"Bah, keep the body then," Mark said, moving away to see what else at the scene was of interest. Sadly, it seemed like everything had been combed through. Everything except a tree that Sarah seemed very intently interested in.
"What's with the tree?" He asked, walking over near her, and looking at the tree up close. "Is there shrapnel embedded in it? I don't see it myself."
Whether by means magical or mundane, inspecting the tree revealed nothing.
Until further notice
Thetor Fort - Courtyard
The shrill voice of an older woman rang out across the courtyard. "Beeeennnnn! Where are you, you little rascal? Get back to work!"
Ben looked shiftily from side to side. "Whoops, that's my cue. If anyone asks, I was working in the stables the entire time. And for what it's worth... come back alive." And in the blink of an eye, he was gone.
Thetor Forest - Caravan Wreckage
The ripple of druidic magic rolled out from the tree where Sarah stood, sending back arcane echoes from the surrounding forest, and a picture of the land as it had been before the explosion began to form - but it was a tattered, incomplete picture, devoid of detail and distorted by the lingering magic from the explosion.
One pair of feet walked the roads in the night.
There was the impact of a shovel on pavement and an axe on a tree - but completely without sound, as though in a strange dream.
And then there was the pulsating, throbbing tumour, the affront to nature that was forcibly embedded into the earth and buried again under dirt and stone, like grit in a perverse oyster.
And then there was stillness.
Then there was light and heat and smoke, and the world erupted into fire, and the dying, choking gasps of men and animals filled the air, accompanied by the beat of stumbling, staggering and falling bodies.
One pair of feet moved, faster than the others, out of the heart of the explosion - and in a split second, another pair echoed in their wake, out of the range of the forest's echoes.
And then other feet and voices followed: "Is everyone okay?" "Wounded, keep your heads down!" "Son of a bitch."
The voices of soldiers and the footfall of booted feet flooded the forest now, calling out: "Spread out!" "Keep your eyes peeled." Many hands parted the underbrush roughly, sweeping the land for their prey.
At the blast zone, rubble was moved, and bodies were dragged. And in this chaos, one pair of feet approached from the edge of the forest, hampered in its motions by a heavy, dragging weight. And it slowly, precariously approached the wreck of the caravan... and gradually vanished into the chaos.
Jones came over, looking concerned. "Are you okay? Maybe you should return to the fort."
edited 3rd Sep '14 6:03:56 AM by Pyrite
Not a substitute for a formal medical consultation.
Smiling at the retreating form, Riviera added another promise to her list. One more person she must not fail, one more voice to grants her the wind of resolve to wield her heavy blade. With that, she stood up, stretched, and made to retires to her room.
I wonder how things went with the others?
The Maid
"Hmmgg... a-anng..." Sarah closed her eyes tightly... feeling as the forest, as the roots and the trees felt... seeing the events before, during and after the tragedy as they felt it. In beats and shadows, sounds and whispers.
What she saw concerned her... and she quickly committed it all to memory as she stumbled back from the shade of the trees. Her breathing was a little ragged, her energy fast fading and leaving her exhausted... but what she learned was valuable... very much so.
If I'm sure of something it's that I'm not sure of anything.
Until further notice
Thetor Forest - Caravan Wreckage
"She doesn't look so good, Captain," Jones said, his worried look deepening, "and I don't think I want to stick around to find out what's causing it."
Captain Lee agreed, nodding silently, and the party beat a hasty retreat back to the fort.
Thetor Fort - Infirmary
"...Your young man appears to have caught a bad case of the 'vapours'," the healer proclaimed at the door of the adventurers' quarters, "and should recover with some rest. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to get back to my patients."
"The young 'man' probably needs it," Jones replied, and muttered under his breath just out of earshot, "and we probably need a new doctor if he managed to get even that part wrong. Anyway, Lord Isham asked me to tell you that we've managed to get in touch with Master Palmer. You leave for the Exiles' Quarter tomorrow, so I suggest you get some rest. Gods know, it's only going to get worse from here." And with that ominous pronouncement, he shut the doors on them.
It was a well-furnished room, with bedrooms and amenities for both the men and women, but the bars on the windows were a grim reminder that for all the hospitality of Thetor, they were still prisoners of the crown.
edited 18th Sep '14 8:29:16 AM by Pyrite
Not a substitute for a formal medical consultation.
"Well then..." Mark said, looking at Sarah when they got to the room. "What did the trees tell you?"
The Maid
"They didn't talk to me... but I heard what they heard... felt what they felt" says Sarah, closing her eyes and going back into the memories of the experience she went through due to the forest.
"Before it happened... a pair of feet going up the road... shovel on earth, axe on a tree, then something evil... that which exploded, planted on the ground. Only one person planted the explosive"
"Then as it happened... The explosion. The heat... the death and bodies falling... then... one pair of feet ran away... away just as it exploded... away from it. Then... there was a second pair of footsteps in their wake outside of the echoes of the forest... Then more feet and voices "Is everyone okay?" they say... then "Wounded, keep your head down!" they respond... then they curse"
Finally... after the soldiers arrive... they spread out, they start searching the forest. A pair of feet approach during the chaos... heavy as they drag something... it moves into the wreckage... dragging something heavy"
After that Sarah takes a deep breath and says "The body of the caravan master's daughter... it seems to be a fake... it was burnt with oil... none of the other bodies smelled like that. Feet moved something heavy into the commotion... this fake body, prepared to look like she died. Someone wants the world to think that she's dead"
If I'm sure of something it's that I'm not sure of anything.
"The blast, was it of any notable -magical or otherwise- nature?" Riviera inquired, directing the question to the rogue, the mage and the druid.
edited 20th Sep '14 5:00:03 PM by Pblades
"Yes," Jhelani said quietly, nodding. "The blast was high magic - the person or people who made that bomb had training, maybe even in an academy. Powerful, very dangerous stuff."
It's been fun.
"Or their power lies in wealth. Are such magical contraptions difficult, meaning expensive, to come by?" She turned to ask Mark in particular.
Thetor Fort - Courtyard
"Nope, none that I've seen around. Like I said, most of our 'visitors' come here in chains," Ben repeated. "You're the first new faces we've seen in the last month or so."
Not a substitute for a formal medical consultation.