Mission Objectives Accomplished
There has been some speculation that the Gunthering Harbor incident was deliberate: the wholesale massacre of over three hundred child-soldiers in a single battle. There are several facts to add credibility to this theory:
- The assailants of Gunthering Harbor were never seen after this particular battle. The discipline and coordination required to lead such an attack against a military force is far outside that of a bandit gang or even several working in concert.
- This is one of the few times such a large number of Ripperwulfs had been deployed in a fighting role in a singular operation. Previous assignments had them working in small groups, usually engaged in reconnaissance and indirect combat such as sabotage and harassment.
- This was considered the first open deployment of the Ripperwulf Fire Swords, an already controversial decision even within its own ranks. The use of children was one thing; the training to make them into an even more efficient and effective fighting force was an incendiary decision that would undue decades of the Fire Swords’ fairly positive public image.
It could be concluded that this battle was staged to intentionally draw out the Ripperwulfs just for their destruction; or perhaps the Fire Swords simply used this as a pretext to see if the Ripperwulfs’ training was as effective as they had hoped.
—The Fire Swords: A Critique
In the aftermath, three particular people took a look at the massacre from a distance. The harbor streets reeked of burned bodies and cordite. An unsettling dark mist covered the area like a dense fog, making prompt rescue difficult. The screaming and moans had died down, but not by much.
* * *
Adalgisal looked down from his second-story balcony at the inn, his head held down in shame. This lodging was set atop the hill, overlooking the harbor town. The balcony gave a wonderful view of the river and the forests beyond–a strong selling point for travelers. It was one of the few buildings still standing after the artillery barrage. The cannons had fired and struck the building but had failed to ignite the explosives within. It did not take long for the barrels to be removed, and the place deemed livable, if just for a short time.
Below, the General could see the street being cleared with one section dedicated to collecting the bodies. Simply by focusing on any section of the street, he would view at least two bodies hiding in the debris. On one cleared section, he could see the bodies laid off in an orderly fashion, all covered by clean white sheets. Some bodies were so small that the attendants covered two bod
