To Arms!

          You can’t sleep. Again. Ah, the joys of being an insomniac. You will your mind to stop roiling, but rest continues to elude you. You quietly slide out from under the covers, and creep towards the door. The cold dirt floor awakens your senses even more. You tiptoe past your family. They all sleep soundly after a hard days work in the fields. Your father’s snoring is the only disturbance of the quiet. Stepping out into the cool night air, you breathe in deeply. The sky is clear and the stars shine bright. Around you are the scattered houses of the village, each one dark and sleeping. Before you lay the fields, in which you labor, day and night, with your family and friends. Framing the valley are tall, rugged mountains, the boarders of Galerradus. The land has produced great crops for the past generations and the kingdom has prospered greatly.

            As you turn to go back inside a small light catches your eye. You stare intently at the glowing orb; it moves lazily along the base of the nearest mountain. As it draws nearer another light appears. Then another. Slowly the lights multiply and there are dozens--no, hundreds more, trailing behind the first. From the faint glow you make out the large silhouettes of armed men. Some heads taller than the others could possibly be horses. They move with eerie silence and lethal stealth. At the front lines you notice a crimson banner barring the mark of Horreld – a black scorpion. The realization hits you like a slap in the face. The enemy is attacking.

What do you do?

You quickly wake your family, pack up and leave before the attack. [Click here]

You rally the town and call them to arms; you will not let them take your land without a fight. You also send someone, or go yourself, to call upon the king for his aid. [Click here]

Aspin O'Brien