Bordell's Tales, Chapter 1 : Two faces.

[Jdvn1]

"That's too dark smoke to be the fire of the bakery." says Stone, broking the silence as he unsheats his sword. "Be cautious." You all climb the hill and you see the village. Many house are burned down. The biggest building, looking like the forge, is still burning. You see nothing moving in the village. You all follow Stone up the village.

As you enter the village, you see stands that have fallen over, fruits and vegetable spilled. You see some animals killed, surely by the panick or the fight. You see door bash down, ashes of building. You see trails of blood. The only things moving is the dust and sand push by the wind.

Xavier unsheathes his sword in response and is silent until they get to the town. "... Is this normal for the attackers? Can anyone tell how recent this was?" He continues to look around. <Is there a point to this violence?>

"That's not normal. Spread out and try to find any survivor. Come back to reprt to me." says Leopold. The three split out and start to search the place. As you are about to leave, you hear Alpha "The darkness have fallen on them."

Xavier looks at Alpha, then turns again to leave, "In that case, let us hope we are stronger than the darkness."

 

[Velmont]

"It's not today you'll know. It must be a day now that the atttack happen." You hear behind you as you start to search on your side.

You find yourself wandering in the city. You see all the door open, some have been forced, the lock destroyed by someone bashing the door, or the door teared down by some weapon. You find many trace of battle in many house: broken tableware, knock-over furniture, sword or axe cut in the walls. After some times, you notice two things. First, there is no corpse. It looks like someone have already taken care of it. Second, at one place, you've found a fork lying on the floor of an house, and lot of sand around it.

After fifteen minutes of search, you decide to go back to the central place and see what the otehr haev found. As you come back to the central place, you see the other four already discussing.

 

[Jdvn1]

"I found nothing, literally. Not even a body. Some odd sand and a misplaced fork, but nothing of note. Whoever these people were, they were very ruthless and quick." He pauses, "And you?"

 

[Velmont]

"Same things for us." replies Kriegspire

"It is obvious, there have been a fight, there have been death, but it seems the main interest was the people themselves. We have found a few valuable things. Not much. And much food have been left behind. If it would have been raiders, the would have not left anything valuable. If it was a barbarian hunting group, they would have taken the food. I've even heard of some raiding party that was hunting slaves, but even if it was teh case, a dead body haev no value for a slaver. That make no sense."

"Do you think it is for that reason we... are here?" asks Bellmon, hesitantly, quick looking at Alpha.

"I do not know, but there is some chance." answers Stone. "Thank you Alpha for your help. I think you should report what you've seen to Horned Owl. We won't need you from here anyway."

"I'll spread the word that the four of you are investigating the darkness. If you have to come back in our territory, you might find less enemy." Alpha left you without another word.

"You talked about sand. We have found some too. I don't understand what that sand is doing here, in the middle of some fertile lands. Let's ride to Theor, some answer may come." Stone lead you on the Southern road.

 

[Jdvn1]

"Could they be cannibals? Or maybe they just want the bodies for some other reason." Xavier is obviously unsure of the situation. He merely shakes his head and follows Stone on the Southern road.

 

[Velmont]

"It is hard to tell, as we know nothing about who did this." replies Stone. You all ride on the small road and travel south. The farms all seems quiet and empty. You see some barns and houses gently smoking. After half an hour of travel, you leaves the border of the small town and continue on the coutryside. All your search for some sign of the agressor give you nothing.

As the sun goes down, you enter a new village. This one seems pretty quiet. The few people you meet seems to avoid you. You arrive at the local Inn. "Take care of the horses, Xavier." The others dismount and enter the Inn. As you guide the horse into the stable, you spot the stable boy who is taking care of the only horse in it. As he see you he seems to become nervous.

 

[Jdvn1]

Xavier hesitates at the sight of the boy. He's not used to children. "Can you help me with these horses? I wish to keep them here for the night..." He tries to give the impression that they are just travellers and mean no harm, but if the boy is still nervous, "Are you okay, boy? Is something the matter? Crian's Shield will protect you if you are with him."

 

[Velmont]

Xavier hesitates at the sight of the boy. He's not used to children. "Can you help me with these horses? I wish to keep them here for the night..." He tries to give the impression that they are just travellers and mean no harm.

"Sure, sir." replies the young boy. He takes two horses as you go backoutside to take the other two inside. You see the boy is still nervous of your presence.

"Are you okay, boy? Is something the matter? Crian's Shield will protect you if you are with him."

The boy stare at you for a moment. He seems even more nervous. He whispers some words to himself and continue his task.

[SBLOCK]Listen check: 9+2=11[/SBLOCK]

 

[Jdvn1]

Xavier looks confused and looks around for anything that might threaten him. "What was that? There's no reason to be afraid, boy."

 

[Velmont]

"Afraid... I am not afraid" replies the young boy, half convinced "but... but my father told me that Crian isn't protecting us, just Gailian" he continue with more convinction. "He told that if he was protecting us, villages would not be attacked." He then looks at you and seems to finally see what he have just told and go back to his work, becoming silent again and avoiding your eyes.