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Raullaur	The forest is warm, despite the shade, and though it isn't too close to any city, it's starting to be close enough to trade routes and farms that prey is a bit scarcer and warier than farther away from any hint of civilization. Of course there is always the possibility of surprize, and a sight that is unexpected is not necessarily the warband that is out in the forest, but that it all appears to be leonine beastfolk. Since when are they in the forest? The motions are orderly, and well-drilled, and there are obvious guards about, and also less-obvious ones. At the center, there is one who has a large klaive strapped to his back, but otherwise is just dressed in cream-colored cloth and darker leather, apparently looking at a map.
Faolan Winter Star	A pair of wolves, one while with black stripes and one black as night trot lazily through the wood. They have been following the trade route watching for anything that catches their interest. Faolan, the white wolf, sniffs something different, something new on the air. She tells Fang to follow behind and the keep watch while she investigates the new smell. He is clearly disappointed but does as his friend tells him. as the wolves are not looking for guards, they are easily spotted by the sentries posted around the training ground. Faolan decides as she gets closer that she should shift into her human form so as to be less intimidating.
Raullaur	The wolves are spotted and noted, but then a human walking out...this gets more attention. One scout goes quickly back while the other comes closer to the now-woman. The gear looks very nice. Well-cared for. The face is inhuman, but he doesn't appear angry or scared, just wary, and lets out a growling rumble. "Please wait, ma'am. Warleader being told. Who are you?" Riverspeak, but a strange accent. Likely closer to the Southeast than the East in origin.
Faolan Winter Star	The woman notes the approach of the lionine beastman and stops walking forward. She smiles warmly, her eyes swirling from blue to green to yellow and back to blue. She wears a buff coat with reinforcements that look silvery in the lighting. She carries a simple knife and a hatchet at her belt. "Oh, of course I'll wait here for your Warleader. Is he as handsome as you?" Her Riverspeak is rough as though she is still mastering it.
Raullaur	"See for yourself! I like to think I'm better looking, but /no-one/ is as tough as the Warleader." And in the famp, the other scout breaks into the conferance with a report, and, soon enough, is escorting the sole person unarmored who isn't obviously off-duty or on a work detail. He's tall enough, broad, and moves with a fluid, predatory grace, and carries the grand daiklaive easily. His own eyes are golden, his mane cinnamon and fur tawny, and he pulls his muzzle back, showing fangs, but trying to approximate a human smile. "Grrretings," he says, and his voice is a deeper, rumbling voice, and even if he isn't particularly handsome, he is well-built and has a spark of warmth within him. "What brings you to watch the Lions' Pride?"
Faolan Winter Star	"Greeting warleader of the Lions' Pride. I am Faolan Winter Star, I'm on my way to Great Forks to look for some work. I am a hunter and sometimes scout." There are two gemstones set into her armor that gleam in the light, one is orange while the other is brilliant white-gold sphere. They are rest at her sternum above her heart chakra. She wears well worn leather pants and traveling boots. Her leather backpack also looks well used.
Raullaur	"I am called Raullaur, and have brought my tribe north from the Savannahs. We fight, and seek a new home. It is good to meet you, Faolan Winter Star. THe city is a couple of days away--shorter or longer, depending on how fast you travel," he says, looking her over, eyes lingering at the gemstones, and then her armor. "If you are a good huntress and scout, we might want to hire you."
Faolan Winter Star	"Master Raullaur, to bring your tribe so far north, that must be a story all on its own. I am always willing to accept work. Do you need my assistance in finding someone or looking for something? I will let you know that I have a partner that I work with. He is most trustworthy and requires no additional pay beyond food and drink.
Raullaur	"I have a dream that I seak, but know not how to find it. For now, we run drills between contracts, but there is supposed to be a bandit-filled ruin nearby." THe lion-man shrugs. "I don't know if there's any game in the area, but we could let you eat with us for the night if you wish, both you and your partner." He smiles, "I can tell a tale, and you can share one in return, perhaps, how each of us came here."
Faolan Winter Star	"This sounds like a reasonable exchange to me. I will return with some food to share with you and we shall tell tales. I hunt men just as easily as I hunt food or a wounded animal." She takes a deep breath through her nose "If that is acceptable to you, I shall return shortly, I believe there is a deer not to far away."
Raullaur	Raullaur nods. "Most generous! Come back with the deer, and we will have a good meal. I look forward to it, Faolan Winter Star." Eyes gleam, muzzle opens, trying to give a human smile, as his tail flicks. "And if you wish to spend the night in camp, we shall see. And if not, we shall see. But I do look forward to it."
Faolan Winter Star	Faolan nods her head in acceptance, turns away from Raullaur and she shifts into the white wolf his men had told him about previously. She dashes off into the forest to meet up with Fang whom nuzzles her in greetings. "We hunt the deer we scented not long ago. We have promised to share it with the beastmen. They have promised us a great hunt." they speed off into the woods hunting the deer they know is nearby. The two of them have ho trouble finding the deer and downing it. A time much quicker that expected, Faolan and her black wolf companion carry the deer carcass back into the Lions' Pride camp. Much to Fang's displease, the deer is drapped across his back.
Raullaur	This time, the pair are expected, especially with the deer. If not already butchered, it is done so quickly, and much of the meat os carved to be roasted over the fire, but some of the organs are left raw for the wolf as well. For drink, it is just water or tea! No alcohol in the field it seems. That's saved for when off duty. Fresh food spread among the band--Raullaur only has a small portion himself to supplement the rations. And as the time goes on, and people have eaten, he stretches out a bit. "Excellent work, a better huntress than I," he says with a broad smile. "So to thank you...do you wish to tell your story first, or to hear mine?"
Faolan Winter Star	"As you are the host, I will tell my story first. Several years ago, I lived in a village north of Tusk. I was a forager for my people. I was out gathering when I heard the sound of the Fae's hunting horns. I ran bakc to my village to see that everyone had been rounded up in the village square. I tried to free them and got caught. As the Fae lord was about to execute me, Luna came to me and offered me a second chance. I accepted. The blade never landed on me. I became the rage of winter, a white wolf out to protect my pack. When the battle was over, my family and the other villagers shunned me and drove me out. I found Fang shortly afterwards, we hunted the Fae in th area until they were afraid to show themselves anymore. I meet some other Lunars that took me in and helped me to see what our goals are. I chose not to join them, Luna told me to come south and seek the pack near Great Forks. She did not say way." Faolan leans back and takes a drink of water she then raises an eyebrow.
Raullaur	Raullaur nods and listens intently. And at the end he flicks his ears slightly and starts his own tale. "I was once the scrawniest of my tribe, and we lived in the savannahs far south of here. But near our lands was an ancient tomb. Those who sought greatness would challenge it to come of age. And those the tribe wanted to cull would be forced to it. I was one of the latter." He gives a slight chuckle. "It was an ancient tomb, and bringing anything from it was held to be a prize, but there was one last unopened door at the center--and many who had tried it and been destroyed. But since I was going to be culled anyway, I had nothing to lose to try it. And it was pain. Pain shredding my self like the sand shreds flesh from bone. But I withstood. I had to. Nothing else mattered. Nothing else was /possible/. I met a...being within. A ghost of yore. I know not if it was male or female--it kept shifting visages--but there was a circle with rays streaming rom it on the ghost's forehead, and it gave me my sword and armor. And then said I must continue and save my people...." Raullaur pauses a moment. "I was blessed with stamina beyond belief, and found the few old and young that slavers had left behind. But they followed me and we tracked the Guild until finally taking and killing the slavers and freeing my tribe. And now many of them are in the warbnad, and the rest are closer to the city where we have...housing." The last words sounds with disgust.
Faolan Winter Star	"That is quite the story you have. So you are not as I had assumed, one of my kin but one touched by the Sun. I had heard that the Solars were returning, I was not sure it was true." She picks her teeth with a bone from the deer. "I will still aid you in your hunt against these bandits. As I said, I am a hunter and what is a hunter without prey?"
Raullaur	"THe stories of the tribe say that our founder was Chosen of the Moon, who made us to share his--or her--shape, and we bred true ever since," Raullaur says. "But yes. I am of the dawn, for all I wear fur and have a tail. As for the bandits..." Raullaur shakes his head. "The scroll tellng about them was strange. I think it a trap, and whatever is there, it is not bandits, but something that will cause trouble if I destroy."
Faolan Winter Star	"So we travel into a keep that is probably a trap, and if we kill the thing inside, we cause trouble. Perhaps we should investigate it first and find out who or what lives there. Luna has gifted me with convincing others. Perhaps I can put those skills to use for you? Otherwise, I can assume the shape of a winter bear and help that way."
Raullaur	"I can lead men in battle, but I am not a diplomat. It might be well to try that first. I had not moved on it yet because of a possible expedition beyond Creation, but as that is delayed, it will be good to find things out sooner rahter than lather, Faolan."