04.04c - "Carriageway For Hendren"

Bismark replaced the celestial rapier on his belt, putting his old one back with his belongings, while Able retrieved his handaxes, handing one to Bismark. Along with several guards that she's assigned, they spent the next twenty minutes collecting a pile of wood - not as dry as one would like but still serviceable and began to pile it next to Hendren's temporary cairn, still guarded.

Blak, standing nearby with his instrument tuned but now slung, held Spite’s Razor in one hand, using his free hand to help others as he can.

With the pyre built, a small tunnel was dug between the laid out larger sticks to help with airflow. Leda  instructed guards to begin to dig Hendren back up. Within moments his body was revealed in the shallow grave, the smell oddly aromatic, almost like a pleasant rotting if there was such a thing. The corpse seemed to be decomposing far faster than it had any right to. One guard could be overheard theorizing that Hendren didn't "turn" because his head had already been removed.

After he was laid out on the pyre, there was a very short discussion between the guards on where to place the head. It was proposed for a moment that maybe it should be placed on the corpse's chest but reason prevails and it's placed in it's "normal" spot. Torches were brought forth, everyone gatehred around, with Orvuestra already sobbing quietly to herself, standing near Bismark.

Able looked around. "He needs a sword. Can't send him on unarmed" A nearby guard nodded, and pulled a dagger from his belt, placing it next to the corpse's hand

Blak handed the Razor back to Able and unslung the Black Zither. He looked over to Bismark and nodded in his direction for whenever he is ready

Bismark spoke up, holding the Journal open to a specific page, and began reading loudly. "Helm... guardian of guardians, hear our witness of this man." he then began recounting the story of Hendren giving his life to protect his charge, and of his rapport and respect with the other guards, concluding with "Helm - hear our witness. Now watch over and protect him as he moves on, now. Ever vigilant. Ever watching. Guard our friend, we ask." Blak began softly strumming providing soft, background to Bismarks words.

After Bismark concluded, in the silence that follow, Blak picked up another round, but this time added some magical pan flute accompaniment and amplified his voice. He said first, "May of you walk this path.  The same path Hendren walked many times. I call this the “Carriageway for Hendren""There's a man who's soul""Glittered brighter than gold""And he guarded this carriageway, he was Hendren""A young lass was his charge""Always with her by and large""Until that single act that solidly defined him""Oh oh oh oh and guarding the carriageway was Hendren""""There's a sign at the lake""But we all made mistakes""'Cause sometimes words in Giant have no meaning""In a tree by the scene""There's a songbird who sings""Of the bravery that unfolded that evening""Ooh, it makes me wonder""Ooh, it makes me wonder""There's this feeling I got""When he stepped in to take that shot""While pushing the lass safely behind him""In my mind I still see""Rings of blood in those weeds""And the Monsters that violently fell Hendren""Ooh, it makes me wonder""Ooh, it really makes me wonder""If it was me in his stead""Would I be ready to be dead""To protect my charge and my comrades""Then I remember that day""And how the lass could get away""And my spirits rearmed in steel-clad""""So it's whispered that soon""Where we're all heading through""The Fields of the Dead will test our courage""But tomorrow at dawn""We'll think of Hendren and carry on""We know we will not demurrage""""And it makes me wonder""""Your heart is hammering and it won't slow""In case you don't know""That's Hedren's spirit your feeling""Dear friends, can you hear the wind blow""And did you know""Our carriageway lies on the whispering wind""""And as we wind on down the road""Our shadows taller than our soul""There walks with us a man we all know""Who shines white light and wants to show""How everything still turns to gold""When things get tough we'll still hold fast""Even if we make our stand at last""We're all for one and one for all""So be someone's rock and do not fall""""And let's pave this carriageway for Hendren"During the last stanza Blak walked around, making hard eye contact with everyone, leaning in on anyone he and his group deemed suspicious. In the end, he looked at Bismark, a challenge in his eye as if looking for some reassurance.

Torches were lowered, setting the pyre ablaze. Soldiers, merchants, teamsters and travelers watched for a few minutes as the sun began to grow brighter in the East. Various prayers were whispered amid many stoic faces. Many cheeks stained with silent tears at the rendition of Blak's beautiful song.

They begin to walk away, many walking over to shake Bismark or Blak's hand, depending on their disposition. Finally, Leda gave a call for the train to be prepared to move in ten minutes.

Bismark walked over to shake Blak's hand. "Zat vas a beautiful tribute, Blak. I am sorry I did not trust you earlier."

Blak smiled. "It's OK.  I think I understand why a bit better as well.  We all have our different methods, and our demons, eh?"

Various people that Blak glanced at seem to idle about for a moment. Blak moved over to the 2 folks lingering around still. "Well, what did you guys think?" Blak kindly told his 'favorite fans' that he appreciated them, their enthusiasm for his music, and their kind words so much that he'll buy them the first 2 rounds  at the same Inn he is going to next perform at when they reach Waterdeep. Then he mentioned that he's working on a new song and he wanted to maybe include verses for each of them, but to do so he needs to make sure he really gets to know them better.

Vyrin, the caravan guard that Able had earlier identified as a cultist, seemed blown away that someone as talented as Blak was traveling with such a merchant train as a hired entertainer. He lets it slip that he joined the caravan with a couple of other "buddies" when his "boss" suggested he might want to travel north but he seems hesitant to give any real detail beyond the fact that they are with one of the three groups of travelers that joined the caravan.

The merchant guard, Ren, just lets it be known that he was hired to keep a close eye on the goods by some mysterious benefactor, then shrugged. The only stipulation was that he did not open any boxes until waterdeep and to keep others away.

Blak thanked Vyrin and Ren. "You sirs, are awesome.  Thank you for the kind words! I have some other works I've been putting together.  Would you mind if I practice them with you and your "buddies"?  Call it a special audience, but forgive if I make any mistakes.” he said with a laugh. ”For allowing me the ability to do so, again, first 3 rounds for you and your compatriots is on me. Do you think you can go ask?  Maybe let your folks know and see when a good time to circle up after we park would be?" he said, feigning shyness.

Vyrin ran a hand through his greasy hair and looked around, "Um, yeah I could ask. They did kinda say they wanted to uh . . . stick to themselves and focus on just traveling. You know how people are, but yeah . . . yeah, i'll go ask."

Blak waved and started to head off. As Vyrin and Ren turned to leave though, Blak met a'postrofae and Able's eyes. He started flashing odd hand signals, stopped himself, then instead head-motions toward Vyrin, taking his 2 fingers and shows them walking in the palm of his other hand. Then he mimiced a vomiting gesture and flappy hands as well as a one that looks like a person melting.

Apostrofae looked confusedly at Able. “I think he wants me to either kill them or follow them. I will follow them and then decide if I should kill them” Able decided not to follow.

She saw Vyrin travelling ahead, doing a very slow circuit of the moving train over the next 15 minutes. Eventually he stopped his rounds next to the group of five travelers who are walking next to the small single horse drawn cart dedicated to the belongings of the three groups of foot travelers. He made small talk with them and then attempted to pull two of them off to the side for a private conversation. The young man and woman had been overheard earlier talking about their recent marriage and move to Waterdeep to work with his father's small haberdashery. They looked actually shocked that this person was attempting to engage them in conversation, and begged him off after a few moments. He made his case once more, gesturing towards Blak off in the distance,and all three exchange an odd "what is going on?" look before parting ways.

---

"Sorry about your horse, friend." Gamble said to Able

Able smiled. "Not your fault, my feathered friend. I just wish it had left me with a friendlier replacement." he said, dodging another bite from Hendren's horse.

Gamble noticed the attempt. "A’pos’ has a knack with animals, you should talk to her"

“I can talk to your horse if you want. Maybe he’ll tell me what’s wrong.” Apostrofae said, seemingly appearing out of nowhere.

Gamble looked surprised. "She also has an uncanny ability to sneak up on people like this."

Apostrofae shot him a look. “Maybe none of you are paying attention to your surroundings.”

Gamble shrugged. "It's possible.  I'm not much of a morning person."

Rubbed his many bite marks. "I’ve noticed. please do"

Apostrofae looked at the horse. “I have to have my morning chat with the moon elf’s horses anyway. If you want to wait ten minutes.”

"Thanks kiddo", Able told her, as she started drawing runes in a circle around her to begin the ritual.

Able turned to Gamble. "So Gamble… What...uh...what are you going to do about…” he said, making a beard stroking gesture.

"Well I am used to strange looks..." Gamble said, pointing to his horns

"Fair" Able said, conceding the point.

"And in my experience, my magical....peculiarities....tend to take care of themselves....at least so far...." Gamble pointed out.

As Apostrofae finished her ritual, she walked over to Able’s horse. “Why do you keep biting Able?”

“Cause I seen a bat fly out of his mouth, he's cursed. Tell him he can ride his bat.”

Apostrofae spoke to the horse “He’s not cursed. He’s a magic person. That is his friend and he obviously can’t ride a tiny bat.”

"Listen kid.  You seem nice.  I like you. But this guy just thinks he can up and ride me?  I been watching him.  O'l Benny been watching.  I seen things.  I know cursed.  He's cursed." Benny the horse tried to spit on the ground, it becoming more of a drool.

Apostrofae stroked his mane. “Well Benny, just some food for thought. Next time shit goes sideways in a fight, like yesterday. Do you want to be the thing that nobody likes? The thing that’s expendable? Maybe you could just tone down the biting a bit and some other horse get’s turned to ash.”

Benny whinnied. "Oh I seen what happened.  I saw that other cursed demon you travel with. Ole Benny been watching."

Apostrofae patted his neck. “Also, I’ve seen you eying the mare on cart number two. I might be able to put in a good word for you with her...”

Benny shook his head. "If Benny dies, it doesn't matter.  Benny knows. Benny knows he'll go to the place on the other side of the pasture.  And probably be better for it.  I'll let the human ride, but Benny's watching. Those days are all over for Benny.  Benny just watches now." He whipped his head back towards his hind quarters, where Apostrofae noticed he was a gelding.

“You should be watching.” Apostrofae told him. “Tell me if you see anything weird. You know weirder than people coughing up bats. Oh...sorry. I should have noticed. Well Benny it’s been nice talking to you. I need to go talk to some other horses now.”

Able was promptly bitten again by Benny. "Tyr's asshole! STOP" he exclaimed.

Bismark looked in his pack for an apple from his rations and walked over to hold it out to the horse.

"Apple! FUCK yes!" Benny said, chomping down on the apple. "You know, buckles, you ain't half bad for a two leg"

"Maybe you should trade horses with Able, Gustaf. Benny likes you. He doesn't like bat boy. I've got work to do. I can't spend all day trying to solve your horse problems." Apostrofae shrugged at Able and headed back to her duties with the moon elf’s horses.

"i vonder vhy he doesn't like Able?" Bismark said as Benny munched on the apple.

"Apos says he thinks I'm cursed" Able told him. “Honestly I can't come up with any evidence that I'm not..."

Bismark shrugged. "Vell, I vouldn't mind if you needed to switch, Able. Brass Plum has been good to me so far."

Able stared at Bismark. "Who named your horse? A little girl?"

"I don't know, zat's vhat zey told me vhen zey gave it to me in Greenest. Did you vant to switch?" Bismark said, in a way that indicated that he didn’t care either way.

"I think this one is rabid, so yes" Able said, dismounting from Benny.

Bismark took Benny’s lead rope. "OK. Can you valk vith me over to vhere ze horse is, Able?" Bismark started leading Benny  in the direction of his supplies, where Brass Plum is tied up. "I need to talk to you about something, Able, because I need to tell ze group before we have a run-in vith zese cultists again, and I am not sure how it vill go over vith ze rest of ze group." Bismark said looking back over his shoulder. "Vhen ve vere in Baldur's Gate, I learned zat my friend Talis, who I came out to find because I thought zat she had been kidnapped... I learned zat she had not been kidnapped, but apparently joined ze cultists."

Bismark paused looking hopefully at Able. "You vere one of zem once, but you have been able to change and escape... "

Able emerged from the overwhelming memories of his past. "I don't know how much help I could be, my friend. My grandfather helped me realize how we were being manipulated. But he helped you, maybe you could help her see? Without him there to act as a counterpoint to the indoctrination, I'm not sure how I would have reacted. All we can do is try, my friend"

Bismark shook his head. "I do not vant to kill her. I don't know if I could. Zere has to be a way to show her how wrong she is."

Able frowned at the thought of killing the girl as Bismark tied up Benny and started to untie Brass Plum's lead.

Able nodded. "I don't want to kill her either. But we need to think in practical terms"

Bismark gestured back towards the others. "i need to tell ze group somehow as vell, and zey are already not very trusting of me i'm afraid."

Able continued. "We may never even see your friend. If we do, we may never have a chance to talk to her. If we do, she may still try to kill us. I am happy to help you. But if things don't go our way, and it is her or Apos, or her or you-" Able grew serious. "I need you to know that I will put her down"

"I ... " Bismark looks around trying to sort out what's in his head. He spoke, but it sounded more like him talking to himself, working through things than it did speaking to Able. "...I am sworn to protect you, not her. So if she attacks us, I vill defend you to ze best of my ability, but ..." Bismark thought through his attacks "... but even if I am able to neutralize and capture her, how do i keep Apos from killing her vhen ze danger is passed?" He looked up at Able. "oh... um... I understand. I think I do, at least."

Able put his hand on Bismark's shoulder. "I don't envy your position. It is very likely an impossible one. But decisions have been made, and we must abide by their consequences. Not everyone gets to correct their mistakes. But I certainly hope we can try.” Able took the reins of Brass Plum from Bismark, and Brass Plum immediately bit Able. "Lathander's glowing taint!" Able rubbed the bite. "I'll see what I can do about helping you tell the others about your friend. I am sure they will want to help." Able glanced over at Apostrofae. "Well, most of them" he said, wandering off to find Brynne for advice.

As A’postrofae innocently talked to a horse while she brushes it, she started to notice that a few of the horses are becoming ever slightly skittish around her, but the majority seemed to appreciate her attentions.

--

The wagon train begins to pull out, trying to make as much ground through the Fields as can be done, Leaving the smoldering pyre behind. The smell in the area reminded them of honeysuckle. . . if it had somehow turned slightly sour.

A feeling of incredible loneliness washed over A’postrofae as the caravan began to move on. She just stood there watching it leave. Finally she started walking after it.

Bismark caught her out of the corner of his eye and, looking around the train quickly to see if there is any danger, rode back at a gallop. "Apos, vhere is your horse? Here, let me help you catch up, it isn't safe to be back here on your own."

A’postrofae squinted at Bismarck. “I am fine. My horse is with the moon elf’s wagon.”

Able rode up, barely controlling Brass Plum. "What's wrong? The wagons are leaving us. It's not safe to be out here" As he spoke, the horse tossed its head and side-stepped around nearly facing him away from the other two. "Sons of bitches horse" he muttered under his breath.

A’postrofae’s form began to shift and she transformed into a warhorse.

"ST. PAK’S BALLSACK!" Able shouted, nearly falling out of his saddle.

Bismark glanced back to see Apos changing, and he and his horse backed up, startled.

"Apos?" Able asked the horse. He turned to Bismark. "Is she cursed? is this the Fields’ fuckery?"

"I don't sink zis is ze fields." Bismark said, looking closer at the warhorse in front of them.

"Poke it. See what it does" Able said.

Bismark looks at Able. "Uh, no."

"Oooo, wait, I have a better idea" Able told him, as he dug in his bag for a bottle of liquor. The warhorse shook its head, reared back, pawing the air and begin galloping alongside the caravan.

Able got a whiff of the horse as it ran away. “Nope, nevermind. That's her"

Able and Bismark rode to catch up with their charge's wagons.

Suddenly the rear guards of the caravan shout out a warning. The caravan immediately halts. Guards quickly pulling to the rear as a reaction force. Leda galloped from the front of the train towards the rear to meet the new threat.

"ZOMBIE HORSE!!!”

“GET THE TORCHES MEN.”

“THE FUCK IS IT DOING OUT IN THE DAYLIGHT?”

"I'M TOO YOUNG TO DIE!"

--

Two hours later, after a lot of conversation between able, Bismark, and Leda, Apostrofae returned to her human form, Leda riding up beside her. “at least give out a fuckin' warning when something like that happens again.”

And rode off. "crazy ass druids"

After her two hours as a warhorse Apostrofae retrieved her horse and rode beside the moon elf’s wagon.

"You know…” the moon-elf said. “when I heard you were good with animals . . ."

“I am great with animals.” Apostrofae said.

"I really didn't expect that to be so on the nose" the moon-elf told her, with a smirk.

“I just needed to run for a bit. I didn’t think people would panic over a horse running around. Forgive me if we have already talked about this but what are you bringing to Waterdeep?”

Edhelri the moon-elf went on at length to A'postrofae about the intricacies of the exotic wood trade.

She nodded and looked interested. “It sounds beautiful. Could I see it next time we stop?”

Edhelri seemed flattered by A'pos' interest, and she agreed to show her the fruits of her trade when they visit the first town after the Fields, as everything was packed very securely. She then went on to inquire about the animals and if they're happy with their treatment.