The Wintershall Tales

The next morning everyone felt a little slow.  The toils of the last week combined with the previous night’s celebration were visible upon every face.

Despite tiredness, Fortitude had the army ready soon after sunrise.  The Dierdrakin forces lined up in front of Merrin’s portal.  The Han volunteers were behind them and the giants waited at the back. 

Fortitude waited until everyone was in place then summoned the white wolves.  They poured out of the surrounding fields in a huge wave and, at Fortitude’s direction, formed a huge unruly mass behind the giants.

Fortitude joined his companions and Martyn Darkling in front of the gateway.  Together they studied the four thousand creatures behind them and speculated upon what was likely to be waiting for them in Gavin.

“I would advise scouting out the other side of the gate,” Sang suggested.  “Who knows what preparations the Gavinites have set up in reception for us.”

“I agree with Sang,” Aidan declared.  “If it was me, I’d have moats, palisades and archers ready for us directly on the other side of the gate.”

“Could Merrin help?” Celia asked.  “Could she have one of her monsters clear the land on the other side of the gate.”

“Unfortunately no,” Fortitude replied ruefully.  “No sooner than Merrin made me one of her high priests yesterday than I lost contact with her.  I haven’t been able to talk to her since.”

That sparked a few grumbles and jokes.

“I don’t see any choice,” Fortitude said.  “We’ll send a scout through and wait for him to report back.”

Aidan winced visibly and looked hurriedly away.  Nan took a half step back so William concealed her.  Most everyone avoided making eye contact with Fortitude.

Fortitude gestured at Aidan.  “Let’s send one of the goblins through.”

Aidan looked relieved by this.  He removed the sack from his back and pulled a sleeping goblin out at random.  It was Gordon and he woke and yawned tiredly as Aidan shook him. 

“Wazzup?” he whined.

“I need you to step through the portal here and return once you’ve seen what’s on the other side?”

“Is it dangerous?” Gordon demanded.

“Yes,” Fortitude admitted.  “There could be an enemy on the other side or traps that kill you when you appear.”

Gordon’s expression became cunning.  “Will I get a shiny coin if I go?”

“Sure thing, Gordon.”

The goblin whooped happily and stepped in the glowing wall of light.  He was only gone a half-minute and, when he reappeared he held out his hand to Fortitude.

“What did you see, Gordon?” Fortitude demanded pressing a silver farthing into the hairy little palm.

“Nothing,” Gordon replied.  “Grass, mountains and a city in the distance.  No traps or people at all.”

Fortitude was surprised to hear this and he decided to check it out for himself.  “I’ll just be a moment,” he said and stepped into the portal.

There was a rushing twisting sensation and Fortitude stumbled out into a vast flat and very empty field.  The air was a few degrees colder here and the sky was grey.

He was about a mile from the City of Gavin.  Tall mountains walled out the sky to the north, west and south.  He focussed his gaze for a moment on the tallest and darkest mountain in the range – where Merrin had her new fortress temple. 

In the other direction lay the city of Gavin.  It covered a wide area – all of which was enclosed in a long forbidding grey stone wall.  There were many buildings visible above the line of the wall and statues and religious icons dotted around their rooflines suggested that an extraordinary number of them were temples.

The one gate on this side of the city was closed and he could see hundreds of figures arrayed along the walls.  It looked like the City of Gavin was ready for him but he could not understand why the defenders had not prepared some trap or reception for him at the portal mouth.  Perhaps they just had no experience with portals, he decided.

After studying the city for another few minutes, Fortitude stepped back into the gate and reappeared seconds later in Archesia.  He called the army commanders to him. 

“The city is closed to us and the walls are held against us.  Fortunately and rather foolishly there are no troops at the gate site so we can pass through safely.  I want the Dierdrakin to swing left once through the gate and form up in a long line facing the city.  The wolves and giants will do the same thing on the right.” 

The commanders saluted and departed to prepare their units.  Several minutes later, when every unit had signalled its readiness, Fortitude started the army marching into the portal. 

The size of the gate meant that his army was able to march through six at a time.  Moving thus, the full army passed through in less than fifteen minutes.  As the companies emerged, marshals directed them left and right to the positions indicated by Fortitude.

When the army was finally arranged to Fortitude’s satisfaction, he ordered a slow march towards the city.  The army moved forward at a leisurely pace in their current crescent formation until they were around five hundred yards from the city walls.  Fortitude then halted the lines and ordered everyone to stand ready.

Fortitude carefully examined the city again from this distance.  The Gavinites stared back from the top of the walls.  They had several large war engines and Fortitude noted their locations carefully.  His army was still well beyond the effective range of anything that the Gavinites had but, again, an outright assault by his forces on the city looked like it would be suicidal.  He wished he knew how many troops were awaiting him.  He could only see a few hundred from here but he assumed there must be more down behind the walls.

He considered this for a long moment then beckoned Dunstan forward.  “Time for more negotiations,” he announced.

“Me?” Dunstan exclaimed indignantly.  “I did two lots of negotiation yesterday.  Someone else can go.”

“Sorry,” Fortitude replied.  “You’re our most experienced negotiator.  I need you to do it.”

Dunstan said a very rude word, and then stomped off towards the city.

Fortitude watched as Dunstan walked towards the gate and stopped a hundred yards away.  After a minute the gate opened and a man walked up to Dunstan from the city.

They talked for more than five minutes before parting.  The man returned to the city while Dunstan strode back to report.  “Well that went about as well as I might have expected,” he said pointedly.

“What happened?” Fortitude demanded.

“That was the mayor of the city.  Apparently, the city doesn’t want to accept the rule of Merrin.  They, or more specifically, a surviving high priest of Zaahl and his followers want to be left alone and they want us to go away.”

“Tell them they’ll surrender, or we’ll take their city,” Fortitude said.

“You really should do these negotiations yourself,” Dunstan replied pointedly.

An idea occurred to Fortitude at that moment and he studied the walls carefully.  It was risky but it did offer a reasonable chance of success with minimal casualties.  Best of all, there was no downside if it went wrong. 

Fortitude gestured at Aidan.  “Hey Aidan,” he said.  “Can you get Slabfist’s arbalest and be ready to give it to me if I need it?”

Aidan nodded and slipped away towards the giant.

Fortitude then turned to Martyn Darkling.  “Say Martyn, can you get me the other one of those sticks that shoots flames?”

“Certainly Baron.”  Martyn beckoned over one of the runemages standing nearby who presented Fortitude with a rune inscribed stick.  Fortitude stared down at it for a long moment then addressed those standing around him.  “All right, we’re going to move the entire army forward another couple of hundred yards until we’re just out of range of the trebuchets on those walls.” 

He saw questions forming on a number of faces.  “Don’t ask,” he said.  “Just do what I say.”

Orders echoed down the lines and, after a few seconds, the army began moving forward.  They closed about half the distance to the city and stopped again. 

The troops on top of the city walls pointed bows and crossbows and a few arrows were launched high into the air.  They fell, spent onto the ground, twenty yards or more from the army line.  Fortitude heard orders being shouted on the wall and he saw troops preparing to fire a massed volley.

“Steady,” he called.  “No one moves further forward until I order it.”

His words passed along the lines in either direction.

There was a huge twang from the walls and more than a thousand arrows arced into the air briefly turning the sky grey above the city.  There was a sound like ripping cloth as the arrows all buried themselves in the ground just short of the army.  Several arrows flew further than Fortitude had expected and two goblins fell in the Dierdrakin ranks.

Fortitude waited until the sky was clear of arrows, then spoke to Aidan.  “Stay behind me,” he said and walked forward till he reached the line of spent arrows.  He cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted as loudly as he could.  “I am the Beastlord.  I wish to negotiate with the high priest of Zaahl.”

A man pushed out in front of the troops on top of the wall.  Fortitude noted with considerable satisfaction that the man was wearing the long black robe of a Zaahl worshipper.  “I am Doric, high priest of Zaahl,” the man shouted.  “Leave us or we will destroy you.”

“Excellent,” Fortitude said loud enough for Aidan to hear.  “He has to be seen to be leading his troops and personally defying me.”  He raised his voice and projected towards the wall.  “Zaahl is dead and Merrin has replaced him.  You will surrender or die!”

The man in the black robe shouted back.  His voice was faint at this range but his words were clear.  “No, we will never serve the bitch goddess, Merrin,” he cried. 

Fortitude moved carefully through the arrows until he was sure he was in bow range.  He then cupped his hands and bellowed again.  “I have an offering from her to show her intentions to you.”  He pointed the rune ensorcelled stick at the man. 

“Work!” he spat.

The stick trembled in his hand and then jerked back as a huge gout of flame jetted from it.  The flame crossed the two hundred yards in less than a second and spread out in a cone as it travelled.  By the time it reached the wall, it had dissipated somewhat but it still blanketed an area of around thirty yards in diameter with flame.  Fortitude heard screams and choking and saw people running and burning at the edge of the affected area.

The flame sputtered out after ten seconds and a light breeze quickly cleared away the mass of black smoke remaining over the walls.  Most of the figures had disappeared from the wall, however, there were a few blackened shapes still standing or leaning up against the wall burning and pouring out smoke.  One of them was exactly where the high priest had been standing.

Fortitude gestured back at Aidan.  “Arbalest,” he called crisply.

Aidan stepped forward and pushed Slabfist’s loaded weapon into Fortitude’s hands.  Fortitude raised it and slowly and carefully took aim on what was left of the high priest.  He exhaled slowly and then gently squeezed the trigger.  There was a loud thump and the huge bolt sped towards the city walls. 

A gust of wind caught the bolt and it seemed to drift fractionally left.  Both Fortitude and Aidan leaned right as they willed it back on course.  They need not have worried, however, as the bolt slammed into the shoulder of the smouldering priest.  His body was smashed back in a shower of smoke and embers and disappeared from sight.

The army cheered loudly behind Fortitude until he held up a hand for silence.  He then stepped forward another few paces and called out again. 

“We are ready to negotiate again,” he shouted.  “Come out and talk or we’ll rain down far worse on you.  Merrin is not patient.” 

He focussed his mind on the wolves.  “Howl,” he willed them. 

Behind him, the thousand wolves unleashed an ear-splitting, spine-tingling howl that seemed to drift on forever and blanket the plain around him in a wall of noise.  Fortitude saw troops on the walls quail fearfully. 

He let the sound roll and grow for twenty seconds then made a chopping gesture in the air.  The howls ceased in an instant leaving nothing but lingering echoes.

Fortitude then settled back to wait.  A few minutes later the gate opened again and the figure that Dunstan had negotiated with previously began trotting awkwardly forward to where Fortitude was waiting. 

The mayor of the City of Gavin was worried looking man in his fifties with ruddy cheeks and large jowls.  He stopped in front of Fortitude and bowed politely. 

“I am Roger, Mayor of Gavin.”  The man spoke with a strange burr in his voice, but his words were clear and his manner was exceedingly polite.

“Well met, Roger,” Fortitude replied.  “I’m Fortitude uls Morcar, Beastlord, Regent of Archesia, High Priest of Merrin and Baron of Winterslow.  I am here to demand your surrender?”

The Mayor looked rather trapped but he nodded.  “You have it, highness,” he replied and his expression grew bitter.  “It was the Zaahl worshippers fault.  They’ve always had so much influence that it was hard to say no to them.  Now that you’ve just killed their High Priest – the First Councillor of Gavin…”

Fortitude rested his hand on the sword.  “Who is the First Councillor?” he demanded.

The sword did not waste time.  “Gavin is a theocracy, ruled by a council of the temples led by a First Councillor.”

Fortitude focussed back on the mayor.  “So you will serve Merrin, then?” he demanded.

The mayor looked torn and unhappy.  “I can’t really answer that, highness,” the man replied.  “I’m only mayor.  We have always had an understanding with the Temple of Zaahl.  We were hoping that the understanding might be continued.”

“What was this understanding?” Fortitude demanded coolly. 

The mayor sensed Fortitude’s displeasure and began to speak faster.  “Sire, we’re a theocracy; we tolerate and welcome all religions.  There has always been Zaahl and everyone else and Zaahl’s high priest was always First Councillor.  We gave the prescribed tithes, services and supplies to Zaahl’s temple and in return, Zaahl guaranteed order and laws and allowed all other temples to flourish.”

Fortitude frowned.  “You tolerate all religions?”

“Yes sire.”

A thought crossed Fortitude’s mind.  “Including Deirdre?”

“The lady is welcome here in all her guises and forms.”

“Ahh,” said Fortitude carefully.  “And if Merrin demands no more duties and rights than Zaahl has in the past then you would accept her rule and the rule of one of her servants as First Councillor.”

“I suppose so, sire,” the mayor replied.

Fortitude rubbed his jaw.  “Where is your army?  Why are they not facing us?  Surely Gavin has an army?”

The mayor looked even more wretched.  “Some remained loyal to the First Councillor.  Others figured that Zaahl was dead and so they should support Merrin.  Most, however, decided to remain neutral until it all sorted itself out.”

Fortitude felt this sense of wonder as he realised that he had just taken his second Kingdom in as many days.  He kept his expression cool though as he replied.  “I think that Merrin will be merciful and leave all things as they are if Gavin swears its fealty to her and accepts a First Councillor of her choosing.”

The mayor looked most relieved.  “Sire, everyone will rejoice in your generosity and wisdom.”

Fortitude felt such a release in tension at that moment that the man’s obsequious comment caused him to laugh.  “I’ll believe that when I see it,” he said.  “Nevertheless, you may reassure your people that no one will be harmed and there will be no looting or other trouble so long as everyone accepts my rule and the rule of Merrin here.”

“I will vouch for my people, sire,” the mayor assured him.

“Good,” Fortitude said.  He made eye contact with Martyn Darkling and beckoned him over.

“Say Martyn,” he began.  “I need to ask a favour?”

“Yes Baron?”

Fortitude gestured at the city.  “While I focus on restoring order in Archesia, could you take charge here as First Councillor of Gavin and rule in my name?”

Martyn looked rather taken aback by this request.  “I know nothing of this place or its people,” he protested.

Fortitude laughed again.  “I think you’ll do fine here.  They tolerate all religions, including that of Dierdra.”

Martyn looked astonished.  He turned his gaze to the city and then to the mayor.  “Is this so?” he demanded.

“It is,” the mayor assured him.

Martyn’s astonishment became wonder and he turned back to Fortitude.  “If you wish me to take control here, then I will do so.”

“Good,” Fortitude responded.  “I’ll be back tomorrow.  Before then I need you to verify the terms under which Zaahl held Gavin and I’d like your thoughts on how this land should be run in future.”

“Yes Baron, leave it to me.”

Fortitude gestured at the army lined up behind them.  “I’ll leave you with all the troops that are here right now – other than the wolves.  Have them make camp next to the portal so we have the choice of using them in either Archesia or Gavin as necessary.

Martyn bowed and set about doing as Fortitude had requested.