Isho: finally got this up! i wanted to put more but decided that it would take too long to get to the point i wanted. i also made you guys wait again. you guys are surprisingly not very talkative since i started re-posting this. anyone can review, not just those with accounts.
As it turns out, the documents happened to be the deeds to the castle and the surrounding land, making whoever was in possession of them, namely me, the land owner. The other things were just worthless trinkets that my old man no doubt found interesting. To me, however, they just looked like strangely shaped stones of varying shades of sparkly blue. I deposit the papers in my trunk and was going to throw out the rocks until Gnarl told me to hang onto them.
"I may be wrong sire, since it has been a very long time, but those may be very useful items. Best safe than sorry!"
I just hum in acknowledgment and toss them in the trunk as well. That was a few days ago. In the days following the raid and my, very small, birthday party we had managed to place all of the keys to their respective doors and open the treasury, while also cleaning up the mess the halflings had made. Luckily the little bastards didn't make for another attempt on us while we were getting our shit together.
I also managed to make a list of every asset we had and of the many things we would need to do to make this castle function. With no servants except for a cook, and no definite source of income, hiring more would be stupid at this point. Sure, there was money in the vault, about 1000 gold coins, enough to buy more food than just pumpkins to feed me and Rollick for about a year, but that wouldn't be enough for 38 other creatures that had severely larger appetites than a troll.
Gnarl informed me that minions could eat practically anything that moved, so I let them eat the dead halflings. Hey, better than burning them in the courtyard.
After Gnarl managed to figure out which keys went with which door I went exploring. As with the rest of the castle, the rooms were a dump. The only difference was that dust was everywhere. I'm going to miss the maids, both of them. Even though, for the life of me, I don't remember their names. Well whatever, they're gone now and stole my stuff. If I see them again, they will die once they return it. Along with the others.
Needless to say, I was running out of ways to put off tracking down those halflings. My shoulder lost its twinge about a day ago and everyone in the castle, except Rollick was getting a little restless. So I finally decided to go to Gnarl so I could get my minions. They liked to roam about and I didn't feel like tracking them all down.
I make my way from the kitchen after a very typical breakfast of pumpkin bread and soup back up to the still unexplored vastness of the upper levels of the castle. That's where I put Gnarl to sort through the mess for anything important, or valuable. Hey, he had nothing better to do.
I get into the sitting room and go through the door that lead upstairs and found a grumbling pile of rags poking through a pile of books and portraits.
"Find anything promising?"
He scoffs and turns to me. I must say, Gnarl may be impossibly old, but his eyes still glow as bright as the younger and stupider versions of him.
"Hardly, I doubt your family kept anything valuable on the premises after your Father fell into bankruptcy."
I hum in agreement, and then shake my head.
"Ah, that's not what I came here to talk about. I figure that now is as good a time as any to head out and take care of the halfling problem."
He claps his claws together and starts to look excited as we head back downstairs to my room. I had contemplated taking my Father's room since it was nicer but decided against it. I didn't want to tip off my siblings to my antics and, even though it was run down and cramped, it was still my room. It also was the only room with a escape route.*
"Excellent sire! Come, I will help you put on your armour and notify the minions. How many do you want to take with you?"
We reach my room and, after I unlocked my trunk, Gnarl started to take out individual pieces and helping me into them.
"If I remember correctly, we have a total of 38 minions right? I was thinking of taking as many as possible, leaving around 8 here just incase."
Gnarl pauses as he's fixing my shoulder piece into place. I look at him in confusion.
"What?"
"Ah, forgive me sire, but I must remind you that twenty of those minions are females and five of them are currently pregnant."
I scrunch my eyebrows together as Gnarl was handing me my helmet before readjusting anything that was out of place. I put the snug fitting piece of metal over my head.
"So? We can just leave the pregnant ones behind. Unless the you're saying that the females are significantly weaker than the males, like with the other races."
Gnarl chortles and shakes his head, his drooping skin and wispy hair jiggling about.
"Ah, no, minion females are just as strong as the males."
"Then what's the damn problem?"
He raised his craggy arms up in defense.
"Nothing sire. Minions would happily fight for you regardless of their physical condition. I just wished to point out a little genetic problem of theirs."
Other than being dumber than a steaming pile of shit?
"You see, minions are more likely to be born male than females. So any females are usually kept out of conflicts it can be helped, since they are so rare. Why do you think we only had twenty after all these years of inaction? In fact, now that I think about it, we haven't had another female come about since your great uncles reign."
I look down and sigh, he's fucking right again. I get up and get my axe out of the trunk before turning to him again.
"Fine, I'll take ten of the males then and leave the rest of them here to guard the castle. Can you get me the best equipped ones please?"
Gnarl nods and then snaps his fingers, cursing under his breath.
"Ah, I forgot to tell you something sire. You are able to call your minions to you sire. It will work wherever you are. Providing they are able to get to you of course. It has to do with your gauntlet."
He gestures to my left arm, the one with the glowing stone in it.
"How does it work?"
"That stone helps you channel energy, making it easier to use magic and spells. Its main purpose, however, is to be able to hold mastery over the minion's mind. It lets them know who's in charge."
He pauses to snicker a bit before continuing.
"All you have to do to get it to work is to allow your energy to flow out and concentrate on your minions. You must literally will them to wear you are. You could try it out now, so you don't have to later."
I nod and attempt to do what he was talking about. So I imagine my strength leaking out of my left hand and at the same time, trying to project my desire for the minions to come to me. I soon hear the sounds of various minion whoops and hollers. I swear I even heard one say 'coming back!'
I open my eyes and see ten minions pour into the room. Huh, I didn't know the commands were that specific. I convey this to Gnarl and he shakes his head again.
"Not really sire. This is because of the gem in your gauntlet. I was hoping this would not be an issue but, as is the case, I was wrong. The gem in the glove used to be complete and could call 60 minions to it at once. Meaning you could take 60 of them out with you at a time. Unfortunately it is broken, and until we can locate the missing pieces or make a new one, you will be stuck with controlling ten for now."
"Don't get me wrong, you can still give orders to the others, but if they get lost it will be rather hard to locate them afterword."
I nod and sigh again in exasperation. Great, just another thing to make his life more difficult!
"Well, I guess it will have to do for now. You guys will be coming with me. I'll see you later Gnarl."
"I will continue sorting through the junk upstairs. I will instruct the minions to keep watch in your absence. I will be borrowing one or two to help me though."
"Yeah, that's fine."
I turn towards the door and make my way out to the courtyard, the minions never leaving my side. I point to two minions, as the ones I had left to guard the gate had left to do other things. I guess Gnarl will reassign some minions out here later.
"You and you, open the gate for me."
They salute and tromp off towards the wheel on the right side of the gate and wait for them to raise it up. God, that thing needs some oil or grease put on it, it screeches something awful. After a good five minuets the gate is finally all the way up and I finally go out into my father's lands. I was never allowed to leave the castle grounds, whenever I tried I was immediately stopped by a servant. Always said it was too dangerous.
Wow, blighted wouldn't begin to cover the state of these lands. In ten minuets I had passed several dilapidated and run down farmhouses and their connecting land. The land was barren except for the scraggly weeds that were clinging here and there and the odd bunches of wheat of wheat. Only the pumpkins were doing well, as they were everywhere. They might as well be called weeds considering how well they were doing.
If my memory serves, my tutor, before he up and quit a few years ago, told me that the Gromguard lands consist of ten farms, each two acre. There were also some ruins that ran along the sea like the castle did. I was told never to go near them as the halflings were often sighted meandering about. So that was where I was heading first. Even if that wasn't their hideout, then I could just capture one and, ah, persuade him to tell me where it was.
As I walk down the path that, according to the signs, leads directly to the ruins, I notice something odd with all the farms. In the middle of the fields you can see some strange altars. Deciding that it wouldn't hurt to take a small detour, I make my way over to one that had a windmill near it.
It seems to be a raised pedestal with a circular shaped crevasse in the middle of it. It has similar looking runes carved into it as on the statues behind the throne back at the castle. Though these had a clearish, or translucent stone imbedded instead of red or blue. Perhaps something has to be inserted into it for it to do something.
I shake my head and make my way back to the dirt road. I'll look into it later. Right now I have to deal with the halfling problem of mine.
It takes about forty minuets before I catch sight of the ruins. The path splits a little before, the one on the right leading to it. I make to head left but I stop, seeing something in the corner of my eye. I whip my head around just in time to spot the portly figure of a midget that was ducking behind a tree.
Guess they're to the left then. I plow down the left path towards where I saw the halfling hide and see him jump out, holding several rocks and shouting something.
"He's here!"
I growl and point at him, attracting the minion's attention.
"Get him! And kill him while you're at it."
They all whoop for joy and rush forward, obviously being faster than me in my encumbered state. The halfling futilely throws rocks at the quickly advancing minions, hitting some and knocking them over, but still gets taken down with little effort or struggle. Considering he was shouting my presence to the small swath of trees, the others were probably further ahead.
It seems I was right when we make our way around a bend in the path and spot five halflings standing guard outside a rickety looking gate. Two of them were armed with rocks while the others were outfitted with swords and shields. This may take a bit more strategy than simply shouting charge.
I stop just out of sight and tell my minions to stay back while I thought of something. Maybe I could draw the swordsmen away from the rock lobbers so the minions took as little damage as possible. Sure the minions healed fast, but there's no healing from an impaled chest or a severed head.
"All of you stay here, when the halflings come close, attack and kill."
"Ok!"
I run out of my hiding place towards the startled halflings and veer back around when they begin chasing me, the rock lobbers anxiously staying put. When I pass by my minions they attack and begin dispatching them. I decide to get some practice in and manage to impale one in the skull before the swordsmen were all taken care of.
After the minions relieve the bodies of their weapons and some of their wearable armour, I send them after the other two, who were still waiting like morons, no longer worried about their safety. During this time I manage to catch my breath, running with several pounds of extra weight is tiresome without the lifelong practice my siblings had. Hopefully I'll catch up to them soon. The minions won't be able to protect me forever. When the cost is clear, I make my way over to the tall, gated fence and look to see what was on the other side.
Beyond what looks like a hazardous and grubby furnace or possibly a cooking still, were graves, crypts and a small mausoleum a bit further back. I can see some more halflings back near two rows of crypts that didn't seem to notice me yet.
I guess that gives me a bit of time to figure out how to open this gate. It was sturdier than it looked and was tightly locked from the inside by a lock attached to a thick chain that was haphazardly wound around the bars. I huff in frustration and look around for another way in. I get my answer in the form of a small hole in the right side of the fence, behind the dangerous piece of equipment. I take a closer look and find that it is too small for me to get through, but a minion might.
I turn around and address the eagerly waiting creatures.
"One of you, see if you can fit through here."
One of them salutes, he's outfitted with one of the looted sword and is wearing some dark brown leather bracers and shoulder pads, and wiggles through the hole with ease. He turns to me, waiting for more instructions. I nod and then get three more to go to the other side before I tell them what I need them to do.
"I need you four to damage this, uh, still I guess, until it explodes."
I watch them go over to the dangerous piece of scrap and wait for what I think will happen. Hopefully I'm right and it will blow a bigger hole in the fence so I can get through as well. Soon the thing begins to shake and froth while making a loud keening sound. I took that as the signal to stop and immediately order my minions back to me as I get to a safe distance. I don't need to be done in by shrapnel.
The forest echoes and shudders with the deafening boom from the still's mercy killing. Now I can finally get through. Though I doubt I'll be able to make a surprise attack now with all that noise.
for future reference 100 copper- 1silver 100 silver- 1 gold in case this ever comes up which it probably will.
* my friend Kayla pointed this out to me while we were playing. the protagonist's room is, not only out of the way but also connected to the kitchen which goes to the cellar(one of the exits). whereas Gerda and Grenville are directly in the path of an enemy attack and are in a dead end hallway. since they are the heirs to the estate, this makes no sense as they will be the first to die. funny, isn't it? guess their father wanted them to die.
