As he spoke a young woman approached their
circle, trailed by another soldier who was taking notes. “That report makes it sound like the fool ran
into an abomination.” She said to the
soldier, who nodded and left the group.”
The young woman sighed and focused on Kain. “We’re here after artifacts from the Mathsian
War and to restore the protective shrines, not for some snot-nosed recruit to
be scaring people with imagined stories from the last war.”
Kain cleared his throat loudly. “Levitia, this is Anneleigh, an Ascended sent
to us from Sanctum. Anneleigh, this is
Dame Levitia Volya.”
Dame Volya looked ashamed and dropped her
focus from Kain to Anneleigh. “I didn’t
realize someone without clearance had been given access to this tent. You will forget what you heard.”
To Anneleigh’s surprise, Kain actually chuckled. “She has proven herself countless times
over. In fact,” he paused for a moment,
“Anneleigh may be just the person to investigate this claim.” Kain turned to Anneleigh. “Why don’t you check around the camp, see
what you can find and then head off to Lord’s Hall to deal with it. I’ll see you when you get back.”
He turned and followed Levitia out of the
tent without another word of instructions.
Anneleigh turned to Fedor, who was still
standing at her side. “Why didn’t they
shoo you away? Do you have clearance for
this tent?” Anneleigh asked, tracing quotation marks around the last four
words.
“Hardly,” Fedor said, “But we are often
overlooked.”
Anneleigh assumed “we” to mean the dwarven
people, and chose not to ask for further explanation. Instead she left the tent and went to speak
with Captian Ledisko, who was, thankfully, finished with her earlier meeting.
“The kid is punch drunk. Go talk to him if you like. There’s no such thing as this two-headed
monster. He’s seeing double from that
knock to the head he took.” Ledisko
laughed, “He probably got jumped by one of the Hall’s undead while searching
for artifacts.”
Anneleigh forced a smile. “If this is how they treat their soldiers, it
is a wonder anyone chooses to stay with this camp”, she thought to herself,
resigning to go and speak with the young man herself.
“Where can I find him?” Anneleigh asked
her. “Kain tasked me with,” she paused
for a moment, “with proving his story true or false.”
Ledisko pointed towards a tent. “By all means, but don’t say I didn’t warn
you.”
Anneleigh turned and approached the medic
tent. A soldier lies on a cot staring at
the cloth roof of the tent while he is patched up by an elf dressed in white –
a healer, Anneleigh realizes.
“I’m here to ask you what you saw.”
Anneleigh said to the man.
“I still can’t believe what happened to me.”
The man said, shaking his head in disbelief, then stopping suddenly and placing
a hand to his head a moment later. “I was scouting some rooms under Lord’s Hall
and ran into some sort of giant with two heads!
I don’t remember much after that, but it was something I’d never seen
before. No one believes me, but I swear
I’m not lying!”
“Kain told me to go find the monster.”
Anneleigh said, deciding to leave the task open to interpretation for this
wounded soldier. He had suffered greatly
and the thought that someone was on his side may speed his recovery.
The soldier smiled. “Go find Lawless. He’s probably recovering at Heroes’
Stand. We were in the same room, but I
haven’t seen him here at Kain’s Command.
He can vouch for my story.”
Anneleigh left the soldier and Fedor at
Kain’s Command and started alone towards Heroes’ Stand. It was not hard to find Lawless, he was
sitting in a similar medic tent.
“I’m not sure about this two-headed monster
tale, but I do believe the soldier ran into something big we haven’t seen
yet. There have been a series of unusual
sightings reported lately, and we shouldn’t ignore what this could mean.”
“Kain agrees, and I’m going to
investigate. Is there anything else you
can tell me?” Anneleigh asked calmly.
The soldier shook his head. “Only that I hope getting this shrine
restored will illuminate the situation.”
He said, “But for that, you’ll need to talk to Siennicki.”
At the name, a Mathosia guard came to the
tent entrance. “Miss, if you’ll follow me.
There are no unauthorized visitors permitted in this camp.”
Anneleigh smiled and followed the guard to
a large tent at the far end of the camp.
“Siennicki, I found her nosing around.
Doesn’t look like a defiant, but could be a cultist in disguise.”
The other man, short and aging, beckoned her
into the room. “Sit down,” He commanded her.
Anneleigh sat, but before she could explain herself she was cut
off. “There is something different about
you. We have seen ascended before, to be
sure, but so few and far between that our soldiers sometimes forget the
signs. What can we do for you here at
Heroes’ Stand?”
“Kain sent me to investigate the claim of
the unknown monster.”
“Ah yes.”
Siennicki said, “I’m not completely surprised. You see, one of Marshal Kain’s prime
objectives in this area is to restore Scarwood’s ancient protective
shrines. Before the Mathosian War, the
holy power of the Shrine of Bahralt spread its protection across Scarwood
Reach. When the Ward fractured, however,
the gates to Lord’s Hall were sealed.
They say unspeakable evil prowls there now, corrupting the ancient
shrine. Kain will, I have no doubt,
linked these two rumors. “
Anneleigh nodded and tired to remember the
battle Siennicki spoke of, but her time during the shade was spent in Mathosia,
and little news reached them at her command center.
Siennicki lead her out of the tent and out
of the camp. Her eye was drawn up, following
a great stare carved and laid into the edge of the mountain side. In the
foreground her eyes fell on a bronzed, though weather beaten, statue of a soldier
in battle. Anneleigh left Siennicki’s
side and approached the base of the statue.
Like the monument to Carwin Mathos, this statue had a plaque with its
dedication.
“Memorial: Battle of Lord’s Hall” Anneleigh
read, “In the dark days of the Mathosian Civil War, our numbered forces led by
the noble Duke Carwin Mathos, defeated the evil horde of Aedraxis’s Endless
Court. This heroic victory prevented the
fall of the dwarves of Lord’s Hall and was a rare beacon of hope in the early
days of the conflict. We dedicate this
site as a reminder that with faith in the Vigil, and each other, we can
overcome any evil.”
Anneleigh’s thoughts returned once again to
Carwin Mathos. She knelt before the
monument, not a shrine that has seen many prayers, and offered her thanks to
Carwin, before standing and marching towards the steps that climbed towards the
Lord’s Hall.
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