In Absentia

In Absentia

There is an old lady outside Oaklore Keep that lives along the road to Falconreach.  If you stop in sometime, she may tell you one of the saddest and strangest stories you have ever heard

In my prime, I knew everyone in Oaklore, seeing as most of them I helped birth as a midwife.  I saw an awful lot in my time as midwife.  But nothing compares to the last family I helped bring a child into the world for.  This is the one par tof  Oaklore history I will never forget.

Brangst Herfsnayer was a kind man.  He grew up idolizing the knights of the Pactogonal Table.  His mother had the local woodsmith whittle a stave for him when he was seven years old out of faulty wood from the mill.  Brangst went everywhere with that stave.  His favorite targets were the chickens at old Mayer’s place on the way to Oaklore.  When he became of age he traded in the old handcrafted stave for a practice sword and simple training armor.  He trained hard, emulating his favorite knights.  He would collapse in his bed at night with a smile on his face.  Soon enough, he achieved his goal and became a defender of Oaklore and a respected member of the Table.  He went out on quests to retrieve things stolen by factions of sneevils.  He protected the local farms from the overgrazing and overzealous boveox.  But his crowning moment was rescuing a family from a marauding band of Vurrmen.

The first time he saw her, he knew he was going to marry her.  Her long red hair shone in the sunlight and her green eyes sparkled.  She had a smile that would melt a yeti’s heart and a touch lighter than a feather.  Her name was music to his ears, Coralee.  He had come swooping in to save the day and she looked at him with such admiration that nothing would have parted them.  He asked her to marry him after three months of courtship.  They were oblivious to everything in the world.

They lived with his parents until Brangst made enough gold as a knight to build them a sweet little home in the woods.  Brangst enjoyed his place as husband and provider in the house.  Everyday, he came home to a kiss and a large meal.  And each night, they would curl up in front of the fire and read to each other.  Sometimes the stories were romantic.  Sometimes Brangst and Coralee laughed late into the night when reading a comedy.  But no matter what it was, they never strayed far from each other’s touch.

A few years went by and Brangst started to become anxious about Coralee.  Though they had been trying to have a child, they had been unsuccessful.  I was called on to give all kinds of brews and concoctions to Coralee that should have helped her conceive.  Just when they had given up all hope, Coralee discovered that she had conceived.  After five years of trying, they were finally going to have a family.  I was happy for the couple.  They deserved such happiness.

Brangst made sure that Coralee did everything she was told.  She ate properly, walked about more and rested longer in the middle of the day.  But near the middle of the second trimester, she became ill.  The doctor tried to help but nothing worked.  Because there was concern for the baby, I was asked to come in earlier than usual.  It seemed as though I was with the family constantly.  A couple of months went by and Coralee didn’t get better.  I tried to reassure Brangst that the child was still well and that most mothers-to-be did go through sicknesses like this.  Towards the beginning of the third trimester, Coralee got worse.  Brangst never left her side and became withdrawn and sad.  The Knights gave Brangst a leave of absence to help take care of Coralee.  The townspeople weren’t sure if they should offer condolences or prayers for recovery.  I worked night and day to make Coralee comfortable.  There were days when I thought I was going to lose her.

I had to leave town for a couple of days to get some medicines for her pain.  Upon entering Oaklore, I was met by a frantic knight saying that I was needed right away.  Coralee had gone into labor the night before and it looked bad.  Coralee ended up delivering early, but the baby was a fine strong boy.  When Brangst finally got to hold the baby, he named him Brigg.  He smiled down at the boy, walked over to Coralee and happily stroked her cheek.  His touched seemed to bring color back to her face and she managed a small smile of her own.  Coralee remained slightly sick during the first few weeks, so a wet nurse was brought in to help take care of she and Brigg.  Brangst stayed home with Coralee and Brigg, caring for them the best he could and enjoyed fatherhood.  I dropped in time to time to make sure that Coralee was fine.  The older Brigg got the happier Brangst appeared.  After a few months, Coralee strengthened and the wet nurse was dismissed. 

Several families from town brought meals to help the family out so that Brangst and Coralee could concentrate on loving and caring for Brigg.  Brangst returned to the Pactogonal Table in good spirits, but his presence seemed more reserved.  Most people placed the blame on the hard pregnancy and Coralee’s hard recovery.  But slowly over time, he cheered up some, Coralee got even better and eventually by Brigg’s first birthday, he was back to the man everyone remembered.  With Brangst in high spirits and Coralee able to spend more time in town with Brigg, everyone felt better about Brangst and his family.  The family became part of the town again and everyone seemed happy. 

But not all was bright and beautiful.  Though everyone appeared fine and the people of Oaklore enjoyed having the family back, there were whispers going around Oaklore.  Brangst had lost some weight, and though that seemed a petty complaint by some, others were more concerned.  It was gradual, but Brangst did nothing different than he had all his life.  By Brigg’s second birthday, Brangst health was a concern for all those around him.  And occasionally, Coralee and Brigg seemed slightly reserved.  When Brangst looked his worst, his wife and child weren’t always around.  They stayed at the house and people were forced to go to them.

Brangst had to get a new set of armor because of the weight loss and recently his strength had waned.  Brangst’s superior officer made a few house calls to make sure everything was ok and found that the house was an active, though maybe quieter place than recently.  But dinner was always cooking when he stopped by, and Brigg was found to be playing quietly with his toys in the living area.  Coralee would pat him on the shoulder and thank him for watching out for her love.

Brangst began to invite others over to dispel the myth of his failing health.  Children came over to play with Brigg and everyone seemed to back off.  The children’s games were frequently done inside and were quiet.  The dinners with friends were quaint and conversation was low and on topics that didn’t require much opinion.  By the time Brigg turned three, everyone in town had to admit that Brangst looked bad.  His eyes were yellowing, his skin seemed dry and he was getting weaker.  To make matters worse, Coralee and Brigg weren’t seen quite as often and everyone assumed it was because she was busy at home trying ot figure out how to care for Brangst.

He submitted to the doctor at everyone’s insistence, but the doctor found nothing wrong except that he was underweight.  The doctor sent a note home with him to ask Coralee to fix bigger meals.  Guests were always amazed at the amount of food served at dinners and wondered how on earth Brangst was losing weight with meals like this on the table every night.

Slowly, Brangst missed more and more days of work.  The knights took turns visiting the house to call on him and see how he was feeling.  He officially gave his resignation to the Pactogonal Table, knowing he was too weak to be much help anymore.  The people in town saw less and less of Coralee, too, though the knights said that she was at home tending to Brangst’s needs.  As the months dragged on, Brangst and his family were seen very little.  A day came suddenly when the townspeople realized that Brangst had not been seen in a while.  A few asked around and no one claimed to have seen him.  A few shop owners agreed that they hadn’t seen Coralee in some time.

The knights and a few others from town, including myself, went to the house to check on the family.  We walked through the home and found it baer, kitchen dusty and back door wide open.  When we walked out, we found the thin, dry husk of Brangst on the ground, hugging a large marble slab sitting against the house.  A few of the other women walked around outside calling for Coralee and Brigg.  And until the day I die, I will never forget that scene or what it meant for all of us that fateful day.  I was there when the knights carefully removed Brangst from the stone.  I saw the inscription carved into the stone in Brangst’s handwriting. 

My beloved Coralee, my wife, my best friend.
And the child that never saw the sun’s beautiful light.