[i]Eania Manhunt[/i]

The group was soon underway, with the arrival of their guide, a guardsman who knew the area that the man Uicle had talked to described, and could lead them there. As everyone piled into the carriage, it proved to be as uncomfortable as it looked, and there was barely enough space for everyone. It took a couple of days to get the edge of Forest of Symphony. They were couple of slow, mind numbingly peaceful, days. The most exciting thing that happened was the change from the Twilight Hold’s grounds into Eania’s territory. But they got there, their guide speaking about as much as the oxen did. And before they even got to the forest itself, they came across the most recent work of the mages. The first hint any of them got was smoke rising in the distance. A short hour later and the smell hit them. Burning flesh and wood, mixed with a foul smell that had nothing to do with either. It didn’t take long after that for the carriage to stop at the scene. There were half a dozen burned down houses, fire still crackling merrily in two of them. A house, larger than the rest, was in the middle of the devastation and strangely untouched. Most of the small village’s occupants were out on the street, either butchered where they stood, or in small piles that had been set aflame. Human remains were scattered about, most clearly chewed upon. 

Their guide spoke, saying more than he had said in the past two days combined. “This is as close as we’re going to get to a path to follow when hunting the mages. Come on then. Let’s see if there are any survivors, or tracks, or something to go off of. They could have gone in any direction from here.” With that, he started to head inside the ruins, with or without the students of the College. Upon closer examination, several things would become clear; scattered throughout the bodies of the villagers, there were Yarosmere soldiers, three of them, easily identifiable as such by their desert uniforms, one of them had a blade blackened as if he had stuck it in a fire. Some of the corpses were well into decomposition, while others looked as if they had been killed only hours ago. Some of the walls of the houses that weren’t burned looked as if they had rotted and fallen apart. Other than those unusual facts, everything else was that of a typical village. Iron axes, scythes, and hoes could be found in the houses. Handmade dolls could be found clutched in dead children’s hands. 

The door to the untouched house would be firmly locked. As soon as someone tried to open the door to the house, an adolescent voice screamed out “Leave this place! You are foreign invaders who have no right to be in my kingdom! Leave now before I bring my royal wrath down upon you, and my subjects take up arms!” A teenage boy’s face could be seen staring at them down from an open window of the untouched house.

Althalus glanced about, seemingly unfazed by it all. “Oh yes. I quake in my boots at the mere thought of offending this child. Is anyone opposed to simply breaking down the door?”