A Mother fears for her Child
Marigold blooms in Spring
A Shepherd trusts his son
to lead the Salt Knight into the Mountains
Bohat, afternoon of the 2nd Riverday of Petals
Sir Milos, the Fox Knight
The Fox Knight is
sitting on a stump in front of the Inn. His wet hair is combed back
tidily and his shirt sleeves are slightly damp. He uses a rag to
carefully remove dust from the leather of his armor. He squints up
into the low afternoon sun as he hears someone exiting the inn behind
him.
Ser Perilake, The
Gilded Knight
Anastasz and
Perilake look over their new companion as they approach. "I
see you are fresh once more, Sir Milos." Perilake peers over
the other side of the village at two figures. "And I see Sir
Heldris has made the mistake of seeking wisdom from a fanatic."
He chuckles. "I believe we may soon see the the Dove
Knight's first retreat. Let us wait for him here until he flies to
our perch, and we can decide how to spend the last of the day. I
would suggest we seek out other children touched by this strangeness,
and their parents."
Sir Heldris the Dove
Knight
As the woman goes on
and on talking about the Child and holy redemption, Heldris keeps
looking nervously around him until he spots his friends coming out of
the inn. He excuses himself with a slight bow mumbling something
about his comrades and his duties, then retreats and joins them.
Sir Milos, the Fox
Knight
"Not only am I
fresh but I have learned the names of some other affected children.
Cold aggression seems to be their most obvious mark. Now that Heldris
is rejoining us, we can seek them out together." He shades
his eyes from the sun as he looks up at Anastaz. "I saw you
playing dice. Did you win anything interesting?"
Sir Anastaz, The Salt Knight
Anastaz holds up the
antlered dice he won, and tosses one to Milos. "Pedrag said
that Biljana changed after being lost in the woods. Whether the
Herald is replacing the children or merely changing them somehow, I
fail to see what its designa could be."
 |
| Biljana |
Milos absently
examines the etchings on the die and says in a resigned tone "the
designs of the Fae are truly inscrutable." He hands the die
back to Anastaz and smiles weakly. "May it bring you luck,
my friend."
Sir Heldris the Dove
Knight
As the sun paces
slowly towards the west, the knights get to Biljana's house. An
inviting smell of vegetable soup escapes from the open windows, and
they can see someone standing inside, in front of the hearth. They
knock at the door.
Referee
Red marigold flowers
blossom prematurely around the hut and a larger shack where the
animals are skinned. Neither the flowers nor the smell of the soup
can camouflage the stench coming from the tannery. Between the
buildings is a lean woman in worn leather clothes who is taking down
hides from a drying rack. The door opens and Biljana stands in the
frame looking blankly at you. Behind her the table is set for two.
Sir Milos, the Fox
Knight
Milos takes a bow.
"Greetings again young one." He gestures toward the
Dove Knight. "I have regaled my comrade with the story of
your unusual fighting prowess and he has asked to meet you. If he
finds you worthy, someday you might squire to a knight and have
adventures of your own. Of course, martial ability is only one part
of knighthood and we would need to deem if your character and sense
of honour are in keeping with our code. To that end, we would speak
with your mother as well." He points toward the woman taking
down the hides. "Would that be her?"
Referee
“Yes. She is my
mother.” Biljana takes a step toward Heldris, sniffs and cocks her
head to the side. “You are not like the others ...” The woman
must have heard you talking. She looks over to you standing there for
a moment with hanging arms. Then she picks up the hides and comes
slowly over. She
has cropped hair and wears leather clothes that stink of her trade.
She looks tired.
Sir Heldris the Dove Knight
Heldris eyes Bijlana
curiously. "You have a keen eye, Bijlana, and you're
right... something has changed me a very long time ago, a curse,
before you were even born. Now lifted, of course..." he
touches his chin, absent-mindedly "but still it lingers..."
The Dove Knight eyes come back to the child "You also
don't seem like the others," he adds with a meaningful smile,
"whatever happened to you?"
Referee
Before
Biljana can answer Dunja steps between you and her daughter. “Go
play outside.” For a moment it seems as if Biljana hadn't heard her
or would disobey and she bares her teeth and snarls / smiles and
skips away. Something stirs inside Heldris. “I I
wondered when you would come” Dunja enters the hut without looking
back at you and places the hides on the ground next to the door. She
removes the pot from the fire, takes three mugs from a shelve and
places a jug of schnaps on the table.
Sir Milos, the Fox Knight
Referee
As Milos follows
Heldris across the threshold into the hut, the shadows suddenly seem
to blacken within. He hears a pained howl in the distance. The Dove
Knight seems to hunch over and bristly black fur sprouts from his
back and shoulders. Milos gasps out loud and his hand reaches out to
his comrade. Then as quickly as it came on, the vision evaporates,
and all is as it was, except for a distant familiar laughter on the
air. The Fox Knight’s eyes water in frustration as he tries to
regain his composure.
Referee
Dunja fills the cups. She musters
Sir Milos almost as blankly as her daughter would. If she had seen
the Fox Knight stumbling she doesn't show it. “Wendela sends you.
You want to take my daughter away.”
Sir Heldris the Dove Knight
Heldris feels a sudden
movement from Milos behind him. He turns and sees the knight standing
as if he's been seeing a ghost, but Dunja's voice brings him back to
the cramped room. He takes the cup she offers. "Why would we
want to take your daughter away?" He takes a sip of the warm
liquor, his eyes closed. He fumbles for the right words. "We
simply wish to help," he continues in a reassuring tone,
"there seems to be something bothering Biljana, something bad...
I'm sure you must have noticed. How can we help?"
 |
| Dunja's hut and tannery |
“Because she … She is all I
have left after Wanja … she reminds of him every day. It is not her
fault that she is so wild, growing up without a father must be … I
know she can be rude, oh by the stars, I know but … Did you speak
to Ružika? I apologized!
I punished Biljana! What else can I do? If you want to help me
leave!” She downs the cup, filling it again with trembling hands.
Sir Milos, the Fox Knight
Milos downs his
schnapps and steadies himself. “Yes, I spoke to Ruzika. She
bears you and your family no ill will. Nor do we. We have no
intention of separating you from your daughter.” He sighs.
“But we do not believe this is a simple case of children
misbehaving and I think you know that too. Help us discover what is
really happening. Would you be willing to tell us more about
Biljana’s disappearance? The troubles seem to be have sprung up
then?”
Referee
Dunja
puts her hands flat on the table as if to steady herself. She tells
the story in a monotone voice “I went on a hunt and I took my
daughter with me. and than abruptly gets up gets up at rummages
through a chest in the corner and returns with a map. She carefully
moves the cups to the side and spreads the map on the table. “Three
weeks ago I took Biljana with me on a hunt. I was foolish… It was
the third Stillday of Petals but we were hungry and left before dawn.
In the forest I found the spoor of deer near the … “she bites her
lips ” … near the southern foothills and I told her to wait. She
is too clumsy to be silent.” A rare smile lightens up Dunja's
haggard face but disappears instantly.”When I returned Biljana was
gone. I searched all day and all night near the Rajčica
well. Eventually I returned to the village exhausted and hungry and
Pedrag
organized a search party, without avail. Three days later there is a
knock at the door and there she is.” She put her face in her hands.
“She was so tired and hungry and has been hungry ...” She starts
crying.
Sir Heldris the Dove Knight
The
Dove Knight reaches hesitantly for Dunja's shoulder. "Listen,
I'm sure you've heard the story many times, so I won't bother you
with it. But you understand that I know something about being
cursed... and surviving a curse." Heldris'
voice quivers, as painful memories resurface.
"It's been twenty years, and still the nightmares haunt me. I
tell you, at the time I tried my best at hiding what was changing in
me, but my friends look right through me. And I'm glad, for if it
wasn't for their help, I would have spent my days roaming the
northern hills and howling at the moon." He
looks gently at Dunja, holding her hands, lightly. "Your
daughter is not gone, she's just... lost. And what we want to do is
find her and bring her back to you." He
nods towards Milos, beside him,
"and put a stop to whatever or whoever may have led her astray."
Sir Milos, the Fox Knight
As Dunja points to
the spot on Heldris' map, her hand shakes. Milos' brow furrows a bit
and he looks toward the Dove Knight with a question in his eyes, but
then his face softens and he shakes his head slightly. "Thank
you, Dunja. Would you be willing to guide us to this place tomorrow?
You know the land in these parts well. "
Referee
The town square is
slowly filling with peasants of all ages in the their best clothes.
Children are sitting on the ground before the painted wagon,
excitedly waiting for the show to begin. You ask around for the
parents of the other kids. A young woman in traditional clothes shyly
points at the shepherd driving his sheep towards a barn just outside
the village. “There is Dejan, Markos father.” She cranes her neck
and even stands on the bench. “I can't see Stepan and Milica, they
must still be home, trying to scrub the dirt from the hands.” She
describes the way to their huts near the southern fields.
 |
| Dejan |
Referee
Dejan evades your gaze.
He removes his chapka and bows deeply. He is a tall man and wears a
fur vest over his tunic. “My lord. I hope your son is well.” He
looks nervously over to his son standing at the barn door. Marko is
about Avert's age, but long and thin with wild dark hair. The boy
stares back at you vacuously while the sheep pass him by. “It's the
age, my lord, when they are not children any more and not yet men …
but he is not a bad kid. It was Dunja's girl who egged him on! “ He
turns his hat in his hands searching for words. “He has been a bit
… confused since he got lost in the hills, that's all.” He smiles
and finally looks you in the eyes. It seems as if he had managed to
convince himself that everything was alright. “Just confused, my
lord.”
Sir
Anastaz, The Salt Knight
"We suspect there
may be unnatural things in the woods," Anastaz chimes in.
"Might we speak with Marko, to ask if he saw anything?"
Referee
“As
you wish, my lord” Dejan calls for his son to come over and takes
his position at the barn door. The boy is lanky and fuzzy hair is
growing on his upper lip. When you ask him about the day of his
disappearance he points towards the eastern hills and tells the story
in a singsong tone as if reciting a poem. “We were up in the hills
tending the sheep. When I counted them some seemed to be missing and
I followed them. I lost my footing and fell and lay there for some
time, I think. It was dark when I woke up and walked back to the
village. I was very hungry.”
Sir Anastaz, The Salt Knight
Anastaz looks from
the boy to his father. "We need to find the place where you
got lost," he says. "Do you remember the way?"
He looks out at the afternoon sun just starting to lower in the
sky. To Perilake he says, "You should tend to your own
child. I can protect Marko myself.
Ser Perilake, The Gilded
Knight
Perilake grimaces,
and nods. "Never a doubt my friend. I will await word from
you and the others... and tend to my own plans." He turns to
Dejan. "Still, I can be of use. It has been some years since
I herded sheep, but I imagine the beasts have not spent those years
learning new tricks. I will help you with your flock whilst your boy
has the honour of leading Sir Anastasz to the spot in the hills."
Referee
Dejan seems surprised and shoots
a worried look at Anastaz. “Marko knows these mountains like the
back of his hands … but the paths are dangerous and the nights can
be cold even in spring.” Marko looks at the Salt Knight
with his dark unreadable eyes. “I remember.” He grabs a lantern
at the barn and a staff with a scrip. He puts a knife in his belt and
leads you east towards the mountains.
Sir Anastaz, The Salt Knight
Anastaz nods
solemnly at the boy and follows him.
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