Oathbeard: Part 2

Four days travel east on the Tobaro road had lead Grumli, Liezo, and the caravan they were accompanying to the town of Solsona. Grumli was on edge, the town was void of life and there was signs of previous combat everywhere. Liezo spurred his horse ahead while Grumli hopped off the foremost wagon and after a few tense moments Liezo returned with a grim face.

“Hold!” He raised his arm to the wagons, “Be on your guard, I saw no foes, but that does not mean we are alone here”.

Grumli unlooped his axe from his belt and approached the Tilean, “What lies ahead manling?” he asked.

Liezo dismounted and shook his head, “follow” he said simply.

Grumli and the dozen guards followed warily behind Liezo and as they came upon the town center and market the horror was seen. Dead townspeople were all over, most were men and had been brought down by blade and arrows. But there were a few bodies that bore no wounds. Grumli knelt down to inspect the nearest one.

“What do you make of this Tilean? He asked Liezo, his comrade joined him and lifted the corpse’s head with a hand. The eyes were black and the lashes were crusted with blood.

“Sorcery most foul” He said, “most likely Arabyans”

“Myrmidia” A guard muttered, “no one deserves this”

Liezo looked to the guard and stood, “Evoke her not, my friend, no god should see their people in such a state”.

Liezo whistled to gather the guards attention upon him, “Gather the bodies and burn them. We’ll travel through the night”.

Some of the guards objected, “Burn them? It would be an insult to Morr!” one said.

Liezo gave them a stern gaze, “Morr will understand, and if he doesn’t then he is not a god. As for tonight’s travel, there is no alternative way. We must cover ground as quickly as possible, now let’s begin, I expect a pyre by nightfall”.

They worked silently and once the townspeople were ablaze they set to the road again. Grumli was restless and sat up from his makeshift bed as the night darkened, the lamplight from the wagons did little to reveal but a few yards away.

“You seem uneasy, friend” Liezo said softly.

Grumli looked to him and grunted, “It has been many years since I left Karak-Teurn, and when I return with no reason, they will still feel the same as they did in the past”.

Liezo pondered for a moment and spoke, “Surely they will forgive you, after all this time?”

“Remember Tilean, a dwarf never forgets” the dwarf growled, “No insult from orc nor kin is forgotten easily”.

“Well you have a reason for returning, and a noble one in my book”. Liezo looked outside the wagon into the blackness, and in the distance he could see a coastal village burning. He pointed to it, “You see that my friend? That must be stopped, and if your kin do not acknowledge it then we are better off without them”.

“I wish I had your optimism” Grumli replied.

Morning reached them without incident as they traveled towards the Abasko mountains, the closer they came the more rugged the terrain became and the trees thickened into forests. The caravan followed the rushing waters of the River Eboro and rode into the Tramoto mountain pass. In some sections the mountain paths were narrow and the faces steep causing the wagons to form into a single file.

A half-day of travel brought them within viewing distance of the Tilean city-state of Tobaro, it looked like Margritta in much regard except that it was unmolested by corsiars. As they grew nearer dirt roads became cobbled highways and the caravan passed other parties along them. A group of riders, a dozen men wearing breastplates and yellow uniforms trotted up to the caravan as they reached one of the border stations.

The lead rider lifted his arm for them to stop, “Hold, what is your cargo and business within Tobaro?”

Liezo stopped his horse and held his arm up as well, “We bring goods to barter, nothing more captain.”

The guard captain motioned his riders forward and he followed closely behind. The men dismounted at the fore of the caravan and began looking inside the wagons. The captain approached Liezo, “Are you the caravan master?” he asked.

Lizeo shrugged slightly and looked back, “More or less, we come from Estalia, from Margritta to be more specific”.

The captain raised an eyebrow, “Margritta? I hear grim news from there, what were you doing there, if I may ask?”

 

A guard jogged up from the caravan and looked hesitantly at his captain, then at Liezo, “Captain, it’s gold.”

The captain looked down to the soldier with an eyebrow raised even higher, “What do you mean gold?”

“All six wagons, they’re filled with gold. Three chests each, all filled with the stuff” He tried to keep his excitement hidden.

The captain rode past Liezo and inspected the first wagon, he trotted back with his hand on the hilt of his blade, “Speak the truth to me, only brigands or looters carry this much gold, now out with it!” he demanded.

Liezo, acting as cool as he could reached into his side pouch and retrieved a wax-sealed scroll and gave it to the captain. The man looked at first suspiciously at the scroll but when he saw the royal seal of Estalia stamped into the wax quickly opened it.

He read aloud to himself and looked up to Liezo, “You must forgive me, caravan master” the captain handed the scroll back, “I was unaware of your mission. My name is Teodores Gascanni, captain of the border guard”.

“No offense taken, Teodores” Liezo replied. Grumli hopped off the first wagon and joined the two.

“Are you two manlings done with all these formalities?” he said gruffly, “We’ve got a task to do, if ye haven’t read as much already”.

Teodores looked down to the dwarf and nodded his head, “I apologize, allow me to escort you to Tobaro, I know it is not your ending destination but it is along your path and it is the least I can do for such a cause”.

The caravan began on its journey again, this time with the reassuring company of the border guards. Liezo passed the time speaking with Teodores while Grumli tried to catch some sleep. As the city walls grew larger they began to pass throngs of people traveling into the outlying villages, most moved out of the way of the convoy but a few had to be warned off.

Teodores had booked them several rooms in an inn on the outskirts of the city and after many days on the road the caravan guards were more than happy to rest outside the walls of Tobaro, but Grumli and Liezo could not find the will to sleep and had left the others to find a watering hole more lively.

The pair entered in the evening and took to the lamp-lit city eagerly, Grumli could have very easily became lost in the labyrinthine network of alleys and streets but Liezo was a excellent guide through the chaos as he himself had grown up in Remas, a city not unlike Tobaro.

They drifted from one tavern to the next listening to the gossip of sailors and townsmen, Grumli, stubborn as ever, refused to drink any of the ale the common taverns served and insisted on finding a reputable dwarfen lodge. Like a blood hound Grumli poked his head down every alley and door in the search for a finer ale, and after a half-hour of searching Grumli finally found a building with dwarfen runes etched onto the tavern sign.

“At last!” he roared with delight, “Come manling, let me show you what you have been missing!”. Liezo followed after Grumli, apologizing to those the eager dwarf had knocked over in his rush.

It was mid-day and the caravan had set off from the north gates of Tobaro but Liezo was not accompanying them, while Grumli was resistant to them parting ways, he knew there was no way to suede the manling to reconsider. But the worry that beguiled the stoic dwarf did little to change his demeanor towards the wagoners.

“Faster manlings, whip your mules faster!” he grunted, “We’ll not arrive at the dwarf hold at any rate with your loose whipping arms!”

 

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