Forums » Fantasy Roleplay » Lost in the Blizzard - A village Torn

The noise is revealed to be, the former tavern keep, Horace. He is beyond badly hurt - It would appear he not only took a horrible wound to the chest, but severe, full body burns from head to toe. It was a gruesome sight, that would unsettle any - his flesh was mostly melted, clothes burned away to leave a writing, withered mass of a human being. His muscles are visible, rather than any fleshy tissues. His breath is weak, the veins in his neck pulsating with every heart beat as he struggles to intake oxygen. His fingers lie trembling over a dagger, that he lacks the strength to lift. His chest pulsates rapidly, as if his body was trying to survive.. Most notably, his eyes are dull blue, implicating the man has gone blind. He hears the footsteps, but knows not who he sees.. He simply pleads, "Kill me.. Please.." as his bony fingers tremble over the hilt of the dagger.

As soon as Kalliope sees Horace, the tears start rolling up again. She does not sob, however. She goes over top him, and sits down next to him. "Horace." she said, tears rolling from her eyes and on to him. When she'd arrived to the town, Horance was the one who feed her and gave her a place to stay, until the barn was rebuild. She picks his head up, and rests it upon her thighs. "Horace." she repeats. She strokes him over the head and starts humming. She gives him the bottle of wine and reaches for his knife. She continues her humming as he drinks, and when he's distracted she slices his throat. She drops the bloody knife, and keep humming until she's sure that he's dead. Then she allows herself to cry. She sobs silently, as she rocks back and forth, still supporting his head. She not even paying any attention to Horace's blood soaking her dress.

Horace bleeds out quickly. Within mere seconds, even. He had lost a lot of blood to start off with, it was quite remarkable he had survived as long as he did, as charred as he was. The poor fellow quickly succumbs to death, yet this would be a relief, at this point; He was in the rift, now.

(Going to allow the others to reply, BabyDragon )

(After this one, I won'the post for a bit today, work and such.)

The faint sounds of a steed walking down the road can be heard, as well as the clinking of heavy armor, chain mail, and equipment, though, anyone inside the town, nor the wooden house wouldn't be able to hear them anyway.

Tarben is ensconced in a surrounding of vendor stalls that once belonged to the market, and there he would partake of his reprieve. Peering over the emptied boxes and demolished crates, he would peer into the distance in all directions,
As previously described, he could indeed see towards Kalliope, yet he would only watch as she entered the tavern at this time. After she had vanished from sight, he turns to espy the direction opposite, towards the clustered watch.
He smells of fear and perspiration, and his mind is yet unclear; it is along the mindset of beasts, whom seek only to survive through to the dawn.
He is but a mouse, and his burrow has been discovered by a legion of owls.
His betrothed's whereabouts weigh heavily on him still, but what can he do at this time?
If he is to do aught, he must have time to rest and to think, and that is just what he'll do. Here amongst the discarded, he is secure for the while (?).

(Forgive me for the short, dull paragraph. I fear my day is busy as is, and I am rushed!)

Meanwhile, far south, a large force approaches. They were not yet in sight, marching in threes down the long and winding road that lead them here for the initial attack. A few of their standards could be made out over the tree line, but they were quite distant, indicating the occupiers are moving in quite slowly - It would be assumed that they would have the entire village occupied at full in the next hour.

Sargent Carmichael exits the town hall, and says in a loud tone to his men (Loud enough for the survivors in the village to hear) "Right. We move on Whitedell by the turn of the week. We'll get this place settled and defensible in the mean time. You, get to work getting up barricades on the main entrances.." He continues to call out orders to the men who remain outside. Two of which, following their new initiative, head towards the West gate to set up fortifications - This would put the pair moving down the road, right between the two known survivors.

Had they heard, they would likely recognize Whitedell. It was the closest village to them, being only a day's hike from the one they were once in. It was no more defensible than this one, and they would surely fall just the same.

"Um..." Ivan was about to ask for some breakfast before they go, but he knows that time is of the essence, and shouldn't be wasted on food just yet. "Never mind... let's get going..." Ivan grabs his composite bow, sword, and dagger to be properly armed for this. He knows he shouldn't bring his horse as that would likely attract more attention, although mobility wise, it has its advantages.

The slow clopping gets slightly louder, as a man in armor is riding on the road going toward the west gate of the village on a dark brown... mule? With travel bags and only a thin layer of chainmail on it's hide? Why that's strange. As he gets closer to the village he sees the flags, and smells the scent of smoke, he decides to stop his mule in it'a tracks, swearing he's seen that flag somewhere before, being a traveling knight he forgets things easily. "I should ask someone about that town before I venture into it." He mutters to himself. He guides his horse to a wooden house on the side of the road, he climbs off of it and walks up the stairs, and knocks on the door.

The house along the side of the road in a guard's post, now abandoned. The door was not closed, so it creaked open when he knocked upon it. The room is simple, weapon racks, armor racks, shield racks.. Yet, there were little weapons still left upon it. In the center table was a small map of the local area, and surrounding villages - Perhaps something of use to him later. Yet he would find no life here. However, further west, he may well see the Cabin, far off in the woods.

__

Boris continues at pace outside the cabin, anticipating Ivan to follow behind him. Or, behind his dog, who was always at his heels. In the distance, he spots Drake, but cannot make out who he is - only that his armor reflects the sun from the sky, and from the snow below, making him rather shiny. He narrows his eyes and readies a simple arrow upon his longbow, muttering to Ivan, "Is he one of the Ruffians? He's.. Gleamier, than I expected." he spares another glance to the man, as he examines the guard house.

He goes inside of the cabin, now knowing that something was up, he looks at the map, and examines the racks more closely, grabbing a few scattered arrows and chucking them in his quiver. He takes another look at the map. "Well, that could be useful with getting around." He takes the map, and puts it in one of the travel bags on the mule. He notices the cabin, grabbing the reigns of his mule and walking toward the cabin.

(Gonna wait on Ivan )

Ivan makes his way behind Boris, trying to keep low and undetected. He had his composite bow out ready in case of a sudden ambush or the like. He too gets a glance of the gleaming figure and his eyes widen as Boris aims at him. "Wait!" Ivan interjects as he gently pushes the arrow away from the target. "Not yet... if anything these brigands will hold up fortified within the town. I doubt they'd walk outside..." Ivan states to Boris.

Boris gently nods his head, taking his word on the matter. He lowers his bow, and gently releases the draw he had started. He then starts towards the figure, who appears to be heading in their direction all the same. He glances back to Ivan, "I'm not too good at introductions." he reaches a hand around and attempts to push him ahead, "And you have all the armor." he chortles.

Ivan breathes a sigh of relief as he complies. He's already seen enough killing his whole life, so more bloodshed is bound to be tiresome. He flinches a little as Boris pushes him forward "Uh, da... sure thing..." Ivan says nervously as they approach them. He hates to admit it, but he wasn't good with talking to people, and still isn't. He was more an introvert than anything else, and enjoyed company to himself more. He raises his hand to greet him. "Hail!" He greets, slinging his bow over his shoulder so as to look less threatening.

Boris remained wary, though her had lowered his bow and now held it in only one hand, hes still held the arrow in place with his index finger, in case of a sudden emergency. Though he did bare a humble smile, and sent the newcomer a wave with his free hand, from behind the armored man.

He waves his free hand back at them. "Hello there!" He walks his mule over to them, on his way they can see the blue emblems on his armor of a celtic dragon surrounded in knots, and a blue cross. "Do y'all happen to know why there's a stench of smoke in the air?" His mule whinnies, moving around a little in it's place.

A mule? Seems fairly odd for someone to be riding such a thing, and judging by his attire, he appears to be a knight. Perhaps he couldn't afford a horse? Perhaps he was a bit daft? Whatever it was, Ivan remains questioning. Ivan had never seen such an emblem before, and was more than curious and eager to ask. However the call of duty remains higher than mere chat and banter. "Um..." Ivan pauses. "The village not far from here has been raided. We're looking for survivors..." Ivan explains to him, his Russian accent being present. "I'm Ivan by the way..."

Boris nods along with Ivan. He starts to step around both men, to get a better look at the village, only to stumble over something lying in the deep snow. He pauses, and brushes the snow off, revealing the corpse of a girl. Oddly enough, she appears to have been attacked by wolves, not men. He shakes his head mournfully and regards the Knight, "I'm Boris." he says in local dialect, "We need to get looking, before we run out of time."

(edited)

"I knew had a bad feeling when I saw it's walls... do you mind if I come along? As a Sundermill Knight, it is my duty to carry out justice, and it looks like you two could use some extra help." He pats the mule's snout, stroking it's mane, before taking out the map he found in the guard's house and unravels it, showing it to the others. "Will this help with getting around?"

Boris looks to the map. It is mainly used as a guide to get from this village, to the next one north, though it did also document he layout of this village, and the other.

"Mh. We'll need to take the survivors there-" he says as he points to the nearest civilization on the map, "Whitedell. They should take them in. Afterall, I can't fit them all in my cabin." he says with a half chuckle, in spite of the dire situation. He sent a glance back to Ivan, then to the Knight again, "I don't see any harm in having an extra man around. But I don't plan on attacking anyone. Too many of them, too few of us.. Just looking for survivors. Can you do that?"