71 Sleepstorm Village

Me and Shelly focused on training for over a month. Other than the training, I had plenty of time to modify my leather armour. Besides adding patches of silver bear's fur to certain key areas, I also made more 'pockets' for my daggers. The armour wasn't really created with the Art of Hidden Weapons in mind, hence the need to modify it a bit. Fortunately, that didn't require any special knowledge or skills. A slit here or there, a piece of leather tied or sewn at the bottom and the pocket was ready.

As for the silver bear's fur, it wasn't difficult to add either. My leather armour as well as the fur pieces required only a few holes. I weaved some strips of leather through these holes, and tied the fur as well as the armour together. The armour didn't even look that bad. The brown-silver combination of materials gave it a great contrast, and more natural feel. Moreover, I was much better protected in key areas.

With time, the autumn arrived as well. That meant colder weather and more rain. "Shelly, I think we stayed here for long enough. It's time to move on, and get some stuff from the Sleepstorm Village", I announced. Besides getting a map, my plan was to get a few woodworking tools. Staying inside the village for a few months wasn't ideal, which meant we would need a better shelter.

'I'm sure they will have tools available, it's the map I'm worried about', I thought after we left our shack. In case we were unable to make a winter shelter, staying inside some sort of village was the next best solution.

We throd the forest day in and day out, until we encountered something... Weird. "I saw a marsh or two in the past, but this... This doesn't look normal", I said out loud at the sight in front of me. "Shelly, don't get any closer to that", I warned and observed from afar. I saw purple-ish puddles and rotten vegetation everywhere. The trees pretty much disintegrated in that area, while thick smoke rose into the air. 'This is poison... Not just any poison at that', I thought. The strength of that poison was equal to the best recipes Nick had.

There was no doubt in my mind that whatever happened there, was man made. 'I also doubt this poison was released for the heck of it... At least the amount suggests otherwise. Just who the hell created that?', I asked myself, then checked the map. "The closest village right now is the Sleepstorm Village. I doubt anyone will know about this, but we will see. Shelly, let's go. This area is dangerous", I added.

After avoiding the poisonous area, we moved towards our destination. That's until the evening, when the forest became a bit more noisy. I quickly extinguished the fire, and listened in. 'It's probably a pack of wolves or a sleuth of bears. Hopefully no silver variants this time', I said to myself. To my surprise, it was Humans not animals who made that noise. Though unable to hear their short exchanges, I was certain they were Humans. 'Hmmm... Either hunters, or something to do with that poison', I reasoned. We remained quiet, waiting for the Humans to leave. I didn't feel the need to strike a conversation with them.

A while later, the noises got quieter and quieter. "They headed towards the direction of that poisonous marsh. This can't be a coincidence... Anyway, let's get some rest", I said. The night passed uneventfully, with no other noises disturbing our rest. We encountered no other Humans heading in the direction of that marsh, or heading in any direction at all.

When we finally arrived at the village, I saw a few people in leather armour standing at the gate. 'Something's not right', I said to myself but approached them nevertheless. "Stop, stranger. You can't go inside the village now", one of the men said. "What's the problem? Did something happen?", I asked, confused. "Do you live here?", the other man asked instead. "No, I'm just a traveller. Anyway, what's wrong?", I replied, trying to get something out of them. "The village is closed for now. Head someplace else", he refused to give me any information. I didn't argue with them, and left quietly.

'I can get inside during the night. Then we will see what you are trying to hide', I thought while heading back to the forest. The Sleepstorm Village was comparable to Limestone Village in size, but the wooden walls were shorter. Unfortunately, I knew nothing of the village layout. That could pose some issues, but the main purpose was to find out what they were hiding.

The night fell, and with it my plan came into action. After climbing the wall, the reason for their secrecy became clear. "...This place is completely dead...", I voiced my thoughts quietly. Some of the roofs collapsed or had huge holes in them. The few torches lighting some streets and houses, revealed the devastation. 'This was no incident, this was a deliberate attack...', I thought.

Moreover, all that damage was caused by something me and Shelly already witnessed. 'It was that poison... It has to be the same poison we found in the forest', I realised before proceeding further inside. 'Yes, it was that poison without a doubt... How can that be possible though? The amount would...', then it hit me. No one poured the poison over the village. The poison came in a form of rain. A poison similar in concept to the Cloud Haze Poison, but also very different at the same time. The strong corroding effects were visible everywhere, it had to be rain.

'Who the hell created such poison? Even Nick's book contains no information about anything remotely this deadly', I thought. The cloud Haze Poison was only deadly when breathed in. It was also easily curable with an antidote. The poison that destroyed the Sleepstorm Village, was much, much worse. 'Nick's book has a few corroding poison recipes. Some of them were strong, just like this one. Yet, he has nothing that could create poisonous rain. Whoever did this, has knowledge similar or greater than Nick's...', I thought.

Corroding poison couldn't affect people through breathing, at least standards of poisonous effects told me that. Staying inside the village shouldn't pose any issues, but caution wouldn't hurt us either. The streets were empty, though the two guys at the gate wouldn't stand there for show. I expected more of them inside the village. 'They are either robbing this place, or investigating what happened. Either way, it's better if they don't see us', I thought while checking out one of the houses.

Besides the collapsed roof, dead and rotting bodies laid inside. The smell was rather appaling. 'This poisonous rain probably occurred during the night. It must've been a downpour too... The position of the corpses I saw so far is also unnatural. They were moved back inside, probably by those who ordered lockdown of this village', I reasoned.

Just as we were about to enter another house, faint footsteps reverberated through the empty village. I quickly entered one of the houses, and waited. 'There's more of them coming', I realised after listening in for a while. "Sir, we searched all the houses. There are no clues about that person. What are your orders?", a faint but audible male's voice said. "What about gold and valuables?", another but older male voice asked. "We took whatever we could find. This village is not that big, their wealth wasn't that great. Though it will make for a good bonus pay", the first man replied. "Good. Grab the others, we are leaving soon", the older man instructed.

'Hmm... Seems like they are here to investigate after all, even though they grabbed the valuables. I'm not sure if maps and tools could be considered valuable...', I thought. More people emerged from deeper parts of the village, but didn't head for the gate. That's when a smell of burning assaulted my nose. 'Don't tell me...', my thoughts were interrupted by the sudden action of all these men. My fears turned out to be the reality. They were burning the village down, staring from the other side which I couldn't see.

There were at least twenty people, each holding a torch and setting one house after the other on fire. Moreover, they were heading my way. I quickly left the house through the side window, and slowly made my way towards the wooden wall. Using the houses as cover, I managed to arrive at the wall unnoticed. 'There goes my map and tools... We need to search for another village now', I thought after jumping over the wall.