Fate Of The Farm

The rest of the journey towards the farm is uneventful. They draw up the wagons and the horses some distance away from the clearing that contains the fur farm. Jihan fights off his injuries in order to perform the task of scouting ahead in order to check out the situation.

The others all wait for the elf to return with his findings. He is gone just ten minutes before he returns:

"All is as one would expect," he reports Jihan. "They are obviously under-strength, as would be expected considering so many of their numbers were at the Games. The towers are at full strength but there is a mixture of both guards and hunters manning them. They've replaced the doors that we took out as a result of Yaz' lightning last time, and so trying to storm the place is going to be very difficult."

"It'd probably be best just to get rid of that place. It seems to be too well known to escape the notice of the Nyemetz, no matter how many layers of subterfuge we lay on it. We should get everybody out with Yurek's help and then strip the place down, free any 'real' animals and then leave a smoking pit for the Nyemetz to find."

"And then Darius' soul can go on its journey in peace..."

With some subtle nods of the head, Yaz is trying to indicate to the rest of them that he wants Yurek and the rest of his men to be separated from him and the rest of the party. After a lifetime of interpreting subtle non-verbal signals, it is Viktor that takes the hint and he starts to speak with Yurek:

"Yurek, your troops fought well and with honor this day and I am interested in offering many of them employment so that they are not left without a job going forwards. However, I would obviously like to speak to each one of them to determine their level of interest. I know that the majority of them are Polaks and so I believe that it would be easier if you could act as translator for me so as to speed up the process, if you are agreeable."

"I would be happy to perform such a task," Yurek replies.

With that, Tomas, Viktor and Boris lead Yurek and his troops away from the rest of them so that they can speak without being overheard.

Winnacer waits to see if anyone else has an idea, but is initially met with only silence. As a result, he decides to start off with his own idea for the farm:

"Well, my idea is that we obtain a letter of introduction from Yurek stating that we should be allowed to enter the compound unmolested. Once inside, we can subdue the majority of those remaining with spells such as sleeps and webs and demand a surrender. Once they surrender, we will tell them exactly what happened and again try to recruit them for the Dragons, if they are interested in securing their services. That's what page I'm on. I do not think that Yurek should be manipulated any further, as he is likely too angry to be trusted on his own. He deserves the peace of Death if this is what he truly wants."

"Well I cannae be o no help to ye if it be spells your after," responds Faewen'il, "I be out for the day an we can be expectin naught from Will until he gets himself a good night's sleep."

Bennett made the journey in silence. From the expression on his face, it's obvious that he has little interest in the exercise:

"Why are we bothering with the place anyway? If we aren't going to fortify it and we can't use it as a trap for the Nyemetz, are we just going there to blow it up? I'm not a f*cking anarchist. I'm a freedom fighter. Goddamn waste of time!"

Winnacer then responds:

"I have an idea that I would like to share with the rest of you. I am certainly not hot on slaying Yurek, nor am I keen on blowing up the Farm. If Yurek can be convinced to take an oath upon Eladria's soul and all else he holds dear that he will not seek to harm any of those he wishes vengeance upon, then perhaps we can use him yet."

"If we are willing to place some faith in his statement that he owes allegiance to us for besting him and his men in combat, then we can claim that he owes us to oath against vengeance, directly or indirectly against us. And perhaps we can use his allegiance in the following way. We can return him to his men at the fur farm, placing him back in command, giving him orders to close up shop for the time being, as he is to act as commander of the Farm as a proxy for us, holding the place intact without really tipping off the Nyemetz."

"Then we can attempt to contact the mega-mages and convince them to set up shop in the fortified farm protected by armed soldiers in a place that the Nyemetz will have little suspicion of. It should be large enough to keep them from blowing each other up and close enough to a real city to provide them easy access to what they may need. A home nearby for our mages of power."

"In return, we can ask if the powerful mages can develop a way to change the worgs there to betray their masters with a particular command and resume selling the beasts to the Nyemetz, using the profits to strengthen the fort and the cause."

"This of course is REACHING. But if we are willing to place faith in Yurek, it may be possible to hold the Farm and keep from slaying Yurek at the same time. If not, we can always return later and clear up our mistake in judgement."

Will is still quite weak from the damage he took from the archers, he rode slumped in his saddle, draped over the neck of his horse. When the conversation turns to Yurek again, he rouses himself and speaks weakly:

"I do not distrust Yurek, nor did I mistrust Eladria. They both displayed forthrightness in all their dealings with us, despite our differences."

"Be that as it may, I would not expect the man to be content to dwell here any more, if we take oath from him, let us not push his limitations. He is a man with the same weaknesses of heart as each of us. Although I disagree with his complicity with the Nyemetz, I find myself with some degree of respect for him and the manner in which he is facing such adversity."

The bard's pain beleaguered mind wonders whether he would do the same for the sake of love, were the roles reversed.

After hearing Winnacer's plans for the Fur Farm, Jihan looks towards Yurek a little skeptically:

"I don't think that Yurek would be the weak point in your plan, brother. This talk about establishing the mages is where I believe the idea would hit up against some complications. I don't really remember much of my argument with Bennett on the matter, as my mind was rather... preoccupied with other things during it, but the gist of the situation I remember well enough. These are the Master Mages of the realm. They are violently independent, so much so that they would let their country fall into ruin around them rather than work together. And there is little doubt in my mind that they would object, perhaps irrationally, to being told to set up shop out in the bush. I can't picture them being amiable to such a 'rustic' setting... not at all..."

"Now that could be a serious threat to the Nyemetz if they ever came together," Sylva says, more thinking out loud than talking to anyone in particular.

Shaking his head, Jihan looks the young lord in the eye and continues:

"I am not saying that it would not be possible to convince them, but they are spread out to all corners of Bohavia, and the time it would take to contact them may be more than we have at our disposal. They are not just waiting for a convenient excuse to join the cause. We must overcome their strong personalities and egos to convince them that our Rebellion has hope of succeeding, and impress on them the scope of what we have accomplished and hope to accomplish. I don't know how, but there has been a fleeting thought in the back of my head on the lines of staging a meeting of all the underground followers of Kozlo, to get them all together and make that part of our job all the easier. I don't know what incentive would be necessary to lure them all, but we'll no doubt have weeks to think something suitable up. I just can't see the farm being easily manageable right now, as our link to it is only the thin thread of a magickal charm, and we all know just how effective vows and obligations are to those under THAT type of influence," he says, his mind slipping back to the unfortunate Robert incident.

"It just seems like too much trouble. We can't rely on the mages even agreeing to show up here, much less start manipulating the worgs, nor can we rely on Yurek in his current condition. Unless we wanted to leave it for the Nyemetz to pluck out from under us, the best course may still lie with Flint here."

"I've nothing against either of the ideas offered, but I think that things are just too tenuous to rely on any plan which requires us to leave without supervising it. We certainly can't ask the Dragons to do this with us, as they have their own operations to maintain with a woefully short amount of help. Clear it, clean it and destruct it still sounds like the only safe and reliable course to me, but I'm always open to amendments. I am a fair hand at rigging up snares and deadfalls... perhaps we could make the farm into a self destructing deathtrap for the Nyemetz, should we care to take the time. But that is short for this venture in the first place..."

"We've got to decide what we're going to attempt here. Shall it be destroy and then on towards Kutna Hora, or the mages or what?"

The rest of the group starts to discuss the pros and cons of Winnacer's plan for taking the farm. Bennett is quiet throughout the discussion, but it is obvious that something has been bothering him. Eventually, he has to say his piece:

"Shit, once again anybody's thoughts but Winnacer's aren't given a chance, as was amply demonstrated in your handling of the situation with Yaz. I see that the arrogance hasn't gone away with your new godhood."

Bennett grabs Yaz's pipe with the ring still on it and hands it back to the druid, along with all the other stuff he bothered to seize from him.

"Look man" he says as he turns toward Winnacer once again, "we need to start working on this before it gets back to the point where I don't want to work with you again. We are not there, but it's definitely an issue here. I came out here in the first place because I don't take to being dominated, not by anyone, and you running everything around here is just too damn much. It was clear that I had bound Yaz so that he could get information from Yurek about the farm. Yaz knew it and you knew it, but you chose to dismiss it so you could get a cheap laugh. Hey, I'm all for cheap laughs, but for you to throw yet another plan of mine in the toilet so you can look like the King of Siam is bullshit. It really is. This may appear like an over-reaction, but I can see it all coming down the way it did before, and for all of us to work together, we need to get by this stuff. That's what I am trying to do here. If you are going to dismiss something I've put some thought into, at least give me the respect to tell me that's the way it's going to be."

Bennett shakes his head, not particularly wanting to get into yet another argument, but figures it's better now than later.

Winnacer looks a bit surprised at Bennett's words, but he certainly is not shocked:

"Bennett, I am sorry if I offend you again. But this time I was certainly not mindful of my error. For a while there, I wasn't quite sure if he was really a traitor. Will and Jihan were missing, we never did get that lightning bolt support we expected, and all the sudden I was the target of many arrows by Yaz's words. As the arrows flew at me, I seriously wondered if Yaz may have had a Prirodna-inspired dream in the same manner as Eladria and decided to set a trap for the last threat to the Fur Farm. When you placed Yaz in wraps, there was no guile-filled plans in my mind. In my anger at being shot at and in my frustration at being entangled the entire battle, I thought Yaz may have truly betrayed us."

"Soon Jihan and Will were found alive with no tale of betrayal, Yaz sat there and shouted a bit too loudly to be serious, and Yurek had already disclosed all the information about the Farm which seemed truthful enough. Looking at Yaz's pleading eyes and remembering back to his charm spell cast upon Yurek, I then realized that his actions must have been a part of another of his overly-complicated and quite risky plans. So I thought I would have some fun with him. I am very sorry if I ruined your plan with my ignorance. I swear on Spravedelna's good graces that I was not seeking to step upon your toes or stifle your ideas."

Winnacer looks Bennett straight in the eye:

"Man, I feel pretty dumb. That would have worked well too. Let us hope that Yurek has been honest with us in what he has already revealed. I think that may be the last joke I play on anybody - it seems anytime I attempt humor somebody gets annoyed. I'm real sorry Bennett."

It is quite obvious that Yaz is even more pissed than Bennett about the whole, confused situation. He has been quietly seething during all of the planning, but has managed to hold his tongue until there is a pause in the conversation and then he says his piece:

"Bennett's right about this whole exercise being a f*ck up from start to finish, but now's not the time to start arguing about it. We need to sort this thing out quickly."

"If the only reason that Yurek came quietly was because of the charm spell that I have him under, then things would be well and truly messed up. However, it's not me that's making him so co-operative, that's genuine, at least it is now, although I can't say that he won't wake up tomorrow morning after he's got over the initial shock of losing his wife and chase us to the corners of the plane. But for now, at least, it seems as if he really doesn't give a f*ck about what happens to the farm and his men as long as they are well-treated."

"So let's take advantage of the situation while we can and take control of the farm while we can. We can decide what to do with it once we have control of it. However, in my opinion, No mage in his right mind would accept the Farm as a base, if only because it can be burned down without much effort at all. The Tower is eight million times better. Also it isn't a castle, it's a fort, meaning the walls surround various buildings inside. It's open, and the buildings are relatively small. Bad all around for mages, and really not much use for anything else, unless it's Nyemetz-sanctioned. Certainly undefendable, as we discovered when I blasted the front gate to bits with just one spell."

"We promised, PROMISED, Flint that he would get to blow the place up, and I know promises go a long way with most of you."

"Leaving it up means we've left a Nyemetz asset for their continued use. If we shut it down, it is an untapped asset the Nyemetz can use to their advantage, and they might try to take it."

"Why would we 'take' the farm by writ and fighting when we can just walk right in with Yurek, who can dismiss all his 'employees', we can release the animals and gnomes/halflings, and Flint can blow it up, nice and empty-like?! What's wrong with that? Not overly complicated I don't think. And certainly less risky than fighting."

There is another pause as everyone considers Yaz's plan. Then Winnacer speaks:

"I do not profess to being able to understand the workings of your enchantments, but Yurek did give every impression to me of being genuine in his words. Every moment that we spend discussing this matter brings us closer to danger, as the events of the Games will soon become common knowledge and the Nyemetz are sure to come investigating. I'm not convinced that your plan is without risk, Yaz, but I am willing to give it a shot. As soon as the Dragons have finished with him, I think that we should give it a try immediately."

While you are waiting for the lengthy discussions between the Dragons and Yurek to finish, Faewen'il slowly walks back over to the group; having added what herbalism and healing skill she could to Boris and the remaining wounded Dragons; a bandage spotted with red encompassing her own torso backing up the somewhat pained look on her face in confirming that she was far from healthy herself.

"I bin thinkin bout what ye said to yar brother. Ye all speak of traitors an killin... when did ye lose sight o tha fact that it is ye own brother ye speak of. Iffin ye give in to tha sheddin o yar own blood, then ye be no better than tha Nyemetz we fight. Families be what life be about... bein able ta share with one another tha thins that make life worth livin."

"That ye did na draw his blood this time is ta be commended... but ye should na be givin thought ta doin it in tha future. From all that I can see, ye left yar home ta bring justice to Bohavia... an iffin ye was willin ta make that sacrifice once... ye should make it again rather than thinkin o dealin with yar brother in a duel."

"No one learns from thar mistakes iffin they be dead... an Bohavia needs yar blade an life as well as yar god, more than yar honor needs salvin from a duel."

"Thar be no honor in takin tha blood o yar kin.. no matter HOW ye look at it. Let yar brother be.... an iffin ye meet him in tha future donna give him tha satisfaction o givin in to a duel."

Winnacer can only shake his head in hopeless agreement:

"Aye, Faewen'il, your words are certainly true, at least for most folk. Unfortunately, the Stradheims aren't like most folk, often placing personal honor over family or what is right. If my brother and I were to come to blows, it would be just another of many siblings who have hewn each other to death due to a difference of opinion. To Klauf, more than the rest, kinship has very little meaning. There was a time in my life when I believed that cruelty was an acceptable and universal practice, mostly due to Klauf's mistreatment of me. And if Klauf has anything to say in the matter, my father, Fredek, will disown me from the Stradheim family. To me, kinship is not something that can ever be revoked. But if father decides such, I am sure Klauf will feel very justified to start hunting the 'runt who dishonored the family name with his birth.'"

"I can only hope that Father forbids Klauf from pursuing me any further. If not, then I must pray that my friends can aid me as they did today, for I do not wish to be my brother's killer. My thanks for your actions here today, Faewen'il, for without your sorcery one of the Stradheims would likely lay dead."

"Ye can only try ta set an example far others an hope that they take yar lessons ta heart," the lass responds. "An ye just have ta keep on followin what ye know ta be right, na matter that others turn a deaf ear ta yar words," Faewen'il adds somewhat bitterly, not meeting Winnacer's gaze.

She then winces as her agitated emotions seem to have inflamed her arrow wound in the side. With as much dignity as she can muster, she walks away from the group to go sit by herself once more.

Sylva moves to take sit beside Faewen'il and starts to speak to her:

"My dear, are you the only woman amongst this group? I myself grew up as the only woman in my household. It can be difficult at times to understand why men tend to only want to spill their own blood. Although I have found the need to spill much blood in recent weeks, it has not been out of pride, but to bring to justice those that took my father from me. I hope that in the days to come, we may be able to enjoy each other's company and offer comfort to each other that may not be understood by your male companions."

Faewen'il looks at Sylva, an unnamed emotion crosses her face before she looks away.

"I be tha only one... an I have given up tryin ta understand tha need to spill any kind o blood. But ye would be better off not bein in me company... that much I can tell ye... far me magic consumes me idle time."

"An magic be tha only reason that these men fear me an need me... indeed, were it not far magic they would be tryin ta pack me off ta some place far bein too young."

Faewen'il's hands ball themselves into tiny little fists in frustration.

Sylva gently reaches over and lays her hands on Faewen'il's clinched fists:

"I know not what motivates those in your group to spill blood. I can only speak for myself, and my motivation quite honestly is not very honorable, it is revenge for what was done to the ones I loved. The faces of the men that betrayed my father, the ones that I have killed, haunt me every day. I hope the image of what has happened here today never leaves me, for if it does I will be nothing but a cold-blooded murderer. I am not proud of my motives or my actions, but I believe it is the only thing that has kept me alive this past year. Now that those who betrayed my father are dead I hope that I will be able to put behind me the blood-lust that had overtaken me and focus on seeing my father freed."

"As to the value of your company, don't underestimate it. It may benefit you to take a little time away from your magic to share the company of another woman. Please, at least give it some thought, it may help to clear your mind and unburden your soul. Indeed, these men probably fear that which they do not understand. If that is the only reason they show you respect then I pity them. It is not the power a person wields or the experience they have that should earn them respect, it should be what comes from their heart. You may now lack some of the experience that time will bring, but your youth makes you no less of a woman. If these men cannot see that then they are missing the opportunity to build a friendship instead of a mutually beneficial business arrangement. Perhaps my presence will help them to understand that. I know that while I think your group respects my abilities in battle, they yet have reason to respect my opinions. I hope that I will gain that respect soon, for I tend to speak my mind and if I do not gain their respect then I fear that our paths may depart."

Winnacer then looks at the carriages that they have brought with them:

"The carriages should be worth some good money, although they will be difficult to sell. We should keep a number of the medium warhorses, as both of our squires can use horses and they currently only have light horses not trained in the way of combat. I dare say that Magda and Honza would appreciate more horses I could imagine. The rest should be sold."

"You're right about the carriages being difficult to sell," Viktor interrupts. "They are worth quite a bit to the owners because of all the fancy gilt work and coats of arms, but all that counts for nothing for anyone else other than them. It's going to be hard to get a fence to touch them, as only the richest nobles and merchants are going to be interested in them, and they would need a lot of work being done on them so that they can't be traced back to their owners."

"If we can get anything at all for them," adds Bennett, "then we definitely should sell them, but I'm not sure about the horses entirely. Perhaps you could keep them somewhere for us. I am thinking some of our allies might use them. Better than letting them get back into the hands of the Nyemetz and their allies, in any case."

"That's no problem at all," responds Viktor. "It would be a shame to sell them now only to buy some more at a later stage. Horse traders' commission can range from 15 to 25% and so you'd lose a lot of money in the transaction if that were the case. We can take them back to Dvur with us where I can assure you that they will be well cared for until they are needed."

Winnacer nods at this plan and then continues:

"About the money, I hate to bring this up but I need to offer a small percentage of it to a Church of Spravedelna as a tithe. It is one of the demands placed upon me to help each LawBringer remember that he is part of the greater whole of the church and the community. It usually is between 10-15% of what portion I am personally entitled to. I am not one to be greedy, but whatever that portion is must be set aside so I can pay my dues."

"That's not a problem," says Bennett, "but I say the guards get dick. If they want some money then they should get with the Dragons. I don't care if they lost their jobs or not."

Bennett is obviously still sore about the earlier incident, and doesn't really care about the money, though twenty plus guards and hunters times 25 gold is a decent sum of money.

"As far as the split goes, I think it should be more like 7000 for them and 1000 for us, as it's going to be difficult to justify the losses they suffered and all the money they get can be used to restore their organization. What the hell do we need more money for anyway?"

Winnacer nods:

"I guess we really don't need the money too badly. If the rest are in agreement, we can split it as Bennett suggests. But I feel strongly that we do not leave the guards with empty pockets nor should they feel forced to work for the Dragons. That will just make the situation less amiable for all involved."

"Mind you, I don't know, man. I reckon that we kind of got burned on this whole deal. I got the impression that this thing was going to have some heavy loot. Shit, we've taken single items worth more than the loot from this whole raid. We can't use the farm, or the animals, and we killed the lady, who probably didn't deserve it. Added to that the loot from the operation is certainly not sufficient to compensate you for the men you lost conducting it. F*cked up six ways from Sunday, if you ask me."

It is obvious from Tomas' expression that he does not disagree with Bennett:

"It's not possible to put a price on the life of one of my men, as good, loyal men such as those that we lost today can't be bought for any price, so I'd have to agree with you that this mission was not what I would consider to be a success."

"However, it would be wrong to say that I think that the haul was only a minor one. I can see that those such as you who have taken long lost treasures from forgotten keeps may consider such money to be small change, but to an average working man, the sums that we have gained are almost incomprehensible. A large proportion of the monies that we took will go to the families of those who died in the operation. Although a couple of hundred gold pieces doesn't make up for the loss of a life, it is sufficient to ensure that an entire family never needs to go hungry again."

Eventually, the Dragons have finished with Yurek and the guards, and so Yaz comes over to the Polak to speak to him:

"While you have been speaking with the Dragons, I've been speaking with the rest of them. I managed to get a deal out of them. They'll let all the troops and the other staff go in peace, and will treat the animals well as long as you give over the farm to them. How does it sound, Yurek? You don't need it for anything any more do you? Although the guards might take a few of them down with them, you've seen the power of them for yourself and so it's obvious that they'd take it for themselves eventually anyway. It's the right thing to do, don't you think?"

Yurek sighs a little and then responds to Yaz:

"I fear that you're right, friend. The place was Eladria's dream and so I guess that it is best if it dies along with her and I. I couldn't stay here any longer, as it would only serve to remind me of her even if I was to live. Let's get the exercise over with so that the employees can start to rebuild their lives as soon as possible."

Yurek starts to walk towards the fur farm, with Yaz accompanying him. The rest of them watch from the fringe of the woods in case Yaz' theory proves to be incorrect.