maw walker

Erik has no illusions about what life in the north will be, and what his role will likely entail from the moment he's settled. This is the calm before the storm, and he's had far too much time to think on the long walk north. Tired, bleak, but already beginning to unroll the supplies he's brought. Things from his mother's garden, gifts from Kiriko, bamboo rhizomes that he could at least attempt to keep alive through the winter in hopes of having something to make cordage from in the spring.

He's not alone for long before Delphi comes to greet him, and the boy offers her a smile-- caught between familiar warmth and the bleak circumstances that surround his arrival. Taking a seat beside her, allowing the warmth of the fire to bathe his soggy pelt, he sighs. "Tenshi's dying, 'n the man who's obsessed with trustin' th'gods... can't, this time." Hypocrite. Erik's gaze settles on the flames, watching as they crackle cheerfully, confined to their little pit.

Víðarr had damn near come unglued in public during Audra's funeral. Erik knows that it'll be nothing compared to whatever comes next. "I dunno what this'll do to'im," but by the boy's grave tone, he has a fairly good idea. Another cough racks his lungs, his ribs, and Erik wipes the blood from his lips. "What do you need?" He's been sent to help, and help he will. What that looks like? Delphi probably has a better idea. Hell, the old man has been more of a father to her than to Erik, and she's watched things devolve in real time.

"Speech"