The camp was beginning to rouse into life as the morning sun continued its inexorable advance towards its zenith. The sounds of the Starcraft beginning to go about their daily business surrounded Malkier and Deryn, he smiled gently at Deryn’s reply that she was okay, it was reassuring that she was recovering well. Malkier knew she was hardy but there was no telling what effect that malady she had been infected with might have done to her, but is she was feeling better and Imperellis’ healers said the disease had been removed, he was happy. He stopped at her question, looking over his shoulder one corner of his mouth curled up in a wry smile<b>“Am I okay? Yes Young One, I am fine. Just thinking what we might need for our journey to cover your needs, plus a couple bits to cover some of mine.”</b><br/><br/>Turning to face her properly he laughed as she called him a “nag” but began nodding as she spoke more, he agreed with what she said, the fewer infected out there the better, but he felt they needed more information before they went to the Prince, saying as much to Deryn before continuing<b>“This will be larger than just us, that’s for certain, but we need more than accounts of random behaviour and that they’re ‘over there somewhere’, so we need to do a bit more adventuring.”</b>Watching as Deryn began to walk away he quirked his eyebrow at her statement, wondering quite what her once only statement would be, her words had him grinning again, teeth clearly bared in amusement,<b>“Indeed”</b>he laughed<b>“Let us get our belongings packed and we can get underway.” </b>Before following along behind Deryn, chuckling, as they made their way towards the tent holding their belongings.<br/><br/>It didn’t take too long for either of them to gather their meagre belongings from the tent, neither of them brought much with them and Malkier even less than Deryn. He sat upon the edge of the cot as Deryn finished organising her things, a little lost in thought and with a few of his own worries, finally he broke his silence<b>“Deryn, I’m glad you’re excited and enthusiastic about all this, just…”</b>his face was creased with a look of concern<b>“Well I am just me and yes, I would get in great trouble should I not return home, but I also carry the concern for your safety too.”</b>Malkier was ready for Deryn’s inevitable outburst that she would be okay and could look after herself, he quickly continued hoping to stall any outburst she might make<b>“And regardless of if you believe that unnecessary or not, it is with me. That is how I have been taught in the service of my House. I just want you to understand that if I make ‘demands’ of you, it is for your safety.”</b>He sat in silence waiting for Deryn to finish her packing, looking up as she slung her pack upon her back.<br/><br/><b>“Ready to go?” </b>His demeanour vastly different from a few moments before, like a weight lifted from him,<b>“Let us go find Squeeker and see what we can procure from him to help us on our journey.”</b>They both set off across the camp, packs upon their backs. The tribe moved around them going about their business, walking Northwards through the camp Malkier soon noticed an acrid scent in the air,<b>“Urgh, Imperellis wasn’t wrong, can you smell that?”</b>Following his nose, Malkier veered off to the left weaving through a couple tents until they were stood outside of the source of the stench. The tent itself was made of a variety of older tents or pieces of fabric haphazardly stitched together, the fabrics were both faded from their original myriad of colours and stained in a kaleidoscope of others. Clouds of… something… drifted from any and every available hole in the tent, from inside clicking and clattering could be heard coupled with high pitched mutterings.<br/><br/><b>“Let’s get this strange and unusual torture over with. Goblins aren’t famed for their hygiene and I imagine only half this stench is from the various concoctions that Squeeker creates.”</b>Malkier’s tone was hushed, despite the background noise, no reason to take a chance on offending someone he was about to do business with. Lifting the flap of the tent Malkier ducked his head inside calling out to Squeeker to announce he had customers. Squeeker was a unique looking goblin, he stood around four and a half feet tall, his skin marked with a variety of stains and soot marks, his ears long and dropping slightly, although the right one was near half gone, the end a mass of ragged scar tissue. As the strangers stepped into his tent, he lifted a pair of goggle from his eyes, leaving a clear patch of skin a distinctly brighter green than the rest of him.<br/><br/><b>“Imperellis said you might have some wares for sale, we are heading out to investigate these infected Beastkin, I need a few things to keep my companion here healthy.”</b>He handed over a small list to the goblin alchemist which detailed their needs, several curatives and healing salves for Deryn and a pair of dark vials for Malkier.<b>“Most grateful, these should keep us on our feet.”</b>Malkier shook out a selection of coins from a purse at his belt and them handed them over, dropping them into the scarred palm of the goblin before stepping out of the tent into the ‘fresher’ air of the camp. Once they were back outside and a little ways from the malodorous tent Malkier turned to Deryn<b>“I can only imagine how hard that was for you, it’s much easier for me not needing to breath when dealing with things like that.”</b>He was surprised at himself letting out pieces of information like that, hopefully it wouldn’t come back to bite him. He handed over the pair of small vials filled with the dark liquid<b>“Here, these will allow you to tend to my wounds should I not be able to. I am unconscious for example and unable to use my own magics.”</b>Carefully tucking the other vials into a small pouch on his belt ensuring they were padded as best they could be and protected from damage<b>“These will allow me to tend to the most common conditions and wounds that you might suffer. I know it looks a lot, but I would rather have too many than not enough.”</b><br/><br/>Feeling ready to set off Malkier settled his pack once more by the gateway to the encampment, turning to Deryn to see if she was ready,<b>“You all set? You know the plan? We’re going to head out into the southern forest and try to track down the den that Impalla and Imperella spoke of. Then once we know the source and the scale of the problem, we can head to the Capital as you wanted.”</b>Nodding in satisfaction Malkier stepped from the camp, turning southward and heading into the forest, back towards the Temple that they had set out from not four nights previously.<b>“You still excited about this?”</b>he asked with a gentle laugh as they entered the outer reaches of the forest.<br/><br/>Tag:<a class="username" data-user-id="91" data-username="@Wren" data-xf-init="member-tooltip" href="https://blackdahliaroleplaying.com/members/91/">@Wren</a>