Glim wrote:
The clean-up had taken a solid week, and that was just to get the town and gates clear of bodies and the worst of the damage repaired so that nothing else would fall down. And during that week, most of the camaraderie remained, the unspoken agreement to put aside cultural differences in the face of so great a threat holding true for a time. The clerics of the Eternal Order and of the Church of Lathander continued to tend to those who had been wounded, some who remained in critical condition for several days before there was finally enough prayers of healing to go around... and some who could not wait that long and were inevitably carried out solemnly to join the growing line of the fallen outside.
During that week, and indeed in the days following, a strange environment begun to emerge among those who yet remained in Nes'ek. The people began to realize just how cut off they were, despite their victory over Anubis' - no Set's, many would correct - forces. The portal to Guldorand was a smoking hole in the ground, the portal to Wiltun most of those who hailed from that region had already returned, and those who originated elsewhere knew what sort of treatment they could expect within the regimented and heavy-handed Jarldom. And for the Mulharondi, the loss of the portal to the River of Swords made them keenly aware of how far removed they were from their homeland.
A sense of need began to grow within those who remained, as Nes'ek merchant militia and priest of the Eight alike began to concern themselves with finding enough water, or Lathanderian worked alongside Hoarite to hunt in the desert for food that didn't consist of poisonous snake (of which there seemed to be more and more since the battle). In contrast, the Silverscale tribe would seem to have slipped back into the desert sands one night without so much as a word, the battle passed.
Gradually the defenders from Djedet and Anara would set up tents and temporary dwellings amidst the shelter of the rocky valley mouth to the south of Nes'ek, many wondering what would come next for them as they worked daily to properly sanctify the dead and make sure that no more of the living joined them. Meanwhile the remaining people of Nes'ek, who's population had been diminished more due to casualties than the flight of refugees as with Djedet's population, return to what homes remain intact after the siege. A pall of uncertainty would start to settle over the fractured town, with no ready supply of agricultural goods, the various merchants quickly sell the last of such goods for exorbitant prices, and all that is left is whatever can be hunted for.
No clear leader seems to rise between the Eternal Order, the Church of Lathander, the Chapel of Hoar, or what's left of the Mercantile Consortium or the people of the Khalem region. The Consortium remains oddly quiet, while Si'neela continues to tend her flock and offer what comfort and aid she can to the collective town and the faithful of the Order seem to keep mostly to themselves within their fortress-cathedral. The followers of Hoar seem more concerned with going out into the desert and clearing Set's remaining influence from the sands, killing any snakes they come across, while the people of Djedet, Anara and Khalem seem mostly concerned with keeping each other safe through the night in their temporary living arrangements.