Slaughtering Grounds
Posted: Sat Sep 21, 2019 2:38 am
Date: 36th of Ymiden, Arc 719
Weapons: Scythe
Buffs: N/A
Status: Grieved and Bloody
Weapons: Scythe
Armor: Leather
Buffs: N/A
Debuffs: N/A
Previous
The plan, originally, had been for the Hand to make camp in a village near the woods. There, they would set up a base of operations, gather intel, rendezvous with the scouts Selyin had sent earlier, and from there, formulate an attack plan.
That plan went out the window as the vanguard came within sight of what had once been the village of Farnham.
"Praetorum." Selyin said, after hearing the reports. "Take two of your fliers, check for survivors or clues. The rest of us will head for Selby—or if they're gone too, Kirkham."
Praetorum nodded, and wheeled around, considering the dozen fliers under his command. "Ricky, Clarissa." He called. "With me."
Then, with a tug on Sivan's reins, the three of them were in the air, soaring towards the ruined, bloody village as the rest of the band began to ride south.
They circled the village once, twice, watching carefully for any signs of movement among the rubble and gore. Then, when they saw nothing, they landed.
Entering the village was like stepping into the midst of a battlefield a break after retreat had been called. The bodies, and parts of them, lay scattered and broken amidst fallen walls and splintered wood, and where there weren't bodies, there was blood, soaked so thoroughly into the ground that it squelched beneath their feet. Rot had yet to set in, but when Prae knelt down to touch a body, he found it cold and stiff. "Happened this morning, I reckon." Ricky said. "They're stiff, so it's been more than four or five breaks, but the flies have only just started laying eggs, so not much more than that."
The stench of it was thick in the air, reminding Prae of battles long past. Only these weren't soldiers lying shattered at his feet. And... unless Prae was very much mistaken, it wasn't weapons that had caused these wounds .
The sight hollowed his heart. But he had a job to do, so he did what he always had; he compartmentalized.
"Ricky, look for survivors in the houses." Prae said, snapping into the mindset of a soldier. No need to bother looking among the corpses outside; not a single one was whole enough to even consider the possibility they were alive. "Clarissa, we're going to try and figure out if this whole.... scene is what I think it looks like.
"Assuming you're thinking this looks like an animal attack, I reckon it is." Clarissa told him grimly as Ricky ducked into a house to begin his search. "Hard to tell without wiping off the blood, but these look an awful lot like bit and claw marks."
He'd been hoping she would tell him otherwise. "Let's gather the bodies together in the barn, try to figure out what sort of animals killed them." He said.
It was ugly, tragic work, of the sort that Prae had thought he'd left behind in the Hotlands. He'd had to bury the dead of friend and foe alike then, and had grown numb to the sight of human or animal corpses. But now there were children among the bodies they gathered up, even an infant, or at least half of one. Praetorum frowned as he traced his claws over wounds, comparing sizes and heights. "Some of these are larger than others." Prae noted grimly.
"Yeah. Most of these are either from wolves or large dogs, but.." Clarissa beckoned Prae closer, showing him the body of what might have been a draft horse. "See here, this bite mark came from a bear. It would explain how so many of these buildings got destroyed, too. These claw marks... I could see it. Some people hiding in their houses, holding the wolves off at the door. So the bear comes in through the wall instead, drags them out."
There were signs of the living or dead being dragged all over the place, especially after they'd carried all the corpses to one spot, so if the events Clarissa described had happened, there wasn't much sign of it. But it was as good a theory as any.
"I count seven, maybe eight flayed corpses among the lot." Prae told her, frowning at the corpses they'd gathered. Ricky emerged every once in a while to dump another body he'd found inside a building. So far, no survivors. "We've got maybe three dozen corpses here. Why'd he flay so few of them?" He wondered, mostly to himself
"Plenty have been eaten." Clarissa noted. "At least partially. Others seem to have been torn apart just for the sake of it. This one, this one was gored by a boar and then just left alone afterwards."
"A boar. A bear. And a pack of wolves. Not really hunting or feeding, just.... slaughtering. And a mage among them flaying freely." Praetorum rubbed at his muzzle. "Ricky, any luck?" He called out.
"No." Ricky called out. When he stepped into the barn, he was carrying a bloody sack with him, and laid it besides the pile of bodies. "Got a bunch of chickens and half a farmer in there." He explained, when Prae gave him a questioning look. "Waste not want not. Reckon if the next closest village isn't dead as well, they can use this lot as fertilizer if we keep the bodies out of the sun."
Prae grimaced, but nodded. Yari funeral customs turned his stomach, truth be told, but he understood the need for them. In a land this harsh, you had to use any resources you could get. Even each other.
"Don't think there's anything else we can find out here." Prae said, wiping the blood from his hands. "Let's report back."
The plan, originally, had been for the Hand to make camp in a village near the woods. There, they would set up a base of operations, gather intel, rendezvous with the scouts Selyin had sent earlier, and from there, formulate an attack plan.
That plan went out the window as the vanguard came within sight of what had once been the village of Farnham.
"Praetorum." Selyin said, after hearing the reports. "Take two of your fliers, check for survivors or clues. The rest of us will head for Selby—or if they're gone too, Kirkham."
Praetorum nodded, and wheeled around, considering the dozen fliers under his command. "Ricky, Clarissa." He called. "With me."
Then, with a tug on Sivan's reins, the three of them were in the air, soaring towards the ruined, bloody village as the rest of the band began to ride south.
They circled the village once, twice, watching carefully for any signs of movement among the rubble and gore. Then, when they saw nothing, they landed.
Entering the village was like stepping into the midst of a battlefield a break after retreat had been called. The bodies, and parts of them, lay scattered and broken amidst fallen walls and splintered wood, and where there weren't bodies, there was blood, soaked so thoroughly into the ground that it squelched beneath their feet. Rot had yet to set in, but when Prae knelt down to touch a body, he found it cold and stiff. "Happened this morning, I reckon." Ricky said. "They're stiff, so it's been more than four or five breaks, but the flies have only just started laying eggs, so not much more than that."
The stench of it was thick in the air, reminding Prae of battles long past. Only these weren't soldiers lying shattered at his feet. And... unless Prae was very much mistaken, it wasn't weapons that had caused these wounds .
The sight hollowed his heart. But he had a job to do, so he did what he always had; he compartmentalized.
"Ricky, look for survivors in the houses." Prae said, snapping into the mindset of a soldier. No need to bother looking among the corpses outside; not a single one was whole enough to even consider the possibility they were alive. "Clarissa, we're going to try and figure out if this whole.... scene is what I think it looks like.
"Assuming you're thinking this looks like an animal attack, I reckon it is." Clarissa told him grimly as Ricky ducked into a house to begin his search. "Hard to tell without wiping off the blood, but these look an awful lot like bit and claw marks."
He'd been hoping she would tell him otherwise. "Let's gather the bodies together in the barn, try to figure out what sort of animals killed them." He said.
It was ugly, tragic work, of the sort that Prae had thought he'd left behind in the Hotlands. He'd had to bury the dead of friend and foe alike then, and had grown numb to the sight of human or animal corpses. But now there were children among the bodies they gathered up, even an infant, or at least half of one. Praetorum frowned as he traced his claws over wounds, comparing sizes and heights. "Some of these are larger than others." Prae noted grimly.
"Yeah. Most of these are either from wolves or large dogs, but.." Clarissa beckoned Prae closer, showing him the body of what might have been a draft horse. "See here, this bite mark came from a bear. It would explain how so many of these buildings got destroyed, too. These claw marks... I could see it. Some people hiding in their houses, holding the wolves off at the door. So the bear comes in through the wall instead, drags them out."
There were signs of the living or dead being dragged all over the place, especially after they'd carried all the corpses to one spot, so if the events Clarissa described had happened, there wasn't much sign of it. But it was as good a theory as any.
"I count seven, maybe eight flayed corpses among the lot." Prae told her, frowning at the corpses they'd gathered. Ricky emerged every once in a while to dump another body he'd found inside a building. So far, no survivors. "We've got maybe three dozen corpses here. Why'd he flay so few of them?" He wondered, mostly to himself
"Plenty have been eaten." Clarissa noted. "At least partially. Others seem to have been torn apart just for the sake of it. This one, this one was gored by a boar and then just left alone afterwards."
"A boar. A bear. And a pack of wolves. Not really hunting or feeding, just.... slaughtering. And a mage among them flaying freely." Praetorum rubbed at his muzzle. "Ricky, any luck?" He called out.
"No." Ricky called out. When he stepped into the barn, he was carrying a bloody sack with him, and laid it besides the pile of bodies. "Got a bunch of chickens and half a farmer in there." He explained, when Prae gave him a questioning look. "Waste not want not. Reckon if the next closest village isn't dead as well, they can use this lot as fertilizer if we keep the bodies out of the sun."
Prae grimaced, but nodded. Yari funeral customs turned his stomach, truth be told, but he understood the need for them. In a land this harsh, you had to use any resources you could get. Even each other.
"Don't think there's anything else we can find out here." Prae said, wiping the blood from his hands. "Let's report back."
