Chronicles of Espiria Season 2
Episode 12 – Lord Lanward and the Marwen Demons
Written by the Dude
Lord Lanward waited astride his horse some distance from the old Marwen estate. The scouts he had sent were due to return shortly, and he felt the need to look as impressive as he could. Intelligence given him by the office of the Grand Priest himself had warned of a secret Hypogean incursion passing this way, just the sort of thing Lord Lanward needed to prove himself the better of the commoner Hogan and the Rayne woman. As the scouts returned, he hoped that the admittedly inconsistent intelligence officers employed by the Grand Priest were right about this.
"There are Hypogeans camped outside the mansion, sir." one of the scouts reported, "but there are only four of them."
"Scouts?" Lord Lanward asked.
"We searched the area thoroughly; they are definitely alone. Four archers and the whole affair would be over with."
"Too bad none of the King's archers were ready to go when we were." Lord Lanward lamented. He had conveniently forgotten that he rushed his troops to get ready to march early, resulting in many of his supplies and all royal reinforcements being left behind. He had also conveniently forgotten that he had lost his own archers in a brilliantly executed ambush by Commander Kane, losing Lanward the trust of nearly every archer in the kingdom in the process. "What were they doing?"
"One was on guard. Two were sitting around a fire, while the last one seemed to be jumping around in a bizarre fury."
"Were they holding anything?" Lord Lanward asked, growing desperate for any information that might prove the Hypogean band a threat. "Weapons, strange artifacts, anything?"
"Just some cards, sir. Playing cards from what we could tell. They probably took them in a raid and now they're trying to learn how to use them."
Lord Lanward's mind began to race, trying to imagine why such a small group of Hypogeans would be camped outside the old ruined Marwen mansion, which happened to be two day's journey from Ranhorn on foot. He finally settled on the least plausible, but likely most spectacular, possibility.
"Is this not the same ruin that Priestess Belinda exorcised before the Hypogean invasion?" Lord Lanward asked.
"Yes sir." the scout answered with a smile. "In fact, it was my daughter that she and your son Lucius rescued that day."
He winced a moment as he thought of Lucius, but recovered quickly and continued. "And now we have four more Hypogeans stationed here, each dancing around a fire and holding a totem of some unknown creature."
The scout was confused. Only one of the creatures was "dancing", and it was empty handed. Only the seated Hypogeans had cards, and he was confident that they were common playing cards.
"Don't you see?" Lord Lanward continued, misreading the confusion on the scout's face. "The demon that Belinda and (ahem) my son defeated had failed in its mission; these are here to try to finish the job! Whatever dark ritual they have planned, it would seem that they've already begun!"
"Didn't the ritual by the first demon involve a blood sacrifice?"
"Come!" Lord Lanward shouted, ignoring that last objection. "We must vanquish these villains before it is too late! Charge!"
The men quickly formed ranks and charged from their camp, alerting the Hypogeans to their presence. The goblin archer was quick to unleash a brief volley of arrows that took down ten of Lanward's men before they could get within striking distance. The ogre, too, proved formidable, crushing four more men before being struck down himself. The other two Hypogeans did not last much longer. The archer killed three more men before he was struck down by a throwing axe. Once the area was secure, the men wanted to raise a cheer of victory, but were still unsure what they had just spent so many of their own lives to accomplish. Lord Lanward, of course, was more than happy to explain. Sort of.
"Well done, men! Espiria can sleep well for another night thanks to our efforts here today! Now if you'll excuse me, I must retire to my field office to write the report of this battle. Continue to search the grounds, inside and out. I want any Hypogean artifacts destroyed, especially those totems!"
Lord Lanward made his way back to his tent accompanied by two of his best mercenaries. The injured were returned to camp soon after, while the uninjured remained on the battlefield to ensure that no trace of the Hypogeans was allowed to remain. Even the poker cards that Lord Lanward had mistaken for demon totems.
Meanwhile, hidden in one of the upper floors of the mansion, Zolrath and Commander Kane watched the battle unfold.
"He wasted so many of his men only to destroy four Hypogeans." Kane said with contempt. "And not even good warriors; these four were deserters! The humans did our job for us! And yet this one celebrates as if they had slain Annih himself!"
"I have mentioned before that you struggle to overcome the children of Dura because you do not understand them. Today, I will rectify that weakness in part by teaching you of their respect for their forebears.
"The Maulers are the most obvious; they worship their ancestors and seek to commune with them, believing that they possess wisdom from beyond. The Wilders respect their forebears, but covet only the land left behind by them. The Graveborn have gone to unusual feats to ensure that their forebears remain among them, even if only as faint shadows of their former selves.
"But the Lightbearers," Zolrath seemed to drift into a euphoric daydream, "The Lightbearers are deliciously ridiculous. Long ago, when the first heroes of great renown lived among them, these heroes were chosen to be their leaders. The sons of these heroes were given the same respect as their fathers, whether that respect was earned or not. Over time, the descendants of these heroes grew less worthy of the respect bought for them by their ancestors, while at the same time believing themselves more entitled to it. They even began to believe that they had inherited the noble qualities of their ancestors as one would inherit eye color or bone structure; hence they call themselves nobility.
"Take this fool, whom you so rightly scorn. He is known as Lord Lanward, the leader by birth right of the Lanward clan. The Lanwards have, in the past, produced powerful warriors for their king, and they take so much pride in that history that it is deemed shameful to not become an officer in the king's army. Lord Lanward himself held the ceremonial rank of Colonel thanks to his wealth, but never saw a day of combat in his life before we broke down the Barred Gate. As you have seen, he lacks even the most basic of tactical common sense, trusting to luck and brute force to win the day. Even so, he deems it shameful to be incapable of leading men into battle, so he continues to push on like an ogre following the scent of flesh, ready to claim his own skill if he wins and to blame his troops if he fails. He must be superior to a woman like General Rayne, and especially to one without noble blood like Commander Hogan; his ancestors demand it of him."
"If the nobles are such great fools as this, then why are they still so difficult to overcome?" Kane asked.
"Because not all nobles are such great fools." Zolrath answered. "Some, like General Rayne, are clever leaders. Our strategy must be to use the foolishness of the nobility system to our advantage. We must encourage the appointment of noble leaders like Lord Lanward, who will do us little harm, and discourage the appointment of talented leaders like General Rayne and Commander Hogan. Until all of the Lightbearer forces are under the command of buffoons like Lanward, I advise you to let these fools think that they are doing well, so that when they are crushed, their astonishment will be all the sweeter."
"Our spy in Ranhorn will serve us well to ensure that the right people are appointed to positions of leadership, but that will still leave obstacles like Rayne and Hogan." Kane mused.
"I have a plan for the Rayne woman, but her time is not yet come. As for Commander Hogan, you can use the same system that exalts Lord Lanward to weaken Hogan. Hogan has no noble blood; he is descended from cowardly farmers and thieves. The same fallacies that lead nobles to think that they have inherited the best qualities of their ancestors can be used to raise questions about Commander Hogan's honor. Our spy in Ranhorn may be able to aid you in this as well."
"Of course, Seer. It shall be done."