Questions, Answers, and Accusations

Wilderness - Dunland

Thick trees spread all about the area. Most timber collected by Dunland is done here. Though, it is quite obvious very little lumber is actually cut. There is no obvious path through the woods in any direction, though, to the east the forest thins, and to the west the forest thickens. The ground is soft, causing many vines, brush, and other foilage to stand underfoot to make traveling extremely difficult.

\"We must get our men out of Forthunn,\" says Halen, pacing back and forth. \"If this is truly the Stag army, then we cannot fight them.\"

Night has fallen upon this small camp of men, two among them injured, and one, a captive, long passed into unconsciousness. \"They knew we were coming.\"

Carac glances towards Halen from where he kneels next to Alroy, looking over the large Hawk\'s shoulder and adminstering some whiskey to his injured clansmen. \"It is my fault,\" he says through teeth clenched with anger. \"I should never have trusted that bastard, Shadrack. I\'m gonna gut that bastard, I swear by all that is holy, he will wear his guts for garters after I\'ve gotten hold of him.\"

He takes a pull from the whiskey flask himself and then gives a grunt. \"Our men will be fine,\" he says then. \"They\'ll be at the camp northwest of the city, and should have no problem slipping off into Caerdh when they catch site of the army. Feent won\'t follow them into Bear land, not unless he wants a war with the Bear, and that\'s a war he can not win.\"

\"I would have done the same in your position,\" says Halen to Carac. \"It seemed an advantageous arrangement.\" He stops pacing. \"We must be cautious who we trust in the future.\" Grabbing a bottle of whiskey from the ground, he takes a long drink before placing it in the same spot as before.

\"We are traitors, thieves, and outcasts, not rebels. We must remember that, and act as such,\" Halen concludes, his eyes firmly upon Carac.

[Carac(#32384)] Carac rises up from where he kneels and gives a nod. \"I\'ll remember it,\" he replies with a sigh. \"I was trying to make people forget who\'s son I am,\" he says. \"But, I see now why I\'racil was the way he was. I think its time we embraced some of his less redeeming qualities.\"

He sighs once more and shakes his head angrily. \"Well what\'s done is done, I suppose. What we need to do now is figure out how to rejoin the others.\"

Finnian slowly walks through the small camp in a restless fashion, his dark eyes frequently peering out into the forest as he tries to see past the thick shadows. Occasionally a fallen leaf crackles under his step and the man has a tight, pensive expression on his face. One hand frequently strays to the knife sheathed at his side, as if that would stop an arrow from the dark somehow.

As he draws near to the two conversing, Tavish pauses to watch them for a long moment, perhaps overhearing the last words.

\"Your father was a great man, perhaps the best I knew,\" replies Halen, \"Let people think what they will of him, and of you but do not try to run from it.\"

\"If they wish to make demons of us, then demons we must be,\" he continues. \"Let them learn to fear our faces in their sleep.\" His mace still hangs limply from his right hand, the blood from one of the Stag scouts drying upon its blunt end. \"They will flee to Caerdh and Garaig knows that terrain better than any Stag, and even any Bear. I do not fear for them.\"

[Carac(#32384)] Carac now beings pacing about as well, muttering and cursing himself under his breath. \"A great man who caused a lot of pain for a lot of people. Five Ceanni and two Ard Righ fell to his mace, but perhaps you are right.\"

He kicks angrily at a pine cone, sending it sailing off into the trees. \"I do not fear for our people, but if we are to string Shadrack up by his balls we\'ll need their help.\"

\"Which people do you be speaking of?\" Tavish asks, speaking up now after blatantly listening in on the conversation. He slowly approaches the two, his eyes flicking from Halen to Carac and back.

\"The men of this...\" begins Halen, glancing warily towards Finnian, \"...movement.\" He makes sure his choice of words. \"And you are right, Carac.\"

\"But is that our next move or just the passion of your anger speaking?\"

[Carac(#32384)] Carac turns and looks at Halen. \"Why you asking me?\" he asks. He gestures to the wounded and then off in the direction of Forthunn. \"Look at where I\'ve gotten us so far,\" he says sourly. \"We\'re worse off than we were than when all this began,\" he kicks another pine cone angrily.

\"Obviously, I\'m no leader.\"

A small smirk tugs at Finnian\'s lips when Halen so carefully chooses his wording, but it grows into something more satisfied quickly enough when there is no following criticism thrown towards the non-Hawk. \"People be getting hurt, but the people here be getting hurt fighting for a cause. It be inspiring a man more than being kicked around by corrupt Fianni.\"

Alroy breaks the silence with the cracking of the walnut he had been squeezing while his shoulder was tended.

\"Trust no one to speak the truth unless you hold their nuts in your hand.\"

He sprinkles the powdered remnants onto the ground through his fist.

\"It will continue to get worse before it gets better,\" spits Halen at Carac, \"And you know that. Don\'t get your anger get the worse of you.\" The Hawk was begun to pace anew, his steps loud and furious in the forest.

\"You know more than you are letting on, Carac. You know what must be done, though you might not speak it. Alroy knows it too. Garaig knows it. And I would wager even this Bear here might have some inkling of it. If you will not say it, I will,\" says the youth aloud.

[Carac(#32384)] Carac snorts. \"Then say it,\" he says. \"I told you I\'m no leader, people follow me only because of my father, not because of anything I can do.\" He gives a sigh and shakes his head. \"Take whoever will follow you and do what you wish, after the mess I\'ve put us in I\'m not even fit to be part of it.\"

Finnian slowly slides his hands into his pockets, his brows drawing together now as the grim talk continues. His dark eyes flick to Halen briefly at his being pointed out as a Bear, but quickly return to Carac. He says nothing. It isn\'t the type of thing one jumps into when they\'re not of such close kinship as the rest.

\"Boy, who do you take me for? It\'s just an arrow to the shoulder. I get a worse whippin from my wife when I don\'t do my chores.\" Alroy sits up even straighter. But he too says nothing more.

Halen eyes linger upon Carac, and then he shakes his head.

\"We must hurt these people who we have committed to fight. They do not fear us on the field of battle, and that is fine because we cannot fight them there. Where we can fight them is in their minds. They must be made to fear us there.\"

\"Let us make any man who carries a weapon a target, whether it be in self-defense or not. Let us shut down their travel and their places of business. Let us starve them, choke the very food from their stomachs, and fear for the lives of their children. Then they will wonder what they are paying for, what services these Ceann and Fian actually provide for them. Hunger is a dangerous weapon. We can do this, silently and covertly, in small bands whose business is chaos.\"

\"But first, we need an example. We must burn Forthunn to the ground.\"

Alroy grabs the whiskey from another with his good arm. He tilts his head in thought. \"Forthunn and the lives and livelihood of all those people for my shoulder.\" He takes a swig.

\"Sounds fair.\"

[Carac(#32384)] \"Where does that path end?\" Carac asks. \"Aye, it will make them fear us, but we will lose men along the way. Who will take up their swords when they fall? Do you think people will flock to the side of the men who\'ve burnt their homes, destroyed their fields, killed their sons and fathers?\"

He shakes his head. \"We will be on the run for the rest of our lives. Your dream of rebuilding Mathain and returning the Hawk to their home will die on the path you speak of. Never will a single one of us ever be able to settle anywhere, the common folk as well as the Ceanni and Fianni would demand our deaths. Your \'rebirth\' would end be for naught.\"

He looks at Alroy as the large Hawk speaks and shrugs. \"See? Again, I prove I am not fit to lead. I suppose I too soft. You\'ll be better off without me, I think. Mayhap, I\'ll return to Tharbad.\"

Finnian\'s gaze darkens when Halen speaks of burning Forthunn, pulling his hand from his pocket to scratch at his stubbled chin. \"It hardly be silent or covert to be burning a keep. You-..\" Tavish begins to say something further but seems to decide better of it, growing quiet again and slowly shaking his head. His attention shifts to Alroy and there\'s something of approval on Finn\'s face at the man\'s rebuttal.

Tavish returns his attention to Carac as he talks, his hand slowly dropping to hang at his side. \"What be deciding that a man be fit to lead?\"

\"Then speak!\" roars Halen, exasperated.

\"You wished to ally with one against the other, and we were betrayed in that pursuit. Now I suggest we ally with none and hurt them all. What other route is there, Carac?\" he asks.

[Carac(#32384)] \"How can we choose a route when we have no destination?!\" Carac roars back. \"What in Kiern\'s name are we even fighting for? Do we know? I started this with some outlandish idea of freeing Dunland from Ceanni and Fianni, but you know what? Dunland doesn\'t want to be free. Half the Kiern damned people that were in Kierkgard went right back to living under the rule of the one\'s they thought they wished to be free from, because they do not know any other way of life. They are lost without someone to tell them what to do.\" He angrily swats a lock of hair from his eyes.

\"You want to pick a Kiern damned route, well first figure out where in the seven hells you want that damn route to take you!\"

He then turns to Finnian. \"I couldn\'t tell you,\" he says. \"I imagine it\'s someone who has a goal in mind, though.\"

The loss of blood from his wound perhaps explains why the effect of whiskey on Alroy seems more keen than usual.

\"Paths.. routes. Bah!\" The older Hawk slurs, his eyes beginning to droop. \"Roads are for chickens and goats. We are Hawks. We are unlike any clan in Dunland. We follow no paths. We fly!\"

Alroy looks up at the sky just as a large owl soars over them, his wings spread taught and proud.

\"A nice nest would be fine to come home to. And to do that, we need to teach \'em a lesson. Don\'t be messin with our nest. We will come out of the air and kill you.\"

Finnian has an intense gaze on his face when Carac turns to face him, as if there is a deeper, more angry line of thought in his mind. He breathes slowly, never pulling his eyes from the young Hawk leader even as Alroy goes on of loyalty to a clan that Tavish has no part in. \"You be wanting a goal? I can be telling you of one that would never see it coming that be as corrupt as they come.\" His words are dark and full of heat. Then he shakes his head, as if coming to his senses and remembering where he is. His words are a softer murmur as he turns, \"I be speaking out of place.. I be no Hawk.\"

\"Your subtlety is remarkable,\" spits Halen with a forced chuckle.

\"You are all women! Fools and women! This is war! There must be casualties! You all squeam as I talk of pain, starvation, death! Pathetic, groveling, wormy excuses for men, this is Dunland! You want change? You must pay for it. You must pay with your reputation, with your comforts, and maybe with your lives!\"

He shakes his head and sits down. A bottle of whiskey reaches his lips and he drinks of it deeply. \"I will say no more,\" says the youth silently.

[Carac(#32384)] Carac wheels on Halen and thrusts a finger towards him. \"Speak to me like that again, I will hit you so hard your own body will feel it, boy!\"

\"I\'d give all you speak of if there was a goal in mind, but all you speak of is war for no reason other than war. My wish was not for change for myself, I\'ve had no problem living rough and have grown to rather like it.\"

His icy glare remains fixed on Halen. \"So, I will ask you again slower so that the words can filter the grave rot between your ears. What. Is. It. You. Want?\"

Finnian moves to sit down against a tree, stretching one leg out after folding the other beneath it. He watches the continuing confrontation with the same grim interest on his face. He picks up a twig from the ground and slowly snaps it under his fingers, then snaps the broken piece again until it\'s too small to break.

Halen stands and the mace in his hand hangs loose.

\"What do I want? I came to see that my people gained what was once rightfully theirs! And I ended up wrapped in this swamp with a leader who sulks like a little girl and forgets the words he spoke not long ago to a people he helped save!\" roars Halen.

\"This has never been about what I wanted, Carac Bryntadd. It has been about you, and your vision. You want the Fianni and Ceanni gone and I will buy that. You want the clans broken and beaten and I will buy that. But this indecision, it is madness! I want Mathain. I want Caerdh. I want to die on the blade of an orc, not on the blade of a Dunlending, but if you want what you have promised, then you must be willing to do what it takes to achieve these goals.\"

[Carac(#32384)] Carac actually smiles at these words and gives a nod. \"Aye,\" he replies. \"I did wish to see the clans left broken and beaten,\" he replies. \"I would still love to see nothing more, but that is but a dream. What I failed to realize is that Stag, Wulf, Bear . . . they are not Hawk. They are unable to fend for themselves, to protect themselves, they need the Ceanni and Fianni. We can kill their leaders, break the clans, but as I seen with the people from Kierkgard, the people will just raise more in their place.

\"Mathain and Caerdh,\" he says with a small smile. \"That is another story all together.\"

He then turns surprisingly to Finnian. \"And you?\" he asks. \"What is it you want?\"

Finnian almost looks to be losing interest, his gaze wandering to watch the others around them. When Carac puts the question to him, Tavish drops the bits of twig from his hand. \"Vengence. I be wanting vengence. That be all.\" He answers quietly, less heat in his tone now as he looks off into the woods.

Halen sits down, shrugging and picking up the bottle again.

[Carac(#32384)] Carac\'s eyes remain on Finnian. \"Vengence against whom?\" he asks.

Finnian\'s face grows more guarded as Carac presses the question. \"Do you be sure of your goal now? There be a fian who used a man.. a close friend of his, asked him for help with some things to gain power. Things that were dangerous, but he promised the man that he would share in the rewards of his hard work.\"

Tavish presses his lips together for a moment, then continues. \"After this fian be getting his power, he backstabbed his friend.. Burned the man\'s home to the ground. If that not be corrupt I don\'t be knowing what is.\"

Halen rips his eyes away from the bottle.

\"Who?\"

[Carac(#32384)] Carac listens to the words of Finnian, his jaw set firmly and eyes tight. \"Mayhap I have an idea of it,\" he answers. \"Tell me though, do you be this \'friend\' you speak of?\"

\"No.. He burned in the fire.\" Finnian responds in a cold tone, answering Carac first. He holds the man\'s gaze for a moment, trying to let that detail sink in before looking on to Halen. \"Mainchin Dunhallow. He be a fian in Redvyrne.\"

[Carac(#32384)] \"You spoke of Creatrach many times,\" Carac says to Finnian. \"How you went their for help and were instead beaten by Brodie and his me,\" he continues. \"Are you of the clan Bear?\" His tone at first only mildly interested, has suddenly turned very curious.

\"I reckon we need to move,\" Alroy slurs badly now, succumbing to the effects of the strong whiskey. \"Maireade\'ll have my hide if I don\'t return..\"

\"Aye, I was beaten by Brodie\'s guards. How long do a man need to be with a clan to be claiming allegiance? One don\'t be hanging around longer then they need to if a Fian be murdering his trusted friends.\" Finnian pulls his other leg up to cross with the other. \"I be thinking of vengence for a long time, Carac. You be wanting a target.. this one be worthy. After Kierkgard burned I hear of a group that seeks to bite back. I be thinking maybe there be a chance they go to Redvyrne.\" He pushes to stand up, perhaps agreeing with Saffron or maybe just ready to be out of the conversation.

[Carac(#32384)] Carac frowns. \"So you are Wulf and Bear?\" he asks and then looks towards Alroy. \"Pay him no heed,\" he says to Finnian. \"He is drunk and has lost alot of blood. We\'ll move when I say, we move on. I am even more curious about you now, Finnian Tavish.\"

He brushes at a lock of hair. \"In all of Dunland I know of only two men who can claim to have been a member of two clans. One be Tet\'nak, the other be I\'racil. Both exiled by their birth clans for crimes against the clan. Do you claim to be the third to have two clans tagged to their name?\"

Finnian watches Alroy for a moment, pressing one hand against the tree. When he looks back at Carac his brow is wrinkled with mixed emotion. \"I don\'t be claiming anything. Call me whatever clan you like. I be with the Bear long enough to hate them as much as the Wulf. The Hawk be having something I\'ve never seen before. It makes a man resentful, and jealous...\"

[Carac(#32384)] Carac\'s brow draws down and his eyes narrow even more speculatively. \"You say you were with the Wulf and with the Bear, so you are claiming something. Something is not right in your story, Tavish,\" he adds. \"You dodge my questions like a sword dancer dodges blades.\" He thrusts a hand towards the captive that still lies in an unconcious heap from the questioning he was put to earlier, while his eyes continue to stare flintily towards Finnian.

\"Do I need to let Halen ask the questions?\" he asks. \"That one didn\'t particularly seem to care for his methods, or would you rather begin giving me some straight answers?\"

\"The man that be burned in his home was my father. Mainchin played it off as an accidental fire. I be wary of speaking it because he doesn\'t know that I be knowing the truth. It be the only reason I\'m still alive when the rest of me family be over fifteen years in the grave.\" Tavish runs a hand through his hair, leaning back against a tree.

\"When I be old enough I left because it made me sick to watch him live in luxory as Fian with the blood on his hands. The Bear clan wasn\'t far enough away, but I didn\'t need to be hearing about Mainchin anymore on a daily basis. It worked well enough for a while.\"

\"And then?\"

Halen has since placed his bottle back on the ground and in his hands now are a knife and a piece of wood, rather than a mace. He whittles away at it.

[Carac(#32384)] \"So you became a Bear?\" he asks. \"I find that odd Tavish. Bear still harbors great anger for the wounds caused by Wulf in the Younger War, it is rare to see members of those clans in the same room together without it turning to blows. What did you bring to the Bear that made them forget your background?\"

He raises a hand to stop him before he can answer. \"Someone betrayed us,\" Carac says. \"I am not saying it was you, but as you have said you are not a Hawk. That does not make you guilty, but I fear I must know all about you. Others may begin to point fingers in your direction, so it is best we know what is to be known now.\"

Halen puts down the carving, but not the knife. He eyes Finnian carefully.

\"I went north of Creatrach where they be a smaller Fianni running things. They didn\'t be asking a lad of fifteen too many questions when he just be wanting to work for food.\" Tavish chuckles then, shaking his head. \"It seems I be stuck in a rut. It be the same cycle that brought me here to you.\"

Finnian grows serious again. \"I don\'t be guilty of betraying you to the Stag. You wish to be asking around.. be talking to Brev. He was in Forthunn when we be taking the people north and back. He be sneaking around the market when we get back, talking of business he be needing to do but saying little of what it be. Though, he be here with our group, so maybe that don\'t be making sense either.\"

\"Maybe we skin the both of you alive and let Kiern sort out the mess,\" says Halen evenly, tossing the small knife back and forth between his hands.

[Carac(#32384)] Carac\'s jaw tightens and he thrusts a finger towards Finnian. \"Watch yourself, Tavish,\" he growls. \"I\'ve known Breveg since he was five, he\'s saved my life more times than I can count, and I his on a few occasions. You, however, I do not know.\"

He holds out a hand towards Halen. \"There\'ll be no skinning, Halen. Not yet at least, we\'ll let him prove his loyalty to our cause.\"

He folds his arms across his chest and eyes Finnian in silence for a moment. \"I\'ve a task for you, that your dual clanship, should make easy. I\'ll tell you more of it when the time is right. First though, we\'ve an example to make of Shadrack, whether he was the one behind this betrayal or another it makes no mind. As Halen said earlier, Forthunn must burn.\"

Some tension draws across Finnian\'s face when Halen suggests skinning. \"I admit I don\'t be in favor of that decision. I\'ve been honest enough and taken little in return in the way of food or asking for anything. You be wishing to kill a man for wanting believe in your goal..\" Tavish shakes his head again, then looks back to Carac.

\"I apologize, then. Brev be the one that told me of Shadrack\'s advice to you of this Fian we be after. It be the only information I have to go on. In truth, I be liking Brev.. even before he defended me the other night in the tavern.\" Finn gives a long glance towards Halen before returning his gaze to Carac. \"I don\'t be afraid of a task if it be helping the cause.\" He says with a nod.

\"I don\'t trust you,\" says Halen, \"I will make myself clear now.\" His eyes are still cold and stern upon Finnian. \"But Carac puts up with you, so I must.\"

\"But you keep looking at me as you do, and I\'ll end you in your sleep.\"

[Carac(#32384)] Carac tosses the hair from his eyes with a shake of his head. \"Now, we move on to Caerdh to join back up with Garaig and the others. That should give Feent and his army time to reach Forthunn, while we make plans for dealing with this betrayal and make others think twice before attempting the same.\"

Finnian returns Halen\'s gaze with one that holds less malice as he holds up his hands. \"It only be the nerves of seeing so much loyalty when one isn\'t part of the clan. As I be saying that night, I be wishing to fight the enemy and that be all.\" He looks back at Carac, \"I hope you be understanding who I see to be the enemy now. I be getting some sleep while I can.\" Tavish moves away, rubbing the back of his neck as he goes.