"I consider myself a swordsman first... nobleman, second, at best."
"We will all have to adapt to the change." More talk about Merewin's behavior had to pause there, for a pudgy, older gentleman walks towards the group, accompanied by several villagers, all of them whispering to each other.
The old man bows his head.
"I've been told someone richly dressed has arrived. You must be the new Ravenkeeps, am I correct?" "Correct. I am Lord Richart Ravenkeep. This, is my son, Merewin." Richart raises his hands towards Merewin, and then others.
"Markus of Farfield, my Captain of the Guard. Our House Priest, Aras of Farfield, and our Scholar, Lilinoe of Watercastle. Our bard, Andrea of Blackforest. Are you the Elder of this village?" "Aye, my good Lord. Name's Orwin, like our good King. I've been an Elder for past twenty-five years... does that mean you're taking our village in your hands?" "Correct." "And the forests, and the old copper mine, and the castle of course, too?" "Yes, yes I am." Richart squints at the older man.
"If you have something to say, say it." The old man sighs with great sadness in his voice.
"My lord, our village is far from the main roads. The forest has become dangerous as of late, and woodsmen say they saw a Lamia there. The mine has long been abandoned after a host of Baels made its nest there. We've been barely able to survive the winter with what little crops we could sell. And last month, a small group of bandits made themselves known in the castle, there is at least ten of them, and they've been--" "Bandits have taken over the castle? How is that possible? Shouldn't you have had guards in there or something? Where's your militia?" The old man fidgets at these questions.
"W-well we only had few boys in here... most of them put their swords long ago because, well, the area hasn't had any unrest since the Sixty Years' war... s-so when all these trouble happened, we only had old Berenger, but he, uh, he developed a habit for the bottle, and- and I dared not disturb other villages with a plea for help--" "Pathetic!" Richart grimaces and then shakes his head as the villagers take a step back and several of them quickly evacuate the area, blushing with shame, old Orwin trembling.
"Y-yes, apologies, thousand apologies..." Richart sighs.
"I've expected that this far in the east not everything might be in order... I will--" Suddenly, a coughing fit overtakes him, to the point he gets red-faced. Merewin holds his father's shoulder until it subsides.
"Merewin." "Yes?" "Go, lead a group to our new home and get rid of those bandits. I don't expect them to be any coherent or smart bunch so you should have no trouble if you bring Markus with you. Aras, Andrea, Lilinoe, Sebastian and Emilia will go with you." "I'm not sure that is enough people..." "These people have been scared or complacent, or both. If you manage a victory with such low numbers, maybe that will get them thinking. After all, we do need to take care of the Folk, as Lord Chancellor said. Such a hands-on approach suits the idea, don't you agree?" "Hm, well..." Merewin thinks about it only briefly, before nodding in agreement.
"You are correct." "If not for the cough, I would do it myself, but this time I think it's about time I give the younger generation a chance to prove themselves, right, Markus?" Richart turns to his old friend, and then to the rest of his entourage.
"Any of you wish to stay behind?"
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Topic: Belegian Emblems on Forums: Emblem of Estphal IC Thread (Read 5924 times)