Chapter 1 - Dawn at Flumevar

In a dimly lit tent, the rose-colored light accompanied by the distant roar of trebuchets and indiscernible shouting, Agnes's eyes slowly opened. The distant noise was familiar to her by now, comforting. Under the many layers of fur, she took a moment to enjoy the rough and soft warmth she was about to give up and pondered whether she really wanted to after all. She slowly turned and looked to the other side of the tent and saw that the bed there was already empty. She mumbled small complaints of nothing to no one while she fixed her long auburn hair, tucked it in the light green caped hood she was donning, and slipped into her boots before heading out. She tried to wipe the weariness from her striking silvery-green eyes and youthful face and stretched to greet the day.

As she lifted the rough fabric of the tent above her head and stepped outside she saw the two huge mountains that were embracing the valley below her on both sides. A great rose-colored semi-transparent plate moved ever so slightly across the sky gradually letting in more and more light, she could of course never see the end of it to north or south but that didn't stop her from peeking in curiosity just in case every morning. Towards the west, she could just barely see in the far distance as the night cast by the plate wandered onward before curving up, showing its hex-patterned, faintly dark backside. Towards the east she saw the golden and brilliantly bright peaks of snow-capped mountains as they also ever so slightly curved up in the distance along with the ring itself, reflecting the sunlight. Gradually turning into dark hills and forests before fading from view in the distant sky.

She looked down and a tapestry of beauty and conflict lay before her accompanied by the smells of pines, animals, and humanity. A river flowed through the heart of the valley, its waters reflecting the soft hues of dawn and splitting the land in two. On the right bank of the river, the formidable castle of Flumevar stood proudly atop a hill. Its ornate tower, stylish walls, and picturesque disposition would almost look beautiful if not for the blockhouses and square towers that were built in a hurry at the bottom of the hill, making it both easier to defend against armies equipped with the latest cannons and less pleasant to look at. The blockhouses looked especially decrepit since they were the first target of the cannons. Originally, they were round structures with thick reinforced walls and many holes for the defender's lower caliber cannons to shoot through, but by now they have been reduced to piles of rubble with no discernable shape. The walls connecting them at the foot of the hill to create an outer defense weren't fairing much better either.

At the near side of the moat, there were a few hundred meters of buildings and occasional ruins before the palisades and fortifications of the siege camp appeared. There, rows of heavy cannons with idle crews were resting while the trebuchets behind them were preparing for the next volley. In the widely spread forest of tents and campfires, they looked as though they were giant birds reaching their neck down to pick at the undergrowth. The cold wind of dawn made her quiver for a moment. She pulled the pelt-covered robe closer together on her chest when a deep and raspy voice called to her.

Good morning.

A tall, wide man came trudging up the hillside to her with a thick black beard framing his face. Agnes was used to him after so many years and most of the time saw a young man, barely older than she was, but for a split moment before the recognition set in, she saw someone whose looks doubled his age. He was, just like her, covered in furs, unlike her though, he appeared as though he was returning from a vast tundra expedition. The multiple thick layers of sheep and goat furs seemed exceedingly warm even in this chilly morning weather, and it exaggerated his already towering figure to a truly intimidating presence. He was carrying a thick metal shield resting on a hook on his back fixated by leather straps over his fur coat and holstered three silvery flintlock pistols on his chest pointing in alternating directions. He put a basket he was carrying on a piece of log around the cold and empty patch of ground where the campfire roared yesterday, and lifted a small sack he was carrying from his shoulder and put it next to it.

"Could you help me with this?" -The man asked."Morning Harek! Yes, sure. What have you brought?"

Agnes walked up to the basket and gasped as she saw six eggs, a large piece of bacon, and two round pieces of bread.

"How did you get all this? I thought you said we must get by with rations!""I won it on dice."

He said, then started breaking up branches that were left over from the previous night and placed them in the hole surrounded by a few larger rocks.

"What? I thought you didn't gamble." -She said with surprised skepticism."I don't. There are potatoes and some onions in the bag." -He said plainly before asking.- "Where are the others? Still sleeping?""I don't know, just woke up not long ago myself." -She said while chewing on a bite of cheese. Its tangy and sharp taste permeated her mouth.– "But hold on let's get back to the gambling part.""First, let's get to the part where you don't eat all our cheese again, please." -He said jokingly.- "Could you get the pan as well? I'll get started on the fire.""How long will you keep bringing that up? It was getting moldy, and I asked if anyone wanted some." -She retorted with exaggerated annoyance in her voice."Until it stops being funny." -The man stated matter of fact."Back to the dice, please!" -Agnes said while cleaning the pan."There is not much to tell really. I went to buy a few eggs from camp and on the way two completely pissed fellows asked me to watch the next dice roll. I did. Not sure what the result was. They both started shouting and laughing. One was screaming or crying, I think. Then I got those handed to me. Then there was a fight...I think. It was all rather confusing and happened quickly, so then I came back."

Agnes shook out the rest of the water from the pan and then hooked it on the metal stand next to the pile of sticks Harek had been creating.

"Well...you should play dice more often." -She said, impressed."I think the lesson is I should keep *not* playing dice." -He answered, tapping at his head.

Agnes shrugged and then asked:

"Do you want to try lighting the fire?""Yeah, sure." -He said, unsure.

Harek looked around for a piece of rock that would have a suitable flat shape, then he picked one up that seemed good enough for the job and cleaned off the dirt from it with his fingers and robe.

"Do you have any more of your cream?""I'm not giving you that! Do you know how long it takes to prepare it? Use a piece of charcoal or something.""Fine, fine..."

He felt his hand around under the kindling in the heap of ash took out a small block of charcoal, and then started attentively drawing 3 simple symbols on the rock from right to left.

"You know it would be a lot easier if you just used a carved one. It's a rock it's not going to burn away anyway." -Agnes butted in."I hate carving, and I already lost two of them, I'm not making a third.""Your loss.""Be silent I'm concentrating." -He said absentmindedly.

Harek murmured while not moving his eyes away from his work.

Agnes put up her hand apologetically and waited.

"There." -He leaned back proudly, holding his hands around the rock, shielding it."Okay, you know the drill."

Harek stood up and showed her rock with the fresh runes high to the sky for a few seconds, then let it go and as it started falling in mid-air the rock burst into flame and fell on the kindling, quickly starting a fire.

"Good job!" -Agnes started to clap enthusiastically.

Harek forced away an excited grin, but his eyes were shining which Agnes acknowledged with a smile.

"Thanks. Are the others" -Ah right I just asked that.

With that, he strolled to the other two tents, opened their flaps, bowed down in an almost comical degree, and began calling out to them in a resonant voice.

"Rise and shine! Robert, Erick! Get up if you don't want to miss breakfast!"

Erick murmured in his bed, then as Harek looked to the right he noticed Robert was missing from his one.

"What are we having Mom?" –Erick asked jokingly in a half-awake voice."Eggs and bacon sweetheart."

Harek answered in a surprisingly high-pitched voice compared to his usual deep tone, before switching back.

"Get up before I kiss you good morning.""Right, right...yeah...in a bit..." -Erick trailed off and yawned.

Approaching the next tent, he peered inside once again.

"Adrian! Patrick!"

As he gazed inside, their tent appeared entirely vacant.

"What, did everyone decide to be an early riser today?"

He asked as he was rising out of the tent. I can barely get you out before noon usually.

"Oh, you're one to talk, when was the last time you got up before me? Well...besides today...nevermind..."

Agnes said as she was laying the bacon on the pan, which responded with a loud sizzling.

"Besides, not much has been happening for the last few weeks anyway. Could really go for more contracts like this if it wasn't so boring.""Fair enough."

Harek agreed and sat down on a nearby log, then took a deep breath. The smells of fire and sizzling bacon filled the air.

"Hmm, smells good.""Yes, it does."

Agnes agreed as she started to crack open the eggs.

"How long will this take?""A couple of minutes and it should be good. Depends on how hard you want them. I'd turn around the bacon a few times though it's way too-"

Agnes cut in before he could finish.

"The siege I mean." -She rolled her eyes."Oh right. I mean it's only been a couple of weeks. These can go a lot longer you know.""I know but you said it would only be a week or two."

Agnes sighed with a hint of disappointment in her voice. Harek looked towards the trebuchet.

"Well, that's what Frederick told me and to his credit, he would have been right if not for the barrier."

He thought back on the moment the canons were pointed at the walls proper after pulverizing the blockhouses and towers at the bottom of the hill and the collective sigh of disappointment as thousands of men watched the cannonballs fly toward the stone. Barely touched it, and at once as if they lost all energy and momentum fell to the ground. He looked back to Agnes who was clearly unsatisfied with his answer.

"Let's try again." He thought.

"The trebuchets seem to be working, thank the Cipher, or in this case despite it I suppose. Clearly, the walls had a new kind of rune etched into them."

As if to emphasize his point the side of his and Agnese's face lit up orange for a moment, then a heartbeat later the air cracked as the payload of the trebuchets exploded on the walls of the castle.

"Working quite well even."

He added as he looked towards the castle, with a grin on his face. He wasn't a man who'd take joy in violence just for the sake of it, but the sight of human ingenuity finding ways to destroy things no matter how resilient they were, filled him with childish excitement and wonder

"So, it can't be long now I promise."

Of course, Harek knew that Agnes wasn't concerned with this job taking too long as much as she was excited about their payment. Harek had agreed with the others to forego a sizable chunk of their regular payment in favor of getting a Book of Runes from Lord Frederick which he promised was from a properly sanctified scriptorium. All in an unwritten agreement of course as Frederick was happy enough to get rid of contraband as big as that and to save a nice sum on hiring The Black Bears Band.

He thought about just buying a copy for her through the black market, but many fakes were circulating as it was incredibly hard to get your hands on one without the proper connections. Using a fake in turn almost guaranteed that sooner or later you'd try a combination that wasn't properly scribed, and you'd lose a limb or two, more if you were unlucky. Not to mention the outrageous amount of silver he'd have to scrape together for it in the first place.