Nostrum: Tales of Valor

Ochre Fardel

Tucked behind the thicket with a knee dug deep into loosening soil, Briar guides the point of a nocked arrow towards the heart of a red beacon. Ahead of him, squatting on a low hanging tree branch, Cronn stalks the glow as well. With his ax fashioned in its two-handed state, he clutches at the handle- with one set of knuckles wrapped around the base, and the other, just below its heel- awaiting Belial's approach from the west, just beyond where the glow dissipates. With his own weapon still holstered, Belial rolls a pebble between his fingers, keeping focused on The Kneller's repetitive walking motions whilst Cronn surveys him from above; Ready to call out if anything unsuspected approaches. As The Kneller turns back in Cronn's direction, oblivious to the looming threat the three pose to her, Belial slings the pebble away. With a twang, the pebble bounces off another branch, catching The Kneller's attention. She turns quickly to her left, keeping the bell outstretched- chilling melody proceeding to flow from its vibrations- and clutching a dagger at her side. As she scans her surroundings, Cronn spots his opening. Knuckles whitening, he tosses himself from the tree, swinging the ax in a downward motion as he goes. The withered woman cries out in pain as her arm falls limply to the ground, the bell still held in a firm grip.

"Now!" Belial calls out, watching as Cronn hits the ground and rolls out of the clearing.

As The Kneller raises her dagger, swinging wildly in the direction Cronn had shifted himself out of, Briar pulls the crossbow's trigger. Her wails seize almost immediately, cut off by the arrow's fletch that remains lodged in her torn vocal cords. With the locality falling silent, Briar pries dismembered fingers from the bell, plucks out its clapper, and joins it with the first they had collected.

"Another successful hunt." Cronn affirms, whilst pulling a red-stained fabric from his pocket and wiping his blade clean.

"Indeed." Briar agrees.

Belial remains impartial on the subject. Lifting his flask to his lips and taking a long swig, he lets his eyes droop shut; Pleased with the taste that lathers the tongue. As the still air around him loses tension, and the beverage settles in his stomach, so does the high-pitched ringing in his ears. Something that has only just recently developed.

"Feeling alright there, Belial?" Cronn questions, noticing the off behavior.

"I'll pull through." He assures, peeling his heavy eyelids open and blinking wearily. "Just need to give it some time."

"Should we rest, again?"

"No," Belial shakes his head with a sigh, looking over thickening clusters of trees, "we don't need to hinder ourselves any further for my sake."

"As you wish." Briar slights, thinking it best to do as Cronn questions. "We'll set up camp come morning either way." Lighting a small lantern at his hip, Briar looks over the illuminated corpse lain out before them.

"What's this here?" Leaning over the body, Cronn uses the handle of his ax to pull back an outer layer of robes. Poking out from beneath them is the corner of a well-wrapped package, held shut by a length of coarse twine. "One of you gentlemen have something being delivered?"

"Couldn't hurt to check." Collecting the bundle, Briar unsheathes a small blade from a leather strap across his chest and cuts the twine free. As it falls to the ground, soaking up surrounding waters, he peels back several pieces of parchment making up the wrapper, exposing what contents reside within. Briar's eyes narrow and his nose crinkles with disgust as a foul odor permeates the air. A sudden look of familiarity, followed by shock, replace his original reaction to their findings.

"What is it?" Cronn eagerly questions, getting closer to a fine white cloth resting against Briar's palm before recoiling himself. "What the hell?"

Curious as to what the others could have found, Belial begins to approach as well. But, before he can get close enough to catch even the slightest of smells, Briar tosses the cloth over it once more. The strange fabric conceals the odor so well, it would seem it was designed solely for the purpose of doing so.

"Dried Clathrus Archeri." Briar informs, packing the cloth into a piece of parchment and twisting it as tightly as he can. Taking care not to damage the fungus inside. After doing so, he quickly stores it with their camping gear and turns back to the others.

"Is that supposed to mean something to me?" Cronn continues to question, slight irritation now forming in his voice.

"There's more to their arrival than we initially thought. This isn't about bringing in new numbers. It's about tearing our numbers down."

"All that from a plant?" Cronn snaps, losing all that remains of his patience. "Briar, tell us what's going on."

"Not here." Briar utters, looking about the marsh. "We have to find the other Nostrum."

"What about The Knellers? We cannot abandon our mission because of a revelation only one of us is experiencing." Cronn grips at his ax and twists it about as he shoots daggers at Briar.

"Cronn's right." Belial states, jabbing his head in Cronn's direction as he does so. "If we don't rid the marshes of these chimes, we can't prevent the risk of further damages back at Keep."

"Pureblood's Keep will be fine. Our Keep will be fine. We've hit a wall here and we need to assess our options."

"And what might these 'options' be, Briar?" Cronn folds his arms in an attempt to regain himself, but irrational anger continues to boil up as- for the first time- his partner has developed sealed lips, and a desire to abandon the orders of Achlys herself.

"We can continue on with our hunt. Risk the lives of the other Purebloods in the marshlands by withholding this newly found information, and inevitably, risk our own lives in the process. It's a reckless decision, but it will continue to follow Achlys' orders."

Cronn and Belial share a look of both shame and disbelief, but do not speak on Briar's subjective claims.

"Our other two options are as follows. We can either seek out the others and assist them in their routes, tracking down The Knellers in larger numbers, but undoubtedly at a slower pace. Or, we can return to Keep and inform Achlys of our findings."

"What good would the last do?" Belial raises a brow, truly curious as to how such a thing could help something that seems so urgent to Briar.

"Immediately? None. We would just have to hope that we can reach Achlys before anything bad happens, and await her orders to have the others withdraw from their routes so that we can rethink our approach. In doing so, we would most certainly end up in larger packs, doing just as I stated we should do already."

"Wouldn't it be best to inform Achlys overall, then?" Cronn questions, as if to see a fault that the others haven't. "If we simply seek out another cluster of our Nostrum, then we would still be leaving those that we haven't found in smaller, more defenseless numbers. If what you're saying can be justified, that is."

"Cronn makes a good point." Belial raises a curled finger to his chin and leans into it, as if deep in thought. "If we remain on our route, and what you say is true, then we could end up responsible for the deaths of many more than just ourselves. If we step aside to help another cluster after locating them, then we could still be at fault for not getting this... information... out to the others as well."

"Precisely." Cronn gestures with an accredited point of his finger. "I've never known Briar to tell anything less than the truth in the year that I've known him." Giving himself a moment more to think over their assessments, he gives a faint, distasteful nod. "Let's head back and talk with Achlys." Cronn puts a palm out as Briar starts off the way they came, keeping him in his place. "I'm expecting to hear every word on this topic when we get there. No closed doors, nor secretive language is to be presented."

Briar agrees to Cronn's terms and the trio begins their long trek back. Concerns of displeasing Achlys with their early retirement from her requests stir in the minds of Belial and Cronn, but not Briar. Knowing that their findings have significant meaning behind the arrival of Knellers in such unmarked lands, he marches on with purpose. All the while, fearing for the safety of Purebloods that are out of his reach and praying that they make it long enough to see the Covenant's braziers beckoning them home.