Murder in Silvervale (Ayanna)
From Toosigma
| Title | Murder in Silvervale |
|---|---|
| Author | Philip Mann - Ayanna |
| Campaign | Shattered Prisons |
| Session | Murder in Silvervale |
| Posted | |
| Game Date |
Hmm, why is Ioth out in the forest at this early hour? He is not the sort to be up and about like this, so there must be something important going on. Mayhap he has decided to leave the village as his increasingly obvious changes may make him the target of fear? Be that the case, then I sympathize with being an outsider even within one's own home. But, no, he has not the trappings of a long journey...however he may be bothered enough not to think of such things...but that's not his style, I think. He would never leave without being prepared...I think I'll follow him to see what is going on...
I don't know that I should be surprised that Ioth is speaking with the winged kobold that Krax spoke of, Vrahl. It is possible that they have known each other for some time though I don't get that impression from their speech. Neither would I say that they are adversaries in any way I am familiar with. Vrahl seemed that he desired Ioth's assistance and, while he was not specifically denying Vrahl, he seemed more to desire some tactical neutrality that would allow him an advantage of options later. This thought made my back fur stand up...Like Hazairah, Ioth is beginning to cause me concern...
The meeting adjourned and I was about to follow Ioth, to ask him of the meeting, when I found myself within a net. How could I have been so stupid! No! These were not hunters, these were soldiers of Aundair! After I was bound, they took me back to the village without a sound. She was there, the scout commander who had captured me before, and in spite of my wolf body she obviously recognized me. With her knife I remembered from before, she threatened to skin me, and I tried to snap at her but could only manage a growl which amused her. When the guards tightened my bonds and locked me into a chest, I forgot all I had seen with Ioth as my mind became filled with the terrors of being trapped in the darkness and forgotten...
It was my first Autumn in the forest and I was enjoying the brisk morning near the last patch of wildflowers of the year, and to be a way from Keradin's constant scolding. He never stopped reminding me that I was not welcome in his eyes, and that Zaarin's insistence was the only thing that kept him from chasing me from the wood. Nothing I could ever do would be good enough to show that I belonged, so I often kept to myself rather than face a losing battle again.
The patch of flowers had grown near a short shale cliff that continuously dribbled water from a warm spring deep underground. The warmth of the mineral rich waters kept the wildflowers alive until the worst of the winter, and gave the blossoms very unique colors that constantly changed. I liked the place very much because it was quiet and beautiful, and I liked to pretend I was the only one who knew of my tiny retreat there.
I liked to keep the area somewhat neat, picking up the slivers of shale that fell from the ledges above and piling them around the edge. I had been doing it for a few months and it never struck me that the small pieces discharged from the face could indicate something larger was about to happen...until the whole cliff tumbled down on top of me...
At first, everything just hurt and I wondered if I would die. I could not move or see, and I had no sense of even which way would be the way out if I could figure how to move my body. I envisioned my limbs contorted into impossible shapes, and hoped for swift aid that I knew would come soon. Everything was silence except for the constant trickle of water on the rocks around me. I tried to scream, but the stones crushed the air from me and I could only manage a tiny squeak. In the darkness, I thought Nature would soon take me beyond...
Hours stretched on and I could still hear the water. I felt some of the stones slide, but others on top of them seemed to compress even tighter into the voids that remained. I tried to remain calm all of the while, believing in my heart that someone would be looking for me. Surely Zaarin would send the grumpy minotaur to determine my whereabouts before the end of the day, I thought. I could not tell how long I had been trapped beneath the rubble of my refuge, but I even began to long for Keradin's scolding that was sure to come when he uncovered me...
Not sure how long then, but days passed I know now, and nobody came. My faith in anyone looking for me faded probably before the end of the first night and I began to lose my self in the darkness. I thought of every great error I had committed in Keradin's eyes and considered that he had found me and had left rather than have me around. Aemylithria, I knew, might not notice me missing at all as generations passed for the families in Silvervale. And the village, a people I hardly knew, would certainly not feel my absence. Zaarin, like a father to me, may have foreseen this as a lesson for me; in his wisdom, he may have thought it best that I figure my own way out, but I could no longer think of anything so coherent.
I must have wept for a day and a night when my will crumbled. I did not even hear the digging above me until Pnugre's familiar howl echoed above the now deafening trickle of water. I could not move and my voice had left me, but he and Keradin tore through the slate pieces with all of the speed and care they could manage. Soon I was pulled free of the rubble and into the night air, but all I could do was curl into a trembling ball at the mighty ranger's feet. He said something that I could not make out, and then he walked away as if he had just happened upon me where I lay. I thought I was again alone until I felt the warmth of Pnugre's fur against me. My wolf friend remained with me until I was able to stand and get to the lake where I stayed for until the sun came and went twice...
I am ashamed to think of it now, but I almost longed to die to be rid of my solitude that I knew could be lasting. I had convinced myself that I would be under the stones until they had crumbled to dust, and I could emerge an unknown person in an unknowing world, and I would be alone again and still. I never want to feel that way again, and I would be lying to say it is a terror to me to be reminded of that time. I never wish to go where I could be buried and forgotten, never again...
I have no idea how long I fought the bonds and crashed against the box I had been trapped into before I was dumped into the wagon. I recall that I snapped at the first arm I saw, but I was still tied too tightly to do any harm and I am grateful for that. Trapped I cannot think; bound in the darkness my mind closes to a tiny spot that can only see survival and freedom at any cost. Suddenly free of the darkness, I had no control for a moment that could have changed my life as I drew blood on a being that was not trying to take my life or the lives of those around me.
Minutes after my return to the light I managed to focus and take stock of my surroundings. I could see wooden walls and I could hear horses, and I could see the familiar faces of those I had investigated the seal with so recently. I remembered hearing something about murder, and a statement that I had killed Aundairinan soldiers, but I have never killed anyone. I even saw the elder Laster, who was no friend of the Aundairians either. Clearly we had all been gathered because we were deemed threats to their invasion of the sleepy village.
Arrows rained into the wagon and I tried to put this to the back of my mind as I focused on resuming my elfin form to get out of my bonds. I was fortunate, I think, to have such recourse given all of the others seemed to be held in metal shackles where I was simply tied within the net that I was captured in. Almost as soon as I was free, however, I returned my body to that of a wolf and began trying to chew through what I could that restrained the Hazairah girl, who seemed to be deemed a significant threat as she was trussed and hooded in a way none of the others shared. I could do nothing for the shackles for my teeth were no match for the material, and I lacked any familiarity with such items.
It was little time before everyone was out of the wagon and basically free, and that we discovered that those who attacked the caravan were no friends of ours. They were after the crystal keys that Malidin had kept since our time underground. We had discussed separating them across the continent to prevent them from falling into the possession of evil beings, but it appears we had not departed soon enough for that task. Marius and the others contemplated various paths and I, unknowing fully of the significance of the keys, knew no better than to follow them until Dreamseeker appeared to me and gave me direction.
My mission filled my thoughts and I cast them at Marius. I told him that we had to find them, that we had to recover them first, before we did anything else. He seemed uneasy as my intentions invaded his mind, but I knew he was the one that would direct the others to do what had to be done. I scanned around and I could easily tell where the trail was that we needed to follow, and we were quickly on our way even as the elder Laster took a horse and headed back toward Silvervale.
I was somewhat grateful to be able to detect the ambush ahead of us before the whole group ran into it, but I was dismayed that I could not likewise discover a way to avoid it entirely. I told Marius and the group was prepared to fight rather than be caught by surprise, but I would have rather not had any blood shed this day. Still, it was clear that those who were waiting for us meant to end our days on their terms, so my only consolation is that it was over quickly.
Back on the trail, we happened across a bridge that I discovered was guarded by a creature with far too many heads and equally too many teeth for us to deal with without losing much time. Malidin wished to war on it, as he seems to want to war on everything we encounter, but I knew there had to be a better way to get over the river than the creature's bridge. Fortunately, the wings that Ioth had grown since I last saw him allowed his body to clear the narrow stream and tie a rope on the other side so we could quickly cross. I was glad that this fight was avoided, at least for now.
The trail led to a massive structure with walls and, as far as I could tell, not so different than the walled prison where Ioth and the Hazairah girl dwell. Hoping to be able to continue past, I scouted its perimeter to find a departing point, but nothing told me that the greater army had left in any one direction. I knew before I returned to the group that we would have to enter the partially-collapsed monstrosity if only to determine if where to go next.
I managed to get myself through what remained of the main opening, but only upon seeing that the inside appeared to be somewhat open. The courtyard, littered with boulders from some forgotten battle, appeared to be simple obstacles. I was grateful for them in time, however, as the force that awaited us sprang from one of the inner rooms and attacked in force. I helped Marius, I think, when I saw the others appeared to be more than a match for anything that opposed them. The sheriff, alone facing a powerful brute of a minotaur, was going to get my help even if he didn't want it...or it was completely useless...
In a blur of steel and blood, the whole mess was over and the group charged into the tower. The group, that is, save Brit and cowardly me. Brit seemed to want to look around the other structures within the fortress, and I was happy to accompany him to stay out of the tower. I just couldn't get myself to go through the doorway and up the stairs. This place had been bombarded by stones that had penetrated defensive walls and crushed some of the inside structures, there was no way to be sure that the tower would not fall while we were inside! What if the stones shifted under my weight and I brought the whole thing down on top of everyone?!
In short order my concerns were gone from my mind as Brit and I had our hands full with a manticore that had remained on a wall, unseen by anyone earlier. It attacked once we journeyed into a previously closed building that, we didn't realize, had no roof. If it had not attacked, we would probably have done nothing save try not to disturb it, but it appeared hungry and angered at our intrusion; these things were a combination that I did not believe I could aid with this being as I might a less spectacular species.
I called a creature that I had never called before, a hippogriff. It battled the manticore ferociously, but it was no match for the predator beast. I tried to call another and was grateful that another answered my summons for aid. Between Brit's magical weapon and the creatures who aided us, the manticore passed. Brit seemed thrilled that it was slain, and propped himself up as a slayer on top of it to wait for the others to return.
When they did, it was revealed that they had recovered plans for some sort of invasion to happen all over the Reaches. Nearly as soon as we determined where and when for their next attack, we began to see smoke rise from the direction of Merylsward. This meant that in only two days they would fall upon Silvervale and all of the innocent farmers that lived there. I knew that word could not wait on the slowest of us, so I told them that I would go alone as soon as I could recover my spells to do so. If we were so close to Merylsward to see the smoke of the attack, the village could be more than 50 miles to the south. I would require Longstrider to cover the hours of running as a wolf, and I would be grateful as I went to be able to avoid the hazards of the terrain that might slow my pace as it would any of the others. Even the magical Silver Raven, so I was told, could not out pace my speed on the ground.
I waited outside of the fortress to regain my spells while the others engaged in the activities of their camp. Malidin came out to speak with me for a while while he was on watch. I always like talking with the dwarf though there is so much different between us. He says that is what he likes about me, that I am different. I suppose that is something...
I must leave very early for, if I am lucky, I should reach Silvervale just after dawn...
