As Stelluna walked into Deepstone village's marketplace, she looked around for any potential sources of work. Looking around, she noticed a small argument going on between some sort of trader and a shopkeeper in some sort of wood crafts shop. Travelling traders often hired guards as roads could often be perilous with bandits, hostile wildlife or some other dangers on the loose. With the prospect of a job in mind, she made her way inside of the store to listen in. "Listen, this route is one the safest there is. The caravan doesn't need any more protection. I can't even remember the last time we've been attacked travelling between Deepstone and Finweald." "I'm telling you, this shipment needs to arrive. This is the biggest order I've ever had! I'm not taking any chances so you can either get more guards or this deal is off." "Ugh, alright... fine. We'll go and find some more people. Now, the payment?" "Excellent, give me a few minutes. I have the money prepared in the back somewhere." As the shopkeeper went to the back of the store, Stelluna walked up to the caravaneer and said, "I couldn't help but notice that you were looking for a guard. I used to run with another caravan, I can guarantee that there'll be no... issues." "That guy's as stubborn as a mule. He won't be satisfied if we hire just one more person. If you can bring in at least one other person in, you have the job." "Bit of a tall order on this short of a notice but I'm sure I can find someone." "Great. If you do find someone, meet us along the road out of town at dusk. We'll discuss payment and more details there. There'll be all sorts of wagons and the like, can't miss it." With that, Stelluna exits the store. Wandering the marketplace, she began to search for anyone who looks like they would be interested in the job. @Ashiore Evretto
Ash sighed in relief as a village finally came into view. She didn't really have a plan when she decided to wander aimlessly into Astorea, mostly just looking around for anything interesting. Maybe try a bit of 'communing with nature' or whatever it was, to strengthen her magical abilities. All it got her was a bunch of scratches from tripping over rocks and such, a few bumps on the head when she ran into tree branches when she wasn't looking, and a lot of annoyance. At least Naixi was now fed and content. Deep forests were a bit of a different environment than open plains, but the lion managed to score a kill for herself and happily scarfed down a young deer. So that was one less concern now. But you know, the big one still remained: she had no idea where she was. Therefore, the relief upon seeing a village. Maybe she could get directions back to Brisshal or somewhere else, or just find something to do. A whole morning of doing nothing in the woods wasn't her idea of fun or engaging activity. She put on a smile and walked into the center of the village, looking around for anyone who seemed open to talk. Naixi kept close, as she knew now when entering populated settlements. Lions roaming loose tended to worry people. She spotted a woman in armor looking around the area like she was searching for something. Ooh, looked like either another player, or an NPC with fun things to do. Ash made her way to the woman with a smile. "Hi! Sorry to bother you if you're busy, but are you looking for something? Maybe I could help."
Stelluna looked at the young, brown haired lady that just spoke. While she didn't appear to be battle hardened looks, looks could be deceiving and she did have a lion following her around. Dusk was approaching fast and she hadn't found anyone else. If nothing else, the trader did say that the route was safe. "Ah, yes, I am in need of help. There is a caravan to Finweald that needs additional protection. Would you be interested in the job?" Stelluna hoped that... she hadn't introduced herself or asked for the lady's name. "Also, I am Stelluna, what is your name?"
"Oh, yes!" Ash smiled at her good fortune. This was exactly what she was looking for. "I don't mind at all. I'm not much for direct fighting, but I have Naixi here to take care of that." She gave her lion a quick pat on her shoulder. "And I also have some healing spells and other supportive abilities. If that's at all what you're looking for, I'd be happy to help." She held out her hand to the elven woman who was now introducing herself as Stelluna. "Great to meet you, Stelluna. My name is Ashiore, but you can call me Ash." Introductions done, she turned to look around the marketplace. "Any other business to take care of in town before we set off? And when is the caravan leaving, actually?"
"Excellent, the caravan leaves around dusk. I have no further business here but there are a few hours left until it's time to leave. The caravan made camp along the road. I will waiting at the gate." Stelluna turned around and made her way to the gates, navigating past the bustling marketplace. Since that particular part of the job had been taken care of, she could instead prepare herself for the journey ahead. Running as a caravan guard on a 'safe' route, it was just like old times... Sure, there was still payment to be negotiated about but money wasn't really why she took the job. Only someone rich would be ordering something a shipment of wooden crafts. Where there's money to be made, bandits have a habit of following. And wherever bandits went, there was blood to be spilled.
A few hours, got it. She gave Stelluna a brief wave as the woman turned to walk away, leaving her and Naixi in the middle of the market. "Well, that's enough time to rest up a bit," Ash said, giving Naixi some absentminded scratches. "I don't think there's anything we need from the market, right?" Ah, but of course the moment she said that, she spotted a few trinkets and accessories that caught her eye. Ooh, they looked tempting... Three hours later, and Ash finally left the main gates of Deepstone, pockets a bit heavier and purse significantly lighter. She sighed. "Why do I always do this?" she asked Naixi, who of course gave no answer and merely demanded ear scratches. At least she had gotten a bit of energy regenerated; it wasn't as if shopping was that tiring of an activity. She sighed and headed over to where Stelluna was waiting. She smiled when she saw the other woman. "Hey, Stelluna! So, is the caravan leaving soon then?"
Hearing a voice call out to her, Stelluna looked up to see Ashiore approaching her. Giving the setting sun a brief glance, it looked to be about the right time. Pushing herself off the wall, she turned to address Ash. "I would imagine so, it's about dusk. Let's go find their camp, it shouldn't be too hard to spot." Stelluna stretched her legs a bit before grabbing her rusted spear turned walking stick and walking down the well worn road. While it wasn't quite night time, it would be much easier to spot the camp if there was still light left. She gave a quick check to see if Ashiore was still following her before continuing on The walk was quiet, aside from the lion's occasional huffing. Eventually Stelluna came across what she supposed was the caravan's camp. It became clear to her that something was very wrong. There was still a fire going and the wagons were still there but it was quiet. The shopkeeper was supposed to be here to negotiate, so why didn't she hear any talking? Stopping abruptly, she turned to look at Ash while drawing her rusted, old spear. "There's something going on. It's quiet, and that's the last thing a caravan is. Hopefully it's just their pre-expedition nap but no one's on lookout..."
Ash happily followed behind Stelluna as they made their way to the meeting point. The main road out of Deepstone was easy enough to follow so she didn't have any trouble keeping up with the quiet and driven woman. After a bit of walking, though, Stelluna stopped in her tracks. Curiously looking around Stelluna, Ash could see a still-smoldering campfire, and a few wagons parked around the area. But no people nearby. The sound of a weapon being drawn pulled her attention back to Stelluna, and she saw the woman holding a spear as she scanned the environment. "Do you think something happened to them?" Ash asked, tensing. An entire caravan of people, just gone? Yeah, Ash didn't think they were many benign reasons why a bunch of people who were transporting things so valuable that they were going to hire guards would just vanish. "Naixi, check the area." As she gave the command, the lion began slowly pacing around the perimeter, ready to raise an alarm if anything tried to attack them. Meanwhile, Ash quietly moved to investigate the wagons, looking for a clue.
As Ash and her lion searched part of the camp, Stelluna cautiously walked towards the biggest of the tents. Not only was there light coming from within, if a contract was to be signed it would in the caravan master's tent. While she didn't know for certain, she figured it was a fairly safe guess. Spear at the ready, she slowly brushed one of the curtains away and looked around the tent. There was a table with documents scattered across, a full scribe's writing kit leaning on a table leg and a couple of unmarked leather bags in the corner. Still, not a soul in sight. There was still a candle burning so it couldn't have been that long before they disappeared. Taking a closer look at the contract, it looked to be fairly standard. Deliver the shipment, half of the payment up front then half later, blah blah... However, the lack of signatures and messy notes everywhere definitely implied a lack of agreement. Maybe things had gotten violent? There weren't any signs of a fight that she could see and tent was still intact, if a bit worn. Things seemed to be pretty shady in this deal and she wouldn't be surprised if the shopkeeper back at Deepstone was "on vacation". She walked over to the bags and opened them up. There were nothing but clothes, trail rations and the like, all bog standard supplies. One of the cloaks did have some sort of symbol on it. For all she knew it was the caravan's logo but it was something. She picked it up and slung it over her shoulder. Finding nothing else of significance in the tent, she decided to regroup with Ashiore. Walking out of the tent, she found the brown haired woman searching through the wagons. Walking closer, Stelluna called out to Ashiore, "Any clue what happened? Seemed like both the caravan and the shopkeep just walked out in the middle of an argument. I did find this cloak though, had a sort of symbol on it..." Stelluna stopped for a moment before putting away her spear and spreading the cloak wide open, revealing the symbol on the back. "Any idea what it is? There's more light over at that tent if you want to take a closer look."
Huh. Nothing strange about the wagons. It looked like all the supplies were still there, which mean this probably wasn't a robbery gone wrong. Or right? Either way, theft wasn't likely to be involved in how the entire caravan went missing. When she heard Stelluna's voice again, Ash turned around with a worried frown. "No, I have no idea. All of the goods they were supposed to be transporting are still here." She waved a hand at the tarps covering the wagons. "They weren't robbed, that much I know." Ash looked up to Naixi, made sure that everything was still all right. Seeing nothing out of place, Ash turned her attention to the cloth that Stelluna was holding out. Even when she held it right up to her face she could barely make out the symbol in the darkness, and it looked just like an amorphous blob. "Light would be great, yeah," Ash began distractedly, still looking at the cloth. She heard Stelluna moving away and looked up to follow, but something caught her attention among the silhouetted trees nearby. It was another light. This one hovered in the air, a soft yellow-orange glow. Almost like a firefly, but larger, less erratic in its movements. It just floated there, bobbing at about eye-level, looking warm and cozy and calm... Thrown die: 38 ...no reason why she couldn't read get a closer look using that light, right? It just looked so welcoming. In a daze, Ash began walking towards it.
Stelluna knew something was wrong when Ash's footsteps were getting fainter instead of louder. Turning back, she saw Ash walking to some... floating light? Stelluna called out, "Ash? Where are you going? The tent's this way." She just kept walking. This wasn't good, something sinister was afoot. Walking a bit faster to catch up to Ash she got a good look of the light. There was something calling to her... promises of safety, comfort, home... She stopped, safety wasn't why she took the job. A faint, distant memory called out to her. That light was a Will-o'-the-wisp, travelers all round have been told to be wary of a soft, warm light floating in the distance. She didn't know what happened to people who followed the light but given that nobody has ever claimed to survive following a Will-o'-the-wisp... Best not to dwell on that now. Ash needed her help. Maybe she needed more, uh, physical incentive. The lion wouldn't be too happy about it but she didn't have anything else. Stelluna sprinted up to Ash before grabbing her arm to slow her approach while saying, "Ash! Stop if you value your life. That's a Will-o'-the-wisp, no one has ever survived following one."
The world was vaguely defined. There was, presumably, a ground she was walking on, but it didn't quite seem like an actual thing. There were trees further off, though Ash couldn't make a guess as to how far away they were. They just were, indistinct and unimportant in a way that the light wasn't. Something jolted her body. She didn't know what it was, just that it didn't matter. Nothing mattered except following the light to where she needed to go. But why was it getting so far away? Ash had been sure she was walking towards it. Was it leaving her? Was she stuck? Was she not walking at all? She would have to look down to be sure, but that would mean taking her eyes off the beautiful, calming light. No, she decided. She couldn't look away.
It seemed like there wasn't another option. Stelluna drew her spear before dashing in front of Ash and sweeping her feet with the spear. As expected, the lion turned to her and let out an angry growl. Stelluna put away her spear and raised her hands in what she hoped was a placating gesture, taking a few steps back. Hopefully Ashiore would come to her senses before things escalated.
WHAM went the sound of Ash's head against the ground. Not having expected that in any way, or even really perceiving the sweeping attack being made, Ash had no way of bracing herself for the impact. Her vision blacked out for a second and her entire world exploded into pain. "A-aghh..." she gasped, reaching a hand for the back of her head. There wasn't any blood, but the slightest brush of her fingers against the spot made it flare up with a sharp pain. "Wha-" A loud snarl caught her attention and she rolled over to see what was happening. It was Naixi, baring her teeth at Stelluna who was holding up both her hands trying to appease the lion. So- so, Stelluna was the one who attacked her? Why- Her memory came back to her suddenly, like everything that she had experienced while under the thrall of the Will-o-the-wisp crystallized into perfect focus. Stelluna must have tried to get her to snap out of it but resorted to knocking her down when she wouldn't respond. "Naixi!" Ash said sharply. Raising her voice even for just that short word set off an enormous headache, but she had to stop Naixi before she maimed Stelluna. "It's fine. I'm fine, don't hurt Stelluna." She shoved herself up, trying to ignore the way the world spun. The urge to wildly look around for the Will-o-the-wisp was strong, but she resisted, not wanting to risk succumbing to its control yet again. Naixi looked at her in confusion but obeyed, warily eyeing Stelluna. Ash tried for a smile. It probably didn't come across as very cheerful. "Thanks," she said to the other woman. "That probably wouldn't have ended well if you hadn't been there. But I guess we know what happened to the caravan now?"
Stelluna knew the fall had to hurt, be Ash seemed fine enough to stand. She was about to ask if Ash wanted to continue on before a deep red light was cast over them. Stelluna turned to the source only to find that the Will-o'-the-wisp had changed color and started sinking lower and lower. As the light started to fade a memory washed over her, betrayal, vengeance, regret... Something had died and wasn't happy about it. Stelluna turned to Ash, "That can't be good... One way or another, I'm finding exactly what's going on right now. You coming with me?"
