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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Hjorimir" data-source="post: 6978199" data-attributes="member: 5745">Friday, July 8 – THENOrsikThe night was still. In fact, the night was too still. Orsik had a sense about such things. Normally he spent his time on watch eating sweetmeats or chewing on the kinds of roots that made one comfortable, but the druid was uneasy this night.Tenoch sat up from where he was sleeping and looked at the dwarf inquisitively. The druid shrugged without a word, stood up, and began to look around outside of the camp.A short distance away, Orsik looked out over a glade filled with white flowers. It wasn’t the flowers that interested him, although he found them rather tasty, but the strange, unnatural blue fog that was creeping forward in the air from the other side. “What the…”The dwarf turned to return to camp and found Tenoch standing quietly behind him. “Tenoch!” the dwarf gasped in alarm, grabbing at his heart.Tenoch only nodded in response, not really looking at the dwarf, but instead staring out at the unsettling vapors.“Go and wake the others,” the dwarf instructed.Tenoch returned to camp.Orsik transformed into a giant spider, made his way into the treetops, and started circling around the glade to get closer to the fog. The forest is utterly quiet…all the animals have fled the area. The druid cautiously wound his way through the trees. The fog was unnerving and not just because it was unnatural. A palpable dread hung within its blue depths. Undeterred, Orsik pressed on into the fog, the unusual vapors rolling over him. Within he saw faint, dark shapes floating about…and then he was frightened as an unnatural fear descended upon him. Orsik quickly turned and fled the fog. He leapt from the treetops and landed heavily in the glade and skittered for all he was worth back to camp.The giant spider burst into camp as the Companions were rousing themselves. Tenoch briefly raised his weapons, but lowered them once again as the spider transformed into the dwarf.“We need to move!” Orsik yelled.“Is it the dogmen?” one of the villagers wailed fearfully.“No, on your feet!” replied the dwarf as he pulled one who spoke up into a standing position.With that, the Companions and surviving villagers made their way off through the Silverglades in the dead of the night, leaving the strange fog behind them. Though only Orsik ventured into the fog, they all felt uneasy just being near it. This faded as the miles counted.Tenoch, torch in hand, was blazing a trail through the forest when he came to a sudden halt. A large menhir jut up from the ground in a small clearing before them. The group of them just stood and stared, breaths heavy in the night.“What is this?” asked Vech taking a quiet step backward.“Tis one of the godstones,” a villager offered.“A what?” asked Orsik.“A godstone. They are found all around the Silverglades. From the time before the Chantry,” the old man responded.“Before the Chantry?” Ilvander inquired.The old man shrugged and shook his head. “Tis all I know, good master.”“Curious,” the dwarf said as he lay a hand on the weathered stone. “Let’s rest here.”The group was eager to be off their feet, so no arguments were given. Ilvander and Orsik spent the night contemplating the menhir in hushed whispers while the others rested. By morning the only point of knowledge agreed upon is that they needed to know more.Monday, July 11 – THEN The sun hung low in the sky when the group arrived at the town of Traveler’s Rest. The town’s reeve, one Lord Sannis, was responsible for the security of not only the town, but the surrounding villages and stretch of the Ralttway in the area (including the razed village of Roundtree). A palisade, of recent construction the dwarf noted, surrounded the town. Eager as they were to get inside, there was a hold up at the gate, which was closed.“What’s this?” grumbled the dwarf.A small company of maybe a dozen armed men stood at rigid attention off to the side of the pathway into town. Their faces could not be seen through the cage-faced helmets they wore. Another, an officer given his heavier armor and black-furred cloak that roiled in the wind, stood before them in silent vigil.Still on the road before the closed gate was an ornate carriage, apparently pulled by what appeared to be a pair of pallid-skinned ogres, each with a strange red brand in the shape of a rune upon their foreheads. They appeared addled. The one on the left was drooling. The carriage remained closed.A low hiss escaped from Charity’s lips.“Charity?” Dazen said coming up to her side.“Brakari,” she responded.Dazen echoed the word, “Brakari…Nam Brakar?”The paladin nodded curtly, as she watched through narrowed eyes.“Easy, lass,” Orsik said, “That’s all behind you now.”Charity seemed oblivious of the dwarf’s words, so he grabbed her by the arms and forced her attention.“They’re not here for you,” he said intently.She nodded once as she looked at her old friend, but her eyes soon returned to the gathering at the gate.Orsik looked back over his shoulder at the Brakari as well, “And even if they are, they’re not.” The dwarf sighed. “I’ll be right back.” And strode up to the gate.If the soldiers or the officer noticed him, none acknowledged his approach. There was no turn of a head, no shifting of feet. They might as well have been statues.“Hoi!” Orsik called to a guardsman of the town atop the gate. “We have survivors from Roundtree! Let us in!”The guard only shook his head.The dwarf raised his hands up to either side of his head and mimicked the man with a shake of his own. “No?” He looked back and shrugged at the Companions and started to make his way back. He stopped half way back as the gates began to open. A gathering of the town’s guard stood back as a man in finery stepped forward to address the gathering. “Lord Sannis bids you welcome to Traveler’s Rest,” he began. “Unfortunately, he is unable to receive any guests and asks that you proceed to the Lion’s Yawn Inn, an establishment of fine quality, where you and your men will be attended to.” He then turned to leave.Before he got too far away, Orsik called to him. “We have survivors from Roundtree, will the reeve not see us?”“No, not tonight. As I’ve already stated, he is unavailable. May I suggest the Lion’s Yawn to you as well. I’ll send word to the inn once his lordship is ready to receive you.”“Perhaps another inn?” the druid said, but the man was already walking and didn’t stop to respond.She’s not going to like this.As Orsik returned to his friends to let them know what had transpired, the two ogres started to pull the carriage up the road and into the town. Detachments of the Brakari soldiers in front and back.Charity took the news about as well as could be expected. The group offered to seek shelter elsewhere, but the paladin refused. She was steadfast in her commitment to the mission from the Chantry and she noted that the villagers had suffered enough. A warm bed and food was needed for all. But as they followed the Brakari retinue into town, she lowered the visor of her helm and quietly fell into a march near the back of their group.~At the Lion’s Yawn Inn, the carriage came to a halt. One of the two ogres made his way to the door facing the inn and plopped down on all fours, providing a convenient step for whomever was within. At the same time the soldiers formed two rows to create a clear path from the carriage to the inn. The officer made his way inside and quickly returned to the doorway where he nodded at the carriage.The door opened and out came another warrior. Where the soldiers were clad dark iron armor and garbed in shades of gray and black, the man’s armor – of a similar make – was a polished masterwork of silver and gold. In place of the black cloaks the others wore, he bore the pelt of a great white lion. He stepped heavily upon the back of the ogre as he made his way down from the carriage. He then turned and offered a hand to the female tiefling climbing out of the carriage behind him.She wore a dress – no not a dress, but a gown. A gown that was somehow both black and red at the same time, depending on how the light hit it. A light shawl of black was draped over her shoulders. She took the offered hand of the soldier with one hand and held an ornate rod in the other. She took one step out onto the ogre’s back and then stopped for a moment to turn and look down upon the Companion’s gathering.“Did I hear correctly? You have survivors from the village of Roundtree with you?” she almost purred as she spoke.Orsik nodded cautiously. What’s going on here? What is this witch getting at?Without turning, she addressed the officer in black, “Sanlet.”The man quickly sunk to a knee and looked up at her, “Yes, Lady Fexxahna?”“The villagers and their saviors will dine before us and see to their rooms,” Fexxahna commanded.“We can see to our own meals and rooms!” Orsik said, his face turning red.Fexxahna dismissed the comment with the wave of her hand, “It is already done.” She then proceeded into the inn, the silver clad man providing escort.Ilvander leaned down and whispered into Orsik’s ear. “I’ll take Charity to the Archon’s Shrine here in town and see if we can find lodging there. We’ll return on the morrow. ““Good idea, lad,” the druid replied and patted his friend on the back as he left.Dinner at the inn was…interesting. The Brakari soldiers assembled in a line at the back of the common room and quietly watched the surviving villagers and remaining Companions eat their dinners in uneasy silence. Orsik took his sweet time eating his fill and he ate quite a lot. Serves them right.Once he had finished licking his plate (literally), he plopped down off the bench, his beard peppered with crumbs, and made his way over to the officer. “Sanlet,” the dwarf paused to let go a small burp and pick at something in his teeth. “We’re all done now. You guys are free to get some food of your own.” He then turned his back on the man and started to leave for his room.“Dwarf,” Sanlet said in a heavy voice.“Hrm?” the druid stopped a few stairs up looking back over his shoulder.“Never address me again.” Sanlet turned his head slowly to look at Orsik, now eye-to-eye given the stairs. “I am your better.”Orsik was about to return a quip of his own, but thought better of it. So, with a quick nod of the head, he continued upstairs to his room for the night.</blockquote>

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