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.

The halfling nods and says in a low voice, "I can accept that." He holds Rocha's eye for just a moment more, then pulls on the reign. His mount turns with unexpected rapidity and speeds off in the direction of the Talenta Plains.

Vencerin steps forward, next to Rocha and breaths a sigh of relief. "That was close. I wonder what he was doing in Karrnath?" He stares after the halfling, rubbing his chin as he thinks.

Vencerin nods, scratching his head. "I thought they were going to respect our borders. We're definitely reporting this."

You continue your travels and nothing else of note happens until you arrive at Fort Bones.

The high walls are dirty white. At first sight, the walls appear to be topped with crenelations, but as one turns, you realize that they are animated skeletons on lookout.

The doors to the keep are open as the sun is going down. Few people move around inside, and one guard approaches and nods as Vencerin shows him his orders, directing him to a small office on the opposite side of the yard.

The office is dark as you enter, lit only by a small lantern sitting on the desk. A man sits at the desk, writing on a piece of paper. As he hears you enter, he looks up at you, his eyes bloodshot with lack of sleep and lines of worry cross his face.

"Yes? Who are you?" he asks. Vencerin steps forward and hands him his orders. The man takes them and looks them over then tosses them back at Vencerin with a laugh. Leaning back he says, "He's not here."

"No, you misunderstand me," he says with a mirthless chuckle. "He's not here, in clear violation of his sworn duty. That man has been a problem ever since I got here." He smiles and licks his lips, then leans forward, folding his hands on the top of his desk.

"Several days ago, he was dispatched on a routine patrol along the border with the Talenta Plains. He returned early, recruited our wizard, and immediately left. I only found out about his return and departure hours after it had occurred." He spreads his hands out, palms up in a helpless expression. "He's been gone for three days past when he was due and I don't have the manpower to go looking for him. As it is, I can't continue to patrol the border without the soldiers he took with him the first time."

The officer sighs and nods. "I'm sorry this duty fell to you. ... Good luck." He turns back to what he was doing when you entered his office.

Vincerin sighs and nods, "Ok, let's get moving." He picks up his pack that he'd dropped at the door of the office upon arriving and tiredly slings it onto one shoulder. He folds the warrant and puts it back in his pocket, checking for it's presence again after adjusting the straps on his pack.

The officer points at the pair of you and says, "He was out patrolling the border and wasn't supposed to go more than a day's journey to either side of the fort. Being that he's overdue and out of communication, I don't know if he's within those bounds, but maybe that'll give you a place to start."

Vincerin nods again and leads the way out of the office, continuing out through the fort's gate.

Vincerin looks shocked at Rocha's suggestion. "Cyre?! The Mournland? I hope to the Host that he didn't go there. I've heard the stories..." he trails off with a shudder.

Rocha examines the ground. It's obvious that a lot of patrols come this way, so, perhaps it's a good way to go. You travel through grassy hills, following the trail to the border with the Telanta Plains where it turns to the West, toward Cyre.

When Vincerin realizes this, he groans, "Please tell me this isn't going where I think it is!"

Soon, just as the sun starts to dip down to the horizon, Rocha notices something a little off the trail he follows. It's the start of a new trail, one that has been used recently and very infrequently. It doesn't connect with the patrol trail you followed at all, and it appears to cross the border and enter the Talenta Plains.

You follow the path and it definitely leads into the Talenta Plains. It hasn't been used by very many people, but it's been used recently, within the past couple days. As the sun finally sets, Vincerin looks at the horizon. "Are we going to set up camp or push on through the night?" he asks.

Vincerin nods tiredly and pushes on into the tall grasses. A cold breeze picks up as the sun dips the last bit beneath the horizon.

As you both continue following the trail, weary and focused on the journey, you realize that there are small figures hidden in the tall grass, watching you. You can't make them out individually, nor do you actually see a silhouette, but you spot a curve there, and joint there, a head sinking down there... all in silence.

What do you do?

You have definitely crossed over into the Talenta Plains.

The halflings in front of you seem to accept your words. One of them, riding a larger creature than the others, kicks his beast forward. As he approaches, you can see in the dim light that his body is more muscled and grizzled than the others. He wears a mask that must be twice as large as his actual head. The wood of it is carved in a fearsome scream, rivulets of blood carved from the eyes and teeth.

In a surprisingly deep voice, the figure says, "You hunt the diggers? They trespass on our land, past your border. They have refused our requests to leave and have slain one of our kin who delivered our ultimatum. If you wish for them to survive, you must take them back to your lands before the sun sets again."

Tugging on the reins, he coaxes his mount to take a couple hesitant steps toward you. You can smell the sickly sweet smell of a carnivore as it approaches. The halfling leans towards you from his seat and continues ominously, "Should you fail, we will descend upon their camp and slay anyone there, carrying their bodies away for our beasts to eat."

The halfling stares at you blankly for several seconds before nodding choppily and pulling on his mount's reins. In his own language, he barks several commands and the others fade into the dark around you. He looks back at you and says, "Come."

The way through the tall grass is slow and tense, at first. Then, as time passes, it gets to be monotonous. Several times, you glance over and catch Vencerin mid yawn as he plods through the grass, following your guide.

Later, as you get close to the crest of a hill, your guide stops and turns back. "They are just over this hill. You know what you must do and how fast." Without another word, he gives a low whistle and his beast darts off into the grass in another direction.

The grass on the top of the hill glows with reflected dim yellow light.

The pair of you creep up to the hill's crest and peer down into the low valley created by the high hills. You see a makeshift camp with a dig site into the side of one of the hills. The camp is lit all around with a few torches throwing dim light around. You see soldiers standing around... something. An officer and another figure in robes stand in the center of the circle and you can hear low voices on the wind.

Vencerin nods slowly and whispers back, "More that you and I can take if things turn ugly."

As the pair scurries down the hill, one of the group turns toward them, hearing the rustling of the grass over the chanting by the rest of the group. The figure leans forward a little bit, as if having difficulty seeing the source of the noise outside the torchlight illuminating the group. Turning back to face the center of the circle, the figure shouts, "Now!" and the others raise their voices, crying out in the language of magic. Tendrils of dark light begin to reach up toward the dark sky from the center of their circle, dancing in a non-existent breeze.

With a crack, the dark light flashes, leaving odd purple after images on Rocha's eyes. As soon as Rocha's eyes clear, they can see that the members of the circle are all either on their backs, kneeling on the ground or staggering away. In the center, rises a large collection of bones, moving of its own accord. A long neck lengthens and arches back as a jagged jaw opens up in a silent scream. Bony wings stretch out from its back and a long bony tail thrashes around.

Vencerin gasps, and says, too loud, "Is that what I think it is?"

Everything from her reading, children's stories and random factoids picked up throughout her life scream at Rocha that this is indeed a dragon. Fleshless, yes, but still a dragon.

One of the members of the circle picks themselves up from the ground and plants their feet firmly on the ground and shouts at the skeletal dragon, "We brought you up, you will obey us!" The dragon seems momentarily taken aback, then its head shoots forward on its long neck and the jagged jaws close on the figure, ripping the top half of the body from the bottom half.

The rest of the circle cry out in fear and surprise and scatter, scrabbling their way away from the skeleton dragon as quickly as they can.

Everyone forgets about the noise one of their number heard.

Chaos reigns for a time as the skeletal dragon stomps around, ripping up tents, equipment and people with abandon. Then, without warning, it spreads its bony wings and levitates into the air in a widening spiral and disappears into the darkness.

The remaining few people are shocked by your sudden appearance and all appear cowed, except for one. He stands in defiance of your orders and looks over towards you...... and when he sees you and Vencerin walking towards the group, the color drains from his face. "What... what are you doing here?" he calls out, his voice cracking from his nerves.

Malkov stops as Rocha finishes speaking and his shoulders fall slightly. He slowly shakes his head, not so much in denial but in disbelief. "I gave so much for my country, I did so much, bled so much. And this is how I'm repaid?" His voice is soft, barely above a whisper, but seems to carry through the entire clearing.

Slowly, he turns to look at Rocha, a fire lit behind his eyes. Fanatacism. It's not the first time you've seen it ignite stupid actions in an individual. "You are outnumbered. You cannot bring me in."

Malkov reaches down to his belt and draws a thin sword from the sheath hanging there and rushes towards Rocha, his lips pressed into a tight line on his face and his eyes narrowed in determination. Vencerin leaps back from the soldier's rush, a wordless exclamation gushing from him.