Tales from The Outpost

by Comet's storyteller

Brianna traveled north until she came upon a guard post on the right side of the road. Needing a rest, she decided the building would make for an excellent place to stop. It took some doing to open the massive iron doors, but eventually she was inside. The walls were covered in moss, and rusted remains of steel bolts mounted pitted swords and shields. At the far right of the room was a set of stone steps leading to the roof. Wanting to explore a bit before laying down for a rest, Brianna headed up the flight of stairs, to glance back at Trinsic from the roof of the guard post. From the roof, Brianna was able to see a flicker to the southwest. It was a glow much like that of a wisp, but brighter. Her interest in the glow surpassed her desire for rest, and she went back downstairs to go see what was shining in the distance. Out of the guard post, across the road, and into what appeared to be a small village, she traveled. The buildings seemed abandoned, and the once worn paths were overgrown with grass and weeds. Each building was marked with the letters "B o t D", and the doors were carved with a large dragon. Brianna tried to imagine what kind of peoples once lived in this town. Peering in the window of one of the shops, she could see a loom and a spinning wheel. Beside the loom was a small table with a candle and three books. Books. Grabbing a rock from the ground, Brianna took a step back and tossed it through the window. The filthy glass now out of the way, Brianna was able to better see the titles on the books. "Tales of the Brotherhood” was one, "The Ghost of Krynn” was another, and the final book was "Honor Overlooked". The strange light from the distance flickered again, reminding Brianna of why she had headed this way to begin with. Traveling towards the light, Brianna reached the end of the clearing and stood before an overgrown path leading through the forest. Still a distance from the light, however, she was close enough to see off what the light was reflecting. It was a tower; a gargantuan edifice reaching into the black of the night. It was at this distance that she began to hear the sounds coming from the tower. Explosions and agonizing screams poured from the fortress. It was quite some time before Brianna again moved from where she was standing. Curiosity took hold of her eventually, and she once more pressed on. Through the forest and along the covered path she went, with the light growing brighter and the screams getting louder with each step.

Meanwhile, in a vine-covered house on Buccaneers’ Den . . .

Three relative non-entities gathered around a mosaic-inlaid table, attempting to plan where they will begin their task at hand.

There was Martoo Saul; a diplomat and methodical fellow. His main concern was always getting things done. He was one of the few people who could carry himself as a noble, without the baggage of arrogance and pomp.

Sitting beside him was Zendella Kxriss. It was often debated which was sharper, her kryss or her tongue. Although she, too, was born of noble blood, it was never quite that apparent. She had more of a penchant for death and deceit than for decorum.

And speaking of deceit… there was Junin Pince. Deception, guile, fraud, duplicity – he mastered them all. It was more out of amusement than out of malice that he would behave as he did. He enjoyed the chaos and confusion that he could stir with but a few words dropped here and there.

Zendella turned to the empty chest behind her, in hopes that supplies had mysteriously appeared since last she looked.

“How wonderful of them to equip us for this endeavor. Why didn’t they just say, ‘We know it will be impossible, so we won’t bother wasting resources on you.’?”

“Zen, ours is to have faith in ourselves, “ Martoo said, trying to relax her, “we need not faith in others.”

“We can start searching the Yew area. I hear that one of them might be about the Abbey region,” stated Junin.

“No, Junin, you heard about vixens in scant leather armor. THAT is why you wish to start there.” Zendella was well aware of Junin’s motives for half of what he did.

Junin placed his Yew rune on the table, pointed to it, and smiled. “Reason one or reason two, the fair and pretty await me in Yew.”

Zendella quirked a brow, “Await you?”

“Aye, Zendella. Although they know it not yet, it is I who they long for. It would be cruel of me to keep them waiting any longer than they already have.”

Martoo glanced over to Junin, gave a half-smile, and returned to his maps. “He is right. Yew would make for a sufficient starting point. To begin near Yew would allow us to gather information while maintaining relative anonymity. The people there have little concern for world news. If word of our task gets out, we will have ample time to take appropriate action while hidden among the ignorant farmers.”

The trio agreed. Night had fallen and it was decided that rest was in order. Travel would begin at sunrise.

- - -

Brianna had reached the tower’s clearing and stared in awe as the lights danced about the shrine in the tower’s courtyard. It was the shrine of Spirituality, standing tall upon pillars of marble. The shrine emanated serenity, and Brianna was taken in by it. Drawing closer to the shrine, she no longer heard the screams and howls of agony and pain that flowed from the tower. Her daze was broken by the thunder of horses from the east. Ducking behind a tree, she watched as an army rode up to the doors of the tower. Their saddles and shields were marked with the letters “KoJ”, and all were clad in the finest of armor. Their leader was a regal-looking woman in a gleaming white dress. The woman removed her helm to address the legion around her.

“They’ll recall behind the tower. I want Jade’s head. The others are secondary.”

Atop the parapets gathered the inhabitants of the tower. Dressed in red, with blood-soaked armor and skulls of the dead for helms, they readied their bows for war. The legion out front had convened in the small area between the shrine and the tower with expectations for a frontal assault.

“Get back!” their leader yelled, “They are going to recall out back!”

Her words fell a bit too late, as the red ones from the tower had done exactly what she expected them to do. From around the back of the tower, to the right and to the left, poured a half dozen archers and mages, trapping the army in the small courtyard. The archers in the parapets fired down on the army’s mages so as to shut down their source of healing and protection. The tower’s ground forces were systematic in choosing their targets, and halved the army almost immediately. It was a strong and united army, and, even at half strength, they took arms and jointly swarmed the attackers to their right. Warcries of “Bow to KoJ!” and “Death to SSS!” echoed as the cavalry raised their shields and swords to bring down the enemy. Spells flew in every direction, while arrows ripped across the battlefield in every direction. Slowly, the army took down the reds, until only three people stood – the woman in the white dress, her bodyguard, and a mage.

Laughter came from the mages lips, as he looted one of the fallen. “M’Lady Cherry! Tis more of a victory than we thought! Call for helping hands from Trinsic, as we still have twice the night ahead of us!” The mage tossed a key carved of dragon’s bone to the lady in the white dress. “T’would seem one of them died with the tower key upon him!”

The pillaging of the tower continued through the night, as droves of people from Trinsic traveled to loot the tower. Chests full of weapons and sacks of armor! Ghosts who were trapped inside were freed, resurrected, and offered whole backpacks of the spoils of war. Bags of reagents, too heavy to lift, were being dragged from the tower…. And this was just the beginning! It was not until sunrise that the doors to the vault on the roof were blown off, and treasures beyond treasures were carried and gated off.

Brianna’s eyes weighed heavy and exhaustion had taken over. She lifted herself from the ground to move towards the tower. Pulling a cloak from one of the bodies that still remained, she covered herself and sat beside the shrine. Realizing that her presence was of no concern to anyone around, she drifted off to sleep.