The Voices of Time (Peregrine x Everly)

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9:30 PM, full dark
The 31st Day of the Month of Harvest,
In the Interim after Emperor Sigismund of Luxemburg,
Year 1439

Dear Cassidy,

After only four days in Rand, I am on the move again. We left early this morning, and have already made a fair deal of progress to our destination. I shall elaborate on where I’m going (and with whom) shortly.

In the end, as I knew would happen, I was forced to make a decision on what was going to happen. By yesterday evening it had been settled. No obvious solutions presented themselves, but there were a couple things that allowed me to reach my conclusion. I shall not worry about whether or not I made the right choice, as there is no way to know and the worrying would only distract me from all the things I need to do now.

I left the army behind in Rand, under the eye of Nils and Erich. Nils has been their commander since they joined this “army”, and it was never under question that he would remain with them. Erich is still healing from his wounds. This is the reason I have placed him as the temporary constable of Rand, as, despite his protests, there was no question of him traveling for another week. Jorg and Linus have joined Wulf, Marcel, Nicolan, and I in heading north.

Nils has set up his men in a camp not far away from the city, but far enough away to keep them from getting distracted. If needed, they could make it to the city in only a few minutes. He will keep them occupied to the best of his ability, but I fear they will quickly grow restless, for Nils cannot watch all of them all the time. In a few more days Erich will be able to join them and start on some archery lessons, which should distract them for a time.

I left Rand under martial law, but with the army moved out of the city and Erich in place as the constable I am uncertain of how long that will last. I would hope that the Baron would have the sense to realize that he is incapable of handling this situation and will leave it to someone who does have the necessary qualifications, but people in power do funny things when they think their position is threatened. All the same, I had no choice but to leave the army there. Rand is the gateway into Kessel for Shonand, and after this first attack it cannot be left unguarded. When I return to the Kessel Hollow I will speak to General Gerrit Brenner about moving some official troops out there, if we can spare them in the south. If not, Nils is going to have to turn his boys into a real fighting force, and do it soon. He would have stood a better chance if I could have left Jorg and Linus with him, but I need them.

The six of us are heading north along the Meadow River Valley, to the location where de Ecete is reported to be. From what I have heard he has over 300 men with him, but I have always considered everyone under my service worth ten men in war, so we shall really only be outnumbered 6 to 1. Obviously we shall not approach them directly. I will send Marcel and Linus out to scout when we get closer, and we will be able to use that to come up with some strategies to make these men think they are being hunted by an army of 600 rather than 6. Unreasonable terror can be one of the strongest weapons in situations like this.

I don’t truly think much of our odds of driving them out of Kessel, but we should be able to greatly slow them down. I do not look forward to the day when I will have to leave them here to return to Leisch, but that is a problem for another day.

I am sorry to hear that your home has come under invasion as well, and that someone else seeks to remove you from it. I don’t know much about the situation, however, I can advise you that your police are likely to do little to aid you in this situation, which it sounds like you have already confirmed. You are going to have to find your own way to discover the culprits.

It might also be very useful, as counterproductive as it sounds, to spend more time away from the house. To truly understand why someone does not appreciate your existence you need to understand the people there, especially those who have been there the longest and have the deepest bond to the land. I would recommend finding whatever the modern equivalent of the town well would be. The place where all the women go to gossip. Spend some time there, engage some people in meaningless conversation, and when the conversation is flowing well start finding out a bit more about the history of Applebury Estates. It may prove remarkably elucidating as to why someone might object to your presence. You might consult some of those records you mentioned as well, but they will likely only reveal the facts. To really understand, you need to figure out the emotion.

Best of luck.

-Ryker
 
September 1st, 2015
6am - Sunrise
Applebury Estates


Dear Ryker,

Though I do not know them personally, I am confident that your men will do your choices well. Erich will undoubtedly do a much better job in his new position than the Baron would if left to his own device. He needs that time to heal anyway. I'm glad that you left him behind to allow him that time instead of pushing onward. It shows that you care about your men.

I am not somebody who takes to the whole idea of religion, but I am coming as close to praying as I can for you in hopes that you made the right decision in following the path that you have. It seems like a good choice to me, but then again, I would likely agree to whatever you chose. The only fault I find is what you are currently out to do - taking six men against over three hundred? I understand that your plan is not to fight them directly and more of to spook them, but what if something goes wrong? With such a small group.. You are going to drive me to drink with worry over you.

There are stories here about small groups doing fantastic things like that, I know there are. The only one I can think of off the top of my head is the story of the Trojan horse, but I'm sure you've heard that one already. Since you aren't looking to sneak into de Ecete's camp, I don't think that would be useful.

The police came back after I wrote to you last night. They said that some teenagers in town had gotten drunk and decided it would be funny to vandalize the house. Apparently they didn't know that it wasn't empty anymore. They're probably going to be sentenced to community service hours and volunteer somewhere, I imagine. Somehow it seems a bit strange to me though. I don't see how a couple of teenagers could have caused so much damage. Maybe I'm just being silly. I will definitely be taking your advice later today and spending some time outside of the house. The fresh air should do me good.

Nicolan deserves some time out as well. He's a fluffy little ball of energy. I think we'll take a walk through the woods and just try to relax. Maybe I'll pack a picnic lunch. It'd be nice to explore the rest of the property. I have no idea how far back it goes but I'll find out! I'll take the journal along too. If I see anything interesting, I'll draw it for you. Not sure what good that will do - you probably spend a lot more time outside than I do, but oh well. Something to keep your mind occupied.

I will write again later on today to check in and update you on the situation here. I hope that your journey is completely uneventful, because that means safe!

Sincerely,
Cassidy
 
5:00 PM, evening
The 1st Day of the Month of Wood,
In the Interim after Emperor Sigismund of Luxemburg,
Year 1439

Cassidy,

Forgive me, for I must be quick. We found de Ecete and his army around midday, and circled far around them to get a sense at their size. De Ecete has kept them grouped tightly together, which is both advantageous and disadvantageous. Linus and Marcel are out scouting right now, while the rest of us have a quick, cold supper. As soon as they return we will come up with a plan. Our crusade begins tonight.

Do not worry for me too much. There is an air of tension about the camp, but not just because these soldiers are in foreign land. They seem to sense that they might have made a mistake following the lord’s young brat into these woods. De Ecete himself lives in a giant pavilion, which must take several horses to cart around. This may be a military camp, but their leader is not the soldier I feared he was. He seems to be more playing at war than actually living it. We will introduce him to reality soon.

I am going to leave this journal behind with the rest of our supplies, so that I am not thinking of it. It may be a few days before you hear from me again.

I hope your day went well.

-Ryker
 
September 1st, 2015
9pm - After dark
Applebury Estate


Dear Ryker,

I had hoped that your journey would take longer than that. It isn't that I do not want you to be successful, of course. The thought of so many against so few is just frightening to me. I will try not to remind you repeatedly of how worried I am. No more of that. Instead, I wish you well. It is late now and you are likely already deep into whatever plans you have made with the men at your side. From the sound of it, your opponent is not quite as formidable as either of us thought. Maybe he thought it would be a simple thing, to go to war? Sounds like a pampered idiot if you ask me - what sort of person goes to war with a tent that takes more than a man to carry? That's just silly. I don't care how powerful he is, he sounds ridiculous. Hopefully you make a fool of him.

Instead of dwelling on the possibility of you being gone a few days, I will tell you about my evening.

I went for a walk, as planned. Nicolan was beyond excited. I haven't gotten a leash or even a collar for him yet, so he was just running in circles around me as we went. I packed a lunch for both of us. That was the only planning I did, other than bringing this journal along. The problem was that I did not plan well enough how I was going to find the property lines and define them. In the end, we wandered around for several hours before finding the house again.

Despite being lost, it was an invigorating experience. We found an abandoned shack out in the woods that was sufficiently creepy. After that, we found a small waterfall that I am almost certain is on my property. There was a clearing next to it. That's where we stopped for lunch. Nicolan tried to sniff the water - I think he saw a fish. He fell in head first and howled until I pulled him out even though the water was scarcely a foot deep. The poor baby wouldn't let me towel him off. He ran all through the dirt and leaves and turned into a furry mudball. I tried to grab him to douse him in the stream again but he would have none of it. In fact, even as I'm writing this, he's snoring next to me on the bed and leaving piles of dirt every time he wiggles. I'll have to do laundry tomorrow.

When we did find the house again, everything was fine. There was no new damage and it seemed like nobody had been around since we left. I guess it really was a one-time thing. I'll still go into town here soon and see what I can find out about the real history of this place. It would be interesting to know anyway. The realtor didn't say much about it, other than it was old and had been abandoned for quite some time. Perhaps there is a lot to this that I'm missing.

I wish you the best, as always.

Sincerely,
Cassidy
 
8:30 PM, past sunset
The 3rd Day of the Month of Wood,
In the Interim after Emperor Sigismund of Luxemburg,
Year 1439

Dear Cassidy,

I have not gotten a chance to sleep since I last wrote to you. We have retreated for the night to get some well-deserved rest, and leave our enemies to fight the ghosts we have created. I too need to sleep, and yet my mind spins in circles, going over strategies, and will not rest. I am hoping writing to you will help.

We have done our job well. The Shonandics no longer dare to venture beyond the bounds of their camp in smaller groups than four, and they carry their weapons at all times, fearful of attack. The guards on watch, day or night, remain tense and spooked, wondering what will come out of the woods.

On the first night, we managed to kill over 20 men. No one was keeping strict count for this was not a game, but that is by our best estimation. Linus got at least five of them. I wish Erich had been here, for with his aid that number would have undoubtedly doubled. The men who died first fell so quickly and silently the rest of the camp did not realize something was wrong until well after midnight, when the shift change came and went.

They raised the alarm, sending men out into the woods in large groups. Scattered and staying out of sight we ambushed several of them. None of the groups were severely harmed, but the message was delivered. They were under attack, and it certainly wasn’t by a force of six men.

They were running through the woods all night, hunting shadows. Whenever a group got split up or willingly separated, one of us would target the smaller group. We vanished a few hours before dawn to regroup, leaving the Shonandics to hunt on in futility.

A quick break for food, and we were on the move again, looking for any stragglers. In a stroke of genius, later on that day, Linus managed to locate and enrage a local brown bear, only to escape its assault and send it crashing into the camp. The thing was quickly put down, but it still managed to maul several of the soldiers. The bear wasn’t the only animal that has been put to use. Wulf baked hollow mud balls with a single opening and filled them with bugs, including ticks, spiders, and centipedes. None were particularly dangerous, but we still lobbed them into the camp from a good distance and let them shatter, spilling the bugs all over the camp. We also managed to throw a few weevils into their food storage, although it will probably not have any effect. We also managed to round up a few asps and release them near the edge of the camp.

Any time a group of soldiers would leave camp one or two of our number would follow them at a good distance, looking for an opportunity to present itself. We had very few structured strategies, simply because so much of our work could only be done in a moment for which none of us could account.

De Ecete has grown more and more enraged at his troops. He, along with every other man in the camp, knows that they are facing a force much smaller than their own, although I doubt they guess how small. This is likely the reason that, despite the number of attacks we have run, they have yet to even catch a glimpse of us. It is a soldier’s wont to exaggerate, especially about the conditions under which they suffered a failure. I have no doubt that word of our attacks grows in scale the longer it is spread from mouth to mouth.

All the same, Druccio must be furious that his little war isn’t going as planned. Instead of rallying his troops together underneath him, he distances them with cruel words and punishments. If we can keep this up just a little while longer, something is bound to snap.

The past two days we have attacked the heaviest at night, interrupting sleep and keeping everyone on edge. I know that tonight more men than ever will be on guard, and they will grow more and more anxious as the night wears on without attack, assuming we are building something big. When morning comes they will be exhausted, while we will be ready to begin again. We may not have made a large dent in the number of their forces, but their morale has been hit very hard.

I hope your search for information about Applebury is going well, and that your puppy has been keeping himself out of trouble. It is good to hear silly stories about happiness from the future for, even though it is so far removed, it reminds me of the value of what I am doing.

I can tell that my handwriting is starting to get very shaky, and I know I’ve fallen asleep for moments of time while writing. Perhaps now I can finally sleep.

Thank you.
 
September 4th, 2015
6:30am - Sunrise
Applebury Estates


Dear Ryker,

I am so, so relieved to hear from you. Last night I went to bed early, so I did not see your entry until just now when I woke up. For the past couple of days I have been extremely concerned that something awful happened to you. I'm glad that nothing worse than being robbed of sleep has happened to you so far. I am stunned that you managed to do so much damage with so few men and taking no deaths on your own side. That is an incredible feat and you should be proud - both of yourself and your men. You accomplished an admirable thing, and I am certain that the effects of your actions will continue to ripple outward and affect other things that you can not even see yet.

The very idea of balls filled with insects makes my skin crawl. I would have been screaming like a baby if I was in that camp when you launched those. I'm sure the soldiers didn't scream, but I can not imagine that was pleasant. The bear even less so. You have ideas that would never even occur to me in that situation. Of course, my method would have been something along the lines of filling a glass bottle with alcohol and using a cloth fuse before throwing it over a ledge into the camp to burn down all of their tents.. and that isn't my own idea. I've seen it before. So much for ingenuity.

I know that they are your enemies, but I can not help but feel badly for the soldiers on the other side. They are just as exhausted as you are by now, perhaps more so. Their leader, by the sounds of it, has no compassion or sympathy. Instead of caring, he seems to believe that being more strict and forceful will get his troops back in line, when they have no hopes of doing so with your constant attacks. I am not blaming you, of course. I just wish there was some other way to take care of matters than a war where the only thing the other side has done wrong is be loyal to those they were taught to be.

Perhaps I'm just being silly. I'll write about things I actually know instead.

To keep myself occupied while you were busy, I went into town and pulled several town records from the local library. I found every official record of Applebury Estates that I could get my hands on. Apparently, the house used to be called Kerrin Manor. It was the home of a wealthy mayor way back when. He had it constructed for his family - a wife and nine children. I suppose that explains the obnoxious amount of bedrooms in this place. He had servants as well. That was normal back then. From what I found, there was a fire at some point. The cause was never determined, but the entire family died even though the house was only partially damaged. What was destroyed was rebuilt, but most of the original structure is still standing.

Several years after the fire, the property was purchased by another family. There wasn't much about them. It was kind of strange, actually. There is almost a gap in time missing until about one hundred years ago, when the property was purchased again by a single woman. I am assuming this was the woman who made jams and jellies in the basement that I heard about. She passed away forty years ago and the property has been abandoned since then.

After doing my digging around in the library, I tried to ask some locals questions. First I asked the police station about the missing records. I told them I was just curious, but they said a lot of old records were missing from a town-wide fire that had destroyed everything a long time ago. Nobody seems to know much about Applebury. I got a few weird looks, but nobody seemed upset. I suppose I just haven't asked the right person yet.

On a different note, when I got back from town yesterday, Nicolan seemed particularly upset. He didn't want to come inside. I nearly had to drag him in here, the silly creature. Of course, I thought he was just being stubborn, but then I found wet red paint all over the walls of the ballroom. It said 'get out' over and over again. Honestly, if the police had not already told me it was just a bunch of teenagers, I would be completely terrified. It was like something out of a scary story or something.

Anyway..

I hope that you are doing well now that you have gotten some of your much-needed rest. Please keep me updated, I do love hearing from you. Just stay out of danger. I know even as I write that, that you won't, but it is worth trying. Perhaps I should have said 'don't get yourself killed' instead?

Sincerely,
Cassidy
 
11:00 PM, full dark
The 6th Day of the Month of Wood,
In the Interim after Emperor Sigismund of Luxemburg,
Year 1439

Dear Cassidy,

I shall shortly recount the events of the past two days for you, but first I must thank you. I knew alcohol was flammable, but somehow the idea of using it as a weapon never occurred to me. While we don’t have any alcohol on us, it did spark another idea. One that we ultimately ended up implementing. It took nearly a day and a half to set up, simply because the process of making it was so work intensive, and we had to wait for just the right moment. I don’t think anyone has ever seen anything like this before.

Allow me to elaborate. Did you know that grain is explosive? Not in the way you are probably thinking of it, but I learned a few autumns ago that, when there is the right amount of grain dust in the air that is exposed to an open flame, it will cause an explosion. A little bit of experimentation quickly proved that the same was true with a powder made from crushed, dried leaves.

I’m sure you can already guess where I’m going with this. We filled several small sacks with this powder, which took a full day and a half for three people (on rotation, but still working nearly constantly) to fill. A few trial runs showed that, if we pre-slit the sacks, they would release a cloud of dust upon hitting the ground, which would hang around for several moments before beginning to dissipate. A stray spark was all it would take to light it. We intended to have far more than a stray spark.

Those of us who were not on “leaf-duty” as we quickly took to calling it, were still on duty to harry the soldiers in the camp. We couldn’t let them think we were gone, even if it was obvious we had slowed down. With only three of us we had to split up completely, each man working independently. It was dangerous work, and I wasn’t the only one to take wounds. Nicolan took an arrow to the shoulder, and spent the rest of that day and the next on leaf-duty.

Finally being able to strike some blows against their attackers seemed to boost the morale of De Ecete’s troops. They began to venture out further into the woods, no longer so afraid of what hid in the shadows. We used this to our advantage as best we could, leading one patrol into a swarm of bees, and another one nearly off a cliff. Linus and Wulf set up several snares and animal traps, which a few more men got caught in. All the same, a lone soldier caught up with Marcel late in the evening, and he came staggering back to camp, badly wounded.

I think at that point we were all starting to doubt the wisdom of this plan. We had traded the fear of our enemies for a little bit of time to concoct something that would either fail utterly, or would send them packing for home. It was a risk, and looking at the bandages that covered my people made it seem like it was simply too high. In the end, we had to continue, because we had already devoted so much time to it.

About an hour before sunset Linus and I ventured out to find three trees, far enough away from camp that we were not in risk of discovery, but close enough that we could bend them back with ropes and use them to catapult our bags of powder into the middle of De Ecete’s camp. I consider myself quite fortunate that Linus had built similar things as traps, and was able to find trees that would suit our task.

We strung up the bags and waited for nightfall. Nicolan and Marcel remained back at camp, so there was one of us for each tree, while Linus waited nearby with a sap-coated arrow, to light it aflame and shoot off the signal, and then shoot another one into our (hopefully explosive) cloud.

I will not deny there were moments when my men doubted that this plan would work. There were even moments when I doubted it would work. Sitting next to that tree in the growing dark, ears peeled for any sound that might hint my position was about to be compromised, knowing that my men had trusted this plan because I was the one who had proposed it, I doubted the wisdom of this plan. I doubted it something horribly.

But work it did, and spectacularly. The moment that flaming arrow flew into the middle of camp a giant fireball erupted, filling the entire center of the camp where the bags had landed, and even tracing part of the way back along the path the bag had been launched. It was the most remarkable sight, but we did not have time to stand and admire it. The flame itself lasted for but a moment, but anything and everything that was remotely flammable located within the explosion lit as well.

As soon as the plan was complete we ran back to camp, breathless, exultant, to flee deeper into the forest in fear of retaliation. With so few we were not in a position to take advantage of the chaos such an attack would have provoked, but it left us hopeful of our chances.

A few of the others approached me later, apologizing for doubting my idea. I kept my own brief moments of doubt private. I don’t mind hearing the opinions of those I trust, and I told them as much, but in this moment I need their complete trust. As much as it pains me to admit it, at some point I may need to take advantage of it.

While I have written this the flood of excitement that had been burning through my veins has faded somewhat, enough that I think I might actually be able to get to sleep. I am sorry that I did not take the time to comment on anything you wrote, and I hope you will forgive me for being so selfish in my attention. I hope that a time will soon come when I can take the time to give your time and situation the attention it deserves.

Sleep well.

-Ryker
 
September 7th, 2015
10am - midmorning
Applebury Estates


Dear Ryker,

Well, that was not the message I was expecting to read. I did not think that I was helping you in any way, but it seems that I did help accidentally. That makes me happy, honestly. Though I am not overly fond of the idea of war, I do like the idea of helping you and your men against such great odds. I can not imagine the amount of work that you all went through to prepare that in the amount of time that you did. Do you ever stop to rest? I am starting to get the feeling that you are the type of person to just go-go-go until you can't move anymore and you aren't any use to anybody. That's not good for your health, you know.

But enough scolding.

On one hand, I want to ask you about the extent of your wounds.. on the other hand, I am not sure that I want to know. I had been hoping that you all would get through this unscathed. It was a silly hope, I know, but still. The idea of any of you getting hurt is just awful. I assume it isn't fatal or you wouldn't be writing to me in celebration of your victory with explosives. Please take care of yourself, Ryker.

Also, I do not mind that you are focused on your own situation. It is much more pressing than mine. Hopefully it stays that way - I don't know what I would do if a war started here. War is different now. We don't fight with swords or grain sacks. Even arrows are rare. Soldiers now use guns, which are handheld objects that are able to project small pieces of metal at very high speeds. They pierce the skin and kill very easily. We also have grenades, which are sort of like little balls that you throw and they explode. The difference is that the explosions are very large and deadly - worse than your grain sacks. We have other things too, things that are too impossible to explain. Weapons that could destroy the entire world if used, and yet people keep creating them. It is a terrifying thought.

Yesterday was fairly uneventful for me. I spent the morning scrubbing up that red paint that I mentioned. It was still wet, oddly enough. I suppose I should be thankful for that, since it came off the wall easier. Nicolan was still acting strange. I think he was disturbed by a little piece of paper on the floor. It kept moving since I had the windows open, and he would bark at it every time. I may be awful, but I laughed every time. The poor dear, frightened by paper. I gave him extra cuddles in bed last night to make up for being so cruel.

I wish that I had more to say in this message, but I am running out of time. There is a locksmith coming any minute to change the locks on my doors. Hopefully that will end the idiocy of the teenagers around here. Others are coming later on this afternoon to fix up other parts of the estate with me. I guess my mother was half right - I can't do this alone. However, I can get it done, and that is all that matters.

Be careful, Ryker.

Sincerely,
Cassidy
 
8:30 PM, past sunset
The 7th Day of the Month of Wood,
In the Interim after Emperor Sigismund of Luxemburg,
Year 1439

Dear Cassidy,

Things have taken a turn for the... unexpected. I do not know any other way to put that. It is a good change, there is no question of that, but it is so unprecedented I’m not completely convinced it has really happened. A part of me feels as though I shall soon wake up from sleep, and once more find the world falling down around me.

We all woke early this morning, and even Nicolan and Marcel, wounded as they were, came as we crept our way closer to the camp, ready to see what kind of damage our makeshift explosion had done, and how we could exploit it. The last thing we expected to see was the place three-quarters burned, stripped of anything valuable, and the head of Druccio De Ecete on a pole in the center of camp.

I am ashamed to say I did not see the trap for what it was, although perhaps I should be a little more forgiving. It truly was beautifully executed.

We moved slowly into camp, looking to see if we could gather some information about what had transpired last night after we had fled. Only, it turned out that the camp hadn’t been abandoned. Several of the soldiers were lying in wait among the ruined tents, and when we came out into the open they surrounded us with blades, herding us to the far side of the camp.

A man met us there, and though I had never seen him before it would have been impossible to not know who he was anyways. He was Lord Emiel de Ecete. Standing next to him was a man I recognized, but could not name. He was the one who had been in charge of the day-to-day maintenance underneath Druccio.

We were greeted quite politely, and while de Ecete the senior did not have his men lower his blades, nor did it particularly seem as though he intended to skewer us on the ends of swords. Instead he had us thoroughly searched for weapons, brought us into a command tent, and sent the guards outside, leaving us alone with him and the heavily armed commander.

Although I recognised him, it seem that he did not know me, or, at least, had not a face to put to the name of Wilde. Once we were all loosely standing in a ring around the table he gave each of us a firm look, before asking for the leader of this group to identify himself. Wulf stepped forward without hesitation.

I feel it is incredibly necessary to pause for a moment and explain the significance of this act. While it would have made little difference if we had been captured by Druccio, for we all would have been executed had that happened, Emiel was more familiar with war. It is not uncommon for a victor to execute the commander, but let the rest of the men go free. It removes the head of the serpent, while simultaneously weakening the will of the enemy. There is a great difference between people who are fighting for their lives and the lives of their loved ones, and those who are fighting under a commander. Releasing the low level soldiers would prove that he was not on a murderous rampage, and that those who did not lead this war would not be harmed.

By stepping forward at that moment, Wulf was signing his own death warrant. And I did not object. We all understood what his action meant, for me and for all of Kessel.

De Ecete continued with the pleasantries for another minute, inquiring after Wulf’s name and his place of origin before he got down to business. Surprisingly, though, De Ecete did not wish for Wulf’s death. Instead he said that he would release Wulf’s men as a sign of goodwill, and they would sit and talk for a while, striking a deal. If the terms of the deal were agreeable, we, and his other soldiers out in the wood, would return. If they were not, Wulf would be free to leave, but De Ecete would continue his march into the Meadow Mountains.

If Nils had been here, he would have been able to keep up the facade as a commander. But Wulf, although he certainly looks the part, is not a strategist. Perhaps if we had a less observant opponent I would have been able to pass a signal to to Wulf, get him to agree to the terms to get us out, and then refuse the deal, whatever it might be. But De Ecete knew what it meant the moment Wulf glanced at me. He commended Wulf for his loyalty and bravery, before repeating the question, this time addressing me. I agreed.

At this point you can probably guess, from the fact that I am writing in this journal, that De Ecete did not propose something that would prove to be a trap. But at the time I was highly suspicious. I shall not relay everything we discussed, for that would take far too long, but I shall try and relay the gist of our conversation. Before we begin I want to point out that the Lord never asked for my name, which proved important later in our conversation.

It turned out that Lord De Ecete had not approved his son’s invasion of Kessel. Druccio had acted on his own. However, had his invasion gone as planned, Emile certainly wouldn’t have objected. The reason for this was that a Lord to the north of De Ecete, a man named Klein Rosnik, had been slowly but surely driving the Lord out of his land. It was unlikely that the man would last through the winter, and none of the other lords within the country were willing to offer him aid. He wished to retain his own land, but the other side of the Meadow River would have done just as well. This was why, although he was not pleased with his son, he decided to follow him and make sure the invasion went as planned.

What he found instead was that a small group of guerilla soldiers had sent the army into utter disarray, and caused enough damage to truly destabilize his son, leading to mutiny, and the man’s head on a pole. The Lord had executed the man who had actually struck the blow and put his son’s head on a stick, but other than that he had taken no action against his own men, or proclaimed vengeance against the people who had led to the result. I can only speculate as to the reason for this, but my guess would be a combination of things. It was probably in part that De Ecete has three other sons, but most importantly he seems to be a man who was crafted through flame, and likely won his land through battle with some other dead or driven out lord. Perhaps with Rosnik’s father, even. Druccio failed the trial by fire.

Either way, De Ecete now had two options. He could either continue his invasion into Kessel, or he could reclaim his own land. And this was his proposition: I would go with him and become his commander, leading the defense and reclamation of his land, or he would continue his journey into the Meadow River Valley, looking for new land to call his own.

This is why it was so significant that he did not know who I was. Were I simply a local person who became a guerilla commander through an unexpected genius, maybe I would have taken the offer. But I was Ryker Wilde, Commander of the Kesselen Special Forces. When I told him this, we reached an impasse. There was no way I was leaving Kessel, and De Ecete understood this. At the same time, he could not win back his land without new genius, and if he could not win it back he would have to take it from somewhere else. Yet I could not allow him to invade Kessel.

We spent all of the morning and much of the day trying to come up with a solution for him to win back his land, yet none could be reached. I could tell that this man did not want to invade our land, especially when he found out that the five battered men he had seen before were the only ones out in the forest, and were all there had ever been. He was not ashamed to admit he feared battle with me. It was drawing on towards afternoon when a solution finally occurred to me, as we went into a more in-depth discussion of why exactly I could not leave Kessel, even for a short time.

Do you remember Lord Gerold Vorley? I cannot remember how much I have told you of him, but he is the Lord of the Lower Thalen Valley, which borders Hosela, our primary aggressor. It is a known fact that this man is currently in negotiations with Hosela, and as soon as they reach a conclusion Hoselan armies will march upon the valley. He is my biggest problem, but is, more importantly, a traitor to the state. At this moment his land only belongs to him because we do not have the strength to force him from it, and fear doing anything to speed up his negotiations with Hosela.

One way or another, though, if Kessel survives, Vorley will have to flee or he will be executed. Either way, his land would be without a Lord. Can you see the solution? De Ecete said that, while Rosnik was ambitious, he showed no inclination to spread outside the established borders of Shonand. And the Lower Thalen Valley is one of the richest pieces of land within Kessel. I could not promise De Ecete the land, but I could promise him that I would do everything within my power as a loyal Kesselen to ensure he received lordship of the land as soon as Vorley was disposed.

We spent the rest of the evening creating plans for evacuating his family, his servants, his army, and any others who would wish to follow their lord into uncertainty rather than come under Rosnik’s rule, into Kessel. His family would be escorted to Leisch, while he and his troops would head south, to help with the fight against Hosela, and see if he could plant a spy within Vorley’s house, a feat I had yet been unable to achieve, but which might be possible if attempted by a Shonandic.

Can you see why this is so unprecedented? In the span of twelve hours I went from facing a full-scale invasion from Shonand to having an unexpected ally who may end up turning the war against Hosela in our favor. Things like this don’t happen. Or, at least, I didn’t think they did. I thought the world was out to get me. Maybe not. Maybe Kessel truly is favored by the universe.

We have already left the location of the burned camp, and are riding as fast as is reasonable with a full army in tow back to Rand. Once we are there, Nils and De Ecete will coordinate on how to evacuate everyone who wishes to flee from the Eastern Meadow Mountains, and both armies, trained and peasant alike, will complete it, before heading south and southwest to aid Lord Steen and Lord Maurant in their battle against Hosia. It will undoubtedly take time, but the knowledge that aid is coming should boost the morale of all the soldiers.

I cannot rest yet, not until the first snows close the passes and all armies are halted for the winter, but somehow this situation turned out better than I ever could have imagined. It gives me hope.

The next time I have time to write, I’ll go back and read your letters with greater care, and respond to all the things I have been ignoring.

I hope you are doing well.

-Ryker
 
September 8th, 2015
6:30am - Sunrise
Millinocket


Dear Ryker,

Wow. Just.. wow. Reading your entry was a wild ride from start to finish. At times I wanted to set it down and stop reading for fear there would be tragedy at the end, but I am so glad that I did not. It was well worth it. The turn of luck for you is incredible. It seems that the one you thought an enemy is actually quite a decent man. If only all battles turned out so well. I am beyond thrilled for you.

I wish that I could find more words for your situation, but I can't. Things have taken an odd turn for me and I have a lot on my mind. I apologize. I suppose I should try to explain so that I have some sort of excuse.

When I first found this journal and began to write in it, I mentioned a man named Ryan who was in jail. I am sure you remember. That was back when you were making me think I had lost my mind. I met Ryan five years ago. We both worked at the same place. He was a really nice guy, very sweet. All of the girls there thought he was something special, but he never seemed to let it go to his head. He was.. shy, in a way. I was stunned when he asked me out to dinner. We had a fantastic time. It turned out that Ryan really knew how to have fun. After that, we went on several more dates. We would go out drinking together, go for a picnic, go shopping. It didn't really matter what we were doing. Everything had us happy and smiling. It was perfect. Or, at least, I thought it was.

I guess I should have known that Ryan was unhappy. After spending a year together, we decided to try living together. We got a small place just the perfect size for two people, in a charming neighborhood that was close to work and close to the school Ryan was attending. Living with somebody is an entirely different thing than just spending a lot of time together. Ryan had these little temper flares where he would get angry over something that I thought was silly, but I thought we always worked it out. His anger never seemed to last long. Whenever he got truly upset, he would go for a walk. After he came home, he was happy again. I thought he just needed the fresh air to clear his head or something, but I was wrong.

When you live in a big city, it's pretty common to hear about somebody getting mugged when walking home or somebody died in some random act of violence. It's an every day occurrence. I didn't even bat an eye when there was news of a bunch of prostitutes dying. It wasn't something I was focused on. Instead, I was focused on Ryan. He was getting angrier, going for walks more often. Soon he was out every night, and every time he left, somebody died.

I'm sure you can put the puzzle pieces together a lot faster than I did.

It took Ryan coming home covered in blood before I even began to think it was a possibility that the two were linked. Of course, I didn't want to think that. Instead I tried to tell myself that he had gotten hurt or helped somebody. He was furious that I was home when he got there looking like that. I was supposed to be at work but I had forgotten something, so I had gone back. When I tried to ask if he was hurt, he began yelling and saying things like 'Do you know how much I could hurt you right now?' and 'Leave before I make you disappear.'.

I got scared. I think anybody would have. The only option I had was going to the police. They came for Ryan and took him to prison, thanking me for my help. According to them at the time, all of the evidence matched up and it was an easy case. For some reason the trial hasn't happened yet, but it's pretty obvious that he's going to end up in prison for the rest of his life once a judge and jury get their hands on it.

The problem is that there isn't anybody to send to jail anymore. My mother called me about an hour ago to let me know that Ryan apparently broke out of jail. Nobody knows where he is or how he got out, or precisely when, other than some time yesterday. I don't know very many details, but my mother didn't know anything either. She just told me to get out of the house in case anything could be traced there. I don't know if Ryan would bother following me all the way here, but the thought is not a comforting one. So, here I sit. I have a bag filled with clothes sitting next to me, which Nicolan is using as a bed at the moment. We're sitting on a park bench in town watching the sunrise. I'm not sure where we'll end up going. Maybe we'll go exploring for a few days until this all blows over.

Anyway, that was a long story just to say: I am not home at the moment, but I did bring my journal. I may be distracted but I do still care, and I loved reading your entry. Feel free to tell me anything else about your days, I love hearing it. Or, rather, reading it. Don't forget to celebrate the small victories.


Sincerely,
Cassidy
 
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1:00 PM, midday
The 8st Day of the Month of Wood,
In the Interim after Emperor Sigismund of Luxemburg,
Year 1439

Dear Cassidy,

I think this is the first opportunity I’ve had in well over a week to actually take a bit of time and give both you and this journal some attention. It is a rather nice feeling to be able to relax enough to worry about what is going on in someone else’s life. I apologize once more for my inattentiveness, even though there was no way around it.

It will likely take us the remainder of today and well into tomorrow to return to Rand, nearly twice the time it took myself and my men to ride up. Such is the challenge of a large army. The good thing about this is it gives me time to relax, for I shall still be within the body of the army even if I rest for a half hour after the front troops have started writing. I think my men, and Wulf in particular, are rather surprised with the attention I have been giving writing in this journal, but none of them ask, and I shall not explain. We will see if they are good enough to read a portion of it without my noticing, if their curiosity overwhelms them. I wonder if they will dare risk it.

As I promised I would, I have gone back and re-read every entry you wrote since the 26th of Harvest.

First, about Ryan. I know you have been warning me constantly to be careful, so perhaps it is humorous or ironic that I shall now do the same for you, but I mean it, and I also believe you are more in a position to heed my advice than I was to heed yours. Be careful. I don’t know much about murder, but I do know people, and I especially know men who have tipped over the edge. It is far easier to blame someone else for your own failings than it is to understand how you might have done it all to yourself. From the way you wrote it I would not be surprised in the least if Ryan has found a way to pin everything that has gone wrong in his life on you. You were the one who made him so angry that he had to release his anger by killing someone, you were the one who was home when you shouldn’t have been, and you were the one who turned him over to the police, despite everything he had done to keep himself from getting mad at you.

You are, of course, completely blameless in this situation, and you should never doubt that. However, it is highly probable that these thoughts have entered Ryan’s mind, and may be completely consuming him. If such is the case he will likely want to punish you for this “betrayal”, and there will be no reasoning with him. If you can find a way to bring someone into your life who can teach you some quick and dirty self-defense, I would recommend doing that as soon as possible. It very well might take him by surprise, and therefore save your life.

On happier notes, I am glad to hear that puppy-Nicolan is doing so well under your care, and that you are enjoying taking care of him. Of course, my immediate thought after that is, now that he is healthy and growing, it is about time to start training him seriously. But he is not destined to be the dog of a battle commander, and a little bit of disobedience wouldn’t be a catastrophe for you as it might be for me. Feel free to completely disregard that advice, if you so wish. If you do decide to take up the responsibility of training him, though, and would like some advice, let me know. I cannot say that I have ever raised a pup from hand myself, but Linus was an ex-hunter, and I know he would have trained more than a few hunting dogs and would be happy to share the information once we get back to Leisch, and I can ask him without it coming off as an odd moment to make such a request.

I would love to know more about the constellations of your time and place, if simply because it could be something of a diverting conversation. However, I do not know how easily we could actually accomplish this. Perhaps we shall give it a shot this winter, when I will hopefully have the time spare in such an effort.

How are the repairs of Applebury going? Last I had heard, other than the fact that you have brought in repairmen to replace your windows and change your locks, you were about to have a hole in the attic roof fixed, and convert the place into some sort of study. Have you made any other improvements?

I am sorry that your house got broken into once more. It must have been quite alarming after reading all that information about how previous residents of the house died there in the fire. Although I consider it mere superstition, Marcel would be quick to jump to the conclusion of ghosts, which I am sure is what you speak of when you speak of the situation being like something from a scary story. I am sure he could recommend you a number of treatments to appease the wrath of the spirits which you have incurred, but as you do not sound the type to believe in that sort of thing I shall spare you his doubtlessly unconventional and potentially alarming methods. I hope that will be the end of the intrusions, as it doesn’t sound as though there is any particular reason the people of that village would bear ill will towards someone moving into the place and working to renovate it.

At some point, I would gladly speak with you about the weapons of the future, although I do not know how useful the conversation would ultimately prove. We are in possession of matchlock muskets in this age, but they are unwieldy, inefficient, inaccurate, and potentially dangerous to the holder if something goes wrong internally. Although their killing power is undisputed, a skilled archer could kill a gunman twenty times over if he missed with his first shot. Unless we were to find a way to improve the technology, which I doubt would be possible, archery is still the better method for now. On the other hand, I am quite interested in these grenades. They sound somewhat like cast-iron bombshells that some engineers have designed based on information from the Chinese. I do not know if you have the ability to find out information about such things, or I have the capability to create the ingredients that would go within it, but such information could prove invaluable, and I can be quite creative with information, as you already know. For now there is no time to devote to the research of such things. If you would be agreeable to it, I would like to take the time for such research once the snow sets in. Until the, I shall set the matter aside, and do my best not to dwell on the possibilities.

Last but not least, I hope your wrist has healed properly and cleanly.

Take care of yourself.

-Ryker
 
September 10th, 2015
7:00 am - Just after sunrise
Moosehead Lake


Dear Ryker,

When I was a little girl, there was a boy that I went to school with who was completely different from anybody I had ever met before. His hair was this untamed mess of black that was more tangles than true curls, and he had these wild blue eyes that were the same exact shade as the hot summer skies. Even his skin was odd - a dark, chestnut brown from too many hours out in the sun despite his young age. It wasn't just how he looked that was strange, though. He spoke as if he were older and more full of life than any of us. I only went to school with him for three months, and I've forgotten his name. He was just passing through. I remember he said that his father was some sort of traveler or explorer, and that he had gone all over the world witnessing marvelous things like the safari animals in Africa and the rainforests in South America. He always said that being alone in the outdoors was the best thing ever.

Since then, I've heard several people saying the same thing. In this day and age, people are not as eager to spend time outdoors. Technology rules the world and most people in my country have forgotten what it's like to just sit outside and enjoy nature. Nobody cares about the forest animals, or how the sun looks when it rises on a lake, or what the trees sound like when the wind blows by. To be honest, I didn't care either. This is the first time I've sat outside for an extended period of time with absolutely nothing to do. People who enjoy this sort of thing always told me it was relaxing and good for the mind.

I'm not completely certain that I agree.

At first, being out of Applebury Estates was fine. It was almost like a miniature, mildly terrifying adventure. The novelty has worn off. I think that even Nicolan is sick of it. All he does now is lay around, watching me. It's only been a few days but already I want to go back to the house.. but I can't. Ryan is still somewhere out there. I spoke to my mother and she said that he was last spotted in New York. I know that means nothing to you, but essentially he is moving this way. Perhaps it is a coincidence and his destination has nothing to do with me. I hope so.

Being alone in the woods is not nearly as much fun after the first day. Even though it was relaxing at first and it's very pretty to look at, it's also giving me entirely too much time to get into my own head. I can't stop rereading what you said. Maybe this is all my fault. Ryan probably thinks so and maybe he's right. If we had never gotten together or if I hadn't argued and made him angry, would everything be fine? Maybe he would not have killed anybody, and maybe we would still be happy together. I don't like thinking that I could cause something so terrible, but the more I consider it, the more I grow convinced that it's true.

I wish that I had more to share with you. Something light and happy to go along with your victorious mood. No progress has been made as far as repairs at the Estate, because I have not been there. I haven't gone back since I left, which worries me deeply. Somebody could have very well gone there and made a complete mess again. I expect to go home to shattered windows and more paint, or perhaps missing belongings. Oh well. There is nothing to be done about it now except to wait and see.

My wrist is doing a lot better, thank you. I think that is the one thing improving thanks to this detour. Since I can't work on the house, my wrist is getting plenty of rest. No more aching.

As far as the constellations and weapons discussion goes, I agree that we can hold off until winter. I have no access to information like that at the moment anyway. The only thing that I can think of that you may enjoy as a distraction is a type of bomb that is not really designed to harm.. though, now that I think about it, it could do some damage if you worked with it. You get a glass bottle and fill it halfway with vinegar or lemon juice, then add in a healthy amount of baking soda. Shake it up, then throw it fast, or just let it sit somewhere and it will take longer to explode. Normally we do it with a plastic bottle and the cover pops off, but I don't think you have plastic bottles yet. Actually, I don't even know if you have baking soda. This may be entirely useless. Sorry.

I wish that I had more to say, but I don't know wh


Just as I was about to finish off this entry and say goodbye to you, something adorable happened. I figured I could tell you about it so that this wasn't a completely awful thing to read.

As I was writing to you, Nicolan was laying in the grass next to me. I thought he was napping, but every so often his ears would twitch when a sailboat went by on the lake, so I suppose he was awake. It is very quiet out here. I don't think people usually come to this particular spot on the lake, which is probably why a deer decided to walk out. It was practically right next to us. I don't think it saw us, but it went to the lake to get a drink. This is where I realized that Nicolan was paying quite a bit of attention. The little brat started wiggling on his belly, going after the deer before I could catch him. He got very close, but then a second deer came out - a baby. Very young, judging by how much it stumbled. I guess Nicolan thought that since it was smaller, it would want to play more.

So in goes the baby deer, going over next to the water to get a drink when Nicolan starts sniffing at its legs. It turned around and shoved its nose right up against Nicolan's. I think the pup almost wet himself.. but it got better. The deer made some sort of noise - I think it sneezed - and Nicolan took off like some possessed idiot. He ran so fast that he went right by me and into the woods, howling like a maniac and scaring off anything within a mile of us. Took him ten minutes to come back to me and now he's covered in mud. I think I'll toss him into the lake to clean him off.

Anyway, that was my brief, amusing story for you today. I hope that you are doing well and are staying safe. By now I think you should have arrived at your destination if nothing unexpected happened. Stay well.

Sincerely,
Cassidy
 
7:00 PM, sunset
The 10th Day of the Month of Wood,
In the Interim after Emperor Sigismund of Luxemburg,
Year 1439

Cassidy,

I already said this, but you obviously missed it, so I shall say it again. You are completely blameless in this situation. Allow me to repeat myself. You are completely blameless in this situation. And, one more time, to make absolutely certain you do not miss it again. You are completely blameless in this situation.

Have I made myself clear enough yet?

As for never making him angry, that is foolishness, and if you thought about it you’d know it too.
Everyone argues. It is a simple fact of human nature. If you never got in an argument, you would no longer be alive. Rather, you would become a doll, a puppet of someone else’s thoughts and beliefs.

Do not waste time trying to figure out how you could have kept this from happening. No matter what you had done, it would have happened. Even if you had never met Ryan, this would have happened. Ryan is not right in the head. It is as simple as that. An act of murder is not committed for a reason as simple as “getting angry”. Wanton killing, done simply for the sake of making one’s self feel better, is not the action of a sane person. That insanity was simply inside of him, and it was inevitable that it would come to bear.

I did not tell you those things to make you feel guilt, or worry over what you could have done. I told you these things so that you would be able to get a look at the insanity that is inside his head, and you would then be better able to prepare for what they may mean. That is all. Do
not use my words in a purpose for which they were never intended. Is that clear?

Good. I’m glad that’s out of the way.


Nicolan, Marcel, Erich, and I are on a slow march back to Leisch, having left this morning. Linus and Jorg remained behind with Nils, returning to their duties of training the locals. This is likely to be more important than ever, as they will soon be participating in whatever rescue attempt will be concocted by De Ecete. Wulf remained behind as well, with plans to escort a portion of De Ecete’s forces to the south. I am not sure if the Lord will agree, what with his undeniable concern for the safety of his family and people, but even a small contingent of new troops would likely do wonders for the morale of the soldiers to the south. Wulf is not particularly skilled in strategy or eloquence, but he does understand the fundamentals of war well enough. I hope he will be able to persuade Emiel.

It took us a little over two full days, riding at a quick pace, to reach Rand from Leisch. With both Marcel and Erich severely wounded, and Nicolan partially incapacitated as well, it is inevitably going to take at least twice that long to get back, if not longer. I am getting anxious to return, now that the matter here has been handled, and the slow pace is somewhat wearing on my nerves. I think can tell that, too, for each has suggested, albeit at different points, that I should ride on ahead, alone. A part of me is tempted to agree, and I nearly did on the third occasion, but these woods are not free of dangers. I cannot allow myself to return home, and risk the possibility that Marcel and Erich may not make it on their own. Roe has managed on his own for the past 17 days, I am sure he can manage for three or four more. And, if he cannot, the situation is too desperate for my expedited return to make any difference.

In that sense, I suppose you and I are currently in rather similar circumstances. Both of us are anxious to return home, yet situations outside of our control are preventing it from happening. It would be hypocritical of me to try and tell you to relax, but perhaps you could head into town for a little while and stay at an inn? It might at least serve to get you out of your head.

I am heading to bed early tonight, as I am going to have to spend many of the twilight hours before dawn on watch. Thank you for your story. It made me smile.

Keep me informed of any new developments.

-Ryker
 
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