Murder In The Dark

12 SEPTEMBER 3460

They are all woken in the middle of the night by the sound of Corrow shouting 'ALARM! ALARM!' at the top of his voice.

As they grab their weapons and emerge from the tent, they think this very strange, as Corrow had the first watch and should be tucked up asleep at this time.

As they get outside, they see Corrow standing over the fallen figure of Colin, who was on guard along with Darius. Looking around, they see the form of Darius several paces to the right. Their first thought is that Darius too is out, but Darius then rolls over and starts snoring loudly.

'Fine sentry he is' they all think to themselves silently.

They are aroused from their drowsiness by the voice of Corrow.

'It's that halfling, Meragrin. He's killed Colin!' shouts Corrow, more agitated than they have ever seen him before. 'Look, there he goes'

The others look up to see the small form of the halfling running away as fast as his little legs can carry him.

Corrow, Maire' and Yaz all run to the prone form of Colin, to see if it's not too late to aid him. Heimlin and Felibarr look on, confused. The shouting awakens Darius from his slumber and he looks on, trying to work out what is going on. Winnacer and Xavier both charge after the rapidly departing halfling, weapons in hand.

The halfling has quite a lead on them and is running fast, but his little legs are no match for the powerful strides of both Xavier and Winnacer. It looks as if they are easily going to catch him, but then disaster strikes. Winnacer's foot catches a rabbit hole, tripping him up. Xavier, right behind him, trips over the falling Winnacer, leaving them both sprawled on the ground.

It looks as if Meragrin is going to escape but, as the pair of them look up, they see that he too has stumbled and fallen. Seeing that they now have a second chance, the two of them haul themselves up and dash on after the halfling. As they approach Meragrin, they see that he is not getting up, but is laying on the ground, crying in agony. As they reach him, they see the reasons for his actions.

His leg has been pierced by an arrow.

Xavier reaches Meragrin and brings his sword up to despatch the halfling. However, Winnacer, the voice of democracy, pushes Xavier's blade aside.

'No, Xavier' says Winnacer 'His fate is for the party to decide'

Although frustrated, Xavier contains himself and strikes the ground next to where the halfling is laying.

'No, please, no, I'm sorry, please don't kill me, it's a mistake, I beg you, have mercy on me' cries Meragrin, paralyzed with fear.

The two fighters drag the halfling back to the encampment. When they arrive back, they see that the faces of the rest of them are dark.

'Colin is dead' says Yaz with great sadness 'There is nothing that I nor anyone can do for him now. May Prirodna have mercy on his soul.'

From where the arrow came from is a complete mystery. The night is dark and visibility is low. Xavier and Winnacer were running so hard that their footsteps and panting would have made it impossible for them to hear a bowstring being released, or the sound of an arrow in flight. The area where Meragrin was running and where the party is encamped is dotted with bushes and clumps of trees, which would give ample cover to any mysterious bowman.

However, this is not the most pressing matter for the moment, they all realize. Meragrin is dragged into the middle of the encampment. All look on at the sad halfling with hatred burning in their eyes.

'Please spare me, I beg you' cries Meragrin. 'I confess to everything, but please spare me. I ain't no baker. I ain't never baked no loaf o' bread in me life. No, I never 'ad that chance in life. I was raised an orphan, left in the streets to die. But I survived, any which way I could. I begged for a few coppers 'ere and there, but there are more beggars in Brunn than there are charitable folk 'oo give out coins to beggars. I knew that I 'ad to something or else I would starve to death. So I took to stealin'. A bit 'ere, a bit there, jus' enough to get by. Then I got took by the Nyemetz. I knew that I 'ad to get away from yers before I got to the gnome's 'ouse or else you'd realize that I ain't what I says I was, but 'ow could I go on the run with jus' a half-blanket an' naught else? Then all through the journey 'ere, I 'eard the chink, chink, chink o' the gnome's coin. I jus' 'ad to 'ave it. The gnome don't need it. From what I 'ear, 'e's got lots more from where that came from. But 'ow could I get the coin from 'im? Well, if you didn't 'ave no one on watch, then it would've been easy to take the gnome's purse an' make off, without 'armin' no one. But you 'ad to keep someone on watch, didn't yers? So, I did the only thing that I could, I took out the guard so as to make me escape. With the goblin asleep, I'd 'ave gotten away with it if it weren't for the ole bloke spyin' on me.'

'That's my sad tale, may Zlodey strike me down if I'm lyin'.'

Felibarr pipes up:

'All along I've told you what a good-for-nothing he is, but you didn't believe me. If only you'd have listened to what I said, then none of this would have happened. Now, please, can I kill him?'

'Yes' replies, Yaz, without emotion and he turns his back on the rest of the party, wandering off from the rest of the group to be alone with his grief.

Winnacer tells Yaz to wait, that it could be dangerous to venture away from the camp while there is an unknown bowman in the area, but Yaz does not stop in his journey. The two halflings present a more apparent problem than Yaz, and so you let Yaz venture out alone.

'Great!' says Felibarr. 'Let me exact my revenge now!'

Searching around, he sees Darius' bloodstained shortsword on the ground where Meragrin dropped it in his haste to depart from the camp. However, before Felibarr has a chance to take his revenge upon the quivering halfling, Winnacer steps between the two.

'No, Felibarr, it is not right that you be the one to enact justice upon Meragrin. Although I believe that he has caused you much hardship upon your travels, I have seen that you have already taken your revenge, by treating him with the same regard as he treated you. No, it is not right that you should be the one to carry out the punishment. Although I have known Colin for less than two weeks, I feel that he was a friend to me and the others who set out from Mnyesto together. Thus I shall exact a befitting punishment, unless another member from among us wishes to carry out this gruesome task.'

Winnacer looks at Xavier, expectantly, as he has been the most vociferous of the party wishing to be rid of the murderous halfling, yet he shows no sign of wishing to be the one to carry out the act.

'No' says Xavier. 'On several occasions have I had to give out such punishment as is needed here this night. War is brutality itself, and no man can truly call himself a warrior until he has been forced to carry out such an act. Although it is not a pleasant task, by any means, it is a necessary act in these dark times. Carry out the act, my young colleague, and you will truly learn the responsibility of your class.'

'Very well' replies Winnacer 'if it must be, then it must be.'

Winnacer once again draws 'Old Bohavia' and holds the noble blade high above the head of Meragrin. Maire', Corrow and Heimlin all avert their gaze, not wishing to witness the butchery. Xavier, Felibarr and Darius, however, look on.

Wishing to spare the hysterical halfling a slow and painful death, Winnacer brings 'Old Bohavia' down on the halfling's neck with all of the force that he can muster. The sharp blade separates the halfling's head from his body with ease, as if he were cutting through a pumpkin.

Several minutes pass without anyone acting, as no one knows quite what to do. Then Winnacer breaks the silence by saying that both Colin and Meragrin must be buried. As if in a dream because of their grieving, everyone scours the area for rocks in order to build a cairn for Colin, and a shallow grave for the halfling. Colin is buried along with all of his meager possessions. The halfling has nothing, so he is buried as he fell. It takes an hour to fully complete the burial of both of the bodies.

While they are finishing the unpleasant task of burying the two corpses, they all start to worry as to the whereabouts of Yaz, as he has been gone for more than an hour. However, just when the last rock has been placed upon Colin's cairn and they are just about to form a search party for Yaz, he returns. To their great surprise, Yaz has someone with him. The others see that he is accompanied by a slender wood elf. Before anyone has a chance to ask any questions of Yaz or the stranger, Yaz sees the cairn and the shallow grave and deduces that the halfling has been put to death.

'Who killed Meragrin?' asks Yaz.

'It was me' replies Winnacer, sadly.

Yaz puts a comforting hand on Winnacer's shoulder. 'It was a necessary action. So, was the halfling disappointed at not being the one to end the murderer's life?'

'Yes, I was,' replies Felibarr, rather too jauntily.

'So, Mr. Felibarr' asks Yaz, 'Why were you in such a hurry to kill Meragrin?'

'He's a murderer' replies Felibarr 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. Those are the rules that I live by. No other punishment was severe enough for one who would kill as readily as he.'

'But are you really any better than he was, with your keenness to kill him?' continues Yaz.

Felibarr is less cocky now. 'Someone had to do the act, and it might as well have been me as one of the rest of you. I have suffered the torments of this ne'er-do-well for many days now. It is fitting that I should have been the one to perform the task.'

'Perhaps you are right, Felibarr' says Yaz. 'But I, for one, have no desire to journey with one who would take another's life without an iota of regret. What say the rest of you? I vote that either we kill this murderous halfling, or else we send him on his way with the warning that, if we ever set eyes on him again, then he will forfeit his life.'

'Were you to kill me' replies Felibarr angrily 'then that would make you no better than the murderer that we have seen die tonight. Are two deaths inside an hour not enough this night for you, a man who should hold all life as sacred?'

"Oh I should, should I?" says Yaz, his voice rising. "Seems I'm getting a LOT of advice on who I should be these days!" Yaz points his finger at the halfling, lips pursed. "Perhaps you and our little goblin friend should get together sometime. But not now. And not while I'm around!"

Yaz draws his scimitar and waves it threateningly at him. "Run, halfling merchant, run! Two deaths are not nearly enough, when three could be had!"

Seeing the fires burning within Yaz's eyes, Felibarr decides that further negotiation is likely to see himself severely cut up by Yaz's scimitar. Yaz chases the running halfling out of the camp and into the forest, waving his scimitar and calling after him. "Run! Save your sacred life while you can! You're not the only one eager to kill!"

'You'll regret this, you all will, you bastards!' they hear as the halfling makes his swift departure.

After a short distance, Yaz stops, turns, and walks back to the camp, his tongue in his cheek and his eyes glinting mischievously. "Cheeky little bastard," he mutters as he passes the group on his way to the fire pit. As he passes Corrow he looks up at him, grins slightly, and winks.

Startled, Yaz straightens and looks at Jihan. "Oh!" he says. "Right! Everyone, this is Jihan. An elf." Yaz beams despite himself. "And a clever one. We've chatted. He wants to defend the forests too, with us. He hates the Nyemetz. I recommend him." He pauses. "Not to mention he's a wicked shot with a bow."

The grieving for Colin is temporarily forgotten in the flurry of questions and accusations that fly over the next several minutes. Winnacer, Corrow and Xavier can't work out which of the events of the past few minutes are the most confusing - Yaz's treatment of Felibarr, or the mysterious appearance of Jihan.

Jihan explains a little of his background to the curious members of the party, all of whom are very pleased, it seems, to make his acquaintance, with the possible exception of Xavier, who is facing a terrible crisis of conscience at the welcome to the group of what was once one of his most hated enemies. Only the time that Xavier has spent with Maire' and Yaz enables him to hold his past resentment in check.

Xavier is not the only one struggling with inner turmoil. More troubling to the party members still is the uncharacteristic treatment of Felibarr who generated a dislike within Yaz that made his animosity with Darius seem as naught. The questioning on his motives and thoughts fill Yaz with deep questions about his psyche, unsettling him greatly. As none bar Yaz have any strong dislike towards the halfling, democracy decrees that the halfling is brought back to the camp to be offered continued passage with the party, if not an apology from Yaz.

The halfling departed several minutes ago, and set off at quite a pace. Jihan is sent out, at his own request, to locate the runaway Felibarr and bring him back to the camp, unless the halfling objects greatly.

Jihan is gone only ten minutes before he returns at a slow walking pace, with the forlorn halfling following behind him, his face bowed to the ground. Jihan had no problem in following the halfling's tracks and in catching up with him.

As the halfling comes into the camp, he keeps his head bowed, deliberately avoiding looking Yaz in the eye. He needn't have bothered, as Yaz neither wishes to carry on conversing with Felibarr. Yaz seems distant in his mind, more troubled than anyone has seen him since they first met with him. With a slight tremble in his hands, Yaz lights a joint, to help calm him and to help him deal with his inner demons.

'Felibarr' says Winnacer, returning to his unspoken role as the diplomat of the party. 'Although there is no love between Yaz and yourself, the rest of us have no problems in your remaining with the party, providing that you do nothing to worsen the strain that your attitude has put upon all of us. Alternatively, if you believe that journeying with us is something that you would not wish to continue with, then we would be happy to provide you with something in the way of clothing, a little coin, and a means of protecting yourself from the dangers of the land. What shall be your choice?'

Felibarr is quiet for a long moment, before he answers.

'Sir Winnacer, you and the majority of your colleagues have shown great kindness to me during the brief time that I have been with you. Such charity is more and more of a rarity in Bohavia these days. Although to travel with you and to come to be considered a close friend of yours, perhaps, would be a great honor for me, I see that my being with you would be a constant reminder of the strife that I have caused within your ranks. Therefore, I believe that it is in the best interests of all present were I to depart now. Your offer of assistance is greatly appreciated. I am a proud one, and have never asked for such charity before, and it brings me great shame to ask for some now, but I fear that I cannot exist without any possessions. I would gratefully receive any help that you can give me. However, I vow that your gifts shall not be forgotten. One day, when my life is improved, I shall repay your kindness.'

Heimlin is genuinely touched by Felibarr's speech.

'I share Winnacer's feelin's towards you' he says as he reaches into his leather purse. He brings out a large handful of golden coins, which he gives to the halfling.

'Where shall you go, Felibarr?' Heimlin asks.

'I do not know, at present' replies the halfling. I shall attempt to locate a remote village, where the Nyemetz' reach is less, as to go to a strange city would certainly result in my immediate enslavement. Hopefully some villagers will assist me in rebuilding my life and hiding me from the Nyemetz when they patrol.'

'Well' replies Heimlin 'if you are ever in my neck o' the woods, then please contact me. I said in the past that I can always find profitable work for an engraver of some repute. Here is how to find my abode', Heimlin continues as he scribbles a quick map on a scrap of parchment.

'Thank you Heimlin' Felibarr replies as he takes the map. 'Although your abode is not far from here, the journey has many dangers with rivers to cross. Therefore, I am not sure that I will be able to take you up on your kind offer, although I would very much like to.'

Heimlin's generosity is matched by gifts from the others in the party. He is handed a knife, a fishing line, some rations, clothing and one of the crossbows 'liberated' from the orcs. The halfling gathers up all of the party's gifts and says a final sad farewell to all. Apart from Yaz, they look on sadly as the halfling slowly walks into the darkness.

It is Xavier that breaks the silence. 'There are but a few hours until dawn, and none of us have had much sleep this night. Let us retire so that we have energy to move off from this cursed spot at first light.'

Everyone retires to their tents, but no one manages one wink of sleep, their minds filled to overflowing with thoughts of tragedy and the difference between wrong and right.