Gamla surveyed the amassing flock of people stacking bags, pots and baskets on sleds and pulks, some tied to elks, some tied to cattle, and some pulled by people. The snow had laid itself thick on the ground, so the trek to Ha-Dûna would be long and arduous. He pulled his woolen socks higher up and his woolen kilt further down over his knees. His plaid was wrapped almost twice around his body in hopes that it would keep the cold out - it remained to be seen whether they would be so lucky. “Well, Rik,” Gamla mumbled. “This is it, huh. Heading home after two years already…” He took a deep breath. “Admit it - you’ll miss us.” “Doubt it,” muttered the Queensguard, his club seemingly held ready to beat down any sign of tumult. Next to him stood a blindfolded young watcher wordlessly. Gamla scoffed. “Come oooon, Rik - we had such great times! Remember during the Helgensblot when we--” “When you kept the whole town up until dawn and refused to go to bed when we demanded you to?” “Well, yes, there was that, but we also made you that porridge you like so much!” “Then your druid Vona said you weren’t to share with us because we were ‘lesser folk’, isn’t that right?” Gamla rolled his eyes. “Oh, come on, are you still hung up on -that-? We sent her away and everything! What more do you want?” “Preferably that you all left, but you're in the middle of doing so, so today is quite a good day, indeed.” Gamla frowned. “Wow, some friend you are, huh.” “We were never friends, Gamla - at best, you have been very disrespectful guests and we, very patient hosts.” Gamla recoiled in offense. Out of his pocket, he fished forth a copper clump used for local currency. He flicked it over to Rik and flicked his tongue at him. “Well, then, oughta compensate our host, no? Here, for your troubles.” Rik caught the clump and tossed it back. “Don’t need it. Bring it home and show your people that there is such a thing as currency, and that it’s a hell of a lot better than that bartering mess you keep insisting on.” Gamla had to dig the coin out of the snow and stomped off angrily. Rik groaned. “Finally, he decided to leave us alone. How are you feeling?” He eyed the watcher and lowered his club and head in respect. The watcher muttered back, “The skies are deadly still. I am concerned about tomorrow.” Rik looked up. “Will the weather turn?” The watcher took a single step closer, and lowered his voice, “I can not tell, but it is not mundane weather which I find so concerning.” Rik’s eyes settled on the Dûnans again, which were slowly making their way out of the stone gates. “Do the stars allude to whether or not they will make it home?” Despite being blindfolded, he instinctively turned his head, “These times are uncertain. I only caught glimpses of outside the walls. I have seen bandits walk the road, but shadows dance just outside of my vision.” The Queensguard made a short-lived frown. “Well, they’re not our problem anymore. Come, I reckon the queen would like to know they’ve finally gone.” Using his club as a walking stick, he started trudging through the snow. As they left, Rik caught glimpses of the Light Wings, Kirin loyalists who were more charitable and accepting than most, helping the Dûnans prepare. Many of them were no less excited about their departure, but they were less inclined to directly state it. They were able to be told apart from the Dûnans by painted wooden butterfly emblems that they attached to their clothing. Hera, their de facto leader and the queen’s sister, was also nearby preparing to sing one of the zodiac songs in order to help them on their way. Walking through the city, it was less busy than it was before, but still quiet alive with activity. The endless cycle of building and rebuilding had slowed. Not only had the Dûnans begun to leave, but there were other people who wished to remain loyal but no longer needed the immediate safety of the walls and could spread out into the surrounding region. However, instead of abandoning the multistory building, there was a greater focus on slowly building longer lasting and more sturdily built houses from the ground up. The market was less crowded, but still quite busy. There were fewer stalls, but many of the stalls were larger, permanent ones run by two to three people. Trading was still considered the domain of the youngest son, but there were quiet, heated debates among families on who the stalls should be passed down too. The part of town immediately surrounding the Nightward Tower was converted into a religious district. It lacked the megaliths or fancy temples of Ha-Dûna, instead there were simple buildings to house the faithful, supplied by the queen’s wealth. Smaller altars and shrines to the gods dotted the area. The area surrounding the Queen’s Abode was converted into a military district, filled with barracks, training grounds and the like. It was agreed that a new building would be built for the purpose of serving as the religious district and the market, but it was still under construction. The watcher walked up to the door, and nodded. The Queensguard was permitted to enter as he pleased. Rik nodded back and entered into the abode, approaching the Queen before taking a knee. “Great queen - the last of the Dûnans are leaving for their home as we speak.” The queen was turned to face a map carved into a wooden slab resting against supports on one of the side walls, she briefly turned around to acknowledge her guard stating, “You may raise.” before turning back to concern herself with her thoughts. Rik did as commanded and approached the map. Running his eyes over it, he drew a breath. “What’s the plan now?” The queen pointed to one of the symbols carved into the wood, “Trolbane, one of the older settlements. It has become occupied by a kin-feaster. We need to slay the unholy abomination and begin resettling our land.” The symbol, while not directly on the road to Ha-Dûna, was in the direction of it. “A kin-feaster? Do we have the force to take on such a fiend?” “We can not leave such a thing to fester and grow more powerful off of our blood, or to allow it to spread its evil any further. It must be handled promptly.” she said, glancing towards her maul beside her throne. “Understood.” He surveyed the carvings around the Trolbane area. “Decent lands, those - the cows and sheep will enjoy the meadows between the cliffes. Are you certain you want to expand towards Ha-Dûna, though? I mean… We just got rid of them. Should we truly invite them back so soon?” “The Dûnans may have forgotten, but that was the land of our sister tribe. If we ever wish to reclaim it, we need to do it now while they are still weak and disorganized.” The queen pointed to a further point in the map towards Ha-Dûna, “I have discussed the matter with Tak, I am favorable to his suggestion that we expand to here and form a buffer zone between us and them. They speak of peace, but people do not change so easily.” “Agreed… First chance they get, they will no doubt slit our throats in our sleep, should we form bonds of friendship and complacency. We can have a war party of seventy ready to take down the kins-eater in two days. We’ll slay it for the sake of the heavens’ peace, and then begin fortifications against attacks from the north.” The queen walked over to her maul and began carefully examining it, “Have the war party ready by the northern gates by that time. I will see to this matter personally.” Rik frowned. “My queen, please keep in mind the terror we are facing here. A kins-eater is no small threat, and we need your leadership now more than ever.” “Which is why I must fight. Our clan is the bedrock of this city, and I have the respect of the clan through this.” she said, lifting her maul. Seeing there was no way to make her reconsider, Rik immediately conceded. “Very well,” he said and hefted his warclub. “But we will not let you out of our sight.” The queen glared in response, but in two days time, the force gathered on the outskirts of Trolbane. The queen gathered her advisors around a wooden table with a rough map of the city inscribed into it. Among those in attendance was Rik, the midnight watcher that had accompanied him before, Tak, and Hera. A constellar and a stonemaul druid were invited, but they were busy making the necessary divine observance in dealing with such an unholy creature. The queen invited Tak to speak first, “This was the city I was raised in, and I know it well as I know where the sun rises and sets. It will be an honor to reclaim for the rest. Reya sides with us, if we can drive the monster into the town center then it will have no place to hide from her judgment. If that is not enough, our slingers will pin and injure it until one of our druids can channel Reya’s light into one of our mauls and then we end its miserable existence.” The queen’s face was unreadable, she merely turned and asked, “Rik, your thoughts?” Rik wriggled his nose and eyed the light on the horizon hinting at the sun’s awakening. “It will not come out willingly, so we’ll have to force it to come out from wherever it’s hiding. I suggest we light its abode on fire and let the elements deal with it - if we can avoid confrontation at all, that would be safest.” Tak bit his tongue until the queen’s still neutral face glanced at him expectedly, and he responded, “Surely you jest, we have every advantage. Why should we risk our past and future homes to the elements when we can crush this creature with our blessed might?” The queen signalled Rik to continue. “It would just be a single house - a kins-eater is nothing to scoff at, my queen. Without proper strategy, one can surely slay twenty of ours before we can slay it.” The queen paused and took a deep breath, “The kin-feaster is a terrible blight upon the land, and one not to be trifled with. However, neither are the children of the gods. We will approach with all due caution, but fire is a power that we can not reliably control. Should we use it, we threaten the structure of the entire city, our city. Sister, prepare your singers for the blessings of divine harmony.” Hera nodded and left towards the main unit, though she wasn’t as good at hiding her concern as her sister. The queen turned back to the others, “Does anyone else have final insights before the assault?” Rik sighed in defeat and shook his head. “If there are no final insights, then meet him in the front to receive the blessings.” she said, grabbing her maul and heading that direction. As the sun continued to rise over the highlands and the small army gathered in front of the city, Hera led her six other singers adorned with the butterfly insignias in performing the star hymns. The songs had few words, and those few where spoken in the old tongue that few on the battlefield remembered. As they continued, power emanated from the sound, opening the senses of those who heard it and granted them boundless vigor. When the song was over, half of the singers readied themselves with slings while the others prepared themselves to make further use of their spirit-singing. The queen signalled the warband, scouts surrounded the region with warhorns to signal if the vampire did somehow manage to escape, while the rest followed the blind-folded watcher into the city, his hidden senses reaching out in an attempt to detect the unholy being. Rik clutched his club and kept a close proximity to the queen. The watcher led the group to a seemingly innocent building, before walking up and laying his hand on it. He made the agreed upon gesture for signalling that the vampire was here, but the building was trapped. The queen nodded and signalled the group to surround the house. A group of soldiers, not including the queen or her guard readied themselves to storm the door several steps from it. One of the lightwings sung and the door flung open, while Hera joined her voice into the song as rocks began to tumble down and roll down hill towards the group and they seemed to slow and roll around the group. The frontline charged into the building, their mauls ready to bludgeon or guard, and were initially confused as the building appeared empty before one of the soldiers heard something above them, but by that point it was too late as the kins-eater had already dive down and taken a knife to his throat. The monster lunged forward at the remaining soldiers, managing to deeply gash the leg of one of the soldiers but as the other knife pushed forward, it was caught by a war-club. Through sheer strength, it managed to push through the wood and make it one swing away from cracking in two. A war club slammed into the back of the kin-feaster, but it seemed to barely have any effect. As it turned around to slash at his attacker, the visage of a spirit leon lunged at him from the side knocking him back. He burrowed his daggers into the spectral form, its paw still reaching towards him as the energy composing it grew dimmer and dimmer until it completely faded. The queen voice was heard issuing the retreat to the safety of the sun. One of the soldiers stood his ground against the beast and was promptly eviscerated. Only one managed to stumble out into the light as the others were unable to make it the threshold. The queen looked soberly on the would-be battlefield, her men being sent to die in an honorless battle, she issued her next order, “Clear the area. Burn the kin-eater’s dwelling.” Rik, who carried a wounded warrior over his shoulder, he himself also bruised and bloody, shouted, “Well, you heard her! Burn it down!” The warband began to move anything that might burn away from the building, including a nearby shed that was demolished and its rumble pushed away. The magically inclined joined in prayer to Reya, Clar and Bors, asking that the stone and water of the highlands would keep the fire at bay while the sun purifies it of a great evil. The building was doused with the oils they used for cooking and making torches, and the building was lit. The spirit-singers joined together in a song to the fire, while the druids and soldiers readied themselves in case it spread. As the fire began to quickly consume the roof and removed the barrier between the vampire and the sun, it screamed in animalistic fury. Looking through one of the windows, they saw one of the soldiers laid on the floor of the burning building, alive but unable to escape. As sunlight pierced the roof and smited the vampire, he smirked. As the roof continued to collapse and feel upon him, they could hear his muffled screams before they abruptly stopped. Rik gently lowered the wounded soldier to the ground to be tended to by the druids. He then stormed over to the queen and pointed his club at the burning ruins, his face contorting in fury. “What did I say?!” The queen glared at him, “This is not the time. Everyone, secure the area. I will give further instructions at sunrise tomorrow.” After the town had been cleared and the remains of the fallen had been attended to, the queen gathered the remaining warband and addressed them, “The vampire has been slain. Queensguard Tak will fortify this location and start making plans to expand towards Ha-Gaard. Queensguard Rik will take the druids and the watcher to scout out the surrounding region to make sure it is safe for resettlement before regrouping with me and the spirit singers in the rest. You are dismissed.” [hider= Story Summary] The Dûnan’s in Kirin’s Rest head home - their home is recaptured, and they haven’t been very good guests. The Kirinians are happy as all hell for this, and decide to take the opportunity while HD is recovering to expand their lands. To do so, they have to go through a vampire located in a town known as Trolbane. A warparty is gathered and they go there and kill it, but not without suffering casualties. They then send a third to scout another town called Ha-Gaard while another third remained to secure the area for settlers and the rest went home. [/hider] [hider=Might Summary] Sirius Starting: 5/5 Ending: 1/4 Nightward Tower: Impressive Construction 2: This holy site was pulled from the ground by the workings of divine power, it is impressively tall and durable for the region and era. Celestial Protection 2: This holy site emits divine power covering the surrounding tower in an invisible sphere of protection. This can be manipulated by the chosen attendants of the tower, however they can make it so that segments of it are either permeable or impermeable. The barrier is as sturdy as stone walls, but can regenerate over time if damaged. [/hider]