Featuring: Aurelio, Lexa, Lyri, Soft-Feather and Zea
Date: April 18, 2005
IC Date: August 5, 3931
Summary: The crew members begin the momentous task of erecting a large pyre in the fields of Njororn.

Dafnastg - Njororn - Asgard

Slightly distant from the center of town, this area of Njororn is the residential section. Large longhouses crowd around the main road, with smaller alleys ducking between buildings. The long buildings are all build of waddle and daub and the thatching on the roofs is thick and looks newly repaired. The wide dirt road is packed hard from generations of heavy traffic. Long benches just outside the houses serve as gathering places for women while they work on sewing or other homemaker tasks. The ground that has not been consumed by the road of the buildings is scattered with a sparse grass, nearly pounded flat by the steps of playing children.

But like the rest of the town, this area is deserted. The only sounds to be heard are the occasional sound of a bird's song coming from the small forest in the distance. Towards the fields on the outskirts of the village are a few large barns, used for housing the town's various farm animals, but no sounds comes from the barns; no sounds of horses, cows, sheep or geese. When the wind drifts in from the fields, however, it carries with it a sickening smell, but the exact cause of the strange and putrid odor is undeterminable from this location.

It has been a long night and the day has not gotten any better. There was only a few hours of sleep and what there was had been fitful for many, especially those that had seen the carnage in the barn. But the morning brings little relief as the crew gets to work building a pyre, finding blankets and sheets for the dead and cleaning up the tavern. Who would have thought the tavern clean-up would have been the preferred task? The captain left early in the morning for Idavoll, and the command has fallen to Mister Burke who has passed out tasks to various crew members while he remains on the Amarada, just in case some Aesir ships pull into port.

The pyre is being erected out of whatever wood can be found. Planks from the barn are being dragged into a large field and the ringing sound of axes can be heard in the not too distant forest. With the number of bodies to be burned they'll need quite a large pyre to consume them all. The other stalls have been opened, revealing the same horrid vision, but still no sign of any men who might be considered warriors among their people. The bodies have been left untouched, for now, and there are low grumbles about who will volunteer for the horrific task of bringing them out to the pyre.

"Ain't gonna be me." Lyri grumbles under her breath as she hauls yet another load of linens discovered in some matron's closet towards the pyre. Sweat beads on her brow as the teenager manhandles the fine cloth, surely intended as a dowry for a daughter who will soon be burnt to ashes along with it, if her body is amongst those in the stall, as it likely is. Wings half-furled to counterbalance the weight of the cloth, Lyri slogs forward, still muttering under her breath about the bodies in the barn as she deposits her load near the putrid building. One whiff of the lingering smell sends Lyri scurrying away again, leaving her burden to be used by whomever will choose to enter and retrieve the bodies.

A rather large bear emerges from the forest, his progress impeded slightly due to something he's dragging behind him. Thick ropes criss-cross over his chest and shoulders, tied behind around a thick bundle of eight medium tree trunks that are situated atop a crude sled made of scrap wood and mental gathered from the town. Averaging about six foot in length each, the wooden trunks are indeed heavy--but dragging is much easier than carrying, especially for a greater as physically powerful as a grizzly bear.

As the creature comes closer to the main pyre area, two of the other sailors come forward to start untying the wood. This process has been going on all morning, with Soft-Feather serving as a middle-man between the choppers and the stackers--with a little help from the Grandmother and the shapeshifting magic she's given him, of course.

Zea got no sleep last night and her exhaustion is easy to see. Along with the long hours of drawing fresh air into the town, she barely slept at all last night. The combination of worry and nightmares kept her up. But she's a part of the crew and she has a job to do. This is what she signed up for and she's realizing just how difficult this way of life is. She trudges up from the town square, walking instead of flying with a couple other crew members accompanying her. No one is to travel alone, after all. She looks over at the growing pyre with an impassive glance. If she thinks on it too much she might just break down, and she must find the strength to keep that from happening. The image of the bear emerging from the woods gives her a start and she jumps, even her wings shudder until she realizes the bear is actually a member of the crew. Taking a deep breath she closes her dark circled eyes and summons the winds again in an effort to give the workers at least something fresh to breath.

Having seen Soft-Feather's bear form several times already this morning, Lyri is less surprised when he comes lumbering out of the woods. She still gives the large creature a wide berth, however. She heaves a shallow breath, having learned not to breathe too deeply of late in this area, watching the sailors untie the logs the bear had brought. After a moment's hesitation, she moves closer, speaking loud enough that Soft-Feather might hear her. In fact, she speaks a little overloud and slowly, as if for someone nearly deaf and slow of mind. Perhaps she's just not used to shifters. "'ere now...them boys let ye 'ave a break lately? Some water 'r sumthin'?"

The bear patiently waits while the sailors untie the logs and slowly remove them from the sled. Onyx eyes roving about the area, the ursine takes it all in without feeling the same oppresive and depressing wash of emotions the others must face. He's a creature of the wild and, while he does have a heart, he doesn't quite understand what's going on--only that his inner Sylvan has asked for his help in moving logs.

As Lyri approaches and speaks to the grizzly, the large shaggy beast looks up at her curiously. Whuffling as he breathes in her scent, she's recognized quickly. Affectionately, he nuzzles her leg with his wet nose and shakes his head--a combined response both from himself and Soft-Feather inside that seems to say "No, no break yet. Would now be good?"

Just as the day before the wind starts slow, but eventually the scent of the sea is heavy on the air, helping to push out the rancid stench of rotting flesh. But it does not completely mask it, for the smell is too strong to completely disappear. It does help, though. Zea remains stock still for a while, turning her gaze towards the direction of the sea and her back towards the growing pyre as she draws in deep and welcoming breaths of fresh air.

Not wishing to risk the health of the crew by drinking any water found in the town, Mister Burke has had the ship's water mage working hard at purifying sea water and sending the barrels into the town for drinking. Grateful sailors pause occasionally to get a drink of fresh water between hauling logs and chopping down trees.

Lexa appears, a few hurried paces behind Zea, making a face as she looks around at the state of the area. "Dear Gods." A nod for Lyri, before she crosses to where the windmage is, wordlessly slips her arm round the Empyrean woman's waist for a second and hugs lightly.

Lyri affects genuine surprise at the bear's show of affection, but after a moment, a slender, stained hand pats him awkwardly on the head, uncertain at the weirdness of the whole situation. But her voice is level when she replies, "Ye ought t' take a break then. Ye've been at it all mornin', I seen ye. We dinna wan' t'add yer body t' th'pyre now, d'we?" Her attempt at humor falls so flat it leaves a dent in the ground, but she's trying. That bravado of hers is ice-thin, and she's clutching at it with all her fragile strength. "C'mon then, I'll get ye some water." She takes a few steps towards the water barrel, waiting to make sure Soft-Feather follows. She may hate being a healer, but at times like these, even she can't deny her inner instincts to care for others. Especially when there's already so much suffering around them.

After having seen The Captain off and spending some time conversing with Mr. Burke, Aurelio has returned. Yes, he snuck in a very brief nap, about two hours long at best at some point between when he left the barn and when his feet now touch the ground in the area where the pyre is being erected, but no one would be able to say exactly when... or even if the hours were consecutive in nature. There's too much to be done right now, and this particular Empyrean, despite the appearence on land of having a somewhat flamboyent, lacadazical, and relatively luxerious lifestyle, is conditioned well enough. Wings draw in as flight is abandoned, settled at his back like a brilliant patchwork cloak, the feathers bristling and fluttering for a moment in thoughtful consideration of the world before him, of impications that maybe they try to reach out to... and fail. No, despite the discovery of the bodies, there is still much mystery here. And for now, the second in command simply walks up to the growing structure of collected wood and timber, arms folding across his chest and emerald eyes setting themselves in to a hard and silent study.

Ursine lips and tongue dry from the exertion and lack of clean water to drink, the thought of cool and soothing liquid is very alluring to the beast--and to the Sylvan inside, as well. But shifting back would mean feeling what the others feel...having to face emotions he'd rather not. But in the end, slaking his thirst wins out over emotional detachment.

Raising up to rest on his hind legs, the bear lets loose a sad whuffling noise, no doubt expressing his disappointment at having to surrender his forest-freedom back to the Sylvan. An inner voice promises more later, however, and the creature whumpfs as he falls back to the ground with a thud. Then, as if someone had dumped uncooked egg-white all over the animal, golden liquid spreads across his form until its entirety desolidifies into a gooey mass that ripples and flows with each and every alteration to the shape. It isn't long before the shapeshifting Magus Soft-Feather stands in the clearing, once again returned to himself. Before joining Lyri for water, he fetches his discarded robe and then makes his way over.

"Thank you for the water, Lyri. It's been a hard morning on all of us, I think..." Soft-Feather trails off, not really wanting to think about it.

Zea starts as she feels an arm go around her. Her eyes snap open with a gasp, finding Lexa beside her. There is a slight fluctuation in the winds as she's startled out of her near-trance but she gives the mongrel a breif, albeit weary smile. "Thanks," she murmurs to the other woman and she draws in another deep breath and works to quickly control the winds. "I would love to bring in a storm and wash this all away, but with a pyre this big it would take ages for the wood to dry out again," she says wistfully as she turns and looks back at the pile of wood. Glancing over to Lexa she asks, "Are you doing alright? This is, well, it is a bit too much for almost anyone to take I'd imagine."

It took the glow of a changing shifter to distract his attentions again. Yes, he'd seen the bear when he landed, and yes, that should have struck him as odd and peculiar for more than one reason. But with the boats and the shore temporarily secure perhaps he'd let himself fall in to a state where his mind had the capacit yto wander, to accept a small amount of absurdity in favor of serious contemplation. Or maybe he's still just tired. Either way his gaze does flicker over, a sharp gesture of first confusion and surprise, and then... a bit of relief. He hasn't had a chance to see his friend yet since they landed on the Aesir coast, and it's all too gladly that, even with the small hintings of a smile trying to peak back out on his features, Aurelio approaches the Sylvan. "Aye." is his greeting and acknowledgment, still somewhat too solemn. "How are the two o' ye holding up?" offered then to Lyri as well, including them both.

There's a pause before Lexa replies, as she watches, eyes wide, as Soft-Feather shifts, then mutters, quietly, "I ain't never gonna get used t'watchin' that." She lets out a careful breath. "I'm managin'. Shifted a body once 'fore - guy hired a room in th' Nereus fer a coupla weeks, never came out: turned out he'd offed hisself first night he was in there, an'..." A wry laugh. "None of th' folks wanted t'shift it. so me an' Darryn did in th' end." She shrugs. "Can' say as I was plannin' on repeatin' it any time soon, mind, but..."

Lyri takes a long sip of water herself before handing the ladle over to Soft-Feather, rubbing away the excess moisture with the back of a dye-stained hand. "'s no joke, that. But we be needin' t'look after ourselves, too." She replies with a nod and the slightest of admonishments. Lyri's gaze shifts to follow Lexa as the woman nods and then moves to join Zea. Blue-green orbs flicker away again as Aurelio approaches and she offers him a nod as well. "Well eno'. No' much t'do but go on. No' think 'bout it 'n go on." She shrugs fatalistically, almost nonchalantly at the only Empyrean on the boat more colorful than herself, and by a wide margin. But there's a brittleness to her expression and dark circles under her eyes. The teenager probably didn't sleep much last night either. Shifting her gaze back to Soft-Feather, she gestures at the water barrel. "Ye drink plenty o' that a'fore ye do back t'work, y'ear?"

Soft-Feather looks up as Aurelio joins them at one of the water barrels, offering only a nod in greeting. The ladle is taken thankfully from Lyri and is dipped more than once, that's for sure. Trying not to drink too fast, however, is harder than it sounds. Still, he somehow manages and then offers it to Aurelio, coupled with his reply, "I've been spending most of my time shifted. Helps to keep my mind off things when I surrender to baser desires, like sniffing for honey and dragging my claws across logs to work them out. But I work, too," he half-smiles, not wanting the pair to think he's just been out in the woods doing nothing but bear-type stuff. "How's the new job, Mister Aurelio?" He winks, trying hard to muster up some good humor.

This experience is a new one for Zea. Sure, she has seen the dead before, her own father even, but his pyre was set ablaze just a couple days after he died and he looked serene and peaceful. Granted, she has not actually entered the barn, but she's heard enough to know what she doesn't want to. She shivers and shakes her head at Lexa. "I cannot believe no one noticed he was dead for that long," Zea responds, looking a little pale. She opens her mouth to say something, but hesitates and then just swallows her words, forcing out a weak smile instead. "I don't think they'll ask you to go in there," Zea says to Lexa, "Not unless you volunteer to do it, of course."

Lexa just shrugs. "Tended not t'pry int' folks business in th' Nereus. Wasn' till we started noticin' th' smell." She laces fingers in Zea's. "An' now I'm thinkin' I oughta hush my mouth, mm? Y'allright, sunshine?"

"Aye." responds the Empyrean, patiently waiting as his friend quenches what indeed must most likely be a sizable thirst. But no, Aurelio doesn't take the ladel after him, he leaves it be, leaves it for those that have been here and have been working for hours now, for those who need it more. Insterad he just wears a subtle smile, drawn and etched by strain and unable to excape entirely the gravity of the situation around them. "Just what I thought it would be... All sunshine an' roses." And of course, they have neither of those. The sun almost enver actually manages to peek through the grey cast clouds that own the sky here and when it does, it spares no warmth, hoarding it all to itself as it looms tauntingly above. And roses... The only thing that smells around here... is death. "But hopefully we'll have this pyre done soon an' can give these people a proper rest..."

"S'pose I ought t' get back t' work on tha note." Lyri mutters. Nodding briefly to Soft-Feather and Aurelio, she leaves them at the water barrel, wings tucked tight, trudging off to collect the next round of cloth for wrapping the bodies.

Soft-Feather waves lightly, "Thanks again, Lyri." As the young woman moves away, the Sylvan locks eyes with the second mate. "We are in danger the longer we stay here. I'm no clairvoyant, but something terrible has happened here and if whoever did this learns we're here, then I doubt they'll just leave us alone. Look around you," he gestures to the structures full of bodies, "this could be us if we don't leave soon." Oh how he wishes for the open waters again...when just the other day, he wanted nothing but to set foot on land.

Indeed, the pyre has been growing and growing all morning, but the end of its construction signals the start of the worse part of the work, the wrapping of the bodies and the removal from the barn. No doubt those that undertake that foul business will likely get some reward for their troubles. There is usually satisfaction in a job well done, but there will be little satisfaction to see a giant funeral pyre sitting in the middle of a field. "Les' jus' hope them Aesir fellas don' return ta fin' us burnin' their women," says one sailor to another as the haul down some of straw thatching from the barn's roof. Unfortunatelly that structure will need to be burned as well, no chance it could ever be used again for its intended purpose. The thatch will provide good kindling however and some of the men are already working to shove it in between the larger logs.

Zea's hand is limp in Lexa's grasp, she's even too tired to give her a comforting squeeze in return. "All right?" she asks with a dry and mirthless chuckle. "I'm standing in the middle of death, I'm countless miles from everything I know, we could be attacked at any moment by fierce warriors who may think we did this to their people, I barely got any sleep last night and Se ... the captain has flown off on his own to try and sort this out with a village far from here." Working on the smile again she adds. "Other than that, I'm perfectly fine." The harsh scent of the bodies seems to get stronger and with that Zea scowls, sending a swifter gust of wind over the town from the sea, but it will never be good enough.

"Aye... I know, I know..." offers Aurelio, his head bowing low for a moment and staying there as he speaks, their facade of cheer broken, unable to bear the weight of the reality of the world around them. "But we owe it to these people, Soft-Feather. We owe it to these people to find out just what happened to them..." That bowed head shakes then, a defiant and determined shake that when completed has it lifting, lifting so that his gaze can meet that of the Sylvan's openly and with both confidence and assurance. "We would want someone to do the same for us. These people had lives... these people had loves an' were loved. They were known even to some o' the people that crew our ships... If we don't do it, who will? another vessel that comes along eventually? An' what if they just decide to leave too? Or what if they suffer the same fate? We haven't been claimed by whatever took these people yet... an' I think that does be a gift o' oppertunity that we should not ignore..." He knows Soft-Feather didn't mean to pack up and flee. He knows this very well, maybe they were words that just needed to be said, as much for his own sake as that of his friend's.

The red-headed cartographer returns shortly with another armload of linens and various cloths another sailor scrounged from one of the longhouses, wings unfurled to balance the weight of them. Drawing closer to the barn, she dumps them with the others, stepping back to eye the thatch being torn from the roof of the barn. Lyri watches some of the sailors haul it over to the pyre, weaving it into the structure as kindling, then mutters a shade too loudly to go unheard, "I dinna know why we dinna just torch the barn, 'stead o' makin' such a racket and fuss to drag 'em out and burn 'em 'ere. Coulda jes burned 'em in there." With a sigh, she turns on her heel to head back the other way.

"We will do what is right for these people..." Soft-Feather didn't mean to pack up and flee at all, though he's sure Aurelio knows that. "But I have a baaaaad feeling about this." The ladle is dipped once more, slowly brought up to his lips. Looking down, about to take a drink, Soft-Feather sees a reflection of the barn inside. Having seen first hand what is in there, the thought sickens him and he thrusts the ladle back to the barrel. "Suppose I should get back to work too, eh?" He moves like he's sore, but then who around here isn't? Soft-Feather undoes the front fastenings of his robe, preparing to change his shape once more. Though Lyri's comment makes him wonder as well, "Why is that, Aurelio?" The newly minted Second mate gets to answer the hard ones.

Aurelio's head tosses from side to side again, his wings flexing at his back, stretching outwards for a moment and then settling down once more. A reflex perhaps, a need to feel some sort of functionality. Whatever the case, he continues. "Aye well, it's their way, or as close to it as we can get with the state o' the bodies..." His gaze is then cast off and away from their current position, eyes traveling down toward the shore itself, and the water. "Ye see... normally they would float them out on a boat an' then set the boat on fire... But with this many an' the condition they're in..." He lets himself trail off, needing to say little more of the impracticality of that particular method. "So we're doing the best we can, erecting a pyre, burning them, an' then scattering their ashes out to sea... Besides... just lighting the barn is no dignified way to go, piled on top o' eachother, cramped an' meshed together with no space to call their own to rest peacefully on... Aye... No respect in that..."

Zea listens to Aurelio describe the funeral rites of the Aesir and she quietly nods along with what he says. Perhaps she's heard all this before, or it simply might be similar to how Empyreans see their dead off. Without the whole business of setting them out to sea. Another hearty gust of wind rushes in as if she were trying to scrub the scent from the town, but it only helps for a short time.

"I thought it must be something like that. I am very unfamiliar with these people and their customs. Thank you, Aurelio," Soft-Feather nods slowly. "Well then, I'd best go back to it." He slips his robe off and stows it away between the water barrels. Quite naked, Soft-Feather moves back over to the sled and picks up the robe harness he fashioned. Slipping it back on, knowing that the shape-change to a bear will fill it out, the Magus initiates his shift. Soon he has returned to resting on four legs, lumbering around and off into the woods once more.

Lexa rubs at her face. "I sure wasn' plannin' on offerin'. Least, not unless all th' lads chicken out." She tucks hair behind her ear, from where Zea's next gust of wind has blown it around her face. "That you mussin' my hair up, hon?"

A few more gusts of winds blow across the fields before Zea turns to acknowledge the mongrel woman with a nod. "Yea," and then a belated, "Sorry." But the wind keeps coming and it is to the point that Zea does not even bother to try and tame her hair. "The air is so stale here, so still and rancid that if I don't do it some might become ill from the smell." She turns her eyes to watch Aurelio walk off with a couple sailors to discuss something or other and then watches Lyri disappear into another longhouse. "I hope the captain can find the Aesir before they find us or it is possible that we might be counted among that number." She gestures towards the barn with a grimace. She is silent for a moment before she adds, "I'll get you out of here though, if that happens." She means by air, of course.

Lexa nods, and smiles. Right now, her skill as an actress stands her in good stead, able to keep a somewhat upbeat manner despite the carnage and desolation. "Don' sweat it, love." She turns a little, so her hair blows behind her. "Ain't a problem."

Zea wishes she could remain as upbeat as Lexa, but there is too much weighing on her noble shoulders. She watches the pyre growing both higher and wider and she gives a nod to it. "It looks as if this might be finished soon. It will likely take as long to get all those bodies out of there." She glances up at the sky and slowly turns and looks towards the sea and takes on a look as if something has just occured to her. "That fire is going to send up a signal to be seen for miles. Someone is bound to investigate." She has no idea how far the nearest village is, but there is the chance a passing longboat might see the smoke and come to the town's aid. Too bad there is no more town to aid.

Lexa frowns, nods. "Not a right load we c'n do 'bout that." She eyes the skies, for a moment, then the pyre. "Just gotta hope they don' think we did it." The dark-haired woman sighs. "Ain't gonna be pretty." She glances up at Zea. "Hon? Is there anythin' at all I c'n do fer you?"

The smell is really starting to get to Zea, even with the help of the wind. The air is thick with the stench and it is beginning to give her a headache. "I think I should get back to the Amarada," she says as she rubs her left temple. "I think I might be ill if I linger here too much longer. Come, we'll leave this water for the workers and get something on the ship." The winds do not stop and Zea has no intention on letting the air go stale, at least not while she is still strong enough to keep the wind coming. "Unless, of course, you *want* to stay?"

Lexa smiles a little. "Ain' here fer fun, darlin'." She slips a hand in Zea's again. "An' y'look wiped, hon. I'm gonna start gettin' bossy an' make y'leave in a moment."

Zea laughs and shakes her head. "Don't know how much good that would do, Lexa. I can be quite stubborn when I want to." Stubborn to other people, but when her own body tells her to stop, she does. She gives the field a brief look, gives a shake of her head and heads back towards the docks, leaving the pyre-building behind.

Laughter. "Darlin', y'can try anythin' y'like on me..." A wicked grin. "But don't try an' out-stubborn me. Y'd lose."