Six feet under

[Bladius Dart]

Trainee Order

Six feet under

Since the local gravedigger was inconsiderate enough to die and not to let anybody know, there's not been a grave dug in a good few weeks.
The rotting corpses of many of Yew's beloved are becoming a little unsightly and it's up to the Militia as always to save the day.

Trainee you are to begin burying the dead whilst the city interviews for a new gravedigger.

These graves must be dug within the Yew Cemetery as requested by the deceased and their loved ones.

Rules


You are to dig a grave at the Yew Cemetery and bury one of the corpses.
It is important for you to make a note of who you buried and where, whilst this is somewhat inconvenient I'm sure you understand why it is necessary.
This order may only be completed once per person.


Reward


25 Silver for a completed burial
Bonus Silver will be made available for any imaginative efforts

Bladius Dart
Captain

[Robyn]

I decided to start by checking on Roscoe, a local farmer, who was grieving not just one loss, but two. His wife, Helen, died in childbirth and tragically the baby was stillborn. I met him at his home, which seemed in need of repair. His doorway was broken and the boards lie on the ground around the entrance. He invited me into his home where I saw how he had been handling his grief, liquor. I noticed some books scattered and broken on the floor as well. It seemed Roscoe was in need of some assistance since his wife passed. I brought him a few days food and left the bread and ham on the table. I then went to Yew cementary to bury his family. I dispatched a few skeletons upon arriving and began searching for a suitable plot. I found an empty area next to a row of graves by the mausoleum. It was a pretty spot where wildflowers grew. I felt it appropriate for a young mother and child. I dug the grave, burying mother and child together letting them rest as they had lived, together. While digging I fought off a few more skeletons. After burial, I removed my coif and said a short prayer to Avatar for Helen and the baby.
http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k81/darkdarion/RobynBurialTask.jpg

[Rholf]

Well it was me first day in the Militia so I thought I'd make a good impression with the officers and the like.
I looked at the notice board and it said that a job needed doing urgent burying the dead of Yew no less! Well that explained the smell.
Off I went to the cemetary armed with me shovel and a peg. Once there I had to kill me a few of the skellies that were up and about.
I remember the order board stating that I needed to know who were buried where, So to make it easier for meself for remembering, I dug a really big hole and put all the bodies I could find into it.
http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l196/Donedy/uo1.jpg
Easy.
Now everyone will know where their loved ones are. They're over there in yon great big pit mate!

[Grace]

This morning, not many people were around in Stonekeep. I decided to head to the butcher's, to get some a ham for lunch.
http://img26.imageshack.us/img26/7391/43235394.jpg

Being there, I noticed a large smelly sack, laying in a corner. It had flies flying around it and smelled worse than Smit's breath after eating at the ball a few nights ago!
http://img24.imageshack.us/img24/6928/28162433.jpg

The butcher told me, his father had died a few weeks ago.. I said, I would help him with a burrial, but soon found out that butchers are not the most leight-weight people!
http://img25.imageshack.us/img25/4694/22317816.jpghttp://img23.imageshack.us/img23/7751/73707972.jpg

Within a few hours, I finally managed to drag the heavy guy to the graveyard, where I spent another hour digging a hole large enough, between fighting skellies, that seemed almost as hungry as I was at the time.
http://img22.imageshack.us/img22/4903/75932668.jpghttp://img23.imageshack.us/img23/9163/30944975.jpghttp://img22.imageshack.us/img22/6879/52079801.jpg

After closing the grave, I left a board on the grave "Butch - R.I.P". Went back to the butcher's once again and bought my lunch.
http://img24.imageshack.us/img24/3297/44657729.jpg

[Troy Grindhouse]

I was walking down the road and passed by a citizen carrying his dead wife around. I could not bare the site of it so I decided to help him out and bury her.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v240/mazzie-kins/grave.jpg

This was quite a tough task.

[Arthur Vines]

During my usual rounds through the village, I happened to pass by the Healers' Hut, and hearing more screams than usual, I made my way inside. It seems they've just had a new intake of apprentices, and my does it show! I offered my particular grave-digging services and Clifford the Healer most definitely accepted. I gave him a few parting words of advice before setting of to the cemetary.

After attracting a mongbat, which was quickly dispatched, I reached the graveyard. But the skeletons were raging today! I must've dispatched at least a dozen and yet still they came! I decided I would need to multi-task, and began digging a big, then firing off a few arrows, holding them at bay. Needless to say this took quite some time. Nevertheless, I was able to bury the late James Horn, who apparently died of "plague", though I sometimes doubt the veracity of diagnoses when given during Apprentices' Week.

Unfortunately I soon became overwhelmed and was not able to say a few words over his grave, but I shall forward the details of his last resting place to his family and they shall be able to pray for his soul.

[Louisa Dart]

25 Copper awarded to each of you.

[Deranigan]

There were many deaths this week due to the bear attacks. Sadly many of the victims were children. I had to bury five of these victims. these bears must be stopped!83

[Seanna]

Whilst patrolling about the farmlands, I heard an awful wailing of some sort coming from one of the nearby homes! I quickly made my way an' threw the door open, only to find an elderly woman sobbing relentlessly, amidst her apparently slain beloved pets. I took careful note, an there were two cats, an one dog.

http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o124/Ungracefulexit/bury1-1.jpg

Through the tears, an her loud sobbing, she begged me to give her beloved companions a proper burial. I tried to explain to her, that the graveyard was fer people an the like, but she insisted that these were no ordinary pets. They were like her children. Each had a name, Agnes, Bertha an Bertrand.

http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o124/Ungracefulexit/Bury2.jpg

The more I tried to explain to her, the louder her wails became! I was afraid she was going to die of hysterics herself! I asked her how this carnage had come about, an apparently the mutt had murdered the two old felines, an she in turn felt it was proper to dispatch the dog. The guilt seemed to weigh heavily upon her fer doing such.

http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o124/Ungracefulexit/Bury3.jpg

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity of wails and sobs, I finally decided it would be best to do as she wished as clearly, her heart was just broken. Ye know how lonely the elderly can get an the like, an I figured these animals were akin to children fer her.

http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o124/Ungracefulexit/Bury4.jpg

I fetched a small box, though I called it a casket fer her sake an' stuffed em' all in! Luckily they fit, though it most likely was nay that comfortable..

http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o124/Ungracefulexit/Bury5.jpg

I bid her farewell, an lugged her beasts to the graveyard. A few of em' undead were about, an were taken care of easily enough and did not disturb the casket an' the like.. I found a quiet spot an dug a shallow grave.

http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o124/Ungracefulexit/Bury6.jpg

http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o124/Ungracefulexit/Bury7.jpg

I then prayed fer their souls, despite not really knowin' if that was proper, but figured it would be on the safe side to do so..

http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o124/Ungracefulexit/Bury8.jpg

An' kicked up a bit of dirt around it, an let it be.

http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o124/Ungracefulexit/Bury9.jpg

Signed,

Seanna.
Trainee

[Gus]

When patrolling the surroundings, I visited some shopkeepers up the road from Stonekeep. Many of them seemed a bit upset, and I was told that there had been a horrible accident. Two traveling tradesmen had been robbed and murdered by a horseman, not far from the Great Oak Vessels. After the offence, the perpetrator mounted his horse and hasted away to the north and was not seen again.

After the accident, word must have spread quickly, because many of the local shopkeepers had run to the scene of the crime and helped carrying the two injured travelers to the healers at Deep Forest Healing. Unfortunally, their lives were not possible to rescue. The healers told me that the cause of death were single stab wounds to the windpipe, and noted that the perpetrator most likely knew very well what he (or she) was doing.

Aura (mapmaker of the Great Oak Vessels) had vitnessed the crime from the shop, and described the perpetrator as tall, dressed in dark odd clothing, and "had no hair whatsoever, neither on the head nor in the face". Aura told me she had recently been to the Tokuno islands for scouting out maps, and said that she might recall seeing people there walking in the same dark, odd-looking kind of clothing as the perpetrator had.

Even though the two departured were not from around, the locals seemed very upset. The fact that this happened in broad daylight seemed most unsettling for the local shopkeepers and their families. (A lady named Kate cried most in town.) I took the corpses from the healers, and settled them to the ground in adjacent graves.

[Llane Cavelryn]

*Penned this day by Llane Cavelryn*

Short report, sir. I came across an odd pyre-like construction just at the Crossroads south of the keep. It had human remains on top of it, and looked to be the work of orcs according to those who know more than I.

http://i42.tinypic.com/2gwf5g1.jpg

While helping several other guards clean up the mess, I placed the remains of the unknown dead in a coffer. Sorry sir, but I cannot report as to the identities of these missing folks.

Bringing the makeshift coffin to the graveyard, I set it down and said a few words for these poor souls. I'll leave what I said between them and I, but here is a sketch of a few lines from a more common phrase used at these sorts of things.

http://i43.tinypic.com/2guf5u1.jpg

I hope they find the peace in death they were denied in life.

~Llane Cavelryn~

[Llane Cavelryn]

[OOC: Like an idjit, I forgot to get a screenie of the name of the trainee with me - if it wasn't Claxton, but Penrod, Gus, or another PLEASE let me know here or in-game!]

*Penned this day by Llane Cavelryn*

Again, we found another edifice erected South of Stonekeep by the orcs. Footman Donnie however chased the moff.

Trainee Claxton suggested we go to the graveyard to bury the remains. I agreed, and he held off the skeletons while we buried yet another set of unknown souls. He held off the undead, while I said a few words.

http://i39.tinypic.com/scvtqs.jpg

I took a sketch so I could report on the success of the mission Claxton put together.

[Bladius Dart]

25 Copper awarded to Llane Cavelryn, Claxton Ellwood, Gus, Deranigan and Seanna.

[Cullen]

I reported for duty only to find the Keep deserted. I would later learn from Calla that everyone was off patrolling the Lost Lands. I made my way to the dorms and picked up an outstanding duty from the notice board and headed out to the graveyard.

Our local gravedigger who passed away himself recently has still not been replaced and the militia has offered the services of us Trainees to help out with burying the dead.

The unfortunate fellow I was to inter or what was left of him, had been killed in a freak loom accident at one of the mills. I heard from a local that they are still picking pieces of him out of the machinery days after the accident. No wonder the casket was so small.

http://img169.imageshack.us/img169/6899/cullen13.jpg

I set about digging this poor fellow's grave, constantly hindered by those who had not found peace in the graveyard from years gone by. The skeletons were easily dealt with and soon the grave had been dug. I heaved the casket into it and proceded to fill the grave and place the headstone.

I said a quick prayer for John Wood and then gathered my kit and headed back into Stonekeep just as the stragglers from the patrol to the Lost Lands were returning.

[Louisa Dart]

25 Copper awarded.

[Peter Fox]

Six Feet Under - a report by Peter Fox, trainee.

The position of being a gravedigger seems to be a hard one to fill. The bodies of Yew's beloved keep stacking up, and it is our duty as guardsmen to help the civilians in their time of grief. I was up at the brewery earlier, to learn more about the Yew Ale for my ale comparison (http://www.grd-europa.co.uk/forum/showpost.php?p=13518&postcount=3), and noticed that there was a casket amongst all the casks! I inquired as to what had happened, and found out that one of the senior brewers, Boris Pinkerton had passed away a few nights past, and since they couldn't have rotting corpses lying around, the brewers had put together a casket for their demised colleague.

I felt it was my duty to pay proper respect to a man who had spent his life perfecting the Yew Ale, and so I offered to give him a proper burial in the graveyard. I don't know if the skeletons that usually pester us who venture into the yard knew that Mr. Pinkerton had been a brewer, for they left me alone to perform the burial in peace. Now, to those who were thinking of dragging a casket tied to a rope through all of Yew, think again. It was very hard labour, and my back is aching alot as I write this.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v255/pirateofnp/Grd%20Reports/Sixfeet1.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v255/pirateofnp/Grd%20Reports/Sixfeet2.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v255/pirateofnp/Grd%20Reports/Sixfeet3.jpg

It seems that good things come to those who do good deeds. The thought struck me just now, as I glanced aside at my small cask of Yew Ale that Ordano so kindly gave me as payment. I refused of course ..a little. It will taste extra fine, now that I know all the hard work that I put in to get it!

All in a day's work...

[James Palmer]

25 Copper awarded to Fox.

[Rand Alduc]

I had heard erlier during the day, that one of the local healers' son had died from disiese. So i visited them, offering my service, by buring his son. He took it rather good, i guess he knew the implications of having a corpse laying around, beeing a healer and all.

http://img44.imageshack.us/img44/4579/graved.png

*Gravenote: Healer's son, (Andrew) is buried slightly North of the entrance to the first crypt.*

[James Palmer]

25 Copper awarded

[Kalia]

As orderd! I headed over to the healers as there would be a number of bodys needing shifting..
http://img401.imageshack.us/img401/4507/grave.png

[James Palmer]

25 Copper awarded

[Zelest]

Having heard the orders, and seeing how everyone else was doing their part, I felt that it would be too crowded if I joined in with everyone. Surely, they would be able to handle it quick enough? How many people can die in a couple of days anyway?

Instead I ventured on the road to make sure it was safe for travellers and wandering healers and merchants. There I happened upon an Ogre! A really big and smelly one!

http://img101.imageshack.us/img101/7677/6feet001.png

It was quite a fight! I had to dodge, run and evade his slow but steady barrage of attacks. I can say it was just barely that I managed to survive that fight. But I got the damnable monster!

Then I heard a cry from within the forest close to the path. "Schmooples!" a woman in a robe called. "You killed my cute little snuggums!"

http://img710.imageshack.us/img710/9130/6feet002.png

"W-what?", I was flabbergasted. Schmooples?
"You killed my boyfriend! My sweet little sugarplum!"
"B-boyfriend? M-ma'am... that is an Ogre..."
"He was MY Ogre... oooh... but who will no whisper sweet nonsense in my ear as I go to sleep?"
Backing away from the woman I said, "I'll just drag his corpse off the road."
"Don't you dare! He must have a proper burial! Just like everyone else!"
"B-b-but ma'am, the gravedigger is dead. There is a shortage of--"
"I will not hear of it! My squiggly-pip gets buried in the Yew Cementary, and that's final!"

http://img40.imageshack.us/img40/9262/6feet003.png

It took a bit of creative breaking of bones and stomping to make the corpse fit in the casket. But eventually I made it go in there. We said a few final words and stood in silence for a while. Contemplating death, and how quickly our loved ones can be taken away from us.

From this I have learned a lot about life and death. And that some like 'em big. Their boyfriends that is. Eh, as in being tall. I also learned, that even if you try to dodge responsibility and do something else, you will eventually have to do what you are set out to do anyway.

The headstone reads "Schmooples -- Hated by many, loved by one."

[James Palmer]

30 Copper awarded.