[Ansteorra] Gothic War - Letters

[HL Chiara Franchesca]

Baron Kanin,

Your Excellency, Baron Mahdi, your good royal cousin, brings 5 of us, the 
fighting Baronial unit of the Guard of the Steppes, to fight by your side to 
defend against all that dare to step upon your lands. Know that we will not 
rest until you and yours are no longer in danger.

Right trusty and well beloved friend, I greet you well
HL Chiara Francesca
Captain
Steppes Baronial Guard

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "HE Kainin Tepesa" <kainintepesa at yahoo.com>
To: "Kingdom of Ansteorra - SCA, Inc." <ansteorra at ansteorra.org>
Sent: Tuesday, August 09, 2005 2:32 PM
Subject: [Ansteorra] Gothic War - Letters


> Greetings unto all good Ansteorrians,
>
> The time draws ever closer to the chosen day when we
> will meet the cur Ruspoli on the field of war. Even
> now this villainous black dog nips at the heels of my
> lands and tries to goad me into an early conflict. I
> am including a letter I received from my herald (see
> below), who lives near the border of Bonwicke's lands.
> I beseech all good and loyal kinsmen, of this great
> Kingdom of ours, to come to the lake, near the village
> of Sweet Water, on the second day of September and
> join with me as we crush this vile upstart and bring
> peace back to the western lands of Ansteorra.
>
> We need the help of all warriors, artisans, bards,
> marksmen and those who serve, so that we might have a
> resounding victory. Will you join with me, will you
> join the cause of the righteous? I look for your
> banners on the field of honor.
>
> In service to Christ and Crown,
> Kainin Tepesa
> Baron of Bonwicke
>
>
> ------------------------------------
> Pray heed me, my liege,
> Ê
> I know not if this missive shall reach thee, for the
> skirmishing along our borders has intensified greatly
> over the past few nights. 'Twas but a short time past
> that I wrote to thee of the incursions against my
> estates, but so much has happened that the lands of my
> home have been forever altered. I look upon a surreal
> landscape of pain each morning, and the hellish orange
> glow of crop fires lightens the night sky at dusk.
> Ê
> Raiders in black have continued their assault upon the
> villagers herein with damnable efficacy. Your skilled
> guard have proven effective at repelling them from
> striking deeper into the domains of Bonwicke so far,
> and for this we are grateful, but the toll from this
> wily fox and his cunning dogs is rising. Galen and I
> are at the sheer limit of our resources.
> Ê
> Each day a black-fletched arrow finds itself embedded
> in the wall of my drawing room, and bears the same
> dire tidings.
> Ê
> ÒDeath to Kainin! Death to the pretender!Ó
> Ê
> It is a portentous choice of words is it not?
> Ê
> I suppose I should be grateful these missives are not
> standing out from my own chest in this case, but there
> is little comfort in that as I see the soot besmudged
> faces of my servants and serfs following each nightÕs
> attack.
> Ê
> Though to speak such comes perilously close to
> treachery your Excellency, I cannot deny the soundness
> of this curÕs tactics. He comes in the night
> unheralded, finding gaps in my defenses I have missed,
> and like a vengeful spirit fades with the dawn light.
> His men fight like demons and yet there is a curious
> honor in their slayings. None of my unarmed serfs have
> been slain, but the toll on my personal guard has been
> staggering.
> Ê
> My memory harkens back to the days predating your
> investiture, when we in our mercenary guise did strike
> at enemies in foreign lands similarly before an
> invasion. This Captain seems a well-traveled man of
> letters not unlike yourself my Baron. These are not
> the undisciplined brigands I had expected, but rather
> battle hardened warriors and veterans of successful
> campaigns too long at rest.
> Ê
> His hatred of you seems rather personalÉis it possible
> that you may have known this man in your shadowed
> past? Could he be an enemy of old who has returned to
> claim revenge against you? When his cowl of darkness
> is lifted, whose face shall you look upon? I had hoped
> that with the love of your Baroness and the duty of
> your coronet we might have at long last found peace
> from our bloodstained travels, but there is no rest.
> Ê
> I urge you not to take this manÕs bait and ride out
> against him before the appointed time my old friend.
> Away from the cover of night, and the chaos of burning
> fields, I think RuspoliÕs match may be far more even;
> but when men of honor fight men who have none, on
> their own ground, it is a sad testament to the devilÕs
> amusement that they must surely fall. Take him afield
> on the open lands to the east and I believe his might
> will be broken. To do otherwise should surely see the
> ladies of Bonwicke clad in nightÕs veils as the
> funeral criers drown their wails in deathÕs litany.
> You know this, I am certain, but I would be a poor
> advisor not to voice my concerns against your temper
> in this case.
> Ê
> My mind wanders my liege, and perhaps it is a lack of
> rest that leads me down such a twisted path, but if by
> fate Galen and I should not survive these raids to
> join you upon the battlefield when at last these
> forces of light and darkness clash in righteous fire,
> then know our ghosts will stand beside you unto the
> bloody culmination.
> Ê
> In grim determination,
> Lord Tristan Hawkridge
>
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