Year: 18456
"Fan out! Stay in twos and within torchlight of each other!" The voice belonged to a mostly armored figure, calling out in a feminine voice to the thirty soldiers within earshot. The soldiers all begin to move quickly and in unison, pairing then lining up along the entrance to the snow-capped evergreen forest in front of them. The commanding figure takes her shield from her horse and reaches into a bag for a vial. She smears the contents of the vial on the shield, muttering a few words. Light springs forth from a briar-wrapped moonflower emblazoned on the shield.
The figure checks to make sure the line was formed before yelling out, "Forward! Find the quarry! Bring him alive!" As one, the unit marches forward, grim eyes of veterans peering into the darkness. Each one of them was hand picked by the inquisitor herself, mixing together both royal guard and three of the Church of Everlyn's best hunters. She had been requested specifically from the Shield Mother of the church to answer the royal call of aid, pulling the other three from their duties for their tracking and skills.
Joshua was a bit of an annoyance who preferred to warm the beds of others than to do his duty, but when called on was like a hound to the scent of blood. His tracking ability was the best in the church, if not the land itself. He was quick to a smile, his wrinkled face obscured by a hooded jacket, long red and white hair spilling from it. Valerie, on the other hand, was one of the Silent Ones, able to move through entire warzones and enemy encampments as if taking an afternoon stroll, unseen and unchallenged. And finally Mevan, a large, stoic figure. He had been trained to be a druid as a child, before leaving the service of his circle for the ability to actually help people rather than shut them out. Using the druidic circle secrets, Mevan was able to change parts of himself to be more beast than man, and was even able to speak to animals as if they were humans. The inquisitor herself was able to speak to beasts, but preferred to avoid it if at all possible.
She shifts her grip on her shield, scarred and calloused hands setting it more firmly on her arm. Her foot slipped into a deeper snow drift than she had expected, but she continued onward without removing her eyes from her surroundings, focus unmoved. This man was a degenerate that didn't deserve to be called human. A creature that had sold all manner of beast and person, regardless of race, age or ethnicity. Sea dwellers, mountain kin, humans, dwarves, halflings, elves, it didn't matter as long as he could turn a profit. His outfit had been wiped out, all of the survivors hung in front of the capital city of the kingdom of Tiver, Yumin. The royal family themselves strung up the offenders, ending their lives by their own hands.
An hour of marching goes by, the team communicating by whistles to make sure everyone was still in line, when a whistle calls out to the inquisitor's left, two pairs down. The whistle was long and loud, then short and low, and then short and loud. It seems Joshua had found footprints. She whistles once, long and loud, telling everyone to join back in. As she moved toward her left, she could see torches between the trees circling a single tree. She steps between the trees to be greeted by the sight of Joshua crouched as close to the ground as possible, inspecting a spot at the base of one of the trees.
He looks up at the inquisitor, nods once then says, "It's 'im. 'e sat 'ere fer a time. Mayb', mm, twe'y minutes." The soldiers move out of her way as she stomps through the calf-deep snow. "Where'd he get to," she growls. Joshua shakes his head. "Tha's the thin'. Can' find 'is trail. Jus'...dis'ppears." The inquisitor looks around for Mevan, spotting him as he comes up from where she had come from along with one of the soldiers. She inclines her helmed head toward him wordlessly, to which he nods. With a cracking sound and a grimace on his face, veins popping out, Mevan's face began to change. With a pained snarl, his nose was replaced with one much like a bear's. He snuffed the air a few times at the site, eyes following some unseen trail. He beckons toward further into the dark forest, taking point ahead of the rest and staying just out of torchlight.
She whistles once, low and sharp, and the group began to file after Mevan. The inquisitor murmurs under her breath, "Val." Instantly, Valerie appears toward her side, walking as if she had always been there, veiled face only showing her mouth. She stepped through the snow as everyone else, but behind her was undisturbed snow. "Scout ahead, formation 3." Without a response, Valerie stepped quickly into the forest on the inquisitor's left side, melding into the darkness. She would move just ahead of Mevan in a diagonal line, making sure he wouldn't fall into any traps. The problem with many of the forms he could take, they gave him some benefit only to have something else to be taken. In this case, she thought, it's fortunate Valerie can give him sight when he's sightless.
Moving forward, the snow seemed to be undisturbed, as if neither beast or person had ever been through this part of the forest in its entire, timeless lifetime. On top of that, for following the trail of a man who left clues of his whereabouts like shining bread crumbs, this was strange indeed. The inquisitor grits her teeth, but contains her thoughts. Mevan's massive frame stops ahead of them and hunkers down in the snow, looking forward. Putting out her light with a wave in front of it, she signals to the others behind to cap their torches and stay low. Near instantly the order was perceived and carried out, the area enveloped by darkness. Moving up next to Mevan, the inquisitor peers forward into the darkness ahead with Valerie coming up next to her, crouching.
As her eyes became used to the darkness, she could almost see a silhouette just beyond, amidst a clearing. Moonbeams pierced the thick canopy above and filtered down to the snow in the clearing. She could make out what seemed like a medium sized cottage in front of her. Waving forward slightly, Valerie moved, crouched, to the wall beyond. She stepped up onto an object in the dark, peering into what looked like a window. Stepping back down and keeping low, she silently ran up to the side of the cottage and peered around the corner, before coming back to the inquisitor. She murmurs under her breath, imperceptible from any save the inquisitor. "I see nothing. The inside is empty, and looks dirty and unkept. As if a monster dens here. No sign of the slaver." The inquisitor nods before waving to all to follow slowly and quietly.
Moving forward, she discovers the window Valerie had peered into but passes by it. She moves up to the left corner of the cottage and sees a door, the snow lighter than anywhere else. She stands fully, unsheathes her sword and leads the group to the door. On one side, the soldiers' captain takes up his position while Joshua takes the other. Grasping the door handle lightly, Joshua nods to the captain. Receiving one back, he yanks the door toward him and the captain enters the cottage quickly, brandishing his sword in front of him. Two more soldiers enter, followed by the inquisitor.
The smell was one of rotting meat and vegetables, a chair and small table set in front of the hearth. The kitchen on the right had what looked like old bird carcasses and rotting vegetables hanging from the ceiling. Hooks and knives cluttered the stovetop, old blood dried along the counter, floor and washbasin. The inquisitor signals to two soldiers to re-light their torches as more soldiers move into the cottage and begin inspecting every inch. In the light, she could see a door on the far side and signals for three more to go check it. She moves next to Joshua who was crouched in front of a floor hatch. He tugs on it, but it doesn't budge. He reaches into his belt and produces his lockpick set and starts to work on it. Soon the catch springs and he lifts the hatch just enough to peer inside, seeing steps leading downward.
One of the soldiers comes back from the room and motions for the inquisitor before moving back into the room. She follows only to be hit by a horrid stench as she gets close to the door. Gritting her teeth, she enters the room. A large bed greets her, it's sheets foul and covered in a dried sludge. A broken mirror stands against one of the walls, a broken dresser next to it. Just beyond, the window was caked with dirt and more sludge, the once clear view now yellow and nearly opaque. One of the soldiers stabs his sword gently into the sludge on the floor, breaking it open. The smell of old blood permeated the already horrid room, the rust colored liquid seeping onto the floor. The inquisitor steps out of the room quickly, hardened eyes looking around. In one of the corners of the room, she spots a small totem of bones with a rat skull on top of it. She hisses, "Yanir! Step away from the hatch!" Joshua's curious face sets to alarm and he hisses down into the cellar.
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The inquisitor grabs a torch from a nearby soldier, brushes past Joshua and rushes down the cellar before stopping at the landing, an open door in front of her. In the torchlight, she sees one of the soldiers standing limp, a wet smack and groan coming from him. The body is pulled to the side and lowered, revealing the massive toothed maw of the yanir. It's body consisted of a thick, straight torso, limbs twice as long as its body and gangly. Its fingers were long and ended in sharp claws, one of which was holding the soldier up by his throat. It's four eyes embedded into its skull peered maliciously at the inquisitor, the creature's lanky, thin hair falling around it.
Dropping the soldier to the ground, it stood up to a low crouch, it's head brushing the stone ceiling. Reaching through the door, it grasps the portal of the door and slowly moves its way through. The inquisitor thrusts the torch into the yanir's face before turning around and flying back up the steps. It screams and tears at its face, trying to brush away the burning ash, its skin blistering heavily.
She hits the landing and yells, "Prepare yourselves, it's a yanir! Royal soldiers, surround the sides of the cottage, throw the furniture outside. Mevan, Joshua, Valerie, prepare yourselves!" As she speaks, the yanir thrusts its arms to either side of the hatch and pulls itself up and out of the cellar, snarling. Turning its horrid visage to the soldiers surrounding it, it screeches and grabs the nearest one. He screams as he stabs at her limbs before being ripped apart by the creature. He tries to gurgle a bloody scream, still stabbing at the creature before going limp and dropping his sword to the ground. The yanir throws the top half of the body at the soldiers on the far side of the room before being charged by a group.
The screams of men and creature filled the air as the inquisitor rushes forward and stabs upward into the yanir's body. Mevan howled deeply as his body changed, his arms becoming that of a bear and his face the muzzle of a wolf, his eyes ravenous and deeply yellow as he charged the yanir from the front. The yanir swats the inquisitor aside, her shield taking the brunt of the force while she backs away quickly, hitting the wall heavily.
The creature takes Mevan full force, slashing, clawing and biting each other, before he grabs a hold of it and throws it against the wall. Joshua's barbed arrows thud into the yanir's body and one of its palms, pinning its hand to the wall. From its side, Valerie slips her knife into its side. Before she can slash with her short sword, it yanks its hand from the wall, grabs Valerie and throws her across the room where she crashes and lays still.
The yanir faces back to Mevan and kicks at him with a large foot, its arms pushing against the wall. Unable to dodge or catch the foot, his chest makes a sickening crunch as he's thrown to the ground, howling. The creature scuttles along the wall killing each soldier too slow to get out of its way. The royal guard captain body slams it before attempting to slash at its neck. The yanir grabs his blade, yanks it out of his grasp and cleaves him in two. It passes by the hearth and smashes one of the windows, reaching through to pull itself out.
Before it can pull itself fully out, Mevan moves forward with the inquisitor, grabs it by the legs and pulls it back through, the glass gashing open the creature's skin. The inquisitor shouts out to the remaining soldiers and rushes with her blade digging deep into its foul torso. The soldiers move forward, screaming as they rush at it, slashing and stabbing. The creature reaches for soldiers and tears apart what it could reach, many of its efforts stopped by Joshua's arrows tearing into its palms and joints.
Mevan continues to heave it through the window, before throwing it to the floor heavily. As he steps forward its arms dart forward and its hand stabs deeply into his chest, claws reaching through his body. He coughs blood from his muzzle and bites down hard onto the hand, grabbing onto its arms with his massive paws to stop it from moving. The inquisitor shouts at Joshua as she moves forward and slams her sword into its other hand all the way to the hilt, blade biting deep into the stone, before slamming into it with her shield to keep it from biting or getting up. Joshua moves forward from the door to the creature's head, pulls back hard on his bow and looses a barbed arrow between the eyes of the creature. It gnashes its teeth a few times, before its massive body stops moving entirely, maw gaping.
Mevan pulls its hand from his chest, then gasps as his body changes back painfully. Blood splatters the floor as he drops to his knees, breathing harsh and ragged. Joshua comes up next to him and helps move him back while the inquisitor went over to Valerie. She checks to see if she was still breathing, and finding a pulse, picks up the unconscious form into her arms. Taking stock of those remaining, she counts four of the soldiers who had survived, the rest of the cottage was awash with blood and gore, bodies both headless and torn apart into pieces.
The inquisitor sets Valerie down outside in the snow against the wall of the cottage, gently probing her head, neck and back. Finding no damage other than a gash on the side of her head, she unlatched the veil on one side then lifted the hood back just enough to be able to treat the wound. She washed it carefully with snow, Valerie's uncovered medium, goldenrod hair matted with drying blood and sweat. Finding the wound was no longer bleeding, the inquisitor took a small jar from her belt and lightly smeared the wound with a plaster she had made herself from herbs. She carefully pulls Valerie's hood back into place, latching her veil onto it.
Placing her cloak around her, she reenters the cottage and moves to Joshua and Mevan. An empty jar sat next to Joshua, Mevan's chest wound sealed but heavily scarred. His breathing had become mostly steady, and he seemed to be mostly conscious. Joshua looks up at the inquisitor and nods, before returning back to poke at the healing flesh of Mevan. She puts a hand on Mevan's shoulder before moving to the four remaining soldiers.
Two of them were gathering personal effects from the piles of bodies, while the other two were moving their comrades' bodies to the center of the room, swords on their chests and hands gripping the sword hilts. For the ones whose rigor mortis was too set or who were in pieces, the soldiers arranged them in a way to show dignity. They went on their grim tasks silently, acknowledging the inquisitor.
One of them, an older soldier, finishes taking the last personal item from the bodies he was working on and works his way toward the inquisitor. He salutes and says, "Ma'am, we're read'eh teh ligh' tha fire, jus' gotsta git Yorge's body down in tha cellar thar." She nods and responds, "Are you the highest ranking of your troop?" The soldier nods curtly. "Ah'm a sergean' lady inquis'tor. Ah'll be takin' ova from tha cah'ain." "Very well, as soon as we can move on, we'll leave," she responds.
She steps away from the sergeant and moves back toward the hatch, sergeant in tow. Relighting her shield, they step carefully down the stone cellar steps, coming back to the door. Stepping through the portal, the inquisitor looks around while the sergeant carried the body back up the steps. Hanging from the ceiling were body parts, some seemingly having been snacked on for a while, others freshly cut. Moving into the cellar, she finds the freshest one, its clothes in the process of being ripped away.
The head was sitting next to it, a look of horror filling its lifeless eyes. Pulling a parchment from a pocket in her jacket, she unfurls it and looks between the drawing and the head. Seeing it to be a match, she searches the clothing and comes away with a simple iron key. The design inside its circular head was one of a crow, sitting as if on a log. She pockets the key and grasps the head by its hair before taking it away up the cellar steps.
As the hatch slams closed behind her, she moves toward the yanir's corpse. Taking out her knife, she digs it deep into its chest, slicing down through its bones. Grasping either side of the incision, she rips open the chest cavity and looks inside. Runes carved along the ribs and spine were etched crudely deep into the bone. Without a word, the inquisitor left the body behind, her sword still stuck into its hand and the stone floor.
As she exits the cottage, she notices Joshua holding up Mevan a few meters from the door, his eyes and face neutral. Mevan himself seemed to be breathing fine now, but obvious exhaustion and pain shuddered along his body. The inquisitor kneels down in front of Valerie and, wrapping her better in the borrowed cloak, picks her back up into her arms and moves toward the other two. The four soldiers were waiting outside, the sergeant placing the last soldier's item into a large sack with the others.
He lights a torch, walks toward the cottage and throws it into the darkness, illuminating the bodies within. The fire catches onto oil that had been poured on and around the bodies. Flames engulfed the corpses, and the yanir's lifeless maw almost seemed to be silently screaming at the searing flames. The blaze would rage for a few hours, as the oil they used was special, meant to be a cleansing fire for the deceased to find their way to the embraces of their gods.
They watch the fire rage for a short time, before turning away. Snow begins to fall lightly from the canopy above as they slowly move their way back to the horses left behind.