Diary of Hank Furgash, White Tiers Private,

Morning – I spent the morning patrolling the West Road along with Privates Jor, Phelina, and Westen. We were lead by Captain Rinor. I know that Jor and Phelina are currently seeing one another but apart from a few subvert glances, you wouldn’t be able to tell. They carried themselves well and professional as White Tiers Soldiers. The patrol was quiet and we saw  a deer. Captain Rainor tried to shoot it but the deer ran away before we could get close. We also saw a man walking down the road but the moment he saw us, he turned and fled into the woods. Captain Rainor did not order pursuit. 

Midday – Rest. Nothing to report. I slept well. 

Night – I have a strange story to tell here. I was assigned the West gate. I was playing cards with Jor in the gatehouse. He was a little distracted in thought and I hate to admit that I was taking advantage of it to win a little extra coin when we heard someone kicking the gate door. We looked out the gate and saw the man from earlier slowly and methodically kicking at the door. Jor called out and the man suddenly looked up as if we’d startled him. His eyes grew wide and then he turned and ran away again. It was a moonless night and the man was fast so we didn’t bother to give chase. We went back to our game. A couple of hours later and we heard a knocking at the door. It was the man again. He looked confused and asked if this was the Ramparts Base and if he could speak to Commander Vines. 

I didn’t like the look of the man. He was shifty and dirty. I noticed though that did have some expensive looking boots that stood out from the rest of the cheap rags he was wearing. The man refused to give his name. When we asked why he needed to speak to Commander Vines, he burst out into tears and said he didn’t know. Jor went to get Captain Rainor while I stayed with the strange man. He looked like he hadn’t slept in days and he kept muttering to himself. I could just barely hear him say, “Must keep walking” over and over again. I was grateful when the Captain arrived and took the strange man away. The rest of the night was quiet and uneventful.

Morning – After my evening duty, I slept some. I awoke to a commotion in the main square. When I got there, I caught up with Westen who told me that a killer had been caught and was about to be hanged. I was not overly surprised when they lead the shifty man from last night out. He was bound but not gagged and he was crying for mercy. Captain Rainor lead the man to the execution block and called out the charges. 

“Langus Just,” shouted Captain Rinor over the prisoner’s protests. “You are charged with the crime of murder against two couriers of the royal army among the crimes of theft and highway robbery. By the evidence discovered on your person and by your own confession, you have been found guilty on all charges. The penalty for these crimes will be death. As such, you will be hanged on (date redacted).”

Langus was lead to the rope and hanged. Funny enough, his legs kept moving even after the rest of the body stopped jerking. I’ve heard that happens sometimes with dead bodies. They keep moving even after the spirit has left. Later, I heard a couple of the guards complaining. Aparently, they had hoped that the killer’s possessions would be divied up among the men but everything and particularly the man’s boots had been confiscated by the nearby temple. 

I asked the Captain about it and it seems that once the man had been brought to the Commander, he immediately confessed to the crimes. He was a highway robber and had caught two couriers bringing a message for the commander.  Langus had burned the letter along with the courier’s bodies. However,he kept telling a strange story about how he felt compelled to walk here and that he couldn’t escape. The boots, which he had stolen from one of the couriers, wouldn’t let him. The Captain thought the man was just plain mad and I have to agree.