[center][h3]Frenzy Plant – Inquest at Belka[/h3]
[@liferusher] [@Caits] [@oblivion666] [@raijinslayer] [@lunarlors34][@zarkun][@hatakekuro][/center]

Even as the quick tempers of several soldiers smouldered, the group as a whole followed the lead of the behatted cleric, moving through the town toward the left of the gate.  The main path through Belka, composed of well-trodden coffee-brown earth, led Frenzy Plant past several stacks of buildings.  It abruptly gave way to a wooden platform where the ground abruptly dropped away into another wide shelf about twenty feet lower, though the buildings stayed the same; here, the huts seemed more like highrises.  Numerous ropes, arches, and rough bridges hung over the vast corridor of structures wood and stone alike, and the orange-gold light of uncountable braziers shone from each.  In this place, there existed so many doorways, windows, and angles from which people might come, that the only semblance of true security lay in humanity itself.  Yet here at least there existed refuge from the mountain winds, and in the security of this populated lane the soldiers traveled.  They marched down a long wooden ramp and onto the road, as if it never departed from the original, and the cleric led them.  Two by two they strode, careful not to entangle themselves in groups of people on the road's sidelines, or in any of the carts, tables, stands, or fences that edged it.  

For his nastiness, however warranted, Ike received a stern look from Sanders.  [color=8F9779]”We know what she's capable of and how to deal with her, and our captivity system is well-developed, even on the move.  If she troubles us, she will be punished.  In the mean time, please restrain yourself from being tough by throwing rocks at a child.  Harming guild prisoners is its own offense.”[/color]  At that moment, the guild emerged from the town corridor into a plaza of sorts, weedy but paved in aged cobblestone, with a large well at the center.  The complaints of Gabriel flew through the renewed breeze, and Sanders told the cleric.  [color=8F9779]”Pardon us for a moment, deacon.  Won't be long.”[/color]  Drawing to a halt, the soldiers spread out into the plaza, subtly thrilled to be out of the confines of the building-walled road.  The general fixed his eyes on Leo.  His knowledge of spirits was, unfortunately, limited, but he knew disruption and insubordination when he saw it.  Sanders told the lion, [color=8F9779]”Spirit.  It is unseemly for anyone, soldier or not, to step out of line and utter brash words when already taking advantage of a stranger's hospitality.  It is unsightlier still to obstruct the workings of a guild and harass its members—for Private Gabriel is not at all the only soldier you have irritated.  Desist or depart as you please, but be warned: if you do not comply, you are not welcome in our company.”[/color]

With that unpleasantness out of the way, Sanders returned to the cleric and offered an apologetic inclination of his head before the group began once more.  His distance from the rear of the column, where Ashlyn and Isla walked, prevented him from hearing their conversation, but Mercury did not fail to overhear them.  Looking over his shoulder at Ashlyn, he told her, [color=BC8F8F]“Listen up, newbie.  It ain't your fault for not knowin', since ya just got with us, but li'l Isla here's practically a demon.  We caught wind of her after she used her magic to trap Ike in a paintin' where he was hounded by monsters for 'bout a month.  Time passed quicker in the paintin', ya see.  We freed him, but the experience traumatized him.  We learned that the li'l girl's been doin' this for some time, and never freed anyone that she trapped.  She might look innocent, but she's doomed more innocent people to an awful fate then the rest of Frenzy Plant combined.”[/color]  His eyes shone like cold steel.  [color=BC8F8F]”And 'til she helps us free every single one, she's stayin' with us.”[/color]

Just to the left side of the plaza, nestled against and in fact into the stony bluff, there lay an expanse of yellow grass.  Anyone familiar with agriculture could tell by the stringed, discolored grass that the soil here had been overused in recent years, depleting its nutrition and making it useless for farming.  It did, however, make the perfect spot for setting up camp.  Before parting, the cleric told Sanders, “If you have any questions, please ask me or Evgeny.  I'm in the liddle church by the graveyard on the opposite side o' town, but Evgeny's in the schoolhouse I told you about, just over there.”  He pointed toward the area straight on from the plaza, where the land angled upward again.  Terraces of farmland dotted its face, but on one large terrace there stood the schoolhouse, its windows lit and paned with actual glass.  A wandering eye could not ignore the blackened stones and ashen cinders of a burned-down house directly across the plaza, seemingly balance precariously on the edge of a cliff.

The tents went up quickly, the hand that worked them unenthusiastic but practiced.  Frenzy Camp was now situated in Belka.