The Last Days of Arhem begin
Arriving in by the Sulphur Convoy in the Fall of 610 A.O. was supposed to be rather uneventful. Instead, the four travelers on the Caravel North Wind heard news about one affair more alarming than the next. In only about 48 hours, an archaeological expedition turned out to be a front for weapon smuggling to local rebels, there were at least two murders, and just about every other passenger on the convoy left the town for one reason or another. The sleeping quarters at Young Hildur's were filled beyond capacity the first couple of nights, and then, just as quickly emptied almost entirely. Gobbin had the place to himself, as even the three ship companions left those lodgings. Karo went to reside in the slave camp in the marsh, Rali took up a bunk in Kyrias' fencing school, and Steinner had to sleep in the house of his employer, Bodvil Skoffer of the Shakello Merchant House.
The four went about their business quietly enough. Gobbin did day trips out on the heaths to study local flora and fauna. Rali trained diligently with the other students. Steinner pretended to be a bodyguard, but all he ever had to do was to stop pickpockets - at least he was well paid. Karo found herself living with the most pathetic man, her master Sulidon Rumperlak, she had ever met, who regularly drugged himself silly and told stories about how he had ended up at this retched island because of the evil deeds of the Digeta Longa.
The routine was abruptly ended about two and a half weeks after arrival and after the convoy had left to start its return to Trakoria. That morning, they spotted the dragon flying high overhead, and were much alarmed to see it suddenly dive right at Arhem. Karo fled and covered in Sulidon's basement, Gobbin, who had just left the town, hid behind a stone on the South hill. Rali was in the training yard and seeing this behemoth headed straight for them was more than he, or any of the others, could stand up to. For all of his Bansikan training, he threw himself to the ground.
Steinner was in the market square, "protecting" his master, when he looked up and saw the thing looming overhead. He tried to get Bodvil to move, but the man first shook him off, losing them important seconds. He finally got a good grip on the man, but too late. The monster roared above them. The wind and sound knocked everyone and everything not bolted down to the ground like had they been hit by a hurricane. Steinner went momentarily deaf.
From his vantage point, Gobbin could see the monster - which seemed to be ridden by a man - swept over town, breathed fire over some fishing boats on the shore, grabbed the procurator's horse in its jaws and then flew away across the water and straight south, not to be seen again. The town was almost unharmed, saved for some scattered coals from a fire that had ignited a fire by a house wall. He hurried back, tools in hand, to see how he could be of help repairing whatever was damaged.
Karo found Sulidon shocked by the experience. She gave him some zombin, told him to go sleep for the day, and then headed into town. For the first time in weeks, she got away from the camp, and could even busy herself helping people hurt by the commotion for hours, thus also fulfilling her duties to her DiFolt allies by giving the people reason to like her. For Rali and Steinner, the experience had been nerv-wracking. Rali took out his frustrations on training dummies, while Steinner took to drink himself into a stupor at the Inn, while his master ran around ranting about how the dragon had attacked him personally.
That night, more events unfolded. First, just after sundown, the Zoraki noble and his retinue came back from his latest travels, but he was escorted by the town guard and they went straight to the stockade for some reason. Not long afterwards, Colonel da Kaelve led a troop of guards, together with two of the Zoraki nobles' retinue, to the Shagulite infirmary to arrest Malek Mangus, who was badly wounded. Second, da Kaelve summoned the people of Arhem and explained that all of the bad things happening over the last couple of weeks were the work of the Shagulites. They were trying to take the Sulphur trade from Trakoria and had raised an army of several hundred against Arhem. But da Kaelve would lead a force against them right away.
While Arhem started mobilizing troops and supplies, the four ship mates discovered that they were not joining the expedition, all in their own way. Steinner wanted to go, but Bodvil refused flatly and even offered more moneys should he stay and help save the Shakello properties. Rali was undecided, but master Kyrias decided for him: he did not have enough battle experience or skill with a weapon. Karo also wanted to go - this was her chance to liberate her sister Tamatia from the Shagulites - but Sulidon became decisive for once and refused to put his beloved assistant in harms way.
Gobbin had no particular wish to risk his life going north, and when he was at the Inn listening to Hildur organizing the Marjurans, Hildur's son Rurik gave him good reason to stay. The young man had noticed that Gobbin was on talking terms with the new apprentice apothecary in the slave camp. Could Gobbin help liberate Guzier da Ollach, the legendary leader of the Marjuran freedom fighters? Now was the chance! With so many Trakorian soldiers they would never have a better opportunity! Gobbin, remembering that the priests of Shamash in Soblak had asked him to support any independence movement to the best of his ability, agreed to at least go there and talk to the apprentice, to get as much information as possible. When Rurik heard this, he immediately promised to attack the camp to provide a diversion so Gobbin could free the leader. Then Rurik left before Gobbin could protest.
Gobbin decided to do what he could, though he didn't want to see anyone harmed. Waiting until a full day or so after da Kaelve's army left, he sought the help of Rali and Steinner. Steinner had no intention joining a rebellion, but agreed to stay out of the way. He also missed a good opportunity to try to recruit Rali as another bodyguard, as his increasingly paranoid employer wanted more protection for Shakello property. Rali did agree to go with Gobbin, though.
Meanwhile, Karo had a most troubling dream. She was walking along the streets of Arhem, which were drenched in fog. That in itself was not strange, but the fog did not seem mundane. There was something in it. Something threatening. As she moved cautiously forward, she felt something grab her ankle. Looking down, she saw it was the green hand of a dead person, sticking out of the ground. She teared herself away from the grip, but all around her, she could see the ground heaving as more and more dead people try to free themselves from their graves. She woke up with a start, convinced that her prophetic powers had given her a warning.
The dwarf further prepared himself by gathering some flowers and herb-looking plants, so at to give himself a reason to visit the apothecary. When he went to the slave camp early one morning, Rali in tow, he found that getting in was surprisingly early. The dozen or so slaves were just lined up to get their morning dose of zombin, and he was quickly showed to Rumperlak's house, just inside the gate. As he tried to explain his errand to Karo, a cart arrived from town. This was Bodvil, coming to load more sulphur, accompanied by all three of his bodyguards - Pult, Nemed and Steinner.
That's when the rebels attacked. An arrow hit a slaver in the back, and more arrows struck the ground close by. As the guards were alerted to the danger, another salvo came from the marshes, felling the already wounded guard, but the others quickly brought out their shields and took up a defensive position, while more got their bows to return arrows in kind. Steinner, always happy to get into a fight, joined them, and hit and wounded at least three of the rebel attackers before they decided they had enough and ran away. Gobbin hid in Sulidon's shack for the duration of the short skirmish, never lifting a finger to help the rebels or save their leader. Neither did Karo or Rali.
The rest of the day was spent covering from a storm that suddenly moved in, but when night fell, Gobbin was back in the sleeping quarters at Hildur's. With fencing classes cancelled - most students tried their best teaching the locals how to fight in case the undead were seen here - Rali also went here more often for a drink or two. Strangely, the jester Moska had not been seen for a while now, but Steinner used every chance he could get away from his master to have another sip of ale here. There quite a few other guests here - farmers and fishers who were eager for any news from up north, but also some town guards on duty, watching for any sign of rebellious activities. The room was quiet and tense.
That's when Rurik appeared in the door together with a young friend of his. They were both drenched from the weather, and clutched their cloaks around themselves hard. Rurik's friend walked unevenly, and Rurik had his arm around him to keep him upright, which made Rali and one of the town guards somewhat suspicious. The two young men went straight for the guest sleeping area, Rurik ignoring his sister serving the guests completely. They had hardly gone through that door when both Rali and a town guard got up to see what the two newcomers might be up to in there.
Inside, Rurik went straight up to Gobbin and asked about how the rescue had gone. Before he got much further, Gobbin tried putting his hand over his mouth to stop him from incriminating himself too badly, particularly given the still bleeding arrow wound his friend gripped tightly. The dwarf's strength paled, however, next to the force Rurik had inherited from his father, and the action enraged the Marjuran freedom fighter. Thus it was that the first thing Rali and the town guard saw when they came in was Rurik looming over Gobbin, gripping his wrist tightly in his large hand while he barked something about the leader of freedom fighters.
Seeing the guard enter, Rurik went straight for his axe, but Rail got in the way and stopped him mid-stride, locking him firmly in a ironhard grapple. After that, it was easy enough for the guards to arrest Rurik and his friend as traitors. Gobbin did his best to calm Rurik's family as the two were taken away to whatever fate awaited them in the stockade. Rurik snarled at Gobbin on the way out, a futile gesture.
Later that night, a wolven messenger, exhausted and dirty from running through the storm, reached the town and went straight to the stockade. Rumours soon began spreading, saying that da Kaelve's force had met the undead in battle and been soundly defeated. It was hastily retreating just in front of thousands of undead. People were now really worried. Quite a few packed some belongings and headed up to the protection of the Trakorian army, and others started preparing their fishing boats to possibly leave the town fast if needed.
As they went about their business in this feeling of foreboding, the four companions did get a chance to sit down and talk things over. Karo told the others about her dream. She also explained that she had asked around a little and found out that Marjurans often buried their dead in the backyard, which made her really worried. They started thinking about their options. Maybe they should even just take Bodvil Skoffer's small boat and get away? And yet, the Marjuran civilians needed all help they could get. And what was the Procurator doing? There was no sign of him anywhere, and the troops were not working on shoring up the defenses. It seems the two was simply left without effective leadership.
In the middle of their discussion, Bodvil came stomping through the door, furious. He went right up to Steinner and started shouting abuse at him, berating him for not doing enough for the House of Shakello. Steinner's ears went down and he was just about to go with his master when Rali lost his patience and simply grabbed the slimy merchant by the neck and raised him high above the floor, throwing him to the ground. Bodvil whimpered and scurried away from the Inn.
Just then, a child entered from the street and looked at Miriti, the Innkeeper's daughter, with eyes wide opened. "There are dead people standing in the market square", she said. Karo felt that this probably was what she had feared all along - that the local dead would rise form their graves. As such, she and Gobbin stayed inside while Rali and Steinner went out to investigate.
At the square, they found three dead people standing, but they must have been dead for a long, long time, resting in a bog of some kind, judging by their leathery skin. They wore some kind of bronze armour, and one of them carried a horn, another a pole that might have been a banner once. As the first one put the horn to the mouth, without actually creating any sounds, the third one started saying something in a language no one could understand. At the other end of the square, some town guards stood, shields up, swords in hand, but too petrified to approached.
The sight frightened Steinner, too, but Rali just lost it and rushed the three on his own, howling like a madman. He lunged at them armed with nothing but brassknuckles, promping Steinner to pull his swords and join the fray to protect him. At first, things went well enough. Steinner's magic sword burst into flames and he brought it down on one of the Undead, cleaving it from shoulder to hip. The two pieces fell to the ground. They still kept flapping about, but were unable to do any harm. Rali hit the second one with a punch that would have killed any normal man. It hit him right in the breast plate, and broken ribs fell down through his hip bone. But the Undead did not fall.
But the third one got the better of Steinner before he could get his balance back, and slashed him brutally over his arm. Blood splattered across the ground, and while the arm was not severed, he only managed to hold on to his sword with his pinkie and ring finger. Now it was Rali, alone against two Undead.
Karo, desperate to help, ran to the townguards and shook them from their stupor into action. They arrived just in time to stop the two Undead from killing Rali where he stood, and so Rali and Steinner could escape to fight another day.