When they reached town, Fallofel immediately sought out the mayor and explained what he saw while Mercir met with John and then went to bring news to the widows. The mayor sat in shock as the elf explained everything, not pausing to allow him to absorb it all. As his mouth flopped around worldessly, Fallofel hinted that he should send a runner to the nearest city, not bothering to hide the annoyance in his voice.
As he turned to leave, the mayor finally found himself and called out about a lone Cygnaran soldier of some sort who just arrived, in case he was still looking for work. Although he found enough gold on the corpses to keep his belly full for awhile, he and Mercir agreed to see what work could be found with the Cygnaran soldier.
Upon entering the tavern, they needed no help locating their target. A large, expensive three-point hat almost seemed to fill the modest, small town tavern. As the two made their way to the hat, the figure underneath lifted his eyes to the two adventurers who clearly didn't belong here.
Fallofel inquired about any work the soldier might need. With a strong voice of one who was well trained, Doulos explained his current mission. Aggression on Cygnaran posts stationed at the edge of the Thornwood were increasing. A single soldier was being sent to check on a small trading post to make sure everything was in order. The post's location made it nearly impossible for any army to march through unless they walked in 5 or 6 man columns, nevermind the difficulty of navigating the many large tools of war.
With no leads on Goreshade in weeks, the two saw no reason to say no to marching toward one of the most hostile areas in the Iron Kingdoms.
The three traveled in a silence they had all grown used to. During their stops, the priest and mage hunter had tried chatting up the straight-faced Doulos about the events they'd just discovered, but the soldier, who they finally discovered was no mere soldier but a gun mage, only had a mind for his current mission. Several times during the journey, Fallofel felt quite certain that a strange, diseased-looking crow was following them, but it never stayed around long enough for even his trained eyes to see it.
As they rode along a small path past several isolated farmsteads, the familiar sound of gunfire and shouting jolted them out of their silence. They agreed it came from the other side of a nearby hill, so Doulos and Mercir waited at the bottom while Fallofel quickly scrambled to the top. Not far from him, a Cygnaran in a dirty grey coat leaned against a large tree, clutching a gunshot wound at his side. Farther out, three men in unimpressive clothing confidently advanced on the wounded man. Fallofel realized the wounded one was from the famous Order of Illumination, a small group of church-sanctioned witch hunters. Knowing who to side with, he quickly motioned to his two partners and without thinking made a mad dash to the bottom of the hill, unslinging his crossbow as he ran.
Two of the men saw him coming; one unsheathed a short sword and ran toward him while another brought his rifle to his shoulder and took aim. The rifle shot went wide, but Doulos and Mercir arrived at the top of the hill in time to see the the mercenary catch their friend with a deep slash to the arm. It wasn't fatal, but it was enough to put him at a serious disadvantage, and he rolled with the slash and beat a quick exit away from his attacker.
With a bit of a smirk, Mercir called upon his faith and made a quick healing prayer for the impulsive elf, mending his wound enough to let him shoot without pain. Seeing the wounded Illuminated One and Morrowan brother, the priest ran down the hill to stabilize the man, trusting his partners to cover his advance.
Doulos couldn't believe the madness he'd invited to his journey. Unconcerned for the elf's lesson in foolishness, he made a quick plan to split their defenses to cover the priest. The gun mage mentally cast three quick spells on a bullet he crafted to hold them. He took aim at the man who'd attacked the elf and pulled the trigger. His accuracy spell corrected a sudden gust of wind, his brutality spell made an unnaturally large entrance wound, and his thunder spell caused the organs to turn to liquid from the impact, sending the mangled body hurtling through the trees.
Fallofel's target was able to get one shot off on the wounded Illuminated One before putting a bolt through his chest. As the gun mage and mage hunter set their sights on the last survivor, they could only see a whisp of his cloak as he disappeared through the trees and ran toward a small farm in the distance. Knowing he was out of range, they quickly went to Mercir as the priest-turned-field-medic attempted to revive the man. He was fortunate to close the most recent wound with ease, but his more initial wound started to bleed out even worse.
Calling upon Morrow to help aid his follower, the god seemed to answer as Mercir's hands seemed to work with a skill that would have left the greatest surgeon in Immoren speechless.
 |
| Mercir's medicine roll. |
As he clipped the last stitch and stabilized the unconscious witch hunter, Mercir cleaned himself and then joined his fellows. He arrived just in time to hear Fallofel explaining that the men they fought were known by some as "Dark Contractors," men who wore green and grey to symbolize to clients that they could keep any secret they were privy to during their service, which made them ideal mercenaries for those who practiced darker magic and needed some hired muscle.
The hunter from the Order of Illumination finally awoke, but would only speak to the priest. Despite their shared service to Morrow, Mercir could tell the Illuminated One was hesitant to give him any information. When the two finished speaking, the only thing the priest knew was that his name was Jarad, and he and two others were investigating rumors of a vile tome located somewhere near here. They were ambushed at the farmhouse, and he doubts his brothers survived. Despite Mercir's flawless work, they both knew his current condition would slow them down once bullets started flying.
The three companions set off to the farm house. Knowing there would likely be heavy resistance, they scouted the house from deep in the woods. Sure enough, it was crawling with several Dark Contractors, both in the windows of the barn and the ground around it. Familiar with many combat scenarios, Doulos took charge and ordered them to approach a broken wall on the side. Doulos took up position beside the wall and spotted a guard. He signaled for the elf to move to position and take out the guard. Unsure of what caused the sudden crack, none of the other guards noticed their dead companion beside the barn. However, stealth soon turned in to a firefight as the three maneuvered into optimal attack positions and started picking off the rest of the guards.
Mercir's forehead wrinkled in confusion as he heard a guard in the barn shout "we're under attack, let him loose and kill the hostages!" However, all questions were answered when the front of the barn exploded as an old steamjack ran into the open. The rest of the guards fled for their lives, leaving the three adventurers frozen in their tracks as they realize this warjack was behaving more like a frightened animal than an autonomous 'jack.
It was with some horror that they saw a limp body cradled in its arms - a whithered old man in the tattered robes of Cygnar's Fraternal Order of Wizardry. Knowing they stood little chance against a creature made of metal, Doulos holstered his pistols and stepped forward, trying to speak to it. He had no idea why, but the thing's behavior made him hope that there was some intelligence controlling it. Meanwhile, Fallofel crept to the other side of the barn in hopes of finding some way to diffuse the situation if needed.
Doulos was surprised to see that the steamjack had no indication of moving, and instead it seemed to stare at him silently. Doulos seemed to be asking the wrong questions as he tried to understand what was happening, but things started falling in to place when the steamjack responded to "who are you" by taking the dead body and smashing it against its metal body.
Seeing the body flop around against the metal giant, Mercir noticed some faint markings that seemed to go from the crown and straight down the torso. Realizing that the marks' placement had something to do with the dead man's soul, he silently followed after Fallofel, leaving the gun mage to keep the situation calm lest the 'jack crush him in a single blow.
Inside the barn, the two men worked quickly to uncover what was happening. They found where the 'jack had been held, although they weren't sure what the giant glypth or the pile of dead bodies could mean. They found the "prisoners" - two teen boys who had likely been tied here for days without food and little water. The priest unbound their hands and gave them bread and water while the elf started shifting through a table stacked precariously with all manner of strange notes and books. They knew they'd found the book sought by the Order of Illumination as soon as they saw it and felt the evil rituals contained within.
Without opening it, Mercir knew that it was only a copy of the book called the Libram Mechanikrus, something neither had heard of. That made the book no less dangerous, but it also meant that there was an original out there somewhere. After briefly reading through a few notes, it was apparent that the 'jack outside wasn't run on coal, but souls. And the pile of bodies had likely been used to fuel it before someone else took control of the 'jack. The elf wrapped the book in cloth and put it in his bag, both realizing what had happened.
Hastening out the door, the two were almost shocked to see the gun mage and 'jack conversing as it used its spear to write very basic words in the dirt. As the two explained to the gun mage what they'd discovered, Doulos filled in missing parts with what he'd learned from the 'jack. The body belonged to Bowden, whose soul was trapped in the 'jack. They all assumed that something about the ritual had gone awry and destroyed most of the wizard's intelligence and soul in the process.
They knew they had no choice - Bowden had to go with the Order of Illumination. Although they might punish him for the dark ritual he used, it was impossible to let such dark magic run rampant. Taking the book and the compliant 'jack, they found Jarad looking much healthier than they'd left him. After explaining everything, Jarad assured them he'd do what he could to fix the broken soul. No one said it aloud, but the broken body cradled in the 'jacks arms would likely never house a soul again.
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