History of Mardon Castle - 8B
Tuesday, October 27, 2009 (12:16:53)

Posted by TerishD

History of Mardon Castle
Chapter Eight
Part 2

...
Nalisha stood to say, "Lady Terniff, indeed. I believe that my husband knighted the woman."

Most with matters to bring before the viscount stood within the chamber. The couple had however stayed in the hall outside to assure that they could make an impressive entrance. They strode into the room with the metal pieces of their armor glittering from their polish reflecting the various light sources. Color radiated from beneath the metal skin declaring that the couple had the wealth to even dye the protective garments. Outer apparrel and accessories of bright silk helped accentuate the hues next to the bodies of the pair. Tasbirn had forgotten that the colors of Renwyn's home were green and yellow, but as the man advanced he remembered him claiming clothes and gear of those colors after being rescued. A feeling of relief came over the viscount in seeing his knight wearing the red and blue of Mardon.

Advancing from the stone floor to the carpeted area, Terniff strongly said, "And I am here to assure Tasbirn that I will continue to further his cause." Coming before the thrones, she detached from Renwyn to step even closer to the sturdy adorned chairs before kneeling. "Viscount Tasbirn, I have seen Telelum."


Tasbirn has his own style of authority that I felt needed to be seen.


History of Mardon Castle
Chapter Eight
Part 2

Tasbirn smiled at his wife to again indicate to her that he had the situation figured out. He had gained the throne when his father was struck by a spear in a battle against some ogres in the mountains. Tasbirn remembered declaring his age and battle skills before his father only to hear him give the order to stay home and let an old man have his fun. The soldiers that returned stressed that the monarch was indeed enjoying the battle, but not acting unwisely. Only the lucky aim of one ogre who put a lot of strength into a throw managed to end the viscount's life. Tasbirn had now ruled for almost a decade, and felt more than capable in his office. He looked to his wife wanting her to know that she did not need to worry about being put on the spot due to her husband being unable to formulate a decision.

After he stated his ruling upon the matter, a confused expression did cross his face as horns blared before an official declared, "Sir Renwyn of Brigallick and his wife, Lady Terniff."

Nalisha stood to say, "Lady Terniff, indeed. I believe that my husband knighted the woman."

Most with matters to bring before the viscount stood within the chamber. The couple had however stayed in the hall outside to assure that they could make an impressive entrance. They strode into the room with the metal pieces of their armor glittering from their polish reflecting the various light sources. Color radiated from beneath the metal skin declaring that the couple had the wealth to even dye the protective garments. Outer apparrel and accessories of bright silk helped accentuate the hues next to the bodies of the pair. Tasbirn had forgotten that the colors of Renwyn's home were green and yellow, but as the man advanced he remembered him claiming clothes and gear of those colors after being rescued. A feeling of relief came over the viscount in seeing his knight wearing the red and blue of Mardon.

Advancing from the stone floor to the carpeted area, Terniff strongly said, "And I am here to assure Tasbirn that I will continue to further his cause." Coming before the thrones, she detached from Renwyn to step even closer to the sturdy adorned chairs before kneeling. "Viscount Tasbirn, I have seen Telelum."

Tasbirn did consider the words of the lady important, but felt compelled to follow protocol, so reached out to shake the man's hand as he politely made the inquiry, "Renwyn, how are you today?"

With a clear strong voice, he replied, "I believe that my life has definitely made a change for the better. It is a wonder what the right lady can do for a man."

"Indeed. Are you going to take this dear lady back to your land?"

"I intend to, but I feel indebted to you as well, Viscount. I served under you, Tasbirn, and have seen your power to form good plans. I also have suffered, and by the care of one of your own people did I find my pain reduced. I must now give honor to another of your land for fully restoring my body. I thus will continue to advance your plans toward seeing Mardon restored."

Tasbirn nodded with approval at what he heard, then leaned down to place his hands on the shoulder of the kneeling lady as he said, "Rise, Terniff. I want it known that I have never spoken against Renwyn, and I recognize that his aid in the recent war was substantial. While I remember your promise to me, I would not prevent Renwyn from claiming some of my graciousness." As the lady rose, he softly asked her, "Where did you see Telelum?"

"Within Helshain's grove. The druid said that from his land the ghost would travel to Lake Nemistry."

Tasbirn's voice stayed low as it said, "Yes, that goes with my research as well. The problem is that the nets are not yet ready."

"What do you want me to do?"

An arm went around the lady's waist as the viscount said, "Terniff, you are a knight of my land. You thus have a place here. I am sure that my wife would love to have you in her socials."

Terniff whispered into the man's ear, "While Nalisha and I came to terms with each other, we are not exactly what one would consider friends."

"Be nice to her," Tasbirn whispered in return. "She needs some friends."

The lady immediately moved away just a few steps. She then turned and performed a very formal curtsey to her superiors. As she moved back to her husband, Tasbirn looked to an official concerning how many more issues he had to consider. Seeing more than he desired, he decided upon his words.

"There should be a nice apartment set for you, Terniff. Settle in and make yourself comfortable. I will expect to see you later at my table."

Tasbirn took the hand of his wife as Terniff and Renwyn exited the throne room. Nalisha gave her husband a polite smile that he felt meant that things went as well as could be expected. While he wanted to speak to her about Terniff, Tasbirn knew to wait until later. With Nalisha seated, he turned to sit as he signaled for the next matter to come before him.

As the next case finished, Nalisha leaned over to whisper to her husband, "I will not invite Terniff to my social, but if she shows up I will treat her with great friendliness."

Tasbirn accepted the response as his wife giving her permission to ignore the matter of Terniff until later, so had a calm expression as those next to present their case came before him. He then noticed a man enter the throne room and check with the official handling the order of events. Expecting trouble, Tasbirn easily forgot about any dispute between his wife and Terniff. He quickly handled two cases. The second did force him to be polite, as it concerned the wedding of one lad who would one day be in charge of a large parcel of land. Tasbirn had enough control to politely smile while allowing Nalisha to speak the words of congratulations, then he set his face to a stern expression while another came to speak to him.

"Viscount Tasbirn, I only wish to present you with those items you requested."

While Renwyn and Terniff had come in a confident manner wearing a bright display of their colors, this man had a more subdued stance with rather dismal clothing. While green was a color of Aulerk, the dark hue did not properly declare his allegiance. Shades of brown made up most of the attire with gold thread attempting to declare some worth in the garments. Tasbirn considered that the patterns would form a picture if one could actually study the cloth, but any image was distorted as the coverings folded around the curves of the body and were partially hidden by accessories.

Tasbirn tried to sound slightly friendly as he said, "Obeying my orders should not be a big deal, Avillot. You could have just brought them to me."

"But, my liege, these items are considered very valuable."

Tasbirn rose to walk up to the man while saying, "Oh, really? Let me appraise their value before the assembly."

While the man tried to keep a haughty confident gaze, his bearded face showed some discomfort as a large table was carried from a wall to be set more in the center of the room. He made a show of removing a large bulky cloak of some thick green material adorned with a few precious stones and an abundance of feathers set in a design. Tasbirn removed the large parchments held in the interior of the garment, then brushed the cloak to the ground as he unrolled one of the maps. As Avillot moved to pick up his covering, he stopped in hearing the value of his presentation reduced to nothing.

"I know where Lake Nemistry is, and it is not here."

Tasbirn declared his words along with a strong strike of his fingers upon the map. He gave the official of Baron Russon only a moment to focus upon the map. Tasbirn did not give the man enough time to form a rebuttal.

"There is also no mark indicating Helshain's grove, so useless considering that my recent information concerned that place." Tasbirn rolled out another map, but barely glanced it before speaking letting Avillot know just how little the maps were needed. "This map has Sekurd and Benursh almost in opposite locations."

The official finally found had some words and worked to interject them. "My liege, we cannot have completely accurate maps. Should another gain these parchments, or some agent has them copied, it could compromise the security of our land."

"The security of our land? I am the security of this land! I dare anyone to march upon my land. I just led an army into the security of another land, and defeated them! These maps have existed for decades, some I would say centuries, and no one has bothered stealing or copying them, BECAUSE THEY ARE WRONG!"

As the official fell to his knees, Tasbirn set his focus upon everyone in the room. "I am going to restore this land. It has been under a curse for almost eight hundred years, and THAT IS TOO LONG! I cannot do this with lies. I am going to need good maps, good reports, and good effort by my people.

"We live in a swamp. Water works to fill our homes, destroy our crops, and ruin our daily lives. Life is not easy in other lands, and I am not going to say that it will become easy here. Other lands however are not spoiled by a curse, and I don't want my land suffering extra hardships. True, we are strong enough to survive, but we are good people and deserving of a good life."

Tasbirn now moved to grab the collar of Avillot. While the man had a strong physique and the extra weight of living in comfort, his eyes went wide in realizing that he was being lifted from the floor. To reduce stress upon his neck he had to position his legs under him, but the voice of Tasbirn worked to keep tension upon the form.

"Tell Russon NO MORE LIES! We just fought damn mages and their illusions. I did not come home desiring more deceptions."

Avillot did not fall back to the floor when Tasbirn released him. He did bow several times. As the maps were gathered to be brought to some cartographers, Avillot even chanced making a statment.

"My liege, Viscount Tasbirn, my lord, Baron Russon, asked that his fealty be reduced."

Tasbirn had wondered if he would learn what concession had been desired, although turned with the confidence of having prepared for various outcomes. "Tell Russon that we both have four years of accounts to reconcile. Once I know the truth of what payments have and have not been made in my absence, I will be able to honestly assess what I expect from my vassals as signs of their loyalty and support. Tell me, Avillot, does your lord make the request because he believed these maps to really be that valuable, or simply to help alleviate the burden of past under payments?"

"My liege, you have just fought four years with Baron Russon. Surely you cannot suspect him of treason."

"No, but my accounts might show that somebody in his service has such thoughts."

Avillot backed away even as he tried to keep himself from being directly implicated. "Viscount Tasbirn, surely you know that all fealty payments were handled by Baroness Shelinda. Maybe if you had a wife to represent your land in your absence, no thoughts of complicity would trouble you on your return."

Tasbirn had a hand indicate Nalisha as he said, "I now have a wife. I want her only troubled by the problems of women. She should no more be concerned with dishonesty than those I leave in charge of certain obligations. I will check on my wife, simply because I want to spend time with her. I will check on my officials, simply because I am interested in all affairs of my land." Tasbirn glared at Avillot while saying, "Any report of something being wrong will be followed up by me, and those who have done me wrong will be punished."

After allowing Avillot to exit the room, Tasbirn returned to his wife to hear her say, "That was quite a show, my lord."

He sat while saying, "Oh, this is a strong land with strong people. I need to do things like that every now and then to keep myself in control."

"I saw a kinder style of leadership during the war."

"I knew that there was deception outside our group. Here in Mardon, the only threat will be from my own people. If they have a cause to come against me, that is one thing, but I don't want deception from my own people."

"You know, that is what I think allowed me and Terniff to associate with each other. She was always honest with me. While I did not like her words, I could trust them."

Tasbirn signaled for the next case to approach, then said to his wife, "I am glad to hear that. I don't want to fight with Terniff or her brothers. Neither Zuzolt nor Sholoft came with me, as I trusted Sekurd to protect my land in my absence."

"So, you are glad to see Terniff married?"

"I am glad to see Terniff satisfied. That is why I did not want to marry her. I felt that I might not satisfy her."

The lady showed surprise as she returned, "I am not complaining, my lord."

"I am not complaining either, and Terniff is not complaining. Let us keep it that way between us."


The work will begin to restore the original castle.