Selm
Camp for the Order of the Golden Warriors
Selm was proud. It was a flaw. A serious flaw. One she would have to get over as she had very little to be proud of at the moment. It was the root of many of her problems. Perhaps it would become her undoing if she could not reign it in.
Because her pride was practically useless here. Less than useless. It was a weakness. One that could drag her down into the hells should she not be tempered. Should her temper not be contained? Should her ego not be buried? Then she would find herself once more felled.
There was no amount of pride within her that could have saved her weeks ago. No amount of pride could stop her hands from shaking and her voice from catching in her throat. Her hand instinctively went to where that melted blade had pierced it. The wound was gone, but the memory remained.
"Ah, you five are back. Come, join us. This information is relevant to you." Lieutenant Isomeren was the one who broke them out of their trauma-induced state. The tiefling was waving them forward, to join the conversation he was having with the village head. The old man was leaning on a splintered cane, a bandage wrapped around his hand.
"This is about the ambush, yes?" Yule was quick to ask, striding up to the tiefling.
"Correct."
"Knew it. Fuck." Runner snarled. Selm's opinion was similar.
"It happened again?" Baz asked, his eyes scanning the refugees.
"Not exactly. Elder Graham, would you please start from the beginning. These individuals have been victims of a similar circumstance."
"O-of course sir." The elderly man coughed into his hand for a moment. At Lieutenant Isomeren's command, Elder Graham was handed a filled water skin that he drank from greedily.
"We are of the humble village called Beldeth. Just a collection of a couple dozen families. Not a community of major importance, I assure you. A simple place where we hunt, forage, and trade for what we need. W-we pay our taxes to the Keldani king as asked a-and enjoy a peaceful, quiet life."
"What happened?" Selm asked. She had not needed to ask to know that something terrible had happened. That much was evident. The people crowded behind Elder Graham were scared and hurt. It did not escape her notice that many of the families were incomplete.
"Just a few days ago… monsters attacked," he shuddered, his eyes looking past them. "Horrid undead, made of burned bones. The way they clattered against our homes and… and hunted us haunts me. Their flames quickly ate through our meager defenses. The machinations of a madman, I tell you!"
Lieutenant Isomeren holds his hand out to still the shaking man. "We had a small squad of soldiers stationed in the village to protect it while we dealt with the expanding gnoll threat. They had set up temporary barricades to hold off any threats before they could become a problem. However, they were preoccupied by a secondary threat, based on the word of… who was it again?"
"Devin saw it. Where is he?" Graham turned to look at the refugees. He motioned for a teenage boy, perhaps fourteen, to join them. The boy had a swollen black eye and a busted lip that was trembling. "Tell them what you saw. Please… just once more, I promise."
The hesitation that was on the boy's face was evident. His eyes welled with tears as he opened and closed his mouth soundlessly. Baz knelt to the boy, pulling his holy symbol out so that it was visible. "C'mon, kid. We need to know what happened. Ye can rest after." Something about his voice, usually so gruff and filled with a level of gravelly anger, convinced the kid. It surprised Selm, that softer side to Baz that was only present at a select few moments.
"I-it was a-a monster of l-living fire," Devin said, his hands rubbing against his non-swollen eye. "Never se-seen anything like it. It b-breathed hotter th-than any bonfire and… and it had two heads!" Inathia flinched beside her. Selm was reminded that Inathia was the one who was torn apart by those things when they were ambushed.
"Thank you Devin. You may return to the group," Lieutenant Isomeren said, his voice also softer than usual. Its hardness returned twofold, however, as he turned to regard Selm and the rest. "As you can see, this is no longer an isolated incident. From the war-hawk's reports, the village of Beldeth is lost. Nearly half of their population has been killed. The soldiers meant to protect them have gone missing, presumably at the hands of this 'monster of living fire'. I fear for their fates."
"Well, then why aren't you marching on the village?" Runner asked, her arms crossing. What an absurdly… good question. If some of their own had been supposedly slaughtered by this thing… why aren't they marching to avenge them?
"Because… there are more appearances than just this village, aren't there?" Yule asked, his eyebrow raised.
"Indeed."
"How ever do you know that?" Selm asked the half-elf, confusion scawling itself across her face.
"A few ways. If there were all three of those beasts pouncing upon the village, would there be as many survivors as there are now? Can you honestly say that these people could have outrun those beasts?"
"Kid only saw the one, too," Bazz added, nodding along with Yule's assessment.
"You would think that more people would have recounted these 'monsters of fire' as the primary threat, but it was the burning legion of bone that they mostly remember. At least, if what Elder Graham is saying is what the majority of the refugees says."
Lieutenant Isomeren gives them all an appraising look as they turn to him for additional insight. He nods slowly. "Yes, your deduction is correct. The war-hawks have found two other locations of such monstrosities. Whatever force you were assaulted by has split itself into three smaller forces. Each is heading in a different direction from here."
That's so strange. Selm was no expert on monster behavior, but that couldn't be normal, could it? "They are spreading out… but why?"
"D-diversion?" Inathia suggested.
"I cannot fathom what goes on in the minds of monsters, nor their masters," the Lieutenant shook his head. "But I can say that we are being forced to split ourselves to further cover more ground. I believe this is a ploy to either weaken the defensive force of the camp or to ambush the pursuing forces."
"Who would dare?" Selm bristled. Who would dare make such a move against the Order of the Golden Warriors? That must be one of the most foolish maneuvers anyone could possibly perform!
"So what… are you not going to deal with them? Just going to keep dealing with gnolls?" Runner asked incredulously. Selm threw a dirty look over to the rogue. How dare-
"I would rather fall on my blade than let these burning atrocities continue their destruction." Of course they would deal with it. It was to be expected. The Order of the Golden Warriors would never let Keldanis be overrun with monsters. "However, you are helping with this matter."
Hm?
"I am sorry… we are doing what?" Selm voiced. She must have misheard him.
"You are to travel to the remains of Beldeth, along with Sir Mathens, to destroy this monstrosity." Selm's jaw dropped in a very unladylike manner.
"B-but t-th-they slaughtered us!" Inathia protested.
"In an ambush," Yule countered, immediately. "Even still, I would hesitate to call us reliable as a force."
"Yer hiding something," Baz growled. His eyes were burning holes into the Lieutenant Commander. "Why do ye think we can take it?"
The tiefling's cool gaze changes into something akin to momentary annoyance before returning to its icy normalcy. "That is need-to-know information."
Runner's hands twitched near her favorite daggers. Selm knew she wasn't stupid enough to do anything, but a small splice of panic went through her regardless. "Well I need to know!"
"Please, Lieutenant Isomeren… it would help us placate our nerves if we knew the source of your… confidence in our abilities." Selm pleaded, trying to be a voice of reason. Baz and Runner were content with being aggressive towards their saviors, but that would get them no further without spurring up trouble. She could live with the scathing look Runner was giving her. Diplomacy would work better than whatever intimidation the human was attempting.
Lieutenant Isomeren turned to her, his brows unknitting as he regarded her request. To her surprise, he acquiesced to her question. "What little information I can give you is that Golden Warrior Mivera has successfully quelled one of these problem beasts. It is in her estimation that you will be able to tackle this threat. If you are careful."
Oh! Well, that does comfort her. Quite a bit. If there is one thing she is sure of, it is that the Golden Warriors, not the knights but the actual Golden Warriors, are masters of combat in all forms. If Golden Warrior Mivera says that they can do it, she is likely correct.
Not to mention… some part of Selm wanted to rid her country of those horrid creatures. It was unbecoming of a lady to harbor petty thoughts of vengeance… but she was no lady, not anymore. When better would they get a chance than now? What better sign would they get from the gods?
The rest of her group are less convinced.
"So what?" Runner snapped. "I think we are a little less capable than Miss Goldy-"
Runner doesn't get to finish her statement as Yule steps in front of her. Selm is thankful for the mage's intervention. Runner was about to say something quite offensive, especially to someone very important about someone very… very important. "We will do it."
"Huh? Eshah, we will?"
"Believe it or not, Runner, we have improved our coordination and battle prowers these past few weeks."
"Yeah, against gnolls. Gnolls! Not demon-fucks and their army of spicy bones."
"Under careful planning and swift execution, we can take down foes much greater than we imagine," Yule frowned, his arms crossing as if he was stating the obvious to a dunce.
"I am as confident as the next gal, but fuck off if you think we can take down those monsters!"
"You are not listening to reason. If you would-"
"Reason? REASON? Do you not remember what they did to us?"
"Of course not! Do you not wish to get revenge? Of all people, I thought you would be seeking it out the most fervently?"
"The hells is that supposed to mean?" Runner was standing toe to toe with the half-elf at this point. Their argument was drawing the eyes of refugees and soldiers alike. The human was a bit shorter than the elf, but her glowering held just as much fire as the mage's ember-like eyes.
Baz turned and looked at Selm, giving her a look. Was he asking for her to step in? The half-orc has an uncanny affinity for reading people and situations, something that Selm was quite jealous of. But after seeing it in practice a few times, she has learned to trust it to a greater capacity. Ah. She is the diplomatic one of the group. The voice of reason. He noticed earlier.
She did learn from a master negotiator, as much as she hated his guts. Selm turned to Lieutenant Isomeren, who looked all but fed up with the argument. "If we do this, will our debt be relieved?"
His eyebrow cocks upward. "No. Not in entirety."
"How much then?"
"Unless things change, then it would relieve half of your burden."
Selm gave the tiefling a small grimace. Not as much as she would have hoped for. "Please, sir, this is a matter of great struggle for us." She waved a hand towards where Selm and Yule were practically screaming at eachother. It had devolved into a shouting match between someone caught up in their frustration and someone who was inflexible in their way of thought. Honestly, both descriptions applied to both individuals. "We are victims here. Surely taking partial care of the problem at hand would alleviate some more of the burden?"
The Lieutenant Commander gave her another long look, searching her eyes as he stared downward toward her. At last he sighed, "I will see about getting another ten percent of your debt removed as an additional reward. It is not guaranteed, but I will insist if possible."
Selm beamed at him, giving Lieutenant Isomeren a small bow of her head in gratitude. "Thank you! We will get it done, I swear it on Keldanis' honor." Turning away from the Lieutenant Commander, who was more than happy to let her deal with the verbally fighting two, she addressed the two still reasonable people of her group.
"Inathia, I know it will be scary, but we need to do this. We need to do it so that no more people get hurt by those monsters." The dragonborn was still extremely nervous and hesitant, but something in Selm's voice gave her at least enough confidence to nod in agreement. "Baz, I trust that you will do what is best for us all. You have done right by us thus far, so I have no reason to think you would back out now." The half-orc similarly gave her a nod of acknowledgement. He jerked his head towards the two less-reasonable members of their debt-group.
"Tell 'em that."
Right. Selm knows the consequence of using charms upon people who know and trust her. She knew that neither of them would be very appreciative of her meddling with their wills like that. But neither of them are thinking clearly now.
Yule has the fire of vengeance blinding him. His ego was shattered during the ambush, his faith in his spells diminished and his understanding of the world swayed. Runner was cornered and eviscerated brutally. Her fear of the flaming bone-men and their ferocity was similarly blinding her.
"Calm yourselves," She uttered, letting the magic positively drip like honey from her words. While her intent directed most of the magical force towards her targets, most nearby were not immune to its effects. Inathia looked a little less nervous and the refugees settled down amongst themselves, fear fading slowly.
Both Runner and Yule's heads snapped towards her. She could see them fighting the magic actively. Unlike last time, she sees it work in its completion. Their shouting stops and they both take a few deep breaths.
"We are slaying that damnable creature. That is what is best for us, as a majority agrees. Apologize to each other. We have much planning to do."
While the spell's magic only calmed them down, it did influence them a tiny bit to her will. Not her favorite thing to do, but necessary at times. Both Runner and Yule muttered apologies to each other, although Runner did give Selm a look.
It is hard to be furious at someone who just magically commanded you to not be furious. Oh well. She will get over it. She must.