Anna tore off a piece of meat from the now roasted pheasant she and the Ranger she traveled with had caught earlier with a old book open in her lap she had brought along. One of the numerous tomes her family posessed about Angmar and it's various cults that were known outside of the innermost circles of those wicked folk.
Yet despite all of her knowledge she had learnt very little about the insignia she had found in the ruins of Tham Varam. Only that it belonged to an order calling itself "The Red Iris" and it was less an insignia, than a brand mark seared upon the guild's victims, which only served to enhance Anna's repulsion towards this filth.
The Ranger, whom Anna hadnt kept appraised of everything she was studying leaned over to read some of the contents of the page. Having finished his supper already raised an eyebrow "Unsealed? Slavers? Is this why you're headed eastwards?" He asked with a grim tone. And though Anna did not respond right away she simply ends up nodding. "It is one of the reasons. But does anyone really need a reason to strike at them?" She returned the question with a somewhat snide tone, to which the Ranger simply shrugs and shuffled back over to his tent and sat on the ground infront of the fire.
Meanwhile Anna had finished her own catch tossed the carcass into the fire and raised her gaze from the book. Frowning a little. "We have to make haste towards Esteldin, but I do not believe it is wise to move past Fornost untill midday. I suggest we break camp just before dawn. That will give us plenty of time to cover the distance from here to the ruined city and hopefully pass across the open field without incident..." She groaned, knowing full well the dangers of the former Dunadan city.
"But if we cross during midday any roving bands of bandits or orcs will be able to see us from afar. Wouldnt it be wiser to cross in the eve? " The Ranger interjected, a valid point that Anna did consider. She wounds up pursing her lips and sighing. "There are... Things creeping near Fornost and the ruins... Unseen things, lingering since the fall of the City. I would sooner take my chances with an opportunistic bandit than horrors unseen" She replied and felt a shiver crawl up her spine, despite the warmth of the fire
The Ranger, however. Being more familiar with the paths scoffed dismissively. "Such tales are but rumours among my kin and to keep travelers from getting into trouble near the ruins." And while this did indeed allay some of the dread Anna felt over crossing the fields at night time she insisted they cross during the day. "We're more likely to find supplies, or even traders stopping by Amon Raith if we move during the day... Our provisions do not last all the way to Esteldin, and it's unwise to count on wild game to provide sustenance" Anna nods calmly and stifled a yawn, A sign for her and the ranger to extinguish the fire by throwing dirt on the flames. "We break camp before sunrise" She reaffirmed the plan, and the Ranger ends up nodding as both crawl into their tents for the night.
Few short hours later, just as a crimson red band had begun to pain the horizon in the west, signaling the arrival of sunrise Anna, who hadnt had a proper rest laid awake in her tent. Frowning at the thought of needing to face down a cult... Fanaticism was always hard to weed out, and depending on the amount of followers, usually the most perilous and painful, a price she had agreed to pay upon choosing to continue the legacy of her parents, and those that came before her.
She crawled out of her tent and shivered a little as the cool morning breeze washed over the campsite. She grabs her cloak and clasps it on to keep her atleast slightly warmer. Her gaze then turns to the band of red on the horizon and figured sunrise wasnt too far off. So she begins to pack up her tent as silently as she could, so as to not wake the Ranger up. But he soon awoke anyway. The camp is packed up in silence just in time for the sun to begin rising past the horizon as Anna clasped the saddlebags upon the steed and then rising up to the saddle, simply nodding to the Ranger. "To Amon Raith." she states and yanks on the reigns as the duo move away from the site and head eastwards towards the fields of Fornost...
