>>5365549“They…passed through our village. We thought they were just merchants but…one night…w-when I was returning home, some of those soldiers grabbed me and my brother. They locked us in that wagon. And others from our village too.”
“Some of the others have told the same story.” Sebastian says. “A merchant caravan, passing through their village, and finding themselves unlucky enough to be kidnapped. Some of them come from as far as Gloucester.”
>“That’s a long way to drag these people around. Why were they taking you to Siward?”Sara shakes her head vigorously. “N-not Siward…One day, I overheard some of the guards talking outside our wagon. They said they were keeping us…until they returned to Ordelia.”
>“Ordelia? What’s in Ordelia?” You were somewhat familiar with the territory. Lysithea’s home, it was a smaller region of the Leicester Alliance. The ruling house was infamously weak, and the region had notorious bandit problems.Sara pales. “I don’t know…but the way they spoke, they made it sound as though we were going to die there. My brother…” Her face twists up, and she begins shaking. “The man in the cloak…he took him away. He did something to him. I could hear him screaming. He screamed for hours. I-is he okay?”
>“…I’m sorry, Sara. I don’t know. Thank you telling your story. Sebastian, please see that her injuries are taken care of.”The knight leads the girl away by the hand, leaving you and Corrine alone.
“Ordelia is technically pro-Imperial, though it matters little. The region doesn’t have much power, and Lysithea, the heir to House Ordliea, threw in her lot with Claude. Count Ordelia likely sides with the Empire more out of preservation than any true loyalty.”
>“Yes, but it seems our merchant friend had some pressing business there. Claude will want to know about this. Were there any other clues we were able to find? Anything in Echeverria’s wagon?”Corrine shrugs. “That Demonic Beast destroyed it pretty thoroughly. Everything was smashed up. Someone did find this on his corpse, though.” Despite being damaged, torn and blood-soaked, Corrine is unmistakably handing you a book. You open it, expecting to find perhaps a log, or maybe even a diary.
>“…I can’t read this…” Besides the heavy damage the book has taken, the writing that is inside is something you’ve never seen before. It’s completely unrecognizable.Corrine sighs. “Of course not. It would be too easy if you could. I’ve never seen that language in my life. I have no idea just what it’s supposed to be. But perhaps someone back at Derdriu will?”
>“Well…it’s something to go on.”“Oh, there was this too. We found it in the supplies. 2000 gold pieces.”
>A): Claim the lion’s share for yourself>B): Split it amongst your comrades>C): Share it with the captured prisoners 