Trapped

Feimrir Karaskir definitely wasn't a happy man. The war with the Sua'jiki had been going so well, and yet the tables seem to be turning on them. It all started when they'd captured those young Sua'jiki warriors, it was the usual procedure of acquiring, torturing, and then feeding them to their wolves.

Murin, one of the Karaskir leaders was usually so thorough was those he "operates" on, but this time his incompetents and truly cost the clan. One of the prisoners who'd been dumped into the kennel for the wolves to eat had apparently not been as weak as they'd thought.

The Karaskir had noticed the absence of a large portion of their wolves, and the ones that remained stayed well away from the kennel. It was only when they'd begun to smell the stench coming from the place that they decided to investigate, eventually finding the many, many corpses of their companions.

The tribe had been in an uproar when it was discovered, more than half of the wolves in the clan had been murdered by someone who'd supposedly been "tortured to near death". The animals weren't just a fighting force, they were almost considered sacred, Feimrir had received many visits from furious people but had to send them off unsatisfied.

Resentment was building, and it wasn't answers they were looking for, it was retribution... You'd think all the anger would be directed at the Sua'jiki for being the ones responsible, but that was only partially right.

Most of it was directed at Murin, the man originally wasn't all that liked due to the way he acted around people. He always stank of blood and wasn't adverse towards wearing the body parts of his victims... Even now the bald, fat, man was wearing the scalp of one of his victims.

The body-part in question apparently belonged to the one responsible for the deaths of their companions. Feimrir tapped his foot impatiently, he'd called for Murin but the man hadn't shownup... Perhaps he knew what his intentions were, Murin was to be sacrificed to sate his peoples thirst for revenge.

A figure hurries into his hut, causing his companion to growl at them. Feimrir rests his hand on the large wolf's back which causes the animal to still momentarily, the fearful Karaskir tribesman who'd just come in looked at his leader imploringly, "Chief, one of the hunters have been found, they were caught in one of the Sua'jiki traps!"

Feimrir leans his head to the side with a scowl, what was the point of telling him this? "Then wrap their wound in medicinal leaves and let them rest, do not come to me again for something so meanin-"

"Chief! The hunter, they're dead!" they interrupt, their heart threatening to beat out of their chest due to fear.

...

"How? Have the Sua'jiki started to create larger traps?" he wondered aloud.

The tribesman shook their head, "It was a small spike trap but... I think you should see it for yourself..."

Feimrir glowered but got out of his chair anyway, gesturing for his companion to sit tight as he followed the tribesman out.

He was led to a hut that was used to treat injuries and other similar things. Laid on the floor was a dead Karaskir hunter, though he could immediately spot something odd.

There was a wound on the man's foot and leg, they looked like the typical injury that you'd received from a spike tribe, they were designed to impede and prevent the victim from being able to continue walking.

This was different though, the bloody holes where the trap had pierced were surrounded by black flesh, yellow and green puss dripped from the wound and black veins could be seen expanding outwards from it... There was only one thing that could've caused something like this... "Poison." he states with a scowl.

The tribesman in-charge of treating injuries quickly nods, "I have never seen anything like this... It is extremely deadly, I fear to even get close to it." he says, gesturing towards the sharpened sticks that'd apparently caused the man's death.

They seem to have been smeared with something, though, the blood covering them made it difficult to differentiate what it was. Regardless, this wasn't something the Sua'jiki would have done.

Sarr'vuln would likely kill whoever did this himself if he ever found out, the man would rather the tribe cease to exist than have its honour trampled. Poison was seen as a cowards weapon, something people used when they weren't strong enough to face the enemy themselves.

It could just be a coincidence of course, a snake could've bitten the hunter after he stepped on the trap, but that was unlikely... He'd need to have this investigated further, otherwise, they could very well lose this war.

With the huge loss of the wolves, and poisoned traps turning up in Sua'jiki territory, Feimrir was at a loss of what to do. He needed to find out who was laying these traps and eliminate them, perhaps he could alert Sarr'vuln to what was occurring in his tribe? That would get rid of the problem and allow him to finally take over the tribe.

The Karaskir were currently the weakest they'd ever been, they had essentially declared war on all of the surrounding tribes, but with the recent losses, they were dangerously close to extinction...

"You. Send hunters to watch the Sua'jiki territory, I want them to find who is laying these poison traps, and I want them killed. Do you understand?" he states.

The tribesman rapidly nods, "Yes Chief!" they exclaim and run out of the hut, heading directly towards the hunters in order to give them their new orders. All raids into Sua'jiki territory was to be put on hold until they found the coward who was responsible for the poison.

The tribe was also told of Murin's betrayal, he was to be killed onsight if anyone laid eye upon him.