Grancourt Family/The Karandras Scandal/Bandits Attack

Bandit's Attack

On the way back from Belegmon. Laurie travels alone - his unit, destroyed in the 2nd battle in Belegmon. He was lucky to flee the battlefield without injury. It is a lonely journey, but he meets some company along the way.

Attackers in Aja

Laurie had only been in Aja a couple of hours. He was tired and weary from travelling alone. Having passed by the massive army of Abington in the opposite direction, hearing nothing from them despite his warm reception, he felt dejected. After all, he HAD spent a good couple of months down in the south fighting for Abington, and not one of them remembers him. He was missing company. It had been far too long since he had seen his wife. Far, FAR too long. He hadn't heard anything from her in ages - but then again, he had been miles away from Carelia, his homeland.

The battle had been a disaster. His men had fought bravely, but their efforts had not saved Raven in the first battle, and in the second battle Laurie was lucky to have escaped without a scratch. All his men were dead, somewhere in the fields in Belegmon, and he couldn't go back and bury them...he couldn't go back and bury them.

And now, his shining light, the one he sought for some "light relief" but was slowly becoming more than that, hadn't showed up when he'd hoped. His letter to meet in Aja had been delivered, but there was no reply. He hoped she wasn't stuck back in Barad Falas with the rest of the army. It had been only a couple of days, but it felt like forever. That smile, the youth in her face, the innocence...well, almost...

And she was growing, he could definitely say his training had given her atleast some bit of advice for the battle in Belegmon. She fought next to his unit, her arrows seeking the enemy getting to Raven too, only her men lacked the experience. But then he lost her when the cavalry charge swept past and the arrows rained down on his unit.

"...huh? What's that?"

Suddenly, they were upon him, a small group - perhaps only 3 or 4, but he was daydreaming and they had taken him by surprise...

"oooomph" Laurie released his breath as he took a boot to the stomach, and fell to the floor. Mustering up all his strength he tried to throw one of his attackers off his back as they had jumped on him, but all he succeeding in doing was twisting over. "eerrghhhh" He moaned as another of the men kicked his back...

Karandras Discovers A Scuffle

The towers of Aja were behind them now, obscured by the morning mist.
It was a strange country, the Ash Sea Islands, not like Kilbranba: an area of lush greenness, offset by the rich blue of the ocean, here everything was barren and dull and brown…
“It will be good to be home” she said wistfully to her companion,
“Aye, that it will” Quillindras agreed giving a smile, “It will be good to see the wife”
Karandras smiled back; at least one of her men would see his family again, she thought.
Suddenly, rounding a corner they heard a scuffling, before them a fight had broken out: four men attacking a fifth.
“Isn’t that…” said Quill, looking on as he reached over his shoulder for his bow,
“I think it is” the woman replied with a wide grin, watching the scene before her unfold. The figure before them was Lord Laurie Grancourt.
Quillindras readied an arrow,
“Just a second…” Karandras said, placing a staying hand on his shoulder, “Not often you get to see your mentor in action”
One of the rogues clung to Grancourt’s back stubbornly, he attempted to flip him off in vein. A second later without warning, Laurie threw himself backwards onto the floor, his entire weight slamming onto his attackers chest, sandwiching him between himself and the hard ground. Scrambling quickly to his feet, the Carelian drew his sword which was instantly raised to block a blow from what to him had been the reflective glimmer of sun on metal in the corner of his eye. There was the unmistakable clatter of steel on steel.
“You are no warrior” he said to the man, grinning as he brought a punishing strike down on his opponent’s sword, then another, then another, each time his attacker parrying the blow, the final hit, however, was accompanied by a strong kick to the stomach, sending the man sprawling to the floor, he did not have time to be winded before seven inches of Laurie’s blade were driven into his chest.
The Lord turned in a second the next challenger was quick, a more gifted swordsman than the last, for several minutes the two exchanged lightening quick blows, each being parried with a practiced ease.
Until now, these ruffians had obeyed the laws of engagement, but now, as Grancourt fought valiantly on with his third foe, the final one charged, knife in hand.
“Now”, Karandras said to Quill, her own bow now readied: the two arrows flew perfectly, each lodging itself firmly in the head of their intended target. There was a moment of stunned silence from Laurie as both figures fell to the floor, before he turned quickly to face the newcomers, “A little morning exercise, my lord?” the woman asked with a wry smile.
Giving a sigh of relief, he cleaning his blade and replacing it in its scabbard, a smile spreading across his lips.
“Something like that…I must say that your intervention was well timed”
“Well, I seem to remember one of your lessons revolving around the importance of punctuality, non?” she said, shouldering her bow and walker over to him, “We head for Tichi, would my lord like to accompany us?”

The Broken Bow

"I was heading there myself, as you might have guessed - and it was a good thing you were heading in the same direction."

Laurie sat down on the floor. His hands were shaking from his efforts, and his head ringing from the clash of steel on steel. While he was pretty competent with the sword, and had learnt swordplay from such a young age, battling his cousin Bartho and his younger brother Thrydwulf while their parents worked; he still much preferred the bow.

His attackers lay on the floor. three of them slain, the fourth lying on his back out cold. Looking over at the attacker just out cold, he saw something that made him shout:

"oh, no...my bow!"

His beautiful hand-made bow lay in two pieces, the wood snapped - splinters seen sticking out of the attackers chest.

"well, i guess i got him better than i thought" he chuckled.

Reaching out for his bow, he cradled the wood in his arms. It had been a present from Beatrice's Father on their wedding day. The man made bows for the Nords up North. He was skilled in crafting careful designs into the ends of the bow. Laurie had an L at one end, and a B at the other. But now the two ends were separated,and the bow lay in two pieces, and some of the pieces were slowly taking the life away from the man lying on his back.

Standing up, he walked over to the man.
"Name..."
"I am a nobody, my name means nothing."
"If you wont tell me your name, then what use are you? You are beaten, despite the odds. It is unfortunate that you have pieces of my bow in your chest. I loved that bow. It has served me well. Would you rather i left you here or ended your life now? TELL ME YOUR NAME."
"...my name...is...Vladoris"

Laurie watched the man die. Saw the life leave his body, and sighed.
"Vladoris will not be needing his dagger any more. I would like you to take it Quillindras. It is payment for the man you killed when trying to save Raven. I saw the arrow you shot, and i am glad you did not stop to fire the next."

"Yes Sire."

"Now Karandras, I think it is time to move on. Already this place smells so much like death, and we do not want it infesting us. We shall leave the bodies here to warn others there are bandits about."

As Quillindras turned to set out, Laurie moved closer to Karandras and whispered in her ear: "Perfect timing as usual...i hope you didn't see much of that." And kissed her briefly on the cheek before marching ahead to catch up with the soldier.

The Journey Back

Karandras gave a knowing smile,
“Oh, not much…” she said pacing after the others, “Tell me, have you heard from Barad Falas?” she asked, changing the subject quickly,
“It seems another battle took place shortly after our departure, but to be honest, I have heard nothing today – Aja was full of troops from all over, and refugees from the battle area desperate for safety – finding out anything was nigh on impossible”
She had seen: a large force from Abington was camped on the field just outside the city, and huge numbers of its troops filled the streets, buying from the vendors and frequenting the taverns.

As the day stretched on, so did the road and the differences between Carelia and the Ash Sea Islands continued to make themselves known, without the shade of the trees the sun felt especially unkind, and what few gusts of wind their were caught the dust beneath their feet, swirling it into the air. Stopping and taking a long sip from his canteen, Laurie wiped his brow,
“I think by the time night comes we will have earned our rest this night” he said decisively,
“Certainly, my lord” concurred Quillindras, “These lands fill me with renewed love of Carelia”, he said before bowing formally as Laurie offered him a sip of water which he took gratefully.
“Well I think its exciting to see new places” Karandras said, “The Gods have given us a wide world to explore and I for one am thankful for that” she smiled
“Well said!” her former mentor replied, “but I have been to the Ash Sea Islands before, I fear they have somewhat lost their appeal”
Looking around her at the large dust bowl around her, the woman couldn’t help but laugh, it hardly seemed a suitable landscape to inspire her previous statement,
“Yes…I can see that it might”
Up ahead, Quillindras had found large rock on which to sit, resting his aching feet. As she passed, Karandras said teasingly,
“Walk now, rest later, we don’t want to be too rested lest we might interrupt the excellent nights sleep Laurie is so looking forwards to,” glancing over her shoulder to the other man, she grinned, “…and we wouldn’t want that, now would we?”

Sand Dunes and Sleep

The three of them had been walking for hours in the heat, but it was cooling fast. The sun was beginning to drop in the sky, giving the sand a deep red glow.

"wow, i must say that the sunset is particularly nice tonight. I didn't notice that on my previous visit. I had guessed there must have been a reason why they chose to build a city out here in the dessert - and now i have found it."

Laurie had stopped at the top of a particularly high dune, and was looking out over the rolling sand, the red glow of the sun touching his face. His dark hair blowing slightly in the wind. He noticed Karandras' gaze was not on the sand, but upon him, and he met her eyes briefly before turning to Quillindras.

"i think it is time to find a suitable place to camp for the night my friend. Somewhere out of the wind. It can get pretty cold here at nights so i'm told." "Yes Sire, i will search right away, i think perhaps that sheltered spot over there where two dunes meet. I will go and see if it is suitable."

Karandras turned to Laurie and asked: "What's on your mind" "Well, a lot of things are on my mind Kari. My bow for one. I LOVED that bow. It is the last thing i had to remind me of Beatrice, and now it is gone. And YOU are on my mind a lot. You always seem to be here when things get tough, or when i'm in a tight spot - and i am very grateful. You have been a beacon of light in my lonely times recently, and i'm glad."

Karandras just looked at Laurie, her eyes beginning to well up, but before any tears fell she leaned forward and gave Laurie a kiss. "Come on teacher, it's time for us to meet Quill, i'm sure he's wondering - well knows - why we're not following..." "I guess you are right" Laurie said grinning. "Come on then, i'll race you"

He ran down the dune, his sandalled feet sinking into the soft sand with each step, before tripping and rolling the rest of the way to land at Quill's feet.

"Um...The spot will do nicely to set up camp, Sire" Laurie sat up laughing loudly. "Phew, i needed that i think! Ok, well I shall just get my tent...oh, hmm? My tent...? OH NO! It seems that it was damaged during the scuffle, and there's not much of it left."

Quill looked at Karandras, and knew what was coming. "Right, well...yes...I shall be setting up my tent here. Goodnight M'Lady, Sire."

Laurie looked at Quill, and then grinned at Karandras. "That man makes me laugh" She turned to him and said: "you make me laugh, especially when you rolled down that dune! Come on then, lets set up my tent - its a good job i like my space or we'd practically have to sleep on top of each other..."