Sacrifice Day

The 124th day was heaped with celebration and song. Everyone generally agreed that not having the Valley be destroyed was a good thing, and drinking and eating until you lay slumped on the floor was an acceptable expression of this joy.
==== Kresten Bronzeborn, Lycian Guard Captain ====
While everyone else was drinking, Kresten was not. He, along with two of his guards and one of Happs’s people, were riding east. They were keeping their eyes on a half-dozen nags and their riders, slowly making their way to Brevoy. He’d sent Aleksi on their fastest horse to try and get a letter to Nivikta’s Crossing before the Orcusites arrived. The Crossing should be able to send for reinforcements easily enough, although he doubted the Orcusites would try anything.
By Kresten’s reckoning, this would be a victory parade for the Orcusites, letting everyone know they were back in town and still strong. They'd pick up cultists along the way, rewarding the faithful and...do whatever it is that Orcusites do. Sacrificing bats or something. 
That wasn’t his problem, however. The Orcusites were leaving Lycia, and would likely not return. The Greenbelt was known to be hostile to undead, and there just isn’t enough people out there to make it worthwhile for the cult. He was, he fantasied, running them out of town. The Forge or Skor could deal with them.
As the day wound on, he found himself enjoying himself. Konstant had packed her saddlebags with a few bottles of what she claimed was “whiskey” and smelled like a stable, but soon everyone was pleasantly buzzed. It didn’t really matter, if the Orcusites came for them they’d either be able to outrun them or they would not. Today, swords were only for decoration.
Night came, and a bloodmoon rose. There was some discussion and Moira suggested it was probably a Sacrifice Day thing. Kresten agreed, and they pressed on. While he was pretty sure Orcusites could see in the dark, their horses couldn’t, and the Orcusite’s saddle-lanterns made them easy to track. The rest of the night was peaceful, and a day later they’d seen the Orcusites to Nivikta’s Crossing. There a squad of the Forge’s finest were waiting to ‘escort’ the Orcusites further out of their territory. The squad pointedly ignored Kresten, but he didn’t care, not anymore.
All in all, he’d have to say it was a good Sacrifice day.
=== High Priestess Margaret of Vallyr, Lycian Theologist ===
After delivering pear-booze to Oleg’s, Peggie decided to head back to the temple and spend the night in prayer. There were too many people here, and it was too loud. Worse, she’d spotted some Death’s Head priests milling around, and she wanted none of that.
She bribed a merchant’s guard with a bottle of pear-booze to take her on horseback to the edge of the forest. On the way they ran into Happs and his men, and all of them agreed to go to the temple for the night, along with the merchant guard Mirri, who seemed fine with this.
They spent the night drinking (just pear juice for Peggy and Tobias) and told stories and sung lewd songs. The bloodmoon rose much to their concern, but Happs made the good point that the temple was probably the safest place to be right now, before heading out to the reflecting pool to make out with Tobias.
Happs’ confidence turned out to be correct, and the night turned out uneventfully. 
Peggy offered to pray for their safety, and to her surprise everyone agreed and listened politely. 
In the morning, Mirri realised her caravan would have left, and elected to join Happs’ gang.
To celebrate, Peggy gave everyone a token - a small wooden coin with the phrase “Vallyr protects the holy” written on it in celestial. Happs wore his where he’d once worn his staglord medallion. The rest followed suit.
All in all, she’d have to say it was a good Sacrifice day.
=== Chief Sootscale, Kobold Warrior ===
No one was surprised when Chief Sootscale abdicated his position, and passed his crown of bone and feathers on to Malik. Malik took the title, and let the now nameless chief pick a new name for himself. He settled on “Gix” (with a had G) after the draconic word for claw. He just liked the sound of it. The new Chief Sootscale wasted no time in naming Gix his second in command. Along with Harkail the cook, Viggul and Zetkor the hunters, and Adrek the tinkerer, they would rebuild. They had plenty of supplies and a lot of coin, their challenge now was to work out what they could do or produce when winter came to keep the fires hot and pantry full.
Gix suggested that they could send a letter to the Church of Muir, explaining their situation, and at the very least beg some holy books and enough to set up a temple in the Seer’s old room.
Sootscale agreed. Viggul and Zetgor would head first to Oleg’s and then to Brevoy, and try to get the letter in the hands of a reliable courier. With luck they’d also hear word of any other surviving kobold strongholds who could spare a few helping hands.
Things looked grim, but first the first time in months they at least had hope. That night they gathered in a circle and prayed to Muir, asking her for her blessing and protection in exchange for their loyalty. 
They didn’t see the bloodmoon, nor even know it was Sacrifice day.
All in all, he’d have to say it was a good Normal day.
=== Akiros Ismort of Muir, Lycian Guard Captain ===
Everything was covered in chips of wood and owlbear piss. It would be a long day of cleaning, but he had a good feeling about things. It was sacrifice day after all, and a proper paladin of Muir would offer her prayers. He found praying therapeutic, even if it was to fall on deaf ears.
Ox lifted heavy beams back into place. Cragger kept watch. Fat Norry did most of the washing and cleaning, although they’d still be eating rations for a few days until things were clean enough to cook on. Topper read highly dubious accounts of the events of the Sacrifice Day 10 years ago, and kept an eye on Ox. Falgrim was out on patrol, although she would return before dark with a few rabbits she’d managed to hit so they’d at least have some fresh food to roast over a fire.
They celebrated. Akiros gave a short prayer to Muir but was shouted down before he had a chance to finish.
That night, the moon turned red and a fog swept across the land, blanketing everything from view. Armor was donned hastily and they spread out around the wall, looking for any sign of hostiles. Soon, the ground began to shake, parts of the wall fell and the fort door broke from its hinges and toppled down.
Silence fell.
Fingers tight on bowstrings and hilts, they waited. The ground kept trembling, and all could swear they heard moans of pain and anguish coming from all around.
Seconds turned into minutes, then hours.
Dawn broke, and the fog lifted. Cautiously, they looked outside.
Where the zombie minefield had once been was freshly turned earth, and not a damned soul to be seen or heard. Cautiously Happs checked the entire surrounds, only to find that all the zombies had either left or had become dormant. Muir must have heard their prayers after all.
All in all, he’d have to say it was a good Sacrifice day.