Fantasy The Sundering Star

[Verena]

Verena kept stalking through the thicket, keeping her ears peeled and her eyes on the smoke pillar. After a while, she stopped following the smoke itself and instead the strong smell of roasted fish. When she finally caught a glance at the camp, she slowly lay down flat and observed from afar.

Five hunters in total, Verena guessed, one keeping watch. The rest clearly wasn’t behind her or she would have spotted them on her way here. Her eyes trailed down to the bow and quiver at the remaining hunter’s feet. He wouldn’t be able to pick it up and shoot faster than her legs carried her. Verena could technically make it look like some rabid beast did it with a few well placed messy cuts and tears here and there. But what about the missing bow? Would a bear really have use for it? No, these hunters seemed quite experienced if their trophies were any indication of their skill. She wouldn’t be able to fool them so easily.

Her best bet was to wait them out and steal the think while they slept. She’d have enough time to redesign the weapon afterward so they didn’t recognize it as their own. The serpent slid a few steps back into the bushes and placed her hands under her head to make herself comfortable. She’d have to wait quite a bit until sundown.

 

[TheLoyalAcorn]

The hunters all returned to the two campsites before the sun had even begun to dip. 3 were across the bank from where the first campsite was. The main campsite that was close to Verena held 5 hunters. It was no doubt a family based off of how 3 younger males shared one of the tents hardly large enough for two, while the other two tents held one younger female, the last tent holding the oldest member who in place of trinkets and accessories wore a mostly plain looking set of hunting furs. A large brown sash was worn across his shoulder pinned into place near his hip by a ornate pin looking much like a cross.

The large group stayed with their own camp site occasionally throwing food, drink or insults across the river. The fish that was being cooked was being picked at while the "Father" of the family finished skinning a large boar with the help of the girl who was guarding the camp for most of the day. All of them wore furs, trinkets and other accessories that further confused what gender each member was unless one was looking directly at their face. They spoke in loud booming voices about the typical gripes of the day. The less than successful hunt, the group on the other side of the river and most importantly the new taxes leveled in "Fort Sarlk".

The camps remained lively as the hunters prepared for the hunt at night. They all chattered excitedly about killing a night creature (Roll a D20 on a 14 up you know what creature). The earlier morning hunt was nothing more than a way to set down traps, explore the land and familiarize themselves with the probable location of the night creature's nest. New arrows were being created around the fire with specific designs meant to pierce, rend and tear large gashes into their prey. One remark was heard above the rest to an observant scout. They planned on leaving the camp sites empty when they left to better increase their chances of finding and killing their target.

 

[Verena]

Verena didn’t have to wait long after all. Luckily for her, the hunters returned more quickly than she had anticipated. Unluckily for her, they wouldn’t stay long. She cursed under her breath. She should have used the opportunity and taken the single hunter out. Now, Verena couldn’t go against all five of them. Getting hurt and being miles away from any civilization was a deadly combination. At least now she could travel somewhat safely through the night, simply having to follow the river upstream.

The serpent waited for the hunters to depart, picked herself up from the ground and patted dust and leaves off her clothes. At the very least, she now was rested and could probably keep a reasonable pace throughout the night. The moon and stars provided all the light she needed. As she walked upstream, as Julia had instructed her, she munched on a small handful of her provisions but was also scanning the riverbank for crabs, which tended to be more active during nightly hours.

 

[TheLoyalAcorn]

The river was void of activity as the hunters who passed through disrupted the natural flow of life. The journey heading upriver towards townshed was quick as near the bank there was flat solid ground. Long into the night, a large silhouette of a wagon in the middle of a forest clearing sat in the open. It was filled to the brim with supplies, but it seems like it would be impossible to get the wagon there as the trees surrounding the wagon were clumped too close together preventing any escape for the wagon.

A single figure sat in the clearing on top of the wagon whistling a tune as he laid back on his wagon watching the stars. A sword laid nearby, and his equipment was that of travelers garb. A large painted red fist was painted on both sides of the wagon.

A particularly stealthy person could avoid this encounter, or a charismatic person could try and discover what the odd traveler was up to.

 

[Verena]

Verena couldn’t spot any late-night snacks for a while so she gave up the search altogether and focused on the path. After a few hours of walking, she suddenly spotted the silhouette of the wagon, halted and crouched down in the nearest bush to observe it. As she crept closer she began to recognize some of the equipment, the stranger on top that didn’t seem to be paying attention and the painted red fists on the sides. For a moment there, Verena assumed this was Aeries, the good-natured helper and supplier of the dwarves, but she couldn’t be certain of it. While she could sneak past this scene unnoticed easily, Verena felt curious and most importantly, she didn’t want to pass a second opportunity after her failed attempt to get a bow for Marguerite. While the man had a sword at his side, she too had hers and a bit more.

Doubting that the man could recognize her features in the dark fully and not wanting to come out as a threat immediately, Verena pulled back her hood and approached the wagon more openly. “Beautiful night, isn’t it?”, she acknowledged in a friendly tone, glancing up at the starry sky but still very much focused on the stranger’s reaction. “Stuck?” Verena at least couldn’t quite see how the wagon came and went, especially surrounded by trees like this.

 

[TheLoyalAcorn]

The man slowly moved from laying down to sitting up right. Scarlet eyes appeared bright in the night sky. A beam of moonlight illuminated a face covered in blood. Bright red veins crisscrossed upon his face as he looked upon Verena. The sword he slowly picked up as he drew to his full height was as the color of burnished bronze. He kicked a shield from off the wagon nothing more than scrap metal with the shape of fingers as the epicenter of the warping and breaks of the shield.

The red fists were immediately recognizable upon seeing this man. He was of the Sanguine Guard of Kvass. They drank the blood of magical beings to increase their power to unheard of levels. The strongest creating spears of blood that simply exploded killing dozens of demons in one blow. The blood fist was nothing more than a mark to denote his company in the guard.

There were rumors that some of the Sanguine Guard hunted humans and other less magic beings in their quest to attain power. By the looks of this Sanguine Guard and the dark objects in the wagon that slowly looked more and more like human corpses. He had eaten a good portion but wanted more. Despite his clear height advantage standing on the wagon, he didn't move an inch after standing tall and facing Verena.

"Yes, it's quite a beautiful night."

 

[Verena]

Verena, once again, immediately regret her decision as she caught a glance at the man now upright. What she assumed was equipment also quickly turned out to be the bodies of his victims. What she assumed to be a lonesome traveler turned out to be a Sanguine Guardsman. Lucius would probably be very, very disappointed with her right now. The man’s hungry glare was rather upsetting too but she tried to keep a cool head. She might just be able to walk away from this mostly unharmed. Contrary to the blood-crazed guard, she didn’t draw her weapons. Perhaps it wouldn’t need to come to blows. After all, he looked quite well-fed already.

“I see you’ve been busy. Had a good time?”, she asked and nodded towards the desiccated corpses, keeping her voice as calm and chill as she could muster, hoping he was willing to talk. If he wanted to kill her, then he probably would have done so already.

 

[TheLoyalAcorn]

"Ack! Busy? No not with this boring lot! It was a waste of a morsel. I like it when my food puts up a fight." The man's eyes and veins began to revert back to it's original state until it revealed a white haired man with the trade mark aristocratic looks of House Numinos.

Spoiler

He gently raised his sword so the pommel was close to his eyes as he looked for any leftover blood. His eyes darkened and his lips pulled into an angry snarl as he saw the blade was clean. One of the bodies after being disturbed by the man's movement began to slide off the edge of the wagon. With a flourish, the man spun the blade in his palm before slamming the blade into one of the bodies that hanged over the edge of the wagon pinning the sliding body in place. No blood seeped from the wound just an empty bag of a human was left.

"Angelica always steals the best blood or rather the freshest blood.... its a shame really. I would like a taste every now and again." the man gracefully jumped from the wagon and prowled over to Verena a predatory smile carved on his face. He stopped just short of invading her personal space before giving an over exaggerated bow. "My name is Guardsman Lemartes of the Bloody Fists. Who might you be? I like knowing the names of those I kill"

Blood red eyes peered out to stare at Verena. His hands were crossed over his chest fully confident unarmed and unarmored he could beat this mysterious traveler. The last challenge he had was fighting a Venn'darian raid ship alone. She couldn't be a harder fight than 25 Venn'darian Marines... Unless she had an ace up her sleeve. Without missing a beat, Lemartes scanned Verena for any hidden weapons but was only able to see the weapons she openly displayed. Despite this, Lemartes maintained his cool stare already tasting the sweet vintage waiting just underneath her skin.

 

[Verena]

Verena watched as the man reverted to a more humanesque appearance and caught herself hoping he would stay that way. It somewhat gave her more confidence. This friend or rival of his, Angelica, seemed like the stronger one but didn’t seem to be around so Verena tried focusing on one enemy at a time. As the Guardsman slinked towards her, she initially didn’t move a muscle. When he introduced himself though, accompanied by a bow, she returned it, pinching the edges of the long coat as if it were a dress. At the same time, she let the hood fall back over her head.

“And mine is Morinia, a Serpent and spawn of Lucius. You may hear this a lot, but you really don’t want to kill me. Snakes tend to strike back when one disturbs their nest.”, she introduced herself in turn, believing that this one might have heard of her master, who has killed half a dozen of his people. “If a meal is what you’re after, then there are five hunters down the river, stalking some magical beast this evening. I suppose it would be fun if the hunters became the prey.”

 

[TheLoyalAcorn]

Lemartes scoffed at this Morinia searching her eyes for any mentions of deceit. The blood thirst was gone the curse more than getting its fill, but that was never the goal. Lemartes only cared about the blood for blood's sake. Rudimentary math filled his thoughts as he tried to figure out what Morinia's worth was. Her comments were beneath response. Lucius? A name with no value to Lemartes. Serpents? It sounded like a cult of Sphiasis. Maybe he would be doing the Empress a favor by killing such an oddity.

Insane, a cultist or a helpful traveler. "It would be nice for another meal. I'll pay your friends a visit." Lemartes went to the wagon and with little effort jumped from the ground and onto the wagon and wrenched his blade free from the sliding body. His sword retrieved. Lemartes spun the blade in his hand as he began the journey to find the hunters with a pep to his step and a tune in his heart. Before he walked out of ear shot, Lemartes yelled. "Be a dear and tell the town elder he won't be seeing his family again." With a laugh he moved on to his next targets.

 

[Verena]

“With utmost pleasure.”, she spoke, assuming the Guardsman would be able to hear her with his heightened senses and all. Only after she was sure he had passed did she let out a relieving sigh and shook out her body of the built-up tension. The dreaded trophy hunters would still get what’s coming to them and she was still alive and well. A good night.

Next, Verena focused her attention on the wagon. Leaving potential loot to rot away simply wasn’t in her nature. The hollow bodies were easy to move around and rummage through so it didn’t take her all that long to find valuables. The swords weren’t anything special and she grumbled as she tossed them aside. “Pff! Some town elder you are. Not a single jeweled sword or dagger.” The coins didn’t hurt though. When, however, she reached the sealed letter and paperwork, her eyes went wide. “Now that’s what I’m talking about.” The serpent wouldn’t open that letter of course. Instead, she would bring it back to Lucius or even the Good Lord. On the other hand, she could also bring it to the Azure. That was sure to improve her standing with them. “Murdered by their own bodyguard. How ironic.” Verena resisted the urge to laugh as she glanced over the writ. She quickly pocketed them both inside her inside pocket, washed her hands at the river and continued on her journey.

 

[TheLoyalAcorn]

Nothing of note occured for Verena until her third day. There was no wild outlandish cry of the hunters in the night nor the creeping dread of the guardsman returning. On the third day it happened. A traveler stood with dead bodies arrayed around him. He wore bright orange clothes with the sleeves rolled up and his head shaved a tattoo of an odd collection covered his face.

The first dead body looked like a Nysinian by dress. Her neck was bruised heavily with the look of hand marks. The other looked eerily familiar. A broken instrument clutched in his hands and a tree branch shoved in his eye. The orange clad man was pacing around yelling and trembling. An improvised blade was in his hand.

His whimpering and yelling stopped as he saw Verena. "You! Stop the voices! Stop it! I just want to see my kids! I didn't ask for this Raebyrn!" Before Verena could reason. The man threw himself at her trying to close the distance despite the long distance buying Verena time to react and plan for a handful of seconds. His blade in a flurry of stabs and slashes.

 

[Verena]

Nearly three days had passed since Verena had had that awful experience with the Guardsman. She hadn’t had a good sleep since then, every sound other than the birdcalls waking her. The serpent knew that being up in a tree, she was relatively safe from everything except bears, yet a certain fear lingered. She’d have to ask Lucius to actually take her to kill one of these bloody things so she actually had any experience rather than just advice. On top of it all, her supplies were really running low now. Verena had to reach Townshed soon or she’d have to turn to eating roots and dandelions.

On the third day, just as she began to think she might have lost her way, she spotted something orange in the distance. It almost shone through the trees, immediately catching her attention. Verena had very rarely seen such a bright color and then only on royalty. Turmeric dyes were extremely expensive after all. Unsurprisingly, she crept closer to investigate. Curiosity may have killed the cat but it also made certain serpents quite rich. Unsurprisingly, it wasn't royalty out in the woods. It was a madman, pacing around doing madman things.

When Verena saw the crime scene beneath his feet though, she froze, her eyes pinned on one of the corpses. As she focused, she quickly recognized the odd instrument one of the summons used to carry. Charles! So that’s what had happened to the rest? Poor fellow. Verena had to wonder what would happen to his spirit now. Would he be cursed to wander this foreign world or would it return to its origins?

While stuck contemplating, Verena didn’t notice she had been seen until the madman yelled and charged at her. “Raebyrn? You’re another summon?!” She immediately shoved the thoughts aside, drew her saber but didn’t strike. Instead, the serpent kicked up sand, pebbles and foliage towards her attacker's face, sidestepping and preparing a strike towards the back of his neck with the back of her sword. This would not only slow the madman down but also possibly throw him to the ground, from where they could maybe talk.

 

[TheLoyalAcorn]

A roar of pain came screeching out of the conflict's mouth. The flat of Verena's blade would've knocked out a lesser man, but after years of prison fights, street fighting and bar fighting. The scrappy man barely kept the black dots from overwhelming him. He did fall but was able to get back on his feet easily with a single well executed roll.

Spoiler

Rolled a D6 got a 6

He was close enough to Verena for her to smell his rancid breath. He tried to grab Verena and stab her guts out only to grab onto her shoulder and stab leaving his whole body exposed and his stab completely missed and fell out of his hand. The sand and pebbles from earlier entirely blinding the savage man.

Spoiler

Rolled a D6 got a 1

 

[Verena]

Verena thought he might stay on the ground. She was wrong and caught off guard. His breath made her grimace but his miss restored a grin to her face. Now he was at a disadvantage. With her free hand, Verena grabbed hold of his and twisted it away from her, aiming to break or at least dislocate the wrist. (rolled a 4) For her second defensive action, she used the pommel of her sword, aiming it at his throat. The serpent tried to keep her strike on the light side as to temporarily choke her attacker and cause lots of pain but not actually crush his trachea and choke him to death. (rolled a 6)

 

[TheLoyalAcorn]

A hand ripped Meryl's hand out of its socket (rolled a 3). Crying out in pain, Meryl took a step back to his own doom. The pommel sunk in deep and true (rolled a 1). The man fell like a sack of flour pain etched on his face as for a moment he could not breathe. His body convulsed over compensating for trying to bring air into his lungs.

Meryl was completely incapacitated. His shiv discarded and lost somewhere. His fighting hand useless from the spikes of pain it produced, and his body finally giving up after days of his mania as he prowled about looking for an escape. His last act of defiance was a glare which in on itself looked defeated and terrified.

 

[Verena]

For a moment there, Verena worried she might have damaged her poor attacker beyond repair. In that case, offering him a quick death would be the most merciful way to handle his condition. Instead of checking, Verena picked up the improvised shiv a few feet from her, looked it over for a second and tossed it into the river. He wouldn’t be able to use it properly anymore anyways. “You know, you could have avoided all of this but you chose to attack first and think later.”, she explained calmly and walked over to him, smiling at his glare. “Are you at least more willing to talk about Raebyrn now and how you got here in the first place or should I end your miserable life right now? I'd say it would be justified, seeing the mess you did.” Verena looked the two corpses over once again and confirmed the male as one of the former summons. A stick to the eye. What a way to go. She still couldn't recognize the woman though.

 

[TheLoyalAcorn]

Meryl spat in the dirt. A thick glob of blood came out. The convict rocking himself in pain. "Fuck off! I refuse! I refuse" every second the pain grew and Meryl struggled to bit back the pain.

His eyes darted around trying to find an escape route. His mind racing to the rest of the old group. They would come and help they had to.

 

[Verena]

A sigh escaped Verena’s lips. Of course he wouldn’t wanna talk, she just beat him up after all. The bloody spit didn’t remain unseen. The available time to press some information out of the madman seemed limited now. “Look, believe it or not, I was among one of Raebyrn’s summons. Saving the world from a demonic invasion? Yeah, same thing. Now, if you can tell me what happened to the rest of the summons that were with you, I might just consider patching you up. If not, you know, Malice hasn’t tasted blood in a while now.” Crouching down a few feet from the man, the serpent looked over her beloved saber. She had a habit of naming things that stayed long enough by her side.

 

[TheLoyalAcorn]

"Save the world?" Meryl immediately went into a fit of coughs. Unsurprisingly, blood and spit followed covering anything near his uncovered mouth (rolled a 2 for toughness). "I don't want to be patched up. He promised! He promised freedom! hahahaha" the man devolved into another fit of coughs. He struggled to stay upright. The physical damage done to him seemed unproportionate for the brief struggle with Verena. "What are you going to do? Consume me like the others? I refuse" The man kneeled over coughing a mess onto the grass mostly consisting of mucus and spit. Red rimmed eyes searched for Verena's looking for an answer to her motives and her plans for him.

 

[Verena]

Verena moved a step back as to not get spit and blood all over her. “Yes, well, technically you are free. And how did you use that freedom? You killed one of your companions and whoever that other woman is. Is that your definition of freedom?” Se giggled, this was rather fun. When, however, she heard him ask if she was about to consume then, her good mood diminished. “Consume you? No no no, you have me mistaken for a Sanguine Guard. I just offered to undo my own damage, remember.” Verena stood and went over to the bodies to examine if they too were robbed of their fluids and also check their pockets. Perhaps Raebyrn gave them an artifact as well. “Say, when did this happen exactly? Was it a woman that did it?” If this was indeed the recent work of Angelica, then Verena had to get out of here and fast.

 

[TheLoyalAcorn]

The man just violently shook his head coughing in short bursts at a much more manageable level. His body language clued those paying attention that his mind was far away from the current dilemma he was currently in. Only brief moments of awareness seemed to catch him before he sprouted off a few words relevant to the topic.

"It was done when I was told to! The rafters on the temple gleamed of this truth!" The bodies nearby leaked blood still. A shade too dark no doubt due to it slowly drying in the sun. They had no coinage, weapons better than the improvised knife or anything else of immediate monetary value. The violin on the other hand was still in its case untouched waiting to be found by one able to play it. Lastly, a notepad the size of a palm was found by the girl filled with various sketches of mechanical precision at the start. The sketches soon turned into horrible nightmares with a cave as the common reoccurring theme. The odd collection was serenaded with the ramblings of Meryl mostly centered around the feeling of power after he slayed his traveling companions.

 

[Verena]

Verena couldn’t make anything of the madman’s words so she focused on the corpses. The bodies seemed normal. Was it just in his head then or were there others that Verena didn’t know of? Nevertheless, she couldn’t stay here long. She needed to get to Townshed, get horses and shoes and return or Marguerite and Calista might assume she had left them or died. If they got lost, they might end up like those two at her feet.

When Verena tried to pick up the strange instrument and see if she could still sell it, it practically fell apart in her hands and she let it go. She did take the curious notepad though. Perhaps some of the higher-ups could make something of these grotesque drawings. As the serpent turned her attention back to the madman, she could hear him rambling again. She wished she could take those orange clothes but she wasn’t particularly in the mood to wash the blood, spit and dirt off of them. So Verena stood, gave him a last glance and strolled down the river again. Now that he was crippled, it was only a matter of time before someone found him and taught him a final lesson. She didn’t want his blood on her hands.

 

[TheLoyalAcorn]

Verena was at most a 3 hour journey from Townshed. The road to townshed went from the rough path that followed the river into the town itself. While Townshed lacked paved roads like the prestigious cities. It wasn't a small nuanced village.

The town was split in half by the river containing a population of a thousand strong if not more in the immediate vicinity. Small enough to avoid detection during the Sunderings and large enough to fend off smaller incursions. Townshed had strong walls of cobblestone at least 10 feet tall with large sections changing in wear and tear showing that the wall was a generational effort taking hundreds of years.

An inn sat outside the gates no doubt built with the expectation some travelers may not desire to go within its walls or not allowed to by the local enforcers. A shanty town was also slowly beginning to develop of all manners of houses, shops and gangs. This was due to the fact the inside the walls the town lacked the space to fit the new citizens.

A town watch patrolled the walls. They all held spears and shields with the odd few holding a crossbow. There was only two gates the Southern gate which Verena would enter, and the gold gate. The Southern gate had 3 guards posted. Two bickering over the merits of falling in love with a blond or brunette. The third sat nearby at a small table writing and adding his own opinion on occasion.

Verena knew based off of the typical Kvassian/Legionary doctrine behind the gate was a barracks of at least 50 militiamen. If they were especially rich 50 battle hardened legionaries. The walls held a smaller barracks of 20 devoted archers or thunder bearers. Her previous experience going through gates was to speak to the "Legionary" on duty usually the one sitting at the desk to be checked into the town. There was also other methods into the town. A bar or inn nearby could potentially be run by The Sons of The Serpent or the rival gang "The Order" a pack of "religiously" motivated thugs. Odds were that buying anything in the shanty town would come at a price much higher for lesser goods.

 

[Verena]

As usual, Verena smelled the town before she saw it emerge from behind the tree line. On one hand, she would miss the peacefulness of nature. On the other, she felt much safer in a populated environment. Besides, she would have to pass through the same forest on her way back anyways, this time taking a somewhat different path though.

When Townshed finally revealed itself before her, Verena scanned the walls and noted the entrances, as well as the inn. She could definitely use a drink and some food right now and thanks to the generous donation of a few corpses, she could easily pay for both. The serpent, however, did not enter the first inn and instead looked around the shanty town for a bar or inn belonging to her own. From what she had seen so far, their buildings tended to not be so obvious as the one right next to the gate.