fresh balsam wood -- open ; joining/return

[mary.]

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Mary was stirring the stew when Damien appeared. He was vaguely familiar to the young woman, and his greeting, while lacking a touch of manners, was far from the worst she'd gotten in her travels. She pulled the spoon from the pot, and carefully tasted the bubbling concoction, mmm, delicious.

She then turned her attention back to Damien, only to be distracted by Evelyn's arrival, and words. A smile cracke over her face, transforming it in the firelight to that of a mirthful, delightful, and beautiful young woman. A smile went a long way, she thought to herself, as she finally answered Damien's question.

"Hello to you too, I am indeed a trader, and am happy to show you my wares, though daylight would probably be better." She replied brightly. For all she'd been through, she was still a quite open, and talkative person. Perhaps she was just naturally resilient.

Jem and Ruth were lounging next to the fire, an odd site to some, she supposed. The pygmy goats cuddled up, Ruth asleep, her head rested on Jem's back, and Jem wide awake, following the movements of these two potential sources of food. A little whimper from just behind her brought her attention to Rosa, and she scooped the puppy up. "Oh you poor little lamb. It's not like I. ever feed you, now is it?"

The sarcasm was obvious, but even so, it was delivered in such a gentle way, that it all but made up for it. She reached into her thick coat's pocket, and pulled out a piece of jerky, which the puppy pawed at, but did not try to bite. Mary held it. closer to the dog's mouth, and she tentatively took it from her, jumping off Mary's lap, and rendezvousing with her other dog.

Though Mary couldn't see what was happening behind her, Rosa and the collie mix who appeared, shared the piece of jerky, then came over to the fire to curl up. For Mary, though she definitely missed human contact, she felt like her animals were her family. They were all she had at times, and she loved them all.

Eyes turned back to Evelyn, "It is a bit much, isn't it?" She laughed a pure, sliver toned laugh, and then continued, "I'm Mary, by the way. Either of you hungry?" She added, leaning forward and dishing a few ladle's of soup into a tin cup. God she was hungry, she hadn't eaten since early that morning (well, she'd had a few snacks here and there).

Fruit leather was probably her go to "meal" of choice, and it certainly wasn't a meal.

[EDMUND.]

It was in Edmund’s nature to be wary, constantly on guard and suspicious of everything. That was why when he stood on the top balcony of the Lodge, arms resting on the railings, his eyes were drawn towards billows of smoke rising from within the forest in the distance. It was barely visible against the warmth of the setting sun, but clear enough for the perceptive man. Slowly, he cocked his head to the side to have a closer observation, narrowing his eyes ever-so-slightly, before returning indoors.

The next moment, he was making his way out of the Lodge, coat zipped up and rifle held in his grasp as he trudged through the snow towards the source of the fire. As far as he was aware, there was nobody in their right minds who’d choose to camp outside rather than sleep in the warmth of the Lodge, and so it couldn’t have been a Flintlocker’s fire. Perhaps it was danger arising. His criminal past catching up to him; the gangs and mobs that wanted him, the Boss, dead. It wouldn’t have been the first time someone was out to kill him.

Or maybe it was Bluestem Prairie, setting up camp for the evening before charging the Lodge in the quietude of the night. Danger was everywhere, and Ed’s eyes shifted around, paranoid, as he ploughed through the snow. And then, he saw animals, accompanied by Damien and Evelyn, accompanied by a woman Eddie had not seen for a long, long time.

❝ Mary- ❞ Edmund greeted with a careful nod of the head, shoulders relaxing as he realized that he had no reason to rile himself up. ❝ It’s been a while. ❞ He hauled his rifle onto his shoulder, swiftly shoving his hands in his pockets. He’d not seen the woman in a couple of months at least, and honestly they could do with some of her warmth around these bitterly cold parts of the mountains.

[align=center][div style="width: 350px; text-align: justify; font-family:verdana; font-size: 7px;"][spoiler=tags :: updated 01/07]basics.
⋟ edmund theodore stirling-moray // ed, eddie, moray
⋟ goes by the name edmund moray
⋟ male // he/him
⋟ twenty four // ages real time // born seventh august
⋟ skipper of flintlock lodge // formerly a traveler with his family
⋟ mob boss of the stirling crime family
⋟ joined FL two years ago

appearance.
⋟ faceclaim - finn cole
⋟ voice claim - finn cole
⋟ 5'9ft // stocky, well-built frame
⋟ muted blue eyes and dirty blonde hair
⋟ physical health - 80% // current injuries: stitches on side of head where his head was slammed into ice and a chest infection following a near-drowning experience.
⋟ mental health - 70% // depression and deluded thoughts

personality.
⋟ quiet in nature but confident in himself
⋟ completely fearless, almost foolishly so
⋟ insensitive and callous // cares for very few
⋟ very calm and calculative // always planning in his head
⋟ disciplined and practices good self-control
⋟ very flirtatious and persuasive // overly lustful
⋟ aloof and untrustworthy // jealous and deceitful
⋟ tactful and knows how to get what he wants
⋟ can be very nasty when he wants to be
⋟ but can also be very protective and faithful too
⋟ has a strong set of morals // has the quality of honor

relationships.
⋟ alfred stirling x leonora moray // both deceased
⋟ three older brothers // alfonso, thomas & franklin
⋟ the fifth stirling-moray brother, dominik, was killed
⋟ two younger half-siblings // henry & ida
⋟ bisexual but he stays silent about homosexual activity
⋟ husband to blake moray // cheating on her with multiple people
⋟ father of thomas moray and charlotte moray

interaction.
⋟ storage // playlist // pinterest
⋟ physically: very hard // mentally: hard
⋟ father taught him how to kill at a young age
⋟ insensitive towards injuring or killing others // will do so without hesitation
⋟ mentally, he is slowly becoming undone from stress, grief and guilt
⋟ often found guarding the lodge with a rifle
[/spoiler]

[mary.]

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[div style="borderwidth; width: 400px; padding: 1px; text-align: justify; color: #4B3E2D; line-height: 14px; font-size: 11pt; font-family:timesnewroman"]"speech" 'thought' text
tw: mentions blood, profanity, violence, mention of death

It had been a hot minute since she'd left. Scratch that, it had been almost a year since she'd gone to acquire more trading goods from all across the continent. Her merry band of animals had, of course accompanied her on her trip. The two pygmy goats, who, when she had first found Flintlock, were now adolescent nuisances. Chewing on everything, and causing a number of problems along the way.

The rhyming ducklings were duckings no longer, and sadly, only Pick and Nick made it back with her. Her oxen pulled the laden wagon behind them, and Mary through, for the millionth time, how lucky she was to have them. In her travels she'd acquired new nicknacks, foods (salted fish and meat mostly) but some dried fruits and vegetables as well, spices, beautiful cloth, leather, books, writing materials, in general, she had quite a bit of stuff.

And, what was she doing with that stuff one might ask? Bringing it to the only place she'd ever felt at home since she was younger, of course. She'd stopped her caravan near the village, not wanting to impose. After all, she'd been gone a while, she might have to join all over again.

She had two dogs with her this time. Her pup (who was no longer a pup) and his daughter, who was still quite a puppy. Rosa Barks was the puppy's name, and she was quite rosy and delightful. But had her moments. She had some golden retriever in her, Mary thought, at least, it looked that way to her, and she'd read a few books on dogs during her travels.

She had broken down for the night, and set up camp, a small circular stone hearth had been built, and she was currently boiling (what had once been snow) with some of her dried fish, vegetables and spices. Mmm, it smelled delicious. Mary yawned, the sun was beginning to set, which meant, either she'd be found in the dark, or she'd have to wait for morning.

[DAMIEN.]

[align=center][div style="0px; width:450px; height:auto; text-align: justify; font-size: 9pt; line-height:13px;"]The smell of things cooking drew Damien closer to the area. The smoke from the fire had been a minor indicator, but not really enough to indicate. It was the smell, honestly. Damien just liked the concept of whatever he was smelling. But however, as he came closer, he got the smell of something... animally. And it was definitely something, because as Damien came closer, an ark's load of animals seemed to have been herded up around the fire, next to a woman.

"Whas' up." Damien said (about as politely as Damien could), taking in the woman, the animals, the soup.. he saw the wagon filled with... pretty much anything that Damien could think of, and maybe even then some. Hadn't there been someone who'd.... no, the man didn't remember her face, and if someone mentioned anything about her to him, he probably had forgotten. So instead, he was staring off at a traveler? A trader? Someone.

He wasn't malicious as he studied the whole joint, just.. curious. "Are you a trader?" He asked, tilting his brown curls to the side as he leaned against the tree, pretty much raring and ready to start on a lengthy conversation about if this person had ever seen a whale in her travels, or if those were fake too (like elephants).

[EVELYN STIRLING]

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