#rivervale_lodge

.............

The door swings open to the lodge... which is good, as the patrol was running late.

Kerri comes out of the kitchen to check on who has just arrived or returned.

"Go on in boy, " Vali says...and Oak limps, yes LIMPS in... the big beautiful dog's pale fur is speckled with its own blood, and the poor animal isn't using one of his paws.

"Please put me down" Nadeen's voice says "I will not be..carried like some weak link."

"How about like a wounded noble? there's no shame in it, Nadeen." Vali says "But as you like. " Next comes Nadeen, staggering, her own wound almost mimicing the dog's , though instead of a front paw it's the right leg which has been bandaged and iced.

Eidelweiss rushes to her brother, all concern and low stance and non-threatening wags.

Vali follows last, he has more wounds than eithher, but they appear to be shallower cuts.

Kerri looks alarmed and goes to help Vali and Nadeen. "What happened?"

Nadeen says "See to Oak, please, dame Kerri. If not for him I would have... stupid hound" She looks angrily at the dog, and yet also deeply touched.

Oak, nuzzles his sister, instead of playfully chewing on her ear. He's tired.

and needs to.plop

he sits down.

Vali is the one who answers the question,"Not sure if word got out we were down some men or it was just bad luck. We ran into two balor . Twins. I think they were spying out the area."

"Balor..." Kerri exclaims, then nods to Nadeen. "You're next, though, so don't try going anywhere. Oak, come by the fire..." She helps the dog closer to the flames before she lets him lie down completely. Then inspects the wound while asking, "Oak defended you?"

"Oak leapt in front of the cold iron" Only now that Vali says that does she see the nasty gash is not merely chimerical, "Well, I'm sure what he meant to do was tear the Balor's arm off... but instead he did damage and took the hit in return, fortunately not a direct hit...but he lost so much glamour I had to reacharge him after the fight with my own juices."

Yes, a cold iron wound, and while not a mortal kithain, the dog does have a seeming

And that was almost forever destryed.

"He will recover," It's almost a command from Nadeen, though the tone of presumption is born of deep concern for the animal

"So you don't run off, either, Vali. But call in Lut and Tig, please, while I start here. Oak, stay." She rises to get some dross to reinforce the cantrips she'll be using. She softly murmurs in tones like a lullabye, "When the long winter nights come on and the wolves follow their meat into the lower valleys, he may be seen running at the head of the pack through the pale moonlight or glimmering borealis, leaping gigantic above his fellows, his great throat a-bellow as he sings a song of the younger world, which is the song of the pack." She strokes the dog's paw as she recites, and glamour flows from her fingers with each stroke.

Valii nods "Will do."

The paw is wounded by cold iron, and does not heal as any other wound would. it heals some, but the animal will still need days by the balefire to feel his old self. Days he will have. He rewards Kerri wit ha lick

Kerri goes to the kitchen to get a bowl of water to put within reach of Oak. "Rest," she orders the dog, then moves to Nadeen as Edelweiss curls up with her brother. "I need to see the wound," she says, a request to take the bandage off the sidhe.

A bite of her lip, and suddenly she looks less a sidhe noble and more a teenage girl "Don't tell Dagmar?"

A frown from the Hearth. "What does that mean? Why not?" She works and removing the bandage as carefully as possible.

"She is bound to me, to protect me. Father I think ... I.." A frown "I don't want to need anyone. And I don't want her blaming herself just becaus e she's not with me constantly. She'd just hate me and herself and neither of us need that"

Kerri tilts her head to regard the sidhe carefully, perhaps a bit surprised....then a nod. "I will not tell her of your wound. Now, hold still...." A large, warm, blue hand rests over the injury, and she recites, "The thin red jellies within you or within me, the bones and the marrow in the bones,
The exquisite realization of health;
O I say these are not the parts and poems of the body only, but of the soul,
O I say now these are the soul!"

This wound was bad, real bad, but it's not coldd iron, the dog took that hit. And the wound heals up amazingly well

Kerri looks relieved at the success of the cantrip. "Good. Very good."

"I..could barely put any weight on it before," Nadeen says "And there's not even a scar!" Pleased, very!

Vali ccomes into see the teenage girl sticking her bare leg up in the air and looks to Lut and Tig with him, "So, Hearth Kerri has our orders."//Lut nods, "Like you getting healed instead of sneaking off." //"Want us to hold him ,hearth ?" tig jokes

Kerri grins. "Oh, you might need to sit on him, yes. Unless you promise to behave, Vali?"

"I'll be good," He grunts and strips his armor off to show his wounds. Yup . T he armor served well. the blows would have gone much deeper. Shallow, but many of them.

She pulls him to sit down, and ruffles his hair. "I've been saving this up for a while." Then she puts an arm around him and starts singing a little lullabye in French as she sets the glamour to work:
_Fais dodo, Vali mon p'tit frère
Fais dodo, t'auras du lolo
Maman est en haut
Qui fait des gâteaux
Papa est en bas
Qui fait du chocolat
Fait dodo Vali mon p'tit frère
Fait dodo, t'auras du lolo._

Vali's wounds definitely heal, and a smile breaks out "Thank you, mademoiselle"

From her spot nearby, Nadeen steals a peek of the well formed troll essentially shirtless. Trolls will never look as good a s sidhhe, but the yes, Kerri catches her admiring just a moment. Vali, either misses it or pretends he did.

Kerri pats his shoulder, and says, "Go change. I'll fix some cocoa for all of us."

She fills in Lut and Tig on the situation and suggests patrol patterns, loads them up with extra dross, and doles out the hot cocoa and treats.

((player must go for an extended time))

Vali compliies... "right on it" / Lut and tig nod/ and hot coco is had by all

(end scene)