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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Anti-Sean" data-source="post: 2815312" data-attributes="member: 11797">Lharvion 24, 998 YKAundairnear RhenshiaThe wide road from Passage to Lathleer had felt the tread of thousands upon thousands of feet in its time. House Orien caravans had made the trek back and forth along its path since before the founding of the kingdom of Galifar. It was a hot, muggy afternoon that saw one of these caravans slowly plodding towards Lathleer, carrying with in an assortment of passengers: thrifty merchants and tinkers anxious to sell their wares, reliable couriers delivering news and communications, and stoic adventurers searching for an ancient treasure."By the Flame, can this blasted caravan move any slower? It feels like it's been over four months since we left Passage!" Niv slumped forward in her saddle, cursing like a sailor fresh into port, in stark contrast to the face and dress of a noblewoman she wore.Aldren glowered at her from atop his horse, frustration mounting after a long, slow day of riding. "If you ask me, your complaints are doing more to slow the passage of time than any foul weather or poor road conditions could hope to."Niv spun about on her companion. "No, I most certainly did not ask you, Morathus, that was a rhetorical question. Perhaps you'd know what that meant if you didn't spend so much time gazing at the reflection in your armor.""Aren't ladies of high society supposed to behave in a quiet, demure fashion, Lady ir'Tain? This trip would be much more pleasant to endure if you could perform your role properly." Aldren gritted his teeth and stared forward, determined to avoid Niv's white-hot glare."Oh, and I suppose you think you can put this lady in her place, Captain Obviously Covering For His Inadequacies?" She gestured in the direction of the greatsword strapped across his back. "I doubt it, since I've seen you reach for a mug of ale far more often than I've seen you reach for that oversized surrogate --""That's enough out of both of you!" Her snide comment was cut short by Autumn's booming voice as he stepped between their horses. "Yes, the caravan moves slowly; that's what caravans do. This was the safest and easiest way for us to travel for this leg of our journey. We're only a week and a half into this trip - we have a week or two more ahead of us before we break off from the caravan." He absentmindedly patted the flank & stroked the neck of Niv's horse as he chided his two companions. "I thought that you two were adults? If you can't conduct yourselves properly in each other's presence, perhaps we should just part company now? I'm sure it will take longer for Meksoor to send assassins after the three of us if we abandon this mission and go our separate ways than if we stayed together. Honestly, I expecte-"Aundair! Aundair! I pledge my sword to theeAutumn stopped in mid-lecture, his head cocked sideways. "Do you hear that?"Aldren shrugged noncomittally, while Niv concentrated. "Sounds like someone singing," she offered. "Either that, or a cat being tortured." She listened a few moments longer. "Or someone torturing a cat by singing."Autumn listened intently, his emerald eyes flaring with recognition and fury. "Not that song! Not again! No!" He turned on his heel and marched briskly towards the head of the caravan in the direction of the song.Aldren's puzzled expression spoke volumes, but he asked the question anyway. "What is he on about now?"***Erben Tullier half walked, half skipped alongside the wagon he was supposed to be watching. He daydreamed idly, thumping the side of the wagon with a stick he had found, barely keeping time with the song his awkward young voice attempted to sing.Dragonhawk majestic circ'ling through the skies aboveAundair! Aundair! I will defend this land I loveDragonhawk triumphant wheeling through the skies so freeAundair! Aundair! I pledge my sword to theeAundair! Aundair! I pledge my sword to theeLost in his reverie, he was completely taken aback when an enraged warforged grabbed him by the shoulder and spun him around. The face of steel was mere inches away from his own, green jewel-like eyes threatening to burn right through him."You! Boy! Exactly what do you think you are doing, singing that song?"Erben stuttered and stammered, trying to stop his heart from beating too quickly. "S-s-s-sir? That's the Q-Q-Queen's Anthem, that's Aundair's battle march.""Yes, I'm all too familiar with that song." Autumn pointed towards the livery on a nearby wagon. "However, this is a House Orien caravan, not an Aundairian caravan."Erben straightened up, seeming to take affront. "A caravan that's traveling through Aundair, being guided by Aundairians like myself.""And is this caravan marching towards battle? I seem to recall that the war is over. What use is a war song here and now?"The boy's face reddened. "I like the way it sounds. It reminds me of why we fought the war, and makes me proud of my country. Aundair's enemies are jealous of her glory, they could march on us any day! We need to be ready to defend ourselves!""So if a column of Thrane Knights were to attack this caravan, you'd do what, fight them off with that stick in your hand?" Autumn scoffed. "As for the 'glory' of Aundair, I seem to recall that losing the Eldeen Reaches cut that glory to a third of its size."It was Erben's turn to scoff. "As if those filthy Reachers-" One of Autumn's thick metal fingers wagged in front of Erben's face. "Mind your tongue, boy, you're speaking to a 'filthy Reacher' right now."The boy stopped speaking, his eyes narrowing as he pondered this new information.Autumn let the silence hang for a moment. "How many summers have you seen, boy?""Fourteen, sir, and I'm no boy. My Uncle Durys is the wagonmaster of this caravan, he's told me I'm the man of my family ever since I was eight, when my father died in the war.""Ah, a soldier for Aundair, no doubt?""Aye sir." The boy puffed himself up with pride. "He died trying to retake Thaliost from those cursed Thrane devils. My father is a hero.""Retaking Thaliost? Do you have any idea how many times that city changed hands during the war?" Autumn sighed. "If you hope to see very many more summers, you'll give up any romantic notions you have about war. There is no glory in it, and no honor. There is nothing but pain and death and destruction. People will tell you stories about courage and bravery and heroism; what they won't tell you about are the sight and smell of a battlefield littered with fresh corpses; of men and women screaming for death as they writhe in agony; of how it feels to watch the light leave someone's eyes when you slip a sword in between their ribs." The warforged punctuated this last comment with a rough stabbing motion towards Erben's side, his voice rising steadily as he continue, ignoring the stares of the surrounding caravan passengers."Some would say that those who lie dead at the end of a battle are better off than those who live; at least their mind is not filled with scenes of the carnage that they took part in forever afterwards. They aren't cosumed with wondering why their life was spared, and what the people that they killed would be doing right now if their lives hadn't been taken from them. There are no heroes in war, boy; your father did not die a hero's death. He was a pawn and a fool who threw his life away as part of the petty squabblings of a handful of petty princes, and his death meant nothing at all."Erben attempted to keep his composure, but his chin quivered as tears began to stream down his face. What was left of his dignity was spared by a figure calling out to the warforged from several paces behind."Autumn! A word with you, if you please!" Aldren's voice was sharp and filled with urgency under a forced tone of politeness. Autumn turned away from the boy and walked slowly towards his comrade.Aldren leaned in closely as the warforged neared him, keeping his voice low. "By the Blood, Autumn, what in Khyber are you on about? The boy meant no harm, he was simply singing a song!""I won't listen to that song again, Aldren. The number of times I heard it during the war, the countless times I've heard it in my own head since then, I simply won't hear it sung around me!" Autumn apparently felt no need for quiet or confidentiality."Autumn, you're not making any sense. I've heard you singing several war songs yourself before.""Not that one! I can assure you that you've never heard me sing that song."Aldren sighed. "Very well, but my point is that you don't need to treat the boy so poorly over it. How was he to know? I don't recall you handing out a list of approved traveling songs before we left Passage. Your behavior is inexcusable."The warforged pointed back towards the boy. "He needs to understand what he's singing about, Aldren! Surely you would agree!"Aldren raised his hands in a conciliatory gesture. "I know he does... I know. Sadly, it's very probable that he will find out someday. I admire the fact that you want to help him to avoid learning about it firsthand, but the way you're going about it, Autumn...""What?" Autumn raised a steel eyebrow."Well, I don't quite know how to say it without being abrupt, but you had no right to attack his father like that.""What did I tell the boy other than the truth?" The warforged raised his hands to the heavens in confusion. "His father was most likely some peasant conscripted for no other purpose than to serve as fodder for war.""Yes, Autumn, you and I both know that, but you're not listening to me." Aldren rain a hand through his hair, frustrated at his companion's lack of understanding. "I don't expect you to understand this easily, given who and what you are."Autumn's voice returned to its usual volume, but went utterly cold. "And what do you mean by that, Morathus?"Aldren sighed heavily. "You've been a warrior, Autumn, but you've never been a son. You've never had a father. That boy lost his father at a young age. Whether his father was a conscript or a general, he was everything in that boys eyes. He barely knew his father, and in the years since he lost him, he's been holding on to this noble image of his father bravely giving his life in the defense of his people and his homeland." The Karrn's eyes grew soft. "No matter who he is or what he does, every father is a hero to his son, Autumn, at least for a while. You have no right to take that away from him. No right at all."The warforged's eyes grew bright once more with fury. "And you have no right to tell me what I know about people and what I do not, Morathus! Nor the right to tell me what rights I may or may not have. Not you, nor any other human!" He stalked off past the caravan, calling over his shoulder. "If you need me, I'll be joining Kiva scouting ahead of the caravan!"***A few hours later, just as the sky was beginning to darken with the promise of twilight, Niv and Aldren's attempts to avoid conversation with one another were interrupted by the sight of Autumn bursting through the woods along the path ahead of the caravan, running at full speed."Ambush! Ambush ahead! To arms! To arms! Niv, Aldren, I need you up here now!"</blockquote>

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