Hello again! The rain has vanished and my headaches and grumpiness with it!

I don't know why rain causes me such trouble. Julius doesn't like it but he can still use his fire when its raining. Its just less easy to burn things for him. I can't use my fire at all! Well, except for that time when I thought julius had drowned in that storm and I melted the peak off of the pirate mountain fortress.

But that was more like losing control than anything else. Another thing thats no fun. I may cause trouble and mayhem wherever I roam, but thats my choice damnit!

What am I if I can't even make my own decisions, my own choices? Even if they are bad, or 'wrong', or even evil. They are mine. I will make them, and I will stand by them.

Only a fool says they have no choice. There are always more paths available. They are just to weak, stupid, cowardly, or blind to see them!

Ok! Now that I've worked that out of my system lets talk about the day we had today!

The last House we have to bring to heel is the Vultioc House.

They are both the oldest and newest of the Houses.

Oldest, because they were here before the kingdom was ever founded.

Newest, because they were the last to join the kingdom.

They've got a lot of history, their own religion, and their own customs unique to them. They have no infastructure or industry. They make a living hunting, fishing, and gathering from the bountiful woods they call home. Young adults will sell their services as scouts or guides, and they sell quite a few bows and arrows to their neighbors. Not to the degree of calling it business, but a kind of rudimentary trade system. Goods for goods, they don't use money at all.

Their military is a loose collection of hunters and scouts. Peerless archers and trackers, who have a reputation for brutality and tracelessness. They stalk men like prey, and kill them from the shade of the vast trees and broad forests that cover their land.

Supposedly, they can track the wind over solid rock. I don't see how that is possible, so I am assuming its a sort of over the top claim to outline just how good they really are.

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As for how good they truly are, well, they aren't a match for Onica. That much is clear.

She handed me and Lena knives and spent the day with each member of our crew. Showing us how to notice when we are being watched, how to locate our watcher, how to give them the slip, and then how to find them. Once you find them its kind of a personal choice what you want to do to them.

Lena did try imitating Julius...

I don't want to think or talk about the results.

She only tried it once, thankfully.

I like to club them over the head, and tie them hanging upside down to a tree branch. Like huge cocoons, or just burn them after we ran out of rope. A superheated palm to the back of the head will end all your worries real fast! When I am feeling mischievous I slowly heat up the area around them until they pass out soaked in sweat.

It takes a while to do right. If I go to fast they just burn to ash, to slow and it takes way too long!

Julius enjoys knocking them out and piling them up into a heap for him to sit upon majestically. We are trying to limit casualties so we do scare off more than we capture or kill. Which is fun in ts own way! I like making scary masks out of tinglewood and leaping out of the brush in a burst of flame roaring incoherently. They run so fast! Still, even with the runners we must have left four or five heaps of unconcious rangers behind us by the time we made camp.

Very fun day!

Fen shocks them. Right in the butt, they give a whoop and start running. Then he trips them with some wind tethers and pushes. Sends them headfirst into a tree or a rock mostly. Then he adds them to Julius' heap of defeated foes. He does like to pose them with each other in awkward poses. I guess his old owner had some different hobbies. *Ahem*

We have been taking all the bows and arrows we find. They're pretty good quality I guess. They all have unique markings, so each bow is probably very special and precious to the ranger it belongs too. Maybe we can ransom the bows back? I don't know what for. They don't have any money. Maybe they have something shiny?

With how the other have been loading stuff into my satchel I am starting to feel more like the mule than the leader of our little pack of monsters. How much stuff can my satchel even hold anyway?

Meh, I guess we will find out some day.

Onica just slits their throats and leaves them gurgling in the dirt. She has a veeeery special smile she makes when she is drawing her blade across a throat. Kind of looks like she's hungry...

I think a roast is a good idea for tonight. Or a hearty stew. Something meaty anyway.

After her semi-failed experiment that we shall not discuss, Lena mostly just popped a globe of water onto the heads of our would be trackers and killers. Then she slips a sheet of ice under them and watches them dance wildly until the pass out. She even plays a tune for them on her flute!

Its freaking adorable!

Seriously though, we must have taken out a hundred men apiece! How many more until they run out of people?

No sign of any gathering of people or the Head of the House today, so we will continue tomorrow.

Since the likelikood of a night attack is super high tonights berth is shaped like a tree. Its totally the wrong color, but who is going to notice that in the dark of night? Just in case I left long thin roots splayed out in all directions. If they do find and attack us they're gonna be hanging upside down until morning!

Goodnight.