[Soldier]

It wasn’t funny in the civilized sense, but to a Barbarian, it was hilarious. The guards burst into laughter at Ander’s name for Colin. “No offense, m’lad,” said the one on the right, an older Warrior covered in battle scars, “but ye might an’ fer sure not say that t’ Colin’s face! He is a Chieftain, and worked hard t’ be called such!” The pair laughed until they saw the General approach, and even then, they were guffawing behind their hands. After all, they had a proud heritage… it was always amusing to see others mix it up.

The General and his aide were led into the compound and into the only permanent building while the soldiers were shown to the mess tent nd sleeping areas. The pair was shown into a surprisingly comfortable office and bade to sit while Colin was fetched from the city. “I do apologize for th’ wait, Lord,” said the other guard as he offered a goblet of wine to each, along with a platter of meat, bread, fruit and cheese. “But Colin’s been in th’ city most o’ th’ time, sure an’ he has. It’s a few miles to th’ east, though I’m fer thinkin’ he’ll be along directly.”

The pair was left in privacy for roughly half an hour, until the door opened and a filthy Colin came into the office, followed by a second Fianna just as filthy. They was covered in soot and blood, and smelled of burned meat. Colin wiped a tired arm across his face and sighed, upending an entire waterskin into his mouth. When he was finished, he tucked the empty skin to his belt and sat at the table across from the pair, his second sitting next to him. “M’lord,” he said to Riconus. “Forgive the wait… We had just finished digging bodies from the ruins. I admit, we were expecting you much later, but I thank you for your timely arrival. Allow me to introduce Subchieftain Kevin Gehennis, a more creative Warrior I’ve yet to meet. I understand you brought fighters trained in city tactics to relieve my people and for this, Fianna is in your debt. But, allow me to explain what happened in my city.”

Colin rubbed his eyes tiredly, before speaking. “One of our citizens, a runty little Gnome by the name of Gunther, designed a concoction that will burn for long hours. This would be a good weapon, but it worked too well. The concoction caught fire, which spread through the shop. By the time the Crimson Lions and the Imperial soldiers could respond, the fire had spread through the shopping area. It was chaos. The water we poured on the flames didn’t put them out… it made the flames spread. This, of course, made the damage greater. Before long, the fire was out of control.”

“After the fires were put out, we sent a few crews to survey the damage. They almost immediately vanished. We sent guards to look for them. They, too, disappeared. We sent a crew in heavily guarded, and out of them, one returned to say they were attacked by the living dead. We thought he was delirious, until we saw this.” He tossed an object onto the table, and it took the two Sapphire Guards a moment to see it was a dead, dried hand, either Human or Elf. “We pried it off of the Warrior’s arm after he had died. A sharp object severed it clean off. His sword, I believe, or maybe his comrade sliced it off. Either way, I am convinced my Warriors, the crews and the missing guards had been ambushed by these Undead.” He took a swig from a flagon of ale that was brought in by one of his people. “What can we do against such creatures? My people aren’t prepared to fight Undead. My Shamans are overworked trying to heal the wounded. Half the city is destroyed, and all of that area can hold countless Undead. To be frank, I’m waiting for the Undead to leave the ruins and approach the main city area.”