[Game Thread] The Dark Colony

[hallstadt]

"Let's do it then." Rory concurs, nodding his head in the general direction of the village and holding out his hand as if to say, "lead the way."

[Stormhammer]

The group of Rory, Patrick, and the Magistrate notice several townspeople staring out of windows and doorways. It would seem that their activity in the cemetery tonight has attracted the attention of the town. Hushed whispers spread between the houses like wildfire in a dry field.

Mercy arrives at home to find Maggie frantically reading the family bible, crying to herself!

[hallstadt]

"Perhaps we'd ought to explain what we're doing... so as people don't get to suspicious?" Rory looks to Leopold--an unlikely ally, and then to his countryman, Patrick.

"Or perhaps we'd be better off just getting out of town, paying the Agawam a quick visit. Maybe we'll find proof there that proves no one in the town is guilty of witchcraft after all..."

[Carmac]

Are you going to leave them there to face this alone? Are you so cowardly that you would abandon your friends at a moment's notice as they face their darkest hour?

These questions and more swirled about in Richard's mind. He did not like leaving his friends, did not like abandoning them. Yet he felt that this was necessary, that there were certain things he needed to face himself.

The fact that two of the shades appeared to be loved ones had rattled him, re-opened old wounds and caused him to question his sanity. Yes, these were trials and tribulations that he needed to overcome himself, or he knew he never would.

Yet still, it would not hurt to follow them.....at a safe distance of course, until he was ready to rejoin the group.

So he found himself standing, and walking down the track that Rory, Patrick and Leopold had walked down only moments before....

[jessylynn]

"Good Lord, Maggie! Is it the children?" Mercy tosses the musket on the wooden table and places the lantern down with hardly more care. Then without waiting for an answer, she flies to the children's bed and sighs in relief to find them sleeping and unhurt.

"Now, what is this about?"

[copatt]

Maggie looks up, red-faced and teary-eyed, but makes no move to stand before her mistress. Instead she simply clutches the bible. The ghost, Silas, I saw him back there, she says, her voice wavering and weakening with each word. He charged me to look after the girls, warned me against the black goat. All of a sudden, Maggie remembersher place in the household. She stands and bows her head. After that, I had to know that they were safe, so I ran back here. With trembling hand, Maggie offers the bible to Mercy. There, there's nothing in here about a black goat. How can we turn to God's Word for answers and Strength when it does not acknowledge what we face?

[jessylynn]

"A black goat? What nonsense..." Mercy stares at her serving girl in confusion before her manner changes. She sounds almost jealous now, voice sharper. "Silas spoke to you?" The rest of the sentence is unspoken, but none the less clear. Why you?

[copatt]

Maggie bites her lower lip, knowing that she is treading dangerous water. He spoke to me, ma'am, only because I was there, because he knew me better than the others. It was before you arrived. I'm sure... Maggie lets her voice trail off, uncertain what else to say.

[Anael]

Look how they stare. Leopold says coldly to his companions. You know what they are thinking don't you? Do you now understand why I went about things as I did? One wrong misstep and the whole town will turn into a chaotic mess where all are suspect. He returns the gazes of some with a harsh warning stare. Leopold had the ear of the Mayor and the local Minister. Should they dare cross his path they'd find themselves with an uphill battle and he'd drag them down with him if need be.

[hallstadt]

Rory simply nods in response to Leopold's remarks, then gestures once more in the direction of the Agawam village, as if to say "The way is open--what shall we do?"

[Carmac]

Richard follows the group a-ways along the road from them.

He wondered briefly whether he should tell the others he was still there, then thought better of it for now.

But, an Agawam village....? That did not sound good at all.

[jessylynn]

"He did not speak to me." Mercy takes the bible from Maggie and adds rather scornfully, "Are you sure you did not imagine it? You said yourself there was nothing about a black goat and the children are unharmed."

[copatt]

Maggie stares shamefacedly at her dirty, bare toes. I suppose, ma'am, I could have imagined it. I could have gotten caught up in some sort of mass hysteria. I, I just want the girls to be safe, ma'am.

[jessylynn]

Mercy softens. "I suppose you could. It was quite frightening." She places the bible gently on the table and leans the musket back against the door, saying, "We might as well get to bed."

[Carmac]

Richard pondered much as he followed the others to the Agawam village.

So much has happened, and this, more than anything else has become personal.

Indeed, with the shades of his lost love, Angelina, and his father speaking to him, this had become very personal.

Obsession, a dangerous thing.

He who fights monsters must take care, lest he become a monster himself.

The thought, a saying he had heard once came unbidden to his mind. You see, what made this dangerous, made him dangerous was the fact that both Angelina and Richard's deaths had never been accounted for, never been explained. Both died in mysterious circumstances, and where Richard had thought that once he could have laid this to rest, put their deaths behind him, the encounter in the graveyard had ripped open a fresh wound, one that would not be so easy to put behind him.

You see, for this reason, he needed to discover the truth. He needed closure. And that, more than anything else, had made him separate from the others, even though he still maintained a safe distance.

I love you Richard

His mind cast himself back to that day, the last fateful day he had seen his Angelina alive. He remembered it well, to the beautiful, shimmering dress she wore, her black hair tumbling down over her shoulders. Her blue eyes glinting with the light of life, a shimmering, mischievous light that sparkled with laughter and joy.

*****

I see her, lying on her back in the gardens. Her face, unearthly in its beauty. Her skin, pale white, the colour of marble. She looks so peaceful there, under the moonlight. A singular figure of perfection. I would have thought her sleeping, so peaceful she looks, untroubled and unconcerned by the troubles of life. Yet, she is not. Something is wrong. Her eyes stare blankly ahead. Her chest does not rise and fall with her breath. Somehow I knew, at that moment, without even getting to her side that she has gone. And that she will never come back.

*****

They were to be married that spring. A joyful union it should have been under the eyes of God himself. Yet, in that moment Richard's life was gone, taken away with the death of his fiancee.

As he watched his world fall to pieces, as he became obsessed with the drink, as his money and his fortune dwindled away, as he lost his home, throughout everything he clung onto one thing, and one thing only.

He wandered the streets, scavenging on what little scraps he could, tolerating the rain, surviving the winter alone. Desperate to survive, he did whatever he could, whatever was necessary to live another day, to maintain his fragile grip upon life, because there was only one thing left to him.

Vengeance. The truth. He would find the truth of his fiancee's death, and gain his revenge on whoever, or whatever had done this.

And after that he would be gone. There was nothing left on this planet for him.

*****

Obsession. Truly a dangerous word, and a dangerous state of mind, but that was all Richard was now.

And somehow, deep down, he felt he was close to the truth, and this secret, this mysterious black goat would lead him to what he wanted.

He felt his pistol in his tattered jacket, drawing comfort from its presence.

The truth would set him free, and it would not be long now.....