[centre][h3]The Ford, Aaldorenfeald,[/h3][/centre]

The Ford was a fortress in disarray, a castle that seemed to be half-finished, its walls being built by a crew half as large and less than half as competent as would be expected, their wages paid by a family that only half cared. The sorry state of the seat of the long beleaguered House Ecefrod was not a matter that bothered the Ecefrods even slightly; they would, in fact, have preferred that The Ford not exist at all. This castle, perched upon the north side of the leisurely flowing River Kempedson, was not the stronghold whose visage of tall towers and imposing walls flew upon the House's banners, and whose name was told of in their words. The namesake of the Ecefrod's words, "Anwig is Ours", and House Ecefrod's [i]ancestral[/i] seat, had been lost to the family for generations, dastardly stolen by the conniving and virtueless sons of bastards and whores that was House Bernaccia. The fiends dwelled on the other side of the river, holding court in the castle that had once been House Ecefrod's, and constantly plotting, the Lord Ecefrod imagined, to steal even more of his family's land and history away. Through it was a river as calm as any, and flowed through the most fertile and pleasant region of the kingdom, the River Kempedson was the most well-guarded and hotly contested boundary in Aaldorenfeald. A gentle stream in a gentle land, polluted forever by a single drop of bad blood.

A carriage from the nearby hamlet trundled along the road, stopping by the half-finished portcullis of the castle's surrounding walls - if walls they could even be called. A figure wearing red-dyed cloth and adorned with a round embroidered cap stepped down out from its interior, carrying with some effort a small strongbox of solid cast iron. The driver, having been paid in advance, barely even waited until both of the man's feet had hit the ground before he struck out to his horses and the carriage departed. The red-clothed man looked back after it as it went with a forlorn stare before sighing and trudging through the rain-laden mud leading up to the main gate.

Spotting a swarthy-looking laborer resting under the portcullis' curve, the man called out in accented Common. "Hail, good man. This would be...castle Ecefrod I take it?" The man briefly attempted and failed to keep his incredulous tone from carrying through as he looked up at the underwhelming, half-finished keep. "I am Civil Auditor by authority of the King of Caerulmoste, Roden Husch. I have business of some import with your lord."

The worker opened one eye and aimed it at the man in red robes, the other eye kept shut so he could continue on half resting. "Nope, this ain't castle Ecefrod. That's up the river aways, and on the south side. Won't find any Ecefrods there, though, if that's what you're lookin' for." The man then stood, rubbing his eye and then stroking his chin as he thought to himself. "Well, s'pose you could find some bones of 'em. Gotta be a few thousand years old by now though, or however long. If it's the lord you're hoping to see, he's here. Probably someone can show you the way inside. Say, you're sure you're not a priest? You got the red robes and everything."

"Priest?" Roden blinked, twice, before it clicked. "Oh! No, I am afraid not. Red has been used in our uniforms since the Auditor's Guild was established. You will know the difference - our cloth, like mine here - very dark hue of red, yes? Nearly brown in the dark. The Red Brothers usually wear much brighter colors."

"Right, right. Well, I suppose in you go, then. I'm not supposed to be the one guarding the gate, the man with the sword's taking a leak I think. Don't think he'll mind I sent you in though, I'll just say you were a Red Brother. Don't think he knows crap about which hue's which; man told me I got black hair when clearly it's brown, see? Just a darker shade. I was even a blond when I was little, my mum's always told me." The black-haired man scratched himself, dusting off a bug or two.

"Yes, yes. I suppose that's alright." Roden waved in half-acknowledgement and impatience. "Many thanks for your assistance." He moved on, trudging through the mud up to the keep, hauling his strongbox along with him. Approaching a smaller doorway - one with an actual iron-barred door! - he set the strongbox down in the mud and hammered on the barrier near its small peep-slot.

After a moment, the slot opened, revealing an angry looking eye. "Nobody's born or died. Fuck off."

"I am NOT a priest!" Roden replied quickly. "I am an Auditor! From Caerulmoste! I'm here to discuss estate business with your-"

The guard on the other side interrupted, closing the slot again and unlocking the door to swing it open. He was dressed in rather rudimentary garb for a man charged with guarding nobility, looking more like a slightly-more-intimidating-than-usual peasant than a man who was ready to lay down his life for his . "Right, right, one of you. They told me you blokes come by sometimes, didn't know when it'd be. I just got here the other day, the pay's piss but piss is better than shit, aye? What do they pay 'auditors'?"

"Uh. Not much? Just travel stipends, and we get bread and board at guildhouses." Roden answered nervously - a half-truth, in that while what he had relayed was technically true it omitted the minor detail that said bread and board was rather ostentatious in comparison to the standards of the lowly guard. "Can you take me to your lord? I have important business to discuss with him." He hauled up the strongbox, knocking twice on its head to emphasize the statement.

"Course. Right along." The guard led Roden inside, then took him up down the hall and up a few stairs and again, onto the third floor. It seemed to be the only area of the castle that was fully finished and decorated. Tapestries adorned the halls, most notably a large one near the stairs, depicting the House Ecefrod banner—the lost castle, Anwig, on a black field. The guard, uninterested in the decorations, was about to knock on a door to the right, but paused suddenly, and looked to the door on the left, and then back to the auditor. "You're here about money, right?"

"I cannot disclose my purpose here beyond my need to discuss it with Lord Ecefrod or else another member of his house. Contract regulations, sorry." Roden said, adding an upturned glance and an apologetic air to his statement.

"Right, so money then. You want the left door."

The man knocked twice, then departed down the hall and back to the ground floor, leaving only Roden to hear the ensuing, "Yes, come in!" from a decidely feminine voice. He tentatively secured the strongbox in the crook of his arm, inadvertantly staining the hem of his tunic with mud - he swore lightly, dropping the strongbox to the floor with a massive mettalic clang. He swore again and bent to pick it up, securing it in the crook of his arm again before finally pushing open the door and entering.

"What was that commotion?" the Lady of House Ecefrod inquired, seated in an elegantly crafted wooden chair next to a desk of similar quality, the latter covered in various neatly organized papers. The Lady's fair skin was in sharp contrast to the dark black of her dress, and she was accompanied by a much more plainly dressed woman in a dark grey gown, standing in the corner, her hands folded respectfully in front of her.

"My apologies, my lady. I had some difficulty with this blasted strongbox." Roden nervously indicated the offending deadweight. "I am Civil Auditor Roden Husch, by authority of the King of Caerulmoste. Would you be Lady Ecefrod?"

"Indeed I would." she replied, confidently, standing upright and stepping towards Roden, wearing a warm and sincere looking smile. "Lady Anice Ecefrod, wife of Lord Edwin Ecefrod. You are here to discuss financial matters relating to the allotment of land that your organization has purchased from this household, correct?"

"Yes, my lady. There is a secondary matter I must need also discuss, but the contract and account in relation to your estate is of the utmost importance to House Soneillon." Roden answered respectfully. "If it is no trouble, may I set this down somewhere more...tractable? I do apologize for the mud, it has had a rough time of the trip here."

"Of course. It's no trouble at all. You choose to come here by carriage, I take it, rather than along the Kempedson?"

Roden choose to set the strongbox down on a nearby table - thoughtfully removing the linen cloth from its top before doing so - in order to give him time to think of a polite answer. Saying that the Soneillons did not think either he or the Ecefrods were worth the expenditure of sending a Carrack along the coast would not have gone over well. "I happened to already be passing through Aaldorenfeald, my lady, from foreign lands on business. I was sent letter by courier and rerouted to retrieve and deliver these documents, as well as to see to the affairs of our contract - House Soneillon is always looking for the most ergonomic solution, as it were." He retrieved a key from his breast pocket and fitted it to the strongbox's darkened lock, and then spent several moments twisting a circular wheel-lock beside it before opening the device with the sound of popping springs and grinding clicks. Within were two long scrolls, sealed with wax and both wrapped around formal wooden pens.

Roden retrieved the first of the two and broke the seal, unfurling the scroll and squinting in the dim light at the writing therein. "Ah, I do imagine your...companion here is permitted to be privy to this discussion?" He nodded to the sitting woman in the grey gown.

"There are two individuals in this room that I trust, Roden. One is myself, and the other is not you. I have a question to ask of you, auditor; did you approach The Ford from the west, or the east?"

"From the West, my lady." Roden answered nervously, stiffling the swell of resentment from Anice's barbed response but wary of where she was heading.

"What business did you have in Kempedson lands, that you happened to be there before you were tasked to deliver this payment? Has House Soneillon also purchased territories from the Kempedsons?"

"Ah, I had no business with the Kempedsons, truly, my lady. I had business in..." He paused, visibly nervous.

The Lady seemed increasingly disturbed. "Were you in Anwig, perhaps? Treating with the Bernaccias?"

"Kedoran, my lady." Roden blurted out. "As it were, House Soneillon did purchase some land out in the tundras."

"You rode through the Black Woods to reach us, then? House Soneillon must have great confidence in the many guards which must have accompanied you. How many were there? Did you catch a glimpse of any black wolves?"

"My lady, perhaps, if it pleases you, we should focus on the matter of your estate?" Roden deflected, turning the scroll in his hands emphatically. "I can assure you that the trip here was rather uneventful, and not worthy of retelling to your fair self."

"Neither the scroll in your hand nor the fairness of my self are of great import to me, Roden. At least, not of half as much importance as other matters. I will ask you a question—a rather simple questions—and you will answer it truthfully. I will not punish honesty, I assure you. Now, how is it that you came to approach the Ford?"

"...From the South, my lady." Roden replied with a faint sigh and a visible wince.

Lady Anice turned her nose up, indignant but satisfied. "The buffoons couldn't have even bothered to put you on a ship. They must have great respect for House Ecefrod in Caerulmoste. They would have sent a ship for the Bernaccias, I suppose? But enough. The scroll, give it to me."

"It was intended that I read it to...uh..." Roden shrank under Anice's withering gaze and relented, proferring the scroll for her. Its contents were brief, but overstated with a profundity of doubtlessly unnecessary legal terminology.

Anice scanned the contents of the scroll, her gaze narrowing noticeably as her eyes darted over its pompous verbosity. It seemed to her that she was being told, in more words than was necessary, that she wasn't going to be paid.

"The assets with which The Ford was to be reimbursed for the lands we have offered to your organization have been stolen?" the Lady summarized, staring at Roden.

"Er...I am given to understand they have also been recovered, your lady. They are being with-held as evidence, for the time being." Roden said nervously. After a faint pause, he added, "You are correct, yes."

"Why? What purpose does holding these items serve, other than to delay my payment?"

"Well, my lady, these were no sundry items - each one had considerable worth, and they were stolen by a number of individuals of some repute within local market guilds you understand - there have been charges of corruption and embezzlement, conspiracy against the public welfare - very messy business. Lots of paperwork to examine for discrepancies and correct." Roden replied. His face had been gradually draining of blood since Anice had first spoken, and he was positively ashen-faced now.

"I see now why they didn't bother to get you a room on a ship." Lady Anice commented, scornfully. "All you were delivering was a letter, informing me that I am not to be receiving what I am owed."

"My lady, House Soneillon WILL be paying you the full of what was promised in your contract - on time." Roden's voice had taken on a reticent quality. "These interim instalments will all be paid out, all at once, as soon as the assets are made available again - which they surely will be, prior to the deadline."

Lady Anice was indignant, and looked at Roden with contempt. "House Soneillon are traitorous liars that no doubt consort with the fiends occupying Anwig. Until the payment is received, in full, and delivered by an envoy who arrived BY SHIP and does not track mud into my castle, the territories purchased by the Soneillons are foreclosed upon. If the deadline comes and I do not have what is owed to me, and more, in recompense for the inconvenience, they will be auctioned off to the free peasants. I will furthermore be ensuring that King Grindan of House Osgar is aware of the conflict that House Soneillon has initiated here."

"My lady, House Soneillon harbors no ill will against House Ecefrod, and I can assure you as a Civil Auditor - under the King of Caerulmoste, Theris Soneillon - that there was and is no intent of hostility on the part of our contract and your estate." Catching the look that Anice gave him, he stumbled over his next few words. "I-uh-I...There is...I mean, I will be certain...to convey your proposed ammendment to the contract...in a favorable light?" He was trembling faintly, utterly cowed by Anice's imposing countenance.

Lady Anice calmed herself, straightening her dress and breathing deeply. She then glanced down to the floor for a moment, behind the auditor. "You have tracked both mud and lies into the Ford. You shall leave only one trail of each. Take off your boots."

Colored abruptly returned to Roden's face, turning it from ash to deep maroon. "...By your command...my lady..." He grit his teeth and raised both his legs, one by one, yanking each of his fine leather boots - each tastefully embroidered with ornate, interlocking circles - and set them by the doorframe. He did not dare to ask if he could sit down in order to remove them. Never had he been more thankful of the thick, woolen socks that came as part of his Auditor's uniform.

Opening a drawer in her desk, Anice withdrew a pouch and empited out a handful of coins from it, selecting the appropriate amount before placing the pouch and the rest of its contents back in the drawer. At the same moment, her servant in the corner took Roden's boots, standing where they were placed. "Here," the Lady offered to Roden, outstretching her hand and speaking in much a conciliatory tone. "This shall pay for your voyage to Caelrulmoste. Let it never be said that House Ecefrod does not respect its guests."

Roden inhaled deeply, gathering up the tattered remnants of his courage. "My lady, I am most grateful, but I cannot leave until we have discussed the matter enclosed within the [i]second[/i] scroll." He gestured to the strongbox where the second rolled parchment lay, seal unbroken.

Anice's mouth was slightly agape. She considered a great many different things she could say, but finally settled on, "Proceed."

Breathing a sigh of relief, Roden retrieved the second scroll and broke the seal, unfurling it and briefly examining its contents before speaking.

"The Royal Auditor's Guild has been made aware of several fiscal discrepancies within the regional markets of Ecefrod and the surrounding territories, most prominently in connection to your own assets and agents. These irregularities are understood to be impacting the state of legal trade at a detriment, and thus Chief Auditor and advisor to the King, Mountebank Soneillon, is requesting that the accounts of the Ecefrod estate be made available to me for auditing for the purpose of rendering these irregularities as known quantities." He looked up from the scroll to Anice in anticipation.

The Lady laughed. Her teeth, perfectly white, flashed into Roden's view as she sat herself back into her chair, trying to restrain her giggling. The servant girl, now standing behind Roden and holding his mud-encrusted boots, looked more nervous than amused.

"Not only does House Soneillon not intend to pay me, but they intend, in fact, to audit what little they have already given? Does the state of this castle infer to you, auditor, that I have been fixing my books? Cohorting with banditry to enrich myself? I can assure you that if I were fencing for smugglers or some such other nonsense, I would spend the ill-gotten gold first and foremost on making this fort proper." Anice's expression changed, turning again towards anger. "The Royal Auditor's Guild of Caerulmoste has no authority in Aaldorenfeald, and I do not intend to give them any. If Monetebank Soneillon wishes to inspect my finances, he can come here himself, in a boat, and he would best bring an army with him if he intends to succeed."

"I will be sure to see that your sentiments are conveyed to him in time, my lady." Roden replied, and purely by reflex - he found himself unable to refrain in time - a touch of exasperation edged into his voice.

"Do you have a third scroll hidden somewhere, auditor?" Anice asked sarcastically.

"No, my lady, that is all." He replied.

"Excellent. You will notice that I paid you twice as much as was necessary to afford a voyage back to Caerulmoste. You will have a travelling companion." The Lady gestured to woman standing behind Roden, in her grey gown, holding the auditor's boots. The woman seemed as shocked or more at this announcement as the auditor surely would be.

"This is...most unorthadox, my lady." Roden protested. "I am merely a Civil Auditor, all I will be able to do is relay a report on up to a Royal Auditor - I will be reassigned the moment I reach the first paystation in Caerulmoste. Your..." He grasped for the word. Lady-in-waiting? Associate? Partner? Daughter, for all he knew? "Er...she will hardly be able to affect anything of note by accompanying me."

Anice interjected. "Mountebank and his family do not have the time or inclination to so much as hear back from the dynasty that have just slandered? I do not have any great care for your particular title, Roden. Tell whomever instructs you to go elsewhere that it has been expessly requested—no, say 'demanded'—by House Ecefrod of the Ford... hells, House Ecefrod of Anwig, that you and my associate are to have audience with Mountebank."

"Mountebank is not even [i]in[/i] Caerulmoste at the present time, my lady." Roden said, gritting his teeth and clenching his fists, struggling to remain civil. "Furthermore, I am a servant to the King of Caerulmoste and no other. I will convey your sentiments as a courtesy, but that is all I am permitted - or will even contemplate - doing."

"If that is the case, never mind the girl, and never mind you. You may keep the spare coins as a courtesy. I will be arriving in Caerulmoste myself, to answer for the Soneillons' indiscretions against my House personally. Right after I have sent word to King Grindan of my intentions, of course."

It became apparent to Roden at that moment that this discourse had gone rather precariously astray. "My lady - though I dare not presume you act with anything other than the full assent of Lord Ecefrod, perhaps we should both discuss the matter with him? I will point out, the contract was originally signed in his name and his position to propose potential ammendments to it is considerably stronger."

The Lady smiled again, more widely than ever. "I find that to be a wonderful idea, but I do not suspect that you will agree with me for very long. Let us. After you." 

Mentally celebrating at having narrowly averted a political disaster in the making, Roden filed both of the scrolls back into the strongbox - and then locked it out of habit before securing it in the crook of his arm. "Very well, my lady. Ah. I am afraid I am not aware of his Lordship's current situation...?" He asked as he opened the door out of the parlor.

Anice stood out of her chair, following Roden into the hallway. "The door immediately in front of you. On the right as you entered the floor. Only knock once."

"Very well, my lady." Roden turned to the second door and knocked loudly, once. Inwardly, he was grateful that the [i]forceful[/i] woman had agreed at all. Hopefully Lord Ecefrod would be more reasonable - even if not an innately sensible person, what were the odds he was anywhere near as bad as his awful wife?

The man that opened the door for Roden and Anice did not entirely resemble a human. He was humanoid, to be sure, and had no ancestry of fairies or giants or other some nonsense, but could easily have passed for the latter. He was nearly seven feet tall, his head entirely bereft of hair, all of it having seemed to have migrated to his face, where his poorly kept beard had taken over. His right eye was not there, an empty socket that was kept unfilled by any baubles and uncovered by any patches of cloth, at least indoors. To say he was large would be putting it quite lightly, as would saying he was gigantic. He had the appearance of a man who had fought with a bear, only to become one. His lone eye, grey and only half functional, stared down at Roden, seeing a spot of space coloured in flesh tones sitting atop an equally blurry, larger space, coloured some shade of red. Lord Edwin Ecefrod was not overly fond of visitors, but he had enormous respect for the Red Brothers, which he understandably assumed Roden to be.

"What business do you have with me, Brother?" Edwin asked, in a tone as ragged and scratchy as it was deep and booming.

Roden, for his part, briefly locked at Edwin's chest. Then, realizing what he was looking at, looked up into the Lord's face. "Oh." He said simply, mouth agape. Then, recovering slightly, he tried again. "Er. I am afraid I am not with the Red Brothers, your Lordship. I am a Civil Auditor under the authority of the King of Caerulmoste."

Edwin's stance, expression and tone did not change in the least. "What is a Civil Auditor under the authority of the King of Caerulmoste doing at my door?"

"Err...your wife, Lady Anice, has become most displeased with a certain development...pertaining to our contract...and wishes to propose an ammndment to it, but you are the original signee..." Roden shifted uncomfortably under the gaze of the giant of a man, his neck starting to ache from craning upwards.

The Lord seemed slightly displeased, annoyed at being bothered with this sort of matter. "Lady Anice handles these matters. Her word is mine. What amendments did you find so contemptable to bother me with?"

"I believe she wishes to foreclose on the purchased lands in response to a momentary default by House Soneillon, contrary to the contract's terms." Roden glanced at Anice. "Er. Would that be accurate, my lady?"

Anice's grin had not faded. "Yes." she replied, simply.

Edwin looked at his wife as she responded, then turned his eye back on the auditor, scanning over him. Even with his poor sight, he could tell the man was not wearing shoes. "Why is a barefoot man from the swamps, working for a foreign king, not only in Aaldorenfeald, but in my home, at my door, questioning the legitimacy of my prerogative as Lord to allow my wife to handle the less important of my affairs?"

"Only because the contract was signed with your name, my lordship! I did not know better!" Roden cried out.

Bored, Edwin ended the dispute. "My wife's word is mine. Whatever amendments she is proposing to whatever contracts she has signed have my consent."

[i]'This is unfair.'[/i] Roden thought as he simply nodded in response. 

The Lord of House Ecefrod nodded back. He moved to close the door, but stopped at the last moment. He then opened it again, fully, and turned his eye one last time to the auditor. He spoke differently this time, a foreboding tint to his words. "Tell me, auditor. Did you approach the Ford from the west, or the east?"

"From the South. I swear." Roden's voice cracked.

"Through the lands of House Bernaccia?"

"I...suppose I must have? Yes." Roden tried.

Edwin nodded, calmly, and spoke one final remark as he closed the door. "Best to come from the East. Safe travels."

Roden turned back to Anice as the door slammed shut. "Alright then. I feel obligated to warn you in advance, the Guild of Auditor will likely take this as a sign of no-confidence of your part. [i]They[/i] will also be having words with King Osgar if you try to force an amendment to the contract." While Roden's voice was calm and his words clear, he looked dazed and out of sorts - he was not even looking directly at Anice, and had a certain slackness about his character. He had even forgotten to address her properly.

The Lady shrugged, carelessly. "It's not about the coin so much. I simply wish for this house to be respected, and your organization have shown us none."

"We have treated you [i]no differently[/i] than we have every other House we deal with!" Roden exclaimed, snapping back to reality and finally looking back fully at Anice.

"If you [i]always[/i] track mud into the chambers of ladies with which you entreat, insult the wives and leadership abilities of lords with which you entreat, and fail to address in proper manner [i]all[/i] those nobles with which you entreat, I have serious doubts about the long-term sustainability of your organization."

Holding back a snarl, Roden took a moment to compose himself before responding. "My lady, if you have no further need of me, I shall make haste to convey your wishes to the Guild of Auditors proper and to also express your displeasure with the current arrangement of our joint contract."

"Safe travels."

Roden left. As he trudged back across the rain-sodden turf outside the keep, slime soaking his socks, it then occurred to him.

Lady Anice had given him twice as much coin than he actually needed to return to Caerulmoste.

Enough, say, to take a detour to the hold the Soneillons had purchased and forewarn them of Anice's intent before she could act.

"Safe travels indeed you witch." He muttered, his pace quickening as he approached the portcullis, going as fast as he could while carrying the strongbox.

[hider=Summary]
I don't know, I suppose you just have to read it? A lot, but also not much.
[/hider]

[b][A collaboration between myself and [url=http://www.roleplayerguild.com/users/terminal]Terminal.[/url]][/b]