OOC: Ravyson, since i'm still kind of confused about your dealings
with the barbarians (do you still have your troops with you or
were all killed?), i'll just continue in my own way for now. :)
***
January 15, 795 - Justice Keep
The guard on duty hurried down the stairs and over to his officer's
quarters. Keeping a lookout in the gate tower was usually a very
tedious job, but today he would at least have something to report.
"Sir, a large group of people are approaching the city gates! They
look like refugees, sir!"
Uldeth, Captain of the Justice Keep City Guard, rose from his desk,
grabbed his sword and put on his ornated helmet more out of old
habit than anything else.
"Show me."
The guard and his superior made haste to the lookout point, where
the guard pointed out the mass of people approaching the west gate
of the city. Uldeth squinted his eyes for a moment, a bitter look
on his face.
"Those are peasants, all right. There's a mounted warrior among them
though." He paused, then continued. "Saddle up my horse and give me
ten cavalrymen, we're going out to see what this is about."
***
He had found the fleeing peasants not far from the ruins of Minconium.
At first, in the misty night, they had tried to attack him with whatever
means they had, rocks, pitchforks or just bare hands. Then, someone had
recognized him and called out.
"It's Jerreck!"
Although his own feelings about not being there in the first place was
gnawing on Jerreck's insides, none of the villagers seemed to have such
thoughts. They were happy to have him there now, and together they
started the long journey to safer lands within Dantimos.
Jerreck had figured if he brought them to Justice Keep, the king could
with his own eyes see the need for help. Knowing the king to have a good
heart, he knew the refugees would be well taken care of.
So here they were now. The tall, bright walls of Justice Keep stood before
them like a solid, safe haven that nothing could penetrate. As they passed
through the landscape west of the city, local children and housewives
started to talk to the refugees and sometimes a loaf of bread would be
slipped into the hands of a dirty stranger without a home. In the front of
the column rode Jerreck, ready to face the officials that just now was
approaching from the city.
Jerreck made a motion with his hand, and the column behind him halted as
the word was passed down the lines. He kicked Black gently in the sides,
and the warhorse trottled towards the soldiers, who seemingly were
being lead by a high ranking officer.
"Hail, stranger! You are approaching Justice Keep, capitol of the kingdom
of Dantimos, under protection of the benevolent King Rolshin the First! I
am Uldeth, Captain of the Justice Keep City Guard."
Jerreck couldn't help smiling.
The Captain continued. "State your name and business here!"
"Greetings, Captain Uldeth. I am Jerreck of Borrim, by some called Jerreck
the Shield. I bring bad tidings for Dantimos, and with me is a group of
refugees from the western reaches of your kingdom. Their town, Minconium,
has been burnt to the ground by invading barbarians."
He looked back towards the people he had been protecting for the last
tenday.
"Can you provide them with shelter while i speak to your king?"
The expression on the Captain's face turned from confident to concerned to
confused.
"The King is a very busy man, Jerreck. Sure you can..."
"Take me to Rolshin now, Captain. He will want to hear what i have to say."
Captain Uldeth nodded and ordered his subordinates to take care of the
refugees while he escorted Jerreck inside the gates of Justice Keep. Into
the royal palace, and through endless corridors. Finally, Uldeth stopped
before an office-like room with no door. "This is the room of the royal
administrator. We need to set a time for..."
Jerreck just nodded and walked into the office, ahead of the Captain. Behind
the desk sat a corpulent man in his late fourties. As the two men entered,
the fat man quickly licked off his fingers and neatly put his hands on
the desk before him.
"Yes? Can i help you?"
"Yes. Let me see the king. Now!"
Apparently there was something in Jerreck's voice, since the administrator
just stared blankly at him for a second, but then stood up.
"Ah.. sir Jerreck, is it? But of course, of course. Indeed i think the king
is walking his winter gardens right now and..."
Jerreck grabbed the man's coat from a hanger and handed it to him.
"Good. Then let us not waste any time. Take me to him."
The administrator rubbed his hands together and was on the verge of saying
something, but Jerreck just held the coat out to him, and finally he took it.
"Yes, yes... let's go then."
The three men headed down numerous stairs and corridors until they reached
a thicker door that lead outside, to a beautiful icy garden of evergreens
and frozen ponds. On the way, Uldeth had summoned two guards to provide
protection for the king, should this "Jerreck" prove to be a danger.
***
OOC: Torlax, it would be nice with a little post by you here... whatever happens, Jerreck wants to help fight off the threat in the west.
Sorry, I've been a bit busy in the past week or so. No, Ravyson and Reeven are not alone. The men who stayed at the post were killed. The ones who survived the skirmish lived.
The sound of a hearty laugh signaled Rolshin's location, and they zeroed in. Rolshin was resting in a secluded little glade on a granite bench, with a guard at each side. Across from him, Jerreck noted the presence of a woman he did not recognize. She appeared to be amusing the King.
It had scarcely been a week, but Rolshin and most of his court had quickly taken a liking to this "Kiara." Kiara was inwardly amused by this, and patted herself on the back for doing such an excellent job making the transition between barbarians and bureaucrats. No doubt the king enjoyed her presence because she had such a humorous, jovial tone about her that she helped keep his mind off of things he would rather not think about in the first place. She did enjoy his company somewhat more than the barbarians. He smelled better, at least, and he would probably be more useful an ally in the end.
"Ah, Jerreck," spoke King Rolshin, emerging from his laughter. Then he sighed and the rosiness in his dimples faded abruptly. "I'm not quite certain that I wish to hear the news you bring, but please go ahead."
OOC: Kiara, i don't know if you are aware, but Rolshin has
a woman.. not sure if they're married or not but... i
just thought you should know. She kind of helped him become
king and all. Can't remember her name now though. Just
saying so you can consider it when you rp his actions. It's
probably best for Torlax to rp Rolshin in this.
End OOC
Jerreck studied the woman sitting next to Rolshin, before
once again turning his attention to the king.
"You are probably right, Rolshin. I don't know if you've
heard but the barbarians are invading your western border.
Already they have seized a number of towns, and most recently
they laid the town of Minconium under their heel and crushed
it. I have a few survivors with me, hopefully being taken
care of by your soldiers as we speak."
He noted a slight flinch in the face of the woman.
Rolshin sighed. "I had some reports of barbarians in the
west. I sent off a legion under your friend's command. Ravyson.
This can only mean bad news. You didn't spot Ravyson's group
then, by any chance?"
Jerreck shook his head, "No, if i had i would have joined
them in the fighting. Either they never made it to the western
bordertowns, or they have been defeated."
Rolshin leaned back on the bench, ignoring the beautiful song
of a red necked bird in the pine hedge behind him.
"This is the worst possible timing. I have had reports of...
unfortunate events in New Avalon as well. If i do not control
the nobles we may have a small civil war on our hands. I doubt
i will be able to draw any nobles out of intriguing and onto
a western battlefield right now."
Jerreck stood silent, observing the king. A long quiet minute
passed. Then the king looked up on the warrior.
"They came through your land, you say..?"
"Aye, they even offered me a place in their army."
The king's face tightened for a moment and he looked as if he
wanted to ask something but came to better thoughts immediately.
"I see."
Jerreck didn't smile. "I didn't take their bloody offer. I knew
what they had done to the villagers by then. It wasn't pleasant.
In fact, if you would take it, i would be glad to lend you my aid
in this. The barbarians wont stop until they have crushed your
kingdom or died trying, Rolshin."
[OOC: Yes, I was aware he had a wife; I checked before-hand. In writing that post, I was mostly interested in carrying this story forward a bit (I get the impression Torlax is a busy fellow) and in re-establishing my character's presence. The suggestion that something might be "going on" was just a sort of dramatic touch, and an open end on the off-chance that Torlax was interested in, at some point, pursuing a story of that nature. I do appreciate your consideration, though, and hope you continue it in the future. Never hurts to remind people.]
Kiara bowed, waiting to make sure that she would not interrupt the King.
"Then let's make them die trying. I want to help. I have a score to settle with them. Sir Jerreck, as I've explained to his majesty King Rolshin, I had joined their army hoping to find an oppurtunity to undermind them, because I have seen first-hand what those barbarians can do." It's the truth, at least in most respects.
"It was...disturbing. I have never had quite that much trouble holding my composure. I was passing through a town, and...there were bodies strung up, rotting, stinking, dead and humiliated in the center of the town. I talked to one of the heathens and he told me that the people in the town-square were an "example." I tell you, I wonder how I did not kill him at that moment. I thought that, perhaps, if I could pass myself off as a mercenary and join them, I might be able to find out a way to stop them." I wonder why this 'Jerreck' makes me nervous. Best watch him carefully. Maybe I can strike a common chord of disgust and hatred with him.
"Imagine my surprise when they sent me to assassinate his majesty. I have to question whether they were on to me, because, judging from the level of security around here, I think I was given the mission simply so they could be rid of me." Not to mention the one they sent to follow me. I wonder if they've found his body.
Rolshin frowned.
She cleared her throat and continued. "I wasn't with them for very long, but I did find out some valuable information. The barbarians can fight, but they are still barbarians. Disorganized semi-intelligent brutes. There are two exceptions: their leader, Reji'nik; and his right-hand man, Lenishen. There was, also, a tent that always stayed closed. Reji'nik was the only one who ever entered. In my experience, that much secrecy usually implies something of importance. I think without their leaders, and without whatever was in that tent, the barbarians would not present that much of a threat." Not sure I want to know what was in that tent. It had the stink of bad magic around it. I don't like secrets.
"There is one more thing. Reji'nik left me with a single way to contact him, when I completed his 'mission.' A carrier pigeon. I do not have it with me presently; in their diligence, the guards here removed it from me. As I said, I don't know how much they would trust a message coming from me, but that avenue is open should anyone find an effective way to use it." They were quite thorough, I suppose. Took all my weapons, even the boot-knives. Thank the powers they missed the Xidani.
OOC: Indeed Torlax seems to be a busy fellow... all we really need though is some sort of sanctioning from the king (at least if we want troops), and then we can be free to deal with the barbarian invasion. :) Btw, out of ooc-ish curiousity i must ask; what is a Xidani?
/Jerreck
Jerreck! I'm dissapointed that you don't read my stories. I highly recommend it; they're chock-full of interesting little morsels of information, like gumbo sort of. ;)
I swear...everybody read's Jake's twenty-two page posts, and nobody bothers to peek at the paragraphs I slip in every now and then. Sigh.
Ah, well, I shouldn't beg for pity like that; it's not dignified.
--Shadow
"another puzzling rant, another question answered"
But i do read your posts! At least most of them! I admit i sometimes miss a few, but this is mostly because i missed their beginning and now i have no idea what it's all about. There's the story about the woman who's family died and now she studies to be a magic user, right? And there's the Has Naledak (sp?) book thing wich seems to affect lots of people somehow, and the Necronis/Sweet-Voice thing with an army of undead that wants to sneak in under castle Kaat'n. And since i now know you're Kiara, i can also add that i read those posts as well (with her cleaving a tree in one blow, hehe) but i still can't remember the Xidana thing... guess i'll have to go back and check. :)
Anyways, i suppose we'll have to continue without Torlax's involvement. I'll post something soonish.
/Jerreck
Well, I'm glad to hear that you read my posts, and can certainly understand how they could be confusing coming in from the middle, especially the stuff involving Kaat'n which tends to relate back to times in the War Mill that not many people remember; and then there's the fact that my stories are generally just a lot of loose ends, which will, hopefully, be tied together at some point. I am glad to hear that you read them, though.
I suppose I was just momentarily amusing myself over the fact that you didn't realize I was playing Kiara, since the first couple of posts involving Serra and her were posted under my name. I hope that doesn't sound vindictive; I seem to have a penchant for coming off the wrong way.
*whines pathetically*
To save you some time, the Xidani are covered in the posts about Ley Druid reading some old books. Which reminds me...
I read all the posts with Ley Druid reading the books... but am still a little bit confused. Maybe that's how it's supposed to be though? I mean the stuff about the human shells (of which Kiara is one, right?) and what that whole remaking deal is really about. Are we supposed to know OOCly what the purpose of the Xidani and the human shells are? I'm sure it will all be explained in the end though. :)
As for coming off the wrong way, don't worry.. i didn't feel that way. :)
/Jerreck
Wow, even I knew Shadow was Kiara and I barely have time to check this place anymore... :P
Jerrek, basically, you're right: those posts are somewhat intentionally confusing and you're not supposed to know OOC what the things you mentioned actually are.
There is, amusingly, a basis for these things on some extremely old and obscure posts I made in the War Mill, but that isn't really of any particular importance.
Oh, hi Jake, did you ever send me that e-mail about what to do w/ your characters?
Nope, I have pretty much no time right now with finals and comp enmeshing me, and I'm too cheap to spend much more money on extra time to use these computers. Maybe by the middle of March I'll have time...and internet access. I hope.
Ok. I'll just play it by ear then (read: do whatever I feel like doing :P ), until you do.
Pretty much do what you want with them, I've not got any set plans in mind right now. I want Jaro to be trained at Kaat'n, though I see you're taking him elsewhere. All fine and good to me. I take my comp test on Tuesday, graduate on Friday, and begin moving up to New York. If Thrak's still alive in the area, I'd like to meet him. Gandalf should be around too, all I need to do is go to Neutral Ground and find him. If anyone else is in the area of Saratoga Springs/Ballston Spa, I could try to hook up too. Anyhoo, this free computer at the mall has a crappy keyboard, so I'm gonna give up typing now. :)