OPEN | Blood And Ice

[northcliffpass]

Civil Blood

I. News from the West

The story of why gets twisted and distorted between its departure from the Crags and its arrival in Northcliff Pass, but the town criers maintain consistency on a few points: Althea of House Jessamy, Duchess of Black Rock, has at last thrown down the gauntlet against the Duke of Cliffside, and has called on her vassals to rally their bannermen. It seems there will be war within the borders of Maireglenne for the first time in a hundred years.

Given the state of the roads leading through the pass, it is understandable that the news is a few weeks’ stale by the time armed soldiers sporting Duke Galein’s colours march (or gallop, if they are astride a horse) past the village walls and garrison themselves on the festival grounds. Anyone objecting to this new arrangement is encouraged by the soldiers to bring their objections to the garrison commander (who, rumor has it, personally oversees the flogging of objectors himself).

Like it or not, the regiment is here to stay, at least until they receive orders instructing them otherwise. On the bright side, the soldiers did the hard work of clearing the pass for the season; travel between Northcliff Pass and the city of Cliffside just got a heck of a lot easier this winter.

II. Cold Snap

And it’s highly likely that those orders will be as delayed as the news, for the regiment has hardly been within the city walls a week before the temperatures plunge to dangerous lows. This is not the seasonal frigidity accompanied by blustery blizzards that encourage snowball fights and a bit of ice fishing down by Sands Creek, but a cold so biting and bitter that any prolonged period spent outside in it runs the very real risk of hypothermia and death. This is the kind of cold that leaves the air clean and clear, with nothing to impede the watery white light of the sun for the few hours it spends above the horizon each day before setting again; it cuts the lungs when inhaled and bites straight through to the bone. Many of the village’s poor are brought within the sturdy walls of the Town Hall and the chapel, because the alternative is finding them frozen solid in the streets.

The silver lining to this development is bare indeed; avoiding the cold means that, for a time at least, the village residents and soldiers are too preoccupied hunkering down to endure the cold to be at cross purposes.

III. A Howl in the Night

On the third night of the deep freeze, an animal’s piercing howl shatters the oppressive silence that has settled over the village.

It’s not a wolf’s howl; it is far too shrill and keening, and comes from a great distance away, that much is clear. The few villagers brave enough to risk exposure to the cold will find nothing of immediate danger within the city walls--but should they lift their eyes and look to the gossamer clouds near the summit of Gods’ Reach, they will glimpse the dark silhouette of a massive winged beast circling the mountaintop in search of a safe place to roost.

Comments

[ellrigaeta]

"You didn't start this," Lorne tells Tuo firmly. Those soldiers found him odd, got drunk, and decided to come harass him. Tuo would have had to not be himself to avoid their attention, and even that hasn't prevented some of the bog-standard villagers from getting pushed around.

Dain's query first has Lorne running through practicalities until it highlights yet again the difference between Dain and every Shepherd that Lorne has had a brush with or heard about. He cares, in a way that encourages Lorne's curiosity; not only about him but about Dain's concern for Tuo. What had the Shepherd even been doing out here? And Tuo… well, it's always hard to tell what Tuo's thinking.

"You're welcome," Lorne says more soberly. "I'm glad I happened to be out here." A nod to agree with Tuo's assessment; rest is definitely in order but otherwise there's not much else to be done. "We should probably get out of the cold for a bit, you especially." Lorne pauses for a moment. "Would you like company or prefer I come back later?" That nose will need another look but Lorne doesn't want to presume his and Tuo's interactions have been sufficient to warrant an invitation into his home.

He has no illusions that this incident is fully over, that punishment may yet come his way, but now he has a chance to appeal to local law for a modicum of leniency. Lorne doesn't regret his decision to help.

[shepherddain]

Dain is also very glad Lorne happened to be out here. He doesn't, however, say it aloud; just sets aside his original reason for following Lorne out towards the woods, acknowledges Tuo's thanks with a nod, and turns to leave, blanking his face in order to try and blank his tumultuous mind and the aching yearn.

He hesitates when Lorne asks whether Tuo wants company, that tangle of emotions returned. There's nothing wrong with it, of course, nothing whatsoever wrong, except that Dain wishes fiercely he could extend the same offer. But he cannot turn a blatant blind eye to some of the contents of Tuo's wagon while Lorne is there, and expect Lorne not to demand answers.

Perhaps he shouldn't put aside his original reason for following Lorne just yet. If Tuo says to come back later, there should be some opportunity for conversation before they're back inside the village walls.

[matkalainen]

It's an innocent enough question, and a bit of company after that harrowing encounter would not go amiss--but then, of course, there is the matter of literally everything inside his wagon. And Lorne, generous and attentive and prone to random acts of unexpected heroism though he is, is as much an unknown element to Tuo in this regard as Tuo likely is to him.

So it should not come as any surprise when Tuo demurs with, "Perhaps another time, if you don't mind." Already he is carefully pushing himself up to his feet, wobbling only momentarily when the magpie still perched on the awning swoops down to land clumsily on his shoulder.

One wing smacks into the side of his head, which Tuo endures with a tolerant grimace. "Hello to you, too," he tells Alvi, already turning to reach for the door to his home.

[ellrigaeta]

It's much as Lorne expected; were Tuo in worse shape Lorne might be more insistent, but he's well enough to be on his own. Rattled, clearly, but relatively safe now and more or less in one piece. He nods, gives the magpie an amused glance.

"Of course," Lorne acquiesces easily, stepping back so Tuo has plenty of room. "I'll be at the guardhouse or the magistrate's house if you need any further assistance. Tomorrow you should get your nose checked out, though, whether it's me or a healer."

At worst it'll only heal crookedly if not set, but better to ensure he's getting any treatment he needs, in Lorne's opinion. That settled, Lorne turns with a wave back towards the village gates. He's following not far behind Dain but doesn't attempt to catch up with him immediately. If the soldiers are lingering nearby, it won't do to have Dain appearing to take sides.

[shepherddain]

And that's that, Dain thinks. Tuo and Alvi are safe. Lorne is uninjured. There's nothing more anyone can do until the next time the soldiers try to harrass someone. There's a temporary peace, and Dain can settle back into the permanent discomfort he'd learned to live with right up until Tuo walked back into his life.

It's keen, recently, those reminders that Dain can't simply do what he knows is best.

He's on the preceipe of stopping to wait for Lorne to catch up, of broaching the topic he meant to ask about in the first place -- but there's a soldier right inside the gate, and Dain chooses not to take the risk. Another time, perhaps.