“Would that have been your first cavalry charge, Master James?” asked a boisterous Von Marbach, as he pulled another chunk of beef from the haunches of a large steer that had been roasted on a spit turned over a colossal bed of coals. Surrounding James and Lord Marbach, milled hundreds of survivors from the previous night’s victory. Up until that moment no one had dared comment on James’s performance in the combat with the Chaotic Knights.
“Yes sir!” replied James, feeling enormously embarrassed and inadequate at that moment.
“Well you did a hell of a lot better than I did in my first go, young James! A hell of a lot better indeed!” and with that he slapped James across the back with a violence that almost winded him, adding, “Welcome to the war!”
The ice broken several soldiers surrounding James imitated the gesture and added their own congratulations to the mix. Von Marbach recounted his own story of first combat, involving a defensive charge against an Orc controlled giant, twenty years previous, when the giant had grabbed him and his mount in a near successful attempt to stuff him into a large burlap sack. Throughout the telling he seemed to emphasize every misstep and misadventure. Uproarious laughter greeted the description of every gaff.
A Rising Sun Knight named Reindorf responded with his own first combat story, recalling a failed charge against a Demonic Sorcerer led unit of Chaos Chosen. While threatening and berating the winded Knights, their Captain suddenly began leveling blows against the unit musician, screaming in a most uncomplimentary fashion. Bizarrely, the musician responded by hurling his trumpet at the standard bearer and one blow led to another with the entire unit attacking one another. With the exception of novice Reindorf, of course. Reindorf explained to the now large group, surrounding the storytelling Knight, that none of his training at Knights College had prepared him to expect an all out melee between the members of his own unit! Confused beyond imagination, the young Reindorf turned this way and that, suddenly noticing the chanting Demonic Sorcerer staring directly at his fellow Knights. Assessing the situation in the only way possible, Sir Reindorf charged the unit of Chosen, directly towards the offending Demon Lord. The evil Wizard’s concentration was broken by Reindorf’s rash maneuver, and the novice Rising Sun Knight hoped that his compatriots had broken free from their suicidal delusions, just in time to save themselves. Seconds later Sir Reindorf collided with the Chaotic battle line, only to be hacked to death.
“The next thing you knew, I was beckoning you back to the land of the living!” interjected Lord Gilderwood, suddenly appearing from behind a group of tall Knights.
“Indeed, Sir Gilderwood!” responded a flustered Reindorf. “And I have been trying to repay you for your kind actions ever since.”
The group of soldiers guffawed in response to the battle story and offered up a toast to Knight Reindorf.
Gilderwood turned to James, and said, ”Sir James. I would request you to join us at the north entrance to our camp. It is time for us to depart.”
“Yes sir! replied James,” realizing just now how utterly exhausted he was from the events of the previous day. He followed Gilderwood to the edge of the camp, and as they approached it he was pleased to see Celeste, Marbach and their horses ready for departure. A short ride led them to the main gates of Wurttenburg, damaged and still smoldering from the previous day's battle. The sun was beginning to rise and James, who had not slept at all in the previous night, wondered if he could possibly continue. Fortunately an undamaged Manor home was being prepared for their arrival. A Mountain Lion Knights captain led the group to the large home of a successful arms merchant with business connections to the city of Stalsburg. Burgomeister Helmut Slomke and his wife, welcomed the exhausted traveling companions and led them to their rooms. As he collapsed into the comfortable feather bed James wondered what the innumerable soldiers he had seen and met on the battlefield would be doing to recover from events of the previous 24 hours. He did not wonder long, as sleep set in.
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Next morning the party set off towards Stalsburg. Once again the three units of Knights, along with their baggage train were positioned in place for James and company to join them. The trip into Stalsburg was uneventful from a military perspective. No further military incursions nor ambushes befell the travelers.
The City of Stalsburg however, held its own set of surprises for James.
The company approached the city from the south and once again large quantities of smoke were obvious from a distance, although perhaps not as serious as had been seen before their arrival at Wurttenburg. Gilderwood, however, was not alarmed.
“Remain calm, Sir James!” he explained, and continued, “Stalsburg remains bathed in a blanket of thick smoke throughout the year. The furnaces and foundries of the arms production of the Empire require it. Whenever I journey to Stalsburg, I long for the clean air of my wonderful gardens. Behold! The Southern Gate of the City. The Empress shall greet us there. She never passes up an opportunity for pomp and ceremony.”
And indeed, it was soon apparent that Oakleaf Gilderwood’s prediction was to come true. Two large groups of cannons, mounted upon wooden carriages, flanked either side of the main entrance gate. A large military band was located in front of the gate, which was constructed of metal and strong enough to withstand considerable violence. And apparently it had previously been assaulted, judging from the large impact dents scattered liberally across the face of the gate. Immediately behind the band stood a large and elaborate wooden stage of a sort, upon which beckoned a woman who must surely be the Empress. A blue gown, trimmed in white lace, the train of which was borne by two identical appearing princess like damsels, their gowns gleaming yellow and white in the noonday sun. Impossibly, and incongruously, accompanying the stunningly dressed women was a single cavalryman, huge, and clad in surely the finest and most elaborate armor that this land has to offer. But none of this assemblance could compare to this Knight's mount. A giant horse, no, a colossal horse, but no again, not a horse, as this could not possibly be a horse. It was a creature, and this creature stood fully 30 hands tall, at the withers! Horse-like, but composed as a large wildcat in the main body, and impossibly, a gargantuan eagle from its front shoulder forward. Two tonnes surely, was its mass.The creature screeched and hissed, and its gaze was locked squarely on James. It was as if the mind of the beast had instantly recognized the fact that James did not belong in this land. James’s hair stood up on the back of his neck.
The band began to play. It started with a bang, literally. “Kaboom!” blasted a cannon, firing a large white smoke ring and an apparently legitimate cannon ball, which landed several hundred meters away and bounced into the side of the bare rock face of a small, uninhabited hill, next to the city. A chunk of the rock collapsed and James quickly noted dozens of similar scars scattered across the hillside. As if it was the first note of their piece of music, the band joined in with the cannon's foul note. With incredible enthusiasm, the band played a massively loud anthem, punctuating each stanza with the firing of one or more cannons. All present stood proudly at attention, and when it was over, a great cheering erupted. Soldiers appeared from the battlements overlooking the gates, and Gilderwood dismounted, bidding James and Celeste to do the same. A gift was in Oakleaf’s hands and he presented it, on his knees, to the royal lady.
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“Sir Gilderwood!” she responded, “We welcome you to the City of Stalsburg. In our time of great need, your arrival is certainly a sign from Theodor that the Empire shall prevail! I have dreamed of your return, and now seeing you in the flesh gives me great comfort. Thank you for the gift and arise! Introduce me to your companion! Celeste, I know as a sister, but of this handsome young man, I know nothing. Please Sir Gilderwood! My curiosity overcomes me. I must know his identity!”
James noted the scowl on Celeste’s face deepened at the point where her sister-like qualities had been mentioned. In fact, the look on Celeste’s face was a close match to the one present on the face of the creature, which bore the Knight, just a meter or two from the group of assembled dignitaries.
Gilderwood rose as commanded and introduced James, “Empress von Richthofen, may I present Sir James Blair, Wizard Lord and Loremaster!”
“On my word, Sir James, the pleasure is all mine, I assure you,” and she delicately advanced her hand towards James in the same way she had presented it to Oakleaf Gilderwood.
James took to one knee and gently kissed the Queen’s white laced glove, then returned to his feet. Celeste’s eyes were burning as she observed the encounter.
“And to which province holds the honor of your residence Sir Blair?” queried the Empress.
James struggled to answer, but could not.
“Empress von Richthofen” interjected Oakleaf Gilderwood in the gravest tone possible, “Sir James is not of this world. I have summoned him to assist us in our struggles against the forces of Chaos.”
A look of shocked realization overcame the Empress, and her gaze turned to one of open adoration. Taking a moment to compose herself, the Countess commanded, “Sir Gilderwood and his companions shall join Sir Hartmann and myself at the Palace for the evening!”
As the Countess commanded, the assembly mounted their steeds and proceeded through the gates and into the City of Stalsburg. Sir Hartmann and his massive mount led the way. Citizens lined the streets to greet them. Soon, the group arrived at the Great Bridge, and crossed over the River Reik. James noted two more bridges upstream of the Great Bridge and a fortified island as well. A large section of the city was to be traversed on their way to the palace, which lay in the north-east quarter of the city.
Where most of the city was dominated by industrial development, the north-east quarter, and particularly the area surrounding the palace was rather garden-like instead. There was great wealth in the City of Stalsburg. James could easily sense this.
Abundant and competent attendants greeted Sir Gilderwood’s party as they disembarked at the Stalsburg Palace. The palace had more than enough spare rooms to house them all comfortably. Cleaned and comforted by the hospitality of the Empress, James was ready when summoned to the dining area for the feast in their honor. Two beautiful courtesans came to accompany James. As they traversed the various halls and wings of the castle James took note of many paintings, sculptures and tapestries each apparently commemorating a different Empire victory in a historical battle engagement. Cannons, always it seemed, were at the forefront of every battle image, along with handgunners. Occasionally, some sort of steel behemoth made an appearance, piloted by an elaborately clad engineer of some description, usually shown shooting a crazy hand weapon while he drove directly over a squadron of demonically possessed enemies of the Empire. Heroic and gruesome, these images seemed to be how Stalsburg wished itself to be recorded by historians.
“There he is!” shouted Empress Viktoria von Richthofen gleefully, as James entered the enormous dining room. All around entertainers of all sorts engaged in conversation with guests. Two identical twin young ladies of Arab descent, dressed in beaded and jeweled dresses chatted with an older stout fellow, obviously a general of some sort, who was missing his left arm. A Dwarf, uniformed with a fine coat of elaborately wrought chainmail, was discussing intently a theory of artillery range calculation, with a petite young woman clad in a golden gown topped with a silver crown. And in the fireplace at the corner of the hall, three small human-like beings without footwear, displaying bare feet mostly covered in fur, prepared an aromatic stew in a large crock pot.
His escorts delivered James to a seat prepared right next to the Empress, at the head of the table. Sir Gilderwood also sat adjacent, to the left of the Lady.
“You simply must tell me of your world, dear James,” expressed the Empress, in the most persuasive of tones.
“I, I, I, don’t know where to start, my lady,” stammered James. “My world resembles yours, or at least it did, several centuries before my birth, but technologies have changed things and now that former world is but a historical curiosity. My life is one of wealth, privilege and safety, in comparison to the citizens of the Empire. The machines that surround the citizens of my life are far more advanced compared to those of even Stalsburg. In addition, there is no, or at least very little magic where I come from.”
“Your machines are more advanced than those of Stalsburg!?” shouted the Empress. “This is very difficult for me to believe, Sir James. The war machines of Stalsburg are the most advanced in all the world!”
The Dwarf choked on the hors d’oeuvre he was sampling from a plate offered by what looked like a living female shrub, complete with green foliage. He glanced, not so respectfully at the Empress.
Just then, Celeste entered the room. She was unaccompanied and was led to a seat at the far end of the banquet table. She, too cast her gaze less than favorably in the direction of the Empress.
Empress von Richthofen gently tapped one of her half dozen spoons of various shapes and sizes to her crystal goblet, bringing the attention of the room towards her. “Dinner is served ladies and gentlemen! Please take your seats!” and with that a group of serving boys entered the room from the servants quarters. What followed was an impressive progression of foods and delicacies, many of which James had no idea as to their true nature. James sampled something of every dish, but finest of all, in his opinion, was the remarkable stew prepared by the Halflings, so named by Empress Viktoria, when James had inquired as to their origins during the course of the meal.
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The Empress had remained cold to James the rest of the evening but recovered her positive outlook to a certain extent in the morning. Whatever offense James had caused in his references to his own world seemed to be overcome by the grave descriptions provided by Sir Gilderwood regarding the Chaotic forces which had besieged his mountainside gardens.
“Sir James, I wish you Theodor’s favor in your efforts to preserve the Empire.” Perhaps the knowledge that you possess from your own world will be the aid that Sir Gilderwood requires, stated the Empress.
The party set out for Badendorf. Sir Gunther Hartmann himself led the procession, and his first request was to James, asking ever so respectfully for his presence to ride beside the Demigryph knight and his hideously monstrous mount.
“Do not concern yourself with your proximity to my dear Harrier, Sir James. I can assure you that I am in full control of the beastie, young man,” explained Sir Hartmann. As he said this Harrier’s gaze turned towards James and his own mount Dazzle. Dazzle seemed no more than a pony, next to the giant Demigryph. “Please forgive the discomfort expressed by our dear Empress Viktoria. Her experience in life has led her to believe that Stalsburg represents the paramount of all things that are possible in this world. Alas, I have experienced too much to believe in our infallibility. Stalsburg is the beating heart of our Empire, but great powers threaten us from all sides, and thus it has always been. Assistance from a realm different than our own may well be what we require to sustain ourselves. Certainly, Sir Gilderwood is of this belief and has devoted his studies and energies towards this goal for several years. I consider Oakleaf to be both a great friend, and the world's foremost scholar, and so I would never question such a strongly held belief regarding such an important issue.”
Harrier cast his reptile-like gaze towards Dazzle, looking for all the world like a famished diner glimpsing his first view of a sumptuous meal. “I only counsel you to use all in your power to aid us. We must prevail in these troubled times”, advised Sir Hartmann. With that Harrier and Gunther Hartmann trotted ahead, leaving James riding alone, second in the long procession of adventurers. In time Celeste encouraged her mount to advance within the column and she silently took up her place next to James, while James searched in his mind for some way, some possible exit from the fascinating but terrible world. After a significant time of brooding, and quiet contemplation, no answer but the obvious one presented itself to James. He would march onwards, towards whatever fate awaited him.
And that fate was leading him towards the great city of Badendorf.