Another month, another day of volunteer patrol duty, or, as Astrid jokes, voluntold duty. It's a simple expectation from Thadda, and he goes on his own patrols to avoid losing touch with the guard and the people of his village. The last few months have been a weird transition here in Sky Peak Village. Where people would often cast suspicion at her, they now give friendly smiles of recognition. Someone more cynical might consider that they're just happy she's not a burden on society, but Astrid doesn't think of it that way. She's made her mark on this place and made a proper name for herself, especially alongside her favorite partner, Blue Raspberry. 

Ever since the two of them met Count Thadda and started getting more involved in the community, things in Dragon's Cradle have seemed oddly peaceful. The raiders don't test them, and even if they did, Astrid and Blue would absolutely destroy them. The duo is an armored embodiment of the wrath of the lightning fields. It's kind of fun. 

As Blue and Astrid stroll through the village, looking for any trouble, they hear some surprised murmuring from the village entrance and quickly make their way there. Looking down the mountain path, they see a huge caravan of people making their way to the village. The people look worn down and afraid.

"Let's go check it out!" Astrid says, running down the path. 

---

SPOILER: Click to show

Quest Name: Patrol Duty
Participants: Requires exactly two people (you and one other, if the other participant does not qualify, they will not gain the reward)
Location: Anywhere (Can be repeated for a different region)
Post Requirements: 5 post per person, 200 words per post
Reward: +10 Security for selected Region (+10 more if your home region)
Description: The wilderness is full of wild, dangerous creatures and enemies of the realm constantly lurk in the shadows, waiting for their chance to make a strike. You can assist your region by patrolling the borders, standing guard in a village or town, even venturing into other regions to keep an eye on things. You can detail your patrol however you like, throwing any kind of obstacle your way.

Blue Raspberry sighed as they walked along. Patrol duty was boring, but they had to do it. It was an expected duty from the two of them now that they were such steamed members of the community or whatever. At least sometimes something interesting happened, like seeing a giant lightning bird. That had been fun. And Blue and Astrid got to spend some time together, which was always at least a little fun even if they had to spend it walking around in circles.

This time though, something interesting was happening right away. Blue ran behind Astrid, clanking along in their armor as they approached the crowd at the entrance.

"What's going on here?" Blue asked, glancing around. In their armor, several people looked at them and mistook them for some kind of guard on duty, which wasn't exactly inaccurate since they were on patrol. One woman stepped forward with a desperate expression on her face.

"Please, we're just seeking refuge. Our homes, they're gone! The earthquakes, the lava.... We're not the only ones...." She rambled as more people stepped forward and nodded or murmured their agreement. They needed help, they were just fleeing from the disasters.

The other guards on duty kept them back, holding their arms out to keep the crowd from flooding into the village.

"Yer homes?" Astrid asks, looking around at the crowd with a mix of surprise and dread. Oh no, whatever's been happening all around the continent must have really hit these folks hard. The earthquakes have only gotten worse. She hopes nothing happens to Sky Peak. "Oh. Oh boy, um..." Holy smokes, there are a lot of people down the path. 

"Uh.... I'm gonna go tell Thadda!" Astrid says, opening her wings and rushing back to town hall, calling to any guards she sees along the way and directing them to the entrance of the village. With heavy boots, she lands roughly in front of the porch and bursts inside. The secretary startles at her sudden entrance only to flinch at her shouting.

"Mister Count Thadda!" Astrid shouts. "We got a weird problem at the front of the village!!" 

Thadda, looking less than impressed, exits his office and looks at Astrid with a somewhat unimpressed expression. "Yes, Miss Astrid? What has you shouting?"

"There's a buncha people at the village entrance!" she says, pointing out the door. "They came from a town that got destroyed by an earthquake."

Suddenly, Thadda looks more concerned. "Let's go." Then he and Astrid rush back through the village to where Blue and the guards are trying to manage... Somehow. 

---

Bat Wings [post 1/3]

The crowd was only growing more agitated as the guards pushed them back, not wanting them to suddenly flood the streets. They needed to check the people entering the village against any wanted criminals to make sure, but the amount of people was overwhelming and uncooperative. One man must have been particularly desperate. While the guards were busy with the rest of the crowd, he suddenly made a run for it, ducking under their arms and sprinting through the gate.

"Out of my way! I'm not going back there!" He shouted as he ran. Blue moved to block him, but the man didn't stop. He reeled back a fist and swung it at the wall of knight suddenly in his way, but his fist was stopped as if he'd punched an actual wall. Blue caught their fist in one hand and then caught him in a hug-like grip.

"Let me go! Guard brutality! We're just trying to survive here! Let us in!" The man shouted from within Blue's arms. Blue didn't know how to react, just confused. The man was shouting about being abused, but Blue wasn't hurting them. They were being careful to control their strength enough not to harm him. Blue just began to carry him back toward the gate.

Soon, Astrid and Count Thadda showed up and the Count took a look at the situation with a grim look. This was a lot to deal with and the guards weren't dealing with it very well right now. It was time for him to take charge and settle this situation.

Count Thadda observes the refugees with a dismal expression. After all this traveling, here they are all stopped at a final roadblock before they could feel the comforting arms of an untouched village to welcome them in. But these things need to be handled with logistics in mind. Simply accepting hundreds of people into the village without a plan won't do them any good. 

"Miss Astrid, will you use those wings of yours and go see how many we have?" he says, eyes cutting to her. Astrid nods, opens her wings, and launches herself into the air. The dense line of people goes quite a way down the mountain, but most are congregating closer to the gates. A few have gone to the area beside the village usually reserved as a campground for traveling merchants and started setting up a campsite. They've camped this long; what are a few more nights? 

Thadda turns his attention to the crowd and raises his voice. "Hello, everyone," he says, projecting his voice with the presence of a commanding officer. "I see you've all journeyed far, and you must be exhausted. Your arrival comes as a surprise to all of us. We accept you with open arms, but we need to organize a good way to accept all of you. So please lend us your last shreds of patience as we quickly take stock of your numbers and create a plan. My guards and dignitaries will assist in this matter. There is a campground just to my left here that should hold a number of you. It may be a tight squeeze, but I will get all hands on deck to ensure your safety." 

The man in Blue's arms had gone still when Count Thadda's voice rolled over the crowd and calmed them all. All eyes were suddenly on him as he commanded their attention with an authoritative presence. It was impressive how easily he'd managed to take control of the chaos.

Blue let go of the man and he went back to the crowd on his own, no longer trying to run for it. Count Thadda's words had been convincing, mostly because they were true. The desperate crowd realized their mistake of trying to force their way in. Of course they needed to do this in an orderly fashion. They weren't being forced away, they were just overwhelmed. Some of the crowd suddenly looked a bit embarrassed and apologetic before they backed up and headed toward the camp site.

Count Thadda looked to the guards as well as Blue.

"Alright, now that that's settled, we need to actually begin the preparations. All of you, begin the usual screening to let them in. Check the cargo and the wanted posters. This may be an emergency situation, but we still need to be cautious. No smugglers or criminals will take advantage of this disaster on my watch." Thadda said to the regular guards and then turned to Blue.

"Patrol the camp site and break up any fights amongst the refugees. Assure them they'll all be allowed in, eventually. But in the mean time, we can't have them fighting over food or supplies."

"On it!" With a salute, Blue headed out the gate and toward the camp site.

It's so hard to count all these people. Why did Thadda ask Astrid to count everyone? And they keep moving! This is so hard! After a solid like twenty minutes of flying and trying, Astrid's shoulders and wings ache, and she lands in a clear area and goes over to Thadda. "I-I lost count a buncha times. Maybe like... two hundred or somethin'?" she offers. 

Thadda looks at the little smith with surprised eyes under a furrowed brow. "Wait, did you actually try to count them all?" he says with a chuckle. "I just needed an estimate. That will do fine, thank you."

"Wh... What? If ya needed an estimate, ya could've said that," she says with a pout. 

"If you're unsure, getting clarification is important, Miss Astrid," Thadda says simply. Lessons are sometimes hard learned. "Thank you for your efforts. Wolfe is keeping an eye on the camps, so go help him with that."

"Aye, aye, Mister," Astrid says unenthusiastically. She drags her feet and makes her way to the camp and quickly distracts herself with helping people set up tents or fix broken objects. Keeping her hands busy and helping people are her favorite things to do. Besides kicking butt, of course. 

---

Bat Wings [post 3/3]

Everyone in the camp site was busy setting themselves up to spend a while. Who knew how long it would take to get them all checked and allowed to enter the village? Some of them resigned themselves to staying in the camp site for weeks. A few jerks tried to cut to the front of the line of wagons and carts to get in sooner, stuffy merchants and snobbish nobles who thought they were more important than everyone else, but they didn't get very far.

"You're not in the line!" Blue replied for the tenth time to one noble who had ordered their driver to pull their wagon to the side and straight through the camp site to move closer to the front. Now the rotund man with the curly mustache was leaning out the window, their face turning red with anger as they tried to convince the ooze guard to let them do as they pleased. Unfortunately for them, Blue Raspberry both didn't know and didn't care very much about nobility.

"I'm telling you, I belong at the front of the line! I am Lord Audacious Maximillion Von-"

"You're not in the line anymore. You got out of it, so now you go to the back." Blue replied completely calm and uncaring, pointing down the road to the back of the line that was too far to see in the distance. They were tired of hearing the same thing from this guy over and over again. He was a real jerk. If they thought they could have gotten away with it, they would have just eaten the guy, but they definitely wouldn't get away with that even if it was really tempting.

"I will not! You, who do you think you are, ordering a nobleman around!?" Lord Audacious sputtered, saliva flicking onto the front of Blue's helmet.

"Ew, you spit a lot when you talk."

He looked like he was about to explode from how red their face became.

Astrid walks up to the scene to see the nobleman spitting Blue's face with each word. "What's goin' on here?" she asks, looking the situation over. "Ya offerin' a free spit shine fer a noble knight?" Astrid grins deviously, and the man grows more flustered and angry. 

"This 'noble knight' won't give me my proper position at the front of the line!" he shouts. "I cannot spend another night on the road! I deserve to be in an inn!!" With the viscera spewing from him, he's expelled a lot of energy. The fat man seems to be sweating from all the effort. 

Astrid looks at the cart then over at the line and her head tilts. "Yer not in line though."

"That's what I said," Blue says, unbudging. 

"I was too!" the nobleman shouts. 

"Well, yer not anymore," Astrid says with a shrug. "And yer bein' a jerk. If one of the dignitaries of Sky Peak says go ta the back of the line, ya go ta the back of the line. Would be a shame fer Count Thadda ta hear that yer treatin' his people with this kinda disrespect, wouldn't it?" 

The stuffy nobleman trips over his words, clearly having not realized he was talking to anyone in a position of power here. Suddenly, his tone shifts. "M-My apologies, sir. Please, I need to enter the village. My life depends on it." This is an exaggeration.

Astrid exchanges an unimpressed glance with Blue. Neither of them like bullies very much. 

"Don't worry. You'll get in." Blue replied soothingly, patting the man on the shoulder. He looked relieved. Then he looked horrified as Blue finished their sentence. "Last."

Blue pointed to the end of the line again and the nobleman slumped down before falling back into his seat in the wagon. The driver, who had listened to the whole conversation, didn't even wait for an order. He pulled the wagon around and started headed back down the road toward the back of the line.

Blue gave them a little wave and then turned to Astrid.

"Thanks, I thought that jerk would never leave! Just kept saying the same thing over and over like he was stupid or something." Blue complained, not realizing they'd also kept repeating the same thing over and over the whole conversation in response, just telling him he wasn't in line. They just weren't very good at this kind of thing.

They went back to work helping out the refugees in the camp site, finally freed from the broken record of a conversation. Putting up tents, handing out some questionable, blue, raspberry-flavored beverages to the thirsty, and diffusing any more arguments between refugees or more nobles who stepped out of line. As the sun began to set, Thadda approached Blue and Astrid who were finishing lifting the back of a cart and repairing the damaged wheel that had hit a hole in the ground while pulling into the camp site.

"Good job you two. You've done a lot of good work. I'm sorry to have had to force it on you. I know you were only on a simple patrol duty today, so thank you for helping so much with this crisis." Count Thadda spoke apologetically and gave a slight bow of his head. "You can head home now. Get some rest. I hope you'll offer more help tomorrow. We'll need it."

"No skin off our backs," Astrid says tiredly but with a certain amount of optimism. "Takin' care of home means we gotta take care of people from all over, right?"

Thadda smiled and chuckled appreciatively. "You're right. Well, rest up. There's a lot of people to take care of now. You'll need your strength, the both of you."

Blue gave a small salute and the two of them started walking home. Things were definitely going to be busy around here for a while, but they didn't mind it. They were both happy to help.