War-Forged Plot 406: Unearthing the Truth

Made by Riley at THQ!

Noelle kept her head high as she was deep in thought. It was the first time she was on a mission like this. She is just a mare that goes around to make maps and new discoveries. This was all new to the dark mare, even being in a group. Noelle normally does solo adventures. It is as if Kaia wants her to try new things. Branch out to new people.

The purple mare kept her distance, but was fairly close. Noelle glances around, and tries to make out whom everyone was. She wasn't quite familiar with them other than one mare. A childhood friend she missed dearly. It was so nice to be able to catch up with Alyshia. Noelle's Gods were in her favor. Out of all the others names, Fox stood to her. Her names often pops up from where she lives. Valkyries, a medic, and more scouts. The Stone Circle created quite a group. Who knows what might happen.

Fox's words catches Noelle's attention. "Keep your eyes open and senses clear." The mare nods her head as she kept her eyes and ears open. Finally, they made it to their objective. It was quite. To quite. The closer Noelle make it to the hill, the sound of birds flocking over head. She glances up to try and see what kind they were, but the morning hog made it impossible. When making foot onto the hill, Noelle hears members speak with confusion. "What's wrong? Is everything okay?" she asked in a very soft tone due to their medic. The dark mare turns her head to see the town. Her eyes widens at such sight. "It's like the ground become quick sand. Maybe everyone evacuated, before everything sunk down?" " Should we search for survivors? I wonder if there is any clues around here." Noelle thought out loud. Whatever happen, it wasn't good. This hard working down became a ghost town.

    Thrynn felt as if there were no need for silence and stealth at this point; whatever or whoever had the magic at their disposal to do this - well, he doubted that the element of surprise would give them much of an edge. He appreciated the Medic's caution, though. It was a sobering addition to all the confusion and unease in the air. As Alyshia, one of the young Valkyries, began to speak, Thrynn found himself agreeing with her. She was voicing the truth that none of them wanted to hear - that Holmsa still needed investigating. The spotted stallion  shook his head and sighed as he considered the grim undertaking. Whatever they found, it wasn't going to be good. He could only pray to Kaia that the cursed village was so deathly silent because its inhabitants had fled whatever caused this bizarre scene, not because they had been caught up in it themselves.

    He had just taken a step when Fox called his name. He felt impossibly small all of a sudden, images of his childhood flashing to the forefront of his mind. Kaia be blessed, he was only left to the mercy of his own thoughts for a moment. Thrynn gave a sharp nod in Fox's direction as she issued her order, and it was one he agreed with. If there was anyone left in this town, it was their duty to find them, even if that meant digging them out of the ground.

    His hooves thudded dully against the dirt as he headed for the nearest sunken home. A brick chimney was beginning to crumble onto the wooden roof, and using his telekinesis Thrynn picked up a broken piece of masonry and tossed it at the half-buried window. The sound of breaking glass rang sharply in the silent space, and Thrynn took a moment to scan between what was left of the buildings to see if he had roused any activity. 

   Nothing.

    He was beginning to think that a posse of Bloody Flank Raiders charging through the ghost town might even be a welcome sight at this point. Thrynn knew how to fight, he knew how to defend himself. He did not know magic, and he didn't know what might have caused this. He'd take the enemy he knew over the one he didn't if he had a choice in the matter.

    "Medic! Medic!"

    Thrynn heard the sudden call from deeper in the village and cursed. He threw himself down onto his front knees, trying to get a good look inside the dim shell of a house. "Hello! Hello! Is anyone inside?" he shouted into the window. The creak of the wooden frame was all that called back to him. The stallion cursed again and jumped to his hooves, breaking into a canter as he headed towards the commotion.

    What he found was worse than anything Thrynn could've expected. He anticipated death, but not the unholy scene that laid before his hooves. The decomposing body of an equine lay staring blindly up at the group, partly swallowed by the ground just as the buildings had been. "Oh gods..." he muttered, ignoring the argument that threatened to spark between the silver Valkyrie and the Medic. Seeing Kaia's earth turned against her people like this... Something very dark was at work in Holmsa. 

    "We need to look for survivors, anyone who might be able to explain this. Just because the villagers may be... buried, like this one, doesn't mean they're all dead. Some might be trapped, or hiding in the surrounding forest."

---

Post #2
WC: 595

Thrynn made his way to the sea, using a time-worn footpath, still impressed with the generations of shod hooves and cart tracks that had created it. It was a sentimental image of life in Holmsa; diligent farmers cutting through the tall grass to bring their goods to the pier. The ocean rolled over itself lazily toward the shore, sounding like a sigh. It was completely unperterbed by what had happened here.

The shore, however, bore scars of intrusion. The sack of grain the group had seen from the hilltop became visible again through the high grass, but close up revealed itself to be the lifeless form of a champagne-colored foal. The child had washed up on shore, following an apparent drowning, but, more curiously, was surrounded by many sets hoofprints. Many of the tracks were uneven, stumbling, dragging, twisting up the sand at odd, injured-looking angles.

Even stranger than that, they seemed to be heading inland up the beach, coming from the sea.




As Greer cantered for the treeline, entering the dark woods, the signs of civilization grew scarce, and the sparse signs of struggle vanished altogether. The deeper Greer went, the more dim the light became. It was discouraging, and poor conditions for a search. Just as Greer was about to return to the group, however, something in the undergrowth became visible.

It looked at first like the broken portions of a fallen tree, angular in texture, covering the forest floor. As she approached the scattered, splintered branches, it became clear that these weren't trees at all. Bones, most of them strewn without reason, spread out for yards in every direction before. From the number of skulls, there must have been dozens of skeletons left here, their bones free of any flesh. Old. Long, long dead, not like the citizens of Holmsa.

A skull at her feet, dark with filth, smiled up at her. It was spotted with barnacles and tinged black from moisture.




Ritan and Alyshia's search for a "less volatile body" proved fruitful.

Heading into the town square, they had their pick of a veritable garden of candidates which had been invisible from the hill. As they walked, they passed a farmer's cart outside of town, dumped over on its side so that its bagged contents covered the road. Strangely, the cart had not been half-swallowed by the earth in the same manner as the buildings and bodies ahead. The harness attached to the cart, upon closer inspection, had been cut and torn rather than unbuckled, as if the wearer had freed themselves in haste.

Dead ahead of the cart, it was easy to see where the anomaly in the earth had begun. Still wearing portions of the severed harness, a huge-bodied draft horse was partially sunken into the ground. Her back legs vanished underground while her front end was free, only her hooves buried. The dirt around her showed her attempt to pull her elderly body from entrapment, but more obvious was the wound that had ended her struggle.

Her head had been removed in one clean slice. It was more damage than any of the other bodies bore, a pointed insult, a message. Bahar's spotted back was instantly recognizable to anyone who frequented Skeldr town, or knew the notorious Stone Circle elder from her government dealings. Her severed neck was swarmed with flies. Her head was nowhere to be seen.