As everyone went about their preparations for the journey to the march of Zeus' wind-shattering voice, Serapy too scrambled to perform her task. In a fluffy coat, she was currently walking around with harness supporting a small barista counter in front of her.

Hot Drinks

"Excuse me everyone! Please mind your core bodily temperatures and remember to take breaks! Do not attempt to tough things out! Injuries are more likely in the cold! S-so! Please help yourselves to Hot Drinks! I have Coffee and Tea and uhmmm, Hot Chocolate! Yes! Please do not be shy! This is a special service for helping The Lion's Pride out! Yes! Thank you for your hard-work everyone!!!"

(*Special Service means free!)

Shouting like a small barking puppy, Seraphy distributed piping hot and surprisingly delicious drinks to those who approached her. Like seriously, they tasted gourmet. Each drink was in a bio-degradable thermos for easy handling and even storage within one's inventory. Seraphy is a healer yes, and a spirit magus besides, but at this very moment, she was healing spirits in a different sort of way. Seraphy was working hard, struggling to wade through the building snow, but all the same she was absolutely brimming with cheer.

Well then, would you like to place an order?

Tracker​

 

Roland road his horse to Vintergaurd, but made a long detour within the confines of the city before returning to its outskirts wearing a thick fur duster, and followed by a small entourage of workers. The last time he was in town he had requisitioned quite a few items after to handle the winter months they were entering. Knowing they'd be traveling in these conditions, however, Roland decided to pick up some of the stock early. Mostly it contained, oversized fur coats, but there were a few amenities tossed in as well. As he neared the caravan, Roland pointed towards the last wagon in the line [4], and the workers made their way too it.

While they began unloading a few things, Roland rode his horse to the picket line and tying him down. "So you were the first to arrive Sera?" He asked @Seraphy with a smile, as he purchased one of her drinks. Chugging the liquid Roland walked to where @Zeus was currently standing introducing himself in a somewhat casual manner, "Hello there! You must be Zeus, I've heard quite some things... but regardless I'm glad you are here to help clear out the northern menace. Allow me to introduce myself, I am Duke Roland Rutledge, and as luck would have it, I am free enough to come and join the fray. " Roland did not bow as he introduced himself. Instead, he turned rubbing his chin, "Sadly, I am not the most powerful duke, and beyond myself, I cannot pledge to much more to this venture. However, the king has been kind enough to lend us a small supply of coats. If you see any adventurer's severely underequipped for the weather merely send them my way."

He shot the old man a friendly smile before turning back to the wagon he had sequestered earlier. As he approached, he saw that the workmen had nearly finished with their 'renovations' and a quick peek inside showed a case of wine and a heat lamp coupled with a pair of plush purple lounging chairs, all of which had been nailed into the floorboard of the wagon. Roland smiled admiring the job and wondering how they had removed most of the old benches so quickly when a voice to his right interrupted him. "My lord, as you requested." Turning he saw the worker carried a large piece of red fabric in his hands. Knowing what it was, Roland took it from him, as he borrowed a hammer and nail. "Go ahead and load the rest of the trunks into the wagon," he said as moved the fabric, revealing his newly made sigil banner. "This will be the first time you fly, huh?" Roland asked the piece of fabric, as he nailed it into the side of the wagon.

Hidden: Banner Flag

​

Reclamation Tracker​

 

Icy winds howled across the streets of Vintergard and pelted four wagons and their accoutrements. Several of the posted guards and horsemen huddled together for warmth, already wary of their mission. Disguised as traders, they would evoke the interests of the Bandit King, lure his I'll from hiding, and-

Ah, well, Zeus had been rather gray on the topic of slaughter. In fact, Kijin thought the use of the terminology "kick his ass" seemed indeterminate, other than to send a message.

It was not his prerogative to ask questions about method, however. He would complete his given task, to the letter. His questions would all be centralized around the most important part of the operation.

"I keep hearing people talking about glory," he said offhand to @Zeus after the man finished bellowing above the weather. "But what's the going rate for those of us who aren't charity cases?"

As he spoke, he pulled a shovel out from his inventory and started clearing the wheels of the third wagon, which would be his position for the ride.

"A Hunter's got to pay the bills, you know."

Tracker​

 

'Sir Zeus is right, it's freezing.' Haru wasn't quite sure what he was doing here today. To be perfectly frank, he was pretty sure that he had a serious lack of experience for a gathering as big as this one. He'd barely started, after all. Haru had first learned about this undertaking from a rather downput member of the Lions, who happened sitting around the tutorial area, when he decided to give him a good cheering up. Why not come straight here, right? It sounded like an important event.
Haru reflects that perhaps he should have assumed that a place like this would be freezing, though. "I should've found myself a warmer robe." He laments to himself, idly looking around for something to help out with. After a while, he takes a worried note of the horses. He doesn't have anything warm on him save for comfort, yet the horses might need just that.
Horses can get spooked by a variety of things, and weather like this is bound to be uncomfortable for them. Haru resolves himself, approaching a horse and reaching out to keep it calm. He wasn't exactly an expert, but Haru remembers quite many a time when he took a trip halfway across the state to a farm owned by his cousin. The horses there were about all of what occupied his time while he was there, so naturally he learned a few things about handling them.
"I guess this could work out for now." Haru smiles to himself. It felt as if he was calming himself down rather than the horse. It was probably because the steed was warm enough to keep his head clear in this cold.

Tracker​

 

"Hehehehe! Majolica can't get cold thanks to her Witch Ice powers!"

Even though it was early and the Grand Witch wasn't exactly an early riser, she was excited. When she first got the message from Zeus she had bolted out of the the tavern she was in to gather some supplies and make sure she was ready for the trek. There was nothing Majolica liked more than showing off her power and forcing a bunch of bandits to serve her as frog minions sounded perfect.

"They're bad guys so they earned some frog time, hehehe!"

Looking around, Majolica saw many adventures that weren't even lions, which she thought was weird.

"Where are the rest of us? Ah! There's @Seraphy I'll go say hi in a second. I thought I saw @Emerath and @Corvella but is that it? Hehehe, well whatever. A Grand Witch is worth five people anyway, hehehe!"

Seeing Zeus, Majolica hopped on her broom and happily rode over to him.

"Hehehe, Grand Witch Majolica reporting in! My Witch Ops team is ready to go teach those dummy bandits what it means to mess with a lion! Hehehehe! Also, someone is going to be angry that you broke the door again so just say Majolica did it, hehe. If you say that, then I'll take the blame, but then you owe me! Hehehe, I don't know what the favor will be, hehehe, but we can figure it out later! Hehe, anyway, I'll do my best to do something about the snow, so you better be ready to thrash them, Chief! Hehehe! I'm going to take point in the first wagon and blow anything in our way to nothing! Hehehe! I'm going to go talk to everyone else, see you later! Hehehehe!"

With that, Majolica left to go talk to Seraphy.

"Assistant Intern Seraphy, hehehe! What are you doing? Making drinks! Gimme! Hehehe!"

Majolica grabbed one that smelled good.

"Ahhh! Cocoa! Hehehe, you've done well Initiate Assistant Seraphy! This is just what I needed to get my witch blood pumping! Hehehehe! Now the dumb bandits won't stand a chance at all! Not that they did in the first place! Hehehe! I'm going to go in the first wagon as my Assistant initiate, you should be there as well! Hehehehe. Hurry up and pass out your drinks so we can make a plan, hehe."

Majolica finished her first cocoa and grabbed another, then rode towards the front of the caravan. Reaching the front, she focused her aeromancy to create a pocket of air buffeting the winds up and over the preparing caravan.

"Hehehehe! Those bandits are goners! Hehehehehe!"

Tracker​

 

"Bart, no!" Alpha groaned as her supposedly graceful stallion began to, once again, tap-dance. It was fascinating to see the Strawberry Roan tap his hooves with such finesse while he had her on his back but there was a time and a place for everything. If they were in a Pokemon game right now, Professor Oak would've undoubtedly used his omniscient abilities to smack some sense into the raving horse.

"C'mon boy, we gotta go!" the blizzard was picking up and the snow atop her head was beginning to pile up. Alpha didn't even need clairvoyant abilities to figure out what would happen to them if they took their sweet time getting to the inn. It'll only take a few more minutes and then Alpha would have to rename Bart into Bartsicle since that'll be all that's left of him—a frozen block of ice buried in a layer of snow that'll be excavated by scientists a thousand years in the future. The only thing that'll be left of him when he was thawed out would be his stupidity (although Alpha could argue that that's the only thing that her precious mount consisted of).

Hidden: A Diagram of the Horse

Luckily for her, the crazy little bugger finally began to make headway to meetup and, within a few minutes more of travel (coupled with Alpha brushing through his mane to clear off the bits of white), they made it. The place was crowded, so Alpha was somewhat comforted by the face that they weren't left behind (although she reminded herself to give Bart a piece of her mind when this was all done and over with; all his beloved carrots for the next week would be going to Potato!). The man, white-haired and scarred, spoke and, for once in this entire day, Alpha felt somewhat relieved. It had been stressful enough trying to convince her wayward horses to accompany her: Potato was more interested in staring at his lovely reflection by the river and Bart had to be bribed with a carrot slurpee. Either way, it looked like things were finally looking up.

Well, until she heard a bark.

There was a moment of silence as she stared at the wolf behind her. She could've sworn to hell and high water that Hector hadn't been there a minute ago. "What?" her eye twitched. "What?"

There was a lapse of quiet and stillness. Although the crowd was still brewing around, making preparations, all the noise drowned out as Alpha stared straight into Hector (the pup was staring straight back at her; his eyes pressing into her soul). "What?" she said again.

Distantly, she wondered if she'd meet the kind girl who'd given her honey doughnuts (@Seraphy) the other day. Maybe, after she figured this enigma out, she'd look for the girl and get a nice coat for Bart and everything. Until then, however, she stood idly with her mouth gaping open.

Reclamation Tracker​

 

“That damn Russell—” Destiny stopped herself, uncharacteristically angry for a moment, and let herself take a deep breath. She closed her palm menu, gathering her wits again as she leaned on the shovel she’d been using to clear the snow out from around the first wagon’s wheels. “Arright. Yep. Typical. Should’ve seen that one coming.”

Even so, the e-mail from Crane—(“Haha sorry, I can’t come to the thing today! I won movie tickets, catch ya later!”) seemed like it was burned into her vision. Or maybe it was just the faces of the entire Lion’s Pride faction all around her, prepared for conquest and battle, while she stood there ankle-deep in the snow like a damn idiot alone at the worst party ever. Hell, was it bad manners just to slam the “logout” button and sign off before anyone asked her why she didn’t have so much as a butter knife to defend herself with?

Breathe. In. Out. Damn. Goddamn. Goddamn. Fine, she was here, she was stuck with it, she was ready as anyone completely not ready could be. She and her friend’s little Astorian warrior guild were off to take down the Black Wolf bandits—Black Wolves? Aw, Christ. Hell, now she remembered who those were—they had a real reputation, even a total hermit like her couldn’t help but hear about their troublemaking up north. Just great. Count on Crane to miss all the important details. Tells me to meet him here and that it’ll be easy, doesn’t even show. She shook her head, tucking a lock of dark hair behind a pointed ear.

Right. First things first—horses were cold. Hell, Des had led a riding tour or two out in real life and it was a damn pain when something went wrong out on the trail. Could hold us up hours if somethin’ like that goes wrong, and it’d be best if this was painless as possible. She grabbed an armful of blankets off a nearby wagon and staggered under their weight for a moment before freeing one hand to snatch a nearby mount’s bridle.

Tossing the blanket over the animal, she gave a nod to the white-haired @Haru calming another horse nearby. “Attaboy, keep ‘em steady! You got a real knack for that guy.” She patted the horse on the flank and blew on her freezing hands to warm them, fingers numb and pink. “Agh, damn, it’s cold. Where’s that @Seraphy gal with the coffee? Reckon she'd take an I-O-U?” The Yladian pulled her scarf closer around her neck, grateful for its warmth.

Tracker​

 

Bad weather was unpleasant when alone, but in a group as large as this? The blizzard was naught but a nice conversational topic, and a good reason for people to huddle closer together. Suppressing a yawn, Cain, snug in his fur lined coat and his even furrier cloak, watched as the Lion’s Pride began to gather in the narrow street, the four wagons making it feel more like some Winter Storm Day festival than the beginning of an operation to chase the Bandit King, the Scourge of the North, the Black Wolf of the Adecus Forest, out of Astorean land. And as far as the Muse was concerned?

It was a job that was a long time coming.

His naturally cheery disposition clouded over temporarily as he recalled the trickling of refugees from northern villages coming to Vintergard, downtrodden and displaced. It wasn’t just demons who lived up north, after all, and it stood as another failure on the part of this nation’s King and his court of nobles. Exploration was meaningless if it meant leaving your home exposed to invaders. As a player, Astor was no doubt a legend at that point, but…if given the choice between tossing thousands of gold pieces towards an expedition or towards maintaining peace and lawfulness within the region, it was clear which one was the better choice, no?

Then again, adventurers were adventurers, and the Newly Crowned King was a human of a different world. There could only be so much attachment to the residents of a virtual land in the end, and after getting himself thoroughly depressed with such thoughts, Cain turned his attention to brighter things. Like Duke Roland’s gorgeously decorated wagon! Oh, that was such an overtly disgusting wagon, draped in vapid luxuries! Or Kijin’s eternal thirst for money, already trying to negotiate a better deal out of this charity run! Ah, and then blessed warmth in the form of ‘Hot Drinks’ handmade by some innocent purple mage!

“Hey,” he called out to @Seraphy , “I’ll take…three of those, chef’s recommendation! Real nice of you to provide beverages before our Prideful Procession launches off though, miss. You coming along for the mission, or just here to see us off?”

Juggling the three mugs with acrobatic ease, he nodded along with whatever answer she came up with, before sidling up onto an unadorned wagon, sipping his mug of hot chocolate. Dark eyes flickered through the small crowd of adventuring folk, before familiar faces began unveiling themselves. Red hair for the Sunset Sage and a bouncing gait for the fiendish Lames Joriarty. Setting aside the other two cups, he waved at them, calling out.

“Oi, @Seigi , @Alphabet Chocolate ! Hell of a long time, eh? C’mon over, let’s party together!”

And instead of a brilliant, ivory flag, he procured a gilded lute from the ether instead, strumming the strings cheerily.

“Got myself a new instrument as well. Y’all down for some bus riding songs?”

Tracker​

 

Emerath had prepared, but he hadn’t prepared enough. It was all Emerath could do to stand the chill of the cold in the real world. He really wished he hadn’t had to deal with it here. His jacket proved to do little against the cold, and so the man mixed up a tonic that would combat the chill of the air. It was a disgusting mix of heat releasing chemicals and alcohol that Emerath had to choke down. But it worked. The chill did nothing to him now as he walked into the blizzard with his head held high.

Zeus was barking orders, but Emerath didn’t want to disturb the man. He was busy and the orders were clear. So instead he looked for his friends @Kaëda Flints and @Rodger Clemens. But he didn’t see either of them. He gave a light sigh. He didn’t want to do this alone, but he supposed he could enjoy the company of new friends. But a quick mail wouldn’t hurt.

Mail

Rodger, Flints

If you guys get this, and plan on coming to the event, meet me in the front wagon!

Satisfied, Emerath made way to the front wagon and joined the procession loading supplies into the wagon, before he felt satisfied that he had done his part. He then loaded himself into the wagon, only to see @Grand Witch Majolica sitting there. Aw hell. He really didn’t want him and his friends to suddenly become a part of her Witch Ops bull. But, he had already sent the message didn’t he? Another would be cumbersome and confusing.

So, Emerath, resigned to his fate, pulled out his Rainbow in the Dark and began to strum a bit of a somber song. The only reason it was able to compete with the wind was because of its electric sound.

Tracker​

 

"C'mon, @Valdrada , hurry hurry! The tin-can suit shouldn't slow you down, right?! I once read a story about twins that had quite a horrible adventure after they missed their magical school bus to witch school! You don't want that to happen to you, right? Are you could? I hope you aren't cold. Don't tell me you're cold!" Seigi had been more-hyper-than-usual the entire morning as she accompanied her apprentice, @Valdrada, to the meeting place.

In fact, it had been quite a while since they had done anything together and the crimson-hair couldn't wait to see how her pupil would fare! She even got herself all turtled up and everything. Not a choice Seigi could really understand, but it kinda fit, no? Getting her own hero-identity and all! So... actually totally perfect for her side-kick! "Just imagine when you decide to go all out, throw the armor pieces away and triple your power-level! Ohhh... that's genius. Maybe I should wear some super heavy things too for the sake of training. You're a genius, Val!"

Strangely enough, Seigi herself didn't seem to freeze at all despite the little bit of clothing she had. Clearly, the heroic flame inside her was enough to keep her warm. "I hope @Zeus is actually a TRULY TRUE HERO and tries to resolve this without killing people, either! You know, Val, one of the true strengths of a hero isn't in being able to kill your evil opponent. It's having enough strength to subdue them and convert them to the side of JUSTICE!" Seigi hadn't even noticed how close Zeus was actually. Being totally absorbed in herself and nearly yelling over half-the-place. The crimson-hair truly had a loud organ.

Not much time to ponder on this, however, someone else called the hero-in-training over. "Cain?!"

Giving Valdrada not too much of a choice as Seigi dragged her along into a wagon with the Muse and @Alphabet Chocolate, Seigi seemed even more excited. Bus riding song? This nearly seemed like an actual class outing! "Alphabet! Ha... I always knew that one day, you would join the GOOD SIDE. Seeing you here totally stands proof to that, yup!"

Before looking at Cain. "Ooohhh? A song!? What are we gonna sing? I'm all in!" Maybe Cain was a closet weeb just as herself and knew some cool songs! Before that, however, there was still one thing to do. "Val, this is Cain! He's like a super wise wisdom person! But not a Hero. And this is Alphabet Chocolate, she was once evil but I converted her to the good side! Yup, totally. Cain, Alpha, this is Val, my apprentice."

Seigi's stare solidified a bit against Cain, as to prove a point. "Yup, every hero needs a super cool side-kick! And I got THE BESTEST side-kick, ever!"

Today was a good day indeed. No annoying thoughts to cloud her mind. No self-doubt she had to pep-talk herself out of. Just... enjoyment. Gaming was indeed fun.

Tracker​

 

Beneath her heavy armor, Savannah word regular clothing befitting the horrid weather that continued to assail them in every direction. Snow, ice, hellish winds, and blinding conditions seemed to be the recipe of the evening. She couldn’t believe she was going to be fighting in this mess, nevertheless against bandits. She sighed and reflexively blew on her hands to keep them warm, steam rising from her lips due to her breath.

Silver eyes looked up at the call of hot drink and the Death Knight immediately moved from her stooped position by one of the wagons and instead walked over. She smiled to the woman and inclined her head as ways of giving a silent thank you before grabbing a hot chocolate. Nursing the drink as she returned to her wagon, she sighed as the cocoa and warmth slowly travelled down her throat and spread through her chest.

She leaned against the side of the wagon, sipping at her drink while the wind continued to toss her long black hair back and forth. Every now and then, she would look up from her drink and around her, eyeing the others of the caravan with mere glances. It was apparent she was looking for someone.

Tracker​

 

"I-it's kinda cold," Valdrada said, ears flattening against her head. "B-but I'm okay!" Truth be told, she was freezing. Felt like she was frozen solid. But she wasn't about to admit that in front of @Seigi.

...Even though it was really, really cold outside.

Valdrada hid a whimper as she trudged miserably through the snow. She was wearing a thin layer of cloth under her armor, but that wasn't nearly enough to keep away the bitter cold that her metal armor was absorbing from the awful weather. Why couldn't they have set out yesterday? She didn't want to be miserable and frozen all the way through for her first heroic expedition.

So it was a relief when she saw the purple-haired girl walking around with a counter attached to her body, proclaiming that she had hot chocolate. As fast as her tiny armored body would allow, she waddled over to the girl (@Seraphy) and asked, "Can I have a hot chocolate? Please?" Glancing back over her shoulder at Seigi, she added, "And, um, one more for my friend? Thank you."

When she had her precious cargo, she waddled back to her mentor and passed her one of the mugs. Taking a brief, heavenly sip of her own drink, she continued to obediently follow after Seigi and listen to her talking about being a hero. She didn't know anyone else there, so sticking close to the red-haired girl seemed like the safest course of action.

O-oh. So, uh, that solved the problem of not knowing anyone. Seigi looked like she had lots of friends, huh. "N-nice to meet you," Val said, looking between the two others.

The girl with the horse and the wolf looked nice... Aside from the part about her once being evil? Val didn't really know what was up with that. Maybe that was just Seigi being Seigi? And the other guy seemed pretty nice. He had something that looked like a guitar with him, which... she couldn't really figure out why he had it out when it was so miserably cold outside. Weren't his fingers freezing?

Come to think of it, Seigi wasn't shivering at all either. Maybe this was just something about being more experienced in the game. Compared to everyone else, Val's set of clanky armor didn't seem very impressive. But that just meant she'd have to try harder!

Tracker​

 

It was cold.

No really, it was cold. Freezing even. The wind tore at her clothes and Luna found herself wishing that her outfit was a little better for the cold. The strange fur cloak that had been sold to her was good enough, but some warmth would have been way better appreciated right about now.

And those hot drinks looked really good, though Luna was far too shy to actually go over there and ask for one, instead wandering aimlessly through the gathered group in search of something or somebody, Natiri the white tigress fresh at her heels, pointedly ignoring everybody around them as she followed Luna.

Eventually, against the side of a wagon, she spotted a familiar face, blinking before a small smile stretched across her lips, slowly trudging through the snow towards the woman, shivers wracking her frame slightly. "S-s-sorry! A-are you @Savannah Reed from the messages?" She leaned forwards a bit to give the woman a better look at herself. "I-I'm Luna Avalbane! N-nice to meet you! This is Natiri..." She gestured to the white tiger, who chuffed once or twice as greetings.

Tracker​

 

As a member of the Pride it was only natural that Alric would resign himself to tagging along on the faction’s trip into northern Astorea. Their goal was simple: Eradication of the bandits plaguing the area. As luck would have it he was also already familiar with at least some of what these people were capable of. Of course he had grown stronger since his encounter with the group during the rescue mission, but underestimating the enemy now would ultimately only lead to his downfall. It was for the best to remain cautious at all times.

---

Damn it was cold. While adjusting his scarf the man slowly trudged from inside the inn and down the snow-littered street. In his arms he held a box of supplies which was quickly dumped into the closest wagon he could reach before his attention wandered to the rest of the group. With a sigh Alric shrugged away his own thoughts. Even if he didn't know most of the people in attendance, he had feeling they'd all be getting better acquainted real soon.

A gust of wind caused an arm to shield his face in response and reminded him there was still work to be done despite the poor weather. At least loading the wagons gave him an excuse to go inside every now and then to enjoy the building's warmer interior. Unlike Zeus, who was quickly becoming a living snowman, Alric had to keep moving to avoid freezing to death before they had even left.

“It… Actually seems like he’s enjoying this too much.”

His words were lost on the wind as mumbled breaths while he briefly watched @Zeus on the way inside to grab more boxes. Perhaps that was what made him a good leader though. Alric did in fact respect the man's resolve and bravery in the face of such a threat. Because of those he would have to do his best to make the hero proud. This was more than a simple job; it was an opportunity for the Lion’s Pride to restore its name to its former glory. As a Lion he would play his part in making sure that happened.

Tracker​