[Closed] Foul and Corrupt Are They

[judgemewhole]

WHO: James Norrington, Vivienne, Adelaide Le Blanc, Garris Vakrie, Emmie Courtenay, Fenris, Lynette Valkyrie
WHAT: Field trip to the village of Montemps
WHEN: Second week of Guardian
WHERE: Montemps
NOTES: Extreme violence and bloodshed, cursing, Norrington losing his damned temper. Taking place after this message

Riding into Montemps

The ride is a short, three hour journey southwest of Sahnaria. Norrington had encouraged everyone to ride on horseback - the better to get there and back within the day. He honestly didn't think they were going to find anything except either hedge magic, which Adelaide and Vivienne could 'talk' to the individual well enough.

If there were Red Templars, well, then it would be a simple matter of finishing off more of them. Securing the area, perhaps seeing if there was something in Montemps worth trading with the Inquisition to see it got further protection.

Meanwhile, the trip up was the perfect time to speak with one another, and to plan as well.

Montemps

It is the smell of burning flesh that will assault all their noses first, and the horses will start to act nervous. Norrington will recommend going on foot from there, as it will only get worse for the animals. It will be eerily quiet, as if there is not another animal within five miles. If asked, Norrington will state that blood magic tends to send animals scurrying away. They could sense evil much more clearly than humans could, after all.

However, nothing could prepare anyone, even Norrington, for the carnage that would be displayed when they crested the last hill and saw Montemps for the first time. Over fifty bodies littered the ground, some templars who were clearly in the early stages of red lyrium poisoning, the rest were villagers. The village itself was a shell of empty houses, many of them burned down to the ground. In those, one would find the rest of the villagers, putting the death count at around sixty villagers and thirty odd templars.

Investigations
(or things your character can find/comment on)
- The villagers were a mix of men, women, and children.
- There are signs of shade influence, as well as people turning against one another. Many bodies are from the fire or smoke inhalation, and all have been set on by scavengers.
- On the hill, there will be templar cages, similar of what they found in Sahrnia. There will also be bodies of Avvar in the cages.
- It will be clear by journals that the villagers were working with the templars to save themselves.
- There is a full birth/death record in the mayor's house.

Comments

[madame_de_fer]

Vivienne didn't need to hear Norrington's response to realize that something is terribly wrong. She could smell it, that sickening odor of burnt bodies, thick on the breeze. Oh how she wishes she'd brought a scented handkerchief now, as ungenerous as that thought is.

She comes up behind the Knight-Commander on foot as well and recoils at the sight, much as he did. Such a waste of life. A deep frown etches itself into her face. "Maker..."

It's not often that something can render Madame de Fer speechless.

[judgemewhole]

Anger radiated off of Norrington in silent waves, a fury so deep that he was shaking from it. Vivienne's quiet 'Maker' let him know that it was a friend, not an enemy, that came up to his side. His grip tightened on the sword, as he looked over at her.

"The Maker is nowhere near these place."

He started down the hill, where the stench of the dead hit one full on the face. He did not slow, until he reached the first body, and began to investigate. His fingers flexed into a fist as he took in the man's simple garb, charred to his skin, taking in the decomposition.

He knew Vivienne would right behind him, and without a comment he handed her his handkerchief from inside his cloak. His voice was tight, barely controlled, but it was controlled.

"Two months dead."

[madame_de_fer]

The handkerchief was accepted silently beyond a murmured expression of gratitude for the consideration. And well grateful she was for the gesture. Even as she held it to her face to cover her nose and mouth, her eyes were sharp on the atrocity laid bare before her eyes.

Two months. Two months of these poor people laid out exposed to the sun. It was added insult that they should be so defiled after being brutally slaughtered.

"The best justice we can see done is to find those responsible." And arrange for the bodies to be properly burned and interred, though it might take an entire abbey of Chantry sisters to see that work done. Something that Vivienne will see to once they've exhausted any avenues of information to be gleaned here.

"...my dear, is there aught I might do for you?"

[judgemewhole]

He looks down at the bodies before him, ravaged by claws and the sun, before he closed his eyes and rose to his feet. Every inch of him radiated anger, and he looked like if he found a blood mage here, he would tear them limb from limb.

"Madame Vivienne, if you would be so kind ... as to look for any evidence in the mayor's home? I am afraid my Orlesian is rusty." Was what he managed to grind out. He did not want to lose himself in front of the lady mages - they clearly had nothing to do with this.

But Blood Mages had, and he wanted them dead. "It will be the best way to identify the victims for the Chantry, and give us a better idea of just how many were actually lost."