Chapter Seven: The Stalemate At Loton's Cove

The guard demands a seal or letter of introduction. Domarc flashes the signet, at which the guard squints, nods, and withdraws to confer with his partner. After a moment, a decision is made.

The guards let you into the gatehouse through a sally door and direct you to wait at a plain wooden table surrounded by stools.

A short while later, a man in sandals and a long red tunic enters through the courtyard-facing door. He is tall and thin, perhaps fifty years old, with a thick black mustache. "Greetings to you, friends. I am Lieutenant Dodro va Horii, commander pro tempore. I am told you seek Master Moag. He is no longer here. Four days ago, he left to see for himself the valley where our soldiers stood against the dragon."

"A day and a half on foot."

The lieutenant gives you a slightly dubious look, and seems to consider the request for a moment, but his eyes wander over to the signet on Domarc's finger, and he nods. "Of course. Please, follow me."

He leads you through the door into the walled enclosure of the fort, past old wooden barracks and a squat stone granary. A boy of no more than sixteen leads even younger recruits through a set of spear drills in a dirt yard. You proceed toward a large stone tower at the northwest quadrant of the wall.

"Seven soldiers returned to us alive, though we believe as many as thirty survived the initial onslaught. Some of those succumbed to their injuries as they marched back, others likely deserted." The lieutenant slows his pace as you approach the tower. "Only two remain with us, now. The rest have returned to their homes or been called back to Hazard."

He leads you inside. The ground floor is a wide open space filled with rows of empty cots, all of them empty. Two women clad in white emerge from a side room. One approaches while the other stays in place.

"Ziu-Pater protect you, Soror," the lieutenant greets her. "Another delegation from Hazard has come. They would like to speak with Corporal Obram."

"Erat's blessings, Lieutenant," the woman replies. "Of course. He's just finished his breakfast and looks well today. Come, follow me." She smiles placidly at the rest of you and heads towards a stairway at the back of the room.

Any questions/actions at this point?

"Forgive me, I only arrived here two weeks ago," the lieutenant replies. "Master Moag has been the only one sent since I assumed command of Solyhill, but I understand that the Great Marshal sent a number of investigators as soon as word of the attack reached Hazard."

Zangua looks around. The only obvious exit is the front doors they came through, although there are shuttered windows facing into the fort complex, and some modular interior structures along the walls that could be concealing other exits, or used for cover.

I'm ready to go talk to Corporal Obram. It's maybe not a terrible idea if we send a couple of us in to talk to the soldier and leave someone else out here to keep talking with the Lieutenant. I'd like to know who the other survivor is, for example.

The white garments and pomegranate pendants worn by the women here identify them as members of the Virgins of Erat, a religious order that teaches nonmagical healing arts. More info in the sourcebook.

"Yes," she answers. "He was." She does not elaborate.

The lieutenant is following you guys up to the room, so there may not really be a chance to separate. However, go ahead and assume you can discreetly pull the lieutenant aside to ask questions that Obram won't hear.

Zangua, make an Insight or Perception check.

The lieutenant looks at Zangua and says, "He is here, on a higher floor. The severity of his injuries...preclude fruitful questioning, I'm afraid."

From the way he's looking at Zangua, Zangua gets the sense that the lieutenant has sussed him out as an ex-soldier, and not of Hazard's army.

Wooden interior walls divide up the second floor. The nurse leads you to a room with its door ajar. Inside, you see a man sitting on a bed next to a window, talking to another young woman in white. He's a man of about twenty, of a lean and muscular build, with sandy blonde hair cut short. His right arm is missing at the elbow, which is tightly bandaged. Recently-healed scars cover the right side of his face and torso, lacerations of varying length and width that all run in the same direction, horizontal with a slight downward angle. A patch covers his right eye.

He looks up as you enter, and the young nurse takes a step back and bows her head. "Corporal Obram, more men from Hazard have come to speak with you," the other nurse says. "Are your thoughts clear today?"

He nods. "Yes, Soror."

The nurse smiles and leads her colleague back out into the hallway. Corporal Obram looks at the party expectantly.

Annganne is going to hang in the back of the party, for the sake of surreptious spellcasting, should it be necessary.

Obram glances at the lieutenant, who gives him a slight nod. "We marched to Akker's Well and made camp on the first day. About an hour past noon on the second day, we entered the valley beyond Old Hilltown." He pauses for a moment. His eyes seem unfocused. "We were marching in close formation through the valley -- in case of orcs -- and the dragon just came up over the ridge to the northeast and plunged into the valley like a falcon. It landed in front of the vanguard and loosed its breath three times. Then it took flight again and went back the way it came. It was so fast. Everything happened so fast."

Felor has never seen injuries quite like this man's, but then again, Felor has never examined the survivor of a dragon attack before. Though he is permanently scarred and maimed, his wounds seem to have healed well. There is not much Felor's prayers can do for him at this point.

Obram closes his eyes for a moment. "Its breath...it breathed shards of ice at us. The force of it ripped men apart, tore limbs from bodies, stripped flesh from bone. I was in the rear left of the formation. I broke ranks and ran when the dragon descended upon us -- many of us did -- but I was fortunate. Only the very edge of the first breath struck me. One of my brothers fell dead upon me and shielded me from the second breath, and the third missed me entirely.

"When I had the courage to rise up again, I saw only a few others who were likewise able to stand. Some lay where they fell, crying out in agony...the rest were all dead. Our commanders...all dead. Those of us who lived could not agree on what to do next. Some feared the dragon would return, and wanted to hide. I and two others chose to walk back to Solyhill. We dragged one other behind us on his shield."