by The Kingpin » Sat Feb 05, 2011 11:47 am
"How is it that every city I go to I find it's people sacrificing 'prisoners' to reptilian beasts?" rumbled Septimus, high above the arena in Freyr-Lunge. he had been watching the events below, heard the words of the man presenting the events, and watched as the victims were pulled into the shadows and slaughtered. the Dragon slowly descended towards the top of the arena, landing softly on the stone roof of the main podium, looking down at the events silently...
Arashi snarled as he banked around, coming round for another strike on the surviving huergah...it irritated him that the unicorns seemed incapable of bludgeoning it to death right there...still...it would benefit him once news spread amongst their kind of the rune-covered grey Dragon that saved their brethren. and thus, stage one of his plan would be set in motion...
Meanwhile, back near the village of Kirratair....
"Not commending his behaviour or anything sir, but....About what Thatch said...What ARE you expecting in the forest, sir?" asked one of the guards. "I don't know" answered Bairn honestly. "But whatever it is, it can't be good. We need to be ready for anything" he said as he moved carefully through the trees, following the tracks of the only villager whose direction they knew of...
Bairn crouched down, looking carefully at the tracks, noting that they seemed...scattered, somewhat. as if the villager was panicked. indeterminate...running from something. the problem was....there were no other tracks but hers. he strode after the tracks carefully, glancing around, looking to the trees, rocks, ferns and ground for guidance. a gasp came from somewhere in the trees up ahead, Bairn's head snapping up at the source. he signalled to the men with him to follow, before stepping forward after the source. the rustle of dry grass underfoot was heard, Bairn brushing aside the undergrowth and looking out at the source, seeing what looked like a raven-haired girl, hardly older than 13, running into the mist in the distance. "stop!" called Bairn, but the child seemed oblivious. "Amalia!" called one of the guards, before bolting after her, Bairn running ahead after the man and passing him, the others following, trying to catch the child, which seemed to be pulling away in spite of their efforts to pursue. "Amalia slow down! Stop! Don't run!" called the guard, Rupert Stave, her uncle. the girl disappeared into the thickening mist, and the sounds of rustling grass and dirt underfoot ceased...
A few moments later, their trail was cut off. before them was a natural stone wall. a cliff face...it was almost 6 meters tall, made up of several boulders; the product of an avalanche the previous year during the winter months. the path of destruction was still visible. fallen trees and rubble littered the floor, small pools all around them where the ice had formed and remelted repeatedly. Bairn looked around for a possible path. nothing. glancing back at the others, he frowned. "Amalia was the first to disappear.....she's still alive. Perhaps there's hope for the others yet" said Bairn. "How do you know that, sir?" asked Rupert, seeming optimistic, but also somewhat confused. "Well she was ri-" he started, before a realisation hit him. one of them was missing. "Where's Samuel?" he said. the others looked amongst themselves, shaking their heads. "I dunno....Samuel!" said Rupert, as he started to take a step away from the group, tracing their steps. "Wait. don't leave the group. stick together" said Bairn, his mind reeling with what had just happened. was it all just a dream? just a...vision? vivid wishful thinking, perhaps? had he really called out Amalia's name? apparently not. but again....why Amalia, of all the missing people? very strange indeed. "Let's keep looking. we're bound to find tracks soon" said Bairn as he started looking around the area for clues as to where Samuel had gone...
"Ah yes, organised chaos. the sign of a clever but ever-busy mind. To the perpetrator, a carefully woven web of belongings and intrigue, but to the bystander? Madness!"
–William Beckett, Lore of Leyuna RPG