Chapter 3: The Enemy Within

[Jeff]

Kal's team—which includes Grafth, Belarin, and Amal—spreads out and moves in toward the center of the hamlet, where Kal had spotted movement. Tangat goes before him, low to the ground, ready to pounce. Belarin keeps an eye behind them...

Goran's team—which includes Torhak, Streko, and Charis—move forward only slowly, as Goran has not reacted in any way save to ready an arrow. However, Kal comes to view at the head of his team, and he and Goran make eye contact.

Then, Tangat woofs, and Kal looks over to see the shape again—too skinny to be a dwarf, but about the right height—duck behind a building right near what remains of the center road (the blue dot on the map). Then a door slams shut, a sound more like rain-sodden wood dragging across more rain-sodden wood.

[Darren]

Kal holds up a hand, signalling for everyone to stop where they are. He hesitates for a moment, then calls out, "Whoever you are, we mean you no harm. Please come out where we can see you and tell us your name. Do you need help?"

[Jeff]

There is no reply. Only silence.

[Darren]

Kalarian motions to Goran's group, suggesting they spread out similar to way Kalarian's group has done. Then he waves at them to move forward, slowly, angling their lines towards the building that the...whatever...moved in to.

[Marcy]

Charis takes her cue from Kal and begins to move forward toward the building in question, keeping an eye on the surrounding buildings for any sign of ambush.

[Joe]

Streko stays near Charis, keeping eyes and ears open for signs of any life whatsoever.

[Ken]

Belarin moves closer to Kal and says softly, "What did you see? From your tone, it sounds like you spotted a child. If so, let me go first. I flatter myself that I have a special relationship with the little folk. If I'm right, we may learn something and have a good laugh. If I'm wrong, I may be killed and we'll still have a good laugh."

[Darren]

"It was no child. It was....small, but no child. I fear it may be something feral, at best." He spares a glance at the other man. "No one's dying while I have anything to say about it. Move back into position and move forward. And keep quiet. Stay alert."

[Jeff]

Both groups converge at the house by the road, into which the figure preceded. The door was pulled shut, but it doesn't appear locked. No one hears or sees anything else amiss. Tangat scratches at the front door of the small house. And those nearest the door can just barely hear the sound of breathing inside; quick, nervous.

[Darren]

Kal begins pointing to spots along the street, positioning Amal at the corner of the house across the street (west of the blue dot), Goran across the street from the door (south of the dot), Grafth on the east corner of the building, and the remainder of the group spread out through the street, facing in all directions so that they can see any ambush coming. Kal, himself, stands to the side of the door and holds his sharrash out to the side, towards the door. "Please don't be frightened," he calls out. "We're not here to harm you. I'm going to open the door now," he says as he pushes the door slowly open with the end of his weapon and then peers his head around the edge of the doorframe to look inside.

[Jeff]

We seem to be missing people for a few days now. I'll wait.

[mike]

Torhak moves off slightly from the main group (towards the area numbered #3), but watches Kalarian closely, ready to move in and attack if need be.

[Josh]

Grafth follows the plan that everyone seems to be sticking to, staying on the east corner of the building, but watching and listening for anything around them, rather than focusing solely on the structure.

I'm going to be consistently non-computery on the weekends, FYI

[Jeremy]

* * My apologies. Life is interfering. * *

Goran stays by the building, trying to filter out all other noise except what he hears coming from inside the building. He gives it all his focus except to motion to the nearest party member to come over to him as close as possible...and as quietly as possible (signified by a finger to the lips in the universal "shh!" gesture).

Also, on the way to the building, Goran will have been searching for any tracks that may be fresh...certainly any footprints or signs of passing that post-date the abandonment of this village.

---

Can Goran tell if the breathing inside is human? Or at least, humanoid? Does it sound frightened, anticipatory? Perhaps it's that of someone who dashed indoors at the sight of the party emerging from the trees?

[Jeff]

Each of you moves into position. Goran isn't close enough to hear within the building, but he does study the ground around him just south of it. There are tracks, and they do look like those of a barefoot child.

Kal turns the front knob, cracks open the door then edges his blade inside to leverage it open further. A fierce—and to Belarin, a conspicuously sudden and dramatically timed*—gust of wind hits the door and blows it fully open, slamming its againt an wall.

In the half shadows of the ruined house—this seems to be the largest the hamlet offers—a boy stares back, his mouth open in a silent hiss, his body tense like a cornered cat. He looks to be about nine years of age, dressed in the well-worn clothes of an Aundairian rural peasant. He is extremely gaunt and malnourished and doesn't look like he's seen a wash in weeks, but rainwater seems to have kept him marginally clean. Even now, he's sodden from the recent rain, his dirty brown hair slicked to his shoulders.

Though he is a boy, there is a feralness to him that suggests something is different. He bears no weapons.

Refresh:

Torhak moves off slightly from the main group (towards the area numbered #3)

When Torhak moves slightly in this direction, he sees what appear to be more rolling cages clustered together there.

[Darren]

Kalarian hands off his sharrash to Charis, then hold his hands up in front of him, palms out towards the boy, and begins moving slowly into the building. "I mean you no harm," he repeats, speaking slowly and softly. "None of us mean you any harm. Can you speak?" Kal stops a few steps inside of the door, close enough to retreat through it if the boy attacks, and to stop it with his body if it begins to close.

[Jeff]

Matheu glides over to the house and lands just above the doorway, clinging to the wood even more easily than a cat. His body face down, he appears to be listening.

I mean you no harm....None of us mean you any harm. Can you speak?"

The boy's eyes flit left and right, erratically, wary of the presence of the rest of Kal's "us."

"They called me Worm," he then says with a strange lisp. His open eyes are solid grey, with no pupils, and though he cocks his head at every sound, his eyes don't seem to train on anything—probably blind, but hasn't always been. "'Cause I could always 'scape' the boxes 'n irons. Showed them, showed them."

Something was done to that child, Matheu says, surprisingly delicately.

Those nearest to the building can hear the boy, too, and Charis is close enough to look inside and see him, too.

[Ken]

Advancing toward the house, Belarin hears the boy's words and represses a shudder. "It sounds like more of these vile ... experiments," he whispers to Streko.

[Joe]

Streko enters the building. He's hoping that his size is less threatening to the boy. He makes no move closer to the boy, allowing Kal to take the lead, but he is ready to either defend himself, stop the boy or assist him with whatever healing he can.

[Darren]

Feeling Streko brush past him, Kal spares a glance down at the halfling, then places one hand on Streko's shoulder, his other still extended towards the boy. "My friend here is a healer, Worm. Please understand that we want to help you. We want to find the people who tried to put you in those boxes, in those irons. We want them to pay for what they did to you. Will you allow my friend to try to help you?"

[Josh]

Grafth maintains his position outside the house. After he notices others moving toward and into the house, he relaxes his attention on that front, concentrating more on the surrounding area. After a few moments, he notices Torhak's movements and walks to meet him.

"I haven't seen a place like this since the war," he remarks to the dwarf, "and I don't ever recall seeing such cages used."

[Marcy]

Charis takes Kal's sharrash and lingers just outside the door, watching and ready to assist if a woman's touch is needed with the child. She periodically looks away to scan their surroundings in case poor Worm's plight is just a ruse to draw their attention away from an ambush.

[mike]

"I haven't seen a place like this since the war," he remarks to the dwarf, "and I don't ever recall seeing such cages used."

"Nor did I," Torhak says quietly. "This foul town reeks of the sinister. We should leave it. Nothing good will come from our staying."

[Jeff]

The boy's head tilts to the side when Streko enters and approaches, but he doesn't seem to see the halfling or his smaller stature.

Streko can see that what the boy needs most is food and a bit of comfort. He's weathered, but not beaten or injured in any obvious way. But he also doesn't look like he'd want anyone to get too close.

"If more are here, they will come in time. In time they'll come."

[Darren]

"More who? Or what?" Kalarian risks a few steps closer to the boy, his hands still held out in front of him, almost as though he were approaching a wild animal. "Your name isn't Worm, is it? That's what they called you? The ones who did this to you? What's your name, boy? You can trust us. We're here to help. Do you remember who it was that did this? Where is everyone else?"

[Jeff]

"Local lord, local lord. Took the last, last time, last of us." Worm points in the direction Torhak went, where a cluster of cages appear to have joined the village in being slowly swallowed by the wild. "Last ones."

When the boy speaks, Kal and Streko can see that his teeth appear to be longer than they should be. They're not sharp, just protruded further from the gums than they ought to be. It seems to be what's given him his strange speech impediment.

"Who are you to come?"

[Marcy]

"Go gently, Kal," Charis warns in a soft voice. "He's only a child; you don't want to overwhelm him with too many questions at once, or he may shut down completely."

[Darren]

"You're right, of course," Kal offers back. "I just hate to see children abused like this," he says, disgust in his voice. "Okay, then, young man. We're the good guys. I promise. We're heading up the road, and we're going to see what these local 'lords' are up to. And we're going to stop them. Do you understand? We're not going to let them get away with this."

Kal turns and steps towards the door. He calls out to Grafth, Goran and Torhak, "Check around the village. See if there's anyone else here." Kal motions for Tangat to move slowly towards the boy, hoping the calming influence of the dog will help sooth the boy's wounded psyche. He turns to Streko and Charis, seemingly at a loss, lowering his voice and hoping the boy won't hear. "I don't want to leave him here alone, but I don't think we can take him with us. What should we do?"

[Joe]

"He's a hungry young man. And no doubt cold as well. Do we have some rations and perhaps a spare cloak or something he can use to stay warm that will also not impede his movement should he be forced to flee from the local lords? He isn't injured, physically, but there is little I can do for him. Perhaps Charis might have more luck at getting information from him."

[Jeff]

Worm moves his face from Streko, to Kal, to Charis, listening. When Tangat pads forward warily, the boy instantly responds, grinning and reaching out his hands. The wolfdog looks at Kal again, then submits to be being pet.

"To the local lord," he says as he puts most of his attention on petting Tangat. "We can go. I can go. We can go."