Berndt woke up once more on the cold hard ground. However this time, he felt the warmth of the morning sun on his face ............. and the weight of deaf Howler lying partially on top of him. He immediately shrieked before pushing the Howler off of him in a panic. A large gaping hole could be seen marking the spot where he had fired the musket. However, before he could bask in this victory, pain flared over his arm prompting him to look at it.

He expression turned to that of horror as he saw 3 cuts over his arm where the Howlers claws had hit, the wound clotting midway. Worse however, was the familiar black miasma that now dotted the edges of the wound. Upon realising what had happened he began trying to scratch the miasma off to no avail before giving up. Despair fell over him as he realised that he had become one of the "Afflicted", people infected with the Plague. He only had a week art best to find a cleric to reduce the infection as a cure to the Plague doesn't exist as of yet.

Berndt tore the sleeve out of his shirt before wrapping it around the wound. All the while muttering curses at both the Howler, and his family. His hands the dug into his pockets before pulling out his remaining belongings. He currently only had 3 bullets for his musket, a worn map, an empty flask courtesy of his escapade into the forest and his knife.

Berndt unfolded the map and tried to determine his position. His finger went across the name of his former village in now theocratic nation of Romli. He was born in a village on the outer fringes of the nation. As such it didn't see much commerce but it was still manageable. This all changed when the nation turned from a monarchy to a theocracy. The newly appointed High Bishop raised the taxes by exorbitant amounts citing tribute to the gods in addition to the tax for owning land. While it didn't change much for the central villages and towns, this new law meant that most of the fringe villages will not have enough crops to last through the winter. As such several elders got together and began petitioning to have the law rescinded only to be punished by the new government for blasphemy against the gods.

This event began the mass migration of Romlis fringe settlements especially with the Wrisian Empire promising to subsidize over three months of taxes if you they emgirate there. Berndt and his family were amonng those who had left hoping to find a new beginning.

Stolen story; please report.

Berndt shook his head to rid himself of the memories of the past before he found the approximate location where the caravan had been attacked. From there he determine that he was currently almost a mile and a half away from the main road to the east. While the closest town was only a days journey from where he was, it was back in the direction of the main road. Going there meant risking being mauled by the Howlers. So he immediately decided against that.

The North and the Southern paths would eventually lead to a steep mountain range in other words a dead end. His only choice was to continue onwards to the East until he exits the Silver Wilt forest in around 3 days. From there, it would take another day to reach the small hamlet known as Lorewood. Berndt could only hope that the cleric there hasn't been conscripted by the church yet. However, there was a problem. Quite a bit of the area between where he was and the edge of the forest was unmapped due the amount of goblins and kobold tribes that inhabit the area. While they posed a threat to Berndt, especially since he is was alone, they were still the better choice over the Howlers.

With a destination now in sight, Berndt carefully pocketed his belongings after reloading the musket. And thus his trek through the forest began in earnest. Although, it didn't take long for him to realise that he didn't have any food when his stomach began rumbling in protest. Berndt thought of stopping his trek and foraging but he didn't want to waste any time as time was he couldn't afford to do so. Instead he hoped that he'd come across a berry bush or the like on his trek. Fate must have been on his side as he managed to find one before noon. He greedily began devouring the berries until he was sated before storing some in his pocket for later.

He was so engrossed in his meal that he notice a group of small humanoid creatures staring at him hungrily. The group began surrounding Berndt slowly blocking any route for escape.

It took a branch snapping for Berndt to realise that something was wrong. His eyes snapped to the source only to find himself surrounded by the creatures. Almost instantly, he began funking with the strap of his rifle before aiming it at the approaching creatures.

But before he could even pull the trigger, his vision began fading. This was followed by loss of feeling in his limbs as he crumpled onto the ground. His last thoughts before losing consciousness was the realisation that it might not have been a good idea to eat the berries.