Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[IamanElfCollaborator]

"Ah. What a shame. Perhaps times have changed since I set out. If I may bother you with one question before my companions and I set off, what became of the keeper? Is she still at large? We would like to know, lest we are beset in our travels those who ally themselves with her."

[GiglameshDespair]

Roux remained quiet, looking every inch the humourless guard. She'd draped herself in a cloak, disguising any distinctive features her armour might have.
"..."

[Blade Master Model 42]

"No, she's been dealt with. Captain told us to make separate accommodations for her if you can believe it. It's fucking stupid, they could've just had one of the boys lop her head off and be done with it, but we have to do things the hard way. She's around the corner, since you seem to care so much. Have your look and be on your way." The soldier spat carelessly on the ground, but at least he turned away first.

[IamanElfCollaborator]

Bertholt nods calmly.
"Ah. I see. My companions feel safer now, so I suppose we owe our continued travels to your good work. Thank you, sir. Peace be upon you, we shall be on our way."
The priest leads the party away, conveniently leading them past around the corner.

[Blade Master Model 42]

Once past the corner, the 'accommodations' that the soldier had referred to were clear to see. A small, hastily built gallows, with Rina's corpse hanging limply from a noose. Her body shifted gently as the wind blew now and again. Rina was bloated, a dark, veiny green, and barely recognizable. But her hair was in the style she'd kept it, and her clothing matched as well. A pair of soldiers were standing guard, each one about ten feet from the gallows on either side. No one else was in the street.

[GiglameshDespair]

Roux kept going, hoping that Blueberry wouldn't stop either. This wasn't the first time she'd seen people hung, anyway.
Or was it hanged? She never could remember.

When her father had captured a rival bandit leader, once, he'd hung his foe from the gates of his palisade.
Both of them.

[IamanElfCollaborator]

Bertholt mutters a prayer under his breath as he walks past without stopping.

This wasn't the first time Bertholt had seen a dead person; a few people had died from disease despite his best attempts at treating them, even before working with the resistance cell he did. Still, the sight of the hanged corpse unnerved him.

[Lucus Casius]

Martyn didn't spare the corpse more than a glance, putting his head down and continuing to walk alongside the priest.  But beneath his cloak, his hands clenched, both in anger and a familiar sense of defeat.  They'd come to late to help her, then.  The plan in Millton had been a trap from the start, and yet another good Izzarran was dead by Mordoan hands.

Once they were far enough away, he allowed his hands to loosen, letting out a soft sigh.

  "There's no reason to stick around, now, and the town isn't safe.  We should get back to the others."

[GiglameshDespair]

Away from trouble, Roux nodded.
"Ain't surprised, though sucks to be 'er."

[IamanElfCollaborator]

"Indeed. We shouldn't tarry. Thought that begs the question of where we'll go now that our safe haven is gone."

[GiglameshDespair]

Roux frowned.
"If we 'eaded to Chilcinne, I could probably get some of the bandit clans to work with us. Course, they're all bastards. Dunno if Mordo ain't still better, but they might be good 'elp if we can kill 'em too after we beat Mordo's ass."

[Lucus Casius]

  "A group of bandits won't save the country... though they may help, if they can be goaded.  We need the backing of nations beyond Chilcinne."

  "We'll need to consult with the others before we decide on anything for certain.  But I'd like to get out of the area tonight, if we can."

[Blade Master Model 42]

Being careful not to draw the attentions of the soldiers, Bertholt, Roux, and Martyn made their way back to he abandoned farmhouse, arriving at dusk. The rain had picked up again, dropping a steady flow of water upon the building. Here and there, drops of water fell from the leaking roof, occasionally falling on one of the rebels.

[Lucus Casius]

  "Rina's dead."

To him, the words almost seemed to echo in the rickety old farmhouse, lending a sense of grim finality to the failure of their mission.  The man sighed, shaking his head as he looked down to the old wooden table they'd gathered themselves around.

  "She was a good woman.  Izzarra has lost one of her finest citizens, at a time when she can ill afford to lose any."

The man continued staring at the table, for a while.  Only eventually did he look up again, nodding distantly towards those who'd remained behind.

  "I'm sorry.  We're short on time, and need to begin planning our next move.  But if you wish for a moment to mourn..."

[Gaterhyme]

"Damn it." The curse came out in a low growl, and then Liam found himself with nothing else to say.

The thought of Rina in her inn by herself when Mordo had come for her... it made his skin crawl and his blood boil. It was not a question of strength; she had been strong. Stronger than him. Tougher than he would ever be. But they had not been able to guard her like she had protected them - to pay her back for what she had done for them.

Had she spit and cursed at her murderers before the end? Martyn had left how it ended open, and Liam saw flashes of death in his mind's eye - men run through on the end of his lance, thieves hanged on trees outside of town with their feet slowly rotating in the direction the wind blew, Brock dancing with a whirling axe separating captives' heads from their bodies in a desperate fervor.

Then back to Rina, alone. She had waited for a husband who had never returned, waited for her son's suffering to end - and she had waited for the ten of them, for a revolution that she would now never see to completion.

He fought for gold, not the rebellion - and still, he felt this somewhere where it hurt.