Thursday, May 9, 2013

After the Fire

November 11th in the year 670 by Kingdom reckoning

The afternoon is difficult for all involved. You are sore from hauling buckets of water and tired from moving rubble to ensure the safety of the survivors. The worst part of the day, however, comes after the immediate threat is past. When the fire is out, the shock wears off of the survivors and they begin to realize what has happened. Their spouses and children are dead from steel and flames and many of their homes are destroyed. You realize now what little these peasants have.

After asking around, you discover that the lord of the manor, a Sir Rawley, is one of the bodies. Lady Rawley is unceasing in supporting her people. She moves from family to family, calling everyone by name. She has her men bring food to the hungry and gives honest condolences for the lost. Families that have lost their homes are moved into what's left of the hay shed. The Lady is swift in her decisions and businesslike in her actions but there is kindness too.

The burial is quick and without much ceremony. The friar says a blessing and the bodies are put in a mass grave. The Lord Rawley is laid to rest apart from the peasants, in a small family sepulcher on the hill behind the manor.

When pressed about what the bandits took, the Lady will again defer, this time with a chill in her voice that warns you away.

Asking some of her workmen brings suspicious glances and whispers of "I hear it's a cursed artifact of her grand-daddy's" and "it's the Lord Rawley's treasure that he stole from the pagans during his adventuring days" or "nothing but some old love letters."

It is late in the evening when you finally bed down for the night and you all sleep soundly.

The next morning, you are awoken before dawn by workmen already clearing rubble and hauling in what straw is left for re-thatching those roofs that were saved. The whole lot of you are sore and tired and cold.