Addoliad chan 'r Cyfrgolledig

[Nanshork]

Borloth nods, keeping his mouth shut so as not to ruin his brother's deliberations.

[Stratovarius]

A wagon? You cannot animate enough of the dead to carry the others? The Seneschal blinks at the admission from the priest. A muttered statement can be seen on his lips but not heard. Very well. There will be a wagon waiting for you in the cavern exit. You will return tomorrow, at the first ringing of the bells, and your guide will be waiting for you. Should you be late, you will have already failed the task. Keeper be with you.

The Seneschal swirls his robes, striding out of the room after a perfunctory wave, gesturing at the two brothers to depart. They have been given the rest of the 'day' off, although little of it remains after the long wait for the Seneschal's meeting and decision.

[X-Codes]

Regema allows himself some pride for his small victory, although feels the need to stretch a bit after his long wait in the cold chamber.  "Well, brother, it seems that we set out tomorrow morning.  Though I must say I was rather expecting a larger raiding force than merely the two of us, this will be better for us in the long run.  That said, we won't be able to simply raze an out of the way hamlet like I expected us to do, but rather use a little guile in our harvest."  Regema says contemplatively, his depraved, tireless mind continuing to work out the details of his plan.

"Mortals are invariably greedy creatures, so there's certain to be conflict in even the smallest of small villages.  If we happened to pick one that involved a couple hundred creatures and exacerbate the conflict to the point of bloodshed, we could get a lot of the work done for us in short order.  We should avoid too much bloodshed in the town nearest our caves, however, since that is our passage back.  That said, if we need a few more corpses then we can always do a little culling on the way back."

Regema spends the entire trip back to their own cave muttering methods of escalating a hostile or violent situation, trying to be ready for whatever they encounter once they reach the surface.

[Nanshork]

Borloth nods and then tunes out his brother's mutterings.  He is too busy thinking about the bloodshed that is to come, and how he shall best glorify himself in it.  He never was able to get the hang of undead creation, though he never had a problem in killing things so that others could raise them.

[Nanshork]

Getting tired, Borloth lies down in his armor for to sleep for the short amount of time that he actually has to.  He feels safe knowing that his brother is planning and awake, and knows that in four hours he will get up and stand watch.  He knows that his family has to have enemies, and he doesn't trust them to not make a move right before he and his brother are to leave.

[Stratovarius]

The sleeping hours passes in ceaseless planning for Regema, his mind already whirling with suggestions and possibilities, fraught with wealth and danger. If this is done properly, it will benefit them greatly, but if they fail, well, the consequences are quite clear in that regard too.

He is shaken from his running thoughts by the waking bell, and the arrival of his brother. Borloth can see that his brother has spent much time in thought, and brings breakfast. After eating, the two men make their way to the meeting place, once more in front of the priest's palace. There, the guide already waits, impatient and angry, tapping his hand against the blade curled against his side. Dressed in dark and exotic armour, even for this place, he stares at the two brothers, already furious despite their early arrival.

You had thought not to show? I figured this was to be a waste of time, but escorting two louts of your pathetic skill truly is confirmation that the Keeper fawns upon my enemies. I presume you are prepared to leave?

[Nanshork]

Borloth just stands there, staring at the guide.  He chuckles softly.

[X-Codes]

Regema scratches his chin, sensing a different kind of conflict here that he might be able to take advantage of.  "There's no need for angry words between us.  I understand the feeling of being under-utilized which has led to the two of us taking this trip.  Besides, the two of us are early.  If nothing else, you get to wash your hands of us all the sooner."  Regema says with a crooked grin, hoping that a little self-deprecating humor would lighten their guide's mood.

I have a horse on my character sheet.  When do I get that or should I just erase it and put the money back into my cash pile?

[Stratovarius]

Underutilized? Pah. Overutilized more like it. Had to take a break from my regular hunting trips to take you two fools to the surface. Walk ahead of me. I will direct you if you head the wrong way.

Grabbing a spear the wall behind him, he gestured at the two brothers to walk ahead of them, prodding them occasionally with a spear to keep them moving at a fast pace.

I'd probably just remove it. There aren't really all that many animals underground in Marleath, especially since most of the work is done by the undead.

[Nanshork]

Borloth starts to jog, swatting the spear away when he is prodded with it.

[X-Codes]

Regema mutters curses under his breath at their guide.  He would be sorry for treating his future ruler like this.  He does his best to keep pace ahead of Borloth to avoid the infuriating spear.

[Stratovarius]

The guide grins and jabs Borloth in the ankle with the butt end of the spear. We stop here, for we are close to the surface and I must check that your wagon is ready and waiting, oh great masters. Disappearing into the gloom of a dark and unworked cavern, the guide melds into the shadows and is gone. Noises begin to pick up in cavern, as stone clicks against stone, and water rushes down one wall. The noises grow in volume over the course of an hour, reaching a crescendo and then suddenly dying off, as the guide reappears behind them, tapping both on the shoulder with his spear. You are blind. Your wagon is ahead of you, through that opening. The village you wish for is an hour to the north, through a forest. I wish you well. So saying, he disappears into the shadows again and departs.

[Nanshork]

Borloth grinds his teeth and mutters to himself, restraining the urge to slay his infuriating guide.  He goes through the opening that was pointed out, weapon sheathed but still keeping an eye out for danger.

[X-Codes]

"Definitely one of the more infuriating sort.  We'll deal with him along with the rest of the garbage we've been forced to suffer later.  For now, we have our task."  Regema says, going to where the guide indicated to retrieve the wagon.  He gives a quick look over the beast they were given and searches for either a whip or reins to goad the beast out of the cave.  "Come, brother, there's no need for us to walk any longer."

[Stratovarius]

Let me know where you want to go and I can describe the countryside

[X-Codes]

Seeing everything in order, Regema leads the wagon out of the caves and looks around as they emerge.  After a quick look around he the beast driving the carriage towards the north, assuming that while their guide was an arrogant prick that he wouldn't lie to them given their mission.

[Nanshork]

Borloth follows silently on the lookout for danger.

[Stratovarius]

The guide has not led them wrong, and nestled in a dell in the forest is a small village, with some cleared areas around it that are farmed for grain and with cattle. The are no more than twenty buildings clustered in the centre of the town, along with a few scattered dwellings in the nearby woods, each of which seems to house a family, although not all have children. There is a communal warehouse and hall that looms as the largest building in the village, and people can be seen walking through the square, stopping to chat with their friends and neighbours. A wooden palisade surrounds the town, although it looks designed as much to keep out the animals as it is to stop any assault. The village may well not have enough people to provide one hundred good drudges, frmo the primary inspection.

[X-Codes]

"Hmm.  I expected as much, not enough of a harvest from this village alone.  In that case, let us enter peacefully and see if we can't learn something about the surrounding area.  I'm afraid you're going to have to hold off on killing people for now, Borloth." Regema says, a bit dissatisfied with their initial survey of the town, but still quite certain that obtaining the 100 bodies needed would prove no challenge at all.

With that said, Regema decides to keep the wagon out of sight and guide it just outside the edge of the clearing until reaching a more well-traveled road leading to the village, not wanting to arouse suspicion from the populace by simply popping out of the forest.  Once he finds one, he drives the wagon to the center of the village and takes a closer look at the population to confirm his suspicion that it lacks 100 full-grown creatures to cull.

[Nanshork]

Borloth starts to grind his teeth in frustration, but follows Regema willingly enough.  "You know best my brother."