[hider=Rebirth]
Fajera’s screams of pain echoed throughout the castle. Andris paced nervously outside of their new bed chamber. Unlike their room back in Andromeda, this one was cold and harsh, it seemed that Morian cared little for furniture or homely comforts. The day had nearly passed but every hour felt like a day. He watched as the castle servants were dashing in and out with clean and bloody towels. There was nothing that he could do to help, he’d only be in the way. Then suddenly the screams had subsided. There was nothing but silence. Barely a minute had passed but for Andris, it felt like an eternity. He immediately feared the worst. Then the cries of a newly born babe could be heard. 

Andris stopped pacing once one of the servants exited the bed chamber. 
“Lord Mandarass. Would you like to see your wife and son?”
Andris was filled with both relief and happiness when he heard those words. He nodded and headed into the chamber to see Fajera in the bed asleep from sheer exhaustion. He saw his new born being cradled by another servant. 
“Let me look at him.” 
The servant approached him. It had not been the first baby that he had seen. He had seen each of his nieces a few days after each of them were born. But this time was different, this was own flesh and blood. He was so small with a little hair on his head and fast asleep. A few tears started to roll down Andris’ face. They were tears of both joy and sadness. He had a child that he could call his own. But due to to his missing arm, he could not even hold his own son his arms for fear that the baby would fall and he was born in a country that was his own. 
“Andris?” a voice said faintly.
Andris looked to see that Fajera was awake. 
“Fajera, are you alright?” 
“I’m ok. But where’s our baby?”
“It’s okay, he’s absolutely fine.”
The servant passed the still sleeping baby to Fajera. She started to cradle him. The baby slowly opened it to reveal a deep blue eyes. Tears of happiness streamed down Fajera’s eyes.
“What should we call him?”
Andris had thought about this for weeks on the journey to Deliverance but his mind was made up.
“Afdul. Afdul Mandarass, first of his name and I promise you this my son. You will see your homeland soon.”
[/hider]

[hider=The New Equilibrium]
The next morning. Andris was up and ready to meet the war council along with the local representatives of the island to give him a proper tour of the castle. Andris was so focused on getting his family settled that he left most of the responsibilities of managing the army to Maror and Freya. Andris had reached the courtyard and he could see members of his war party had gathered along with a couple of representatives who were dressed in their regal attire. Or at least regal by Deliverances standards. The courtyard was a wide open area that lay at the center of the castle. It was filled with dead trees and weed filled flower beds, it was clear Morian hadn’t been much of a gardener.
“Welcome my Lord!” said one of the representatives with a bow.
“My name is Hektor. I will be showing you around castle Mordrin. No doubt you will be here for a while to gather your forces.” 
“It’s nice to meet you Hektor. Lead on.”

The rest of Castle Mordrin was similar to what Andris had already seen; cold and depressing. Back home his palace had been filled with colours and life, here the walls were made of the same black stone with no variation. While the walls of Andromeda’s palace had been covered in art and banners, here the only decoration were the occasional weapon or pieces of armour hung on the wall. The only light that entered the castle came from the small narrow windows that scattered the halls. This castle had been partially built to intimidate the locals, and this black colossus did that task perfectly. Just walking around it’s halls made Andris feel uneasy. As they ventured through the castle Andris asked Hektor many questions to which he answered enthusiastically. It was clear that Hektor was only interested in buying favour with his new king rather than out of any form of loyalty, however his information was detailed and useful. As they continued to walk Andris learned that due to the terrain of the island, Deliverance had multiple farms and silos filled with food to last for years should anything drastic happen. He had also learned that Island was capable of sheltering all of his soldiers and along with that his forces had been bolstered with over 26,000 militia; a much needed boost to his army after the battle of Telmarion.
They headed down to the lower parts of the castle.
“And here is the legendary vault of Deliverance.” Hektor said.
The door to the vault was huge and was the first room in this castle that had any life to it. It was covered with multiple gears that seemed to be the only way to open the door, with a small keyhole in the centre.
“It’s previous owner, as you know, was none other than the pirate king Morian, the most fearsome raider to sail the sea’s in over a century. He had this vault hand crafted by the finest locksmiths and craftsmen of the imperium. Once they had finished they claimed that no one other than the key holder could get into it. However Morian not wanting to take any risks decided to seal them inside the very vault they had created. I believe he said that they could admire their handiwork for the rest of their days” Hektor said with a shudder. Already he felt far safer with Andris as his new king then he did with Morian. “I had heard that the two of you had met on the battlefield.” 
“You could say that our encounter was a little explosive.” Andris said with a faint smile on his face. “Where’s the key then?” 
“The only key was under the possession of Morain himself. He’d never let it out of his sight.” 
Andris let a sigh of disappoint.
“However when Morain went on his usual drunken stupors he would always sleep like a babe. The other nobles and I agreed that a copy should be made in case the worst was to happen.”
Hektor then revealed the copied key from his pocket and handed it over to Andris. He was glad to finally be rid of it, had Morian ever found it in his possession he would surely of been flayed alive.
“I’ll leave the honours to you my Lord.”
Andris walked towards the huge door and turned the key. With that the giant gears on the door began to creak and move. Slowly the giant door began to open. Andris looked astonished at the sight that now beheld him. The vault was filled with mountains of gold coins. Other items of incredible value were also in the vault. Goblets, crowns, sceptres, silks, full suits of armour, jewels and chests all escapades of the late Morian. With this he could easily fund a army, regardless, the contents of the vault would prove to be invaluable to the alliance. Suddenly, a Mandarassan soldier entered the room with a sheet of paper.
“Lord Mandarass. We’ve received encrypted a message.”
“Let’s have a look.” Andris instructed as he was handed the letter. The contents of the letter were indeed encrypted, written in a cipher that he could not understand. However he spotted the crest of a white eagle. It had been a while since he had seen it but he soon recognized it as the crest of Mazeltof. This puzzled him as he knew that all remaining members of the Mazeltof family that had not been imprisioned were now alongside him and under protection of the Alliance.
“Give this to Dilys Mazeltof.” Andris ordered to the soldier. “She may be able to decipher the encryption.” The soldier quickly rushed out of the room. “Now my friends, without any other interruptions, let us continue with the tour.”
[/hider]

[Hider=The Spys of Raeldar]
A few days had passed but the message was finally decrypted. The cipher had indeed been of Raldaian origin, developed during the civil war against Heylot. A small war meeting had gathered to discuss the new issue at hand. Only Freya, Maror, Ian and Dilys were called to the meeting. Andris entered the throne room where Lady Neptuna and the Mazeltof’s awaited him. Like the vault the throne room was one of the few rooms in the castle that possessed any form of life. Upon first entering it Andris had been taken aback by the sheer amount of jewels and trinkets that decorated the room. The throne itself stood out amongst the shining sea of treasures as by comparison it was made of solid iron decorated with skulls and bones of which Andris had long removed. Andris sat himself upon the throne. 
“Well Lady Mazeltof. What news do you have for us.” Asked Andris.
“Well Lord Mandarass. After some effort my brother and I have decrypted the letter you gave us. With much joy I can reveal that our sister Alicja Mazeltof, who we thought dead, is alive and well” Dilys replied, barely able to contain her joy ”She is accompanied by a small group of surviving allies and have gathered in the forests of Raeldar. It seems they have set up some sort of base their and are welcoming in Alliance sympathizers every day”.
“That is indeed good news.” Andris replied. “I am happy for you my friends”
“We must send men to retrieve them immediately” Ian said, like Dilys he too was struggling to contain his happiness “if the concord or even the south discovered that there was some form of resistance forming they will send their forces to crush them”. However before he could continue Freya stood up
“If I may my Lord.” Freya interrupted. “Might I suggest that we use these allies to our advantage?”
“What did you have in mind?” asked Andris inquisitively while the Mazeltof siblings were slightly worried about Neptuna’s suggestion.
“Since we have left Formaroth, we have had little to no information of any events that transpire in Formaroth. The best we had hope for are rumours and stories told by any passing fishermen or traders, and we all know how reliable those are. I suggest that we use these allies to establish not only a base on the mainland, but also a spy network that can relay new information to us give us a tactical advantage should we ever need it. They will be of far more use to the alliances cause there then they will mooching around here.” Andris paused for a moment as he considered what had been proposed. He knew the Mazeltofs wouldn’t like it, but he couldn’t deny that Freya had a good point. Already Alicja had established a base on enemy soil and somehow remained undetected, if he brought her home now he would lose a huge tactical advantage.
“That is a good idea Lady Neptuna. That could prove to be invaluable to the alliance.”
“Forgive me Lord Andris.” Dilys interrupted bluntly. “But if you are to go through with this, we demand that our sister be brought safely to Deliverance.”
“We will try our best my lady.” Said Andris, sympathetic for her concern for her sister. “Lady Neptuna, once this meeting is adjourned make ready for a small company to head to Raeldar. Send your most experienced sailors, we can’t risk the southern fleet spotting them and discovering our new outpost. Once they help the allies establish the spy network they will act as a personal escort for the lady Alicja”.
“Begging your pardon lord Andris.” Ian asked “But knowing Alicja she won’t abandon her allies. She’s a Mazeltof, she’ll be too stubborn to leave. Perhaps if you gave her a direct command to come to Deliverance she may listen”.  Andris’s heart wanted to side with the Mazeltof siblings, but he had already sacrificed to much on this war to feelings.
“We will try our best but if the lady Alicja will not heed us then she will have to stay. I will not command her otherwise. Perhaps she can be the head of the very network itself. She has clearly already proven to be very capable…”
“But my lord!” interrupted Dilys on the brink of shouting.
“I have made my decision!” shouted Andris. Silence fell upon the room. “I will not give up a tactical advantage for the sake of one person. We all have made sacrifices in this war and every one must do their part for the cause”. To this Dily simply scowelled at Andris, visibly angered at the decision that had been made, though she was able to hold her tongue. The same could not be said for Ian who had turned away from Andris.
“And some of us have sacrificed far more than others” He said coldly as he headed towards the door. Dilys tried to stop him by putting her hand in his shoulder, but in response he shrugged her hand away before opening the door and walking down the cold black hallway. A silence fell over the room. Andris was the first to break the silence as he noticed something strange.
“Where is Maror?” Andris asked Freya.
“I don’t know my Lord. Should I get the guards to look for him?”
“No. I’ll go look for him. This meeting is now adjourned.” He doubted they were going to get much more done after Ian’s outburst.
[/hider]

[hider=Mandarass vs Lanistark]
An hour had passed but Andris had eventually been informed that Maror was in the courtyard training. Andris walked into the courtyard to see Maror practicing on a straw dummy that a servant had likely set up for him. But something was wrong. His form was wrong and he placing too much strength into his swings, sacrificing his stance. This was not training, but a pure display of rage. 
Andris approached Maror as he decapitated the head of the dummy in a yell of rage.
“What did he do to piss you off so much?” said Andris with humour to lighten the mood of the courtyard.
Maror turn suddenly with his sword ready but quickly lowered it realizing that it was Andris.
“My lord. My apologies I didn’t realize you were here.” He replied gruffly, turning his face away from Andris
“Please Maror, I think we’ve spent enough time on the battlefield to drop the formalities”. Maror simply grunted in response
“Good, I was never much good at them anyway”
“Now what seems to be the trouble?”
“I was merely training my… I was just training.”
“Well the dummy won’t give you much of a challenge. How about I give it a go.”
“Are you sure that is wise?” Maror ask as he looked at Andris’s missing arm, he knew that Andris would not add much more of a challenge.
“I insist.” Andris said as he unsheathed his sword. “Just do what comes naturally.”
Maror nodded and raised his sword. A moment had passed before Maror started to charge right at him. As Maror begun to swing his sword, Andris quickly deflected the attack and then using his leg swept Maror of his feet, landing face first into the dirt. 
“Anyone could tell that you’re angry. I know you Lannistarks use anger as a weapon, but only if you control it with you mind. Otherwise you’ll leave yourself open to mistakes like that one.Perhaps I can help. So tell me. What’s wrong?”
Maror picked himself off the ground and sat down as he spat out the dirt he had swallowed, behind the anger Andris could see the pain in Maror’s eyes. Though he tried to fight it, his eyes were starting to water.
“It’s Serala. I received word that her funeral had been held in Glarmion. I didn’t even know she was dead. We lost each other during the retreat of Telmarion”. As he said this a couple of tears started to roll down his face. “I should have gone to find her. If I tried she may have been here now. I keep thinking about it. Over and over again. She was my blood, my twin, we were born into the world together and we should have left it together on the battlefield”. He said rage once again rising inside him.
“You can’t blame yourself Maror.” Said Andris joining him on the floor. “For years I called myself a coward when I watched my brother executed right in front my eyes while hundreds of people cheered when his head his the floor. But I realized that if I did try to stop it I would have died too, and what good would that have done anyone? All I would have succeeded in doing would be ensuring my brothers death was in vain. I would never have been able to avenge him. Serala may be gone but you continue not only her legend but the legend of your entire bloodline. It is up to you to see justice done to those who have done this, but you can only do that with a clear head and a steady hand.”
Andris offered out his hand to Maror who seemed calmer than he had been a moment ago. Maror looked at Andris before taking his hand and gently placing his fist on Andris’s chest. It was Glamorian custom but one that Andris knew well, it was a sign of respect that Glamorian soldiers showed to their brothers and sisters in arms. 

“Thank you Shield brother”. Said Maror with a faint smile. “Now I think it’s about time I drunk myself into a stupor, my sister will spit on me from the heavens if I don’t have at least ten drink on her.”
Andris returned a smile “Of course. Take care my friend”.
As Maror opened the door to the castle Andris could overhear a conversation between two guards. From the accent Andris could tell they were both Uzbobian.
“Have you heard about what the locals say about the nearby mountains?”
“That’s a bunch of bollocks. Who in their right mind would live up their? Let alone an old man.”
“But he isn’t just an old man. The legend says that he has the power to bring armies back from the dead.”
“Sounds like a bunch of horseshit. I swear the local swill they call beer down here is getting to that dim-witted head of yours”.
[/hider]

By [@AndrewCooper] with help from [@TheDuncanMorgan]