Arcaea/Dining Hall Late 08-09/Noble Councilors and Disloyal Innkeepers
Dentara rode up to the border town accompanied by a small personal guard. She had arranged to meet Baron Goffrey along with several other nobles in a local establishment to discuss the latest foreign interest in Arcaean politics. Duchess Marle had indicated her desire to come and would be catching up having required a carriage that stayed to the roads.
The regular guards at the borders between Sasat and what was still considered Sartanian territory in Nocaneb were not present today, only the Arcaean side was manned. It seemed the takeover forces had cleared out most of the uniformed Sartanian soldiers with only a few guerilla forces remaining. Those peasants had steered well clear of her obviously deadly guards on the ride into town.
A small sign indicated the agreed upon destination, the best inn such a town had to offer. Stenciled letters read, "Stronghold Arms". Dentara left a man to take care of their horses while she and the other 4 entered the hostel and approached the innkeeper. "I will be requiring your best dining room for a conference, several nobles will be joining me so it will need to be quite large. You will not be left out of pocket and if you serve us well, you will be duly rewarded."
Wiping off some nervous sweat from his brow with a rag the innkeeper bowed a little clumsily and led the Queen and her men to a moderately sized room in the back of his establishment. Dismissing him Dentara settled in to wait for the others to arrive.
Dentara deLacy Queen of Arcaea
The road between Sasat and Nocaneb was less then well traveled one could say, and Goffrey found himself riding his horse on a particularly steep cliff alongside his trusty Captain Eugen, and a honor guard of 5 men from his unit.
Staring at the map once more Goffrey tried to ascertain his coordinates once again. Flipping the map for effect realization struck him and he urged his men further down the narrowing path ignoring the nervous sounds coming from behind him. After further navigation, and when Eugen stole the map from his lord whilst he was otherwise preoccupied, they finally reached the small town indicated on the map.
Entering the boarder town Goffrey eventually happened upon the inn the messenger said had been selected for the meeting. "The Stronghold Arms," certainly lived up to its reputation as the thick crowd of gentlemen gathered about the bar.
"Alright Eugen just stand back, and let me do the talking," said Goffrey.
"Are you sure thats wise ma'Lord?"
"Relax, what could happen?"
Moments later.....
Goffrey stood at the center of a group of unconscious men looking little the worse for wear, the sight of one man disarming so many others at once had shocked most of the bar into silence. A glance from Goffrey caused them to clear out rather quick. Striding across the now empty bar Goffrey, and his men who had missed out on the fight as per orders, walked up to the counter and addressed the now thoroughly terrified bar keep.
"Greetings, I believe you have a room open for a group of nobles in the back, if you'll be kind enough to show me to said room," said Goffrey punctuating his sentence by sliding a gold coin across the counter.
At the sight of the coin the bar keep regain his composer, and lead the Baron of Sasat to the aforementioned dinning room.
Goffrey Massey Baron of Sasat
The ride to the Inn had been pleasant enough; Edara liked riding—although what she wouldn’t give for one of the fine steeds they bred back home. She’d brought Lambert, her scouts, and a handful of her Brutes with her…one day she really must learn their names, but they all sort of…looked alike to her. There was no one on the roads at this hour before dawn, and they made good time.
The little border town reminded her a bit of the town nearest her home: small and poor and a bit seedy. She rather liked it. The Inn was easy enough to find…the town wasn’t that big, and it was about the biggest thing in it. She smiled at that…main reasons people went into town in the country: trading and drinking…oh, and gossiping—which they did whist trading and drinking, mostly.
Edara entered the inn in a bundle of nerves, leaving the men to see to the horses. She hadn’t sat in on enough council sessions to feel completely comfortable, not to mention the company she was keeping…the Queen, her Duchess, the Imperial Magistrate, a Baron…how by all the gods had she managed to find herself amongst such rank? She looked about for the Innkeep and asked him for the private room…she thought that maybe he didn’t think that she belonged in it, but he directed her there, anyway. She slid in quietly, made a quick bow to the Queen—one cannot curtsey whilst wearing trousers—and found a seat not too close…
Lady Edara Kindon (Dame of Remton)
The carriage was shaking frightfully on the uneven road, but Marle knew that she would have been much worse off riding a horse. She had no skill on those beasts, the best she could manage was a slow trot that was just barely fast enough to keep up with her army who were on foot.
She distracted herself from the bumpy ride by gazing through one of the tiny glass windows of the carriage. The forests of Nocaneb were murky and dark shapes on the horizon behind her, up ahead, a parallel set of mountains loomed from across the river. And near the beginning of this river, was a small border town, lit up by only a dozen or so lamps which twinkled like stars in the distance.
When the carriage finally lurched to a stop inside the town, Marle stepped out of the carriage shakily (the bumpy road had left her legs and another unmentionable body part numb) and read the sign above her head: 'The Stronghold Arms'. She was in the right place.
When Marle walked into the inn, she stopped so suddenly that she nearly caused one of her guards to smash his nose into the back of her head. The whole bar area was trashed; broken chairs and tables were strewn everywhere in puddles of spilled beer and blood. The only people in sight were a pair of bar maids and a balding man, probably the innkeep, who were busily cleaning the mess.
Marle coughed to get their attention, and instantly all three of the commoners whipped their heads up to look at her. The maids curtsied stiffly before turning back to their work. The innkeep bowed, before giving the Dutchess an angry look which melted into resignation, "They're in the back." he said, and turned away to join the maids in their task.
Marle sighed, the locals did not like the Arcaeans, not even in this border region, but she had hoped that hey would have remembered the years Arcaea had ruled Nocaneb justly before the Sartanians began to influence the region. She picked her way carefully to the back dining room, careful not to step in puddles of spilled beer or to get her clothes caught on shards of wood, while wondering who had caused all the chaos. She really hoped it wasn't one of Arcaea's nobles, they were above this sort of thing weren't they?
Just as expected, Marle was the last to arrive into the dining room. Queen Dentara sat majestically at the head of the table. Edara sat one seat away from the Queen, and looked thoroughly uncomfortable. And then there was Goffrey. He looked like he had just traveled through a storm and there were a spots of blood on his rumpled clothing. In spite of his rather disheveled appearance, the Baron looked quite pleased with himself.
Marle gave Lord Goffrey a disapproving look, before taking the seat between Queen Dentara and Lady Edara.
The Queen smiled, "Well now that we are all here, I suppose it's time we discuss this most interesting letter I've recently received from the General of Cathay..."
Lady Marle Crowley Duchess of Remton
The meeting was coming to a close and it seemed to have gone fairly well. The concerns of Cathay's high marshall should be alleviated by the considered response of the nobles present. As Dentara was closing off the last few sentences Captain Hildred of her guard suddenly spoke up. "Your majesty, I'm sorry to interrupt but I'm fairly certain I recognised the name of that innkeeper and it just occurs to me where. He was on the latest list of suspects we received from your agents as being in collaboration with the guerillas attempting to disrupt your forces in Nocaneb. I believe this location is no longer secure and we should depart at all haste before the partisans have time to concentrate their militia."
Having concluded her statement Hildred straightened back to attention while waiting for her monarch to digest this unexpected revelation. Before Dentara could properly frame a response the sound of clashing weapons arose from the main dining area and a group of commoners bearing a variety of weapons and armour forced their way into the room. Dentara deLacy Queen of Arcaea
Jenred was happy. Almost to Lantzas, with full caravans, a deal in the works with Greater Aenilia...Life was looking good. Especially since he planned to stop by Nocaneb to, ahem, visit with Edara.
Life was looking good.
And Jenred realized that emphasis was on the was as one of those very disturbing Messengers...appeared...Right next to him, deposited a letter directly into his hands, and...disappeared...again. He'd never get used to those...WHAT?!? The Queen, Duchess Marle, Baron Goff-EDARA?!?! NO!
Jenred called an immediate halt, and furiously began dictating letters.
"Send word to the rest of the garrisons, get them there NOW!"
"I want every guard we have running that damn takeover in that inn, won't matter a damn if we take the region and lose my lo-council."
"Use my damn Council seal, you blasted Sartan-worshipper! That will settle in authority disputes!"
As he continued sending out letters and dispatching orders, appearing in control, inside he was gibbering in fear. If anything happened to Edara...
Sir Jenred Bedwyr Royal Ambassador of Arcaea
As the sound of armed conflict rose from within the main dining area, Goffrey hand went to his sword. No sooner was he on his feet as a plethora of armed peasants forced they're where into the room. The first man to enter the room meet Goffrey's chair first hand, the second was introduced to his sword, the third hand the courtesy of being slammed in the face multiple times with the door until he was thoroughly unconscious before being unceremoniously kicked out the door into another wave of Peasants.
Thrusting the door shut and latching the lock Goffrey turned to the gathered Nobles. "Well its a safe bet we wont be leaving that way," he said nonchalantly, "Eugen, if you would be so kind as to make an exit." "Yes sire," said Eugen as he plucked an unused chair from the ground and hurled it through a window. The sound of cracking wood reminded Goffrey of the large number of angry peasants just on the other side. Curses and angry Sartania slurs could be heard coming from the hallway alongside plans on what to do with any women they might capture.
'Oh like hell,' thought Goffrey "Out the window hurry..." suddenly the door gave way beneath the partisans. "GO!" said Goffrey as he sprang on the peasants giving no heed to weather anyone was listening to him or not surrendering himself to the violence.
Goffrey Massey Baron of Sasat
With a crash, Eugen sent the chair hurtling through the window. Marle briefly felt a twinge of sympathy for the innkeeper, and how much money he'd need to replace when she remembered that, oh yeah, he was probably one of the angry peasants trying to eviscerate them, and most importantly, the Queen.
Marle instantly burst into action. "Eugen, secure the area immediately surrounding the window." Marle saw the captain jumping through the window before she turned towards the door where Goffrey was chopping through a WALL of peasants and Lady Edara was swinging a magnificent emerald scythe with deadly precision, like an emerald reaper harvesting half a dozen peasant souls with each swing.
They were holding their own, but Marle didn't know how long they would last, she had to get the Queen out of town, fast. Eugen had cleared the alleyway the outside of the window lead to, so Marle helped Dentara out of the window before climbing over herself. But things weren't looking good, the path to the queen's horse and her carriage was clear, but a mob of peasants were closing in. The queen and her might make it, but Lady Edara and Lord Goffrey...
A reassuring hand on her shoulder broke her from her thoughts. It was Queen Dentara.
"I'm sure they're more than capable Marle," Marle nodded silently in response. Dentara was right, there was no time to think about that right now, she had to concentrate on getting the queen safely out of town first.
They sprinted to their horses, with Eugen cutting down any of the peasants who got in the way. Dentara swung gracefully onto her horse before spurring the horse on to a breakneck speed.
Marle let out a deep breath. Well that was good, the Queen was safe, and now she just had to go to her carriage...she turned toward it and groaned...yes she just had to go to her carriage which was currently been ripped apart and set on fire.
"MY LADY! GRAB ON!" Marle grabbed onto Captain Hagar's hand and was wrenched from the ground and swung onto the back of Hagar's horse.
"I KNOW YOU CAN'T RIDE" he yelled.
"I KNOW" Marle yelled back, even though her face was inches away from Hagar's ear, but she figured that if Hagar was yelling, she might as well return the favor. Hagar winced visibly, which caused Marle to smile in return. She continued, in a softer, more reasonable volume, "And I 'm glad for it,"
The queen was safe, and Marle had secured her own escape, but as Marle craned her neck behind her to see the rapidly shrinking buildings of the wretched town, she couldn't help but wonder if Edara and Goffrey were alright.
Lady Marle Crowley Duchess of Remton
When the first cries had come, Edara had jumped up and grabbed for her lovely new weapon. Goffrey had slammed the door shut, and ordered…somebody…to break out the window even as she moved to back him…then everything had happened at once. Peasants were bursting in at the door, Marle was aiding the Queen out the window…everyone was in motion…
She gripped the scythe firmly in her hands, and began swinging at the men who were boiling into the room. The blade cut through the air, torchlight gleaming off it as it sliced…and Edara mowed them down. She felt once again that this weapon had been made for her…it was like a dance…and she moved with it…carving down and then reversing…cutting up and across…there was power in this weapon…and time seemed to slow…she could pick out her targets at will.
The crowd was thinning and Goffrey was calling something to her…she struggled to bring her mind out of the grip of the dance…get out…that was it…she turned…raced for the window…and leapt easily out it. People were rushing all about, brandishing torches and sundry weapons. Edara slid two fingers into her mouth and gave a piercing whistle…she hoped that Lambert could hear it over the din…it certainly attracted the attention of the ruffians…now though…she had more room. She grinned fiercely at the oncoming horde…swinging the scythe a few times. It was gratifying to see their pace slow…uncertainty crossing their faces.
But not as gratifying as the sound of pounding hooves coming around the corner of the Inn…bless Lambert and l her Brutes…riding right through the peasants…over them. Lambert’s eyes were on Edara’s…she tossed the scythe towards him as he drew abreast of her…barely slowing his pace…before turning to catch the saddle of her mare and swinging herself up. Then they all hunkered low, kneed their mounts, and galloped away. As she rode, Edara wondered if Goffrey had made it out…and through.
Lady Edara Kindon (Dame of Remton)
Goffrey grimaced as another small wound was open on his body. He shook it off and ended another life that night, after all they're was more where that came from. He stood in the center of the room surrounded by an untold amount of carnage caused by his efforts, and to no small part Edara's, blocking the gathered Peasants from reaching the window. He was covered in small cuts and bruises not to mention a large red hole in his left shoulder that had appeared at some point during the fighting. He heard the sound of horse shoes beating against the dirt and ride off into the distance and knew immediately that Edara had made it out.
'Your welcome Jenred,' he thought, as the peasants gathered for another rush at the window. "KILL THE ARCAEAN BASTARD, OFFER HIS BLOOD TO SARTAN!!" yelled a man in the back, way in the back noted Goffrey, as the peasants rushed forward screaming a battle cry. Goffrey met them charge for charge and battle cry for battle cry halfway chopping in the horde like a hurricane of blades leaving a trail of dead in his wake. For a second the rush faltered and then broke of the peasants milled about stunned by the skill of they're opponent.
Not one to waste time Goffrey back tracked to the table left empty next to the window. Seeing the retreating figure of the hero inspired the peasants to charge forth once again, trampling the few living wounded from the previous attacks. Not turning to met them, Goffrey instead pushed his battered and weary body to its limits and brought the table to bare on his unkowing foes, knocking the lot down in one fel swoop. Reaching the window he turned back to the floored partisans as they struggled to they're feet.
"Gentlemen," he said "you shall all remember this day, as the day you ALMOST CAUGHT Baron Goffrey of Sasat." He said as he forced himself up and out the window. Only to meet another rather large, and fresh, mob of commoners thirsting for blood.
Sighing in defeat Goffrey stood his ground as the mob rushed forward as one reaching him almost at the same time. As they reached him he struck at them, raining blows down upon them like thunder, killing with each hit, swinging left one moment and right the next. Before long a new mound of corpses appeared at his feet, but he knew it would not be enough, even as he struck more peasants made their way around house swelling the horde ever more, not to mention the peasants within the room climbing through the window he had just climbed through. As hope faded from him, the sound of marching, disciplined feet, reached his ears, as the Arcaean army, in all its glory, charged down in the peasants scattering them like dust on the wind.
Moments later, Goffrey found himself leading his men back up the same path they had trudged just hours before, albeit with more bandages this time around, heading back to his mansion house, and a well needed rest. After all those council meetings were murder. Goffrey Massey Baron of Sasat
