Chapter Two: Conspiracy in the Capital
March 24th, 1257
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Dear Diary,
After picking up some recruits from Ayyike, I marched them in the direction of Tebandra. I still didn't have quite enough to take on whatever criminals may be lurking around Reyvadin. My new recruits showed their worth here, as they maintained a forced march pace without complaining. I was certainly right in recruiting from the villages, rather than Reyvadin.
Along the way to Tebandra, I ran into Boyar Mleza, an old friend of my family. Like Yaroglek, he did not recognize me. I spoke with him for a while, even though I needed to recruit the few men I needed and then get back to Reyvadin as soon as possible. As our conversation moved into finances, I somehow let slip that I was running out of denars fast.
My slip turned into a lucky break though as he took pity on me. He offered me the job of hunting down a wanted criminal in return for three-hundred denars. The criminal was thought to be hiding in Ayyike, a village hardly a mile from the location him and I were speaking at. I thanked him profusely before begging my leave. We left on a good note. He was grateful that he didn't have to spend the time searching for the criminal. I feel that we'll be good friends in the future, like we once were.
After my meeting with Mleza, I continued on my way to Tebandra, quickly gathering up the men willing to join my small army before turning around to return to Ayyike to kill the criminal, Aels Bright. As my force got to the outskirts of the town, I ordered them to stay put. There was no reason to cause unnecessary panic in the town. Besides, killing Aels didn't need more than one person.
For a criminal in hiding, it was relatively easy to find him. He was behind a building on the edge of Ayyike, and as I rode into town with all my weapons and armor, he paid far too much attention to me to be a simple farmer. When I approached him and told him he matched the description of Aels Bright, he immediately began shouting his innocence.
Now that I had confirmed his guilt, I felt no need to continue the ruse.
Chuckling, I said, "Before I came here, I did not know what Aels Bright looked like. Now, I do." After a few seconds, the penny dropped, and the man realized he had been tricked. Angered, he drew his sword and took a swing at me, but I was ready for that and by the time his strike was finished I was already a yard away after having spurred my horse forward.
What ensued was one of the hardest fights of my life. Aels was a good swordsman, if anything, and at one point in the fight, his sword reached its mark and bit deep into my leg, stopping just shy of the bone. Realizing that I truly was in danger of death, I desperately began to rain a flurry of blows on the man. Even after I felt resistance as the sword entered his body, I continued swinging.
I wasn't going to stop until he hit the ground. I was already dizzy from the blood loss the wound in my leg had caused, and I shudder now to think of what a second solid blow would have done to me. I left his body at the scene, to hurt to care. I'm fairly certain the people of Ayyike weren't exactly happy about that, but there was nothing I could do at the time.
After being quickly patched up at my soldier's camp, I ordered them to march to Reyvadin. Thanks to the sort distance between Reyvadin and Ayyike, we reached it in a few hours. Once there, I spoke to the man again and told him I was ready to go after the group that had kidnapped his brother. He advised me that the group I was looking for would not have more than four men.
In the tavern, I also learned that a tournament was going on currently. Despite the fact that I'm not the best fighter, I joined in. Tournaments are a good way to increase your weapon proficiency, and I suggest to any man that if he has the opportunity to join one, he should. There's no better training method in Calradia.
Unfortunately, I was knocked out cold in the first round. Not that I was expecting any different, but the fact that I was knocked out in the first five seconds was definitely surprising. I blame the loss of blood I had endured from my earlier fight with Aels. But I still definitely need a lot of practice. If I plan on surviving I'm going to need to be able to hold my own easily in a one on one fight.
In this picture, you can see my feet as I lie unconscious on the floor of the arena.
After being eliminated from the tournament, I turned my attention back to my task. I led my men out of the town to search for some bandits. I found a group in about an hour. As is proper, I offered the band a chance to surrender and tell me the location of their hideout. Of course, they declined to tell me. And by declined, I mean spit at my face and sent a volley of curses my way.
My soldiers and I dispatched them swiftly. I ordered them to leave just the leader alive, but somehow one of the other bandits managed to get off with a simple concussion. We retrieved the location of the hideout from the bandit leader and released him. The other man who had not been killed wasn't as lucky. He is now a prisoner of mine. Slaves and ransoms are worth a small fortune in Calradia, and I intend to make some money off the man for the trouble he gave me.
I reported back to the man who had ordered me to go after the bandits, prisoner in tow. Now that I had the location of the bandit hideout, I could go to it and rescue the man's brother. Not wanting to distract me from my quest, the man hurried me away, insisting I rescue his brother promptly.
So I rode off in the direction of Ulburban, the village the hideout was nearby. But by the time I got to the town and the hideout's location was in sight, it was dark, and far too late to launch my attack. I decided to camp outside the town in a perfect position to attack the hideout as soon as it was light enough.
That night I was haunted by nightmares. The disembodied voices of my parents echoed through my mind, and at the end of every nightmare, Yaroglek stood, cackling as he watched the guillotine come down on my parents' necks.
When I woke up in the morning, I was in an even worse state than I had been when I tried to get to sleep. Although, I was thankful that the nightmares were finally over. I roused my men and we set about to prepare for the attack.
The pass that led to the bandit camp was narrow, and the approach steep. The bandits had chosen a good place for their lair. Only a few of my men would be able to approach it in a manner that would not instantly alert the bandits inside. And I would be unable to ride my horse into battle. Despite these restrictions, I felt that we could easily overpower the bandits. And so, without further ado, I ordered a few men to follow me and we approached the bandit lair.
The bandits only took notice of us after we were nearly upon them. They pelted us with a few rocks and arrows before they were forced to engage my soldiers in melee combat. While my soldiers fought the main enemy force, I stalked around the camp, searching for the enemy archers who were still firing at my men. They were good with their bows, but they quickly showed why they were archers and not infantry when I engaged them in melee combat.
In the end, we killed every bandit, taking no casualties ourselves. And along with successfully rescuing the man's brother, I found a treasure trove of loot in the cave the bandits had been sheltering in. Most of the equipment was not useful in comparison to mine, but all of it would fetch a good price with the arms and armor merchants in Reyvadin.
I reported my victory over the bandits and the rescue of my employer's brother to him. I thought I was finished with being the man's mercenary, but of course, he had one final task. He had long suspected the guard captain of allowing the bandits to commit their crimes unimpeded by the law, and even allowing them into the town.
He had gathered the evidence he needed and rallied many of the townspeople and guards against the captain and his bandits. But, they needed a leader. Finally, it seemed, the man realized where my talents lie. He offered me a hefty amount of denars in exchange for my services, and so I accepted. This is the final task I will be taking from this peasant, and for two reasons. I'm tired of taking orders from this man so far below me in station, and things are sure to heat up in Reyvadin after the revolt against the guard.
The man is currently off gathering his men while I write this in the tavern. I'm a little disappointed by what the man is doing; not because of the act itself, but because this conspiracy has somehow slipped past the king. It's telling of how far the Kingdom of Vaegirs has fallen, and only serves to strengthen my resolve to bring down Yaroglek. He continues to prove his ineptitude as a ruler and as a person, and it amazes me.
Gameplay Notes
I was a little disappointed by the loot from the hideout, but other than that, this game is going great. Easy criminal killing quest from Mleza, the town was right next to where we were talking.
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