Lost in the Wilderness
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Theodopholus Silverleaf sat by the fire in Norwick. His carefully schooled face was expressionless.
Pondering, he recalled the memory of a bear come to the ruins of Norwick's southern gates. He had given it healing after it claimed a human had attacked it. In the doing, he figured he had saved at least two lives. The bear was badly wounded and would probably have died without his help, either in the fight it wanted or of the wounds. Two people he had just met were likely to have been attacked. Healing the bear had balanced the scales, giving, if not retribution, at least justice to a creature seeking vengeance.
More troubling had been the statement by a man that the Hungry One was a Bear Spirit troubling the town. Theo's own readings, if true, stated that it was the Demon Lord of the Undead working His ways in the land. That argument had been heated, but strictly verbal.
Finally, the three of them had gone to investigate the graveyard. It wasn't their original destination, but undead more powerful than usual in the ruins had lead them to one of the crypts. An undead priest ended up being the trouble, and they had barely survived destroying it.
Lareth, his panther companion, looked up, sensing her chosen's distress. She moved over, laying on his feet, and chuffed up at him, trying to comfort him.
With a scratch to her ears, Theo went back to his thoughts. Slaying the restless dead was good in its own right. This torment of the town, and the chasm it was making in the balance between the Wild and civilization, must be stopped. If there was nothing left before the solving of the problem the Hungry One represented, the Circle and its allies would fail regardless.
Sighing, Theo stared into the fire, part frustration, part prayer.
