The night had been hard but at least for now, they were saved. Heraclius had been able to get a meager sliver of sleep after the battle, and in the time he had been allowed to rest the people of Hor had spent it preparing the dead. First for their Blood Toasts done in the privacy of the home and then cremation in lieu of a burial, since the town was surrounded by the forces of the Thrall-King.
It was a victory if you looked at the amount of casualties which had been surprisingly few all considered. Only 50 men had been killed out of the 400 that had taken to fighting at the wall, and the enemy had lost at least 300 of their forces if you only counted large animals and monsters. More if you accounted for the swarms of insects and lesser animals that perished.
But they had seen a god fall that night, and more monsters surrounding the town. And as the morning passed and noon came news started coming about burnt insects in pantries, and layers upon layers of spores filling up chests, packs, and other containers of food. Some had only noticed after they or their children had eaten, while others caught it before anyone could partake in the spoiled food.
Heraclius had to then begin to arduous process of organizing the inventory and rationing of the remaining food, as well as bringing the sick to be treated by the non Yossite priests as well as his retainer Magnus. Magnus had taken several injuries in the battle, but still he tried his best.
"The sneaky fucker has us!"
A stone was tossed out through the window as Heraclius got up and began to pace through the "office" of the mayor. He could hear the scared yelp downstairs as the stone hit the road with a loud thump. The few messenger in the room winced at that and looked worriedly over at Heraclius as he panted in rage.
"Even before a harvest we would be able to withstand a siege for the weeks needed for aid to come for us, but now we aren't going to be able to. Almost two thirds of the food has been poisoned or rendered putrid by the thralled insects. I have seen what a siege can do to a place and we are only going to be stay united because the enemy is so monstrous."
The gathered men look at each other as his words begin to sink in and before any can reply or Heraclius can continue then the snow begins to fall.
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Mariam had found Crabs while limping through the street towards the inn to check on Elarma. His head and the body it had been attached to lay in the gutter near the inn. She had not allowed herself to cry at first as she went over to check his body and discovered that it had been cut off with a sword strike.
This stopped her from indulging in grief as she began to investigate the area around where he died. She tried to discern footprints on the road as Crabs had bloody shoes and it could give her more of a clue. Her attention moved to the wall of the inn where she discovered a sword had been stabbed almost down to the hilt into the wall, and then she went back to examine Crabs some more.
"He was not killed by an ordinary man for sure, but no monster brought about his end."
Mariam knew Crabs well enough to know that he would not have died against any of the sword fighters in Hor. Maybe the Baron could have felled him in a duel but he used a mace and not a sword. The Light Tamers were the only ones who insisted on using them and they had fallen easily based on what she had been able to pick up after the battle.
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With her initial investigations completed Mariam carried Crabs to one of the small shrines in Hor, dedicated to the Nameless Spectre. The one who brings the unmourned home, and she partook in the local ritual even if it rankled her. A Blood Toast was by her standards as a woman of house Du Eralt, she had always found this commoner rite to be disgusting. But Crabs was born not too far from this Barony and she had felt that she owed him that much at least.
Elarma had disappeared during the battle, Listig had gone off like a coward and one day she would find them and make them suffer for that. Crabs was the last true Hornstalker to still live, so in accordance with the rite she drank his blood from a goblet while whispering a prayer over the shrine. Crabs had a mother who once had been a caretaker of a similar onyx shrine. One of the thousands of nameless shrines to a simple god that did not warrant a name.
She hoped he would enjoy that the circle met. It was after finishing the rite and getting into one of the smaller inns to sleep that Mariam noticed the spores "snowing" down on Hor.
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"And so begins Phase 2"
Mar concluded as they sensed their birds and flying insects unleashing Spore Cloud after Spore Cloud, over the golden barrier. Unlike the Units the spores had no problem with softly falling down through the barrier of faith and down on the unsuspecting town. They hoped that giving the townsfolk a few hours would make sure most of them were indoors for this. Wasting the meat was not the intention here and only a few of the clouds actually carried an Infection attack with them.
Hors people could not hide from her sight, and the people were panicking. Just as Mar had hoped they would, they all went inside which let the spores go down to the last resource that they had which Mar had not already dealt with. The town wells, all water would soon be contaminated, or at least enough of it would be that the siege would be a short one.
"The Workers have been dispatched as we desired."
Logistics-Collective was overseeing the first step of the next part of the scheme, which was relatively simple but required quite a bit of management for it to be done right. All of the workers that could be spared from Biomass conversion were out and collecting the grain from every farm that Mar could reach.
This served more than one purpose, like most plans should do. First, it was needed for the plan to subvert the power of their protective deity. Secondly, the harvested grain could be converted to notable amounts of Biomass. And third, the ritual needed a sacrifice to truly sell it. Ysandra was helping Henry prepare for his role, since she had to remain secret if the worst came to happen after Mar had succeeded here.
"Once the Workers have collected the needed grain, ensure that they are protected on the way to Hor. We would not want any surprises interrupting the work. Ant-Termite General will handle the fortress soon and with their numbers bolstering ours we will not have divided resources for much longer."
Mar turned to the Juggernaut Spider and began modifying it as it would too serve an important part soon. It and a little fish that Mar felt was getting closer and closer to the sea with each passing day. Soon, Mar would no longer have to fear...anything at all. Soon.