Borkka
"Crow is right," You announce. "We need to go down there and see what is going on."
"May the gods curse you," Kossa says. "Nothing is waiting down there for you but death."
"We can't just stand around and wait all night," says Crow. "We have to do something."
"Damn you both," Kossa returns, spitting at your feet.
You ignore his insult. "Yornalla, Crow, and I will go down there and find out what we can."
Godar shakes your hand, "Return safely."
Crow and Yornalla come to your side and the three of you turn your back on the group and walk down the trail.
After only a dozen steps you hear "Wait!" from behind you. You stop and turn back. Mikus is running towards you. "I'm coming with you."
You look to his father whose eyes are filled with absolute terror. But Kossa does not say a word to his son, only stares after him with hard eyes rimmed with tears.
Mikus does not look back, and you give his father a nod that you hope he understands means that you will keep an eye on his boy. You turn around and start moving down the trail once more.
The four of you move as silently as possible, but each step you make sets you to cringing while Yornalla's steps are barely above a whisper and Mikus' footfalls come like soft thuds, like a staff being slammed on a bed of moss. You can't hear Crow at all.
It isn't long before you stumble upon the group of the sleepless. Your troop stops not far from them where they stand with their backs to you. You circle around into the brush on the side of the trail, wincing as a sticks snap under your weight, but thankful that the men and women before you do not take note. The masses stand perfectly still, eyes closed, and breathing the way one does in a deep sleep.
There is a chorus of deep breathing, taking the place of the cricket's chirp that is strangely absent in this part of the wood. The whole thing is more than a little eerie, and you can feel the hairs on the back of your neck standing on end.
As you survey the masses, you see something that stops your heart dead in your chest. Crow and Mikus walk among the sleeping masses, inspecting the bodies with a foolish curiosity. You search around and find Yornalla, thankfully under the cover of brush on the opposite side of the trail.
You don't dare say anything, not wishing to make a sound that might potentially awaken the army of the unawake.
You watch in terror as Mikus trips over something and stumbles forward into one of the sentinels, who rocks forward and then back, somehow still asleep. None of the others stir from their sleep either. You silently curse the young man as he gets to his feet. Though no trouble seems to have come from this, his foolishness and poor footing could have been the end of all of you.
The two continue to walk through the masses of sleep-standers. You can see Yornalla standing outside of the brush now, at the edge of the line of men. Perhaps it is safe to investigate them more closely now.
"May the gods curse you," Kossa says. "Nothing is waiting down there for you but death."
"We can't just stand around and wait all night," says Crow. "We have to do something."
"Damn you both," Kossa returns, spitting at your feet.
You ignore his insult. "Yornalla, Crow, and I will go down there and find out what we can."
Godar shakes your hand, "Return safely."
Crow and Yornalla come to your side and the three of you turn your back on the group and walk down the trail.
After only a dozen steps you hear "Wait!" from behind you. You stop and turn back. Mikus is running towards you. "I'm coming with you."
You look to his father whose eyes are filled with absolute terror. But Kossa does not say a word to his son, only stares after him with hard eyes rimmed with tears.
Mikus does not look back, and you give his father a nod that you hope he understands means that you will keep an eye on his boy. You turn around and start moving down the trail once more.
The four of you move as silently as possible, but each step you make sets you to cringing while Yornalla's steps are barely above a whisper and Mikus' footfalls come like soft thuds, like a staff being slammed on a bed of moss. You can't hear Crow at all.
It isn't long before you stumble upon the group of the sleepless. Your troop stops not far from them where they stand with their backs to you. You circle around into the brush on the side of the trail, wincing as a sticks snap under your weight, but thankful that the men and women before you do not take note. The masses stand perfectly still, eyes closed, and breathing the way one does in a deep sleep.
There is a chorus of deep breathing, taking the place of the cricket's chirp that is strangely absent in this part of the wood. The whole thing is more than a little eerie, and you can feel the hairs on the back of your neck standing on end.
As you survey the masses, you see something that stops your heart dead in your chest. Crow and Mikus walk among the sleeping masses, inspecting the bodies with a foolish curiosity. You search around and find Yornalla, thankfully under the cover of brush on the opposite side of the trail.
You don't dare say anything, not wishing to make a sound that might potentially awaken the army of the unawake.
You watch in terror as Mikus trips over something and stumbles forward into one of the sentinels, who rocks forward and then back, somehow still asleep. None of the others stir from their sleep either. You silently curse the young man as he gets to his feet. Though no trouble seems to have come from this, his foolishness and poor footing could have been the end of all of you.
The two continue to walk through the masses of sleep-standers. You can see Yornalla standing outside of the brush now, at the edge of the line of men. Perhaps it is safe to investigate them more closely now.