the prettiest birds out there, no?" 

 

His gaze lingered on the sky above them as the other man went on. "If it's dead wolves reanimating, I think I'll sit this one out," he replied, finally dropping his gaze down and back to Beldin. "Well met. And I'm quite serious - I will rehome my book collection and my second bed will be yours so long as you travel with us." 

 

Beldin grinned at both Etienne's joke and his offer, relieved that his own lack of martial prowess should pass without commentary, but he worried about the crows. If the young man were city-born, he would not know what that meant, nor would it be his fault.

 

"I believe I'll take you up on that," Beldin said, "but something here isn't right. The animals aren't behaving as they should. Wolves usually avoid human dwellings unless it's a brutal winter and all the rabbits are dead, and the birds are acting queer. Crows will eat grain, but they prefer meat. If they're circling, there's something on the ground that they like better than a field full of dropped barley. I think we should rejoin the others."

 

{Wolf behavior is an average test for village-born Beldin, so Cunning(Nature Lore)(TN=11)=Cunnning Test(3d6)+Cunning. Farmers see crows literally every day, so that's an easy test(TN=9). From his list of die rolls, his 13 and 10 beat those tests even without his cunning modifier.}

 

Etienne was a botanist, not a crow-ist or wolf-ist, so he simply raised his brows as he listened to Beldin explain. "That makes sense, serah. Though I'm not entirely sure I want to know what would make such a great number of them so upset at the same time." He motioned to the others with the tip of his head. "You go along. I'll be right behind you." 

[mysteriouspast]

Rael was nearly to the group in the center when she stopped short for the second time. Etienne and Beldin were sitting together and talking quietly. Their quick glances in her direction indicated that she was most definitely the subject of conversation. If Etienne confronted Beldin the way he must have last night, things could get ugly very quickly. Her hand hovered above the hilt of her short sword as she slowly started to creep forward again.

 

Then the two men's faces erupted into good-natured smiling. Etienne looked her away again and her face went hot with shame. No doubt the two of them were discussing which of her attributes they found the most alluring and how much it would cost to procure her favors. Her blood was pounding in her ears and she could not bear to look at them any longer, Etienne in particular. Maker, hadn't she learned not to trust human men? She cursed her foolishness for thinking Etienne was somehow different from the louts that leered at her in the Denerim taverns. She turned away from them, her heart twisting.

 

Enough of the self-pity. She had a job she agreed to and she meant to do it. The human warrior was nearest and she wanted to get this over with as quickly as possible. "Tessa, was it?" she said with a friendly smile. "Would you mind accompanying me on a search of the barn? I like not the idea of walking around here alone."

[BFace]

Seeing that Bartha was alright, or going to be, Tessa turned to survey the rest of this raggle taggle group. She was gonna have a demon’s own time remembering anyone’s name.  She saw the redheaded mage-Etienne was his name. Fancy-sounding, which fit him. He was talking to the man the wolves had been trying to eat. That one seemed to be a pretty big man, and seemed like he was going to be alright, too.

 

Her eyes looked over the dead wolves and then over to Laurelin. 

 

‘Maker, I think she’s a mage. Do the Dalish even have mages?’ she thought to herself before focusing on Rael.  As the elf woman spoke, Tessa took in her surroundings before coming to a decision.

 

“I think I don’t like the idea of walking around here alone, either.  But, on the other hand, I don’t know that we’re better off with just the two of us.”

 

Tessa looked around the group again. “Maybe, once we give everyone a minute to catch their breath, we could split into two groups and go about it that way. Safer, I’d wager.”

[mysteriouspast]

Rael nodded, but her expression remained guarded. "Let's take the Dalish mage, then," she said impatiently. "We've got a whole family to find, and I like not the look of all those crows in the sky. It seems to me that we should waste no time." 

 

She stepped into the closest approximation of the center of the group. "We need to hurry and find these folks," she said in a commanding tone that surprised her. She quickly surveyed the buildings in the area, taking judicious care to avoid Etienne and Beldin's eyes. "Tessa and I are going to search the barn. Would you come with us?" she asked Laurelin.

[ChachiBobinks]

Etienne split from Beldin as quick as he could and headed directly for Rael, who was possibly some sort of murderous spy. Assumptions were both a weakness of his and something he fought hard to ignore, though. He thought it best to check on her first, and get clarification shortly thereafter. 

 

"I'll come with you," he interrupted. "Myself, you, and Tessa. We should take the barn. Laurelin seems to know much of these wolves and would best off speaking to Beldin at this point. Seems they both know a thing or two about what's going on. But first... a breather."

[mysteriouspast]

Rael was unable to look away from the ground as Etienne spoke to her. Maker only knew the horrible things Beldin had told him about her. Why had he asked to join her? She could only think of a few possibilities, and none of them were comforting. Finding no way to refuse him without alerting Tessa that something was amiss, she said, "Fine, but let's not tarry long."

[BFace]

Tessa looked from Etienne to Rael and shook her head, as if to clear it.

 

"Yes, fine. But give me a moment." She spoke in a tone that left no room for argument and stalked over to the big man they'd saved. She closed in and said something quietly to him. 

[TreeHuggerHannah]

"Oh, it's nothing," Tempest said, flushing slightly at the thanks but undeniably pleased. She wasn't used to doing much fighting, but healing was commonplace for her. Even in her relatively safe circle there was the occasional household mishap to tend to, and somehow the trickle of injured people they came across always seemed steady. Mending a simple wound was no greater a task than putting together a meal or doing laundry. Still, Tempest had to admit it always felt good when her efforts were appreciated.

[mysteriouspast]

Rael wanted to say something to stop Tessa from walking off, but the words would not come. Alone with Etienne, the only wonder she had was whether he would humiliate her now or wait until later.

[TreeHuggerHannah]

Clearly some sort of awkward dynamic was brewing in the group. Tempest was torn between a desire to set things right - whatever that might entail, since at this juncture she didn't even know what was wrong - and an equally strong desire not to be pulled into the middle.

 

For now, she decided it was best not to try to mediate. Not without knowing more, anyway, and truth be told it was none of her business.

 

"I'll go with whoever needs me," Tempest said brightly, and waited to see how the groups divided.

[ChachiBobinks]

And then they were alone, as they were so often. Etienne scanned the group, from Tessa's retreating back to the Dalish and the dwarf, the latter of which had being tended to by... yes, well, he knew now that she certainly was a fellow mage. He dug the toe of his shoe into the dirt. "You should stay with Beldin," he called out to Tempest. "I do not know that he is entirely well." Tessa was busy speaking to the other man and Etienne, ready to stand about awkwardly by Rael's side. 

 

"Are you alright?" he finally asked her, voice low and private.