Marc/Keithson Journal/Journal1
This is a personal account of Marc Keithson, currently in Riombara. In the account of my death, the original is to be sent to my family in Itorunt City. A copy is to be also sent to each of my brothers that are still alive.
The letters "Journal" are embossed on the surface and opening it you see the name "Marc Keithson" written plainly on the first page. There seems to be some dried liquid on the corners of the next couple of pages. The bound book smells like the sea, of battle, of mud, and of blood. In short, it looks like whomever owned this book took it with him where ever he went.
On the next page you see the date and the first entry: ---
- 3-29-505
When we got close to the shore of Beluaterra the captain showed me a large map of the realms that were still standing. It wasn't a pretty picture, there were skulls and crossbones as far as the eye can see. When I looked closer at the map I saw that there was a couple of Capitals still standing, but seeing that they were surrounded by rouge regions, I didn't want to go somewhere just to be captured. I have heard many stories about what the Undead and Monsters do to their prisoners and none of them are good. However as I looked the map over again, I saw the minuscule picture of a Realm banner, and more then one of the same kind! Here was a realm that I could fight for. And a Democracy to boot! I think I'll fit in there.
Arrived in Capital, should have brought more gold with me. Can only afford 10 men. Seems the Noble TLs of this realm are trying to take the battle to the Undead and Monsters. They completed a TO right as I got here. Maybe I'm good luck? ***Writing becomes a bit more hurried, unable to read for a couple of lines*** What a sight the Generals messenger was, riding into the Capital as if the hounds of war were upon him, later I find out that he had to sneak past the City of Rines. Said it used to be a city of light and humans, but now is a spawning ground for undead. Can't believe what I'm hearing, a spawning place is two turns away from their Capital and they go up North to TO a region? I'm sending a message to the General (I wonder, in a Democracy what do they call the General?) and moving out to the new rally point that the Generals message ordered.
- 3-30-505
It seems that my 10 men aren't needed in Ajitmon, but are instead needed in Cjelery for an attack on Rines. It also seems like the TLs have noticed the spawning point and decided to take action against it. Anyway my unit is moving to join the main attack force in Cjelery.
- 3-31-505
Joy of joys, the City of Rines has been retaken and all Monsters and Undead inside the City limits have been destroyed. Even though the Monsters were inside the City Walls they seemed to not know how to stay behind them. In any case they charged our lines, but our brave men marched onward none the less. 4 of my own men were killed on the field of battle and 3 received injures. I could not find one of my men, it would seem like he ran off before or during the battle. The look on the freed peasants faces has made me feel very good, indeed it is a very honorable thing to do to free the peasants from bondage and one peasant seemed to know me (at lest thats the way he looked at my families colors, either way I am feeling better and better about my choice to come here). It seems that the cleansing of Rines has angered the Monsters to the South because just as we were getting comfortable a messenger came riding hard from the Capital to the City Gates. He has a scout report and it is unmistakable-the Monsters to the South are marching North, whether to reclaim "their" City I don't not know but the Minister of Defense (This is an odd name for a General, but Uanu seems to like it) has ordered that at least 50 men be left behind as Sentries to warn of a incoming Monster force. I don't know what to do, I don't have enough gold to recruit a decent size unit, but taxes are distributed in 2 days. I think I can hold out until then.
- 4-1-505
During the night one of my men died. Another has healed up nicely, he is currently getting his wounds bound up and should be ready to move in a couple of hours. It seems rather confusing to me for it seems that the Monsters that were coming from the south have stopped moving, at lest for the time being. Also, we have heard news that our neighbor to the west, Luz de Bia has managed to wrest control of Thromegar away from the evil horde that previously controlled it.
The news is not all good however. A region of Enweils has fallen to the Undead Horde. Also, our scouts report that the Monsters to the north are moving to Ajitmon, the region that we so recently regained is under siege once again. The General has sent orders to every available TL to move in the support of Ajitmon, I know not what my 3 men can do to help but now that we are all healthy we move to Cjelery!
- 4-2-505
It seems the Monsters that descended on Ajitmon were smarter then the Monsters in Rines. They managed to climb the walls in Ajitmon and into the awaiting lines of infantry. The Monsters were defeated however, but many of our TLs were injured and some of our larger infantry units were decimated. On somewhat brighter news the tax money was distributed, 33 bonds was given to me. The Monsters at Ajitmon was beaten, but there were still enough left for the Minister (Defense) to call for troops in Cjelery be moved north to reinforce the Ajitmon position. I'm moving to Ajitmon with my three men.
When my men and I arrived at Ajitmon we saw first hand what had happened. The smell of burning Monster flesh mingled with the sound of fresh graves being dug. There was a shortage of priests because every grave had to be blessed so that the evil that recalls men from the grave couldn't touch them. The work was being done in a frenzy because the Monsters were regrouping outside the walls and were going to strike any minute. The horns are blowing! Battle is at hand!
The battle is over. The Monsters were completely crushed. I only have 1 man wounded (he turned his back on a wounded Monster) and none were killed. A TL suggested that a TL with less then ten men go to the neighboring region and scout. I put myself forward as someone who could do it, but then remembered that I hadn't picked up a scout yet. I'm moving to Cjelery to get one and if they still need someone I'll move back north, else I'll move to the Capital and get a real unit.
- 4-03-505
The Monsters in Melegra have moved to one of their Cities, the Main Army is moving out to secure Melegra for a TO. I'll still on the road to the Capital. Once that I've recruited, I'm heading back. Killing Monsters is grim work, but very rewarding in a way. The Minister (Defense) has said that he is stepping down, his reasoning being that he only wanted the job because no one else had a good plan to deal with "immediate threat" of the Monsters. I think that there is still an "Immediate Threat" and its name is Rines. There is also the matter of the other City that the Monsters retreated to, that is only 2 days march from the Capital! Anyway I made my feelings clear, lets see if this "Democracy" is all its cracked up to be.
- 4-04-505
Talk seems to be turning to the after invasion. Many ideas have been swirling around and it seems that everyone has their own idea of where to go next. The Minister (Prime) has started a TO of Melegra. The Monsters that are in the city bordering this region seem to be still, but we all know that it is only a matter of time before they will attack us. The Minister (Prime) has made it official, before we TO Rines we will need the grain fields of the Southern Rouge regions in order to support the populations of Rines. I am heading to Melegra to support the TO.
- 4-05-505
Unau is stepping down from his Ministeral position (Defense). The Minister (Prime) has told the Grand Justiciar to tally a preliminary vote of who wants the Ministers position and two TLs have declared their intention. Ghostly and Arch Enemy have said that they would like to become General. I have asked Ghostly and Arch Enemy to put forth their view of where and what Riombara should do next and I'll vote based on their responses.
- 4-06-505
May the wonders never cease! A message has been sent to ever TL across this land (and indeed, word has spread to all corners of the whole world!) that is called Belaturra by the The One and Magnificent God! The God has struck almost all of the Monsters down! He says it was due to the fact that he messed with a thing called "Code" and said that it would be too hard to restore the Monsters from the "Backup". It must be some kind of spell that the God was doing, maybe it went wrong?
Anyway, more talk has been carried out the after-invasion and how we should best profit from it. Arch Enemy has been unofficially declared the new Minister of Defense and in a ceremony carried out in the field Unau gave the new Minister his blessing and the other candidate, Ghostly, sent his best wishes as well. If Arch Enemy's plans come to fruition I may be able to secure a higher position, but I dare not write it down here. This Journal isn't the safest thing in the world and it would be a very bad thing, if I wrote internal realm information into it and for it to fall into the wrong hands. Thus I shall bide my time and wait...
- 4-07-505
There wasn't much to do today as the new Minister (Defense) was settling into his position. The borders have quieted down now that the monsters have been destroyed, but I don't think it will remain that way for long. There are too many realms that have remained standing to have nothing happen. In my opinion once the rulers have found out that the Monsters have been truly destroyed we will see a region rush like nothing anyone has seen before. Anyway, I hope that Riombara comes out on top. I'm sure that with all the new regions there will be a need for more Local Lords. Hmmm, I guess it would be good to be a Baron again, but no region is the same as my Eraus.
- 4-08-505
It seems that only the Monsters that were alive were smitten by the Great God. Rines has Monsters still roaming inside it, the city to the north, Fwolawar I think, has recently hatched its lastest Undead Army and Monsters still run rampant in the south. The TO in Melegra has completed and we are regrouping. We are limited to northern expansion by the amount of food we can produce, its about time to secure the southern regions and allow the farmers to grow food for humans, not monsters.
- 4-09-505
Some of the Undead from Rines have left and are in the farmland outside the Capital. Even though the Minister (Defense) is with us in the north, trying to bring Melegra under some sort of control, he is sending messages to organize the strike force on the Undead. Some of the panicked peasants have ended up in Athol Margos and told stories about the Undead falling apart! I must see this interesting sight, that is if the peasants don't just have an overactive imagination. In any case I must head back to the Capital, it seems that my gold bag has developed into a bad case of emptiness. I have sent a message to Arch Enemy, Minister of Dense, explaining my situation. We move to the Capital at first light.
- 4-10-505
Curses! Between going to the bank (those wait times are insane!) and picking out the new men of my unit I got back to the Army headquarters very late. Both things had to be done I suppose, but now I will miss the battle in Cjelegy. I am still heading towards there, just in case. My larger unit doesn't take all that more time to move, but this is a historic moment. My 20 man unit is the largest that a Keithson has lead across this land. May many more men be fighting for me rather then their remains fighting against their former comrades.
The Great God (who goes by the name of Tom and seems to have a phobias of a creature known as a "duck") seems to have a sense of humor. Yes, the Monsters have been smote, but the Undead still roam this land. All Cities under the control of these evil corrupt beings will give up its dead to fuel the Undeads Armies. They seek to destroy all of humankind, but they shall be stopped! The mighty Army of Riombara shall make sure of it, whether or not I am there...
- 4-11-505
Once we arrived in Ajitmon we set up camp on the far right of the formation. I sent my own scout out to Rines to see what they were doing. It is worse then before, new undead hordes are formed with every passing day. Some Undead units have grown strong enough to move outside the City limits. They move here to challenge the defenders of Ajitmon. Based on the numbers of Undead the coming battle will be uneven, but not by much. The gods will have to guide our swords and shields to be able to overcome this.
Wait, what is this noise? The gods of my ancestors... I have placed my unit at the far right of the battle line. Standing on top the Palisade I can see them, all the men are quite, the tramp of decayed flesh on the dusty road combines to create a sound that is never heard anywhere else. The other Nobles look on with grim faces, they have seen this before a hundredfold. But I have not, I can hear them! They are coming! I must put this down to get my men in the correct formation, but I cannot break away. Some strange purpose propels me to continue writing. Is it fate? A prophecy of what is to come? They are lining up, our archers are readying their bows. I can see the colors of the Prime Ministers archers flying in the wind. Gods I hope they can aim in this weather, if not they may reach the wall. I must go now, I feel as if I would be neglecting these writings if I do not keep it on my person ***Writing abruptly stops, there are ink droppings on the page***
- 4-12-505
It seems that the page has been horribly mutilated. A small piece of flesh is wedged in the corner, you can only guess as to what happened on this day...
- 4-13-505
This page has been covered with mud as if it had been laying on the ground
- 4-14-505
I... have been captured by the Undead. It seems they are looking for my money. 60 coins they ask. I'm too weak... to write more.
- 4-15-505
My strength, as well as my wits, are returning to me. Today they lowered the ransom to 57 coins. I have 60, but I don't want to give them my gold. I shall try to hold out longer. The guards are coming, I must stop writing.
- 4-18-505
I have finally managed to barter my way out of this horrible place. The less said about that nasty, filthy, prison the better...
On the plus side, I am returning to my unit that was left in Avengmil.
- 4-19-505
I didn't know why the Undead who held me prisoner were so happy, now I do. The news is not good, even for Belaturra. The Undead have been attacking with a vengeance; no region, save the capital Athol Margos, has been spared a visit from the Undead Horde. The Northern regions are all but abandoned and the majority of the Army is in the south, trying to force the Undead back from our food producing regions have proven hard. Rines and the Northern City has been spawning a new army every 12 hours. When I returned to my unit they had just participated in a battle against a Undead Unit from Rines. Recent scoutings have confirmed it, another unit is advancing on Avengmil. If this relentless attacks are not curbed somehow our reach will be severely curtailed.
- 4-20-505
Battles have happened in almost all of our regions. Rines still has Undead hordes massing, although they aren't moving. Small blessing that it is I'll take it. Cjelery has Undead in it, the Southern regions have been almost decimated by the constant lootings of the Undead. The situation is getting out of control. The only ones who are saying anything about it are the regular TLs. We simply must have some place to fall back to, but with Rines a region away from the Capital where can we go? If we wish to reclaim Riombaras former glory Rines must be brought to heel. It is as simple as that. If Rines falls, then we can concentrate our forces south, retake our farmlands then with the food flowing north return to the idea of founding a colony.
- 4-23-505
The Defense Minister announced wonderful news today! According to his cousin in Fronen a seer by the name of Tyronion the Far-Seeing? as dictated his latest vision and in it there were no more Undead Armies marching from dark cities! All was as it once was. The Undead and Monsters gone, the people of the land rebuilding and repairing the damaged buildings!
Also, the Prime Minister said in a message to the Republic that he was have problems making the psychic powers that enable us all to stay on this plane so he may have to rest until his strength returns. In his absence the Duke and Marshal of Irombro, Devlin, Lion of the Rose/Guardian of the Sun announced his candidacy for the position of Prime Minster. After hearing his positions on the Rines situation I must say I support him far and above the other candidate, I will survive. Feeling that I must say something on Delvin's behalf I committed my political feelings to writing and sent it to my fellow Nobles:
I would support Devlin if it becomes necessary for the current Prime Minister to step down due to "other reasons". If I may I would like to elaborate a little bit. Delvin has said repeatably that Rines needs to be dealt with, I personally support this position but even if I didn't it isn't a good idea to have an enemy Capital a days marching distance from ours. He also supports a policy of aggressive colony foundings (at least I think he does :P) which is a good thing in preparation for the after-invasion period of our lives. With a Riombara with many strong allies we would be unassailable. We would be the Southern Superpower. From my limited knowledge Riombara hasn't gotten along very well with Luz de Bia. If we did the colony foundings imagine a situation where our colony is to the North East of Luz and we are to the East of them.
They would have no choice but to negotiate for anything we would want. Plus, having a colony in the North would project Riombara's influence Northward. In short, I think Delvin would make a strong leader ready to take Riombara into its glorious future. Marc
I think it is about time for me to make my political feelings known, but I must be careful. I do not know what allies I will survive has and I have already tried to fight against someone who had one too many "friends in high places" for an ordinary Noble to bring him down, even the High Marshal! Ha, I shall not make that same mistake again!
- 4-24-505
We marched from the Capital during the day. The people that we meet along the way seemed very preoccupied and almost everyone looked to Avengemil many times during a conversation. Once we were there I sent my troops into the Palisades. The mood of the Nobles inside wasn't exactly jolly, but everyone had a feeling that this was the turning point, that the Seers words would come true with this battle. The Undead pushed back, regions reclaimed, peasants liberated...
How wrong we were. The Undead marched on Avengemil with almost 1,000 troops and over 3,000 Combat Strength split into three different units, 1 big one and 2 small ones. They Undead deployed a couple of lines away from the Palisades so they had no trouble getting over the defenses. Our archer unit was deployed in the back, there was no way a single archer unit could have kept them of the wall. Once the Undead got over the wall it was every unit for its self. 5 Riombara Nobles were wounded, one of them seriously. The Marquis of Avengemil was the one seriously wounded. We will have to wait until he recovers before the major region repairs can begin, everything else is just small piece of cloth on a bloody head wound. My unit suffered 9 deaths and only one wounded. These Undead came from the same place that they always come from, Rines! Something drastic must ***The word must is dug into the paper so hard that you can see the word on the next two pages*** be done to control Rines!
Keithson Family - Learn about the person whose Journal you're reading
OOC: I got this idea from the creator of JournalWeylyn. I will add to this about once a day or when something of importance happens. I am writing this partly for my own pleasure, but also for any TLs who were deported from Beluaterra and still wish to know what is happening in the south. Since I don't have a character in the north I can't report on anything from there, but if I hear any rumours I'll be sure to pass them along.
