Mercenary Tales 15.

Vexil. 

"Huh?" mutters Lord Farque, who then adds "Why would they fucking do that?". In reply, Helbe the elven thief shrugs his shoulders. 

They're below deck, in the main cabin of the packet ship, the single masted airship that's owned by the Reinholt Trading Company. 

Also in the cabin, are Mira Reinholt the mage, Malisse aka Zubutai the barbarian hordesman, as well as Dalinvardèl Tanith the elven spy and Lisell Maera the scout, both of whom returned to the small airship with the elven masterthief. 

"There's two Geist cousins running things" explains the young elven noble from the island principality of Laerel. 

He follows that with "Though there's a third member of the family, well I think it's another family member, who is also in command". 

The elven magic user gestures in the direction of the village, and the camp of the mercenary army that surrounds it, as he adds "That one hasn't been there at all". 

The undead warlord who is seated on the only chair in the cabin, a chair that's built into the decking, nods his full helmed head, then he falls silent. 

Mira Reinholt the mage looks at his fellow spellcaster, the elven master assassin and asks him "So they're not actually going into Girdane?". 

The practitioner of magic who was once the most powerful mage of his generation to be found anywhere in the Southlands, until he lost most of his powers when he accidentally cast a spell that sent him off world, then says "Well not far into Girdane". 

Nodding his hooded head, Helbe the elven thief who is standing next to the porthole, says "They're not" followed by "They'll be going in a short distance, then crossing back across the border elsewhere into Vexil". 

The mage Reinholt slightly frowns, then after a moment of realization, the Vexilian born spellcaster mutters "Oh shit". 

Malisse aka Zubutai the barbarian hordesman grunts, then says "Hell, make it look like an army from Girdane is crossing the border into Vexil". 

"Exactly" says the grandson of the ruling prince of Laerel, who continues on with "Though even the two cousins don't exactly know the full details". 

The highly talented elven magic user pauses for a moment before he adds "They're waiting for more details from the third". 

The human practitioner of magic, who is a born and breed Vexilian, nods his hooded head, then he asks his fellow spellcaster "Who are these two cousins?" followed by "Wonder if I know them". 

The elven princeling from Laerel says the names of the two Geist cousins, and the mage Reinholt replies with "Never heard of those two". 

"I doubt that you had" says the elven master assassin who is Lord Farque's envoy, who then adds "One was a child when you were exiled from Vexil" followed by "And the other was just born before the Battle of Vexil". 

Mira Reinholt sourly smiles at that reminder of his age, as the Battle of Vexil happened just over twenty five years ago. 

And true, he himself was young, and only seventeen at the time. Making him the youngest member of the mage council of Vexil ever. 

He only remembers those from the important and wealthy Vexilian families who were around his age, and older. There's very few who were much younger, like his half sister's Carice"s generation, that he knew of. 

"And the third one?" asks Lord Farque breaking his silence as he looks at the grandson of Prince Raendril of Laerel. 

"Misa" is the reply of prince Helbenthril Raendril, who glances at his fellow practitioner of magic Mira Reinholt, who shakes his hooded head no, then says "Never heard of her". 

"Think she might be a spellcaster" says the elven master archer, who follows that with "Though the cousins Gamil and Farsen aren't sure themselves, they think she is". 

"That's kind of odd" says Dalinvardèl Tanith the elven spy, followed by "Them not knowing their relative is a caster of spells". 

Next to the elven spy from the principality of Alínlae, the scout Lisell Maera nods in agreement with him. 

"She grew up elsewhere from what I gathered from reading their minds" says the young elven noble, who continues with "Her father was one of the senior airship captains in the family's fleet" followed by "Hardly ever in Vexil itself, mostly flew along the coast and in the northwest of the Southlands". 

"That makes sense" says Mira Reinholt who follows that with "A number of my own cousins grew up like that" he then adds "I didn't even meet some of them until I was much older" the once powerful mage continues with "Couple of them grew up north of the Sunreach Mountains, and another spent most of her first fifteen years of life, flying in the east". 

Those gathered in the cabin fall silent again, then look at the lord and ruler of the the Lands Farque, then eventually it's Malisse aka Zubutai the barbarian hordesman who breaks the silence, and asks the large, heavily armoured deathlord "We still going to go ahead with it?". 

After a moment, the undead warlord who also has the name of Draugodrottin that the people of his lands know him by, says "We will" he looks at the scout Maera, and tells her "Lis, get the others". 

A short while later, and though it's cramped, the entire group has gathered in the cabin. After Shur Kee the monk is last into the cabin, and closes the door behind him. 

Lord Farque says "Right, we'll go ahead with what we've discussed" the lord of the death realm looks at Helbe the elven thief, and asks him "Found a suitable company?". 

"I have" is the reply of the grandson of Prince Raendril of Laerel, who follows that with "Should be easy enough for us to join them without anyone knowing". 

"Good" murmurs the lord and ruler of the Lands Farque, who then says "Tam will be in command for appearances sake" followed by "Beldane and Tovis will be his seconds". 

"I doth protest" says sir Percavelle Le Dic, who is cut short by Draugodrottin saying "Shut the fuck up Percy". Which illicits a snort, and chuckle from Dorc da Orc, who is sitting on the floor behind the chair Lord Farque is sitting on. 

The former paladin after glaring at his bitter rival, goes to say something, when the large heavily armoured deathlord tells him "It's because they have a military bearing to them Percy, that's why". 

"Er?" says the large, heavily armoured knight who looks down at himself, before looking at the undead warlord again. 

"You know that I mean" dryly says Lord Farque, who follows that with "You might of been a knight, in fact a paladin, but let's face it you did whatever the fuck you wanted to do in your order, and took orders from no one". 

The nobleman originally from the kingdom of Druvic winces at hearing that unwelcome truth, then under his breath he mutters "Saint Mar'che" before falling silent. 

"Might be a problem with Dorc" says prince Helbenthril Raendril in the royal elven language to the lord and ruler of the Lands Farque. 

"Plenty of dwarves and trolls in that mercenary army" adds the young elven noble from the island principality of Laerel, who continues in a dry tone with "He'll get, shall we say, distracted". 

"I know" dryly says Lord Farque in the same language, who follows that with "That's why he and I won't be going with you lot". 

The undead warlord who has the elven name of Des'tier, continues with "We'll follow at a distance". The highly talented elven magic user nods his hooded head in understanding. 

The lord of the death realm switches back to the common language and tells the rest of the group "Dorc and I won't be going with you". 

Ignoring the grunt from the big, burly ork sitting behind him, Draugodrottin says to the elven masterthief who is his envoy "How long until that frigate comes this way on it's patrol?". 

"After midday it heads over the hills to the east of the village" replies the elven master archer, who continues with "It headed west before it circles back to the village". 

The large heavily armoured deathlord nods his full helmed head, then he says "That'll give you all plenty of time to reach the camp, and settle in". 

The lord and ruler of the Lands Farque then tells the group "You know what to do, so you might as well get going". 

Tamric Drubine the field commander, and Saanea the witch are first out of the cabin, followed one by one, by the rest of the group. 

Last being Shur Kee the monk who is about to follow sir Percavelle Le Dic out, when he stops, and looks back at Lord Farque who says to him in the language of the kingdom of Wah Lee "Keep an eye on them Shur Kee". 

"I will Lord Farque" replies Shur Kee the monk, who then does his particular bow from the waist to the undead warlord, before he exits the cabin, and closes the door behind him. 

Draugodrottin sits in silence, ignoring Dorc da Orc who he hears fidgeting behind him. The large ork goes to speak a number of times, but he stays silent when he sees the large, heavily armoured deathlord of Farque raise a hand for him to remain silent. 

Eventually the lord of the death realm senses the others in the group disembark, and start heading west through the hill country, to the village about five miles away, and the mercenary army camp that surrounds it. 

Lord Farque stands up, snaps his fingers and says in the ork language "Come on cunt, let's go" Dorc da Orc quickly gets up, and the large heavily armoured deathlord tells him "We've got some shit to do" . . . . . .

Mercenary Tales 14.

The City State Of Vexil. 

Dalinvardèl Tanith the elven spy walks through the camp like he belongs there. The elven spy originally from the principality of Alínlae, fits in perfectly. As it's a camp made up of mercenary companies. He's seen a number of races here. Predominantly human, as it is throughout the Southlands. But he's seen a number of dwarves. As well a small company of trolls. He's even seen a number of elves here and there. Who he avoids at all costs. 

And there's even goblins. Though they're not fighters. They're mainly porters and the like. Helping out around the camp. Though goblins being goblins. They're just as likely to cause a mess, than actually get any work done. 

The spy Tanith, who is a commander in the Armies of Farque. Nods his hooded head every now and then, acknowledging those who seem to be company captains. 

Due to the cut of his clothes and cloak, Dalinvardèl Tanith or Dalin as he's more commonly called by those who know him well. 

Looks like he's a fairly prosperous mercenary, which to be fair, he basically is. As he like every member of the group, is fairly wealthy. Though some more than others. 

The elven spy if stopped, will pass himself off as a well to do mercenary captain, whose company has arrived recently. 

And from what Dalin has already seen this morning, that won't be difficult to pull off. As he's seen a company that arrived as he entered camp. 

Not to mention the company of mercenaries who were on board the twin masted brigantine that arrived just before dawn. 

Not only that, the spy Tanith is pretty sure the most incompetent of spies could go through this camp without a care in the world. As discipline isn't exactly being carried out here. 

As he's seen a couple of scuffles already, and it's still fairly early in the morning, on what's a cold start to the winter season. 

The elven spy, who before joining the group, and serving in the Armies of Farque. Served in one of the more prominent noble houses of his homeland of Alínlae. 

Has also seen that any kind of watch is fairly lax here as well. As he didn't encounter any patrols as he approached, then entered the camp. 

The only patrol he's seen so far, just left a little while ago, and though mounted, those dozen or so riders weren't in any particular hurry. 

Dalinvardèl Tanith the elven spy hears something as he makes his way between a couple of rows of tents. 

Though calling them rows is being generous. They might be in lines, those lines aren't particularly straight. And more than a few of the tents are bunched up together in groups every so often. 

The spy Tanith who is heading uphill, towards the village, suddenly stops as he recognizes the sound he's hearing. 

"Fucking hell" Dalinvardèl Tanith the elven spy mutters to himself, who then silently adds, how did they get them?

The commander in the Armies of Farque stops and looks between some of the tents off to his right. 

The spy Tanith quickly looks down at the ground after he sees what's a bit further away. Then realizing that others in the direction he's looking at, are going about their morning routine without a worry, he looks back up. 

Not that far away, beyond some more tents to the right, is a pen. At least a couple hundred feet in length, and even more, widthwise. 

Inside, are large birds. Well, they look like birds, in fact they slightly resemble disheveled looking chickens. 

Though they're nearly ten foot tall to the crown, and their strong looking legs are almost big cat like, that end with what's basically claws of a bird of prey. The large avians are cockatrices. They may resemble birds, but they're far from birds as you could imagine. 

Dalin who briefly averted his eyes when he saw them, because the stare of a cockatrice is paralyzing. Able to hold a person dead still if they look at the eyes of a cockatrice. 

Something rather untoward on a battlefield. As you can be easily killed as you stand there paralyzed with fear. 

But the spy Tanith has noticed that the magical creatures have blinders on at the moment. Though that's probably the only reason they're in a camp, and not elsewhere. 

The elven spy sees that they're attended by mercenaries, whose company seem to be about the only ones with any discipline. 

At least from what Dalinvardèl Tanith can quickly see before he moves along from where he's briefly stopped. 

The commander in the Armies of Farque continues on his way, heading up to the village that the Geist Trading Company and their mercenary army have taken over. Here in the hill country of northern Vexil. 

Lisell Maera the scout, who is on the north side of the camp. Has made her way to the edge of the village. As the ground is fairly flat here, compared to the east side of the village, that the spy Tanith is approaching it from. 

The attractive young woman who hails from the coastal city-state of Brattonbury, spots a wagon nearby. 

That's stopped beside a large tent, behind some of the houses at this end of the village. The scout Maera briefly winces when she sees what's being lifted out of the wagon bed, and stacked between the large tent, and one of the houses 

"Fucking hell" Lisell Maera the scout mutters to herself as she walks by the wagon and large tent. 

I hope to fuck they don't drop any of those, the scout in the Armies of Farque thinks to herself as she looks sideways at the coffin like boxes that are being stacked up. 

Lisell Maera or Lis as more often than not, she's called by those who know her well, hurries up as she walks by. 

She knows there's no real harm in them. Unless someone accidentally drops one. Even then nothing untowards will happen. 

Though all hell will break loose, literally. Only if Lord Farque does something. And if he does, the scout Maera hopes to hell she's no where in the vicinity. 

Lis who like Dalinvardèl Tanith the elven spy hasn't been stopped in anyway. Has like the elven spy, seen how things are rather lax here in both the camp, and the village it surrounds. 

Though the scout in the Armies of Farque has garnered attention a couple of times, as some of the younger mercenaries have whistled and called out to her. After all, she is fairly tall for a human woman, not to mention physically attractive. Which her cloak doesn't entirely hide. 

Lis has just ignored them as she's gone about her business. Though she did glare at one young man, who approached her, until she flipped her cloak to one side, and put a gloved hand on the hilt of her sword. Which immediately scared off the young mercenary who tried to approach her. 

The scout Maera after a quick look around, spots the inn that Dalinvardèl Tanith mentioned, the inn that those in command of the mercenary army are using as their headquarters. 

Lisell Maera doesn't go in, and instead she wanders around to the back. And spotting stables just back from the inn. 

Which by the sounds of it, only has a few horses in it at the moment. She walks over to it, and ends up having a chat with the stableboy who is mucking out the empty stalls. 

The Brattonburian born scout in the Armies of Farque finds out the stableboy is a local. And that most of the villagers are still here, living and working. 

Even though the Geist Trading Company basically took over the village a little over a couple of weeks ago. 

First with their own guardsmen, followed by the mercenary companies that have been trickling in over the last couple of weeks. 

The stableboy who is about eleven or twelve years old, and is eager to talk, especially to an attractive young woman, who he assumes is a mercenary from one of the newly arrived companies. 

Tells Lis that from what he's overheard from the officers and members of the Geist Trading Company staying at his uncle's inn. 

That they're expecting the last of the hired mercenary companies to arrive over the next couple of days. After that, they'll make a decision to when they'll move out. 

Though the young stableboy does admit he doesn't know where the mercenary army will go. He like many of the actual companies, think they'll head over the border into the kingdom of Girdane. 

A border which isn't all that far away from here, less than half a dozen miles away to the northwest from the village. 

After chatting with the stableboy, and the youngster goes back to his work, on this cold winter's morning. 

The scout officer in the Armies of Farque, whose mother was a street prostitute in Brattonbury, and whose father, who she never knew or met. Was a sailor who plied his trade upon the Great Western Ocean, going up and down the coast of the Southlands. 

Leans against the side of the stables, looking at the back of the inn, which is less than twenty yards away. 

The scout Maera is just wondering if she should enter the inn, to find out any other useful information concerning this mercenary army that's been brought together by the Geist Trading Company. 

When suddenly a quiet , familiar voice says in her right ear "I wouldn't go in there if I was you" followed by "They've got a wizard checking everyone who enters". 

Lis who slightly jumped in surprise at hearing the voice, sourly smiles then quickly chucks a right elbow to the side. Which only gets a quiet chuckle in reply, this time from the left to her. 

"Nice try" quietly says Helbe the elven thief, who speaking in elven to the scout Maera continues with "But seriously, don't go in there". 

The attractive young woman glances sideways to her left where she figures the blurred and shielded elven magic user is. 

Then she nods, and quietly says to him in the elven language "I gather you've found out more after what Narladene told Dalin?". 

"I have" replies the young elven noble who is from the island principality of Laerel. Though he's not just any noble. He's from house Raendril. The royal house of Laerel. His grandfather is Prince Raendril himself. While his mother is the heir to the throne. 

"Dalin is heading this way" quietly says the elven masterthief, who is a member of Lord Farque's personal council. 

"Let's go to him" adds the elven princeling, who follows that with "And I'll tell both of you what else I've discovered". 

Lisell Maera nods, then she moves off, following the instructions of the blurred and shielded elven magic user, who is walking beside her. 

Who quietly informs her where Dalinvardèl Tanith is, as he's just entered the hill country village, on this cold winter's morning here in the north of the city-state of Vexil . . . . . .