Lost Scout

[ChickieBooBoo]

Surrounding Lord Varxis were six sworn men, each assigned a particular aspect of the settlement that they were to oversee. One of them was named Judah, and he was in charge of the south mine, the one that had partially collapsed. Judah was a moderately tall man with a short black beard. He was about 40 years old, and had either been working in the mine, or overseeing the mine, for nearly his entire life.

The dust in the air was thick and suffocating as the miners gathered outside the framed entrance into the dark tunnel. The torches had been extinguished during the accident, and now the partially blocked tunnel was completely dark and quiet. "Tobias!" He called to another man kneeling beside Jankin. "Head count?"

"All here, sir." Tobias replied promptly, then hesitated. "Cept' Morell. I'm not sure where he went, he was in front of me when we came out though... the coward, probably tryin' to get outta dodge before the men have his head for sabotaging the tunnels again!"

"Mmm..." Judah looked uncomfortable at the last statement Tobias made. He was very well aware of the tension between Morell and some of the other men. This wasn't the first time he had been accused for something like sabotage, but they hadn't ever been able to prove any of the accusations. Perhaps it was time to take the issue to Lord Varxis... "I'll talk to him later. For now, make sure Jankin makes it to the doctor. We'll assess the damage once the dust clears, hopefully we can get in and have a look around before nightfall."

Tobias nodded and began helping Jankin to his feet. "On it, chief." The doctor wasn't far, he was sure the man could hobble the distance while using his shoulder for support.

 

[LoveThatChick]

Morell finely reached the town, and easily slipped through the gap between two buildings, and emerged onto one of the mine roads. He looked around, wondering where he should go, and which one of his hiding spots would could keep him out of sight and out of mined the longest...

He was very close to the mine, so turned away from it and began walking. But no sooner had he rounded a corner, when he saw Tobias and Jankin's backs, the one man helping the other walk. Morell turned on his heal and quickly walked back in the direction of the mine, hoping neither of the men had seen him.

Across from the mine that had collapsed, there was a blacksmith, and one of Morell's hiding spots was a crawl space in the back of the building behind the blacksmith. If he could just slip back there with no one seeing him...

 

[ChickieBooBoo]

Halfway to the doctor's home, Tobias and Jankin didn't notice Morell appear behind them. The process of getting up the hill was slow and laborious as Jankin was primarily hopping on a single foot.

--

After accounting for all of his men and assuring that none of them were injured enough to be sent to the doctor, Judah began questioning the workers about what they had heard or seen leading up the collapse. He had been working in the upper portion of the mine, and since it seemed like the lower portion had been the starting point of the collapse, he wanted to hear from those who were stationed in that area of the mine.

"Don't know," one man replied, shaking his head. "Just all the sudden started raining on me, as soon as I realized the whole thing was coming down I got outta there as quickly as I could."

"Morell was in there." Another said, disgruntled. "Probably all his doing. He'd do anything to get out of work! The lazy con..."

"It seemed like the beams across the roof gave way, nearly hit me when it came down!" This was the first piece of useful information that Judah had gotten from any of them. If the wooden beams had failed, it meant that all of the other mines were also in danger of collapsing at some point. He wanted to ask Morell about it, but since the other man seemed to have vanished, it would have to wait.

 

[LoveThatChick]

Morell could hear voices coming from the mine ahead, so stayed close to the right side of the road so he'd be able to slip behind the blacksmith. In truth, the youth was not lazy, he would be willing to work and help the miners if they'd just treat him like a human-being.

Curse the gods for my eyes... He thought bitterly, as the mine and the blacksmith came into sight. Morell could trace every bad thing that had ever happened to him, back to the fact that one of his eyes was brown, and one was blue.

When he was an infant, his father had tried to drown him in the river, but a herder named Brawley, who's own newborn had just died, offered to take the child to help ease his wife's pain of losing their first child. His father excepted.
Leona was born a year after Morell came to them, and though the herders wife, Aldreda, wished to raise Morell as their own, Brawley refused. The man made sure that the boy knew exactly what had happened, and how grateful he should be that they even took him in...

Morell reached the blacksmith, ducked behind it, hoping no one had seen him. He was about to slip into the crawl space, but couldn't help but peak back out around the building at the mine, where most of the miners were.

 

[ChickieBooBoo]

"Lord Varxis," Judah approached the man respectively and dipped his head. The lord had come as soon as the news of the mine
collapse reached the rest of the settlement. In a small village like Camden, it wasn't long before much of the villagers were anxiously crowding around the mine. Thank goodness he didn't have to report a death this time...

"Has the area been secured?" Varxis asked gruffly, standing on the edge of the wreckage.

"Yes sir. Head count is completed, only one minor injury. Jankin, he's already up the hill. We haven't been able to go inside yet, dust is still too thick."

"Get some torches together, and a couple of men. If the dust starts to settle down before nightfall I want a preliminary inspection done."

 

[LoveThatChick]

Morell could not make out the Lord Varxis and Judah's words over the villagers' chatter, though he tried his best. He scanned the area, and his eyes fell on his stepfather's two Clydesdales, still standing where he had left them, fastened to their sleds. He knew how angry Brawley would be if he found out that Morell had left the prized geldings unattended. He weighed the two consequences, on the one hand, the miners would not be pleased to see him, and he wasn't sure what they would do with him... But he was sure of what Brawley would do, if anything happened to those horses. He chose to get the horses.

Morell stepped out, and swiftly began walking to the left, in an arc around the crowd, fists clenched and head down.

 

[Frundette]

"None of your concern," Aelfric snarled, taking the chance while Gomez was sputtering to pull the knife from his boot. He pressed the cook's blade to Gomez' wrist. "You waste any more time and I'll be leaving your carcass for one of those miserable animals."

--

As the pair made their way up the path, Laethros leaned heavily on Anna, breathing heavily before they'd made their way halfway up. Underfoot, loose stones made parts of the trail unsafe. The old man's walking stick happened to find one such stone and it jerked forward, and he lurched after it, pulling hard on Anne in the process.

 

[StarrNico]

"None of your concern," Aelfric snarled, taking the chance while Gomez was sputtering to pull the knife from his boot. He pressed the cook's blade to Gomez' wrist. "You waste any more time and I'll be leaving your carcass for one of those miserable animals."

--

As the pair made their way up the path, Laethros leaned heavily on Anna, breathing heavily before they'd made their way halfway up. Underfoot, loose stones made parts of the trail unsafe. The old man's walking stick happened to find one such stone and it jerked forward, and he lurched after it, pulling hard on Anne in the process.

Anna couldn't help but scream a little at the sudden movement and instinctively pulled to keep them both from falling. She caught his weight and her own, bringing them both to stand against the wall. That caused her to look down the cliff and she stopped breathing for a moment as fear took hold of her. When she did take in a breath it was shaky and quick, and she could not tear her eyes away from the drop below them.

 

[ChickieBooBoo]

"None of your concern," Aelfric snarled, taking the chance while Gomez was sputtering to pull the knife from his boot. He pressed the cook's blade to Gomez' wrist. "You waste any more time and I'll be leaving your carcass for one of those miserable animals."

Given the situation, Gomez didn't look frightened or put out at all. He was still grinning wildly despite the knife being pressed into his arm, while making no move to try and pull away from Aelfric, although the laughter was beginning to cease. "The key you say..." He looked at the wall, where the metal object was dangling just within his reach. It only took a couple of half steps until he was pulling firmly against Aelfric for a moment to lengthen his reach, but he did manage to unhook the key from its peg.

It swung precariously on the end of his clawed fingernail as he drew a little bit closer to Aelfric. "You realize that once I pass this to you, I will have no choice but to sound an alarm, drawing all of the orcs remaining in the camp into his very hut where they will likely slaughter you on the spot."

 

[ChickieBooBoo]

Morell could not make out the Lord Varxis and Judah's words over the villagers' chatter, though he tried his best. He scanned the area, and his eyes fell on his stepfather's two Clydesdales, still standing where he had left them, fastened to their sleds. He knew how angry Brawley would be if he found out that Morell had left the prized geldings unattended. He weighed the two consequences, on the one hand, the miners would not be pleased to see him, and he wasn't sure what they would do with him... But he was sure of what Brawley would do, if anything happened to those horses. He chose to get the horses.

Morell stepped out, and swiftly began walking to the left, in an arc around the crowd, fists clenched and head down.

"Hey Morell!" Tobias called his name. He was returning down the hill from the doctor, and spotted Morell behind the crowd before Judah could. "Where ya been? Judah's been lookin' for you." Tobias was a decent man, but outspoken and often rude or crass. Like others, he was suspicious of Morell's activities in the mine, and those feelings were reinforced when he saw Morell slinking around the back of the crowd. S'far as he was concerned, Morell was incompetent, lazy, and a nuisance around the men who worked for a living.