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Post by ET (Kerberos) on May 19, 2018 10:04:28 GMT
Beluar and Maerel meet in Circind Maerel departure for Nagnati. They’ve got a few aides presents like Nuvian who’s the one of Maerels officers and Gaeleath who’s Beluars primary aide and trainee. The group looks over a map of the province.
Beluar: So Lysnathia believes says that the Miasma gathers around the villages that could mean that the rituals are being conducted there, or it could mean that the magical ritual is being performed elsewhere but concentrated in the areas where people are most likely to die. I will need all the reports that your patrols make of people seen in the wilderness. Did you see anything on your trip Nuvian?
Nuvia: Well there was one group, but they were Princess Meiwens officers.
Beluar: Uniforms can be faked or stolen, and organizations can be infiltrated. Mark the location on the map, I’ll ask the sheriffs if any patrol was supposed to be in that area and interview them what nthey were doing if they are. Even if they’re on the up and up they might have seen something. Also Maerel make sure that your officers make reports of both humans and elves.
Maerel: You think elves could be behind this?
Beluar: No, I think humans are, but that is why the Feral ones would be clever if they could recruit elves to do their bidding, they might think to fly under the falcons eye while we rip the province apart looking for humans, The essence of spycraft is to see the problem through the enemies eye. I think we will find humans behind this. The enemy almost certainly knows this so they would work through elves if they can, though of cause they probably won’t find willing recruits. I will certainly prioritize sightings of humans, but we will look after them all.
Gaeleath: And what about the villages if the ritual are being done there?
Beluar: *Smiling and leaning back* I don’t know Gaeleath, what do you think we should do in the villages?
Gaeleath: Eh, do we have enough troops to patrol both wilderness and villages?
Maerel: I have one soldier for every 3 civilians, I think we can manage both.
Gaeleath: Then we should definitely have patrols there as well. They won’t conduct the ritual in public, but the patrols could report on where people are gathering so we can look into that and if anyone is leaving the vilages without good reason.
Beluar: Or with good reason, we can’t be sure that the village hunter or trapper isn’t in on it. The vermin might dodge uniformed patrols though how do we prevent that?
Gaeleath: Well the first settlers to Circind where veterans. They’re unlikely to be in on it, both because they’re probably loyal and because they wouldn’t have the expertise to conduct ritual like that, well not the common soldiers, the battle mages might, so we could reach out to them, ask them what they’ve seen the last season, again gatherings in private and people leaving the village and we can ask them to keep and extra eye out for anything this season as well.
Beluar: Sound like a good plan, avoid asking the mages or others with magical training, they’re probably not in on it, but they have the expertise which mean it’s not Impossible. Anything else?
Nuvia: Well Lydi’aleera mentioned that she’d felt hotspots of the miasma in the wilderness, which seems odd because Lysanthia says it gathered near the villages.
Beluar: Right, that is odd, which means it’s interesting. It’s possible that the wilderness hotspots are where the ritual are being conducted while the village hotspots are where the effect is targeted, have Lydi’aleera make a note of where she felt it, we’ll step up the patrols there and pay particular attention to villages near those spots. If we find anything we’ll contact the patrols for backup, and make sure we’ve got enough force to take live prisoners. If they’re not alive we can’t make them talk. I think that’s a plan. Maerel?
Maerel: You’re the expert, I’ll pass on instructions for the officers to follow your lead in the matter and for the court to give you the resources you need.
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Post by Lilly Everwater on May 21, 2018 6:48:39 GMT
Meanwhile, in Dal Riada...
Lilly set foot off her ship. She gave the captains a good farewell, and trusted them to bring the ships home safely, after they had taken care of their local business here. Some rich person, nobleman or guilder, had purchased a large quantity of furs in Dumonia and was livid that he had not yet received them. She trusted the crew would take care of that little problem, while she took care of a problem of her own.
Without any prompting from Elyssia, she had decided to answer the call from Umbria for aid. What little assistance she could provide to the captains was entirely unnecessary; they were competent on their own and didn't need her help. At best she could keep a crewmember or two from getting seasick, but what good was that going to do? She was afforded a lot of discretion in her position as Commodore. She decided to make use of it.
With the guild's resources being focused elsewhere, this was a matter that she was attending to mainly on her own, through her own talents, skills and connections in Dal Riada. Much diminished since the wars that had left these lands devastated. Her first order of business was to take a day of rest in Crinan, where they had berthed. The journey had been long, and she was getting landsick from not having the waves rock her about. She made sure to get a strong drink - easy enough to get in Dal Riada - and a good night's rest in a hammock rather than a cot.
Still a little woozy from being on land, she ventured down to the bay first. There, she met an old friend that had kept her company during years at sea; years during which she rightfully should have died, yet did not. In part thanks to this old friend. The clicks and whistles from her dolphin friend told her all she needed to know, and she smiled back. "Keep them safe, will you?" She asked of him, "Try to give them some early warning if there are ships on the horizon. They're good friends of mine, and I won't be around to guide them." she threw it a piece of dried herring, and it clicked appreciatively, “I’ll be back before you know it. See you in Caerleon.”
Cultists. That’s what she was after. She pondered it as she walked back to Crinan. Cults such as these tended to be discrete, but all the same, they were always on the lookout for easy prey. The old, the crazy, the naive. Since Lilly was neither old nor naive, she would have to play the part of the crazy, a part she knew well. Really, it was just a matter of time until someone approached her with an outrageous offer. For most anyone, they would know better and refuse it, placing great distance between the person making the offering and themselves, for the simple reason that no good could come of it. It was a great way to rid themselves of anyone who might suspect anything untoward; the hallmark of a scammer. Be so outrageous that people weeded themselves out and you could focus your energies on the right ones.
Unfortunately for the young cultist now engaging with Lilly, she was just pretending to be crazy. The idea of having her emotions be kept in check by ancient powerful crystals that would bind her to the outer stars, thus keeping her on a navigationally true path through the storms of blood that were sure to come upon all of Albion and Hibernia - it was really a clear sign that this was the person she had been looking for. She indulged him. Went along with it. Though she wasn’t naive, she peppered his story even further, making it more ludicrous and painting herself as a target. She insisted that the Kings of Albion of course drew strength from the blood sacrifice of young children and that it had to be stopped; that such power should not be reserved for Kings alone just for peasants to starve. Peasants such as themselves! Peasants who deserved greatness in this life, and the next, among the stars. He was easy to bait, for he was a young and new cultist, and didn’t realize that just as he had been duped into joining, so was he being duped now.
In the coming days, she was eventually invited to join in one of their rituals. Through conversations, he had “convinced” her that the blood of the young should feed into the now living. Assurances that the young, of course, wouldn't die. What good would that do? He had claimed. She then claimed, more outrageously, the young had to die so that their strength might be shared among those with the power to change the world. They could always make more young. She had led him on, implying that perhaps she would help with that, with his help. She had stopped just short of doing exactly that, for she had some standards after all.
Now among the cultists, at the location of their ritual deep in the woods of Dal Riada, the Lothians who refused to let go of the ways of the Temple of Blood had gathered. In truth, Everwater knew not whether these were the cultists that were sought after. Perhaps they were but a splinter group, unrelated with no significance. It was an unfortunate possibility that the irrelevant relished in bloodshed and attempts to make themselves important, but deep down she hoped that this was an important group. A group that the elves of Umbria might find interest in, beyond their mere depravities. Still, it was a distinct possibility that this was the wrong kind of group. She steeled herself all the same. She had not come this far to second-guess herself. If it was the right group, the efforts would be worthwhile.
So as not to give away her cover, she partook in the ritual. She learned the names of those who attended, its location and how to describe the ritual. She joined in the ominous chants. When the goblet of blood was passed around, she drank of it, her stomach unflinching at the taste, for she was all too acquainted with it. It sickened her how easily she let the blood of the poor young lass down her throat, but at least it helped her blend in to the group that she would soon help break up. At this point, it didn’t matter whether their ritual aided the temple of blood. She knew that such depravity had to see an end, and that the sacrifices she was making towards that were well-worth it.
The poor lass was quite dead, she recognized, splayed upon upon the granite altar. Her blood already drained - blood they had drank presumably, and Lilly recognized the taste all too well, so she knew it was not from some pig or cow - and her skin pale as the moon. The cultists howled at the moon, and Lilly howled along. They danced, and Lilly danced along with them. They passed about the girl’s liver, heart and lungs, and Lilly partook in it ravenously, hating herself for every moment she chewed down on them. She hated herself particularly because some part of her still enjoyed that taste.
Finally, the scene was over. The ritual disbanded. The cultists returned to their own homes. The lad who had inducted Lilly wanted to follow her home, but she made an excuse, that the ritual had cut deep into her soul and she needed to reflect upon it, but that she wanted to make sure to meet with him again at the next ritual and that then, surely, they would be together as one. Just as they had eaten her flesh, she said. The cultist agreed, letting her knew when next the ritual would be.
She returned to her home, and debated whether to slit her wrists given how easily she had partaken. But she knew the One God looked disfavorably upon those who committed suicide, and that the One God was a merciful and understanding god. She knew He would understand the sacrifices she went through, and if it meant years or decades in purgatory to rid herself of the sins she had committed throughout her life, then so be it. These were sins she was not new to, and this time perhaps, she would save a life or two.
She notified her contacts of when the next ritual was to be. With any fortune, the group was a circle of cultists with ties to what remained of the Temple of Blood, and not just some freak group of people who enjoyed drinking blood and eating flesh for the sake of it. Naturally, she told no one of what she had done to acquire such information. It sickened even her, and she saw no reason why she should sicken others with it.
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Post by ET (Kerberos) on Jun 4, 2018 12:08:27 GMT
Nuvia and Gaeleath lies flat behind the a hilltop north of the cultist gathering spot at the appointed date for the second ritual. Alongside them are dozen Aelven crossbows or bows and a score of swordsmen among them some of the adventures who gathered at King Caerns behest as well as two cavalrymen hiding the mount on the far side. A cleric of the One God from Meiwens temple is the only human present save the cultists.
Gaeleath: I hope they won’t be terribly disappointed that Lilly couldn’t make it for the appointed date, but perhaps out presence will make up for it.
Nuvia: We’ll have to ask them, will this work:
Gaeleath: It should, we’re half again as many as Lilly reported seeing, trained soldiers and Beluar will bring as many from the south in a few hours time. When they see him they’ll probably run in this direction and we’ll ambush them, we should be able to take most of them alive. The only problem is the terrain, if they scatter we might not be able to bring all of them in, or the archers will have to kill them. There’s always the risk of something going sideways though.
Sadly those word turn out to be prescient. Lilly it turns out was invited to the ritual of drinking of the blood, but not for the entire ritual or perhaps they simply start early. As the cultist gather it turns out that that there are 3 prospective sacrifices a boy a young man and a young woman. The cultist bring the girl perhaps 25 years of forward. As the elves look on she is brought to the altar and the cultists tie her down. It seems she will be sacrificed several hours before the expected time Nuvia and Gaeleath look at each other.
Nuvia: Can we capture them with what we have?
Gaeleath: It would be easier with Beluars men as well, but. *He pauses*. We won’t sacrifice 3 people for convenience, we go now on my authority. He looks at the crossbowmen and archers. Shot those near the altar, but aim for the legs, you four *he says to Bethal and the three other carrying bows hold you fire for if someone goes for the prisoners then we charge. If any look about to escape kill them if you must.
A few second after 9 crossbow bolts are fired and 5 cultist near the altar fall to the ground and the aelves charge Uldreiyn, Ayduin and Fox-At twilight lead the charge with the horsemen riding to the sides to cut of escape. As it turns out concerns that the cultists might attack the prisoners are unfounded. The cultists only a score in total and carrying no armour and few weapons beyond there knives take one look the charging elves and run. They fail to even properly scatter as running in small groups easily corralled by the horsemen and hunted down by elves superior is numbers, training, equipment and discipline. The battle if it can be called that is protracted only by the need to take prisoners, but the cultists seem more eager to shed the blood of others than to sacrifice their own. IN the end all but 3 of the cultists are taken alive, but among the dead it is discovered is the leader of the cult, hit in a major artery and bled out before the Cleric could save him.
When Beluar arrives a few hours later interrogations are already underway, but it seems that the sacrifices were an isolated act, unconnected to the problems plaguing the province. If anyone knows of other groups or has connection to the problem it would be the dead cult leader.
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