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