[Mkguild] Plain & Simple Part 12

[Chris]

   Sunrise was a welcome sight for the workers. A long wagon ride over
pothole and rut infested trails had been followed by a night in cramped,
cold tents. They hadn’t even been allowed out to light fires to warm
themselves. And now breakfast was cold trail rations and water. Few
believed that there were any Lutins within twenty miles of them.

   All the gripes and grumbles disappeared when two scouts carrying a
litter slowly walked past. The wounded figure on the litter was a
Keeper. There was no mistaking the black and white striped fur that
covered his body.

   “Eat quickly. We have a lot of work to get done before nightfall.”
All eyes turned from the wounded keeper going past to where the woman
stood, which had been her intention.
   
   She was tall and long limbed. Her black hair was cut short and tied
in braids kept close to her skull. The clothes she wore were of wool and
leather cut in the simple style of a laborer, but the gold and silver
medallion around her neck spoke of rank and authority. Her face was
weather-worn and her hands had the rough, scarred looked that told of
many years of hard work.

   “You were all told this was dangerous, so that shouldn’t be a big
surprise,” Samantha continued. “Everyone will carry a weapon where ever
they go and no one goes alone. Do not enter the woods unless
specifically told to do so and then only with a guard.”

   “I want to see all group leaders now,” she ordered but they had
already started to gather.

   In moments twenty people were clustered around her as the rest
scattered to their tasks.

   “First we get the palisade up across the breaches in the wall. Then
we erect the barracks and work shops.”  She looked around at the
assembled group. “William have you gotten a look at the wells yet?”

   A young male otter morph nodded his head. “Yes my lady. The well in
the town square is clear all the way down to the bottom.”

   “Good. Have you checked it for poison?”

   “The water is clean and pure.”

   “Be sure to test the water every day. I don’t want to loose anyone to
some sneaky lutin with a bottle of poison. Have you had the chance to
look for the other two wells that are here?”

   “I’ve found where one should be but I can’t be sure of what the well
looks like.”

   “Why?”

   “There’s a building on top of it.”

   “Several actually,” a young woman next to the otter added.

   She nodded. “All right. We’ll get a crew to clear enough debris to
get to the well head. Have you marked the site?”

   “Yes,” the otter answered. “As best I can.”

   “Good. We need that well. One well will not supply enough water for
all these people. I want you to check the well in the basement of the
Keep. Misha thinks it’s been poisoned or at least polluted.”

   “No telling what the Lutins have dumped down it,” the otter
commented.

   She nodded. “That brings up another point. Traps. The scouts haven’t
had a chance to sweep the ruins thoroughly so everyone is to be on guard
for traps left behind by the Lutins. Also there is no telling what
dangerous things are left from the siege. If you find something even
suspect you found something stop work immediately, back away and call
for an officer.”

   Samantha paused for a moment and lowered her tone and her head. “We
are sure to encounter the dead as we work. Remember that they were our
friends and family.”

   “What if they are Lutins?” someone asked in a cold tone.

   “We bury them,” she answered. “I don’t wage war on the dead. We’ve
got enough trouble with the living.”


*************************


   The three people wandered down the street. They had to move slowly
avoiding the weeds and bushes that grew up between the paving stones.
The ruined buildings that lined either side of the road loomed over them
as they walked.

   “That was William’s place wasn’t it?” a young blonde haired woman
said and pointed to the remains of a three story building.

   “It was,” Panno responded.

   “The Lutins really ripped it up,” A tall bull morph commented.

   “This is it. This was my shop.” Panno was standing in front of one
ruined building staring at it intently. It had been a brick building two
stories in height. The first floor had a door large enough for a horse
and carriage to enter easily. Beyond the doorway he saw only charred
wood and tumbled down bricks.

   Panno stumbled through the wreckage to the forge all that mattered to
him right now.

   “It doesn’t look bad,” the Amanda said.

   Matthew ran his hands along one wall. “The walls feel firm. Just a
little black from the fire,” the bull commented. Matthew looked up at
where the roof had once been. “I can throw a tarp over the open roof to
keep the rain out till we can get the roof back on. That will mean
repairing the walls and getting roof beams up.”

   “First we’ll need to remove all the debris on the floor,” Amanda
said. “To make room for us to work and to live in.”

   “The forge looks to be all right,” Panno said shifting some
half-burnt boards off the forge. “We’ll need to clean out the flue
before we can get the forge going again. She’s been cold for too long.”


************************


   Misha found George in a group with Lynette, Anwell, Samantha, a half
dozen scouts whose name Misha couldn’t quite remember and a ibex morph
that he had never seen before. The leader of the workers looked ill at
ease among all the armed and armored people.

   George pointed to the ibex, “This is Sir Diddian, Lord Thomas’ master
architect.”

   The jackal next pointed to the fox. “This is Misha, my top scout and
second in command.”

   Misha nodded his head towards the ibex. “Pleasure to meet you.”

   The ibex nodded in response. “I’ve heard a lot about you. I hope you
can keep my workers safe.”

   “I’ll try,” the fox answered.

   “Nasoj is reacting faster then expected,” George commented. “The
Lutins ambushed Andre’s caravan yesterday and scouts attacked last
night.”

   “Did we lose anyone?” Misha asked.

   George shook his head. “No but there were a few wounded. More then I
expected for the first night.”

   Misha answered. “We ran into a good sized group last night.”

   “I’ll have them push the workers harder,” George commented. “We need
to get the ditch redug and the kill zone cleared as fast as possible.
Then we can start on the walls.”

   “People can only work so fast,” Samantha countered. “If you want this
done faster we’ll need more people.”

   George shook his head. “The Duke won’t send any more.”

   “The Duke only has a small work force and he simply cannot spare any
more,” Samantha commented.

   “How long will it take to clear the ditch and all the brush around
the castle?”

   The woman shrugged. “I won’t know until I’ve fully surveyed the site
and that’s the first thing I’ll do this morning.”

   “You’ll take a guard with you,” George ordered. “A pair of archers
and a pair of spears. Sir Diddian, you’ll also have a guard.”

   The ibex nodded. “Thank you. I want to make a complete inspection of
the curtain wall, towers and gate house. Then I’ll see the Keep. That is
probably going to need the most work.”

   “Why the guards?” Samantha asked a little unnerved.

   “Until we’re sure there aren’t any Lutins lurking somewhere you need
the protection,” Misha explained.

   “And when they realize that you are leading the rebuilding,” George
stated. “Nasoj is bound to try and kill you.”

   “Are you sure?”

   “That’s what I would do,” Misha explained calmly.

   “You are expecting problems?” Diddian asked.

   “This is going to get pretty bloody before it’s over,” Misha
commented out loud.

   George nodded. “It always does.”


***********************


   Nestorius the Illustrious arrived in a carriage followed by two
wagons piled high with all his belongings including a complete bedroom
set. At the rear came another wagon. This one filled with a score of
workers all in the pay of the mage himself. The small caravan wound it’s
way through the town before stopping in the center of the town square.

   The lion morph that stepped from the carriage was dressed in a long
flowing robe made of yellow and blue silk. On his paws were boots made
of the finest leather and on his hands were gloves just as finely made.
His mane had been carefully groomed, combed and curled.

   He circled the town square three times examining each building he
passed carefully. Finally the mage stopped in front of a set of tumbled
down walls and a pile of rubble that had once been a building. The
floors and roof were gone but the walls were made of massive marble
blocks each over a ton in weight and towered high overhead. This
building must have one been over forty feet tall and impressive to look
at. He stepped around the ruined building slowly examining everything
carefully. Finally the feline walked back to where the wagons and
workers waited. “This is the place. Put my tent in the open yard next to
it. Then you can start repairing the walls and roof.”

   “What about clearing the debris inside?” a worker asked. “Makes sense
to clear that first.”

   “No!” he answered forcefully. “This was once a Mage’s home and there
are all manner of wards and traps about. Until I clear the last of them
it is unsafe for anyone but myself.”

   “Is it safe to go near the walls at all?” a worker asked.

   “I did not sense any magic left on them but I will personally check
all the walls as well just to be sure,” the feline answered.

   A young woman of about twenty years of ago walked up to the feline
holding a silver cup full of wine.  She had the slim but muscled build
of a warrior or a worker but was wearing a fine silk dress of green and
gold. “After the tent is up perhaps you would like a private meal and a
rest,” she asked and smiled. There was no doubting who he would be
sharing the tent with and that there would be little real resting.

   He took her chin in one massive paw and kissed her lightly on the
lips. “No. Not this night. There is a lot of magic here. Most of it from
a guild mage but there are older spells here as well. Even a few left
from the Suielman. First I need to clear the old wards and traps and
then erect my own. It is going to be a long night Amelia.”


********************


   A lot of work was needed to restore the old fortress. They needed to
clear all the debris, redig the ditch and rebuild the curtain wall, the
gate house and the Keep. None was easy.

   Clearing the ditch meant removing all the dirt and rubble to a depth
of fifteen feet deep and twice that wide. It was hard work with shovels
and picks to move the dirt and wagons pulled by teams of oxen and horses
to remove it. And of course with the ditch now cleared the bridge
crossing it to the gatehouse had to be rebuilt too.

   The interior of the vast fortress was a tangle of collapsed walls and
all manner of debris. Before the siege a small town had been here. Its
houses and taverns playing host to the families of the soldiers who
garrisoned the keep and to the brave souls who hunted and cut timber in
the surrounding forest.

   There was little time to clear all the debris from inside so it was
cleared in only certain places that Diddian had chosen. In those spots
wooden huts, buildings and sheds were quickly thrown up. Some were
barracks for the workers and the soldiers but others were workshops for
masons, carpenters, ironsmiths and stables for the horses and oxen who
did all the heavy pulling. There was even a blacksmith and a small
infirmary.

   Misha noted with some amusement that the first three buildings to go
up housed the kitchen/dining hall, the second a small drinking house and
the last was a large latrine.

   The hardest part was rebuilding the curtain wall that surrounded the
fortress and the Keep that rested in one corner. Both had been built of
the same hard limestone blocks, each weighing some three hundred pounds
and rectangular in shape. At least most of the needed blocks were
already present, literally scattered all around the site, laying where
they had fallen when the place had been destroyed in the siege. That did
not remove the work, however just lessened it. First all the debris had
to be cleared from around the ruined walls. When all the rubble had been
cleared the remaining parts were then carefully examined and shattered
and broken stones removed. Only then could the workers start to actually
rebuild the walls using new mortar to bind the old stones.

   The curtain walls were relatively easy to work on. Being barely
twenty feet high they didn’t require much in the way of scaffolding. The
tower keep on the other hand had been some seventy feet high. That meant
building wood scaffolding to the same height as well as a crane to carry
the needed mortar, stones and wood up.


**********************


   Of all the tasks that needed to be done by the workers one was
dreaded and disliked more than any other: road work. The road that ran
north from the Keep and eventually made it’s way to the fortress had
once been paved with stone and carefully maintained. Where it crossed
streams or ravines bridges carried it over safely. Many of the bridges
had survived as had much of the paving itself, but both needed much work
to be made safe. And worst of all was that in the intervening years the
brush and trees had grown close providing countless places for Lutins to
spring ambushes from. All that growth had to be laboriously cut down and
removed. It was long, hard work done far from the safety of the fortress
and its countless guards. Out on the road there was no protective screen
of scouts in hiding to keep the Lutins at a distance.

   No matter how many soldiers that surrounded them, no matter how many
Lutins they killed, there always seemed to be more attacking them. Often
the first warning was a shower of arrows thumping down around them.
Thankfully that didn’t last long.

   Misha tried to ignore the water dripping down his neck and
concentrate on the world around him. The rain drops came down around him
pattering off the trees and leaves before coming to rest on the forest
floor. Off to his right on the road ran up to the fortress, a crew of
twenty Keepers were hard at work replacing broken and missing paving
stones. They had been at it since just after dawn.

   Finbar and Craig were scattered on the opposite side of the road
hiding just like he was. All were waiting and watching for any sign of
trouble like they had been for the last two days. But things hadn’t been
all monotonous waiting. Four times Lutins had tried to attack working
parties and gotten rude surprises from the three scouts.

   Off to his left Misha caught sight of some movement out of the corner
of his eyes. He turned his head in time to see a half dozen Lutins
creeping toward the road bows and spears in hand. Without hesitating
Misha brought up his bow and loosed two arrows.

   Propelled by the power of the long bow the projectiles sped through
the rain and buried themselves deeply into the torsos of two Lutins. The
remaining Lutins instantly crouched low to the ground and looked all
about for their assailant.

   Misha froze counting on the branches and leaves that made up his
hiding place to keep him unseen. He heard moaning and the sounds of
something thrashing in the leaves on the forest floor. One of the Lutins
was dying a slow and noisy death.

   Everyone held still for a long moment and the moans and thrashing
slowed and finally stopped.

   The fox caught a bit of movement and sent another arrow to it. He was
rewarded a loud shout. A shower of arrows thumped down around him and he
felt a sharp sting on his right side as one of the arrows sank home.

   He gave a glimpse to his side and saw a small gash in his leather
armor from which a trickle of blood dripped out. Misha had little time
for the wound. He slung his bow and picked up his axe with both hands.

   Crouching low for a moment Misha launched himself up and out of the
blind he had been hiding in. Arrows zipped past him as he hit the ground
running, swinging the axe over his head.

   His vulpine legs propelled him along the forest floor as still more
arrows flashed past him. One hit the axe’s blade and shattered into a
score of splinters but Misha didn’t see them. He covered the distance
between him and the Lutins in seconds. The axe swept down and beheaded a
lutin with no real trouble.

   Three Lutins charged straight at the fox spears leveled at his chest.
Misha spun the axe in a tight circle shattering the spears into
thousands of splinters. He kicked one lutin hard in the stomach and he
tumbled backwards. The fox smacked the second on the head with the
handle of the axe. A third fled screaming into the forest clutching the
shattered remains of his right hand. That powerful axe swept down twice.


   Misha turned to the survivor but even wounded the lutin had kept his
head and had quickly vanished from sight. As to where the lutin was
hiding there was no sign. Even the trail of blood ended suddenly,
offering nothing to track.

   Behind him he heard the sounds of someone blundering through the
brush trampling leaves and breaking limbs as they went. Turning to the
noise he saw two Keepers dressed in armor and carrying spears charging
towards him.

   Holding up both arms Misha waved to them. “It’s me, Misha.”

   The two soldiers slowed and came to a halt close to the scout. “What
happened?” one of them asked.

   “They were going to ambush you but I got to them first. Be warned
there’s one lutin left around here somewhere but I doubt you’ll find
him.”

End part 12

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