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Raistlin wakes up slowly and looks around. "An interesting ride..." he comments quietly to no one in particular. However, his eyes go over to the smoke in the distance and they narrow as he slowly pushes himself to his feet with the help of his staff.

Goldmoon grabs Riverwind's arm with both hands and holds on tightly. "What... what have they done to our village?" Suddenly, she lets go of Riverwind and starts running towards the columns of smoke.

"We must go after her!" Laurana shouts, before anyone can react she bursts into action and chases Goldmoon.

"You should wait, please stop! " She shout as she catches up.

"You don't understand, it is my home, my people that are being burnt!" Savagely, Goldmoon turns away and moves on.

"Apparently, the armies are moving quicker than we thought," says Tanis sadly.

"No, remember? The 'clerics' mentioned they had traced that staff to a village in the Plains," Flint points out.

"Let's get going then." Tanis looks down and realizes his sword, bow and his other weapons have been returned to him. This is true for everyone else, as well.

"Poor Goldmoon," Tas says softly.

Tanis pats him on the shoulder. "Maybe it won't be as bad as we fear," the half-elf says, following the Plainsmen through the rippling grass. "Maybe the warriors fought them off and those are victory fires."

Tasslehoff sighs and looks up at Tanis, his brown eyes wide. "You're a rotten liar, Tanis," the kender says. Tanis has the feeling it was going to be a very long day.

-----

The village of Que-Shu was no more.

The ground is littered with twisted and blackened bodies. The great stone walls, the huge stone temples and edifices, the spacious stone buildings with their rock courtyards and statuary, the large stone arena--all had melted like butter on a hot summer day. The rock still smoldered, though it is obvious that the village must have been attacked well over a sunrise ago. It is as if a white-hot, searing flame had engulfed the entire village. But what fire is there on Krynn that could melt rock?

Near the center of the village's ruins, huge stone blocks had poured down from the side of a bowl-shaped depression, forming molten ripples of rock around the bottom of the dish. In the center--on grass that is blackened and charred--stands a crude gibbet. Two stout posts have been driven into the burned ground by unspeakable force, their bases splintered by the impact. Ten feet above the ground, a crosspiece pole is lashed to the two posts. The wood is charred and blistered. Scavenger birds perch on top. Three chains, made of what appears to be iron before it had melted and run together, swings back and forth. Suspended from each chain, apparently by the feet, is a corpse. The corpses are not human; they were hobgoblin. On top of the gruesome structure is a shield stuck to the crosspiece with a broken swordblade. Roughly clawed on the battered shield are words written in a crude form of Common.

"This is what happens to those who take prisoners against my commands. Kill or be killed." It is signed, Verminaard. This name means nothing to the Companions.

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The Companions travel 6.6 miles in 6 hours through untraveled grasslands and arrive in Que-Shu Village. It is now 1 PM.

"This is what happens to those who take prisoners against my commands. Kill or be killed." Soundlessly, Goldmoons lips form the words she reads, disbelieving. She stands there, transfixed, then slowly collapses on the ground, weeping, sobbing in deep gasps, trembling all over.

Riverwind picks up a rock. Holding it aimlessly, he stares around his burned and blasted village. Upon hearing Goldmoon's sobs, he drops the stone and hurries to her, kneeling to embrace her.

Flint, who has seen so much tragedy in his long lifetime, his face sorrow-lined, he pats Tasslehoff gently on the back as the kender sobs in a corner.

Tanis gestures for Caramon and Sturm to help him look for survivors. After a thorough search, though, the only living thing they find--plant or animal--is a dog curled up around the body of a dead child. It's clear that if anyone survived this brutal assault, they have long since fled elsewhere.

"What could have caused damage like this? There is no weapon on Krynn-" Sturm stops himself, mid sentence, instead he stands in the center of the Village, his hand on his weapon, his eyes drawn to the devastation, who was this Verminard?

His eyes are drawn to the hanging bodies, falling quiet he says a silent Prayer to Paladine.

Laurana, unsure how to act, sees the group trying to do something it was hopeless, she knew that, instead she concentrated on Goldmoon.

"This was your village?" She asks, putting her arm around the womans waist, her face was drawn and thoughtful. "You do not know they are all gone, perhaps they all left, these are the warriors who were left behind?"

Stroking her back lightly, she tried to be strong, yet... all this devastation, chaos...

"I could not imagine loosing my home." She says, brushing away a tear.

In the comfort of Riverwind's and Laurana's embrace, Goldmoon manages to pull herself togehter after a time.

"In a way, I've lost my home before, when the people attempted to stone Riverwind. But I had hoped to show them there were wrong, someday, and to be able to return."

Slowly, she gets up. When she gathers up the blue crystal staff, now an innocent-looking plain wooden thing, she seems to be in half a mind to throw it away. But instead, she shakes it towards the sky and screams: "Oh, Goddess, WHY? Why such devastation, such cruelty to innocents? Who is the ennemy that wields such power so savagely?" Eyes full of tears, she turne to Riverwind and Laurana. Softly, almost in a whisper, she says "And who are we to face such an ennemy?"

After a moment, she asks Riverwind: "Do you think you could scout around the village to see if anyone could flee?"

Laurana lets go of Goldmoon for a moment, the woman was hurting that was obvious. But in her young eyes she looked old and drawn, the gods.. What had they done for anyone?

She looks around, finding a young childs toy, she lifts it by the burnt and charred body, the head wobbling.
"This, this is mean, horrible, the act of a force of evil. How can we hope to fight such evil?" She looks to Goldmoon, this was not what she expected.

"The elves believe in goodness, so do the Knights, I think we keep goodness, our honor..." She goes to throw the doll on the ground, then stops. Finding an unspoilt bit of ground she lays the doll down, arranges it carefully and gives Goldmoon a pat on the shoulder.

Sturm stays silent with his thoughts.

After a couple of hours of searching, Riverwind returns to the others. "I found some tracks leading away from the village, but I don't know where they ultimately lead. Some people may have escaped." He pauses before continuing. "I also found tracks...that were not human. I suspect they were the attackers. It looks like they pursued those that escaped."

======================

It is now 3 PM.

Wide-eyed, Goldmoon looks at Riverwind. "Were they moving in the direction we have to take?" she asks.

Riverwind shakes his head. "They were heading south, and we are to travel to the east."