Viscount's Rise

“It seems like that was the last battle before they send some serious numbers at us.” Braydon mused, watching his men clean up the battlefield in the distance from atop the castle walls.

“I doubt that they will underestimate us anymore either.” Roan added, standing next to him.

“They have no choice at this point. That Lord Ganz managed to throw his life away. We were not even aiming to kill him specifically and he still managed it.” It was not that Lord Ganz was a particularly impressive warrior or anything but he was the first member of the nobility in Shuluk that had fallen to Braydon, even if it was not at the end of his sword specifically.

“It is not every day that a Lord dies in battle.” Roan acknowledged, unless it was in special cases, the nobility and knights were captured and ransomed rather than killed. Of course that would not matter if they fell during the battle by accident. Lord Ganz evidently was not someone with the best of luck.

“Funny that nobody cares until after you are dead.” Braydon joked. This Lord Ganz was a minor lord of a backwater territory but in death he would change the attitude of the rebel lords when facing Braydon in battle..

“Then I would rather that nobody started caring about us.” Roan threw back at him.

“Haha, you might be right there but I have a feeling they ‘care’ so much that they want us dead.” At the very least, he could guess that the father of the brat he had threatened at Damaz would want him gone. If for nothing but the fact that he had taken the town, garrison and all, without a fight.

“Then we just have to ‘care’ about them more.” Roan smiled slightly before once more going silent to watch over the men returning after finishing cleaning the battlefield. 

“He died!?” Earl Damaz shouted in incredulity. 

“He died.” Lord Haliz confirmed, beside him stood Lord Shara who decided that not talking to the already enraged Earl Damaz after having been defeated himself was for the best. Upon meeting up with the men that escaped the battle that ended Lord Ganz, Haliz and Shara met up with the other lords that had come with them to deal with Earl Fiton.

“And who is going to lead his men now?” Earl Damaz was more than a bit annoyed at having to come back to Damaz to take care of some Fiverian upstart, and now he had to worry about the men of a man who was so incompetent that he got himself killed before he could do anything useful.

“I am sure that Lord Shara could do with some extra men right about now.” One of the four other lords in the room entered the conversation. It was obvious enough that he was taking a dig at Lord Shara by pointing it out in such a way.

“Whilst it might be helpful, I am sure that everyone else has their own opinions.” Lord Shara cringed a little when Earl Damaz turned to him when his name was brought up. He had found someone to take his frustrations out on.

“And have him get himself killed too? He has already shown us how worthless he is. At least Lord Ganz was able to send back most of his men even if he died himself.” Earl Damaz was getting more irate by the second, it was bad enough having an ally getting himself killed for nothing, but now he had one who didn’t even have the balls to die after losing almost all of his men. 

“In this case, I do not think that it was possible for us to do much.” Lord Haliz decided to intervene. Lord Ganz might not have been fond of him in life but at least he had a good relationship with Lord Shara.

“And how the fuck was jumping on a sword not avoidable?” Earl Damaz shouted but had calmed down enough for Lord Haliz to carry on. At the very least he was one of 3 of the lords gathered who still had control of his own castle. He had more room to talk since he was doing them a favour by being there. As much as Damaz was ranting and raving, he lost his town and castle. Whilst he had not lost a battle, like Shara, he was not in a great situation either.

“Whilst Lord Ganz may have been unfortunate in losing his life, his men that returned reported seeing Marquess Serchi’s banner flying over the castle that Earl Fiton occupied.” Upon hearing Lord Haliz’s words it was not only Earl Damaz that broke out in a cold sweat, but all of the lords gathered apart from Lord Shara who had been there when Lord Haliz found out himself.

“Are they absolutely certain about that?” Earl Damaz asked, much more cautiously. 

“It was Lord Ganz who recognized the device before he died. If I were to guess, that is the reason why he did not assault the walls but took a battle on open land.” Lord Haliz nodded, making the heavy air in the tent persist.

“Do we know the extent to which the Marquess is willing to help this runt?” Earl Damaz asked again. 

“This is the first I have heard of the Marquess taking part in the conflict at all. Until this point he has adamantly refused both us and Alima Shuluk, so I am unaware about the circumstances.” Lord Haliz shook his head, Of all of the lords there his lands were the furthest away from those of Marquess Serchi, outside of large scale banquets and meeting once or twice in Narabun he had never met with the man. If anyone, it should have been Earl Damaz who knew him the best since he owned the largest town in the vicinity of Serchi. 

“All that it confirms to me is that Fiton brat has far more money than he knows what to do with if he has paid for Serchi’s aid.” Earl Damaz spat derisively. He may not like it but he knew that the only reason why Serchi had any kind of dealings with him in the past was because he was the lord of a large town. All he had at heart was the amount of coins in his coffers.

Darkwood

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