Recent content by Carr Ledrose

"That was a story," said Carr after the long ensuing silence. "Take care, bard, or the wolf will eat your dinner." Which earned maybe a notch more laughter from the nearby crew than it deserved, objectively speaking. "I have no skill at words, but I can give you a story if it's my turn." With...

There were a lot of ways a man could feel about a song like that and a situation like this. Carr searched his remaining feelings and found only- "Louder you sing, the better I get paid next time, maybe, depending who's heard it. Reputation's part of my livelihood." He tapped one of his helmet...

"Who were..." Carr trailed off, tankard half-raised, as the bards' song began to occupy more of his attention than bards' songs normally did. Gratification and embarrassment both prodded at him, but bleak memory more than anything. Cregsbend had been a rough one. He found himself scratching at...

Carr chewed on that and washed it down with small beer, the convoy's drinking ration. Someone got the wolf a pot of it. "I've ducked the gods' attention until now. But nothing rages them like-" He gestured at the encircling dragon corpse. "-offended dignity. There's talk we've cursed ourselves...

Since Uhtred was out on horseback, Carr decided to hand the letter off when second watch began. He could stay awake that long. This had been a tough day but he'd had far worse. "That's the rumour," he told the wolf. "Mireille Merlon — she married off years back to some prince away off in...

"King took his share," Call told the wolf. "Some tooth and scale and roasted the heart for his court." He'd decided that he was too sore to spend much worry on the strangeness of talking with a wolf. Truth be told, he had his own strangenesses. The convoy workers and the other guards gave him...

Carr had lasted this long as a man-at-arms for hire by, inter alia, never taking people at face value. He eyed the sunset behind the mountains, and his exhausted men and oxen, and the young rider, and the wolf. In theory the convoy could keep on to midnight or longer, but half his men would walk...

The wagons and their crews rested at a bend, hesitant to challenge the latest hill. Carr drained half his wineskin at a pull and paced, unwilling to sit down and cramp up. Keep moving, he told himself. Two figures were on the hillcrest: a huge wolf and a horse's rider. The latter came down...

The silver dragon's corpse, none too fresh, stretched across five wagons. Oxen had sufficed to get the dragon through the forest, from small Ashdell by the lake up into the hills. But for the final approach to Crobhear Keep, Carr and the other guards hauled on ropes, working alongside the oxen...

BONFIRE #2 ROLL: 10 CUMULATIVE: 10 Ledhros took off at a boary gallop, or thought he did. The problem was that, as he broke away from the starting line, all these other bizarre racers were doing significantly better. An owl riding a crab, for example. Ledhros grunted boarily and took the other...

BOOLEY'S MILL SKAGG VALLEY SOMEWHERE IN ARETHIL The town of Booley's Mill was hosting a unique race. Ledhros had no idea who'd paid the town what to make this happen. A veritable cornucopia of disparate beings — shapeshifters, winged things, magicians stretching hamstrings — waited at the...

Ledhros passed Sand Hawk a chunk of the bread, which had been quite good two days ago and was now significantly dry. "That's as may be," he said blandly, feeling more tired and less incisive than normal. He prodded the fire with a stick and flinched as sparks popped. "So your people - tell me...

"No, feth no. I can't fix anyone. Maybe they can fix themselves, they and whatever..." He waved vaguely at Sand Hawk. "...gods they follow, but not me. No, I like that broken girls feel like my tribe. Like they can understand me, aren't gonna look down on me or worship me or make me out to be...

Sand Hawk "Medicine runs, sure - it's a lot like any other escort contract. Take person X to place Y to procure item Z." Retuning complete, he strummed a few experimental chords. "I didn't love her because I didn't know her, but I could've if I would've. It's the broken ones get to me, God."...

"Well thanks, God. I'm Ledhros Caur. I'm a plainshield - a mercenary - with a band called the Silver Key." He tuned the lute a piece at a time. "Aye, the Widow of Revail is real enough. Revail's a port city on the Cortosi coast. There's different stories about the man she's looking for. Maybe...