[h1][u]Act Two: Scattered to the Winds[/u]____ __ _ _[/h1] [h2][u]Chapter Five: Calamity to Crisis[/u]_________ __ __ _ _[/h2] [hr][hr] [center][img]https://i.imgur.com/LfX8rN8.png[/img][/center] [hr][hr][h3][url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B74AK0MHxOA][color=c4df9b]𝅘𝅥𝅮[/color][/url][/h3][hr][hr] It was shortly before midday when the katterhorns started up. Already, there had been a trickle of smoke from the direction of the Grøntempel and it had been a subject of idle conversation lately. Perhaps they were making some sort of offering. Maybe it was merely garbage being burnt in the yards beyond. Perhaps it was truly a fire in their sacred place. Many were still on edge over the havetskriger that had gotten loose the day before. Now, however, the great rasping cries of these horns rose into the cool spring air, harsh and crisp, and echoed off of the fjord walls. People paused in their daily errands and work, searching about with eyes and voices, and there were now other ribbons of smoke rising from the city: more than the usual assortment of cooking fires and forges. So it was that the city of Meldheim, heart of the Eskandr lands, lurched from calamity to crisis. The people of this place did not yet know it - for it had been centuries since anyone had dared attack their capital - but all of the misfortune that they were now to endure was the work of Parrench infiltrators. These had been based in Rigevand for the past handful of days and their true nature unknown even to many of the Quentic converts who called the village home. For, as much as they now kept the gods of the greenlanders, they were still Eskandr and would have almost certainly rebelled at the prospect of their guests putting the city to the torch. The katterhorns continued to sound, people scrambled, and fires spread. Within ten minutes, soldiers, firefighters, and sorcerers were running about the streets. The Grøntempel was fully ablaze now and a growing crowd gathered on the mountainside outside of the city walls. From this multitude rose cries and lamentations as they watched Meldheim burn. A punishment that they had so eagerly and thoughtlessly inflicted upon others had now turned its ire upon them. As thousands streamed out of the capital's gates, chaos took their places within. For every fire put out, there seemed to be another three. Thieves and opportunists ransacked dwellings and plundered shops. Enemies of the Eskandr continued their work with a grim sort of glee. Then came the flooding, in earnest now. Streets became streams, cellars filled, and anything left unfastened was swept away. Into this stepped Queen Astrid and the Æresvaktr. Whatever exhaustion lingered inside of them from the day before was nothing in comparison to the urgency they felt in action. Countermeasures were enacted, and stormclouds began to form over the city. Over a dozen Parrench either surrendered or were struck down in the midst of their crimes. Kol, Vali, and Arne were dispatched to the hotspots: the Kongesalan and Grontempel, the docks and the market, to both blunt the catastrophe and hunt down the ringleaders: people they'd likely met before on the battlefields of Relouse. Silently, the hooded figure of the Skygge joined them, but a dilemma remained: fight the fires, save the people, and salvage the treasures soon to be lost, or bring the arsonists and raiders to justice? Yet there were more raiders now. The Sea People rose from the river and its ruined locks, dozens of them invading the palace and plundering wantonly. If they had not come as an army, they had come just the same and it was yet another figurative fire that the Eskandr had to put out. Too many! There were altogether too many and it was a mystery, a punishment, a farce that this had been allowed to happen! The water barbarians ran eagerly about, filling sacks of sea-cloth with whatever they could find, jabbering in their strange language, and chanting mocking songs. It was a tragedy: something to run from. Yet, around the far hook of the harbour, a trio of knarrs rounded the headland, unremarkable but for their sparse crews and unerring path right into the mouth of it while many were trying so hard to escape. Aboard were Trygve, Maud, and Lazy-Eye Jacques. Of the strange swamp girl, Nettle, there was naught to be found and nothing had been seen of her since she had gone to tame the havetskriger. Already, they could see a few familiar faces along the docks: some who'd come with them and some who'd been rescued from Meldheim's prison. There were just a few more: a few more who needed to make it there. They could afford to wait around for fifteen more minutes. Then, whoever remained behind at that point would remain behind for good. The hourglass was trickling, the pieces were moving and, as Maud watched from the boat, a heavy wind swept flames in the direction of the Kongesalan. A dozen small fires were now licking at the mighty building's periphery. Though the Tree of Life had not yet caught, one would have to think it would be only a matter of minutes. Trygve could not bear to look at it. "Træet er helligt. Vi burde ikke gøre dette," [i](The tree is sacred. We shouldn't be doing this,)[/i] he mumbled under his breath. Busy racing through the burning streets of the city where he had grown up, Svend glanced back and felt a pang of... something. Coming back here, playing the role of this Jarl Bjorn or Alsfard. It had awakened in him not a love for the old gods, for they were false, but at least for his own tongue, his own people and culture, and he felt himself a traitor, an eternal outsider among these Parrench. The die, however, was cast. He had chosen his path and, whatever regrets now welled up inside of him, it was his to walk. Then, flames touched the great tree that rose from the roof of the Kongesalan and everybody within Meldheim was compelled to gaze upon it. [hr][hr] [hider=Action Opportunities]Welcome to the final chapter of Served Cold: after a whole lot of sneaking around, shadow games, and preparation, now comes the big moment! Parrench forces and allies gave attacked Meldheim. It's time to achieve as many of those goals as possible and get the hell out of Dodge before your ride leaves without you! If you're Eskandr or allied to that side, here's your chance to save the city and possibly collect a few Parrench scalps. Something special is about to happen with the tree. The rest of these will be coming soon. Stay tuned![/hider]