Trail Blazin

Day after the Festival

After Hunter left the twins he explored the hunting grounds to see what game was available. He managed get the layout of the land and found a lot of tracks that would be perfect for setting up traps. Then he returned back to the barracks to make his preparations which took the rest of the day. So the next few days he spent hunting a good number of boars and rabbit. Since he made a promise to the female twins he hooked up with at the festival, he gave them a few boars and a lot of rabbits to get them out of debt. The twins were very grateful to Hunter and made it worth his wild. However to keep up his job he turned a larger number of boars and rabbits to the butchers. He had to cart a wagon full of dead animals back and forth a lot, but it was a good work out for him. Of course he collected his receipts from the butchers to make sure he was not cheated in his pay later on.

However he did keep the meat of a few rabbits he turned into beef jerky for the upcoming mission. He was not sure on the details of his mission so he planned to have his own extra rations just to be safe since luck favored the prepared. Then the big day finally arrived as he was told to prepare for his mission. So Hunter unpacked his pack and hid a lot of weapons all over his body in his clothing and under his cloak. Only his sword, bow and a quiver of arrows were visible to others. Then he slung his pack on one shoulder and carried it to the supply wagon where he packed it properly to make it hard for others to steal from it.

Hunter learned that their mission would take them way west of the city into the plains and grasslands beyond Ostiarium on a trading and reconnaissance mission. Since he had time to prepare for this he had already memorized the maps he was allowed to see in hopes to find several routes to use for different reasons. He was taught to always have multiple escape routes just in case. As he looked at the others on his mission he saw he would be working under the beautiful yet dangerous holy woman, one of her holy minions, the scholar from the boat, one of his scholars, the young noble with a big mouth, the knife thrower from training and a few soldiers. Since he was the scout it would give him some alone time while on recon.

The holy woman had a horse while the others would be on foot. The only other two horses they had were for pulling the wagon which was filled with two casks of ale, ten leather saddles, a box of iron nails and spikes, a few crates of purple potatoes, some assorted metal tools, glass and their own tents, food and water supplies. The supplies were to be traded by heads of cattle and a few horses which Ostiarium was in dire need of. Hunter hoped it would be a peaceful trade but he knew that all trades came with a hidden price, be it dependence, deceit or death. There was a reason why no other expedition was successful with these trades. Hunter figured a lot of double crosses occurred in the past. Given a choice between playing the hero and living another day he planned to survive if the holy woman decided to go all martyr on him.

Grasslands West of Ostiarium

As the weather changed and winter made itself known Hunter was glad he had brought his handmade hooded cloaks and boot covers. He had one set for rain and one for snow. He added pockets to keep his hands warm. The outfits was not fit for noble but looked perfect for a hunter as it blended in well with the environment. The hooded cloaks were reversible with one side made from brown bear fur and the other from white rabbit fur. This allowed him to increase his stealth depending on the environment. Since they were on the grassy plains he was wearing the brown side out to blend in better as he was up ahead scouting the area. Since it was raining he wore the thick leather one that was water proof along with his waterproof leather boot wrappings to keep from ruining his boots. It kept him dry and warm as he scouted up ahead. After a while he wondered why he was trying to be stealthy while the scholar was making a lot of racket with his music. At this point any armature could spot them coming. However Hunter had no plans to go down with their ship if they failed in their mission.

Since he had already asked the Scholar if he could read old military symbols from back home so they could communicate by Hunter leaving premade symbols made if sticks. So hunter left the safe symbol when the coast was clear, but if he spotted something dangerous he would post the danger sign as a warning since the wagon was very slow. As Hunter made his way on foot in the mud of the grasslands he noted some tracks from small game. However there was no signs of large game or humans as far as he could see. As he looked around he saw the beautiful mountains. The view was very nice as he admired them but he could hear the holy woman's voice behind him since it was somewhat loud and without concern for any attacking forces. She seemed to like the mountains as well. Hunter sighed as he was reminded of how difficult it was to deal with the privileged types. He was glad Jiyn was assigned to protecting the group so he could scout instead. However at this point it was only a matter of time before they ran into trouble.

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