It had been a long sea voyage, and an even longer absence from what was her home and birthright. Finally, after nearly ten years of being put into hiding during the great war so as to protect the royal lineage, she was now home.
Briar stepped into the tall stone castle with a mixed sense of pride and loss. The throne sat empty, one parent killed during the war, the other now in captive hands. The kingdom itself lay in rubble.
Briar stood and looked about the great throne room. It seemed like not a thing had been touched since she had left. It had probablly been the old servant Gustave's doing, on the prompt of her dear Alric who was the one who sent the summons for her return. Alric may technically have only held the title of Building Master but Briar knew he was so much more. He had been her father's constant confidant, by his side with every decision made, and she imagined, faught by his side too when the castle was finally stormed and her father taken away in chains. As she continued to look about the space she noticed that even the planters were freshly planted and watered, the usual dank smell of the stone keep instead filled with the fragrance of blooming petals. Yes, Alric had been careful to conceal the true damage done to her family and home.
Slowly she walked into the castle and came forward to the throne. She stepped up it's three steps and stood there looking about the room that she was now *Lady* Briar of.
The only reason the enemies had abadoned their attack on Rune was for fear of contaminating their own people with the strange illness. Rogue was thankful that so far she had not caught the illness herself, but for how long she could hold out was debateable. And now that the heiress to the throne had arrived, a cure was even more vital, to protect the heiress's health and the Kingdom's continuing existance
"She just collapsed!" Exclaimed one of the villagers, "Is she dead? Can't you do something!"
Briar stepped into the tall stone castle with a mixed sense of pride and loss. The throne sat empty, one parent killed during the war, the other now in captive hands. The kingdom itself lay in rubble.
Briar stood and looked about the great throne room. It seemed like not a thing had been touched since she had left. It had probablly been the old servant Gustave's doing, on the prompt of her dear Alric who was the one who sent the summons for her return. Alric may technically have only held the title of Building Master but Briar knew he was so much more. He had been her father's constant confidant, by his side with every decision made, and she imagined, faught by his side too when the castle was finally stormed and her father taken away in chains. As she continued to look about the space she noticed that even the planters were freshly planted and watered, the usual dank smell of the stone keep instead filled with the fragrance of blooming petals. Yes, Alric had been careful to conceal the true damage done to her family and home.
Slowly she walked into the castle and came forward to the throne. She stepped up it's three steps and stood there looking about the room that she was now *Lady* Briar of.
She felt not sense of fear, just pride in her home, family, lineage, and the kingdom of Rune as a whole. She would rebuild it back to it's thriving self, repaire the crumbled buildings, and then conquer all those who had dared invade her borders. In her youthful mind it seemed clear and without doubt of failure. She stepped off the throne and walked towards her father's strategy room where she would see what lie ahead of her...
...Meanwhile, in the small Physicians keep, Rogue tried yet another blend of roots and wildfowers, seeds and leeches, desperatly trying to find a cure to the odd illness that had struck the Kingdom.
...Meanwhile, in the small Physicians keep, Rogue tried yet another blend of roots and wildfowers, seeds and leeches, desperatly trying to find a cure to the odd illness that had struck the Kingdom.
"Please, Doctor!" came a plaintive cry from the waiting room. Another patient. With a sigh Rogue put down her latest concotion. She enjoyed the science and research of medicine, but the constant demands of patients seemed to never end. Reluctantly she entered the crowded waiting room.
A patient lay passed out on the floor from the illness
"She just collapsed!" Exclaimed one of the villagers, "Is she dead? Can't you do something!"
"I'm trying!" Rogue snapped, tired from long hours hunting through the forrest and valleys for different plants and roots. Shoving a stray hair out of her face she knelt down and felt the pulse of the collapsed woman. "She is not dead," She said, trying to keep the people calm, "She is simply unconcious."
"Are we all going to end up like that?"
"No," Rogue said, "I'll find a cure."
"You've been saying that for weeks!" Another villager shouted
Patients were always so noisey and demanding. She was doing the best she could. With the market in ruins there was no way of buying the simple things she needed which nesitated long hours of walking through brambles and mud. Long wasted hours that she could be spent trying to find a cure.
"There's a lady in the square," A villager spoke up, "She says she has a potion that cures anything. Why haven't you talked to her?"
She had been hearing rumours of this lady from the Eastern Regions since the illness had started. She had, at first, ignored the increasing claims of her curative power, but now Rogue was at a point where she was willing to talk to even an Eastern witchdoctor. She turned away from the patients, "There is nothing more I can do tonight. Please go home, all of you. My assistant will take care of the woman."
As she walked back to her work table the villagers slowly left, whispering under their breathe of what would be the fate. When the place finally emptied and quieted Rogue stood alone. She would have to talk to the crazy witchdoctor. There was no other choice. Tonight though, she would continue with her experiments....
