The Eye IV

2nd Skyday of Bales

Kozamost

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?

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.

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.