| Interlude: Into the Mists |
| Summary: | Two seafarers venture out to take the lay of the land and access the freedom of the water. |
| Date: | 2018-11-28 |
| Related: | All of the Alnburg siege logs generally. |
| NPCs: | None |
| Players: |
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| The wilds beyond Alnburg |
| Wild ground, water, cliffs, mist. All very atmospheric. |
| 1874-11-28 |
They had departed the fortress in the dark hours before morning, with enough supplies to see them through a day or two. A scouting expedition of sorts. As close as the fort was to the sea, it did not provide a good view of the secondary docks at which it might be possible to land ships. And so Rowena and Beowulf had set off to scout. Certainly, they could have send men to do it, but they were captains and born of the same ilk. They wanted to see and not just be told about what remained and might be accessible. No scout in the fortress had the experience either of them did, nor the ability to combine their experience with knowledge of the terrain to do what needed to be done. They'd come upon the first dock after only about an hour, but it was held by the enemy forces, and so they had moved on to the next. "How much knowledge do you have of the places where smugglers laid anchor along this shore, Beowulf?"
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Beowulf had his arms crossed and his eyes were ever forward. Before Rowena had asked him a question and he turns his head to look at her. "Well…I know Enough. It's gotten me through many troubles to know these kinds of things. Around the cliffside we'll be able to make port without much trouble." he shrugs then, before he looks her in the eyes, walking close to her. "and you? what do you know of smugglers dens?"
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"That it is my duty to hinder or destroy them before they get close enough to use them." Rowena was no raider, such as the White Haller Jarl had been, or was, she'd never asked him anything to that effect, "Let's see if we can find an easy route down. If not, we will need to find a way to either have the ship bring in supplies, or leave them where they can be found, if they will need to scale the rock-face. We've no hope of securing the remaining ships at Alnburg."
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Beowulf seems to nod softly to Rowena, a smile for her. "I like this thinking." he grins softly enough before he looks to the sea as the ships nears the docks Beowulf spoke of. Because it was near the cliffside, the natural mists help hide it from prying eyes. "Into the mist. We can resupply and set up some form of a trade route…possibly."
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"Or an escape route, if it begins to look as though we will lose the fort. An route overland will be easily attacked. There is simply not enough ground cover to mask the movement of troops, and I have no doubt that Jarret will not willingly go alone to safety and leave his men behind. A sea route that has the cover the the elements will be more viable option." Rowena shook her head, "As much as I understand my brother's desire to remain in the fort, the rest of his lands need him. he will not be able to leave them untended indefinitely, no matter how adept my father is at standing in for him." With Jarret and Rowena both at the fort and with the heir still a toddler, their father was the only Lord left to manage the kingdom in the Duke's stead. Rowena glanced back, "Come. Let us make or own way down, if we can. And scout for a potential sight to camp."
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Beowulf seems to nod very softly. "True. Though we won't be able to move soldiers en masse. My longships can, but we must try and last as long as we can. We can win, if we can hold." Beowulf was as stubborn as Rowena was. It's likely the reason they've been able to get on so well with each other. Regardless, he nods.
"I think we should have evacuated the Duke long ago. Now, we have little choice." he shrugs, before he'll get ready to disembark, removing his cloak and speaking to the crew. "Wait here for us under the cover of the mist. we'll search ahead." and thus, Beowulf disembarks!
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Rowena laid a hand on Beowulf's arm, before he had a chance to step off of the ship entirely. "Yes, we should have done. But he is stubborn and would not take well to being advised to take the coward's way, even if it is the way to safety for himself." She paused, "Of all of my siblings, Jarret was always the one I loved best." Though that might be a terrible thing for a sister to admit, Rowena did not seem ashamed of the admission. "The one I have always looked up to in word and deed. That he is now the Duke, in all truth means nothing to me. It is only a word, a thing imposed on him, a mantle laid on his shoulders out of necessity. Dukedoms are given and passed, and in truth, at the end of all things, Beowulf, I could care less about it. I loved him before it, and if it should be stripped from him, I would love him after. If it comes to it, and the price of his life is my own, I will pay that cost gladly. I cannot let him fall." There was a fierceness in Rowena, an absolute conviction, in that moment, what was the spark of her mother that had grown inside of her. She did, though, retrieve her hand, before she allowed Beowulf to step of, following in his wake.
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Beowulf eventually stopped at the touch of Rowena's hand. His eyes falling upon hers as she spoke. "Yeah, well, I like you the best, so I can't relate too much." he winks at her, but he nods. "Don't worry, we'll keep him safe. You have my word, lass." and thus, they were off! Up the tall hill, where most likely they would soon come upon the sight of the smuggler city. Not too large, and well hidden. this is where the pirates spend their time. "Be careful. Most people without manners tend to reside here."
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"Ah, so I should expect a smuggler's den full of men and women of fair hair, bundled in furs, and fierce as the seas of the north from whence they came?" Rowena's laughter was low, hardly loud enough to pass beyond Beowulf's hearing, but there was merriment in her eyes as she described not the sort of smugglers that tended to ply the waters, but the Njorvolk, Beowulf's own kin. The jest was just that. Taking some small amusement in the midst of a span of endless weeks that had brought them little but misery. But even through the jest, Rowena quickened her pace to match her stride to Beowulf's, as they moved off to explore, and, if the gods favoured them, to find some safe harbor from which they could move.