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"You have a cat on you," says a voice out of the shadows to Gnaeus. The speaker steps out of the shadows: a bizarre-looking man in brigandine armor. His hair is cropped short legion-standard on the left half of his head, and almost shoulder length on the other and loosely corn-row braided. The right side of his face sports a neatly-trimmed beard, while the left left is clean-shaven but obscured in places with dark war paint. He is carrying a skinned carcass - a raccoon or possum, probably.

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Once the three pavilion tents are put up, two infantrymen come with a cot for Little. They move him onto the cot, then lift it up like a litter and walk him into one of the pavilions. As they are walking away, one says to Eldon: "We will come back for you momentarily."

True to their word, they return about two minutes later, and gently lift Eldon onto a cot which they bring into the same tent and place next to Little's. The roof of the pavilion is up, but the sidewalls have not yet been hung. This gives Eldon and Little a view of the larger mess tent about twenty yards away.


"You should not move too much," Little says to Eldon. "You nearly left us, I hear. Lost a lot of blood in there. I once saw a legionnaire fighting like a bear against a whole gang of orcs. Finished off the last one, looked around, and fell stone dead on the spot. We looked at him after and found nineteen wounds on him - half of them would have been fatal on their own. Barber said that almost happened to you."

Liri had moved towards eldon , but when Little and he were taken care of by the legionnaires, she changed course and appproached Bastian instead. "Something seems to be on your mind" she says quietly.

Pounceous Servilius blinks docilely at Liri, mewing softly.

"Hmh," intones Gnaeus at the strangers comment. He sweeps his head to regard the new person, eyes nearly bulging from his head. The man is visually staggered by the jarring juxtaposition that is Maughus. "Well... Well, yes. Pounceous Servilius is my servant," here he winces slightly as the feline digs its claws into his shoulder, "He is cleverer than most people, and far cleaner." He eyes the skinned creature dubiously, pursing his lips to keep from rising to the man's bait.

"Aye. This business with the portal troubles me deeply. We are all widely traveled, yet the creatures we encounter have never been seen before. Now we find an entrance from whence they came, deep within a cave used to farm mushrooms; the owner of which is nowhere to be found." He crosses his arms across his chest and turns to look at the cave over his shoulder. "Liquitus is a social god, not a war-like one, though there are plenty in the Legion who follow his revelries...." He considers his words carefully before he finds himself blaspheming. "This is bad business we find ourselves in."

Liri touches Bastian's arm with one of her long-fingered hands for a brief moment, then she nods and says: "These are true words. I have come along to clear my people's name, to prove it was not one of us who washed ashore on the beach. But what it was seems to be far more dark and dangerous than anyone could expect."
She turns and joins Angel, making her bed beside the woman warrior's-

"Just so you know," says Maughus, before continuing on toward the mess tent to deliver the meat.

"Down, Pounceous!" Exclaims the exasperated soldier as addresses Bastian. The cat stays exactly where it is, licking at Gneaus's ear with its rough tongue. "A portal? What is this business about a portal, do you truly mean a door to another place?" Pounceous leaps down from his partner's shoulder to go beg for scraps amid the legionnaires. "Is it still active? Surely a guard has been set?"

"I thank you." Eldon says in a subdued voice, his usual jovial tone absent.

Angel sits alone, staring up at the sky when Liri arrives, her sword lays by her side, she appears to be miles away.

Liri sits down besides Angel, laying an arm around her shoulder
"Everybody has retreated to their own thoughts tonight, it seems" she says quietly.

"Sorry, you must all think of me as rude." Angel sighs, squeezing Liri's hand tightly. "I've met people like him before, my Legion commander was much like him.. I lost respect for him when he made us murder innocents, women and children.. I still see their faces, seeing him brought it all back." Angel tries not to cry, pushing back the tears..

Liri looks around at the newcomers. "People like whom?" she asks.

"Gnaeus is it?" She asks looking over at the man, "I have met his type before."

"Well, in this case, he is not in command, he can't make you do anything" Liri tries to reassure Angel. "In any case, he has a feline corrective with him" she says with a smile.

"Old habits are hard to break. But we shall see." She responds, stroking Liri's hand. "I suppose we will have to keep our distance this evening.." she sighs.