Kearan nods at his lord's command, and begins working to carry across all that he can, focusing on the heavier and bulkier items first. His years of training in combat have toughened his muscles and endurance.
Drsystan is convinced the sooner they get the wagon unloaded and the cargo across the ford, the better it will be for everyone. Occasionally when he pauses to wipe the sweat from his brow, he'll glance around and listen, hoping whatever made those claw marks stays far away.
Ordric is not accustomed to carrying anything while crossing river, and it shows. He stumbles and constantly stops to regain his balance.
= 8 = a Raise!
With Drystan and Alder managing to accomplish the most lift, the group manages to get the wagon across without it sticking. Which was a good thing. Seconds after getting it to the far shore, a roar echoes across the river. Whatever it was that wrecked the bridge was aiming on returning, and if you had been bogged down, you could have had a much worse time.
Your horse taking the lead on such matters, you manage to get the wagon and all your persons into the nearby trees. Just as you do so, a shadow sweeps across the river, preceded by a great thump of wings beating. The drake, a huge, red thing with a back covered in spines, soars down the river, looking for prey.
Holding your breath, you watch it quickly disappear down the river's path, most likely to wreak havoc on some other area.
The onion knight lets out a pent up breath. "Well now, that's that." she says. "Thank you for helping me continue on my journey... though it will be slower without my trusty donkey. I can only hope that my quarry doesn't escape in the meantime."
"What is it you seek?" Kearan asks, his voice coming soft but audible from within his helmet. He keeps his eyes on the sky, following the passage of the drake, but he feels the need also to learn what this Catarina knight is seeking. Strange times, these.
The knight sighs. "I've been looking for my father. Last I heard he was in Minas' Overlook."
Minas' Overlook is a border town set on a rise overlooking the Carim/Astora border. It's within about 30 miles of where you're supposed to meet Patches.
= 3
”Did you see that?!” Drystan says while stringing his bow. He keeps his glancing up, looking for a flying shadow. ”Did you see that?!” His breath is quick as the drake flies over head.
Once the creature leaves, Drystan lets out a long drawn out breath. ”Wooooo, that was terrible. I’ve never seen one of those before. There are more monsters than I thought possible.”
He listens to the knight talk about finding his father.
To his shame, Ordric's knowledge of geography has some holes.
"Is it far from here? We are traveling to the border. If it's close, then continuing our path together might be a good idea. The more, the better. At least until we leave the forest."
Annalise is certain she knows of the place.
”I know of it well, its a border town. Though it is some ways away from where we are going."
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"Perhaps we should make camp and make the last leg of the journey when we have more daylight?"
"Good thinking. Better to see your surroundings, especially with that thing flying around."
”Well, I’ll start digging the latrine pits,” Drystan says getting a shovel from the wagon.
”I hope that creature doesn’t fly at night.”
With your firekeepers eerie guidance, you find a grove in the woods nearby with enough overhanging foliage that your bonfire would not be seen. As if planned this way, a dormant bonfire stands at the center, the coiled sword thrust within the embers here pitted and rusted. As with all bonfires sustained as such the embers are still warm and require little coaxing to get the flames going.
Your night is uneventful, save for the shriek of the drake somewhere nearby (within a few miles). The fire does well keeping hazards at bay.
The owner of this coiled sword is long lost, forgotten, or deceased.
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"Firekeepers' craft never ceases to amaze me," says Ordric to Annalise, staring into the fire. "Do you always sense such bonfires? Or only when you're near them?"
In the morning, Drystan says, ”Notice I didn’t suggest we take that sword? See, I’m not a thief.”
As they set out he listens and watches intently for any wild animals that might threaten them.
"Only when they are close, and the bonfire is lit, can I sense them" notes Annalise with a nod.
"Only the cruelest villain would steal such a thing" she notes "Each bonfire is a divine gift, a singular force that comforts the soul and keeps evil at bay. Robbing the world of one is a terrible crime I think."
"No, you are not," agrees Ordric.
He then continues with a question, while slowly preparing for moving forward to their destination.
"Have someone ever stole a bonfire sword?"
At some point, you're going to need to find an unaffiliated, swordless fire keeper or a responsible pyromancer and let them know about this sword. But it's not a huge deal; it could wait a few months, since this bonfire's likely been abandoned for years.
The knight with you doesn't remove her armor, even when she rests the night. Instead of laying down she opts to sit up against a tree. She does open her helm to eat that morning, and anyone looking in sees a plain but strong-faced woman with no extraordinary features.
"Thank you again for your assistance. Shall we be off then? We mustn't dally with such a threat as a drake in the area." She concludes after you take in your breakfast.
As you set off, you can't help but feel the tension in your backs with that drake in the area. Your worries fade as the distance increases, until by late afternoon you've put quite the few miles between you and that scaly beast.
At this point you find yourselves making good time, even with an onion knight in tow. You travel for several more days before anything new happens. The earth becomes less forests and rivers and more rocky crags and valleys the closer you get to the border, and you are likely only another day's travel from Minas' overlook.
"Hmmmm....." the knight says as your wagon comes to a halt.
”Well, that looks like smoke to me,” Drystan says, shielding his eyes with his hands. He points to one of the bluffs about a day’s travel ahead of them. ”Yeah, those look like thin trails of smoke to me.”
”The leaves didn’t look right in this valley either. I should have pointed it out when I first noticed it, in case someone missed it. The leaves were too brown.” Drystan checks the sky for the drake. ”Not much we can do but continue on, I guess.”
= 23
"Yes indeed, that is definitely smoke. And you're right, the leaves in this area *are* too brown. I wonder what that means?"
"Fire? And maybe a plant disease? We should proceed carefully."
Kearan nods and shifts the lance in its stirrup, keeping a wary lookout from astride his horse.
"Not any I have met, though it has happened in the past" answers Annalise.
Later, on their journey, Annalise makes notes of the descriptions of their surroundings from her companions. She only asks "What are you sighing about?", addressing the onion knight.
"The ground... it seems blighted." The knight observes. "I fear for what may come..."
As the group continues on, ready for danger, they start to see other strange signs of something being terribly, terribly wrong. As you cut through the blighted valley, you start to see strange, sharp spines jutting out of the ground. The earth is split and cracked, like the intrusions are unnatural. Though many are still caked with dirt and muck, you know two things.
One, the spines seem to be 'singing', similarly to a tuning fork.
Two, they seem to be made of crystal.
You come across the first body as you near the far end of the valley. A villager, by the looks of their clothes. Their back seems to have been burnt or blackened somehow and they lay facedown, as if they had been cut down attempting to flee into the valley.
That damage was not caused by a pyromancy, or a miracle.
Kearan rides forward at the sign of the corpse, his horse moving into a brief trot that brings him closer to the body. He dismounts and rolls it over after examining the visible wounds. What's happened here? Some errant mage, flinging about dangerous magics? Or is it connected with the rest of this land?
= 6
After inspecting the body, Alder says "This poor unfortunate soul died recently, no later than a day ago. Perhaps if we increase our pace we could catch up to whoever did this foul thing, altho he *should* be properly buried. And I'm sure that the burning was not caused by pyromancy or miracles."
"Are these... crystals?" asks Ordric. "That is magic. No blight can do such a thing."
"We should properly bury him. But first, we should investigate more."
”I wonder how deep these crystals go,” Drsytan says, bending down to look at them. Being careful not to touch them, he stands up after about one minute. ”I didn’t think I’d be digging so many holes on this journey. I don’t mind, anyways. People need graves.”
He nods his head to Count Ordric, ”As you say, Count. A little more investigating then I’ll start the hold.”
Annalise frowns deeply.
"Count, do you perhaps think it odd how many strange things we have encountered on our journey here?"
"Let's say I do not think it a coincidence. It most certainly has something to do with our task."
"What is happening to these lands?" mutters Annalise. She unconsciously wrings her hands.
The signs of destruction and blight only get worse as the group approaches Minas Overlook. It doesn't take you long to realize that the village is the source of the damage.
The village is built on a rocky outcropping overlooking Astora's border. A valuable defensible location, a fortress was built here.
When you arrive, the sizeable town seems to have been ravaged by some kind of attacker. A few buildings burned, while most just bear blast marks from some kind of energy blast. There are bodies in strange places, all looking to have either died attempting to flee or fight the attacker. in all, around 35 dead.
The fortress, however, looks to have repelled whatever attacker it was. The fortress gates are closed, and you can see helmeted forms toting crossbows standing VERY alertly at the walls looking over the village. At least one knight comes up to the wall over the gates as you enter. Looking down at you, he lifts his visor to reveal a dark skinned and very angry man.
"I am lord Hiram." the man shouts down. "You had better identify yourselves, and quickly, before it comes back!"
"I am Count Ordric Ethelred," Ordric introduces himself, and then the others. "Firekeer Annalise. Drystan Kressothe. Alder Claybourne. Sir Kearan. We are carrying out the mission on behalf of Prince Ricard. We also met this brave knight from Catarina in the woods."
Drsytan keeps his hands clearly visible and open, near his head. He nods when his name is said by Count Ordric, but otherwise remains still and doesn’t speak.
"I see." Lord Hiram replies. "Mission?" he asks after pondering. "I don't suppose you were here to relieve us of our Carim guests, were you?"
He sighs, shaking his head. "Afraid you're out of luck." he shouts, chuckling at last."They ran afoul of it not too long ago. Lost trusty patches too..." He points over your heads and towards the far side of the town from where you came in. "That way, you might find the lady before it's too late. Watch out for crystals, and by Gwynn, be wary the dead."
He points to the ground around you, where you see there are obvious signs that even though there are several corpses within sight, only 2/3 of them are still present. "I think Nito has forsaken some of us."
"Good sir, what 'lady' is it you speak of? And what is it we should watch out for regarding the crystals?"
The man scowls. "The maiden in white? She was on pilgrimmage. Those crystals sometimes burst and can lacerate you worse than any sword could. Two of my men bled out before we could stop the flow."
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"Actually, we were supposed to meet with Patches, and then accompany the pilgrims."
Ordric sighs. But of course it cannot be so easy.
"Than we shall not waste time."
Be wary of the dead, pierces Drystan’s thoughts and he unconsciously grips the throwing axe’s handle.
”The crystals burst open?” he asks. ”If you get too close, you mean?” He looks to his companions, unsure what to say really or how to proceed. he feels his jaw hanging open, so he closes it. How am I supposed to be scouting if that’s cutting me up?
”You said, ‘before it comes back.’ What is ‘it’? And when did these crystals appear?”
"...and what did you mean by 'be wary of the dead'???"
The noble shakes his head. "Some of the dead... They left during the night. Dont know where."
He points to one area where a burst crystal remains. "Just dont hit them, if they break, theres this blue flash and shards go everywhere. "
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Turning to the group, Alder says "So, do we have a goal in mind, something to accomplish right now? Everyone we were supposed to meet here is dead - should we search for this mysterious lady in white, or do we ask for shelter for the night, then begin the journey back home in the morning?"