Early in the morning, around maybe 5 o'clock, all I could hear was the sound of birds chirping, the nearby sound of the waves, and a strangely sinister laugh. "Well well well...look at what we have here." I looked up to see around eight or nine members of the sons of midnight standing over us, weapons drawn and it seems fire spells at the ready. The person who had spoken first was a half-elven woman with long black hair, with a bluish tint to it, blue-grey eyes, and a burn scar on her left cheek. "Seems we have a few strays waiting for a new home, shame they won't be coming for a while." The leonin that was with us took a step back to try and reach his spear, but some of the sons saw him and told him to stay where he was, "Now he ain't too bright now is he. Best do as we say or else an accident might happen." the half-elf said conjuring a ball of flame in her hand. We were forced to give our valuables over to them.
However, as I was the closest to the gate, I could hear the faint sound of horses and clanking armor, "OI! Tiefling! Hand over the girl." I turned sharply to see one of the sons reach over to try and take the young girl. "I said hand her over, she'd make us rich!" All that came from them was screaming and begging to let the girl go. It was that moment I made a break for the gate, "Oi! Grab 'im!" I stopped a good distance away from the gate and took a deep breath before letting out a wolf-like howl amplified by the echo of the mountain it rang through possibly past the gate. I was knocked down onto the ground and held there with my arms behind my back. "And I thought the lion was stupid, but you, you're even dumber than-" Before she could even finish a plethora of howls rang throughout the clearing, I smiled as I watched the gates open and six Ulfguardian soldiers weapons at the ready came barreling through, three were on horseback, the others on foot. One of the cockier members of the sons tried his luck trying to throw a knife at one of them, they missed and a spear flew right over my head and plunged itself deep within the member's chest, killing him instantly. We all watched as this slaughter of a battle played out as the blood began to pool and paint the once freshly green grass a shining crimson. Whatever was left of the sons were retreating to whatever hole they crawled out of.
One of them was still gravely injured and was crawling ever so slowly to try and escape. One of the soldiers caught up with him and with his foot turned him over, it was the same man who tried to take the tiefling girl, "Please...Mercy…" he could hardly speak and his hands were open above his face barely and shaking in terror, the soldier held his spear above his chest and said, "No." as he drove the spear deep into his chest and watched as the life drain from his eyes. "Take the people to the mountain castle, tell the queen what transpired here. Ask her to send wood and oil to burn the bodies. Dishonorable rabble doesn't deserve a proper burial, give whatever is left to the wizards and sorcerers for their spells and such." I stood and gathered my things, I watched as the tiefling girl ran to the supposed leader and hugged him tightly, thanking him for saving her. "It was nothing little one, you should be thanking the one who howled, who was it anyway?" I raised my hand and saw the man squint a bit and point, "You're Sebastian's boy, right? Shane? Shane Crowfeather?" "Yes, you...you know what happened to my father?" He nodded, "Truly a loss. Allfathers bless his soul, hopefully, he made it past the platinum gates." "You know, how it happened I suppose." The man chuckled, "Indeed, however, we know the real truth.
Your brother Dante is responsible for his death, not you." "How'd you find out?" a proud smile planted itself on the man's face, "This is Ulvenguard. We always find the truth. Besides, it was all in a day's work for our spies." I had forgotten how good Ulfguardian spies are, "as per tradition and by law, your brother Dante is no longer an Ulfguardian, by the act of patricide he has renounced all affiliation with his nation, his people, and his family. He shall no longer be welcomed as a brother but treated as an enemy along with those who associate with him willingly." He banged his shield twice and we moved on.
Passing through the steel graveyard and the mead hall, we made it to the mountain castle. We all stood there as armed guards stood still and watched, making sure no one made any sudden movements. The current queen of Ulvenguard was about my age, maybe a bit older, but through the short years before my father's death, we had become good friends. I watched as the young girl I knew all those years ago entered the room a woman of incredible strength and power. She was blonde, ocean blue eyes, a scar on her cheek possibly from possibly an animal attack, as well as a prominent bite mark, also likely from an animal. "We only recognize one face among this lot. Explain to us who you are and be on your way, we have many things to do today." The half-orc was the first to approach her, "I humbly request means of travel to serve the outlaw queen as her blacksmith." She lifted an eyebrow, "Very well. We shall provide an escort and a horse for you to use. Please do send Queen Felosha my regards. And be sure to remind her of our appointment to meet next month, she has taken far too long to answer any of my letters." The half-orc nodded and walked out with his belongings.
The leonin walked up to her next, "A leonin, not many of your kind are seen in one place for too long. Why have you come here?" without meeting her gaze he spoke with a loud yet humble voice, "My queen, in my tribe I have been told to be one of the greatest warriors, my spear and my ax have tasted the blood of many warriors brave enough to challenge me, I have yet to face an enemy too strong for me to take on. I wish to join your ranks as a soldier of Ulvenguard." The queen nodded slightly, "I shall allow you to join our ranks, I do not doubt that you will become one of our greatest warriors." The leonin bowed his head and followed a small group of guards.
The Dragonborn only wanted to go to the library and the queen allowed him to do so. The tiefling woman and her daughter walked up to her before I did, they asked to see the husband, a local half-elf doctor. She allowed them to go with a couple of armed guards in case someone mistakenly thought they might have been up to something. Finally, it was my turn to address the queen, "My queen. It has been quite a long time." She looked around the room and commanded both the guards and her assistants, but not her butler, to leave us both alone to speak in private. "Any reason as to why you wanted a private audience, my queen?" she let out an exhausted breath and no longer spoke very formally, "how about you shut up and give me a hug crowfeather." There was the queen I knew, "It's good to see you to Ulfhild." A slight whiff of a strange smell hit my nose, "Are...are you wearing perfume?" "Ugh I know, it's disgusting, I'm supposed to meet some suitors later this afternoon." "Male or female?" "Both, and they're all of noble, well as noble as you can get in Ulvenguard, birth." She turned to her butler, "Svend, fetch us something to drink, won't you? " He bowed slightly and made his way to the cellar. "Honestly I don't mind them coming over or anything, it's just that…" "Just that what? Never shied away from letting people know your feelings for them, I've caught you enough times with so many boys and girls when we were younger to know that you're more than happy to just let them know upfront. So what's wrong?" she let out a slightly frustrated breath and placed her hands on her hips, "Promise you won't laugh." I raised my hands, "As you command my queen." She smiled and rolled her eyes, "Alright. I...I fell in love with someone." "....you. You, Ulfhild daughter of Erik Steelfist and Sigrid Goldspear….are in love…?" She pursed her lips and nodded.
Stifling a small laugh I asked her, "What's their name?" A bright smile appeared on her face, "His name is Halfdan. He's a lumberjack that works near the mill near wolf eye lake. He's so handsome, he has this long red hair. He always has it up in this half ponytail with braids coming down from the sides… by the allfathers, I haven't fallen for someone so fast, he gives me butterflies every time I see him drive his cart to the mill to move the logs." With that final phrase, Svend came into the hall with drinking horns filled with a familiar smelling drink. "Is that...your mother's cider recipe?" She took a few bug sips before responding, "Indeed, we aren't old enough to share a few horns of mead, but this will be a good substitute for now." I raised my horn with her and drank alongside her for what seemed like hours as we caught up with one another. "Well, best I should get home now." As I stood, Ulfhild stopped me. "I've been meaning to tell you. When we first got news of your brother's betrayal and your father's death. We all thought that you died at sea. No one knew what had happened to you." I raised my eyebrow, "so? I'm back, I'm alive. Why is there a problem?" She sighed, "It's a problem because no one was able to claim your land, your home. It can belong to anyone now." Taken aback I couldn't believe what I heard, my home, the place where I grew up, was no longer mine. I had to get it back, "Can't you buy it back for me?" Ulfhild shook her head, "I'm sorry Shane, the money we have is only for emergencies, such as supplies, resources, occasionally for war preparation. I can help you with other stuff, but not with this." "My father spent half his life buying that land, it cost him a fortune." We both shook our heads. "Stay here for the night. We'll figure something out in the morning." I nodded and followed her to one of the spare rooms in the castle. I could barely go to sleep knowing that I would have to repeat my father's work to regain my home.
The next morning I walked down the long flight of steps to get something to eat when Ulfhild greeted me with a smile, "I have great news!" "And that is?" She held both my hands, "You can go back home!" "W-wait What? You mean it?" She nodded, "You can live there and do whatever you like, provided you pay a certain amount every few months." The smile I once had slowly started to disappear, "What do you mean?" She sighed, "I made a deal with the current landowner that would let you live at home and live your life, provided you pay them 1,000 gold every six months." I shook my head, "Well, it's a start. I'm guessing I have to do this until the property is fully paid for?" Ulfhild nodded while awkwardly smiling. "You know what? It's a start. I'll head home after breakfast and find some work." Ulfhild directed me to a table and we ate together one last time before I finally made my way home.
It wasn't much, but it was home. A good view of the sea, plenty of woodland area, and close enough to civilization it wouldn't take too long to leave and come back after about half a day with food and supplies. There was an upstairs and downstairs. The downstairs area had a hearth to keep the place warm, a decent-sized cooking and eating area, and an area with enough room for kids to play in. Upstairs there are 4 bedrooms, one master bedroom, two bedrooms for children and a guest room. Behind the house were planters with fruits, vegetables, wildflowers, and common flowers, along with a chicken coop. It's gonna take a while, but eventually, it was all going to be one-hundred percent mine once again.