A Grand Design 12.

Mid Autumn. Salme. Dalmar. Girdane.

"Fucking idiot" mutters lord Farque "What is it?" quietly asks Tamric Drubine the field commander with a glance at the undead warlord next to him.
"Dorc" sourly says the heavily armoured deathlord who has just sensed a violent death in the south part of town. A death perpetrated by the ork warleader Dorc da Orc.
The lord and ruler of the lands Farque when they first arrived in town a number of weeks ago. Sensed that there was a dwarf living here, infact he sensed a family of them.
And he warned the big, burly ork from the southern polar region of the world, who had sniffed out that there were dwarves in Salme. To stay away from them or else.
Things were fine when they traveled elsewhere throughout the duchy of Dalmar and the duchies of Girnath and Falosen here in the very west of the kingdom of Girdane.
And have been since they've come back to the town of Salme, which is essentially the duchy of Dalmar's capital.
But now, the large ork has decided to take action. And his natural hate for the dwarven race has come through. And he's gone and killed one of them.
"What did he do?" quietly asks Tamric Drubine who like the lord of the death realm, is speaking in the elven language.
Draugadrottin as he's also known by to the people of his lands, just grunts in reply.
The nobleborn teenager who hails from the feudal kingdom of Sarcrin can guess that the ork warleader has probably gone and killed somebody he shouldn't have.
That usually brings the ire of the undead warlord down upon the large ork who is a general in lord Farque's armies.
Tamric Drubine or Tam as he's more commonly called by the others in the group, looks back down at the maps on the table infront of them. Showing the kingdom of Girdane, mostly the west of the kingdom.
He along with the lord and ruler of the lands Farque, as well as Arvelle Ganard the plainsman are in the castle of duke Hilloc of Dalmar.
They're going over some of the plans that the duke and his allies have come up with for their rebellion against the crown and the king.
"Well?" quietly asks the heavily armoured deathlord "They have to get their army out of the west of the kingdom as quickly as they can" replies Tam as he points at one of the maps.
"If they get bogged down here in the west during the winter, their rebellion will get no where" continues the son and heir of a former knight of castle Drubine, a castle located in the forested north of the kingdom of Sarcrin.
"The further east they advance the better" adds the young field commander in the armies of Farque.
The lord and ruler of the lands Farque nods his full helmed head in agreement, then quietly says "This rebellion of theirs will be won the closer they get to the capital" he continues with "I doubt there'll be a battle for Oaklynn, it can't be defended. It's too big, and it's not walled. And the fact the airdocks are outside the city proper, makes a huge difference".
The undead being then adds "And since the regent of Oaklynn is the king's cousin, and apparently they're close. I expect the regent's forces will join with the king's army to fight the rebellion" Draugadrottin continues with "No matter how much the laws of the kingdom say the regent's forces are a separate entity to the kingdom's army".
Field commander Drubine nods to that, and looks across the room to where duke Hilloc is speaking with some of his advisors and allies, along with Arvelle the plainsman.
Tam suspects that lord Farque is right. As the regent of Oaklynn's forces will fight alongside the king's army as they attempt to put down the rebellion.
For the simple reason there's bad blood between lord Sammis the regent of Oaklynn, and duke Hilloc of Dalmar.
It's no secret the duke of Dalmar hates the regent of Oaklynn for marrying his cousin the lady Mera. A forced marriage if the rumours are true.
A marriage that apparently the king of Girdane gave his permission to go ahead with.
If the increased taxes upon the three western most duchies in the kingdom wasn't bad enough. That forced marriage upon the lady Mera. Was enough for duke Hilloc to go ahead with his plans for a revolt against the crown.
And he's spent the last year and a half waiting for the opportune time to go ahead with a rebellion. And now that time has come.
Tamric Drubine looks down at the maps again, then after a few moments of silence he quietly says "As much as I'd like to see one large battle where we can defeat the king's army, i don't see that happening".
Des'tier as the deathlord of Farque is known by to an older generation of elven kind, nods his full helmed head in agreement, then he quietly says "Rebellions or revolutions never really go like that" he continues with "That's why civil wars tend to go on for some time".
The lord and ruler of the lands Farque then says "They're mostly minor engagements, with an occasional larger battle" Draugadrottin follows that with "That's why the best chance for the duke's rebellion to succeed is to get further east as quickly as possible, and to take out the enemy before they head out this way in force".
Tam nods, then he quietly asks the lord of the death realm "When do you think the fighting will begin in earnest?".
"Late autumn" says the undead warlord who continues with "We have to wait for our army to get here as well as the armies of the three duchies to gather".
The heavily armoured deathlord is about to continue on with something else when he falls silent as a page enters the room, and makes his way over to the duke of Dalmar to have a quiet word with him.
"We're going" quietly says lord Farque to the young field commander as he hears what the page has to say to the duke.
"What is it?" asks Tamric Drubine "Lis and Tovis are outside waiting for us" says the lord and ruler of the lands Farque who sensed Lisell Maera the messenger and Tovis the war engineer at the nearby airdocks for some reason. And who he now senses outside in the inner bailey of the duke's castle.
The deathlord of Farque and the nobleborn teenager from the feudal kingdom of Sarcrin make their way over to duke Hilloc.
And before he tells them that there's an urgent message waiting for them outside. The undead being tells him that they'll be leaving, and will return to the castle later.
Then lord Farque, Tamric Drubine and Arvelle Ganard the plainsman make their way out of the room. Then their way out of the main keep of the castle that sits upon a hill in the northern part of town.
"Not here" quietly says the undead warlord in the elven language once they're out of the main keep, and in the inner bailey, where they meet Lisell Maera and Tovis the war engineer. And the attractive young woman from the city-state of Brattonbury goes to say something.
Lisell Maera or Lis as she's more commonly called by the others in the group, who is holding a leather satchel nods her head and stays silent.
Then the five of then cross the bailey, go through the gates of the inner wall, then make their way across the outer bailey, before exiting the castle through the main gates in the outer wall.
They head down the cobblestone road that goes from the duke's castle, all the way through the town of Salme.
And when they're down the hill the castle sits on, they turn left onto the street that leads to the modest sized airdocks that are nearby.
Before they get to them, they turn right into another street, which heads in the direction of the Wayfarer inn, where they're staying whilst in town.
It's only when they're on that street that the lord and ruler of the lands Farque breaks the silence, and quietly says in the elven language to Lis "What is it?".
"The captain of the ship it came on" quietly says Lisell Maera in the same language as she hands the leather satchel to the heavily armoured deathlord "Also had a verbal message from Mira" adds the attractive young woman from the coastal city-state of Brattonbury, who follows that with "Mira said it was urgent" as she gestures at the leather satchel she's just handed to the lord of the death realm.
Draugadrottin figured as much, as Mira Reinholt the mage has been sending messages from the capital Oaklynn where he is with Dalinvardél Tanith the elven spy and Shur Kee the monk. That usually arrives here in Salme on First Day. Not Fifth Day as it is today.
The undead warlord slightly nods his full helmed head, then remains silent as do the others as they make their way back to the Wayfarer inn.
Once they're back in the two storey inn they're staying at, they're met by sir Percavelle Lé Dic and Beldane the cleric in the otherwise empty common room.
And as lord Farque tells them all to go into the private dining room, sir Percavelle Lé Dic says to him "That big green smelly demon has been chortle and chuckling to himself for the last little while as he drinks a storm out there, wot" as he gestures towards to the courtyard out the back.
The lord of the death realm nods, and heads that way. While the others make their way to the private dining room, with the exception of Tamric Drubine who follows after the heavily, armoured deathlord.
Out in the back courtyard behind the inn, Dorc da Orc is sniggering as he drinks from a barrel of ale, while he sits beneath a tree.
The large ork clears his throat, and tries not to grin, but fails to when he sees lord Farque walk from the backdoor of the common room.
The ork warleader stands up, and is barely able to suppress a bout of laughter as he thinks of what he did a little earlier.
"Hey Farque" says Dorc da Orc who just remembers not to call the lord and ruler of the lands Farque, cunt. As he doesn't like that.
"I told you not to do that cunt" says the undead warlord in the ork language as he crosses the back courtyard to the big, burly ork who hails from the southern polar region of the world.
"Do fucken what?" replies Dorkindle in the same language, wondering if lord Farque knows what he's done. Or if someone saw him do it, and told the lord and ruler of the lands Farque what he did.
That fucken gob-a-lin better not of ratted me out, the ork weaponsmith thinks to himself, just before he's punched in the face by the right gauntleted hand of the heavily armoured deathlord. A punch he doesn't even see.
From the backdoor of the common room, Tamric Drubine winces when he sees the large ork get lifted off the ground, and go flying backwards to hit the tree behind him after getting punched in the face by the lord of the death realm. The ork warleader is out cold before he hit the tree, then dropped to the ground.
Then Draugadrottin picks up the unconscious ork general, and puts him over his right shoulder.
And crosses back to the backdoor of the common room of the inn. All the while, the stablehand stands at the open door of the stables. With a muck rake in hand, and his mouth agape at what he just saw.
Field commander Drubine turns, and heads to the private dining room, with lord Farque following behind him with the unconscious ork weaponsmith on his right shoulder.
Sir Percavelle Lé Dic chuckles when lord Farque enters the private dining room with Dorc da Orc over his right shoulder, then he dumps the unconscious ork weaponsmith in a corner.
The large ork is loudly snoring as he lies there in a corner of the private dining room.
Then the lord and ruler of the lands Farque, along with the nobleborn teenager from the kingdom of Sarcrin take a seat at the long table with the others.
Draugadrottin sits at one end, with Arvelle the plainsman sitting in the first seat to the right, which is usually occupied by Helbe the elven thief.
"Helbe heading this way yet?" quietly asks Arvelle Ganard the plainsman as the lord of the death realm opens the leather satchel that's been sealed with a spell cast by Mira Reinholt the mage.
The undead warlord senses as far as he can away to the west. The direction the elven masterthief, prince Helbenthril Raendril has gone. As the krean scoutship the El Mariq is waiting beyond the borders of the duchy of Dalmar and the kingdom of Girdane.
"He's not coming back this way yet" is the quiet reply from lord Farque in the hordes dialect of the southern tundra which Arvelle the plainsman spoke in.
"Or i should say, he's not within thirty miles of here" adds the undead being who then falls silent as he takes out the first missive from the leather satchel and quickly reads it.
The mage Reinholt writes of the mood of the capital city Oaklynn, and how the talk of a potential rebellion and of the plague in the very west of the kingdom, dominates a lot of the conversations one hears throughout the city.
The deathlord of Farque hands that missive to the former illegal wrecker, Arvelle Ganard. Then he takes out the second missive from the satchel and reads that.
This one is more detailed. Giving troop movements leaving and arriving the various barracks throughout the city of Oaklynn. Both of the king's army and of the regent's forces. As the build up for a push out west continues.
The undead warlord slightly frowns as he reads this. As Mira Reinholt writes of how small scouting squads are only just now leaving the city and heading out to the west of the kingdom.
And that the build up continues, though the king's army are getting various supplies, mainly medicinal and healing from a number of temples and churches in the capital city Oaklynn.
It's as if, lord Farque thinks to himself as he hands that missive to Arvelle the plainsman and takes out the next one and starts reading it.
The heavily armoured deathlord frowns even more as he reads what the Vexilian mage in exile, Mira Reinholt writes now.
The once powerful mage who like Arvelle Ganard and Helbe the elven thief. Are members of lord Farque's personal council.
Writes that even though rebellion in the west is often talked about by palace officials and army staff. The army is preparing for move out west only to combat the spread of the plague. And not to put down any potential rebellion from the dukes of the three most western duchies of the kingdom.
And the mage Reinholt has yet to find any evidence to counter that. He along with Dalinvardél Tanith the elven spy and Shur Kee the monk in the weeks they've been in the city of Oaklynn.
Thought, like a lot of the population of the city. That the army was using the spread of the plague in the west of the kingdom as an excuse to put down a potential rebellion.
But now, they can't prove that at all. And the mage Reinholt who believes the army is actually coming out west to legitimately stop the spread of the plague. Suspects that something is wrong. Or that something else is at play here.
For all the unpredictability of Mira Reinholt at times. The undead warlord does trust his judgment when it comes to things like this. As the once powerful mage since he was a teenager has been in many wars and campaigns. And seen how they've built up, and been started.
In fact he's started some of them. Along with the lord and ruler of the lands Farque, and the ork warleader Dorc da Orc.
The lord of the death realm is silent for some time until he hands the last missive to Arvelle Ganard to read.
Seeing the plainsman and former wrecker Arvelle suddenly frown as he reads the last missive handed to him by the undead warlord.
The young field commander Tamric Drubine who is sitting on the first chair to the left of where the deathlord of Farque is sitting at the end of the table.
Looks at the large figure in the blue/black heavy plate armour and quietly asks him "What is it?".
As the unconscious Dorc da Orc continues to snore in a corner of the private dining room, lord Farque looks at Tamric Drubine, then the others seated at the table, before he says "Something's wrong" . . . . . .