Dreadlords A Dead Man's Lies

[Edric]

Southern Savannah - Just Beyond the Anirian Border


Thunk. Thunk.

"Fucking finally." Edric said as the tip of his shovel struck against the top of the ancient sarcophagus. The sound of wood striking stone echoing in the seven foot deep pit that he now found himself standing in. Two comically high mounds of dirt lay on either side of the pit, his pack besides the left and a lantern on a pole on the right.

He had been digging for what felt like hours now, and he'd half started to think the gravemarker had been wrong. It seemed his lung was still in place though, and the grave of Ser Tondrin Ectiel was still very much where the Anirian Guard had left it two hundred years ago. Frowning for a moment, bent down and began to scrape off the last of the dirt from the stone tomb.

After a few moments, it was clear, and sweat beading from his brow Edric hopped to reach the top of the grave and pluck free his sledge-hammer.

A brief pulse of magic rushed through his limbs, and then he sent the heavy iron head directly into the thick grey rock. A loud crack echoing through the long forgotten graveyard. Plucking away the broken and smashed pieces, Edric dug away what still stood in his way. Finally revealing the skeletal corpse of the once Anirian General.

Smile on his face immediately turning to a frown as instead of finding the ring he should have held, Ed saw that Ser Ectiel clutched only a simple piece of parchment. A long, pained sigh echoed from the young mans lips as he ripped the parchment free, eyes scanning over the faded ink and puzzling out the strange curves of the letters.

The silence of the graveyard breaking as he swore in frustration. "Who the fuck is Vesk?"

Taldani - Cortosi Coast

Turned out; Vesk was a man, or rather, the family name of one.

The apparent one time close confidant, aid-decomp, and lover of Ser Ectiel. After comitting only slightly more desecration of a war heroes grave, Edric had managed to find the old General's journal. The pages had been even more deteriorated than the parchment clutched in his desecated hands, but with some time the Rogue Dreadlord had managed to decipher most of the document.

As luck would have it, the journal told the story of Tondrin's first meeting with Vesk. A meeting that took place in the Coastal village of Taldani.

Ed had never heard of the town before, though it sat on the Cortosi Coast just beyond the outter reaches of Anirian territory. Though technically classifised as a free City, Taldani was in truth far too small for anyone to really care about. Though both Dreadlords and Guardsmen often made their way to and from it, the town was not Anirian.

One of the reasons that Edric felt at least okay walking into it. Not that he anticipated any trouble. All he was here for was Ser Ectiel's Ring, and if the journal was to believed The Vesk family would still be in posession of it. A few questions to the outer farmers had revealed the brood still made their residence here in the city, though no one had been able to tell him which manor was there.

Which was why he now found himself in the Tipsy Turtle. A tavern shaped more like a shell than a real hom, but with a warm enough hearth and ale that didn't quite taste as rank as elsewhere. "Yeah. Just looking to stay a night."

Edric said to the Innkeep, gently nudging over his coin with a smile. Hoping none of the posters with his face on them had passed through recently.

 

[Rhidian]

Rhidian grimaced as the table cheered, and loudly at that. They had been drinking the place dry, only that the Turtle never seemed to be depleted in their wares. He had thought that the Dreadlords were a boisterous crowd, but the Guard seemed to carry on without much else thought about waking up early the next day to continue their way back to Vel Castere.

None of them were dressed in their uniform. In fact, word had spread through their unit to put their best clothes on to celebrate Mad Matty's birthday.

Dressed in a shirt he deemed passable for such an occasion, he sipped at his ale quietly. Rhid had done all he could to win over the Guards, make them see he was truly one of them and not a Third Rank Dreadlord that just scraped by graduating. But they were a good group, kept an eye on him and appreciated his eagerness to help and assist where he could see it. He smiled, chuckled, and sand some songs he knew, happy to be part of this moment of reprieve before duty called them back to travel on home.

At least there were good days to remember.

 

[Felix Nevarre]

Felix tried to dismiss the third round of ale that was being shoved into his hand. He did not consider himself an avid drinker, unfortunately, the other guards knew that and were determined to get Felix wasted. They said it was always fun to watch drunk Felix remove his inhibitions and start flirting with the tavern girls. Nothing sounded more horrific to the medic.

Still, he could not help but smile at the joy of all the rest of their party. He had donned his best civilian clothes, as it was nice to not have to bare the weight of the armor on his shoulders.

Felix spotted Rhidian and shot him a smile before sliding over another mug of ale to the Dreadlord. The young medic still was not the biggest fan of the magical warrior class, but he would at least admit that Rhidian had been one of the better ones he had had the pleasure of meeting. In fact, he might be at the top of that small list.

In the chaos of their celebration, Felix took his chance to grab his drink and sneak off to the bar to avoid the next round of whatever drinking game or other chaos that the guards wanted to perform.

 

[Edric]

"Just one? Easy enough. Got a special for three, though, comes with dinner and a meal." The Innkeeper smiled wide. "Wife's idea."

Edric frowned for a moment, thinking and realizing that it might take him more than a night to hunt down the Vesk family. "Sure, three will do."

The Rogue Dreadlord said as he fished out a few coins and threw them onto the counter. The man quickly counting, and perking an eyebrow as he noticed each of the silver pieces was not from where; but the Steppe.

"Don't see much of that sort of coin here. Thought you were a local, 'some reason you look familiar." Goosebumps trailed up the back of Edric's neck, but he managed to keep his face straight. A shrug rolling over his shoulder.

"Nah, first time in town. Just got one of those faces." The Innkeeper chuckled, taking the rest of the coin and fishing out a key from behind the counter. After a few directions, Ed turned...only to see the corkboard hanging on the other end of the tavern.

The one with his face on it.

His face kept itself a marble mask, and quietly he thanked Chasmine for encouraging him to grow a beard, and Maui for keeping him in this damned armor. Slowly Edric made his way across the room, heading towards an empty table...and tearing down the poster as he went.