The Hunt for the Wasting Miasma

Does your character join forces with the Order, or do they work on their own?

All was quiet in Namarast. Hardly anyone was here. The festivities for the King's birthday in Mead had drawn almost everyone away. The fun they must be having filled Roe with the tiniest hint of jealousy. Fear had ruled her body once again and when The Order's band of mages left for the tournament, she had waved them goodbye from the window and watched them joyously leave. She hated herself for not going in a way. She was no longer a student of this academy and wasn't chained here any longer. She was free to adventure the world as her heart ached to do. But what lay beyond the safety of The Order was unknown to Roe and it drove her to stay curled up in her usual book corner. The one good thing about everyone leaving was she practically had the entire place to herself! Apart from the odd few guards left to defend the place (you can never be too careful), there was practically no one who had missed the King's celebration. Who would? A whole summer of drinking and dancing and eating and making new friends.

As Roe daydreamed, a clatter of hooves on the courtyard outside began a wail of commotion. It stirred the little grey doe out of the clouds and into reality. She hesitantly pushed open the window in her dorm room to listen to what the voices were saying.

"Quick! Quick! An attacker has stormed Mead!"

The guards in the courtyard chattered amongst themselves before one stepped forth towards the lone messenger.

"Attack? By who?"

"Corruption!" yelled the equine who was jittering from hoof to hoof, eager to turn on his tail and gallop back to his comrades. "We require as many hands on deck as possible! Nothing we do is working."

Again, there were more chatters amongst the guards as they began organising a plan. The one who stepped forth nodded to the skittish horse.

"We'll come. We'll gather who we have left and all the weapons we can find and we'll come. Now go! GO!"

The equine nodded back before turning away and running. The guards began to split off, rushing to do their duty for the crown.

Roe sat in shock. An attack?! She had heard of these corrupted monsters before but had always been too young to join in the fighting. Plus, she had always believed that she would never have been much use to them anyway. Her magical abilities were poor, at best. But a wave of emotion hit her like a boxer delivering the winning blow. Was she going to continually sit here and quiver in the corner whenever there was anything happening? Was she ever going to improve her skill and embrace the gift she'd been given? How will she ever unlock the true potential of herself if all she does is sit in a corner of a room with a book? The more she thought about it, the angrier she got at herself. It was truly pathetic. This was her chance to push herself and leave the comfort blanket behind.

A voice bellowed down the hallway of her dorm. "COME TO THE COURTYARD!" It was a call to arms by the Order guards who were trying to find anyone left who hadn't already gone to the festival. Roe stood up, determined. This was it. She was going. She grabbed her favourite satchel and gathered a few important things. She had never left Namarast so she had no idea what she needed. She didn't even know where Mead was in relation to her city. Struggling, she picked out a scarf, a book about herbal plants and a couple of food items. She slipped her satchel over her head and set out on her great adventure.

She hurried down the stairs and out the main door into the courtyard where a small gathering of mages huddled together like penguins. They all looked scared and apprehensive. Many of them were young and she recognised a couple of them from her classes in the academy. A large wooden cart came trundling down past one of the study halls strapped up to a large hunk of draft horse. Atop this cart was a mound of weapons. Some of these things Roe could identify as swords, crossbows and slingshots and then there were some that she had absolutely no idea what they were or what they did. She'd be leaving the physical fighting to those more capable than her dainty self anyway. Soon, all the available guards were gathered too and off they set as a pack. The little doe was quite pleased that they were setting off in a group. Alone, she'd undoubtedly get lost. With every step, the fear grew larger and larger within her. What if they were ambushed on the road? What if she fell asleep and they left her behind? What if she was kidnapped? With fear, panic began to set in and her confident steps became barely shuffles. She dropped back from the group. As she watched them walk away from her, the anger she felt earlier flooded her system once again. Was she stupid? This was her chance to go and help! At the very least, prove to herself that she wasn't as useless as she thought. Her opportunity for leaving Namarast was walking away. The emotions battled away inside but she needed to make a decision! Stay or go?

She gave herself a shift kick and quickly cantered after them up the path. She was going! She had to. No longer was she going to live in the shadows. Onwards she marched with The Order's battalion, her head held high as she trotted alongside the wagon which trundled easily down the dry dirt path. She trotted a little quicker to match the strides of the large draft who leaned into the leather harness without even breaking a sweat. This was easy work for him.

"H...How far is it to Mead?"

Her meek little voice was croaky and barely audible over the sound of marching hooves. She glanced at the equine to see if she had been heard before quickly darting her eyes down to the dirt when she awkwardly made eye contact with him.

"Not far, lil' one. Encampment only dow' road."

His voice was low and gruff, a bit like sandpaper rubbing against wood. She nodded her thanks and spoke no more, too timid to spark up any more conversation. What must they think of her coming along? She was by far the smallest one of the group by size and stature and she was definitely the least experienced in combat when she looked around and saw everyone else armed. They all looked battle-ready whereas Roe looked like she was going to go read a bedtime story to the monster. She felt embarrassed, a slight rush of warmth flushing her cheeks pink. Even if she just helped the medics and cheered on from the sidelines, she was still supporting the cause. Anything was better than nothing. Better than her curled up in a corner, cowering under a blanket until it had all gone away.

Just as she had been promised, the camp wasn't too far and they were soon at their destination. She began to help unpack the cart as the more senior members of the group rushed to find someone in charge. The camp was just on the outskirts of Mead, up a slight hill to give a good vantage point of the village down below. As the others finish unloading, Roe wanders over the hill's edge where there is a steep drop down into the valley. What she sees before her is carnage. The whole village is submerged in smog, hiding the buildings and streets. It seems encased within the village for now, unable to escape its borders. How long that would last was anybody's guess though. Because of the strange thick mist, from here, there was no corrupted soul to be seen. Desperate people were scrambling to get out, some manic with panic, some stumbling as if drunk with confusion. Those who hadn't been trapped in the fog were running to help those who were emerging. At this time, there didn't seem to be anyone who was hurt and needed medical attention although this little camp had set out a medical tent ready to deal with the wounded.

A booming voice broke her concentration. A large boar strode over, dressed smartly. He was intimidating and towered over Roe as if she were a mere twig that had fallen off a nearby tree. She almost squeaked in fright but held herself together for the little dignity she had left.

"Reports say that this beast is unlike our usual threat. It doesn't seem to be causing damage or killing anyone. The mist is an hallucinogenic and causes those who breath it in to have dreams although there have been a couple of reports of feverish nightmares for those with less savoury backgrounds." He raised his eyebrows as if he somewhat agreed. "We have so far been unable to kill it with any of our usual weapons and tactics so those with guns might as well stow them away as they'll only be dead weight to you. Our aims are to get the civilians out unharmed and attempt to contain the creature here whilst we figure out it's weaknesses.  All mind benders will stay here with me. Everyone else, please head down to the village and begin the rescue mission."

Roe listened intently to him. All of Ivras heard him! His projecting voice shook the ground beneath her feet with every word he spoke. Her head nodded slightly with every sentence seemingly involuntary. But after he spoke, she just stood there gaping at him. Her hooves were stuck to the ground like she was stood in quicksand and she became unable to speak. He stared at her bemused. "Are you a mindbender?" Her whole body was stiff. She stood there for what felt like an eternity, unable to respond. "N...n...no..." she whispered, her eyes focused on a random tuff of grass at his feet. "Then go then, hurry up!" His quick, snappy command shook her out of the freeze and she quickly spun on her heel and raced down the hill towards Mead.

As she approached, the dreaded fear began to creep back up. This darned fear! She tried to swallow it down and push it out of her head but her stomach was doing all sorts of funny somersaults and her brain was practically screaming at her to stop and just run the other way. But as more and more people spilled out of the village, she realised it was so important for her to be here and help. These people needed her. She rushed as close to the nearest exit as she could get without allowing the fog to touch and infect her. She began screaming into the void, "follow my voice! I'm here to help you. Come towards my voice!" A scream erupted from the darkness and then a thing came flying out of her, practically body slamming her to the floor.

"HELPPPPPPPP MEEEEEEE!"

Roe took a moment, dazed, on the floor, gasping for the air that had been knocked out of her like a fish out of water. What on earth had hit her? The screaming continued. Roe slowly got back up on all fours, shaking her head trying to focus her vision. Running around in circles was a bovine-like creature, likened to a goat with unusual features. Suddenly, it threw itself on the floor, rolling around now as if in pure agony. Roe rushed over to help. "Are you hurt?" The bovine never answered, the scream softening now into a whimper. "It's all my fault." Eyebrows raised, Roe tried to help once again but received a quick kick in the face from one of their flailing limbs. What on earth could this mage be talking about?

The thrashing lessened until the goat was completely still. They simply just laid on the floor, weeping, repeating 'it's all my fault' over and over. "What do you mean? What's your fault?" Roe sat beside the poor creature, stroking the mop of wool out of their face. Now still, Roe could do a sweeping review of the patient. There seemed to be no obvious signs of hurt - no open cuts or bruises. Again, Roe repeated her question, hoping that something would snap them out of it soon. The goat stirred, sitting up and staring straight at her with a shocked look on their face.

"Who are you?"

"I'm Roe. Who are you?"

"Seb."

"What did you mean 'it's all my fault'?"

"What?"

"You kept repeating 'it's all my fault'."

"I...I..."

Seb seemed confused once more. There was no memory. Nothing. She could see it in his eyes. He couldn't remember.

"Sir, please may you head up the hill to that tent over there..." she pointed her snout towards the big white medical tent. "...they will check you over and make you safe."

"I was..."

Again, Seb tried to remember. He looked back towards the village. Again, nothing. He shook his head and began walking away, up the hill as he had been instructed to do so. Maybe it would come back to him eventually. Whatever he was jabbering on about, he could not seriously have thought that the corruption had anything to do with him.

As she watched him walk away, Roe had seemingly forgotten about the danger behind her. She'd been so focused on Seb, she had forgotten the cloud of deadly fog. She had definitely not noticed that it had broken out of it's barrier and had slowly been working it way towards her whilst the screaming sheep had been rolling around on the floor. She didn't realise until tendrils of darkness wrapped around her legs and began to swallow her whole. Her eyes widened as the mist engulfed her. What was the little deer supposed to do now?