The Homecoming 27.

A Boarding House...

It's not an inn, nor is it a tavern. It's a boarding house, and even that's a generous description of it.
It's in a village, if one can call a small cluster of houses at the edge of a road near some woods a village.
If it was in a valley, it would be called a hamlet, and then only a tiny one at that.
The village is too small for either a tavern or an inn. So one of the residents has opened up his home as a boarding house for travelers. It's not exactly luxurious, then again it's more than plain. It's adequate enough for someone wanting to stay a night before moving on.
One such person is Mira Reinholt the mage, who has stopped for the night, here in the tiny village in a corner of the Gallus fief. The day was mild and clear, but the early evening has turned cold and windy, with rain intermittently falling as a late winter storm threatens this part of the kingdom of Druvic.
The once powerful mage looks out the nearby window as the shutter bangs open, before the home owner quickly shuts it, and places the backing board behind it to keep it in place.
The Vexilian mage in exile who spotted figures moving through the nearby trees outside as lightning lit the early evening sky. Smiles at the young daughter of the couple who own the boarding house, who has just put a small loaf of bread on the mage Reinholt's plate, before she skips away to the connecting room which is basically a kitchen.
"Will your friend be alright out there?" asks the boarding house owner, a man not yet thirty, by the name of Gavic. "Wouldn't want to be out there with a storm coming in" adds the home owner, who makes his way over to the fireplace to chuck another piece of wood on it.
"He'll be fine" says Mira Reinholt the mage, who faintly smiles when he hears Gavic the home owner quietly says "Wouldn't want to be out in that, in that heavy armour he wears with the lightning hitting".
The exiled Vexilian mage tears open the loaf of bread, and after he takes a small bite, he asks Gavic "Is it far to the Lé Dic fief from here?".
The boarding house owner who has sat down at the table, sitting opposite the once powerful mage, shakes his head, and replies with "No it's not far" Gavic who smiles and thanks his daughter who has brought him a small loaf of bread form the kitchen too, tells the mage Reinholt "Just a few more miles down the road and you're there" he continues with "Where the road ends you're in the fief next door".
Road being a charitable description of what's basically a cart track that runs next to the woods here in the south of the Gallus fief.
"I gather you turn north once you're over in the next fief, if you want to get to the town of Massic?" asks the spellcaster from the city-state of Vexil who is also a highly skilled swordmaster "That you do" says Gavic who is taking small bites from his loaf of bread, he continues with "Once you cross over, it's about three and half, maybe four days hike to Massic, where the castle is" adds the homeowner who then tells Mira Reinholt "I haven't been there in years, not since the previous earl ruled there, the crazy one, the knight who kept going off whenever there was a war about".
The once powerful mage grins at the mention of sir Percavelle Lé Dic, and just nods at what Gavic just said. Then the homeowner's wife and daughter, as well as son come from the kitchen, carrying a couple of bowls, and an earthenware pot.
Kaelle the homeowner's wife serves up a pretty hearty looking stew, and the mage Reinholt takes some roasted vegetables from one of the other bowls, while the rest of the family eats.
The spellcaster, who was once the most powerful mage of his generation to be found anywhere in the Southlands, faintly smiles as the young boy, who can't be much older than five, tries to hold his spoon as the others are doing as they eat their stew.
The place may only be a modest boarding house, but the swordmaster Reinholt would be hard pressed to remember a village inn or tavern that he's been in recently, that serves such a good meal as the one he's having tonight.
Gavic and his wife Kaelle and their two children look at Mira Reinholt when there's a knock on the front door of the house "Not to worry, it's my friend" says the exiled Vexilian mage before there's another knock a couple of moments later, then the door opens.
Lord Farque enters the boarding house, and closes the door behind him, outside it's started raining, as the sheen of water on the undead warlord's armour testifies to.
"Would you like something to eat m'lord?" asks Kaelle as the heavily armoured deathlord sits down at the only open space at the table, at the head which has been left for him.
"No that's alright, I've already eaten" says lord Farque, lying to appease the wife of the boarding house owner, the undead warlord then adds "Thank you for asking" followed by "Enjoy your meal there".
The mage Reinholt is just about to quietly ask the deathlord of Farque something, when the young son of Gavic and Kaelle, speaks up, and asks the lord and ruler of the lands Farque "Are you a knight?".
The once powerful mage inwardly winces at the child's question, because he knows how much the undead warlord hates being mistaken for a knight.
Draugadrottin as he's also known as in the lands that he rules, looks at the young boy and says "No". Seeing that brought a look of disappointment on the face of the child, the heavily armoured deathlord faintly smiles behind the visor of his full helm.
"I may not be a knight, but i am the lord of my lands that are far away to the south of Druvic" says the lord and ruler of the largest nation, in terms of size at least, not in population, it's probably the least populated nation, to be found in the Southlands.
Seeing the child slightly enthused at that, lord Farque adds "I get to boss around knights and the like" the young boy likes the idea of that, and he grins.
In a brief pause, the lord of the death realm glances at Mira Reinholt who is to his left, who quietly asks him in the elven language "Soldiers?". Nodding his full helmed head, the undead warlord quietly says in the same language "The earl's".
"Dead?" quietly asks the spellcaster who is also a highly skilled swordmaster "They are now" replies deathlord of Farque, who switches to the common language, and says to Gavic who is to his right "Here" and hands the boarding house owner a couple of coin pouches, before adding "I don't know if Mira here has paid you yet for the night's lodging, and the meal" he continues with "But I'm sure that will be enough there".
Feeling the coin pouches, and knowing that it's far too much for a night's stay for two, meal included. Gavic says "That's far too much m'lord". "Maybe so" says the undead being who is also known as Des'tier to an older generation of elves who might know who he is, who continues with "But its yours anyway".
The undead warlord who took the coins from some of the soldiers he killed just a short time ago out in the woods next to the village, nods his full helmed head as Gavic thanks him.
The boarding house owner doesn't know it. But the pouches contain mostly gold coins, while he thinks they hold mostly copper and silver coins, as that's what ordinary common folk usually carry. That's if they have any coins to carry in the first place.
The local family, and the visiting mage continue to eat their meal as the rain outside gets heavier. After the meal is over, and the table is cleared, Gavic goes into the kitchen and returns with a small jug of ale.
Lord Farque passes on it, so the boarding house owner and the Vexilian mage in exile share the ale.
As he sips the ale from his mug, which he finds surprisingly good, the mage Reinholt asks Gavic a few questions about the state of the fief, and those that are near it, here in the east of the kingdom of Druvic.
"I wouldn't be surprised if that lot next door go to war with their neighbours to the east again" says the boarding house owner, who goes onto explain "Those two, Lé Dic and Harkonin have never really gotten along, especially of late, since the civil war ended".
The Vexilian mage in exile, and the lord and ruler of the lands Farque nod when they hear this. They've heard that quite a few times as they've traveled here through the Gallus fief on their way to the Lé Dic fief.
"Does your earl get involved?" asks the spellcaster who is also a highly skilled swordmaster "Not that i know of" answers Gavic who then adds "Though i have heard that he sends his traders and their goods next door more often when word spreads that they're about to start fighting again with the Harkonin's".
"Wouldn't be surprised if someone in the capital helps stoking up the tension between those two fiefs" quietly says lord Farque in elven to Mira Reinholt, who nods when he hears that.
Draugadrottin looks at the boarding house owner, and in the common language he asks him "We've been looking for someone, i was wondering if you've ever heard of him".
The lord of the death realm then gives the family name of the person they've traveled to the kingdom of Druvic to find, as well as his occupation.
"Can't say that i have" answers Gavic as his wife, daughter and son head to the third room in the house, their large bedroom, while the main room here is for any visitors who might staying the night.
"Probably follows the old ways of the druids" says the heavily armoured deathlord who a short time ago killed a squad of local soldiers because they're rounding up travelers as they try to find out who is responsible for killing the fief constable.
"Well you've come to the right part of the kingdom for that" says Gavic, who continues with "The further east you go the more followers of the old ways you'll find". He gestures towards the east and says "Quite a lot of them over in the Lé Dic fief, and even more in the Harkonin fief which is the furthest east you can go before leaving the kingdom" the boarding house owner then adds "If you're to find this war engineer you're looking for, he's probably in those two fiefs".
Lord Farque and Mira Reinholt share a brief look, then the swordmaster from the city-state of Vexil asks Gavic some more questions, more about the fief next door, and anything he knows about the fief further to the east of that one.
After the ale is gone, and the conversation is over, the boarding house owner helps the mage Reinholt bring in a couple of sleeping pallets from the small storage room.
Putting his blanket on one of the pallets near the fireplace, the once powerful mage thanks Gavic, who wishes him and the deathlord of Farque a goodnight, before he makes his way to the family room.
Sitting on the sleeping pallet, Mira Reinholt looks over at lord Farque who is still at the table, and who'll remain sitting there throughout the night.
"Where is he?" asks the swordmaster Reinholt in the elven language "Over in the next fief" answers the undead warlord in the same language "How far ahead of us is he?" asks the exiled Vexilian mage as he takes off his boots "About ten miles" says lord Farque who continues with "They've just stopped in a village for the night" as he senses Helbe the elven thief and Narladene the ground pixie in the neighbouring fief.
"Well hopefully he finds out something more about our mysterious engineer who probably believes in that druidic nonsense" says the mage Reinholt who yawns and lies down.
The lord and ruler of the lands Farque nods in agreement with that, as they wait out another night, this one that's turned quite a bit stormy as they continue their search for a certain war engineer . . . . . .