Three of the four large grain Silo towers, situated each a street away from the North, East and West gates of the town, were all starting to smoke now as the four dark clad riders rode on the South East road out of the South Gate of Big Bear the Market Town of the Barony of Adalbern. It was now twilight when the gates would be closed for the night, and not ten minutes earlier, the Saboteur’s leader had sent the signal which had caused the three fires to be lit. Big Bear was two days ride South of Jade City, the Capital of the Kingdom of Fecundity and a week to the East of the City of Renaissance Capital of the large Elven forest Kingdom Ashvale and Three Rivers.
The three large silos burned fiercely into the night, and thanks to the efforts of the townsfolk, the spacing around the silos and their proximity to Water Towers. The Bespectacled One, who looked like he had ash smeared around his eyes at the best of times, and now he had ash there too. He was thankful that none of the fires spread to other parts of the Town; as the Captain of the Nightwatch it was his responsibility to see the Town made safe. Having not long come on shift before this happened, he took time to ink a report and then send a young page, Josephine Bera, as a runner with the report of this night's events up the chain of command.
Ten year old Josephine’s athletic frame and short blond bob weaved through the Town’s streets to the Keep. She ran as if her life depended on it, determined to make a good impression, perhaps slightly let down by being slightly sooty, which had occurred while she had waited for the dispatch to be written. Now out of breath, she burst into the outer chamber and, while being observed by a tall, black-haired and sullen dangerous looking Wood Elf whose leather armour glistened in the crescent moonlight breaking in through the Tower’s balistraria.
Findel, the Elf Theria’s bodyguard knocked loudly on the door and woke the Scion of the Clan, Theria. Dragging a robe over her nightgown and impatiently flicking her long, dark auburn braid over her shoulder. She buckled her weapons belt around her waist as she hurried to answer the door; this part of her self defence was simply instinct now since her father had died in battle a decade before, part of the last border wars with the Icekin Alliance. The uneasy truce in place since that time meant all of the sensible ruling families kept their weapons close, but Theria more than most, since her height and speed made her a powerful defender of her family.
After Josephine reported the fires and handed over her message, Theria, trailed by her brooding elf shadow, quickly headed for her mother’s chambers, her booted feet echoing on the stone floor as her long legged stride ate up the distance; the Elf’s steps did not echo but kept in step all the way.
Leaving Theria’s Tower they ran across the Courtyard to the next Tower of the Keep, and upon entering the Duchess Tower Theria was told by the servants that the Duchess had retired early this evening after feeling unwell at Dinner. Theria raced on up the Stairs passed the Guardchamber and the Private Attendance Chamber where the elf tarried with the Duchesses two bodyguards. As the footsteps of Theria’s approached echoed ahead of her down the corridor to the Duchess’s bedchamber. Duchess Aurora Adalbern had been in an animated Council with two figures. Spoke to a shadowy figure, who she dismissed with a curt “Sideswipe, you are dismissed”. He turned and, in a swift movement, left through a secret passage which swung closed behind him in the fireplace, which now looked solid just before Theria arrived.
An elderly High Elf dressed in elegant business attire leant against the fireplace Thomas Bigbear, Seneschal for the Adalbern Clan, beckoned for Theria giving her permission to enter. Theria entered the bedchamber knelt, and held aloft the despatch she bore from the Bespectacled One the Nightwatch Captain. Aurora made eye contact with Theria, ushering for her to stand and approach while saying, “Report”. Theria began, “The identified agents of the Icekin have fled the Town to the South as you predicted; they set fire to three of the four on display grain silos I know not what other mischief they may have made before leaving. It would seem they plan to launch an offensive against the Northern Province this Winter and are seeking to sow chaos to the South to weaken the support we may be able to lend the North.” Theria stopped and, with concern in her voice, uttered, “Forgive me Mother, but you do not look well”.
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Aurora snorted and, with an impish look declaring “I may be unwell now, but I will be ‘dead’ by tomorrow; the other mischief was Poison, but the good news is our defence regime against the poison has worked, and therefore you must continue to take your morning herbs in secret. In contrast, I become the Den Mother of the Clan at Hibernation City. You will now be the Maw of Adalbern”.
Thomas then continued, “Your Mother will need time to recuperate, but She is determined that Our Clan’s public appearance of hibernating will now end. Requests have been made to our secret Allies of the Ironchest Dwarven Clan to come into the light and build the new outer city wall, which you will take credit for, and your Mother agrees to you making your Cousin Ur’sid the Warband Leader, as you suggested. We will be ready to send him North when the summons arrives”. Theria was pleased by this as Ur’sid was the best warrior she knew, and as he was her favourite Cousin, she knew it would be easy to work with him.
“If the agents of the Icekin do the circuit of our Kingdom, as we suspect. Then the agents dispatched tonight along the underground express Dwarvenway to both sides of the split Viscounty will beat them there. We will be able to buy food and supplies to recruit troops, mercenary adventurers and maybe some specialists; we will need to do so before the cost of doing so rises. This will help meet our sworn commitments to the Northern Provence and conserve our purse. While reducing fuel for any internal conflict that the Icekin may plan to ferment, reducing the instability of our Easterly neighbour.”
“The Vicounty had been split down the middle by the twins after the Viscount had died in a riding accident when hunting over the Summer, and while there was no love lost between the twins. Nothing untoward had yet happened between them, but this is an area of tension we couldn’t afford to ignore with Icekin agent provocateurs on the loose.”
“We have sent envoys to our distant kin, to the far South, the Beastmen Republic. Hopefully, we are nimble enough to benefit from their aid before the depths of Winter this year.”
“Envoys have been sent to the far east WildWoods where the Centaurs, Dryads and the Green Elves live."
"Envoys have also been sent via Renaissance, where they can board ships to visit both the Minotaurs and the Lizardmen, although we are unlikely to hear back from either of those this year.”
Theria nodded to all of this. She thanked Thomas for his report and then spent time saying goodbye to her Mother, knowing that it was now her job to wake Big Bear town from its long hibernation and prepare for the war which inevitably approached.
Before going to bed in the early hours, when she had received assurances that all the fires were finally out and that her mother was safely away, Theria and Thomas had spent time setting up the agendas for the meetings for her long day tomorrow and reviewing her plans for what was likely to happen next, as she made preparations for war.