IC: Fort Bones

You stand at attention in Captain Marbin's office. You received his summons an hour ago and arrived in his office 15 minutes later. The young woman that serves as his scribe and aide showed you into his office and told you that Captain Marbin would be along shortly to discuss a very important matter with you.

It's been a long 45 minutes.

Your shoulders have begun to knot and your lower back has begun to get that minor but very uncomfortable burn to it. Suddenly, the door latch clicks and then bangs as the door is pushed open before the latch fully disengaged and in walks an old soldier. His uniform is rumpled and slightly dirty. His hair is thinning, but his salt and pepper beard make up for the lack of hair on his head.



He starts as he sees you, then continues toward his desk, shaking his head. "Damn! I forgot you were coming. I do apologize for making you wait." He flops into his chair and looks at you for a second before waving his hand at you, "Sit down! Please, sit down."

He continues without waiting for you to do so. "Private Rocha, you are by all accounts a good soldier. Your platoon leader has told me that you're ready to help Karnnath regain its glory. Well, I'm sad to say, there is no glory to be had, right now. At least, not until Karrnath's enemies make a move. So, we have to be ready, we have to keep the peace and we have to rebuild." He sighs then smiles grimly. "And, me calling you here today has nothing to do with that. Well, not nothing."

He sits up a bit in his chair and calls through the closed door to his aide. "Glendie, could you send Vincerin, please?" The door opens almost immediately and in walks a young man in muted clothing, brown hair and a solemn expression.



"This is Vincerin, a messenger of the Karrnathi army. He has a very important message to deliver to one of our officers at Fort Bones, and a mission to go along with it. I need you to accompany him, protect him, help him deliver the message and complete the mission. Understood?"

Captain Marbin waves off your question and answers, "That's up to you and Vincerin, here. There is no timetable for your mission, other than as soon as you can make it happen." He sighs, "I know it's not glamorous, but it's work that needs doing."

With that, he squares his shoulders and, in a commanding voice, says, "Dismissed!" Vincerin snaps to attention and pops off a salute before opening the door for Rocha.

"After you," he says in a quiet, smooth voice.

After exiting, Vincerin looks at Rocha and gives her a slight smile. "Is this what you envisioned when you signed up? Babysitting a messenger?"

Vincerin nods to her with a slight smile, obviously hearing her frustration. "I, too, just need to collect a few things before we head off. How about we meet back here in 15 minutes? Then we can leave."

Rocha recovers her gear and meets Vincerin at the meeting place. You wait for a couple minutes past the appointment time before he arrives, looking a little harried and out of breath. "Sorry. That took longer than I expected." He coughs as he breaths deeply. "All good?"

You start off, walking down the road, as the sun begins it's long trek down to the horizon again. The sun warms the chill air nicely, making you both loosen some clothing or remove heavy items entirely. After about 15 minutes, Vincerin looks over at you, "So, what do you know of our mission?"

Vincerin hesitates half a step, pulling back and looking at you in amazement before continuing with a raised eyebrow. "Wow, I thought they'd explained it to you and you were on board." He takes a breath before continuing to talk, pointedly looking at the road in front of him.

"We're going to Fort Bones to bring back a war criminal, Rocha." He shakes his head. "I don't know much about it, and neither does anyone else, but you know that only feeds the rumor-mill." He continues on in silence for almost half a minute before continuing. "Word has it that the Cyrans have accused him of cruelty and abuse to their national survivors following the Day of Mourning. I guess he beheaded a little boy, stabbed a pregnant woman through the stomach and..." he shudders.

"Anyway, I can't think he'll be happy about it, so we might have to bind him and bring him back by force."

He shakes his head and gives a little chuckle. "Yes, I suppose that makes sense. I'll tell you, but you have to promise me that you won't tell anyone that I did so. I'm under express orders to keep this a secret." He pauses to take a breath, then says, "It's Malkov Varntik. And, yes, that Malkov Varntik, the one who was sent to lead a company of skeletons into Breland and returned a hero with a company double the size he went with."

He shakes his head again, running his hand through the hair on the side of his head. "He's been talked up so much, made into a hero, that I find it hard to believe his reputation could actually be tarnished. But, here we are."

Vencerin shrugs and falls into silence as you continue your trek on the road.

A few hours pass and the sun is getting low on the horizon. The sun is warm but the breeze is cold.

In the brush by the road, you see a spot of movement. A flash of scaly, tiger-striped skin is seen through a gap between two branches and then, with a crash, a small dinosaur carrying a halfling bursts through the brush and lands on the road in front of you. The small animal glares at the two of you and the small figure on its back pulls at the reins and levels a crossbow in your direction.

The halfling's eyebrows knit together at Rocha's words but the crossbow doesn't waver.