~Rauru, Nuun Highlands~
The midday sun loomed over a relatively quiet day in the small town of Rauru. Oliver, the owner of the town's only inn, the Brass Lantern, stepped out on to his porch, noting the slight breeze but otherwise remaining numb to his surroundings for the most part. When you live in a town that people only come to on their way to other places, you slowly start to concern yourself less and less with meeting most of the people you see out on the street. An older man, Oliver had been in the innkeeping business for nearly 20 years now and was of the firm opinion that he'd already seen it all. Business had been slow lately, likely a result of the town seeming a lot emptier than usual, which was especially strange given the time of year. Spring had finally come to Labrynna and the Fairie's Woods were in full bloom; normally Rauru would be crawling with travelers hoping to explore the woods and catch a glimpse of one of the mythical sprites, but hardly a soul seemed to be milling about on the dirt roads that weaved through the village.
Oliver eased himself into a nearby rocking chair, heaving a sigh of relief. A short and stocky old man with a generally jolly look about him, he felt that the less time spent on his feet, the better. With business as slow as it was it seemed he finally had the time to relax and kick back that usually seemed to be so scarce. Spotting the gleam of polished ceremonial armor out of the corner of his eye, Oliver knew exactly who was coming and dreaded his arrival. Captain Viscen rarely the left the small military fort that adjoined the northern end of the village, but when he did, it usually involved the old jilted general-to-be rampaging around town asking everyone bothersome questions. If the man wasn't known to be particularly intense about his duties Oliver likely would have brushed him off in favor of staring blankly into the town sprawled out before him, but given his temper and his position, Oliver forced a smile and quickly hopped up from his seat upon fake-noticing the Captain's approach. He crossed the porch in a hurried but still slightly bumbling gait, offering a polite bow to Viscen, who returned a curt head nod in response.
"Good afternoon, Captain. How can I help you today?" he queried, with a hefty serving of fake sincerity. Despite the fact that Oliver knew precisely what the man had come over to ask, he felt it would be better to feign ignorance rather than appear suspiciously informed. Oliver's inn was just inside the gate that marked the eastern entrance to Rauru; most travelers headed to or from Lynna City passed by his store and as such, he was often the first to be asked when Viscen was trying to hunt someone in particular down. But who was it this time? Perhaps the messenger who'd left three days ago and had yet to return? Or maybe that strange Subrosian fellow who'd been skulking about town as of late.
"Three days ago I dispatched a messenger to Lynna City, I'm certain you saw him leave. He was carrying a very important parcel meant for King Richard himself. Have you seen or heard anything about him? Has he arrived in town yet?" asked the captain, stepping up on to the porch. Now on even ground, the veteran captain's height seemed even more imposing. Not even counting the added height from his ceremonial helmet Viscen looked to be at least a head or two taller than the old inkeeper, and thrice as imposing to be sure. Viscen's square jaw, dark and serious eyes, and thick black beard framed his perpetually frowning face quite well. Oliver shook his head sheepishly, feeling a bit anxious that he was unable to give the captain the answer he wanted to hear. Viscen had been known to take his job as the de facto military governor of the town quite seriously, which often involved chewing out townsfolk who were particularly uncooperative with his investigation. Luckily Viscen only heaved a sigh of disappointment and muttered some unintelligible curses under his breath.
"I'm sorry captain, I've seen nothing. I'm sure that if he was in town he would have reported to you immediately upon his return," figured Oliver, nervously.
"Obviously. I'm not leading a detachment of layabout hooligans here, after all," he grumbled. Oliver was hardly surprised that the good Captain had devised a way to interpret an innocuous comment like that as an insult. "That said, he's still a rookie. Just knighted a month ago I think. The roads are more dangerous now too..." worried the knight, stroking his beard in thought. "If you hear anything about him, do let me know, Oliver."
"Well, if I'm not mistaken, I think that's a knight's banner right on that horse over yonder," mused the innkeeper, peering off beyond the eastern gate into the expanse of Lynna Field beyond. Viscen turned to face the distant sound of beating hooves, squinting to see if the innkeeper's suspicions were correct. True, the horse was garbed in the banner of the Seashell Knights, but its rider didn't seem to be moving. As the horse drew closer, the slumped form of a knight in plate armor came into view, and immediately Viscen sprang into action, trotting down the steps of Oliver's porch and into the street, positioning himself to intercept the spooked horse and its unconscious rider before it could get into the center of town and raise a ruckus. Unfortunately for Viscen the horse seemed to have no interest in slowing down or keeping a low profile, forcing the armored knight to dive out of harm's way when the restless stallion tore past him.
The horse galloped at full speed deeper into town, jostling the knight atop his saddle like a flimsy ragdoll as it turned each corner. As it approached the town's center it seemed intent on maintaining its blistering pace but at the same time remained woefully unaware of its surroundings. As the horse attempted to traverse the edge of an ornamental fountain in the center of town, it slipped and ungracefully toppled into the water with a loud splash. This sent the knight flying off the saddle limply, landing with a dull thud on the ground nearby. A trio of knights patrolling nearby arrived on the scene quickly. While two hurriedly attempted to calm the still distraught horse, the third leaned down to check out the downed knight, but immediately pulled back in disgust. The poor rookie had been dead for at least a day, it seemed. Not only had his throat been slit rather brutally, but the entire left side of his body seemed very badly burned. The once shiny new plates of his suit of mail were now blackened and burnished as if they'd been exposed to some intense flames.
Viscen happened upon the scene moments later, immediately rushing to the aid of the slain knight. Instead of pulling away from the stench, the concerned captain only let out a guttural growl of anger, leaning in to inspect the corpse more closely. By now a small crowd of townsfolk had gathered in the town square to gawk at the spectacle. The captain incited numerous anxious murmurs from the crowd as he flipped up the visor of his fallen comrade, revealing the charred and bloodied face of the young knight underneath. A small rolled up piece of parchment was stuck in the soldier's mouth, sealed in the center with red wax. Viscen delicately removed the note from its resting place and broke the seal, his expression growing far more serious as he began to read the missive. Finally he stood up, a look of genuine concern on his face. He turned to the three nearby knights, who snapped to attention quickly after noticing the captain's grave expression and utter seriousness.
"You there, Simonson. Close all the gates, and double the manpower on patrols around the edge of town," he ordered, sending the leftmost knight on his way with a dismissive handwave. "Morrigan and Thames, take Jack's body back to the barracks. Wake the men on the night shift, we'll need all the men in the fort to report to posts on each gate. Whoever did this could be back at any moment. This note they left..." he trailed off, absentmindedly rereading what seemed to be an especially troubling portion of the message. He regained his focus shortly thereafter, and now spoke with a great deal of urgency. "Well, that's of no concern to you. Hurry back to the fort, you two."
The pair of knights struggled to lift the armored corpse up and on to the now calm horse nearby, but nonetheless managed to complete the task with a fair bit of hustle before heading off towards the outpost. Only Viscen stayed behind, his eyes glued to the note. The color had drained from his face at this point, and for once, the townsfolk were seeing the proud and determined Captain genuinely scared. The Captain soon became aware of the crowd of concerned villagers he'd drawn and wasted no time in reverting to one of his favorite activities; hurling irritated orders at the commonfolk in an attempt to feel in control of the situation. Only this time there seemed to be some real worry in his voice.
"Return to your homes, everyone! We have reason to believe that your safety is at risk, but I can assure you that we are perfectly capable of handling the threat. All we ask for right now is your patience and cooperation," he half-pleaded half-demanded. The crowd seemed nonplussed by his first request and continued murmuring even more furiously than before. "I said disperse! We cannot have you out in the open in the event of an attack! Return to your homes immediately or face the consequences!" he yelled, clearly not in the mood to countenance the curious and gossiping nature of the townsfolk today. As he placed his hand on the hilt of the ornamental longsword sheathed on his waist, the bulk of the onlookers seemed to get the message and quickly departed. Only a few stayed behind, reckless enough to ignore the captain's commands and involve themselves in this mess.
