Excergie

Polished 15.1, 15.2, and 15.3 — 55m12s — 2020/09/15

Polished 15.3 and 15.4. 15.4 needs to be moved to after Krumpus returns to Sephonie — 35m54s — 2020/09/17

Deleted a bunch. Polished 15.5… This chapter needs so much work =/ — 41m52s — 2020/09/17

In the year 1122, the Judge Clerics began recording the number of Ebertin’s people killed or abducted by naga—and also the number of naga killed by the people. In the first year of record, there were 181 humans killed or abducted by naga, and there were 23 naga killed by men. In 1336, the last year for which there are numbers, there were 1427 killed or abducted by naga, and 393 naga killed by the people.

The current marks may look high when compared to that first year, but the numbers have seen greater peaks over the centuries. For example, in the year 1306, the Judge Clerics recorded the abduction of 6,438 of the people, mostly children; and in the year 1125, a total of 25,423 were killed or abducted, most of whom died as the fourth of Somerlie turned to the fifth; also known as the Long Night, the First Fight, and a good number of other monikers among the various militias. The years 1309 and 1310 saw the most naga die by human hands, as an action dubbed The Low Burning and also the Two-Year War culminated in 12,190 naga deaths the first year, and 13,761 naga deaths the second year. This action involved 68 militias and over a 150,000 men. 17,753 men died in the offensive, but their sacrifice nearly doubled the militias’ holdings under the city.

Although these numbers appear large, they are dwarfed by the greatest calamity of this long running conflict between human and naga. In 1189, members of the Ebon Star Militia poisoned several of the underground waterways, aqueducts, and canals. Little was known of the complex waterworks that ran through Beletrain, and most men dared not mess with the miraculous system, as it fed both cities clean water. The poisons were meant to cripple the naga—but only killed humans. Nearly one in ten died as a result of the Bad Drink as the incident is commonly called. According to the Judge Clerics 108,242 people died of this poisoning. For their part in this crime, 16 men and women were hanged, another 30 suffered severe punishment, and the Ebon Star Militia was disbanded after Muaha Dalinfoers declared them to be negligent in the extreme.

– On the Bloody Shores of Lake Kundilae, Wybrow the Wanderer, page 231

~!@#$%^&*()_+ 15.2 +_)(*&^%$#@!~

Over the years, I have come across numerous reports and accounts of leviathan. After the first tale, I thought the beast was nothing but the mad vision of a fanciful mind. It was not until I should see the aftermath of such a beast's passing. The sheer magnitude of the carnage was most unbelievable.

Some years later, I happened near a city that suffered an attack from such a beast, yet the defenders of the city somehow managed to kill the creature! To see the beast, even flat and lifeless, was an incredible sight. To think of what the beast must have been when it was alive—tendrils as thick as tree trunks that stretched half a mile, and a maw like two shovels that could fit a small house—though it died, the damage and mayhem inflicted by the beast was incredible.

Aogusta Veribos – "Behold Leviathan, Heart of the Storm" page 6

~!@#$%^&*()_+ 15.3 +_)(*&^%$#@!~

It'd been nearly a month since Paye had any visitors at the house in Excergie; since her cousin, Scurra, stopped through on her way out west, to find her brother.

After nearly a year of being mostly alone, Paye was beginning to miss people. She'd made a few introductions in town, but never had them over, as she preferred her own company. After all, she needed to heal—and heal she did, to a good extent. But now Paye was hungry for interaction and thought if she did not have social engagement soon, she might forget how to talk to people altogether. For several days, she considered what she might do as she stuck to her solitary routine. Should she throw a party, or simply go to dinner at one of the beautiful inns about town? Should she seek out a society of painters, or thinkers, or maybe just knitters? Maybe she'd just have over a few friendly faces for a bit of tea some bright afternoon, or perhaps a few neighbors for a cozy dinner and gossip?

Buried under so very many grand options, Paye managed to implement none of them—and then her cousin returned from her excursion in Bouge lands—but no longer alone. Instead, she returned with a couple dozen others in tow and a wagon.

Paye ran from the house and gathered Scurra in her arms as she looked among the others. She recognized several cousins—and of course the dour face of her brother—but one was most notably missing. "Where’s Krumpus?" She asked in a hushed whisper.

"I found him," Scurra shook her head, "and then I lost him."

“Ohhh….” Paye frowned and wrapped Scurra in her arms once more.

Scurra shook her head. "I'm fine, but we have injured among us. Will you go to town and bring the best healers?" she said as she wiped her eyes. "Bring the peacekeepers too."

Paye glanced among the others and waved to the few she knew as she ran toward town. She wondered about the foreigners, Saots by the look of it, and wondered why she was to bring the peacekeepers too. In short order, she returned to the house with two physicians, four midwives, and half a dozen peacekeepers.

The peacekeepers heard the charges against Meriona, Toddles, and Naiphan, then took them to the local jail. The healers saw to the injured, and it was only as she was while those that were whole took rooms in the house, as the house was very large, and had ample space for all of them—and just like that, Paye found herself among more company than she could have imagined.

There was little to be done for Toar. The shrapnel from the Pemberton GremSorter was all removed from his face by Celesi's deft hand, and so his bandages were simply changed, and he was given a drought to give him strength and allow him a restful sleep.

Despite his bruised chest and a hairline fracture in his shoulder, Andrus was in high spirits as the cute midwives bandaged him and gave him a pipe filled with conicle to ease his pain. The worst of them was Komotz, whom needed a good deal of work and another heavy dose of numb root while the physicians and midwives set his numerous broken bones and simply ascertained the great extent of his injuries. They gave him a pail for his sickness, and despite his incredible pain, he even managed to get some of the sick in the pail—though he also retched a fair amount in his sheets, something nobody discovered until the morning.

Paye carried new sheets through the hall. She stopped as she passed the room taht housed the young Trohl with powder burns over half his face. The younger Saot sat on the edge of his bed and talked to the injured youth. Though Toar slept, the Saot spoke anyway. "That'll be the way of it," he said. "It'll be a fine day at the ocean, if your game to come..." Sensing an interruption, the Saot looked up. He stopped in mid sentence and stared at Paye. His gaze was direct and unwavering, which unsettled the Jindelyak lady. She clutched the sheets all the more tightly as she stepped into the room.

"To see the ocean would be a fine day indeed," she smiled as she spoke.

"You speak the fickle tongue of the kingdom," he began. "How 'bout that?"

"The family does a fair bit of trade in Land's End," Paye shrugged. "It helps to know what the locals are saying."

"I should imagine so," the Saot screwed up his face, though she thought it to be a sideways smile. "If only I knew a word of your language..."

“Why didn’t you go hunting with the others?” Paye asked the stranger.

“It’s not a sport I particularly enjoy these days,” he admitted.

“Most men hunt for life,” Paye noted.

“I’ve done most of my hunting on the duke’s diem and at the duke’s whim…” He shrugged. “Perhaps if I hunted game…”

“What is it you hunt?” Paye asked, suddenly sure she wouldn’t like the answer.

“Mostly, men,” the stranger admitted. “Everyone once in while, it’s a woman,” he clarified. “Once it was a child.” His was a blank stare even though he must have noted the shock in her eyes. He shrugged yet again, then turned to his friend once more. “That’s all in the past, I think. My hunting days are all but done.”

"Now you’ll play a nursemaid?" Paye asked.

“Maybe it’s time I started putting people together instead of taking them apart,” the stranger suggested.

"Well, if that’s the way of it,” she began with a cautious smile. “Are you willing to help me change some sheets?"

"Might as well," The Saot stood. "Don't think we've been properly introduced,” he said and stretched out a hand. “I'm Baetolamew."
“Paye. Paye Trandhill,” she smiled as she pushed the sheets into his outstretched hand. “Come now. Komotz begs for a clean bed.”

~!@#$%^&*()_+ 15.4 +_)(*&^%$#@!~

This needs to be moved. Krumpus does not reappear until the very end when he returns to Sephonie.

The air above the storm was bright, clear, and also quite thin; so although there was no rain, a chill washed over the shaman as he he was yanked toward the giant maw of the leviathan.

After the great beast grabbed him, Krumpus was lucky enough to get his hands free and pull the last two powder bombs from the secret pocket of his cloak. The beast lifted him over its massive beak, and dropped him. Krumpus hurled the first bomb into the beast’s maw; then, as he fell to his sure doom, he called upon the light to lift him and carry him through the calm air. He began to twist to the unheard music of the universe.

The first bomb ignited in a flash of fire and light. The leviathan huffed and blew the fire from its mouth. With his great cloak billowing in the wind, Krumpus was caught and blown from the beast. As he shot away from the creature's face, he hurled the second powder bomb. The beast tried to recapture the shaman, as the fire bomb glanced off the side of its face. A tendril shot out and may have snagged the shaman, except that he dropped out of his slow spin, and plummeted, only to begin his spin once more, and drift like a maple seed caught in the wind.

The leviathan glanced back at him with something akin to hate, though it may have simply been the madness of a feeding frenzy, and for a moment Krumpus was sure it would return and make a quick end to him. He might have escaped the first time with a bit of luck and ingenuity, but the beast would not be denied by any more tricks up his sleeve, or the dance of a hopeless seed. But the beast only glanced back. It did not reverse direction or even slow in the slightest. Indeed, he was already forgotten, as the beast continued after its initial prey; the flight of dragons it'd flushed from the high mountains.

Krumpus drifted through the air, pulled after the massive wake of the creature, and into the wilds south and east of camp. His long cloak billowed in the winds whipped up by the passing leviathan. He came down among a series of small ponds surrounded by a large marsh, and managed a bit of pickled landing as he crashed among the cattails. Startled, a flock of ducks scattered from the marsh and squawked at being so rudely interrupted. Krumpus picked himself from the edge of the soup only slightly worse for the wear. His ankle quickly swelled to the size of an apple and screamed like the dickens, but it was a mild price to pay considering that he was nearly eaten only a minute or so ago.

Slowly, Krumpus examined his wound and was happy to find that nothing was broken. He turned to the other aches and pains of a rough landing. A dull throb woke in his knee, on the same side as his bum ankle, though it slowly faded. He also felt like someone had punched him in the face, but there was no blood, and his vision was good despite a bit of mud in his eyes. He also had a good number of scratches and raspberries, but despite all that, he was in fairly good condition, all things considered. He'd never seen a leviathan before, much less evaded one that caught him and tried to eat him—and all at the last second.

Covered in mud, and absolutely soaked, Krumpus slowly crawled his way from the marshes as he dragged his soggy cloak behind him. He rested for a good hour or two, and slowly began to dry out.

Of all his luck, nothing was luckier than the fact that he’d managed to keep his staff through the melee with the leviathan and his rapid decent.

Wolves come across Krumpus. As he hobbles through the wilds, the wolves begin to circle. They eventually attack, and Krumpus chases them off. As night approaches, he arrives at the lake where the naga attacked them. Suspecting the wolves are likely to come back, he decides to swim a portion of the lake to get away, and hopes that the naga are all long gone.

~!@#$%^&*()_+ 15.5 +_)(*&^%$#@!~

Baet and Wenifas exchange weapons (Cloud Breaker for Claiten’s naga blade—also, Baet picks Claiten’s naga blade from the the beach).

Wenifas turned the subject to Toar. "How is your friend?" she pointed and asked.

"He's going to have a scar to match his butt," Baet shrugged.

Baet stares after Wenifas, then down at Cloud Breaker, and finally back at Wenifas. He throws up arms and pumps them in the air as he stares at Cloud Breaker. He wraps the belt around his waist and feels the comforting weight of Cloud Breaker at his side once more, and for a long moment he wonders where Thunder Maker might be—but he doesn’t let the thought dampen the return of Cloud Breaker.

He’s practically skipping as he steps around the corner—and nearly runs over Paye as she comes from the opposite direction. He grabs her so he doesn’t knock her off balance, and having his hands on her, he thinks to kiss her.

baet presses his lips to Paye, and she objects. Shocked, she pulled away and slaps him.

“I'm sorry…," Baet begins to say, but doesn't get to finish. Paye pushes him against the wall and kisses him back.

~!@#$%^&*()_+ 15.something +_)(*&^%$#@!~

Banifourd glanced about the small gathering of cottages and barns as they burned. This was the ninth village they'd sacked since Solveny in half as many days. He thought once they were on the plains, they might proceed quickly to Gaur lands, but they'd already circled back twice on their quest to kill and destroy with seeming abandon.

Still, Banifourd offered no complaint. He knew better. Instead, he dunked a rag in a barrel of rainwater and wiped away the filth and blood of yet another sacking as he held a bottle of Noethrin Sour in his free hand.

"Lookin' for another lady?" Petaerus asked as he rode up on his mount.

Banifourd frowned. "There isn't one worth the efforts in this sordid lot.” Besides, he took a girl in the last village, and one that hadn’t been rolled and subdued by the other men.

Petaerus huffed. “The killing is not yet done, and you are already drinking?”

“There is no else to fight," Banifourd shrugged. "Unless you would have me fight women and children—and then I might as well be drunk. Besides, I am ordered to leave some alive, to tell of Trohl villainy—and the Gaur officer that rides among them," he sneered. "I do my part. I'm sure that I'm seen, and that my mischief is genuine."

An outrider approached his face pale as he stopped to grovel before Petaerus. "Sir! A column of men comes from the north baring the arms of Land's End!"

"How many?" Petaerus asked.

"Too many! Several hundred at least. Maybe a thousand in all! If we hope to fight 'em, we must find the others!"

"It seems the Dunkel's have finally found us!” Petaerus smiled. “Spread the world, we ride out with all possible haste," Petaerus smiled as he noted the look of astonishment on Banifourd's face. "What is it, sir? You look as if you've seen a ghost?"

"No more dillydallying? No more slaughter of peasants? We make for Gaur?"

"Yes—though I fear it will still be some time before you finally see your home," Petaerus sneered.

This sounded like a threat. Banifourd dropped the rag and grabbed the hilt of his sword. He meant to make Petaerus explain himself, but something struck him from behind. His world went dark as he slumped to the ground.

"Holy Ooroiyuo!” Petaerus snorted at Dolif. “Did you hit him hard enough?!" Petaerus hopped off his horse and approached the prone Gaur.

"He ain't dead," Dolif hoped. "See? He breathes."

"Well, help me get him inside!" Petaerus said as he grabbed the prone Gaur under the arm. Once they had Banifourd inside, Petaerus pulled off his messenger bag and looped it over Banifourd's shoulder and under his arm.

"We better go," Dolif called. “No more fires!” He yelled at one of the men.

Petaerus dug about Banifourd's person. He found the man's purse and dug Gliedian's gold piece from it.

"Why don't you take it all?" Dolif asked.

"A man with no purse is suspicious indeed," Petaerus said. He turned to the unconscious form of Banifourd. "I shall not say it was a pleasure to know you. Despite your high opinion of yourself, I find you inept and slow to learn. I only hope you can manage one last part we have designed for you. It should be easy enough, you need only play at being witless," he smiled as he opened a small container and smudged a finger of some lotion around Banifourd's lips. He rimmed the man's nose with the cream, then wiped his hand on the dirt floor to remove any excess.

"What is that?" Dolif asked.

Petaerus said. "Just a little something to make him dumb for a day or two. Likely they will think he was hit too hard and his brains are rattled. Then they must trust his documents,” he continued. “And once he’s in the Dunkel’s hands, it won’t matter.”

"If that is the case, it is not possible that I hit him too hard!" Dolif stated with pride.

Petaerus shook his head. "We were told specifically not to kill him. He is to be found alive."

"I do not see why," Dolif scratched his head. "If he were dead, there is no hope of betrayal."

"We play a long game, my friend. There is no reason to kill off valuable players with such haste. After all, a play requires puppets," Petearus stood and spit on Banifourd. "Come now,” he said to Dolif. “We must make haste, yeah?"