Edward wasn't dumb, he knew everyone was being quiet for a good reason. Staying silent he kept near the back of the group. The dwarf seemed like a capable strong man. He could handle the front. But what if one of those werewolves assaulted from the back? No no no. They would need Edward to watch the woods. To prepare for a sneak attack! Yes. Yes that is good.

Edward giggled ever so slightly to himself, the sound no more than an odd exhale.

Everyone took their weapons out but for Amon he already had his ready and out, still using it as a support. He got more and more anxious as time went by, his hand turned to a dark color of yellow creating a small and dim light in the middle of the group. Amon would create one shield that would circle around him and create two more in the very back. The shields were formed almost instantly, they were made of silver, quite a round shield with two spikes near the top pointing at the sky while one pointed to the ground at the bottom and one in the middle forming a single spike pointing in the direction they were in. He looked beyond the dwarf and towards the door patiently waiting for the dwarf to take the first step into the church.

As Rudolph closed the gap between the door and himself, he saw the intricate design of the door: the wood was painstakingly carved in Petrania's image, her arms open as if to embrace the person coming inside her house of worship. The dwarf pushed the door a bit more inward as he couldn't fit perfectly from the opening the door had been in already.

The door protested against it but with another heave, the dwarf managed to open it wide enough for himself. He entered through the opening and saw the place was as decrepit as it was outside. Looking to what had stopped the door from opening, he found vines growing on the marble tiled floor and noticing the hinges, it had rusted over time. It smelled of old antiquities inside, dust and pollen mixed in the air. A few rows of benches, nearest to the altar, were still in their places, however every other row of benches after were forced to the sides. Above the altar lied the largest of all the stain glass windows, only broken in some places and a single large tree had grown from the altar's left side, growing immensely over the years and arching upwards through the roof, puncturing holes and allowing sun beams to slice through the darkness, giving some source of light. Visage followed as soon as Rudolph entered. The changeling noted the church had arches over to each side where all of the benches were haphazardly placed as blockades. To the left, one could see two staircases, one leading up and another down; then to the right lead to some rooms, perhaps quarters of the priests and clerics.

Edward, Amon and Mari were just behind them¹ entering at their own pace while guarding their rear. It was as eerily quiet inside as the out, if not more.

They had exactly two and a half hours before night fell on them.

Natalie and Hunter had been helping around as well, Aurea had managed to see them and work with them a couple of times while they set up the traps. They did not speak to each other but very much were acquainted enough to work well with each other.

As Aurea left for the townhall, the two lieutenants kept working, building rapport with the folk of Thornfell. Something odd had struck them in light of all this while speaking to the town. While Sir Dreimon filled in a crucial role in the city, where was the previous? Where was the city's High Constable?²

Back in the townhall, the Mayor sighed. "She's late I suppose."

"Oh hello, Miss," Roderique smiled as the knight entered. After a moment, he asked: "What order are you from? Children of the Sun perhaps?"

Suddenly a rap on the door alarmed the people inside. "Yes, come in," the Mayor called out.

A burly man, one of the townsfolk no doubt appeared at the doorway. "A caravan is poised to arrive, sir. It looks to be from Lantern's Cross."

"My, my," the Mayor said. "Do you mind if you join me, Miss? Also Lera, this may be your stocks. I hope they came without a scratch..."

With that, Mayor Roderique left the townhall with those who wanted to tag along.

FOOTNOTES
¹For Mari, Amon and Edward: The silence of the woods is broken. A light rustling of branches can be heard in the trees but neither of you can pinpoint where. All you know its up there, whatever it is. Perhaps it is just a trick of your imagination? Birds still exist... hopefully.
²For Lera: Thornfell's High Constable is Quentin Thawne. Middle aged man, brown hair and brown eyes. Always wore his uniform when he was outside. You've never heard from him since the last attack.

"W're burnin daylight." The dwarf rumbled, "Best finish our business 'ere snappishly." The dwarf lumbered forward, his fingers readjusting around the knuckle duster before he clenched his fist tightly again. "First, da altar, then we c'n go deeper fr'm there." The dwarf however kept his head on a swivel, checking the stairs and the hallway to the rooms to either side of him as he made his way down the aisle.

Aurea nodded to the mayor, reciprocating not too sincere of a smile, as she headed to her at this point usual spot. When asked about her order however, she stopped dead in her tracks for a moment. "No, I uh...I don't think so, no... It's..." There was a sudden knock on the door, and the knight felt almost relieved, as the sound distracted the mayor from her person. It was a simple message from on of the denizens.

"I thought no caravan was able to reach this city recently? Well...The more reason to unload and spread the supplies faster." Aurea has barely entered the room, when she turned around and headed towards the exit again, following the mayor.

Mari paused for a moment at the sound of the branches being rustled. She gave one more glance to the area surrounding the entrance of the church before heading inside, behind the group. As the dwarf began to make his way down the aisle, she scanned the sides of the church. Given the scarce light, she only managed to make out the rough linings of the structure.

"I'll take the flank." she stated to the group, turning towards them for a moment before taking off along the wall of the structure and walking towards the corner of the room, hopping over the various debris that impeded her way with relative ease.

Lera was in a slump from Rudolph's chastisement of her combat abilities. She must admit, her capabilities prove to be unsuitable for team play, and her lack of experience with the aggressive lycans makes her especially vulnerable should she want to experiment. But it did not matter now. A chance to learn more about her limits will come. For now, she shall stick to what she had known.

She looked at the doorway, the entrance where the silver party had left, that now held the appearance of a well-built man. She'd seen him before, but never interacted with. She'd never had a chance to memorize all the people here in Thornfell, not that there was a reason to. There was another one before him, actually. A knight. She smelled of metal, typical of armored warriors. Nothing seemed off, and she was welcomed by the mayor himself, so Lera relaxed herself after a tense observation, her right hand latching onto her wooden blade.

Upon hearing about her stock, Lera immediately leapt toward the mayor, primed and ready to set off to the caravan mentioned with the old man himself.

"I shall accompany you, as you wish." She sounded calm, but her face was beaming with faith. Faith that the shipment would bolster the hope of the city.

With the mayor and the captain, Sir Dreimon, the city seemed to be under good hands. But if so, then where was the one in charge of protecting it? Sir Quentin Thawne, Thornfell's High Constable. A stuffy man who always adorns his uniform even in his days off, he would've never abandon the city in times of needs. What missions were he embarking on, Lera wondered. She would ask the mayor this question later, after the shipment matter conclude itself.

Edward followed the others inside and took up a post near the front entrance, facing the door towards the rustling outside he had heard. He placed his sword, blade point on the ground and his hands on the pommel in a mock-knight sort of fashion.

"No one is getting passed Edward. Especially not those that steal from Soramaru!" He excitedly whispered to himself.

[Church of Petrania]

Rudolph approached the altar. It comprised of a some ten steps that lead up to a platform with three podiums, behind that was small statue of an anvil with finer details like line work across its sides that matched somewhat deep indentations of pathways across the platform. The dwarf began to examine it podium and found nothing remarkable but the anvil did pose something interesting, it seemed that the anvil wasn't stone; more of a metal alloy with a cupped depression with a hole at its center. He passed his open palm on the surface and found it was slightly warm.

Amon and Edward stayed at the rear, guarding the front entrance while Visage moved along with Mari and Rudolph inward.¹

[Thornfell]

As the mayor walked towards the eastern gate, Aurea spotted caravan, its rider guided by a townsfolk she recognized as one who helped with the trap laying. The status of the caravan however, was not in the slightest, fine. The undead knight could make out signs of struggle, ripped cloth hang loosely on the ribs of the carriage and even some of those ribs were torn off.

"There should have been five," the mayor said grimly after only two had appeared from the woods. He quickened his pace towards the gate.

As the carriage entered the city, the town gathered around the caravan. Some of the folk brought food and water for the rider and some for the horses.

The leader of the caravan, visibly exhausted and distressed, addressed the mayor directly: "Where is Mayor Tristan? I need to talk to him."

Roderique approached and simply answered. "Mayor Tristan is gone, lad. I took his place."

"Roderique?" the rider closed his eyes in mourning and uttered a short prayer to the Lantern Bearer for Tristan's soul. "Mayor, I've got wounded. I need to speak with you as well, privately."

The mayor blinked and examined the man before replying. "Very well," he said acquiescing and lead the rider to the hall. "Daniel, Mira?² Please tend to the injured."

A spry young woman approached the caravan hurriedly as soon as she was called. She had long brown hair and brown eyes and much like Daniel, wore a white vest atop their usual clothing. They went towards the first caravan and began to help out the people inside, the second caravan was tended by the rest of the townsfolk under their direction.

Suddenly, from the second caravan stumbled out a man in full armor. It was visibly scratched and dented in numerous areas and blood matted his hair and face. People quickly backed away from the man as he was clearly shaken and dazed. The knight fell to his knees and on his hands, barely able to stand.

"Petrania have mercy," he said. "Petrania have mercy."

Sir Dreimon approached the knight alongside his men. "Sir," he said, his grip was already on his sword. "Are you alright?"

The knight's eyes shifted viciously to Sir Dreimon which shook the other men one step back. His eyes quickly reverted to fear. "Is this place safe?"

"We made it safe," the captain assured, approaching more cautiously. "Now come along we need to know what happened."

The knight stood shakily and grabbed the greatsword by his side. His breathing was erratic and his eyes looked around, scared. "No, its not safe enough. All you have is wood and stone walls!" He unsheathed the blade and attacked, the greatsword heaved with such force that even with Sir Dreimon blocking the attack with his own blade, the man was sent flying towards the townsfolk.

"Safety? This place?!" he exclaimed. He charged at the rest of the squad of Fedimiam soldiers.



The Mayor entered the hall once more with the rider only to hear the commotion outside.

"What is going on?" The mayor asked.

"There is an infection," the rider said. "I don't know how far gone it has but its in Lantern's Cross."

FOOTNOTES
¹For Amon, Visage and Mari: You all can feel a sort of magical essence actively being used below ground.
²For Lera: Daniel is the resident medical practitioner of the city and holds a clinic in the trees and on the ground; he is the one that handles the ground branch while Mira the treetop one. Mira is Roderique's granddaughter and apprentice medical practitioner.

"That doesn't bode well..." Aurea muttered, observing the ruined caravan roll in through the gates. Mayor's words further assured her in her assumption.

Since the first carriage has been taken care of, Aurea aproached the second one, along with the rest of townsfolk. She was still a bit far away when the maddened knight stumbled out, hence she couldn't react right away. His behavior quickly made her feel... angry? Disgusted?...Sorry? The woman couldn't quite put her finger on one certain emotion, nor identify what was exactly causing it. Nevertheless, her instincts took over once the knight attacked.

"Calm yourself down, soldier!" Her voice boomed through the air like a roar, as she quickened her step and broke the ranks of Fedimiam soldiers, standing between them and the madman. She still held her blade by the middle, it's sharp end pointing backwards, but such matter could change within a second. Hopefully it wont have to.

Man's charge was reckless, afflicted by panic and her plan of action -if he hasn't stopped- simple. She would either dodge or parry an incoming attack with her gauntlet and then ram the knight's chest with her pauldroned shoulder, cutting past his weapon's effective range and most likely taking his breath and balance away. Following his most possible stumble and her own movement, she'd try to disarm the knight, taking away or knocking the sword out of his palm with her better protected hand. He was the only threat, to himself and others right now, and had to be subdued before one could persuade him of lack of other immediate danger.

" It is safe, soldier, and we intent on keeping it that way... You've been through a lot, don't make all this effort go to waste now..."

Visage hesitated for a moment, then looked down at the ground beneath him.

"I'm sure some of you must feel this...there is magic here. ACTIVE magic...and it's coming from below us."

He gestured to the benches. "The last residents barricaded this place -- but I'm not sure if these barricades were to keep attackers out...or to keep something else in. Either way, I don't feel like it's as abandoned as we were lead to believe. There is a stairwell leading down...I'm going to investigate. Mari, I want you to come with me. The rest of you should tend to the silver and main entrance."

With that Visage headed towards the staircase that lead downwards, treading lightly. Shrugging his shoulders as he began to descend, he pulled the bow back to full draw. It seemed to surge with magical energy as his muscles held it in place, ready to loose it at the first enemy. Woe betide whatever creature might first present itself to his shot -- friend or foe, it would fare ill.

"Hmm... strange." Rudolph mumbled as he rubbed the small anvil. "It ain't magical or anythin special, 'nd I don't think the sun could've made it this warm." He looked to Visage with his grand plan and spoke up. "Oy laddie, that ain't the brightest idea to separate loike this. Magic ye say? Under the church? 'Nd like you say, if it was to keep something from coming out, we don't know what this something is so removing the barricades could just as easily let it loose. There also don't seem to be any silver here. So if ye going to the basement, yer going with the group, not draggin just the poor lass along with ye." The dwarf crossed his arms. "By the way, terms ain't negotiable. So com' on, let's hoof it, w're burning daylight."

"Magic? From below us? That shouldn't be possible" he thought. Amon looked around noticing that changeling has noticed it too he was relieved but kept the thought of something much more dangerous than werewolves in the back of his head. As the changeling went down the stairs he created two more shields with the same material and design as his three other shields. He waves his fingers towards the entrance having the two shields float over with the other three at the entrance forming a small front blocking the church's only way in. "That's all the shields I can make for now," he says.

Visage went ahead and headed for the left side, leaping over the barricade and stopped by the entrace which lead to a short curving staircase and down to the bottom of the basement of the church. Going in, it smelled the same way as the top, except a lot more... earthen. The changeling immediately took notice of the forge underneath, exactly the altar would be. A small magical flame had kept it alive, its colors shifting from multiple colors. The essence that the flame was drawing from didn't feel from here, it could be assumed this was from Petrania herself, a blessing to her church.

The divine flame gave only a weak glow, illuminating the roots of the giant tree above and indentations of pathways down from the altar to the forge itself. At the far corner, Visage could make out large tubs filled with something reflective.

Suddenly, a shift in the darkness alerted the changeling to danger but before he could let loose his arrow a saber had sliced through the space between his neck and bow. The saber's blade burst into flames and granted the changeling vision to his assailant's face.

It was a woman who wore a brown tricorne hat and leather coat with the insignia of the Lantern Bearer right at left breast of it. Hung on her belt was a lantern, simple in design and Visage could feel faint draw of essence from it as well. He couldn't see much underneath the headgear however, it shadowed the woman's eyes and nose but he was sure this one was human.

"I am Esther of the Amberwatch Chapter of the Order," she said tersely, the lantern glowed a ghostly white, as if resounding with Esther's statement. "Answer me, are you bitten?"

The flame of the saber was strong enough to shed a lot more light than the divine flame did, showing the bodies of several wounded soldiers and paladins, each of them with their eyes closed and sitting upright with their backs on the walls.

The rest of the team came a bit later witnessing the saber just by Visage's neck.¹


Aurea's words fell on the knight's ears seconds too late, his charge had already begun which lead her to the only option left in her: fight. Despite the size of her opponent's blade, she knew that with all that momentum, it could be easily redirected. With a swipe of her own sword, she deftly blocked, allowing the blade to pass her by. Getting her chance while she was inside the man's guard, she shifted her weight and momentum into an attack and rammed the knight's chest with her pauldron.

The crazed knight was knocked off his feet, Lera quickly ran forward and kicked the greatsword out of his hands.

"We're not safe here," he repeated. "Petrania have mercy."

Sir Dreimon approached Aurea with a nod. "Thank you," he said then turned to his men. "Restrain him." The knight captain looks around and approaches Lera.

"I'd like to know where the jail is so we can have the unnamed knight occupy it," he said. "Can you lead us to it?"²

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

"An infection?" The mayor asked. "What do you mean? And did you bring it here? My god, man, if you did..."

"No, Mayor, at first sighting of the infection we left."

"How sure are you? Infections can be subtle," the mayor narrowed his eyes on the young man. "What is your name?"

"Nocturn, sir."

"Very well, Nocturn," the mayor said. "Please tell me more about this infection." The mayor lead the boy to his office, passing through the sleeping Rhea and the reading Rabbit.

FOOTNOTES
¹Stairwell is a bit cramped. Order is Mari -> Rudolph -> Amon -> Edward.
²For Lera: You can lead them wherever since you are a resident of Thornfell.