The Stone Hills. Winter...
Lisell Maera makes her way up the side of the mountain the dwarves call Išorkam Uñd. The going is tough, as the trail up is across rocky ground that's covered in snow.
The long legged teenager from the city-state of Brattonbury in the Southlands, has left the two dwarves who met her down at the mine entrance, far behind.
Lisell Maera, or just plain Lis as she's often referred to. Passes by other dwarven warriors who are on the mountain. They all greet her as she goes by, and she does likewise. It seems they've been expecting her, as word has gone on ahead about her arrival.
The teenaged orphan from Brattonbury, who is near enough to sixteen years old. Briefly pauses as she's finally able to looks southwards from about seven thousand feet up. The day is fairly clear, and she can see for miles.
She knows why he's gone up here, as it probably gives the best vantage point to seeing the enemy, who by all accounts, isn't all that far away from the mountain that stands alone.
The trail ends where the snow gets thick near an outcrop of rock that sticks straight up in the air, like a column forty feet high.
At the base of the outcrop are a handful of dwarves, including a couple that she knows. A scout from clan Kraelin, and the mute warrior from clan Mard, Omick.
After Lis greets them, the large dwarven warrior Omick nods for the teenager from south of the equator to follow him. They walk half way around the outcrop, to where an opening is in the column of rock.
Lisell Maera has to duck down as she enters behind Omick. Once inside she sees that steps have been carved into the rock. They head up them, to the top of the natural formation of rock, that the dwarves of clan Omban use as a lookout. At the open top of which, are a handful of people.
There's a couple of dwarven warriors she doesn't know. But along with Omick, there's also Jarka Mard in his bear mantle and cloak. As well as Lisell's fellow Southlander, Tamric Drubine. Who is looking through a brass, cylindrical eyepiece.
"Tam" says Lisell Maera by way of greeting "Lis" replies Tamric Drubine who briefly looks at the teenage orphan from the city-state of Brattonbury before he goes back to looking through the eyepiece, as he observes something away to the southeast.
Jarka Mard, the youngest son of the chieftain of clan Mard introduces Lis to the other two dwarves who are from clan Omban, whose clanhold they're in.
One is a scout, while the other is a warrior by the name of Famill, who has one of the largest dwarven warhammers that Lisell Maera has ever seen. Famill is the acting second to chief Polm Omban, who Lis saw was wounded when she stop down in the mine at the base of Išorkam Uñd.
The teenager from south of the equator who like Tam, easily tops the dwarven warriors by a foot and more, makes her way over to where the nobleborn youngster is standing, leaning on the waist high, natural wall that goes around the top of the column like outcrop.
"Is it a message from him?" quietly asks Tamric Drubine in the elven language as he continues to look through the brass cylindrical eyepiece, that's wrapped in dark brown leather "It is" replies Lisell Maera in the same language, which the two dwarves from clan Mard, Jarka Mard and the mute Omick, can understand.
"He'll turn up when he can" says the tall orphan teenager from Brattonbury in the Southlands, she continues with "He's gone to get something" Lis who is looking away in the same direction that Tam is looking, adds "Until then you are to delay them for as long as possible, don't let them get to the Omban mountainhold".
Tamric Drubine nods as that was his orders when he left the Mard clanhold. He's been told that the Omban mountainhold is easy to access, and difficult to defend. And that a large force, of which the justifier's army that has pushed into the Omban clanhold, definitely is. Should be, without too much difficulty, be able to enter the Omban mountainhold.
Tam quietly informs Lis of what's happened here in the lands of clan Omban over the last few weeks. Especially with what happened early yesterday morning, when a large force of the clan's warriors, led by their chieftain Polm Omban, attacked the enemy.
"They've been bloodied for sure, and taken a sizeable hit to their supplies" says the nobleborn youngster from the kingdom of Sarcrin in the Southlands, who then hands the leather wrapped eyepiece to his fellow Southlander, and he points away to the southeast saying "See there, just beyond those hills?".
Lis nods her head as she looks through the eyepiece, Tam tells her "You can't see it from here, but there's an abandoned free folk village that they're using as their base" he continues with "The battle early yesterday was on and near the wagon track north of that village".
Tamric Drubine then points to another spot, also to the southeast, but closer to the mountain that the dwarves of the Stone Hills call Išorkam Uñd "There's some of them there, on and around that hilltop".
Lisell Maera easily spots the enemy when they're pointed out to her, and she nods in understanding when the nobleborn youngster tells her "They've got a pretty good vantage point there, they can see clearly all the way to here" he then adds "I doubt they can spot us up here though, even a justifier casting a spell to help him see would have trouble picking this outcrop as a lookout from amongst all the other rocky outcrops".
Then the former heir to the knight of castle Drubine in the kingdom of Sarcrin points further east, and he quietly says to his fellow Southlander "See there, those rockwalls, near those mountains?". "I see them" quietly says Lis when she eventually finds them "That wagon track winds around the hills, and goes between a narrow canyon within the rockwalls" says Tam "Now see the snow on those peaks?".
"I do" says Lisell Maera, who then murmurs "Aaahhh" as she instantly understands what Tamric Drubine intends to do, the teenage orphan from the city-state of Brattonbury, takes the eyepiece away from her face, and she looks at Tam and says to him "Who"s going to be the bait to lure them in?".
"I was thinking about doing it" says the nobleborn youngster with a grin upon his face, Lis sourly smiles when he says to her "Unless you want to do it?".
"No thanks" says Lisell Maera, who thinks about something for a moment, then she silently adds, then again, maybe i will.
"Bit of a problem though" says the younger of the two Southlanders, who then adds "We haven't got a delver handy, and it's two days hard travel to the Omban mountainhold to get one, and that's another two days travel back" he gestures away to the south and east, and continues with "We're leaving late this afternoon, to travel through the night so they can't spot us" Tam pauses for a moment, then he quietly says "We're going to have to rely on other ah methods".
"Oh?" says Lisell Maera who lifts her eyebrows, when she sees the nobleborn youngster glance over at where Jarka Mard and Omick are standing. Lis looks over at the two from clan Mard who have been listening to the two Southlanders converse in the elven language.
She sees both Jarka and the mute Omick briefly wince before they see her looking at them.
What's this then? Lisell Maera thinks to herself, who just looks at Tam, and lifts her eyebrows in a questioning manner, not saying anything. The nobleborn youngster clears his throat, and holds out a hand for the leather wrapped, brass cylindrical eyepiece.
Lis hands it back to Tam, who then reaches into beneath his cloak, and takes something out. The teenage orphan from the coastal city of Brattonbury in the Southlands, sees that it's a small, folded piece of parchment. The nobleborn youngster from the kingdom of Sarcrin passes it to his fellow Southlander.
Lisell Maera opens it and immediately recognises the handwriting on it as belonging to lord Farque. And what he's written is in the elven language.
"Saltpeter, nitre acid" murmurs Lis, who frowns as she sees it's a list of a number of things, but for what, she has no idea. She looks at Tam and asks him "What is it?".
The former heir to the previous knight of castle Drubine glances over at Jarka Mard, who makes his way over to the two humans from south of the equator, he glances at the piece of parchment Lis is holding.
"It be a list of ingredients for something we sometimes use in the mines and in our quarries" quietly says Jarka Mard in the elven language, the youngest son of the chieftain of clan Mard, who is one of only a small number of dwarves in the Stone Hills to understand and speak the elven language, then adds "We be calling it blast powder".
Lisell Maera's eyebrows go up when the dwarven warrior from clan Mard who has a bearskin fur cloak, quietly says in a slightly dry tone "It can be a mite dangerous to use".
"Oh how dangerous?" asks the daughter of a street whore, and a sailor father she never met, Jarka Mard clears his throat, then says "Even when it does work properly, you don't wanna be anywhere around it".
"And when it doesn't work properly?" asks Lisell Maera "Well it be best you were on a completely different mountain from where it is when that happens" is the slightly dry reply from the son of clan Mard's chieftain.
"Fuck" murmurs Lis, who looks at her fellow Southlander, and asks him "And you're going to use it?" she looks away to the south and east, to where even with the naked eye, she can see the rockwalls beneath the peaks that are covered in snow, and she adds "There?".
"Yes" replies the nobleborn youngster from the feudal kingdom of Sarcrin as a strong gust of wind buffets them on top of the rocky outcrop, Tamric Drubine continues with "They've got the ingredients for the blast powder down in the mine below, it's being packed in specifically made barrels at the moment" he then adds "I'm told it'll be ready by the time we leave".
"That's if the poor buggers doing it dunny blow themselves up" murmurs Jarka Mard, who when Lis looks at him, he says "I told ye it can be a mite dangerous" the dwarven warrior in the bear fur mantle continues with "We be hardly using the stuff cause it can be a wee bit unstable" he then adds "The delvers usually blast the rock away in shafts that be too difficult to dig out".
"And you wanted me to be the bait in the trap!" says Lis as she stares at Tam, who shrugs his shoulders and grins. "Smartass" dryly utters Lisell Maera, who then silently adds, i still might do it though.
"Well whichever one of us does it, or even both of us, they won't be expecting to see a human" says Tamric Drubine who after slight pause, continues with "Though if a justifier is right in the lead and reads our minds if they see us, it won't mean fucking shit if we're human or not".
"That's true" sourly says the teenage orphan from south of the equator, the nobleborn youngster also from south of the equator says "Well that can't be helped, we'll just have to deal with it if that's the case".
Lis nods, then Tam who switches to the common language, says "Let's head back down to the mine, i want the entire war party to be ready to depart just before dusk".
All of them up the column like outcrop, make their way down the stairs, and out through the hole in the natural forming tower. And as a pair of the dwarves who were at the base, head up to continue watching the enemy to the southeast.
The two humans from the Southlands, and the dwarves with them, start making their way down the snow covered slopes of Išorkam Uñd . . . . . .
No comments:
Post a Comment