02-16-2016, 07:33 AM
Only an hour had passed before Grimm found himself at the base of a rather steep hill, just past the crest he could make out the very top of the warning brazier Dobson had told him about. The mud track leading up the hill cut a straight line through the pale grass that lined it. Slowly but surely Grimm started the upward trek. As he climbed the hill he looked up at the sky. The ever dark clouds were still swirling above completely destroying Grimm's ability to determine the time from the suns position. Instead he could only deduce that the steady decline in what little light could make it through the blanket of cloud meant that night was approaching.
Finally Grimm crested the hill. It had taken him longer then it arguably should have but spending the last five years in a six-foot square cell, and the limited mobility the arrangement caused, had not done wonders for his joints. If he were being honest Grimm really just wanted to curl up into a ball and recuperate for the next few hours, but he had been given, and more importantly accepted, a job. Reluctantly Grimm surveyed the camp. There wasn't much to be seen. In the middle was the brazier. It had been placed at the highest point of the hill, most likely to ensure that it could easily be seen by the guards on the walls back at Darkshire, only a few feet away was a small one person tent and next to it was a metre cubed box simply marked as provisions. Going through the contents of the box and taking inventory of what he had would probably be a good idea, but first Grimm wanted to make sure he had a way of actually lighting the brazier.
On closer inspection the brazier was shown to be a rather simple set up. It rested on a small stone plinth and the brazier itself appeared to be made out of either wrought or cast iron and consisted of a large basin held above the ground by four curved feet. It was filed almost to the Brim with what appeared to be lamp oil and the intended ignition method was most likely the two small shards of flint next to one of the braziers feet. While this was all passable Grimm had never been a survivalist and didn't trust his ability to reliably strike up a fire using two small rocks, even if the fuel he was trying to ignite was a large pool of highly flammable oil. Instead he retrieved his notebook from his pocket and made a few amendments to the spell he had planed to use when gathering water for IP. It had originally been intended to create a small pillar of prolonged warmth but with only a few changes to the inscribed runes Grimm could instead make it release a sudden burst of extreme heat, enough to ignite the oil. He also added one last touch, two small runes. So long as the two runes were within a hundred meters of each other breaking one would trigger the spell. Happy that everything was as it should be Grimm removed the paper on which he had inscribed the spell from his notebook and, being careful not to break it, tore off the triggering rune. Then he gently placed the newly crafted spell onto the surface of the oil and tucked the paper with the trigger into his jacket pocket. Now if any creatures of the night did see fit to attack his post he would be able to focus on not being killed, as opposed to lighting a fire.
With the brazier prepared Grimm cracked open the box of provisions that Darkshire had provided him. Although the box was rather large it didn't contain much, all it had was: two weeks supply of salted meat, and water; sixty foot of hempen rope; a spare flint for lighting the warning signal and a small hand knife. Though they were rather bare bones the provisions did surpass Grimm's minimal expectations of a small box with some unpreserved food. After counting everything he had been provided with Grimm carefully packaged everything back up leaving the meat on top and replaced the boxes lid. Grimm didn't bother looking in the tent, being a creature sustained by magic did have some advantages and the biggest one was that he didn't need sleep. He could overexert himself causing some of the runes that powered him to shut down and recover but he never needed to power down his entire body. It was this property that would probably be the most helpful in the coming weeks. Having looked at everything in the camp Grimm knelt in it's centre with his back to darkshire. If demons did attack him tonight they would most likely be heading past him in an attempt to reach the town so it would make little sense for him to watch any other angle.
Time passed and Grimm continued to remain vigilant. There was little movement in his surroundings bar the slight rustle of nearby trees. Looking down to the base of the hill he could see the edge of a woodland that had yet to spread up to his camp. The trees were pale and almost skeletal in their lack of leaves. Boredom wasn't an issue as his high perch gave him a lot to look at. The hill wasn't giant by any stretch but from it he was able to see for a good few hundred meters in any direction, the caveat being that anything in that range was also able to see him.
Finally Grimm crested the hill. It had taken him longer then it arguably should have but spending the last five years in a six-foot square cell, and the limited mobility the arrangement caused, had not done wonders for his joints. If he were being honest Grimm really just wanted to curl up into a ball and recuperate for the next few hours, but he had been given, and more importantly accepted, a job. Reluctantly Grimm surveyed the camp. There wasn't much to be seen. In the middle was the brazier. It had been placed at the highest point of the hill, most likely to ensure that it could easily be seen by the guards on the walls back at Darkshire, only a few feet away was a small one person tent and next to it was a metre cubed box simply marked as provisions. Going through the contents of the box and taking inventory of what he had would probably be a good idea, but first Grimm wanted to make sure he had a way of actually lighting the brazier.
On closer inspection the brazier was shown to be a rather simple set up. It rested on a small stone plinth and the brazier itself appeared to be made out of either wrought or cast iron and consisted of a large basin held above the ground by four curved feet. It was filed almost to the Brim with what appeared to be lamp oil and the intended ignition method was most likely the two small shards of flint next to one of the braziers feet. While this was all passable Grimm had never been a survivalist and didn't trust his ability to reliably strike up a fire using two small rocks, even if the fuel he was trying to ignite was a large pool of highly flammable oil. Instead he retrieved his notebook from his pocket and made a few amendments to the spell he had planed to use when gathering water for IP. It had originally been intended to create a small pillar of prolonged warmth but with only a few changes to the inscribed runes Grimm could instead make it release a sudden burst of extreme heat, enough to ignite the oil. He also added one last touch, two small runes. So long as the two runes were within a hundred meters of each other breaking one would trigger the spell. Happy that everything was as it should be Grimm removed the paper on which he had inscribed the spell from his notebook and, being careful not to break it, tore off the triggering rune. Then he gently placed the newly crafted spell onto the surface of the oil and tucked the paper with the trigger into his jacket pocket. Now if any creatures of the night did see fit to attack his post he would be able to focus on not being killed, as opposed to lighting a fire.
With the brazier prepared Grimm cracked open the box of provisions that Darkshire had provided him. Although the box was rather large it didn't contain much, all it had was: two weeks supply of salted meat, and water; sixty foot of hempen rope; a spare flint for lighting the warning signal and a small hand knife. Though they were rather bare bones the provisions did surpass Grimm's minimal expectations of a small box with some unpreserved food. After counting everything he had been provided with Grimm carefully packaged everything back up leaving the meat on top and replaced the boxes lid. Grimm didn't bother looking in the tent, being a creature sustained by magic did have some advantages and the biggest one was that he didn't need sleep. He could overexert himself causing some of the runes that powered him to shut down and recover but he never needed to power down his entire body. It was this property that would probably be the most helpful in the coming weeks. Having looked at everything in the camp Grimm knelt in it's centre with his back to darkshire. If demons did attack him tonight they would most likely be heading past him in an attempt to reach the town so it would make little sense for him to watch any other angle.
Time passed and Grimm continued to remain vigilant. There was little movement in his surroundings bar the slight rustle of nearby trees. Looking down to the base of the hill he could see the edge of a woodland that had yet to spread up to his camp. The trees were pale and almost skeletal in their lack of leaves. Boredom wasn't an issue as his high perch gave him a lot to look at. The hill wasn't giant by any stretch but from it he was able to see for a good few hundred meters in any direction, the caveat being that anything in that range was also able to see him.