Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Lazybones" data-source="post: 3372271" data-attributes="member: 143">Chapter 113THE COUNCIL“It is not that we do not take your warning seriously, Captain Karedes,” Patriarch Gaius Annochus said.  “It is just that the future of Camar itself is in jeopardy.”Talen nodded, acknowledging the comment, but his jaw was set in a tight line, and it was evident that he did not agree with the high priest’s argument.  But he was a captain, and the other was the head of the official church of the Grand Duchy, so that in essence settled the argument. “I am saddened by the loss of one of the Guild’s shining stars,” Archmage Decimus Vitus Honoratius said.  “But as a fellow member of the family Vitus, I can say all in the Guild stand ready to defend Camar with all of the power available to them.”Talen nodded with respect to the wizard.  The head of the Guild of Sorcery was a wizened husk of a man, wrapped in a robe of soft blue felt covered in faint runes stitched in silver thread.  None knew for sure how old he was, but by all accounts, he had been a full member of the Guild when Gallus Felix the Younger had become Grand Duke, and that was over seventy years ago.  Time had stolen much of his vitality, but one look into his eyes was enough to reveal that his mind, and with it his magic, had not been diminished. “I think that all of us here are dedicated to the future of Camar,” Velan Tiros said.  The marshal looked tired, even in the resplendent robes that he wore as the chairman of the new Great Council of what was still being called the Grand Duchy.  Most of the Council meetings held thus far had been public, at Tiros’s insistence, but this one was being held behind closed doors.  To Talen, standing before the dais where the new leadership of Camar sat facing him, the cavernous emptiness of the great hall made the council seem smaller by comparison.  He kept such thoughts carefully to himself, but Honoratius looked intently at him, as if he’d read his mind. As Talen swallowed, he realized that wasn’t that unlikely a prospect. “Gentlemen, we have more immediate problems,” the last member of the council said.  His name was Gallo Eutropius, and he represented the powerful mercantile guilds of the city.  He had the dusky skin of an Eremite, and oiled mustachios that curled up from the edges of his upper lip.  Erem was one of the most distant of Camar’s provinces, a place known primarily for its lusty, rough, and (to Camarians) outspoken people.  The merchant, clad in silks weighed down by several pounds of bejeweled gold, slapped his hand loudly onto the dais table.  “If the secession of Dalemar is successful, then the realm will lose two thirds of its tax revenues within two seasons.  Routing the trade from Emor province through the mountains to avoid the northern ports will be almost impossible for all but two months of the year.  I hope I do not need to tell you how catastrophic that would be for the future of Camar.”“Thank you for the reminder, Councilor Eutropius,” Tiros said.  “We will address our response to the latest news from the north as the next item on our agenda.  A moment, captain.”  Talen had already started to back away, assuming that he’d been dismissed.  “Sir?” Talen said reflexively, coming back to attention. “There is one more matter for which we require your attention,” Tiros said.  “For which Camar requires your service.”Talen brought his fist to his chest in a legionary’s salute.  “I stand ready to serve,” he said. The other council members had leaned back in their chairs, deferring to Tiros.  The marshal took a deep breath and continued, his tone such that he might have been talking to Talen alone.  “These are troubled times for Camar, captain.  Not only the future of the state, but the very lives of the over a million people who dwell within the borders of the Grand Duchy and its provinces may be at stake.  The people of the Duchy are divided against each other, the legacy of the corrupt rule of the false Duke.  In such times, it is vital that we gather every resource that the realm can muster to face the battles that may lie ahead.”“Over the last few weeks, I have spent time in the ducal archives.  I have read details of Camar’s history known to few, but we have all heard the stories of our past.  This is not the first time that the people of Camar have faced great threats.  In past ages, our forefathers came to an untamed land, and forged a civilization out of the wilds.  They fought wars, desperate struggles against the orcs, the elves, and the hard men of Erem and Emor.  They fought monsters out of legend, creatures like the ancient dragon Calimthrexas, the Stone King, and the colossal vermin of Athrides.”“In my research, I found little to suggest that those heroes of an earlier Camar were any different than our people today.  They lived, ate, slept, fought, dreamed, and loved.  They had hopes for the future for themselves and their children.  They feared what they did not know, and were wary of the threats that lived in the shadows.”“The people of Camar today have had their faith weakened by what was done to them by the lies and evil of the Duke and his cabal.  They need a symbol of hope, something to reassure them that the future can hold something better, that there are people willing to offer their lives to keep them safe.”Talen watched his mentor and leader as he continued his oration.  The other members of the Council seemed less impressed, but they listened attentively.“In the past, there was a special order of defenders that was dedicated specifically to facing the worst of the threats that a dangerous world offered.  They answered to the Grand Dukes, but more broadly, their mandate was to the people of Camar.  Their ranks included men and women of diverse talents and backgrounds, brought together in a common cause.  Their mantra was Vigilo et spero: I watch, and I hope.  They were known as the Dragon Knights of Camar.”“Captain Talen Karedes, this Council has decided that this order is to be reborn, at this time of great need.  You shall be the first of the new Dragon Knights, and it shall be your mandate to reconstitute this body, with all due speed.  You will be provided with a writ of authority that will allow you to develop a process for recruitment, training, and quartering of the new organization, as well as that of a staff for logistical and other support responsibilities.”Talen blinked.  “I... that is, I stand ready to serve, and I will do my best to ensure that the trust you have invested in me this day shall not be misplaced.”“See that it is not,” the aged wizard said.  Tiros nodded to Talen, sending him a look that said, We will speak more later.  Talen saluted the Council once more, then bowed, and departed.  As he left he could hear the leaders of Camar once more talking about the rebellion to the north, and he wondered what he and a few recruits could possibly do to arrest what seemed like an inevitable slide toward disaster.</blockquote>

Verification