AAR. Time of Troubles ~ Chapter X

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Chapter I. The Fate of the Bastard.

It was his time now, finally, after years and years of hiding and begging, after so many false smiles and bows to the enemies of the kingdom, his kingdom, after so many dark nights, so many assassination attempts, illusionary and real, so many escapes, after so much cowardice, from his servants, from his so called bannermen who until that day never do anything to reclaim his rightful crown, his rightful seat and kingdom. After so much cowardice, his cowardice, he felt lightness in his heart; he would never be a coward anymore, he would never escape anymore like in that night in Reyvadin.

It was his time now, the time to be brave, the time to unsheathe his weapon and charge upon his enemies, the time to feel the thrill of the upcoming battle, the freedom of galloping at full speed with his horse and so he did when he saw enemies ahead. Good men turned bandits of the tundra, traitors, no Vaegir men anymore at least to the eyes of the prince, not so different to his uncle and cousin. “I will not tolerate traitors anymore”, he said to himself feeling lightness in his hearth, he had tolerated them enough time, the weight of a cowardice that have haunted him so much time finally lifted from his shoulders, he felt brave, more and more brave as he approached galloping to the bandits, alone.

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Knights stood surprised when his lord galloped charging to the bandits, not many lords attack bandits just for justice, most of them do only for profit or, covered in duty or drill, for boredom. Eventually the cavaliers followed their liege, maybe he was a little too daring, but maybe that was how men fated to be became legendary supposed to be. It was his time now, time to become one, a story to be told and retold, from the very moment when a young boy escapes from Reyvadin to the moment when after a final battle a man, a king, will triumphally return acclaimed by his bannermen, by his soldiers, and his people. Knights eventually charged behind his lord, behind the man who was supposed to be escorted from Ichamur in the Khanate to the Rock of Rivacheg, behind the man who was supposed to become a king, a legend.

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It was his time now, the time to be powerful, the time to feel powerful and he was already feeling that way, he saw when one of the fifteen bandits ahead tried to escape and look for cover in the snow. The men of taiga were hard men, but in legends the very presence of a truly king were enough to fright even the hard men, and now, after so many years he had that kind of power. It was his time now, time to feel like a truly king should feel and so he did, time to know his fate and so he did, he saw his future, he saw himself in Rivached being crowned by the noblemen that supported him, he saw himself defeating the usurper Yaroglek and reconquering his rightful seat, taking back what was his, his crown, his kingdom, his honor after so many years. The prince felt lightness in his heart, the confidence to know he had a glorious fate.

It was his time now, his very presence was enough not only to frighten his enemies but to rally the men to him too, the knights were following him, his knights were following him. He saw when he turned to them for a moment. When he was just a boy, alone in nights full of terrors, far away from his beloved mother and father, he always saw behind him to his enemies, the real and the illusionary. Their enemies always attacked from behind, the backstabbers, the assassins that always were following him and his little retinue. It was his time now, time to have the enemies ahead like always should been, he would attack them from ahead, he would not be a coward anymore, his enemies were ahead, his destiny was ahead. The Vaegir Prince turned his head ahead and met his destiny; he felt lightness in his heart, such lightness as a feather floating in sky, such as the warmth of the Velucan dusk in summer all within the coldness of snow, such as the softness of a limitless white bed. It was his time now, the time to fulfill his destiny so he did, and then he felt no more.



Please criticize me and correct my most evident mistakes, this is for fun and for practicing my English at the same time. Let me know too if you like or not what I am writing.
 
Wow, I must admit I'm impressed.. It's cool to see a story about Vaegir Prince..

When can we expect next chapter?
 
Chapter II. The Fate of the Man Buried Below Tundra.

The Boyar was on his knees next to the Prince’s corpse, it was not a sign of homage or even respect, it was just curiosity, the noble only wanted to saw the Prince’s face at close, the Prince’s mask, he had enough time anyway so he did, under the cold Vaegir night the Boyar’s most powerful bodyward stood next to his lord with his greatsword unsheathed, silently as always, around them twelve more knights of the Boyar’s retinue stood next to the eight that were at the Prince’s service, three of the bandits that survived the battle awaited on their knees for the terrible fate that they earned few hours ago, only because they were on the wrong place at the wrong hour, half a mile aside were the rest of the Boyar’s personal army. Under the cold and dark Vaegir night only the bodyguard knight could saw his lord’s smile, but as always he did not said anything, he did not show anything, he only stood there with his sword.

The Prince’s face, the Prince’s mask was a very interesting one in the Boyar’s eyes, men and women usually die painfully after great suffering, especially in the land of Calradia were wars never ends, and with their lifeless corpses they left their masks, faced turned masks frozen with the expression at the time of the dead’s death, terrible masks with terrible expressions of pain, hatred and suffering. The bandit’s corpses wore that kind of masks; one of them, cut from the belly to the left shoulder showed great pain and suffering, the Boyar knew, he didn’t died instantly, maybe the cut was not deep enough and the man died only after very long few minutes, other man’s mask was covered in hatred, pierced through his heart he died instantly, another one was no more than a red paste over the snow, unrecognizable after so many stabs and cuts, that was for sure, the Prince’s assassin. Three were yet alive in their knees, but they already wore their masks, the fear was frozen in their expressions.

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The Prince probably died in the very moment when the javelin pierced through his left eye, breaking his skull from the other side with de tip, the Boyar’s expert eyes calculated that in the worst case he lived enough to feel the snow when he fell from his horse immediately after, but even with that horrible wound, even with the blood dried over his face, his face, his mask, was smiling, and so the rest of that mask that didn’t fail to show happiness. What was that man thinking in the moment of his demise? That was a secret that the prince took to his grave. The nobleman searched then under the Prince’s breastplate, the Prince could took his secret to the grave, but men alive still could make use of his possessions in the world of the living.

The boyar stood on his feet and spoke to the knights that failed to protect their lord and liege, “you will not be blamed of this”, he said to those men, “you already told me, he was too carefree in a world full of dangers and maybe this was just divine justice making its right”. The noblemen stood a few steps aside the Prince’s corpse, making space to be used by those knights, “but please, make a pray for our late liege, for he could find rest in the afterlife”, continued with soft words that carried the weight of an order in his voice, that were enough, the knights put on their knees with their liege’s body in front of them and the Boyar’s knights behind, shortly after they started to pray. “Return to your lord”, said the noble.

The bandits saw it, twelve swords stabbing multiple times eight bodies multiple times, kicking then the corpses over the man who those supposed to protect, “serve him better in the afterlife than you have served him today” told the evil man. The white snow was tainted in red once more; it was now their time, time to die, time to become masks. Snow began to fall.  The lord approached them with his bodyward, the men on their knees trembled in fear and despair, one of them even failed to keep his mouth shut, “I am not even a bandit, I am a scholar from Geroia, I was just a prisoner of them” he said weeping when the lord could hear him, the other two remembered to keep their mouths shout in the presence of a lord.

The Boyar stood in front of the three unlucky prisoners, two of them tundra bandits and one of them originally a prisoner of them that could pass for another of the outlaws because of his appearance, worn out by few weeks in the tundra and without proper personal care. Who would pay a stranger’s ransom in Calradia anyway? The only hope was until that day was escape but, where? The only hope was to be rescued but, who would rescue a foreigner? Who would recognize him as a prisoner? He was the man that the Prince saw looking for cover in the snow, he had no weapon to defend himself and he didn’t had any proficiency with them to begin. “Please my lord, I only came to Calradia to build”, he said making the mistake to look upon the master’s eyes; evil eyes, more black than Vaegir nights, more cold than Vaegir winter. There were no compassion for him in those eyes; the scholar quickly realized his mistake, he never had should to go to Calradia.

They were very long few minutes, even longer that the minutes suffered by who he died cut from the belly to the shoulder some time ago few meters away, the process was repeated twice, the Boyar questioned one of the prisoners and shortly after receive the answers that he wanted the bodyward executed the bandit, the scholar was the last one left alive but his turn eventually came, those black evil eyes turned upon him, “Build did you say? What you wanted to build?” he asked looking upon the despaired man with commanding voice; “walls and halls your highness, everything that your grace would wanted to see build, I have studied ten years in the university of Geroia as a humble scholar, and I have very much experience working for the Lord back there” he said as quickly as possible, closing his eyes to at the moment of his death, but he didn’t died, not at least in that minute.

“Let me look you”, the nobleman said holding with his hands the face of the unfortunate man. The scholar trembled in fear but let the noble govern his movements, he could feel the breath of who he had in front, he could feel the gaze of who he had in front, but he didn’t wanted to open his eyes, “open your eyes” the lord commanded, but the scholar didn’t follow the order, not immediately. He never again wanted to look upon those eyes. The Boyar’s expert eyes were looking upon the man’s face smiling eerily, maybe there was still a chance, “open your eyes” he commanded again, and the scholar didn’t fail to accomplish his command a second time. His eyes were of the perfect color, his hair was blonde but it could be dyed, his face was almost the same for what he could feel with his hands, and he was totally a coward so he could be manipulated as a puppet. The lord look upon the pile of corpses still fresh and then he stood on his feet, the scholar closed his eyes again for a moment but once again the sword of Damocles didn’t pierced through him. “I am Boyar Belgaru” the noble said inviting the scholar to rise with his right hand, “Whatever you are you died today in this tundra, and from now on you will be the Prince Valdym of the Vaegirs”. Shortly after they departure and the snow covered all the corpses.

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Bruce  Almighty said:
So main character is basicaly Valdym?

No, the main character is that coward from Geroia :grin:
He recieved the order from Boyar Belgaru to replace Prince Valdym, who was slain in battle with bandits..
 
Chapter III. Two Kings, one Kingdom.

One week later. Court of Reyvadin

The music played by numerous troubadours filled the air with its enchant, the darkness of the night was casted away by dozens of oil lamps that shined like little stars around three blazing suns, three fires that not only brought light to the darkness but warm to the coldness in the main hall. The tables were filled with dishes made with numerous ingredients; pork, chicken and beef from the farms around the city, fish from the rivers and deer from the forests, bread baked that day in the city, fruits, grain and cabbages from the near villages, Velucan wine flavored with spices from Tulga, beer from the breweries between Praven and Uxkhal, and olives and grapes from the other side of the Calradian continent.

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In the main hall and throne room of Reyvadin’s castle the proud noblemen talked about the war with the Nord and their exploits in it, about the last day tournaments and how warriors fought in the melees, the elegant noblewomen gossiped about the court’s last news and giggled to the men that looked good before in the fights, and to the troubadours that dedicated them songs of their taste and like. Everybody cheered the name of the day’s champion and everyone drank to the health of the King, everybody cheered the name “Yaroglek” and everyone drank to his health, for champion and king that night were the same. Proud noblemen and elegant noblewomen revolved around him like he was the center of the universe. Maybe he was, at least he was the center of the kingdom of Vaegirs, he was the lord of Reyvadin, he was the empire’s heir, and he was the true and only King. But even in the throne he didn’t sat comfortably because he knew, something was wrong and his instinct didn’t fail him. A man wanted to see the King; he was a merchant from Rivacheg and had important news for him.

Court of Rivacheg.

Five voices filled the main hall of the Castle named as “the Rock” with their might, five voices of five men kneeled in front of a man on his feet, the only one who was on his feet in the room, other people were on their knees behind the five too, proud noblemen in front and elegant noblewomen behind. “I swear homage to you as the lawful ruler of Kingdom of Vaegirs”, they said and then everyone else on their knees repeated the same filling again the room with masculine voices. “I will remain as your loyal and devoted man as long my breath remains, I will be at your side to fight your enemies should you need my sword”, the five continued followed then by knights, squires, and warriors of all kinds, “and I will uphold your lawful claims and those of your legitimate heirs”, they finished to pledged to a man that didn’t have the right to receive that vow nor deserved it. Shortly after feminine voices filled the room again with their own oath of allegiance, they didn´t needed to swear to fight in any way but they would oath to serve anyway in the ways that only a woman could serve.

The man who now was Valdym, King of all Vaegirs stood on his feet next to the seat of honor amazed of what was happening with him, he listen solemnly to the men’s vow and then he do the same with the women’s, “Now I accept all of you as my subjects” answered false Valdym, first of his kind, “king” of all Vaegirs, “fight for me as I will fight for you, against the enemies of our kingdom and against the usurper that now feast in my rightful seat in Reyvadin”, he said just as he said before a hundred times alone. What was the difference of a foreigner or bandit and a king? The appearance apparently, well dressed as a nobleman and after the Boyar Belgaru’s slave women taken care of him and dye his hair, he didn’t have trouble to impersonate Valdym, and the fact that nobody really personally met him after the prince’s escape from Reyvadin years ago really helped. Few knew his secret, but those few could destroy him in a second. In his heart the scholar feared Boyar Belgaru and his terrible eyes the most.

One of the five men on his knees stood up from his position, it was Boyar Meriga, the lord of the city. The women vow to serve the king, and it was time that one of them honored her promise. “May the heavens witness that I am ready to give you my daughter Lady Tabath to have in marriage”, he said and shortly after the other four rebel lords; Boyar Khavel and his son the Boyar Harish, Boyar Gastya, son of Meriga, and of course, Boyar Belgaru stood on their feet with everybody else. The Boyar Belgaru stood next to the king Valdym, and around them stood the other lords and noblemen and women, Boyar Meriga look for his daughter and then both went to the King and the Boyar. “My husband, I hereby pledge to be your wife, to stand with you in good times and bad”, she vowed with an empty voice and her eyes closed, it was common for noblewomen to marry without love to men who never saw before. “May the heavens smile upon us and bless us with children, lands and livestock”. She opened her eyes to see her husband; her eyes were as empty as her voice. “I pledge the same. Let us be husband and wife”, he said overlooking her emptiness, he also practiced those lines a hundred times alone in that few days. He only wanted to live.

The next to speak was Boyar Belgaru, who was the one conducing the ceremony of marriage, the short ceremony of marriage like was in the Imperial custom. “I now declare you and lady Tabath to be husband and wife. Now go to the chamber prepared to you”, he said ceremoniously but with some sort of evil smile in his face, he knew that he was marrying a noblewoman with a peasant from somewhere in Geroia, but was Meriga’s daughter that stained herself bending the son of a foreigner, not his own. “We shall make arrangements for your bride to join you in your hall in Bulugha castle”, he said after and the king and queen retired from the feast to make their duty. The marriage and the distribution of lands were previously arranged between the lords; the rebel nobles would maintain the control over their castles if they had one and would be favored with its near villages, Boyar Meriga too with one of the villages associated to Rivacheg, and the king would receive the control of Bulugha until Reyvadin was finally conquered, the lords without castle received the remaining fiefs. The only surprise was that the Prince didn’t gave Boyar Khavel the honor to command the armies, but this relapsed in Boyar Belgaru. That was the extent of the King’s puppeteer.

Few hours later. Court of Reyvadin

That was supposed to be a feast, a party for all nobles to gather and hang between themselves in the main hall of Reyvadin’s castle, dozens of oil lamps were prepared to lighten the feast, dozens of troubadours were employed to perform, dozens of dishes and drinks were served to eat, to drink, to share and enjoy. Dozens of noble guests gathered and hanged between themselves, talked and gossiped with others of their kind, they danced, ate and drank too with great joy, but an hour before sunrise the party suddenly ended when the King heard the news that a merchant from Rivacheg carry finally to him, after being delayed hours by the town and city guard.

Now the lamps were taken away and the troubadours were fired, the food and drinks were still there over the tables, but the eight men that remained in the throne room of Reyvadin’s castle were real sober. Proud noblemen and elegant noblewomen were casted away to their guest rooms, or to their houses or the inns where they rested. Eight men remained in the main hall; one man was sat in the throne, six men were on their feet and one between them and the King was on their knees. The six were high nobles of the Kingdom, six Boyars with rights upon great estates, even upon cities or castles within the kingdom; the one on their knees was the merchant, and he did not keep anything to himself.

He told them, he was traveling a few days ago between Curaw and Rivacheg, but he detour to Bulugha because he and his caravan had to run away from some Nord pirates. There he saw the product of war, he saw the lord of the castle dead, he saw his wife dead along their children, he saw the massacre of all King Yaroglek’s loyalist that were inside the castle. Soldiers and mercenaries ordered there the merchant to give them all his products or suffer the fate of those that were inside, but in exchange he could talk with some of them. That didn’t were the work of the Nord, that terrible action were realized  by Vaegir Boyars turned into traitors, including Meriga, Khavel and their sons. The merchant described the banners, the king and nobles recognized them. He described another banner whose did not belong to any of these, the stray dog over red. “Valdym”, the king said. Suddenly a guard entered without permission from the king inside the room, “My King!” he said, “there are some terrible news that you should see from yourself”.

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In the dawn of first of April of the year 1257 from the Imperial unification, the Nord army laid siege to the city of Reyvadin.
 
I don't know what will happen with Reyvadin, I only have played a few days doing the stuff that I have described (mostly with cheats until now, I will explain when I post the gamenotes 1).

The Nord army wasn't so big anyway so maybe marshall Valishin could save the day for Yaroleg, you will saw it when I edit the chapter III to have images the friday or saturday.
 
Gameplay Notes I: The Noble’s Revolution.

In the year 1257 from the Imperial’s Unification, the Prince Valdym from the Vaegir Kingdom reveled the first time against the forces led by the King Yaroglek, it is said that the rebellion started when mercenaries in Bulugha castle stormed it from the inside, taking advantage in the fact that pirates from Nordland infested at the same time, the village of Udiniand, and the castle lord decided to send his most disciplined and loyal soldiers there. Some says that was a false distraction and the lord was fooled, some others says that the pirates were paid, but whatever was the case, inside the castle the mercenaries opened the gates to the rebel lords Meriga and Khavel, leading to the subsequent massacre of all Yaroglek’s loyalist inside, including the Boyar and castle’s lord Alais, the King Yaroglek’s sister and second wife of the Boyar, and their children.

Even if Valdym didn’t participated directly in battle, his banner, the stray dog, fled over the castle walls at the end of that day, and few days later in the night of the last day of March he was crowned in Rivacheg by the rebel lords; Boyar Meriga, Boyar Belgaru, Boyar Khavel, Boyar Gastya, and Boyar Harish. That let the claimant govern over a land that occupied the City of Rivacheg and the castles of Bulugha, Jeirbe, and Slezkh with its surrounding villages in the beginning of the Valdym’s first Revolution. (Laester the Historian, Chronicles of the Vaegir’s Turmoil, year 1281)



I play with a version of “Freelancer” 1.5 that includes “Diplomacy” and “Pre-Battle Orders and Deployment”, it let me activate the Cheatmenu who I use mostly to buy stuff like uniform equipment for my companions, food for feasts, or to buy special armor that weren’t sold in markets like the Sanjar Khan’s or the noble outfit, and to change weather when I cannot see anything between me and the mist around.  I have tweaked the game too to repeat quests more quickly and to hire a more appreciably number of mercenaries instead of the 3 or 4 that one could hire normally.

In this time I have decided to test others of the cheatmenu features, particularly the features that were not in the cheat menu itself but in interactions with cities, characters or other menus. I instant siege and conquer the Bulugha castle, the order “like me” that gave to a lord it increase you relations with him in 20, and the duel (insult) command, that makes you duel the lord with a penalty of 10 in relations and some controversy, who I used extensively to return them to the original liking before hiring them, and after giving them lands. I saw in the character summary (that were you see your renown, honor and right to rule) that you can increase in 10 your relations with the last character that you met, your right to rule, renown, and honor. You can give orders to factions too, and in that menu you can make a ruler being hate by all this subjects, but I will not use that command because it would give me the kingdom in a silver plate.

False Valdym the First is a male, son of a traveling merchant that in his childhood was a merchant’s assistant and then a university student; he left Geroia because he lost someone that he loves, and I will work on that background story in some moment. He have the equipment that a courtier maybe could have; a sword, a horseman’s shield, a hunting crossbow and steel bolts as weapons, and boots, a court outfit and a pilgrim hood as “armor”.

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He will have up to three companions, right now; Alayen (who until chapter two was Belgaru’s bodyguard), Marnid, and Lezalit. I level them through cheats for storytelling reasons, and I gave them equipment through the same way and for the same reasons. They didn’t have any medical skills.

In exchange of all the cheats that I have just do, I will play with some special rules for roleplaying and storytelling reasons.
- I will not engage enemy parties until my allies do.
- I will start with 14 Vaegir knights, but once I have lost them I cannot raise more than 10 of them
- I will only rise knights as my units (the Nobles didn’t let Valdym to have his own army), but I can train garrisons for the conquered cities or castles
- I will not put any skill point into ironflesh, the power abilities, medical or travel skills.

Bruce  Almighty said:
When is chapter 4 going to be posted? :smile:

when I finish it :B

I still have to describe two battles and some other events.
 
Chapter IV. Mixed Results.

Court of Rivacheg.

“My lord I last I have the honor to meet you in person” said the one that was kneeled before the King, False Valdym, first of his kind, King of the Kingdom of Vaegirs, Prince of all the Calradian tribes and the Empire’ heir. “I was a merchant from Geroia that was sent days ago by the father of our Queen, Lady Tabath, to the kingdom of Nord as an emissary”, continued that man, dressed as a rich merchant. “Let me look at your face emissary” said the king, “and tell me what you did in those lands”. Both men looked upon their eyes for a moment, but no one could recognize the other even if they were from the same homeland, it was not unusual at the eyes of the king because he served the Duke back there alongside with his teacher. They were of the same city, but of different services. “Marnid my lord, I went to Sargoth to meet Ragnar, ruler of all Nord, there I find him and told him about our righteous cause trying to convince him to recognize us, what he did, and trying to make him attack only the usurper Yaroglek’s loyalist, what he declared to his Jarl even if he didn’t wanted to sign a treaty” the merchant answer upon his actions and then he lowered his head.

That was a mixed diplomatic victory, or defeat as some in the court could think about the emissary’s actions; for one part the Nord recognized the rightful rule of King Valdym and they promised not attack him or his territory, even if until that day all the Vaegir lords that now support Valdym, fought the Nord in the war with Yaroglek. For the other part, Ragnar didn’t wanted to sign a treaty, and that didn’t mean that he did not knew how to read and write, even some barbarians as nords of khergits could do if they were of noble blood, it mean that he wanted to defeat Yaroglek first while the second was fighting his own people, the patriotic saw that as a betrayal not to make war with Yaroglek and Ragnar, and the politicians men saw that as a dangerous game in which they could defeat the usurper but in what the Nord would take a part of the kingdom too and grow powerful because that. The cowards feared something too; the Nord would choose the right moment to attack.

“You will be rewarded Marnid from Geroia” answered finally the Queen, seated right next to the king, “I live to serve my lord and my lady” the merchant said arising and then receding backwards to leave the throne room. False Valdym looked then to his wife, she told the nobles to start the discussion, soon everybody could knew who were the patriotic, the politicians and the cowards, and she, only with her presence commanded the debate; In the Kingdom she was the Queen, regent Queen in the court if the King was absent or indisposed, in that city she was the first daughter of the lord of the city, but he could remember few hours ago, just a woman discovering her body with him, pleasure uncovered by duty, the first duty that a queen have; sire a heir. Was the woman in their bedroom so different that the Queen that he saw right now? Or that was no more than a deception of those empty eyes from the coronation? He didn’t knew at that time, and he didn’t had enough time to discover. With the morning sun of the 2 of April, by the command of the Marshal Lord Belgaru, the Rebel forces departed from the city of Rivacheg with all their might and their banners.

Few weeks later. Outside the outer walls of Reyvadin.

The man kneeled over a terribly colorful land; dominantly dark brown by the mud, but green by the flora, white by the snow and ice, and red by the blood too, yielding homage to the man that stood in front of him, the only and true King of Vaegirs, the Heir of the Empire whose lineage could be traced to the emperors, King Yaroglek, son of Burelek and the only man who could name him hero or traitor that dusk, by today’s actions or by his father’s crimes, by his fate or his luck, by the King’s wish. Around them were the Boyars and raised their banners, between the mud, the snow and the blood were broken shields, lances, bows, arrows, swords and axes, dead corpses from the Kingdom of Nord and from Nordland far in north, but dead corpses that were once natives from the Vaegir Kingdom too, because that was the result of warfare.

“I came to answer upon my father’s crimes against the Kingdom, against you my lord and liege, my King” said the kneeled man, with a grey bandage around the right side of his face, red almost in the top of the head, covered with bruises that if he were not dressed his armor that day, could have been killed him. How he would be painted in the representations of the previous battle? Charging alongside the noblemen and knights towards coward men from overseas; full of bright, cleansed from all blood and bruises, crowned with laurel by angels, but all but the charge would be a lie; In nowhere in reality were the angels, in nowhere were the shiny champions, crowned with laurel, only bloody butchers, everywhere in Calradia, the bloody butchers. Before him the King was in the same state and so the Boyars and nobles around, so the soldiers and mercenaries that still were chasing for the few Nord Jarls around, most of them and their King escaped when they were dispersed by the cavalry charge and harassed by the archers.

It was a mixed victory against the Nord, the siege was lifted and their armies were dispersed, but most of them were still almost intact; the battles would continue other day. The King knew. “Your father, Belgaru is a rebel of the Kingdom and a traitor that have to be brought to justice to be done”, the King demanded in front of the traitor’s son, his name was Valishin, a noble Boyar under the true Vaegir King’s service. “He is not my father anymore mi King”, the noble answered, “If you give me control of the armies I will lift the siege of Yruma castle as I did today in Reyvadin, and I will gave you all the boyar traitors, to justice to be done upon them.” He asked and promised in return, a task that could be done, but even with the actions of that day many boyars still labeled him as a traitor, the King saw it in the faces and eyes of whose were around. In the end Boyar Valishin would be forgiven for his father’s crimes, but he would not have the control of the Kingdom’s armies but another Boyar; the Lord of Khudan, Boyar Vuldrat. Boyar Valishin’s army would be sent to the Nord Kingdom, there he would find defeat. 

Outside the walls of Yruma Castle.

They could not bombard or undermine the walls, they needed them and it would take too much money and time to repair them, they could not force the surrender by starving the castle garrison, it would take too much time and the Kingdom’s armies could be taken between two sides, a siege tower was normally too difficult to be build and move under the enemy’s volleys, and ladders could be removed with ease. How much time was left for Yaroglek’s armies to came and lift the siege? It was already rumored that those went to Reyvadin in great numbers and that the Nord surely would be dispersed, if it of course, had not yet occurred. Those were the problems that a commander was to resolve in a siege, now Boyar Belgaru, Marshal lord of the Kingdom of Vaegirs and bannermen of the true King Valdym, faced those problems by going to the last person he could think to ask; his own “lord”. Was the Vaegir King who resolve the problem of the siege tower and how move it, was the Valdym who resolve the problem of how ladders could not be removed easily by the defendants.

When he said in that night when he was still a scholar that he wanted to build, the Boyar didn’t knew that could involve siege machinery, but few days before he draw whose machines and exposed them to the nobles who accepted his methods. The Boyar could feel it, he was losing already his grip to his puppet, but he knew how to maintain it firm; “By the order of the Marshal Lord Belgaru, I will be your bodyguard now my lord”, said a muscular man who was over the two meters, kneeled before him in his full armor and with his great sword in his hands, yielding it to the false man. The man who now was Valdym knew the man from before; he was the executioner at the boyar’s side that night, the man who had the sword of Damocles over him, the same sword that now was yielded upon him. Both men knew who he was before. That was a man that Valdym feared. “What is your name?” the king questioned, “Alayen son of Alais, Vaegir knight under your service” he answered.

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Under the Vaegir night, outside the walls of Yruma Castle, the false king listened to the death’s symphony for the first time. The cacophony of screams; the screams who rally the soldiers to their objective, the screams of who insulted their enemies, the screams of fury of those fought, the screams what meant a fast death, the screams for mercy of the wounded, whose who would die slowly and in pain, the screams of the women inside the castle raped and then murdered, the cry of men, women and children which were to endure suffering, and all was his fault. He only shot three or four bolts in a crossbow that didn’t had much power, but all those who died, died by his cause, for him or fighting against him, and by his instructions the ladders what the soldiers used to massacre the defenders were made. The Vaegir cold was casted away under the stars, but not because fires that warmed places but by the men themselves, the ones that whose blood was still on their bodies, the ones who fought valiantly with their swords, axes, shields and bows. Upon midnight the walls were conquered and the tower was reached, the screams, the symphony of death continued until sunrise. The Vaegir army, commanded by Boyar Belgaru, lord Marshal of the kingdom conquered the Yruma Castle, now the King only had to assign to him in reward of his conquest.

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Court of Bulugha Castle.

The Queen was seated in her husband’s throne; it was her prerogative so anybody would not say anything to her or to the King, she was supposed to serve as the regent if the King wasn’t in court, like was the case, and so she did, receiving the petitioners that came to the castle to get it problems solved. It was a conflict between her brother, Boyar Gastya and Boyar Harish that should be resolved by the king when he came back, that was the most important internal affair that should be resolved. The most important foreign affair was the fact that the Nord did not want to sign a pact, nor an economic one or of no aggression, and there was the issue of Yruma, if Yruma Castle was conquered it should be awarded to a Boyar of the realm, in that case she thought in his father, Boyar Meriga, or maybe the castle should be used as bait to convince an usurper’s lord to serve the rightful king.

The merchant and kingdom’s emissary, Marnid of Geroia, kneeled before the Queen as he previously had did few times right now, “again the King Ragnar not want to see reason and sign a treaty with us my Queen” he said as he did three times previously, but this time was different apparently, an armored man kneeled alongside him, he wore a full black armor in a style very similar to the Swadians but different in some sort, “I bring to you a noble from Geroia who is willing to serve our King” said the emissary, that caught the Queen’s attention, “he previously served in the castle of Ismirala as constable, but now thinks the usurper’s nobles as worthless men” continued, the noble man aside his countryman looked at the Queen, she asked for his name. “I am Lezalit from Geroia” he said, “second son of the great duke of the city state of Geroia, at your service”.

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So Lezalit comes as well as Alayen... Things are getting interesting now, especially after the conquest of Yruma castle. Who will be its lord? What are you planning to do in future?
 
Chapter V. The Nordheld

The false king would listed the symphony of death two more times before the campaign finally ended, first time near the village of Karindi, when the forces lead by the Marshal Lord Belgaru found the army of boyar Taisa of the usurper’s, and the second when the forces near Curav found the lord of the city outside its protective walls, at the end of the campaign one castle of the enemy was conquered, two enemy armies were defeated and dispersed, and two more guests would find their rooms in Buluhga castle.  Boyar Belgaru couldn’t be more satisfied with his results, the war in his command was going well and he would be awarded soon with a castle of his own, an honor that Yaroglek never gave him but and honor that his puppet would. But the false King wasn’t that happy, why war had to be that way? He always knew, but until those days he never saw it personally; the cruelty of the war. In the field, battling boyar Taisa, false Valdym saw Alayen killing before his eyes to protect him of an usurper’s knight that charged upon him; the Bodyguard over his horse faced the knight and armed with axe and shield, destroyed the shield of the knight and shortly after pierced thought his armor like it was butter. It was like Belgaru said back in Yruma castle, “Alayen was the strongest knight of the kingdom”, as if the false king not feared enough already. 

Immediately after the Marshal Lord ended campaign, the “king” decided to return to Bulugha castle, twelve knights including Alayen followed him alongside with the two noble prisoners, they would not try to escape, they promised, so they rode over horses unarmed and not on their feet tied with ropes. Where they would go anywhere? That was the Vaegir Tundra, they lived in there, they knew; in an escape if they not encounter bandits of the tundra, they would probably find deserters or Nord pirates, if not a stray Nord Jarl seeking to evade the guard of Ismirala Castle, and it was probably still better being jailed in Bulugha than in Sargoth, and surely better than survive without food and shelter in the snow. The two prisoner nobles traveled together with the most part of the knights around them, two of them continually scouted the area in search of hostile parties to evade, and Alayen traveled all the way alongside with the false Valdym. That was the wish of Boyar Belgaru, and nobody else wanted to travel with that knight anyway. Why? The king wanted to know, but the knight did not tell anything about himself, nothing of anything. One week later of the end of the campaign, the king returned to his court and to his queen, and in all that time the knight only said only few words that the scholar remembered well. “Boyar Belgaru wants that castle for himself”. But that was Calradia; the land forsaken by heavens, the land where wars never end, the lands where nothing was that simple.

That night around a big fire, inside a great hall made of wood and stone.

“My friends, it is often said that our kind like war, my friends, our kind like war, our kind love war”, said a tall and powerful man with a mighty voice, “our own ancestors loved battle and battled between themselves until the very moment when they discovered other lands where to fight, our ancestors fought for the emperor and against the emperor, here in Calradia, in Geroia  and other lands too, even in Nordland itself, our ancestors fought in tundra, in forests, in deserts, in coasts, in mountains, in valleys, in seas, in open fields, in sieges; pillaging, raiding, killing, taking what was ours and getting paid for it”, he continued, he was standing right before the fire in the great hall of Sargoth dressed with his full of his armor and armed with his great axe. “Our first King in Calradia and hero, Gundig came from Nordland to fight and to become emperor, and he fought for that because it was its right as it is ours, he fought from his point to the rock of Rivacheg across all the villages, castles and cities between them, there he found his glory, the glory of dying in battle as every true Nord should, for he to meet our mighty ancestors in the great halls of Heavens where warriors rest”.

The man talking was the Nord King Ragnar, and he was surrounded for more than a hundred men from all across the Kingdom there in Calradia and from the Kingdom in Nordland, warriors, every one of them, all hearing what the strongest of them had to say. “Three times he tried to conquer the Rock with his men, our grandfathers and great grandfathers, three times the filthy Vaegirs managed somehow to deny his victory using cowardly methods, three times the Vaegir King deny us our right; The Nordheld, and so did their sons and Yaroglek. Will Valdym do the same?” he asked to his men, almost all of them dressed with their armors and armed with their swords and axes just like their king. Only one was unarmed, only one didn’t have a beard, only one was frightened with the words that inspired the others. “Tell me my friends, what we should do with the ones that deny our right as the heirs of the Empire, the right of our kind of our Kingdom? What is our kind really wants?” he asked again. Marnid from Geroia, the emissary of the Valdym’s Vaegir Kingdom feared what they would answer.

Over the walls of Bulugha castle.

Beside the castle’s battlements was a man dressed with heavy furs for the Vaegir cold, his breath could be seen as vapor every time he exhaled, he just stood right there staring at the ocean but not really looking it, his eyes as well as his memories were lost in the past. He was a man who supposedly was king of a realm that extended from the Yruma castle to the city of Rivacheg and the castle of Bulugha, from the Jeirbe Castle to the village of Fidsnar, but in fact he was no more than an impostor put there by a cruel man and a cruel fate. Before that he had a life that was his own, a name of his own who wasn’t Valdym, his own appearance, his own acquaintances, his own friends, his own love. The man who really he was under the mask that everyone called Valdym, sighted, he was the only witness of that sound, of that vapor that dissolved into the darkness.

Hours before when he arrived finally to court he saw an acquaintance of his past, he was the noble from Georia, Lezalit, second son of the grand duke who he in his past life, the one that was of his own, from when he served alongside his teacher, Lezalit was brother of her, her brother, in few words a man that he know all too well and now, a man to fear too, to fear meet him again and that on that occasion he didn’t fail into recognize him. If something as that happened his entire secret would be in a serious danger. His entire secret already was in a serious danger. It was luck maybe that he dyed his hair red brown that same day before present himself in court, it was luck that he didn’t run away just saw him, but maybe was a mistake freeze in fear when it happen and the men views crossed themselves.

Maybe he should send him far as an emissary, maybe to the Sarranid sultanate in desert or to the Kingdom of Rhodoks in mountains, a man like Belgaru perhaps would have sent him into an impossible battle, but in his heart he knew, he could not do that to her brother. “Leandra”, he sighed again, this time a voice behind him answered, “She is well with her husband my king Valdym; she will gave birth to her second son in few months”, her brother answered, “or I should call you by your true name?” He answered immediately after, that time the False Valdym really wanted to escape, but trapped between the battlements, Lezalit and the darkness there was nowhere to run.  Inside the castle a woman made herself a question that only she listened, “dyes?” questioned with the red dye in her hand, that was the room of the king and they were his stuff.

Court of Sargoth.

“WAR!”

“WAR!!” screamed the warriors in that great hall.

“WAR!!” shouted the huscarls serving under different Jarls, warlords of the Kingdom.

“WAR!!” demanded the great nobles to their Primus Inter Pares, all around him and the fire, an infernal fire that made every of them look like a demon to certain emissary.

“WAR, WAR, WAR, WAR!!” roared everyone but one in the hall of Sargoth with their might, rising their weapons with their hands and clashing each other.

The king proudly answered to their men with a eerily smile, but that wasn’t his only answer; “So war is what you demand to do with those unworthy, it is indeed on our blood to make war and it is indeed our dream and duty to achieve the dream of our ancestor Gundig”. He pointed to the end of the room, where was that merchant from Geroia and the King’s men stepped aside. The two men, King and commoner looked upon each other. “You have your message, emissary”, the King said,”make your “king” acknowledge our right and pay it, pay the Nordheld, if not I will not give peace to your kingdom, only misery, ruin and death. The men will die so horribly that not even the ravens could scavenge from their remains, and the women and children will be raped and killed or put into slavery”, he threatened and shortly after he announce to his men, not only the ones in that room but to every Nord under his service within his kingdom, “Attention all Jarls, Huscarls and warriors of the Nord Kingdom, this is a message from your king to be repeated all within the Kingdom”. Marnid from Geroia, Emissary of the Kingdom of Vaegirs, servant of False Valdym, first of his kind, left the city the same night.

“Friends, until they pay, let’s bring them hell”.
 
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