Turn 20

A Traitors'Note.

As Valdo turns and hurries to his appointed tasks, Gwalchmai steps towards him saying:
"Well, I proudly accept this appointment as a militiaman. Should you need me to go after the Szreldor warband, I'll be there".
The man stops and looks the burly Northman up and down. "I will be pleased to have you along with us Gwalchmai. Now, get some equipment - we may get the order to ride at any moment soon!" and with that the Captain leaves quickly through the outer door, shouting for his Sergeant to follow him.

Gwalchmai watches him go then turns to where a younger militiaman stands waiting to address him:
"I am Onar,... may I call you Gwalchmai? Good. Our reserves are over here." As Gwalchmai goes with the militiaman, he asks:
"I'd like to know what kind of benefit this nice 'militiaman' title gives to me? And where can I leave my stuff and rest a wee bit? The night has been very short for all of us, and I would prefer to be fresher before chasing the Szreldor!"

Meraina approaches Heladil purposefully, trying not to draw too much attention to herself from the others present. Catching his attention she asks:
"Heladil, could you help me for a moment?"
Drawing him a little apart from the others she shows him a parchment with writing on it. "It seems to be in a very peculiar language, can you puzzle it out?" she asks.

Heladil studies the piece of parchment for a few moments. With a rueful shake of his head he answers her:
"I am sorry Lady Meraina, it is in no language that I can understand. It seems similiar to some Easterling tongue, so perhaps we can approach Relg or his friends. One of them might be able to puzzle it out."
Before he hands the parchment back to her he looks at her and suspicion shows in his eyes. "Where did you get this? If this is Easterling, what are you doing with it this day? Does this perhaps have something to do with what went on here?"

Meraina snatches the parchment back in indignant surprise. "Allay your suspicions, Heladil," she says. "I am no co-conspirator with these savages. I found this yesterday but did not attach any importance to it until the attack. I think I have an idea about what is going on, but will say no more until we can puzzle out this note. Let's see if Relg can fill us in."

Heladil speaks again, quickly and quietly before the hot-headed woman turns her back on him:
"My apologies. I did not mean to imply that you were a conspirator. I think we all have been under great strain. But if you have an idea what may be going on it may help to let me know. perhaps as the saying goes, two heads are better than one." With that, an mistakable look of curiosity on his face, he follows Meraina as she approaches Relg.
She motions for him to speak with her privately. "I would ask your help in a matter, Relg?"

Meraina surreptitiously holds out a tattered bit of parchment for the Gargath leader to read. The words are written in a large but fairly uneducated script. Some of the letters are smudged due to charcoal being used to write it. Relg takes the parchment and starts reading what is written there. As he does so, a dark expression appears on his face and he slowly nods.

The note reads:

~***Darmuht.
The time has been put forward. They will come to visit two nights after the moon reaches its third quarter. Make sure you have all things ready for them. Enclosed is the vial you require. Do not risk failing!
The time is now, Darmuht. It has begun.***~

It is signed with the signature, Ohmarr.

After a while, he returns the parchment to Meraina and turns to Coru and Maleg. He puts his hand on his sabre and says <using the Gargath language>: "It has begun, my friends! There is indeed more behind this than we expected." Then he changes to the common language and speaks to Meraina, Heladil and the others: "Meraina, if you had found this earlier, much blood could have been avoided. We must speak of this with Raigorn."

Entering the office, Relg speaks to the Watch Commander as Meraina realises his intentions and tries to stop him. She is not fast enough. Relg says:
"Time is running out, Raigorn. We must act quickly, if we want to catch up with these cowards, these Szreldor dogs." He pauses to look behind him at the furious woman. "Meraina has found this..." he says.

He waves to her to hand the parchment over to the Watch Commander, before continuing:
"It clearly states that the brave Hobbits are indeed innocent. I don't know if you can read these Szreldor words, but they were meant for someone with the name 'Darmuht'. They give notice of the attack, and also a vial is mentioned, although I don't know how it could be of
use to this person. It is signed by someone with the name 'Ohmarr'. I have been following these Szreldor since a long time, but I am unfamiliar with this name."

Raigorn winces as Lorrelinde peels the man's chainmail shirt from his back. He nonetheless leans forward, gesturing for Meraina urgently to pass him this new piece of evidence. She reluctantly hands it over. Meraina turns on the Gargath leader and gives him a hateful look before marching off across the room, away from the huddled group.

As the Watch Commander scrutinizes the smudged writing, Coru mutters to his leader:
"Well well, Relg. Do you want to wait for the others to gather for this war council? I agree that it could indeed be a good idea to join forces with these people, but I hope it will not take too long. But, since the towns two leaders are wounded, it is only reasonable that they are attended. I suppose we have to be patient then."

As Relg turns to angrily rebuke the warrior, Coru backs off, speaking quickly:
"Friend, it looks like I have to take back a few of the things I said about those little men. Must have been a lot of pressure, the entire town believing they were the reason of their misery. Guess you are right about there being more about them than meets the eye."

"No, you are right Coru, we need indeed to hurry. I don't like the idea of talking and talking. Let us see soon what is to be done. Then we shall act."

Coru hurriedly goes over to where Maleg stands, uncomfortable with all the foreigners nearby and checks his equipment, making sure all is as it should be, and that he is ready to go after the Szreldor if Relg should give that order. As soon as Relg turns away from the Watch Commander, Coru gives him a signal so that the Gargath can discuss the situation by themselves.

"Well well well..." is all that Raigorn can say, shaking his head in surprise at the note before Froin appears and takes up his attention by asking:
"I would like to enquire also, Watch Commander, at the present health of Lord Mahrdhricks? After all, some of us are here to offer him our aid but our own Lords will require an answer from either him or his appointed successor should it come to that...fairly soon, Sir." He shrugs, unaware of the significance of the parchment in the man's hands.

Raigorn raises one eye towards Lorrelinde who pauses in her ministrations to explain. "The Lord Mahrdhricks is in a stable state. His wound is mortal but not currently life threatening. I have done what I can and he has lost a lot of blood but we must just hope now that the Szreldor blade that caused it was not coated in poison or anything else equally foul. Oh! By the way, Raigorn...if you have not been told yet, Draigen survived the attack without injury but the same cannot be said of his companion. Fineag was the first to defend against the enemy leader but was apparently beheaded before he could close the doors and thus died instantly. Draigen is on his way here after he finishes giving prayer by his Lord's side."

The Watch Commander nods and wipes his forehead with one palm as the Healer turns back to her task. "Yes, I have heard about Fineag's death. Even though he was not one of my own men, his valiant defeat hangs heavy around my neck. What I wouldn't give for the likes of him to stand upon these walls if the Szreldor should ever come back."
As the great man leans back for the application of a wide bandage, Heladil steps forward towards him to ask:
"Raigorn, is there anyone who would know if this 'Darmuht' or 'Ohmarr' live, or are visitors in the town?"

"No," the other replies. "Those names are not familiar. I will find out though, soon enough, when my men return."

At that moment he is interrupted by the battered figure of Lochan who pushes through the throng to the office doorway.
"Watch Commander," he says, stepping forward. "May I speak plainly with you...off duty, Sir?"

"Ah, yes Lochan. What is troubling you my son?" The young Ranger tries to keep his voice level but he is obviously a little tense about something as he goes into the small office and closes the door quickly behind him, leaving everyone else on the outside. Mumbled but heated words are shortly heard from through the solid wood...

With all the hustle about the room, the Hobbit's find it best to stay out of the way and don't draw attention to themselves. Raddish appears and joins the rest of the group as they turn away from the Watch Commanders door. "So? We are fully acquitted then?" he says, looking up to the Gargath warrior above him. "Good. I was seriously starting to run out of ideas there for a moment!"

Meanwhile at the tavern...

Boldor smirks into his drink as he hears Heladil's name mentioned by the crowd in the common-room of the Frosted Mug. With little effort on her part, Galgwen manages to incriminate the Elf as the main cause for the attack on the village and before even she is aware, the group turn towards the open door to track down this traitor. Boldor, lost in his own private recollections only faintly notices when the group leaves noisily and begins to march up the street. Sealvach is awoken from his doze by the raucous noise and watches as Balneg comes running from around the building to catch sight of his wife, marching at the head of a rapidly enlarging group of folk towards the center of the village. He puffs heavily up the street until he catches up with the woman and roughly grabs her elbow, but his protestations fall on deaf ears because by now, other people are coming to see what is the problem and the crowd is steadily getting larger as it progresses. The people of the village have finally been given a reason why so many of them have lost someone dear to them this morning and their thirst for revenge needs to be assuaged. Effectively leaderless, these simple folk have fallen back on the excuse of age old fears of the unknown and now they demand recompense. Balneg shortly throws up his hands in despair as his wife, with the flame of righteousness burning strongly in her eyes, takes a flaming brand from an elderly malcontent and turns to the surging crowd behind her:
"That Sorcerous Elf and his demon familiar is the reason why you all have lost loved ones today. Come with us to find him, and if the wretched skulkrin has not fled from here, we will demand payment for his heinous crimes."
The mix of people cheer at her words and urge her on, the number of firebrands shaken aloft lighting their faces as they move off once more towards the center of town, an equally deadly force for the poor traveller singled out to face their concerted anger...

End of Turn 20.