An official headcount was done for the many men that had come into Starch. Lucky for them, they came just days before the festival. The Paine family shockingly was prepared to take on such a task, they would have enough stock to handle the extra 182 people. Many families' lives were destroyed the day before, nobody could wrap their heads around it as they just sobbed and wept.
"She's in a better place now." and "I wish I could tell her I love her just one last time" could be heard by many of the now-widowed men.
"Ariah, I've been trying to figure it out, but I can't seem to even comprehend why the Orcs in Vexa would kill just the women and the children. There has got to be a reason, I can't imagine that anybody here is going to enjoy the festival now, especially after this monstrous display of cruelty. I feel like we must do something and get some answers." Elias said.
"I think I saw something weird with Dusty last night, just before he moved the bodies off of you, he cut off some kind of patch from the Orcs torso. I don't know if you noticed, but he has been quiet today, so we should go to his shop and talk to him." Ariah replied.
The two would wrap up their dinner plates and start to exit the tavern. The tavern was the most well-kept establishment in Starch, it was typically used as a lunchroom for everyone, but at this point, due to its size, they kept everyone from Dockton in there.
"Attention! Attention! My dear neighbors of Dockton, my heart is with you in these heavy times. My name is Ivan Paine, the owner of Paine Farms. I could not imagine the emotional suffering you poor souls have been dealt. As I know what I want to do for you folk will not fix your hardships,” Ivan exclaimed, pressing his palms together, “I do know it will fix your empty stomachs. I have prepared meals for everyone here and everyone in Starch. I wish that everyone will be cooperative and patient with one another, Starch is a town of love and prosperity. Please, enjoy the food, and your stay!"
As many know in Starch, Ivan Paine has a lot of children. Next thing you know, his 18 kids started bringing in platters of assorted foods. Plates covered in various pasta dishes, potatoes, corn, and all sorts of general foods and drinks that the Paine family grows and makes. Ivan was known for being humble and also fairly wealthy, considering. He sold and traded extra harvest to Dockton for many years, he not only made money off of it but brought home a lot of fish to put in Lake Celia, the nice-sized body of water right by them. See, he knew that had he done that for years, Starch would be set for fishing and not require a trip to the Clausa Ocean, east of them.
Ariah and Elias had just gotten to Dusty's shop, they went inside to see him sitting at a table with a large mug of beer, the insignia from the Orc, and a written letter that he was writing himself, while drunk. "This patch... it's not the same one that I recognize. Ariah, Elias, we may be in big trouble." Dusty said while hiccupping. "These Orcs that we fought, they were saying Vexa this, Vexa that, Vexa bullshit. The ones I fought back in my day had a skull-like symbol on it but I never got their name. All I know about those damned Orcs is that they live over on the island of Grumudar. I got no idea why those green-skinned bastards live by a volcano, but whatever kills em' faster." Dusty then chugged the rest of his drink.
"Dusty, If you don't mind me asking, I see you were writing a letter here, what is it about?" Elias asked.
"Well guys, you see, I used to be a blacksmith over there in Fairstad before the little King Artos took over. I knew of an old crew who would go on adventures and expeditions. They go by The Crows. This was before all of Saintsland was primarily human and before Artos drove them out. Luckily for The Crows, they only operated during the night when most couldn't see them. They are a particular race called Kenkus, have ya ever heard of em'?" spouted Dusty.
"No sir, the only races we know of are Humans, Orcs, Elves, and the Shiftlings," replied Ariah.
"Welp, I wrote this letter asking for their assistance, but I'm not even sure if they're still working. Once they were driven out by those pitiful knights of Fairstad, they made me aware that they were going down to the Aros Isles south of us. It's like a line of islands. If I had a map, I'd mark it for you, but unfortunately, I lost my old one while moving here to Starch. I just want more information on these Orcs to avoid this happening again. The Kenkus have the appearance of a humanoid crow, they typically do not stand taller than 5 feet, don't undermine their power though, they are kind people but are special as assassins. In the meantime, I've been thinking.” Dusty said, his fingers tapping the table with heavy thuds.
“You two are the only people here in Starch worthy of protecting themselves in battle, we need to fortify and train our people. We also need to start building new homes for the people of Dockton, I highly doubt most of em' are going to want to go back to that place, it would need to be completely rebuilt if I had to guess. So what do ya say, starting tomorrow, you two train people with various weapons for defense, and I will gather some folk to work on new houses and expand our people." Dusty requested.
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Ariah and Elias both looked at each other and nodded their heads. In complete twin-like synchronization, they said proudly "Sir, it would be an honor to help the town of Starch!". Dusty stroked his black and white beard, stood up, and shook the twins' hands. "It'll be getting late here soon, why don't you guys go home and come up with a plan of action, I'll meet up with you in the morning to get things going." Dusty said.
#
The sun had risen, Ariah and Elias woke up in their small stone home, the fireplace was just embers at this point. They stayed up for hours the previous night trying to create a plan, and they finally did. Since Dusty was the supposed leader of Starch, they wanted to meet with him and Ivan Paine to gather everybody.
They worked on the formula together, they knew that they required at least 160 people to make their plan work for each sector that they would require to ensure the work to safety ratio. They left their home and headed to the tavern for breakfast, as they walked in, immediately they spotted Ivan and Dusty speaking with each other. It was miraculous how tall Ivan stood over Dusty, he easily was 6' compared to Dusty's 5'2 stature.
Ivan must have gotten his hair chopped overnight, he went from shaggy long hair to slick back brown hair. The twins made their way over to Dusty and Ivan, "Ay lads, we're letting everyone finish their breakfast before we give the announcement. We fear some may not like it, but at this point, we have to work together and be stronger." Ivan said.
"Absolutely sir, Ariah and I set up a solid foundation which should get everyone cross-trained with various weapons, you're right we need to be strong and be able to ensure the safety of this town. I'm hoping for mine and my sister's sake, that we can find a mage to help us with our magic, it's hard to come across it out this way." Elias replied.
"Well, let us get through this together and I'm sure I may know somebody who can point you in the right direction." Dusty said.
Ten minutes have passed, the twins ate their breakfast quickly to be ready for the announcement. Assorted meats, bread, and juices were the meal for the morning, luckily for the Paine family and Starch, their supply was plentiful.
Ivan grabbed his trusty cowbell and started ringing it off to grab the attention of everybody. "Attention everybody, if everyone could, please come outside and meet us out in the open field behind the tavern! We have a huge announcement and need everyone from and in Starch to be there, please get everyone that you can from the homes to come out as well, thank you!".
Within minutes, it became the talk of the village. People were confused and very concerned about what it was that Ivan wanted to talk about. Thankfully, everybody in Starch followed up and met behind the tavern in the large open field. Ivan, Ariah, Dusty, and Elias could be seen standing on top of many hay bales, they were not only trying to stand out but make sure they could see everyone in the crowd. Everyone was silent and staring at them, Dusty would be seen raising his fist high and mighty for all to see.
"It has come to my attention that Saintsland and potentially Starch is in grave danger! People of Dockton, as the longest living member of Starch, we extend our arms to you folk to live here in Starch! Those of you who wish to return to the burned down Dockton and rebuild the town, you may do so. I have here with me Mr. Ivan Paine, the owner and establisher of the company Paine Farms. These two younger folks next to me would be the mystic battlemage Ariah Silver, alongside her is her twin, rogue specialist Elias Silver! It will be my job to help direct the new residents to assist in building new homes for each and everyone here. For now, that is all I will state on my end, the planning will fall in the hands of the Silver twins, as for Ivan here, he is requesting to give jobs to anybody who wishes to assist in expanding his farm and livestock. Here is Ariah and Elias Silver!".
The crowd was clapping and for the first time some smiles were seen, the twins were amazed by the people in front of them and their strength to be here today. Elias looked out into the crowd and spotted Sonia and her baby, giving a valiant wave as she blew him a kiss of encouragement. Ariah and Elias followed Dusty's approach by raising their fists into the sky, shockingly, everyone in the crowd did the same thing.
Ariah would start by yelling "People of Starch, as we all know, the Orc forces in Grumudar will stop at no end to ensure the death and suffering of our people! It is time that we learn the basics of combat and protection!" The crowd was yelling with pumping fists of agreement.
Elias would follow up with "Ariah and I, we're twins who were taught high-level combat skills at a very young age. Though we may not look the part given our youthful age, we plan to instruct and teach you all with the knowledge that we have. We constructed a plan to divide you guys into four groups so we have specialties among our defense." Again, the crowd cheered with excitement, you could tell that the widows were wanting revenge.
"Out of 160 people in Starch, we want to have four sectors. As we know, magic is hard to come by, Elias and I were gifted mystical powers at birth, so we do traditional defense here. These four styles will be split by the 160 participants and divided into four quarters." Ariah said with the crowd listening intensely.
"Lastly, this will comprise a line of shielded defense, archery, front line warriors, and assassins. Tomorrow we will meet here at the same time of day, any participants are free to come. We will evaluate you and select your role so we may ensure the best bodies for the best positions. We want to ensure 100% safety for this town if something were to happen." said Elias. The twins would give their nod of agreement and shout together
"The future of Xero and Starch depend on us, join us in unity!"
The crowd was shouting louder than ever with the agreement. The day would turn to night, songs would be sung, and drinks would lead to drunkenness. This day gave the twins more to look forward to, more than they ever felt before.