Fires in the night, along Southern Czabri Bone Shore
Having sent word to his brother, weary looking bannermen lead Count Krupp to the younger Pius Krupp's burnt out estate. Furrowing a brow and suspicious of treachery, Virathus looked between the men - but all they offered was a stiff aversion of his gaze, or forlorn looks. Stopping before the estate he granted his brother, he entered the burned hall draped in dread.
Skeletons littered the floors, some with blackened axes in hand, others damaged Unionist pendants. Tense, a jaw clenched, a levyman finally tapped the wandering Virathus, leading him aside to bear witness of what was left of his brother.
Aside the skull of Pius lay his shattered jaw. His family tabard was burnt away, and some of the armour he wore was charred, fitting his skeleton oddly. A helmet was nowhere to be seen, perhaps a fatal mistake, but not one that Virathus dwelt on. Not one that he could.
To his side, Eske and Cerridynn Ulfmaerr stood. "Lend me a few men that know how to use and axe, and I will bring you some heads Lord Krupp! These treacherous fools, they -"
Raising a hand, Virathus interrupted Eske. Pursing his lips and his face growing flush, he shook his head silently for a few moments before looking upon his kin. He beheld a man who died facing the sky - a sign of dying in battle rather than flight. Count Krupp tried to find cold comfort in the number of armoured skeletons there were in the room, some with axes of such a poor make that all that remained of them were the axe heads themselves. Pride had no room in a grieving heart, though.
"We may bury him. Oh... Erect a shrine, perhaps? All will know his name! No death could be more honourable, he died a warrior and was put to pyre by his enemies." Virathus ignored the priestess, pulling off a gauntlet so he could run his hand over the rungs of his brother's damaged chainmail.
"Fetch an urn." Count Krupp would say, turning and offering a nod with a clenched jaw to the Velheimer kin in front of him. Standing up, he would beckon Eske over, "I will need your axe. And some privacy," He would say, looking to the silent attendees. Virathus offered only a stern gaze as Eske offered his axe and beckoned the men away. Cerridynn remained for a few moments, looking anxious to help, to share the pain of grief - but offered little more than a sympathetic look and an outstretched hand.
"Please." Virathus would say, his voice firm but his nose scrunching up. Turning to look back at the body, he kept an axe in hand, rolling a shoulder. She moved to the next room, and immediately the crashing began.
Count Krupp smashed the skull of his brother with Eske's axe, collapsed the breast of his brothers skeleton with a blow in the center of his ribs, and smashed the pelvis of the skeleton that the legs detached. Grunting at first, his face red with fury, he hollered as he continued. Ferocious war cries grew out of grunts as he swung upon the limbs, and again upon the ribs, finally stumbled as the axe picked up the skeleton, getting stuck in the armour of his fallen brother. Little remained of Pius that was not shattered or dust as Virathus' company reentered, all bearing worried expressions.
A ruckus could be heard from the axe as it was tossed aside, the aggrieved man now bearing his teeth as he clenched his jaw, tears streamed down his face. Exiting, he strode directly for his horse. Men remained to finish making ashes of his brother's bones, but he himself road to the town he had founded whence he first arrived in Drixagh. Taking the Companion spider helm from his horses pack and hiding his visage, he reflected on the times he spent with his brother in Opper Calem, accepting the bitterness and cold as he rode.
Hail men of merit and women of renown,
Turmoil has befallen the land since my departure but I have returned. Bearing witness destruction of the very infrastructure that has kept us alive through this cruel summer, I know I am to remain until these matters are settled. Carpenters and artisans that had built these lodges lay dead, or flee to the coast - and as things stand they have no interest in replenishing these losses.
Who gains from this? What is sought?
From the front lines of what is shaping up to be the most important conflict since the Cataclysm, I return to you all - my people. So dire are these matters to me that I feel a moot is necessary immediately. Without peace in my very home, every act I do that does not restore order is burdened with grief.
All will be addressed. After this gathering, we will continue on as brothers and sisters - and those who would endager my kinsmen will face my fullest wrath. Let pride be reclaimed on battlefields abroad, not farmsteads at home.
Turmoil has befallen the land since my departure but I have returned. Bearing witness destruction of the very infrastructure that has kept us alive through this cruel summer, I know I am to remain until these matters are settled. Carpenters and artisans that had built these lodges lay dead, or flee to the coast - and as things stand they have no interest in replenishing these losses.
Who gains from this? What is sought?
From the front lines of what is shaping up to be the most important conflict since the Cataclysm, I return to you all - my people. So dire are these matters to me that I feel a moot is necessary immediately. Without peace in my very home, every act I do that does not restore order is burdened with grief.
All will be addressed. After this gathering, we will continue on as brothers and sisters - and those who would endager my kinsmen will face my fullest wrath. Let pride be reclaimed on battlefields abroad, not farmsteads at home.
Humbly,
Count Virathus Krupp
Count Virathus Krupp
