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The Thorns of Winter -(updated 8/1/2023)
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<blockquote data-quote="Nthal" data-source="post: 8340178" data-attributes="member: 6971069"><p><h2 style="text-align: center">Violence in the Streets - 7-14-2021</h2><p>(Sorry for the delays, but IRL issue prevented a lot of time to work on prose. A lot more coming soon though.)</p><p></p><p></p><p>“Great, let’s get it open.” I spoke. Mobad grinned in agreement.</p><p></p><p>“At this point any number of troops would be a help,” Doxx said. “And they can get word out for more once we tell them what’s going on.”</p><p></p><p>“What…what do we do?” Jace asked with the look of terror on his eyes.</p><p></p><p>“We can’t just leave them alone here,” Rosa said. “If there are more mounted vegepygmies, they could overrun everyone at the gate.</p><p></p><p>“Another problem; we still need to cross the river,” Bookshelf pointed out.</p><p></p><p>“The bridge is near the Inn, right?” Sage asked, and Jace nodded in response. “We head there and draw attention to ourselves. That will keep them focused on us, until we get the other groups inside the walls.”</p><p></p><p>“An excellent plan!” The Blade said. “Except what would draw a bunch of rotting vegetables together?”</p><p></p><p>“A fire would do it,” Sage said. “But one of Bookshelf’s would probably be a hazard.”</p><p></p><p>“That bad,” as Mobad pointed out the obvious.</p><p></p><p>“I have something that can grab their attention,” I said. “Let’s get to the Inn and the bridge.”</p><p></p><p>“We will!” Jace said proudly. The guards looked less enthusiastic and far more grim about it, but the determination in their faces showed they weren’t going to give up their homes.</p><p></p><p>We moved through the streets of Denning warily. Black smoke wafted from the rooftops partially obscuring the roadway and alleys. The fires on the roofs sputtered, but the recent damp weather kept the flames from spreading. But it was all a mask for the stinging we felt in our eyes, as the eyerot tried to spread further. I reflected that being blind, even in my home town, would be terrifying. And the muffled screams and wailing seemed to confirm my concerns. But we couldn’t look for survivors yet.</p><p></p><p>We passed by a large church that had been struck with multiple fire pots. Its steeple stood defiant as the flames sputtered on the roofline. One of the blazes caught a nine barred symbol high above the open doors afire, the gold and blue paint peeling. The smoke drifted down into the graveyard, partially submerging the headstones in a river of dark haze. It seemed off to me though that on one was here. And it saddened me that a proud symbol of faith was abandoned like it was.</p><p></p><p>“I would have expected more to fled to here,” I said aloud as we passed.</p><p></p><p>“The townsfolk would be at the Church of the Blood Sacrament not here,” Adrissa said quietly.</p><p></p><p>“Why there?” Bookshelf asked.</p><p></p><p>“It was built with a wall and gate,” Adrissa responded. “Not sure why.”</p><p></p><p>“Defensible then,” The Blade noted. “More than the common buildings.”</p><p></p><p>I nodded. The roadway turned and followed the river channel, and then turned passed the Valadis stables. Inside I could hear the shrilled neighing of terrified horses. We ignored them and entered the open square which the bridge and the ‘Drover’s Rest’ shared.</p><p></p><p>The square was full of shattered pots of fire, pots with wispy vapors, and pots with the remains of plants inside, each chopped into small pieces. But here we also found a number of men and women who had been stabbed, hacked and torn apart; signs of the vegepygmies and their mounts. But nothing lurked in the square now. I looked at the ‘Drover’s Rest’ and while the doors were shut, I couldn’t see anything in the windows with my sight. Looking at the bridge, it appeared unguarded as it crossed over the rushing waters.</p><p></p><p>“I was expecting…something,” Doxx said puzzle. “But there’s no vegepygmies, no townsfolk.”</p><p></p><p>“Perhaps they are barricaded inside buildings,” Sage remarked, turning his body warily expecting an attack.</p><p></p><p>The Blade moved toward the bridge and looked at the ground, and Adrissa followed close behind with Mobad. All three looked at the cobble stones and looked at each other nodding.</p><p></p><p>“A lot went south, across the bridge,” Mobad said simply.</p><p></p><p>“That’s obvious,” The Blade said. “But the townsfolk were followed by our moldy friends, with no one coming back.”</p><p></p><p>Adrissa squinted, and suddenly moved to cross the bridge, her head down still focusing on the cobbles and mud. Mobad and The Blade, looked at each other and moved forward, followed by the rest of us.</p><p></p><p>“We shouldn’t let her do that!” Doxx hissed. “We need to get her to—”</p><p></p><p>Rosa cut him off, “We’re here, she’ll be fine. I doubt she wants coddling. Besides, she does seem to know what she’s doing.”</p><p></p><p>Doxx grumbled. I could tell he that he genuinely cared about the girl but was conflicted. I wasn’t sure if it was how the others supported her, or perhaps how The Blade enabled her. Frowning I saw a lot of myself in the girl, and that drive to be able to be a burden to know one. What I didn’t have were critics, or others that cared enough to tell me the risks of what I did. But if they had, would I have listened. Probably not.</p><p></p><p>Once on the other side she bent down. As she did so, the horn sounded again. It was louder now, but nothing else had changed. She peered at the cobble and mud, and she moved from side to side about two paces.</p><p></p><p>“They split,” Adrissa quietly noted aloud. “A large number of those thorny dogs, and some vegepygmies headed that way,” She pointed to the south east, which I recalled was the path to the main gate. “But people almost all of them headed south.” And she pointed down a wide causeway that I wasn’t familiar with.</p><p></p><p>“Let me guess, that way leads to the ‘Church of the Blood Sacrament,’” Bookshelf said, and to which Adrissa nodded.</p><p></p><p>“Well done,” The Blade beamed. “You will make a fine inquisitive, when this is all over.”</p><p></p><p>“Inquisti—“ Doxx stopped himself short. “Let’s focus on getting the town secured.”</p><p></p><p>“That’s not all. There is a big one that followed the townsfolk, along with others.” Adrissa said, ignoring the argument about her.</p><p></p><p>“We should make sure the townsfolk are safe.” Rosa said. “There is going to be a lot of blind people, likely with self-inflicted wounds.”</p><p></p><p>“No,” Doxx disagreed. “Getting reinforcements from the outside is a priority.”</p><p></p><p>“Won’t they just become blind like the rest?” Sage asked.</p><p></p><p>“We need to warn them about that,” Doxx continued. “But if this is a military column, they might have some standard protection from eyerot. It won’t cure it, but it might be protective against it. And besides, if they are mounted, they can easily crush the vegepygmies.”</p><p></p><p>“The townsfolk though; they have to be scared, afraid, wounded.” Rosa stated. “We need to go to them, and ensure their safety.”</p><p></p><p>“Bad choices. Gate.” Mobad said.</p><p></p><p>“The citizens must be the first priority!” The Blade stated.</p><p></p><p>“Now look—“ Doxx started.</p><p></p><p>“—Which means we need to open that gate. Otherwise, we can’t help them.” The Blade finished.</p><p></p><p>Doxx simply shut his mouth in surprise. And looked at the warforged who looked at each other and nodded, as Rosa spoke again “And if we don’t help the townsfolk, what good will the armies of Karnnath do us? I’ll head to the church myself.”</p><p></p><p>“We will need you Rosa,” Sage stated. “We will likely have our hands full opening the gate.”</p><p></p><p>“Someone has to go!” Rosa was almost shouting at this point.</p><p></p><p>“Adressa, where did most of the vegepygmies go? The gate or the church?” I asked.</p><p></p><p>“The gate.” She said looking at me confused.</p><p></p><p>“Alright,” and I took a deep breath. “I’ll go to the church, and the rest of you open that gate.” I said.</p><p></p><p>“Alone? That’s not a good idea.” Bookshelf said.</p><p></p><p>“She won’t be alone,” Debrika spoke up for the first time in a while. “She will take Taryn and I there.”</p><p></p><p>“Taryn’s blind!” Rosa exclaimed.</p><p></p><p>“And not deaf,” the Mror grumbled. “And not useless. If they get close to me, I can take care of myself.”</p><p></p><p>“Well…that makes me feel better, but I should still—” Rosa started.</p><p></p><p>“Rosa,” I said. “The gate is important. Debrika and I can hold down the church until you finish opening that gate. You better protect this lot,”</p><p></p><p>“I should be with you…but I’ll help with the gate.” Rosa said, straightening up. “You watch yourself out there you three.”</p><p></p><p>Adrissa stood and said, “I will go with Myrai.”</p><p></p><p>“No. Please go with the others. They are going to need your help.” I said as I put a hand on her shoulder. “I’m betting we’ll be fine.”</p><p></p><p>“But I can—” she started before I knelt before her.</p><p></p><p>“<strong><em>I</em></strong> need you to keep them safe. Getting that gate open is a must,” I said. “I have faith in you; do you have it in me?”</p><p></p><p>Adrissa looked at me biting her lip and looked confused. Finally, she nodded. “Alright…please…please be safe.”</p><p></p><p>“I’ll be fine; my faith will protect me…and you.”</p><p></p><p>“Right then,” Doxx said. “Let’s open that gate.”</p><p></p><p>I turned to Debrika, who was pulling out a cord of hemp, and handed it to Taryn, while she tied an end to belt above her foulds on her armor. Nodding, she hefted her Warhammer and looked at me.</p><p></p><p>“Right,” I tried to say with confidence. “Good luck. May Kelemvor protect you.”</p><p></p><p>“I don’t know who that is. But I’ll take it,” Doxx said, and the others nodded.”</p><p></p><p>The others started to make their way to the front gate, bows, staves, axes and swords at the ready. They jogged down the roadway with urgency leaving us behind.</p><p></p><p>So, I found myself with my employer, his body guard/accountant, and my ever ‘helpful’ familiar in the crossroads. I looked down it and prayed that my hunch was right.</p><p></p><p>--<em>You sure this is a good idea?</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>I honestly don’t know. But if it is real bad, we’ll just go back to front gate.</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>--Right…you know if it wasn’t for the fact my existence is predicated on you staying alive, I’d go with them.</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>Thanks. You really know how to build up my confidence.</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>--Anytime!</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>Oh shut up!</em></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Nthal, post: 8340178, member: 6971069"] [HEADING=1][CENTER]Violence in the Streets - 7-14-2021[/CENTER][/HEADING] (Sorry for the delays, but IRL issue prevented a lot of time to work on prose. A lot more coming soon though.) “Great, let’s get it open.” I spoke. Mobad grinned in agreement. “At this point any number of troops would be a help,” Doxx said. “And they can get word out for more once we tell them what’s going on.” “What…what do we do?” Jace asked with the look of terror on his eyes. “We can’t just leave them alone here,” Rosa said. “If there are more mounted vegepygmies, they could overrun everyone at the gate. “Another problem; we still need to cross the river,” Bookshelf pointed out. “The bridge is near the Inn, right?” Sage asked, and Jace nodded in response. “We head there and draw attention to ourselves. That will keep them focused on us, until we get the other groups inside the walls.” “An excellent plan!” The Blade said. “Except what would draw a bunch of rotting vegetables together?” “A fire would do it,” Sage said. “But one of Bookshelf’s would probably be a hazard.” “That bad,” as Mobad pointed out the obvious. “I have something that can grab their attention,” I said. “Let’s get to the Inn and the bridge.” “We will!” Jace said proudly. The guards looked less enthusiastic and far more grim about it, but the determination in their faces showed they weren’t going to give up their homes. We moved through the streets of Denning warily. Black smoke wafted from the rooftops partially obscuring the roadway and alleys. The fires on the roofs sputtered, but the recent damp weather kept the flames from spreading. But it was all a mask for the stinging we felt in our eyes, as the eyerot tried to spread further. I reflected that being blind, even in my home town, would be terrifying. And the muffled screams and wailing seemed to confirm my concerns. But we couldn’t look for survivors yet. We passed by a large church that had been struck with multiple fire pots. Its steeple stood defiant as the flames sputtered on the roofline. One of the blazes caught a nine barred symbol high above the open doors afire, the gold and blue paint peeling. The smoke drifted down into the graveyard, partially submerging the headstones in a river of dark haze. It seemed off to me though that on one was here. And it saddened me that a proud symbol of faith was abandoned like it was. “I would have expected more to fled to here,” I said aloud as we passed. “The townsfolk would be at the Church of the Blood Sacrament not here,” Adrissa said quietly. “Why there?” Bookshelf asked. “It was built with a wall and gate,” Adrissa responded. “Not sure why.” “Defensible then,” The Blade noted. “More than the common buildings.” I nodded. The roadway turned and followed the river channel, and then turned passed the Valadis stables. Inside I could hear the shrilled neighing of terrified horses. We ignored them and entered the open square which the bridge and the ‘Drover’s Rest’ shared. The square was full of shattered pots of fire, pots with wispy vapors, and pots with the remains of plants inside, each chopped into small pieces. But here we also found a number of men and women who had been stabbed, hacked and torn apart; signs of the vegepygmies and their mounts. But nothing lurked in the square now. I looked at the ‘Drover’s Rest’ and while the doors were shut, I couldn’t see anything in the windows with my sight. Looking at the bridge, it appeared unguarded as it crossed over the rushing waters. “I was expecting…something,” Doxx said puzzle. “But there’s no vegepygmies, no townsfolk.” “Perhaps they are barricaded inside buildings,” Sage remarked, turning his body warily expecting an attack. The Blade moved toward the bridge and looked at the ground, and Adrissa followed close behind with Mobad. All three looked at the cobble stones and looked at each other nodding. “A lot went south, across the bridge,” Mobad said simply. “That’s obvious,” The Blade said. “But the townsfolk were followed by our moldy friends, with no one coming back.” Adrissa squinted, and suddenly moved to cross the bridge, her head down still focusing on the cobbles and mud. Mobad and The Blade, looked at each other and moved forward, followed by the rest of us. “We shouldn’t let her do that!” Doxx hissed. “We need to get her to—” Rosa cut him off, “We’re here, she’ll be fine. I doubt she wants coddling. Besides, she does seem to know what she’s doing.” Doxx grumbled. I could tell he that he genuinely cared about the girl but was conflicted. I wasn’t sure if it was how the others supported her, or perhaps how The Blade enabled her. Frowning I saw a lot of myself in the girl, and that drive to be able to be a burden to know one. What I didn’t have were critics, or others that cared enough to tell me the risks of what I did. But if they had, would I have listened. Probably not. Once on the other side she bent down. As she did so, the horn sounded again. It was louder now, but nothing else had changed. She peered at the cobble and mud, and she moved from side to side about two paces. “They split,” Adrissa quietly noted aloud. “A large number of those thorny dogs, and some vegepygmies headed that way,” She pointed to the south east, which I recalled was the path to the main gate. “But people almost all of them headed south.” And she pointed down a wide causeway that I wasn’t familiar with. “Let me guess, that way leads to the ‘Church of the Blood Sacrament,’” Bookshelf said, and to which Adrissa nodded. “Well done,” The Blade beamed. “You will make a fine inquisitive, when this is all over.” “Inquisti—“ Doxx stopped himself short. “Let’s focus on getting the town secured.” “That’s not all. There is a big one that followed the townsfolk, along with others.” Adrissa said, ignoring the argument about her. “We should make sure the townsfolk are safe.” Rosa said. “There is going to be a lot of blind people, likely with self-inflicted wounds.” “No,” Doxx disagreed. “Getting reinforcements from the outside is a priority.” “Won’t they just become blind like the rest?” Sage asked. “We need to warn them about that,” Doxx continued. “But if this is a military column, they might have some standard protection from eyerot. It won’t cure it, but it might be protective against it. And besides, if they are mounted, they can easily crush the vegepygmies.” “The townsfolk though; they have to be scared, afraid, wounded.” Rosa stated. “We need to go to them, and ensure their safety.” “Bad choices. Gate.” Mobad said. “The citizens must be the first priority!” The Blade stated. “Now look—“ Doxx started. “—Which means we need to open that gate. Otherwise, we can’t help them.” The Blade finished. Doxx simply shut his mouth in surprise. And looked at the warforged who looked at each other and nodded, as Rosa spoke again “And if we don’t help the townsfolk, what good will the armies of Karnnath do us? I’ll head to the church myself.” “We will need you Rosa,” Sage stated. “We will likely have our hands full opening the gate.” “Someone has to go!” Rosa was almost shouting at this point. “Adressa, where did most of the vegepygmies go? The gate or the church?” I asked. “The gate.” She said looking at me confused. “Alright,” and I took a deep breath. “I’ll go to the church, and the rest of you open that gate.” I said. “Alone? That’s not a good idea.” Bookshelf said. “She won’t be alone,” Debrika spoke up for the first time in a while. “She will take Taryn and I there.” “Taryn’s blind!” Rosa exclaimed. “And not deaf,” the Mror grumbled. “And not useless. If they get close to me, I can take care of myself.” “Well…that makes me feel better, but I should still—” Rosa started. “Rosa,” I said. “The gate is important. Debrika and I can hold down the church until you finish opening that gate. You better protect this lot,” “I should be with you…but I’ll help with the gate.” Rosa said, straightening up. “You watch yourself out there you three.” Adrissa stood and said, “I will go with Myrai.” “No. Please go with the others. They are going to need your help.” I said as I put a hand on her shoulder. “I’m betting we’ll be fine.” “But I can—” she started before I knelt before her. “[B][I]I[/I][/B][I] [/I]need you to keep them safe. Getting that gate open is a must,” I said. “I have faith in you; do you have it in me?” Adrissa looked at me biting her lip and looked confused. Finally, she nodded. “Alright…please…please be safe.” “I’ll be fine; my faith will protect me…and you.” “Right then,” Doxx said. “Let’s open that gate.” I turned to Debrika, who was pulling out a cord of hemp, and handed it to Taryn, while she tied an end to belt above her foulds on her armor. Nodding, she hefted her Warhammer and looked at me. “Right,” I tried to say with confidence. “Good luck. May Kelemvor protect you.” “I don’t know who that is. But I’ll take it,” Doxx said, and the others nodded.” The others started to make their way to the front gate, bows, staves, axes and swords at the ready. They jogged down the roadway with urgency leaving us behind. So, I found myself with my employer, his body guard/accountant, and my ever ‘helpful’ familiar in the crossroads. I looked down it and prayed that my hunch was right. --[I]You sure this is a good idea? I honestly don’t know. But if it is real bad, we’ll just go back to front gate. --Right…you know if it wasn’t for the fact my existence is predicated on you staying alive, I’d go with them. Thanks. You really know how to build up my confidence. --Anytime! Oh shut up![/I] [/QUOTE]
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