Act I: Pausentown
_ <6)_ ,/ (_==/ ='- Lithmore Pigeon Post .:*C*:._.:*O*:._.:*U*:._.:*R*:._.:*I*:._.:*E*:._.:*R*:. To : Norrig Sun Oct 25 00:47:32 2020 Votumas, Aprilis 10 SC 387 Addressed to Lord op Arcenant, My Lord, I have just returned from Asglen, along with the rest of the party that departed there. While I am sure that the good Sergeant Taylor has (or will) submit a report to you about the occurrences there, I shall also give a short summary; both for redundancies sake, and in case some small detail for the portion which the Sergeant was not present may prove helpful. As you know, we were sent to reinforce the forces of Constable ab Hooper. Unfortunately, upon reaching his camp, we found it massacred, presumably by the hillmen of the 'Silver Horde'. Over fifty of those in the camp had been stripped naked and hung from trees after being killed; we did find one survivor though. A cook named Borir, who told us what happened there. Upon finding him, we inspected the tracks in the area, discovering that while the majority of the band that attacked the camp went back north from whence they came, a dozen broke off and headed west, moving towards the village of Pausentown. We resolved that the Sergeant would take the survivor back to Fort Beau, which was a short distance to the east, and alert the garrison there, while the rest of us would go on to Pausentown. Thankfully, we were mounted and the Hillmen were on foot, so we were able to beat them to the village. We took stock of the situation there, upon meeting with the village elder, and decided to fortify and defend the town. With volunteers from the peasants, we numbered nine to the Hillmen's expected twelve, and our defensive position gave us the advantage. We constructed a barricade around the village, and hid the women and children in an empty grain silo that also served as field triage. Once the hillmen arrived, we were shocked to discover them dressed in the colors of Asglen. At first, we believed them to be reinforcements from Fort Beau; but they were on foot, and there was no way that the garrison could have reached us that quickly. It became obvious when we demanded they identify themselves that they were hillmen, using stolen garments from the massacred camp of Constable ab Hooper to pose as friends. Several of us had ranged weaponry available, and we opened fire on the invaders. It was a short battle with them trying to break through the barricade. While there were injuries among everyone but myself, we prevailed, killing half their number and taking the other six captive after knocking them out in combat. We left the survivors with the Sergeant when she arrived, and I presume that she will turn them over to your forces for questioning. Given that Constable ab Hooper's camp was demolished, there was no more reason for us to remain, and so we returned to Lithmore shortly after. One thing of note that I would bring to your attention is when I attempted to frighten them away; during the melee, when the first of them went down, I yelled at them in Hillish to run away and live. The response was, and I quote (while translating it into Lithmorran, of course): 'The waters giveth, and the waters taketh away.'. I have no idea what this means, but I thought it unusual enough to bring your attention to it. At any rate, the village of Pausentown is safe, at least for the moment. Should there be any other way in which I can be of assistance to the security of Asglen, please do not hesitate to contact me. No decent man could refuse to give aid when a rampaging horde is pillaging the countryside and killing innocents. Lord Bless, Andorig ab Nesmith, Epion of Lithmore Signed this day by my hand, Aprilis 10th, SC 387. ___ ( ) ___ ,_.-' `'-|/|-'` '-._, '. .-|/|-. .' Epion of Lithmore `----` |/| `----` of the |/| Royal Physicians |/| |/| |/| |/| '-'