02-14-2016, 08:46 AM
Grimm stepped through the gates of Darkshire and onto what appeared to be main street. Around him people continued on with their day putting out the washing, sweeping the streets, all moving through the general mundanities of daily life. What Grimm and expected he didn't know but he sure did know that he hadn't banked on this. The demeanour of the guard had left him expecting to see smashed homes and dead bodies in the street instead of this ambivalence. People would glance his way every now and then but there was no animosity, just a look of a tiredness. In a way this was much worse. Dead bodies and smashed windows are horrible but easy to clear away. This wasn't a town that suffered the occasional raid, this was a town under siege. Grimm was taken aback, he may have a cold and calculating tendency but he still considered himself to be, in the broader sense of the term, human. Getting closer to the information he sought took priority but if helping the town with its problems was a part of that then all the better.
Just a short way down the street he was on there was a large building. Grimm could see a notable number of guards, both armed and unarmed, heading in and out, at regular intervals. They were probably the local guards changing shift. If that was the case then Grimm decided it would be best to wait for the most recent group to leave before heading in himself so he didn't appear to be a straggler. As the last guard walked out he quickly slipped through the still open door.
The building that he had presumed to be the armoury wasn't all to impressive on the inside but then again it was there to serve a purpose. Every free surface had some kind of weapon, map or equipment on it. They hadn't quite stockpiled to the barrels of swords level, but if the number of people he had seen outside was a good metric for estimating the population of this place then they had more than enough weaponry to arm everyone in the small town. At the very back of the room Grimm could see a single guard looking over a large map laid across an equally large table. The guard was maybe six feet tall with unkempt sandy hair and a figure that, from this angle at least, appeared more scrawny than his. Again Grimm chose to open conversation at a distance, least there be a misunderstanding over his appearance.
"Excuse me sir," Grimm didn't shout but made sure his voice easily carried across the ten meters between them, " you wouldn't happen to be Dobson would you?"
The guard turned away from his map to face Grimm who could now tell from his rather youthful complexion that this guard was, well, youthful. This couldn't be the man responsible for running the town's defence effort, realising he must have made a mistake Grimm began to raise his palm to apologise and turn away when the guard cut him off.
"I am," The guard spoke wearily, "what do you need?"
The guard, who had at least claimed to be Dobson, didn't appear grand or strong just tired. Like a man who had faced more than any man should. Grimm turned back to properly face the guard, he may not look like a leader but if he claimed to be one then there was no real reason to dispute him. He had come here to gather some information not criticise the towns political decisions.
"I was informed that the local defensive forces were accepting volunteers." Now that Dodson had had enough time to notice his skeletal nature, and had not attempted to murder him, Grimm was happy to close the buffer he had left between them and into a proximity more appropriate for a conversation. Obviously Grimm was not the first peculiar stranger to head through this small town.
"You want to volunteer," The surprised tone in Dobson's voice did not fill Grimm with confidence, "good I have a post that I need manned and I can't spare anyone from the regular patrols to fill it. I presume you have some combative training."
Grimm went to assure him that he could handle himself but Dobson just gestured that he should move over to the table. Now that he had gotten going rolling it seemed he didn't want to stop, "Right it's a simple forward camp position. You'll only be a few kilometres from our walls, there's already a tent and some basic provisions. If you see any daemons making their way towards us you simply light the warning brazier and try to hold them as long as you can before falling back and letting our main force move in to deal with it.". All through his speech Dodson pointed at various places on the map. It seemed that the main force Dobson spoke of was stationed at the town Grimm could expect a wait of only an hour or two before they would be able to help him in the event he did actually need to fight anything.
Dobson pulled a folded piece of parchment out of one of his pockets and continued, "We don't have a welcoming ceremony for you so if you're willing to go, take this map, it has your post marked along with the best route to get there. You can collect a weapon from the rack nearest the door. I'll send someone to relive you in two weeks. Good luck." with that Dobson turned back to his map.
The entire ordeal had been far less official than Grimm had been expecting, making it all the more clear to him that this town was in a dire need of outside help. Politely Grimm nodded and took the map Dobson had offered. Before turning to get his weapon and leave. The rack Dobson had pointed him towards didn't have much in the way of weaponry, just a series of short swords. Grimm had never been much of a close combat fighter and there was little point in depriving the town of weaponry If he wasn't going to use it so instead he simply walked past the rack. He was halfway to the door when it occurred to him that he had never asked Dobson what exactly he would be fighting. It didn't matter much though it was unlikely to be anything he had faced before and a name would carry little to no information of its weaknesses.
Back on the streets things were still as they were before. A few heads turned to look at him as he left the building but no one looked for long. Happy that there would be no altercation Grimm made his way back to the gate and out to the dark expanse of the Pale Moors. He gave a friendly nod to the gate's guard who was still standing by, what was to Grimm's knowledge, the Towns only entrance. The guard responded with a heavy sigh and a shake of his head. Then Grimm was off. He checked the map he had been given. The path was pretty simple he just needed to follow a track that leaded around the towns walls then off into the moors proper. Confident that he knew the way to go Grimm returned the map to his pocket and set about making sure he had enough cards to last him the two weeks. He counted thirty, they would do. Normally he would have stopped to ink up some more but given that he had managed to summon the ones he had in a matter of minutes he was willing to wait at least until he got to the forward post before trying to create more. The map had his path marked as a seven kilometre journey, it would be an hour or two before he got there. There was little to do on the track so he just looked around him taking in the scenery and making sure to be aware of any positions that would be of a strategical advantage if he had to retreat some time in the coming weeks.
Just a short way down the street he was on there was a large building. Grimm could see a notable number of guards, both armed and unarmed, heading in and out, at regular intervals. They were probably the local guards changing shift. If that was the case then Grimm decided it would be best to wait for the most recent group to leave before heading in himself so he didn't appear to be a straggler. As the last guard walked out he quickly slipped through the still open door.
The building that he had presumed to be the armoury wasn't all to impressive on the inside but then again it was there to serve a purpose. Every free surface had some kind of weapon, map or equipment on it. They hadn't quite stockpiled to the barrels of swords level, but if the number of people he had seen outside was a good metric for estimating the population of this place then they had more than enough weaponry to arm everyone in the small town. At the very back of the room Grimm could see a single guard looking over a large map laid across an equally large table. The guard was maybe six feet tall with unkempt sandy hair and a figure that, from this angle at least, appeared more scrawny than his. Again Grimm chose to open conversation at a distance, least there be a misunderstanding over his appearance.
"Excuse me sir," Grimm didn't shout but made sure his voice easily carried across the ten meters between them, " you wouldn't happen to be Dobson would you?"
The guard turned away from his map to face Grimm who could now tell from his rather youthful complexion that this guard was, well, youthful. This couldn't be the man responsible for running the town's defence effort, realising he must have made a mistake Grimm began to raise his palm to apologise and turn away when the guard cut him off.
"I am," The guard spoke wearily, "what do you need?"
The guard, who had at least claimed to be Dobson, didn't appear grand or strong just tired. Like a man who had faced more than any man should. Grimm turned back to properly face the guard, he may not look like a leader but if he claimed to be one then there was no real reason to dispute him. He had come here to gather some information not criticise the towns political decisions.
"I was informed that the local defensive forces were accepting volunteers." Now that Dodson had had enough time to notice his skeletal nature, and had not attempted to murder him, Grimm was happy to close the buffer he had left between them and into a proximity more appropriate for a conversation. Obviously Grimm was not the first peculiar stranger to head through this small town.
"You want to volunteer," The surprised tone in Dobson's voice did not fill Grimm with confidence, "good I have a post that I need manned and I can't spare anyone from the regular patrols to fill it. I presume you have some combative training."
Grimm went to assure him that he could handle himself but Dobson just gestured that he should move over to the table. Now that he had gotten going rolling it seemed he didn't want to stop, "Right it's a simple forward camp position. You'll only be a few kilometres from our walls, there's already a tent and some basic provisions. If you see any daemons making their way towards us you simply light the warning brazier and try to hold them as long as you can before falling back and letting our main force move in to deal with it.". All through his speech Dodson pointed at various places on the map. It seemed that the main force Dobson spoke of was stationed at the town Grimm could expect a wait of only an hour or two before they would be able to help him in the event he did actually need to fight anything.
Dobson pulled a folded piece of parchment out of one of his pockets and continued, "We don't have a welcoming ceremony for you so if you're willing to go, take this map, it has your post marked along with the best route to get there. You can collect a weapon from the rack nearest the door. I'll send someone to relive you in two weeks. Good luck." with that Dobson turned back to his map.
The entire ordeal had been far less official than Grimm had been expecting, making it all the more clear to him that this town was in a dire need of outside help. Politely Grimm nodded and took the map Dobson had offered. Before turning to get his weapon and leave. The rack Dobson had pointed him towards didn't have much in the way of weaponry, just a series of short swords. Grimm had never been much of a close combat fighter and there was little point in depriving the town of weaponry If he wasn't going to use it so instead he simply walked past the rack. He was halfway to the door when it occurred to him that he had never asked Dobson what exactly he would be fighting. It didn't matter much though it was unlikely to be anything he had faced before and a name would carry little to no information of its weaknesses.
Back on the streets things were still as they were before. A few heads turned to look at him as he left the building but no one looked for long. Happy that there would be no altercation Grimm made his way back to the gate and out to the dark expanse of the Pale Moors. He gave a friendly nod to the gate's guard who was still standing by, what was to Grimm's knowledge, the Towns only entrance. The guard responded with a heavy sigh and a shake of his head. Then Grimm was off. He checked the map he had been given. The path was pretty simple he just needed to follow a track that leaded around the towns walls then off into the moors proper. Confident that he knew the way to go Grimm returned the map to his pocket and set about making sure he had enough cards to last him the two weeks. He counted thirty, they would do. Normally he would have stopped to ink up some more but given that he had managed to summon the ones he had in a matter of minutes he was willing to wait at least until he got to the forward post before trying to create more. The map had his path marked as a seven kilometre journey, it would be an hour or two before he got there. There was little to do on the track so he just looked around him taking in the scenery and making sure to be aware of any positions that would be of a strategical advantage if he had to retreat some time in the coming weeks.