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Arry · 03-03-2006, 04:47 AM

Wulfham

Day 3

The next day’s ride was a relatively peaceful one. They’d started early, before first light and taken turns taking the lead as they rode. It was their third day out, and they pushed themselves a little harder than they might have, had they not needed to take a rest day.

Their midday meal was taken in the saddle, and washed down with a few swallows of water. They’d packed what boar meat they could in moss from near the river bank, wet with the cold river water. It would be enough for the evening supper, along with some of the root vegetables they’d found in their last camp.

By the time they found a suitable place to camp, the four riders were bone tired and their horses were glad to be unsaddled and let rest. They were just beyond the slow, wide section of the river where the ford was. To their left, as they had passed, they saw the barge-ferry on the far shore of the river. It was said, Brand told the others, that in olden days the King himself had once crossed there and gone to see the lands of those villages who gave him their fealty though they lay outside his realm.

---------------

Day 4

On the fourth day, Brand rode ahead of the others. They had covered a long distance the day before, and this morning he led them out at a more leisurely pace. He was the first to reach the top of a small rise and look southwest to where the air seemed thick with smoke.

It was windy, and the smoke and ash swirled and eddied in the gusting breezes. Brand motioned for the others to ride up along side him. ‘A village has been burnt,’ he called out to them as they drew near. Below them they could see the wreckage of the houses and halls. From this distance they could see that the fire had destroyed most of the cottages and the larger lord’s hall. Amidst the ruins were many, many bodies.

The four riders stayed on their little hill for quite a while, their eyes sweeping the scene of ruin below. They saw no Orcs about nor did they spy any armed men. They let their mounts pick their way down to the now smoldering village. The scene that opened to their sight as they drew nearer sickened them.

‘We should see if there are any we can help,’ Brand said. ‘And take close note of what we see so that we might report it to the king.’

He urged Lady down one of the ashy ways; among the dead he could see the corpses of a few foul Orcs. And once he thought he spied the body of a dead Easterling warrior, though it was horridly burned, and the upper half of the man’s torso had been crushed beneath a falling beam.

‘Let’s stick close together,’ he urged the group. ‘We cannot be sure that all the enemy are dead.’

03-03-2006, 04:47 AM	#148
Arry Ghost Prince of Cardolan Join Date: Jan 2004 Posts: 704	Wulfham Day 3 The next day’s ride was a relatively peaceful one. They’d started early, before first light and taken turns taking the lead as they rode. It was their third day out, and they pushed themselves a little harder than they might have, had they not needed to take a rest day. Their midday meal was taken in the saddle, and washed down with a few swallows of water. They’d packed what boar meat they could in moss from near the river bank, wet with the cold river water. It would be enough for the evening supper, along with some of the root vegetables they’d found in their last camp. By the time they found a suitable place to camp, the four riders were bone tired and their horses were glad to be unsaddled and let rest. They were just beyond the slow, wide section of the river where the ford was. To their left, as they had passed, they saw the barge-ferry on the far shore of the river. It was said, Brand told the others, that in olden days the King himself had once crossed there and gone to see the lands of those villages who gave him their fealty though they lay outside his realm. --------------- Day 4 On the fourth day, Brand rode ahead of the others. They had covered a long distance the day before, and this morning he led them out at a more leisurely pace. He was the first to reach the top of a small rise and look southwest to where the air seemed thick with smoke. It was windy, and the smoke and ash swirled and eddied in the gusting breezes. Brand motioned for the others to ride up along side him. ‘A village has been burnt,’ he called out to them as they drew near. Below them they could see the wreckage of the houses and halls. From this distance they could see that the fire had destroyed most of the cottages and the larger lord’s hall. Amidst the ruins were many, many bodies. The four riders stayed on their little hill for quite a while, their eyes sweeping the scene of ruin below. They saw no Orcs about nor did they spy any armed men. They let their mounts pick their way down to the now smoldering village. The scene that opened to their sight as they drew nearer sickened them. ‘We should see if there are any we can help,’ Brand said. ‘And take close note of what we see so that we might report it to the king.’ He urged Lady down one of the ashy ways; among the dead he could see the corpses of a few foul Orcs. And once he thought he spied the body of a dead Easterling warrior, though it was horridly burned, and the upper half of the man’s torso had been crushed beneath a falling beam. ‘Let’s stick close together,’ he urged the group. ‘We cannot be sure that all the enemy are dead.’ Last edited by Arry; 03-13-2006 at 02:18 PM.