Motion II

The lands north of the Coral Sea were occupied by the forces of light, and were poor in natural resources.  Crops didn’t bring in much income so if you were going to prosper rather than just survive you had to take the risk of raising livestock.  Very few could afford to raise horses because there is no byproduct from horses and they were too valuable to use pulling a plow.  Because of this most horses were for knights and their squires and even then in a lot of cases the squires didn’t have horses. If the truth was known some years there was more income from the horses than from the tax on the bridges for Methuselah. 

 Methuselah thought that he had the golden touch when it came to raising horses.  He also had a reputation as the shrewdest horse trader north of the Coral Sea.  He stopped with Tess in front of the stables and signaled to one of the stable boys to bring out his present.  Tess had a confused look on her face as five perfect specimens of horse flesh fully outfitted with saddle and tack were led out of the stable.  Methuselah knew he had outdone himself this time by the look on her face. Smiling and gesturing to the horses he whispered quietly into her ear “These are for you and what you call your troops.  Now you won’t have to walk to your wedding.  Not that you need it but these should raise your standing with Hadassah.”  This was generosity beyond measure or precedent.

Tess leaned into Methuselah’s shoulder resting her head on him and murmured, “You sly old man, you know I can’t complain about the dwarfs now even if I wanted too.”  They both stood still enjoying the closeness that they felt too each other.  Then Tess stood back and slapped Methuselah on the arm and exclaimed, “And the truth is they aren’t going to be much of a problem. By the time the summer is out they will know enough about our honor that it won’t be an insult when they realize they have their freedom.”  Reaching back she pinched his arm and said, “If Cam can’t convince them to swallow their pride then Clara will.  You wanted everyone thinking how clever you are at my expense.”  Gently she said, “You are a sly old man.”

Cam, a dwarf, has been the Gabriel sergeant of arms for over two hundred years and his wife Clara follows him wherever he went acting as chief cook and camp taskmaster.  They both had a reputation of toughness and caring to go along with their loyalty to the Gabriel family.

Tess gave Methuselah a quick hug and a peck on the cheek and then strolled casually to the horse she had picked out as hers, a black mare.  She threw her arms around the neck of the horse and gave it a warm hug and then started inspecting the horse asking, “Does it have a name?”

Methuselah laughed, “Give her whatever name you want but I call her Midnight”

Tess excitedly said, “That is perfect.”

Then she called the four young ladies that were her troops to her and informed them of her grandfather’s generosity.  This earned him a hug and kiss from each one.

Luke and Silas were standing behind Methuselah watching the excitement and enjoying it.  Luke declared, “What some old men won’t do for a little affection.” Silas gave a bellowed laugh then Luke continued, “It’s time we leave I am starting to feel an urgency for us to be on our way. I think we have about six days to get up the old road to Miller’s Pass, for most a seven day journey.  My brothers will be waiting on us and I don’t like the feeling I am getting, thinking that we may be late.  Silas make it happen.”

Silas turned to finish organizing the departure.  With a few words he had the one hundred recruits that he had spent the winter training lined up and ready to march. The students all had green crosses on their shields to signify that they fought for the house of Gabriel.  They all hoped that one day they could become squires in the St. Gabriel Order, then advancing to Knights in the Order.

 It was a large expense to feed and outfit new troops for six months, but that is how long it took to teach them how to work as a team and to have some semblance of mastering their weapons.  If they were not trained or didn’t have their stamina built up before they had to fight almost half of them would never see home again.  Silas had worked the young men through long, hard days and sometimes into the winter nights to make sure that they were ready.

Each young man had come from a farm on the peninsula and almost all of them had no prospects of inheriting the family farm because they were younger brothers.  Most of the farms on the peninsula had been divided years ago to the point that they were not much more than crofts that would only support one family.

There were a few farms that would support more than just one family and might require a hired servant.  There were very few ranches and they were mainly part of an estate. Feudal lords owned estates and they were large enough to require tenants, indentured servants, or hired help. The local high lord determined the feudal lords title depending on the amount of troops he had available along with their effectiveness, and his influence on the local economy.

  Most of the young men came from families that did not have the ability to provide them with weapons to fight with unless it was an axe or club.  It was a boon to them that in return for their allegiance to the house of Gabriel and seven years of service that they would be provided spears, shields, a long knife, and chain mail for their torsos. This would greatly increase their chances of surviving the seven years of service, this and good leadership.  In addition once it was determined that they would not cut their own leg off with it they would be provided with a short sword.  Before this could happen they would have to master the use of a spear and shield and work well with a partner as a cog in a larger team or fist.

Shem and Methuselah had picked physically able young men that were young enough to still be on the croft but old enough to train in the martial arts.  These young men needed a place to go but didn’t have any prospects.  This would give Silas the troops that he needed and provide a future for someone that only had dim prospects.  If they didn’t sign on with a lord that could provide decent arms and training they would be stuck fighting for a poor lord that wasted them, and more than likely fifty percent or more wouldn’t survive the first year.  Methuselah couldn’t equip all of the young men that would come of age each year under his sovereignty and this opportunity assuaged his heart.  When Silas got to the fortress the barracks that Methuselah assigned to these recruits were full.

Now as spring came it was time to put the training to the test.  Luke and Silas said their goodbyes and started their little army on its way.  The army was headed north and at this point consisted of two mounted paladins, one hundred spearmen, six wagons pulled by oxen, their drivers loaded with supplies, and four dwarfs. Last too leave was five happy young ladies with thin lances resting in the stirrups of their saddles each pulling a donkey loaded with gear. 

The letter from the king of Norp had been forgotten by everyone but Methuselah.     

The Plan Goes In Motion

The fortress was built on a knoll that looked over a river and extended down toward it.  The river flowed around the fortress like a snake so that it provided protection on three sides.  Three bridges crossed the river; one for each side.  They were the only bridges across the river and allowed on the peninsula.  If one was to look at a map the fortress was built in the middle of the start of a peninsula that extended to the southwest. It was a couple days walk to get from the fortress to the sea on the south side of the peninsula were the river emptied, and the same to get to the ocean on the north side.  It was called the White Fortress for the pale stone used to build it.  Within the fortress was a large city.  The tolls for crossing the river provided the Lord of the fortress with a treasury that supported the troops needed to make sure that no additional bridges were built and that no pig lovers ever made it to the other side. 

            Methuselah sat on the palace steps within the fortress taking his morning repast as he looked down on the training grounds below him.  He had a full white beard and a bald head with a face that showed his age.  Few men lived one hundred and fifty years and Methuselah was one hundred and seventy two.  Even at his age he carried a sword on his hip and a spear was resting against the wall.  With him was Luke Gabriel dressed in his full armor with a green cross on the front and back that designated him as a paladin.  The green of the crosses showed that he was aligned with the religious order of St. Gabriel. Only fitting since St. Gabriel was his father.  Methuselah’s family and Luke’s family had been allies for centuries.

Few men had the financial backing to spend enough time training to become a knight and acquire the necessary tools.  Only a knight that had earned a reputation in the science of war would be considered as a paladin and then the knight would need to have the same skill level in spiritual matters.  The phrase “it takes one too know one” applies to the paladin.  They find out that they have become one of the twelve paladins when they are presented with their second cross and informed that the spirit of light has chosen them to fill a vacancy in the twelve.  Of all of Methuselah’s sons, grandsons and great-grandsons only one, Shem had the honor of being a Paladin, the rest were knights or knights in training.  His grandson was the leader of the order of St. Michael.  Methuselah prided himself with having enough common sense to pass the job onto the best man for it and obviously his grandson Shem was the best man.  Shem’s duties required him to be absent from the White Fortress most of the time.   

            Being a paladin made it easier to recruit troops because of the definite advantage in being able to sense evil and tell how far away it was. Their virtue and goodness were unquestioned, so the troops knew that they would be well looked after and their lives would not be thrown away.   

            Upon hearing steps behind them, both men looked up from the table through an opening to the palace.  A ruff man and a pretty young lady came out and without formalities took seats at the table.  The young lady was dressed to travel with a leather jerkin showing within the opening of her cloak.  She had blond hair cut short and carried a thin spear.  The man was obviously an old campaigner dressed with a green cross front and back over a chain male tunic.   His hands were scarred many times over and he was missing the first two fingers on his left hand.

            Methuselah grimaced, looked at his granddaughter, and spoke to the old campaigner.  “Silas, she looks like her brother. She dresses like her dad.” He shook his head and raised his eyebrows.  He touched the small green cross on the shoulder of her cloak, “This looks new? She has a green cross on the shoulder of her cloak; tell me does she think she is Hadassah?”

            The young lady smiled at her grandfather, gave Silas a look that clearly said she knew who had whom wrapped around whose delicate little finger.

            Silas retorted, “First time I ever heard about a bride taking a spear to her wedding.  She hasn’t seen the boy in three years. You would think she would want to see if he has grown a hump walking around with the dwarfs all that time, he might be bent over and ugly as Luke’s horse by now.  Their babies will be born with beards and want to fight with axes before they learn to talk. ”

             “If the stories are true, your first wife had to force you to marry your second wife with a spear and stand behind you with it pressed to your back before you would kneel down to be wed.  And if my first boy has a beard when he is born we will hand him an axe and call him Silas.  You will be his godfather and teach him how to use the axe and comb his beard.”  She reached out and gently tugged on the end of Silas’s beard. “Besides I am sure Hezekiah is still as handsome as his brothers.” She smiled at Luke and then turned to her grandfather, “And yes, I am going to emulate Hadassah.  Although, I can’t shoot a bow and expect to hit what I am aiming at, I have a solution to that little problem.”  Rather smugly she said, “I will use a crossbow.”  She turned back to Silas, “I will strap the little guy on my back and away we will go.” After taking a bite out of her grandfather’s breakfast she stood.  “I need to make sure my troops are packed.”

Methuselah patted her arm and said, “I will come down to say goodbye in a minute, honey.” Down the stairs she went to the training ground.

Luke smiled and said quietly, “I seem to recall you saying something about how much you liked and respected Hadassah and wish more women would act like her.”

Methuselah scowled, “Shhhhhh.  Watch what you say she might hear you.”  He shook his head, “You look out for her, both of you, if she waits any longer to marry I won’t be around to see the bearded little devil and I am tired of waiting.  Her grandmother is turning over in her grave to think that the child is twenty and not married.  They should have been married before that boy went off into the desert. I seem to remember that Hadassah didn’t wait around for Elijah to be polished before they got married.” 

 In the courtyard below, young men, obviously going off to war, started to gather around wagons that were loaded and yoked to very large oxen.  There was a disturbance at the gate as a number of knights with red crosses on their fronts entered the court yard.  Behind them, pulled by a large ox, was a wagon with a driver, and four dwarfs shackled in the back.  They were poor looking specimens of their race, rather small as dwarfs go, looking sickly, and they appeared to be a family, the parents with a son and daughter.  All had red hair which was rare for dwarfs.  The parents were lying down with their eyes closed and the two children stared out of the wagon with unfocused eyes.  Each was wearing rags. The lead knight descended from his horse and started walking in the direction of the group of young ladies gathered at the bottom of the stairs. His name was Kur and he was the brother of Gadianton the self declared king of Norp.

Methuselah swore, “Pigs Blood.”  The reason he never was able to become a paladin was his language.  Quickly the three men at the table rose and started down to the group.  They reached the bottom of the stairs in sync with the red knight as he bowed his head to the ladies.  It would be a fruitless effort to try gaining their affection, so he turned and greeted Methuselah.

 “I would not have you struggle your bones down those stairs for me, Sir, I would gladly have come to you.”  He looked at the two paladins, “Sirs,” and again bowed his head.  He then held out a letter with a red wax seal on it.  “My brother sends his compliments and an offer.  He says you should take your time to consider and if you desire I will wait at the chapter house on the other side of the river for your reply.  As a sign of his faith in your intelligence and that you will be accepting his offer he sends you a gift,” he waved his hand toward the wagon, “these slaves. He knows you do not have as strong an aversion to their race as he has.  They were caught stealing from the church.  I know they don’t look like much but he is sure that you can find some way for them to work off their servitude.”

Methuselah accepted the extended letter. Rather formally he said.  “Thank you, and thank your brother for me.  Tell him I will consider his offer carefully before I reply.  There is no need to wait for the reply. When my grandson goes east of Norp to the defenses he can bring my response.”

Kur knew that he was not well liked, so he nodded his head to the three men and then turned to his horse that was being held by one of his knights.  The dwarfs had been lowered from the wagon and leaned in the shade of the wall with their shackles removed.  Apparently the gift didn’t come with the shackles.  The red knights all turned their horses and left through the gate with the wagon following.  As it went through the gate the two paladins and the ladies all hurried over to the dwarfs.  The paladins looked into the dwarfs eyes felt their pulses and Silas turned to the gathering troops and ordered a barrel of corn liquor to be brought to him from the third wagon and someone to run to the top of the stairs to get a cup.

Luke turned to Tess and Methuselah and with disgust in his voice said, “They worked them till they were useless to them, some gift.  It will take weeks for them to recover.  They must have been without any alcohol for a long time to be in this bad of shape.”

Tess replied with angry tears, “It seems that it was cheaper to give them away than care for them.”

Luke nodded, “I have never heard of a dwarf steeling anything except in Norp. They had to have been framed. Gadianton is a reprobate. What are you going to do with them?”

Methuselah smiled and scratched his chin, “I am going to give them to my granddaughter. I think her and her in-laws will know how to care for them, and you know how proud a dwarf is, she can deal with the cost of their freedom.  Come with me Tess I have another present for you.”  Methuselah turned and pulled the stunned Tess along with him toward the stables.  “You will need to fix a place for them in the wagons if you are taking them with you and keep them out of the sun or they will burn.”

Methuselah thought he could be rather clever when he wanted to be.  Dwarfs were very proud, if they thought someone was being demeaning they would be insulted.  Tess wouldn’t be able to just tell them they were no longer slaves or there was a good chance that they would insist that they serve longer than required to work of their indenture even if they had been cheated into servitude.  Tess would have to be careful how she dealt with the dwarfs and so right after he gave her the gift he had planned he would tell her just that.

emmm

I think I am learning,  getting better at this.  My editor is a little slow with the last page.  I see improvement with each post.

Lonely dwarf 2

   Not only was Meb an orphan but he was the last of the northern desert tribe. His father had died in an orc raid the day before he was born and his mother had died hauling him south to safety.  The rest had died in the raid. 

            The maidens all were leading a donkey. Each donkey had two wicker packs.  The packs contained their dowries and the weapons that Galahad had purchased for the Gabriel family.  Good weapons were expensive and hard to come by.  These were the finest weapons that dwarfs could make.  There were heads for boar spears built for men, axes, short swords, some small crossbows and three very tall weighty crossbows that were designed for two warriors.  Meb could put them together in a minute.  He had paid attention to his teachers and could build just about anything.  Zeek and Luke had brought whiskey, rum, plum brandy, wine, steal ingots, iron wood and potatoes into the desert to pay for everything.  Dwarfs need alcohol to keep their blood running and they loved potatoes. Galahad did the trading, after all who could out trade an elf? He had a thousand years of experience. He got the most for each bag of potatoes but the iron wood was the most valuable.

            Iron wood was rare but when carved into the shape one wanted and then soaked in salt water it was almost as strong as steal.  Dwarfs liked to turn it in chain mail.

            Zeek purposely strode up to Meb and commented on their timing, “It looks like we are a little late, the scouts say that three armies came out of the north gathering troops and it looks like they are headed to the canyon.”

             “Doesn’t stop us does it?” They both knew that Meb’s life started after they had crossed the plains and went through the mountain, so it was no surprise to Zeek that an army wouldn’t deter Meb.

            Zeek gave Meb a water bag, “Don’t get too far ahead of everyone else.”

            Meb took a drink and after the first swallow pulled the bag away, swallowed a second time, looked down and tried not to cough. His eyes were wide. Zeek gave a short laugh.  Meb’s head came up, he gathered himself and warned “You should warn a fellow, be a shame to waste something that strong,” handing the bag back he continued, “Two swallows of that and I feel like I can run the whole way.”

 Zeek said “Five days across the plains then two to get over and through the mountain, its not a sprint.” 

Meb replied “The army makes it easier for us they will have swallowed up all of the fighters in the villages.  I think Merry’s luck is holding.  We might be halfway across before any of the pig lovers notice us.” They both looked over as Micah and Zeph seemed to glide over the ground at a distance eating pace and start across the plains. Each held a boar spear in his right hand and a longbow in his left.  Meb nodded his head to his friend in salute and started after them.

Zeek watched as about a fourth of the warriors spread out among the maidens.  The rest broke into three groups and everyone started across the plains. One group of warriors positioned themselves on each side of the caravan moving out at an angle and the third headed off after the two elves led by Galahad.

Zeek turned back to see the two elves slow down for Meb to catch up and then the three of them headed out as a group.  Merry was leading the first donkey that passed Zeek, she smiled at him and she must have heard Meb’s last comment because she said “With those three in front I don’t expect to see a pig lover unless it dies in our path.”

Zeek nodded his head to Merry. He smiled and handed a water bag to the maiden at Merry’s side.  He said “Take two swallows and pass it down the line. We don’t stop until the donkeys need a rest.” 

All but five warriors had passed Zeek when he motioned to them to bring up the rear and they all started after the caravan.          

Lonely Dwarf I

His name was Meb.  He was standing off to the side of the discussion acting as a self appointed sentry.  This was habit formed from watching the older warriors. There were two groups to distract his attention.  The first group was the leaders of the caravan and the second group was the dwarf maidens. This was the largest caravan he had ever heard about.  Large groups didn’t cross the desert easily. They had started out as two groups to cross the desert. Now they had met up and were ready to cross the plains and into the mountains to the civilization on the other side. At one time the land in front of them had been the home of large farms and villages that supported cities built at the edge of the mountains.  The cities and villages were now run down and occupied by orc, goblin, trolls and even an occasional ogre. To the north there were caves that now had kobolds in them and it was believed that there was a dragon that had moved into the caves with the Kobolds. Things had not been going well for the forces of good for years.

He hadn’t counted the exact number of warriors that were with them but he new it was over one hundred. He didn’t have to count the others in the caravan, he new the numbers, one man, four elves, one hundred and sixty seven dwarfs maidens and one hundred forty six donkeys.

One of the elves was a female, the first and only female elf he had ever seen.  She was with her husband, two sons and the man.  Meb knew that in a way she had adopted the man and his family and she looked out for him and his interests.  Her name was Merry and her husbands name was Galahad.  The sons names were Micah and Zeph. She was a miracle worker. He had seen her heal with a prayer.  If she was a dwarf he would think of her as a cleric but since she was an elf she was a healer.  What made things good for Meb was the fact that she liked him and had seemed to have adopted him also, probably more because he was friends with the man than the fact that he was an orphan.     

The discussion looked to be over and the man left the troop leaders and started walking right to him.  Meb had to smile because he felt lucky to be here and lucky to have the man as a friend. The man was his best friend and truth be told probably his only friend.  Dwarfs had a strong belief in family and they protected their women at all costs so it was unusual to be an orphan and he made the other dwarfs uncomfortable. Thus he was somewhat of a loner, but when he was young he had never lacked for the basic necessities of life. Dwarfs had a strong belief in religion and they kept all of the commandments including the one about taking care of the widow and the orphans.

 The man’s name was Hezekiah Gabriel but Meb had struggled pronouncing Hezekiah so he just called him Zeek.  Zeek was an orphan also and that might be why he took pity on Meb and befriended him.   They had met three years ago when Zeek had come to the desert to learn from the dwarf masters.  Merry had brought Zeek to learn from the best.  She had made sure that Zeek had the best teachers for all of his schooling.  Zeek had told Meb that he had spent three years learning from the elves before he had come to the desert.    

 Meb had been going through an unlucky time when they had met.  In fact Meb was rather poor and wasn’t sure about his future.  It was time to make a life of his own and if he went out into the world were would he live.  He new he wanted to be a farmer but there was no land for him with the desert dwarfs.  He wasn’t sure about living among others on the other side of the mountains.  He didn’t doubt that he could cross the plains and mountains if he knew the way but he had never gone farther than the fringes of the desert before.  The only reason the dwarfs left their desert home was to trade and he didn’t have anything to trade.  He didn’t know it but he had worried himself sick about what to do and had started to slow down.  Merry had noticed the problem and had Zeek give him a strong drink.  Dwarfs needed a little alcohol regularly or their blood seemed to get sluggish and their brains slowed down.   Meb had really needed the drink and after the drink and a prayer by Merry he got better.  One of the few things Meb had was a chess set that had been his father’s that had been carved out of black and white marble by his grandfather.  Zeek had learned to play chess from his time with the elves and Meb and Zeek had started a tradition of playing every night just before lights out.  They had became fast friends.  Zeek treated Meb as a brother and Meb thought that Zeek looked out for him the way he had seen big brothers look out for little brothers.  This might seem a little unusual because Zeek was now eighteen and Meb was thirty six but this was the way it was.

            Even though Meb was acting as an unofficial sentry his eyes kept going back to one group of dwarfs; the maidens that made more than half of caravan. They had six chaperons to look out for them and the chaperons had their husbands.  Three of the chaperons were clerics and wore the brown goatskin cloaks.

Most male dwarfs didn’t start looking for a wife until they were around one hundred.  Meb wanted to have a wife in the worst way and he knew he didn’t want to wait another sixty four years.  None of the maidens were over seventy five and some were as young as fifty and none of them would want a husband that was not older. The other warriors that were with the caravan were all older over fifty.  Both groups were going out into the world to start a new life with the chance of raising a family with land of their own. They had all swore fealty to the family of Gabriel.

  When Zeek had first come to the desert he had his older brother Luke with him. Luke had talked to the Lords of the desert about the Gabriel family’s plans to fight the forces of evil. Part of the plan was to take back land that had once been in the hands of man a thousand years ago.  Luke had told them that one reason that the side of good was loosing was because it didn’t work together.  The three main races of good needed to work together or slowly one by one they would lose this world to evil.  They were going to try to have a place were the all of the races of good could live together without acrimony or strife.  The lords had agreed to let Luke seek volunteers who would swear to live and fight under the rule of the house of Gabriel.  All those warriors who signed up would be given a good steel weapon. Steel was hard to come by and this sweetened the deal. The lords had decreed that only dwarfs that were over fifty could go.

Over the next three years the number of warriors that signed up grew.  Then there was a ground swell of maidens once they realized that their best chance for a marriage was going to be leaving the desert. There were too many single dwarfs in the desert and not enough chance for a prosperous future.

            Meb was here because Zeek and Merry had seen to it.   Where ever Zeek went Meb went and he would not have it any other way.

If one of the maidens would look at him he would die he was sure.  There were only three people that new he wanted a wife.  He hadn’t told a soul but Merry could read him like a book.  She had told Zeek because she didn’t want Zeek hurting Meb’s feelings by accident.   Over a game of chess Zeek had told him that he was going to help him get a wife a couple of months ago when he asked Meb to leave the desert and go with him.