Sounds of a hunting party resound in the distance, while a lone poodle, well-dressed in a noble's riding habit, dismounts her N'gyah. The beast stands with one forefoot lower than the others, sunk to the ankle in a damp pile of deteriorating underbrush.

The Lady Ambassador eyes her mount curiously while shaking her head in annoyance. After a moment of consideration, she lifts a hand and taps a finger alongside her muzzle. "Hm," her other hand reaches over to pat the side of her mount, "now, you are going to have to move. Scoot!"

The N'gyah turns his head to look mournfully at his erstwhile rider. In response to her pat, he shuffles with three of his hooves to one side, half-pivoting around the fourth, which remains securely planted in the ground, and he whines with distress at the strain on his leg.

With a look of dismay, the noble walks forward towards the clump of bushes and lowers herself a bit to examine where the foot is lodged. To assist herself in seeing past the stray flora, she uses her riding crop to sift around, pushing this or that twig out of her line of sight.

It looks like the hoof has sunk into a hole – probably dug by some burrowing animal. The N'gyah stirs restlessly while she examines the conditions, tugging with his thigh in an effort to lift the trapped foot, then squealing at the resulting discomfort.

Elise frowns slightly. "Now, now … be still. You will hurt yourself," she tells the N'gyah as she reaches back to pat it soothingly for a moment. Her hand then trails over to her sword, which she draws, the crop being tucked under her arm so she has a free hand to wield the weapon. With the sword ready, she begins using it to dig into the ground around where the foot is stuck, careful to keep the bladed end away from her mount.

The mount calms at her pat, and when she stoops to clear the ground with her sword, it gives way easily beneath the blade for a few moments, then with a tink knocks against a rock.

"Oh, how irritating," whispers Elise as she encounters the rock. She shakes her head a little more before she resigns herself to kneel down and try to dig the N'gyah out with her hands. Just then, an unearthly scream pierces the air, cutting over the distant sound of hooves and yells from huntsmen. The poodle's ears flatten back against her head, but the N'gyah seems curiously unfazed by the cry. The cry startles the poodle, and she jumps up. Quickly she tries to locate the source of the scream.

The sound seems to have come from the same direction as the hunters have gone, and after a moment's thought, the canid recalls that vyconas are reputed to scream in an unpleasant fashion when they are wounded. This being her first time hunting one, however, she is unfamiliar with the precise nature of their sound – but that certainly could have been it.

Uncertain just what the noise was, and unwilling to leave it to speculation, the Lady Ambassador decides to investigate for herself. Thus she drops to a knee and begins working at the ground with her hands in an attempt to free the N'gyah's foot.

Her efforts to loose her mount are soon rewarded; a few moments' work pries the rock free, and the poodle lifts the stuck hoof from the ground. The N'gyah whuffles in pleasure once she releases his foot, stomping it lightly against the ground. Fortunately, there's no apparent sign of swelling or bruising around the limb.

The signs of dirt on the poodle's gloves however, is distressing enough. She wrinkles her nose and quickly shakes her hands out before stopping and smiling. "I have been in Gallis too long," she says as she notices her own reaction. Now that her mount is free, she stands up and walks over to it and quickly wipes her sword off before sheathing it and climbing up.

As she re-mounts, another cry cuts out, more vivid than the last, and when it fades, she can hear that the hoofbeats of the other mounts in the hunt have slowed, and whooping sounds of triumph issue forth from canid throats. In the opposite direction from the hunt, however, she hears more galloping – from the sounds of it, of people riding even more recklessly than she had when her mount stumbled.

Rather than head directly towards the sound of victory, Elise directs her mount carefully off into the cover of the forest so that she might get a glimpse of the approaching riders, hoping they'll dash towards the sound and miss her completely.

Under her hands, the N'gyah picks its way to the comparative shelter of a small clump of trees. It soon becomes apparent to the poodle, however, that the wildly galloping beasts are not headed towards her. At a guess, she would say they are running down a path a hundred yards or so from her present position. The hunting party, of course, followed no trail in its pursuit of the vycona.

Thinking that the hunting party might be busy with their bragging, and thus far too occupied to answer questions of importance to her, Elise directs her N'gyah off towards the sound of the fast moving creatures. She searches for a road they might be using as well, for if she can find one, she can spot them from the forest as they pass by and not need show herself lest they be bandits.

The poodle has to move her mount a little less conservatively to get it into position where she might intercept the rapidly-moving riders, but she soon finds their probable road – a narrow rut scarcely big enough for a single wagon – and halts her mount about ten feet back. The trees of the wood are too sparse to offer much shelter from the road, and certainly not if she moves directly next to it.

To facilitate hiding, Elise dismounts from her N'gyah and stands directly beside it. From here she tries to spot the approaching group through the foliage that partially obscures her. To make sure her mount does not make any noise, she reaches over and pats it comfortingly.

As the hoofbeats near, the poodle cranes her neck to see through the intervening foliage. Her N'gyah's nostrils flare as a breeze blows downwind from where the riders approach, carrying a foul stench of decay with it. Despite Elise's patting, the mount shifts and then, unexpectedly, rears and starts to bolt away from the spot.

"H- … Oh!" the poodle reaches for the reins but misses them by quite a distance. She glares off at the fleeing N'gyah for a moment before her attention returns to the matter at hand. The smell disturbs her and her ears flick nervously. She kneels a bit to hide herself more as she watches for the approach.

Just moments after her N'gyah vanishes into the woods, she sees the first of the riders pound down the road. The figure wears a helmet designed for a canid head with a long muzzle, and leans low over the neck of the N'gyah, whose legs work furiously as it tries to put distance between it and its pursuers, needing little urging from its rider. Behind it come two Drokar, or at least, what initially look like Drokar. As they near, the stench grows overwhelming, and the poodle can sense something wrong about the way they look, although in the moments of initial examination it's hard to say exactly what. Their riders are clad in tattered garb, shreds of cloth whipping out beside them as they pursue with drawn swords.

The Lady Ambassador's eyes widen as she begins to get a look at the group that approaches. Clearly there are actually two groups, a fleeing canid and its strange pursuers. Unwilling to act just yet as the bizarre scene comes into view, Elise remains still and tries to get a better idea as to the situation.

The first rider charges down the road, coming nearly level with Elise. Her obscured view allows her to determine little beyond the fact that the rider wears armor. The Drokars, which would ordinarily be likely to outpace a N'gyah, at least in the short run, seem to have difficulty catching this panicked mount. They run just a few paces behind their quarry, and as the poodle returns her attention to them, she sees flashes of white against a mottled hide. She also realizes that some of the tatters – which she ascribed to the riders at first – in fact emerge from the Drokars, as if someone had stuck bits of cloth to the mounts … or if their own skin were torn free and flapping.

A chill runs down the Lady Ambassador's spine as she gets a better idea as to who is pursuing the armored warrior. She takes a deep breath in an effort to stem the growing feeling of fear that comes with such encounters, and with that she draws to her feet and readies draws her sword. "You will not outrun them on that N'gyah!" she calls out to the person fleeing.

Her call seems lost to the thunder of hoofbeats, although she notes that the rider turns to look at her as the N'gyah roars past, flanks heaving and gleaming with sweat. The pursuers charge closer, attention focused on their prey and seeming indifferent to the poodle by the road…

Elise's eyes lock on to the eyeslits of the fleeing rider's helmet. She turns her head to watch him as he dashes past her on his mount before she switches to gaze at the approaching pursuers. Her sword is raised and readied, and she prepares to leap and strike at one of the unnatural things that will soon pass her.

The poodle lunges out from the cover of the trees, swinging her blade at the legs of the nearest charging Drokar. There's neither time nor opportunity for the creature to dodge, and it crashes full force into the lady's blade. The impact is so strong it wrenches the blade from Elise's hands, while the Drokar, one leg nearly severed and the other crippled, plows headlong into the dirt. Its rider plunges over the head of the beast, landing head-first on the road.

The second Drokar's momentum carries it well past the first, but its rider hauls on the reins, trying to turn to see what's become of its companion.

Elise too is knocked back by the force of her weapon impacting a charging mount. She staggers to the side in the direction the crippled Drokar fell and nearly falls over herself. It takes her a moment to shake herself of the jarring hit and regain her balance but as soon as she does, she walks over towards where her sword fell and tries to get a better look at her opponents as she does so.

Fortunately, her sword landed not far away, but as she retrieves it, the second Drokar completes its turn and charges towards her, its rider holding sword at ready, appearing to be prepared to run her down or swipe at her, should she dodge.

The poodle narrows her eyes as the second rider makes his way towards her, ready to attack. She makes to sidestep quickly out of the way of the charging enemy and raises her sword in an effort to parry the other's sword should he swing. The angle of her prepared parry would allow for a hard block, which she considers might be jarring for her, but also for a rider. And her opponent must control a horse and stay on it while taking the impact.

She's able to execute both maneuvers successfully, although the parry does nearly knock her over. The poodle sees white bone visible on a rotting face beneath the rider's helm as she repels his strike, but though his arm is wrenched backwards, he maintains his seat on the Drokar's back as the creature's charge carries it plunging into the wood.

The downed rider has pulled itself to its hands and knees, and is groping on the ground for its sword, while its mount kicks feebly at the road with its functional hindlegs. The nearly severed foreleg has snapped off in its mindless thrashings, while the other foreleg flops uselessly in both directions at the knee.

Elise clenches her hand around her sword as she stumbles backwards from the force of the strike. Her other hand used to brace the blade during the parry stings, and she shakes it in the air in pain as she turns around to track the mounted opponent. Seeing it has gone off into the woods, she dashes over towards the dropped sword of the fallen undead hoping to grab it before her enemy can.

The poodle moves far faster than her fallen opponent does, but it has its fingers wrapped around the blade before she reaches him. She plants her foot on the blade where it lies on the ground still, to keep the undead from lifting it. The creature does not immediately grasp what the difficulty is, and for some moments longer simply tugs at the hilt, trying to pick it up. Meanwhile, the other undead has managed to turn his mount and the poodle can hear its hoofbeats as it returns. She can also hear the sound of hooves approaching from behind her, from the direction the undead had been pursuing the N'gyah towards.

With the sounds of approaching hooves, the Lady Ambassador works to quickly dispatch her closest opponent before she turns to face the charging one. Her sword is lifted and swung at the rotting head of the undead beside her before she steps off and prepares to defend against the incoming mounted abomination.

The head detaches more easily than Elise would've expected, and falls to the ground with a rotten splat. The body continues to twitch even afterwards, although there's no cohesive direction to its motions. The other undead seems prepared to try the same charge which failed previously, except this time he has both hands on the reins, focusing his attention on directing his mount's momentum rather than readying himself for a strike at Elise.

Elise twitches an ear once as the head falls from its shoulders, and again when it makes such a unpleasant noise. Though disturbed, this is not the first time Elise has dealt with the dead, and she wills herself to press the image and sound from her mind. She glances behind herself and begins backing away towards a tree, walking at an angle so that the undead rider must steel his mount towards her – and thus align with the tree behind her. When the horse and rider near she readies herself to leap fully out of the way.

The undead rider seems to recognize her ploy, and he yanks the reins back, slowing his mount from its headlong charge. As he does so, he glances up the road in time to see the individual he had earlier been pursuing bearing down towards him. The figure is wielding a mace left-handed, and the undead, still busy managing his mount, finds himself unable to block a smashing blow to his chest, which sends him hurtling backwards from the saddle.

The Lady Ambassador bites her lip as the undead rider discovers her trick. As she straightens herself in preparation for her next plan, the sound of the charging N'gyah causes her to twist her head just in time to watch him swing his mace into the center of the undead creature. A relieved smile crosses her face as her opponent is thrown back, and she begins walking forward to both meet the other rider and deal with the fallen undead.

The living rider turns the mace onto the undead Drokar, caving its head in with one massive blow, then bashing on its back. "Cut them to bits, or smash them," the rider says to Elise as she approaches. The n'gyah rider's voice is gruff, but still distinctly feminine. She dismounts from her shivering n'gyah to resume her grisly task of bashing at the thrashing undead Drokar.

"Yes, of course," says Elise with some surprise. She walks off towards the Drokar she had disabled earlier while still keeping her eyes on the woman who had earlier fled from these creatures. "Might I inquire as to how you met such … disagreeable friends?"

"Ambushed," the woman grunts out as she reduces the Drokar to quivering flesh, then turns her attention to the one she had knocked from its mount moments ago, smashing its head in. She moves stiffly but methodically, holding her right arm cradled against her chest.

Elise nods her head slightly at the explanation. Finding herself at loss for words as the other woman proceeds to reduce the undead monsters to mush, the Lady Ambassador turns and raises her sword to chop up the remaining Drokar. She hesitates for a moment, nose wrinkling again, before she brings her blade down and repeats.

After reducing the corpses to twitching meat, the woman drops her mace. "We need to burn what's left," she says. She lifts her left hand to her helmet and pries it loose, revealing a Doberman's features, then turns to Elise. "I'm sorry if I seem ungrateful," she tells the other woman. "I am thankful for your help. I'll be even more thankful if you'll help me gather wood to burn these motherless wretches."

After reducing the Drokar to strips, Elise turns around and nods her head in a numb bob. She studies the other woman's face once it has been revealed to see if it is someone she might recognize. "Excuse me if I am ill-informed, but you treat this event with such detachment, I suspect you are used to such occurrences?" she asks before she begins walking off towards the surrounding treeline.

The woman nods to Elise, picking out fallen limbs from the forest beside the road. "I've done a lot of fighting in Sylvania. You get used to it after a while." She takes a few branches at a time in her left hand, and carries them towards the road where the corpses lie. Now and again, bits of them still twitch with pseudo-life, even minced and mashed as they are. "I'm Cuirassier Seul Sanglant," she adds after a few moments. "In service to Baron de Lesmystaux."

"How horrid that such a thing is a common enough occurrence to warrant one to become used to it." The poodle frowns slightly as she gathers a few fallen branches in her arms. "I would take it the reclamation of these lands has not been as easy as some may lead those back in Gallis to believe, if such things are common?" She stands up now and brings the pieces of wood over towards the undead.

Sanglant nods brusquely. "Out on the front, it's still bad. Sometimes real bad. Hadn't expected trouble where my group got jumped, though. Should've been secure territory. Where'm I now? Is this near de Sylia's castle?"

The collection of fallen twigs and branches is placed on top of a corpse. "Indeed you are correct. I had been traveling with the Lesmystaux hunting party, when I saw your plight. But anyway, I had not realized the situation was so unpleasant this way. If I had, I might have been more careful," says the noble poodle. She steps back away from the wood and turns towards the soldier. "I was not particularly certain I could deal with the other one. And yes you are correct, de Sylia's castle is not far. If you are headed that way, might I go with you? I fear my mount has gotten away from me."

The other woman looks at the stack of wood on the corpse, and frowns. She kicks it down to a pile on the ground. "Burns better with the wood underneath," she mutters. Shaking her head as she gathers a few more pieces to add to the pile, she continues, "No one expected it would be this troublesome so far in. Even so, I'm expecting we're safe here. These two had been chasing me for hours… We were ambushed many miles from here, a lot closer to Draco's lands. Still. Not a good sign. Lesmystaux better call off that party of his." She dumps the wood onto the makeshift pyre. "That'll do. I've got some oil on my mount; we'll make sure they burn."

"I had heard Sylvania was possessed of vampires and the like, although this is my first encounter with undead here. Do you believe the castle will be in any danger?" asks Elise. She walks from the pile she had dropped and returns to gathering more wood. "What were you doing so far out, if I might also ask?"

The Cuirassier takes a few skins from the saddlebags on her shivering, still-trembling mount, and empties the contents of one onto the wood, then starts rolling the bodies of the dead on top of the wood with her feet. "No, the castle should be fine. They couldn't get a siege-level force this far into our lands, not without us knowing it." Sanglant smiles grimly. "As for that, my lands are out there. Or what will be my lands, once we get rid of – " she kicks the last undead body onto the pyre, " – these." She empties the contents of two more skins onto the bodies. "Stand back." She takes a few oil-soaked pieces of wood from the lot, lights them, then tosses them back into the whole at various spots. Soon, the entire affair is blazing. The stench from the heavy, oily black smoke is overpowering.

Elise returns with a few extra pieces of wood and lays these down near the bonfire. "They … seemed to hold some sentience, but I did not suspect them capable of mounting a siege. Are you saying they are capable of gathering together and mounting large assaults?" With the pyre burning, the horrid smelling smoke forces the poodle back. She reaches up and buries her nose in her left hand. "My, this stench is utterly horrible."

Sanglant glances towards the lady, and nods. "We'll watch from further back." She walks several paces from the bonfire, moving upwind of it. "They're not capable of doing anything, unless controlled – leastways that's what I'm told. But if some witch brings enough of them to life and sets them upon a castle, oh yes, believe me, they can take one down. Not gonna happen here, though. Too many of our forces in their way. I gotta get back to my people, though, soon's I warn the Baron. This spells trouble for them."

"I am Ambassador Elise Antoine de Bellefeuille of Rephidim, and I am here to attend Baron Lesmystaux's activities. I would be most capable of warning the Baron if you were to take me to the castle, or locate the hunting party I have been separated from. The Baron is currently with them," notes the poodle once she is sufficiently far away from the fire to not be disabled by its fumes.

The warrior listens to Elise's explanation with a nod and a frown of concentration on her face. "I see. Do you know where the hunting party is now? I gather you were separated from them."

The Lady Ambassador turns back towards the forest and points off where she remembers hearing them. "I believe they were off that way, though I believe they killed what it was they were hunting and may now be headed back. So, perhaps more towards the castle now. If they are simply strolling, then we should be able to intercept them," she answers. "And, yes, I had some difficulty with my N'gyah, who has also run off during the approach of the undead."

A curt nod answers her last comment. "Living animals tend to do that in the presence of the undead. It's not such a bad reaction for sentients, either." Sanglant glances in the direction the poodle indicates, nostrils flaring. "Best to try to intercept them on the way back to the castle, then. This road'll take us there fastest." She places her hand on the reins of her n'gyah. "I'd offer to let you ride, Lady Ambassador, but fear was the only thing keeping this poor beast going. I doubt it'll last the day in any event, but we might as well give it the best chance we can, and walk back. Shouldn't be more than a few miles, I think."

Frowning, Elise nods. "Well yes, I would not wish to hurt it. Still this is not exactly the sort of outing I had been hoping for today." The poodle forces a smile, which in itself is feigned for the illusion of appearing upset but trying to look hopeful. "We should be off now then. The sooner we can intercept them, the better off we will all be."