Episode 1

Absolutely. Very true.
I think of the Drakkenmire and Lake Azan as something like Georgia or South Carolina. Haha. Does that help? Not assuming everyone has been there, but trying to think of a real setting comparable.

It's humid, but not quite like jungle humid. Probably temps fluctuating this time of year, daytime temps in a range of maybe 55 up to 80 F depending. Can be hot in the day, but cold in the night and early mornings still. Probably need some "snivel gear" clothes in the bag to put on when you camp out for the night, but then you may need to loose layers during day time hikes to avoid overheating. In a month or so it will stabilize as constantly hot. By the summer it will be sweltering and thick with heavy moisture in the air.

"Keep moving and find another seat, Youric." Shen Lain says to Thorn. "Save your breath for the whores; there are plenty to go around. Lucky for you that they need not be wooed. They have already been paid in advance."

Ivor awakens suddenly. He snaps away from a troubling dream: he was entering the ring at The Helm with no weapons to face a crowd of armed Korsians. His heart is racing and he is sweating. He looks around the longhouse. Everyone is still sleeping. Two large fireplaces are glowing comfortable fires. Ivor then sees that Cuixtia is looking up at him. Her large brown eyes reflecting the light of the fire, her face perched on his arm.

"I will stay with you forever, my champion." Her thick soft hair is spread out all over Ivor. She caresses his arm. "They say you will be leaving soon, that you may be going to the Yuoric lands to become a famous warrior of the civilized cities." Her eyes shift down and then back to fix on Ivor’s.

"Take me with you. Make me your wife. Wherever you go, I will go. No matter what you face, I will remain at your side. I will tend your wounds if you are injured. I will make you happy when you remember times that are sad. I will wake up with you and comfort you when nightmares haunt."

Ivor feels Cuixtia’s soft brown skin next to his. Her black hair shines in the glow from the fire. He has never seen a creature so beautiful. The islander girl closes her eyes and falls back to sleep, resting her head on Ivor’s heavily scarred arm.

Kray is up early with Zaituc. While most are still sleeping, the two men walk out to the north stable, and Zaituc inspects it thoroughly. The Murrough youth warriors from Baoill are gone. The Voldruvan then walks back towards the longhouse, but stops at a set of crates near a side entrance.

"Those Murrough boys are poised up about 80 paces back towards that dream willow tree over behind my right shoulder. You can see it, by the big patch of scrub growth." He confirms that Kray understands.

"So I’m going to open these crates, show you some furs and sticks inside, and we are going to talk back and forth. As if we are making a deal. You understand I am sure."

Zaituc makes small talk with Kray for a while, talking of other things, mostly asking about Devil Hade and Kray’s uncles, asking if Kray has been traveling lately, asking if the Mercon House is managing the new pit fights in Caerlleon, Poyam, and Whitewatch. He wants to get Qiu involved in that; they can talk more about that later. All the while the corsair captain is picking up things from the crates: furs, spears, cheap metal ware. He feigns as if he is showcasing it to Kray.

"Alright. Let us grasp arms as if we have made an agreement. I think this is enough. Those boys are ready to get home. They can be proud of themselves for gaining this report." Zaituc starts walking back into the longhouse and beckons Kray to follow. "I like that one bull, Cearach. I think he will make a strong marauder. His father was a good sword. He got killed at Giant’s Ford. His name was Eoghanan."

Zaituc leads Kray through the longhouse. Most people are still sleeping, many draped with fine women and covered in furs. Kray and Zaituc walk through and go out of the eastern side of the longhouse, toward the lake. Kray can see The Blackfin off at the shoreline. It is an impressive ship. It looks out of place, towering but tucked away so neatly in the swamp lake among the reeds.
Zaituc uncovers a canopy, revealing another set of crates. The Voldruvan begins to open them. Petre, one of Zaitucs Voldruvan ship mates, is there and begins to help, though remaining silent. "So this is the real load," Zaituc begins. "I want to move it through the Caerlleon gate. It is good material. I got most of it off of a Jbailian ship that we grounded in Heshba near the Polished Rocks. The other we took from Kortella City. It was an old operation that I had to close down. Komenilli was not paying. I just had to close it down."

Kray sees crate after crate full of fine good: silver craft wares, silks, decorative housewares, wood carvings, polished mohagany, beads looped into extravagant necklaces, thick rolls of Heshbani wool, bronze slags prepped for forge (likely from Kortella by the look of the stamps). It is premiere pay load. Kray could push this out to his fences at Caerlleon and send some to Rison in Poyam. Kray is amazed at how much value is sitting there in those crates.

"I cannot go to the ports anymore in Jeres. Fucking Parius is watching me like a Calstar Bay osprey watches for silverfish in the summer. Watching Chingas too, so I can neither ship it through him. I need to start a route from Fish Point, through Low Creek, and then to Melig’s. Then I need you to set up transition through the gate at Caerlleon. We can both endure some skim from that gatehouse. I can’t remember the captain’s name, but Ruacht says he thinks he will work. But I need you to get it through the gate. We can’t let them tax away all the profit, for me or for you."Directing Petre to show more and more of the cargo, Zaituc continues, "We can come up with a price that you think is fair. We can both make money on this, Lucreides. I want to get it done next week. You and Haliper can make good Marke on this cargo I think. If we can get a number before you leave, and you can write a promissory note for that, my carriers can get it to Melig’s. You or Haliper’s men can pay the note in metal when the cargo gets through the gate. I will send Ruacht to Caerlleon. He can manage the exchange with you there."

"I am just trying to make some on the investment and give the crew some burn. A couple of our fellows bled out for this," Zaituc says, waving his hand over all of the crates "Waylon and another big bull, from Murchu. His name was Seanan. Let us just get the numbers right and get this done. Devil Hade would love to fence this stuff, I know that for sure. Caerlleon needs to be the new import path. Lanberis has too much threat now, with Parius and his new commission. Fucking pogue. And Poyam takes too much skim. You should tell Rison about that. I cannot do business with that boy. He is a mad dog too often for my preferences."After looking the goods over one more time through, Zaituc puts his heavy hand on Kray’s shoulder and beckons him back to the longhouse. "Now come, grandson of Habbiacus. There is one more thing that we should talk about before we wake the others and get to the business at the stones. Sigi should have the breakfast ready. We will sit and talk at my side table. I will sit in my banterwood chair that I stole from a big wiry-haired Dasnishi in Heshba. Let me tell you about the story of this fine chair. It is important for you to know it. Sigi has a full cook for us by now also. That is good for us, I can assure you."

Talius is up early, checking his equipment. He sees Kray and Zaituc walking out one door, and then back in, and now out another. As Tialus inspects his supplies, he sees Ruacht near one of the glowing fires. The Dannein woodsman silently offers Talius a seat next to the fire and motions for him to take some dried venison jerky that sits on a small table nearby. Talius pulls up a stool to sit on, and another one in front of him to use as he continues his preparation of his gear. He samples some of the dried venison.

After a time of quiet, Ruacht begins to speak, still staring into the fire. "Fionnlasdan was a strong clan. You can be proud to carry such a renowned name. We heard talk of their valor even to the edge of the Broken Leg Lands. When we heard of the news that they were gone, we sent search parties north. We found no one. We saw the burned camp near the artesian well. We slew more than 40 Gandish that we found lurking in the Garen Hills that summer." Ruacht says.

"On the next spring, I left to raid and plunder on the coasts of Jbail and Heshba. While I was away, Amber Hill was razed too by a Gandish war party. We thought we had found and slain all of them before the winter, but another pack came from the Helbulaoch Mountains, across the Cairngorm. They showed no mercy to my people." Ruacht pours a mug with some wine and drinks it slowly before continuing.

"So Saroach was gone when I returned in the fall. A few elder women had survived, and saved a handful of children by climbing a sharp rise of rocks that overlooked the camp. Sitting in hidden cracks between the rocks, the children looked down upon the settlement and watched as their homes were burned, their fathers killed, their mothers raped and then killed. The old women said the Gandish kept the girl children who were captured alive the longest. They strapped them up on trees before eating their livers one at a time. It was supposed to have been my last summer raid. If I had not gone, I would have instead died that day likely, as my son and wife did."Ruacht stares into the fire, stoking it with an iron prod. "All of the Belil Gand deserve to die. If you wish, you can take some measure of vengeance today against that wicked race. And perhaps more in the days to come. Spilling their blood affords some moments of relief for me. May it do so for you as well, Son of Lasdan."

Qiu can see Shen Lain from across the room. She is meticulously packing a rucksack full of travel gear. The woman seems like an endless resource of preparedness and planning. Ever since he had met her when he first set sail with The Blackfin crew, he had watched the Alijanian Quartermaster manage and check every last detail of the supplies, the ship, the cargo, the weapons, the crew’s health, and on and on. She was a constant surveillance over all things. Nothing was ever out of place. No one in the crew was ever ill-equipped. No event happened that she was not prepared for.

Suddenly Shen Lain looks directly at Qiu. She holds his gaze for a second or two and then takes her bag and moves it out to stage it up with some others that she has been packing. Why does her gaze always find his every time he looks in her direction?

Qiu knew the answer. Shen Lain was like all of the Alijanian women he had ever known, fully alert to all the men around them. He knew why she was judging him so fiercely as well.

Qiu shifts up, out from under the embrace of Zaeti. The Arkkadi woman rolls over and continues to sleep. The other girl, Qiu does remember her name. She is an experienced Kortellan whore.

Qiu’s mother would have chastised him for the same thing of course. Alijanian men were expected to marry only Alijanian women. Children were expected from all Alijanian men and women alike, and they were expected to be fully Alijanian. Mixed children would not be able to carry on the traditions of the Mianshann Mountains it was thought. It was important to maintain the lineage of the People of Destiny, and a true lineage, not a diluted one. Qiu could hear his mother’s voice now "It is the duty of each one of us to maintain the purity of our families until we can someday return to Mianshann and recover the inheritance that we had to leave behind."

Shen Lain looks flawless in the threshold of the door, preparing her equipment to move outside.

Thorn thinks over some of the latest circumstances.

Many years ago, when Urdav was slain and the cabin robbed, Thorn tracked the stolen horses across the Draw Gap, through Melig’s and then to Low Creek. Bardh Clansmen at Low Creek said that they did not know who the men were. The bandits had apparently stayed overnight through a storm in an abandoned, half-collapsed shelter near the old settlement. The questions Thorn had at that time were not answered completely by the Bardh people. He was a Youric, traveling in the Gap Lands. Although he was a fluent speaker and had been raised in many of the Dannein ways, he was still seen as an outsider.

During these recent years however, since Rine, called Heavy Spear, had taken control of Bardh and Low Creek, the people of the Draw Gap had become more willing to engage. Thorn, Kray, and Talius, with much effort and patience (as well as some gifts and coin), had won a level of trust with Rine. They had been allowed to stay in Low Creek on several occasions since the Battle at Giant’s Ford.

Last fall, the brother-in-law of Chief Rine, a tall axe-hurler named Finbar told Thorn that he remembers him years ago when he was hunting for men who left two horses at the old settlement. Finbar said that he did not know the travellers’ names, but they were definitely from the swamp clans, likely either Bat Hannocs or Mauddurs. He said that the Clans of the Drakkenmire send out their young warriors on war parties and raid hunts. They pass through the Draw Gap and try to rob and steal from Yuorics. They often try to pilfer tools and supplies from the construction camps where the wall is being built. Sometimes they want to kill Youric borderers and bring back stories of their own valor in combat. They try to capture treasures from the civilized land and present them as gifts to the clan elders and the women whom they wish to impress back in their own camps, to show that they are true raiders worthy of respect and fear.

Since then, after years of the trail going cold, Thorn has seen new opportunities to learn more about the robbery of his home and the murder of his master who raised him. Last summer, Thorn, Kray, and Talius had been allowed to visit Fish Point (Baoill). Chief Padrig had permitted them to engage in some trade and also allowed some of the Murrough warriors to depart as mercenaries hired to fight in the Yuoric lands. During that visitation, Thorn had learned that both the Bat Hannocs and the Mauddurs live somewhat nearby to Baoill, but both across the Owain Branch to the south, deep into the swamp territory of the Drakkenmire.

That was an area in which no Yuoric was ever known to travel. But then again, few Yuorics had been even this deep into the Danneinkiff either. During the night at the longhouse, some of the Dannein crewmembers with whom Thorn had spoken knew of both the Bat Hannocs and the Mauddurs.

Both clans were spoken of with distaste. They were untrustworthy people of the swamp, many of whom were said to be sons and daughters of swamp hags. The Murroughs of Baoill and nearby had been in a blood feud against the Bat Hannocs for many decades, though the feud had died down in recent years, mainly because the Bat Hannocs had not been seen traveling north and west most recently.

Dannein clan politics was still a puzzle for Thorn, but one thing he did know is that he was closer than he had been to finding new information about Urdav’s killers since the days immediately after the murder. It was a still a longshot perhaps, but a better chance than he had come across in over 13 years.

"Alright, get up you louts. Enough snoring for you fat tubs of lard," Zaituc barks out in a booming heavy voice. The Captain moves through the crowd, booting anyone who is not awake. The longhouse starts to rise as one, and everyone is milling about.

Soon, everyone is walking down a trail through the swamp. The women, except for Shen Lain, are left at the Longhouse, along with a few guards. All those moving down the trail now were advised to bring their kit (weapons and armor) but leave travel gear (backpacks) staged up outside the longhouse. Some new Danneins were with Zaituc this morning. They had apparently arrived around dawn to give some report to Zaituc. These men are leading the way now, with Zaituc and his lieutenants following and talking with one another intermittently.

The mood is serious. The crew of the Blackfin seems to be in full swing of work, carrying an alertness like sailors readying to get underway. All of the Danneins are armed. All of the Voldruvans wear their long knives and most carry hatchets or full-sized axes in their hands.

Zaituc responds to Kray, "My kin from lands north have brought captives. Gandish from the Broken Leg Lands, murderers and cannibals. I needed to have them questioned to find where they are moving from and to. An old druid who was once a Murrough has learned now all that these villains know. Now they will be offered to The Morrigan in the old way. The Stones will become a Circle of War, and The Morrigan will lay her doom upon the weakest."

Zaituc is quiet for a few moments and then adds, "Of course the real details of this First God religion shit I know little about and care of even less. What I know is that the druid, called Scachan, wants these Gandish split open and bled out on the ground between the Old Stones. I mean to oblige him, and also give everyone a good look at what the Belil Gand are capable of. As far as I know, the nightgoblins have never been in these lands so far south before. I want everyone to see clearly that these wicked men are like no normal adversary. They are worse than animals, more like demons."