Attending to the royal feast, approach King Charlex IX and attempt to engage in casual conversation.
[3] Although you are a Duc in your own right, you only possess a token Secretary position within Albert's council (after all, Spymaster is not an official job). This makes it rather difficult to get hold of Charles, who has no time for such. When you do finally corner him, he seems disinterested. [1] You try to start some minor conversation, but it is clear such talk bores him. He politely but definitely ends the conversation with a short compliment on your dress sense and then goes and talks to [5]
Duc de Arborvent instead.
[4] "So I understand the Duc de Parnoth is marrying into your family? I am hopeful that this will be the first of many alliances between our great nations."
You are a little put out by being snubbed, [5] but King William accosts you before you can really consider it and drags you over to another table where he is busy drinking heavily. [5] He is well into his cups and in his drunken state seems to think you are some sort of old friend! Conversation proceeds very smoothly, if accompanied by a lot of wine - [3] so much so you are only just able to keep more or less sober.
"My quarrel is no longer with you. You may go. However, If i learn you have raided Adranic lands again with another unit of Black Arrows, I will hunt you down. Is that understood?"
Find the swordmaster... Find your father? My father, a Swordmaster? and there is another Sirenna living here? Killed his son? This is a riddle indeed
this is cryptic, but also a light. My father, either a Haegar I just killed by my own hand, or a Swordmaster roaming the land. But I must not ponder this until my mission is done.
He walks up to the ranger, nearby. "My condolences for your comrades. They were good men. Such a waste for a personal mission."
Bury all the dead, and retrieve my gear. Note the location of the treasury worth 20-25 crowns and Ban Yi Soong's cove from the Bandit, and set him free. Return to the village after this is done.
After burying the dead, getting the location of the stash and retrieving his gear, Karas pulled the ranger aside.
"You now have a choice, Ranger. Either you can return home to Northwatch and report to Lord Renart what happened, or come with me and kill Ban Yi Soong. When I get the stash, we'll give 5 crowns to the families of the dead Rangers, 5 to you and the rest for me. Understood? I am not expecting you to come with me."
The bandit holds true to his word, and after you cut his bonds and let him walk thirty paces away he turns and tells you that the money is buried under a nearby tree stump. He also reveals the location of the cove (about half a mile north along the coast from the village of Eastborough) and then breaks into a run across the swamp. [3] The ranger does not feel as bound by your word as you do [1+1 vs 2] and fires a parting shot at the bandit. The arrow makes contact but he keeps running anyway and escapes.
There turn out to be about 20 crowns in money and jewellery, so you give the crowns to the ranger, [1] who is all too happy to head home after the battle and take the 10 crowns with him. He collects the personal effects of his friends and promises that he will bring help to carry them back for proper burial at Northwatch. You return to the village nearby to plan your next move.
A day later, the ranger returns to Northwatch, [4] where he informs Lord Renart's steward that he and his men took care of the bandit problem, [3] that the agent of the king has continued on his mission, [4] and that he has
four crowns in coinage to give to the families of his good friends who did not make it, [1] the full share of the loot from the bandits minus that which the king's agent stole for himself.
"Interesting..."
Slit open a hole in one of the bags, put the accreditation letters into them, before stitching them back up, carefully so as not to leave to much of a mark, fill bag with clothes and the like, and then place the border passes in the other, then head out.
You head along to the border, stopping briefly for supplies at Harald's Pride. Harald's pride stands firmly on the border between both Donnerstein and the southern Arch-Duchy of Morinth. You cross along toward Donnerstein, sticking close to the river. There is not a clear border such as the Arendal, but eventually you are stopped on the road by a small platoon of armed men with pikes and bows. They firmly insist you head back the way you came, so you present your border pass.
[4+1] There is a spot of argument amongst the soldiers as they look over the pass, but their captain seems to find everything in order. He ushers you past and suggests you get to Fort Moreau as quickly as possible and have some internal passage papers drawn up for you; it's difficult to get around the country without them.
[4] You head on along the road without much more hassle; aside from another patrol that accepts your pass you are unhassled. The countryside is somewhat telling, though; unlike the rich green pastures and grain fields of Drachengrab or even the sheep-filled hills by Harald's Pride, the land here is barren and fallow. Fields that were clearly once maintained are overgrown with grass and weeds and open pasture is left ungrazed even on a warm summer's day like this. You pass villages along the road where people actively shut their doors on you as you ride by. At one point you see a line of about thirty cairns along the roadside.
Fort Moreau, when you reach it, [2] was clearly once a fortification to match that of Harald's Pride. You can see the fine stone walls, the firm foundations and garrets of the inner bailey. You can also see where they have been rebuilt inexpertly with rough stone or else with wood and plaster. Sections of the wall have been replaced with reinforced wooden palisade for want of proper materials. [6] The fort is brimming with activity, though not of the kind you might have expected. Tents and rough shacks cluster around the outer walls and children, women and old men busy themselves cooking around communal fires, sewing and cleaning and trying to stitch leather and hammer steel. Aside from the bowmen at the wall and a handful of pikemen at the gate you see few able-bodied men.
[2+1] Once again your pass gets you into the fort, although the guards scrutinise it much more carefully than the patrolmen. You are directed to see the fort steward immediately at the inner bailey, then ushered inside. The fort courtyard is littered with shacks built against the outer walls in addition to the usual outer bailey buildings, and activity is centred around the local forge where a tired-looking smith and his apprentices are busy shaping armour, weapons and horseshoes. A handful of wounded soldiers are lined up against one wall, sat on the floor and drinking broth or dozing. Their dressings are dirty, but on some of them the blood is still fresh. You hand your horse's reins to the stablemaster and head into the keep.
After a short wait, a soldier directs you to the throne room. The chamber still has rich carpeting and many hunting trophies hang upon the walls. At the far end of the space a small dais rises up upon which two wooden thrones sit. The space is presently cluttered with tables full of scrolls, maps and in some places tin plates with bits of food left on them. Near the dais, a pinch-faced middle-aged man in grey robes is sat at a desk poring over scrolls and signing them.
"I'm busy," says the steward, "so make this quick. The gate guard tells me you want a pass so you can head to the city. Who, what and why? Who are you, what are you up to, and why should I care enough to sign you a pass?"
((From here))
Renart checked the lines of his men -- specifically those armed with spears and bows, "Did you mark the bodies with visible trailings?"
Seeing the unsure response from his Ranger, the Marquis decided the best course of action was to watch and follow the drakes with a small trained band from a distance -- memorizing the area in which the cold drakes came from and checking if there were similar areas around. Orders to the other men to keep watch for ambush points, and to prepare stationary defenses at the moment -- spear pits dressed with animal blood and the like.
Acting casually.
The Cold drakes were powerful, and darkness was not his friend at the moment. The terrain, he knew little of, and the drakes had the advantage of overpowering guards posted at their watch.
He hoped this plan would work.
[2] The marsh is full of pits like the ones the drakes emerged from. There are too many to isolate, but at least they do not appear to be linked. [6] A band of your men are able to keep track of the ripples on the water near where the two drakes they saw submerged. They track the water for a few minutes, heading further and further away from the rise, [6-1] then scramble as one of the drakes leaps out of the water from behind and nearly catches one of them. They run back toward the rise, [2-4] only for a
third drake to emerge from hiding and grab one of the archers' arms with her jaw. The arm comes off, and the archer falls screaming into the marsh. [5+1 vs 4+?] The archers start firing at the drake, who submerges into the water - while the second drake hurtles toward them and bursts another man's head between its jaws. [6+1 vs 3+?] The first drake, unseen until now, bursts out of the water from where he was tracked, but a lucky arrow catches him in the side. He snarls, an oddly bird-like sound, and dives away into the water. The others follow suit, [2+3 vs 5+?] with the few arrows that make their mark on them not wounding enough to take them down. The remaining rangers head back to the hill for safety.
[?] Your men attempt to secure themselves as best they can against ambush by keeping to the edge of the rise and keeping well lit with torches, [?] digging their spear pits for best effect. They settle in to watch, and after ten minutes they spot a drake crawl out of the water toward one of the pits. The drake tries to snap at the meat inside, but gets his neck gored on one of the spears. He raises his head and calls out in a birdlike shriek - [3 vs 4] echoed by two more immediately behind the waiting men.
[5 vs 2] [2 vs 3] [4 vs 1] [6 vs 5] The drakes behind the men pounce, having snuck up onto the hill with alarming stealth. Three men go down immediately to bites and slashes from the drakes' claws. The trapped drake tries to pull its head tree, and the spear worsens the wound, but pulls loose just in time to take a handful of arrows from the archers on the hill. He screams another birdlike scream and retreats into the marshes. His two fellow drakes continue to savage their way through the men, tearing and rending until no more remain, then vanish back into the marshes as well.
Morale is low, but the drakes have taken some wounds as well and you know where at least half of them are now: although the marsh and darkness makes it hard to shoot with accuracy, you know that they cannot travel far from their hiding spots quickly. This is the time to make your decision, though; take the initiative and attack, or pull back to the hill and wait for the drakes to attack you?
Keep going...
You continue heading north, taking a wide berth around the camp of travellers. [5] Your guide keeps you away from towns and settlements, and even roving raiders, though these grow less and less as time goes on. [4,5,1+2] Weeks pass, and even despite the long summer days the weather starts to cool. You find yourself using your thick winter clothing more and more. Your guards adapt well, and of course this is the guide's home country - although he does start shivering quite a lot. It seems likely that he has spent too much time in the warm south.
Heavy forest turns into light forest, light forest into taiga and tundra. Food becomes sparse, [5] but you hunt enough to keep yourselves and have spare for when the storms strike. [6] Shelter is easy to find with the guide's help and you take to living in caves and building shelters where you cannot find them. One night you rest in a cave during a particularly icy storm, only to find you are not alone. [4] A family of wolves is resting in the cave as well, [5] and fortunately they are all asleep. You could kill them for the meat and safety if you wanted, as they probably will not take kindly to you sleeping in their home. On the other hand, finding new shelter means exposing yourself to the storm. How do you proceed?
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Topic: You are King III: Spring 938 AAL (Read 133583 times)