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Message: <blockquote data-quote="megamania" data-source="post: 7556964" data-attributes="member: 9255">UNDER A DARKSUN“REFOCUS“SEGMENT 159WINDS     DAY 22YEAR 23    RAL CONTEMPLATION KING’S    AGE 190CRESCENT FOREST- JUST NORTH OF GULGCosa awakens and groggy. She is uncertain where anyone is and knows only there are hairy creatures within these woods, hungry cannibals and three men whom she distrusts.  They seem to be looking for her.  She hopes they are not slavers or worse- agents of Gulg looking to capture her for a reward.One of the men is standing by the cave entrance.  He seems slightly nervous to be there.  The others are gone.  Deciding this is the best time to possibly escape she carefully places her fingers on the ground.  Being within the forest makes it easy to draw energy for a spell.  Too easy.  She cuts off the flow of energy quickly as she witnesses a few roots dry and crack above her.She creeps forward until she is within range of the man.   Though a possible slaver or agent of Gulg, he has not harmed her so she wishes to not kill him.  She whispers the words while waving a hand with her fingers wavering a dead beetle husk falls from her palm.It begins as the guard swats at a bug.  Then another.   Suddenly gnats swarm around his head and upper body.  They are attracted to his sweat and subtle suggestion to swarm there.  The man runs off trying to escape the swarm.Cosa peers out and sees nothing so she leaves….  “Where are you Mania?”The “young” man known to her as Mania is not far away but lost.  Tracking in a forest with dry grass on the ground and trees surrounding him is very different from tracking in the open desert.  His mentor, Dutch, a top caravan leader for House Blewes, mentioned how to track in these lands.  It is not as much as the ground but also watching for damaged twigs, strands of fabric in the brush and even how the animals act.   In the desert, one can hear sand blowing over rocks and see the wind patterns easily.  Here, there are distractions of the wind in the trees and birds.  So. Many. Damned. Birds.He finds a trail.  It has the small footprints of the halflings which strikes him as odd.   They should be smarter than this.  Then hesitating, he thinks it through.   He has heard of Tembos doing this.   One creature will purposely leave a track to distract followers as the others in a pack flank it.  Looking about carefully he sees nothing but low brush and stunted trees.  Then he looks higher.  Ah- there we go.A halfling is in the trees searching for him.  He gets lower to the ground behind the brush and waits.  A few minutes go by then he peeks up after hearing some strange bird calls.  The halfling has moved on but recently.Two women.  He has lost two women…. No three women actually.  Glaze disappeared many days ago.  Belinda was taken by a Psion they now hunt.  They being himself and Cosa.  112 was with them but has fallen once in this strange world called a forest.  From what Dutch has told him, the forests beyond the Ringing Mountains are even thicker and more dangerous.  Some day.   For now he will find Cosa and Belinda first.Walking near but not on a dry stream bed, he spots his quarry- “Cosa!”</blockquote>

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