Deep within Midgate’s Fort in the Dining Hall a small crowd had gathered. For many of the Yulian soldiers this was just another day as part of their daily routine. But for some time now the faces had gathered in the dining hall, every morning for one particular reason.
War Stories
Considering the cold weather outside there wasn’t much need to be in the outdoors unless of course you were one of the poor fools who had to sit out in the rain. Still most story telling settings like this wouldn’t be special unless of course, the crowd had a special guest. At the center of attention sat one of Yulian’s most decorated knights, Sir Lucius Cassel. Even in fine leather the man still looked every bit like the glorified war hero. Lucius sat tall, his shoulders broad and his face shaven and most important of all, he had a certain charisma that at least for the most part, other soldiers wanted to be around him.
“You know Sir Lucius. It’s going to be a shame when you leave. I know you intend to ride for the capital soon but your visit here has been appreciated” Lucius turned to look at the young lad who spoke. He always had time to share some stories, it helped pass the time especially when he was in a rather boring situation such as this. Considering this was a relatively time of peace, there was little need for individuals like him to be constantly on the move. With no battles to fight, Lucius felt it would be a shame if he never got to visit the famed Midgate prison. Fortunately for him, he had nothing but time.
”I’m just happy that I’ve had such a warm reception. Always good to be surrounded by my good countrymen” Lucius replied as the men around him cheered as they lightly tapped their mugs against the wooden table in approval. “So just one more story Sir Cassel, maybe about one of those other Wolf Knights, I’m sure you have another.” Ah yes, another story request. Lucius chuckled “Oh right... let me see.” Lucius replied taking several moments to gather his thoughts. “Sorry lads if I’m taking long. Once you kill one Aressan knight, they all start to look the same. And when they start swinging whatever they get their hands on with their ridiculous helmets you almost stop and think, this is it? These are the famed Wolf Knights?” The men around Lucius laughed a bit uneasily. It was easy to be around someone like Lucius… if they could stand his bravado. The young knight may have had good intentions making jokes about the Aressan but it was subtle reminder to the men gathered that not all of them were talented with a blade. .. or even talented enough to casually brag about killing Wolf Knights in single combat as if it was just another day on the job.
“Anyways…“ Finally Lucius had a story “I forgot the poor bastards name but there was this one battle. I believe it was close to their capital but we had broken through several defensive settlements and managed to find this beaten down army, caught out in the open during a heavy fog. It seemed simple enough so we had our infantry engage their lines to try and hold them in place. Our shield wall infantry soaked it all in, stones, arrows. spears… you name it, they couldn’t break the lines. The idea was simple, we would pin their army in place while our mages attacked safely from the rear in standard Yulian army doctrine. Now in previous battles, Aressan knights used to counter this by riding around our lines and hit us from the rear but we anticipated this” Lucius paused his story and took a glance around the room, all the men gathered had their eyes on him, curious on the story’s conclusion.
“When the Wolf Knights charged out from their lines seeking to hit the mages we had men break off from the initial main lines to support the flanks. All of a sudden they start panicking because they are starting to get picked off and their organized charge just fell to shit” Lucius again chuckled as his eyes focused on the floor his once light tone now more serious in nature as it felt like Lucius was seemingly reliving the whole situation. “That’s when we appeared out of the fog. We watched them time and time again try to outflank us but this time we were ready. I led a heavy cavalry group, some 500 men. While our infantry held the enemy in place we managed to sneak our cavalry behind them. They were so focused on our mages they kept their eyes forward. It took some time but when we managed to maneuver behind them… it was over. We charged straight at them, horns blaring, you should have seen the looks on their faces. Their lines broke almost immediately and it was utter chaos as we picked them off with ease.” Lucius looked up, the men were still focused on him causing him to smirk as he neared the conclusion. “Then there was one of them Wolf Knights. The battle had gone so chaotic I could see he was barely able to stop his horse from galloping in a circle, poor lad almost got thrown off. But then he saw me and tugged on the reigns and pointed his sword at me and shouted something but I couldn’t hear him, not when his fellow men were dying all around him”. The story at least at the point had lightened up a bit. The men gathered chuckled at the line.
“So of course I raise my sword and point right back at him and charged. And now here we are both on horseback riding fast at one another when all of a sudden just as we are about seconds from contact a damn fireball hits the guy right on the side, throwing him of his horse. And to be honest with you, I was rather disappointed. The battle is just about won at this point so I dismount and walk over to the guy who’s struggling to stand. I’m thinking should I even kill him, the guy can barely fight back…”
Suddenly the doors into the dining hall sprang open rather excitedly. “Forgive me… Sir Cassel, I uhh…” The young teenage messenger fumbled with his words, surprised on how quickly the group of men turned to look at him “Out with it boy” Lucius replied, not exactly fond of being interrupted. “Forgive me, it’s just… the new Inquisitor as arrived. I figured you would want to meet them.”
“Already?” Lucius replied. He was expecting this but perhaps not this soon… maybe he really had stayed at this fort for too long. “I suppose I’ll make my greetings. Good lads, a different time hmm? We should at least look a little productive now that we are under new leadership” Lucius said in a rather casual tone trying to calm the minds of the men around him. After all, they were the ones who were going to be stuck with the new Inquisitor. While Lucius didn’t particularly hate the Inquisitors, he always had a certain disdain for the way they did their duties. On the battlefield it was easy but the Inquisitors had ways to serve the King and it was rarely ever clean. As the small group broke apart and go their separate ways Lucius made his way towards the courtyard. As he felt the cold, wet air the knight blew into his hands to warm them, not expecting such a change in temperature as he eyed the newly arrived inquisitor.
