It was quite an interesting group that had gathered and due to certain members, it was a group he was fairly confident Elisabeth would have been safe traveling with. He didn't know about her plans to venture into the jungle but he'd done it before as well. Everyone needed to have their own stories to tell. That didn't change that he was happy to see her again. Traveling with the company often seemed to keep him from spending long stretches in Haven so any time he could have with her, he'd enjoy as best he knew how. Elisabeth was quick to make formal introductions, which didn't often occur to Balthazar once he had recognized a face. He knew where he'd seen Vega before, but the details on introductions had slipped his mind.
Other voices seemed to come from the trees around them but his
senses lead Balthazar to believe it was not something as dangerous as the beast he fought the last time he crossed through the forest. It didn't have the same smell or the same hard-footed walk. Probably another traveler who'd show themselves and if they did, Balthazar would address them then. Until then he was content to track the movement around them with his ears and track the group with his eyes.
Vega had a unique way of... well... being. She had a wonderful bluntness to her and Balthazar liked it. It made him feel better than when he had to mince and mind his words around political schemers. Her words cast his memory back to the battle with Rhaum and her questioning of his sanity- or will to live, caused him to smile slightly. Had he not encountered the large beast in the jungle before, he certainly wouldn't have considered the dangers she spoke of as seriously as he did now. It was part of the reason he wanted to know why he could feel Elisabeth in the jungle.
"It's not my first trip through the jungle but you are right about the danger. I was on the way out with another group when I sensed my wife and felt compelled to find out why. I'm glad to see she didn't come alone." Balthazar replied in a passive but kind tone. Her questions were fair and they were similar to what the mage was thinking when he saw the group the first time. Regardless, Vega moved on to begin examining the prints and Balthazar watched curiously. He was no
real hunter on his own, well at least not for conventional animals.
Humans tended to be easier to find for him.
It didn't take long before the source of the voices made itself known. A wild man emerged from the thick trees and watched the group for a trill or so before beginning to disappear back into the foliage. Balthazar had only passing moments to note the markings and strange jewelry adorning the man but it was enough that he'd remember it to investigate later. A strange bird call, and the man was off ahead of them, following in the path of the footsteps. He moved too quickly for Balthazar's senses to track alone and the mage hadn't considered attuning until it was too late and the man was too far off. Strange... he didn't like the feeling that they were being watched and reported on by the tribes. The second bird call furthered the idea that someone was tracking them but Balthazar could only keep his ears open for other warnings.
Vega warned them to avoid the pink blooms because they would produce a pollen that could render someone unconscious and Balthazar had to admit, he wanted to harvest it. The pollen might be useful in the development of sleep bombs or similar weaponry. However it would be better to find a source and buy it than to try and play with it in the jungle. If something went wrong, it could go very wrong.
Thunder boomed ominously and the sky began to weep around them as a tropical bird perched itself on a tree branch and watched the party. Balthazar opened his
focus to the call of the elements to avoid further weather-based surprises. A storm wasn't too hard to predict at this point in the season, but with Robin leading the rest of the company back out of the forest, the only people really fit to make a good shelter were the ones around him. Vega was quick to decide that she was going to follow the tribesman who Balthazar had initially assessed as a threat rather than someone looking to get help. The mage's eyes drifted along the path of massive footprints but he was not mad enough to leave the group now. His people would be well on their way out and he'd be alone... apart from his two diri.
Vega produced a rope with simple instructions for them to wrap it around their wrist in order to keep them together. Balthazar didn't particularly fancy the idea of having a hand bound to the group but he did like the idea of them staying together, so he did as asked using his left hand. Vega passed advice back along to them through Winston as they moved along the jungle and Balthazar's head twisted a little in curiosity with each new thing. Poisonous bark might be useful in bomb making as well... but poisons were tricky things that Balthazar preferred not to mess with.
Moments later, his concern about having his hands bound was realized. Lightning struck a tree beside them and it caught ablaze quickly. The mage reached his free hand out towards the flames and called for the fire to
calm down and dissipate but the damage done to the tree was already too much. The tree was beginning to spit and the group needed to either move out of the path or stop it. He wasn't sure he could conjure a quick enough and strong enough blast of wind to move the tree but he knew that if he did, the fire would rage far worse than it had before.
"Forward!" Balthazar shouted as the flaming branch came down in a small effort to keep them from being separated. He tried to move with Vega and Winston but if forced to by the tree, he would separate from the two of them to make sure Elisabeth was not hurt. Shortly after the branch struck the ground, either dividing them or not, another bolt of lightning struck it and sent splinters all around. Flaming splinters that soon ignited the ground around them. For this, Balthazar had the same response he did the first time. He reached out to the element of fire, his kin, and very firmly asked it to
stop. In a matter of trills the flames, already being beat down by the rain, began to dissipate. The fire might be behind them, but there were other problems on the rise.
Yes and then...
As soon as the flames begin to dissipate, other figures become clear to see in the wreckage from the fallen tree and branch. While they disappear with equal skill and difficulty to track, it seems clear that they were watching the group. They leave behind similar trail signs as the first and they certainly had the same markings over their bodies- although they sport somewhat different jewelry. Anyone who could track the first tribesman would be able to track the others, but they all seem to be moving in the same direction.