Tracks

Shepherding Village

This is the home of a small, proud, and independent people who live primarily by herding sheep in the open lands south of the Great East Road. Once driven from this region by troll depredations, they have returned and appear to be prospering, perhaps because they can also profit by trade on the Great East Road.

Or rather.... we should say it /was/ the home of these people. The many sturdy houses and smaller huts clustered on a hill here have mostly been burned. Some are yet standing, more are nothing more than charred timbers. Once, they were safely ensconced behind a deep ditch and wall. The ditch is filled with the ashy ghosts of thorn bushes ... and the gate hangs crookedly, black as charcoal.

But a stone wall is being built by a group of industrious dwarves, and many of the buildings that were still standing have been repaired. The village is now a mixture of the charred, skeletons of houses, and shiny new ones.

A long, low, smoke-stained building, sprawling along the hillside below the caravanserai, appears to the south. Its thatched roof has miraculously escaped burning - though there are black patches across it. Thick lead-paned windows are dark. A group of industrious men and dwarves and a few elves are camped in the open area.

Obvious exits:

Gathering House, Caravanserai, and Great East Road

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| Yfelwydan Time (YST) |

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** Real time is: Tue Apr 27 14:53:12 2010, GMT -8 **

Elendor time is: Early Evening on a Clear Highday, Day 14 of October 3049.

Note: It\'s daytime out, so do not leave the cover of trees!

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Evening is here, and with it the first stars, glinting like motes of dust in a sky that is clear and crisp. There is a chill to the air that the tang of woodsmoke cannot entirely dismiss. Summer is past, autumn is here and winter will not be long on its way.

There is a group gathered round the fire, of course, but it is rather smaller than before, many of the workers having chosen to seek warmth and shelter in the new-built Gathering House. Brev is not among them rather he rises from beside the flames, taking his mug with him, and walks toward the peace and solitude of the outer wall, head tipped back to stare at the skies. His features, freed of their usual scowl, are oddly pensive.

[Sulgirion(#16643)] And while the Dunlending Man may be staring toward the heavens, he may catch sight of something therein, shrouded in the deepening dark. It is a bird, though at this distance its size cannot be easily made out. Perhaps it is just a songbird, late in settling in for the coming night. Stars glint off a glittering talons.

Broad wings blot out the stars, and sharp talons seem to grasp at more of the glittering motes. Brev shudders, and pulls his cloak tighter about him. Then, frown replacing the look of thought, he sets down the mug (still but half-empty) and climbs onto the wall to see the moving darkness more clearly. Is there trouble in the woods?

[Sulgirion(#16643)] The shape in the darkling sky comes closer, swiftly growing larger and larger as it nears. It the Great Eagle, Sulgirion. A sharp avian cry is emitted from a black-tipped curved beak, and he tilts his massive wings to circle overhead, passing smooth rings above Brev. \"You are still awake, I see,\" calls the eagle, looking downward with a bright amber gaze. \"That is well. Will you come? There are tracks in the woods that bode ill.\"

The Dunlending\'s features tighten at the answer to his unspoken question. \"I-\" There is clear hesitation as he glances into the darkness, eyes straining to discern motion from stillness. Then, jaw setting, \"Yes.\" Clearly he does not wish to admit that he is less than an Elf.

He twists round to look into the spike-filled ditch, then manages the ghost of a chuckle. \"Don\'t think I\'ll try the quick way down.\" Sliding back down the way he came, he pauses just long enough to snatch up a spear and ducks through the gates, murmuring something to the guards as he goes.

[Sulgirion(#16643)] \"It is not too far,\" assures Sulgirion, angling his tail to steer himself around. The eagle sails back in the direction of the gloomy tree line, keeping his flight slow so that the human may keep up without much trouble. \"It was near the Road.\"

Brev follows, long legs striding swiftly along the rutted track despite the dimness. He does not speak, but his head turns this way and that to survey the dark, and his amber eyes glitter. Once he freezes, until it is clear that the shifting and rustling is naught but a creaky branch caught by the wind of Sulgirion\'s passing. When the motion of the winged form appears to deviate from the road\'s course he halts, shifting his spear to a two-handed grip ready for thrusting, then moves slowly after, testing every footfall.

[Sulgirion(#16643)] The avian drifts alongside the road, his wings buffeting the brush and deadening foliage. The trees are not too thick in this area, and Sulgirion lowers himself carefully to the earth at the edge of the East Road, letting the large claws dig into the soil and browned grass. He dips his head to indicate a bloodied section of it. \"There were goblins here not too long prior, but..they were much larger then the kind normally found here. They stood in the daylight, peering over a body of another of their ilk.\"

Brev drops to one knee to examine the ground as best he may, cradling the spear. He peers at section indicated, setting a booted foot beside one impression in the earth. \"And they dragged it away? How many? How long ago?\" His features contort into an unhappy scowl. \"Damn, wish I could risk a light.\"

As the words fade his head cocks as though listening to the darkness. Even with a mighty bird for company, he does not look comfortable in these woods at this hour.

[Sulgirion(#16643)] \"They dragged it away northward, deeper into the Shaws. It was not long ago, just before the sun sank into dusk. I followed them from high above, for quite some ways, but they reached a part of the forest that was too dense, and I lost sight of them.\"

The eagle fades into silence, stooping anf canting his head to better look at the tracks and mess on the path. Then, his large eyes pierce into the surrounding dark. \"I doubt they have gone for good...perhaps they seek an attack on the village, if their numbers are great enough.\"

There is not sound from the woods. All is eerily still.

Brev lets that uncanny silence hold for a while before he ventures quiet speech again. \"If you can\'t follow them in day, I\'d hardly do it at night.\" Beneath the matter-of-fact tone is an undercurrent of something else - relief at the excuse? \"Not that these woods aren\'t dark even at noon. No wonder the creatures can roam during the day.\" For him, at least, the mystery of the \'day-Orcs\' is simple. He rises to his feet, again comparing the boot-print to his own, and mutters sourly, \"Big brute, wasn\'t he?\"

He turns then, facing the silent woods from every angle even if there is naught for his human eyes to see. \"And daresay you\'re right. Got any suggestions what we do about it?\"

[Sulgirion(#16643)] \"Indeed, the shadows of the Shaws make it easier for the creatures to skulk,\" comments Sulgirion \"..but the elven baker, Master Nurenhir, said he encountered one that did not fear to walk in the full light of the sun, beyond the cover of the trees.\"

The eagle bobs his head about the size of the orcish footprint. \"I can think of nothing, save perhaps sending a hunting party to learn more about these goblins. It is difficult to plan much without knowing how many there are, and whence they hide.\"

Brev grunts. \"Given that-\" He halts himself, letting the sounds of the forest speak for a while. When he resumes it is softer, barely more than a whisper. \"Given that trees have ears, less said about it out here the better. And given that Gidon\'s our best tracker ...\" His jaw sets, stubborn. \"I\'m not risking the lad. They can damn well find someone else.\" That statement is made with enough force that his voice rises slightly. \"So .. I\'ve seen the tracks. Want me to wait out here?\" He does /not/ sound enthusiastic about it. \"Rather go back, tell the rest ...\"

[Sulgirion(#16643)] The avian\'s throat emits an odd sound, perhaps a held back caw of slight irritation. \"No, I do not want you to tarry here,\" comes the answer, though it is gentler then the furrowed feathered brow that accompanies it. \"It would be foolish to wander blindly in the dark. I wished to see what you thought of the impressions.\" Sulgirion only gives a nod in agreement at Brev\'s last statement, and the raptor steps away to spread out his wings once more. A blast of air and dirt, and he is airborne, shifting his course back toward the village. He pauses long enough to make certain the Man follows.

\"Good.\" Brev\'s dark head dips under force of that irritated sound. Then comes the muttered confession. \"My kind don\'t see so well in the dark. Not like them ... like Elves.\"

Grudging explanation given, he shifts the spear to one hand and drops back to one knee for long enough to scoop up a handful of blood-stained soil. Holding this, and with many a backward glance at the brooding forest, where goblin, spirit or worse might lurk behind each tree, he follows his guide back toward the village.