Chapter 199: Bag Hag

Chapter 199: Bag Hag

"Toss the little bone-gnawers four barrels today, looks like feeding time is popular with them."

Billy was balancing on a stack of three barrels, which gave him a good look at the area where they had dumped barrels full of offal each of the last two mornings. Ghouls were hiding in every crack or crevice, hopping up and down in anticipation, gnawing on bones and each other. Word had gone out to the denizens of Hungry Town that tasty meat was falling from the sky, and they were clustering in the area where the morning miracle occurred.

"You're the boss. I just hope none of them are smart enough to make a connection between the sound of a catapult and a barrel of snacks smashing into the ground." Sal was one of the stronger workers, and had help pack one of the new catapults to the courtyard in front of the ACME building. Ben had spent a long time with Rolly and Squirmie helping Sal calibrate the aim and the tension needed to dump the barrels where they wanted them. With Rolly around, Ben didn't have to worry about perfect calculations, and Squirmie was an ideal ariel scout, letting them know exactly where each ranging shot hit.

The last two nights had seen a lot of activity at the stockyards with two dozen contract workers led by the Baron and Baroness butchering everything in sight. The magic of the stockyards was working to refill the pens, but they were clearing them each night and the respawn wasn't keeping up.This essence is securely nested within the heart of Nøv€lß¡n★

Bob and his hound had showed up each evening, eager for the hunt. While Bob had been hunting wild animals for centuries, the hunts in the Fae lands were highly stylized with packs of dogs and peasants flushing the game and driving it to the hunters. Who got to kill the biggest beast was always pre-arranged. It was all just a dance with a familiar outcome. He'd grown bored with it swiftly after only a century or two.

Here in the stockyards it was different. There was an unpredictability to the creatures. Was this type of carnivorous sheep explosive? Or did it have some other trick? Bob felt himself pushed to his limits, straining his skills and relishing the bit of danger he was in. There was also the difference between a tired creature, and one that was fresh. These critters were as eager to hunt Bob as much as Bob wanted to hunt them. Twitterberry and the hound had saved their Lord's life five times in the last three nights. The close calls just added to his enthusiasm. This didn't surprise Twitterberry. Noble Fae tended to take things to extremes. His mothers love of the trapeze and his father's collection of rare porcupines being just two examples. It seemed Bob had found his calling in hunting strange beasts. And they had to admit he was getting better.

The meat had been shipped to Sedgewick by the wagonload and dumped into the growing charnel pit. The doors were opened and a wagonload of meat was pushed inside. A few minutes later, a bloody and battered wagon was ejected out those same doors, piled high was smoked meats of all types. The pit was cycling the meats in just hours, the smokehouse roaring at all times of the day and night.

One shift of workers was always there, packing the meat into barrels. Some was labeled 'Smoked Sedge Beast', others 'Smoked Meat', and a few just said 'Smoked Mystery Meat Surprise!'

The Legion bought it all. Optio Gustuvus opened up the barrels and took a look at the mystery meat, sampled a few pieces, and declared it fine eating. "It's a damned sight better than what an army normally eats in the field and no one is going to complain. If anything, the variety of what's inside will be appreciated."

Not everything went to the hungry charnel pit. Suzette had spent some of the town's saved Building Points to create more Storehouses. Uncured hams, pork bellies, wings of all types, and choice cuts from some of the beasts were piled inside the storehouses where the resident refrigerator mage froze them solid. Once a storehouse was packed with frozen meat and Hermetically Sealed, Delbert just had to refresh his spells once a week to keep things frozen solid.

There was some worry about what was going on, in terms of both Billy's plan for emptying the stockyards and the increasingly dangerous charnel pit. Joe assured Ben and Rolly that keeping it busy like this was helping, slowing the growth and even setting it back a bit. The pit was burning mana to get the work done, and they gained a measure of control by regulating how much they fed it.

The girl took a look at Ben, laughed and said, "I take it back, handsome. Feel free to handle my baggage anytime you want. I'll be in town for a while. Know where Jenny is living? Or did you kick her down the road yet?"

Ben was so curious he could burst, but he had things to do. "Miss Jenny lives down by the little river, you can just see her chimney from here."

"Thanks bud. See you around. Remember my offer." She picked up the large bag, slung it over her shoulder and headed to Jenny's house.

Arriving a moment later, she kicked the door off the hinges and entered the house. "What a dump. Your door broke just as I turned the knob." Granny Gorpunkle was just pulling out a large tray of cookies from the oven when the door fell into the living room. She hissed and spat. "No one invited you here, Vivian, get thee hence from my house."

Vivian tossed her bag in a corner, scooped a dozen cookies off the plate, and sank into a chair. "Not your house, Gorpy, it's Jenny's. And Jenny told me I could always visit anytime I felt like running away from home. That's enough invite to kick in the door and toss my bag. And now that my bags here, you can't kick me out. She shoved the cookies into her mouth, showing off very sharp teeth that ran in the family.

Jenny walked into the room. "That's true, Viv, but if your mother is in that bag, I'm killing you both."

Vivian laughed. "Too late. The bitch is dead. You have no idea how hard that was. I must have written a hundred letters telling every paladin's guild and the inquisition where we were, and where we were heading. Every time a squad caught up to us, Mom either ate them or she heard them coming and we skipped town on a stage the night before. Her survival instincts were a pain in my ass."

Jenny and Granny relaxed, and both smiled. "Dead? Well, that's good news. How did you finally kill her?"

Vivian noticed a bottle of alcohol on a shelf and helped herself. "One night, I killed a dwarf who owned the bar we drank at. The asshole gave Mom drinks for free and kept making offers to buy me. Mom was holding out for a better price and I decided it was time to get rid of both of them. I strangled the dwarf, and stole 73 bottles of whiskey. They all went in the bag and Mom got so drunk she fell asleep. I hauled her and the bag across town to the Cathedral. I cut a hole in the roof of the Cathedral and dumped her through it during one of the big festivals. Mom fell into the middle of The Order of Saint Fustus the Pious. Even friggin Paladins couldn't mess up that opportunity. Seventeen Holy Warriors of Fustus became martyrs and mom got chopped into little pieces. They boiled the remains in Holy Water, burnt what was left to ashes and buried the ashes in 7 different graveyards. I skipped town after that and decided to come for a visit."

Jenny put down three large glasses, and poured an inch of alcohol from an old dusty bottle into each. "Good girl. That gives us three again. Connected by blood and death. Agreed?" The other two nodded and the three hags drank their toast.

Jenny was going to have fun. First a Circle of White Witches and now their family could form a Hag Hollow. Just let the inquisition try to dig them out of this strange little town.