[WFRP] The Bloody Crown XIV

[Thragka]

Urgrim and Elsa – Caerfort, Marktag 30th Sommerzeit

Urgrim nodded, and let silence linger a few moments, as if for a few breaths and a few heartbeats all was right in the world. When he spoke again, his words came forth in slow, considered choreography.

“Do you think the Prince will see things that way? Do you think the Princess will? If Sforza decides Sieghard’s an enemy, will your work here be allowed to continue?

“Here and now, the book is guarded. I don’t know what happens if Sforza decides your work here is no longer meet. And I don’t know that the few of us thrown together in this can keep it safe while avoiding Sforza’s wrath.” He shrugged sadly. This quiet moment was perhaps the first time in the past days that his body had not been tensed for action, and weariness was setting in. “If there’s anything you can do to bulwark your place here – I don’t know. But maybe you should think on it.”

[LCP]

Painford, 28th Sommerzeit

Lankdorf's face was pale, and a sheen of sweat glimmered on his brow. "W-w-ell I - I can't do that, can I? Hand it over w-willingly. If I do that they'll say I was obstructing the Prince's business too." His tone belief his words - the young man sounded to Sieghard like he understood his situation clearly. "For me to go home without that letter... I'd need proof that I handed it over unwillingly."

He cringed and turned his head away as he spoke - as if he was expecting Sieghard to hit him.

[TheSummoner]

Sieghard

"You're going to insist on this?" Sieghard asked, finding the whole thing odd. "If you're sure... It might be easier if you close your eyes."

Spoiler

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Third option. Sieghard is going to just grab the letter out of the pouch.

[LCP]

Painford, 28th Sommerzeit

Lankdorf shrank away from Sieghard with his eyes screwed shut, anticipating a blow - then yelped in surprise as Sieghard just snatched the satchel from him instead. For a moment he stood, there paralysed with confusion - then he slumped in on himself, dejected and defeated. He clearly saw there was nothing he could do.

Inside the satchel was a single roll of parchment, sealed with a smudged imprint of Sforza's pike-and-portcullis banner. Breaking it open, Sieghard read the message in Sussman's hurried handwriting:

Your Highness,

It pains me to report that the trouble here continues. Reclaiming your highness' grain has led to bloodshed, and while we have taken it back, we find it is considerably short of the amount we expected. The rabble-rousers who made their camp around the mill must have been eating it: almost half of what we collected is gone.

The camp is now dispersed, and your soldiers are preparing to return with what has been retrieved. I regret to inform you that Sergeant Corrado is dead, killed in the affray. I regret still more to inform you that it was your steward Sieghard who killed him, having interposed himself as a negotiator, and apparently taken the side of the peasants. He escaped the pursuit of the Iron Company and has fled the scene; we have found no sign of him in Manann's Keep or the Vale.

I have sent word to Lord Valdes of this, and will continue to do my utmost to preserve peace and order in Manann's Keep, awaiting your further instructions.

Your servant,
S.S.

[TheSummoner]

Sieghard

The letter was much of what Sieghard expected. The one point of concern was that word had likely already reached Valdes, but he was already well aware that he would have to deal with that in time. He shouted for Ludo and after handing off Sussmman's letter, turned his attention back to Lankdorf.

"If anyone gives you trouble, you need only say that I had you captive and stole the letter from you," he suggested. "Gods willing, anyone who would give you trouble will be taken care of before they can. Do you know whether Sussman sent any other messengers north?"

[-Sentinel-]

“Do you think the Prince will see things that way? Do you think the Princess will? If Sforza decides Sieghard’s an enemy, will your work here be allowed to continue?

"Hmm. The Prince might take me away from my work and order me to draw Sieghard out of hiding," Elsa conceded. "He probably knows Sieghard and I have some history."

For now, though, what was she to do? She might as well continue her work.

“Here and now, the book is guarded. I don’t know what happens if Sforza decides your work here is no longer meet. And I don’t know that the few of us thrown together in this can keep it safe while avoiding Sforza’s wrath.” He shrugged sadly. This quiet moment was perhaps the first time in the past days that his body had not been tensed for action, and weariness was setting in. “If there’s anything you can do to bulwark your place here – I don’t know. But maybe you should think on it.”

"You're right. Thanks for the forewarning," said Elsa.

She added: "I think you should know a horseback messenger bound for Mirino has been through here last night. Molli, her name was. She mentioned the bloodshed in the Vale. If I'd known Sieghard was involved, I would've tried to intercept the message."

[LCP]

Painford, 28th Sommerzeit

Lankdorf didn't look like he understood Sieghard's comments about people being 'taken care of', but they certainly didn't seem to reassure him. He held his hands up in a placating manner.

"I-I don't know anything, I swear," he said. "I'm - I'm just the messenger boy. He s-said to ride this way as fast as I could,,, and p-put it in the p-prince's hands myself."

[LeSwordfish]

Ludo read the letter twice, seeing the human misery in between Sussman's nervous prose.

You stupid bastard, he thought again. He sat down heavily on one of Gavril's stools, his mind full of numb blank terror again.

OOC

Spoiler

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Sieghard should ask if the hoofprints he saw was Lankdorf, was Lankdorf trying to go past the town?

[rax]

Bardhyl, 24th Sommerzeit (OOC: Or is it the 25th after all?)

Bardhyl allowed the looters to indulge in their triumph for a while before telling the vrani leaders to step in and restore order. “Everyone here deserves a share of the loot, but those taxes back there – they belong to all vrani, and we're going to need to husband our resources for what's to come. So, no more looting for today, aye?”

“Abbie, I'm making you town quartermaster. I want a full inventory of what's left in the store-room by the end of the day, along with a suggestion for how much we can spare for a proper celebration tomorrow. I also want all the Iron Company's weapons and armour collected and stored for later distribution. You up for that?”

“Valmir – I want the prisoners split into groups and held in separate locations. No mixing the veterans and the recruits. I don't care if they end up chained in a pig sty, but try to keep it to no more than three men in a group. I don't want them to be able work together to plan an escape or get their stories lined up ahead of the interrogations.”

“Grim, I need you in charge of burying the Iron Company's dead. I'm sure Wadim can suggest a suitable spot outside the town. I'll let their compatriots know that they'll be buried according to lowlander custom, with proper Morrite rites.”

“Wadim, you are the Raven Speaker. Will you see to our dead? I'd like to give them all a hero's send-off in the morning, but we should respect the wishes of their families if they prefer to take their leave in private.”

Once his instructions were being carried out, and some of his gang were available to take care of Zana and Kreshnik, Bardhyl went looking for his and his men's weapons, but more importantly, looking for any records concerning Orso's administration of Morr's Seat and communication with Carraciolo.

Spoiler: OOC

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I'm pausing here because I want to get some feedback on whether Bardhyl's instructions go off without a hitch and whether or not he finds any interesting paperwork.

I'm looking for any instructions Orso may have received from Carraciolo or the Prince, anything concerning informants in Morr's Seat or beyond, any form of tax records, and any information pertaining to the impending arrival of the next tax caravan. I.e. when they're expected, how many people and/or soldiers, who's in charge, and so on. Any and all details, basically.

The answers to the paperwork questions will be important in determining what Bardhyl will focus on when interrogating the prisoners.

Timewise, I imagine that searching the hall and looking through anything Bardhyl finds would take most of the afternoon. The next step would be to organize a gathering in the evening to deliver a rousing speech and announce that today's fallen will be buried as heroes in the morning (if Wadim signs off on that suggestion), followed by a feast for all of Morr's Seat to celebrate taking our town back. Bardhyl will probably give another speech urging perseverance and unity then.

This puts us at the 26th (or 27th, if the battle was actually on the 25th) for when Bardhyl would actively begin interrogating prisoners, barring any sudden emergency.

[TheSummoner]

Sieghard

"Fine, fine," Sieghard said, "Just one more thing then. Before coming here, were you thinking of going around the village? My men found horse tracks on our way into the village. It looked like the rider was trying to avoid the village. Were those from you or would they have been left by someone else?"

Once Lankdorf had answered, he called Hanna to join them continued. "I think it would be wise for you to stay here for a few days. You'll be treated as a guest in Painford and made comfortable... So long as you don't try anything foolish like making a run for the city." Leaving him in her care, he turned his attention to Ludo.

"I don't want to hear it," he said. It had been impossible to miss Ludo's expression since returning. "You didn't see what those bastards did. We both knew it might come to this - Better it happen while there's still men with the strength to fight." he took Sussman's letter back, laid it flat on the table, and pointed towards the last bit. "So long as we hurry, there's still time before Sforza can snap his jaws shut around us. I have a few of his letters still laying around at the manor. Jarla has his seal. If you could trick Sussman by copying Sforza's signature, we may be able to set a trap of our own."

[Thragka]

"Hmm. The Prince might take me away from my work and order me to draw Sieghard out of hiding," Elsa conceded. "He probably knows Sieghard and I have some history."

"Aye, and if he gleans that, he may not trust you to continue here," Urgrim said. "I reckon his wife's no gladder of your lot in his court then she ever was."

"You're right. Thanks for the forewarning," said Elsa.

She added: "I think you should know a horseback messenger bound for Mirino has been through here last night. Molli, her name was. She mentioned the bloodshed in the Vale. If I'd known Sieghard was involved, I would've tried to intercept the message."

A weight of melancholy sagged at Urgrim's face as he turned Elsa's words over.

"Better for many of us it'll be if that letter never makes it to Mirino," he pronounced sombrely. "I'll give chase. Gods willing, I can catch her – and do what needs doing."

Spoiler: OOC

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Urgrim's previous lines were more or less meant to raise the same points that LCP and TheSummoner have done OOC, and he's certainly interested in knowing Elsa's responses, so I'm happy to chat longer if she has anything specific to discuss about this right away.

Otherwise, his next step will be following Molli, and trying to catch her before she reaches Mirino. I feel he's probably at a disadvantage here, but if he can set a steady pace that his mule could maintain through the night, he's willing to forgo some sleep. He's not willing to kill his mule though!

[LCP]

Morr’s Seat, *25th* Sommerzeit

Abbie and Grim agreed to their roles, while Valmir embraced handling the prisoners with, if anything, too much enthusiasm. Wadim watched the three of them go before he gave his reply.

“In the morning,” he said, quietly. “Aye. We’ll hold the ceremony at daybreak. No sense in letting these things linger.”

Once he was left alone, Bardhyl had time to search through the back rooms of the chief’s hall. Orso didn’t appear to have been much of a man of letters. Among his effects, he found what looked like the orders that had first taken him to Morr’s Seat - by now rather crumpled and dogeared - and a slate tallying up their takings in taxes.

Carraciolo’s orders were in Tilean, but Bardhyl could see nothing in the Lord-Lieutenant’s scrawl that looked like a number or a date. The tally was simply quantities - wool, iron, cheese and salted meats - no record of when they were expected to be shipped out. Perhaps that was information that had never been written down. Surely, though, the Tileans themselves would know.

~

That evening, when the bodies had been carried out and the blood had been sponged from the floor, the people of Morr’s Seat gathered in the chieftain’s hall. It was so packed that there was barely space to move - by Bardhyl’s reckoning, the whole town was here, more or less. Looking out across the hall, dimly lit by a few flickering torches, he saw a sea of hungry, dirty faces looking back. The reflection of the firelight glimmered in their eyes - or perhaps, Bardhyl fancied, it was the spark of hope.

OOC:

Spoiler

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Feel free to timesplit ahead to the other dates you mentioned for e.g. interrogating prisoners.

---

Painford, 28th Sommerzeit

Just one more thing then. Before coming here, were you thinking of going around the village? My men found horse tracks on our way into the village. It looked like the rider was trying to avoid the village. Were those from you or would they have been left by someone else?"

Lankdorf shook his head. “I came straight here,” he said. “Herr Sussman told me twice, he said, stick to the road.”

"I think it would be wise for you to stay here for a few days. You'll be treated as a guest in Painford and made comfortable... So long as you don't try anything foolish like making a run for the city."

“I’m your prisoner, you mean,” he said, dejected. He didn’t resist as Hanna approached, but allowed her to shepherd him away…

[RossN]

Painford

Jarla also read the letter and grimaced. "Bad news but I expected as much." She paused then shot Ludo a mirthless smile, quietly adding: "Should I feel insulted my name did not directly feature in the letter? Am I that forgettable?"

[-Sentinel-]

"Aye, and if he gleans that, he may not trust you to continue here," Urgrim said. "I reckon his wife's no gladder of your lot in his court then she ever was."

"The Prince might question my loyalty to him," said Elsa, "but I don't think I've given him cause to question my enmity towards the restless dead. Hopefully he decides it's safer to keep me busy in Caerfort than to involve me in the hunt for Sieghard."

"Better for many of us it'll be if that letter never makes it to Mirino," he pronounced sombrely. "I'll give chase. Gods willing, I can catch her – and do what needs doing."

Elsa was not sure she liked the sound of that, but in any case, she thought it unlikely that Urgrim would catch up with Molli.

"Best of lucks, Urgi. You too, Tattie." She sighed. "Guess my ritual might have to wait a bit longer, but I am determined to see it through."

Gods damn it, she thought bitterly, Nahorek must be laughing at how good we are at undermining our own efforts against him. First, Lady Sforza all but delivers his staff to him... and now, this new development.

[LeSwordfish]

"I don't want to hear it," he said. It had been impossible to miss Ludo's expression since returning. "You didn't see what those bastards did. We both knew it might come to this - Better it happen while there's still men with the strength to fight." he took Sussman's letter back, laid it flat on the table, and pointed towards the last bit. "So long as we hurry, there's still time before Sforza can snap his jaws shut around us. I have a few of his letters still laying around at the manor. Jarla has his seal. If you could trick Sussman by copying Sforza's signature, we may be able to set a trap of our own."

"Oh leave it out," Ludo snapped. A small fist thumped the table between them. "You and the wizard are as bad as each other."

"You didn't see what those bastards did. We both knew it might come to this - Better it happen while there's still men with the strength to fight."

"We were going to do this carefully and thoughtfully. And you thought with your sword and now come to me to clean up your mess. Did you stop people being killed there? Because it doesn't sound like it! You didn't stop the food being taken, either. You know what you did achieve? You ensured that whatever happens there will happen here too, to the people we promised to protect."

Ludo leaned back and folded his arms, as angry and scornful as Sieghard had ever seen him.

"If you thought it was bad there, how do you think Sforza will deal with a sworn lord who turns traitor? Remember what happened to Falkenwald, exactly? It's going to make the raven hills look like a Mittherbst feast. He's going to burn this place to the ground. If I had any sense I'd hand you over. Seems like the only way I avoid ending up with my head on a pike next to yours."

"Don't give me your idiot calm. Your "there's still time" and "trap of our own." Anything we do now is scrambling to avoid all being killed and you know it."

He turned to Jarla, blanking Sieghard entirely. "If we can get you a fresh horse, could you get to Ravenskird today? If we're lucky, you might catch the other horseman. If not, Ingwald needs to know what happened before the Iron Company marches in. We might need to recall his men here. Since apparently we'll be at war by the end of the week."

[LCP]

Backertag, 31st Sommerzeit - Urgrim

Urgrim wasted no time lingering in Caerfort. He rode all day and all night, leading his mule when it would no longer carry him. He knew persistence was the only advantage he had in this race.

It was into the early hours of the following morning when he spied what he assumed was the messenger’s camp, nestled under one of the rocky tors that overlooked the Mere. The remnants of their campfire was just embers, but it's dying light caught his keen eye all the same. Approaching as quietly as he could, he got close enough to see his quarry - a young woman, sleeping bundled up under her rough woollen cloak, and her horse, sleeping tethered to the dry stump of a dead tree. There were no others that he could see.

[rax]

That evening, when the bodies had been carried out and the blood had been sponged from the floor, the people of Morr’s Seat gathered in the chieftain’s hall. It was so packed that there was barely space to move - by Bardhyl’s reckoning, the whole town was here, more or less. Looking out across the hall, dimly lit by a few flickering torches, he saw a sea of hungry, dirty faces looking back. The reflection of the firelight glimmered in their eyes - or perhaps, Bardhyl fancied, it was the spark of hope.

OOC:

Spoiler

Show

Feel free to timesplit ahead to the other dates you mentioned for e.g. interrogating prisoners.

Morr’s Seat, 25th Sommerzeit

Bardhyl looked out over the crowd, his expression deeply serious, and nodded slowly in acknowledgement as he began to speak.

"Friends! Family! Vrani! Thank you for coming. Today...today was a hard day, so I will be brief. We lost many good men and women - fathers, brothers, mothers, sisters, cousins, dear friends - and we mourn them all. But today was also a great day! Today was the day that we rose as one, and cast off the yoke of the Tilean pretender! By the sacrifice of today's heroes, Morr's Seat is once again a free vrani town, and now it is up to the rest of us to keep it that way!"

"In the morning, we will send our fallen to Morr, and in the evening we will feast! We will eat our fill and toast the fallen and the living. We will sing the songs of old and remember that we are Morr's chosen people! Our memories are long, our blades sharp, our hearts fierce and free. We were here before any lowlander set foot in the Reaches, and we will be here long after they are gone. And I promise you this - while I draw breath, no foreign pretender will ever rule the Raven Hills again!"

"Go now, my friends. Return to your homes and sleep well. There is much to do in the days ahead, but tomorrow will be a day of celebration, and tomorrow night, at least, no one will be going to bed hungry!"


@LCP
Starting off with a little light speechifying...and now I've run out of time to finish the post. I'll keep adding to the post during the week and let you know in the OC thread when I think I'm done.

[RossN]

"If we can get you a fresh horse, could you get to Ravenskird today? If we're lucky, you might catch the other horseman. If not, Ingwald needs to know what happened before the Iron Company marches in. We might need to recall his men here. Since apparently we'll be at war by the end of the week."

Jarla thought about it and nodded. "I can certainly try so long as you take care of Countess when the Thorns bring her back. I suppose question is whether I'm just going to be speaking to Ingwald or whether I should bring written orders to make it clear how serious this is. Is that worth the risk?"

She glanced in the direction of Sieghard, though did not directly address him. Jarla could practically feel the heat of Ludo's anger and she wasn't about to kick this particular hornet's nest.

[Thragka]

Urgrim – Backertag, 31st Sommerzeit

Urgrim approached the human woman calmly, but without attempting to be fully silent. He stopped at an appropriate distance for a respectful conversation, not seeking to alarm her immediately. He bent down and sat on a gnarled root. "Hello," he called out to her.

The woman's gentle snoring faltered. Raising her head, she stared blearily at Urgrim. A second or two passed in silence - still in the same sitting position, she put her left hand behind her pillow, as if reaching for something there. "Hello. Who are you?"

Urgrim took a deep breath, in and out, through his nose. As much as he'd been thinking about how to do this in the past hours, and imagining how the conversation might go, he still seemed a little unsure of himself. "I'm someone who wants to talk to the woman who stayed in Caerfort two nights ago."

"In the middle of the night?"

Urgrim shrugged. "If you are her, then I'm here now."

"And you're not going away, is that it?" Keeping a careful eye on Urgrim, she started to get slowly to her feet. "What is it you want?"

Urgrim stayed sitting. "The letter you're carrying."

"It's not for sale."

"Mmmm. The most important things aren't, usually. Although I would have made you an offer, if it were." Urgrim sighed. "You're Molli, then?"

Screwing up her eyes in a grimace, the woman stood up completely straight. "See, it's things like that that don't put me completely at my ease here. Sneaking up while I'm asleep in the middle of Taal's own nowhere and giving me my name when I sure as Shallya don't know yours." She took a cautious step towards her horse; her left hand was behind her back. "Are we going to have problems if I don't want to answer any more of your questions?"

"Urgrim Jotunnsson," Urgrim offered. "I'm sorry to shock you, but I rode from Caerfort overnight to find you. I didn't want to wait. I want to talk to you."

"Go on then - talk." She kept walking slowly towards her horse, which was still sound asleep.

"Well, will you stay and listen?"

"Are you giving me a choice?"

Urgrim was silent a moment. Then he nodded. "I'll talk, then. Your choice to stay or leave.

"The Tileans went to that mill to take the last scraps of food away from the wretched and the starving. The Reaches are already hurting. The harvests are bad, and people die. That's what those people were there to say. And because they dared raise their voice, the Tileans took their lives too. Those people made a choice. Whether it was a good one or a bad one, they thought it was the right one. That's all we get, any of us. Our choices.

"I had no reason to come to you and lie. As I said, I came because I want that letter. You want the choice to listen to me, or to go. But going is a choice too. It might be ink on a page, but it's as much one of the Tileans' weapons as the iron on their spears. And if it goes to Mirino, it'll spill so much more blood across these lands. And I think that is your choice."

Molli's face changed as Urgrim spoke. If she was still wary of him, she was at least listening. "I don't know much about... what you said," she said. "But Herr Sussmann gave me this letter to carry. He's the Prince's man. If I go back home and I tell him I felt like giving it to someone else... I can't just do that, you know? I mean, what'd happen to me?"

Urgrim looked up at Molli, and nodded with an odd sad, thoughtful smile on his lips. Perhaps, for a moment, with his bushy beard and craggy brow, he looked to a young human like a strangely sprightly old man. "It's a good question," he agreed. "None of this is easy. None of this is fair. Perhaps you see why I wanted to talk to you. Mind you – while I'm not saying you should just go back home and do that, or that I mean to tell you to – but if you need to know what choice you have about that, there are people and places you could go to."

"And if I give it to you?" she asked. "What will you do with it?" She hesitated. "I mean, I haven't read it, but if the message isn't delivered... won't they just send another, eventually? You going to wait out here for that messenger too?" She cocked her head at Urgrim. "What's your skin in this, anyway? I didn't hear there were any dwarfs up at that mill."

Urgrim held up a finger. "Well, there was one dwarf there. Though I allow you, I didn't see any others. You're right, of course, I'm not a farmer or a miner. I didn't grow up in the Wood, or the Vale. It was chance that I was at the mill, more or less. But it wasn't chance that a good man was there, my companion. The man who tried to stop the Tileans from killing the smallfolk." Urgrim, now, hesitated. To say more was to tip his hand, to go all-in, and hope that this young woman would do the right thing. "The Steward of Painford. He was there because he knew what sort of men the Tileans were, and he meant not to let them go butchering, unchallenged. When they turned on the crowd, Sieghard of Painford cut down the Tileans' commander. That's what your letter tells. That's why it's soaked so heavy with blood. And aye, when this one doesn't get through, they'll send another. But if we stop this one from going any further, now, that buys him some time to gather his men in Painford. So that whenever the Tileans do march east on the Vale, those of us strong of heart will be ready.

"I don't know if you have people in Manann's Keep, or in the Reaches. I do know you didn't ask for this to come to you now, and be on your head. But it's here, just like it's on my head. So I had to find you, to ask you to think carefully about what happens next. One way or another, your choice will change the Reaches."

Molli hesitated for a long time, the toe of her boot working absent-mindedly in the dust. "I heard some things about what happened up there," she said. "Not many things... just a few. I know my cousin was there, though. And his wife, and their kids. And maybe I'm stupid, but I think if you just wanted to rob me you wouldn't have woken me with a 'hello'."

She looked over her shoulder, back east - as if somehow she thought Sussman might overhear them all the way from Manann's Keep. "I'm not a rebel. I've got folks, a roof, a bed to go back to... but I'm not a messenger either, not really. Herr Sussman just needed someone who knew how to ride a horse, and I wanted the money." Opening her horse's saddle-bag, she pulled out a leather satchel and tossed it over to Urgrim. "So if I say you robbed me, I don't think he's got much grounds to complain."

Like the inexorable return of lichen to rock, a smile grew creepingly across Urgrim's face. "I'm sorry I upset you. But being as I'm robbing you, I'd be thankful if you didn't remember my face or my name. There aren't a lot of dwarfs around these parts at the best of times."

Spoiler: OOC

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This is the transcript of a scene LCP and I played out on Discord. I have made minor edits to spelling and grammar, as well as making small alterations to some of Urgrim's word choices to better reflect his usual speaking patterns.

Urgrim will politely take his leave of Molli, looking to find somewhere sheltered to make a camp of his own. He'll check the contents of the satchel – and then sleep deeply after having travelled through the night. In the fullness of day, he'll turn around and head back to Caerfort.

[LeSwordfish]

Jarla thought about it and nodded. "I can certainly try so long as you take care of Countess when the Thorns bring her back. I suppose question is whether I'm just going to be speaking to Ingwald or whether I should bring written orders to make it clear how serious this is. Is that worth the risk?"

She glanced in the direction of Sieghard, though did not directly address him. Jarla could practically feel the heat of Ludo's anger and she wasn't about to kick this particular hornet's nest.

Ludo thought for a moment. "Just verbal orders. But I'll give you something so he knows it's from me. Remind him about him and Dorothye, i'm pretty sure nobody outside the militia knows about that."

OOC

Spoiler

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I think the big decision is: are we telling Ingwald to hold firm where he is and be aware that the Thorns may be in trouble, or telling him to leave Ravenskird and regroup in Painford?

[TheSummoner]

Sieghard

"We're not even certain there is another rider," Sieghard said, "I won't ignore the chance, but we can't devote everything to something that might be a threat when the most present threat is the one to our south."

Spoiler

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As I see it, we need to act quickly and decisively while we still have the element of surprise. Danger to the north and danger to the south - If we sit still, then we get encircled. We can't take Savonne, but we can neutralize Manaan's Keep before Sforza knows what's happening. Do that and we've only got the one front to worry about.

[LeSwordfish]

"I'm sending one rider, not everything." Ludo snapped. "Either she can catch another messenger or not, but wherever the real threat is, we'll need to recall Ingwald and his team here to deal with it."

[TheSummoner]

Sieghard

Sieghard's patience with Ludo was running short and he had to fight the urge to shove the halfling into a potato sack.

"There's still thirty-some Iron Company in Manaan's Keep," Sieghard said, "They've sent word to Valdes, but if we move before he can respond, it's few enough men that that we can take the town. We have to strike first and deal with that or else we'll be fighting on two fronts once word does reach Sforza."

[LCP]

Urgrim, 31st Sommerzeit

Molli nodded. “That’s right,” she said. “Haven’t seen any, myself. Whoever stole the satchel must’ve sneaked up while I was asleep.”

She paused, unsure what to say. “I’d wish you luck, but I’m not sure if I should,” she said. “I guess… I hope this works out like you say.”

---

Bezahltag, 32nd Sommerzeit - Caerfort

It was late in the day when Urgrim made his return to Caerfort, and the sun beat down on the dusty hills like a hammer on an anvil. Valdes’ soldiers greeted him warmly as he passed their picket, one of them offering a drink from the water-butt they had set up outside the base of the tower. Perhaps if they’d known what he was carrying, they wouldn’t have been so friendly.

OOC:

Spoiler

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I don’t know if Urgrim is going to open the letter, or share its contents with Elsa, but if he does, here is what it says.

Spoiler: Sussmans_Letter

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My Lord Valdes,

It is with the greatest regret that I write to inform you that the disorder in Manann’s Keep has not been resolved peacefully. There was an altercation between some men of the Iron Company sent to retrieve Prince Sforza’s grain and the farmers of the Vale unwilling to give it up, and a number of the latter were hurt or killed. As I write this, I am making arrangements for the burials.

More concerning to your lordship is the behaviour of Lord Sieghard, who appeared on the scene to argue for the farmers, lost his temper, and then his mind. He has killed several of Prince Sforza’s soldiers, including their commander, Sergeant Corrado. He then fled, escaping the Iron Company’s pursuit. I am currently unaware of his whereabouts, but I must assume by the time he reaches you he will have been able to rejoin his own soldiers in the Thornwood. If they should fall into rebellion with him, I am deeply concerned with what he will do next.

I currently have in Manann’s Keep the Iron Company men sent for the grain, and fewer than fifteen men of my own. I have sent messengers to Savonne to inform his Highness of these events, but do not know if they will be allowed to pass through the Thornwood. I urge your lordship to reinforce us in Manann’s Keep as swiftly and strongly as is possible, to protect both Prince Sforza’s holdings and his subjects here in the Vale.

Your faithful servant,
- S. Sussman

[Thragka]

Urgrim and Elsa -- Caerfort, Bezahltag 32nd Sommerzeit

When they were alone, Urgrim showed the letter to Elsa. "I convinced the young woman that the right thing to do was to let me have this," he explained, starkly unaware of the connotation that might carry. "So don't mistreat her when she passes back this way."

"Sussman might have grog for brains, but he's not wrong that things're going to move fast. Sieghard'll know he can't hang about sitting on his arse. But unless he moves very quick, Sussman's bound to send another errand west once he realises this one didn't make it.

"I still mean to get that obsidian crafted in Zhufund. I told Sieghard I'd look for him on the way, if you have any message for him. And I should show him this, I suppose," he added, folding the letter back up. "D'you still want Tattie to travel with me? I might move less freely with her in tow, is all."

[LeSwordfish]

Ludo deliberately tried to calm himself a little. "We need Ingwald's men anyway, and if another messenger gets through, we'll need them out of Ravenskird before Sforza rides through and puts them all in chains. If we have any luck - and good Esmerelda knows we're due some - they'll have stopped in Ravenskird overnight and Jarla can deal with them. If not - well, we get everyone together and go from there. Maybe I can speak to Sussman, persuade him that he can trust me and trick him into doing something foolish."

He had plenty of other things he had wanted to shout at Sieghard but none were going to help at this stage would they? And he had been hoping Sieghard would shout back; that idiot calm...