Lia was stirred sufficiently awake by the wind to take some precautions against it.  After all she had slept in the desert where the wind and sand could conspire to strip flesh from bone.  She simply pulled herself deeper into her bedroll, her clothing pillow along with her.  She tucked the open mouth of the roll down with her hands and stayed as low as possible.  There she may well have passed the night in relative comfort where it not for the more remarkable show to follow.  The steady progression of Boom Boom Boom piqued her curiosity.  The beat too regular for lightning and too loud to be much of anything else.  As she heard the red giant stirring from his own rest the temptation to look around became too great.  Staying low she pivoted herself around towards the noise coming from the west, following the same path they had just completed.  Peaking out of a small hole in the end of her bedding she peered out her jaw dropping at what she saw.<br/><br/>Where could the old crone have possibly come from?  She wondered silently as she noticed the seemingly magical staff scorching the ground as she walked.  Though Lia, nor anyone else in the empire had mastered the white hot fire of lightning, she at least understood a few principles of it.  Not a believer in magic her mind sought some possible explanation for what she was seeing.  She knew of lightning rods used to channel the dangerous fire harmlessly to the ground, and how a ship's rigging could be made to glow with similar brightness during certain storms.  It was a neat trick, very impressive she thought to herself, though still her mind puzzled more over the presence of the woman than her magic act.  Her song was also a surprise, even if she couldn't understand the words, the melody was beautiful, almost mesmerizing though clearly it had varying affects on the company of soldiers.  The voice was most pleasant as well, not what one would expect from the voice of the old crone.<br/><br/>Just as she thought the scene could not be much stranger, the red haired giant joined the show.  He seemed to know the crone's language, answering in his own deep voice which challenged the thunder itself for mastery in the night air.  He could speak, she noted, though perhaps not their language.  She noted the elaborate scars on his body, marveling at his ability to undertake pain.  She wondered if he did so willingly or if such acts had been imposed upon him without consent.  She thought little of the rolling of bones, barbaric superstitions was all, a vain attempt by those too simple to understand the workings of the world to try and explain it.  But as the show settled down, she did the same, soon returning back to her sleep wondering if she would even remember this strange dream when she woke the next morning.