The gates are dragged open and you can see into a crowded courtyard.
The prince directs The Aggabortas to lead his squad first into the city.
As you enter the gates, the crowd cheers. Apart from what look to be a number of town folk, the mud streets are packed with farmers and a few livestock. Several of the denizens embrace each other with tears in their eyes, looking to you with awe and appreciation.

(Racially the townsfolk appear to be a mixture of Old Pavisite and Sartarite immigrants, however you envision that).

Wanakela opens one eye, then croaks weakly "Keak...keak...keak, what are these fools so happy about?"

With that, she begins to snore softly.

An old man in relatively fine clothes, a jeweled armband and several rings, hurriedly emerges from the central keep of the town, adjusting his robes, and hushes the crowd.
Addressing Envoranus, he says:
"Ahem. Great lord, I am Brokalakt, the humble steward of Lord Indagos, who remains at Pavis.
We are so, so very grateful for your deliverance.
How you arrived so fast I do not know.
But praise Orl err praise Sedenya and her holy son. And for our mighty Lunar, er, deliverers to send such a force to our humble city, well, I am more than grateful."
He bows deeply and then looks at Envoranus expectantly.
The crowd cheers.

Envoranus looks around to the left and the right and says,
"Eh, okayyyy... Ahem, very well, good Brokalakt. I am Prince Envoranus son of Idiratus Goldenbrow, Prince of the Kandoor Family, Bearer of the Silver Robes, Heir to the Ruby Sword, etc, etc. The Crimson Avocet Company is at your service. Why don't you tend my horses and, well, my troops, and we can discuss the particulars indoors, hmm?"
The prince instructs Coroltha and Daranmon to make arrangements for the company. He invites Hawendona, Wanakela (this surprises the Pavisites), Amilcar, The Aggabortas, Zyxx, Astorl, and Hurtzag (which really surprises the Pavisites) to the accompany him into the Indagos mansion.

Noticing the Pavisite's reaction Hawendona clears her throat with a nod in Hurtazg's direction whilst looking at the nearest residents.
'Rrh-ahem'

She propels Blazik towards Coroltha to help get the Prince's quarters set up

The Praxian braves help Wanakela out of wagon.  She acts incredulous at the thought that she would need assistance.  They even go as far as to cover her up, where her clothing had gotten loose. She swats at their hands and pulls away from them as she gets to her feet. She then cries out, “The prince needs his shaman!”  She attempts to get some distance from the braves and follows the entourage into the building.
This message was last edited by the player at 07:16, Mon 08 Nov 2021.

In reply to Wanakela (msg # 325):

Astorl keeps his grip on his spear tight, and nods, following the prince.

Uhhh...  I wonder what other banners they have stored...



"Backs straight, eyes forward," The Aggabortas murmurs to his squad.  "We are the army of the Red Goddess."



"Ilaro, you're in command."  The Aggarbortas follows the prince,  removing his helmet as they enter the mansion, wet hair plastered to his scalp.  He remains wary and on guard, however.

The Pavisites seem a bit more at ease after Hawendona's exclamation.


Blazik seems cheered to have something to do that's in his job description and begins sorting through the prince's cart, along with Thylla, the remaining servant.


Illaro salutes, and begins the process of finding housing for the squad. The citizens seem happy enough to quarter Lunar troops during the current crisis.


Silent Trotting and He Who Looks for Water look at each other and shrug; not invited to the meeting they try to find and empty corner of the town and share some pemmican.


Astorl is led into the great room of the Indagos mansion along with the rest of the party.

(Outside the mansion, Coroltha gets the poisoned troops seen by the town healer.)

You are led into the great room of a two story building, the largest in Indagos reclined around a large table, everyone but Hurtzag will fit and the prince indicates he wants her to stand behind him.
Brokalakt has wine, some chewy bread, cheese curds, barley soup, some fruit, smoked pork and several roasted local game birds. There is copious salt served with the meal.

Brokalakt begins "I must say, my lord, I know not how you arrived so soon, for it was only two days hence that we dispatched our courier. And for you to make such speed on foot and with so mighty a company!"

The prince says, "Your courier...?"

"Yes, lord, my nephew Kartactos, one of our best riders. You must have met him in the plains and come swiftly to us. Is he.. with you?" he asks, hopefully.

The Prince says "Let us assume for argument's sake that we saw no courier, that we passed each other in the night and that our errand here is separate.
What was the couriers message?"

Taking this in, Brokalakt begins his story:
..........

Brokalakt begins:
“A week hence we first knew something was amiss. This is the season when our farmers sow the fields, and good sowing makes good harvest later. Well, a couple of farmers were reported missing from one of the hides about 5 miles north of here. These things happen occasionally, the gods might place a call on a farmer to leave his plow, or an animal can attack, or an argument can lead to violence,”

“Praxians? Those little impala riders?” asks the Prince

“Uh, no my lord, we have a sort of understanding. While there are deep animosities between the settlers from Pavis and the barbarians, we have a tense peace with them.”
He seems to wait for the prince’s permission to continue.

“Go on.”

“Well, the farmers were missing, and while we were trying to figure out why, we never discovered any bodies. As we investigated this, we began to get renewed reports of missing farmers, to the west, to the south… A total of 30 at this time. One thing we know is that the disappearances never happen on the same day, so we suspect it could be one perpetrator.
Needless to say, the farmers became anxious and were unwilling to sow in the fields. This could be costly to Lord Indagos, and when they could not be coaxed to be brave, we sent out armed guards from the city to help watch the fields. We do not have many weaponthanes, as we have not much rebuilt from the long winter and our forces are depleted.
The warriors sadly did not fare much better than the farmers, and most of our weaponthanes are now missing as well.
There is a child of one of the farmers, a Kittrela, who wandered to the city in distress, who seems to have seen something, but we haven’t gotten much out of her in her shock. She says nothing but stares at the ground.
And so in the midst of our distress, who appears but a mighty Lunar company to defend our peoples and destroy our enemy!”

The prince chews on a corner of bread while staring at the steward.
It seems an idea occurs to him.
“Say--Is it those two giants all the way down here? This could make our journey easier than I thought!”

“Giants? Well, I suppose my lord, but I suspect they would leave quite a trail…”

“Hmm, no reports of two giant brothers? Terrorizing the countryside? What were their names? Er, Dothmarsh and Mothdarsh?”


At those names Brokolakt pauses. “N-no not that I know of Lord”





"Hmph. Well, worry not, we’ll get to the bottom of this.
I assume Indagos’s chambers will be available to me?”

There is another short pause, then Brokolakt says, “Of course, my lord, Lord Indagos would not have it any other way.”

“Very well, then I’m off to bed, it’s been a beastly day.”

The prince and Brokolakt retreat, leaving you at the table.

Taking the opportunity to fill his belly - a soldier never knows when the next good meal will be - The Aggabortas turns to Zyxx.  "We should find Coroltha and pay final respects to our fallen.  Tomorrow morning, we'll ask Brokalakt to command the weaponthanes to speak to us.  Farmers I can understand disappearing.  But how can weaponthanes disappear without a sign...?  Astorl, you should come with us tomorrow - as a scout, you're best suited to know what signs to look for."

Hawendona bows her head in acknowledgement of The Agabortas' suggestion, perhaps indicating she plans to attend

Hawendona says "I will try to talk to the young witness and see if she can tell me anything of use.

I thought Brokalakt reacted a little oddly when Prince Envoranus mentioned the giants' names. Maybe initial disbelief, giving way to genuine fear. Or I may be mistaken"

The Aggabortas looks at the auxiliary.  "You think this town has some... understanding or pact... with the giants?"

Hawendona shakes her head "No, if I had to guess, I'd say Brokolakt was used to thinking of Dothmarsh and Mothdarsh as names from children's tales, but now he's thinking Great-grandma was more earnest than he realised when she spoke of them. Still I may be mistaken. It's a lot to build on a momentary reaction. It seemed to me, that before he went pale, his first impulse would have been laughter, though he was keen not to offend His Excellency"

Wankakela will spend the rest of the night snacking and interrogating the local spirits, to see if their stories match with the ones told to us by the people.  She will make herself a spot to sleep somewhere in the manor.  If she finds out any good information, she will share it with the Prince and party tmorrow.

Coroltha supervises the burial, having the recruits dig a series of pits outside the walls and with an unobstructed view of the (now invisible) Red Moon. The bodies have their wounds ceremonially cleaned and are placed in the graves with their heads pointed to the northwest, once again clad in their armor.
A large number of townsfolk, either from curiosity or from gratitude at the arrival of the company that extends to those who have fallen, dare to emerge from the safety of the walls of Indagos, praying for the fallen and bringing wine, flowers, fruit, coins, salt, and other gifts that are set gently into the pits.
The pits are filled with earth and at last covered with large rocks collected from the banks of the Scritha.
Coroltha says a short prayer.
“Great Goddess, you who overcame death in your very birth, and again when you descended into hell and rose to glorious life again, we give you thanks and praise. We commit these, our brothers and sisters, your servants in the great struggle to order the world, to tame what is wild, to fix what is broken, even as you fixed yourself, we commit them to your care and the hope we all share in you.
Look upon them with favor according to your great majesty and your great love and bring their spirits safely unto yourself, that they may abide in your grace forevermore.
Amen.”
She indicates that if anyone wishes to add to the eulogy, now is the time.

The Aggabortas clears his throat and makes a half-step forward.

Each seventh phase a rebirth of the Moon
Each day a rebirth of Light
Each night a rebirth of Darkness
Each child a rebirth of Man
Each death a phase on the path to Illumination
We commend Jaxana of Tarsh and Onjur of Holay, hoplites of 7th Squad, Crimson Avocet Company,
to the Circles of the Moon, of Time, and of Being
This message was last edited by the player at 00:49, Wed 17 Nov 2021.

When the eulogies are finished, Hawendona will sing a song.

One day I'll lay down, in a great wide field asleep
One day I'll rest my head
One day I'll lay down, in  a great wide field asleep
And I'll look up to the Moon, watch her turning
And watch her turning on and on
Got no ground to hold, and got no town to take
Got no foe before me, no baggage in my wake
One day I'll rest my head
One day I'll march down the road, 'til it ends.

And I'll look up to the Moon, watch her turning
One day I'll lay down in a great wide field

After the ceremony, the townsfolk scurry back into the protection of the walls.
Coroltha says to the Aggabortas, "We should put up additional sentries, the local militia look like they mean well but looks pretty shaky to me. You post first watch from your squad, then Daranmon, then Zyxx."

Hawendona will go and pay her respects at the local Earth temple. She'll ask if anyone can arrange for her to meet the refugee girl later, hoping to convey that she's not trying to muscle in but is ready to help if she can.
She'll organise a meal from company supplies and think about replenishing stores the following day.

"Yes, Ma'am," The Aggabortas gives a salute.  Finding his squad, he issues instructions for them to take first watch, acting in pairs, hoplite with slinger where possible.  "Trigus, lucky you - you're on watch with me this evening."

Hurtzag leaves with the prince to ensure that he is safely retired to his room before returning to the hall, and then from there leaving to attend the ceremony.

She finds it strange that two giants would not have left tracks or signs that even these ineffective humans could spot, but perhaps these giants are also clever enough to obscure such traces. That would make them more dangerous in her mind, perhaps they are underestimated.

She decides to head to the local drinking place, somewhere she can perhaps scare some information out of a local if needed. On the way though she speaks quietly to Aggabortas and Daranmo "So many vanishing and no tracks or signs. Have your people keep an eye out on the skies too. What flies leaves no tracks on the ground."

"I agree," The Aggabortas nods.  "I don't think it's giants who are the cause of the disappearing townsfolk."  He catches sight of Yenesta, and tells the slinger to pass on the instruction to scan the Sky as well.

As the evening begins to darken, a pipe tune begins. After a while Hawendona sings along for a verse or two before concluding with a few more variations on the instrument
<New Pelorian>
When the Moon crimson glows, on the Rockwood Mountain snows
And the stars become the captains of the sky
Through the mist of a memory, you wander back to me
Breathing my name like a sigh
In the mane of your hair, lurks that Lunar crimson flare
That was borrowed from the Glowline long ago
With our hopes all for yesterdays, roads offer getaways
Faces unnamed and unknown
In the still of the night, once again I hold you tight
Though you're gone, our love lives on where Moonlight beams
And as long as my heart will beat, Lover we'll always meet
Here, in my Moon crimson dreams
{edit: wrong speech color}
This message was last edited by the player at 14:52, Thu 13 Jan 2022.

A more up-beat tune follows.
I'm so full of ambition
But I never seem to find
Roles that really appeal to me
Could I reach a position
Like the one I have in mind
That would surely be ecstasy

I'll make a pitch at the campsite
Vaunting my vigour and verve
For I'm an unemployed escort
Looking for somebody to serve

I guarantee I can tramp right
Lock step on that learning curve
For I'm an unemployed escort
Looking for somebody to serve

I've caught action, I've got arms
Still I'm always blue
'Cause my action and my arms
Have no work to do

I'll take a watch by the lamplight
Never a swoon or a swerve
For I'm an unemployed escort
Looking for some body to serve

I've got spirits I've got charms
In my retinue
But my spirits and my charms
Have no end in view

If I get a chance at the campsite
I won't be loosing my nerve
For I'm an unemployed escort
Looking for somebody to serve

{<OOC I came up with another verse>}
This message was last edited by the player at 13:50, Thu 10 Mar 2022.