Join the Army, They Said

77-78 Winter, Y217

Campfire Synopsis of Astarael

Astarael wakes from a brief rest, cold and hungry. She goes hunting, shoots a rabbit, only to have it snatched up by a monster. Feline-esque, with six legs, scales and tough fur between them. Astarael struggles to fight the beast, but eventually wins, at the cost of injury to herself and the loss of her horse.

It’s going to be much slower going on the road from now on.

Northgate Campfire Synopsis by Ethan

Drifting in and out of consciousness, Ethan finally awakens on a modestly uncomfortable bed in a familiar room back at the inn. Roux, Vanja and Warbler soon inform him that Captain Weygarde and his men appear to have killed several crewmen and injured the First Mate Avarian. The Captain also stole all the supplies and Avarian was subsequently taken into custody by the Swans. Lastly, they tell him that Northgate’s new magistrate, Sebastian Chance, has been killed; rumor has it that Witches were responsible for his death.

Considering this, he and the others hastily throw together some semblance of a plan, splitting up to find their supplies, get news of Sebastian’s assassination, and to try to gather a Swan uniform. The group finds success in each of these endeavors and decides to move quickly to recover their wagons and supplies from a group of pirates hiding in a warehouse. They intend to keep at least one man alive to get information about Captain Weygarde, but their words fail to pursued the last remaining pirate and he is killed while attempting to flee.

Bells began to ring several blocks north of their position. These bells are the more familiar type – the bells which alert Swan patrolmen of trouble. Ethan changes into a Swan uniform saying that he will go to investigate the bells to the north; Vanja makes it clear that she will join him. Tarth suggests that this confusion may be the group’s only opportunity to escape the city. Ethan reluctantly agrees and the four of them instead make their way to the city exit, using Warbler’s magically summoned horses to pull the recovered carts and supplies.

While heading towards the gates, Ethan spots Roux two blocks away; he is being forced against a wall by a Swan soldier. Telling the others that he sees Roux and that he would catch up with them, he sprints away to assist. Unknown and unprompted, Vanja follows.

Clusters of Swan soldiers grow increasingly thick as Ethan and Vanja make their way across the streets. The two are eventually separated at an intersection. Vanja, magically disguised as a Swan soldier herself, is intercepted by a Swan officer who directs her to join with the other Swans to the north; not wanting to reveal her disguise, Vanja complies.

Ethan, now alone (though still unaware of the shadow he lost) closes in on Roux and the soldier who has him pressed against the wall. He arrives in the alley at the same time as several other soldiers. Convincing the other three soldiers that he and the Swan holding Roux ‘had the situation under control’ they leave Ethan alone with Roux and the Swan holding him. It is quickly revealed that the Swan apprehending Roux was First Mate Avarian in disguise. The three make their way back to rejoin with Tarth and Warbler.

The group soon discovers the gates to the city are closed. There is a long line of civilians looking to leave through the south gate. Regrouping in a secluded alley, the group devise a plan. Ethan will use his disguise kit to make Tarth (still bloodied from the earlier fight with the pirates) and Roux appear as plague victims. The ruse works and the four of them are able to leave the city… but without most of their supplies.

Back in the alley, as Ethan worked hastily to apply their disguises, Warbler offers to take flight as a bird to attempt to find Vanja; after flying away, he does not return.

Just before the group is ready to leave the alley, the magical horses Warbler created turn into small pieces of wood. Without the horses to pull the carts, the four remaining are forced to take only that which they can carry.

As such, the group leaves the city with far less than expected:

Vanja, Lumotu and Warbler are missing. Sav has abandoned the party to seek out Astarael on her own. The supplies and cargo intended for the Beauty have been left behind. And First Mate Avarian has lost some of his crewmen.

Oo-de-lally, oo-de-lally, golly, what a day.

Northgate Campfire Synopsis by Vanja

After a fruitless day and night searching the city for Bax and Ethan, Vanja, Warbler and Roux find them both, alive, back at the inn. Ethan’s badly poisoned, and Vanja pulls the toxin from him in a stream of riverlight. She and the others tell Ethan and Bax/Tarth what happened over the course of the previous day.

The team discusses what to do next, and Vanja is assigned to try to find a Swan uniform. She thinks of the only Swan she knows - Sgt Deren Lake - but when she looks for him, the next day, he isn’t there.

Bax/Tarth and Warbler had better luck. Vanja helps Tarth magically sober up as he and Warbler explain they saw one of pirates who took their supplies heading into a warehouse not far away.

Vanja is assigned to scout the location with Warbler while Ethan and Bax/Tarth go to find some uniforms. In the interim, Vanja talks with Warbler. She tells him that Ethan isn’t the group’s leader - that he is smart, and that he often has good ideas, but that all of them are together of their own choice, and he doesn’t have to follow Ethan’s orders, if he doesn’t want to. Warbler tells her he’s got his own reasons for being with the team, but when Vanja asks for more details, Warbler says it’s a conversation for another time.

Vanja disguises herself as a street kid. Warbler is a cat. The scouting mission goes well enough, but everywhere there are signs of a city falling into chaos. Fewer Swans, but more concentrated. While on lookout, Vanja is mugged. She doesn’t fight back - to do so would be to draw attention.

The team regroups. Roux is missing, never having returned from his own earlier mission.

The remaining team - Warbler, Bax/Tarth, Ethan and Vanja - head to the warehouse. They fight the pirates, and retrieve their supplies. There is no sign of Weygarde, though, and the plan to capture and question one of the pirates falls through, when he is killed while attempting to run.

There are alarm bells ringing, and Ethan plans to investigate - he disguises himself as a Swan soldier, and Vanja follows suit. The last time he was on his own, he was nearly killed, she explains. She tells him she will go with him, unless he stops her. Tarth suggests the team leave the city, instead - using the chaos as a cover to get out of town. Warbler conjures enough horses to pull the carts, and the group moves out.

While on their way out of the city, Ethan notices something. He splits from the group, saying he’s spotted Roux. Vanja follows, in her Swan disguise.

She sees Roux - up against a wall, a Swan seemingly on top of him, holding him with an arm twisted behind his back. But before she can get closer, she’s separated by a line of Swan soldiers. A Swan officer is there, telling her to fall in line - to go to the city center. Vanja panics. There are more soldiers, now. To go against orders would raise suspicion. It could expose her. She follows.

At the city center, a Swan officer orders Vanja and a few others to do ‘maneuver two’. Vanja tries to think if Deren ever said anything about this, but she can’t remember. She asks one of the other Swans, saying, honestly, that she can’t remember the maneuver. The Swan tells her what to do, and she does.

After some time, Vanja attempts to split from the other soldiers. She peels away from the rest of the regiment, feigning illness. She kneels at the side of the street. Gags, pretends to vomit.

But a soldier is next to her, checking on her.

She recoils, tells him she’s fine, to give her space.

He reaches out, pats her on the back, and she watches his face change as hers does. Seeing his eyes go suddenly wide as her disguise fails - as he can suddenly see that the fellow Swan retching by the side of the road is actually a girl in heavy armor. That she’s disguised by magic. He grabs her, and says the word:

Witch.

Vanja punches him, solidly in the face, and runs.

She runs South. Trying to find her way out of the city. To the relative safety of her friends.

But the Swans are close behind.

Down an alley, where she knows there’s a safehouse. Swans follow. She doubles back at a deadend, and the two Swans close behind her ask her where the witch went. Her disguise is working for her again. Vanja thinks quickly, saying the witch disappeared. She tries to walk away. But then, at the mouth of the alley, blocking her escape is the man she hit, the one who saw through her disguise.

Witch, he says.

He’s a liar, she lies. He attacked me.

But it’s an easy thing to see through her disguise now, with the suggestion of the broken spell. Only a matter of a touch. And there are so many more soldiers. They catch her, and she tries to wrench free, but they pin her. Tell her to stay still.

Vanja curses, letting out a blast of radiant magic, an explosion of green and gold. It burns one of the men, the light crackling across his face. Stuns some of the others.

But it isn’t enough. More soldiers pile on, beating her, kicking her, until she is unable to fight back anymore. Until she’s barely conscious.

There are more soldiers than there needs to be. Two on each arm, lifting her. Pulling her along.

As she’s in and out of awareness, Vanja sees a bird land on one of the sharp-peaked roofs. There’s a buzzing noise. A swarm of insects. The soldiers holding her scatter, let her go.

And Vanja’s on the ground.

She tries to stand.

And falls.

It’s some time before Vanja wakes. She’s badly injured. Her shoulder is torn, dislocated. Her eye is swollen shut. Fingers broken. Ribs broken. She knows her physiology well enough to know she has a concussion.

She can hear the guards debating what to do with her, when there’s no inquisitor nearby. Someone says to get the Sergeant.

And Vanja is thrown to the ground, to her knees, in front of an officer.

Vanja looks up at him, but she can’t read Deren’s expression.

Northgate Campfire Synopsis Comic, by Shaun

Campfire synopsis, by Shaun McCallum

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