Portrait Gallery

The group is huddled in a mountain lion cave while the unnatural storm bears down on them from the north. Alexis has just finished scrying on Mavon, and is worried about his friend.

While sitting in the protection of Raiden Alexis sits cross-legged with his book of notes in this lap. He looks over at Sally and Gustav, and waves a piece of dried meat for Sally to join him briefly.

After feeding Sally, Alexis starts a page of portraits. When he started with Gustav and Ethelred into Pulathi, he had never really tried to draw much. But as Alexis has encountered the weird and the unusual he has worked on his drawing. Nobody would say is portraits are good now, but he can consistently draw so someone knows the likeness.

He keeps the pictures small so he can squeeze a lot of them on this page. Mavon is already on the page. He starts with the Spider of the Dark Hand next. He has a list in his mind; Ezrin, Varisimus, Ethelred, Alekeemo, Cheyeenee, Earyka, Leer, Yeegoth the Mighty, Tarkus Vell, Squire Perez, Ardor Skull-eyes … and the list goes on.

As he keeps drawing he narrates to Sally about the person behind each portrait, feeding her a little bit as he goes. “… Domdir who we found in the sewers of Sutheron, possibly from Mount Sutheron. Another mystery, really. And his companion Draego… “

The storm rages on, Alexis sits in the circle periodically feeding Sally, drawing in his book, and quietly narrating to Sally as he draws.

What Do We Know About Bandesingh and the Dark Hand?

On a lovely sunny day, late in the early afternoon, after a fine day of exercises Rask addresses Alexis and the group as a whole.

Rask’s exercises of late have including live blade sparring with Ca’armine and Gus, the two of them taking turns wearing Red’s armor. Rask working to burn non-lethal longsword-strikes into his muscle and bone through repetition. Along the way he offers many suggestions to his Brothers-In-Raiden in the art of fighting defensively, his expertise in combat as evident as the Power of Aegir is represented and channeled by the tattoos on his chest and back. Rask wears little but the shield ring and boots, but he is maddeningly difficult to land a strike on. When he does get hit or cut he shrugs and fights on, accepting first aid at the end of the skirmish, and only after he opponent has been looked to.

Sitting in the midst of camp, clean, content, and sun-soaked, Rask speaks clearly and catches Alexis attention, and looks at Ca’armine as well.

“My Liege, our target, what do we really know about about them and their Band-Leader?

“Did they really steal away the Empress from her wedding?”

“Their slithering and spinning pets, and their truffle-hounds, we have met, and we seek their farrier now?”

Rask is clearly still paranoid not naming their enemies. In addition, the group may have noticed that he has been trying hard not use any of their names since they left the sewers.

Gus and Ca’armine he calls “Brother” or Brother Arrow an Brother Blade when he needs to specify, he calls Alexis “My Liege,” or “Boss.” Ethelred is too busy studying for Rask to talk to often, Rask usually address him as “Friend,” but Rask has been testing out a few nicknames, “Book” and “Ak’lyte,” “Hedgey,” but nothing has stuck yet.