Brenda
**Lord Maric I Corvyn**
***Crow's Eye, the Iron Plaines***

Maric had awoken relatively early one day, this being his third day of non-isolationism. He ate his breakfast, put his clothes on and went to his study, where the date of the Council grew ever nearer. He then called on his Master of the Guard and his Brother, asking if he should go to the Council, and they both said yes, as it was his duty to represent not only himself, but also gain support for the Barrmounts. He then decided to leave.

Not wanting to put his Kinsmen at risk, Lord Maric I Corvyn left without any of his Family, leaving his Brother, Edward Corvyn, as Lord-Regent for him. Maric left with 4 bodyguards and 2 Stewards involved in the Lumber Business travelling through the vast expanses of Witherland Wilderness and stopping to rest and change Horses every half an hour or so. Travelling at an Incredible Speed, and changing Horses frequently, they were able to travel incredibly far by the time night came, and they needed to Sleep. They signed in at the nearby Tavern, one right on the border with Taemar, and went to sleep immediatelly. They then awoke the next morning, got on fresh new Horses, and entered into Taemar.
Lisa
`Gwen Alden
Some Random Tavern in the Witherlands`

Finally, Gwen let her face soften into a proper smile.

"My name is Gwen Alden," She said. "There is a tall spruce tree behind the tavern. We could head out there and use that."

Momentarily, she wondered what her boss would say if he found her hacking away at a tree instead of working. Well, as long as he didn't show up, there was nothing to lose, was there? Anyway, hacking away at a tree sounded much more fun than sweeping the floor for the hundreth time. 

Come to think of it, what exactly was Fabio offering to teach her? What did he mean by a *Blade-* A sword or a dagger? Maybe he would just teach her a few slick tricks with a penknife. She couldn't tell if Fabio carried any weapons other than his greatsword, but she probably couldn't swing that to save her life.
"Sir-I mean, *Fabio*," She stammered, "What kind of blade could I learn to use?"

Gwen glanced down at herself; her angular shoulders and spindly wrists seeming more pitiful than ever. She was no bigger than a child. Compared to her new teacher, who was obviously tall and strong enough to wield such a huge weapon, Gwen resembled a withering branch.
"I'd dislocate my shoulders if I tried to hold your sword," She said with a grin.
Shirley
The Witherlands, The Wilderness of the Iron Plaines.

She was so, so cold.

That was the first thing which popped into her mind as her heavy-lidded eyes gradually began to open, her eyes blinking strenuously to relieve themselves of the brightly distorted flashes which often plagued her when she initially awoke. She gently urged herself up from the cold, damp ground. She lifted the arm which Anna had coiled around her throughout the evening and set it to the side, drawing her knees up toward her chest as she laced her arms around them. Her teeth chattered together, clicking in rapid succession as her arms intertwined encompassed her in an embrace. Her frozen, nimble fingers pressed against the side of her arms as she dragged them up and down in an attempt to warm herself, releasing one long breath of icy air. 

Her head was canted to one side as she conceded in her surroundings in one fell swoop, curving her neck around in its socket for the most fleeting of moments to relieve herself of an uncomfortable crick she must have slept on in the night. *The Iron Plaines could be such a beautiful place*, she mused, lifting her hands from her arms to cup them together and warm them with her breath. It was dangerous, though. *They shouldn't make a habit of this - camping with nothing, but the clothes on their backs*, she continued to rationalize within her mind, casting her gaze over the stirring Anna and her guardsman, her blue-tipped nose wrinkling in distaste. Forcing herself to a stand, Pippin decided that she had been sitting down for long enough. Ever the taskmaster, she rubbed her hands together and set off in search of some dry firewood, Kinley's cloak wrapped around herself after she had taken it from a sleeping Anna. Living in poverty and dire circumstances was nothing new to Pippin, but even this was outside of her comfort zone. Her current mindset was very pessimistic, and she knew that was something to be scolded given the circumstances.

She needed to take a moment to think. She halted her search and stood there for a moment, joining her hands together and lifting them to press her knuckles against her forehead. She was angry, far beyond what would have been considered rational. Before she knew it she was down on the ground in a crouch with her knuckles pressing against her eyes, her jaw tensed so tightly she swore that she could shatter her teeth with how tightly wound it was. She was such an idiot, a disgrace, is how she scolded herself. *How stupid are you to allow this to happen? You had nothing to protect you during the night. You had no tent, nothing. Your pathetic excuse of a campsite was simply a firepit in the ground!*

Her nostrils flared in frustration as she released one long string of breath from her nose, rigid joints cricking as she lifted herself to her full height once more. She was being beyond selfish, she needed to compose herself and do what needed to be done. Continuing her inward dialogue as she partook in her task of searching for firewood, she eventually meandered her way back towards Anna and Kinley, preparing the fire and lighting it to give them a moment of warmth before they had to set off again.

Pippin spoke up, her tone was slightly more assertive than it ever had been before and, as she was tending to the flames she peered upwards to both Anna and Kinley.

"This isn't going to happen again. This was a bad decision and there was no preparation at all to rationalize it. We aren't going to camp outside in the wilderness like this a second time and, from here on out, we're going to be heading straight for Taemar. If we need to rest, we'll do it somewhere safe. This is the most ridiculous thing I have ever done in my life."

Her tongue briefly cleansed the front row of her teeth, making the gentle sound of a click as she considered what next to say.

"I don't mean to overstep in that regard, my lady, but we had absolutely nothing to protect us during the night. We had a firepit, and that was it. Even the most amateur of hunters know not to camp outside in the middle of the wilderness, I don't want you to get ill. I certainly don't feel very healthy after waking up this morning, my whole body is as if frozen like a block of ice. It's hard to move, it aches."