The bear had finally died, but what remained was a neighborhood in ruins. Many homes had been destroyed, and businesses along with them. And a nagging question hung over the town. Why? What were the chances of a dire bear attacking? Men dug in silence, the graveyard would be busy for the next week or two, as over 2 dozen people had been outright killed. Drace had no healer, not in the terms of someone who could use magic to heal, but an aging lady some referred to simply as “granny” had enough herb lore and medical know-how that she was up to the task.
But her apothecary was overflowing with people. Men, women, and even a child or two lay or sat in corners, being tended to by novices as the lady tried to cope with the sheer number of injured people. Anyone with steady hands was being press ganged into service, cleaning wounds and trying to stop bleeding while “granny” tended to the worst cases herself with a couple more skilled people.
Around the body many people were gathered, staring in awe, before one man pulled out a knife and started climbing. Others started, looked around, then pulled out knives too. “No, you're not carving that thing up for souvenirs.” Daku says somewhat forcefully as he steps forward and pulls one person off the dire bear.
At that moment another person steps forward, eyes the situation, and sighs. He gathers himself up, and pulls a cudgel up from a strap on his belt. It's made of polished redwood with 2 silver reinforcing bands. “Everyone stay off the bear. As the constable of Drace, any harm done to the body is considered illegal until we figure out what to do.” He motions for 2 deputies who pull people off the bear, their cudgels lack the silver bands of his, instead they have 2 iron bands.
“You two, the kaetsu and... you.” The constable says, pointing at Daku. “Witnesses say you two killed it, so come with me. The mayor, myself, and a few others need to talk to both of you.” He turned towards the deputies, who were moving people to a distance. “Deputies, keep the bear intact, we may have other issues. I’ve been instructed to make sure the body is intact and unharmed. Your jobs may be on the line, so take this seriously.” Rayne looks at it, concerned, before quietly saying “That… Would probably be wise…” The constable looks at her, nods slowly, and walks off, motioning to them.
Soon the three of them are walking down the road, which is empty, everyone gossiping and eyeing the bear. “So… I’ve gotten reports that you stole that spear.” The constable eyes Rayne and an uncomfortable silence lasts for a half minute, which seemed 10 times longer to Rayne. Daku looks wearily at him, them back at Rayne who is walking beside him, both slightly behind the constable. “Yeah… please… see that it gets returned to him. I didn’t have a weapon on me… And I felt it would be wrong not to help.” The constable turns and gives her a stern look, then relaxes. “It'll be returned. Considering you helped kill it…. You aren’t in too much trouble over it. The shaft was broken by the bear, but… the head of the spear is intact, and with some sharpening should be fine. So overall the most valuable part is fine. When did you learn to use a spear?”
Rayne pauses, anxious, then sighs. “I’ve only used one once before, when learning how to hunt.” Rayne stops, looking around. Her ears then swivel, catching something unpleasant. “Stay away, they’re magic users, they killed it with demon fire.” A woman says, holding her child As if it was in danger, shooting fearful glances, and walking briskly away from them,passing them going the opposite way. Daku grits his teeth. “It was fox fire idiot… not magic… Any kaetsu or quitsun can do that…” He says under his breath. “Don’t let it worry you, she’s a paranoid ol gal, believes everything she hears about magic. Speaking of, i’m assuming you are the latter? I don’t see a sign on you… I’ve only ever met a few of your kind in my life.” The constable eyes Daka, who neglected to respond.
After another dozen minutes of walking, they got to the city council building. It was large, for the size of the town, and made of stone bricks. They waited in the front room for a minute before a large pair of doors were opened and the constable escorted Rayne and Daku in. People were sitting in a semicircle, about 5 men and 3 women. “Ahh, now that you're here, let’s get started. Constable Tanner, if you would draw up some chairs in front and take your seat, and we’ll get started.” A large person, roughly 6 feet and slightly overweight, wearing a formal suite says, gesturing towards them. Rayne and Daku sat down, looking expectantly. The apothecary lady, “granny”, was there, sitting on the far left end, opposite the crescent from the constable, who was far right. Rayne guessed the more flashy middle seat belonged to the mayor.
“You two have been invited to this council meeting because of your actions earlier. We’ve been informed that you are a quitsun, mostly because you don’t have any signs, like her.” The mayor points idly towards Rayne. “Councilman Jennings has some experience in these matters. Your kind don’t age like us, so given that you two killed it, we figured you might have some experience with these matters. So we are taking your input into consideration in these matters. Anyway, let us begin.” The mayor said anxiously.
“Where did the bear come from? Do we have any reports?” One man, 2 seats away from the mayor asked nervously. “People are saying it followed a hunter.” Another man said, looking at the first with ancient clearly on his face. The topic of ‘'how’ seemed to be a sticking point, and conversation lingered there, before finally the elderly apothecary owner, and physician spoke up. “It was a bear, finding the town would be easy for it, few animals can claim a keener sense of smell than a bear. And we have hunters and poachers, no doubt, heading into the woods from town. Following a hunting trail back would be easy for it. Let’s not waste time on ‘how’ and get to the ‘why’.” Daku and Rayne both nod in agreement. Aside from her common sense, that we're getting nowhere debating pointless how's when the answer was somewhat obvious. “Granny” seemed to be this “councilman Jennings”, which was something that helped Rayne keep track of all this. Too many people, too many names. “It’s a bear, a DIRE bear at that. There is no why. They are dangerous wild animals, massacring people is in it’s nature.” Another man said, dismissing the idea that there could be a reason. He seemed to be about 45 to 55, and his gray hair as parted severely. He was somewhat thin, but had the authoritative air of someone used to being obeyed.
“Sir, do you have any experience with animals? Have you ever hunted? It’s not that simple.” Mrs Jennings said, clearly vexed at being dismissed by some pompous councilman. She shot Daku and Rayne a frustrated look, asking for help with her eyes. “It DOES matter. Think about it. Walk down the street and pay attention. How many furs do you see? How many animals are killed daily? Weekly? Now ask yourself how much food a bear that size would need to survive. Do you guys even have hunting laws and regulations?” Daku said, somewhat loudly, and looking at the man and woman one at a time, as if wondering how they could miss the obvious. “Exactly my point! Is this a freak occurrence? We just got unlucky? Or are there other factors?” The lady had hardly finished her sentence before being cut across. “That’s ridiculous. These woods are huge, teeming with life. There is no need for any change. We could hunt those woods like this for a thousand years without them being emptied.” “You’re in denial. Stop thinking about your purse. How much does the fur trade line your pocket? You can’t hunt like that without regulations. I’ve been in that forest, and “teeming with life” isn’t how I would describe it. Hunting trails are ranging further and further out, walking in the area around the town I didn’t see so much as a single deer or fox.” Daku said, cutting across the man.
Rayne looks around anxiously, not sure how to approach the other possibility. Just as she starts getting more anxious, worried about how people will feel about what she must bring up, something scratches on the door and meows anxiously. “What the hell is that? Someone go kick that damned cat out of the building.” At this, Rayne shoots him a look of Loathing, and goes to open the door. “That cat is mine, she just got worried and tracked me down, no reason to get all upset. Anyway….” Rayne said as she returned to her seat, where her cat jumped onto her shoulders playfully and began pawing Rayne’s ears. “I’m not the confrontational type, but there is another possibility here. I see 3 ways this happened. One, a coincidence, which is least likely. Two, as Daku and a couple others suspect. And three, the spirits of the forest are royally pissed off.”
“Be quiet woman, I see no reason this wasn’t just a coincidence. This is an accident, nothing more. We should up security perhaps but nothing needs to change.” The aging councilman said, angrily cutting across her. Daku stood up quickly, seeming entirely incapable of just sitting there and listening to the wealthy man make excuses. “Firstly, stop being an ass, secondly, are you that big of a moron? That bear was clearly pissed about something. Even when it was wounded it didn’t flee, that's not normal animal behavior. It went after buildings, not just people, and killed and destroyed as much as it could, even when it was dying. Animals don’t do that. Stop treating a dire bear like a mindless animal.” Daku sat down slowly, still glaring at the man. He seemed completely unable to restrain himself around such people. With an angry look he raised his voice and spoke. “It’s just a big bear, it doesn’t have feelings. Dire animals rampage, that's all this was. I see no evidence otherwise.” He shot Daku a look of pure loathing, and turned to the mayor. “Mayor, we should have the constable escort the mutt and the stray cat out. There is no reason to have them here.”
Several things happened all at once. Daku leapt to his feet, his mouth open, Rayne's cat hissed, and the elderly woman stood, and spoke in a soft voice that nevertheless was heard by all. “Enough. Be quiet you whelp. You’ve had your say, and, I might add, if their views have no evidence, yours most certainly doesnct either. Be quiet or go throw your tantrum outside. Everybody, sit.” Despite her voice not being loud, it was easily heard through the raised voices. It carried an undeniable ring of authority. Despite her relatively small stature and aged appearance, she almost shone with authority and power. One might think she towered over everyone else in the room.
Compared to the old lady, even the tall, somewhat overweight, and balding mayor seemed like a child. Daku sat, but maintained his look of absolute loathing, and refused to take his eyes off the thin old man. It didn’t help that calling him a mutt was, off course, very offensive. He probably also wanted to come off as chivalrous in front of Rayne, but his anger botched it if so. The councilman, throwing the woman a look of mingled fear and loathing, sat as well. The woman turned and looked at Rayne steadily. “What makes you suspect spirits are involved?” She said softly, ignoring the scoffing noise from the councilman. Rayne sighed softly and self consciously, and pulled her cat into her lap, holding it for support. “It makes sense to me… If I was a woodland spirit I would be incredibly angry right now. Parts of the forest were heavily logged, over hunting is thinning out the wildlife, and an area without much humans in the past has suddenly undergone a lot of changes. The ecosystem has been thrown off track. And that attack… it was so angry. It wanted to destroy the town even at the cost of it’s life. It didn’t flee no matter how injured. Dire animals have far more mana in their bodies than normal, that's why they get so big… but it also makes them smarter. It could have killed many more with hit and run tactics… But stayed until it died… That doesn't seem normal to me. Rayne looked down somewhat, disliking speaking openly in front of people, especially politicians. “Granny” as they called Mrs Jennings, also intimidated her.
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“And how did It come about anyway? Dire animals usually come about in the wild from places that are overflowing with magic. This forest is old, and large, yes… but I don’t think it’s on a ley line, if I have my geography correct. I haven’t heard of many particularly magical areas in the forest either… But we know angry spirits can have major effects, and they have been known to purposefully create dire animals before when angry.” Rayne finishes, and looks down slightly, before using her cat as an excuse not to look around at everyone. She places It upside down on her lap and scratches it’s belly, making it purr loudly. “Are you a magic user?” The mayor asks, looking at her fixedly, while the other council members stare at her. “Or do you just study magic?” The elderly woman asks more gently. “Y...yeah… I can use magic… Are you?” Rayne asks, looking at the woman. There is moment of silence, before the councilman from before stands up and speaks again. “Here, see! We cannot trust a witch, give her to the jail. I bet a couple nights in there and some interrogation, and we’d find out she’s probably wanted in other towns.” The elder lady, councilman Jennings, stands and shoots him an irritated look, before addressing the mayor. “Can something be done about him? He’s said nothing remotely helpful or productive thus far. And I might remind you all, these two killed the bear, and don’t deserve to be treated like criminals.” The mayor sighs, looking very much like he’d rather not get involved. “Mr. Lincolin, that is enough. Sit down.” The mayor says, eyeing the man irritatedly. Rayne blinked. She had expected a more… villainous or… something name. Lincolin?
The lady turns back towards Rayne and Daku. “No, if I was, a lot of wounded people would already be back on their feet by now. But I have studied it most of my life. I know more herb lore than most human magic users could hope to. Even without the ability to access or use magic, I can use alchemy to some degree, even if limited, and know enough to perform a great amount of basic rituals and such. As such, while I am not able to use magic myself, I function as this town’s advisor on matters relating to magic, as well as performing what services I am capable of, like cleansing the graveyard, and other matters.”
Rayne looked at her, surprised, and offered a genuine smile. How old is she? Rayne thought to herself. She looked to be in her sixties to early seventies, but if she was truly that experienced in magical matters, she probably knew enough to be able to prolong her life. Some basic alchemy not requiring using mana herself, and if she knew the right herbs and handled them correctly, it wasn’t a stretch to imagine she could be nearly 100. “Are you experienced with matters relating to spirits?” The lady asked,still looking at Rayne.
“I… I make my living as a traveling exorcist of sorts. I’m only 24 so I can’t claim to be the most experienced person around… But I’ve dealt with such matters before. Things like angry ghosts, basic zombies, curses, I make a living dealing with those things…” Rayne avoids the word ‘necromancy’ at all costs, and the lady gives a knowing nod. Necromancy isn’t evil, and technically she could be called a necromancer. All matters relating to the dead and spirits fall under the school of necromancy.
“I’m experienced with restoration as well… but not with healing wounds magically sadly. I’m more experienced with using it to cleanse curses and such. But I do know a fair bit of herb lore, not as much as you probably, and some alchemy. I could help make some potions and ointments to give to the injured. Every traveler, I would hope, has had the brains to learn first aid, even if only the basics… so when we get done here I could help with the wounded if you wish.” Daku and the mayor watch her thoughtfully, and Rayne resumes rubbing her cat’s belly.
“I would appreciate that, But I don’t use or approve any potions or the like that I don’t make myself or watch being made. At any rate, what is your suggestion regarding the bear?” Rayne nods, basic mistakes can kill people. How many people died each year due to drinking a poorly made potion? Too many. “My suggestion is generally the same as Daku’s. Perform some simple rites to cleanse the bear. From there, take a fair portion of the meat, preferably the most valuable parts, and make an offering of it in the woods. If this is a matter of angry forest spirits and elements, that should temporarily appease them. But to permanently resolve the situation, do as Daku suggests, and put legal restrictions on hunting. Logging as well. Make a requirement that at least 1 new tree is planted for each one cut, and restrict how much timber can be harvested.” Rayne looks upwards as she speaks, trying to impress upon them the seriousness with which she suggests this.
“Most of our economy comes from the fur trade and lumber. That’s ridiculous. It would cripple our town's economy. Leave these issues to people who know what they are doing.” Mr. Lincolin stood and spoke once more, glaring at both Rayne and Daku. “So limiting hunting and logging would do more harm to the town than dire bear attacks? It doesn’t sound like you know what you are doing, so take your own advice. Hunt at this rate and the woods will become empty, and then you will take a bigger hit than simply restricting hunting.”
Mr. Lincolin glared at Daku and started a retort, before being cut across by the mayor, and settled on grinding his teeth and shooting looks of deepest loathing at Daku. “And how would you suggest we go about that? People would just hunt just as much and take the dire elsewhere to sell.” Daku sighed before speaking. “I doubt it. This is the only town bordering the woods. The nearest other town is days away, and Drace sits on the kingdom’s biggest road. I'd make it illegal to hunt in spring and early summer, or at least illegal to kill females and young animals, especially in those seasons. Each year have the animal populations evaluated and issue a number of tags. Sell these tags to hunters. Each will have a unique number for verification. Any dead animal or fur brought into town to be sold without a tag fixed to the body will be considered illegally poached, and the hunter will be fined an amount equal or more than the value of the hide and meat. Keep a logbook containing the numbers on each tag and who bought them in the constable’s office, the jail, etc. It’s not that complicated…” Daku spoke in a somewhat exasperated tone, as if this was somewhat obvious. Which, Rayne supposed, it was.
The meeting continued for what seemed like hours. People on the council arguing with each other, and nothing productive seeming to happen. It seemed like a line had been drawn in the sand, with her and Daku on one side,, with a few council members with them, and several others on the opposite site. Rayne kept her head down and used her cat as an excuse not to watch the arguments. Daku participated more vehemently in the argument. Unfortunately, while they had been brought in to give advice and input, It was clear they had no actual say in what happened. A few council members were only too happy to point this out to them, multiple times.
Finally the Mayor stood up and spoke. “We will finish this discussion at tomorrow's meeting. At any rate, let’s move on to what must be dealt with immediately. The bear… We can’t keep protecting it’s body. What do we do with it?” For the first time in what felt like hours, Rayne spoke up, still stroking her cat. “I can perform a cleansing on it. It was clearly enraged, we don’t want that negative energy hanging around. After the appropriate rituals have been completed, it should be safe to dispose of it. As for the body… we make an offering. After that… save most of the meat for the families of those that died. It should feed people for days, more if preserved properly. Hide, claws, etc. Can be sold, The money should be divided up among the families of those that died.” Daku nodded along, not offering much input. Kaetsu and quitsun shared similar beliefs regarding nature, spirits, and the like. It was the common practice for them to make such offerings to nature.
“What about you two? You killed the bear… many more would have died without you… it feels wrong not to offer a reward.” Daku rubbed his chin thoughtfully, and Rayne shifted uncomfortably, before gulping slightly and sighing. “Uh…. I would love some of it’s hide… a few square yards, maybe a half dozen claws, and… Or… some bones, perhaps a rib or two, or a some other bone. It’s not to sell…” Rayne said…. Feeling awkward and stroking her cat as an excuse not to look at them. “Why do you want such things then… If you aren’t going to sell them, why ask for them?” The mayor, and several other members of the council, as well as the constable were looking at her intently, and confusedly. “Uh… Well…. I wasn’t lying about making a living as a sort of traveling exorcist, but… well… While I am skilled in such magic, and to a slightly lesser degree potion making, my real passion is in enchantment, specifically artificing. You know, enchanting things. With some of it’s hide, fur intact,I could make a very protective coat, or remove the fur and make especially strong leather armor. Powered dire claws are useful in potions, and I could fashion a great weapon from the bones… ribs would make great base material for sickles or a scythe, or a kukri. Dire animals are due to an animal having great excesses of mana. It makes their hides tougher, their bones denser, etc. Combining that with some artificing and I could craft something amazing.” The mayor looked Rayne over curiously. “I guess that’s well and good enough… I can see why, given the dire bear attack, a person might take a good look at their equipment and decide they Should equip themselves better in the future. Mrs. Jennings, would it be appropriate, possible, or even advisable to grant this request? The mayor asked, looking at Rayne thoughtfully, before turning to address the apothecary owner. “Hmm… based on the size of the bear, We could spare a fair few square yards of hide without detracting much from the value, properly done. And we’d have to divide the hide up a bit anyway unless you were hoping to sell it as a whole, which would be too expensive for anyone but royalty to afford. She is right, mages and scholars will pay a great deal for such things, armor and weaponsmiths as well. I myself will buy remaining claws and contribute the value to the fund we discussed. Dire claw is a valuable potion making supply. Overall, I see no harm in granting this request.” The elderly lady spoke slowly and thoughtfully, but seemed okay with the idea. Daku meanwhile seemed off in his own world before he finally looked toward Rayne and spoke. “So… if I had a few ribs… I could commission you to make a pair of sickles? Or a scythe?” Daku asked, looking at her. “Yeah… I couldn’t do it particularly fast, and we’d need to wait until we got to a town or city with a bigger blacksmith, but I could do it. Though my skill lies more in enchanting than weaponsmithing. But, it could be done.” “We’ll talk about it later.”