The First Winter : round 2

Soon enough, the snow began to fall. The fledgling community at Erlenstar Mountain was surprised by the intense cold and heavy snow…the long winters had been lost from memory during the generations in the gentler lands to the south.

However, they had built well and carefully, even in their haste, and they found themselves snug and secure. In the little peasant cottages, winter was a time for learning new skills, and even snatching a few moments for relaxation after the exhausting pressure of the harvest.

In Kyrth, the merchant families were still busy, since the tavern and shops were very attractive to those with a little extra time on their hands. But even here, there were quiet hours to relax with family.

For the noble children, winter was a time of activity and study.

The Reverend Mother Grania of An felt very alone as winter closed over the Convent of St. Wright.

This solitary life was far from anything she had expected her life to hold. As a girl, she had longed for a family, a husband and children to cherish. When her father, cousin to the Duke of An, informed her that she was to be dedicated to the church, it had been a heavy blow. As an obedient daughter and devout young woman, however, she had accepted her lot and tried to make the best of it. In the companionship of her sisters and the rituals of prayer and service, she began to find peace.

As the war approached, however, she had been astonished to be told by the Mother Superior that she was to be sent, alone, to Erlenstar Mountain to the Convent there. Despite her youth and inexperience, she would be named the Mother Superior of that remote chapter, and would be responsible for making sure that the order survived the coming chaos.

The first months had been arduous, filled with manual labor far more difficult than any she had ever experienced. Alone in the great, echoing convent, she sometimes contemplated packing her trunk and abandoning her duties.

Long hours of solitary prayer and contemplation, however, assured her that this would be wrong. As she came to know her new neighbors, she realized that there was an urgent need for someone to educate the children, and provide a good role model for the young women. Reverend Mother Grania began to study the books available in the convent library, choosing stories of the saints and martyrs to instruct her young charges.

As her hours filled with her teaching and the young women of the area began to come to her with their questions and concerns, Grania was surprised to find that she looked forward to the moments of peace and tranquility which were becoming a rare part of her busy days.

For one person, however, winter brought no peace. Baron Awn had, indeed, brought his infant Prince to the tenuous safety of Erlenstar Mountain. But his heart was wracked with uncertainty about the fate of the friends and family lost in the South.

Although he didn’t share the information with anyone, a messenger had arrived with tidings which filled him with anxiety. Were they safely hidden here at the foot of the mountain? Or would their enemies seek them out once the passes cleared in the spring? The Baron looked out over his little community, dreading what might come.

Unable to sleep, he spent the nights at his easel, trying however unsuccessfully to distract himself from his responsibilities.

Baron Awn knew that he was an old man now. The defense of this tiny and vulnerable community would be too much for him, if the enemies came in force. All he could hope was that when spring cleared the passes, his sons would return from Caithnard ready to step into his place and lead the people of Erlenstar until the tiny Prince grew old enough to take the reins of his kingdom.

In the cottages and small-holdings, however, these worries were far away. As the weather grew colder, many of the young people of the town had time to discover one another—and the joys of young love.

Surely spring would bring new starts, new families, and new births to Erlenstar Mountain.

Next post: http://kerrysims.blogspot.com/2007/05/barons-plan.html

Arrival: round 1

The journey was arduous, and the arrival scarcely less so. It was late summer by the time the exhausted group came to the foot of Erlenstar Mountain. Tired and footsore, many had lost loved ones as they traveled. Even as they faced starting from nothing, most families were in mourning. Worse, only days after their arrival, a messenger galloped in, his horse foundering, and a broken arrow in his thigh. The news he carried was even more dreadful. The battle at home was lost, the Prince’s forces broken and scattered. Many of the folk who had remained were known to be dead, and others had vanished. The royal city had fallen and waves washed the jagged wreckage of the Prince’s Tower. Truly, their tiny band—and the baby Prince they protected—were the only remaining hope for their people.


Somehow, they began to set their grief aside to do what must be done. For the small folk, this was truly a new start. Fall crops must be planted and shelters built, if the community was to survive the winter. Fortunately, they were able to scavenge building materials from the wreckage of homes abandoned long ago, when their ancestors left the valley.

Master Avo Marcher had left his business in the city to ensure the safety of his little daughter and his wife, as well as the child she carried in her womb.

But the rigors of the journey proved too much for Mistress Elisabetta --with only days left in the trip, she died in Avo’s arms. The loss of his beloved wife and the heir they had hoped for was devastating, and the task of somehow rebuilding a life seemed far beyond the grieving widower.

Yet somehow he must manage, for his daughter Griet depended on him for everything. Fortunately, the package of jewels he had carried on the journey was intact, and so he was able to hire laborers from Kyrth, the nearest trading city, to have a home and business constructed. He knew that somehow he had to endure, and raise his child.

For the nobility, things were less desperate. The halls and manors their families had left behind remained intact, and it took only new goods and minor rebuilding to become re-established in these homes. Under the care of the faithful servants who had accompanied them, the last remaining Earth Master children began to settle into their new lives.

For some, the new life was not what they had expected. Clover Keper had been the daughter of a substantial merchant in the city—and her doting father had always promised to let her pursue the learning and knowledge which were her dream. Yet at the last minute, he begged her to flee the city for her own safety, and found her a position caring for the young heiress of An, soon to be the Duchess Raederle—and the only surviving member of her family. Clover was bitter about the loss of her father, and resentful of her new role as guardian of a spoiled young girl.

Yet somehow, she found time between cooking and making beds to explore the ancient library and the unsteady telescope in the gardens.

To her surprise, she began to feel a genuine affection for the orphaned Duchess—and while she didn’t forget her earlier dreams, she felt that happiness might one day return.

As winter drew near, even the small folk began to relax. The harvest was good, and everyone had a roof over their heads.

The fighting had not spread to the North, and it began to seem as if their enemies had forgotten them. Baron Awn even relented enough to let his grandsons travel down the River Ose to Caithnard, to study at the College of Riddles. He knew that if they were to survive, they would need all the answers they could acquire.

And in Erlenstar Manor, under the devoted care of his nurse, the tiny hope of the kingdom grew and thrived. Would there be a kingdom for him to govern in the end?

Next post: http://kerrysims.blogspot.com/2007/04/first-winter.html

What Came Before

Generations had passed since the Earth Masters left the isolated valley at the foot of Erlenstar Mountain for the richer--and more interesting--lands in the south. During those generations, their skills and talents had only grown. In their magnificent cities, surrounded by towers of stone and glass, they learned ever more about themselves and the world around them. During these years, their human servants and retainers thrived as well...living a life of prosperity and peace, trading amongst themselves, and exploring the lands and the seas. Through deep contemplation, the Earth Masters grew to understand the structures and complicated interrelationships of all things. Gradually, they discovered that this understanding could lead further--to the ability to shape themselves into the semblance of the world around them. Delving into this world, they learned the long, slow lives of trees...

...the joyous immersion in the moment known by the beasts...

...and at last, the forbidden and complicated thrill of shaping another person.

But power has a lure which can be irresistable, and not everyone has good intentions. As the years passed, some amongst them reached ever farther, hungering for more and more power at any cost. Wars came upon them, bloody and divisive, and at the end of one such, some of their own were driven away--driven even from the land itself, into the sea.

For long years, it seemed that at last peace could blossom in their kingdom. Alas, those they had defeated were only hidden--not vanquished. And, one dreadful day, the seas themselves rose against the Earth Masters. The waves took their ships; the earth convulsed under their glorious cities. Even their dearest friends and family could suddenly be revealed as imposters, as the shape-changers from the sea came forth onto the land to do battle at last.

In the desperate struggle against these heartless and powerful enemies--who felt passion, but never compassion--it seemed at first that no weapon could be ignored. The Earth Masters drew power from the lands around them, then from the creatures inhabiting those lands--and even from the humans who worked their lands, their cities, farms, and ships. At length, they took power even from their own children, who, deprived of the ability to master the earth in their turn, withered and died prematurely.

Prince Tirunedeth, whose youth had been spent in joyous appreciation of his own power and reveling in the love of his beautiful young Princess, was the first to see that the outcome of this battle could only mean complete destruction for the Earth Masters.

Giving up his dancing and enjoyment, he and Princess Alicia faced the stark truth.

To save Erlenstar, they must rescue the tiny remnant of the children who remained, and somehow send them to a safe refuge, hoping against hope that they would survive the coming war.

They recruited the elderly Baron Awn, who reluctantly agreed to escort the group of surviving children, along with a small core of loyal retainers, farmers, and merchants, back to the safety of the isolated valley at the foot of Erlenstar Mountain. If they survived to reach this haven, perhaps the children could rediscover the ability to shape their worlds, and reclaim the power which had been stolen from them. Left behind, their parents would make the last hopeless stand, buying the childrens' safety with their own lives.

With bitter tears, knowing that they would never see their tiny son again, they entrusted him to the Baron and watched the little caravan set off into the foothills. As they returned to their hopeless battle, they hoped only that their son, as well as the few other surviving Earth Master children, would somehow survive and someday return.

Next post: http://kerrysims.blogspot.com/2007/04/arrival.html