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]

You will have quite some catching up to do Planty. I myself re-read every chapter before resuming the story so I could properly know what Arthago has been doing and have intimate knowledge of past events. Re-reading all the story only took me 3-4 hours so it shouldn't be that hard. Oh, and Jack, you're making me jealous! Your replies to Redrock's "The Last Heir" are gigantic compared to your replies to my story. I must say that he is a rather good writer, and he's new so he deserves helping but still. Anyway, to resume...

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As we stood in the crowded back-room we began making plans. It would be hard, but I had learned a thing or two while being around Lhotun. First thing to do was to properly ruin your political opponent's reputation. Spread nasty rumours about him, slander him, do anything it takes to make him look like a fool in the eyes of the people. Second thing was to take away said opponent's support, whatever that may be. In my case, this support was the Orcs and the Legion. The Legion in itself was too big of a target to take down but the Orcs could be handled. Third of all, and this was something which Lhotun was a very big fan of, take out your opponent proper. Since I was merely passing by and didn't have too many resources I wasn't going to even attempt to assassinate Clavilla. For now, I would have to settle with merely slandering her in front of her own people and instilling a revolutionary attitude in Taneth.

"Well, first of all, have any strange thing been going on in town?" I asked, sparking the discussion. Bodean and Jon seemed to think for a few moments before finally replying.

"If you mean something which might be of concer to Clavilla, and to us, the wife of the Captain of the Guard has recently dissapeared in mysterious circumstances. The Captain of the Guard is also, coincidentally, an Imperial." Jon said.

"Hm, we might use that to our advantage. If we could somehow prove to the populace of Taneth that the Captain murdered his wife we could show everyone how 'noble' and 'civilised' Imperials really are. When was his wife last seen?" I asked.

"After a particularly nasty argument she was saying that she wanted to leave the city. No one has seen her since." Bodean said, in between a few gulps of ale.

"Did she actually leave the city?" Beomir asked.

"I think so, why?" Jon asked in a rather confused voice. I was slightly confused as well, not knowing what Beomir was referring to.

"If so, I might contact a few of my former friends which have a...let's say knack for finding lost things, bodies included. They might be able to find the Captain's wife, if she is truly dead." Beomir said. We all looked at him in a rather impressed way seeing as none of us had really thought of that option.

"And if we don't find her?" Jon asked, rather anxiously.

"Find the body of a woman and pass it off as the Captain's wife, though it might be harder if we were to do so. If we're lucky however, we won't need to do this." I said, as the others looked at me in a rather disgusted way. Being around Lhotun showed.

"Let's hope we won't need to do that." Belwin said, finally breaking the silence.

"Well, after we handle the Captain of the Guard then what?" Jon asked.

"After we ruin the reputation of her allies, we slander Clavilla herself. I've seen several propaganda posters around town. I'm sure we could do something better than that. Make a leaflet and pass it around. Make sure the leaflet properly slanders Clavilla and her odd ways. I'm sure we can think of something. It's not that hard to make preposterous claims, it's hard making people believe in them. If we can prove that the Captain murdered his wife, our slanderous claims can appear much more believable." I said, weaving a plan.

"Great. That only leaves the Orcs." Bodean said, putting particular accent on the word 'Orcs'.

"Well, they are a harder nut to crack. I can't really think of any way to take them out easily." I said with a rather concerned voice. Orcs may have appeared like dumb creatures but they were cunning and tenacious, if somewhat savage and headstrong. That was what made them the most sought-after mercenaries around.

"I think I know how to take care of them." Beomir said in a sly voice. After he said that he started thinking heavily. Nobody said a word, leaving him to think over is words. "You did say that the Orcs had a conflict with the street gangs, didn't you?"

"Yes. What of it?" Jon asked, curiously.

"We could use that conflict to our advantage and take out both the Orcs and the Legionnaires helping Clavilla." Beomir said with a grin. "One of you should go to the Legion's headquarters and give the leader of the Legionnaires an anonymous tip concerning a gathering of the street gangs. A little while after that, another one of you should go to the Orcs telling them that a street gang would be splitting the loot from a profitable heist and that the Legion is already going for it. Knowing Orcs are greedy as hell, they would rush to the place to get there before the Legion does. They get to the place and find it barren besides the Legionnaires, which have been already tipped off."

"And they find each other then stand around, how does that help us?" Bodean interrupted rather rudely. With a glare, Beomir replied.

"Let me finish! Before we tip off either the Legion or the Orcs, one of us goes to the street gangs and tells them that both the Orcs and a number of Leggionaires will be gathered at a certain place at a certain time, looking for loot that isn't there. That would be the perfect opportunity to spring an ambush and kill them all. Since they would be caught by surprise, the Orcs and the Legionnaires would all be killed. Trust me, I've done this before. It's sure to work." Beomir said, ending with a large grin.

"Hm...brilliant plan, except for one thing. How do we get the street gangs to cooperate?" Jon asked.

"You did say that the Orcs and the gangs hate each other don't you? What better way to make them cooperate than giving them the opportunity to completely elliminate the opposing side?" Beomir asked.

"You've surprised me yet again Beomir. I now see why Lhotun hired you for this job." I said with a smile. Beomir had, thus far, proved very useful. Belwin on the other hand hadn't been of much use. I didn't loose faith in him however.

"Well...I have my uses." Beomir replied after drinking some mead from a pewter tankard.

"Now that we have made our plan, I must tell you one more thing, my friends." I said, preparing to reveal to Jon and Bodean who was behind my appearance in Taneth.

"And what may that be, Vilamon?" Jon asked in a curious voice. At the same time, Bodean was looking at me suspiciously while trying to grab a dagger he was obviously hiding in his boot.

"There is no reason to prepare your dagger Bodean, though you may hold it if it makes you feel better. My name isn't really Vilamon. I'm neither a knight-errant, though I am a knight. My name is Arthago, and I hail from the city and kingdom of Sentinel. I am on a mission for my king, King Lhotun son of Camaron. Know that if my plans have any success it is all because of the training and counsel I have received from His Majesty. Know also that he wishes what is best for both Taneth and its people. In due time, I am sure he will rid you of Queen Clavilla." I said, in a rather fanciful speech which I didn't use that often.

"Hm, our friend reveals himself. I was pretty suspicious of the Knight-Errant bit in the first place. I wondered why a supposedly chivalrous knight would use such lowly, dishonourable methods. If these methods have been taught to you by King Lhotun himself I despair to think such a man may one day rule all of Hammerfell." Jon said in a rather disgusted way. It seemed he wasn't a fan of Lhotun's methods. Fair enough, neither was I. I had grown in wisdom in the last years. In other days, I would have simply drawn my blade and beheaded the man for slandering Lhotun's name.

"Leave the man alone Jon. He does what is necessary to maintain his position. It is a cruel world we live in, not the honourable world of your dreams. If you have been taught by King Lhotun himself, I am honoured to be working with you, Sir Arthago." Bodean said in his usual rough voice. This was a surprise. A realist who had no qualm with Lhotun's methods. I was nothing short of amazed.

"Well, now that that's settled I think we should all get a good night's sleep since we have a hard day ahead of us. Revolutionaries like us always do." I said, ending my sentence with a yawn. I was getting tired.

"I've already talked with the publican. Your rooms are upstairs, second and third doors on the right. Be gentle with the furniture." Jon said as he rose from the table.

As everyone left the table, we made our way to our rooms. I was in a somewhat larger room with two beds, while the other room was a smaller one with only a single bed. Knowing Beomir and Belwin didn't quite get along, and that Beomir was prone to getting into trouble, I decided to stay in the room with Belwin. Beomir would have to sleep...and do whatever might come through his odd mind alone. As Beomir took off his robes he put on some pants and a shirt which he used to sleep in. I took off my cape then hung it on a hook near the door. I also hung my scabbard on the same hook. I kept my scimitar next to me, just in case. Belwin gave me an odd look the whole time.

"Why do you keep your sword near you at all times?" Belwin asked, rather curiously.

"I've attracted the attention of some dangerous people during my time in the service of King Lhotun." I said, rather plainly.

"Hm, why you warriors must always have someone to boss you around I'll never understand. Being a mage is much more flexible. People generally leave you alone in some places where mages are considered something ocult, and people treat you with respect and don't start giving you menial tasks in places where mages are properly treated." Belwin said, rather annoyed. He was right however.

"I'm not really sure. I for one have always favoured the notion of the intelligent fighter, and I consider myself as such. For that matter, in the past months I've done nothing a common thug or hired blade would. I've not fought a single battle with anyone, and my blade is almost crying because of it. Most of the time I've been more of an agent to my Lord than anything." I said.

"Well, you are right. You showed your apptitude for leadership and for politics in the discussion with Jon and his friend, I believe it was Bodean, wasn't it? Anyway, not many have such an intimate knowledge of the 'dark' side of politics as you do Arthago. That shows you are quite intelligent." Belwin said with a knowing smile.

"What do you mean by the 'dark' side of politics?" I asked, pretending not to know what he meant. I of course knew that he meant my skill with political subterfuge, but I just liked asking about the obvious.

"Well, let's just say that I'm no stranger of clandestine politics myself. I didn't spend my time in Anticlere peddling potions and learning minor spellcraft you know? The Lord of Anticlere, Lord Auberon Flyte was quite a cunning one. He liked to utilise this type of tactics as well. Enough about my more than shady past however. We should rest since, like you said, we have a hard day ahead of us." Belwin said as he closed his eyes.

"Alright then. Good night Belwin." I said as I did the same. After pondering the plan a bit in my head I soon fell to sleep. It was a long and hard ride all the way to Taneth, and the journey had taken its toll on me. It wasn't even close to finishing however. If the gods were with us, and luck was also on our side, we would be out of Taneth by the third day.

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That's it for this rather short update. I was in a hurry when I wrote it so I hope you can understand.