Hard Winters RPG

[Folwren]

Saeryn left Eodwine reading the letter from Athanar. She entered the kitchen and found Stigend and Modtryth seated together there.

"Stigend, we need a fire started," she said. "I hope they brought more wood. Use what you must. We will get water going." Kara entered behind Saeryn, carrying a large bowl full of oats. Saeryn smiled without quite meaning to when she saw them. "Modtryth, fill two pots with water."

"There is barley as well," Kara said, setting the oats on the table.

Saeryn took them and poured them into an empty pot and handed the bowl back to Kara. "Go and get some, then. We will make both." Kara took the bowl and headed for the door. Saeryn looked about at the empty bins and boxes lining the walls. She called after Kara, "And if you see them bringing more grain in, send them in here."

"The bags may be wet," she commented to Modtryth as she began to open the bins in preparation for the grain. "We want no ruined grain."

--

Thornden

Thornden saw rather than heard the commotion. He cast a swift glance towards everyone diving for the potatoes, and he smiled a little. But then his eye landed on Hilderinc, standing back from the others and hunched rigidly slightly to the right. His eyes were closed and his jaw clenched tightly.

Thornden was by his side in two steps and he held his hand out towards him to offer support.

"Are you unwell, Hilderinc?" he asked, in a low voice.

[littlemanpoet]

Rowenna stood in the wind and cold, standing on the peek of the final rise of the Scar. She looked out over the vastness of the plain, wrapped in a warm cloak. The snows were thawing, but it would take much more warmth of the sun for all to be turned to spring floods. She came out here often, in part to be away for a little while from the distress of the starving folk; but also to be alone with her thoughts.

She had told Nydfara how it had been for her among the brigands in the White Mountains, how she had risen from slave to leader in all but name. It had been four long years since that moment, and he might be dead for all she knew.

There was noise in the burg, a bustle of activity from the sound of it. What could have happened to cause anything like it in the starving place? She turned from the emptiness and retraced her steps.

[Legate of Amon Lanc]

"Are you unwell, Hilderinc?"

He shook his head, an instinctive response. He opened his eyes and met Thornden's gaze.

"It's just my arm. I might have overestimated after this long winter and took too much load for myself."

The pain still throbbed, but it did not feel as terrible as in the first moment. He looked down at his arm.

"I will be all right, but if you permit, I would perhaps be of better use elsewhere at the moment." He pressed his lips together in a wry smile. "Maybe I could keep an eye on that the guests do not create disorder in the Hall, or if some need to be showed around." He nodded vaguely toward the group of wagons.

[Folwren]

"No, you are right," Thornden said quickly. "They will all need direction about where to go." He cast an appraising eye about quickly. Most of the newcomers were men. In fact, there was only one woman that Thornden could see, and she stood just a few feet away, looking on the bustling confusion with a lost expression on her face.

"The men can be put up anywhere," he said to Hilderinc. "Go and greet the lady and take her inside. Find out who she is and what she is doing here." He narrowed his eyes as he studied her quickly, turning away before she noticed him staring. "She looks...important. Find lady Saeryn if necessary. She will tell you where to put her."

So saying, Thornden left him to it with an encouraging slap on his left shoulder.

[littlemanpoet]

Having read the letter from Athanar, Eodwine folded it and tucked it inside his jerkin. He went to his rooms and found Eoghan lying on the bed. He did not look well. The boy was sleeping.

"Do you know where your sister is, my heart?" he whispered. "No matter. No doubt she is well enough. Eodwine settled on the bed as carefully as he could; the boy stirred but did not wake. I would give you all the health I have if it would help you live. He lay his head down and rested, wondering what the final rest was like before he drifted off to sleep.