The village of Azora is under siege from a pack of cursed undead, a mob of Devourers that have already ravaged the villagers and the fleeing sailors from the Queen Amoret. Now, the two dozen survivors are holed up inside the sturdy shrine of Inglorian, its main doors barred against entry. Baj, Talon and Mera are among them. along with Tully, the Sarrik seaman from the Amoret. Tully squats near his shipmate, Fitch, who was bitten hours ago and lies near death. The old man's skin is gray, his breathing is labored. Surely the end is soon.
A pair of undead fists raps on the thick oaken doors of the shrine. The sound echoes across the darkened hall lit by the light of fat lamps. The women and children in the look uneasily towards the doors. But there is no danger of these sturdy doors breaking.
Talon says to Baj, "We have to get out of here and back to the ship..."
Baj turns from the door and looks to Talon, "If you have any suggestions as to how we could accomplish that, Mister Talon?"
Talon says, "Unfortunately not, at the moment."
Baj frowns and starts up the stairs to the upper floor, muttering under his breath.
Old Fitch is in a delirium of fever. He raves, loudly, "Th'King sent'em, boys! We're goin' home! Sweet wine n' Mazy women!"
Tully looks for solace towards Talon.
Talon says, "Tully, how many of them would you say are out there?"
Tully says, "Between twenty and thirty head, sir. We kilt one or two afore they got my shipmates and we climbed in here."
Baj sticks his head out the window and tries to get a bearing on the direction to the Reckoning. Mera follows Baj up the narrow stairs to the second floor, watching the Urag. The Reckoning is on the west side of the island, an hour away by foot and less as the crow flies. The twin moons hover in the west tonight, but peer out fitfully from behind a scud of cloud.
Baj breathes deeply of the night air, seeking any familiar scent. The air of the village is rank with decay, obscuring any more familiar smells that Baj might track. The Urag pulls his head back in and trots back down the stairs.
Talon turns to Tully and says, "Tully I have an idea--grab your crossbow and come with me."
Tully indicates his friend. "Fitch, sir...he's in a bad way."
Talon shakes his head, "Nothing more we can do for now son. Here, lend it to me, so you don't need to leave your friend."
The bald village elderman says, Merno, speaks quietly with his folk, regarding the sailors with a wary eye.
Tully unslings his crossbow and passes it to Talon, then turns to smooth Fitch's brow. The oblivious Fitch launches into a verse of a bawdy song Talon knows from the streets of Mazirin: "The Warts on the Lord Governor's Arse."
Talon stares grimly at the old man then turns to Merno and says, "I'll need some pitch-- is there any about handy?"
Merno shakes his head. "Just the fat we use for fuelling the lamps, Talon. What did you have in mind?"
Talon says, "That will do. I'm going to try a little experiment in flammability." He takes a stone jar of the fat and heads up the stairs. As he passes Baj coming down he says, "Come with me--I want to test something."
Baj looks at Talon and shrugs greatly, following him back up the stairs.
Once at the top, Talon rips some cloth from his shirt and ties it around one of the crossbow bolts. Then he dips the bolt into the fat and heads towards the window.
Mera stands beside Talon, watching.
Talon says to Mera, "Could you bring me that lamp over there?" He scans the town below for a likely target.
A gang of Devourers see Talon and Mera in the window. They howl and wail, waving clawed hands in the air. But two stories down, their howls are ineffectual.
Mera holds the lamp near Talon.
Talon carefully loads the bolt into the crossbow, touches it to the lamp, then aims for the nearest Devourer. The nearest creature wears a ragged Sarrik blue coat, his blond hair now a straggly mess.
The flaming bolt lances across the misty night, and impales the Devourer dead center. The thing's clothes catch fire, but the Devourer itself doesn't seem to notice that it's aflame. It shows no outward signs of pain or distress. It shrieks its rage at Talon, then races for the shrine, hurling itself in a futile effort to bash the shrine's wall open with its body. The other Devourers follow, and now a crowd of enraged undead now bash at the shrine's wall, but to no effect. The clothes burn from the Devourer's body, falling to the ground in ashes and rags, the thing's skin cracked and sizzled, but it battles on, futilely. Foul-smelling smoke fills the night air.
Talon places the crossbow down and watches, silenced by this result.
Baj glances out the window at the commotion. "By the Warrior, I thought they smelled bad before."
Talon says, resignedly, "Didn't even notice it was burning."
Mera says, "No, it was a fine idea, Talon. But they do not feel pain as we do."
Talon says, "I was hoping they might show some fear of the flames, as animals do or possibly be a bit more flammable than the norm."
Below, the flames on the Devourer have gone out, and now it is a horrid sight in the half-moonlight, a naked figure scrabbling at the stone wall below, wreathed in smoke.
Baj frowns and growls deep in his chest, "My only thought is to wait for the Captain. If he does not come, we must be outside of this building before the disease makes us like....them."
Talon says to no one in particular, "The only other thought I have is to try and divert their attention away long enough for us to sneak away. But how to do that without one of us putting our lives in mortal danger is beyond me at the moment."
There's a wailing from the lower storey. You hear Tully saying, "Now, Fitch, easy now, easy now!"
Baj leaps for the stairs, drawing his rapiers as he runs.
Fitch is on his feet, stumbling forward, hands clenched into claws, neck twisted at a horrid angle. To Baj, the man reeks of death. There is no soul in this one any longer.
Tully is backing away, hands held out to the old man, the villagers behind him. "Easy, friend!" the young man says.
At the sight of Baj, Fitch's jaws snap, his lips slicking back from his shiny white teeth. His dark eyes are lightless.
Baj rushes forward and shoulders Tully away from Fitch before attacking the man turned Devourer.
Mera is right behind Baj, scrambling down the stairs, dagger in her hand.
Baj slams into Fitch, both rapiers flashing in the yellow light of the fat lamps. The Urag's fury is a sight to behold. One rapier slices the top of Fitch's head clean off; the other slashes the man open from collarbone to ribs, bisecting him. With his head destroyed, the undead creature lies still.
Tully gasps, panting in terror at the sight of what his friend has become.
A little girl from the villagers wails in terror. Mera slips her dagger away and comforts the small child.
Tully says, numbly, "Beholden to you, Baj."
Baj nods as he sheathes his weapons, "I am sure he was a good man before this. Now he can be at rest." He stoops to pick up Fitch's body, "Merno, is there a place for the body?"
Merno says, "There's a small room we used, just down there." He indicates a short hallway that leads to two small rooms. "I'd rather he not be in here with us, Baj, if you take my meaning..."
Baj nods and heads down the hallway carrying Fitch's corpse.
Talon calmly watches Baj dismember the Devourer. He then looks around to see if the building has a lower level. He finds a small ladder that leads to a pit behind the nave of the shrine. The pit's ceiling is no higher than a crouching man, not really a basement, but merely a storage alcove for casks of wine, now emptied.
He climbs down to inspect the alcove. The alcove is a soiled place with rough dirt walls, no more than five by eight feet, and a five foot ceiling.
Not hoping to find anything, still out of the force of habit, Talon checks for any hidden passages in the small room.
Just then, a terrible pain forms behind Talon's eyes, and he is short of breath a moment. It is hard to concentrate. The bite marks he took from the Devourer actually hurt and seem to be growing worse. Then his head clears.
He fails to find any of the passages he seeks. This is a modest island shrine, no Mazirin temple.
Talon realizes there is only one thing he can do to help his friends and the villagers. With a new determination, Talon heads up the ladder.
Mera follows the Urag. As he sets the body down on a small table, she tells Baj, "Mister Mirko, we cannot wait here. You saw what happened to Fitch. Soon the same will happen to you and Talon. And who will stop you from hurting these people?"
Baj is about to reply, when he sways as if he feels a terrible pain in his head. He wipes his forehead and sucks in a breath before he turns to Mera. "I have not yet given up hope that Captain Rhyll will come, but I am aware of the danger to these people from our presence."
Talon approaches Baj and says, "Mister Mirko, a word please."
Baj holds up a hand to Talon, cutting him off. He strides quickly down the hallway back into the main room, calling ahead as he goes, "Merno! How much lamp oil do you have?"
Merno says, "With what we gave Talon, just enough to last this night..."Do you think this Captain Rhyll will rescue us?"
Baj says, "If we can light a fire, perhaps he will come more quickly, but we must act quickly and set the largest fire we may devise."
Merno rubs his bald head. "A fire? But...the Warrior...the shrine...will it be destroyed?"
Baj smiles grimly, "Not if I can help it."
Mera asks, "How do we keep from smothering on the flames, Baj?"
Talon says, "What about one of the outlying houses. Do they have thatched roofs?"
Merno nods. "They do, Talon, they do."
Talon says, "There's your torch Baj. We set as many ablaze as we can."
Tully smirks, in appproval, wiping soot from his face. "Pirates."
Baj says, "I certainly hope so, Mister Talon. If the Captain does not come, there will be little need to save the houses.""
Talon says, "We have all we need upstairs, shall we Mister Mirko?"
Baj nods and bows slightly, "After you, Mister Talon."
Merno says, interposing himself at the base of the stairs, "Wait, a moment! Before you set my village alight, I must know what we are to do. Shall we just wait here while we pray for your Captain to arrive? Will he bring enough men to deal with the Devourers?"
Baj stops in front of the elder, "The Captain will bring enough men to handle any crisis. And a healer of the Lady as well." He clasps the old man's shoulder, "He will come, pray that it is in time."
Merno nods. He assents to let the sailors up the stairs. Tully is right behind Baj and Talon.
Tully takes up his crossbow. He only has three bolts left and slots one into place. "Scorpion deck ready for battle, sir." he says to Baj, taking up station near the window.
Baj tears a sleeve from his shirt and rips it into strips, "Let us make every one count." He takes the bolt from the crossbow and begins wrapping it with the fabric, "Mister Talon, you have more of the lamp oil?"
Tully removes his own tattered blue coat. He offers it to Baj for shredding.
Talon retrieves the jar of oil from the window sill and hands it to Baj, "Here you go, Baj."
Mera brings an armful of lampfat jars. She sets them down before Talon. "This is the last of it. Merno said they won't need it if this plan fails."
Baj hands the first bolt and the jar of oil back to Talon before taking Tully's jacket, "You two take care of the shooting."
Tully offers the crossbow to Talon, sensing Talon's a better shot anyway.
Baj tears a strip from Tully's coat and begins winding it around the second bolt.
Talon looks out the window and looks for a likely target.
There's a squat wooden house just across the square. It stands apart from the other houses, so flames from it are not likely to spread to the other houses. To the left stand a row of three houses close together. Flames sent to one of them would soon spread to the others but maybe to the rest of the village.
Talon takes aim and fires the first bolt into the wooden house. The house, with its thatched roof, is an easy target. The roof catches, and soon the flames kick up sparks into the night. The flames spread, the hungry fire consuming the dry thatch roof and piling high into the night sky.
Tully says, grinning, "A direct hit, sir, a direct hit above the waterline!"
Mera says, "Well done, Talon!"
Talon turns to Baj and says, "Shall we spare the village or do you think we need more?"
Baj frowns, "Leave the others, if the Captain cannot see this, he is blind."
Baron Lyndag and about a dozen of his warriors accompany Rhyll, Dacien, Candra and about the same number of hands from the Reckoning. The large squad of men moves down the dark forest path. Suddenly there is a flare of light up ahead, flames leaping into the sky from about a half mile to the east. "Fire!" goes up the cry, always a source of terror to any sailor.
Candra draws her weapon and crouches behind a nearby log.
The Baron's men, confused, look to their lord for leadership.
The Baron rounds on Rhyll, angrily. "What is this, Captain? Are your men burning down the village to make it easier to plunder?"
Rhyll says, "Not my men. I sent only three. This looks more like the work of the Sarries."
Dacien pops up to the head of the line, "Mister Mirko ain't the type t'plunder a village of innocents, it's them bastard Bluebellies!"
Candra says, "If it's the bluebellies, let's unleash the Reckoning on them, my Captain!"
Dacien races up the path, his voice splitting the night as he runs to the aid of his shipmates, "The Reckoning!!!"
Rhyll nods to Candra "That we will indeed."
The Baron scowls at Rhyll. "If this is some treachery, I swear, Captain, you'll regret it. Those are innocent folk."
The sailors from the Reckoning, including Ferlan, Farlan, Erris and others, draw their weapons and race after Dacien, shrieking, "The Reckoning!"
Rhyll calls "Onward men! Let's show them Sarries not to mess in our waters."
As the sailors burst into the clearing, they see a scene of horror before them. The twin moons are now completely hid behind a spur of cloud. In the dark, a small house is completely engulfed in flames before you.. As you watch, the roof timbers crumble in with a crash, sending sparks high into the air. Behind the house, lit by the flames, are ragged, inhuman figures, scrabbling at the stone walls of a shrine to the Warrior. As Dacien and Erris lead on, the figures turn to the sailors now crowding into the village square. They crouch like animals.
These things might have been human once but now race forward on all fours.
Rhyll, Candra and the others are right behind, and behind them are the warriors of the Baron.
The Baron swears. "By the Gatherer, what are those things?"