The Villager's Tale
Turning to Syfis, the injured man says, "Several weeks ago, Arithel fell through a brilliant white hole in the sky on a night that seemed filled with magic. He was young and very weak, and he could not speak our language. We took him in, my wife and I gave him room in our house in the room next to the forge. Over time, Arithel learned to communicate, though his mastery of our language was imperfect. Names Burton by the way. Not sure I got your names?"
((Syfis, your knowledge check failed, you haven't heard of any ogre bugs before.))
Listening intently to Burton's story about the boy Lomas notices that the man is very sincere and his tone of voice and facial expressions indicate that he is both frightened and angry. As he continues his story he becomes a little more relaxed, kind of relieved.
Akaros turns his attention away from the man and scans the village, noting that Riejar and Goliath seem to have found something. As the group gathers around Burton, more villagers come up to see what the commotion is. Thomas and Michael turn to Akaros mentioning their desires to confront the invaders. One of the villagers approaches you three. Thomas addresses his questions to the larger gentleman who is a little out of breath as he makes his way over. He replies, "Well I being Mayor, Mayor Grell that is, tried to keep people under control. The strange creatures came into town just after nightfall. A tribe of ogres lives in the hills to the north, but its members haven’t troubled the hamlet for many years. We were sitting down to dinner when someone yelled Fire.
"I ran outside to see what the problem was and these great hulking beasts with hard armor-like skin carrying great clubs that were burning buildings and attacking the villagers. I tried to gather everyone together near the church as it is the best place to hide. We got most of 'em together, but Burton was trying to fend off one of them creatures by himself, saying that they had taken Arithel. In all the confusion we couldnt count how many there were but there were lots of them. Soon after, they all left back towards their fort. Burton can direct you to it, he remembers the last time ogres attacked our town."
As Riejar and Goliath return from the far side of the village, he posses his question to the mayor, who replies, "It was yesterday evening that they attacked us. Just after nightfall they came, took off after only about 15 minutes I'd say. Just burned, looted, maimed, staying long enough to take our dear Arithel. None stayed to cause any more trouble. We have kept watch since then, but we can't do much but try and run if they come back. We'd be awful greatful if you could bring Arithel back to us, and protect us from the bug's return."
Many of the other villagers, both injured and not have gathered around. A shorter man with a bandage around his head leans a little more heavily on his long garden implement, looking relieved that help appears to have arrived. A woman gathers her two sons who had pocked through the small throng and grabbing their ears, escorts them back to the kettle at the fire. All in all the people here seem frightened and yet relieved at the site of your group.
