Brgthng 4, Cycle 1, Month of Kalendryas, in the Season of Winter,
Era I of the Celestine Mandate,
Era XV Post Fractum
The hamlet of Hiems was a village that was a mere wide spot in the road from Peda to Aestas. For such a tiny place to have suffered so badly over the eras as Hiems has makes one think that the place was jinxed. The last invaders to attack this small village were the Blood Moon Raiders who cut the numbers of residents here from around 400 to the now 200. The village never recovered. Now, the only people left there were the ones that were too poor to go anywhere else. The hope and purpose sapped from the hearts and minds of the few that remained.
The village itself had fallen into such disrepair and what was worse was that the people still living here saw no need to rebuild any of the crumbling structures or defenses. The whole village was surrounded by small family plots of land that were being farmed to feed the family and nothing more. The farmers would walk from their homes and pass right through the gaping holes in the old palisade instead of going through the old wooden gate that has been missing its doors now for eras. Nobody seemed to mind.
Kids played barefooted around the village center among the rotting wood and rusted nails lying upon the ground that once made up the walls and roofs of the now run down homes and buildings in the village. It is a wonder why none of their parents were not concerned for their safety. Many of the elders were either sitting on their front porches in wood chairs or simply sat upon the ground in front of their houses watching anything that moved... they were just that bored.
There was no school, no inn, no theater, no meaningful work, nothing to do but sit and wait for something to happen. With such a poor outlook in life it was almost certain that the people of Hiems would have no idea how to handle what was sneaking up on them this brightening.
The sun had just started to rise and had yet to get very far up from the horizon. Some of the kids that were playing in the village center stopped when they noticed critters running into the village through the holes in the palisade. This was indeed odd and at first the were excited and chased a couple of the rabbits they had seen around the dirt roads and between the houses. The elders watched but didn't say anything at first. Then came more animals, larger ones. A deer jumped through the palisade, small field rodents were seen bolting across the roads in various directions. One child looked up and saw flocks of disturbed birds flying overhead in great numbers. What was causing the animals to panic?
One old man sitting in front of his home was looking up then looked down and across the street at a neighbor's house where a lady was looking up at the sky at the birds as well. The old man looked then toward the center of the village where the children were and noticed one of them pointing up into the sky. At first he thought they were pointing at the birds and so he looked up and saw a swarm. Bees? He was thinking.
Suddenly, a child cried out. Looking back down toward the group of kids, the old man saw the first of the arrows hitting the ground around the kids and some piercing the children where they stood. Six kids fell in heaps before the other two ran in opposite directions.
"What the...?" was all that came out of the old man's mouth before an arrow pierced the man in the left eye killing him instantly.
More arrows flew in, these were flaming arrows. They immediately caught the thatched roofing materials of the homes on fire. Fire sprang up quickly everywhere. Now screams from the grown ups could be heard. People were seen darting for cover as more arrows flew into the village center. Then came a crash, then another. Orcs came bursting through the rickety palisade. A great horde had descended upon Hiems with such a force that some buildings that were already barely standing didn't have a chance. They fell as the orcs tried to burst through the doors of the homes. One home collapsed upon an orc and a family as the orc broke in and began attacking the villagers within.
There was no resistance. Again, all the males were either called away to join the Provincial Army or many of the younger families and those with money had left back when the Blood Moon Raiders last invaded and never saw the point in staying. The mere 200 that did stay in Hiems were now meeting a fate even worse than had befell them eras ago. It was surely going to be the end of this poor village once the orcs were finished with it. The whole village was put to the sword.