Sėle grins at the mention of memory stirring. "All the more reason."

She gives Shiver space as she dresses, heading out of the warm tent and waiting there. Once stepping outside, Shiver feels a cool breeze on her skin, seeing the grass and trees of the warmer parts of the Savage Frontier near the coast. A simple dirt road, if one well-travelled, winds itself from west to east. Sėle turns to Shiver, a deep blush quickly returning to her face as she needs to look up at her newfound companion, as the warrior woman stands nearly a foot taller. Shiver knows the look, having been desired by many in her life, especially among the small folk (from the perspective of giants), awe-struck by the giantess' beauty, presence, and physicality. To Sėle's credit, Shiver sees neither the lecherous look many men direct towards her, nor that of intense envy many women regarded her with. Composing herself quickly, Sėle clears her throat as she stops herself from staring, and instead kicks one of the tent pegs, causing the tent to collapse into a small, nicely rolled up pack for Sėle to pick up. Other than the tent, her clothes (including her ethereal blue dress), and a simple carrying bag, Sėle doesn't appear to carry any notable belongings that stand out to an experienced raider, such as jewelry or magic items. She seemingly doesn't mind the cool air, despite not being dressed for the weather.

Now that she thinks about it, Shiver is pretty sure the tent was smaller on the outside than the inside suggested.

"Anyway, it's not far, just down the road," Sėle says, pointing down the road to the east, which winds itself through a copse. "I hear the inn is renowned for its food and guest rooms. Somethign about being a popular nobles' retreat."

------------------------

It is an undisturbed walk to Nightstone, no one passing them, no beasts bothering them. The sun is approaching noontime as they come across an unusual sight as they pass through the copse. In a bend of the road, a waggon lies tipped over against an incline beside the road. One side of the waggon looks like it has been crushed, part of the waggon's wall and two of its wheels either caved in or practically ripped out. The contents of the waggon strewn about. Some ripped open or emptied, some just discarded. Shiver sees signs of combat. Blood splashes on the waggon's side, many footprints on the ground, but no bodies. By her estimation, this happened perhaps a day or two ago. Either the owners of the waggon escaped or they were dragged away. The attack doesn't look very organized or disciplined to her. Goblins are a likely suspect. Backed up by an ogre, perhaps.

"What happened here?" Sėle wonders, approaching the waggon, doing a brief sweep of the site. She quickly confirms Shiver's suspicions as she examines the tracks, which apparently lead roughly the way they are going (if not exactly walking down the road, rather heading through the trees), but the tracks are hard to make out any further due to a recent rainfall and all the undergrowth.

"Huh," Sėle says, retrieving something from the scattered wares. A small bundle, its contents just some herbs, but that is not what she draws Shiver's attention to. On the bundle is a familiar symbol of a winged serpent pointing downwards, its maw opened toward a sphere. "I heard rumors the Zhentarim are up to something in the region. But what are they doing here?" She furrows her brow as she looks at the bundle again, before tossing it away. Nothing much she can do about the waggon.

Shiver remembers the Zhentarim, also known as the Black Network. A widespread network of mercenaries, often in the business of protecting caravans, establishments, people, you name it. Publically, they have a reputation of being dependable, good-natured helpers. Shiver vaguely remembers one of them having come to Svardborg, speaking with the jarl. If that is not evidence towards a more nefarious true nature of the ominously nicknamed Black Network, she does not know what is.

As they want to continue, Sėle seems to wind up for a sneeze. When it finally comes, there is a brief blur about the young woman... and in the next moment, a very handsome young man with flowing hair is standing there, wearing a loose black shirt and skirt, if with an ethereal blue vest instead of a dress now. "Ah, this again," Sėle notes with evident familiarity and some annoyance, his voice as pleasant as his previous female one. Glancing to Shiver, he feels the need to explain. "Stars were feeling especially spicy when I was born, so I got wild magic in my blood. It's mostly harmless to others, don't worry, but, well," he gestures to himself. "this happens from time to time. Might change back soon, maybe not, maybe partially." It sounds like he can't do much about it. Male Sėle seems to try avoiding staring at Shiver even more than in his female form.

---------------------

It does not take long to arrive at Nightstone. Shiver hears the distant, unceasing ringing of a temple bell and spots a motte-and-bailey castle standing in a river (which also conveniently serves as a natural moat), the drawbridge leading into the bailey currently down. The bailey is surrounded by a palisade wall, a temple bell tower peeks up from behind it. So far, so normal. However, something is wrong.

"There it is. Nightstone." Sėle introduces the town as they approach with a sweeping gesture, but he too notes something being off. The bridge leading from the bailey up to the castle on the motte seems to be lacking its middle section, having been broken by something. The castle shows signs of damage, one corner looking like it has been crushed, though most of the structure is still standing. As they reach the drawbridge, they see a chaos of old footprints in front of it. Seemingly mostly human feet coming out of the town and running somewhere north. Looking across the drawbridge and into the town, they see large boulders, easily a meter in diameter, having buried themselves into the dirt streets, one house having been partially crushed by one of them.

"What in the hells happened here?" Sėle asks no one in particular.

The bell of the temple right beside the town gate still rings ceaselessly.

Spoiler: OOC
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Feel free to interject at any point of the above.