The traveler's notes" by Lasley Guinness. Second edition. Published in 9629.
Chapter 10 "Alcana and Dena"
Page 37
To describe two different places one would usually need to write at least two chapters, but that’s not the case right now. As old, as the Empire itself, twin fortresses’ construction started the same year Vincent Falcon became the very first Emperor. Named after his twin daughters, Alcana and Dena, two strongholds were designed to be absolutely identical, from inside and outside.
Many legends were born around their walls, many heroes born and slain, but the very first legend concerns not men, but the fortresses itself. It is said, that horns on top of highest towers are horns of Behemoth, an ancient beast, corpse of which was found by Vincent Falcon near the Void Line. Some even say more of such beasts still live on top of those mountains.
All in all, more than eight thousand years stood Alcana and Dena on the both sides of the Void Line, protecting the Empire from orc swarms.
Falcon Empire
Alcana Fortress
“The last supply caravan came half empty.” Five guards stood near the fireplace right on top of the wall. Tenths of fireplaces could be seen further with five or six men surrounding it. They wore thick red cloaks and furry white scarfs right on top of their plate armor. Rich and complicated patterns glittered in flames, making a simple guard look more like a nobleman. Under well polished helmets concerned eyes stared at fire.
“I heard some archers were sent to the woods for food. Next time supplies might not come at all. Ten turns have passed, but it seems like wheels are just starting to spin. Did you hear of captain Brent?”
“No, what’s with him?”
“His house recalled him from service. Seems like Norfolks house is about to make another move and needs him to lead their men. Neither he, nor Brent’s squad did take it well. Their new captain ain’t even one of our men. Some office rat from the capital, I heard.”
“Madness. Half of our captains were taken for the last six turns, and what for? Internal struggles? I would rather fight orcs outside the walls, than kill a fellow soldier. We’re all brothers here,” he paused and saw men silently nod, then continued. “Did you hear of Gerhard’s death?”
“Hah, there’s no way that brute could die. I once saw him stopping a swing of an ogre head on. You should have seen the eyes of that ogre when it looked at its destroyed club, Klein. The force of the hit buried Gerhards legs in the ground up to the knees and I had to raise my shield just to fend from splitters. We all then spent half an hour removing pieces of wood from Gerhard’s cloak and face. His legs and arms were shaking, but he stood nonetheless. Sturdy as an oak, that man.”
“I heard his maul is enchanted. No?” Klein objected.
“The whole man is enchanted, not his maul! He would have been more then mare sergant, if not for his short temper and bad luck with cards.”
“Gerhard fell under Dresdon. He was pushed from the cliff,” one of the guards, who kept silence until now, said with a hoarse voice. All other guards looked at the man, hoping his words were an exceptionally bad joke, but the man continued to stare at fire motionlessly.
“The body?”
“To deep to retrieve,” hoarse man replied, then put his hand on his throat. His face turned into pained grimace. No one had mood to speak after that, or torture an injured man with more questions. Klein, unable to withstand heavy atmosphere, turned around and went to the edge of the wall. “Gerhard was a good man, worth looking up to,” he thought, while leaning on cold stone and peering through the darkness.
“Torsen?” Almost a hour has passed, when Klein turned to his group with a sudden move.
“Klein, you’ll freeze to death, come here.”
“No, you come here. I need your longbow and a fire arrow.”
“Fire arrow won’t warm you, neither will I, ahaha.”
“Faster!” Seeing a suspicion raise in his comrades eyes, Torsen put his arrow first into a cup filled with oil, then into the fire. The arrow bursted with bright reddish flames.
“What did you see? Where?” In two jumps he crossed the distance and passed the bow.
“Some glitter. I don’t know. It’s too dark, shadows may have played a trick with me.” Klein already aimed while speaking. He pushed air out of his lungs and let the arrow fly before making another breath. The arrow draw a wide arc before landing far in the distance.
“You see anything?” Klein squinted his eyes and bent further. Torsen did the same.
They froze for ten seconds, before looking at each other. Without saying a word they both darted back to the fireplace. Torsen lit another two arrows and Klein released them without much aiming, but not behind the walls. He shot at towers on their sides, where stacks of dry wood and hay were placed to lit the area. Tenths of fire arrows, sent by other guards, were already making their way in northern direction.
“ORCS!” Screams were heard along the wall. Few guards down the inner side of the wall ran in various directions. Some to the barracks, others to the stairs.
“Where’s the Horn? Are they sleeping up there?” Klein pulled the string as hard as he could and sent another arrow at the highest tower at the centre of their keep, but it fell before reaching. “Damn, Swan makes it look so easy.”
More and more windows of the castle lit up. First men, fully armed and ready for battle, left closest barracks and almost reached the stairs when the sound of the Horn finally rang. A monotone hum filled all corners of the keep, but was overpowered by vicious roars behind the wall, to deep and powerful for any kind of creatures, except of ogres.
Three minutes later a neat row of soldiers formed on the front side of the wall. More soldiers were coming and forming second and third rows. The wideness of the wall could fit up to twelve.
“You scared, Klein? Hahah. You look pale.”
“Your own laugh is a bit too nervous to pass as brave, Torsen.”
“ True. I’m scared. Why the hell are orcs and ogres both here?”
“Is that all what bothers you? Look closer!” Torsen’s eyes focused on shadows, still too far to see them clearly. Few more fire arrows flew above their heads and lit the darkness for a second.
“Something glitters in flames…..Metal? Are……are those swords?” Torsen’s face lost color and became as pail as Klein’s.
“Swords,” hoarse voice from behind approved.
“I’m not sure. They’re too crude and deformed. I doubt those are sharp.”Klein’s voice was grim. ”Either way, be it swords or clubs, the worst is yet to come. I think I saw something akin a ladder.”
“You got to be kidding! Right?” Torsen asked, but no answer followed.
"It's about time archers give the first volley. Where the hell are they?" Klein turned around and saw sixth row yet unfinished. "Oh no.......food."
"You don't think they're ALL in the woods?" Torsen asked Klein. His answer was a raucous prayer, coming from behind their backs.
Falcon Empire
Underground passage
An unflappable guard let two cloaked figures into the round dim room. Just as always, eleven seats out of thirteen were already filled.
"You get late again and I'll cut your allowance, Artemon. You too, Piero. Stop following Artemon like a dog."
"Friends are rare in my profession, sir," Artemon answered in playful tone. "I would rather neglect some coin."
"Do whatever you want, just be in time. Bite his ass and drag him here if you need to. War master Ace. I need a report on orcs ASAP."
"Troublesome news, sir," Ace stood up and spoke loud and clear, just as any military man. "Both Alcana and Dena fortresses were attacked few weeks ago. The casualties are twenty and ten percents of contingent accordingly. We invested a lot of resources to secure commanding positions in both fortresses, but quite a few of our men died during the sieges. You may think summary losses are not all that great, but take into consideration, that soldiers at two keeps are elites with best equipment available. All reports claim that orcs and ogres joined forces to strike. To make things worse, all of them were armed with iron weapons resembling swords and axes. At this point, rumors of their progress," he turned to Artemon, "are no longer questionable."
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"Hmm. Troublesome indeed. Lore master Jepetto. What do you think of changes in greenskins behavior?"
"A lot is on my mind, sir,” a short thin man stood up and started to wave his hands in tact with his words, like a kapellmeister. “First reports of them being able to produce fire came six turns ago and caused a stir in scientific circles. I heard all kind of bullshit concerning the matter, including conspiracy theories, allegedly someone taught greenskins intentionally, to weaken Empire even further. By "someone" they mean elves of course, forgetting elves were actually first victims. No one even tries to explain, how can greenskins be taught in the first place. I've been thinking for awhile, sir, and only one explanation withstands criticism. Greenskins are evolving by themselves."
"Evolving?" Jester shifted in his chair nervously.
"Developing, progressing, call it what you want. Eight thousand years ago they started to use wooden clubs, four thousand years later came stone tools and weapons. With fire came iron tools. Everything fits! To be frank, the fact of two kinds of greenskins attacking at once is much, much more interesting."
"Why's that? Enlighten us, Jepetto," bearded man waved his hand just like Jepetto, ridiculing his manner of speaking.
"Ogres supposed to eat orcs, not play good neighbors,” Jepetto answered nonchalantly, still waving on his own. “Cold plains are very tight with food, so food chain had formed tenths of centuries ago. Ogres eat orcs, since only orcs are big enough to make them full. Orcs eat goblins, since ogres are hard to handle. Goblins eat ogres. Swarm one like ants, then gnaw on it for turns. All of them catch some game, of course, but the fact is the same, greenskins are all cannibals. That joint attack means fundamental changes in their society. If worse came to worse, the invention of fire may have triggered transition from primitive society to tribal. Look at beastmen, they're the same! Felines, canines and rodents used to fight among themselves for hunting grounds, but stopped at some point, and now we can't stick a nose into their woods."
"You don't mean more of such attacks may come?" Piero bent forward, unable to hide his disbelieve.
"Oh yes, there are going to be more. It'll take some time before new order spreads, but it's inevitable. First tribes are already formed."
"Ace? How fast can we replace our men at fortresses?" Bearded man’s voice got dead serious.
"Absorbing our losses is not a problem, sir. Few captains will refuse to serve at two keeps. The problem is soldiers. Most of professionals are occupied with internal struggles, while training recruits to required level of mastery will take too much time. Captains with no force to back up their authority are no use."
"What do you suggest?"
"Nothing, sir. If more attacks are on the way, both Alcana and Dena will fall. We outnumbered orcs eight to one, but still lost as much as killed. Three, at best four such attacks and that's it, game over. With rumors of Norfolks house readying to march south, few chances for the better are left. In the end..."
"...we'll get territory, controlled by orcs, ogres and goblins." Old man continued instead of Ace. "Fu*k!", he bursted suddenly and hit the table in rage, making a good piece of it fall off. "We invested so much resources in northern and eastern parts! Jester! How much will we lose?"
"A lot," Jester answered simply.
"Can our facilities be relocated?"
"Relocated? Yes, they could be relocated, but that won't solve the problem. It doesn't metter how many swords we produce if we can't sell them. Supply doesn't exist without demand and our best clients are to the north-east. Nothing will change that, unless we're ready to start from scratch," he shook his head anxiously.
"Yes, of course," old man seemingly calmed down. He raised his shoulders and dropped them with a "phew". "I'm loosing temper again. Spy master Artemon. Have any ideas of why are Norfolks so eager to take Diantes? Their forces are weakened after swallowing Beermond. That's not enough to hold the throne for long."
"There was some rumors of them finding a legitimate successor of late Emperor, sir." Artemon started to talk even before standing up. He's been waiting for his turn for awhile. "One and the same group of men comes at various bars and spreads false rumors of Emperor's bastard child, living somewhere to the north. Seems like higher echelons of Norfolk's house want to sell that story and put the kid on the throne. Quite pathetic, if you ask me."
"Bhah. Incredible creativity. Even if the child really is of the same blood, there is no way other houses will stop the bout. Puppet master Carlo. How many Norfolks' men are loyal to us?"
"Quite a number, sir. At least a quarter. In fact, we have the most influence on that house. Two thirds of their weaponry comes from our smithies and a half of food supplies."
"Hmm......Good.......good......Let me think." He put his arms in a lock and froze for a minute. "Carlo. What are our chances to take Norfolk over?"
"By coup, you mean, sir?"
"Yes. Smooth and bloodless coup. Is there a chance?"
"Well, we gained tons of gold and influence for the last ten turns. If we were to throw in all our resources, then maybe. It depends on the amount of disgruntled with current elite."
"Hmm.....good.....good," he froze again. More than ten minutes has passed, but no one dared to break a silence. "Yeah....that's what shall be done," his voice was tired, but confident. " As I see things, gentlemen, we either incur heavy losses, or stick our ass out of the dark. Nothing ventured nothing gained. Hear my command! Puppet master Carlo and Coin master Jester. Throw everything we got at Norfolk and make it mine. You may go as far as selling our facilities in southern and western lands, but our men should control the house by the end of the turn. Blood master Piero. You will accompany Carlo and Jester. Should they fail, kill as many nobles as you can. Sow chaos so bad, that Norfolks house won't be able to march anywhere for whole period, then return alone." Both Carlo and Jester shuddered, fully understanding what last remark meant. "War master Ace. If Carlo and Jester succeed, you'll take Norfolks' army and lead it north. I want every fu*king hole in the walls sealed. You won't let a single orc damage my property. We'll send you all supplies you need. Use them to gain loyalty solid as dwarven steel," he made a pause as if waiting for objections, but none came. "Spy master Artemon. Your task will be spreading truth this time. I want every single citizen of Empire know exactly how dangerous greenskins have become. After that, when Norfolk is ours and two keeps are reinforced, make people think our house is the most noble and trustworthy among all. I want any lowborn pig in the Empire sing songs in our honor. You get what I mean?"
"You want to make them realize we fight a common enemy alone, sir. In other words, you want me to steal people's hearts for you," Artemon already started to make plans in his head. Sometimes making people believe truth was much harder then sell lies.
"Exactly. We'll let others houses continue their dogfight and gain more credit meanwhile. Lore master Jepetto. Make your theories known to scientists. Also, send complete reports to all houses, except Norfolks. Let us pray they won't make a move to the north, as long as we keep greenskins at bay. Mage master Hood, send some experienced men with Ace. We'll need more than just steel on that walls. Anyone else, help Jester and Carlo in any way you can come up with. That's all for now. If there are no questions, you're free, gentlemen."
"What about the boy? Can we use him?" Artemon asked.
"Not now. It's too soon." he cut off and stood up. “Sturdy table, Jester. I need a sturdy table,” he told and left like a storm. Usually Artemon and Piero stayed to exchange few words, but this time both of them stood up and left immediately. Much work was to be done.