The Five Woes of Ynnraile V: The Reign of Brookshire

[Yvain Wintersong]

This ended up being more the story of Tristram Wintersong than anything else, so I'll move all non-Tristram stuff into other threads or other media. I also need to write something clarifying who and what Tristram's Days are, which will no doubt be a project of its own. But here is the last part of the Woes of Ynnraile:

Late in Qarbinionsmoon, the news came to Ynnraile that another great army was marching out of Shirekeep. In truth, it was Raynor's last, and nearly every able-bodied left in that great empire marched in it. At its head, went the rumors, was Kaiser Raynor himself, despite his advanced age. Tristram repeated his usual tactic and headed for the hills, planning to let his two great enemies, Shireroth and the Demon, wear one another down.

But even the hills were not high enough to hide from the great Brookshirean army. Without nearly enough food to sustain its long march, its soldiers pillaged the land for miles around, and Wintersong's band soon found itself starving. They retaliated by picking off any Brookshireans who strayed too far from the main group, and raiding any supply trains they could find.

One night late in Breizan, the raiders on the periphery of the mountains made a particularly valuable catch; an old Brookshirean whose clothes suggested he was a noble of some sort. He was brought directly to Tristram, who had made his headquarters in a cave in north-central Holwinn.

"Your life," said Tristram, "is forfeit, for the crimes of your men against my people. If you have any coin with which to bargain, use it now. Otherwise, pray to whatever gods your people believe in that your sins are forgiven in the next world."

Said the noble "My people do not beg. We pray each morning and evening for the god of death to spare us, but if he choose otherwise it is vain to pray to mere mortals for a reversal of his decree. But I tell you this - never in my years, which are longer than you know, have I wished harm upon the innocent, or oppressed the weak. If you slay me now, the gods are just and will avenge my cause; if you let me live, they will likewise show you favor."

Tristram wavered. Then he asked his Days: "How was this old man caught?"

The Days responded: "He was in the forest, hunting alone."

"He had harmed no one, and showed no intent to harm?"

"He had harmed no one."

"Very well," said Tristram. "I sense you are a man of your word, and it is unchivalrous to kill an old man taken unawares. Go forth and fight the Demon of Fire, and if we meet again in battle, I will not hesitate to cut you down, nor should you do otherwise to me." Then he ordered his Days to return the prisoner to the forest where he had been taken.

"Wait," said the old man. "I give you one piece of information in return for your honorable behaviour. The final battle between Shireroth and the Demon will take place in three days, before the entrance to the great cave in the mountains to the south. Be there that day to fight, or the glory will be forever lost to you."

"Ha!" said Tristram. "Your reward is to lead us to our deaths? Begone with you!"

But the noble had judged Tristram correctly, and he and his Days rode at full gallop towards the entrance to the cave in the south after all. The strength of Brookshire was truly massed there, and Rrakanychan and his armies were fast approaching through the pass that has ever since been known as the Demonsroad. A day before the demon's arrival, Tristram reached the heights above the battlefield, and ordered his men to forego fortifications and instead erect the ancient standing stones that their people's legends said countered the strength of evil.

Then the Demon's army broke through the pass and reached the strength of Brookshire. The demon himself held back, waiting. The knights and soldiers of the Brookshireans fought valiantly, but the Demon's followers were many, and they were crazed with fear and bloodlust. Tristram realized that Brookshire, though it might well win this battle, would be depleted of its strength long before the Demon itself ever made an appearance. He ordered his men to bless the standing stones, adding syllables and runes he remembered only dimly from his lost childhood among the Fair Folk.

Far in the distance, the Demon bellowed. Tristram's poor magic could not kill it, could not even injure it. All it could do was annoy it, like fingernails scraping on an ethereal blackboard. Nevertheless, it was enough. The Demon, unwilling to wait for its mortal servants to finish off the irritation, burst into the pass like a forest fire, heading for the heights where Tristram and his men were encamped.

The men of Ynnraile charged into the valley, disrupting the cultists' assault and surprising the men of Brookshire as well. For a moment, all was chaos. Then it became clear that the Kaiser's forces had cornered the demon against the entrance to the cave, and were trying to push him back. The Demon, unconcerned, retreated into the humongous cavern, convinced that the darkness would prove an aid against its vision-dependent human foes.

Several waves of Brookshirean troops entered the cave. None exited. It became clear that the battle in the pass was mostly finished, with the demon-worshippers dead or in retreat, but Rrakanychan's human allies had never been the issue. The Demon was still in the cave, and it was clear that no one who went it would ever come out.

There was a hush, and then the rumor flew through the ranks that the Kaiser was entering the cave alone.

For several minutes, nothing happened. Then the morale of the Brookshirean troops broke. Out of contact with their Kaiser, certain he was dead or about to become so, they panicked and flew from the field. The few remaining demon-worshippers gleefully pursued. Tristram, upset at the demon's apparent victory but glad to see the end of Brookshire's imperialist tendencies, ordered those among his Days who had survived to ride for Syrelwynn.

He spent the autumn in Syrelwynn, among one of the few remaining Ynnrailean villages. The rumors out of the west were all contradictory, but several claimed that the Kaiser had in fact won the battle; Tristram thought it absurd that a lone human could defeat the Demon, and dismissed them. However, he was forced to admit as winter drew onward that there was no further sign of the Demon nor any but the most dejected and confused of his followers.

When H'graasreign came he retreated to Wintersong Court, and there restored contact with friends among the Kaiser's men in Goldshire Hamlet. They claimed that the Kaiser had indeed defeated the Demon and was back in Shirekeep with what remained of his army, helping his nation recover from the creature's assault. Tristram found this account almost impossible to believe, but in case it proved true he shrouded the eastern banks of the Elwynn in mist, so that the Kaiser could see nothing of his Goldshirean dominions.

But when spring came, Tristram's power waned, and his worst rumors proved true - the Kaiser's army, their spirits high from the successful confrontation with Rrakanychan, was marching to Goldshire to reassert control of the area once and for all.

Tristram rode full gallop from Wintersong to the Quinewynn, where he gathered troops from the villages along the riverbanks. From there, he rode to Avakair and even Tephal, the furthest city of Goldshire, where the heirs of Te'Ele gave him what little support they could. From Goldendown he gained the allegiance of Niphton Kres, the Elwy prince whose followers had moved into the region after the Demon's depredations. Finally, he returned to Ynnraile, where his own Days who had served him for so many years joined at the head of his forces.

Meanwhile, the Kaiser crossed the Elwynn river near the small town of Syrelwynn and marched north, towards the ruins of Emsabh and Wintersong Court. Tristram retreated, retreated, and retreated further, until they were almost at the borders of the Quinwynn value, and his Quinewynnean troops refused to fall back lest their homes and families be lost. So on the hills surrounding the Quinewynn, at a spot called Aoghre Creek, his men turned on their pursuers and joined battle.

The Kaiser's army was at first surprised by the unexpected and ferocious attack, but they quickly recovered. Raynor's men were professional soldiers, well-trained veterans of the Mercaja, Musican, and Demon Wars, whereas of Tristram's men, only the Days and a few of the Elwy warriors could be entirely trusted. Soon the Kaiser's men had broken Tristram's lines and forced part of his army into a gully from which there was no retreat. An entire third of the Ynnraile troops surrendered there, and most of the rest followed. Tristram did not stop them, but neither did he surrender himself. He escaped with three of his closest Days into the mountains south of the Quinewynn, hoping to hole up there until winter, when he could use the magic of Wintersong Court to freeze out the Brookshire troops.

The Kaiser sent detachments to secure Avakair and other important areas and then withdrew his forces to Goldshire Hamlet, where he was entertained by Duke Fenrir. However, he sent a whole battalion into the mountains looking for Tristram, whom he declared must not be allowed to escape. During the middle of Vanchauslurk, they found him, and brought him to Goldshire Hamlet in chains. He was tried by the local court for treason against the Kaiser, and sentenced to death at the Kaiser's own hands.

The day arrived, and Tristram was brought in chains to the main square of the city, where he was mocked and taunted by the Shirerothian populace. Finally, the Kaiser himself arrived, in his ceremonial armor, bearing the Sword of Vengeance. He approached the bound captive, raised it high over his head, and then stopped.

"Do I know you?" he asked.

"No," said Tristram.

The Kaiser lifted the visor of his helmet, and Tristram recognized the old Brookshirean noble he had met just before the battle with the Demon.

"You were the leader of the bandits who kidnapped me when I was off hunting alone," the Kaiser said. "Long I chastised myself for ever leaving behind the safety of my guards, but thanks to your honor, I came to no harm."

"Yes," said Tristram. "And you did not beg for mercy, and neither shall I. Let the fields of Goldshire be sown with my blood."

"Yet you granted mercy to me nevertheless, and I do likewise. Arise, Tristram Wintersong."

"I told you then that if we ever met again we should not hesitate to kill each other, and I charge you not to betray that sentiment. Kill me with your sword, for if I should die by the same blade that slew the Demon of Fire, it will be a noble death indeed."

"The Demon is not dead," Raynor whispered, too soft for anyone but Tristram to hear. Then, louder, "The people of Goldshire look to you as a leader. Swear to serve me, and I will make you Count of Upper Goldshire, under none by Fenrir and myself."

"I will not serve Brookshire," said Tristram, "neither me, nor my children, nor my children's children. This I swear."

"Very well," said Raynor. "Nevertheless, I grant you a full imperial pardon, on the grounds that you never use a weapon again."

"I reject those grounds," said Tristram.

"I did not give you that option," said Raynor, and he sliced off Tristram's sword arm. "My retainers will take you back to Wintersong Court, where you can live out the rest of your days in peace."

Grumbling all the while, though he was too stoic to mention the severed limb, Tristram returned to Wintersong Court. There he lived out the rest of his days as the head of the village, controlling the weather in the winter and adjucating disputes in the summer. Each year, the Kaiser's emissary - first Raynor's, and then his heir, Brrapa's - would arrive, asking him to take leadership of northern Goldshire. Each year, Tristram would swear that neither he nor his children nor his children's children would ever serve Brookshire.

One year in spring Tristram died, leaving behind a daughter, Caitwynne. Each year, the Kaiser's emissaries would come to Caitwynne and ask her to take leadership of northern Goldshire. Each year, Caitwynne would swear that neither she nor her children would ever serve Brookshire.

A year came when Caitwynne, too, died, leaving behind a son, Ardor. Each year, the Kaiser's emissaries would come to Ardor and ask him to take leadership of northern Goldshire. Each year, Ardor would swear that he would never serve Brookshire.

And at last, Ardor, too died, leaving behind a daughter, Gwynnlir. Each year, the Kaiser's emissaries would come to Gwynnlir and ask her to take leadership of northern Goldshire. And the year after Ardor died, she said yes.

This is the story of how the line of Tristram Wintersong became nobles of Shireroth. According to the legendary reckoning, the Woes of Ynnraile ended in the ninety-third year after the death of Raynor, when Gwynnlir Wintersong become the first Baronness of Ynnraile. From that day on, the lands of northern Goldshire were peaceful and happy.

...except for the several hundred other exciting and dangerous things that have happened between then and the present day, which no doubt will all be written up into long stories, similar to this one.

[Kaiser Mors V]

yeah... Raynor could be a dick sometimes....

Once again.. I'm pleased, and see no conflicts with Ages of Shireroth. And I feel this all augments it nicely... if/when you put it on the wiki you may add it to the SSHIT category with my blessing. (though that lil nephew thing in IV still needs to be fixed to make it canon...(changing to allow for a nephew would confuse the bloodlines horribly..)

[Kaiser Mors V]

Damn it all...

I was putting the complete Ages of SHireroth on the wiki and finally read the conclusion of Volume 3...

Some small revision may be needed for this to match canon...

I think I'd like it if we/you could get this into a form that would allow it to be turned into a fourth volume for the Ages of Shireroth (or Four and five is space causes/allows for it).

SSHIT page

[Yvain Wintersong]

Hm. Can we just call this the Ynnraile version of a legend that's probably been corrupted and rewritten quite a few times on both sides? I like having the demon actually fall to the ground at Demonsfall...good imagery. Although...maybe the falling star was actually an omen of the demon's arrival rather than the demon himself, and the Ynnraileans didn't realize this.

If I have time after I deal with the wiki, I'll try and rewrite this a little to allow for that possibility.

[Kaiser Mors V]

I like it being in demonfall to.. does it say that's not possible in the ages of Shireroth?