The next morning, as the group is taking down their tents and reequipping themselves to continue their journey, they discuss the plan for the day ahead.
“So what's in our way for the next fifty miles?” Kellar asks to no one in particular.
“Well, the forest will begin to end, at least.” Veros answers. “It'll help with our visibility, which grows smaller as the mist gets denser.”
“Will there be another town in the way?” Atticus asks as he begins to don his black iron armor.
“None the size of Levinburg, thankfully. There is one village, though. Legarthat. It's about fifteen miles north of here.”
“So we should have a pretty easy, straightforward day today.” Kellar voices how relief in a supposed lack of danger expected for today's travel. “Thank the Gods. They know I'm not eager to have another Levinburg experience.”
“Well, to be honest, Legarthat isn't that small.” Veros explains bluntly. “It's a farming village that also saw lots of trade activity due to being in the center of a large area of other villages and towns.”
“I look forward to a bit of excitement.” Royd chimes in with a more positive tone. Kellar just grunts with a sour expression.
“At the very least, it's not walled off.” The group leader goes into further detail. “So even if undead to roam around the area, we can escape with ease.”
“If it is totally empty, though,” Kellar turns around with a more argumentive tone. “I want some time to see if there's anythin' of value worth takin'. Levinburg was a complete bust due to how dangerous it was. I came on this ridiculous journey with the intent of findin' loot, and I think I'm owed some time to be able to at least look.”
“Alright.” Veros sighs. “If Legarthat has no signs of danger, we'll spend some time to look for valuables. Just remember that it's going to get darker sooner than yesterday due to the thicker fog, so we can't meander around for too long.”
“Fine by me.” Kellar remarks with a smile. “I'll be happy with findin' damn near anything at this point.” Content with Veros's promise, Kellar continues to pack up his bedroll.
Later, the six Mistwalkers have mounted their horses and are making their way out of the gate. One by one, they exit the safety of Checkpoint Aethen's arcane barrier and make their way to the road.
“The air feels much heavier out here than it was inside the checkpoint.” Royd comments. “And the fog is assuredly much thicker than it was back at Zenith Gate.” He says while looking northward, down the road. Indeed, visibility is even shorter now than it was when the journey started, thanks to the mist growing in density as they progress.
“It's not going to get any better, unfortunately.” Veros brusquely states. “Is everyone ready to get going? You've all grabbed your food for the day from the dining hall, right?”
“Aye!” Royd announces with a pat on his stuffed food bag. The others follow with confirming nods.
“Alright then. Let's go.” Veros turns his horse, and leads the group onward.
Several miles into the day's journey, the group has maintained a consistent pace. Veros is still at the front. Atticus and Royd are side by side, behind him by about twenty feet. Behind them is Kellar, and then behind him is Zyra and Erik.
Royd turns his head to look at the three teammates behind him, specifically the archer and pyromancer at the rear. They're riding silently, staring straight ahead, with only the occasional glances at their surroundings. The bulky warrior then quietly commands his horse to close the gap between himself and the knight. He leans in and speaks in a softened volume.
“Say, knight.” Royd captures the attention of his black iron-clad comrade. “Do you know the mage?”
“What do you mean?” Atticus responds, confused at the sudden conversation.
“I mean, have you met her before you joined us the other day?”
“No.” The knight slightly shakes his head. “Why?”
“Ah. I was just curious.” Royd straighens himself in his saddle again. “She had joined us while we were still within Evatica's walls, and barely said a word since then. You're the first person she's spoken to without being a asked a question first.”
“She just wanted to know about my armor.” Atticus gives a blunt, vague summary of his first conversation with Zyra.
“If you don't mind me asking, what did you two do last night?” Royd inquires, with his eyebrows raised halfway up his forehead.
“We just talked about pyromancy.” Slightly furrowing his brow with increasing suspicion of the nature of this conversation, the knight gives another short, purposefully vague summary of his time with Zyra. He is also careful to word himself in a way that doesn't suggest the mage's unrefined skill.
“You know pyromancy too?” Royd is visibily taken aback by this new bit of information, and almost shouts.
“Only a little.” Atticus softens his expression, somewhat relieved that he deviated the topic to something else. “I practiced it years ago, but eventually took up the sword and bow instead.”
“You're quite something.” The large man is clearly impressed with his partner's experience in a multitude of different forms of fighting. “All I've had for the last eighteen years is the axe. It's served me well.”
“Were you in the Yhordran Legion?”
“Oh, no, I wasn't.” Royd shakes his head. “I'm just a woodcutter; as was my father, my grandfather, and so on. You remember the giant palisades that make up the southern barrier?”
“I do.” The knight nods.
“I helped build them, as did a few thousand other men. Those were a very busy three weeks.” The muscular woodcutter reminisces about those exhausting days of hastily constructing the tall walls. Atticus, who looks rather pensive, slowly forces himself to ask something that might be a bit personal.
“Before I left Zenith Gate, I saw you and others at the eatery.” The knight begins with context. “I heard you talk to Tarvus. Are you and him really cousins?”
“Aye. We are.” Royd confirms quickly. “He's my cousin from my mother's side. They're a family of farmers, but their farm was unfortunately on this side of the barrier, so they had to relocate.”
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“That explains why he knew so much about the farms here.” The knight voices his thoughts aloud, recalling the detail Tarvus went into about how some land in the affected area are specialty farms and such. “Where is their farm located? Will it be on our path north?”
“Nah.” Royd shakes his head. “Their farm is closer to the west coast, much further south than we are right now. If we had entered from the western gate, we would have passed it on the first day out.”
“Ah. That's fortunate, then.”
“Aye. He's still furious about losing his farm though, as you can imagine.” The brawny woodcutter pauses for a second, at looks up at the sky with a sharp inhale. “I think this is why I'm going on this adventure.”
“To get Tarvus his farm back?” Atticus asks, uncertain if that's what he means.
“No.” Royd shakes his head. “Well, partly. I mean I sympathize with all the hard-working people of Yhordran who break their backs doing manual labor to make a living. Countless families lost those means in the last several months, and were forced to abandon their homes. Assuming, of course, they didn't die in the attempt to leave.”
“What happens to those families who have to relocate? Does the crown accommodate them in any way?”
“Sadly, no. The crown and Legion are – or at least were – too busy trying to figure out how to dispose of the mysterious mist to begin with. The clergy attempts to help, but they don't have the workforce to build homes as fast they need to, as most of the men and even some of the women who are relocated end up signing up for Mistwalker duty and going back into the danger they left their homes to avoid in the first place.” Royd pushes out an exasperated sigh. “As a result, many are homeless. Countless children are orphaned, too. The luckiest ones had family in Evatica they could live with, or at the very least friends who own farms south of the barrier that they could work on and pull their weight in exchange for shelter.”
Atticus is struck by how morose Royd seems to be while discussing such unfortunate topics. It's undoubtedly the most glum he's seen the mighty fighter since meeting him; it's a very stark contrast to how eager he usually is to continue into danger. No doubt he empathizes deeply with those affected working-class Yhordran denizens driven from their homes. The knight had always assumed that Royd's excited desire to delve into the mist was just for thrill-seeking, but his true motives seem to be far more selfless.
“I'd say all of that is the main reason I'm going on this treacherous journey.” The large man continues.
“Is there any other reason?” Atticus asks, genuinely curious if his comrade's motives become even more personal.
“Honestly...” Royd's expression is contemplative for a moment, which slightly draws the knight's curiosity even more. Then a big smile suddenly crosses his face, a total turnaround in aura. “Part of me just can't pass up a good dance with danger! Ha ha!” The axe-wielding battler completes his thought with a belly laugh.
Atticus relaxes himself and sits straight in his saddle again. He heaves a small sigh as he quietly rescinds his assumption that Royd wasn't a thrill-seeker after all. However, he still respects him for being so invested in his people.
About two more hours of quiet travel passes, and the group finally comes across a roadside sign that reads 'Legarthat, 1 Mile'.
“Alright, everyone.” Veros announces to the team. “We're about to finally enter Legarthat. Keeps your eyes open and stay alert until we know the village is clear of threats.”
“Aye.” Kellar is the one voicing confirmation this time, obviously anticipating the looting he had been expecting since the mission began.
Soon after, they pass the waist-high fences of homes at the village's border and enter Legarthat proper. While the streets aren't cobbled stone and no massive gate or portcullis is welcoming them, it's obviously rather dense for just a village – to the point where calling it a “village” seems like the wrong term. They pass over a dozen empty homes; most of them tiny, barely fit to be compared to more than a storage shack in terms of size. Their eyes are peeled for aggressive undead, but they hear no stirring whatsoever from any direction. Soon, they reach the first intersection.
“Hold.” Veros raises his fist to signal the group to come to a stop. They all scan their surroundings, making sure to check the road each way, including the way they came from.
“This place looks empty.” Royd says his initial thoughts of Legarthat aloud.
“Levinburg looked empty too.” Veros retorts.
“Well, we don't have time to patrol every inch of this place.” Kellar interjects. “I say we just continue down this road and inspect houses as we go along.”
“The village square isn't too far ahead.” The team leader offers his own plan. “Erik, Zyra, and I can scout ahead to make sure there's nothing that can surprise us, while you, Royd, and Atticus go through the buildings that line the road.”
“Sounds good to me.” Kellar is quick to agree to the plan.
“Are you two alright with it?” Veros looks at Royd and Atticus.
“Aye.” The bulky warrior says with a nod.
“I am.” The knight follows suit.
“Erik? Zyra?” Veros asks the remaining two teammates.
“I'm fine with it.” Erik says monotonically, and Zyra follows with a silent nod.
“Alright, let's get going.” Veros turns his horse towards the way leading north and begins to slowly follow it. Erik and Zyra trail behind him, and Kellar, Royd, and Atticus – the inspection team – break away to different homes that surround the intersection, and dismount their horses to enter the abandoned domiciles.
One by one, the inspection group enter and search every home along the main street, weapons ready for any threats that might await them inside. Unfortunately, it becomes more and more apparent that the only things left for them to find are more dirt and dust. Despite being so much deeper into the affected region, it's still rare to discover any semblance of valuables abandoned by their previous owner. No jewelry, no silver cups, no coins or well-crafted weapons; only overturned tables and chairs, empty fire pits, and the occasional ragged clothing, torn animal skins, and rotten foods seemingly discarded mid-meal. Kellar, annoyed, grows desperate enough to begin ransacking cupboards and closets and flipping over beds in hopes of finding anything worth taking.
After they go through about a dozen houses, Kellar stands in the middle of the open street and can't help but voice his irritation.
“There's still fuckin' nothin'!” He nearly yells. Royd, exiting yet another fruitless search, approaches him.
“We may be deeper into the mist, but it's been months since these homes were abandoned.” The big man tries to offer an explanation with an uninvested shrug. “There could've been several groups like ours who have successfully made this far and looted the place already.”
“Probably.” Kellar half-heartedly utters with a disappointed sigh.
“Why is finding loot so important?” Royd bluntly inquires as if he'd been holding the question in for the last few days. “You're still making money by simply being out here.”
“It's not enough.” The rogue coldly answers. “It's... not enough for what I need.”
Royd furrows his brow, curious as to what his comrade could possibly mean by 'need'. He contemplates asking for a moment before Atticus approaches them.
“Should we keep searching?” The knight asks. He doesn't seem to mind either way.
“Yeah.” Kellar answers affirmatively, but with little optimism. “Let's keep searching.” He unenthusiastically starts towards the next uninspected building. Atticus does the same, then so does Royd after a non-commital shrug.
Meanwhile, the scouting team follow the road northward at a very deliberate pace, making extra sure to not be blindsided by any life-treatening surprises. Without dismounting their horses, they simply use their eyes to scan every doorway, window, alley, and shed within their field of view for anything that could be a hostile. Save for the sound of their steeds' hooves hitting the dirt beneath them, everything is just as eerily quiet as it has been all day. Soon enough, they see a clearing in the distance.
“The village square must be up ahead.” Veros announces. “We'll wait there for the others.”
They continue forward at the same pace, and the clearing grows bigger and bigger as the mist begins to disperse. However, a strange sight enters their view: some sort of large, indistinguishable black mass on the ground, standing at about two feet high.
“What is that?” Veros asks aloud. Erik and Zyra are equally perplexed.
They get closer, and the mysterious lump begins to bare a distinguishable shape. It's a human. More specifically, a kneeling human who has been burned to a pitch black crisp. What's more, is that it isn't the only one. In fact, there are many; all in the same kneeling position, in the shape of two circles – an outer one and inner one.
“What on earth?” Veros utters at the horrific sight, his face twisted in disgust.
“Good gods...” Even the usually stoic Erik can't help but give voice to his shock. Next to him, Zyra is simply frozen with her mouth agape.