Aftermath 30.

The Kaldel Plains...

"Wagons moving out" says Tovis the war engineer "Where?" asks Tamric Drubine the field commander who has just come back up the slight rise after stretching his legs, and going for a little walk.
"From that open area on the otherside of the village" is the reply from the young engineer who is originally from the kingdom of Druvic.
Tovis, who is looking through the brass, cylindrical eyepiece, continues with "They should come into view soon" followed by "On the south side of the village".
A few moments later, and Beldane the cleric says "There they are" as they see the horse drawn wagons, four of them, come into view, leaving the village, heading south.
After handing the eyepiece back to the young field commander, the war engineer says "They're probably going to that town away to the south" Tovis continues with "They loaded those wagons with small items like lamps, posts, lines and sheets they've taken from those ships".
"All things they can sell in town" quietly says the cleric Beldane who is originally from the kingdom of Nastell, which lies to the east of the Kaldel Plains.
"Well, whatever we might think of them, they certainly work fast and efficiently" says the nobleborn teenager from the feudal kingdom of Sarcrin "It's only mid afternoon, and they're already sending wagons away to see what they can sell" adds the young field commander.
Both the fighting cleric and the war engineer nod in agreement with that.
Then as Tamric Drubine or Tam as he's more commonly called by those who know him well, goes back to looking through the brass, cylindrical eyepiece, he asks Tovis "Where's Lis now?".
"I'm not sure" is the reply from the young engineer who hails from the kingdom of Druvic "She disappeared into one of the houses on the north side of the village some time ago" adds Tovis who points to said house, and says "That one there".
"She'll be fine no doubt" quietly says the nobleborn teenager who is a former heir of a previous knight of castle Drubine in northern Sarcrin "I hope" adds Tam in the elven language as he looks at the house that the war engineer has pointed out.
After watching the house in question, the field commander in the armies of Farque goes back to watching the main activity in the village, over on the west side, on the large open circular area of grass, where the three airships are being broken down.
The fourth vessel left around midday, heading slowly to the northwest, presumably to the kingdom of Druvic where it came from.
Even without the aid of the eyepiece, they could see that the airship was heavily loaded. As wooden crates and boxes were tied up on deck as below deck must of been stuffed full.
"Going to be while to completely break down that lot" quietly says the nobleborn teenager who hails from the kingdom of Sarcrin, who continues with "Especially that big ship at the back".
"Looks like the keel on that one survived, so no wonder they're taking their time with that one" says Beldane the cleric, Tamric Drubine nods, then he glances over at the cleric in the church of Glaine, and asks him "Any of their spellcasters come back?".
"Nope" says the fighting cleric who is glad he's not holding his power within himself anymore, and hasn't done so since before midday. When the wizard, the last spellcaster remaining in the village, disappeared. Teleporting away, who Beldane sensed teleporting to the south east, time and time again. Until he was unable to sense him anymore.
"That's something i guess" quietly says the young field commander as they continue to observe the village, and the illegal wreckers in it, most of whom, are busy tearing apart the trio of airships that they attacked last night.
It's not until later in the afternoon, when Tovis, who has just taken a pee down behind the rise. And returned, quietly says "There's Lis" when he spots the attractive young woman from the city-state of Brattonbury, who is passing herself off as a local, as she has infiltrated the nearby village.
Tamric Drubine as he looks through his brass, cylindrical eyepiece, sees the messenger carrying a cloth sack as she walks through the north side of the village, heading eastwards, in this direction.
She's keeping behind the homes and buildings, away from the chance of running into anyone. That's unlikely to happen, as most everybody else in the village, including most of the locals, are on the west side of the village, helping with the dismantling of the three airships over there.
Lisell Maera, or Lis as she's more commonly called by the others, stops to the side of one of the last roundhouses on the east side of the village.
The messenger in the scouts division of one of the armies of Farque, looks directly at the slight rise the other three are on.
After Tamric Drubine looks across the entire village, he gets to a knee, and lifts an arm and gives the all clear signal before dropping back down onto his stomach.
The attractive young woman who is originally from the coastal city-state of Brattonbury moves out. And walks away from the village. Not hurrying, but waking at a steady pace, as she heads for the rise.
While the other three, closely watch the village, to make sure no one spots the messenger leaving.
No one does, and Lis makes it back to the slight rise, which she circles around, and comes up from the backside.
After putting down the cloth sack and its contents, the messenger or runner as they're often referred to, drops down, and crawls forward, to join the others.
"Well?" asks Tamric Drubine once Lis is next to him.
"Invigorating" dryly says Lisell Maera, who then adds in a sour tone of voice "I don't want to do anything like that again anytime soon" she continues in the sour tone with "I spent half the bloody morning carting dead bodies, then helped to bury the lot".
"We saw" says the young field commander, who then adds "Prisoners were they?".
"Yeah" says the attractive young woman who hails from the coast of the Southlands, who continues with "A bunch of them who didn't want to join the crew of that ship which left at midday" she then adds "Apparently the wreckers don't like having anyone around who are unnecessary".
Lis points away to the north, to a few hundred yards away from the village, to a smattering of the scrubby looking trees that can be found across the plains.
"There's a big bloody hole they've dug amongst those trees" says the messenger, who then adds "That's where they dump everyone they kill" she slightly pauses before continuing with "From the locals i was helping out, they said there's a hell of a lot more buried there already than the thirty or so we dumped there this morning".
"A brutal lot for sure" quietly says Beldane the cleric who says a silent prayer to his god Glaine for the dead, that Lis helped to bury this morning.
Tamric Drubine looks at the attractive young woman next to him, and quietly asks her "What else did you find out?".
"Quite a lot actually" says the messenger, who continues with "The locals for the most part were silent once they realised i wasn't one of them, though for all that none of them gave me away".
Lisell Maera then adds "Once i got talking to one of the plainswomen in particular, i found out an awful lot about those wreckers".
The attractive young woman who hails from the city-state of Brattonbury, briefly pauses before she says "She's sleeping with the leader of them, and knows an awful lot".
Lis then gives the names of the most important of the illegal wreckers, including the leader, and those he's closest to, who he confides in.
"All of the locals and most of the wreckers themselves are wary around their leader Arvelle, and his second, the dwarf Mac" says the runner who infiltrated the nearby village to find out as much information about the crew of illegal wreckers as possible.
"As well as the one named Gorlic, who has a bit of a temper, and is known to of had fistfights with some of other wreckers, especially earlier on, when they first starting bringing down ships just over a year ago" continues Lis, who then says "But all of them, are all scared to death of the blademaster called Pallen, seems he kills whenever and whoever he likes, and often too".
The attractive young woman from the coastal region of the Southlands gestures away to the north, to the scrubby looking trees a couple hundred yards from the village, as she says "He killed every single one of those we buried this morning".
"All thirty or so?" asks Beldane in surprise "Apparently" answers Lisell Maera who continues with "And with just a dagger too as he executed them one at a time".
"Hmmm" murmurs Tamric Drubine who is contemplating what the four of them can actually do.
The nobleborn teenager originally from the feudal kingdom of Sarcrin then asks the young woman he's known for more than half of his life "And those spellcasters?" Tam continues with "What about them?".
"That Arvelle trusts them to a point" says the messenger in the armies of Farque, who follows that with "That mage named Samiel the most".
Lis briefly pauses before she carries on with "Though that Arvelle is like all plainsmen, who apparently don't have all that much faith in spellcasters and their abilities".
The powerful cleric Beldane nods to that, then the churchman from the kingdom of Nastell says "That's a fact for sure" he continues with "When i was out here on the plains the last time, once they found out i was cleric, who is able to cast magic, mistrust set in".
The fighting cleric in the church of Glaine, who is widely worshiped in the north of the kingdom of Nastell, says "It's why myself and others were unable to convert a single one of them while we out here".
"That might prove useful for us" quietly says the young field commander in the armies of Farque, who has quickly thought up something.
Then the son of a former knight of castle Drubine, a castle located in the forested north of the kingdom of Nastell asks the messenger "You find out any of their plans?".
"I thought you'd never ask" says Lisell Maera with a slight grin upon her face, then the attractive young woman from the city-state of Brattonbury, whose mother was a street prostitute, and whose father, a man she never met, was a sailor.
Explains what she found out about the plans of the illegal wreckers. Who took down the Farqian warship they were traveling on.
Lis tells the others how the spellcasters, and a select few others, have gone to the kingdom of Nastell to search for buyers. Who are willing to purchase the remaining magetubes they've got. As well as what's being salvaged from the trio of airships out on the open, circular area on the west side of the village, that the messenger calls the village green.
She also tells them that if they can't find enough suitable buyers in Valban, the capital of Nastell. Or in any of the provincial capitals in the kingdom.
They'll go even further abroad. Down to the south, and southeast of Nastell. To the elven principality of Alínlae, as well as the city-state of Andelka.
Lis who overheard some of the wreckers saying that it'll take nearly a couple of weeks to completely break down the three damaged airships.
Says that the wreckers will eventually sell off everything they salvage, no matter how long it takes for them to find the right buyers. As they've always done so in the past. So there's no reason they won't do so again.
"Not that they actually need all the coin they'll make from these three ships they're taking apart" dryly says the attractive young woman who is still not twenty years old.
"Oh?" says field commander Drubine as he glances at the messenger lying beside him.
"They've got over twenty chests of coins in that two storey house that Arvelle is using as his headquarters" says Lisell Maera who continues with "Ranging in sizes from small cask sized chests, to those big lockers you get on ships" she briefly pauses with "All full of gold coins and bars, as well as precious gems".
Beldane murmurs "Damn" while Tovis softly whistles, though Tam looks at Lis, and asks her "You sure?".
"I am" says the messenger, who continues with "That plainswoman i spoke to, mentioned it to all of us as we were burying those dead prisoners" she follows that with "And this is after Arvelle distributed the contents of a few of the chests recently amongst the other wreckers, all evenly too".
"Now that can prove to be more than a bit useful" quietly says Tamric Drubine in the elven language to the messenger beside him.
"You come up with an idea?" asks the attractive young woman from the city-state of Brattonbury in the same language.
"I have" says the young field commander, who then switches back to the common language and says to all three of them "All that loot their leader is hording might just come back to haunt him".
The other three look at the nobleborn teenager from the kingdom of Sarcrin, and the messenger who has known him the longest, since he was eight going on nine, and she was eleven, asks "What have you come up with?".
"Not yet" says Tam, who then asks Lis "What else did you find out?" followed by "What other plans to they have?".
"Once they've cleared away most of those ships, they'll go back to searching for suitable targets" says the messenger in the armies of Farque, who continues with "They're always on the lookout for airships they can take down".
The attractive young woman from the city-state of Brattonbury after a slight pause, says "With those three ships they're taking apart on the village green, they've taken out nearly thirty airships in total over the last year and a bit across the plains".
"Hell, they've been busy haven't they?" says Tovis the war engineer, the others nod to that, and Lis says "That they have".
While Tamric Drubine after looking through his brass, cylindrical eyepiece once more, asks the runner lying beside him "What did you bring back in that sack?".
"Fresh supplies" says Lisell Maera who crawls back and gets the cloth sack, and brings it forward.
In it is wedges of cheese, and flat bread, as well cured meat. Also a couple of clay jugs with stoppers in it. In the jugs is fresh goats milk. Which the other three are glad of, as they've only drunk water over the last few days.
As they share one of the jugs of goats milk, Tam who is looking through his eyepiece, to the otherside of the village, in particular the two storey house on the northwest corner of the village green.
Nods his head and says "What is that all groups of criminals have in common?" after Lis asks him "So, what's the idea you've come up with?".
"I'm not sure" says Beldane the cleric, who then adds "Mistrust with one another i guess" next to him, the war engineer Tovis nods in agreement.
"That's basically it" says the nobleborn teenager who leads them, who follows that with "That and greed".
The young field commander in the armies of Farque is silent for a few moments before he adds "We're going to contribute to that mistrust because of their greed".
"And how are we going to do that?" asks Lisell Maera "By taking some of those chests of gold and precious jewels they've got" says Tamric Drubine, who after a slight pause adds "Without them knowing who took them" . . . . . .