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Chapter 35

Edgehall, Part I

 

9:30 Dragon, 13th Day of Guardian 9:30 Dragon, 14th Day of Guardian 9:30 Dragon, 15th Day of Guardian 9:30 Dragon, 16th Day of Guardian 9:30 Dragon, 17th Day of Guardian -- Bann Lanya 9:30 Dragon, 18th Day of Guardian -- Bann Bryton and Allora 9:30 Dragon, 19th Day of Guardian 9:30 Dragon, 20th Day of Guardian 9:30 Dragon, 21th Day of Guardian -- Bann Griff

 

9:30 Dragon, 13th Day of Guardian

 

    Alistair, Landon, Eornan, Bran, and Alpheus arrived by coach at Redcliffe, late in the day. There had been many soldiers and camp followers on the road, heading towards Ostagar. The snow in the fields was a foot deep.

     At Redcliffe, we stayed at the tavern operated by Lloyd -- 1 silver each for space on the common room floor, and a half-silver each for a meal (note prices are doubled locally). Landon bought a round of drinks (20 drinks at 20 coppers ... 4 silver).

     We persuaded Alistair to dictate a letter to Arl Eamon Guerrin, as follows:

 

note to the Arl of Redcliffe

to the Arl of Redcliffe Your Lordship,      We understand that your time is precious, preparing for the upcoming Blight. We are concerned about our border to the west, and would like your advice on current conditions and the situation.   Alistair of the Gray Wardens

 

     We sent the note to the castle, and ordered dinner. No response came that night.

Landon got in an hour of reading that evening.

 

9:30 Dragon, 14th Day of Guardian

 

    Early in the morning, there was a terrible yell, the front door of the tavern burst open, and Alistair ran outside in his nightshirt. Fortunately there was a fence along the cliff-edge -- he clung to the fence and retched violently. He was very weak, after some terrible dream about being tortured by a Tevinter man in a dungeon.

     We cleaned up for the expected meeting with the Arl. Mid-morning we were invited to have lunch with the arl at noon. At the castle, we were led into the Great Hall, and waited a few minutes for the arl to appear, along with a scribe. The mention of the arlessa's absence seemed to be significant to Alistair.

     The arl was clearly wedging our visit into a working lunch; the secretary kept passing him documents to initial, read or sign. "Alistair, to what do I owe this visit?"

     Alistair began with, "There's trouble to the west, with the Arl of Edgehall. He's Fereldan, but he's got some outside forces backing him up."

     This wasn't news to Arl Eamon. "He has a thousand warriors at Edgehall -- or more; plus a mage." Bran's eyes lit up at the description of Edgehall's forces. "How do you know of this?" asked the arl. We explained that a series of prophetic dreams has been sent to us.

     Eamon emphasized, "If you can get the banns to swear allegiance to Redcliffe, you would be responsible for chasing out the Orlesians." We emphasized that the Wardens wanted forces sent to Ostagar -- not squabbling in the Frostbacks. We discussed the banns and other persons with forces in the area:

 

• Allora:  the leader of a band of Dalish elves. She and her force of a few hundred scouts and skirmishers would be reluctant to take losses.
• Bann Rutherford:  very patriotic, he'd already sent most of his men at the King's command, and was probably with them. There were only 30 or so men-at-arms remaining in his lands. His daughter and heir, Mia, was presumably in charge at his home.
• Bann Bryton:  young, brave but not seasoned. He had a decent number of men -- around 400 according to the arl. The arl wouldn't want Bryton leading any important assault. Bryton or his people had a good chance of knowing about any secret tunnels into Edgehall.
• Captain Endon:  leader of the mercenary Black Hounds, 20 skilled and well-equipped veterans, arriving soon. 
• Fallon:  female leader of a mercenary band of a hundred men. They're poorly armed, with limited resources. 
• Bann Griff of Honnleath:  father of Bran. 
• Bann Kail:  he had more than 400 men, chosen for looks rather than talent. The bann had convinced himself that he was a good leader; but the arl didn't think that Kail would be useful.
• Bann Lanya:  she would be the easiest, as she was very patriotic, and had a deep hatred of Orlesians. She as also unwilling to put up with bad leadership or bad decisions.
• Lord Parth:  the best commander in the western borderlands, with the best forces. He would believe he was conspired against, or left "holding the bag" by the banns. He would be difficult to convince.

 

     We showed the arl our Orlesian map; he hadn't heard of any Dwarven tunnel entrances in the area. The thousand or more warriors at Edgehall were mostly Orlesians, mercenaries and chevaliers. The leader of their troops was Sir Corbin, a respected chevalier who fell from grace in Orlesian society. The troops were well-trained, with competent sub-commanders and a mage. Arl Gell was treacherous, and was exiled years ago by the previous arl (his brother); after his brother died, he returned from Orlais with hired troops.

     Arl Eamon offered us the use of horses from his stables, operated by Horsemaster Dennit. It would be difficult to find horses anywhere else around Redcliffe. We thanked the arl, and prepared to depart -- but Alistair asked us to wait a bit. He came back with a bag of 50 gold sovereigns, said, "I have an idea" and went back into the castle. After a few more minutes, he came back out with another 100 gold sovereigns -- the amount of birthday gifts he'd missed since leaving Redcliffe many years ago.

     Some purchases of lyrium, elf-root, jars, bandages and sleeping-furs in town, and then we walked a few miles to the stables and home of Dennit. He was a man in his mid-50s, who greeted Alistair warmly. There were only 8 horses left in the stable, but we were welcome to borrow 5 riding horses and a pack horse; along with that came dinner in his home, and many stories about Alistair's youth in Redcliffe.

 

A week's riding will give anyone without the Riding focus a +1 to Riding tests, and a general "I know how to saddle and ride a horse for non-dramatic travel" skill.

 

9:30 Dragon, 15th Day of Guardian

 

     In the morning we loaded up our horses and headed out west

     The weather was dry and bitterly cold.

Landon gets in an hour's reading, in the evening.

 

9:30 Dragon, 16th Day of Guardian

 

    We entered the foothills of the Frostback Mountains.

Another hour of reading for Landon!

 

9:30 Dragon, 17th Day of Guardian -- Bann Lanya

 

    Mid-day, we arrived at the lands of Bann Lanya. Her own hall was a two-story house, with a stone ground floor and a wooden upper story; large for a house, but small for a lord's manor. A stone fence surrounded the house; two horses watched us approach over the snow-covered fields.

     Bann Lanya strode out to meet us at the fence. Alistair and Bran put forth our case; she asked, rather bluntly, why we were asking for more troops, when the King and Wardens were already calling everyone to Ostagar. We stated that the King could always use more loyal troops, and if the Orlesian "snails are sent crawling back over the mountains" the banns could spare more men for Ostagar.

     Her forces were small and ill-equipped; we offered to find weapons or a smith, to make or repair arms and armor.  She agreed (with some doubts) to assist Alistair, in return for 30 gold sovereigns and a smith (or lots of weapons and so forth).

An hour of reading was accomplished by Landon in the evening.

 

9:30 Dragon, 18th Day of Guardian -- Bann Bryton and Allora

 

     We plunged further into the Frostbacks. Bryton's hold was a decent walled manor, overlooking a wide valley of farms, pastures and a village. The mountains cast their shadow on the valley by mid-afternoon.

     A runner came to meet us, and lead us to the manor. Bann Bryton was seen standing on a balcony, a seemingly heroic figure. As we entered the yard around the manor, he came down and greeted us.

     After turning over our horses to the grooms, we were led inside. Five knights were introduced to us, two of them in their 40s or 50s.

     Bran and Alistair explained the needs of the border, and the fact that the King's forces were weakened as long as the border banns stayed home to guard against Arl Gell's forces. Bran emphasized that Gell's troops had been raiding, taking Avar slaves, and burning villages to the ground. Bryton said that some dwarves, and even some of his own craftsmen, were working at Edgehall -- though none had come back in the last couple of months to describe conditions there. His other smiths were at Redcliffe, or even at Ostagar.

     Bryton was soon convinced of the need to act, and in fact was ready to lead his forces out that very day; Bran convinced him that alliances had to be prepared. Our Heroes prepared to stay for the night; but, given the proximity of the manor to Edgehall, we decided to set a watch for any spy making their way out of the manor that night. Eornan was the obvious choice.

     Late at night, as Eornan waited in the bitter cold, a female Dalish elf calls out to him -- she had crept up upon him unseen. Skillful! She was Allora, leader of the band of Dalish woodland warriors. Some of their conversation:

     Eornan:  "What do you seek?"

     Allora:  "A place."

     "Oh, good."

     "You have a place?"

     "I hope that the other Dalish and my tribe can have a place. But, there is a Blight coming."

     They discussed our plan to overthrow Gell; Allora was hesitant to join in a siege.

     Allora:  "Do you know about the route to the Dales? No? We would like to be able to come and go, but the route lies over shem land."

     Eornan:  "Help and you can get a promise from the banns."

     "In writing!"

     She was dubious of the shem keeping their word; also, "The shem around here will have a great deal of trouble with the Blight; which I think will make them less interested in troubling us. Can we get assurances of free passage?"

     Eornan:  "The shem lord of the lands here (Bryton) is quite idealistic; he is more likely to keep his word because of that. What other lands does the path to the Dales pass through?"

     Allora:  "The one called Kale, his lands would be useful. The way we come and go, we need much space. We need to pass, but we also need to hunt. Perhaps a hundred acres could be made available for hunting?"

     She asked for, in general, the right to camp and hunt unmolested on the lands of a couple of banns. Eornan asked permission to bring the rest of Our Heroes out to meet her ... thus, after a bit, all of our band was gathered in the cold, dark night, speaking with Allora and a handful of her Dalish troops (all with visible facial tattoos).

     After introductions, Bran said, "We could ask my da, I'm sure he could make some space around Honnleath. Kail could be persuaded to allocate land, in return for not sending troops to beat the Orlesians."

     Eornan mentioned, "We want your support as archers and scouts at the assault on Edgehall, and to later escort some of us to the Emerald Groves."

     Some discussion of the situation followed. Allora's Dalish had been following Our Heroes for two days (since we left Bann Lanya's lands?). They had no knowledge of any tunnels, and had not seen any spies about Brighton's lands. Gell's workers are Orlesian, Fereldan, and dwarven -- they're repairing the defenses of Edgehall. There was some uncertainty of where the Avar slaves had been taken ... a group of Orlesians wearing Fereldan clothing had been seen leaving Edgehall ... probably spies! By now, they might be at Redcliffe or any number of other places.

     When asked what clan she and her people were from, Allora answered, "I am my own clan, they follow me."

     While a signed covenant would be needed for Allora to assist us against Edgehall, she was willing to help on those terms. She told us to send a messenger here (near Brighton's hall) to contact her; she would always be available within a half-day.

     Taking leave of the Dalish with proper Elven courtesy, we hurried back into Brighton's hall.

 

9:30 Dragon, 19th Day of Guardian

 

     After a fine breakfast just before dawn, we took leave of Bann Bryton, and headed east for Redcliffe. By mid-afternoon, we were dismounting in the castle's courtyard.

     A message was left for Endon and the Black Hounds, to proceed to Bann Brighton's lands and wait there.

     The arl's own smiths are gone with the troops; the weapon smith in town, Owen, was working hard at making weapons for the army.  We persuaded him to spend the next three days fixing up 150 weapons for Lanya.

 

I assume '50 weapons per day' is rust-removal and sharpening, remaking hilts and wrapping grips;

providing new spear-shafts and axe-handles; replacing missing rivets in swords, shields, and spears;

and some ofthese tasks were no doubt done by Owen's apprentices or plain-old hirelings

(to pump bellows, carry stuff around, fetch charcoal, etc.) -- Michael

 

     There was no more lyrium available, but enough elf-root to make 12 more healing potions had shown up -- Landon bought them and added them to his bundle.

Indeed, another hour of book-learning by Landon that night.

 

9:30 Dragon, 20th Day of Guardian

 

    We left for Honnleath. That night, we camped out, or stayed at some remote farmstead.

More reading, also, by Landon.

 

9:30 Dragon, 21th Day of Guardian -- Bann Griff

 

    Our Heroes passed through Bann Rutherford's lands, and back up into the foothills. After dark, we arrived at Honnleath. Bran pointed out Wilhelm's tower, and the statue/golem that killed him. A couple of miles past the town, on a hill, was the family manor. We stabled our horses, and met Tarian Helwyr, Bran's mother. The bann, and many of his folk, were still out in the mountains searching for Bran's missing sister, Linette. Besides Tarian, there were a few servants -- not elves -- present at the manor.

 

Is that the missing one? -- Michael

 

     Warmed up and relaxed, we gazed about Bran's family home. Fairly soon, the bann walked in -- a truly large man. He was very pleased to see his son.

     Griff explained that Gruffen, Bran's older brother, wouldn't be back for a couple of days; he was searching for any sign of Linette at a remote village in the mountains.

     Between the Wardens, their friends, and Bran's family, a good deal of food was eaten. Landon showed the Old Korcarian badge to Tarian and the bann; Griff said that he'd seen similar symbols somewhere south of Honnleath, in the mountains.

     Landon had spent six hours reading so far.

800 experience points each.

+1 to Riding tests, if you have no Riding focus already

 

On to Edgehall Part II