Mean while in the Market square of Vayham (part I)

another drama unfolds.

Just as the market was setting up for the day in the great market square of the town, not that it was going to be all that great a market considering the town had been under close siege for three weeks now and things to sell, especially food, where getting increasingly scarce and what there was to be had increasingly expensive as they became scarcer. There was always something to be had that was needed and the social function of the market had not subsided and there was always time for a moan about the town situation or same tale to tell about that nights fighting. Thought the chief topic this morning was that the Acolytes of the Great Hospital had cordoned off the shambles in the Newtown on account of some vile plague having broken out there and that a great crowd of acolytes had gone in to set up a fever hospital in its midst.

Then there was the tale of the heroes of the major attack on the Northgate of a couple of nights ago to talk, including the strange elf and his lieutenant who had lead the counter attack,  about and some wondering what the company of adventurers variously called Telec’s or Dvorn’s company where going to do to lift the siege after all the tale was all around that two weeks ago they had cut there way through the goblin siege lines with great slaughter amongst the goblins and those who manned the walls told that the goblins had greatly reinforced their works to defend against a second occurrence. Finally the Kalamarian lass who had been doing performance poetry was a always worth a watch even if no one here could understand a word of it, one could not but like the lilt and style of it, not to mention that the poetess was an uncommon pretty girl and that drew enough interest form the young apprentices who had precious little else to do these days.

Then it happened, there was a massive explosion quickly followed by a fountain of flame which rose higher than the walls of the keep and hurled gobbets flame far out over the north of the town falling into thatch and starting fires. The bystanders stood stunned for a few instants and then the alarms went off at the keep,the war drum and the great gold horn of the true sounded, and Militia men tired for a nights patrolling ad skirmishing with goblins along the walls where rousted out to act as a fire brigade lest the town burn. Around the market they where joined by the market guard and even some of the traders and their customers and some amongst the counts guard and the soldiers of the true also joined in though the strange Half Ork who had been rumoured to be hiding in the temple of the true and pretending to be one of their guards was no where to be seen.

Then the demon appeared not far form the now faltering fountain of flame. It appeared with a soft pop and a whoosh of air and no one who was not looking towards the flame would have noticed it until its war cry rent the air sending a shock wave of fear through all who heard its terrifying yet inchoate howl only two did not flee the Kalamarian lass who drew her sword, a blade every one thought little more than a prop to her troubadour act and charged it out of the arch of the keep the Half Ork appeared still aping a guard of the true and ran towards the monster.

Picture from here

The monster was a the form of a twisted red skinned humanoid of gigantic proportions wielding a sword of prodigious size for a moment it stood and surveyed the scene before moving towards the gate of the keep sweeping abandoned market stalls before it with its great blade. The blows smashing them and scattering the goods form them to be crunched under its cloven hooves

A couple of the counts guards on the gate recovered enough from the effect of its cry and had the presence of mind to shot it with the large siege bows from the gate house the bolts shattered on its flesh like hurled icicles on granite. It ignored the two figures approaching it sniffing the air intent on the gate to the keep and beyond.

to be continued....