Registered Member #24041
Joined: 4:19:01 am GMT 01/24/17
Posts: 2213
The most damnable thing, Sergeant Karrick reflected as he stared up at the vine-wreathed bodies dangling from the pair of aspens, was the smell. Two bodies, no matter how rotten- and these were plenty rotten, as though they'd been missing for two weeks rather than two days. He'd been able to identify them by the scraps of the Kresian armor that still clung to their withered frames, and Gunther's stupid belt pouch that he'd insisted on taking with him on this mission- the one the others had teased him for mercilessly, calling him an old woman with his bits of herbs packed away all neat and proper.
Karrick shook his head to dispel the memories, and surveyed the scene again. Two bodies, each lashed to a tree with vines thick as his forearm- vines that grew around and through the victims. A stench that had made him lose his breakfast already and was threatening to make him lose whatever else he might have left.
Beyond that, Karrick had no damn clue what had happened to two of his men on what was supposed to be an easy assignment, where the biggest danger was running afoul of some elf come to sing to them about how evil they are were for cutting down a few trees.
This though, this was something else. He'd have to report this not just to his commander, but probably to the Knight-commander himself. Karrick kicked up a bit of dirt at this thought, and immediately regretted it- the soil gave off a plume of foul dust that had him doubled over, emptying his stomach again.
When he had managed to stagger far enough away to straighten up again, he saw the eyes. Staring at him from ten feet away, they were all too human- but something within them glowed with a malice that could only be described as feral. He ran then, and it wasn't until he reached the soldiers guarding the Grauer's logging operations that he stopped.
___
Several days later, a message is dispatched from Knight-Commander Rittermark's headquarters in Steinkreis, to the field headquarters of Commander Henrietta Kreger in the Grauer Suden, ordering her to investigate the strange murders and bring the perpetrator to justice.
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Upon the message's arrival, the commander begins to inquire with the local populace, as well as anyone who might have the knowledge or skills necessary to help investigate the case.
___
Gunther and his companion, a young knave named Trebic, are left undisturbed to preserve any evidence that might still linger upon them. Their eyeless skulls, bleached now by the sun, stare uncomprehendingly into the distance.
___
A pair of eyes stares back.
((Commander Kreger will be beginning her investigation into the strange circumstances surrounding the two Kresian's deaths on Monday, Feb 5 at 12 PM. Those interested but unable to make this event are encouraged to PM me on Discord to arrange for an alternative meeting time.))
Registered Member #24041
Joined: 4:19:01 am GMT 01/24/17
Posts: 2213
Lord Tomas Ruxfeld turns the letter over in his hand. Even now, a pair of flies buzzed near the parchment, despite all his best efforts to chase them away. The thin paper reeked of something foul, but the words within were sweet to him- a message requesting the help of his house in an official investigation. Ever since his father's betrayal and traitorous attack on the king, House Ruxfeld had been on the brink of collapse. Were it not for his own involvement in helping secure the king and his rescuers, no doubt there would be only five great houses left in the city- and yet even so, House Ruxfeld had fallen greatly. This then would be his first real chance to prove his usefulness to the Kreis.
The fact that he could do it with his father's hounds was all the sweeter.
He pens a response to the Knight Commander:
You will not only have my cooperation, Commander- I will accompany the hounds personally to help ensure that whomever has dared this vile act against the Kreis is brought to justice swiftly.
The hunt was on.
((This event will take place Sunday, Feb 11 at 4PM PST.))
Registered Member #24041
Joined: 4:19:01 am GMT 01/24/17
Posts: 2213
Commander Kreger picks another feather from her fur-lined coat as the quill she is writing with once again pauses over the parchment.
"Another one? Where do they keep coming from?!"
She curses softly as she discards the offending plumage, returning to a letter she has been trying to finish for some time. It is addressed to the prince of the Feywood, a Casimir, who she knows only by rumor- and much of that dark.
Still, if the druid they met is to be believed, the elves may know something of these "blighted"- a problem, the commander reflects, which may extend beyond just a single individual. What the elves will be wiling to part with is anyone's guess, and what price they may have to pay may well prove too steep. Relations between the Kreis and Feywood had been cooling for some time, and with the Grauer's expansions and logging activities, the tensions had reached a level where a wrong move might set off a much wider conflict.
The commander takes a deep breath, feeling a bit nervous at the thought. Unfortunately, Sir Rittermark had given her command of this situation, and so there was no higher authority she could pass off the responsibility to, at least not until things devolved much more than they had already, at which point she would likely be removed from her post.
"Nothing for it then. I guess I'll have to deal with the elves one way or another."
The commander finishes her message, ordering it delivered to the borders of Feywood, along with other messages sent to those parties who have expressed interest in accompanying her to the meeting.
((This event will take place Sunday, Feb 18 at 2pm PST))
[ The Island of Thain ]
[DM Plot] Blighted by Birth