The Quality of Mercy (with Whitebrand)

[MasterGryph]

The Misty Forest was said in the past to be guarded by a family of fox spirits, who would watch over it and deal with any forces that would send it spiraling into destruction. However, when one particularly self-centered fox became the head of the family, their behavior became steadily darker. The new head said that they were predators beyond the physical world, and should take pride in that power. The world and all its residents were their playthings and food. While they didn't stop blessing the Misty Forest with charms of prosperity, they began mercilessly devouring anyone they had the whim to, rather than waiting to be provoked in some way, or starting with small pranks and building up. They would even steal away into nearby villages in the night to snatch people from their beds. It seemed that no one was beyond the reach of their gluttony.

But when the head kitsune's eye fell upon a bride-to-be and snatched her up the night before her wedding, leaving only a mocking note and a few red hairs for both families to find the next morning, the start of their downfall truly began.

The groom was so filled with rage that it awakened powerful magic in his soul, and the heavens sent a celestial she-wolf to guide and support him. With her leading the way, he obtained a sword made to channel magic through and set off for the foxs' home.

Nothing else in the woods could pose a threat to such a driven man and wolf.
The serious older sibling fought for her family's honor and their protection, but was struck down as the Groom fought for his lost future and the safety of everyone else.
The playful younger sibling had spread too much sorrow following her parent's example to be let off with lesser punishment, and her illusions had no effect on a wolf's senses.
The head of the family, having supped on hundreds of souls in her time, had godlike power. Yet the heroes were able to endure her assault, make her bleed with their own blessed attacks, and threw her down.
However, the curious middle sibling who had sensed their nemesis coming from far away and warned her sisters (but not the head), met the divine pair with something they did not expect...

---

"I was wondering when you'd find me," the vixen had been sitting at her desk, upon which sat a large mirror. As she spoke she raised her head and opened bloodshot eyes to look at the intruders as they were reflected in front of her. "Would I be the first to die in your revenge? The last? ...That is why you're here, is it not?"

"But if there's anything you wish to know, this might be your only chance to ask," she said after recomposing herself.

---

"Don't fall for these honeyed words," the wolf growled, "There is no longer any place for her in this world. I should eat her right now...!"

"...No, I think I do see the truth about her, what she'd be doing if she didn't have that "family pride" to prop her up. Please stand back, my companion..." the groom said, his sword beginning to shine with a blue glow.

The vixen stood up and turned to face the real him now. Her own sword was out of reach in the far corner of her room. "Perhaps you can fill in the gaps in that beast's knowledge later..."

"Perhaps," he responded, "Forgive me, and goodbye."

---

With a single slash, she collapsed to the floor. However, unlike the others she did not die from the blade. When all else was done, she was locked away in a box to sleep away the ages...

...So the story went. It was part of local culture that everyone around the woods still knew. While wolves and people with wolf traits were still held in higher respect here than elsewhere, a lot of people didn't take the story itself seriously anymore. Others, however, took it very seriously indeed...

A certain dragon's travels had brought him to the Misty Forest area. And he had found something that concerned him much more than an old folktale...

[Whitebrand]

“I really despise slavers,” the dragon explained in a calm, conversational voice as he ripped said slavers’ prisoner cages open to set free their victims. His voice was a middle-to-high bass that was loud enough to be heard for quite some distance.“You reduce human life to a quantity of coins that you are willing to chase with such vigor that nothing else matters.” His audience, a single man who had the misfortune of leading the caravan through the woods, said nothing. What does one say to a thirty foot long behemoth of muscle and magic casually tearing your defenses to shreds? To a beast that had routed a small army of mercenaries all by itself? “I suppose this is my fault. I ignored the world so long that you actually believed that you could start taking people from my territory without repraisal. Well that’s over now. You have stolen far too many people from their homes and lives, so I’m going to have to put an end to it.”

He tore open the caravan master’s personal wagon like an egg and started sifting through the contents.

“Now...there are only a handful of things you can give me that might make me inclined to spare your life. Merchant routes. Base locations. Contacts. The names and true identities of key leaders. That sort of thing. Hm...not much of that here...just details on your current route and your next few stops. I really hope that you have more than that to buy your life back.”

The dragon turned his huge body, his silver scales glittering and his golden eyes glowing molten, to face the cowering slaver. He stood deliberately to give the man a good look at how big and strong he was, while his tail lashed impatiently behind him. He allowed electrical sparks to dance along his arms and spine as he glared st the hapless man before him.

“You can start talking now,” Brand said, his voice deeper and heavy with threat.

[MasterGryph]

The freed prisoners quickly rushed out of the cages, regrouped, and whispered among themselves. Some were happy with the identity of their rescuer, but others were unsure that Whitebrand wasn't hiding ulterior motives. As the dragon's attention was focused on the slave trader, they hid behind and beside the wrecked wagons, in case things started being thrown around.

"Then, first off," the slaver stammered, "You're asking about my regular route? This isn't part of it! We got a special order to deliver off of the usual channels. They paid extra for it, and half up front. It, uh, the clients struck me as a noble's pet cult, richer off of entry fees. Of course they wouldn't give their names!"

Well, that helped explain the shorter list of stops, but he was plainly trying to distract the dragon from the questions he'd actually asked.

"Alright Dragon, getting waylaid by a monster on occasion is just the cost of travel. We all took it into account. You're uh, above the expected level of danger but even so-"

[Whitebrand]

Brand stared at the man, amazed it his impudence.

“I give you points for having the stones to try to divert me,” The dragon rumbled. “But my questions remain unanswered. Your clients are not unknown to you. It’s the nature of your ‘business’ to know everything about who hires you and why. I want to know your employer’s identities, the names of your organization’s leaders, what guilds are involved in your operations, and the whole ball of wax. And I want it. NOW.”

The dragon took a hard step towards the man, the impact causing a small tremor in the ground.

“How many other caravans are in on this ‘special order’?” He demanded. “Who brokered the deal?”

[MasterGryph]

"...Three small caravans including this one, each taking a different route. Our main supporters and executives run things from our offices in the Giboh Empire - our operations there are entirely legal (not that that's saying much), Local hideouts include the Crawling Caves and Starseer Fort. Less spare room to set up shop inside towns round here." By which he meant, less room to keep an underworld hidden and less likely to get the lawkeepers on their side to make up the difference.

"As I was saying, losing a caravan or two to monsters is within expectations. But do you really insist you're the hero here? Because if you do plan to take these girls back where they're from," he glanced over to the splintered cages and cracked wagons, "Might have wanted to keep those in safer condition." Some of the rescued prisoners started to get worried at this. There was plenty of supplies to salvage, and only a few of the wagons were that badly off - more sharp edges than broken axles. But it wouldn't be easy going if another raid happened - or the current one turned against them.

"If you do find a way, you'll get the higher ups' attention - and maybe get framed for something by Baron Grimwald. If you take them for yourself, this'll probably get written off as typical monstering," Whether he was alive or not. Easy to be apathetic in the face of great danger, when the world gave you little good to expect anyway. "But if you want to quit the raiding business and start being a client... The nature of my business is to get paid no matter who's doing it or why they want 'em. Identities matter not at all. The people wearing foxtail badges paid a good amount in advance, and way things are going they'll still get enough to be a continuing customer. So it's worth slighting them a tiny bit for a new opportunity."

[Whitebrand]

Brand's eyes narrowed dangerously. Client? Of this pond scum?

"Two more questions," Brand said. "Where are the caravans converging? The exact location, if you please."

He had to admit to himself that this slaver's information was dubious at best. He certainly seemed loyal to his organization, and that might give him every reason to lie or even set Brand on his competition. He'd have to double-check everything he's heard to be certain.

He also had to work out the math in his head. How long would it take him to get the former prisoners back to the nearest town and then make it to the convergence site?

[MasterGryph]

"That would be the second stop on the list you saw - an old overgrown shell of a house, I hear." The coordinates were East-NorthEast, deep inside the woods. By Brand's calculations, that was about 4-5 hours away for the full caravan. But if it was so overgrown, it wouldn't be easy to spot from above.
The nearest town - from what he'd seen while flying - was actually 2 hours Southeast by caravan - and much less by wing. It wasn't likely that was actually on the direct route back for most of them, though, as the Caravan had been coming from the west.

[Whitebrand]

Good. He could escort the former slaves to safety and still make it in time to beat the other caravans.

“Last question,” Brand said. “And you’d better get this right. Who do all your prisoners belong to?”

[MasterGryph]

The vile merchant thought for a few seconds before formulating an answer, "That'd be you, right Dragon?" Whitebrand was the one taking them away from him to take control of their fate, from his twisted perspective.

There was an eerie stillness in the air as this conversation approached its end...

[Whitebrand]

“That’s right.”

WHAM!

The dragon bought his claw down on the slaver...and only pinned him hard to the forest floor. The dragon gripped the man and picked him up in one claw before turning to the kidnap victims.

“I will escort you to the nearest town,” he told them. “You will be safe from harm. When you are safe, this one will be coming with me to ensure that his fellows get what is coming to them.”

He had to admit to himself that the now unprotected ladies were tempting...but like hell he was going to prove this scum bag right.

[MasterGryph]

There were some mixed feelings brought up by the dragon's words and actions. Between the carnage earlier - against deserving targets, and the acknowledgement that Whitebrand indeed saw himself as their rightful owner - but wasn't planning to abuse that position at the moment. On the other hand, none of them would have minded much if the dragon added the caravan leader to the list of deaths that day.

But since that wasn't happening, one of the young women who was especially positive about Whitebrand, lord of her home valley, went and retrieved a coil of rope from where the villains had put it (after last using it that morning), and started tying the man up at the dragon's paws. "Thank you, Lord. How long do you think it will take before this is all finished and things can go back to normal?" she asked happily.

[Whitebrand]

“I will crush this operation as thoroughly as I can,” Brand answered. “To at least make them think twice about coming near my territory. Once that is done I shall return. If the remains of them come after me, so be it. Their fates will be sealed.”

He let the girl tie the slaver up, making sure that the man had no hidden blades on him. That done he helped organize the remains of the caravan into some sort of order and led them to the southeast. He would stride along behind the trail of battered wagons to avoid frightening the horses any more than he already had, and kept a sharp eye out for dangers.

He didn’t gag the prisoner, though. One never knew what a man might spill, by accident or otherwise, if allowed to ramble on.

[MasterGryph]

As expected, the presence of a dragon dissuaded any unrelated monsters or brigands from attacking. A more pressing matter was the likelihood that the horses might pull off the road, but they managed to keep that from happening.

The former caravan leader grumbled, but said nothing of substance. On the other hand, the girls were talking more openly about their future plans, how they'd been captured (generally in sudden ambushes with sleeping drugs - although a few seemed to have been abducted from taverns...), and how impressive and/or imposing Whitebrand was in person.

"So, it feels like the town is coming up soon, but what then? They wouldn't treat this scum well," she prodded the slaver, "But they might have bigger things on their mind, you know?" Like a dragon with a reputation being outside of his usual territory - and walking up to the gates openly...

[Whitebrand]

“Oh I’m keeping him at least until I get to where the other caravans meet up. At that point his fate is in his hands.”

The dragon strode right up to the gate, his eyes held about level with the guards atop it.

“These ladies were taken prisoner by slavers,” he rumbled at the startled guardsmen. “They need care and help getting back to their home. Who do I see about arrangements?”

[MasterGryph]

The guards seemed to need a moment to take in what was happening. "Well, there's two inns that should have enough room between them. But the Mayor might be able to do something to smooth things over too. If you would stay here for a moment, we can start sending for support. ...What kind of care would you say they need?"

[Whitebrand]

“Food and board,” Brand said. “And transportation to their homes if possible. Tell the mayor to tally up the costs and I will see they are taken care of.”

He looked the guard in the eye as he spoke carefully.

“They have been through quite enough already,” he said. “They do not need to be further taken advantage of.”

A clear warning. Just in case.

[MasterGryph]

"We'll be careful," the most talkative of the guards responded, though his partner whispered a "Should we mention-?" into his ear immediately afterwards. The second guard was quickly told to go and play messenger and inform the required people.
They were taking the dragon's requests seriously...

"Is there anything else?" he asked.

[Whitebrand]

"Mention what?' Brand said. "Please speak quickly. There are others like these women that need help."

[MasterGryph]

"Well, yes, that's exactly it. There have been a few disappearances around here, so we were already on elevated alert." The guard responded, "The fact that you've found a slaver caravan gives context to that, though our own still need to be found."

[Whitebrand]

“Then I need to go directly,” the dragon said to the guards. “I shall return.”

With the women secure and the prisoner in hand, Brand took to the skies, heading for the caravan’s rendezvous point. Perhaps he could be waiting for them when they arrived. That would suit his plans nicely.