The Cult of the Red Glowing Thing

[sorcerised]

WHO: Arohaerd, Teren, Isaac, Connor 60, Anders and Merrill
WHAT: Project: Red Lyrium. On the outskirts of the Fallow Mire is a group of cultists who are worshipping a rather large chunk of red lyrium they discovered hidden in the area long after the Inquisition left it. They've gotten away with it for so long because it's a remote area after the mire was abandoned due to corpses. But a passing caravan ran afoul of the cult, who are all in various stages of transformation, and only one person made it out alive to tell the tale. The group has been ordered to kill these cultists and destroy the red lyrium.
WHEN: Timing (backdated, covering a span, etc.)
WHERE: Fallow Mire, Ferelden
NOTES: Violence and death, burning of infected corpses.

Prompts in headers.



[COMMENT 1]

[ At first count, there seems to be nine of them. Four more emerge as they get close, all of them in the latter stages of infection. Some look worse than others, but they all look bad; their bodies look wrong somehow. Flesh and muscle seems to have wasted away, and when they see the group's approach, they move at once to protect their supply.

Behind and beyond them, the chunk of red lyrium that attracted them spikes out of the ground, infecting the land as much as the cultists. Seeing it, Aro's small dragon Iessa flaps high above the group and lets out an eager hiss. Static prickles around her teeth. She's going for the stone first, and the cultists after.

Aro takes position, his own electricity crackling around his hands. They only have moments before the cultists reach them. ]

If any of you want a magical boost, now is the time.

[COMMENT 2]

[ By the end of the battle, they're left with a sad mess of distorted bodies. Now that the threat of them is gone, Aro finds it difficult to feel anything but pity. Iessa is on the ground by now, nosing her way through them and looking for more red lyrium to set her lightning to. ]

Don't touch them, they're as infectious now as they ever were. [ He looks pointedly at her and she reluctantly hangs back. Aro uses his quarterstaff to turn them over, and now calls to the others. ]

I really don't know about...funeral rites, here. [ These were cultists. He has no idea what they would even want, but he's willing to bet it wouldn't matter anyway. ] I was told burning them was the thing to do.

[COMMENT 3]

[ At the end of it all, they leave behind a dying pyre, and ground that ought to be cleansed. Smoke is still rising behind them, and Iessa now walks beside Aro, clearly pleased with her day's work.

Aro looks around the team. ]

Thank you, all of you. I know that wasn't easy.