Gerard
Gerard
Exiting the building, Daniel heads off down the street into the night, quickly disappearing in the darkness. The streets are dark as are most of the buildings. Occasionally light leaks out beneath a door or around a window covering, but no street lights illuminate Gerard's way.
Other than the two guards at the door, the streets are deserted as the final rays of light disappear. Gerard is startled once by a guard patrol that comes around the corner just as Gerard approaches it, but other than that all is quiet. At Gerard's approach, Zeke neighs softly and prances lightly on his feet; clearly very glad to see his owner.
Other than the two guards at the door, the streets are deserted as the final rays of light disappear. Gerard is startled once by a guard patrol that comes around the corner just as Gerard approaches it, but other than that all is quiet. At Gerard's approach, Zeke neighs softly and prances lightly on his feet; clearly very glad to see his owner.
Joe - Administrator
Re: Gerard
"Hey there fella and no I didn't forget you. Found a nice place out of the elements for you to stay. Lets head over there shall we?" Gerard does a once over to see if anything has been moved or tampered with in his bags and if everything looks good, heads off with Zeke to get him taken care of for the night.
Re: Gerard
Approaching the "stables" that he was directed to, Gerard sees that all is dark inside and no one is in the immediate vicinity of the outside of the building nor can he see anyone through the large opening leading to the dark interior. The smell of musty hay and horse manure emanate from within confirming that he is in the correct place. Like all of the other building in this town, this one appears to be completely grown from the ground.
Joe - Administrator
Re: Gerard
"Odd, I thought someone was supposed to meet me here." Gerard says to himself while taking an alert look around to see if there is any sign of the help or anything else. "Also strange that there is no light coming from inside there. I think we will stay out here for a bit Zeke what do you think."
Re: Gerard
Zeke responds to Gerard's inquiry by looking him at him with one big brown eye before turning back to look longingly at the barn. Zeke's ears suddenly flick to the rear quickly followed by his head. It appears that Zeke is paying more attention to his surroundings than Gerard is because he spotted a man approaching them from the direction of the church.
"You'll not find the boy here." Brother Tobius says in his usual haughty tone of voice as he walks up to Gerard. A strong note of weariness underlies it that wasn't there earlier in the day. "He's currently in the infirmary. He's lost both of his parents today." Brother Tobius gives Zeke an appraising look before continuing. "I suppose somebody has already told you that you can stable your horse here for the night. I've just come to check on my two before turning in."
"You'll not find the boy here." Brother Tobius says in his usual haughty tone of voice as he walks up to Gerard. A strong note of weariness underlies it that wasn't there earlier in the day. "He's currently in the infirmary. He's lost both of his parents today." Brother Tobius gives Zeke an appraising look before continuing. "I suppose somebody has already told you that you can stable your horse here for the night. I've just come to check on my two before turning in."
Joe - Administrator
Re: Gerard
"Sorry to hear about the boys parents. More than happy to get Zeke set up in a stall for the night if you would show me the way. Once finished I'll head back and try to get a bit of sleep. So do you have any theories about the raid and aftermath from it? I know we were kind of rushed before as you busy trying to get things back together."
Re: Gerard
"Follow me." Brother Tobius says bluntly as he leads the way into the large opening into the dark building. Zeke shies momentarily at a rustling from inside until a horse from within gives a soft whinny. Gerard knows from his experience with horses that the horses inside are acting normal and that no threat has been detected by them. "Hurry now." Brother Tobius says from just within the opening. As soon as Gerard is inside, a thick canvas curtain lowers behind them to cover the opening. As soon as the cover is down, a round orb attached near the opening begins to glow. Dimly at first and then with greater brightness. As the light intensity comes up, Gerard can see Brother Tobius standing looking at the bulb. Once the bulb is at full brightness he steps away.
Looking around, Gerard can see horses heads poking out of two stalls on his right towards the back of barn. The first stall on left is filled with grain and hay. A resin ladder on the back wall of that stall leads up to the upper floor. The next stall on the left appears to be a tack room.
"You can put your horse in any of the empty stalls." Brother Tobius says as he indicates some of the stalls further back. "There's feed here on the left, help yourself but do not be wasteful, this has to be imported from another dimension. You can store your saddle and gear there." He finishes abruptly while pointing at the stall with the other gear in it.
Brother Tobius leaves Gerard standing there and goes to see to his own horses and enters the first stall. Just as Gerard begins to think that Brother Tobius didn't here his question, the man comes out of the stall, turning to the next one. Rather than entering it as he did the first, Brother Tobius puts his arms up on the top rail and leans forward heavily. "Ever since we built this town, we've been very careful to keep our presence a secret from the demons." Tobius' words ring hollowly in the mostly empty confines of the barn. "No lights outside at night, no cook fires, no fires to heat with, no major magic without a dampening spell. Nothing that would give our presence away. Then this morning that bloody wooden floor catches fire. We might as well have shot a fire ball into the sky that burst into the words 'Here we are, come get us'." He pauses in thought for a moment before going on. "Our only saving grace this morning is that the raiding party left abruptly. We were by no means pushing them back and they hadn't taken but a handful of people, but they fled through rifts and were gone even more suddenly than they appeared."
Looking around, Gerard can see horses heads poking out of two stalls on his right towards the back of barn. The first stall on left is filled with grain and hay. A resin ladder on the back wall of that stall leads up to the upper floor. The next stall on the left appears to be a tack room.
"You can put your horse in any of the empty stalls." Brother Tobius says as he indicates some of the stalls further back. "There's feed here on the left, help yourself but do not be wasteful, this has to be imported from another dimension. You can store your saddle and gear there." He finishes abruptly while pointing at the stall with the other gear in it.
Brother Tobius leaves Gerard standing there and goes to see to his own horses and enters the first stall. Just as Gerard begins to think that Brother Tobius didn't here his question, the man comes out of the stall, turning to the next one. Rather than entering it as he did the first, Brother Tobius puts his arms up on the top rail and leans forward heavily. "Ever since we built this town, we've been very careful to keep our presence a secret from the demons." Tobius' words ring hollowly in the mostly empty confines of the barn. "No lights outside at night, no cook fires, no fires to heat with, no major magic without a dampening spell. Nothing that would give our presence away. Then this morning that bloody wooden floor catches fire. We might as well have shot a fire ball into the sky that burst into the words 'Here we are, come get us'." He pauses in thought for a moment before going on. "Our only saving grace this morning is that the raiding party left abruptly. We were by no means pushing them back and they hadn't taken but a handful of people, but they fled through rifts and were gone even more suddenly than they appeared."
Joe - Administrator
Re: Gerard
"Nice set up in here and thanks." Gerard heads towards an empty stall with Zeke and takes his bags and things off to set on the floor. He then takes off the saddle and tack and puts up and out of the way. Grabbing a feed bag, he gets some food for Zeke. "Was there any warning that the demons might know you were here before the raid? Also any idea how that fire was set or if it was suspicious as to how it started? As they left like that whoever must have found what they were looking for. I wish we could find a sliver of information that might help put more together so we can at least hope to start heading in the right direction. Thank you for the recap as well as letting me keep Zeke here as well."
Re: Gerard
Brother Tobius lets out a grunt of derision and then opens the stall door to check on his next horse. "No. We were secure in our belief that they didn't know we were here. Maybe it was just a passing party that saw the smoke, maybe they had scouted us earlier in secret. I don't know." Brother Tobius exits the stall, returning with a shovel he proceeds to clean the horse biscuits out and tosses them into the next stall where Wormwood can absorb the waste without endangering the horses.
"Usually raiding parties like this are simply looking for slaves and life force batteries. I don't know why they left so abruptly. If they were after something in the church, as far as we know none of them ever made it that far." Tobius grunts as he throws another scoop of poop over the empty stall door. Replacing the shovel he grabs a three-tined pitchfork and goes after some of the hay.
"We don't yet know what started the fire. Hopefully by light of day tomorrow we can find out more. I was going to attempt a reading on it, but then the demons attacked. By the time they left it was too far in the past for me to see. The fire is suspicious if for no other reason that nothing should have been stored up there that could have ignited it. We were supposed to be careful with that. Then again," he pauses as he throws a fork full of hay over the gate for one of the horses. "Father Malaki gets a little absentminded sometimes." Tobius cuts off abruptly as he throws some more of the hay. In the ensuing silence Gerard can hear the crunching of the horses teeth as they chew their food.
"Usually raiding parties like this are simply looking for slaves and life force batteries. I don't know why they left so abruptly. If they were after something in the church, as far as we know none of them ever made it that far." Tobius grunts as he throws another scoop of poop over the empty stall door. Replacing the shovel he grabs a three-tined pitchfork and goes after some of the hay.
"We don't yet know what started the fire. Hopefully by light of day tomorrow we can find out more. I was going to attempt a reading on it, but then the demons attacked. By the time they left it was too far in the past for me to see. The fire is suspicious if for no other reason that nothing should have been stored up there that could have ignited it. We were supposed to be careful with that. Then again," he pauses as he throws a fork full of hay over the gate for one of the horses. "Father Malaki gets a little absentminded sometimes." Tobius cuts off abruptly as he throws some more of the hay. In the ensuing silence Gerard can hear the crunching of the horses teeth as they chew their food.
Joe - Administrator
Re: Gerard
"Interesting." Gerard looks around to see if there is anything he can help Brother Tobius with in the stables. If there is he will do so without asking. "That is really odd as you said that there didnt seem to be anything that could start the fire. Also the timing that would keep you or anyone else from doing a reading on it. I hope it all is as seems but when demons and their higher powers might be involved I fear there is always more."