Collab between Sigma and Ekreture.

[h3]Svawad Castle[/h3]
Life bustled within the shelter of Svawad castle, as both the Black Band and the entirety of Svawad Village had found shelter from the storm withing walls and halls of the castle. Thus was the deal between the Band and the village; the village would feed the Band so long as they protected the villagers, both from forces of man and nature. Children played and scurried around while the soldiers parried swords, and village mothers fed the men of war while keeping watchful eyes on their daughters.

Though the newcomers' training schedule had been...dampened...training still went on, and, as the early training for the Black Band was, the newcomers were currently scrubbing the floors within the castle halls, while a Formorian sergeant looked on. Before the storm had arrived, the grueling training had taken its tole on them; many of them quit, and currently, only five of the recruits remain.

Kormor was less then enthused with cleaning duty, however, it a least was a far better alternative to his old life in the slums, a purpose and drive like none before driving him to impress his superiors, although in this case, he'll forgive himself for a less then perfect job done. 

The sergeant snarled, kicking Kormor lightly in the back. "Pick it up, halfbreed! I want the floor spotless!" Seadne, still somehow sticking through the training, sighed and rolled his eyes, causing the sergeant to bend down and stare him in the face. "The fuck was that, shepherd?"

"Nothing, sir," Seadne replied, continuing his cleaning. He had actually turned out to be well suited to these initial weeks of training, surpassing his peers often, and his demeanor and physique had both began to seem more...soldierly. 

"That's what I thought, now faster!" The sergeant spat back. Suddenly, the formorian stood at attention, as Gultar and Sula walked past briskly, engaged in an argument.

"It's too dangerous, general, just wait for the storm to be over!" Sula said loudly, her limp making it hard to keep up with Gultar, whose broad stature caused one of the trainees to fall over.

"It might not be there when the storms over." Suddenly, he stopped. "Do you forget our duty, Sula?" The general had been...frustrated...to say the least since the hurricane had begun. While he had of course allowed the villagers to seek refuge in his castle, it had begun to disrupt the pristine structure of the Black Band, as the children dirtied the halls, and the young women had begun to dirty his mens' minds. But despite his usual frustration, today seemed different; something was up.

Kormor scrubbed briskly as the sergeant's bloodthirsty sights had been set on him and Seadne, luckily, the General's arrival proved to be a good save for the both of them, as he was about to stand at attention, Kormor was knocked over as Gultar and Sula passed by. "Sorry, sir!" He apologized in haste. 

Gultar didn't seem to notice the apology. "Look, Sula, you don't have to go, but it is my duty." The lieutenant stopped, her one eye closing as she sighed.

"Okay, just...be safe." With no response, Gultar strode out into the central room, and blew on his horn. Suddenly, all the voices ceased their chatter. Waiting for the room's attention to be on him, which it very soon was, Gultar began speaking.

"A magus has informed me that tomorrow there should be clearer weather. There is business i must attend to, but, being over the course of a few days, the storm will likely pick up again. I will need a few attendants to come with me. There will be danger, although I am not planning on a fight. This is a good chance to prove yourself, so if you would like to, come speak to me." He waited for a moment, and the room full of soldiers and villagers was silent for a while, before turning their attentions back to their conversations. "Fucking disgraces," Gultar muttered, as he shook his head and marched back towards the direction he came. Sula said nothing as he passed by.

Although the time to act was very short, Kormor pondered for that brief moment, and without much hesitation, Kormor spoke up loud and clear. "I..I volunteer, sir!" This could his moment to shine, to get the General's good graces and prove himself to the others, and as Gultar said, the possibly of any combat is low, which, especially with the current weather and whatever else is thrown at them, is a blessing. "I'll join you. "He repeated himself. 

Seeing his friend volunteer, Seadne also shot up. "Me too...sir! I will go." Gultar turned around to see the two of them. The sergeant grimaced at them to sit down, but Gultar still surveyed them.

"Okay," he responded, "Meet me in the courtyard, tomorrow at dawn." He then turned, and walked away.

Kormor turned to face Seadne with a smirk on his face. "Should be simple enough a task, right?"

The next morning, Gultar stood waiting in the courtyard with three of his men; Seadne and three human veterans, as well as an ox who was pulling a cart loaded with wood, canvas, rope, and a locked chest. While the magus was not wrong, with there being little to no wind this day, there was still a slight downpour, and the cart had been covered by a black sheet to protect what was underneath.

Kormor approached the group, his blade and a small sack by his hips, the blade ready to be drawn just in case and the sack filled with small rations. Kormor scanned the skies, the weather seeming "calm" at the moment, but hurricanes can be such deceitful beasts of nature and can strike at any moments notice.

Gultar watched the half blood approach. "You're late," He said. Sighing, he turned and began walking. "Come, it's time we leave."

Seadne excitedly approached Kormor. "You know, we should really be honored. Not everybody is allowed to shelter the Shrine of the Seven." He was certainly not dressed for battle, looking much more ready for a long hike than for battle. His sling was tied as a belt around his tunic, and he carried no other supplies, evidently relying on those provided by the Band.

Kormor nodded in agreement. "Should be a good sight to see." Kormor has heard passingly of the Shrine of the Seven, but of course hasn't a full grasps of it, and of course has never seen it directly himself, this mission should provide an exxlcent opportunity to see it for himself. "Let's hurry on. " Kormor said. "General seems to be in a foul mood."

As they passed under the gate, Seadne nodded in agreement. "Aye, I think the state of the castle reflects the state of his mind. But he's like this a lot from what I've heard. I think during recruitment we caught him on a good day." As the party moved forward, they came upon the overlook above the village of Svawad, the group stopped in shock.

Much of the village lay in ruin, the storm having devastated the many houses and inns of the once thriving town. Dogs were running about, sniffing at the wreckage of the flooded buildings, and the few villagers who stayed to protect the houses were seen trying to sift through the rubble of where their houses once were.

Kormor stared in awe of the storm's power with the destruction it wrought , Ardirum was never hit this bad, although it doesn't help their on an island. With some concerns rising up within, Kormor spoke up. "Ugh, General." He paused for a moment out of fear. "How far is our destination?"

Barely taking the wreckage into account, Gultar didn't even look back at Kormor. "We should be there either tomorrow or in two days. Come, we can't stop," the general said as he motioned for the band to move on down the hill. "We bear north to Sciadire." As he started to move, the rest of the group didn't seem to follow, their feet stuck in the muddy ground with faces flushed in fear. Seadne took a deep breath and stepped forward.

"You heard the orders. We have to move." Hesitantly, the rest of the group started to follow. 

Kormor struggled as he dragged himself through the muddy ground, every step a march in its own right as he struggled to pull a foot free with every strenuous step he took.

The day was dank and long, and as the group of soldiers marched on the woods, already strewn with fallen trees and debris, became more and more sparse with the north, and cobblestones of the road became misplaced on broken highways. The general seemed unfazed though, stalwart on the mission at hand.

As the already impeded sun fell farther to its western burial, the mercenaries came upon a group of men; around a dozen or so who surrounded the road. They carried shields and a variety of weapons, but had faces left malnourished and sickly bodies. These were clearly not professional fighters. The members of the Black Band started to slow down, when Gultar ordered, "Keep marching."

When the mercenaries came closer, one of the militia men carrying a cudgel stepped forward. "Oi, pigface! You're stepping in Sciadire now. Your kind ain't welcome." A couple more of their men stepped to his side, when he added on, "'Least without proper payment."

"[i]Of course we're bound to run into trouble...[/i]" Kormor thought to himself as he followed orders and kept marching, paying no mind to the militia men. No doubt however, a fight was bound to occur, luckily however, these men were clearly outmatched compared to the Black Band, and Kormor would gladly put his training to use on these men.

Finally, Gultar raised his hand, ordering the men to stop, before he spoke up. "Is that so? Under who's captaincy do you serve?"

The highwaymen began laughing, and their apparent leader said, "Looks like the beast is gettin' fancy, 'ey?" He took another step forwards towards Gultar. "Capn' None-Of-Your-Fucking-Business, that's who!"

Unfazed, the pig-faced general quickly grabbed the man by the throat, as the rest of the highwaymen readied their weapons, and he turned to them. "I am General Gultar of the Black Band. We are to protect and restore the Shrine of the Seven. You will let us pass."

There was tension in the air for a while, their leader's facing turning purple as he chocked. Finally, one of the highwaymen spoke up. "Shrine of the Seven?"

"Aye."

"You think you can you can offer my sword to Siad?" The bandit politely requested. After a moment, Gultar nodded, and the militiaman trepidatiously stepped forward, offering the general his blade, and, after throwing down their leader, he accepted it, before the bandit nodded and stepped back into rank.

The highwaymen's leader was panting and cough on the ground, before he regained his footing and composure, and said, "Look...heh-we don't want to mess with Black Band. Just-be going now." Nodding, Gultar motioned for the rest of the group to keep walking, handing the bandit's blade to a soldier for to place in their car, before he started to move further down the path.

Kormor was quick to catch up, passing by th highwaymen and was met with glares and snarled looks, followed by one of the men spitting on him, Kormor paused for a brief moment, turning away and met the group with his own death glare, he felt that urge to just end them all right here and now, but that probably would reflect poorly on him to his superiors and of course, the General.

As they marched on, Seadne playing a slow tune on a flute of his, one of the soldiers approached Kormor. "Half blood...general wants 'a talk to you. Don't know 'bout what."

Kormor complied, and moved ahead of the others, eventually moving along by the General's side, "You wanted to speak with me General?" He asked, curious what Gultar could want from him.

Not looking at the trainee, Gultar said, "Yes." Waiting for a moment, he began, "Wind is picking up. Storm should hit hard tonight. We'll find shelter soon." It seemed for a moment all the general wanted was a pleasant chat about the weather. That was unlikely the case, and he spoke up again after another pause. "How have you found your time in the Band so far, er...what was your name again?"

"It's Kormor, sir." He replied. "And...it's an odd feeling, but I've adjusted to it,and found a sense of belong, sir. "Kormor paused for a moment, stroking his beard. "Life among us thieving street rats was more...unpredictable and deadly. Here though, I've seen true brotherhood, I think."

"Hm." It seemed that for someone of his position, Gultar's sentences were often short and far between. "I have been to Tarkima but once. Clan Ardir, in fact. Guarded a merchant ship, before I founded the Band. It was cold. But the Grogars were different, not like Formoriin." He let out a slow grunt. "Have you been to Formor yet?" There was a tinge of malice in these words.

Kormor shacked his head. "Haven't been." He replied. "Why ask, General?" This little conversation made Kormor all the more curious on where this is leading to.

There was a strange sadness in Gultar's eyes. "Ah. Nothing, nothing." Searching for reason, he added, "Most ships from Tarkima go to Formor, that is all." He began searching for words. "I...you did well...back there. With the bandits."

"...Thank you, sir." Kormor said, meeting Gultar with a small smile, but in truth, he was caught off guard with this moment, seeing a sort of "softer" side of the General that he's barely seen before, it was odd, yet, not unwelcome. "I've grown used to it, but I certainly won't let it slide every now and then."

Gultar grunted in response. There was another short silence as a cool wind blew through the land. "You know, the man was right back there. Our kind isn't allowed in Sciadire. In fact, were it not for the grace of the storm, we'd be hanging from a tree." They keep walking for a bit. "Once had a job here before the Band, not too far from here in fact." He smirked. "Yeah, in a village just over yonder," he said, pointing in the direction of the village.

"Bunyip had taken residence in the local resevoir. Don't know if you've seen a Bunyip...nasty creatures. Usually local hunters take care of beasts but...Bunyips are different. And this one was big. So the villagers put together some money and hire a captain to find some Taisafirin. Me and Sula, we were staying at an inn in Talnoc at the time, and Sciadire was having a...minor conflict with Shasur, so all the local Taisas were indisposed. Captain had to cross over to Talnoc, and he finds us and a couple other men, takes us to the reservoir and gives us some pikes." He chuckles. "Was a mean beast...lost one of the men...hell, Sula broke her damn arm," he said, sighing before continuing, "But we killed it. Had to drag the body all the way to village. 'Course, villagers see my ugly face and they chase me all the way to the border. Never got payed." Contemplating his memory for a second, he finished the story by saying, "I could have fought them. Made them pay be. Or killed them and took their money by force. Sula would've helped. Other mercs too." He finally looked squarely at Kormor.

"But you know, you can do whatever you want to a man's body. But you can't change their mind." A silence hung in the air, Kormor not sure of what to say. Suddenly the General spoke up again. "What do you know of the task we are performing?"

"Don't know too much, General." Kormor replied. "All I know is we're heading for this Shrine."

"Aye, the Shrine of the Seven," Gultar began. "In the days following the war between the humans and Formorrin, there was lawlessness that ruled the new kingdom, and, despite the newly pronounced unification of the islands, conflict still remained in the hearts of bandits and rebels. It was because of this that the Taisafirin began; so that the most common of men may still find protection outside of their kings." As he spoke of the history of his profession, Gultar's back straightened, and his eyes spoke of wisdom and pride.

"There was one group of bandits that was composed of a hundred or so men, who would camp near the villages of Sciadire and Shasur, and slowly sap them of their recourses, and, once they had dried them of all they could, would still destroy the village in the end. As they came upon another village, Seamuq, the villagers sought to escape the same fate that had befallen all the other villages, but, depleted of all their money, they could only offer food and housing to the Taisafirin. A veteran captain who had fought in the Great War, Almunqai, accepted the job, and went to gather his men, but could only find six others of both worthy skill and agreeable to the terms of employment. And yet, despite their small numbers, the Seven Taisafirin trained the village to fight, and destroyed the bandit army."

"Four of the Seven died in battle, and were buried on a hill overlooking the village. The other three were buried there after they had passed. Today, they serve as a beacon to what our profession should embody, and Taisafirin from around the country regularly make pilgrimages to the Shrine. Due to this storm, I would like to make sure that there is minimal damage to the Shrine, and to build a shelter protecting it."

Kormor simply listened as Gultar explained the history of the Shrine, once he was finished, Kormor was at first, silent, taking in the information. Clearly showing the Shrines deep importance to Gultar, to the Black Band as a whole and now to Kormor. "I...see." He said, almost speechless and a bit overwhelmed. "Then we best move with haste, General. We wouldn't want to tarnish the Black Band, and the Taisafirin."

Almost on cue, the wind started to pick up with haste, and the downpour began to fall harder. The group was coming upon a tavern on the side of the road, which, while seemingly undamaged, had obviously been abandoned in the wake of the coming storm. "Tomorrow, yes," Gultar said, "But tonight, we must rest!" He hurriedly made way for the tavern, as did the rest of the group, awkwardly forcing the ox into the building for the night.

The next day, weather was much like the day before, and, after a quick breakfast, the group hastily began marching with haste. By midday, they had made it to Seamuq, and the Shrine was clearly in sight. As they approached it, it became clear that the graves were relatively undamaged, as if some greater being had protected it. 

The Shrine was made up of seven graves on the hill, each grave bearing a unique totem for each warrior. Small repairs were made to the totem, and the gear from the oxcart was unloaded. When the chest that was inside was opened, it was revealed to be filled with food, jewels, weapons and armor. The soldiers began placing them at various shrines and falling to their knees, where they closed their eyes and began muttering to themselves, seemingly in prayer. Gultar gave Seadne the highwayman's sword, who brought it to a totem that was a post covered in arrows, where the shepherd began to pray.

While five of the seven graves were in a single row, there were two graves in front of all the others. One of them was clearly the grave of the Captain, Almunqai, where Gultar had knelt in prayer, clutching to a Primordialist necklace around his neck. The other in front, Kormor found himself strangely drawn to. This one's totem was a statue of a strange creature, with a wolve's tail, ears, face, and front paws, but a ram's horns, back hooves, and woolen body. It sat upright, eyes seemingly glaring at Kormor.

Almost by impulse, and without hesitation, Kormor walked up to the strange totem, and slowly knelt down to ir, clasping his hands together as he engaged in silent prayer to the Totem. As he touched it, he suddenly felt his eyes shut and his mind go blank. 

When his eyes once again opened, he was walking on a grassy field that seemed to go on forever. By his side, a wolf was walking, as if it were his own hound.

Kormor didn't question it, his mind seemingly at ease despite the strangeness of all this, he kept on aimlessly walking through the grassy fields alongside his new companion, no idea on his destination, he simply just moved ahead. After walking for a while, before them appeared a flock of sheep, passively grazing at the field. On the ground was a shepherd's crook, old and covered in notches. Kormor knelled down and picked up the crook, and turned his gaze upon the grazing sheep, once again, on impulse, Kormor walked up to the sheep, he and his wolf companion herding them until the sheep moved along with the pair as well, joining them on their aimless journey.

After what seemed like days of walking, the wolf looked up to Kormor, and in a low growl he said, "Do not blink, for the world you know may change in an instant" which was followed almost immediately by Kormor blinking. Suddenly, their journey was thrown into chaos, and the flock of sheep was being attacked by what seemed to be demons made of flame. The wolf was apparently gone, but now a ram was charging at the demons and keeping them at bay. It looked over to Kormor, and shouted out in the same voice as the wolf, "Fight not to stop change! Fight for it!"

Kormor charged in, using the crook as a makeshift weapon and swung it at one of the flame demons, the wooden stick somehow cutting through the flames, albeit the crook itself was slow catching flame, but remained intact, needless to say, Kormor kept on with his attack as the demons charged towards him, he and the ram happy to meet the creatures in pitched combat.

The ram thrust through several of the beasts, extinguishing their flames for good, Kormor continued to swing the crook as it, and Kormor, were both slowly being engulfed by the flames with every swing. Nearly all of the creatures had been vanished, Kormor taking one last swing as the he felled the beast, but the cost was dearly, Kormor was now engulfed in flame, his own screams shaking him out of this dream-like state as he yelped and fell on his back away from the Totem.

At Kormor's scream, Gultar shot to his feet and looked over to him. "What happened?" He asked, hand on the sword in his belt. He pointed at the strange totem, his arms shaking from the experience. "It drew me in...and I touched it and..." He paused. "I was walking through endless grass lands, there was a wolf.. then a ram, and fire demons, I fought them...and then I was consumed by flame.."

"Hm," Gultar grunted, nodding. "This is the shrine of Batjoch Wulfram." He walked over to it, carefully placing a hand on the totem. "He's considered the greatest hero of the Seven, apart from Almunqai." Turning back to Kormor, he continued. "You see, the other Taisafirin, they did not want Batjoch to come with them. You see, his mother was human. His father...a Grogar."

"He followed the six warriors still, and was abrasive, having lived a life of rejection, and proved to be of little use in training the peasants. But when the fighting began, he fought valiantly." He looked to the village before continuing. "On the last day of fighting, the Bandit Chief came atop this very hill with the last of his men, all armed with bows and arrows set ablaze. They sought to burn the village to the ground, and all the Seven were too cowardly to charge the Chief." He paused. "All except for Batjoch."

"The halfblooded-" He flinched. "Forgive me. The warrior charged up the hill, greatsword in hand, and by the time he reached the chief his body had been set ablaze. But still he charged, and, swinging his blade down and slicing the chief in half." He looked back to Kormor. "The beast of the Formorrin is the wolf. The beast of men is the ram. It is often said that a warrior of...your ancestry could only have the heart of half of one of these beasts. Batjoch proved he had the heart of both. And because of this, we call him Wulfram."

"Wulfram..." Kormor said, the fact one of the seven was a Halfbreed like him instilled a sense of pride in him, but at the same time, he still felt shaken and overwhelmed by this vision, it was a bit much to take in. With his own sheer determination, Kormor forced himself up with a wide grin on his face. "I'm all better, no worries." He said. "This was an...enlightening experience, I thank you for allowing me to escort you, General."

The rest of the group looked at Kormor with a mixture of suspicion and awe. Gultar nodded. In the time Kormor was having his vision, the shelter around the Shrine had already been built, and Gultar motioned for the group to move down to the village below, far less damaged than Svawad, where they would spend the night. As they moved down the hill, they didn't seem to notice a coat hanging on a branch. It was a mixture of fleece and fur, and overall a fine, fine coat. Not something someone would just leave out there, even with the storms.

Kormor paused as he took notice of the coat, to his confusion, no one seemed to take notice of it, he shrugged and walked over to take the coat for himself, better under his care then to be left at the storm's mercy, he folded it and held on to it as he caught up with his fellows.