Zion: Light of the New Moon Part 2, Ch 2.3 Myre
Zion - Light of the New Moon, Part 2 Chapter 2.3
Myre Left, By the Wayside
The party is going to do a complete search of Byrn's Reach. The current modifiers for the chapter are as follows: + Favor, + Luck, + Treasure if successful or -- Luck, - Favor if they fail, but these modifiers are still subject to change based on the events of this chapter. Let's take a look!
"You may be a relatively new addition to the group, but her behavior has been completely unacceptable." Keeland explained, just a step behind Cornelius.
"It is quite alright, Sergeant." the white shepherd responded calmly, "I cannot expect that everyone will like me, and I would not propose to demand it." The Captain stopped as the group arrived at the open air market place. The stalls were arranged as they would be on any day and they were all open for business... but without anyone buying or selling.
"I just can't imagine what she could have against you." Keeland continued, "I mean... you haven't steered us wrong yet." the two shepherds moved to the closest stall.
"That may be a matter of perspective, Sergeant." Cornelius responded, sifting through a collection of empty boxes sitting on the shelf, "If you forget, it was my suggestion to use the Silver Gate."
"Better than dying from Death Mist." Keeland countered, opening up a barrel labeled 'olives'. "Hmm..." he remarked, "Oil... but no olives."
"The whole stand's empty." Josh spoke, looking forlornly at a tray identifying the contents it once held as 'candied apples'. "Well... almost empty." he noted, digging at the remnants of caked-on caramel still clinging to the tray.
"Looters, perhaps." Keeland noted, setting the top back on the barrel.
"Perhaps... perhaps not." Cornelius acknowledged, and he exited the stand, moving to the one across the boulevard.
"The best I can come up with is that she didn't like that you knew her." the sergeant suggested, returning to their previous conversation, "Being Lord Dalton's daughter, I mean."
"Or the other things I divulged." the Captain acknowledged, "People do not enjoy having their secrets brought to light."
"That's her problem, not yours." Keeland countered.
"I can see the argument from both sides." the white shepherd stated, entering a dry goods stall, "There are things people keep secret because they feel it is needed, and many of them are personal... things which they should choose to share and not let others share for them."
"I don't like secrets." Josh spoke up from outside the stall, looking over the displays hanging off of the wooden shack, "Life just gets harder when people don't tell you everything."
"Some secrets are meant to be kept." Lady Marion stated, walking around the perimeter of the shack, "Others are to be shared... and some exist only to be revealed." she stopped, running a hand across a scarring in the wood, "This is the way of balance... nothing is without exception and nothing is one unto itself." she glanced through the doorway to the two shepherds, "Which is why Leijh disliking the Captain is not a bad thing... it is only a thing."
"Balance." Josh added encouragingly, "If Leijh and Mr Mail didn't like Captain Cymbeline then someone else would have to."
"That could be argued, yes." Cornelius nodded, and put down a glass bowl he had been inspecting, "No fish." he noted, motioning to the water and loose gravel in the container.
"If the Wayside hasn't had people long enough then maybe a stray cat came along and ate it." Josh offered.
"No..." Lady Marion stated quietly, almost too softly to be heard. She quickly pulled her fingers away from the scarring on the wood.
"What is it, Priestess?" Keeland asked, emerging from the stall.
"...no..." she murmured. Lady Marion turned and immediately ran down the street. Without a word, Keeland turned and followed.
Cornelius vaulted over the stall's counter, "Josh..." he noted to the surprised cub standing beside him, "Come." and he ran after Lady Marion.
"What is it?" Josh asked, quickly running to catch up.
The priestess stopped at another stall then hastened to the far side to look at it. Appearing more concerned, Lady Marion murmured a desperate prayer to Tah'aveen, and continued running toward the center of the market. Keeland, right behind her, stopped at where the priestess had paused and ran his paw across a section of scoured wood.
"What is this?" Keeland murmured.
Josh continued running after Lady Marion while Cornelius paused with Keeland, "Vapor trails." the white shepherd's voice sounded certain.
"Vapor trails?" the sergeant questioned.
"Yes." Cornelius reached forward and traced each of the swirled, uneven grooves, "Lady Marion is looking for the source."
"What source?" Keeland glanced to the Captain, "What caused this?"
An agonized scream caught both of the dogs' attention. Cornelius shook his head, "I believe the priestess has our answer."
The two shepherds sprinted down the street passing three more rows of stalls before reaching the center of the marketplace, and where Lady Marion was seated on the ground, cradeling a metal container the size of a grain barrel in her lap. One arm supported the bulk of its weight while her other hand brushed over the divine symbol etched into the surface, "No..." she murmured, "...it can't be..."
"It can, Lady Marion..." Cornelius spoke quietly, "and, unfortunately, it was as I feared."
Keeland's fur stood on end as he looked down at the metal container, stamped with the symbol of Myre, "Death's Mist?" he had to choke the words out.
Cornelius shook his head, "I did not wish to believe it, but I knew there was a possibility."
"You knew that this happened?" Josh asked, mouth agape.
"I was not certain, but I had to find the truth..." the white shepherd stated calmly.
"How...?" Keeland turned to regard the Captain, "How did you know?"
"It had always been a possibility." Cornelius spoke, then motioned to Josh, "Young Joshua himself had proposed it as a possibility before we even stepped foot into the city."
The lion cub paused, "I asked if it was possible... I didn't--"
"You had enough of a concern that you thought it." Cornelius interrupted calmly, "You may be more preceptive than you believe." and he turned to Keeland, "Sergeant... I will need you to remain here with Lady Marion. Joshua and I will continue to city hall." At that point, nobody had the will to object.
"Why would someone release Death's Mist here?" Josh spoke up as the two neared the large building at the center of town.
"There are many possibilities, Joshua," Cornelius answered, "None of them mean well for us."
"And we're sure it's Death's Mist?" the cub asked, "I thought it destroyed pretty much everything."
"Death's Mist is made to be used in enclosed areas, Joshua." Cornelius explained, "It is still just as deadly in the open and can cause any living being to liquefy with barely a single breath, but the effects of contact with it become diluted." he opened the door to the city hall and allowed Josh in first.
"Thank you." the cub acknowledged and walked in. He continued past the entryway and, glancing back to the shepherd, paused, "So... is that why everyone's gone but there's still wood and cloth and things around?"
"That is correct, Joshua." Cornelius acknowledged, "Lady Marion discovering the damaged wood is what finally confirmed my suspicions..." the Captain began gazing around the large antechamber, "The wind began disbursing the Death's Mist, but small concentrated vapors likely traveled great lengths down the street creating the vapor trails in the wood where they were at their strongest."
"So... maybe some people survived if they were far enough away?" the cub asked hopefully, sitting down in one of the chairs in the waiting area.
"No... sadly not." Cornelius shook his head, "Anyone coming into contact with Death's Mist would most likely die the moment they were exposed to it... except for scaled creatures... they have a slightly increased resistance to it as long as it isn't inhaled."
"Why?" Josh asked, casually thumbing through a collection of folders and scrolls left on a small table beside his seat.
"Some say it was possible that Dragons aided Myre with unlocking the key to Death's Mist." Cornelius explained, "Were that the case, then some aspect of the Dragons were infused into it, thus any creature that shares a kinship to dragons might have a degree of tolerance... however small."
"You said that Siyh was one of the people that released the Death Mist from our caravan..." Josh stood up, getting out of the chair and walking as he spoke, "Siyh was a lizard... so... do you think that's why he was chosen to do it?"
"I assume, were that to be something I was fond of doing, that he was chosen for that trait, yes." Cornelius followed casually after Josh, "Those responsible for what happened in Attood Keep are likely the same ones responsible for what happened here... and if they are that organized, then either they--" the shepherd fell silent.
"They what?" asked Josh, turning around to face the Captain, still walking backwards down a hallway.
"I am too concerned with the possibility to voice it aloud." Cornelius shook his head, "I am sorry, but I may have begun to speak too prematurely. Such things are better left until we--- look out!"
"Until we look out?" Josh cocked his head to the side, "That doesn't make any--" but his words were cut short when he walked backward into a cabinet, "OOF!" The cub fell onto his rump, then quickly covered his face with his arms as the double-doors opened and began to drop the contents onto him.
"-should NOT be walking backwards!" exclaimed Anor-Roc, who appeared spontaneously in a flash of silvery light. He froze, looking around suddenly as his ears went up and his muzzle dropped open.
Cornelius stopped mid-stride as he glanced from Anor-Roc to Josh to Anor-Roc, "Most intriguing."
Josh's response was much more animated, "Oh snail-butts!!" he gaped.
Anor-Roc's recovery was sped up by the comment, "Watch your language, young man!" he scolded.
"Roc!" the cub's face brightened with joy.
"Yea... it's me..." the coy-wolf acknowledged, "But that's no excuse to use that kind of language."
"Sorry, sir..." Josh's ears lowered, but only for a moment, "But... it's YOU!"
Anor-Roc pulled the cub out from the pile of paperwork, "It's good to see you again too."
Cornelius' eyes went from the coy-wolf to the cub, and then to the charm bracelet on Josh's wrist; the white shepherd did not miss the fact that the coyote charm was missing. "I believe you are aware of our current situation?" the captain wasted no time.
"Good to see you again too." Anor-Roc acknowledged.
The shepherd's eyes went from the bracelet to the coy-wolf, "Charmed... I am sure."
* * * * * *
It appears that Anor-Roc has come back to the group... at least in part. While Anor-Roc is active, his Contributing Reader, 'wolf skinchanger' may vote. At this point, there is a vote to be decided, and all Contributing Readers (including WSC) may choose how often Anor-Roc may appear and, conversely, how powerful he is when he does:
1) Anor-Roc may appear for 1 post in each Chapter, but he is as powerful as he was in life (exculding his charm animals). Josh may decide in which post Anor-Roc appears. 2) Anor-Roc may appear for 2 posts in each Chapter, but he is unable to make use of any of his magics... instead, he gains the combat prowess of his father, whose spirit empowered his own when his father was disbursed by the Death's Mist. Josh may decide in which posts Anor-Roc appears. 3) Anor-Roc may appear for 3 posts in each Chapter, but he is unable to make use of any of his magics. The author (that's me) decides when Anor-Roc appears. 4) Anor-Roc may appear for 4 posts in each Chapter but he is simply an apparition and is unable to influence the world except in appearance and sound. The author (that's me) decides when Anor-Roc appears. 5) Anor-Roc had a good run... he can retire after his appearance in this chapter.
Contributing Readers may now vote for which option they prefer. You have until midnight on Thursday, December 22nd.