Prologue
It was a peaceful day in Gallica, a time era after the 16th century. The weather was exhausted, after raining and thundering all day. The sun shone through the clouds. Bright rays drying the moist ground. Local farmers were just starting their day, after sheltering from the storm. It was half-past noon, just after the people's meal. The farmers were quite joyful, the rain keeping the dust from blowing, and letting them feel the breeze. The town became alive, people opening their shudders and windows, letting the cool sea wind blow through the houses.
Now that the weather let up drunkards slowly straggled out of the tavern. Beggars started lining the market stalls asking for a sixpence here and there. Bakers lighting their ovens, and blacksmiths hammering on their anvils. Tamers leading their horses to the nearby pasture. Fishermen taking their sons with them on their small fishing boats. Smoke started curling out of chimneys, and chatter was audible even from the distance. Men and women were heard haggling over prices at the market. Children were yelling and screaming, as they ran through the soft grass. Merchants walked through the town asking villagers if they wanted to buy their wares. The wind rustled the tree's leaves, letting even the most stressed soul be calm.
The town's guards opened the gates of the town. Thus, letting strangers walk through the town. The town's wall of defense was more a a perimeter of the town. The walls was only stood three meters high, and was made out of mud-brick and wood. It did have a pathway for archers to patrol on the top. The town had one main gate standing two meters high it was overlapped by the wall, had the gate was also made of wood with steel binders. The only other exit from the town was a small gate ( or even a large door) in the market.
The towns buildings had a wood frame , and mud bricks filled the gaps. The villagers used rough utensils such as wood glass and pieces of stone to rub down their houses, giving the houses a white appearance. The towns folk's houses had a simple wood and mud roof, blocking out the rain and wind. Their windows were just holes cut in the house and covered with wood or cloth. All the houses had a flat area on the roof by which they would sit out and relax. The tavern and head villager's house were the only buildings that were two stories. The inn, unlike most inns, was not two stories. In-order to make for the lost room it was one of the biggest buildings.
The town guardsmen barracks were under-ground allowing them to have a network of tunnels to reach different points in the town quickly. Thus in an attack they can defend multiply points of the wall quickly. The town kept a garrison of forty spear-men and ten archers. The towns pathways were made out of cobblestone. The town was regarded as a small city because of its size. There was well over two-hundred people living there. The town despite of its popularity did not have a big port. Most of its trade was on land. The port was used mostly by fishermen and some small traders. I watched as they all went peacefully around, doing their business not knowing of what was coming to them. I walked away, thinking, it will all be over soon and there is nothing I can do about it.
Chapter 1
One of the town's sentries walked to the edge of the wall keeping an even lookout of the horizon. He spotted a black object in the distance. He watched it carefully , not being able to identify it immediately. After a few seconds he decided it was a horse. Not rare or strange, on market day many horsemen ride into town, to buy or sell their wares. He called out a guard of lower rank to greet the stranger. “Spirwroth” he called. Spirwroth replied “Yes?” He responded “We have a rider coming go check him out.” “ Yes sir.” Spirwroth replied. He walked to the front of the gate. Spirwroth gestured for another guard to come with him. The sentry on the wall gestured for an archer to keep a eye on the rider.
The archer nodded, but dozed off afterwards, not paying attention to the guards below. The two guards, not realizing, were know left alone with the rider. Now the rider was more distinguishable, he was wearing a full length coat that was completely black. And where the head was in the coat was solid blackness. As the rider got closer you could see a silhouette of his face, but no features were distinguishable. Strange, thought the sentry. The rider also had a longbow on his back and it was strung. Also he had a quiver full of arrows, and another quiver was on his horse, his horse, another matter that made him peculiar. His horse was a battle horse, breed to be strong and fast. It was a dark shade of brown. But the sentry's ignorance of these problems caused him to hold his tongue. The stranger was now at the front of the gate, talking to Spirwroth.
Spirwroth asked,”Greetings, what is your business here?” The stranger looked at him and replied in a gruff voice, “Here for the market.” Spirwroth nodded. He said,”Okay, go on ahead.” When he saw the massive longbow, and a sword on the horse he asked,”Stop, what do you need these weapons for?” The Stranger replied,” To handle you.” Spirwroth cocked his head and began to ask what he meant, but all that came out was a grunt, as a sword passed through his chest. Spirwroth didn't even see him move. Spirwroth fell to the ground and bleed out.
As soon as the other guard saw Spirwroth drop, he pulled his sword and struck at the rider. The rider barely moved, and parried the blade, then cut the guards throat. The sentry on the wall heard what was happening, and began yelling. The stranger grabbed his bow, notched a arrow, pulled his string, aimed, and shot the arrow in less than a second. The arrow slammed into the sentry's chest, and silenced his yelling. The archer that had dozed off looked up , right as a arrow went through his neck. In a half a minute the town's alarms were blaring as the town's guards assembled a force. By the time a dozen guards were assembled all the archers on the wall were struck down.
The watchman in the highest tower was ringing the alarm bell. He saw the rider firing off dozens of arrows. He turned back to the the guards barracks, to see if they organized a force to stop the rider. But before he turned, a black arrow slammed into his wrist pinning him to the tower's post. He was thrown from his seat to the ground. He watched as he bled slowly out. He almost drowned in his blood, but the loss of blood killed him first.
The rider continued through the gate until he was stopped by the town's guard. The captain of the guard called an order to the guards to draw their weapons. There were half a dozen spear men and another half dozen of swordsman. They all formed a half-circle to stop the rider from moving around them. Confident about their numbers, they advanced to capture the rider. The rider looked at them, a touch of sympathy readable in his body motion. He glanced sideways at the men, drawing his bow. The guards were struck with discomfort as they saw the stranger's motion.
He aimed his longbow at the men, seeing his movement they charged. Not even half a dozen men made it within three meters of him. The stranger drew his small dirk,so the captain though, which was a small knife, with a heavy head. After a few seconds the captain realized that it was not a small dirk, but it was a ranger's Saxe knife. He wondered for a few brief seconds why this stranger would have a Saxe knife, but the though was interrupted as the Saxe knife was swung at him. He swayed back, then leaned forward as he thrust his sword. The stranger easily parried the thrust, and this sliced his knife at the captain's hand. The captain recoiled in pain as his hand began to pour blood. The captain tried again at a attempt to stab the rider, but like the last time, he missed. The rider pushed his sword to the left them with his other hand grabbed a throwing knife. The captain detected his move, but did not react in time. The throwing knife landed with a thud in the captain's chest. He grunted as he fell down and said a type of pray to their local god. The rider replied,”Your god wont save you.”
More guards attempted to stop the rider but failed utterly dropping dead within a few seconds. All of the emergency towns' guards perished, and the rest of the towns' knights didn't have enough time to assemble a force and tried to strike down the rider. After the attempts to stop the rider ended most of the villagers fled to their cellars. Thus, the mysterious rider was free to roam the whole village and market. But money and goods were not the only thing the rider was after, he was after the Head of the village.
It was a peaceful day in Gallica, a time era after the 16th century. The weather was exhausted, after raining and thundering all day. The sun shone through the clouds. Bright rays drying the moist ground. Local farmers were just starting their day, after sheltering from the storm. It was half-past noon, just after the people's meal. The farmers were quite joyful, the rain keeping the dust from blowing, and letting them feel the breeze. The town became alive, people opening their shudders and windows, letting the cool sea wind blow through the houses.
Now that the weather let up drunkards slowly straggled out of the tavern. Beggars started lining the market stalls asking for a sixpence here and there. Bakers lighting their ovens, and blacksmiths hammering on their anvils. Tamers leading their horses to the nearby pasture. Fishermen taking their sons with them on their small fishing boats. Smoke started curling out of chimneys, and chatter was audible even from the distance. Men and women were heard haggling over prices at the market. Children were yelling and screaming, as they ran through the soft grass. Merchants walked through the town asking villagers if they wanted to buy their wares. The wind rustled the tree's leaves, letting even the most stressed soul be calm.
The town's guards opened the gates of the town. Thus, letting strangers walk through the town. The town's wall of defense was more a a perimeter of the town. The walls was only stood three meters high, and was made out of mud-brick and wood. It did have a pathway for archers to patrol on the top. The town had one main gate standing two meters high it was overlapped by the wall, had the gate was also made of wood with steel binders. The only other exit from the town was a small gate ( or even a large door) in the market.
The towns buildings had a wood frame , and mud bricks filled the gaps. The villagers used rough utensils such as wood glass and pieces of stone to rub down their houses, giving the houses a white appearance. The towns folk's houses had a simple wood and mud roof, blocking out the rain and wind. Their windows were just holes cut in the house and covered with wood or cloth. All the houses had a flat area on the roof by which they would sit out and relax. The tavern and head villager's house were the only buildings that were two stories. The inn, unlike most inns, was not two stories. In-order to make for the lost room it was one of the biggest buildings.
The town guardsmen barracks were under-ground allowing them to have a network of tunnels to reach different points in the town quickly. Thus in an attack they can defend multiply points of the wall quickly. The town kept a garrison of forty spear-men and ten archers. The towns pathways were made out of cobblestone. The town was regarded as a small city because of its size. There was well over two-hundred people living there. The town despite of its popularity did not have a big port. Most of its trade was on land. The port was used mostly by fishermen and some small traders. I watched as they all went peacefully around, doing their business not knowing of what was coming to them. I walked away, thinking, it will all be over soon and there is nothing I can do about it.
Chapter 1
One of the town's sentries walked to the edge of the wall keeping an even lookout of the horizon. He spotted a black object in the distance. He watched it carefully , not being able to identify it immediately. After a few seconds he decided it was a horse. Not rare or strange, on market day many horsemen ride into town, to buy or sell their wares. He called out a guard of lower rank to greet the stranger. “Spirwroth” he called. Spirwroth replied “Yes?” He responded “We have a rider coming go check him out.” “ Yes sir.” Spirwroth replied. He walked to the front of the gate. Spirwroth gestured for another guard to come with him. The sentry on the wall gestured for an archer to keep a eye on the rider.
The archer nodded, but dozed off afterwards, not paying attention to the guards below. The two guards, not realizing, were know left alone with the rider. Now the rider was more distinguishable, he was wearing a full length coat that was completely black. And where the head was in the coat was solid blackness. As the rider got closer you could see a silhouette of his face, but no features were distinguishable. Strange, thought the sentry. The rider also had a longbow on his back and it was strung. Also he had a quiver full of arrows, and another quiver was on his horse, his horse, another matter that made him peculiar. His horse was a battle horse, breed to be strong and fast. It was a dark shade of brown. But the sentry's ignorance of these problems caused him to hold his tongue. The stranger was now at the front of the gate, talking to Spirwroth.
Spirwroth asked,”Greetings, what is your business here?” The stranger looked at him and replied in a gruff voice, “Here for the market.” Spirwroth nodded. He said,”Okay, go on ahead.” When he saw the massive longbow, and a sword on the horse he asked,”Stop, what do you need these weapons for?” The Stranger replied,” To handle you.” Spirwroth cocked his head and began to ask what he meant, but all that came out was a grunt, as a sword passed through his chest. Spirwroth didn't even see him move. Spirwroth fell to the ground and bleed out.
As soon as the other guard saw Spirwroth drop, he pulled his sword and struck at the rider. The rider barely moved, and parried the blade, then cut the guards throat. The sentry on the wall heard what was happening, and began yelling. The stranger grabbed his bow, notched a arrow, pulled his string, aimed, and shot the arrow in less than a second. The arrow slammed into the sentry's chest, and silenced his yelling. The archer that had dozed off looked up , right as a arrow went through his neck. In a half a minute the town's alarms were blaring as the town's guards assembled a force. By the time a dozen guards were assembled all the archers on the wall were struck down.
The watchman in the highest tower was ringing the alarm bell. He saw the rider firing off dozens of arrows. He turned back to the the guards barracks, to see if they organized a force to stop the rider. But before he turned, a black arrow slammed into his wrist pinning him to the tower's post. He was thrown from his seat to the ground. He watched as he bled slowly out. He almost drowned in his blood, but the loss of blood killed him first.
The rider continued through the gate until he was stopped by the town's guard. The captain of the guard called an order to the guards to draw their weapons. There were half a dozen spear men and another half dozen of swordsman. They all formed a half-circle to stop the rider from moving around them. Confident about their numbers, they advanced to capture the rider. The rider looked at them, a touch of sympathy readable in his body motion. He glanced sideways at the men, drawing his bow. The guards were struck with discomfort as they saw the stranger's motion.
He aimed his longbow at the men, seeing his movement they charged. Not even half a dozen men made it within three meters of him. The stranger drew his small dirk,so the captain though, which was a small knife, with a heavy head. After a few seconds the captain realized that it was not a small dirk, but it was a ranger's Saxe knife. He wondered for a few brief seconds why this stranger would have a Saxe knife, but the though was interrupted as the Saxe knife was swung at him. He swayed back, then leaned forward as he thrust his sword. The stranger easily parried the thrust, and this sliced his knife at the captain's hand. The captain recoiled in pain as his hand began to pour blood. The captain tried again at a attempt to stab the rider, but like the last time, he missed. The rider pushed his sword to the left them with his other hand grabbed a throwing knife. The captain detected his move, but did not react in time. The throwing knife landed with a thud in the captain's chest. He grunted as he fell down and said a type of pray to their local god. The rider replied,”Your god wont save you.”
More guards attempted to stop the rider but failed utterly dropping dead within a few seconds. All of the emergency towns' guards perished, and the rest of the towns' knights didn't have enough time to assemble a force and tried to strike down the rider. After the attempts to stop the rider ended most of the villagers fled to their cellars. Thus, the mysterious rider was free to roam the whole village and market. But money and goods were not the only thing the rider was after, he was after the Head of the village.
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