The Homecoming 14.

A Country Lane...

"So have you been over there often" asks Dalinvardél Tanith the elven spy "Not recently" replies Walníth, one of the two elven foresters the spy Tanith has stopped to talk to in a lane between farms he and the patrol he's travelling with this morning have been riding along.
"Not since before the last border war nearly two years ago when lord Maxiss was killed" adds Walníth who then continues in a slightly dry tone with "They don't take too kindly to outsiders over there, especially from this fief".
Beside him, the other forester Jalvelé nods in agreement then says "We don't even go through the forest to the southeast that goes through both fiefs" he continues with "It's more trouble than it's worth as of late".
Dalinvardél Tanith or Dalin as he's referred to by those who know him, nods in agreement as that's pretty much what he's heard by most of those he's spoken to since being on a patrol the last few days with the squad from castle Lé Dic.
The elven spy from the principality of Alínlae has gone out to gather information. And though speaking with the nobleborn and their guards here in the east of the Lé Dic fief he's found out a few things. It's the people of the towns, villages, hamlets and farm settlements that he's gathered the most, as well as the more important information.
Not just to do with the current situation between the two fiefs, one ruled by the Lé Dic family, the other by the Harkonin family. But also about the individual that he and the rest of the group have traveled to the kingdom of Druvic to find.
As his horse chews at the wet winter grass at the base of the waist high, stone wall that runs along one side of the lane. And as the squad wait patiently on their mounts a bit further down the lane.
Dalinvardél Tanith asks the two local elves "Anything else you can tell me about what's happening over there". When the two foresters glance at the nearby squad, the spy Tanith tells them "Don't worry, none of them can speak elven" he then adds "You can speak freely".
Walníth the older of the two foresters nods his head, then he says "From the traders and merchants that travel between the two fiefs, word from them is that conflict is inevitable in the spring" he continues with "Seems they're building up their weapons, especially their siege weapons".
"Same thing over here" says Dalin "So we've heard" says Jalvelé, who continues with "No doubt we'll be drafted into the young lady's army come spring, as we were in her father's".
"Things were easier back in the civil war a little while ago" says Walníth, who continues with "The two families were on opposite sides, but they didn't put much effort into that conflict".
"We here in the east of the kingdom got off pretty lightly during the war of succession" says Jalvelé who follows that up with "It's only when they're in direct conflict do they get down to business, and go all out in battle".
"Has it always been like that?" asks the elf who once served in one of the prominent noble houses in the principality of Alínlae "Not really, they have their squabbles now and again as all fief rulers do" replies Walníth who continues with "But the only other time the two families have been at their throats all the time was well over a century and half ago".
"A lady from the Harkonin family married into the Lé Dic family back then" explains Jalvelé who then adds "Don't think the majority of both noble families were exactly pleased about it" he continues with "A few weeks after the marriage, hostilities broke out, and they were fighting on and off for nearly a decade" he shakes his head then adds in a slightly sour tone "By the forest gods i nearly bloody well died during that".
"Same here" adds Walníth who continues with "The only reason it stopped is because the king at the time sent in his army to quell hostilities, as there was a good chance that things would of spread to other fiefs here in the east".
Kind of already knowing the answer, Dalinvardél Tanith asks the two local elves "So what's changed recently to increase the tension between the two fiefs?".
The foresters glance at one another, then the older Walníth replies with "That advisor to lord Harkonin, the druid Palvarc" he continues with "Once he got close to the baron over there, things have changed for sure" he pauses for a moment, then says "Rumour is that he's not just a druid, but actually a dark druid".
"Bloody heathen" mutters Jalvelé who then spits off to one side in disgust, the two other elves nod in agreement with what he just muttered.
There's a common misconception amongst the populace, not just here in the kingdom of Druvic, but also throughout the Southlands. That elven kind and those who follow the druidic way, who for the most part are human. Believe in the same things, and practice the same rites. This is indeed false.
True they both respect nature and the natural world, that's about the only common ground they have between the two of them.
For elves believe in their forest gods, while those who follow the teachings of the druids don't believe in any god, though they don't deny the existence of the gods of Volunell.
Elven kind definitely don't practice the same rites as those who follow the druidic ways. Where sacrifices are common. This mainly involves sacrificing earth from a plot of land you work or own. Or something that you've made or built.
And during festivals or at equinoxes this will involve a blood sacrifice, of an animal to appease a local haunt, or the changing of the season, or something like a full moon.
For those who follow the dark druidic ways, blood sacrifice is common. At times the sacrifice of other people is an accepted practice.
Over the years, both scholars and historians have agreed that human sacrifice committed by the dark druids. Has nothing really to do with their magic. But is just an excuse to get rid of their rivals, and those who oppose their way of life.
Those who follow the dark druidic way, are not common. Even in the kingdom of Druvic, a nation that was named after the druidic way. Where those who follow the teachings and practices of the druids, are more common, especially here in the east of the kingdom.
"That Palvarc has definitely stirred things up" says Walníth, who like Jalvelé is part of a local community of elves, who settled in the east of Druvic nearly four and a half centuries ago, just after the defeat of The Holy Norstran Empire who came over from the continent on the otherside of The Great Western Ocean and invaded the Southlands.
Walníth who is the oldest of the three elves in the country lane, a good two hundred and fifty years older than Dalin, who at just over two hundred and eighty years old, is the youngest of the three. Even though all three of them, if they were human, look to be in their late teens to early twenties.
Then says to the spy Tanith "Don't know if he's got lord Harkonin to be more aggressive to the Lé Dic family by casting some foul spell upon him" he pauses then adds "Or because he's just talked the man into attacking their neighbours".
"I'm guessing the later" says the elf from the principality of Alínlae who continues with "From what I've heard, since he was a youngster he never liked sir Maxiss, and before that the older brother sir Percavelle".
After wryly smiling, the younger forester Jalvelé says "Word is sir Percavelle has returned" he shakes his head, then murmurs "The madman".
Both the local elves look quickly at Dalinvardél Tanith, who sharply laughs, then says "That he is" followed by "Don't worry, he's an acquaintance of mine, and he is definitely a madman if there ever was one".
The spy Tanith gestures to the mounted squad just down the lane and tells the two elven foresters "It's why I'm traveling around with his nieces soldiers".
Seeing that the patrol leader wants to be getting underway, Dalin asks the two local elves "There's something else you can help me with" the elf from the principality of Alínlae continues with "You wouldn't happen to know of a" he gives the two of them the name of the person that he and the rest of the group have traveled to the kingdom of Druvic to find.
"Can't say that i have" answers Walníth, who continues with "Though that family name sounds vaguely familiar" he gestures away to the east, the direction of fief Harkonin, and adds "Thinks it's one of the older family names over in the Harkonin fief".
"Yeah I'm sure of it" says Jalvelé as he chimes in, the younger of the two elven foresters continues with "Think they were a family of carpenters just outside Maliss about a century ago". Maliss being the town where castle Harkonin is located, in the most eastern fief in the kingdom of Druvic.
Probably him then, Dalin thinks to himself, as he can easily see a war engineer being a descendant of a family of carpenters from over a hundred years ago.
"Thanks for that" says the spy Tanith to the two local elves, when he sees the patrol leader turn his horse, look this way, and loudly clear his throat.
The elf from Alínlae farewells the two local elves, and he gathers the reins to his horse, and hops up into the saddle. He waves to the two foresters, and as they head off in one direction, he rides the other way down the lane, and rejoins the squad of soldiers he's been with for the last three days.
They ride throughout the entire cold, but clear winter's day, and by early evening they return to the town of Massic, and castle Lé Dic.
After entering the massive castle, and making their way to the stables that they originally left from, the spy Tanith dismounts and hands the reins of his borrowed horse to a groom.
Dalin looks around and spots Riley Hait the mercenary ranger standing nearby. With his pack in hand, the cloaked and hooded elven spy joins the mercenary ranger who was raised and trained in the elven principality of Envadarlen.
After greeting the ranger Hait, the two of them head to the tower that they and rest of the group are quartered in as they stay here in castle Lé Dic.
"So, find anything of interest?" asks Riley Hait the mercenary ranger as they make their way through the massive castle to the broach tower they're staying in. The spy Tanith, who speaks in elven as the ranger Hait just did, says to him "Apart from the two fiefs going to war sooner rather than later?".
"Yeah that too" says Riley Hait who like just about everyone else here in the massive castle, knows that there's going to be war between the Lé Dic and Harkonin families in the early spring. The castle and those who live in it, as well as those in the town of Massic are preparing for a springtime war with their neighbours.
And the spy Tanith informs the mercenary ranger from the elven principality of Envadarlen that from what he was able to find out from his traveling around the eastern part of the fief. Is that over in the Harkonin fief, they're preparing for war too.
"Just as we're trying to find someone" dryly says Riley Hait, who then asks "Did you happen to find out anything about our engineer?". "I did actually" says the elven spy, the mercenary ranger who in actual fact, is really a hordes outrider from the southern tundra, lifts an eyebrow in surprise, and says "Oh?" when he hears that.
"His family were carpenters over a hundred years ago, living near the town of Maliss over in the Harkonin fief" says Dalinvardél Tanith as they make their way through a torch lit courtyard, one of a myriad of courtyards throughout castle Lé Dic.
"Good chance he's over in that fief" adds the elven spy from the principality of Alínlae "Hell" says the ranger Hait with a shake of his head, who then continues on with "If he is, knowing our luck, he's working for the baron over there".
"Probably is" says the spy Tanith, who then tells the mercenary ranger "This good get more than a little difficult if he is, what with Percy not exactly enamoured with anyone from over in that fief, especially someone who's probably working for the baron".
With a rub of his chin, Riley aka Zubutai the barbarian hordesman says "This is true, though it's a good thing he's a commoner and not one of the nobility from over there" the mercenary ranger continues with "No way in hell would Percy agree to have him come along if he was".
"We have to actually find him, and get him to come along with us first before Percy can complain about him" says Dalinvardél Tanith in a slightly dry tone of voice, next to him, the ranger Hait nods in agreement as the two of them enter the broach tower here in castle Lé Dic where their quarters are located . . . . . .