The adventures of Arthago chapter III, A Province united Options

[Agent Griff]

So let's kick this chapter off shall we? A small bit of info at what's to come further in the series: At the end of this chapter, Arthago will move to a whole new province and I think many of you already know which province it is. Anyway, let's enjoy Hammerfell while it lasts shall we?

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After the defeat of Lord Vhosek's rebellion, things went back to normal in all of Hammerfell. Some local kings and rulers however, seeing that Lord Vhosek managed to battle the King and even defeat him, albeit for a short time, started a fight against King Lhotun's rule as well. Since I was one of the highest ranking knights in Sentinel, with the exception of Marshal Daron and a few other senior knights of the order, I was often sent to these small kingdoms to stop the rebellions. The first kingdom to revolt, a few years after Vhosek's uprising, was the small kingdom of Santaki which was close to the Dragontail mountains. I was sent there, together with a few other knights below my rank, to stop the rebellion.

We arrived there after a few days ride. The capital of the small kingdom was the town with the same name, Santaki. The kingdom, albeit small, had its own knightly order, the order of the Hawk. That meant that the Kingdom had some importance in the politics of Hammerfell but it also meant that other smaller kingdoms may gather around Santaki and fight against Sentinel. I never really understood why Redguards or men in general fight eachother if there's no other foe to fight against. Maybe to heighten their skills? No, the answer was quite simple really. For Power. Once a man got ahold of better, he never could really let go of it. The more power you have the more power you crave. King Lhotun obviously had too much power for the regional kingdoms to bear, so they rebelled against him. Quite simple if you look at it from a political point of view.

The capital was a rather big town. It was quite smaller than Sentinel though but bigger than any other town I had seen before. The seal of the order that was etched on my cuirass was concealed by a cloak and so were the seals of the knights under my command. I didn't want someone to see that knights from Sentinel had arrived to settle affairs with Santaki. The palace was not a big or tall building, it was merely three storeys high. I could see an open balcony leading to the throne room at the last floor. There were also knights of the Hawk standing guard near the palace. Even though they came from an issolated kingdom such as Santaki those knights looked fierce.

Once we reached the gate of the palace, a knight stopped us to ask us of our business with their king. I didn't exactly think of an excuse on the way so I had to improvise.
"We come from Sentinel to bring word on King Lhotun's movements." I said in an official tone.

"Sentinel eh? Why do you have to bring the news to the King personally? I thought that sir Greklith was in charge of intelligence." the knight said with a suspicious voice. He was also constantly looking at my knights who were behind me.

"Our duties are to transmit this information to his Majesty personally." I said, trying to keep the lie going. He seemed to believe me.

"Very well then. If the King specificaly required that you meet him I won't interfere. Carry on!" the guard said as he opened the gate. How polite of him! I'm sure that he will be pounding his head after I slay his treacherous king.

A few minutes later we were standing in front of the king of Santaki. He was a man close to old age with a small beard and long, flowing, hair. He looked at me and my men with his brown eyes and asked what my business was in Santaki. He seemed confused and I felt sorry to slay him because he looked like an innocent man.

"What is your business in Santaki, travellers?" the king asked.

"We come from Sentinel with news and counsel." I said, with a soft tone that calmed him down a little.

"Counsel? What counsel? I think I can handle my own kingdom, despite my advancing age." the king said with a hostile voice. Alright so he didn't like advice. It wasn't as if he had much choice when it came to the advice I was about to give him.

"King Lhotun of Sentinel advises you to lay down your outrageous claims and slanders against him. He also advises you that uprisings are very dangerous for men of advanced age such as your fine self." I said in a cold voice.

"Men as myself? King Lhotun now mocks me! I will not lay down my just claims! Hammerfell must be free!" the old king shouted.

"The king of Ephesus had the same opinion regarding the King's counsel. He dissapeared shortly after he made his opinions public and his cousin now peacefuly rules the kingdom. I would not want the same happening to yourself." I said, trying to scare the old king.

"I know why you're here. Lhotun sent his assassins after me. He is a coward not to face me in just battle!" the old king shouted.

"Neither I nor his Majesty see a brave, young King fighting against an old man as a just battle. I think you will agree with our opinions." I said with a sarcastic tone. This man was really pushing my indulgence to the very limit.

"Your king is a filthy coward! And so are his men!" the old man shouted.

Before the old king could say another word he fell down on the floor. His throat was pierced by a small dart. Blood started flowing shortly until it reached our feet. Our job was done! Slaying old men with darts really wasn't my style but at least it payed well, well enough to manage the estate that Lord Vhosek left me. Before the guards could react we were already outside the palace and into the crowded streets of the city.

Once we reached the gatehouse, one of the knights under my command entered as the others, myself included, exited the city. Shortly after, the guard inside the gathehouse fell out of a small window. The knight inside had done his job well. He was more lightly armoured than the rest of us and he was adept in sneaking around and stabbing people when they weren't looking. He then fired a flaming arrow into the sky. The army waiting for us outside soon stormed the town with the gates open. The town guards and even the knights of the Hawk surrendered once they saw what was pouring through their open gates. The King would be pleased to hear of my actions, conquering a town without any loses and slaying a king without anyone noticing. Being an assassin though, didn't quite fit me. I lusted for the thrill of battle again. I had not fought anyone since Vhosek's rebellion. I had to return to Sentinel to report my deeds and receive my rewards anyway. I wonder what Marshal Daron has to say? I had not spoken with him since the days of the rebellion and I was anxious to speak with him again.


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That's it for the start of the chapter! I've followed advice and have used spaces between dialogue lines, tell me if you like it how it is now or if you liked it more the way it was before.

[Agent Griff]

Well, I'm actually a big fan of philosophy and all arguments concerning good and evil and what defines it, but I thought that not all people share my hobby. Anyway, I'm glad you liked it. Shows your smart people. And Mallet, what do you mean by preachy?


~~~
We had been riding for the part of a day now and Riverview still wasn't close by. Beomir kept reassuring us that we would reach Riverview soon, but I was sure that we were lost. Well, things could have been worse. For one thing we hadn't been attacked yet. Besides birds chirping and a few ferral horses grazing on the side of the road we met no living soul. Since boredom was setting in, I decided I was going to act.

"I'm going to scout out the road ahead, see if we're getting closer to Riverview." I said quickly as I rode off and left Beomir and Belwin alone.

"See if you find something to eat, I'm starving!" Beomir shouted as I galloped away. That was the last thing I worried about, keeping Beomir fed. At least Belwin wasn't complaining.

"Hm, Breton...don't those horses look tasty?" Beomir said after a short while. "How bout' you throw one of your spells and paralyze one of em'. We can eat off one of these horses for a whole day."

"I knew you Nords were peculiar but seriously, eating horses? Have we been reduced to Orcs or even Dark Elves?" Belwin said in a ridiculed voice.

"Touchy, touchy." Beomir said.

As I left the two behind to argue their culinary prefferences, I rode onwards. Nothing was to be seen, except the nearby vastness of the Alik'r to my right and a broken patchwork of gray hills and forests to my left. Excellent bandit country. We had not met anyone however and I expected it to stay as it was. Soon enough however my hopes were shattered. A sound came from further up the road. I urged my old horse, Whisper, to stop so I could listen more carefully. I could hear a powerful noise, as of thunder, coming towards me. I soon realized what was approaching. It was the thunder of hoofs. A company of riders was approaching.

I quickly dismounted and led my horse to a large group of bushes on the side of the road. As I stood the sound got louder and louder, until it seemed the horses were right on top of me. I held my sword at the ready, just in case the riders spotted me. The riders soon passed, and I looked carefully at them to see if they were friend or foe. I could see some of them wearing tabards over their armour, and tabards were something purely ceremonial, heraldic in nature. On the tabards was inscribed the symbol of a crimson sword above waves, one of the many symbols of the Forebears. As I counted, I could see at least thirty horsemen, well armed. By their direction of travel, it seemed they were going to Sentinel and coming from the direction of Rihad. If it was so, it was a bad sign. It meant that the king of Rihad was somewhat aware of the plots Lhotun was weaving to dethrone him. I had to move quickly.

I quickly grabbed the reins of Whisper and led him back on the road then started riding back to Belwin and Beomir. If the Forebears had questioned them, I hoped they didn't reveal who I was. As I was riding however, I was careless to look around my surroundings. I soon heard a shout. My horse abruptly stopped, frightened by the sudden noise. Typical of him to do so. As I looked around I could see I was being surrounded by the Forebears, weapons at the ready. Belwin and Beomir were with them as well.

"What do we have here? A spy of the Crowns I hope, for my blade has not bathed in Crown blood for a long time." the supposed leader of the Forebears said, as they surrounded me. Belwin and Beomir remained silent.

"Neither have I, ever since me and my men took Verkath back from the Crowns. I slew a great many Crowns...back then." I said, timidly trying to convince them I meant them no harm.

"If you took back Verkath from the Crowns...it must mean that you're from Sentinel! We are brothers then, for Sentinel has ever been the craddle of the Forebears! I suppose you've been to the 'Rusting-Crown' tavern haven't you? That's where most of us spend our time." the leader of the Forebears said.

"Oh, the 'Rusting-Crown'. I've been there before. The bartender is a heck of a guy!" I said with a forced smile. In reality I wasn't lying. Just that I was afraid what the Forebears would do when they saw what I did to their tavern.

"Oh, you mean Sterdecan. Aye. You should see him swing his axe. He makes Nords pale in comparisson." the Forebear leader said, receiving a glare from Beomir in the process.

"And from where do you hail, friends?" I asked, since curiosity and fear had overcome me.

"We come from Taneth to bring word to King Lhotun. We have been hearing that he has been intimidating our enclaves in Sentinel into joining a faction of his own making, and loyal to him. If this so-called king thinks he can push us Forebears around, he's got another thing coming. Besides, the Imperials are looking for any occasion to dethrone him. The only thing which could get in our way is the support he has from his people." the Forebear leader said, angrily. I was tempted to knock his head off with my scimitar but the temptation quickly faded. Knowing Lhotun, the Forebear envoy would probably be found floating down river to Taneth in barells or hacked up and bereft of their possesions in a ditch on the side of the road. Lhotun was quite inventive and I was curious to see what he would do with this envoy. Once I returned of course.

"And what of my companions, this Breton and this Nord." I asked.

"Odd company you have. Still, we are Forebears and we are open to new ideas and clever thinking. Not like those Crown scum, bogged down by their traditional doctrines. But enough talk, we must make haste to Sentinel. Farewell friend! May your blade always strike true against the crowns!" the Forebear leader said as he urged his men to continue the ride.

Feeling relieved to have safely eluded the Forebears, we continued on the road to Riverview. True to Beomir's words we soon arrived in the border-town, which was nestled between the kingdoms of Sentinel and Taneth. Taneth was another one of the Forebear cities, along with Rihad. They had challenged us in the past and I sensed that they would be our next target. Clavilla, the queen of Taneth, had tried to revoke the charther of all independent guilds in Sentinel on claims that the allowed worship of the Redguard god Satakal in our lands was heretical. The allowed worship of Satakal was one of the compromises Lhotun had to make to get the Crowns on his side. Being traditionalistic as they were, they wouldn't have it any other way.

We made our way through the streets of Riverview, looking for an inn to spend the night. Soon enough, we found one. It was named "Divad's Haven" and it was a big three-storied building which seemed clean from the outside. A great wooden door with a few holes in it greeted us as we entered. Most of the regulars threw one look at us then resumed their business, but one group looked at us intently as we made our way to the bar.

"Those fellows, they look like trouble." Beomir said, clearly speaking from experience.

"Do you know them?" I asked, cautiously.

"No. But I've seen enough of their kind to recognize them. Cutthroats by the look of it. They've seen you're wearing fancy armour so they must think you're rich. They'll try to ambush us and take all our belongings. Probably while we're sleeping." Beomir said, calmly.

"Sounds bad. My sword doesn't like it when it's woken up early." I said.

"You sleep with your sword?" Belwin asked, pretty ignorant of the fact that a lot of people wanted me dead.

"Don't we all?" I casually replied.

"I have an idea! Follow me outside." Beomir said as he left the inn. We all followed him.

Soon enough we were outside and waiting around. After a minute had passed, I wanted to ask Beomir why we were sitting around like idiots instead of renting a room. He just stood there, looking at the inn door. Soon enough however, I realized what he was waiting for. The men that had been staring at us left the inn, throwing one last look at us before leaving. Beomir turned to us after throwing one of them a fearsome look.

"Well, at least we have their attention." Beomir said.

"And that's a good thing?" Belwin asked with a somewhat worried voice.

"I didn't say that. Now listen carefully. I'll go after them, and they'll surely ambush me and try to make me tell them where our money is and what our most valuable possesions are." Beomir said, waving his hands about in an odd fashion as he spoke.

"And that helps us how?" I asked rather bluntly.

"Let me finish. Before I live, Belwin casts an invisibility spell on you and himself and you two will follow me. When they ambush me, we kill em'. Sounds like a plan?" Beomir asked rather plainly. He didn't really seem to realize he wasn't an outlaw free to kill people anymore. Still, at least his plan was simple and easy to put into practice.

"I understand you did this a lot in your 'former' days." Belwin said, rather sarcastically.

"Well, yes. Only that I was the one who did the ambushing, and my targets were the ones who did the dying. This time we'll turn the tables on them." Beomir said rather confidently.

"Well, let's get to it then. No point standing around with a bunch of guys who want to kill us. Lead the way, Beomir." I said.

"One last thing! Here." Beomir said as he handed over his axe to Belwin, who looked at it rather frightened. "I have a dagger so don't worry."

"Do you want me to...lop something with it?" Belwin asked rather anxiously.

"Not unless you want to. Just hold it for me. That way I'll look more vulnerable." Beomir said. Yeah, as vulnerable as a Nord can look without an axe strapped to his back. Belwin however seemed much more at ease when he heard he needn't use the axe.

As Belwin cast the invisibility spell, Beomir started going ahead. We soon followed. As he walked, Beomir went past one of the cutthroats, who soon started walking after him. As he went even further, the other three remaining cutthroats were all standing near the side of a building, seemingly talking with eachother. As soon as one saw Beomir however, they all started casually heading towards him. As soon as they had surrounded him, they drew their daggers and pointed them towards him. Beomir looked around trying to spot us.

"Well, well, what do we have here? New guys in town? You must know that all newcomers to Riverview have to give us something. A gift of sorts." the apparent leader of the cutthroats said.

Before he could continue, I drew my sword and the invisibility spell ended. As soon as I could notice that the spell had ended I already slashed one of the cutthroats by the back of the head, sending him down to the ground screaming in pain. Before the others could react, Beomir quickly drew out his dagger and grabbed the cutthroat which had talked to him, at the same time thrusting the dagger in his neck. He then quickly pulled the dagger out then pushed the wounded man into one of his companions, knocking both of them to the ground. As he stood, one of the cutthroats lunged at him to stab him in the back of the head. I quickly noticed however and slashed him across the belly with my scimitar as he ran towards Beomir.

Beomir turned towards me to thank me, and I could see that he had blood all over his clothes and on his face as well. That's what usually happened when you stabbed someone in the neck up close. Sweat from the tension had also mingled with the blood and a sticky liquid with a taint of iron had resulted. Before we could notice however, one of the cutthroats which Beomir had merely knocked down quickly rose from the ground and grabbed Beomir by the neck, dagger in hand. The cutthroat froze before he could stab Beomir however. He had been paralyzed by Belwin, which had been watching the fight petrified. It seemed he had never seen brutal killing up close. If he was to travel with me, it wouldn't be the last time either.

Beomir quickly hugged the Breton, thanking him in the name of several of his ancestors, which were more or less renowned in his family, as was the custom with Nords. I was then terribly amused by the sight of Belwin's disgust with all the blood stains Beomir had left on his fine robes.

"It happens in battle, friend. Quite a lot you'll discover. Now let's go back to the inn to get a room and get you cleaned up."

With that, we hurried back to the inn, before the town watch could realize what had happened. Hopefully when they would, the paralyzed cutthroat would take the blame for the murder of his friends.

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That's it for this update.

This post has been edited by Agent Griff: Sep 25 2007, 09:03 PM