Solo Your death brings food to my table

[Bledrig Fearn]

Winter, Day 1, 514 AV

There was knock on his door. Bledrig turned on his bed, not wanting to get up. The third knock made him get up. He looked around his house with sleepy eyes, yawning, it was still dark but he could see that it was almost morning by looking at his window. It was colder than usual, he could feel it. He dressed in his usual dirty shirt and pants. Next he took his spiritist beads and placed them around his neck. He hadn't met a ghost in a while but it was good to be prepared, the ghost weren't usually the nicest bunch. Lastly he put his black coat on, before opening the door. ''What, what, what?'' he shouted to the man. The man seemed to be frighten by his shouting or his mad glare he gave to any living. He hesitated for a while before saying: ''There is a body at the river. we need you take care of it'' You could see the change in Bledrig's face, his lips moved to a slight smile, his eyes started shining. ''Oh, another customer! why didn't you say so at first! Oh wait you did... I'll grab my stuff, please show me the way!'' He went back inside, grabbing his pipe and some pipe weed. When he got out he took his sled and rope and went with the man. The snow was slightly covering the streets and the roofs.

[Bledrig Fearn]

He was smoking his pipe while walking. Small smoke rose from his pipe, giving the strong aroma of the Kline weed. He inhaled the smoke before blowing it out, it felt warm in his throat. He tucked his hands in his pockets to keep them warm. I need to buy something warm or I'll freeze to death this winter As they arrived to the river the man pointed at the body, keeping a good distance between him and the body. Bledrig walked to the body. The body was a man in his thirties, his skin had already turned grey. His stomach was bloated, filled with water. The man was missing an eye, most like crow had eaten it. He also seemed to be missing part of his cheek. Bledrig tried to find what had killed the man. There was blood on back of his head, he probably fell off the bridge while drunk and hit his head in the river's rocks. ''Shyke! That word isn't even sugar coating the way you smell...'' The body smelled like combination of rotten egg, shyke and with hint of a wet dog. He turned to the man ''Oy, what is his name?'' The question didn't surprise the man, the undertaker always asked the corpse's name for some reason. ''I don't know, I only know that he is dead and smells!'' Bledrig sighed ''Shame. You do know that costs extra right?'' He always asked extra when people didn't know or tell him the corpse's name. It made talking to them harder. ''Aye, you get your bloody money as soon as you get him out of here!'' the man answered angrily.

Bledrig went to work. He first checked if the man had anything worth taking, but his clothes had been ruined by the water and he had lost his coin purse to the river. He wrapped a rope around the body and started pulling him towards his sled. The man was heavy, even though he didn't look rich. The water inside him probably he thought. Once he managed to pull the corpse to the sled he started lifting him to it. Remember to lift with your knees and not with your back his mothers advice rang through his head as he lifted. Once the man was on the sled he was already sweating. Even though the strong aroma of his pipe weed dominated his smells, he smelled death. It didn't bother Bledrig but the man pinched his nose as he gave Bledrig the money. He quickly counted them, nodded in approval and started heading towards Dust Bed.

[Bledrig Fearn]

Once he reached Dust Bed it was already past mid day. Even though there was snow on the ground to help him pull the sled more easily the man's weigh had slowed him down. ''This is where you'll live for now'' Bledrig said to the man ''Pretty isn't it?'' The Dust Bed didn't look like a proper cemetery at all. It had gravestones here and there but not in any particular order. ''Now lets find you a good place to sleep shall we?'' He started pulling the man again.

''This looks like a fantastic spot!'' He tried the ground with his spade. It hadn't frozen yet, that was good. As he was digging he talked to the man ''You know, you are probably the fattest person I've ever buried.'' He coughed few times and emptied his pipe. ''See this pipe?'' Bledrig said and showed it to the corpse ''My father bought it, never used it for some reason. I've used it more than I can count. It hides the smells quite well, so I don't need to take that many baths'' he said and gave a quick laughter. ''Oh how I hate baths...''

It took him more than an bell to dig grave deep enough for the man. Before he pushed the man into the grave he carved something into the mans index fingernail with his knife. He then did the same for his other finger before yanking it out with his pinchers. Bledrig mumbled something as he placed the nail into to a jar filled with some kind of fluid. He then pushed the man to the grave. As he was filling the grave he said a simple prayer ''May Dira guide your soul to the proper place, so that you don't come haunting back'' He patted the ground few times before leaving. Another resident to the Dust Bed he thought as he headed back to his home. It was already coming dark.

OOC: This is kind of introduction of Bledrig and what to expect from him. I might add more to this at one point and turn this to a job thread...

[Bledrig Fearn]

Winter, Day 7, 514 AV

''I pay you silver and five coppers!'' Bledrig said in angry tone. ''Three silvers'' the old lady answered back. ''Two silvers, someone must have used these before'' he said. Bledrig was getting angry at the old lady. ''Three silvers. And all of these are new, made them myself.'' said the lady. ''Now pay the right price or leave'' she continued. ''Fine!'' Bledrig shouted and placed two silvers and 9 coppers into the woman's open palm, hoping she wouldn't notice one missing. He took the black scarf and was leaving when he felt a small but strong pull from his scarf. ''You missed a copper'' the lady said with cold voice. The tone of her voice didn't scare Bledrig but her stare made him give the missing copper without complaining. It was as icy as an icicle. As he left the lady shouted at his back ''Good doing business with you!'' and gave a small snicker.

Bledrig stopped after a while of walking to lit his pipe. He filled the pipe with tobacco from a small pouch where he kept it. He hit the flint and steel together, hoping for a spark. It took him quite a few tries before the smoke rose from his pipe. He inhaled the smoke and blew it through his nose. It warmed him nicely.

As he reached the Dust Bed he saw a woman looking around. The woman spotted Bledrig and walked up to him. The woman had dressed warmly with woolen robe and a scarf. In her head she had a cap. She seemed tired and like she had cried short while ago, her eyes were red and watery. That was more than enough to tell Bledrig what was she doing here. Someone had died.

''You are the undertaker right?'' he said with tired voice. ''Aye. So who has died?'' Bledrig answered. He was excited to meet someone new to chat with. He had something he wanted to share with somebody. ''M-my sister's child'' the woman said with sad tone. A child? Ah shyke... Bledrig hated child deaths, not because they were innocent or too young to die. He hated them because what was about to come. He sighed and said ''Alright, show me the way'' Bledrig took his sled and went with the woman.

[Bledrig Fearn]

Woman led Bledrig to a house, well if you could call it one. I was similar to th other houses in the slums with uneven roof and walls made from scrap wood. The woman knocked on the door. For a moment nothing happened, but then the door opened. In the doorway stood a man, not much taller than the woman. He was clean shaven, but his hair was a mess. His expression was filled with grief. His lips lifted up a little at the sight of the woman before plummeting down when he realised who Bledrig was. He gave a sigh and moved out of the way ''Please get in, it is cold outside. That is how our daughter died, she stayed outside for too long...'' the man said with miserable tone.

Inside the house was something you would expect from a slum house. Few chairs, a table and a bed, where a woman sat crying and hugging a lifeless body of a girl. When she realised that there were other people besides her husband, she turned to look at them. She might have been beatiful, but now she looked almost dead. Her face was pale, her hair looked like raven's nest, it seemed like she had tugged pieces of her hair. Her stare was full of grief and sorrow. ''Lyra... Who, who is this man'' the woman said and pointed at Bledrig. ''Is he going to make my little Mona better?'' she continued and rocked the girl in her arms, quietly whispering something to her ear. ''Lisa, this is the undertaker, he is here to put Mona to her final rest'' Lyra said. ''No, no no! That can't be! She was just playing outside few days ago, she was fine, she wasn't sick or anything...'' Lisa said and started more heavily rocking the girl. The girl seemed to be about ten or eleven years old. The older they get, the more attached the parents get to them This was the reason why Bledrig hated child deaths, the parents just couldn't let go of their children.

He took a step closer to the Lisa and Mona. Lisa gave him horrifying gaze, like he was going to murder her daughter. ''YOU STAY AWAY FROM MY CHILD!'' Lisa shouted at him ''She isn't dead, she just had a cold and is feeling little tired, isn't that right my dear'' she continued and kept whispering things to Mona's ear, like trying to soothe her. Lyra went beside Lisa trying to calm her down. ''Lisa, she is dead. You have to let go of her'' she said and stroked her hair. That seemed do the trick, as Lisa eyes suddenly widened. ''She is dead... My poor little girl is dead!'' She started weeping and Lyra moved her away from the girl. Bledrig took his chance and grabbed the girl. She was light, the disease had made her arms and legs thin as a branch. As he was heading towards the door Lisa grabbed him by the arm. ''You better find her a good place to sleep or I swear that will be the last grave you ever dig'' Lyra pulled her away from Bledrig. He simply stared at her and gave a slight nod. Lisa's husband opened the door for him and simply said ''Thank you''

[Bledrig Fearn]

There were some kids playing in the snow, enjoying the sudden color change of the city. They were throwing snowballs at each other that more consisted of mud than actual snow, screaming everytime one of them got hit by a snowball. The screams faded as they spotted Bledrig and Mona who he was pulling in his sled behind him. They stared at the two as they walked past them. Bledrig had a sudden urge to scare the children and he turned to face them with evil grin on his face ''You kids should stay inside or you might end up like the girl here'' he said and jerked his thumb towards the cold Mona. The kids fleed screaming to their homes and Bledrig let out a chuckle. The madman had cheap pleasures.

As they reached to Dust Bed Bledrig started to look for a place where he could bury Mona. He picked his spade from where he had placed it earlier, still standing on its own in the ground. After a while of looking around he found a spot what he was looking for. It was farther from the rest of the graves, a good fifty feet farther. He started digging, the earth was starting to freeze, he could feel it. Soon it would be hard to dig deep graves for the dead.

''There is something I would like to tell you'' Bledrig said as he was digging. ''You can keep a secret right?'' There was no answer from Mona, the dead always stayed quiet. ''I'll take that as a yes. I saw a dream few days ago. I was a king, and all of my subjects were the people that I had buried. Do you think that it is a sign? That one day I will become something great?'' he said with hopeful look on his face. Mona stayed quiet. ''You do? I thought so too. I wonder when it will happen.'' Bledrig swept some sweat from his forehead with his hand before continuing. After a half bell Bledrig was finished. He got up from the empty grave and went to Mona, taking out his sheath knife. He started carving a box with cross inside it to Mona's index fingernail. He then did the same for the other finger nail. He then took out the pinchers. ''Don't worry about this, this is just a contract to make sure you don't tell anybody what we spoke today. I'm taking your other nail as a copy of the contract'' He yanked the nail with the pinchers and placed it in the jar filled with preservative fluid. Bledrig then lifted Mona from the sled and placed her into the grave. He started filling it, the dirt slowly covering Mona. After he finished he said his simple prayer ''May Dira guide your soul to the proper place, so that you don't come haunting back''

He was about to leave when a thought came to his head. He went on his knees and started building something from the dirt and snow. When he was finished there was a snow castle that somewhat resembled a crown in front of Mona's grave. Bledrig looked at it a while before nodding and leaving. He had a faint smile on his face.

OOC:
Receipt: (Fine)Woolen scarf - 3 sm
WORDS: 2471