Harlech
Posts 59
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I arrived just ahead of the bandit's dogging my heels. It was the end of one journey and the start of another. Perhaps I should back up a bit and explain. This whole journey started just over 3 months ago. My father and I fled our home in Cormyr.
Things had been going well (all things considered) up to last fall. My father, Sir John Otherwhen, had gotten me squired to Sir Brenard St.Pierre. I was Sir Brenard's squire for almost 4 years, until last fall. Sir Brenard was killed in a duel concerning his wife and another man. I came home 9 months ago, and noted things were not right. My father, while not rich, had been a proud man. Now, he seemed whipped, beaten down. He tried a few times to squire me off to a few of his friends, but the stigma of having been Sir Bernard's squire seemed to follow me, and the meetings with my potential benfactors always ended icelly.
My father had been considering petitioning the crown directly for my knighthood, but before that happened, he had a late night visitor from an old woman who lived on the edges of my father's meager lands. I had only met hre once or twice, and it was rumored in the village that she had been the midwife that had delivered me. She spoke loudly with my father in his study. It was the first time I had heard my father raise his voice in months. She left abruptly and my father came to rouse me. I had already dressed, and he told me to don my armor and make ready the horses. I did as he ordered, and we blasted from the manor as fast as those two old mares would carry us.
As we crested the hill a few miles from the manor, we could see the great conflagration that had been my father's manorhouse. It consumed the house, the barn, and all of the outbuildings. We spun the horses and raced deeper into the forest. We rode for all the next morning and into the afternoon, until the horses were spent. We then took to foot until we arrived in the next village. We bought fresh horses, and again sprinted into the dusk. At every stop and break, I asked my father what had happened, and he refused to answer. Thus we have travelled the last 3 months. We rarely approached towns, staying instead to the country byways and in some cases, pure wilderness. I am not even sure when we passed out of Cormyr.
In the quiet moments we talked. He talked of his father, and of the great knight he had been. When he would talk of my grandfather, he would grip the old sword he had fled the manor with until his knuckles turned white. It was an old hand-and-a-half sword that had been over the mantle of my father's fireplace in his study for years. I asked him as a youngster why he didn't use it, and he stated simply "I do not have the strength." When I was squired by Sir Bernard, I had overheard my father give him instructions that I should never touch any other kind of blade. I know not why. We also spoke of travelling to Neverwinter, of finding a knight there who would squire me, and even daydreamed aloud of me becoming a member of the Neverwinter Nine. Such dreams would never come to pass.
Yesterday morning, we accidentally wandered into a bandit ambush. My father was struck down instantly with an arrow through his eye. I was pinned to the ground by several hands. I flailed blindly, bit, clawed and kicked. How I got away, I do not know. All I know is my face was covered with another mans blood, and I had a good chunk of flesh I spat out after I had fled for several minutes. I ran for an hour or more, always the bandits near behind me. I eventually came to the gates of Trinity and sprinted through them.
As the shock and loss settled in, I began to take stock of my surroundings. My father was gone, all the money he carried was too. But most importantly, the mysterious sword that had belonged to my grandfather. Before I had even found a place to lay my head, I had found employment. Things look good in Trinity. Perhaps if I work hard enough, I will find a knight to serve, and eventually earn my spurs. Or an early grave.
Kevin Otherwhen
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"Never violate a woman, nor harm a child. Do not lie, cheat or steal. These things are for lesser men. Protect the weak against the evil strong. And never allow thoughts of gain to lead you into the pursuit of evil."
-The Iron Code of Druss the Legend
Kevin Otherwhen
Arkalensk Meatch
Calad Silverwind
Streea Verve Tagnik'zur
Elomyr McGuinness
Thanatos de Morte
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