Drakor gripped the pommel of his sword, then settled into an oddly flat voice. “That man is my best lead. My sister was the only survivor who could provide a coherent description.”
He exhaled slowly, then released his hand. “Once I locate the man, I intend to track him back to the others.”
You almost see her smile. Almost. It was imperceptible, maybe you made it up, maybe it was out of nervousness, surely nothing that could be acted upon…
“How did that lead you here?”
Drakor shrugged. “I’ve just been searching all of the villages in this area. No luck so far, though.”
“That seems…”
{Inefficient.}
“…Tough. Sorry.”
Whatever it is she might’ve done, she does look sorrowful upon hearing of his plight.
Drakor nodded in recognition. “Thank you. If you hear or see anything, please let me know.”
She nodded back, and continued walking.
(yes)
“Well, uh… the ground, right? Ugh, you sound just like Kamilla, she’s always lecturing me…”
(The first sentence is technically true, but only in the sense that after crashing through the undergrowth, it would eventually hit the ground. By “Kamilla”, he presumably means his eldest surviving sister.)
Arius gets stunned for a moment, as Vin says something that made the mercenary remember something from his past. “It is good that your sister lectures you a lot. That just means she loves you enough to want to help you become smarter. Not everyone has that kind of privilege. Some people are unfortunate enough to only learn by failing and losing… a lot, in their life.”
Arius understands that not much of what he rambled will enter the young boy’s ear. Still, he felt like he had to say it. If not for the boy, then at least for himself.
Snapping out of from his emotional tone, Arius continued to lecture the young man: “You are not wrong. Falling trees will reach the ground. However, what if there are obstacles before the tree could reach the ground?” He then gestures at the other trees with his hand. “Then the falling tree could get stuck to the other trees, and that in itself could create more issues.”
“Sure, we can spend the time to… untangle the trees, but in comparison, if we were to chop the wood such that the tree falls on clear ground,” he then moves his arm horizontally, gesturing an even ground, “then we would save time and energy untangling the trees.”
(sorry if I phrased things confusingly before – Hazel Ford isn’t a location within the village, it’s another town entirely. When I said “the healing potions in the village are generally purchased from Hazel Ford”, I meant, like, they came from Hazel Ford originally but were brought up to be sold in the village (I see now why this was unclear)
)
49
can I get a Perception check?
“It was last evening, Messire. He told me he needed a breath of fresh air shortly after nightfall.” She hesitates for a moment, running her hand through her hair. “I was awfully tired, so I just went to sleep, but when I woke up he was gone.”
She narrows her eyes, looking first at Savil, then at the rest of the village. “We’ve been treated terribly since we arrived here, you know. Not long after we arrived, someone put a rock through the window. It’s just outrageous.”
He kicks the dirt. “That’s so much to remember. Why does it have to be so *complicated?”
Arius laughs heartily. “You will get used to it after doing it for a while. The world is not simple, and it will not always be kind to you.”
“C’mon. Let’s continue chopping this tree. You already put the effort to make a notch, so you should finish the job and learn from this experience. I will help you do the clean-up.”
((…Arete, did we bring a handcart or a tumbrel with us? I severely underestimated the weight of trees.))
Vin smacks his forehead. “I knew we were forgetting something! We’ll need a cart to carry the wood. I’m pretty strong” (he flexes his muscles) “but not strong enough to carry a whole tree.”
He starts walking back towards his house, abandoning the tree that he had already started to cut down.
(Well, I’m not letting that kid go on his own. There could be monsters nearby.)
“H-Hey kid, wait up! Don’t go on your own!” Arius chases after Vin to go with him.
((Out of pure curiosity -I doubt this will become relevant for Arius anytime soon-, how big is the notch on the tree that Vin has made?))