Lady Mirabella, Lady of Arcues, knew when things were going too well they would make a quick turn around to show the ugly side of fortune. This was her attitude when travelling the long road from the capital to the new Veridian's Holding in the deep south. The carriage hadn't encountered more bandits than usual, and they had either been run off or executed with enough time to keep on schedule. The moral of her troops was high, and she even found a few bandits with bounties she could turn in. Then, the sky tore open in the direction she was heading, and everything seemed to turn. The most unusual thing was that there was no screaming, pounding, or shaking of the earth. The sky just flashed with a strange amber light before peeling open to show a black sky filled with odd blue-silver streams. Then it just stayed that way with no indication when it would go away, or if it was doing anything to the land as a whole. Instead it just looked like a new celestial body like the various stars or the sun.
Her men had expressed various reactions to this event. Most of them had a feeling of deep uncertainty about their destination. Clearly this event was tied to that Mana Well and possibly to the Dungeon found there. Yet, no news was coming up along the road. Each village just huddled in their houses in fear, and not even the guards wished to try and pressure them back into the fields. Mirabella knew that such behavior could lead to grain shortages at the very least considering the season. More than one field had the start of heavy weeds poking up between the grain, and she knew, better than some, how important these outlying villages and farms were to the stability of the country. So, she took extra time to send a runner back towards the capital with a message for each village along the way. In addition, she took a few moments in each village to allow her men to pressure the farmers back to their tasks. She received quite a response from the various mayors and elders for her aid in getting things settled back down.
While it was doing great things for her in the eyes of the public it was putting her far back on her schedule. It should take a little over a week to reach the town of Lolacal which was the closest town to the Holding besides Restibue, but that one was away from the main road. Instead it had been two weeks on the road and they were just now reaching the outskirts of Lolacal, and from the looks of things outside the town. It was in a far worse state than the other places they had passed through. Most of the fields were just fallow plots, and the current falling rain made everything far more gloomy than it normally would look.
"Sorry my Lady." A young boy said to her Knight Captain, bowing in her direction, "Ever since the Ash Fall the town has been trying to recover, but when the sky tore most have just given up hope here." The Captain looked to her for a response, and Mirabella decided to lean to the edge of the carriage to personally respond.
"What is this Ash Fall you speak of young man? And why is someone so young manning the gates?" She asked with a practiced tone of sincerity and concern. Though, internally, she had a pretty good idea since the young man was there, that it was some kind of magical storm. Though it hadn't been reported to the capital or any military post that they had come across which was odd. The boy flinched, and quickly tried bowing before slipping and almost falling into the slurry of mud by his feet.
"My Lady!" His voice was clearly panicked and freightened, "It was a strange thing that happened almost three weeks by my reckon. The town was hit by this strange ash that burned through places and people, though not many fires were started. Most reckon it was a mana storm or something similar." He trailed off, clearly not sure what more he should say, or if it was even enough to satisfy a noble of her rank. She just nodded to him, and then leaned back into the carriage signalling that the conversation was at an end. The Captain talked to the boy for a few more seconds before the gate was opened, and they started their journey inside. They would need to spend the night due to the rain, which would make travel far too miserable for the guards and horses. Mirabella would have pushed them if they were only a few hours away from their destination, but being close to two days on a straight path wouldn't be a smart idea. Moral was something that had to be taken into account when dealing with the rabble or the military respectively.
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She was slightly taken aback by the inn that they found themselves in front of however, since it looked far below what even her guards would stay at on the road. So, she gestured out the carriage and a soldier approached with a few seconds.
"Yes, m'lady?" The man asked, water running down his curved helm.
"Surely there is a better place of respite than here." She said with a curt gesture. The man shook his head slowly.
"Sadly not m'lady. The previous establishment for the wealthy and merchants caught fire during the Ash Fall." He said, though it was hard to tell his expression through the gloom and rainwater, "They haven't had the courage to rebuild it, or build a new one, so this is the best we could do. Even the Mayor's house was burned to the ground. We planned on going around to the standing merchant houses after we get you inside, and finding the best one for you to rest in for the night." His words calmed her fury, and she decided that it was a functional plan, but it would be frustrating to stay in such a rural place. Even if the stay was only for a few hours until more appropriate lodging would be found. She would admit that she was becoming more interested in this Ash Fall, as it had caused severe problems in a town of this size. Usually the Mayor was picked from a selection of graduates of the Mage's Academy, or at least from a noble house with the skills to teach magic. Since mana storms were a common problem in places on the edges of the kingdoms. Especially on the far reaches near the mountains or the sea where few people lived, and besides powerful monsters roamed.
She was quickly helped inside the inn through a stairs in the back that was covered with wooden tiles so she only got a little wet before entering their largest room at the top. She was told it was the innkeeper's personal quarters, but she wouldn't need to stay long as most of her men went riding through the town to find a place respectable enough to house her. Though in the meantime she was sitting on a soft chair near the fire, and the wife of the innkeeper was keeping her company.
"So, I have been most intrigued by the Ash Fall that seems to have caused much problems. Yet, I hadn't heard of it before arriving here." Mirabella asked to the plain, young woman who immediately blushed at being addressed.
"Y-yes, my lady." She said with a soft tone, and a small curtsy, "There are a lot of stories about that day, but no one knows which ones are rumors or true. Chaos everywhere you looked, if you had been here, my lady." Mirabella nodded, and gestured for her to continue.
"T-there was just these gray-black clouds that came out of no where, and these flakes of burning ash, like paper from the fire, my lady." She continued, her eyes going dull and distant. Clearly she was remembering something terrible, and Mirabella felt a shiver run down her spine as she looked into those eyes. "They would just burn right through anything, but if it was alive, they smoldered into ash like a dying log on the hearth. Some say it was the judgement of the Gods, and some say it was a powerful wizard who they arrested and broke free from the jail. But me man said it was a mana storm..." She trailed off, and just stared at the flames in the fireplace. Mirabella decided she would have the soldiers poke around a little before they left. Something about all of this seemed odd for a mana storm. Especially with the woman mentioning a powerful "wizard", since the common folk didn't understand how magic worked, and wouldn't know a mage from a goblin. She didn't have too much time to consider before a knock came at the door.
"My lady," The Captain knelt before her, "We have found a suitable place and moved the family out for your stay." Mirabella nodded, and the Lady of Arcues walked out of that hovel others called a home.
"Good, and by the way Captain." She said with a rising gesture, "Find out more about the Ash Fall before morning. I want a report along with my breakfast." The Captain saluted with his fist to his chest.
"It will be done." He replied.