-----“You think this . . . warband is here in Ravenhold,” the dwarf says nodding. “Have you got their whereabouts pinned down?”
-----Jules remains quiet although she places her hand on her chin as she listens.
-----Whisper leant back a bit, and shifted his gaze to the dwarf.
-----"Blackbog." He held the gaze for a few moments, then he busied himself with laying out some of the equipment he had acquired recently.
-----The two daggers came out of the satchel and went point first into the log on which Whisper sat. Then came the twine, and finally the arrow shafts and heads he had found in the Fletcher's abandoned shop.
-----He divested himself of the bulkier items he had, with the satchel going to his side, and the fire-arrow quiver being leant against it. Standing, Whisper moved to where he had placed the spears while he was working to set up the campsite, and moved them closer to hand, also removing the makeshift sling he had constructed.
-----Seating himself again, he began work on making proper arrows. He looked up at Jules and Crane as he started. "Rest. Busy night."
-----“How busy?” Jules asks and when Whisper looks at her, she adds, “Are we going for stealth or are we seeing a lot of fighting?” She pats a thin book in her hand.
-----“We might have connections here,” Crane says with a glint of excitement in his eyes. “Jules and I could go see at least what condition the town is in.”
-----Whisper looks up, glances at the book in the girls' hand, and shakes his head. Stopping his work, he raises his right hand and points to his eyes with his index and middle finger.
-----When Crane speaks up, Whisper looks at him, and his lips twitch up in a half-smile that has very little mirth in it. "You... maybe. Together?" Whisper shakes his head. "Earn... trust... first." Though the Wood Elf bends back to his task, he still keeps part of his awareness on his two companions, curious as to their reactions to his quiet words.
-----Jules frowns at Whisper’s motion. She then says, “I take it you mean to go and see with as much stealth as we can muster.”
-----At Whisper’s last words, Jules crosses her arms again and narrows her eyes. Crane actually has a hurt expression on his face.
-----“Earn your trust?” he protests. “I’ll have you know Jules and I have watched each other’s backs since we left Ravenhold Town. We simply have to work together. It’s hard telling what we might walk into in Black Bog.” The dwarf nods toward the distant town.
-----Jules then kneels in front of Whisper and says a bit gentler, “You want us to earn your trust? Let us find out what we can in Black Bog. If our connections are still there, we’ll even have a safe place to hide if we need. If we’ve lost our connections at least we can get a feel for how much danger someone ‘hunting or scouting’ might walk into.”
-----She then pauses before adding, “If you give us some idea of what this warband you’re hunting looks like, we might even be able to get a spot on them.”
-----“Jules is right there!” Crane says, beaming.
-----For a moment, Whisper felt the need to rub his eyes in exasperation. Children. These two might as well be children. That urge passed quickly though.
-----Instead he stopped what he was doing, rested his forearms on his thighs, and regarded the dwarf and human. He grimaced, slightly shook his head, and looked up at the trees.
-----He wondered how he might wake up the woodlands of this silent place, even as his mind turned over the consequences of allowing his two new companions free reign. He spent several quiet moments contemplating the situation, before returning his blue eyes to Jules.
-----"Orcs. Half-orcs. Some... humans. Led... by half-orc." He smiled coldly. "Less than... score in... number now."
-----He bent his head back to his work. "Rest."
-----The dwarf returns the frown contemplating Whisper’s words. “There may be dozens of orcs and half-orcs,” he grunts. “Any names we can ask about?”
-----Jules likewise frowns but hers is less intense. “Does this warband know you are after them?” she asks.
-----Whisper shook his head without raising it from his work, answering both questions. Then a thought came to him.
-----"They... will be... waiting for... a dwarf."
-----“They had a dwarf among them?” Crane blurts out with excitement. “I could disguise myself.”
-----“Hmm, I don’t know,” Jules says standing and folding her arms. She touches her chin in thought. “With a warband, I would suppose the dwarf was a warrior.” She then looks at Whisper and asks, “Does Crane in any way resemble this dwarf you mentioned? Is he about the same height and weight?”
-----He cast a quick look at the Dwarf, running the similarities through his head.