village-capture (May-2025)

Life in the village was peaceful. Any one member of the village knew another, and may have had some vague relation to their neighbor, the village leader, or even the occasional adventurous soul that made a spectacle of leaving the village for one of the great cities controlled by the nearby Yădakk, hopeful to make it big running trade like the occasional merchant that passed through the village.

Then it began. At first it was one person. There were some murmurs, but maybe they simply eloped. There was that merchant caravan that came by last night and partook in the village festival, perhaps they hit it off and opted to leave in the dead of night because they didn't much enjoy the spectacle of departure everyone in the village seemed to have made a tradition of.

Then another, a week later. Maybe they were dissatisfied, or just desperate to get something more for their family. There was another stranger that came by last night too.

2 more, not even 3 days later. These disappearances were beginning to feel suspicious.

A month has passed. People disappear on the regular, and strangers are coming and going almost daily, some in the merchant caravans that used to be trustworthy but now are collectively eyed with suspicion. Most of the able-bodied have left the village for reasons unknown, all in the dead of night and all following these visits.

Then the first one to disappear returned. They looked scared, terrified of contact with anyone. The clothes they wore were unfamiliar and tattered, and they behaved so strangely it almost made them unrecognizable. The village crowded around the surprising return, and the curiosity and endless questions made them deaf to the incoming army. It's only when it's too late that the village has been overrun by the Ürkaz, and even if they saw fit to strip the village of all its able bodied citizens, the escape of a victim of trafficking from here has forced their hand.

This village now serves as a stronghold for the Ürkaz.