Snippet #2413995

The former village of Kartolheim greeted him with nothing but... actually, there was simply nothing at all at first glance. The dirt road that led to it from the paved tract just ended abruptly where the village was supposed to begin. Even from a close range it seemed like the village simply disappeared into nowhere, the place where it stood appearing almost untouched by man. However, the clearing was practically barren, with but a few blades of grass beginning to emerge from the ground.

An ordinary person, even an experienced mage, could search for days and find absolutely nothing. Besides the fact that a whole village simply disappeared here recently, nothing seemed or felt off about this place. It sort of looked like a field, one that was abandoned right before planting and rain and wind later evened out the soil. It was like the place was wiped clean and prepared for nature to reclaim it. The ground almost emanated fertility, prepared to give birth to countless plants.

Kain was circling the former village, searching for any signs of danger before heading in, when he realized that this feeling was more than an impression. It was obvious that something unnatural happened here simply from the fact that the barren land ended abruptly, and the areas around it remained completely untouched by whatever made the village vanish. It was like a patch that didn't match the color of a larger cloth, though comparing it to a hole was likely more fitting. The "lifeful" feeling came from the ground within the village borders, but not from without.

After concluding that he would be in no immediate danger from entering the barren area, Kain headed in to continue his investigation. He was certain the "living soil" was the key to this mystery, and it just so happened that he was properly equipped to open the metaphorical lock. Wasting no time, he headed to the center of the former settlement, where he sat down and entered a meditative state. He had already realized that it was his ability to sense living things that alerted him to the special qualities of this soil, but probing only the surface told him nothing. He needed to focus, to dig deeper with his mind.

For a while, the elf could discover nothing new. It was the same strange sensation, like the ground was full of life energy. And yet, it wasn't "normal" life, something about it felt off. This feeling was familiar somehow, as if he encountered a similar situation multiple times before. Feeling like he was on the right track, the young man focused his unique form of perception deeper underground. It was difficult to imagine, but he was beginning to suspect just what had happened to this village.

The discovery broke his meditation. Deep below the surface, there was Death. Dozens of people were buried under this strange soil, and all of them died within the span of minutes. It was like the ground simply opened up and swallowed the village whole. The lucky ones were crushed to death by the ground or collapsed buildings before they could really feel anything, the rest were left to suffocate in complete darkness. Their deaths were slow and terrifying, the best kind for sacrificial rituals.

Kain stood up on unsteady legs, his senses still overwhelmed. Not unlike himself, the ground absorbed the life energy of these people for itself. He wasn't even sure how that was possible. Any moderately educated person knew the seemingly lifeless ground was full of tiny organisms, but this was different. With a little effort, he could tell there were very few such creatures and plants within this strange soil. It was as if they only started populating the area very recently, as if all of them were somehow removed at some point.

He barely managed to fight back the sudden urge to throw up. The revelation filled him with disgust. One could argue that he was the same way as this soil, but it wasn't the case. He wasn't a living person in the common sense of the word, but he was sentient and had free will. The way he fed on people was not that different from the way any predator fed on their prey. But this place was nothing like that. It was the non-sentient feeding on the sentient, the non-living feeding on the living. It was against everything he considered natural.

It took him some minutes to regain his composure, at which point he decided to tackle another important issue, namely how the village disappeared. The option of the whole place being anomalous in some way was not even on the table - it would have been noticed long ago. It had to be a spell that caused this, but that raised another issue.

Who could have done this? While the elemental magic of earth wasn't his forte, his power was great. And yet it would have taken him days to prepare for such a spell. That or several hours and a good sacrifice. Needless to say, anyone walking around the village and leaving strange objects or drawing strange signs at seemingly random places would have been noticed and reported to proper authorities. In other words, the one who did this resorted to no such method. And while Kain couldn't be sure there was no sacrifice, he was certain that it wouldn't have been nearly enough to power such a spell; it would have left a distinct "smell" if there was.

His discoveries were unsettling to say the least. Kartolheim wasn't destroyed by the man wielding fire, but likely by another from the group he sensed. The elf only hoped that this one was the most powerful of them. Even then, the weakest of the group would be significantly more dangerous than he originally anticipated. He knew there were at least three of them, but there could be more. Their motives remained unclear, but both attacks were indiscriminate massacres. Perhaps both destroyed settlements being part of the Triumvirate meant something, but he couldn't tell either way.

In the end, Kain learned nothing that could be of use to him. He could get a better grasp on the extent of this group's power, but it wouldn't really change his approach: he always exercised maximum caution when dealing with something unknown. With an uneasy heart, the young man returned to the tract and headed in the direction of Bergstadt. He wasn't too hopeful about what he could find anymore, but it was still his best lead.