A watch after Brion arrives for some rest, Dras is putting the finishing touches on the sword left for him by the spectre, Lord Ashur.
Khom-Bei and Kane are in the workshop, watching as Dras finishes his work slowly and deliberately. He has repaired a nick in the edge, smoothed out the line of the blade, and re-wrapped the leather on the hilt. Now he is buffing the blade. You would almost think it was his own blade, not the sword of an undead warrior.
Kane says, "It must be hard for you to do work like this Dras."
Dras shrugs. He sights along the blade's edge and gestures to Kane to pick up a nearby firewood log.
Kane picks up the log and adds it to the forge' s fire.
Dras pulls out his hammer, setting the sword over the anvil, and bangs one last bit into place.
Ugash comes hopping into the workshop, followed closely by Thragga. The two are arguing.
"No, no. Not clean! What Urag call clean, Dras not call clean!" squeaks the small Gholibin.
Thragga huffs. "Kane! I have sworn to peace within these walls, but this is too much! How much more shovelling must I do?"
Khom-Bei chuckles and calls to the little Gholibin. "I wouldn't complain too much, Ugash. Thragga might just use your clothes to clean up the mess. While you're still wearing them."
Kane says, "You can stop shoveling when you stop leaving those large piles everywhere."
Thragga huffs. "I swear by all that is holy--" he is interrupted by a rapping at the door.
Khom-Bei scrambles quickly down the stairs to hide.
Ugash squints and rushes to the workshop door. He peers outside, and a white glow shines in his face as he speaks to whoever is outside. "Of course, come, come, is all done."
Kane picks his broom back up and starts sweeping.
Lord Ashur sweeps into the workshop, followed by two soldiers clad in black. They appear to be in a hurry. Dras holds out the repaired weapon to him, hilt first, averting his eyes.
"Yes...yes..." the spectre murmurs, taking the weapon and inspecting it.
Thragga works busily at some chore. Ugash hops from foot to foot in the manner of his kind.
The ghostly creature nods slightly, approving of the work. He re-sheathes the sword and hangs it at his side. "The...payment...is...ready."
One of the soldiers passes Ugash a small pouch of gold dragons. Ugash doesn't open it, but bows in gratitude.
The spectre eyes Kane a moment. "You...are...new...here...?" Ashur says.
Kane nods, not meeting the spectre's eyes and says "Yes, sir" . He continues sweeping.
Ugash pipes up. "New help, this boy lazy!" He smacks Kane in the thigh. "Work harder, or Ugash beat you!" The Gholibin grins toothily at the spectre.
Kane plays along and starts sweeping at a quicker pace.
Ashur glides to the door. "You...serve...well...Dras." says the chill figure, before slipping outside with his two soldiers. You hear them mount up on horses just outside.
Dras' face is impassive, unreadable.
Ugash shuts the door and bolts it behind them.
Kane snaps the broom handle over his knee and glares at the spot where the undead warrior only moments ago stood.
Thragga folds his arms and frowns.
Kane says, "I believe it's time for us to get back to work. I can stand this idling no more!"
Khom-Bei returns from his hiding place. "I agree, Kane. We cannot remain here."
Brion is leaning against the doorjamb, apparently feeling well-rested. He opines, "I notice they work for Lord Valkris. And Lord Valkris has been quite busy lately."
Khom-Bei says, "Oh, what news of Valkris have you?"
Brion polishes an apple on his silken cloak and seats himself. "Rumor has it, he is angling to become the King's Claw." He bites into the apple, chewing loudly. "You know what that position would mean. Malivare's Claw would be his right hand man, second in power only to the King himself. There hasn't been a Claw in the Kingdom since Malivare gutted the last one in a rage...oh, five years ago now?"
Khom-Bei says, "Perhaps Lorn was angling for the same job? If he brought the Hunters Code to Malivare, he would be in good favor."
Kane says, "A new Claw so close to the border is not a good thing."
Brion nods. "Lorn won't be getting that job now. But the King has made it clear among the nobility that he wants a new Claw, for some reason."
Kane says, "In what way did you come by this information Brion?"
The singer waggles his dark thick eyebrows. "As for how I came by that..well, you and Thragga fight. I talk."
Kane says, "Beware who you talk to in this snakes' den, my friend."
Brion chews his apple. "You've been outside the realm, Kane...any idea why he would want a new Claw suddenly?"
Kane says, "Perhaps to meet the threat of the new King."
Thragga grunts, "I say let the likes of Lorn and Valkris each other off in their battles with each other."
Kane says, "We heard a tale from some lost souls in the wood of a marvelous weapon in Lord Valkris' possession. A lance head that can kill the Vorghol on contact."
Dras wipes down his tools and anvil with a soft cloth as you speak.
Brion looks to Khom-Bei, skeptical. "And do you believe a story like that?"
Kane says, "Yes I do. The teller of tale was the ghost of one of the great old Kings."
Thragga rumbles at Brion, "Your lack of faith disturbs me."
Khom-Bei shrugs. "Ghosts have no reason to lie, but they can be mistaken as easily as the living. But if this weapon exists we must seek it out, Brion."
Brion chews his apple, holding his tongue.
Kane says, "I would like to present it to the King Henrick of Anghara, for when we mount our charge on the Vorghol King."
Brion can't contain himself. "This Henrick, he's a new Crusader? Are you mad? Two Crusades have failed!"
Thragga takes a angry step towards Brion.
Kane says, "Tol Nedra will not fall to a Crusade, it will take a rebellion. But a strong army led by a noble man can be a great rallying point for the people of this sad country. Brion, perhaps you have been putting your time to better purpose then the rest of us. What type of preparations has Valkris been making?"
Brion tosses the apple core away. "He is a prolific Old One, with many spawn and much influence. He will probably make a move on his rivals in order to eliminate them soon."
Kane says, "If he rides out with his army perhaps his keep will be more easily invaded."
Brion teases Kane. "Soon you will be shouting 'Strength and Honor!' like one of those Angharans."
Kane says, "I am Tol Nedran to the core. But I have lived among the Angharans, and Thragga and I played no small part in putting Henrick on the throne. He is a good man and his people are strong. There are lesser things that a man could pledge his allegiance to. And he has pledged to help in the fight of driving the Vorghol from this land.""
Brion nods. "Very well, I suppose this King Henrick deserves a chance to kill himself. Don't we all?"
There is suddenly an uproar from outside.
Kane gives listen to discern what it is that is going on. After a thought, he heads towards the trap door and down to the cellar where his weapons and armor are stored.
There is shouting from the streets, barked orders, the sound of hoofbeats.
Khom-Bei follows Kane down the stairs, calling to Verraine to get ready for a fight.
Kane calls back over his shoulder, "Ugash, see what all the fuss is about and call us if we are needed."
Ugash hurries to the door and slips open a loose board. "Soldiers outside!" he cries. "But not coming here...over at Hobb's place. Tavern over there."
Thragga seizes one of Dras' sledgehammers nearby and readies himself.
In the secret rooms, Khom-Bei quickly gathers his backpack and other gear, putting on his armor and readying himself for fight or flight as the situation dictates.
Kane likewise puts on his armor and attaches his sword belt.
Khom-Bei grabs Thragga's meager posessions and weapons from his bunk and heads up the stairs at a run.
Verraine takes only her light rapier with her as she races back up the stairs behind the two men.
Ugash squints. "Ashur is with them." He looks back at you all.
Thragga says, "Let's go and see! I won't hide here like a wilting female!" He sees Verraine coming up the stairs, with Khom-Bei and Kane. She is buckling on her sword. Thragga mutters, "Uh..."
Kane orders, "You will do no such thing Thragga, until we have learned more."
Ugash reports from his vantage point near the door, "Soldiers have Hobb! They are inside the tavern now."
Kane says, "Just the one man, they are taking?"
Khom-Bei hits the top of the stairs and tosses Thragga's axe to the big Urag. "I'll haul your bow until you need it."
Ugash gulps and looks at Kane. "And his little ones."
Khom-Bei's dark eyes flash with anger. "They're taking the children?"
Thragga snatches the axe from mid-air and swings it in a circle, experimentally. "Point me at something to kill."
Dras steps in front of Thragga, shaking his head.
Kane says, "We will be breaking your cover if we charge out now."
Khom-Bei says, "Dras, I think that new hammer may be needed."
Kane says, "Perhaps it would be best if we just follow them for now."
Khom-Bei says, "Fine. Follow now, kill them all later."
Verraine says calmly, "We cannot put Dras and Ugash in peril for this."
Kane says, "We can not stand still and do nothing either."
Khom-Bei grips his new hammer tightly, his knuckles white with strain. "We must see what we can find out. Now!"
Brion adds, jerking his head at Verraine, "Beautiful here is right."
Verraine says, "Kane, Khom-Bei, perhaps you should go with Ugash to find out more. We will stay here and be ready to act, should it come to that. Inglorion go with you." She makes the holy sign of the warrior god.
Kane says, "Ugash, where is the cloak you lent me the other day?"
Ugash gestures to the hooks near the door, hurriedly. "That one is your size, Kane. Come, come, the little ones..!"
Kane quickly dons the cloak and heads for the door.
Khom-Bei paces away from the others, shaking his head. "I cannot go with them, Verraine. It would not be....wise."
Thragga lifts his axe. "I will go!" he roars.
Kane says, "You, Thragga, must stay."
Verraine raises a brow, ignoring Thragga. "Why not, Khom-Bei?"
Khom-Bei begins to tremble with emotion. "Your father never told you? What the Dark Ones did to my clan when our chief refuse to supply the tribute of soldiers that they demanded? How they attacked our camp and killed everyone? How I was the only survivor? How long it took me to dig graves for all the dead? For my father and mother? For my sisters? For my wife and our little Kath-rei?"
Verraine sets her hand on Khom-Bei's arm. "He did tell me. Forgive me. Remain strong, my friend, I will go." She signals to Ugash and Kane. Ugash undoes the bolt and slips outside, Verraine just behind. Kane follows in their wake.
Khom-Bei begins pacing a line across the floor of the forge room, muttering to himself quietly in prayer.
Thragga bows his head at the prayer.
Brion goes to the door and bolts it after them.
Khom-Bei turns to face Thragga, his features twisted. "We can't let them take the children, Thragga. We can't let them."
Thragga nods at Khom-Bei. He takes up his axe again.
The square outside, before the tavern, is a rumble of activity. Soldiers mill about, overseen by the spectral Lord Ashur and two of his spectre lieutenants, armed and armored, mounted on magnificent white horses.
A crowd has formed on the street to see what is afoot. Ugash, Verraine and Kane slip into the crowd to observe the scene. Kane looks for the innkeeper and his children.
An old Reith, face mottled with warts, Hobb the tavernkeeper by his looks, is being roughed up by a pair of soldiers. He begs for mercy and one slugs him in the mouth, knocking teeth loose. One of the ubiquitous prison carts is drawn up before the tavern, and Hobb is hurled roughly into the cage in back, with a laugh of glee from the cruel soldiers.
Kane whispers to his companions "For now we follow, but I do not want those childtren entering the keep."
Four children, two girls and two boys in age from twelve to six, are also manhandled by the soldiers. One tears the gown off the oldest girl, leaving her bare and naked to the onlookers. She shrieks. The soldiers merely laugh. "You're just the right age for plucking, my young peach!" one leers.
Ugash wrings his hands. "Poor little ones..."
Kane says, "That one dies first."
Brion holds up a warning finger to Thagga and Khom-Bei. "Look, you're not going out there."
Khom-Bei looks at Brion, his eyes brimming. "You would stand in my way?"
Brion sets his hands on his belt. "If I need to. You'll get us all killed if you charge out there."
Thragga glowers at Brion. "I could take fancypants here, Khom-Bei...just say the word."
Khom-Bei stands motionless, trembling while he stares into Brion' s eyes. "No, Thragga, he is right. We might kill the evil ones, but more would come and the rest of the town would suffer."
Brion smirks. "Someone finally sees some sense in this place..." He looks at Khom-Bei and Thragga and suddenly realizes that he can't just stand still while all this happens.
Khom-Bei says, "Get the horses ready to ride, Brion. Thragga, gather food. We will have to travel fast to save them."
The soldiers sport with the children as the load them into the cart. One takes a dagger and slices a bloody line across the forehead of Hobb's young son. The naked girl is squeezed and poked lewdly, the others manhandled.
Ashur turns to the crowd. The spectral legionary's voice is chilling, born on the cold dark wind. "By the order...of Lord...Valkris...justice is done...these are enemies...of the Crown...this man and his children...are Hunters...And will...be...executed...in three watches..."
Kane's hand goes to his sword.
Verraine hisses at Kane, "Not yet!"
Kane whispers back, "He knows well they are not Hunters. They use this spectacle to draw us out."
The spectre speaks further. "Impalement...by order...of Lord Valkris...! Lord Valkris...will himself...attend!" The Tol Nedran crowd, made cruel and sadistic by decades of oppression and horror, cheer fitfully at this news of the upcoming event.
The spectre at Ashur's left rides forward and cries: "This tavern...is..closed..by order of Lord Valkris..."
The soldiers lock and bolt the cage with Hobb and his children inside.
Ugash looks horrified. Verraine bites her lip and looks to Kane.
Kane whispers, "Let us follow." He draws his cloak down further over his face. He then starts heading in the same direction as the cart. As of its own volition his hand keeps moving towards his sword.
Brion and Thragga nod in consent to Khom-Bei's orders. Dras peers out the small portal in the front door to watch.
Khom-Bei runs to help Brion saddle the horses.
Khom-Bei leads his pony from the stable and stands in front of Dras. "Thank you, Dras. For your food, for your shelter, for this fine weapon. May the Great Father watch over you."
Turning to Thragga and Brion, Khom-bei mounts his pony. "Let's go."
Dras puts his arms around Khom-bei and embraces him. He does the same to Thragga, and then Brion. Then the three Hunters turn to depart.