Rubble and ashes
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By joining forces, our four heroes just about managed to defend their home against the Pale Ones in the last blog. However, they also learnt that even more intruders had infested Selbingen than they had encountered. They have apparently started a big fire on the other side of Selbingen - at least something exploded there in a big fireball at the end of the last blog.
That’s enough reason for our four friends to abandon their well-defended position. They grab their weapons, lock up their house as best they can and make their way to the big fire. This turns out to be much more challenging than expected, as they also have to eliminate one or two enemies along the way. Their pale counter rises to a whopping eight enemies, who will never devastate the town again. They approach the fire at a run. Hot air hits their faces and they find it increasingly difficult to breathe because of the smoke. But then they finally see what is burning brightly before their eyes. Bibiane’s stable is now only vaguely recognisable, but they know Selbingen well enough to know that there was once a stable here.
As is so often the case, Aldric takes the reins and tells Kel Tuh Las to go to the church quickly and organise as many helpers as possible to put out the fire. Löwenzahn, Theo and himself first secure the area and then start to put out the fire. Everyone sets off immediately. To their dismay, they find no trace of Bibiane, and with the flames metres high, they don’t dare look for her in the burning ruins. However, as no firefighters have arrived yet, Aldric suggests using the fire to burn the bodies of the intruders. Kel and Theo think this is pretty clever, and so they collect every corpse they can find. They strip them of their armour and weapons and throw the bodies into the flames.
But then some of the inhabitants of Selbingen finally arrive with heaps of buckets, and together they manage to extinguish the stable. Completely exhausted and with a few injuries, our four friends and half of Selbingen now stand in front of the dripping barn and decide that it’s enough for the night. One by one, everyone retreats to their homes and our friends, fully laden with various armour and weapons, return to their borrowed house, which has survived the night surprisingly well. They step through the door and powerlessly throw the Pale Ones’ equipment into a corner of their home before falling exhausted into their beds and sinking into a deep sleep.
But it doesn’t really last that long, as bright rays of sunshine soon shine through the windows of their accommodation. After a few sips from their water hoses and a few bites from their provisions, the four of them head back outside. They set off on a tour of the village to get an overview of the damage. After a few minutes, they notice a corpse that they must have overlooked during the night. Surprisingly, it now looks completely normal and no longer pale and sallow. Kel slings the body over his shoulder and drags it back to their house so that they can carry out a more detailed examination later. But this is not the only body our heroes have to find. Although most of Selbingen looks surprisingly tidy, there is another place next to Bibiane’s stable that has taken quite a beating: the royal army’s military outpost.
They carefully open the door to the building and immediately see the next three victims of the night-time raid. Three soldiers in casual outfits are sitting at a table on which a pack of cards is spread out. There is a precisely shot arrow in each chest, but they cannot find any further injuries or any form of resistance from the soldiers. At least they can find the names of the soldiers on a score sheet showing the current score of their game: Matteo, Jeremy and Pascal. Theo’s keen nose also picks up an intense odour of grass that hangs throughout the building. However, they can’t really learn much more here, so they leave the barracks and go back to the town hall to report to Siegfried. They discover a small wooden boat that has landed on Selbingen beach and had not been here the day before.
The mayor greets the four of them in his entrance hall with a sunken face. Before they can say anything, he says in a gravelly voice: ‘This time it’s Gerd.’ They learn that Gerd has lived in Selbingen for decades and used to work as a fisherman on the lake. However, he had been too old for physical labour for some time, which is why he had carried out small jobs all over the village to benefit Selbingen. Now he had died in the attack. The four of us express their sympathy and tell of their discoveries at the military outpost and the body they had found. They also mention the small boat they discovered on the way to the town hall. Siegfried thanks them for the information and their commitment to the town. Although our friends already have a plan for what they are going to do next, they don’t tell Siegfried anything about it yet. You won’t find out what our friends have cooked up until the next ‘Arkanthia Pen and Paper’ blog in a fortnight’ time.
