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The old road winds on for quite some time, though it is difficult to mark the hour in the gloom. When the woods end, The village of Alderberg can be seen in the distance, nestled amongst the peaks of the Grim Mountains. Beyond, the turrets of castle Alderberg stand black against a leaden sky. It is late in the day, but the village may be reached well before evening. Reinhard and Eldwin are able to enter the village unhindered.
We have arrived at our destination. The lord of the castle, Baron Frederick Alderberg, was a friend to my father. Indeed, before the tragedy occurred, I had been promised the hand of his daughter, the maiden Greta Alderberg. I do not know what manner of reception I will have, but I hope he will grant me aid, if only for the sake of the friendship he shared with my father.
If all goes well, my quest to retrieve my ancestral territory shall begin in earnest. If you are to guide me well in this matter, then I must tell you something of the events that led to my father’s execution.
Long ago, Johann Schildburg, the half-brother of the reigning monarch Emperor Klaus the Third, attempted to usurp the throne. My father was late to join the emperor’s side, for he was ever a man of shrewd counsel, but nevertheless soon earned the emperor’s favor by the very wisdom and cunning that might have led him to the enemy camp. Indeed my father had always been careful in his choice of friends and enemies, with the exception of one, that being the baron Ulrich von Isengrim, his only cousin of first degree. Indeed, having no siblings of his own, my father regarded him as a brother and held him in the highest confidentiality.
Though they held in common the rank of baron, Isengrim had ever been dwarfed by my father in wit and grace, ever reliant on fear and bribery to substitute for the loyalty he could not inspire. For decades he had been content to follow my father’s lead, and to this day I do not know whether it was malignant envy or shortsighted greed that led him to murder his greatest benefactor. But murder him he did, driving a poisoned dagger into his back and opening the gates to allow his fellow conspirators to slaughter the loyal men of Finsterwald while he made good his escape.
Indeed, my father’s enemies had ever sought such an opportunity, but would never have had it but for that hell-spawned treachery. Yet they were ready to defame him in his death, for afterwards, von isengrim gave witness before the court of the emperor that he had acted to thwart a conspiracy to bring the usurper back into the kingdom, citing his intimate knowledge of my father’s affairs and the close confidence in which he had ever been kept. When accused of complicity in my father’s alleged actions during the War of the Two Emperors, he claimed to have acted under enchantment, for there were always many rumors of such dark things surrounding the Finsterwald estate.
All of this would have been passed off as the desperate pleading of a murderer and fratricide, but that his associates, including the bishop Kriegermann and the duke Falstein, gave false witness, and exploited the emperor’s paranoia with regard to his half-brother. In the end, the emperor blessed von Isengrim’s vile deeds, and in gratitude for thwarting the alleged conspiracy, bestowed my father’s estate, my estate, upon that infamous liar the baron von Isengrim.
There is no question of my father’s innocence in these matters, at least as they have been presented to the court. However, as long as my father’s enemies hold influence with the emperor and in the land, any attempt I make to retake my estate will be held unlawful, and though I may hold it as a bandit, my enemies may assault me without fear of reprisal, even as I would have done with the castle of the northern woods. This being the case, my final objective must be to find out who my enemies are at court, and either win them to my cause or render them incapable of opposing my project.
I am about to go into the court of Lord Alderberg, and it is time to take counsel with regards to this quest as a whole, for even if he be most kindly disposed towards me, I must be prepared to ask only for such favors as will be either small burden or that I may readily return, for I would not abuse the goodwill of one who may be my only reliable ally, both at present and in the future. Shall I ask for resources with which to prosecute my war against the bandits of the northwood, or to become his vassal and receive a fief? Perhaps it would be better not to place myself in his debt at this time.
I would hear your counsel on this matter.
>>752020
The Order, properly known as The Knightly Order of the Black Cross, also spoken of as The Knights of the Northern Temple, the Order of the North, or, in this region, simply as The Order, was created to defend the tomb of Kaschra. However in the centuries since the days when that was necessary, the order has been tasked with defending all of the northern border against the forces of barbarism and heathenry that floods in from the northern wastes. While acting as the weapon of The Church, the order has made many foes, but of late its forces have concentrated on recapturing the borderlands captured by heathens after the fall of The Old Empire. This has led to a war on many fronts, fought against the Gnollish clans, various pagan tribes, and the roving hoards of orcs and orc-kin. The Order has also in some places become tainted by worldly matters, and while on campaign there were rumors of friction between the Grand Master and Cardinal Albaran.
In addition, I had suspected the bandits were affiliated with the gnolls of Rakazir, for longtooth, that is, longfang or magakash in the zakasi tongue, was the name of that clan. This was confirmed, for our late informant spoke of the siege which concluded a war that had lasted for over a century. You shall no doubt hear more of it sometime, as well as my suspicions towards their chief, for Eldwin has been pestering me for war-tales since he joined me.
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