Lord Llane, Lady Mertree's noble-born steward, had taken Careena from the Lady's presence and toward the servants part of the dun. Picking up from there ...
"Ciethy!" Llane called to one of the serving women, "Please take Careena, find the dog-boy and tell him to give the dog Talan to her," and with a nod in Careena's direction, he went back to the honour table to wait upon Lady Mertree.
Ciethy was a nice lass - Careena remembered her as a child in the village - and she chattered away to Careena as she led her out and then around the dun to the kennels. There was no sign of the dog-boy, so Ciethy screamed his name,"Llantwell! Where are you?!" Thus summoned, Llantwell came running from behind the kennels.
"You're to give this lady the dog Talan - he came as a ratter last year, do you remember?"
"Aye, I do," he replied, "And good riddance to him, I say - I've not been able to do a thing with him." He whirled and went into the kennels before Careena could say anything. Ciethy bid her farewell and returned to her chores, just as Llantwell came out leading a reluctant Talan.
 |
| Talan the Terrier |
Careena took the rope from Llantwell and led Talan out of the dun before kneeling next to him and making a fuss of him - for some reason, she hadn't wanted to do that in front of the dog-boy.
Walking back to the village with Talan, Careena felt happier that she had for a while and began to ponder what she should do now. She had sworn an iron vow to the shade of the Dwarf who's remains were back with her gear at home to return them to their kin. She had sworn other iron vows but they were to herself and the one to someone else took precedence in her mind.
So, she needed to go to Llangoed and see cousin Kone. But a few days wouldn't make any difference to a Dwarf who had been dead for decades, so she'd spend them with her parents before leaving for Llangoed ...
I'm going to call this progress on her vow to return the Dwarf to his kin
Reach a Milestone: I will return this Dwarf's bones to his kin, prog 3/20
As the few days that Careena had given herself in Hillbarrow passed, there was talk of rescuing the villagers taken by the Broken, but Cardy, the headman, said that Lady Mertree's warband would be doing that ... However, while Careena was at the village she heard nothing of it, not even whether a rescue attempt had been made ...
Nobody but Careena and Lagon seemed to care that the Broken had been far more organised and ... intelligent than before, despite Lagon speaking out about it. All the rest of the village seemed to care about was that the Broken had not returned and that the palisade be fixed as quickly as it could - something that Careena helped with.
But Careena had other things on her mind. She was trying to decide what - if anything - to tell her mother about Rhuddli. He was her friend and Careena knew that Tuage must be wondering why Careena was not with him and had not even mentioned him. Actually, Careena was surprised that Tuage had not asked about him, she had never been one to be backward about coming forward after all ...
Careena finally brought him up on the day before she planned to leave and discovered that Tuage knew all about what had happened as Gamana had told her - she'd just been waiting to see how, if at all, Careena brought the subject up. Careena hadn't even known that Gamana knew her mother! Tuage revealed that it had been the Thornbinders that had rescued her as a child and, while with them, Gamana had helped Tuage open her Sight and taught her the Rituals that she knew.
Careena found it difficult to accept that it was a coincidence that Gamana had taught both mother and daughter, and now understood why the Thornbinders had accepted her so quickly. Tuage adamantly denied that she or Gamana had 'arranged' any of the events of last autumn and was deeply hurt by Rhuddli's betrayal of Careena's trust. The fact that he had cursed Careena and attacked her with the Hound-Haunt had created a deep hate for him in Tuage. Careena pitied him if he ever came back to Hillbarrow - her mother's hostility meant he would never be welcomed there again.
At peace with herself and having no more secrets from her parents, Careena prepared herself to leave for Llangoed. She had not been there herself, but Lagon had given her detailed directions and told her how to find Kone - he was working as a blacksmith for the town and planning to move on at the start of summer, although Lagon did not know where to.
Secure an Advantage: 5 +3 [wits] vs 5,1; strong hit, +1 to next moveA fine spring morning saw Careena taking a fond farewell from her parents and, with Talan gambolling around her feet like a pup, she set out from Hillbarrow. She expected to pass by Highmount, another of Lady Mertree's villages south of her dun, not long after mid-day and would be walking through farmland for most of the day.
Undertake a Journey - Hillbarrow to Llangoed (troublesome) prog 0/10; 3 +3 [wits] +1 [SaA] vs 10,2; weak hit, -1 supply -> 4, prog ->3/10
It wasn't until she had almost reached Highmount, that Careena realised that there was something terribly wrong at Hillbarrow; how could the villagers - herself included - accept the abduction of so many of them so passively?! These were friends and family, taken in the middle of the night to the Gods alone knew what fate and no-one had cared a whit about it! How could Careena have forsaken them like that?! How could the entire village?!
Instinctively, Careena knew that whoever had organised the Broken so effectively must be behind the bewitchment of Hillbarrow - what else could it have been?
I wrote and published this post in July '19. Coming back to it now - March '20 - I realise that what I originally wrote about Careena forsaking her vow goes completely against the chronicle up to this point - i.e. that Dwarves never forsake their vows. I believe that it was an unconscious realisation of this that led to me being unable to continue the story at that time which was why I abandoned it.
As a result I have decided to retconn the story and have used strike through to indicate what is now excised.
Forsake Your Vow: I will return this Dwarf's bones to his kin : extreme; -4 spirit -> 1
Endure Stress: 6 +2 [heart] vs 3,5; strong hit, Shake it off -1 mom -> 7, +1 spirit -> 2
Swear an Iron Vow - I will lay these Dwarven bones to rest underground - troublesome; 4 +2 [heart] vs 1,8; weak hit, +1 mom -> 8
Swear an Iron Vow - I will find the people of Hillbarrow taken by the Broken - dangerous; 5 +2 [heart] vs 6,1; strong hit, +2 mom -> 10
As per the note before the struckthrough section I reached an impasse at this point, which as yet - April 20 - I've not been able to pass ... so there may be more of this story at some point, but if so I don't know when - or if - that will be.