Quarely Mettlelin paced around his solar in the office. He was a tall man with light blue hair that drooped to his neck and a full beard upon his face. His eyes matched his hair which was supposed to be good luck but he felt otherwise. As the lord of the province of Voorhaul the prosperity of the people was his responsibility, and unlike other lords who would live lives of luxury in their lavish abodes, he wanted to actually help the people.

Quarely walked to the window of his office and looked out upon the city. The city of Vinedenne had a population of around twenty-thousand people, no small amount. His lands of course expanded out to the boarders of the kingdom of Pheoa to the west and south to the massive river that cut through the kingdom.

Their neighboring kingdom of Pheoa had been making moves that signaled invasion and it made him nervous. The movement of a kingdom's troops could mean only war. That was something he didn't want to deal with with winter coming up, not that war at any time was convenient. Troops from anywhere else would take too long to reach Voorhaul and they would take major causalities before it was all said and done.

"A message for you sir" came a voice from the door.

Quarely turned to see one of his aides standing in the door, a young brown haired man named Danifein. By the way he was standing it couldn't be good news.

"What is it boy?"

Danifein nervously walked over and held out a letter. "Its f-from Jenson Butterhorn" he stammered. "About the lumber."

The letter had already been opened which wasn't that strange. Often his secretaries might open letters to pre-screen them for information, though they always ended up in the lord's hands one way or another.

"Give me that!" Quarely said angrily, snatching the letter. "What has the fool done this time?"

He opened the letter and skimmed over its contents.

"There won't be a lumber delivery?!" he shouted.

"R-Read why sir" Danifein nervously stammered.

Quarely gave the boy a glare and looked back down to give the letter a full read. What had got the boy in such a tizzy? And what would cause a failure of this magnitude from Jenson?

The letter read in full:

In the address of the lord of the province, the Lord Quarely Mettlelin.

It is through this letter that I, Jenson Butterhorn, must give alert to the lord of the province here forewarned that the planned shipment of lumber will no longer be delivered. This is due to my duties as a humble servant of the great Goddess Jenna who has ascertained the use of the lumber be better suited to her purposes. She has sent her regards to the lord of the lands in the manner of, and I quote, 'That's just too damn bad for him.' It is in the opinion of myself that she will likely claim all further lumber production to her own ends as well. I apologetically must ask the lord to accept my powerlessness in this situation.

With respect, Jenson Butterhorn.

Quarely's face began to glow red as if coals on a fire, his eyes looking as if they would be able to kill a man just by being caught in his gaze. He turned to look at his aide and the poor boy looked as if he would pass out from fright alone.

"What in the hell is the meaning of this!?" he shouted.

Danifein kneeled to the ground to beg for his life. "Please sir, I'm just delivering the letter! I have no idea what it means!"

"This is beyond the pale!" Quarely said fuming. He stomped around the office with the letter clenched in hand. "That lumber is vital to the fortifications! What the damn hell is that fool thinking? Who does he think he is?"

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Quarely stopped his stomping around and took a deep breath to calm himself. It took several moments and several breaths before he was able to speak again without flying into a rage, though his burning anger was still apparent in his speech.

"War with Pheoa is on the horizon alongside winter, not to mention the reports of mysterious earthquakes suddenly appearing to the mountains in the west with great frequency. Now of all times is when we need our supply chains to remain intact!"

"W-What are your orders sir?" Danifein asked, backing towards the door slowly.

Quarely gave him another glare as he walked to the nearby desk. He slammed his fist down onto the wood and faced the window, looking out at the sky above.

"The man is out of his damn mind! Its clear by the writing that he didn't write it while drunk, which means something has driven him insane." He turned to look at his aide. "Send someone to go investigate the village of Doovlin immediately! I want answers within a week! Send a group of armed men and tell them to be prepared to quell an uprising. Goddesses are ancient stories to scare children!"

"Yes sir!" Danifein said, turning and hurrying from the room.

Quarely left the letter on the desk and held his forehead in his hand. He was finally calmed down from the bit of rage he had and still needed to finish recovering from it. The mere idea that a goddess was real and in his province was beyond imagination. They simply weren't real, and there was no historical evidence of them existing. As a lord he was well aware that cults dedicated to goddesses sprung up now and again, but those were just groups of dangerous lunatics that always ended in bloodshed.

Jenson being the leader of a cult wasn't something that could be expected. From what he knew of the man he was upright and focused on his work. Could something or someone in that damn village altered his ability to reason? Doovlin was out deep in an ancient forest, and the Henjuk mountain range was known in tales as a place of old power. But that's all they were, stories and tales of the past used to control the populace with fear of divine judgment. If goddesses were real they would still be around.

"Is everything alright?" said a female voice.

Quarely was snapped out his thoughts by the voice of his wife. He turned to see her standing in the door. Belieal, a beautiful woman with long diamond white hair. It flowed down past her shoulders and her sparkling light green eyes always seemed to fill him with a tinge of concern, as if they could see into his soul. She was very assertive for a woman which helped with ruling a lordship.

"Oh its just more complications" Quarely said rubbing his forehead.

Belieal walked over to him and put her hand on his shoulder. "What's bothering you dear? Has there been more troop movements from Pheoa?"

Quarely shook his head and took his wife's other hand. "No its that damn Jenson Butterhorn! He's gone and started a goddess cult in that backwater village. Refuses to send shipments of lumber because his goddess demands them herself." He let out a sigh. "I've already sent men to investigate and if needed do what must be done."

"I'm sorry to hear that" Beliael said, rubbing her husband's back. "I'll pray that everything works out. I know we need that lumber for out defenses."

Quarely let go of his wife's hand and walked to the window, once again looking out over the city and lands he was entrusted to care for. He would probably have to send men to go and collect lumber now that the village was compromised. Its likely the whole population would be converted to goddess worship. Right now the people of the world still worshiped gods, though it was purely a faith based ordeal. There was no real proof of gods or goddesses and he personally believed it to be more of a coping mechanism for humans.

"I'll admit" he said after a few moments in thought. "If the gods or goddesses are real we could use their help now. If only a being could descend from the heavens and solve all our problems." he turned to his wife. "How are the preparations going with troop gathering?"

Beliael leaned against the desk. "We've managed to recruit at least ten-thousand able bodied soldiers so far. They haven't been gathered in one place yet however, it was more of a headcount for reserves. We only have perhaps five-thousand troops able to deploy at the moment."

Quarely sighed and crossed his arms over his chest, still looking out the window. "We'll just have to hope there isn't a full invasion this winter. They'll likely send raids however. We need to be as prepared as possible."

His wife joined him at the window and stood close next to him. "We'll get through this" she said.

The two of them stood in the widow and looked out towards the deep blue sky far above. Whatever fate had in store for them they both knew that they would have to face it together and pray that they survived to see their children grow up. War was coming and complications would need to be dealt with with as little manpower as possible. They both wished for peace to continue in their lands.