His horse was a beauty, a little past its prime perhaps but certainly up for the job. Its owner on the other hand well I had doubts that his lordship would be anything but a liability in a fight. He hadn’t exactly let himself go but neither was he in fighting form. Thankfully the plan didn’t require him to actively participate in any fighting, not unless something went wrong anyway.
After viewing the horse I met with Sergeant Young and the rest of the scouts to go over the plan. Young would be in command of the operation and I had no problem with that. I had enough on my hands with the negotiations plus taking care of Lord Duchen and I trusted him to take care of his end.
Talking about Lord Duchen when we were confident the plan was a solid one we brought him in to go over his part of the operation and ensure he was happy with it, never mind capable of pulling it off. He wasn’t entirely happy with it but then neither were we, even so he like us was committed to it and we just had to get on with it.
The first stage of the operation went according to plan, our forces were all able to manoeuvre into position and myself, Lord Duchen and the scouts were all set to approach the bandits in the seized Manor House.
That however was when things started to veer off course, instead of waiting for us to come to them the bandits were ready and willing to come to us. The only gate in the crude secondary defensive wall they had built opened and three bandits emerged from it.
One of them was clearly the leader, he was much better dressed than the others and clearly looked like he knew what he was about and wasn’t willing to put up with any nonsense. The second was a clean-shaven young man not yet in his twenties who carried a white flag. Whether the third was a mere bodyguard or something else was hard to tell but he certainly looked the part. He carried more knives on his person than anyone else I had ever met, over two dozen all of which looked more or less identical and he also wielded a massive two-handed sword.
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While the rest of the scouts and his lordship hung back I went out to meet the three of them with privates Donald Cacker and Charles Piedmont who was carrying our own white flag.
We approached each other until the distance between us was close enough for both parties to hear each other without much difficulty but not so close we could easily swing our swords at each other. Before I was able to get a word in their leader opened his mouth.
“Greetings proud yet misguided warriors of the Ebony Hyenas Mercenary Company my name is Captain Ultio of Nemesis and you must be Li…, sorry Sergent Ryder, I don’t want to seem rude or anything but where you demoted or was it only a caretaker role”.
Surprised by the fact he knew my name and what that might imply I hesitated in answering his question but he soon filled the silence.
“The silent type, well I suppose it doesn’t matter but I was curious. Well back on topic, like he often teaches us we are here to bring righteous fury down upon Lord Duchen on behalf of the family of one of our members and bring his crimes into the light.
I don’t feel like continuing our conversation without his presence and active participation thus once he appears I will grant him an hours grace during which we will guarantee his safety, may our common God otherwise strike us down. You have five minutes to decide but If he is not willing to speak to us, then let battle commence and the consequences be damned.”
The legendary Nemesis Brotherhood, a mythical group of outlaws dedicated to righting the wrongs done to their members The origins of the legends surrounding them were so obscure and steeped in history that these days no one could be quite sure what came first. Was a real gang fictionalised or a fictional gang made a reality, either way, there have been several versions over the years since, some more dedicated to the originals goals than others. The latest lot had first cropped up around a decade ago and was by all accounts very dedicated to their stated aims. And from what I have heard and inferred from what he just said, somewhat in the know.
With this new information, this contract just got more interesting and potentially, no definitely more dangerous. As long as he wasn’t playing us we were not dealing with common garden bandits, just in it for the potential rewards but rather individuals with a cause that they had dedicated their lives to and a reputation that few other mere bandit groups could match.