Problems rained upon Moonglade, from bandits to monsters. And Kamille, who a few years prior had never thought to be in this position, felt compelled to do something. There were already some whispers from the common folk saying she should be doing something about it, even if in reality she held no true, official power over the land.

Unnoficially, however...

Unnoficially, people were used to turning to her to solve problems. It started as small as a few children with fever, some minor wounds while adventuring, some annoying bosses or husbands..... And now there were bandits, monsters and politics getting involved, a few minor Lords urging for her attention. She fled Sol City to avoid the politics, and yet felt dragged by it nonetheless. If she had learned something about it during her time at Court, it was to have friends. She didn’t have the ludicrous wealth to open her way, nor the nobility to sway, but she was indeed good at making friends, and it had brought her some kind of power, regardless if that had been her initial intention or not.

And she couldn’t deny her heart didn’t feel for the common people. She was sympathetic, hence why she left the comfort of her hiding to ride for the fishermen's village.

The small fishermen's village was in a deplorable estate when she arrived mounted on her Nightmare steed, early in the morning. The few stragglers that remained, while everyone else was either killed or decided to leave, had that resolute eyes of one who's decided to see things through to the end. Despite being a small village, it was craddled in a sweet spot for the fishermen, which meant they would need to abandon their whole life behind with the expectation that things would be worse from then on. It was hard enough to abandon their family's home, she knew.

It took Kamille a lot of talking to try and convince a few more people to leave the village for the time being, pointing them to the next small village into the woods, which she had just gone by and warned about her intentions. All for not. They would not leave. She wanted them to be safe for the time being, while she figured out where the harpies came from and hopefully launch an attack to their nest. While it wasn't in her to usually do such a thing, they have been doing too much harm to that village.

The Black Quills with her, she had them spread around the village to gather information about the harpies so she could devise a plan of action.

While they were on that, she sat on the small town's square - which was just really a bench around a big tree - to talk to the village's Elder, a centenary blind lady who held the influence to make the villagers do what needed. It was mainly because of her that the village didn’t turn into a ghost town, holding to its roots firmly and with stubborn resolution. Her grandson beside her helped Kamille understand what she was saying.

"They come in different times of the day, always, but rarely at night. Usually the busiest hours, when the sun is high and the fishermen are bringing back their fish. They attack boats too. People are afraid of going out of the lagoon because of it. The village will not survive if this keeps happening."

Word of the harpy attacks traveled quickly and when those words were heard by a particular tiefling, he knew the Witch of Moonglade would be on the move. Zarius didn’t care much for Moonglade any more than he cared for any other place beyond the Ash Lands. He cared more about his business and those who were potentially of use in furthering his own goals.

Kamille fell under that umbrella, though only loosely. She had aided him plenty sure, but she had also tested the boundaries of that trust at the Black Harvest Ball. He was earnest in wanting to keep on friendly terms with the mage, but he had yet to really see her skills outside of her home for himself. The denizens of Moonglade trusted her for a reason after all.

Accompanied by Eirynor, Zarius made his way to the small fishermen’s village under the cover of moonlight the night before. The plan was simple enough, remain hidden and silent and merely observe. If things took a turn for the worse, only then would he step in to assist the witch.

Eirynor had a similar task, although his focus was to be more on Kamille’s men. Zarius knew of only one, but the number of beds in her home suggested she had many. There was a good chance they would be present and the half-elf could gather useful information on their skills while remaining invisible.^[1]

When Kamille arrived, Zarius remained out of sight and well enough away to watch her interactions with the villagers without interference.^[2] The witch attempted to make them leave, but either the folk were too stubborn or they had a death wish as they refused to listen to the woman despite her best intentions.

As she moved to the center of the town’s square and sat with an elderly woman and a younger man, Zarius moved in closer. He stepped up silently until he could overhear the conversation.^[3]

Meanwhile, Eirynor circled around the village, also moving without making a sound.^[4] He counted a total of two of Kamille's men asking questions of the locals on the feathered foes. The half-elf notes that both of Kamille's employees are also half-elves and their attire is light and flexible, insinuating they are good at moving about quietly as well. He ensures to keep well out of their way and avoid giving away his position while hidden from sight. 

---

[1] Invisibility (Eirynor)
[2] Invisibility
[3] Silent Step
[4] Silent Step (Eirynor)

At least two Black Quills were fairly easy to spot: one of them was quite tall and muscled, intimidating even, the kind you would expect to punch first and ask questions later. His fighting knives were not obvious for the untrained eye, but Zarius and his companion would be able to notice them. The other Black Quill wasn’t as tall or strong-looking, but had a pleasant, bastard's face and even a charming smile - and also a bow on his back. The third was Poe, the woman Zarius have already met, but she didn’t seem to be nowhere near. Both men carried a few potions on their belts, given by Kamille herself as they approached the village. None of them seemed to be aware they were being watched.

The remaining villagers were very resistant to leaving, but they didn’t seem to be able to defend themselves either, and it was clear the old lady was testing Kamille's patience. None of them were warriors, and most of the young man capable of fighting back have decided to go find their luck elsewhere. While Kamille tried to reason with the village's elder, however, she heard a known shout from the distance.

"THEY ARE COMING! EVERYBODY INSIDE!"

It was one of the Black Quills shouting - Allan, the archer. A few, rapidly approaching figures were clear in the sky. Kamille couldn’t believe she spent the better part of the day arguing with these people! She had hoped to avoid this right now, endangering the villagers even more. The young man was already hushing the elderly woman inside, but sparred a few words more.

"The fishermen must have already docked by now. They come to the docks when its busiest and have their go at it."

Kamille uttered a silent curse and just made sure the elderly woman was set to a protected place, before hoping on her mare and rushing for the docks. The Black Quills already knew what they had to do, and while Edgar rushed people inside their houses with authority and without manners, Allan had already chosen a nice tall building, which happened to be the small tavern, to climb to keep vigilance as people rushed to run inside.

Zarius sprints after Kamille and her mount as they dash across town towards the docks. It doesn’t take long for them to hear the sounds of screeching and panicked shouts near the water’s edge.

Approaching the shoreline, a whole gaggle of harpies descend from the sky on the fishermen and their recent catches. A few of the fishermen are armed with spears and nets, fearfully holding their ground and keeping their eyes up as the flurry of feathers and talons swarm down on them.

The spears do work to somewhat deter the more skittish harpies, however the bolder of the flock are quick to identify the threat of the bladed polearms and overwhelm the men with their sheer numbers. One halfling is snatched clean off the boardwalk and carried up into the sky. He screams in panic as he’s dangled over the docks down below and the piercing nails of the winged woman digs into his torso.

It took no time at all for chaos to erupt and the fishermen at the docks are quick to realize that fleeing and forfeiting their hard day’s work was better than losing their lives. Several fishermen make mad dashes for the cover of nearby buildings as they are harassed by the winged women clawing at their backs.

Zarius, not wanting to reveal his presence to Kamille just yet, keeps back as much as he can while surveying the scene. He does manage to catch one fisherman as he stumbles and shoves him along despite his confusion from the invisible assistance. Though the terror keeps the man from investigating too closely and he flees further from the conflict as the tiefling closes in.

---

Meanwhile, Eirynor keeps low while Allan takes to the roofs. If he needed to step in at any point, it would be best if his feet were on solid ground rather than perched precariously on a rooftop. He only had a longsword at his side after all. Posting himself in the alley next to the small tavern, he waits and watches with one hand resting on the hilt of his sword. Should anything make it past the good Witch of Moonglade and her entourage, he would have to do more than just observe.

It may have been naive to just rush into danger like that - certainly someone like Kamille would have a plan, right? No?

There was a faint outline of a tactic, but it felt like Kamille was largely an improviser, rather than a planner, on these situations. At least she had lots of tools at her disposal. Before getting too close, she dismounted her mare, for she knew the mad nightmare steed would run towards the harpies should they approach. Kamille closed in the rest of the distance on foot, already searching for something in her purse as the fishermen were already making their escape.

"GO BACK INSIDE! NOW!"

It was not time to protect their fish that day, sadly. Kamille took out from her purse what looked like a small piece of... Chess. A rook. With a brief incantation, she tossed the rook ahead, but it hit the ground with the weight of a golem: the small piece of chess came to life, growing much larger than it's original size until it hit six feet tall. In the shape of a gargoyle, with stony wings and claws, the heavy stone golem barreled forward, the ground shaking with its each step. The fleeing men opened way for the golem, nearly as fearful of it as they were of the harpies. Most of the harpies were quick enough to get out of its way, which made for the scene similar to a dog chasing down a couple of pidgeons. One unfortunate harpy wasn't quick enough, and ended up grabbed by the gargoyle, who yanked her from the sky and into the ground, where it stood without moving.

As she saw Mis Fortune trodding heavily before her, she stood behind and closer her eyes for a second. The air grew heavy, filled by a thick flow of mana that poured out of the Witch - every other mage was slightly aware of the amount of mana she could command, but few were ever able to witness it first hand. The primitive power took the shape of fire in her hands, condensing in two balls of twisting flames in her palms. When she raised both hands before her, joining both palms and releasing the condensed ball of fiery power, the size of the it was misleading.

Silence - and then, the explosion. The gargoyle scared away some harpies into flying off, and that's where the Massive Fireball landed, hitting a couple of them who had just taken flight: the radius of the explosion hit directly at least a few of them who were closer together, spreading the flames to the ones around. Wings aflame, the ones further away from the attack would soon notice the position of the attacker in no time. Kamille took another piece of chess, identical to the first one. She was so focused on her task she didn't seem to suspect there was someone following her, bracing herself for the attack.

Zarius would notice, however, a set of steps on the sand of the beach. Poe seemed to always be around to protect the Witch - and if Kamille's eyes were on the skies, Poe was paying attention to her surroundings and seemed to have noticed the weird incident with the tumbling fisherman. And judging by her rapidly approaching steps, Poe seemed to think Zarius was a threat.

---

Edgar was a fine gentlemen, shoving people inside any building with impatience - most complied without any kind of encouragement given his... manners. And while Allan had his eyes far off, waiting for the first harpy to fall into his range, Edgar was paying attention to everything that happened on the ground, squinting his eyes at every shadow. He seemed like the kind of guy to punch first and ask things later.

Since Poe was also invisible and Zarius had no knowledge of her existence, it didn't take long for her to get close. A prickling sensation runs along the surface of his skin and he picks up on her general direction, quickly stepping away from her despite neither of them being able to see.^[1]

Her footprints were just as visible as his own, so they engaged in a strange dance of cat and mouse based only on the impressions left in the sand by their shoes. Zarius huffs and springs back towards a building before simply walking up the side of it and standing there watching Poe’s movements.^[2]

Meanwhile, the harpies screech in pain from the burst of fire. Those that come to the aid of their burnt sisters prepare to swoop down in a flock around the witch. While he wasn't keen on revealing himself, Poe was posing to be too troublesome to keep avoiding and Kamille certainly would not appreciate him lingering without at least doing something to help. 

He picks up a pot from an open windowsill and throws it at an incoming harpy.^[3] The clay pot shatters against its skull and knocks it from the air as it lands on the back of another, disrupting their assault on Kamille. His invisibility drops during the throw, which was of little concern at this point. He gets up onto the roof to give the harpies another target to go after as he lets out a loud whistle, drawing their attention as he lets the wrappings on his arms fall in loose loops.^[4]

---

Eirynor keeps an eye on Edgar and ensures he stays clear of the man. Though when the first few fishermen escape from the docks and rush towards them, he has a harder time staying out of the way.

One fisherman randomly changes direction in their panic and slams into Eirynor who is knocked off his feet onto the ground. The fisherman looks around in confusion as he can feel something under him but can’t see anything. He scrambles up and in a panic.

“G-ghost! Help!”

Eirynor pushes himself back up onto his feet, irritated with the civilian but unable to voice that.

---

[1] Fighter’s Sense
[2] Spider Silk Boots
[3] Improvised Weapons
[4] Constrictor Wraps

Losing focus could be catastrophic for Kamille right now, and for a good moment she was completely unaware of the invisible dance that was taking place close by. Unlike Edgar and Allan, Zarius would have already gotten the hint that quiet Poe was probably the most dangerous of the Black Quills - hence why she was always invisible and always close to Kamille. The two invisible assassins danced on the sand for a moment, but she stopped when Zarius climbed on the wall, possibly very confused at the sudden dissapearance of his steps. The tiefling could see her steps go back to Kamille, assuming a defensive position once more, which would possibly be needed.

The harpies were quick to identify the threat, and the ones that weren't on fire started to fly over to Kamille and now Zarius. With another chess piece in hand, Kamille threw it in front of her, just in time for the gargoyle to grow in size and protect Kamille from the attack of the first harpie. The gargoyle tumbled back with the force of the encounter, but the harpie slided to his side and to the ground, still alive but seriously wounded by the impact with the huge stony Sir Prize.

The harpies were starting to circle them, trying to find the better angle to get at them. As Miss Fortune came running back to Kamille, her trotting making the ground shake, the Witch looked around just in time to see.... Zarius?! What was the tiefling doing there? Since when he w-

And it was when her moment of distraction got the best of her: even with fire crackling at her fingers, one of the winged monstrous women flew right beside Sir Prize enormous, but slow figure, and caught the mage. Kamille felt herself precariously carried away by one, and soon two harpies, since one alone couldn't take her weight.

With a deafening screech of a curse of her own, Kamille realized not for the first time that flying wasn't a pleasant endeavour.

---

With everyone inside, the harpies would be more focused at the beach, where Kamille and Poe - and Zarius, but they didn't know that - would be attracting their attention to. Edgar had his eyes on the streets, while Allan turned his gaze to the skies. One harpie tried to make easy prey of them, but was quickly met, at the distance, with an arrow to the chest, which sent her tumbling to the streets below. Withing moments, Edgar was upon it, finishing her off with his twin daggers while she still tried to recover from the fall.

Close enough, he could hear a civilian scream something about a ghost, and as his eyes squinted in his direction, he devised the invisible mound of a person before the fisherman was pushed aside.

"ALLAN! ASSASSIN!"

Edgar yelled to his partner, before sprinting towards his direction, leaving the dead harpie. For a big man, he was faster than he appeared, and to his side Allan slided over the rooftop to try and get a better view. He hadn't seen what Edgar saw, but was already pointing his bow to the general direction Edgar was sprinting.

Zarius swears under his breath as Kamille is snatched into the air by two harpies. While he was pretty good at falling great distances himself, his experiences with Veliky had taught him others have a harder time making landings without hurting themselves. That said, his ranged options were slim to none and now he was wishing that he had brought Snow along on this venture.

Luckily enough for him, he had experience fighting harpies, and these ones didn't appear to have any costumes which made them tougher than usual. He races along the roofline as a bulky harpy swoops towards him in an attempt to snag him in her talons. Just as she gets close he jumps up and lashes a wrapping around her neck before landing on her back and locking his legs around her torso.^[1] The harpy screeches and rakes her claws against the roof before flapping hard and flying up higher.

Zarius throws his weight to the side to steer the harpy over to the two with Kamille. He lets the wrapping around its neck fall loose just before he plants his feet in her back and knocks the harpy into the two others who release their hold on Kamille.

As the witch and himself start to fall, the tiefling snaps his wrappings around Kamille's waist and pulls her over to him, catching her as he twists and gets his feet back under him. The fall a fair distance from the air but the tiefling manages to land solidly on the roof of one of the buildings and skid to a stop.^[2] He sets the half-elf down back onto her feet.

"Good day, Lady Kamille. Please excuse me."

He frees her from the wrappings and nods before picking up a broken rooftile and throwing it like a throwing star right into the eyes of a harpy headed straight for them.^[3] He places a hand on Kamille's shoulder and has her duck with him as the harpy flies screeching overhead and slams into the corner of the chimney stack before tumbling to the ground below, landing with a loud thud. 

Zarius huffs and looks at the witch. "I hope you do not mind some assistance."

---

Eirynor is back on his feet just as Edgar closes the distance between them, the invisible half-elf draws his sword and sweeps low with the flat of the blade to trip Edgar up. The veil of invisibility breaks from the motion, revealing his form to the archer perched upon the roof.

He glances up at the Allen and attempts to back away from the dual knife wielder to try and find some cover. He signs with his free hand in a futile attempt to communicate that he is not an assassin and does not wish to fight them, though the motions could be easily mistaken for the casting of a spell.

---

[1] Constrictor Wraps
[2] Cats Grace
[3] Improvised Weapon

It was a miserable flight, and the two harpies were also having a hard time to carry Kamille around. One of them let go of her at one point, screeching loudly as if burned^[1]. With only one harpy to carry her around by her ankles, they dropped a few meters before another harpy came in to try and help. At least, Kamille seemed to be giving them a hard enough time to avoid them clawing at her just yet. It was very difficult to have a good bearing of her surroundings, but she had hoped to wait for them to either fly lower or off into the sea so she could have a safer landing...

But there was no need for that. Something came upon the harpies, and suddenly she was falling in a hurricane of feathers, claws and.... some kind of wrapping? Kamille was barely aware of everything that happened around her and when she came to, her two feet were on the ground again. Well, on a rooftop, but still not flying precariously carried by two predators.

She had a second to stare in shock at Zarius, before he had her duck with him, least be attacked by an incoming creature. When she raised once again, there was already a fireball in her hand, that she released at another that came in to swoop by them. She seemed to have realized what was coming, because she tried to slow down and change route, but was met with a flaming ball of fire to her chest, the impact sending her flailing to the ground with a bone cracking sound^[2]. Once again, Kamille turned to Zarius, surprise evident in her eyes.

"What are you doing here, Zarius?! Where did you come from?!"

While they were busy up there, the two gargoyles Kamille set upon the harpies looked like two dogs happily scaring away pidgeons at the park. A few of the terrible creatures tried to unite against one of them, but Sir Prize was too heavy and strong for them to carry it away, and despite their claws making dents on his figure, it didn't seem to feel pain. Before the harpies decided it wasn't worth it to try and take them down, the gargoyles had already punched and stomped and clawed a few of them. They were slower than the winged women, but once they got one and pulled them to the ground, it was over for them.

The ground seemed to be safer now, with the stony gargoyles patrolling it, but even that wouldn't last long.

---

Edgar trips over Eirynor's blade, painfully faceplanting and rolling over to try and recover as quickly as possible. Once Eirynor's invisibility cloak faded, an arrow flew by and stuck to the building behind Eirynor. Instead of white, goose feathers, his arrows used some kind of black feather at the end - very fitting for the name of the group. It sizzled lightly, as if enchanted with fire^[3].

Edgar rose with his knives already in hand. He seemed about to want to ask something, but then he caugt the movement of his hand, and some light of recognition struck him. He did seem to think Eirynor was about to cast a spell, because instead of asking his question, he ran towards him once again quickly, as if hoping to avoid him finishing his spell, launching a slicing attack to his mid-section - clearly more interested in interrupting whatever he was doing than to be fatal.

Allan climbed down the rooftop and ran towards them, since he knew he wouldn't have a clear view as they ran deeper into the alley.

---

[1] Scorching touch
[2] Fire bolt
[3] Fire rune

“I heard there was trouble. I assumed you would be quick to defend the common folk.” He says, glancing about the docks.

For the time being it seemed like they had driven off the main attacking force of the harpies, or at the very least their scouts. A few of the winged creatures had fled back across the water with a fairly deliberate heading. Perhaps they had a hideout nearby. Considering the frequency of the attacks it would make sense they would not be traveling far to attack the village. 

The wrappings on his arms return to looking like regular clothing on their own as he hops down off the roof to the ground below. He glances at the gargoyles taking a mental note of them before assessing the damage to the ships and the docks. Much of the morning's catch had been taken or ruined in the attack. There was some that could be salvaged though so the village would likely be okay for a few days if they didn't have any food stores somewhere. 

He looks back at the witch. "I do not think we have deterred them from returning. If you wish to stop this, we may need to set out and find where they are coming from."

Some of the residents peek out of their homes as the noise dies down. A small child presses their faces against the window panes, staring mesmerized at the stone gargoyles. The tiefling frowns, whoever was the parents of that child had refused to evacuate. They were lucky the child had been inside during the attack. 

"Seems they did not make off with any civilians at least." Zarius comments. 

---

Eirynor glances at the arrow then darts behind a corner to break line of sight with Allan. He really did not feel up to being riddled with arrows today. Edgar was faster though, and as the swordsman tries to pull away he feels the knife edges slice into his torso. Edgar winces and brings up his blade quickly to keep his own weapon between himself and the knife wielder but is backed into the corner of a building. The silver blade seems to give off a dark miasma almost like smoke.^[1]

He glances at Allan as the archer comes around the corner. This was less than ideal. He considers his options then reluctantly sheaths his weapons and holds up his hands in surrender. Hopefully the two would pause in their assault long enough for their bosses to show up and clear up the misunderstanding.

---

[1] Sigils Blessing - Fire Rune; Unholy

As they were observing, one of the stone gargoyles stopped suddenly, assuming a rather regal pose sitting upright before quickly shrinking back to its original size of a chess piece. The other one would probably soon follow suit, but luckly the harpies seemed to be already disheartened to continue their attack, most of them making way for.... where, exactly?

A movement at the corner of her sight caught her attention, and she turned to see Zarius wrappings shrinking back to their original place. For a second, Kamille squinted her eyes at the tiefling. Zarius would often assume hidden intentions in everyone else's every move; should she be doing the same about him? She understood his position, she would give him that. Despite their differences, they insisted on making for an amicable business relationship - but Kamille would be lying if she said she didn’t care at all about the tiefling outside of business. It was an old struggle: her father would often worry about the attachements she forged at the medical tents, where she tried to learn basic healing for those who weren’t blessed by Solaria, and ended up disraught when her patients met their ends.

Zarius gracefully leaped to the ground, and Kamille grunted annoyed. After briefly dangling off the edge of the roof, Kamille landed with the grace of a sack of potatoes. A bit disgruntled, but not hurt, she stood up and brushed off her clothes.

"I would have hoped to be able to investigate it with time, and with the villagers away and safe. Something must be off for them to be attacking so much all of a sudden. Either something has made them flee the place they were before.... Or, I don’t know....."

Kamille looked at the direction the remaining harpies here heading. Some part of her wanted to investigate the nest, but she knew she would need to heavily rely on the Black Quills for that. Or...

"Harpies are not nocturnal, so it feels like the best time to investigate and attack, while they are still recovering. I was hoping to find their nest and force them to move. Poe, go get Edgar and Allan."

Despite not hearing her steps, Zarius could feel Poe getting past by him and swiftly make her leave [1]. It was no wonder Kamille kept the other woman closer most of the time. But then the Witch turned to the tiefling with a raised eyebrow and provoking smile.

"Did I just hear a 'we'?"

---

At least the universal gesture of surrender, Edgar seemed to understand. He had seen that a lot - and had disregarded that a lot too. But his posture relaxed slighly as Eirynor sheathed his weapon. Allan was already in sight again, pointing his arrow at the stranger while chuckling soflty.

"Is that a new exfoliating treatment, or did he just have you grate your fac-"

"Shut up, Allan. You. Who do you work for?"

Edgar twirled one of his daggers in his hand as he turned to Eirynor, a faint luminescence following the sharp tip [2]. Saying he was unhappy was an understatement, and while he kept a close enough distance as to be able to quickly spring into action, he also left a straight, clear path for Allan.

---

[1] Silent step
[2] Holy rune

The tiefling nods. Kamille's logic was sound. The harpies would have used the cover of darkness had they been able to see in the dark. They certainly would have met less resistance in their marauding. He had no qualms in launching their own counter attack at night. He could see fine, and he would not be surprised to learn that Kamille had some sort of magic to grant her the same ability. 

Zarius’ tail twitches in response to Poe moving past him and he does glance after the invisible half-elf to indicate he knew she was there. It was more of a tell for Kamille than for the silent shadow. The witch needed to know that he was wise to some of her tricks. He turns his attention back to the mage. 

“Well, if you do not want my assistance, I can leave. Though I had hoped to have the chance to build some more trust between us. You care very much for the safety of those in Moonglade, I am willing to help protect the common folk if it means we can continue our business with one another.”

Truthfully, he couldn’t care less about the civilians of Moonglade. Their day to day lives held little bearing on his own goals and the fate of his homeland. That said, Moonglade was important to people he had vested interest in. If he wanted to keep on good terms with Kamille, he would need to put in the time and energy to progress her interests as well as his own.

---

Eirynor glances down at the blade in Edgar’s hand and he noted the tone in the knife-wielder’s voice as well as his expression. He wanted to answer the man. He wanted to explain this was a misunderstanding. The problem was he was unable to do that without risking being attacked by the two individuals bearing down on him with their weapons primed to strike. To try and make any gesture with his hands would undoubtedly result in getting slashed at again.

Instead, he remains silent, cornered and with his hands raised as he glances between the two. He doesn’t hear the silently approaching Poe as she closes in on the tense scene, though he does glance towards the docks as the sounds of the harpy attack die down.

Kamille had her reasons to believe there was more to the tieflings intents - but what then? She recognized he wanted to build this business relationship, and she could admire someone determined like that. Of course it was to further his own goals, but it only spoke to his determination even more. Despite her words, Zarius was already on her plans, the "we" coming in naturally in her speech, as if assumed already. The Witch smiled at the tiefling.

"Seeing as they seem to come from that direction, we probably should get a boat to reach it. The common folk will be able to provide us with directions and information of what lies ahead, as well as a boat for our incursion. If you would be willing to scout it with the Black Quills, I can provide with a single, well-placed attack that will hopefully drive them away."

Indeed, after the attack was repelled by them, slowly the townsfolk started to get out of their hiding. The elder would be able to inform them that, yes, the direction the harpies came from was known to have a few collection of unpopulated isles, most of them just rocky formations sprouting out from the sea, too barren to host anything. Since the attacks started, no boat that ventured that direction came back. It was believed the harpies had settled on the larger isle, one that had no safe docking place - but hopefully Kamille could carve some sort of stair out of a rocky surface for them to climb with her Earth magic. It was perfect for the harpies: hard to access through boat, with a small set of woods for some coverage and further enough for them to see anyone coming. Hopefully they would be recovering from their attack to notice their approach that night.

"We'll probably need an experienced sailor to help us getting there."

---

"Who do you work for?"

Edgar repeated. He probably wouldn't be as angry as he was should Eirynor still be fighting, but instead, he was just looking at them both, his hands up in a gesture of surrender.

The fact he had Edgar scrape his face through the ground should also be a good reason why he was so angry. One dagger still in hands, he closed in the distance betwen them and pulled Eirynor by the chest of his clothes.

"Are you deaf?! I said-"

"What are you idiots doing?"

Poe was quickly upon them, dismissing her invisibility as she approached. She stopped near Allan and crossed her arms, shooting him a piercing glance. The archer, who seemed to realize something was off, relaxed his shooting position. Next, she looked over to Edgar with an inquiring look, and like a child caught doing something bad, he released Eirynor - and he didn't even know why, to be honest.

"I mean.... He wouldn't answ-"

"He works for Zarius."

And then, turning to Eirynor, she gestured "I'm sorry".

Zarius nods along to Kamille's plan. Seemed sensible enough. Going under the cover of night was ideal, though even going during the day wasn't that much of a problem for him. Both himself and Eirynor could be silent and unseen, though the same could not be said for the witch. Keeping her safe would be key to their success since she was the one with the real firepower. 

"Scouting I can do, though I am afraid I do not know any experienced sailors. I did bring some help along though, they should be able to get along with your men."

The irony of that statement was yet to be realized. 

---

Eirynor obviously doesn't answer Edgar. He makes a bit of a face behind the fabric which covers his nose down to the base of his neck, not that either of the other men could tell. He hoped that someone would quickly arrive and clear up the misunderstanding before he was shot or stabbed. Of course, if Edgar got too rough, he would have to defend himself. 

His body tenses as the half-elf knife wielder closes in and grabs the front of his shirt. He was one second away from palming the man in the jaw when a new voice calls out to them. 

Glancing past, he spots a female half-elf. There were so many of them. Eirynor feels kind awkward until Edgar backs off from the look Poe gives him. A sigh of relief escapes him as she clears up who he works for. Thank the gods. Then he turns his attention to the woman. 

He looks surprised as she gestures at Poe. He lowers his hands and signs.

No harm done. Sorry for your friend's face.

It was probably a good thing that tone was not something easily communicated with sign language. It was hard to tell if he was being sincere or being an ass about it. 

"What is that?" Edgar asked.

"You mean... sign language? What did you think it was?"

While Allan started to laugh softly, shaking discretely from the effort of remaining silent, Poe turned to Eirynor and signed once again.

Don't worry. It's an improvement.

And then, speaking to everyone, she announced:

"The bosses want us all there."

Despite some dirty looks towards Eirynor, Edgar would mostly remain silent as usual, even if with another layer of grumpiness emanating from his being when he locked eyes with Zarius' bodyguard. Kamille didn't seem to find it weird, or rather would trust Edgar to not mess things up. She was yet to know the whole story.

Even if none of them knew or had any experience in sailing, the Elder's grandson promptly jumped at the opportunity to help once Kamille told them of their plan. He knew the location of the island, a little bit more than a rocky formation with a small patch of woods, but never ventured there once the harpies started to attack.

They managed to get a small fishing boat, big enough to accomodate them all, but not too big as to alert the harpies of their arrival, still docked and in good shape. They would be as swift as they could, taking the cover of the night in the hopes of avoiding drawing attention. Kamille chose to take with her only Poe, while Edgar and Allan remained at the village in case the remaining villagers would need some protection. They would wait until nightfall, which wasn't a long wait, and set sail, with the Elder's grandson guiding the small fishers boat. The nights were colder there, and she could almost feel the taste of the salt in the air. It would be a lovely place under other circumstances.

It was clear there was some anxiety as Kamille got into the boat, feeling a bit clumsy - while she didn't usually care much for traveling by boat, smaller ones usually had her a bit more on edge. In the middle of the sea, she already felt vulnerable enough - there was no earth for her to bend, and fire was dangerous to wield, so it was only understandable she would seem a tad anxious. She tried to relieve it by talking, even if in a whispered tone. They were not without some luck, as the winds were favorable and strong enough to take them most of the way without needing to row.

"You know what I think it's happening here? There are a few reasons harpies and other beasts can become this brave while searching for food. Like, for instance, when they are breeding. If we don't stop it now, there might be a true infestation of harpies waiting for us in the months to come..."

Their travel was somewhat swift and uneventful, with only the darkness of the sky above and the sea around them; the village became a little dot on the horizon. The swaying of the boat made the Witch uncomfortable, but as the travel progressed, she opted for silence, fearing her whispers could travel much further than she thought. For Zarius, that could see in the dark, the island would be visible much before Kamille could notice it. As they had warned, there was no naturally made spot where they would be able to safely dock; instead, Kamille instructed their guide to approach a side of the island that gave off to just a plain wall of stone - a cliff. They had no ways of climbing it, but with her earth molding magic, Kamille could touch the wall and re-shape it, so that the stone itself would jump out of its way to take the shape of a ladder that they could use to climb into the island.