Lights in the Distance (Imperfect_M, Open)

[Hyacinthus]

The forests surrounding surrounding Ketra were host to all sorts of weird creatures, and even weirder phenomena. Flora and fauna alike were unique to the region, not only because of the geography, but likely just as much due to events lost to Adela's history-- tales as old as, if not older than most living folk. You tended to hear all sorts of weird tales-- people going missing, others showing up with no idea how they got there. Creatures unheard of by commonfolk, and all sorts of other oddities. The perfect place for anyone with common sense to avoid traveling too deeply into.

Enter Erin-- Alone, and so far away from home that he could arguably say he was on the opposite side of the continent. He'd been wandering for something like 3 hours now, deep within the verdant greens of the Draconi forest, with no visible end to the treeline in sight. Despite this, rather than what one might imagine, he was in quite good spirits-- whistling, in fact, a light grin on his face as the occasional beam of sunlight bled through the trees above and splashed him on the face, or in the eyes, tickling his senses a bit. He was lost-- That much was in no way, shape or form in question, but he was quite content with it. After all, as an old friend of his had once said, 'Getting lost is the first step to finding what no one else can'.

Erin was an adventurer at heart-- he'd traveled the continent, making a name for himself as 'The Pheonix' of Connlaoth, and against most folks' better judgement, he made it his business to go out and explore the wilds every so often-- Sometimes by foot and others by hitching a few rides here and there until he wasn't sure which way north was. Then, just as now, he'd just sorta... find his way back. It was the best way to spend a few days to weeks in between dry periods of either a lack of quests or a lack of actually interesting quests at the Connlaoth adventurer's guild.

Today was day 2 of his trek back home-- he'd left Ketra after escorting a Serenian fellow there, and decided to hoof it back towards Connlaoth, doing and dealing as he needed to the way back. It really was a great way to pass the time, and he always tended to meet so many interesting people, and even more interesting creatures-- the thought of which fueling his mirthful smile even now, as he brushed some low-hanging branches out of his way with an armored forearm. What adventures lay in store today? What new friends? What new foes?

[Imperfect_M]

"Felsul flowers and bark, Groundpine bark... Bloodslow I think we're out of... Uisce, are you even  paying attention?"

Tathfheithleann looked up from her little field notebook and back at the ebon-colored mule following her through the brush. Uisce flicked his ears and blew a noncommittal puff of air through his nostrils. The mule bumped his nose against the little Halfling's head. Tathfheithleann sighed and pat her traveling companion on the head before trotting along, continuing her train of thought.

"Leeeet's see... Groundpine is easy enough to find... Felsul trees are pretty big..." she continued saying to no-one-in-particular, "Oh, and say something if you see Ripplebark growing off of a tree, okay?"

The mule snorted and flicked his ears.

"... You are the worst assistant ever," the Halfling chided.

The pair continued through the woodland, with Tathfheithleann hopping over exposed roots and climbing over what she could not readily jump. Uisce was a remarkably sure-footed mule despite the terrain; he must be used to tromping through woodland. The mule suddenly halted as Tathfheithleann spread her arms out and took a step back, causing the creature's forehead to collide with her.

"Waaaaaiiiiiiiiiit!" she shouted dramatically.

In front of them was simply an oak tree, covered in winding ivy. Or at least that is what it appeared to be at a glance. But Tathfheithleann easily spotted the white marbling of the ivy's pale green leaves, and knew immediately what she was looking at.

Rackbriar. Underneath that dense covering of pale-green, hand-shaped leaves was an endless myriad of tiny, poisonous barbs along the vines that made up its structure. It must have been pulled along by an animal that died next to the tree, upon which the thorny vines started using this oak tree as a means to ensnare more prey.

And it was dangling everywhere off of the oak's hefty boughs, nearly down to the forest floor in some places; more like a weeping willow than an oak tree. But the dangerous, poisonous vines were not what caused the Halfling to stop in her tracks. What caught her attention was a cluster of small, red-and-white mushrooms near the base of the oak tree.

Amanita, a mushroom that, through methods still not fully understood, renders most poisons incapable of killing, but rather will reduce the effects to various forms of incapacitation. Among alchemists and healers, such a substance is practically akin to gold due to its ability to aid in the treatment of those with poor constitution, such as the very old or very young. As the saying goes, "The dose makes the poison."

"Wait here," Tathfheithleann said to Uisce. The mule breathed another puff of air through his nostrils, but remained put as the Halfling tied her hair back and wrapped some kind of chromatic cloth scarf over her nose and mouth.

The dangers of getting hooked on a life-sucking parasitic vine must have weighed less than the benefits of harvesting some of that valuable herb; so tantalizingly close and agonizingly far. Tathfheithleann dropped down onto her belly and began crawling underneath the perilous, dangling vines. It took some doing, but there she was, laid out in front of the fruiting bodies of the Amanita mushroom. She rolled onto her side to put on a pair of fine, silk-like gloves. The gloves themselves were of a magical sort, allowing Tathfheithleann an untold degree of manual dexterity, yet the material itself was as sturdy as bovine leather.

With a tiny knife and a quick series of delicate cuts, the mushrooms came free without fuss, and with the mycelium undisturbed, hopefully there would be more yield in the future. Tathfheithleann stored them in a fist-size cloth bag. Now came the hard part... Getting back out from this mess of creeping, life-sucking vines.

"Easy... Nice and gentle..." the little alchemist muttered to herself as she began the slow crawl back out. Even catching the ends of one of these Rackbriar vines could be disastrous, since attempting to struggle free or cut oneself loose made one more likely to catch even more of those poisonous, tiny barbs on themself.

It would have been a comical sight to happen upon, if not for the inherent danger. A halfling, half her face covered by a cloth as if she was about to start dusting a manor, crawling along on her belly underneath a host of dangling, leafy vines as if her life depended on it while an ebon mule calmly waited for her outside their perimeter.

[Hyacinthus]

The stretch of forest ahead of Erin began to thicken in it's treeline, and lessen in it's shrubberies-- it seemed he was finally beginning to reach the heavier depths of Ketra's surroundings, which marked a decidedly slower pace in his traveling. He was heavily armored-- he always was, from the nape of his neck to the bottom of his feet. Normally, aside from the obvious weight on his body, this wasn't much of a concern to him-- however, the forests of Le'Raana held many small critters, dangerous insects and poisonous flora that were worthy of respect-- A wrong step could mean a literal snake up his boot, or under his pauldrons. He wasn't a huge fan of snakes in his armor-- for the obvious reasons-- and as a result, his gait became a bit slower, lighter, and his gaze a bit less focused on the sky, and moreso on the road ahead of him. It was always better to be safe, when the sun disappeared from above a forest's treescape.

As he walked, his ears happened upon very unnatural rustling-- like an animal struggling to stand, or prey caught in a trap. Erin, master of minding his own business, paused his trek for a moment to appraise the direction that the rustling was coming from. West of him? No... Northwest of him. Or... South. No, it was definitely west of him. He was absolutely certain of this-- particularly because he had absolutely no idea which direction he was facing, and no real urgency to figure it out. "...That way," The young man confidently concluded, throwing directions out the window altogether as he turned his stride towards the rustling. Might've been a stray boar-- He hadn't had boar meat in at least a month. Might've been a basilisk. Who could say?

Well, he could say-- Albeit only after he passed a few more trees and his eyes settled upon the source of the rustling. 'Definitely not a boar', Erin once more concluded, displaying his absolute mastery of the obvious to himself while leaning against a tree adjacent to a rather amusing scene. Along the ground, a... dwarf? Halfling? He wasn't entirely sure from where he stood, but what he was sure of was their impressive crawling skills. Above them dangled ropes of ivy, hanging down from an infested tree that the lass seemed to be working her way away from. It was quite the sight-- the crawling and the ivy alike, really. Erin had never seen such weird formations of the parasitic vine-plant before, practically hanging down from the branches of the large oak tree like something out of a fantasy novel one of his old guild mates used to read. He had to assume it was probably pretty dangerous stuff-- that or the little lady was cursed to live the rest of her days as a snake, mentally.

There was also a mule. It was kinda cute! Erin liked mules. Hard-working fellows.

"Hey there!" She might've been about halfway out of danger before Erin thought to speak up, breaking the weird silence of an armored warrior watching her struggle to get to safety. "You look a bit, uh-- What's the word... disconcerted, over there-- need some help?" He asked, his unnecessarily outside voice echoing across the nearby forest, waving down the little lady on the ground. With any luck, she was fine and had everything under control-- But it didn't hurt to offer!

[Imperfect_M]

"Hey there!" came a shout from an indeterminate direction.

Tathfheithleann, perhaps only about three-quarters of the way out from under the dangling Rackbriar, yelped and nearly got her hair caught in the patiently waiting barbs of the ivy above her. She cursed under her breath as she got her breathing back under control. The worst thing that could happen was to be beset upon by some kind of bandit while trying to crawl out from under this stuff... Gods forbid someone try to rob her blind by making off with Uisce's panniers. The mule was too stubborn to be led away by anyone but her, but that didn't mean her equipment shared that stubbornness...

"You look a bit, uh-- What's the word... disconcerted, over there-- need some help?" boomed the voice. Tathfheithleann took a moment to look left and right. She couldn't see very much past the Rackbriar vines, but she made out the vague shape of... Something...

"Nope! No, I'm fine! Everything's-" the little Halfling grunted as she combat-crawled along the ground, "-fine! Just taking this gently-...!"

With a bit more crawling, Tathfheithleann reached safety and hopped back up to her feet. The front of her was covered in dirt; but a quick dusting, a snap of the fingers, and an application of a cantrip quickly solved that. Clean as fresh laundry! She quickly stashed the Amanita cuttings in some kind of jar. enchanted to preserve its contents, before directing her attention away from Uisce and instead looking towards Erin.

And what a jarring sight he was to see here in the middle of the Draconi Forest... A clanker? A man clad neck-to-toe in hulking metal armor; metal armor that could easily snag on just about anything... Not to mention its weight. Tathfheithleann was no warrior, but she had heard people tell stories of Adventurers wearing bulky suits of armor in every single locale they ventured into, be it scorching desert, freezing mountain, or deep forest. The Halfling had to admire the constitution of people like that. Wearing metal all day sounded awful...

"Who goes there?" Tathfheithleann called as she stood defensively between Uisce and Erin. One could not blame her for being cautious of meeting travelers so deep in the woodland.

[Hyacinthus]

She could stand! So she wasn't cursed after all. Erin watched and nodded in kind as the little... halfling, he was pretty sure now, made her way from beneath the hanging ivy vines, and back onto her feet. Well-- that solved the problem of her not being safe, at least. Before he began his own couple steps over, he noticed her 'unique' self-cleaning method, no less-- fascinating. Magic? He had to assume it was magic. It was usually magic.

"I'm Erin! Nice to meet you!" He began, his stride back in action as he headed over towards the halfling lass with little regard for what a hulking, red-means-danger-armor-clad, axe-wielding threat he probably looked like at that moment. And why would he? Erin didn't consider himself a threat-- surely no one else would, right? "I just happened to be passing by. Tell me, are you from Ketra? No, no, you don't have that 'Ketra' look to you-- Essryn? No-- Serendipity, gotta be! I'm from Connlaoth-- well, I'm coming 'from' Ketra right now, but I'm originally from the outskirts up north! Long way down, I know."

It might've been the fact that he was wearing full armor. It might've been his overall comfortable nature when confronting danger. It might've been the fact that he tended to only see the good in other folks, and it might've just been him being a dense goofball, but Erin seemed very much off-guard as he closed the distance between himself and the lady ahead of him. The blood-red edge of his battle-axe, vanagandr, caught a stray ray of sunlight and gave off a foreboding gleam which did nothing but create an unnatural contrast with the bright, kind smile on his face.

Now... if he remembered correctly, if was considered rude to kneel or bend down when talking to a halfling... so instead he kept a tiny enough distance between the two of them, that she could comfortably look up, and he could comfortably meet her gaze. He wasn't completely tactless! "Nothing but trees from here to tomorrow-- what on earth are you doing out here?" It was a fair-enough question, Erin thought. The deeper one went into the Draconi forest, the more likely they were to encounter a not-so-friendly-as-Erin being, with not-so-much tact as him. Heck, he could recall running into a monstrous, omnivorous half-spider, half-octopus creature in forests like these not so long ago.

[Imperfect_M]

"I'm Erin! Nice to meet you!" called the armored man. He began striding over with a barrage of questions and tidbits of information from his life story. His heavy footfall and heavy axe- one that Tathfheithleann could practically feel radiating some kind of ambient something that made her hairs stand up. Connlaothan... The mage-slayers? That's not good-...

She had not even bothered to take off her cloth mask or enchanted silken gloves before she extended her hands towards the approaching, clanking, eerily-friendly Connlaothan. Both hands drew two separate sigils in the air, and suddenly a glowing, phantasmal line drew itself between the two of them before Erin could get any closer, or rather close enough to reliably hit a target with an axe. The line had erected a barrier of force that was as tough and material as a physical wall, and Tathfheithleann spared no time before she reached for something inside of Uisce's pannier bag.

"Hey hey hey hey! Not a step closer!" the Halfling warned, "Back up there, big man!"

Tathfheithleann stood with her back up against the ever-indifferent Uisce. She held in her hand some kind of fist-sized glass orb filled with a sloshing, moss-green liquid. There was no visible method to open the orb; no neck nor cork. It seemed that, if the liquid inside was to be released, the glass it was contained in would need to be broken. And the Halfling stood as if poised to give it a good, hard throw.

"You ask way too many questions for some guy out in the woods," she said, still holding the orb with one hand and priming a spell with the other. "Take another step and you're not gonna like what happens next! Slow your roll and you go first; what's an armored Connlaothan doing in this part o' the woods? You sure don't look like a lumberjack..."

[Hyacinthus]

Erin's eyes widened a bit as lights and sparkles, and other such marvels flickered to life at the hands of the halfling before him. He couldn't help but take a step back as, along the ground before him, a plane of magical energy began to manifest itself-- something like a divisive wall, or a barrier? Well that was a bit of a surprise-- sure, he saw her little clothes-cleaning trick, but this was pretty respectable magic, in it's own right.

"Whoa, there, hahahaha!" Erin started, a surprised grin on his face as he raised his hands in defense, though he didn't take another step back beyond the one prior. "I didn't mean to startle you; I don't wanna hurt you or anything, you've got nothing to fear from--" He began to explain, before realizing he was lying. Technically. A lightbulb turned on in his head as he looked back over his shoulder at Vanagandr, the massive, two-headed battle-axe mounted on his back. Riiiiiiight... Mage, warrior. Nevermind what Vanagandr might do to her if she came into contact with it-- Not that he had any intentions of that happening. "Er, one thing to fear from me. Sorry about that! Hang on a sec..." Reaching back behind him, Erin pulled forth the massive weapon with a single hand, and brandished it for the halfling lady to see, before impressively tossing it over his shoulder and behind him a fair meter. Erin was no stranger to having to throw that thing-- admittedly, for reasons other than appeasing a potential new friend.

"There-- See? Nothing to fear." The axe landed mid-sentence, it's bright-red edge ripping into the earth with authority from the force of gravity alone. Erin was 'unarmed' now, but he wasn't particularly worried. He could handled himself pretty well without Vanagandr if he needed to, and his armor wasn't exactly just for show, either. "You've gotta forgive me if I was a little foo forward, back there-- It's been 2 days since I last saw anyone; got a little too excited, I guess." The smile never left his face, even as he began explaining himself-- Either he wasn't taking this 'confrontation' seriously, or he way too self-assured that it would end well. Knowing Erin, it was most likely the latter.

"Uh, let's see-- where do I start? I'm definitely not a lumberjack, hahahaha! I'm on my way back to Connlaoth, think I mentioned that already-- I'm with the adventurer's guild there, and like to take my time heading back home before I take on another job. Just sorta wander around, see the world, see my parents-- that sorta thing. It really helps to break up the monotony, y'know?" Erin shrugged with a smirk, the plates of his heavy armor audibly shifting as he did so. "Here, let me..." He began again, before shifting his weight, and, perhaps in spite of the situation, having a relaxed seat on the ground, looking over to the halfling again. "There, how's that. Is that worth a name, at least?" He half-joked, leaning back on his hands as he sat with the lass. Erin was confidence, in this moment-- He was sure he could get her to lower her guard about him... eventually.

[Imperfect_M]

The clanker tossed his axe behind him; the weapon buried its blade into the dirt with an audible, dull thump, causing Tathfheithleann to wince as she realized the sheer heft of the thing. Uisce looked over the Halfling's head to investigate the sound, the mule turning and simply resting its chin on Tathfheithleann's head. It gave a rather comical contrast to the Halfling's serious expression; it seems that the ever-indifferent mule was less concerned about Erin's presence.

Despite Erin's reassurances, Tathfheithleann never took her eyes off of him or lowered her guard. In her mind, the armored man seemed... Too friendly. He was willingly lost in the woods, unconcerned about how he would find his way out, and unconcerned about the native wildlife- or worse- Fae creatures. But what if... What if he was a Fae? Maybe that's why he's being a little too friendly...

Tathfheithleann spun the gears in her head as Erin gave her his story. She was surprised at just how much he talked. Not that he was annoying to listen to; but rather he was awfully conversational for someone who just happened to stroll across someone in the forest.

"There, how's that," Erin said finally, "Is that worth a name, at least?"

Tathfheithleann puffed out her cheeks and pouted before finally answering with, "I'm Honey."

That was about as comfortable as she was going to get before confirming that Erin was definitely not some glamoured Faerie looking for an easy mark... The Halfling pulled a small iron thimble out of one of her dress pockets; a pocket sewing kit was always useful when needing to make repairs afield.

"Hey, catch," she barked before tossing the thimble towards Erin.

Despite the wall of force between the two of them, the thimble passed right over the glowing line on the ground without incident. After all, it was Tathfheithleann's spell; she got to decide what gets through and what doesn't.

[Hyacinthus]

"Honey-- got it. Well, nice to meet you, Honey!"

Bam! Score one for Erin, who's grin only grew as he could tell that he was, in bits and pieces, winning his new friend over. Granted, the halfling didn't seem all that much more 'at ease' near him, but she seemed like the cautious type-- He couldn't help but s'pose that was only natural. Now that he really had pause enough to think about it, this was a rather odd situation in general, wasn't it? Not just his own situation, but hers as well. He was pretty sure she wasn't Adelan-- she didn't have the look for it. Serenian seemed most likely... But out here? By herself? Some stones, she definitely had to have. Especially for a mage.

He didn't get much time to ponder on it, however-- Before long, the young lady had prepped to toss something else entirely at him-- not a glass vial this time, thankfully. A 'Hey, catch' was all the warning he got before being tossed a... little metal... bauble? He semi-instinctively snatched it out of the air with his right hand as if flew his way, if only just to get a better look at it. Erin was pretty sure he'd seen his mother use one of these before-- He just couldn't remember what she used it for. Quite the odd sight he may have seemed, inspecting the 'small metal bucket' as he had mentally decided on calling it from all angles before simply raising an eyebrow. "Er... thanks! I've always wanted a... small, metal bucket. I'm sure it'll come in handy at some point?" He reasoned, more with himself than anyone else, as he opened a pouch on the side of his chausses and stashing it away there.

That aside, Erin came to a realization as he sat there-- the little bucket thing came 'through' the barrier that the lass had erected in front of him, hadn't it? Was it just for show, then? He mentally chuckled a little at the idea that his new friend might've just been putting on a tough front, but decided not to bring it up. He was trying to make her feel comfy, after all-- It was just like the little cat he had when he was 12. Angry little fellow-- always went and hid under his mother's table, as if no one could touch him from there. Never stopped Erin from sitting with him and feeding him from just past the table, though-- Eventually the little guy warmed up to him enough to not try scratching his arms off, too! If he could pull that off, he was sure he could pull this off.

"Oh, uh-- here! You can have this in return!" He suddenly spoke up, a spark of inspiration hitting him as he reached into a different pouch than the one that held the metal bucket now, and pulling forth a small vial of viscous, golden fluid. "Some Adelan honey, for Honey-- Got it from a Serenian chemist I escorted back this way from Jadenshire. I hear it's pretty good stuff!" He confidently explained, before tossing the vial towards the halfling... while the barrier was still in the way. Surely if she could toss stuff to him, he could toss stuff to her, right?

Erin was a simple man.

[Imperfect_M]

Well, this "Erin" person was definitely not a Fae. He didn't even hesitate to catch that iron thimble; and clearly it caused him no pain nor discomfort to interact with it. Then he pocketed the object... Tathfheithleann had actually wanted that back, but it seems the armored man had interpreted the gesture as a gift, rather than a test. It's fine, this is fine, everything's fine. He called it a "small, metal bucket;" did he-... Did this one not know how to sew? At all? She had to wonder why a traveler would not at least know a little on how to mend their own clothes... But she wasn't about to correct him or tell him how a thimble was used.

"Oh, uh-- here! You can have this in return," Erin chirped as he drew a vial of some kind of gold fluid, "Some Adelan honey, for Honey-- Got it from a Serenian chemist I escorted back this way from Jadenshire. I hear it's pretty good stuff!"

The armored man tossed it towards her. A tiny vial of honey? What kind of use would that have for a chemist? She was readily prepared to let the vial smash against the transparent wall of force until a thought flew full-speed across her mind: Why would a Serenian chemist be carrying "honey" around... Unless there was more to it.

The vial passed through her barrier without incident as she scrambled her spellwork to let it through. She fumbled to catch the vial, but eventually was able to let it settle in her gloved hands. She gave it a cursory glance before turning her gaze back to Erin. She would have to examine it further later... Who knows, it might be something interesting!

"So whaddaya want, Mister Erin?" asked the Alchemist as she pulled on Uisce's harness, apparently intent on moving along with her journey. The glowing barrier disappeared as she and the ebon mule approached it. Wherever they were going, they had to walk past Erin and around this parasitized oak tree to get there. Tathfheithleann wasn't about to ask Erin to walk with her, but she also didn't appear to resist the idea of him tagging along as they continued their conversation. Maybe he wasn't so bad after all, right?

The Halfling removed her cloth mask and silken gloves as they talked and stored them in the same pocket in her dress. Normally, if this were an academy, or an alchemy lab, or heck- even her shop back home in Summervale- she herself would be the chatty one. Yet somehow she found herself at a loss for what to talk about with this walking pillar of steel. She guessed he wouldn't know anything about where to find the herbs or trees she was looking for; Erin didn't strike Tathfheithleann as a botanist. He was also Connlaothan, which- she guessed- he didn't know anything about magic or her trade. So for now, it seemed that the best course of action was to just let him talk at her and hope that there was something in there that she could use as a talking point.

[Hyacinthus]

Ah, so he was right! As the vial of honey passed through the supposedly solid barrier, Erin nodded to himself in conclusion that it was probably just for show after all-- She didn't mean any real harm by it. Probably just intended to scare him off, was all. He supposed he couldn't blame her-- not everyone could just return from death if they ran afoul of something they didn't quite agree with. As he began to stand up once more, Erin mentally reminded himself to be more cognizant of that in the future.

It hadn't ever really been a problem before, now that he thought about it-- granted, he was still pretty young, but looking back, Erin had often encountered folks doing goodness knows what in the middle of nowhere. Often under attack, or in trouble-- but sometimes just sorta... minding their own like. It reminded him of the first time he met Aphid and Helia-- a couple of Fae that inhabited the Niahi Woods of Western Le'Raana. Pranksters, both, as some Fae tended to be, but deathly afraid of his battleaxe-- and probably for good reason. Erin had cut down a few mages in his lifetime, and probably chaos-touched a couple others, due to Vanagandr's edge. Yet he didn't harbor or feel any particular dislike or discrimination towards the magically-inclined, or anyone in particular-- killing folks was just one of the job requirements, usually.

"That's the spirit," Erin happily proclaimed, watching the projected barrier finally dissipate before him as Honey took the honey he'd offered her, and put it away. Yet as she readied her traveling companion to start heading his way, Erin suddenly remembered his own mental ramblings from moments prior. "Oh, wait--" He started, before turning on his heels and jogging over to Vanagandr, which sat wedged in the earth where he threw it (he had to give himself props-- looking at it now, it was a decent throw), and pulling it up and out of the ground. It's crimson edge seemed to taint the light around it, giving off an eerie glow as Erin carefully mounted it back onto the holster on his back, the jet-black cape of his armor flattening against him as he did so. "Don't wanna touch that by accident-- You might catch chaos, or whatever the science-y term is for it." He explained, nodding to himself and then Honey before relaxing a bit. Aphid and Helia had similar concerns-- granted, he had no idea if Fell's... well, 'sickness' affected non-humans. Hadn't ever needed to know, either.

"So! Anywho, I'm headed north, towards Connlaoth. Are you headed towards Serendipity? If so, I figure it's probably safer to go together, and it's on my way, so why don't we go together?" Erin came off as oblivious, and occasionally tactless-- it was one of his many flaws that prevented him from making it big in the customer service industry, alongside not being able to hop on one foot while rubbing his stomach and tapping his head. And being really bad at telling safe mushrooms from not so safe ones. And-- anyway, the point was, he knew most of that already, but had always brute-forced his good-natured personality into most conversations to make friends, given how otherwise uninteresting he considered himself to be. He banked on that working here as well-- or a demon swooping down out of the sky. The demon, of course, was a very distant second place wish.

[Imperfect_M]

Stars and stones, this newcomer asks a lot of questions... Tathfheithleann wasn't sure if his chipper and- admittedly eerie friendly- demeanor came from the man himself or if his mind had been warped by that behemoth of an axe he carried around. She had a feeling that Erin didn't mean any harm by it, but even as she walked near to Vanagandr she felt her hackles raise. Something inside her churned and made her hairs stand on end. The axe didn't feel evil per se, it simply felt... Wrong. As if it was an anomaly in space; its very presence a slap to the face of the universe's natural order. It was rather jarring when juxtaposed against Erin's cheerful personality.


"I'm not traveling," the Halfling replied as she continued striding along through the woodland. "I'm working."

The little alchemist kept her eyes peeled. Her gaze repeatedly swept over the woodland around them. There was always more to gather, more to retrieve, more to process. She doubted that Erin would be helpful in finding the species she was trying to gather, given how he blithely stomped through the forest. He had the uncaring walk of the archtypical "Adventurer" type that passed through her shop in Summervale every-so-often. "I am the most dangerous thing in the room and I know it." Or something like that, she thought. Maybe the adventurous types were cut from a certain fatalistic cloth... Tathfheithleann didn't understand, nor did she feel inclined to find out. At least not the hard way.

"There are species of flora unique to these forests. I'm harvesting them for my shop," she explained. "

The trio (Uisce included) continued along, with the Halfling stopping every so often to harvest a certain something, be it a root, a flower, leaves... She was meticulous about keeping them all isolated in their own containers. More importantly though, how were that mule's pannier bags holding that much stuff? Where was it all going? And why didn't the mule seem to be at all bothered by all the weight? The short answer? Enchanted bags. Tathfheithleann had invested a lot of time and effort into her traveling gear... It was a benefit of her craft.

They came out of the woods to a small lake; a little respite from the endless trees. Tathfheithleann stopped to let Uisce drink from the freshwater and swept her gaze across the surface.

There, floating gently and anchored by their roots, were a series of flowers related to the water lily. When properly processed, the nectar they carried made an excellent relaxant, though it was reported to also cause hallucinations in large doses. The common name for such a flower was Astral Dream, named such because those who have fallen asleep while under its effects report "out of body experiences."

"Hey, do me a favor and just... Don't touch anything?" Tathfheithleann called over her shoulder to Erin as she sat down and took her shoes off. With a piece of charcoal and some kind of white pigment, she drew a pair of sigils into the soles of her shoes before putting them back on. There was a subtle glow beneath her feet as she confidently stepped right out onto the surface of the the lake to collect her findings.

[Hyacinthus]

"Seems like your work requires a little traveling-- unless you've got a hut set up somewhere out here?" Erin teased, realizing the semantic nature of his words yet so amused by them that he couldn't help himself. He couldn't tell if his new companion (could he call her that yet? Probably, right?) was, at least seemingly, either a bit of a loner or a fairly business-minded young lady-- something he wasn't too unfamiliar with. He'd had clients, even fellow party members, who weren't innately talkative, and tended to find his more-than-enough-to-chat-about personality annoying at best, abhorrent at worst. A smirk came to his face as he mentally recounted a time where one of his fellow guildmates, a rather sullen fellow by the name of Gaspard, made a point of actually hexing his voice-- silencing him for 24 hours. Boy, did he regret that when they went hunting for vetalas. Ah, those were the days...

"Gotta say, I don't know a lot about plants and whatnot," Erin replied, in response to her explanation on what she was even doing out here, "Although I know the right mix of one thing and another can be a lifesaver-- or a life ender. Had a friend who specialized on mixing potions once come up with some kinda on-the-fly antivenom for a basilisk bite. Wasn't for me, and the guy lost his left leg, but he's still alive-- can't argue with the results, as they say." Good ol' Gaspard. Right arrogant bastard, always right-- couldn't do any wrong (he'd tell you as much), always had an attitude as poor as his self-hygiene. But, all things considered, a more reliable alchemist and spellweaver Erin had never met. Which... really didn't say much about the caliber of alchemists that were also spellweavers that Erin had met, admittedly.

Erin continued to chat-- some about himself, some about the guild in Matron's Hollow, and some about folks he'd met in his travels. It filled the air, for the most part, while Honey would wander about, stopping to pick up one thing or another in her tireless pursuit of... whatever list of ingredients she was after. From his perspective, she didn't seem to mind enough to throw something at him or tell him to shut up, so he'd chime up every so often-- a funny story here, a note about how something they saw reminded him of something else he'd seen there.

Before long, they arrived at a nice little clearing that, in his wanderings, Erin couldn't recall ever stumbling across-- a lake in the midst of the forest, adorned with rather pretty-looking water flowers. "Lilies" was the right term, he was pretty sure, but Erin was no botanist-- It was a flower, on the water. "Yes, ma'am," He replied to his travel partner, before setting Vanagandr down again while he watched her do... something, with her feet, and then quite literally stride out onto the open water, seeking the flowers. He could only shake his head incredulously-- Magic sure let a person do some crazy things. His eyes averted from the water-striding lass for a moment to look over Uisce for a bit-- the little guy (at least by Erin's stature standpoint) should've been more than over-encumbered by now, given how much he was carrying and how long they'd been traveling-- He could only assume some other magics had been worked onto him to avoid that. Quiet and curt as his new friend seemed, he could tell that she cared a good deal about the mule.

[Imperfect_M]

Uisce idly grazed or lipped at some smooth stones to pass the time. Occasionally he'd look up to check on Tathfheithleann as she very carefully collected the Astral Dream's flowers. It was important to leave enough of the plant to regrow itself; it's the responsible part of botany. Tathfheithleann returned to her mule to store her haul... This was turning out to be a fruitful trip after all!

The pair perked up suddenly as a shifting in the brush gave way to a massive creature. Easily ten feet tall, long neck, a wide wingspan, all feathers and bad attitude. Tathfheithleann's eyes widened as she tightened her grip on Uisce's harness.

Dire goose.

"Don't. Make. Any. Sudden. Moves," she growled to Erin.

The massive creature sauntered its way into the lake. It leisurely extended its neck underwater to graze at underwater foliage and insects. The Branta Gélo Deinos or simply "Dire Goose" was not inherently a creature that preyed upon Human (or Halfling) sized targets, since it lacked the proper means of hunting them. However, like its smaller cousin the Laughing Goose, the dire goose had an infamously bad attitude.

And to make matters worse, the creature had a friend. A second dire goose waddled out to the lake to join the first. Right... Mated pairs...

The Halfling, as quietly as she could, reached into one of Uisce's pannier bags to draw out a tiny leather pouch filled with acorn-like objects. She held it in a tight-fisted grip as she kept eyes locked on the pair of giant waterfowl; they hadn't even noticed Erin, Tathfheithleann, and Uisce yet. They seemed to be content with grazing and preening one-another. While Tathfheithleann knew she wasn't in danger of being killed... Getting bludgeoned by an angry wild animal wasn't on her to-do list...

[Hyacinthus]

As Honey strolled across the lake, collecting this flower and that one, Erin stifled a yawn. Did she mention anything about the flowers making one's self sleepy? Or maybe he had finally tired himself out from the talking and walking-- After all, he'd not stopped to get a proper few hour's rest since he left the escort in Ketra. And really, the Draconi forests could be so peacefully quiet at times... Especially here, and now. There was something really relaxing about watching the halfling go about her work-- maybe it was the methodical nature of collecting the flowers, or the soft tap of her magicked shoes on the surface of the water. Whatever it was, Erin fancied a quick bout of mind-emptying meditation while he was in the mood.

"You can keep a secret, right buddy?" The exhausted, iron-clad warrior whispered jokingly over to the mule, who didn't seem to give him the effort enough to spare a glance, but it made little difference to Erin, who turned on his heels and quietly (or as quietly as a full-armored man could) walked over to a nearby evergreen, before carefully setting himself down under it's foliage-- leaving Vanagandr nearer to the lake where he set it down, but still well within visible sight. "She did say, 'don't touch anything', right?" He continued 'reasoning' with the mule, which didn't seem to notice once more. Stoic fellow, really.

Erin breathed a deep breath of the calming, lakeside air, before letting his shoulders relax. There was something just so inherently pleasant about being able to take it easy in lush, unconquered lands like these. In the distance, he could hear the rustling of the bushes and shorter shrubberies, as well as the flight of a bird from towering tree branch to tree branch. It really was... Before he realized it, his mind had embraced the serenity, and 'meditation' had turned into a nice, peaceful nap.

Everyone loved naps. Erin, in particular, was a huge nap guy-- So much so that it wasn't uncommon for him to sleep through loud noises, danger, or water being dunked on his head-- he'd just revive if he were killed, after all. Perhaps, then, that explained why as Honey sought to warn him about the encroaching threat of giant, menacing geese, those warnings fell on effectively deaf ears-- Erin couldn't make any sudden moves. He was far too gone to his nap to do so, after all.