17: Sightseeing
Since obviously Arthur was looking for them Sara had decided to stop all operations of selling anything, and ended up with not much to do. They had already commissioned a carriage and were just waiting for them to finish, then they would contract a driver to another town, further from the clan. So she had convinced Kurt to go out and see the area.
The barren wasteland land was now fields of grass, with sporadic small trees starting to grow. Bushes and flower fields, it wasn't a wasteland anymore. Who know what it will become really, there were a lot of sights to see if you were a fan of natural beauty. Some wildlife was around as well, nothing too big yet. Mostly just rabbit or groundhog like creatures.
Though it was very peaceful there would be a time that it would start not feeling as much, the vegetation will bring predators eventually and the growth was so overwhelming that Kurt had little idea what it would eventually actually grow into, or was it just going to be like this grass lands just more overgrown. It was eventually going to stop at some point,
The canyon had various magnificent vantage points and look outs. Sara had figured out some of her ability, the tentacles, and found a way to braid them together into stronger thinker ones, this helped her travel a lot. It still was inferior to Kurt water boots, but no one was in a rush today. Sara had just wanted to finally explore the area, and Kurt knew a few locations.
They had hiked close to the end the tiny forest, they one that was strange. Close wasn't the right word though, it seemed far yet not still. The forest always seemed to be a different distance away when you turned back. They had also found three goblins, a warrior, a scout and a shaman. They looked prepared for an outing, the Scouts large quiver was full of arrows and the warrior was armed, he wasn't sure what the shaman needed to prepare with but was sure he had, there were various bags attached to his belt, and he had a stash adorned similarly.
They had introduced themselves to the goblins, and they had names that were similar enough to Hank, the warrior, Tom the scout, and Joe the shaman.
"So you're thinking of going to the tiny forest?" Said Kurt.
"Yes," said Tom, "we are just discussing if we need a larger cohort."
"What are you hoping to find? Do you know what it is?"
"We're not sure why it seems to have some special distortion, however I am confident that all its doing is keeping us out. As for what we are looking for."
"Mounts" said Hank, "we virtually don't have any, the goblins are usually riders. There are various creatures that will suffice, even if there only for the short ones," poking Joe, "it would be of great help."
"And you think there will be some in there."
"Most forests will have something we can ride, we can't be too picky, it may not be the best ones, if we are lucky we even may find some hogs we can raise for food."
"Well, I wanna see, think you can handle it if the two of us join you?" said Sara.
"Wait? How are you planning on taming them, I can imagine just finding something you can ride is enough," said Kurt.
"That's why I'm here," said Joe tapping his staff on the ground, "if the others can subdue them I can tame them with my magic. If it was just a hunt there wouldn't be much of a need for me, the way in will be easier after I open the path, there may be some other tricky things I can handle."
"So you guys just naturally work together like that, I would have thought you would have been more competitive with each other."
"Proper tactics bring glory. There is a difference between being brave and being foolish that many forget. Having a cohesive horde is one of its greatest strengths, the war party is sacred in battle regardless of your differences, there is no time for bickering," said Tom. "Having riders gives us more options and more tactics. The purpose of this expedition is clear, even if we find nothing we have attempted. We are not ashamed of a retreat that allows for a larger victory in the end, information is valuable."
"You might want to avoid some of the victory parties though, they can get rough," laughed Hank.
"If you are coming with, Sir Kurt would be leader of the party of course," said Joe.
"No," said Kurt, "I think it's better if I see how you work together before I take command, I don't know your tactics, I'm afraid I don't have your experience as well."
"Very wise," said Joe taking charge, "then if I'm correct you employ a direct attack, with your fists, and the mace on your hip then you should probably join Hank near the front, while Lady Sara," being called Lady made Sara smile, "You should stay near me to support the front but be able to support Tom in the back quickly. Keep a good look at our sides as well. You have a more mid-ranged ability. I will try to stay in the center, some of my spells will take time to cast, and I will be able to coordinate from there. Remember we are not trying to kill our mounts, if we find one. It will be best to avoid the heart of the forest, something like this is usually guarding something if we might not like it, if we can find some information on it, good but it's not necessary. We are here solely to see if finding mounts here is even a possibility, and if the opportunity arrives tame one or two. We don't need to take it over. If there are larger creatures, or too many of them, we will retreat and consider the options. We don't need to rush, we have time on our side. Depending on what we encounter we can change our formation and strategy, we want to be quiet in any event, that will give us the best chances to catch a mount, and avoid something we weren't expecting. Hank will take point, his sense of smell is the best, unless you humans are good at that."
"I wouldn't trust my nose," said Sara.
"When he holds up an arm like this,, he raise right right arm in a fist, "we should stop, go low and get ready," Joe pointed at his eyes then towards a direction, "this will indicate the direction of the target, we should think we are starting most attacks with an arrow from Tom followed by a direct attack from Hank and Kurt to disable it. If everything is perfect, myself and Sara's job will start once it subdues, he ability should help hold down a mount for me to tame it, once that happens, the rest of you should make a perimeter. Anything more complex we will have to come up with in the moment, or we will discuss before the strike."
"How are we getting in though?"