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Author Topic: Into thin heir  (Read 749 times)

Dorganath

Into thin heir
« on: November 11, 2014, 11:56:45 pm »
"I tell ya what," says a merchant in a crowded inn to his table mate. "I ne'er wanted t' grow 'nother setta eyes more'n I do now, what with all the vanishin's.""The blazes you on about now?" asks the other, looking rather skeptical and even slightly confused by the turn of the conversation."Where ya been, lad?" replies the first, showing some disbelief at the other's response. "Ain' ya been hearin' about all thems that's gone missin'? It's a bloody edi...epin...Bah! Whatever ya call a sickess spreadin' all over like.  It's like that, I say!""Yer drunk, ya ol' sod," says the other. "People go missin' all th' time. Most of 'em show right on back up with a good reason.  They just ain' good at tellin' folks where they's goin'.""Nay, this is diff'rent...an' more of it," says the first. "I jus' got in from Khemit a few days ago. One o' them Silverguard cap'ns 'ad 'imself a quite right stack o' reports and goin' through 'em wit' 'er Second.  They was sortin' out the odd ones from the usual ones, if that ain' a kick in the pants. I heard half a fam'ly is just gone, one righ' after t' other, like.""'alf a fam'ly, ya say?" replies the second. "Mebee they's out lookin' fer the first one that went gone, hey?"The first grumbles a little and takes a pull from his tankard. "Could be...but it's all righ' strange, iff'n yer askin' me.  Bad fer business, I tell ya.  Bad fer me well-bein' too.  First the stars, then folks settin' stuff on fire an' such, an' now this.  Hate to say it, but somma dem crackpots mighta been onto somethin' from the off.""Now I know yer drunk," says the second, rolling his eyes a little. "or yer needin' another." Before the first could respond either way, the second is already flagging down the barmaid."Well I won' be arguin' that if yer buyin'.""Now yer talkin' some sense, at leas'.""Ne'er know when it might be my last...""..." 
 
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Dorganath

"Can someone explain to me
« Reply #1 on: November 14, 2014, 12:14:49 am »

"Can someone explain to me how this can happen?" says the watch Commander with clear irritation in her voice.

"Ma'am?" asks the nearest of the patrol that had apparently just returned.

"How is it that not one but three of our numbers can just disappear?" the Commander elaborates. "They've been stationed here at North Fort for the last three years at least. These were routine patrols. No signs of any of our usual adversaries. And yet they cannot be found!"

"Ma'am, we do not know," says one, the apparent leader of the small search party.  "It has been windy. Their tracks could have gotten covered...erased. If the giants or the bugs got them..." He pauses to shrug and begins to speak again, but he is cut off.

"I cannot tell their families that we don't know," snaps the Commander. "Have you found nothing?

"Commander," says another, taking a step forward and presenting a tangle of wood and sinew. "We found this broken bow sticking out of the sands. We dug as we could, but there was nothing else."  The Commander snatches it out of his hand and looks at it as if her eyes would burn a hole through it. She sighs after a few moments, but keeps the bow held tightly by her hip.

"Effective immediately, no one goes on patrol alone," says the Commander with an air of command. "I want no more missing, is this understood?" She is answered by a collection of "Yes, Ma'am's" and "Yes, Commander's".

"Good!" she barks.  "Dismis..."

"Uh...Ma'am?" says one of the patrol, somewhat wide-eyed and even looking fearful.

"What?!?" replies the Commander.

"Y-your hand...it's smoking..."

The Commander looks down with irritation at the hand holding the bow at about the same time the tinge of wood smoke reaches her nose. The sight of smoke slipping between her clenched fingers startles her and she drops the bow, revealing an hand-print of char encircling the bow where she held it.

 

 

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