Private Tales The Patrician's Edification

[Logan Banick]

Apparently, Commander Orrucks had set in motion the last preparations to depart for the Haedui lands, for now the Guard encampment was likewise in motion. Military urgency had swept over the encampment, and men were hurrying and assembling their kits and lining up in their respective formations. The Battalion was making ready to march.

Logan waved off Olvir's comment as they walked. "Oh no. Far from usual."

He was smiling, even if it was a touch thin. Edan Orrucks was one of the few types of men who could vex him without much effort. His belligerence, his abrasiveness, his condescending attitude, Logan found it all to be grossly unbecoming.

"There is a reason the Anirian Guard is exceptional, and that is because it rewards those who are exceptional. All men, all women, become equal on the battlefield, and everyone has the chance to show their merit. So it goes, in general. Yet..." again he gestured vaguely after the direction Commander Orrucks had gone, "...nothing is perfect."

Logan mounted as Olvir did the same, and the Anirian Knights tailed them. Towards the head of the now assembled column of Guardsmen they rode.

"I've been in the North for quite some time. Tell me, Olvir, how...is the atmosphere of Vel Anir proper, after the Revolution? Are there a good many men and women who share a mind with Commander Orrucks now?"

Olvir

 

[Olvir]

Olvir nodded his head as Logan spoke of the guard.

He had heard such things before. Stories, tales, facts of how things were supposed to go among the rank and file. There was something...comforting in the idea that it was actually that way most of the time. That Orrucks was the exception and not the rule.

Perhaps that was what Aisling had experienced. Why she had enjoyed her time in the navy so much and despised her new position.

It made sense to Ollie. "I..."

He frowned.

"Things are certainly different now." Though in truth he could not have said how much. Most of his time before the Revolution had been spent away in Elbion and Dornoch. Before that? Before that he had been too young to really know.

"There are some who hate us for our birth, others who believe we should still be abo-" He cut himself off. "I think there is a balance, Lord Banick, and you may find both sides of the scale depending where you look."

A frown touched Ollie's lips. "Though..."

He shook his head. "In my travels in through the...taverns of Vel Anir, I've met a great many Kingsmen."

His frown deepened, as though he were working through some sort of mystery.

 

[Logan Banick]

...Lord Banick...

At this, Logan at the first opportunity said gently, "Logan, please." It wasn't that he outright disliked being addressed as such, Lord Banick, it was in fact his birthright after all, but he had in more times gotten far more used to being simply called Logan.

What Ollie said last was most surprising. Logan reeled back slightly in his saddle, eyes casting a wide and high arc in their wonder before settling back onto him.

"You say it true? That there are those who still believe in the monarchy?"

He asked the question without disdain nor condescension which might have been found elsewhere. For him, he simply had not the occasion to know, such was the path of his life.

It also drove home just how much control, how much power, the old Alliance of Houses possessed, in that, apparently for many Anirians, the narrative of the King still being in charge had been the unvarnished truth of the land.

Olvir

 

[Olvir]

"Ah, right Logan." It was hard to shake that habit, that compulsion which had been instilled since childhood. Respect was everything in the world of Nobility, especially in the House of Weiroon.

After all, they had paid a hefty amount of coin for it. "There are many."

He answered.

"I think it is...easy for some of us to forget, but a great many commoners never knew the truth of..." Olvir trailed off, glancing at some of the soldiers around them and deciding that now was probably not the time to get into it. "Many in the outlands don't understand what the King did wrong, why the Republic took over."

Ollie explained. "They thought him a good and kind man, though I have no idea if that is the truth."

He'd never met any of the Royal family.

"There are a many considerations to make in this new world, and I am afraid we are missing out on a great deal of them." Ollie said quietly.

 

[Logan Banick]

Quite the point Olvir made there. For men like himself and Olvir, with the height of their stature as nobles, it was easy to be privy to much of the inner workings of Anirian society. They knew that which the commonfolk couldn't possibly, and it wasn't a matter of ability, but one of purview. The aforementioned height of their stature gave them a more expansive vantage over the common man.

"There are indeed. I, as always, will strive to do right by my House, and right by my fellow Guardsmen of the North. Of all the considerations, these are what matter most."

Logan smiled.

"Family and friends."

Olvir

 

[Olvir]

Olvir smiled. For the first time he felt like had met another Noble who understood him, who had the same goals. Aisling was the same of course, but she...she was his sister. That was different, he had never once met another Noble like Logan.

It made him...it made him more optimistic. "I..."

"Thank you." It would seem out of place, he knew that. The statement Logan had made bore no real thanks to be given, but Olvir couldn't help but say it anyway. "I've...I've been struggling with our place."

He said cautiously. "My place. The weight of my family name."

For the burden of Weiroon weighed heavily. "How I do things, why...but...but this talk has helped me immensely."

He looked at the other man.

"Family." Olvir said with a nod, then extended his hand. "And friends?"

Ollie repeated, and asked.

 

[Logan Banick]

Logan smiled brightly. No, grinned with pure and simply joy.

And he took Ollie's hand and shook it firmly.

"And friends we are. Well met. Well met indeed."

* * * * *

THE LANDS OF THE HAEDUI​

The fertile lands claimed by Vel Anir gave way to the Aberresai Savannah within but a couple days worth of travel. The trees became more sparse in number, and they were not mighty like those more to the south, but thin, almost wiry, their canopies wide and flat. The grass grew longer as green lost its primacy to more yellows, more ochres, even oranges, and the vast open land was awash with all these colors. Even further north the Savannah likely flattened out, but here the land was tumultuous with rolling hills, broken hills, and small depressions and cuts here and there from old rivers perhaps. Small mountains in the distance, from which said rivers may have flowed, and where new rivers flowed in the current age.

Ahead, light and wispy smoke stacks. Just over the last ridge, a village seemed to spring from nowhere. A far cry from the homes Logan had seen even on the frontiers of Anirian territory. These were simple houses, built solely with the resources available to the Haedui people in the Savannah. Some were permanent, and a good many looked to be mobile, like grand tents, able to be taken down and moved in short order.

"Where are them noble boys at?" came the loud, cutting shout of Commander Orrucks from the front of the marching column of Guardsmen.

"Brace yourself," Logan said. His smile was thin, a touch of wry humor about it. There was something peculiar about a man who so soundly dismissed someone, and then only a short time called upon the very people he'd dismissed as if such dismissal had never happened.

Logan started his mount forward at a fast trot to head towards the front. But only faster enough to actually outpace the rest of the column, and no faster. He was in no hurry.

Olvir

 

[Olvir]

Ollie kept his face straight.

Kept his expression entirely neutral. It was a practiced calm. A measure of who he tried to be. Fingers tightened around the reins of his horse, drawing closer and tighter as their journey continued.

A part of him wondered if any of this was worth it. If he should have just stayed home. It might have gone better. It might have marked a world where…where things would have been different. Yet here he was, standing, riding alongside regardless.

His face flickered over towards Logan.

"Right." Ollie said as the other man warned him.

A small lash, and he spurred his own horse forward. The two nobles began to prod forward. The clip of their shoes ringing out as they began to head towards the 'commander' of their company.

 

[Logan Banick]

Commander Orrucks eyed the approach of Logan and Olvir like a father glowering down at his two sons, who to him were both thorough disappointments.

Without preamble, Orrucks said, "Talkin is what ya'lls do, isn't it?"

He gestured down toward the Haedui village, wherein the tribespeople were looking with curiosity and expectation up toward the column of Anirians at the top of the ridge. A small welcoming party was gathering at the periphery of the village with three persons of note visible from this distance: a leader, made evident by the adorning of a thick fur cape atop his shoulders and a diadem upon his head; a tall and lanky man with a staff and robes made from various leather pieces, a shaman mayhap; a woman with stark white hair, wearing only chestwraps and trousers, with two axes belted there.

"So make yourselves useful. And go talk."

Logan nodded and spoke with all the professional courtesy he could muster. "It will be done, Commander."

A light whip of the reins and spurring of his horse, and he was off at another leisurely trot toward the village. And to Ollie he said, "Well. A surprising turn. Perhaps the combined sunshine of our sterling personalities convinced our Commander that we could be useful in places other than the rear guard."

Though dry in his delivery, the humor was there.

Olvir

 

[Olvir]

A part of him wondered if this man had somehow managed to bypass the meritocracy of Vel Anir after all. If he had somehow jumped the line. Yet perhaps he had some unseen quality that Olvir had not quite yet managed to place.

He frowned, watching the commander for a brief moment more, and then trotted on after Logan. "Maybe he's just seen too much blood."

The remark came quietly, but he meant it. Even military men didn't always want war, most that he had met didn't anyway. Perhaps the Commander thought that he could save himself a battle, or better yet, get an advantage in the next one.

As they rode closer Ollie lifted up a hand.

"Greetings!" He called out in the warmest tone that he could muster.

Though he spoke a dozen other languages, the native tongue of these people was not one of them. A fact that he had of course not told the commander, but he figured that common was a good bet. If not? Well perhaps they spoke Orc, or maybe even Talatean.

 

[Logan Banick]

Maybe he's just seen too much blood.

"Hm. That might explain the unfortunate set of his features." Mayhap it was uncouth to make disparaging comments of someone's face, yet Commander Orrucks seemed to do all he could to invite whatever uncharitable opinions of him there might possibly be.

And the man did have a face seemingly twisted by something. By Kress, his resting expression resembled that of an irritated hound.

They rode up to the Haedui welcoming party, and Ollie greeted them in Common.

And the Chieftain responded in the same, even if it was a touch rough. "You are the Anirians. Welcome. You come to fight the Ngonya?"

"Yes, indeed we have."

The Chieftain nodded. Leaned back and spoke to the shaman and the woman in what could have been a local tongue or could have been Orcish—maybe to Olvir's ears they would sound quite similar. And then he spoke again to them, "Please. I ask your names."

"Logan Banick, of House Banick and of the Republic of Vel Anir." The Chieftain seemed somewhat baffled by the word Republic, but didn't ask for clarification. Only a year, Logan thought, a time so short it paled before the reign of the King and the reign of the Alliance of Houses.

The Chieftain, his old and weathered face (one not quite as ancient as the shaman's, though) producing what little of a smile he could manage, looked to Olvir expectantly.

Olvir

 

[Olvir]

"My name is Olvir Weiroon of House Weiroon, in service to the Republic of Vel Anir." He said by way of introduction, doing his best to keep his voice as respectable and calm as he possibly could.

This was not the first time he'd entered into a sort of negotiation.

The first time he'd sat at a bartering table had been when he was only fifteen. House Weiroon was one of merchants, and though his father had disdained him he'd made damn sure his son could do business. Of course, that was hardly diplomacy, but Aisling had told him that the two were one and the same.

"We had hoped." He said calmly. "In the pursuit of our enemy we might also find friends."

Ollie smiled, sparing a glance over his shoulder to ensure Commander Orrucks hasn't rushed ahead after all.

 

[Logan Banick]

We had hoped in the pursuit of our enemy we might also find friends.

"We feel the same," said the Chieftain. "Anirians, we greet you as friend."

Logan gave a sagely nod. "We are well met then. May we be introduced?"

"Yes. I am Gallik, and I speak for my people, the Haedui. This is Kuumin—he is among our circle of elders," he said, gesturing to the shaman. "And this is Ophelii, of our warrior women that we call Sabers."

Both the shaman and the warrior woman nodded once introduced.

Catching a brief glimpse of the village beyond the three of them, Logan saw something which caught his eye. Twins. Two younger men, starkly identical with their black hair and their clothing, same height and same face, the two of them standing side by side. It would have just been a mild curiosity if not for seeing another pair of twins behind them, two girls this time. And, after a brief sweep of his gaze, he noticed a good number of twins among the Haedui people peering on at the conversation. Not a majority by any means, but far more than what was natural. It was strange and intriguing.

But he let it go for now. Said to Gallik, "We understand that Ngonya Beastmen from the west threaten your lands."

"Yes. They do." He gave a friendly gesture and half-turned. "Come. Let us walk."

Olvir

 

[Olvir]

Olvir did not notice the excessive amount of genetic copies that seemed to lay within the village.

He was far too preoccupied with his first, small, diplomatic success. The tribesman, or at least their elders, seemed more than happy to find Anirian friends. It was a small win that Ollie was more than happy to internally celebrate.

As they began to head towards the village itself he mapped out how everything would go.

Things that they could offer the Haedui, concessions they could legally make. Everything that they could ask for in return.

The business man that his father had trained came to the forefront. He thought of deals and bargains, alliances and friendships that could be forged. So enthralled was he by the prospects he didn't notice the odd amount of twins, not the watchful eyes that followed them as they began to head into the village.

"Has the encroachment been recent?" He asked.

"Or has this been a...long, problem?" Olvir continued. "We have heard reports, but they have been sparse."

As he continued Olvir began to look around, smiling at some of the children which ran around the village. "The Ngonya have only recent dared to tread towards Anirian territory."

That at least he was sure of. The first reports of them had come in only after the Revolution.

 

[Logan Banick]

There was a spark of recognition in Gallik's gaze. Or no? Maybe not. More so a kind of corroboration, in Logan's estimation, that Olvir had put to voice something Gallik had either known or suspected greatly. The Chief turned to Kuumin to translate and they nodded and shared some words. Ophelli kept her own counsel as they talked.

Gallik looked to Olvir then and said, "Yes. Recent." And then, impressed, "You knew."

"How recent?" Logan asked. "Would you say since six months ago? A year ago? Or mayhap longer?"

Gallik waved his hand dismissively at this last. "No. Not longer." He thought for a moment. "Winter has come not again since attacks began."

Logan glanced over to Ollie, thinking that the younger noble was sharing the exact thought he was. "The Revolution."

That, of course, was the easily correlated part. But was it actually correlated or merely coincidence? An entity came to mind, one which might well be directly or indirectly spurring the Ngonya to aggressiveness, using them as a probe by which to test their neighbors. And Logan wondered further if this second half of the thought occurred to Ollie as well.

The entity in question: The Empire.

Olvir

 

[Olvir]

Ollie did not think of the Empire.

His own estimations were that of a state which had lost near a third of it's protectorate cities. Whose government had changed, and whose armies were currently toiling away at taking what was once theirs. I twas reasonable, of course, to assume what Logan did.

The young Noble simply didn't quite have the experience that the Anirian Knight did. A few more years in politics, in war, and his assumptions might have been right. "My father says."

Sebastian said a lot of things.

"May the enemy of my enemy be my newest friends." He did not also say that the former Patriarch of House Weiroon also used to add 'and then met in the same grave'. It did not seem expeditious at this point. "I believe we can help one another."

Ollie suggested. "We have troops, but we do not know these lands as well as you."

He glanced briefly over his shoulder. "Perhaps you can show us the way?"

 

[Logan Banick]

Gallik looked quite pleased with what Olvir had to say. "Your father is wise man. Yes, we of the Haedui welcome Anirian friends. We fear another attack is coming, and we fear not enough Haedui warriors to defend."

"With the Anirian Guard backing your warriors, together we will deliver the decisive victory you need," Logan said, taking his turn to offer reassurances. He refrained from quoting his own father Theodore though. He was unfamiliar with Sebastian Weiroon (hardly surprising, given the state of affairs a year ago), but he was all too familiar with Theodore. A harsh man in his earlier years, fiercely protective of his own, and all too willing to cast aside friends and allies if such was beneficial to the House.

Gallik nodded vigorously. "Yes. Yes. Our scouts are watching for Beastman signs at the edge of our territory. We will show you the way."

"Lovely," Logan said. "Chieftain Gallik, gather what warriors you can spare. Our force is already prepared to move, and so we will depart when yours is assembled."

It was as if winter solstice gifts had been plopped down into his lap by the legendary griffin Velaeri herself, such was Gallik's enthusiasm. He briefly traded words with Kuumin and Ophelii in the Haedui dialect, and then he and Kuumin separated and went two different ways through the village, shouting loudly their calls to arms.

Ophelii stayed, looking up at Olvir and Logan on their horses. She smiled, a small but cordial gesture.

And spoke in Common that wasn't as rough as that of her leader. "Anirians," she said with an air of curiosity. "What is your family name?"

To each man she looked expectantly.

Olvir

 

[Olvir]

Olvir watched the exchange for a brief moment.

A part of him wondered what their oh too lovely Commander would have to say about all of this. He imagined the man wouldn’t exactly be jumping for joy at fighting alongside ‘barbarians’, but then again no military man would turn down allies.

Least if he had any sort of cleverness about him.

His eyes flickered briefly over his shoulder towards the Anirian column. By the time he returned his gaze towards the tribesmanOphelli was standing before them. He smiled briefly, and then offered his name. ”Weiroon.”

Ollie offered happily.

”Fourth born.” He knew that in this area that mattered to some, though had no idea if that was the case with Ophelli and her tribe.

 

[Logan Banick]

Logan was a trifle struck by the question. It was his first impression that perhaps Ophelii was more traveled than her fellow Haedui, or had through some other means gained a familiarity with Anirian politics. So strong was this impression that it didn't occur to Logan until later that she probably didn't know that both he and Olvir were nobles. All she had asked was for their family names, which she could have asked of any Guardsmen.

"Banick," Logan said, some of Olvir's cheer bringing up his own tone from the more business-like talk they had shared with Gallik. "Third son of my father."

She nodded slowly and surely, taking in their names and seeming to commit them to memory. "Weiroon. Banick. You are far from home, yes?"

"That we are. But what we do here matters back there."

"I understand," Ophelii said. Elsewhere in the Haedui village, men were assembling in their leather and linen armor and with spears and shields in hand. Women as well, with hair as white as Ophelii's and dressed much the same, were assembling with them.

"You love them," she said, smiling genially. "And so you are here. Fighting for them. Yes?"

Olvir

 

[Olvir]

The question, at least for Olvir, was more complicated than he would have liked to admit.

He had spent years in his family as the black sheep. Not shunned, but…mostly ignored. Ten years younger than his next oldest sibling not much had ever been expected of him. He would never inherit, never gain power, and would likely only serve as a pawn to be married off.

Indeed that had been the plan before the Revolution.

Such was the environment that he’d been raised in. Neglect, dispassion. Only when something could be gained from him had either of his parents turned their eyes. It was only Aisling that had truly cared about him, though by the time he’d been old enough to realize she had left for the Guard.

A decision he did not blame her for. ”I…would suppose so.”

He said finally with a smile.

It was a noble idea, to fight for ones love, but he did not think that many in the Anirian Guard did it for that. Least of all someone like Commander Orruck. Perhaps he should have tried to say that, but it seemed…complicated to explain.

”In Vel Anir we fight for the people, as well as our family.” He stated, trying to branch his thoughts.

 

[Logan Banick]

Unbeknownst to Logan, the question was far less difficult for him to answer.

"Indeed I do."

Though he had found his calling in the North, Logan never forget where he came from. Much did he owe to his father, his mother, to his brothers and to the rest of the House Banick family at large for shaping him into the man he had become. It wasn't all sunshine, of course, and in truth there were many a cloudy day he could recall from his formative years. Yet through examples both good and bad, learning from each in their own way, was Logan sculpted. One day he would return to his House, taking all of the experience he had gained in the Guard and applying it to his duties as Lord.

Ophelii looked highly pleased with Olvir's answer, as if she might have said the same thing of herself and the Haedui as a whole. Her mouth opened for a response, but two small children came rushing up to her, arms out, each one crying out excitedly, "Momma!" and each grabbing one of her legs.

The two children, both boys, were identical. Twins. Logan glanced over to Olvir, smiling pleasantly, curious to see how his fellow noble would react.

Ophelii ruffled the hair of both of her sons in tandem, saying then, "We women of the Sabers, before the ritual to gain our strength, must give of ourselves to our people and to Arethil. It is only after we have brought life into this world that we are allowed to join in battle, for we have then done our duty as women."

She was smiling, but her eyes were sorrowful. And with this sadness she looked to Logan and Olvir, said to them, "There are warrior men who go into battle very young, and they do not have the chance to leave anything behind. No sons, no daughters. I weep for them. But a man's duty in life is hard, and the world can be cruel."

Hopeful now, her gaze on the two men. "Have you yet sired children of your own?"

And at this, Logan was given immense pause.

Olvir

 

[Olvir]

If Olvir had been taking a drink he might have choked on it. "I...err...no."

Most definitely not.

He had, in fact, only ever taken a woman to bed once. An experience mostly foisted on him by his long time friend Elias Sirl. The experience had been...interesting, but soon after Olvir had been betrothed to Elspeth and after that...

Well seeking out such things had not seemed right.

Even now it didn't.

After the Revolution Elspeth had disappeared, and since she'd only recently been found they'd not had a chance to talk. Their marriage was in a state of limbo, as far as most were concerned, but Ollie still thought it...well, he didn't know what to think about it.

"I haven't had the..." He glanced around at nothing in particular. "Time."

Sure, that was believable.

 

[Logan Banick]

"No," Logan said, echoing Olvir's answer. "No I..." he cleared his throat, "have not."

Ophelii could well have been voicing Theodore's own concerns, or the concerns of Logan's mother before she passed away. Though in truth, neither he nor Gabriel were pressured as much as Cecil and Walter to marry and sire children, yet the pressure was still there. It wasn't unwarranted, for Logan felt the desire himself.

At their answers, Ophelii lacked any sort of judgmental look in her gaze. The woman was nothing if not earnest. "Then when battle comes, do not fight as though you do not fear death. Fight to live."

She spoke to her twin sons, urged them along, and together they went among the Haedui homes, and likely she went to entrust them to the care of extended family and friends.

Logan turned to Olvir. "Would it have been forward to ask if she was offering?" He smiled widely, raised a hand in a manner dismissive of what he had just said, adding, "A crass joke. Pardons for all involved."

Though he might have tried to play it off with mirth, still the Haedui woman had gotten Logan focused on things of great importance. Things which transcended the lines of Haedui and Anirian and all others.

Olvir