Burning Bright | Gaining Momentum
It was a fairly busy sennight recently, but that’s not all that uncommon for me. I went with Kosuke Kiritsugi and Zerey to investigate the Watchtower that stands on the north side of the cenote in Nightcross. Zerey wanted to see if the building was still salvageable, something about improving the state of security for the village. While I don’t disagree with him, I still feel our priority should be for the Storehouse, because if all their food and building supplies get ruined by the environment or stolen by raiding beasts, then there won’t be a village to need that protection and security. Still, it’s good to see Zerey taking initiative to do something; he’s seemed very listless of late when I’ve seen him.
There’s a reason that I travel armed and armored most days, because any time I get involved in something it almost always goes sideways. What starts as the most innocuous gathering turns into a fight-for-your-life battle with one thing or another. This situation proved no different, although it was less fighting for my own life and more working to save Zerey’s.
When we got to the Watchtower, the outside of it seemed a bit dilapidated but there seemed to be some good bones underneath. Kosuke and I decided to investigate, see if the foundation and the support structure were still sound. If those were in fairly good condition, then it would just be a matter of replacing the wall and floorboards. We went in the front door and Zerey decided he’d climb the ladders to the upper levels to make his own assessment.
The interior was about what I expected. A tiny bit overgrown from those plants and vines that managed to eke their way between the floorboards and the wall boards. Rodentia and other creatures of the jungle had made nesting grounds in the shelter of the interior. I found a crate of supplies, given that this tower used to be used to barracks the local militia. It told a silent story of how urgent their egress from this place was, given that an entire crate of tools, uniforms, and bedding were just left to molder. I’m surprised the tower isn’t more damaged, given what Zoraal Ja’s troops did to Tuliyollal, but we’ll take our small miracles where we can find them.
As we were conducting our interior inspection, though, I’m not sure what Zerey did above us. All we heard was a resounding CRASH! So, I threw a shield around Kosuke using the runes inscribed on my greataxe, thanks to Garret Hjorth, then we both got out of there. We look up to check on Zerey only to find him trapped on the fifth level of the Watchtower, because he’d somehow managed to knock down every single one of the climbing ladders. Granted, they weren’t in that great of condition when he started, they creaked and groaned even under his slight weight, but Vidraal’s Fangs, I’m glad he wasn’t on the ladders when it happened.
Using a rope and grappling hook I found in the supply crate that wasn’t too rodent-eaten or worn, I threw it up to let Zerey slide down it using his belt. What happened after that — well, only the three of us will ever know.
A few days later, while hanging out with Oxomoco Canek, we also encountered Briar Balboa and Zerey again. Briar is apparently having some kind of trouble among her tribe, which is an interesting thing considering she’s not one to mention them often. She plays things close to the vest, that one, not that I blame her. Even my own social circle is small, because I don’t believe in bringing complete strangers into my business. Any time I’ve attempted it, it’s always left sour grapes in my mouth. Some people just can’t be trusted.
Zerey also spoke of finding a new path for himself, so I suggested he look into the Vipers of Tural and the Wings of Protection in Tuliyollal. Not only would that give him a new fighting style to learn, but it would give him a way to help others and train himself up, given that the Wings are taking in adventurers of all sorts to hunt down troublesome beasts and monsters that have cropped up in Tural since all the upheaval. Still, it would suit him and his samurai fighting style well, provided he can learn to use two blades instead of one.
