4 Deaths

[Ice Ice Baby]

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[SIZE="6"][tface=fellsc][tface=walter]4[/tface] DEATHS[/SIZE]
[SIZE="6"]And the meaningless slaughter of THREE[/tface]
[SIZE="1"][tface=fell]An in-depth look at the demise of three individuals who need not have died for the arrogance of the dwarven delving[/SIZE] [/SIZE]

[SIZE="4"]As Dictated by Witnesses,
Confirmed through Truth,
Researched by the Honorable,

Relayed and Written by Icebreath Cathailan[/SIZE][/tface]

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[INDENT][tface=fell]Two days past, the dwarven folk of the delving made an announcement:

"[SIZE="1"][tface=walter]Members of the Temple of the Furies of Mistlocke will be killed on sight."[/tface][/SIZE]

Killed on sight, they said. Allow me to emphasize this for you, my fellow citizens of Mistlocke, so that the breath of the Frostmaiden might illuminate these words further and you might see more clearly than ever:

[size="5"]KILLED
ON
SIGHT[/size]

It was not us, the devout and loyal of the Fury, who started to sling insults and slander. It was no us that besmirched the names of another's faith; we did not call out to the dwarves and claim their gods heathen and cowards! No, we of the Fury know proper respect to the gods! Know the righteous [tface=walter][SIZE="3"]POWER[/SIZE][/tface] they command! It was not, let me inform you good citizens, our mouths that called their women "greedy, insatiable whores," but theirs. And it was not, let me finally say, us who attempted to start a murderous rampage on the good citizens of Mistlocke - in their homes, in their sanctuary - by making it law to attack and kill all those associated with a certain clergy.

We were patient. We assured the Muster that we would not fight in Mistlocke unless to defend ourselves. We were understanding, yes, we were diligent! And for our diligence stood forth a hero from the throes of Mistlocke, a fine and honorable man who would not stand to see the dwarves slander Mistlocke's good name! He would not see the gods trifled with so carelessly! And so the noble Seadog, man of Aberdenn, took a step forward and said "No; no longer."

"To the death," he said! "I will not stand by and watch this!"

"For Mistlocke! For honor! For the Fury gods!" he told us, when we asked why he had so selflessly stood forth to defend Mistlocke.

And so, the equally noteworthy Tasure of Clan Rocklock, Servant of Raxtarashon, honored Commander of the Stone Guard, stood up to the challenge. He knew that this was wrong; that to battle the Furies and to endanger we the citizens of Mistlocke was folly. He stepped forth, cried an agreement, "to the death!" And so the the fearful men and women of Mistlocke - its defenders and mothers and fathers and all its knowing citizenry - stepped into the Forgotten Forests and witnessed as Seadog fought for the honor of this fine hamlet. And with the grace of the Bitch's tide, and the thunderous boom of Talos's thunder, and the ever-growing bite of Auril's mighty, chill breath - with all these, the fearsome powers of the Fury gods - he struck down his foe for the citizens of Mistlocke.

"Mercy!" Tasure pleaded, beaten and bloodied and humbled. "I am defeated!"

And Seadog of Aberdenn, honorable a man as he was, did not need to give Tasure mercy. He did not need to show kindness where the dwarves threatened death. But he did! He knew that winter begets fear and caution and [tface=walter][SIZE="3"]STRENGTH[/SIZE][/tface], not death, and so he stayed his blade in hopes that Tasure would learn. He asked little in return: Repay the debt owed to Stormlord Asad for unmerited banditry and thievery and assault against her, and pay Mistlocke's established consequences for such.

Tasure, a dwarf with honor where his peers showed deceit, said after a time, with determined eyes and a firm nod, "Nay, I know I was wrong. Let my kin know that this is the end! That this is retribution to Mistlocke and the Fury gods! That this is over!"

We nodded, in agreement with Seadog's good judgment, and so Tasure was given a clean death - a blade through the heart. Quick. Merciful. Honorable.

We opened our doors - we the Furies, and the honorable Seadog of Aberdenn - we turned to bring Tasure's body and things back to his home and lo!, here we found three treacherous dwarves - Kili and Xoth and Norian - armed to the teeth, enspelled with their gods' strength, having just trampled the ground of Mistlocke with their murderous intent and stumbled into the shrine of the Fury gods with their muddy boots. They cried aloud, called us murderers! We offered the body of their friend and they claimed that they would slay us in the name of the delving, as delving law dictated!

We fought back. We were merciless. We the Furies' devout and Seadog knew that mercy was a lost dream this day. And, for Mistlocke, we slew them.

What happens next? you ask, good citizen. What becomes of these honorable people?

I will tell you, that on XXIV Marpenoth, the dawn after the hale-storm of this conflict, that this decision lays on the citizens of Mistlocke. Will we stand strong against these dwarven insults and slanders and their endangerment of our families and livestock? Or shall we supplicate to the gods, fear their glory, and stand together with strength and resolve against the misguided tremors of the delving?[/tface][/INDENT][/COLOR]