[sylvanSpider]

Arabella's face softened and she leaned forward, toying with the jerky in her fingers, “You talk like someone with experience in that field. I won't push you to tell me, but I do agree. It isn't right. People do die. Be glad he's not drinking now.” Her eyes went back to Percival, though only for a moment. He was there, book in one hand, quill in the other. She wouldn't be surprised if he was preparing extra spells for the day. If his reputation preceded him, the drink caused him to almost over-do it, bracing himself for the worst. But Ara didn't buy it. If he did, it was because he was a cynic of some sort. The drink was good for two things: numbness and forgetfulness; he was more than likely using it for both. “This coming from a man beyond his years,” Ara mused, taking a bite from her jerky and kicking her weighted feet.

“It's good to take a note on, indeed,” Ara said, almost wishing she could. It was best to be aware of members in your party. Weaknesses, after all, she could only make up for if she knew them, and one could only know to fall back on a teammate in strength if the teammate was made aware of her own. “I'll be sure to keep it geography related, if possible.” Ara plopped the rest of the jerky into her mouth, chewing with a thoughtful expression, “It seems everyone is always fighting at the expense of the poor and powerless when we would all be the better if we could just get our heads out our asses and make peace.”

Kastivi beamed back, happy to have someone who wasn't scowling at her perpetually talking to her. She stood up and stretched, arms reaching as high as they would go and stood on her tip toes, “I'm glad someone has good sense on this expedition. Can't say that I've ever gone swimming in the snow in the nude, but I can say that I've enjoyed a breathlessly cold night or two. And, it's probably a good thing there are no such thing as snow sharks. There'd be no adventurers in the north anymore. We'd all be dead.” She laughed; the thought of each of the party dying in the jowls of something like a snow shark was humorous despite its morbidity.

Kastivi blinked seeing the long powder-packed barrle on Christoval's back and stopped herself from touching it. She'd never seen one before and she lowered her hand laughing sheepishly when the knight's attention was on her, “I'm sure she's taught you more than that...hasn't she?” Kastivi looked down, fiddling with her hands and barely noticed Percival's looking away to the healer and dark mage's exchange, and didn't see it herself, “No, no...I was paying attention to you. I'm just... sorry that you don't think she's helping you much.” She spoke in barely a whisper, “Maybe we could help you train. You'll be going against mages at some point anyway, right?”

Percival glanced up from his book every so often and hearing Wisp's voice over the din, he now looked to her, “The dead? What do they say?” Percival knew better than to disregard a black mage and their dealings with the dead. Nine out of ten times they were right and should have been listened to. He'd been on several expeditions that would have ended much sooner than they did had they simply listened to black mage. When one was speaking of bad omens? He'd have to be extra ready.