Spring 78th – Morning – Base Encampment
oocWelcome to the Spires Crimson Edge members! I thought it best we all have a small thread where we unpack, get the grumbling of the journey out of our systems and take a few moments to familiarize ourselves with our new home for the duration. In terms of lodging you can choose whom you bunk with just so long as the entire CE group are together and concentrated across attached buildings. No sense in separating ourselves when we are unknowns eh?
That said, feel free to interact with Zand, ask questions, etc. But get to know each other, for you may need those bonds before the end <.<The journey had been long, hard and fast in its timeline, their guides and nominal leaders driving them to greater speeds than Zandelia had thought were either safe or sensible. Still, when she stopped to consider it more deeply she would have done the same if she were returning with a helping hand in turning back the darkness throttling her home. She could find no fault with the apace and means of travel on moralistic grounds, however on physical ground her own body was screaming its objections to her. She had never really ridden a horse before, trusting her own two feet over the four that were beneath her now as they entered a ramshackle grouping of buildings half-way up the side of a mountain. Her thighs felt beaten unto death and she was beginning to know what a whore truly felt like after hundreds of clients between their legs.
Bruised, sore and wondering if they can ever walk properly again. Yes, I know the feeling all too well she thought to herself as memory threatened to flash into her skull, being fended off only by her mental capacity to maintain control. She was needed to be a leader now, and she would not let personal concerns fail her charges – she vowed that to herself as she swept her gaze across the tired group of vagrants, sell-swords and rogues.
“A better group for heading into danger I cannot think of, varied in purpose and abilities, they could do anything if they would only work together and put their minds to it” she muttered to herself, all too aware of the fractiousness that had been spreading like a miasma across them as their journey had lengthened and ground down their spirits.
She had her own eyes and ears within them, ones she trusted implicitly and others whom were still earning her trust but knew better than to lie to her outright. She did not tolerate fools working with her after all, it was terrible for business. No, she knew there were mutinous mutterings and grumbled complaints as to why they were even leaving Sunberth after all. With the departure of Cade from the reams of the living there had been a vacuum of power, the untried and untested stepping forwards to fill in as best they could until matters could be settled in a suitably finite manner. Zandelia had chosen to lead them to the Spires, forsaking her preferred proclivities to help keep them safe. There had been no question of not going upon the expedition, it would prove too lucrative for them in more than monetary manners.
No, allies and connections prove to be the more useful in the long term. If we can forge some based upon becoming saviors then it is all to the better. The Crimson Edge will not stand alone if I have anything to say about it she mused as they finally stopped, their guides merely pointing out the various locations of importance – the Cages, the Mess Hall and the Long Houses. They were left alone then and Zandelia could sense the lengthening silence all too acutely.
“Alight then members, you heard our illustrious guardians! No sense standing here all day and doing nothing, let’s get our gear off these beasts to give them a rest and into the Long Houses. We can all wander to our tastes once we’ve got our quarters set up! Hop to it!” she told them in gentle but firm tones, looking upon them all and wondering if any would question her orders.
She set about her own advice, very much a believer in leading by example, by sliding off of her own mount and stifling a groan as she moved her thighs and felt the jarring of the ground beneath them almost buckling her knees in front of them all. She grunted and forced them to remain upright and straight, instead choosing to try and cover the pain with practical tasks. She began to pull her packs from the saddle hooks, pulling straps open here and loosening them a little there in order to access all of her belongings. She did not outwardly pay attention to the other, though she kept her senses attuned to the fact that there was a pause before they began doing the same, mimicking her actions. It was good, they were thinking upon her worth and deciding that for now there was no point arguing perhaps. She would take what she could get.
“I know you are all tired, hat you are wondering why you are even here,” she began to talk then, her voice rising above the hustle and bustle with a bit of effort, “and I can offer you nothing but hope and words for now. All I ask is that you treat this with an open mind, that you take in each experience you can and harness it into your being. I promise each and every one of you that before the end you will become more than that which set out from our grimy little city” she finished, turning on her heel then and beginning the task of finding some suitably empty lodgings for their entire group.
