Chapter One
"Anders! Feed the chickens!" shouted the farmer at his son. Anders rolled his eyes and went to the stone shed to fetch some chicken feed. "My life is so small and predictable." he said to himself. He poured the feed into the sacks and lugged them to the chicken coup. "Why can't you buy slaves for this menial work? I should be out with my cousins and brothers on a shield wall somewhere!" said Anders, somewhat irritated. "WHAT?!" shouted his father. "Fine! Never mind!" said Anders. "You are my son, surely you wouldn't abandon the farm?" said his father. "I might leave for awhile and learn to be a warrior." said Anders. "You keep talking about that but you don't have the gold for the armor and the weapon!" exclaimed his dad. "Because you don't even pay me a wage to work here? What is my recourse?" asked Anders. "The farm will be yours in time." said his dad. "Well, I don't much want to be a farmer!" spat Anders back. Anders father turned red in the face. "DON'T BACKTALK ME!" he shouted. "Fine! Goodbye!" said Anders as he dropped the sack onto the ground and walked off the farm. He kept walking, looking behind him until he reached the village of Goskerdam.
The village of Goskerdam was a thriving little market center with it's share of Inns and merchants. Paulsen the One-Eyed was the man whom Anders went looking for. He knocked at a door near the village center. "What?? Oh! It's you! Come in!" said Paulsen. He opened the door and Anders walked into the simple one-roomed hut. On the walls were mounted shields and weapons and on the table was a spread of food and ale. "You are expecting company?" asked Anders, pointing to the table. "Yes, some friends of mine are coming by later. If you are here for what I think you are here for, join us for awhile. We'll talk." said Paulsen. The village clock struck 8am. "Sit, have breakfast!" said Paulsen cheerfully. The two men sat down and began to eat. "So you decided to stop being a slave for your father? You did the right thing." said Paulsen. "But before you can be of any use to yourself, you need to stop thinking like a slave. Have independent thoughts, let your actions be dictated by logic rather than by need." said Paulsen. "I can do that." said Anders. "And you need a better name." said Paulsen. "We'll call you; "Anders Troll-killer" ha!" said Paulsen. "But I've never killed anything in my life! Except for a stray wolf." said Anders. "Don't worry lad! All new warriors are called that, until they become famous." said Paulsen. "So I'll be a freebooter?" asked Anders. "Not so fast! First we need to get you trained." said Paulsen. "Well, I can kill wolves with a short sword." said Anders. "That is a small start lad, but I was killing giant cats at thirteen!" said Paulsen. "Do I need to learn a ward spell to protect myself from magic attacks?" asked Anders. "Yes, I will teach you that myself, I am something of a hedge mage after all." said Paulsen with a note of pride. There was a knock at the door. "Come!" said Paulsen. The door opened and a Dwarf and a High Elf walked in. "Anders, this is Knordd the Sledge and Mun the Archer." he said, motioning to the dwarf and the High Elf. Both humanoids nodded. "I am Anders, just joined up." said Anders. "You are a chicken farmer?" asked Mun to Anders. "I used to be until I quit that today." said Anders. "You reek like it." said Mun with a disarming smile. "Watch out for Mun, he has that smile of his whenever he is sizing up a possible opponent." said Paulsen. "Boy. Here is the truth. A chicken farmer can never be a warrior. Stop being a damn chicken farmer!" exclaimed the Dwarf to Anders. "I'll need new clothes then." said Anders. "Yes, you are slowly getting it." said Paulsen. The Dwarf reached into his dufflebag and tossed out a leather jerkin with leather shoes. "Wear that instead." said the Dwarf. Anders quickly changed into the jerkin and was given studded armor. "Wear that as well." said Mun. Anders quickly put that on. "I will train you as an archer first. You will receive all your training in the wilds." said Mun. The group said grace for the meal to the gods of the Light and ate. An hour passed and many stories were told and finally the group got up and left the cottage and the village for the wilds.
The pine trees loomed high against the mountains and the howling of wolves could be heard, as well as the disconcerting screams of Wood Trolls and the noises of woodland creatures. The small group walked off the road and slowly, making sure they weren't being followed by dire wolves or giant cats. Mun saw a small herd of Red Elk laying down on the forest floor. "Tonight we eat!" said Mun. "Take this bow and arrows" said Mun. Anders equipped the bow and arrows. "Shoot after I shoot." said Mun. The High Elf left an arrow fly and it hit a deer. Anders shot and it hit the stag in the heart. "Good shooting!" said Mun as the stag fell to the ground. The High Elf skinned the deer and butchered it while the others did what they could to help. "We are living in the wilds for a few days. It'll be your only chance to get started." said Paulsen. "If a bandit attacks us, which is likely in these parts, take this mace and back me up!" said Knordd. They finished taking what they could use from the stag and left the gut pile for a passing bear, after Mun took some intestine for bow string. The group walked to a meadow and set up three skin tents and a campfire. Mun instructed Anders how to make an archery target and Knordd instructed Anders how to hit with an iron mace. "Now hit the target dummy like you mean it!" said Knordd to Anders. Anders swung at the target and connected with the head and took it off. "Good! That will be your weapon, for now." said Knordd. Day became night as the training continued. Day became night as the group settled in for the night. Knordd shot up from his wrap about 10:00pm. "Wait, I hear humans nearby." said Knordd. The others quickly woke up and armed themselves. "Be ready for action." said Paulsen to Anders. "Hello there! The local Yarl has issued a warrant for the return of a missing servant!" said the man, stepping into the light of the camp. "Stay in the tent." hissed Paulsen to Anders. "I haven't seen a servant here but I will send him your way once I see him." said Paulsen to the ranger. "Good, there is a bounty of 10 gold for his return." said the ranger. The ranger turned on his heel and left. After almost a half hour of waiting, Anders emerged from his hiding place. "Your father seems to think that you are a slave after all? Did he sire you by a Kelti woman?" asked Paulsen. "No, I am pure Nord. My father is a bit funny in the head." said Anders. The group returned to their bedrolls without comment and slept until daybreak.
The group wrapped up camp and began to hike deeper into the wilds, were they fought dire wolves and wood trolls. Anders was already feeling like he was a battle-hardened veteran with all the kills that they made. The group came upon a stone tunnel in the side of a large hill. "Some ancient tomb, no doubt." said Anders. "Make yourselves torches, we are going in." said Mun. The group wrapped branches with linen rags and set them on fire and proceeded to enter the dark tunnel. The tunnel let out into a central chamber and Paulsen cried out to some armored men sitting around a table. "Hey, It's me!" said Paulsen. The men greeted them. They came to the table. "This is our newest member! He passed all the tests successfully. Shall we add him to our band?" asked Paulsen. "What is your name lad?" asked one of the warriors. "Anders Wolf-Killer" said Anders. "What is your weapon?" asked another. "The mace." said Anders. "What is your trade?" asked another. "Warrior." said Anders. "Welcome to the Golden Hind Band" said Paulsen. He shook Anders hand and everyone exchanged greetings and congratulations with Anders. "We work contracts for the Yarls." said Paulsen. "Our specialty is killing bandits." said Paulsen. "Most of the time, most bandits can pay a fine and get off but when they come back, that is when the Golden Hind is called in." said Paulsen. "We split the loot evenly. We are based here and in town. When a war starts, anywhere in the world, we are called in by some Yarl or some Emperor and we fight for pay. War is our real payout." said Paulsen. "Then we join our other chapters and our numbers swell to 1,000. The Grand Master of our Guild is Lord Gerhardt the Cat-Killer and he commands us in battle. Since he is a lord, he expects everyone to obey him without question." said Paulsen. "Humph." said Anders. "Sorry boy, the only armed men out there not sworn to a lord are bandits!" exclaimed a warrior. "Let us pray." said one of the men. They prayed to the gods of the Light for a blessing on their enterprise.
The next day, the 10 man band attacked a bandit camp of 20 bandits, took them by surprise and killed most of them and captured the remainder. The gold was counted out and several ingots were produced from a chest. "Look at the seal." said Goddric the-Mace. It was the seal of the Orcish Empire. "The Orcs are paying the bandits?" asked Anders. "No, more than likely, the bandits hit an Orcish caravan." said Paulsen, squinting at the gold bar. "The Yarl needs to know this." said a warrior. "We'll send the new guy with a seal and the bar." said Paulsen. "Take these to the Yarl and say nothing. The Yarl will understand." said Paulsen to Anders, thrusting the ingot into Anders hands. Anders left the underground room and traveled back to the Yarl's Seat along with Yodric the Strong and Ulfric the Hammer. They came to the Great Hall and knocked on the door. "Official business only!" said a guard. Anders showed the guard the ingot and the seal of the guild. "Go in!" said the guard and he opened the door to the Great Hall. The Hall was mostly empty except for the Yarl on his throne and his two trusted huscarls, one on his left and one on his right. The group did not bow, according to Nord custom, but instead lowered their right hands with the palm up. "Welcome! What brings you to my Hall?" asked the Yarl. Anders passed the Yarl the seal of the guild and the Orcish ingot. "This means the Orcs are on the move again. Go and call your Guild Master and tell him to come here speedily." said the Yarl. "Wait." said a hooded man. He walked to the throne and looked at the ingot. "This ingot is fifteen years old, it dates back from the last war between the Vyir and the Orcs. No war. No worries." said the Mage. "You have provided another valuable service to the Yarl and the people of Nordlandia." said the Yarl to the Mage. "If you have any other ingots, keep them. This is ancient history." said the Yarl. He tossed the ingot back to Anders. The small group left.
"So." said Paulsen. "The Yarl's Mage thinks that this seal is old? We'll keep our eyes open for any Orcs but in the meantime, we continue to fill contracts for the Yarl." said Pauslen. The group went out and traveled in the direction of Yarl Yurgenor's Tomb to clear the area of bandits. "Stop." said Paulsen as the group drew close. An odd stench was in the air. "Orcs, unmistakable!" said Paulsen. The figures in the tents around the tomb entrance were much bigger then men and moved slower as well. "Must be ten of them, no doubt, it is a scouting party." said Paulsen. "We'll slip away and warn the Yarl." said Paulsen. Just then, a group of twenty Orcs came in from behind them and began to yell in Orcish. "To arms!" said Paulsen. The group of 20 men drew their weapons and gathered into a shield circle. The Orcs attacked mercilessly and killed five of the warriors before the remaining Orcs retreated. "Retreat." said a wounded Paulsen. The group fell back to their under hill stronghold and tended to their wounded. "Hopefully the Orcs won't find us here." said Anders. "There is a spell on the door, only humans can see the entrance." said Paulsen. Hagamar the Hawk-Keeper went outside and sent a message to the Yarl by one of his homing Hawks.
The Yarl's Mage received the Hawk and took and message and tossed it into the fire. The events of the battle played out as illusion in the fireplace. "Our deal with the Orcish lords can never be discovered." said the Mage to the Yarl. "Send your huscarls to tell that guild to leave your kingdom and never return." said the Mage to the Yarl. The Yarl nodded blankly and did what he was told. The huscarls rode hard to the guild hideout and brought the bad news. "What sort of betrayal is this?" asked Paulsen, now mostly recovered. The huscarls shrugged. "Anders. Go with these huscarls to the Yarl and listen in." whispered Paulsen to Anders. Anders saddled a spare horse in the stables inside of the Tomb and rode out with the huscarls. The small group returned to the Yarl and the Yarl looked at Anders with a questioning look. "Why are you here?" asked the Yarl. "I wish to pledge myself to your service!" said Anders. "Done! You are now my huscarl. You can live here. I will send you on assignments to pick up criminals and wolf heads and if you know the epic tales of the Nords, that is a bonus. I enjoy hearing them." said the Yarl. Anders settled into his new role as a spy and send messages by pigeon when he could. The Guild Master of the Golden Hind rode to the Hall and pay the Yarl a visit a week after the expulsion of his guild. "Your highness! Please tell me what is going on?" asked lord Gerhardt. "What brings you to my Hall? I heard you were engaged elsewhere." said the Yarl, vacantly. "You expelled my guild from your kingdom. What did they do?" asked lord Gerhardt. "Nothing, they were bringing in false reports of Orc activity." said the Yarl, not under his own power. lord Gerhardt saw the magical trance that the Yarl was under. He went to the Hall gong and hit it with the clapper. The Yarl quickly came out of his trance. "What?? Where?? How long have I been out?" asked the Yarl. "You were under a magically induced trance. Some Mage put you under a spell." said lord Gerhardt. "My Mage! He is a traitor!" exclaimed the Yarl but it was too late, the Mage caught both the Yarl and lord Gerhardt with frost bolts and killed them instantly. The comatose huscarls, deluded by the sleeping spell, disposed of the bodies in the Hall basement but Anders had a powerful ward and was able to escape the influence of the spell. He hid himself in a backroom and quickly wrote to the High Yarl of Nordlandia to send an army of mages to deal with the traitorous mage. He also penned a message to Paulsen. He dispatched the pigeons and they flew swiftly to Paulsen at the Tomb.
Paulsen and the men had retreated into the deeps of the Tomb into their "fallback" room which had been cleared of human bones and was set up like any other hall, and it had a backdoor to the wilds. The men were listening to the messages and were shocked to learn that their Guild Master was dead. "That means I am now the acting Guild Master." sighed Paulsen. "The first act, we are taking over the Hall and we are imprisoning that traitorous mage!" exclaimed Paulsen. "The second act, we are going to write the Yarl's son and send him down with an army, if our spy didn't already alert the High Yarl." said Paulsen to the men. The men walked up the narrow passage to the outside and found the hidden, jury-rigged stable they had built and mounted their horses and rode hard and fast to the Great Hall. The men rubbed their wards and they were all shielded from magics. They drew their weapons and entered the Great Hall. The huscarls came at them with weapons drawn, shouting "traitors!" and Paulsen quickly went to the Gong and hit it with the clapper and the huscarls awoke out of their trances. "The mage!" cried a huscarl. "He is a traitor! He has been cooperating with the Orcs the whole time to bring the entire Orcish Army into the Kingdom!" said a huscarl to Paulsen. The mage appeared and began to chant a Resurrection chant. The bodies of the dead Yarl and the dead Guild Master came into a state of undeath and attacked the guilds men. "Use your wards!" shouted Paulsen. The men rubbed their wards and the zombies collapsed back onto the floor, dead. The mage then conjured up a fire-demon and transformed into a raven and flew off. Just then, Anders sent a flock of Hawks after the shape changed mage and the Hawks devoured the mage with their sharp talons. The mage changed back to human and fell back to the ground, dead. "Quick! Burn his body! He might resurrect as a zombie!" said Paulsen. The men threw the corpse into the fireplace and watched it burn. "The gods curse your soul for all eternity." said the group priest solemnly to the burning corpse. A scream was heard and it was done, the mage was defeated forever.
The men thanked Paulsen and Anders for their quick action and thinking and Paulsen made himself the Chief Marshall of the Kingdom until the son of the Yarl could return to claim the throne. When the son rode in with his 1,000 huscarls, he was met outside of the city by a much bigger force of Orcs. The battle raged for two days, the Orcs losing five Orcs for every Nord killed. The High Yarl arrived with his force and joined the battle, defeated the Orcs and gave chase to them, killing them and scattering them to whence they came. The Golden Hind fought bravely that day, quickly joining the main force of the new Yarl and standing with the sheildwall and keeping the Orcs from busting through the main line. Paulsen died during the battle, having been run through by an Orcish spear man. Anders avenged his death by going berserk and killing twenty Orcs before he fell from exhaustion. He was quickly pulled out of the battle and rushed to a nearby shed were he was able to rest and heal up.
One Year later.
Anders was on his farm with his new wife, Gretta. His two year old son chased the chickens and the Kelti slaves did all the work while he supervised them. His old father had only died a year before, just before the Orcish invasion. As a huscarl, he was able to build a Hall on his farm and he turned the old house into a barn for the slaves and the animals. "Hail Guild Master!" said a messenger boy who handed him a message from the Yarl. "Wife, I have to depart shortly. I have an invasion of trolls to deal with." he said to Gretta. "Your son will miss you." she said with a smile. "There will come a time that he won't miss me. Until then, I will train him to be the best warrior my family has ever seen. Until then, he learns how to run a farm." he said. He kissed her with a deep and passionate kiss and he ran to his waiting horse and rode off.
THE END.
"Anders! Feed the chickens!" shouted the farmer at his son. Anders rolled his eyes and went to the stone shed to fetch some chicken feed. "My life is so small and predictable." he said to himself. He poured the feed into the sacks and lugged them to the chicken coup. "Why can't you buy slaves for this menial work? I should be out with my cousins and brothers on a shield wall somewhere!" said Anders, somewhat irritated. "WHAT?!" shouted his father. "Fine! Never mind!" said Anders. "You are my son, surely you wouldn't abandon the farm?" said his father. "I might leave for awhile and learn to be a warrior." said Anders. "You keep talking about that but you don't have the gold for the armor and the weapon!" exclaimed his dad. "Because you don't even pay me a wage to work here? What is my recourse?" asked Anders. "The farm will be yours in time." said his dad. "Well, I don't much want to be a farmer!" spat Anders back. Anders father turned red in the face. "DON'T BACKTALK ME!" he shouted. "Fine! Goodbye!" said Anders as he dropped the sack onto the ground and walked off the farm. He kept walking, looking behind him until he reached the village of Goskerdam.
The village of Goskerdam was a thriving little market center with it's share of Inns and merchants. Paulsen the One-Eyed was the man whom Anders went looking for. He knocked at a door near the village center. "What?? Oh! It's you! Come in!" said Paulsen. He opened the door and Anders walked into the simple one-roomed hut. On the walls were mounted shields and weapons and on the table was a spread of food and ale. "You are expecting company?" asked Anders, pointing to the table. "Yes, some friends of mine are coming by later. If you are here for what I think you are here for, join us for awhile. We'll talk." said Paulsen. The village clock struck 8am. "Sit, have breakfast!" said Paulsen cheerfully. The two men sat down and began to eat. "So you decided to stop being a slave for your father? You did the right thing." said Paulsen. "But before you can be of any use to yourself, you need to stop thinking like a slave. Have independent thoughts, let your actions be dictated by logic rather than by need." said Paulsen. "I can do that." said Anders. "And you need a better name." said Paulsen. "We'll call you; "Anders Troll-killer" ha!" said Paulsen. "But I've never killed anything in my life! Except for a stray wolf." said Anders. "Don't worry lad! All new warriors are called that, until they become famous." said Paulsen. "So I'll be a freebooter?" asked Anders. "Not so fast! First we need to get you trained." said Paulsen. "Well, I can kill wolves with a short sword." said Anders. "That is a small start lad, but I was killing giant cats at thirteen!" said Paulsen. "Do I need to learn a ward spell to protect myself from magic attacks?" asked Anders. "Yes, I will teach you that myself, I am something of a hedge mage after all." said Paulsen with a note of pride. There was a knock at the door. "Come!" said Paulsen. The door opened and a Dwarf and a High Elf walked in. "Anders, this is Knordd the Sledge and Mun the Archer." he said, motioning to the dwarf and the High Elf. Both humanoids nodded. "I am Anders, just joined up." said Anders. "You are a chicken farmer?" asked Mun to Anders. "I used to be until I quit that today." said Anders. "You reek like it." said Mun with a disarming smile. "Watch out for Mun, he has that smile of his whenever he is sizing up a possible opponent." said Paulsen. "Boy. Here is the truth. A chicken farmer can never be a warrior. Stop being a damn chicken farmer!" exclaimed the Dwarf to Anders. "I'll need new clothes then." said Anders. "Yes, you are slowly getting it." said Paulsen. The Dwarf reached into his dufflebag and tossed out a leather jerkin with leather shoes. "Wear that instead." said the Dwarf. Anders quickly changed into the jerkin and was given studded armor. "Wear that as well." said Mun. Anders quickly put that on. "I will train you as an archer first. You will receive all your training in the wilds." said Mun. The group said grace for the meal to the gods of the Light and ate. An hour passed and many stories were told and finally the group got up and left the cottage and the village for the wilds.
The pine trees loomed high against the mountains and the howling of wolves could be heard, as well as the disconcerting screams of Wood Trolls and the noises of woodland creatures. The small group walked off the road and slowly, making sure they weren't being followed by dire wolves or giant cats. Mun saw a small herd of Red Elk laying down on the forest floor. "Tonight we eat!" said Mun. "Take this bow and arrows" said Mun. Anders equipped the bow and arrows. "Shoot after I shoot." said Mun. The High Elf left an arrow fly and it hit a deer. Anders shot and it hit the stag in the heart. "Good shooting!" said Mun as the stag fell to the ground. The High Elf skinned the deer and butchered it while the others did what they could to help. "We are living in the wilds for a few days. It'll be your only chance to get started." said Paulsen. "If a bandit attacks us, which is likely in these parts, take this mace and back me up!" said Knordd. They finished taking what they could use from the stag and left the gut pile for a passing bear, after Mun took some intestine for bow string. The group walked to a meadow and set up three skin tents and a campfire. Mun instructed Anders how to make an archery target and Knordd instructed Anders how to hit with an iron mace. "Now hit the target dummy like you mean it!" said Knordd to Anders. Anders swung at the target and connected with the head and took it off. "Good! That will be your weapon, for now." said Knordd. Day became night as the training continued. Day became night as the group settled in for the night. Knordd shot up from his wrap about 10:00pm. "Wait, I hear humans nearby." said Knordd. The others quickly woke up and armed themselves. "Be ready for action." said Paulsen to Anders. "Hello there! The local Yarl has issued a warrant for the return of a missing servant!" said the man, stepping into the light of the camp. "Stay in the tent." hissed Paulsen to Anders. "I haven't seen a servant here but I will send him your way once I see him." said Paulsen to the ranger. "Good, there is a bounty of 10 gold for his return." said the ranger. The ranger turned on his heel and left. After almost a half hour of waiting, Anders emerged from his hiding place. "Your father seems to think that you are a slave after all? Did he sire you by a Kelti woman?" asked Paulsen. "No, I am pure Nord. My father is a bit funny in the head." said Anders. The group returned to their bedrolls without comment and slept until daybreak.
The group wrapped up camp and began to hike deeper into the wilds, were they fought dire wolves and wood trolls. Anders was already feeling like he was a battle-hardened veteran with all the kills that they made. The group came upon a stone tunnel in the side of a large hill. "Some ancient tomb, no doubt." said Anders. "Make yourselves torches, we are going in." said Mun. The group wrapped branches with linen rags and set them on fire and proceeded to enter the dark tunnel. The tunnel let out into a central chamber and Paulsen cried out to some armored men sitting around a table. "Hey, It's me!" said Paulsen. The men greeted them. They came to the table. "This is our newest member! He passed all the tests successfully. Shall we add him to our band?" asked Paulsen. "What is your name lad?" asked one of the warriors. "Anders Wolf-Killer" said Anders. "What is your weapon?" asked another. "The mace." said Anders. "What is your trade?" asked another. "Warrior." said Anders. "Welcome to the Golden Hind Band" said Paulsen. He shook Anders hand and everyone exchanged greetings and congratulations with Anders. "We work contracts for the Yarls." said Paulsen. "Our specialty is killing bandits." said Paulsen. "Most of the time, most bandits can pay a fine and get off but when they come back, that is when the Golden Hind is called in." said Paulsen. "We split the loot evenly. We are based here and in town. When a war starts, anywhere in the world, we are called in by some Yarl or some Emperor and we fight for pay. War is our real payout." said Paulsen. "Then we join our other chapters and our numbers swell to 1,000. The Grand Master of our Guild is Lord Gerhardt the Cat-Killer and he commands us in battle. Since he is a lord, he expects everyone to obey him without question." said Paulsen. "Humph." said Anders. "Sorry boy, the only armed men out there not sworn to a lord are bandits!" exclaimed a warrior. "Let us pray." said one of the men. They prayed to the gods of the Light for a blessing on their enterprise.
The next day, the 10 man band attacked a bandit camp of 20 bandits, took them by surprise and killed most of them and captured the remainder. The gold was counted out and several ingots were produced from a chest. "Look at the seal." said Goddric the-Mace. It was the seal of the Orcish Empire. "The Orcs are paying the bandits?" asked Anders. "No, more than likely, the bandits hit an Orcish caravan." said Paulsen, squinting at the gold bar. "The Yarl needs to know this." said a warrior. "We'll send the new guy with a seal and the bar." said Paulsen. "Take these to the Yarl and say nothing. The Yarl will understand." said Paulsen to Anders, thrusting the ingot into Anders hands. Anders left the underground room and traveled back to the Yarl's Seat along with Yodric the Strong and Ulfric the Hammer. They came to the Great Hall and knocked on the door. "Official business only!" said a guard. Anders showed the guard the ingot and the seal of the guild. "Go in!" said the guard and he opened the door to the Great Hall. The Hall was mostly empty except for the Yarl on his throne and his two trusted huscarls, one on his left and one on his right. The group did not bow, according to Nord custom, but instead lowered their right hands with the palm up. "Welcome! What brings you to my Hall?" asked the Yarl. Anders passed the Yarl the seal of the guild and the Orcish ingot. "This means the Orcs are on the move again. Go and call your Guild Master and tell him to come here speedily." said the Yarl. "Wait." said a hooded man. He walked to the throne and looked at the ingot. "This ingot is fifteen years old, it dates back from the last war between the Vyir and the Orcs. No war. No worries." said the Mage. "You have provided another valuable service to the Yarl and the people of Nordlandia." said the Yarl to the Mage. "If you have any other ingots, keep them. This is ancient history." said the Yarl. He tossed the ingot back to Anders. The small group left.
"So." said Paulsen. "The Yarl's Mage thinks that this seal is old? We'll keep our eyes open for any Orcs but in the meantime, we continue to fill contracts for the Yarl." said Pauslen. The group went out and traveled in the direction of Yarl Yurgenor's Tomb to clear the area of bandits. "Stop." said Paulsen as the group drew close. An odd stench was in the air. "Orcs, unmistakable!" said Paulsen. The figures in the tents around the tomb entrance were much bigger then men and moved slower as well. "Must be ten of them, no doubt, it is a scouting party." said Paulsen. "We'll slip away and warn the Yarl." said Paulsen. Just then, a group of twenty Orcs came in from behind them and began to yell in Orcish. "To arms!" said Paulsen. The group of 20 men drew their weapons and gathered into a shield circle. The Orcs attacked mercilessly and killed five of the warriors before the remaining Orcs retreated. "Retreat." said a wounded Paulsen. The group fell back to their under hill stronghold and tended to their wounded. "Hopefully the Orcs won't find us here." said Anders. "There is a spell on the door, only humans can see the entrance." said Paulsen. Hagamar the Hawk-Keeper went outside and sent a message to the Yarl by one of his homing Hawks.
The Yarl's Mage received the Hawk and took and message and tossed it into the fire. The events of the battle played out as illusion in the fireplace. "Our deal with the Orcish lords can never be discovered." said the Mage to the Yarl. "Send your huscarls to tell that guild to leave your kingdom and never return." said the Mage to the Yarl. The Yarl nodded blankly and did what he was told. The huscarls rode hard to the guild hideout and brought the bad news. "What sort of betrayal is this?" asked Paulsen, now mostly recovered. The huscarls shrugged. "Anders. Go with these huscarls to the Yarl and listen in." whispered Paulsen to Anders. Anders saddled a spare horse in the stables inside of the Tomb and rode out with the huscarls. The small group returned to the Yarl and the Yarl looked at Anders with a questioning look. "Why are you here?" asked the Yarl. "I wish to pledge myself to your service!" said Anders. "Done! You are now my huscarl. You can live here. I will send you on assignments to pick up criminals and wolf heads and if you know the epic tales of the Nords, that is a bonus. I enjoy hearing them." said the Yarl. Anders settled into his new role as a spy and send messages by pigeon when he could. The Guild Master of the Golden Hind rode to the Hall and pay the Yarl a visit a week after the expulsion of his guild. "Your highness! Please tell me what is going on?" asked lord Gerhardt. "What brings you to my Hall? I heard you were engaged elsewhere." said the Yarl, vacantly. "You expelled my guild from your kingdom. What did they do?" asked lord Gerhardt. "Nothing, they were bringing in false reports of Orc activity." said the Yarl, not under his own power. lord Gerhardt saw the magical trance that the Yarl was under. He went to the Hall gong and hit it with the clapper. The Yarl quickly came out of his trance. "What?? Where?? How long have I been out?" asked the Yarl. "You were under a magically induced trance. Some Mage put you under a spell." said lord Gerhardt. "My Mage! He is a traitor!" exclaimed the Yarl but it was too late, the Mage caught both the Yarl and lord Gerhardt with frost bolts and killed them instantly. The comatose huscarls, deluded by the sleeping spell, disposed of the bodies in the Hall basement but Anders had a powerful ward and was able to escape the influence of the spell. He hid himself in a backroom and quickly wrote to the High Yarl of Nordlandia to send an army of mages to deal with the traitorous mage. He also penned a message to Paulsen. He dispatched the pigeons and they flew swiftly to Paulsen at the Tomb.
Paulsen and the men had retreated into the deeps of the Tomb into their "fallback" room which had been cleared of human bones and was set up like any other hall, and it had a backdoor to the wilds. The men were listening to the messages and were shocked to learn that their Guild Master was dead. "That means I am now the acting Guild Master." sighed Paulsen. "The first act, we are taking over the Hall and we are imprisoning that traitorous mage!" exclaimed Paulsen. "The second act, we are going to write the Yarl's son and send him down with an army, if our spy didn't already alert the High Yarl." said Paulsen to the men. The men walked up the narrow passage to the outside and found the hidden, jury-rigged stable they had built and mounted their horses and rode hard and fast to the Great Hall. The men rubbed their wards and they were all shielded from magics. They drew their weapons and entered the Great Hall. The huscarls came at them with weapons drawn, shouting "traitors!" and Paulsen quickly went to the Gong and hit it with the clapper and the huscarls awoke out of their trances. "The mage!" cried a huscarl. "He is a traitor! He has been cooperating with the Orcs the whole time to bring the entire Orcish Army into the Kingdom!" said a huscarl to Paulsen. The mage appeared and began to chant a Resurrection chant. The bodies of the dead Yarl and the dead Guild Master came into a state of undeath and attacked the guilds men. "Use your wards!" shouted Paulsen. The men rubbed their wards and the zombies collapsed back onto the floor, dead. The mage then conjured up a fire-demon and transformed into a raven and flew off. Just then, Anders sent a flock of Hawks after the shape changed mage and the Hawks devoured the mage with their sharp talons. The mage changed back to human and fell back to the ground, dead. "Quick! Burn his body! He might resurrect as a zombie!" said Paulsen. The men threw the corpse into the fireplace and watched it burn. "The gods curse your soul for all eternity." said the group priest solemnly to the burning corpse. A scream was heard and it was done, the mage was defeated forever.
The men thanked Paulsen and Anders for their quick action and thinking and Paulsen made himself the Chief Marshall of the Kingdom until the son of the Yarl could return to claim the throne. When the son rode in with his 1,000 huscarls, he was met outside of the city by a much bigger force of Orcs. The battle raged for two days, the Orcs losing five Orcs for every Nord killed. The High Yarl arrived with his force and joined the battle, defeated the Orcs and gave chase to them, killing them and scattering them to whence they came. The Golden Hind fought bravely that day, quickly joining the main force of the new Yarl and standing with the sheildwall and keeping the Orcs from busting through the main line. Paulsen died during the battle, having been run through by an Orcish spear man. Anders avenged his death by going berserk and killing twenty Orcs before he fell from exhaustion. He was quickly pulled out of the battle and rushed to a nearby shed were he was able to rest and heal up.
One Year later.
Anders was on his farm with his new wife, Gretta. His two year old son chased the chickens and the Kelti slaves did all the work while he supervised them. His old father had only died a year before, just before the Orcish invasion. As a huscarl, he was able to build a Hall on his farm and he turned the old house into a barn for the slaves and the animals. "Hail Guild Master!" said a messenger boy who handed him a message from the Yarl. "Wife, I have to depart shortly. I have an invasion of trolls to deal with." he said to Gretta. "Your son will miss you." she said with a smile. "There will come a time that he won't miss me. Until then, I will train him to be the best warrior my family has ever seen. Until then, he learns how to run a farm." he said. He kissed her with a deep and passionate kiss and he ran to his waiting horse and rode off.
THE END.
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