"Getting Prepared"

Log Date:
	9/29/02

Log Cast:
	Rillwhisper, Tefin, Trollkiller, Wayfound

Log Intro:
	Requested to do by Lostholt's chieftain Cutter, Rillwhisper has
organized a party of her tribesmates -- herself, her lifemates Woodhawk and
Trollkiller, her daughter Wayfound, and the healer Ynderra -- along with
Wayfound's new lovemate Tefin and the humans Arnos and Maerro. Their purpose:
travel to the grove inhabited by the mad Firstborn shaper Doreel, and discover
whether he is responsible for the creation of the monsters who have been
sighted in the land as of late, monsters which have been killing elves as well
as humans.
	The Wolfbringer has stopped her group on the way, long enough to check
in with the humans' leader, the man who they call 'Captain', and relay to
Vardeus that Cutter has accepted his offer of help. And so Arnos and Maerro
have continued to travel with the elves as they proceed onward from the camp
of the Vraeyans and into the woods where Rillwhisper herself had once been
lost. The closer they get, the more necessary it becomes for all involved to
prepare for what they are about to do....

----------
The journey westward from the camp of the humans from Vrae has gone quickly, 
  thanks to the acquisition of two no-humps for Arnos and Maerro -- even if 
  the wolves have had to be regularly encouraged by their elfin bondmates that 
  the no-humps are not in fact lunch. The wolves are not convinced, and the 
  no-humps, for that matter, are less than thrilled about being forced to 
  travel in the company of predators... but the tall singer Arnos has proven 
  he has another useful skill, that of the calming of nervous equines. He and 
  Maerro have kept to that task, in between the older Tall One sharing his 
  songs with his companions... and even, more than once, encouraging Wayfound 
  to join him, her high clear soprano rising up in odd contrast to his 
  human-low, human-rough tenor. After the first occurrence of this, 
  Rillwhisper has managed to suppress her double-takes -- but still, her 
  lifemates have been able to note the bemused look in her eyes every time her 
  cub sings with her human friend.
Ynderra the healer has been equally surprised, but has eventually begun to 
  join in the singing, some of the focused intensity she's been displaying at 
  the task that lies before them relaxing into a more normal cheerfulness for 
  her at the exchange of songs and words with the humans.
Tonight, Arnos has sung again, until the hour has grown late enough that the 
  humans have taken to their sleeping rolls. Ynderra, too, has curled up for a 
  wolf-nap, leaving Wayfound to watch over the ponies and Rillwhisper to poke 
  thoughtfully at the campfire.

Tefin, the little go-back, has taken to riding wolves about as well as a fish 
  can dance; not well in the lease. It took several days of practice and the 
  most patient wolf in the entire pack, but finally he managed to learn how to 
  stay upright and to move with the wolf's stride. If only Kahvi could see him 
  now. 
 
 As the evening fell, Tefin, as usual, located a safe place for the bundle of 
  furs that both he and Wayfound call a bed, near enough to the fire to feel 
  it's warmth and near enough to hold a conversation for as long as one 
  wishes. There he sits, methodically sharpening his short sword with a stone, 
  the ring of stone against steel an interesting counterpoint to the sound of 
  the crickets in the woods.

Trollkiller is the perfect layabout, supposedly on watch, but really - on 
  watch at _night_? ** So... remind me again... ** - he chews on a bit of hide 
  - ** We're sitting around all night and traveling all day while any 
  reasonable elf would be in the den because why? **

Rillwhisper chuckles, gesturing off to the sleeping forms of the humans and 
  Ynderra. ** Because of them. We're getting them up later than is normal for 
  them already, trying to find a balance between their cycles and ours. It's 
  not as if we haven't had to juggle times before, anyway. Did it all the time 
  back at Willowholt. ** The Wolfbringer is clearly philosophical on the 
  matter.

Wayfound's head rises at the sendings, and she speaks up softly out of the 
  darkness: "Usually, they're up with the dawn." She has kept to speaking out 
  loud out of deference to Tefin's lack of practice with sending... though she 
  keeps her voice down now. Partly due for the benefit of those asleep... but 
  partly, too, out of a suppressed but undeniable tension. It won't be too 
  long before Doreel's forest is reached.

Sending can be heard, but not sent from Tefin's diminutive form. Carefully the 
  edge of his sword is tested with a thumbtip and a grim smile flashes over 
  his face. "Sharp enough to cut through just about anything..." he says as he 
  slips it into it's oiled leather scabbard, turning his attention to the 
  Wolfbringer and her mate. "Perhaps you could share with us, Trollkiller and 
  Rillwhisper, what we are expecting to encounter in these woods that we are 
  approaching? The more information we have now, the better. I do not wish to 
  be suprised in the middle of unfamiliar territory any more than I already 
  will be."

Trollkiller sticks out his tongue. ** Spiders. Nasty spiders. Spiders bigger 
  than you. Spiders the size of big wolves. ** He grimices at the memory. ** 
  They're fast, too. And _ugly_. ** He thinks a minute. ** But I guess that's 
  not important. Or very surprising. ** He concentrates. What else, what else? 
  ** More spider goo than you want to imagine. It'll be _everywhere_, and on 
  _everything_. It looks kind of like wrapstuff, but it... isn't the same. **

Wayfound keeps near the ponies, somehow having managed to pick up a knack for 
  keeping them quiet despite the fact that the beasts have been a trifle 
  skittish about the smell of wolf all over her -- and, for that matter, the 
  other elves. But as Wayfound has no wolf of her own, she's been regularly 
  riding on Arnos' strong mount along with him, and so she's gotten at least a 
  bit familiar to the equines. Her eyes reflecting back the firelight, she 
  glances over alertly at her dam and fur-father, the same sort of questions 
  as Tefin's on her mind... though she has already heard many of the tales of 
  the Mad One Doreel. She, therefore, has a better idea of what to expect.

** Aye, Trollkiller's got a good bit of it, ** Rillwhisper agrees, swinging 
  her attention round to Tefin now, eyes a darker hue of green than her 
  daughter's sharing much the same piercing gaze as Wayfound's. ** The spider 
  wrapstuff doesn't work like Preserver wrapstuff. I've been in it. Strongbow 
  too. I remember still feeling pain and feeling hot and sick inside it, 
  because the spiders had bitten me... and I've been in wrapstuff too, and I 
  didn't feel _anything_ in that. **

Elf-sized spiders that bite and have a bad wrapstuff-type webbing. Lovely. 
  "Are they sturdy or strong? Where is the weakest point to attack? How many 
  bites can you withstand before losing conciousness?" The questions flow from 
  the little go-back like water. He's nervous...that much is obvious. Even 
  more so to Wayfound who is more used to his nuances. Normally he is still 
  and quiet, but here...here he can barely stay still.

Trollkiller breaths out long and low. ** Well... it depends on how hard you 
  hit them. Or rather, how hard you _can_ hit them. ** He pulls out his own 
  sword, and motions for the whetstone, if you'd not mind him using it in 
  turn. ** Sharpness of the brightmetal doesn't hurt. You can take off legs 
  more easily that way. But... their skin is hard, like rock. And they don't 
  need all their legs to move around, either, so you can't just take out one 
  or two legs and move to the next one. But if you can take out _all_ the legs 
  on one side, they can't move. **

Tefin stands and walks over to where Trollkiller rests, handing him the 
  well-used whetstone. Just make sure he gets that back. Tefin crouches, his 
  attention equally on Rillwhisper and Trollkiller. "From your experiences, 
  then, the best point of attack would be the joints on the leg or the 
  junction of leg to body." Tefin bites his lip. "Perhaps spears before 
  swords, then."

Nervous as the ponies have been, there's one good way to bribe them: food. 
  Wayfound sneaks both of the beasts a handful of grass before stealing closer 
  to the campfire, melting up silently behind Tefin to lay a hand upon his 
  shoulder. She still says nothing, letting her parents answer the Go-Back's 
  queries, though her inquisitiveness is as sharp as his and can be read as 
  easily in her stance and in her eyes.

Again, Rillwhisper nods towards Trollkiller. ** One of them killed my wolf 
  Sunruff at the time, though it was just me and Strongbow then. When the 
  others came back to get Trouble out, they had a time of it as we; the things 
  are big and they're fast. There's enough of us that we should be able to 
  keep at them with arrows. It'll be better if we don't have to get up close 
  to them. ** 

"Ynderra can keep us in arrows," Wayfound puts in. "And Fire-Father can light 
  them."

Rillwhisper's eyes gleam, too, against the firelight. ** There's that, ** she 
  answers, deliberately dry.

Trollkiller heh. ** I don't want to know what spiders on fire smell like. ** 
  He pictures it, and grimaces. ** Plus, he can't really set that much fire. 
  Not that quickly. It's too bad, I wish he could. ** He goes to work quickly 
  on his sword; already sharp, it's more that he's awake and there's not much 
  to do. ** Spears would probably be good. I'm not much use with one, though. 
  I'm much better with this sort of blade than with a poker. **

Tefin looks up at the touch on his shoulder, offering Wayfound a slight smile 
  and a squeeze on that profferd hand; a reassurance that he is allright. 
  Then, an idea. "Tell me, do these spiders come directly for you in a 
  straight line, or do they attempt to come from the sides? Do they run on 
  instinct, or do they show any sign of tactics?"

Rillwhisper tilts her head, considering this, and blinking with a bit of 
  surprise at the Go-Back's acuity. ** They... move like spiders, ** is her 
  initial offering, ** from what I remember. They're big... but they still do 
  act like spiders. Not like the monsters you said attacked you and the 
  humans. **

"Which leads one to surmise," remarks Wayfound softly, squeezing Tefin's hand 
  in reply, "that they may well not be the product of the same mad hand. 
  Unless Doreel has changed the sort of monsters he creates."

Trollkiller moves the stone along the blade. Shhck, Shhck. Shhck. ** I know. I 
  ... don't think it's him, either. But it could be, because he's very, very, 
  very crazy. ** Shhck. Shhck. Shhck. ** Not a little bit crazy, like 
  squirrels, or angry crazy, like foaming sickness, but just ... a _lot_ 
  crazy. ** Shhck. Shhck. Shhck. ** So I don't want to guess what he might 
  decide to do. Or even... what new kinds of monsters we might run into in 
  these woods, other than the spiders. **

"We will know that when we get to the forest, I believe." Tefin says quietly, 
  gazing into the fire for a moment, collecting his thoughts. "What would be 
  the best route? A direct assault on the grove itself, or perhaps spending a 
  few days clearing the land of any shapechanged beast?"

To this, Wayfound inevitably defers to her mother -- and Rillwhisper has 
  certainly been leading this expedition, odd though it might be to see a 
  six-foot tall human man and a human youth almost as tall as he is deferring 
  to one of the smallest elves in the party. The Wolfbringer has fallen into 
  the role of leadership with the ease of long practice, and she does not 
  hesitate in her answer now. ** We will need to be sure we can get in and get 
  out again. So we spend some time hunting the spiders, first. They break the 
  Way, these spiders. We find them, and we kill them. As for the grove itself 
  and its shaper... Wayfound. ** Her daughter lifts her eyebrows, inquiringly, 
  and Rillwhisper goes on, ** Send the bug in when we get closer. It should 
  remember the way, from before. It can spy for us -- and by the High Ones, 
  make sure it keeps quiet. **

Trollkiller would rather go straight in and straight out, but, well, he's not 
  the tactician. He's smart in a lot of ways, but that isn't necessarily one 
  of them. Besides, Rillwhisper is chi... well, in charge, anyway. ** I just 
  hope we can get out of there as quickly as we can. ** He shudders. 
  Skittering monsters. He doesn't like them, not at all.

"Fallberry will be quiet, I'm sure. Your daughter has a way of convincing that 
  little preserver to do things that it doesn't want to with remarkable 
  consistency." Sure, it sometimes takes bribery or coercion, but it does work 
  most of the time, and one would hope that this time the bug would know that 
  silence is the best option. Face to face with an enraged Doreel would not be 
  the place for a preserver to be.

Wayfound almost smiles. Almost, but not quite. "Fallberry will be quiet for 
  me, Mother." It's stated with quiet conviction.

And Rillwhisper, who has seen her daughter do a range of alarming things from 
  trying to build her very own wings to befriending _humans_, gives the 
  younger she-elf yet another bemused stare -- and quirks a small grin back at 
  her. Then, as if sensing Trollkiller's desires on the matter, she tosses a 
  nod at her befurred lifemate but for everyone's benefit, she sends 
  forthrightly, ** I'd rather get in and get out again myself, I spent more 
  than enough time there the first time. But getting Trouble out was a battle 
  and a half; Ynderra'll tell you, if you ask her when she wakes up again. I 
  don't want us to survive Doreel only to be stung and wrapped by his spiders 
  on the way out. Doreel's enough of a problem by himself. ** And, just to 
  show she hadn't forgotten Tefin's question, either, she adds, ** To be 
  honest I don't remember much about their bites, other than speed and pain 
  and sickness in my veins once they struck. They did have to sink a stinger 
  in me and Strongbow hard to get the poison in... I do remember that much. It 
  wasn't like they could just scratch you and you'd fall over. **

What tefin wouldn't give for some of that brightmetal armor still up in the 
  lodge. Or some thick leather to cover limbs and chest! Some kind of 
  protection against the stings. Still, it is good that a scratch is not 
  deadly, but a skewer could be. "We will have to be most careful, then. "

Trollkiller nods. He eyes the point of his sword, and spends some extra time 
  making sure it's extra, _extra_ sharp. But not so sharp that it dulls too 
  quickly. ** Hm. ** He reaches over for a cutting knive he has, pulls it out, 
  and starts sharpening it, too. It's not much of a blade - it's meant for 
  cutting, not hunting or fighting - but, well, you never do know what you 
  might end up needing. It's not as sharp as the sword - it's not so good a 
  metal - but it sharpens easily enough.

** Yes, ** Rillwhisper affirms for Tefin, ** we will. ** She studies him and 
  Wayfound together for a long moment; this is yet another bemusing thing 
  about her offspring, the fact that Wayfound has in fact grown tall and 
  strong and found herself a lovemate. Inwardly, she supposes to herself that 
  it could be stranger -- Wayfound could, after all, have lovemated with one 
  of the humans. And while the Vraeyans aren't bad to look at for their kind, 
  well, they _are_... well, _HUMAN_.
But the Wolfbringer wouldn't dream of uttering that out loud. Instead, her 
  eyes gentling just a fraction at the sight of the two younger elves 
  together, she goes on, ** And make no mistake, Doreel's going to take 
  everything we've got. When Strongbow and I were here he kept forgetting who 
  I was, and mistaking me in turns for elves he must have known long ago. He 
  thought Trouble was his own daughter... and bent her so badly she thought 
  the same thing, too. Don't eat _anything_ you see growing in the grove. 
  Chances are, he shaped it. **

"Our stores should be sufficient for at least two hands of days stay in the 
  woods surrounding his grove. If all goes well, we shouldn't need nearly that 
  much, but better to err on the side of caution." He glances over at the 
  third no-hump that's been saddled with carrying enough dried meat to keep 
  the entire party going for more than a week, thankful that someone _else_ is 
  carrying that heavy load. He takes in a short breath, looking back to 
  Rillwhisper. "Then let us hope that he has the same confusion when you 
  arrive a second time. If all goes well, that confusion may be a boon to us. 
  We have returned for him, as it were."

Trollkiller spins the knife around on its point. Not sharp enough yet. He 
  whits at it some more. ** I ... ** He shakes his head. ** Well, not that 
  there's anything to be done. Other than to go in and find out. Maybe he'll 
  be just sitting in there, being his happy crazy delusional self, talking to 
  treewees and leaving everybody else alone. ** Heh. And maybe brown bears 
  make good pottery. It's just about as likely.

** He... ** And now Rillwhisper pauses, fingering the hilt of one of _her_ two 
  knives, Trollkiller's attention to his weapons reminding her of her own. ** 
  He was... very angry, when Strongbow and I got out. And the others have said 
  he was even more angry, and violent, when they came to take Trouble back. He 
  wanted to keep her. And, Timmorn's Blood... once or twice he even thought I 
  was a human. ** To this, she casts an anxious glance over at Arnos and 
  Maerro, as the boy rolls over in his sleep and flings a limp, five-fingered 
  hand out to his side. ** I can't begin to think how he's going to react to 
  the sight of actual humans. **

"You'd said humans killed his tribe, Mother?" Wayfound prompts, gravely. Her 
  gaze flickers to the Tall Ones as well, primarily to Arnos, though most of 
  her attention remains on her dam.

Looking back over, Rillwhisper nods heavily. ** Aye. He babbled about that, a 
  time or two. **

Trollkiller gets the point of his little knife into good, sharp condition. ** 
  Well. He's not the first one, or the only one... ** He looks over at the ... 
  other kind of humans, still not entirely convinced. ** They're strong, and 
  they're sturdy, even if slow... but... should we leave them behind? **
Trollkiller sends openly ** Just when going into the forest. Not now. **

This should be an interesting few days, won't it? Tefin sighs softly, giving 
  Wayfound's hand a soft pat, more of a reassuring gesture for himself than 
  for her sake. ** It is a thought, true, but they could be of more use to us 
  in the forest than outside where their strength is of no help. The more 
  spears pointing at your enemy, the better. Even if a human is holding it, as 
  long as it's pointing at the spider, I have no quarrel with it."

Wayfound straightens up a bit, sucking in a breath at the thought that her 
  human friends might have to be left behind. A bit of alarm flashes into her 
  face as she shoots a glance between her parents, the slumbering Tall Ones, 
  and her little lovemate. "Arnos is an excellent archer, Mother," she points 
  out, swiftly, determinedly. "He is no Strongbow, but then again, neither are 
  any of the rest of us. And they are valiant fighters. The Vraeyans put a 
  great many arrows into the three-headed dogs while _I_ was busy just helping 
  Vardeus kill the one--"

And all at once Rillwhisper lifts a hand, cutting off her daughter, a smile 
  breaking out across her expression even though it's a solemn one. ** I get 
  the picture, cub. You don't want to leave them behind. **

"Well," Wayfound admits, squaring her shoulders even as her eyes turn a little 
  sheepish, "no. Arnos _won't_ leave me... maybe I haven't made it quite clear 
  enough, mother, but he's almost as much of a soulbrother to me as a human 
  could be to one of us, I guess." Her gaze goes back to the humans, and 
  honesty and honor compel her to append, very softly, "But I am worried about 
  Maerro. He is not as trained to war as the grown Vraeyans, not yet."

Trollkiller shakes his head. ** I didn't mean it that way. I meant... ** He 
  sighs. The knife is sharp enough, and he puts it away, before handing back 
  the whetstone. ** Thank you. ** He looks back towards Wayfound. ** Against 
  the spiders, I don't doubt their value. But I'm wondering whether their 
  presense would ... provoke Doreel even more than ours will. Enough that he 
  might be even harder to restrain than he'll be anyway. **

"As am I..." Tefin says quietly, tucking the whetstone back into his pouch, 
  looking over at Maerro's sleeping form. Even here in the depths of the 
  wilderness, the boy sleeps with the abandon of one totally content with his 
  place in the world, one arm sprawled over his companion, one leg poking out 
  from under his blanket. "As much as I'm sure he'll disagree with all of us, 
  Maerro should remain in the main campsite, safe, keeping the fire burning 
  and standing watch..."

Could it be that Wayfound is still a trifle sensitive about her human 
  companions, where the reactions of her family are concerned? She shoots 
  Trollkiller a glance of what can only be relief at his words, and she gives 
  her fur-father a wan little smile and a grudging nod of acknowledgement. 
  "_That_ is possibly wise counsel, Fur-Father," she answers him. Yes, that's 
  a bit of a blush pinkening her cheeks. She _is_ still a trifle disbelieving 
  that her parents are seeming to handle her recent taste in friends. "I will 
  suggest it to Arnos and Maerro in the morning, and if they stay out of the 
  Grove, I will stay with them to help them keep watch and guard the backs of 
  those that enter."

Watching her tribe work together. It's a feeling of satisfaction Rillwhisper 
  has never entirely forgotten -- and it pleases her now to see it happening 
  here, even if she isn't exactly a chieftain anymore. ** Someone _will_ have 
  to watch over the ponies; we won't want to take them in. And I _did_ promise 
  the Captain Vardeus that his brother-in-all-but-blood will be looked after, 
  though I'm not about to tell Maerro that. ** She smiles crookedly. ** They 
  are humans, but I know the eagerness of a cub when I see one and I see it in 
  Maerro. But we'll deal with that when the time comes. ** Waving a hand at 
  Wayfound and Tefin, she finishes, ** Get some rest, you two. Trollkiller and 
  I will take the first watch. We've got a hard journey ahead of us tomorrow, 
  and it's only going to get harder. **

[End log.]