The camp of the Brothers n Arms Mercenary Company wasn’t a very happy place that night. Everyone had already been ill at ease before six of our comrades had left to join the Circle of Blades Mercenary Company but now it was ten times worse. The fear that they would be unable to find a new employer had infected all of them, myself included though I suspect to a lesser degree. And all this before

At the meeting the night before I had first asked them if they wished me to try and find a company that would take us all in or if they wished to go it alone. All of them were at least willing to give me a chance to do so though only for a limited amount of time that varied from person to person. It would of course have simplified things if some of them had been adamant to go it alone but I felt I owed it to them to give it my best try.

During the meeting, I also asked them how many companies they had worked for during their mercenary careers. Of the remaining twelve members of the company in camp seven of them like myself had only ever been with the Brothers n Arms Mercenary Company, three had been with one other and two had been in two others. I then asked these five their reasons for the move and was somewhat surprised by the response of one of them.

Private Eric Pen had left the Crocodile River Riders due to a change in the focus of a company implemented by its new captain away from pure Calvary towards mounted infantry.

Private Jack Winner left the Razor Riders after his position with them became untenable after a false accusation of thievery was made against him. While he was proven innocent of the crime the accusation and the lack of support from his comrades weighed heavily upon him and his relationship with them.

Private Henry Downes had joined the Furious Warped Hands with his brother Richard whose death led to him starting afresh with us.

Private Donald Cacker had left the Grim Shadow for the Serpent Brotherhood due after his sergeant had caught him in a compromising position with his sister. He had been seriously wounded while serving with them and by the time he was healed they had no openings but we did.

Private Charles Piedmont had started off with the Rite Bloody Claws but had returned to the family farm after his elder brother died leaving a ten-year-old son. When the son came of age he decided to go back to his old life and joined the Thunder Bay Boys. His time with them had been cut short after a promised promotion of a friend of his to corporal hadn’t materialised. They had both joined us a few years before myself but his friend who was later promoted to sergeant was unfortunately now counted amongst our dead.

How you might ask did all this help in the present situation well on the face of it the situations described by the five were not all that similar to the ones now facing us all. It however helped me clarify a few things and in a way let me gain a deeper understanding of some of my colleagues.

I woke up somewhat refreshed after a troubled night's sleep to face the day ahead of me and the challenges it would no doubt bring. The local chapter of the Guild which was located in the nearby town of Maccleston wouldn’t open until midday so I had some time to kill. I spent the first part of it taking care of my horses and the rest of it attempting to gain a better understanding of the challenge in front of me.

Of the sixteen companies served by the Maccleston chapter of the Guild, it was likely that most of them were out on contracts and either on their way to or back from one. Only one or two of them would be at their camps either looking for a new contract or waiting until it was time to head out on one. This didn’t mean that they were the only ones currently recruiting as when in the field most of them sent regular messengers back and forth. If they had casualties or lost people this information would be passed back and especially if these mounted up they could trigger recruitment drives.

All in all, while I wasn’t completely confident in finding us all employment with a locally based company the chapters did keep in contact with each other so I could easily obtain information about employment opportunities elsewhere.

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

Other than supplying goods and services to the mercenary camps the economy of Maccleston was mainly based upon agriculture and its river port. The river Cobberley and its tributaries are navigable for most of its three-hundred-and-twenty-seven mile length from its source in the Hayer mountains to the Cobberley Estuary. Maccleston is located on the left bank of the river seventy miles from its source and its port while not the busiest on the river mainly carries local produce to the other town and cities along its length.

The Local Mercenary Guild Chapter is located near the town centre opposite the town hall and has been in its present location for many centuries. It is a three-story building of no great architectural style and has it must be remarked seen better days. The top floor house the living quarters of the chapter staff, the middle floor contains several offices and the ground floor mainly houses training facilities.

When I arrived at the Guild just after midday I headed straight to its reception and informed the receptionist of the reason for my visit. She directed me to one of the offices upstairs and I went to pay it a visit. Upon entering the office in question I was met by an officious seeming gentleman who quickly made me aware of all the relevant information in a tone that I frankly could have done without.

It was worse than I feared, it would be hard enough to even find the same employer for half our number of cavalry never mind all of us. I became resigned to the fact that my self-appointed mission might fail before it even truly started. The only good news if it could even be regarded as such was that The Bloody Butterfly Soldiers would be returning from a three-month-long contract in the next day or two and were expected to have several openings. The only local companies currently recruiting were at best looking for a couple of replacements and the best the ones further afield offered was a placement for half a dozen.

I didn’t hang around for long once I received the information I had requested and quickly made my way back to camp to inform the men of the situation we faced. They weren’t any happier than I had been but were willing to hang on for a few days more before going their own way.

I returned to the Guild the following day but the situation hadn’t changed and The Bloody Butterfly Soldiers didn’t return home until the day after. When they did the news wasn’t good, they weren’t looking for as many replacements as I had hoped.

It was when I returned from that trip and informed the men of the situation that one of our number, Jack Winner announced he had given up the ghost and had decided to look for something by himself. After a further two days of bad news it was the turn of Luke Marida to leave and on the face of it this and the earlier departure made my job easier. However the reality was that to make any real difference would either require a lot more to give up or a company to come along looking to hire a larger group than any were at the moment.

It wasn’t until my sixth daily visit to the guild that things began to look up though not in a way I had been expecting. The night before the Ebony Hyenas Mercenary Company had returned to their camp and before I had arrived had put in a request to hire a dozen mounted scouts temporarily until the end of the campaign season.

The Ebony Hyenas were a purely infantry company but sometimes contracts required more than that and in such situations, the contractee had three options, use local forces, contract more than one company themselves or allow their contractor to subcontract the work to another company.

This last option led to more risk on the part of the contractor and thus was never popular with them but it wasn’t always possible to avoid having to do so. One way of reducing the risk is to temporarily employ relevant professionals in the field you lack and this is allowed by the rules of the mercenary profession as set forth by the guild. It is at the same time possible that the Ebony hyenas were unable to find a subcontractor in time and thus decided on this course of action.

While scouting was one of the things I had trained in during my time with the Brothers n Arms Mercenary Company as had everyone else it wasn’t something that I personally excelled at but I was willing to take it on and with Ian Young counted among our number, never mind some of others who weren't quite up to his standards, I wasn’t worried that we weren’t up to the task.

At best this was a temporary solution to the problem of finding us all employment that simply delayed the inevitable but at the same time, I felt I wouldn’t be able to arrange anything else in the time left. That being the case I arranged for a meeting with a representative of the Ebony Hyenas around four o’clock and headed back to camp to lay this option before everyone to see if it would be acceptable to them. I was unsure of what their response would be but hoped for the best and if it wasn’t forthcoming well I had tried my best, hadn’t I.