[center][b][i]Edric Rane, Cartelom[/i][/b][/center]

Just like most buildings in Cartelom, the Lord's Keep had seen better days. From the outside, it was giving a sense of abandonment, as if it was vacant and weathered, yet it was still standing strong. Cartelom as a whole was rotting away, with priorities set elsewhere. In a way, the keep symbolized the city, where progress had been halted but the final verdict on whether they'd be allowed to resume normal life was not given out yet. Edric was one of the last to enter but everyone inside was still waiting for Captain Hannigan to appear.

If there was something that made Edric feel old, it was the people in the hall. As if his country wasn't detached enough from the western provinces, the twelve years he'd been in exile rendered his remaining knowledge of "western" nobility nearly useless. Cartelom was much closer to his homeland than the countries he'd been, yet he felt he was the furthest he'd ever been. But he wasn't the only foreigner in the room, judging from appearances. People of all ranks and sizes were present. Some were clearly nobles, others not so much. A few seemed trustworthy, while others seemed like cannon fodder for the so-called undead hordes. Most were younger than him, but the difference in age didn't bother him. What worried him the most was how this sense of duty that motivated these people to be there would play out on the battlefield. 

Formerly a member of a powerful mercenary, Edric knew that a thousand disciplined men could best a disorganized army of ten thousand. If the undead were as numerous as everyone was saying, they'd need this kind of discipline to avoid getting overpowered. But would inexperienced volunteers or self-centered nobles hold the line and die if they were ordered to? Would front-liners maintain their position against a rampaging horde ten times their size? For one, these people had no uniformity, as each and every one of them had their own equipment, their own weapons and, most importantly, their own goals and motivations. That could be catastrophic in an event where sacrifices would have to be made. 

Edric was no better, he knew that. His goal was to reunite with his family or, if fate had it otherwise, find out how they died. And maybe find out if his people were still alive somewhere westwards of home. In any case, he wasn't planning on perishing in Rhogain defending the living, at least not yet. Casting his cynicism aside, he finally considered the silver lining of the situation. The Lord's keep only seemed abandoned from the outside.