Golden Feather/The story of the day of the Grey Mantles

The Story of the day of the Greymantles

Silverhawk walks on the central square of Ossmat. There he walks to a small ally where he stops in front of a bad looking shadowly inn called “The Dusty Dragon”. It is a lonely looking inn in the shadowly ally of ale. Silverhawk looks around, then walks slowly to the inns door and steps in. In the inn there is a small group of man and woman. They speak a dialect, that is most commen in the Vatrona mountain region. These man are not from around the Ossmat region, thats for sure. The all wear a gray and silver coloured leather tunic, the Vatrona Dukes colours. A small necklace can be seen resteing on all there chests. It looks like a hawk with a feather in his claws and is made of silver. Silverhawk nods to the group and 2 man walk towarts him. He recognise them as his Head of Scribes and the Commander of the Vatrona Volunteer Militia. The Commander says:

We are all here and ready, my Lord. When we move out?

Silverhawk looks at the group and smiles, then he sais:

Good work, so this are the most trusted amongst your men. Only the ones that have joined our cause are here I assume? All of them share my view and wants to join us, no matter what?

Yes, my lord

Ok, you have both instructed them with all the things they need to know?

Yes

Yes

Then we are ready, step aside. I want to speak to them, to lighten up there spirits for we write history.

The 2 man in front of Silverhawk bow and step aside. Then Silverhawk walks to the midle of the inn. There he steps up a table and sees that he does not have the attention from all the of the group yet. He calls to all of the man and woman and then he starts to speak:

Woman and man that share my view. We have come here to start a new era. We are here to write history. We are here to step up and show that we no longer tollerate this. We have come a long way, we talked about much of this in Vatrona. You talked with me, my Head of Scribes or the Commander. We all know that you share there oppinion, and more important that you share my oppinion. I am owe you all my gratitude, and more my trust. I honour you, and I thank you.

We can, and we will make a difference. You will be the ones remembered in the songs of the bards. Tales about you will be told by old man and woman by the fires. You are in charge of your own fate, you can tell your own story to your children and grandchildren. You have choosen for a path that leads to the future, a path that safes Old Grehk. I respect that and I will join you on that path. You are also the best scribes and riders of Old Grehk. You are the ones that have choisen to follow, and now you are here. You are the man and woman of this day, the future.

Now Scribes show your paper and writing tools. Are they ready? Dubbel checked? We cannot have any misstakes, no fault is tollerated as it may cost us a lot. This action is planned in many days, now we have to do it in just a few. We have little choise once we started, there is no way back. So scribes, are you ready?

The scribes in the inn show there writing tools and paper. Then they yell as one man:

We are ready to write, my Lord.

Silverhawk nods, then he starts speaking aggain

Riders, Are your horses ready? Are they located in short distance to the main square? Are they ready to ride long distances, are your packes packed? Have you enougf supplies for the travel?

The riders all yell

We are ready to ride, my Lord.

Silverhawk then looks at the riders once more and askes

Then most importantly, do you have your Dagger ready? The dagger the commander gave you?

The riders all pull out a small dagger. It is a simple dagger, with on the handle a small hawk on one side and a feather on the other. They all show it to Silverhawk and he smiles, he continues:

Then we are almost ready. In that corner you can all find a new cloak. It is a gift from me for you. Wear it with pride, as this night shall be knows as the night of the greymantles. From now on you are known as the greymantles.

NOW GO, We have history to write. So go and wait for the signal!!!

The man and woman all grab a grey mantle and then they move out. They leave the inn in small groups. Each group is made of 1 scribe and 1 rider. They all walk silently outside, 2 drunkards look strange when they see the groups of greymantles move by.

Silverhawk is still in the inn. He watches the man and woman walk outside. He smiles once more, this would be the day. They day of history. When he wants to walk out the commander walks towarts them and kneels down. A second later the Head of Scribes also kneels down. Then the Commander looks up and sais:

My Lord, we Are ready and want to ensure our loyalty to you before we start. We both have agreed that we will follow you into death if needed. When you ask for it then we will attack. We can grab hold of the and keep it. We can crown you King, we will do it when you say the word.

Silverhawk looks at the 2 man kneeled down before him. His smile is gone and he slowly gaines a icy calmness on his face. Then he strikes down with one quick puns at the chest of the Commander. The soft leather armour is not capeble of holding away the blow and the Commander falls down on the ground trying to regain hsi breath. Then Silverhawk sais to him

FOOLS, Never say that in my face aggain. Never speak of rebellion, as I will not tolrate actions like that. A rebellion will harm Old Grehk more then anything else. I have sworn to protect Old Grehk, I have sworn to give my life for the throne. And I will do that. I will never start a rebelion. Do you hear me!! Old Grehk would be divided by a civil war if a rebelion starts. I will not tolerate anything to harm her. She is my beloved realm, nothing shall harm her as long as I can protect her. Thats why we are working this way, thats why we do this action. We can avoid more trouble this way. We can protect her from more harm.

The commander crawls up on his knees and mumbles:

I am sorry, my Lord, it will not happen aggain.

Silverhawk offers his hand to the Commander, who accepts it and stands up with the help of the Duke. Then Silverhawk walks towarts the pile of cloaks and pickes up the 2 remaining cloacks. He throws them to the Commander and the Head of Scribes. He watches as the 2 man both catch the cloack and both quickly pull them over there shoulders. Then Silverhawk sais:

Now lets go, we have little time left. The amd are waiting at the locations. We must go now to write history.

Silverhawk walks out of the inn and walks with large steps towarts the main square. In the middle of the square he stands still and looks around him. The square is nice and busy as usual at these evening times. Many people walk from and to there homes, the last merchants pick up there market stalls, a few beggars sit in front of the big temple of Estahsism. Silverhawk smiles, just enough people to make it all work. He watches the entrance of the temple, then he looks one last time around. At certain corners of the square he sees small groups of man and woman in grey. He breathes one last deep breath before he starts to walk towards the entrance of the temple. He steps up the few steps until he stands in front of the big wooden door. There he turns around and yells first, after that he starts to speak:

CITICENS, VILLIGERS, CRAFTSMAN, SOLDIERS AND NOBLES OF OLD GREHK!!!

Hear to what I have to say. Hear them and mark them well. Do not take them lightly and remember them.

Have you all lost your senses? Have you lost your honour? Where has gone your own thoughts? Can’t you see the threat amongst you? Don’t you recognize the beast that breaths in your face? Haven’t you all seen the knife that comes closer and closer to your throat?

I warn you as a friend, a fellow member of our beloved realm. I warn you not on my own title of Duke, but as a humble member of Old Grehk. And my fellow Nobles. I warn you as a brother. We fought countless battles side to side. We hold our defenses here in Ossmat against the waves of undead. We have conquered the lands back together. We have buried many comrades, soldiers and loved ones. So listen to me and mark my words.

Old Grehk is like a shield forged by a master blacksmith. With every blow on us we grow stronger, we come tighter together. We get harder and harder to beat, we are becomming a impregnable shield. Every wave of undead, every pack of monsters, every fight makes us stronger. An enemy from the outside we can withstand without a problem, but now a problem occurred. The shield has gained a small spot of rust. At this spot we get weaker and weaker. If we don’t look out then the shield, Old Grehk, will break. It will be smashed to pieces. We cannot tolerate this.

Old Grehk can also been seen as a mighty dragon. A golden dragon, like the sign we carry. This dragon can’t be defeated, it is almighty. It has fought many enemies, and has become hurt many times. But it has never died as it can’t die. It has become a veteran bearing a few scars, but it has and will never be looked down up. Now this mighty dragon has become ill. A small wound has made it sick. Now we have to cure it, or will we let this mighty dragon die? Will we let our mighty nation die because of a small injury? A small sickness? I say NO.

I shall not tolerate it any longer. Nothing shall harm Old Grehk from the inside, nothing. It shall not be hurt by it any longer. It shall not cause any more trouble. I am a noble of Old Grehk, and I will protect it as i have sworn. I have sworn to protect the throne, I have sworn ton ever harm her and to protect here even i fit may cost my life. And so shall it be. Every noble has sworn this oath, so how come they forgotten it? How come they harm her so badly? I will make an example, so these nobles will remember again. They shall never harm her again, they will mark my words.

I don’t call you to rise up. I don’t call you to stand up and throw away our King. If you will then I will fight you. I will not start a civil war, no war declaration shall come from my lips now. So our ruler, my liege and your King, can rest assured that this shall not become a rebellion. But he needs to open his eyes and to watch the harm that crawls across Old Grehk. He needs to look at the danger she faces. He should defend her wit hall might, so I entrust he shall do that. As I cannot tolerate this any longer by my oath, I cannot tolerate this insult to our beloved realm. I say NO MORE!

Nobles, will you follow me? Will you open up your eyes and see the evil that lurks between you? I will not guide you into an rebellion, but will you follow me to stop these insults? As the Golden Feather has done in the past, so shall we go.

To make sure that they know who I mean, to make sure that the troublemakers will know that i mean them. To make sure that they know that they cause the insults to our beloved realm. So shall I make an example.

Silverhawk nods to a woman in grey close to him. That woman quickly grabs the piece of paper from her board and gives it to Silverhawk. He takes it and pulls his dagger. Then he speaks again:

With these 2 items i shall make them remember my words. They will not take them lightly, they will mark them.

Then with one quick trust Silverhawk drives the dagger into the wood of the door, pinning down the piece of paper

That shall do it, this dagger bears my own mark. So they know who has spoken to them. The piece of paper bears my words, let them read my words and come to there sences. Let them no longer insult Old Grehk.

Silverhawk then shouts:

Greymantles, Move out!!!!

From all over the square movement can be seen. Of every group the scribe gives a piece of paper to the rider. The rider puts the piece of paper away in his bag and he runs away from the square. Soon all the riders find there horses, which are located close by the square. Then the riders ride away, going towards all directions, coming across all gates. A trail of mud can be seen where they ride together in Ossmat.

Silverhawk watch them go and see the disturbance in the crowd of people in front of him, he continues speaking:

Don’t worry, that are my most entrusted men. They will ride across all of Our realm, and some even beyond our borders. They will set an example at all of the temples of Estahsism. They will not miss my words, they cannot ignore them. So you have heard my words, mark them and think about them. Will you let them harm Old Grehk until we are nothing more then puppets to them? Will you let them control you even longer? Or will you break free of them and follow me? Speak up and I will guide you.

Silverhawk walks down from the steps of the temple, leaving a piece of paper pinned down by his dagger on the entrance door of the temple. He smiles, it finnaly has started. Now there was no way back, he would await there respond. As soon he walks from the stairs and on the square the crowd of people move aside for him. He walks across them without a problem. A man in grey quickly brings Silverhawks Horse to him. The Duke gets in the sadle and yells to his unit of cavalry riders, The Southern Guard:

Lets ride back to Vatrona, For the cause and the memory of the Golden Feather.

After those words he rides towards the east gate of Ossmat followed by his 27 men