Looking for Clues|Haven, Ilyamen

[aivea]

The horse, Ballad, and Lief all arrive in Ilyamen fairly close to each other, however Astor is missing. The paranoid bard looks around worriedly then asks, "Where do you think he went? I thought he said we'd be fairly close to each other when we arrived."

[Darastrix]

"Huh. That's odd, isn't it?" Leif replies, looking around. "I didn't know a Mind could teleport people somewhere and end up somewhere else himself. But then, I don't know too much about them in the first place."

He pets the horse's neck and thinks for a moment. "I guess we can wait for him for a bit. He might've just gotten a bit sidetracked by something."

[Kender Bard]

Some commotion began to stir near the gates; a crowd began to form, blocking whatever it was of interest from view.

[Darastrix]

Leif looks over at the growing crowd with interest. "Now, what do you suppose is going on over there?" He turns to look at his compainion. "Want to go check it out?"

[aivea]

"I guess so..." Ballad answers, wringing her hands from nervousness. The motion causes her various charms to clatter against each other. "Want to go first?"

[Darastrix]

The Fire sign smiles at Ballad reassuringly. "No problem. I'll go see what the comotion is all about, and you stay here can make sure the horse doesn't wander off. Our friend may come by looking for us, and you'll be easier for him to see out of the crowd, I'd imagine."

And the fact that all of Ballad's charms and things make her stand out a bit more would help Astor find her as well, if the horse somehow wasn't noticeable enough.

Leif starts walking toward the crowd casually, trying to peer over the tops of everyone's heads to see what the hubbub is about as he approaches.

[Kender Bard]

Some people made room for him to join; otherwise continued to stand where they were. The spectacle was a very wounded man; he had scratches all over his body, especially over his hands and face, and there was a large puncture wound in his ribs. The man looked about ready to curl up and die from the appearance of things, yet the crowd was mesmerized by the sight and nobody stepped forward. They did talk though.

"He looks familiar, who is he?" "Oh this is terible." "What could have done this?" "Is that the poacher...?"

[Darastrix]

Leif shakes his head a bit at the crowd in general and crosses his arms over his chest. He likes gossip as much as the next person, he's a bard, after all, but for Efil's sake.... Clearing his throat, he decides to make good use of his voice training.

"Well, well, I can tell you all exactly what's going on here," he says loudly. "We have a seriously injured man on our doorstep, and I'm sure you all agree that his life is a bit more important than asking your neighbors what they think happened."

Leif's posture is relaxed, but his usually mellow voice has a slight edge to it, and his smile doesn't quite reach his eyes as he looks at the surrounding townsfolk each in turn.

"So someone is going to run and fetch a healer, and everyone else might want to consider how they'd feel if their son or brother or father collapsed at the gates and everyone around stared and whispered instead of trying to help him."

With that, Leif begins to try pushing his way through the crowd to the poor man.

[Kender Bard]

The crowd falls silent and parts, making a path for him. One young boy finally gets his bearings together enough to run off and fetch a healer, as Leif instructed.

The bleeding man looked at Leif with pain-filled eyes. "Bless you," he whispered hoarsely, clutching his wound.

[Darastrix]

"Don't try too hard to talk," he says, kneeling beside the injured man. "A healer should be here soon."

Not knowing much else to do, he digs a canteen out of his pack. "Do you need some water?"

[aivea]

Astor arrives then, and after giving Ballad a quick nod of greeting, squeezes through the crowd to get closer to where the victim and Lief are. The empath looks from one to the other, and frowns worriedly. "What happened here? I can't even tell if it was a human or an animal that did this..."
_

A few streets away from where the incident took place, there is a small building with a sign in the window advertising that it is where a healer had set up shop. Fortunately, it is along the route the boy is taking while searching.

[Darastrix]

Leif shakes his head, frowning slightly. "I don't know. Ballad and I just saw everyone crowding around right after we got here."

[Kender Bard]

The boy darts in, looking around with wide eyes. "'ey! 'elp! Somebody! There's a bloke out near the gates that's 'urt real bad!"

---

"Animal," the man murmured, taking swigs of the water offered him. He seemed to be growing weaker, and had trouble keeping his eyes open. "No.. monster.. giant.. serpent..or .. a dragon.."

[Darastrix]

"A dragon?" Leif murmrus, thinking briefly of the creatures he'd heard about appearing across Naruta some time ago.

"Try to hang on; a healer is coming," he says, looking at the man with growing concern.

He's dying, the young bard realises, his heart sinking. Efil, please.... Let the healer get here in time.

[aivea]

"Lead the way!" the healer, Beatrix, calls, as she snatches up her bag of common herbs and bandages. "If it's that bad, we've not got a second to spare."
__

Astor looks from one to the other then asks, "Is there anything I can do? There's got to be more possible than just watching."