High Rock: Province of Conquest Ch. 1 Pt. 1
I really wanted to Include the whole Chapter one in one post but reddit is being a bitch with their character limit of 10k. So I guess I'll post it part by part whenever I reach the char limit I'll make a post.
>#High Rock: The Province of Conquest
#Chapter 1 Part 1
###Jehanna, High Rock ####3st of Morning Star, 35th year of the Fourth Era
It was a usual winter night in Jehanna. King Skjalfnir was holding his usual meeting in his throneroom. His most trusted Thanes, and important Lords were there; and as usual a feast was held in his majesty’s honor. During the middle of the meal King Skjalfnir asked “Lord Fellwis, what news do you have for me today?” The Old Lord replied “Well milord the winter drought has affected the people’s food supplies greatly. The average family is down to three maybe two loaves of bread a day. Our kands have become barren. Trading with the west has become harder, all land routes to Skyrim are either blocked off or in reachman territory. I think it’d be better if we started trade relations with…” “With whom?” Thane Bjarug rudely interrupts, “Those pompous milk-drinkers you call Kings?! No. A man’s mead is only as good as the man wo made it.We expand our lands not beg for the fruit of others. We must invade Farrun at once!” Skjalfnir agreeingly said “Ha! those weak Bretons will never stand a chance against a superior Nordic army.”
Lord Fellwis was evidently shocked by Skjalfnir’s eagerness to start a war with the West, so he tried to convince him otherwise, “But Sir! A war with Farrun would not be in the best interest of the Emperor! it would enrage the Court of Kings and possibly…” Fellwis was interrupted by Prince Asgeir before he could finish. Asgeir was holding a blade towards Fellwis’ throat and became too afraid to talk. Asgeir then turned to his father and said “Father, if war is necessary then I shall proudly show these Bretons what Nordic steel tastes like.” Asgeir looked intimidatingly to Fellwis and said “If you’d like father, I could show you how I plan to do so.” “Ha! By Talos!” Skjalfnir merrily replied “My boy you got a lot of work ahead of you then. Can you imagine? You’re yet to be a king yet you already speak as if you were one!” Skjalfnir turns his attention to Lord Fellwis and says “As for Fellwis; let him live. He can watch as we burn High Rock to the ground, besides I just got new rugs from hammerfell and I don’t want any blood on it.
As the small celebration starts, a hooded man stands in a corner watching as it all traspired. Later the man leaves the castle into the cold city streets. He goes on through the city gates and heads West.
###Ganvadon, High Rock ####5rd of Morning Star, 35th year of the Fourth Era
It was a normal day in the town of Ganvadon, people lived their normal lives until something not so uncommon happened. The townspeople saw a horde of around three dozen running towards the village. The people are all too familiar with the situation and head towards safety. In an attempt to protect the town the town guard form a phalanx facing the horde, while archers positioned themselves on the rooftops.
As the town guard waited for the enemy to charge into their pikes the Guard Captain cried “Brace yourselves men! Show no remorse, for you will be given none! One of the rooftop archers alerted the men captain of the enemies numbers, “Sir! there’s about three dozen of ‘em, and one really big armored orc fella.” That ain’t an orc ye dumb lout” said another guard, “It’s a fucking Ogre!.” Upon hearing this the Captain panicked and cried “Archers! bring down the fat one, NOW!”
The Archers responded quickly and sent a hail of arrows towards the ogre. It appears as if the combination of the orcish armor and the ogre’s thick skin absorbed all the damage. The ogre just continued rushing towards the formation of men sweeping their spears so that they point away from the incoming charge, making that part of the formation relatively vulnerable. The Orcs exploited this weak spot and focused their troops there. The once orderly Breton spear phalanx was now nothing but a group of divided men desperately fighting to survive. Archers could not provide much support; for fear of shooting at their allies. After several minutes of battle; the sound of an imperial battlehorn could be heard from a distance. The combatants stop their battle and look towards the source of the sound. An entire cohort of Legion Soldiers, led by General Licinius, were marching down the hill towards Ganvadon. The Orcs disengage from the battle and run back to the mountains; all but one.
“What is the meaning of all this?!” said General Licinius, “Can’t a man have a stroll in this country without ever catching a battle in action? And aren’t you all aware that your oaths to the Empire prevent this type of infighting?!” “G-General, it was not our fault” the guard captain nervously said, “This Orc and his friends came charging into our town! We had no choice but to defend ourselves!” The Guard Captain points to the tall muscular orc who remained in the battlefield, and is currently facing the other direction. General Licinius turned to the orc and said “You there! Green skin! What say you in your defense against this man’s accusation?” The Orc turns around and looks at Licinius’ face with a menacing grin; Licinius shows a bit of shock and it is obvious that he recognizes his face.
“Well, well. well.” said Licinius, “Kazakhan, King of the Orcs. Why am I not surprised to see you mixed up in all this mess?”
“General Licinius” Kazakhan replied, “last time I saw you, you and your men were running back to Cyrodiil after losing a skirmish with one of my armies.”
Licinius replies sarcastically “Funny you should mention that Kazakhan, I just saw one of your armies running away from a battle you were winning! Who’s more of a coward now, eh?”
Kazakhan replies with a hint of anger “My men weren’t running to save their lives Licinius, they were running to save yours.”
The Guard Captain now becoming impatient asks the General Lucinius “Are you just going to stand there and make jokes? Do something for the Divine’s sake!”
“Well Kazakhan, as much as I hate to say it; I’m not here to visit. You were violating the Empire’s satrapy laws.” Said Licinius.
“Oh what a shame” Kazakhan sarcastically replied.
“And as Empire law states you must either face punishment for your actions, or pay a fee in gold.” stated Licinius.
“Listen here General, the Imperial satrapy law states that we must pay IF we attack another satrapy. Me and my men were hunting a pack of wild lions, we saw them head down the mountain path this way so we pursued them. Is that a crime in Imperial law?” argued Kazakhan.
“Yes Kazakhan that is what you say” argued Licinius, “But what of these dead Bretons and Orcs, hmm? They seem to show otherwise.”
“We didn’t attack first Licinius,” said Kazakhan, “these Bretons fired at one of my men. We were fighting in self-defence. Perhaps it should be me asking the King of Wayrest for compensation?”
“Haha” Licinius laughed, “You’re a comedian Kazakhan. You honestly think I will fall for your lies?”
“Will your emperor believe a band of a mere three dozen orcs took down ten dozen well-equipped Breton soldiers?” asked Kazakhan.
“There was also an Ogre in his army” added a guardsman. “Be quiet soldier” The Guard Captain said.
“I’ll let you go this time Kazakhan; but remember this is your last warning.” stated Licinius “If I see you picking another fight with anyone of the Kingdoms, you’re going to pay.”
As Kazakhan starts walking away he grins and says “You’re a comedian Licinius. You said it was my last warning, ten warnings ago.”
###Farrun, High Rock ####8th of Morning Star, 35th year of the 4th Era
Late at night in Farrun, a Snowstorm makes it hard to see past 10 feet. The Gateguard in the city see a man approaching from the west road, he holds no torch or anything just his hooded robes and a walking staff. As standard protocol the Guards approach the man to ask some questions. “Halt there sir. What is your business here?” asked a guard. “Leswell is expecting me” said the man. The guard apparently in shock asks the hooded man, “A-are you the…” “Yes I’am” says the man “Now let me through, I must speak to the duke.” The hooded man enters the city and heads straight towards the Palace.
In the duke’s room a servant comes knocking at the door, trying to wake up the duke. “Sir? Sir? wake up sir!” said the servant. “What is it this time?” said the Duke Leswell, “Don’t you know what time it is?! Obviously not or else you wouldn’t be bothering me.” As the duke opens the door he asks the servant one more time, “What do you want? It’s late at night and I need my sleep.” “Sir, he has returned” said the servant almost enthusiastically. “Well that took longer than I expected, way longer. Now where is he?” Asked the Duke. “He’s in the Throne Room right now Sir.” The duke pushed the servant away and headed towards the throne room. “Umm don’t you need a lamp sir? it’s awfully dark in the throne room at night.” “No need boy, I provide my own light” the Duke snapped his fingers and a ball of light suddenly appeared and started hovering over him.
As the Duke entered the throne room he sees his visitor sitting on his throne staring blankly at the darkness. The Duke asked Impatiently “Well?! What happened? did you get the job done?” “No, I didn’t.” said the visitor, “but I did something much, much better. It’s amazing what you can do with a couple of spies in a couple of months.”
“You better hope what you did is better” said the Duke. “I’m risking way too much for this, and you better deliver.”
“Trust me” said the mysterious visitor, “Jehanna will be yours soon enough.”