Kozamost
2nd Skyday of Bales
Referee
Perilake, when you
leave the barn you see Timea and Heldris standing at the pier.
Perilake the Gilded
Knight
Sir Perilake approaches
Timea. "Good lady, I fear the Realm demands our presence here to
root out whatever hand guides these bandits. We must abandon our
original mission south, but I hope that your journey onwards will be
safe. I have another favour to ask of you however; will you transport
our captive, the mercenary Bartek, with you to Kranach Castle with my
message to the Lord? We ask that he give this brigand a chance to
repay the realm in service, and that the Lord marshalls a band of men
to help us guard the riverbanks and route out their remaining
strength."
Referee
Timea shakes her head
sceptically but takes your letter: "I will take the brigand to
the Castle along with your message and if you vow for him, Ser
Perilake, he will be treated like a free man and won't be restrained.
I trust your wisdom, hopefully I won't regret it." She smiles
again and turns to Hedris, "Well then my dear friends, I will
depart, may fate bring us together in good health." Soon after
the barge disappers behind the bend of the river.
Perilake the Gilded
Knight
Perilake watches the
barge leaves, then looks to Heldris. "One more thing to do I
think, whilst we await our brothers. And perhaps best done with some
discretion.... and so before our trail knight returns. I fear he
already has his suspicions." Once the funeral for the brigand
knight has been finished, Perilake approaches Mira at a point when
there are no villagers nearby. "My lady, I have a question I
must ask you. Your villagers fought well at our side, and do you
credit. But this letter from Gregor, the fallen knight, has given us
some concern." He shows Mira the letter. "I am glad your
village was spared their predations. Perhaps it is as simple as a
rogue knight having some twisted form of honour. But why would these
villains seek to form a warband to protect the peat farms of
Kozamost?
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The rural charm of Kozamost |
Referee
Mira reads the letter
and frowns: "The peat provides heat for all of Mas... "she
corrects herself quickly" ... all of Barowia. It has been the
source of what little prosperity our village enjoys. And as you
probably know the region itself is contested and I wouldn't be
suprised at all if a war breaks out between those who want to lay
claim to it." She looks you over as if to decide whether or not
to trust you. "Whoever has written the letter doesn't care about
us or the peat farmers who break their backs working in the bog. They
care about power."
"Now if you excuse me, I need to break MY back in the oat fields" She mock bows, smiling: "My mother always said Knights are only useful in war times. Unless you prove me wrong and help in the field I worry we have to part ways."
Perilake the Gilded
Knight
Perilake smiles back at
Mira "Thank you for your honesty. I find much wisdom in your
words, and I apologise that I was compelled to seek them." He
looks around the village, and at the sky. Your village offered us aid
in our duty. What sort of knight would I be if I didn't offer aid in
yours? Particularly when I am but waiting for my fellows to return.
Lead on my lady, and please be patient with your squire - it has been
quite some time since I helped in the fields."
Referee
Perilake, you work all
day in the persistent rain. As you join the villagers they first are
at awe of a Knight making his hands dirty but soon they start singing
their harvest songs and during the breaks they share canaster with
you and at noon a hearty meal under an apple tree as if you were one
of them.
Heldris the Dove Knight
Right after the
Knight's funeral, Heldris finds himself walking around the village
market. Behind a stall he notices two children playing knights with
two wooden sticks. He stops to watch them fencing. “Good lounge!”
He exclaims. “But you'll have to watch your side as well…” he
adds, “here, let me show you.” The Dove Knight picks up a stick
from the ground, and starts showing the kids how to place their feet,
how to turn their shoulders as they strike. “Here, try and hit me!”
He feigns to have received a mighty blow. "Ah! 'Tis no fair
fight! Two knights against a poor squire!” He lowers the stick but
keeps up his new game persona, and adds “So, brave knights, what
rumours travel the land? What strange mysteries lurk in the shadows?
Referee
One of the kids puts a
finger on her lips: "They say the Eye sees all and always
listens. They say the Eye spoke to aunt Janka in her dreams and when
she told the others they made her go away". "But she now
lives with a smith in a fancy castle town." the other kid adds
brightly and claps his hands
Heldris the Dove Knight
A worried expression
appears on Heldris the Squire. “And what two brave knights can do
against this evil Eye?” he leans towards them and covers his right
eye with his hand, his left eye watches the kids intensely “Who can
help them fight back and save the day?” The Dove Squire gasps, “A
mysterious object? Perhaps, something that was hidden in their
fathers’ storeroom for but one night, and now travels on
downriver…” the left eye closes shut “but perhaps, when no one
watched, it was left behind…
Referee
"Only the Seers
know" the girls says, "and they only speak to us Knights
and NOT to squires." She touches both your shoulders and your
head with her stick. "Rise, Sir Knight, and go and ask the
Seers!" The boy is unimpressed: "Pffft, you can't make a
Knight, only the Seers can." He walks around you: "My
father's storeroom? Daddy is away in the bog, he comes back in ... "
he counts with both hands and finally gives up saying, "...winter
and we have nothing to store anyway. But uncle Pawel has a big barn
and it is all empty ... except yesterday, it was full of sacks and
crates. But soon it will be full of oats!"
Heldris, the boy leads
you to an oat field just outside the village where the farmers take a
short break under a tree sheltered from the rain. The boy runs up to
a haggard looking man in a bright red tunic smoking a long stem
pipe."Uncle Pawel, uncle Pawel!" he screams hugging the
man. Pawel lifts the boy onto his lap and musters you frowning:
"Well, what a strange day, one Knight working harder than a
peasant and another taking care of the children. What will be next,
Knights working as midwifes and cooks?" He talks hesitantly
weighing every word before uttering it but when the others chuckle
Pawel finally smiles.
Heldris the Dove Knight
Heldris smiles at uncle
Pawel and nods to the kid. “Today I have much to learn from a far
better knight than me,” he says jokingly, “and a more perceptive
one for sure.” The Dove Knight turns serious for a while. Looking
around the field, he adds, “I’ve heard that the goods I’ve lost
an arm protecting had been stored in your barn. It was most kind of
you. I wanted to make sure that you had been compensated for your
trouble.” Heldris pauses and unties a small coin pouch from his
belt, observing the old man's reaction. “Valuable wares they were,
for sure, to warrant hiring mercenaries to go after it. I’m sure
you’ve taken the time to inspect the contents, just to make sure
that nothing was out of place of course…" He gives him a
handful of silver coins. "For your trouble, protecting the...
What were we protecting again? My mind is still foggy from the injury
you know...” He nods with complicity.
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Working the oat fields |
Referee
Upon seeing the coins
the peasants grow suddenly quiet until Mira claps her hands and calls
for them to return to work. Pawel puts down the boy and tells him to
look for his sister. Only the two Knights and Pawel remain under the
tree. He laboriously rekindles his pipe: "To be honest I'm not
sure, there were ingots and pelts for sure and sacks of spices but
that wouldn't explain the precautions they took. For example we were
forbidden to bring any lights inside the barn, they asked for buckets
of water to be at hand and the guardsmen watched over the place in
total darkness. I've seen them check the crates and take out the jars
to inspect them one by one. Those jars were sealed but had some kind
of short rope attached to the wax. I couldn't make head nor tail of
it."
Heldris the Dove Knight
“Well, I’m sure
it’s nothing. Old merchants’ superstitions about their wares.”
Heldris smiles to the old man. "Thank you for indulging me."
The Dove Knight takes Perilake aside and they walk away from the
tree, out of earshot. "Sealed jars, no light, and I assume no
fire. Regularly checked. This sounds like something made for war..."
Perilake the Gilded
Knight
Perilake looks
pensively at the river as it flows past the village, the barges long
out of sight. "So soon... The fires of the last war have barely
cooled, yet the Realm may so swiftly rush to another. It seems
madness to me."
Heldris the Dove Knight
The Dove Knight sighs.
"I hope our friends will soon be back, that we might press
forward on the matter." He then finds his cheerfulness again.
"In the meantime, let me follow your exemple and alleviate these
good people's labour." The Dove Knight rolls up his sleeves and
follows Perilake to the fields.
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