Link to Story 3

The insolent man did not know what to do. Lord Grinsal had not been really active the last week. There was still much to do but Lord Grinsal was not giving orders. He had been more and more in his chambers. The servants had brought food and drink and it came back mostly untouched.

The insolent man had tried to speak with Lord Grinsal but in the end he had been forbidden to enter the chambers. And so the insolent man had given orders to keep building, to keep researching, to keep gathering resources. They were now way behind the original plan but what could the insolent man do?

He had tried to speak to others, discretely, but none of the others seemed to know what was happening. Then finally one of the old guards spoke up to him. “The young Lords father was killed around this time of the year. It got better but I fear too much in this castle is reminding the young Lord of what happened here ten years ago. That and I heard him saying something about not being worth to be a Lord.”

The insolent man did not know what to do. All could end way too soon. The insolent man had not gotten what he wanted out of helping Lord Grinsal. He needed to get the young Lord out of this mood. Otherwise all could have been for nothing.

There had been a meeting of Lord Grinsals council. They had some ideas but nothing really good. It went on and on and finally they came to a decision. They would organize a kind of game. It would be gathering of materials and resources and everyone would take part. It was a lame idea but at least it would show the young Lord that others wanted to help him, that they did not think of him as a loser. Who does not like to be spoiled with riches? They would even involve others from outside the castle. Maybe they would even get other Lords to help? It could be used as a way to connect to them too.

Sometimes later, right outside the castle

“Okay, here are the rules! We have 13 teams competing. Each team can only gather one type of resource. The team gathering the most resources and special materials like poplar branches or Corundum will win. Material will be counted according to quality. You are not allowed to attack each other. If you bring the resources comparable to a level 5 resource node you get 10 points. …”

It went on and on and the list was quite extensive. The winners would get a lot of gold and an audience with Lord Grinsal. The others … well they would just contribute to the Lords warehouse.

When the groups went on to their assignment, the castle felt empty. The insolent man hoped it would be enough. There was no one else to take over the castle. It was a stupid plan but all they had for now.

At a level 5 iron mine

The commander was watching his troops getting the miners to fill the carts. It would take some time but he was quite sure they would win. They had to win. He had lost too often against this arrogant Soren guy. Yes, he was quite fast at gathering resources but that was basically all he was good for. The man had no qualities as a leader. Why he had been made a commander no one had understood.

The joy of guarding a gathering site

The soldiers were doing their best and every time they got some Corundum they would tell their commander. It already was a good amount but would it be enough? At least they had not been attacked. Yes, the contest itself was without fighting but that did not mean that other Lords would not intervene. Some of the groups even had Royal troops in their ranks. They could carry more but they could not gather faster. And killing those was a good way to build up merit. That’s why their commander had only taken light and some veteran troops with him. He really did not want to the enemy to attack them for merits.

Royal troops

Badly trained light troops

It was getting dark, when the troops had finished gathering the resources. They were on their way back to the castle. With the carts full of ore they could not move fast. While there had been singing and a good mood on their way to the gathering site, they now were silent. Everyone was watching the surroundings. At any moment there could be an attack. There was a risk with only taking less well trained troops. They would transport the same amount, even with higher numbers needed, but they would not fight that well.

They were on the road, slowly marching towards the castle. They might be able to go faster but then their carts would creek louder. And every noise they made an enemy could use to sneak up on them.

Only a few more kilometers. They were nearly there. The commander was on edge until he saw the troops from the castle, showing the colors of Lord Grinsal approaching. They had made it and would be escorted into the castle soon. Then his men would get their free beer and everyone would be happy.

The escort troops surrounded the commanders group and marched besides them. Everything seemed ok, till the commander spotted the commander of the escorts. It was Soren.

Before the commander could say anything, he saw Soren give a signal. He turned his head to see the first of his soldiers falling. Their escorts who were happily chatting with them only moments before were slaughtering his men. The commander drew his sword but too late. He only felt the arrows hitting him … one, then another one … finally a third one and he fell down.

Winner ceremony at Lord Grinsal Castle

“And the winner is Commander Soren and his team! We still have no clue how he did it, but this 4 Star commander just brought double the amount you can usually gather from the site. We checked and there was no foul play. Congratulations, Commander Soren!”

And that was how Commander Soren got an audience with Lord Grinsal. But that is a story for another time.

Some of the gathered resources. Guess which troop Commander Soren was part of...

Link to Story 5