Chapter 2: Crisis in Cruddain, Part 4
Brycham was seated at a table. Across from him sat his wife, Aur. They had been at sea for the last couple days, and, although the sea had been rough, they made their way quite alright, much to Brycham's delight. Despite his excitement, Brycham still could not eliminate the doubt in the back of his mind, "What if I fail?" he found himself asking. No matter how much he tried to reassure himself that the king handpicked him, he was still nervous.
"But my love," he said to his wife, "If I can't do anything right. I'm young, and uncharismatic, and...poor. Why would I be suited to ruling an entire Kingdom? If anything, I would just end up making matters worse. Oh why King! Why did you have to choose me? And why did I accept?" He said dejectedly.
His wife smiled; she always found her husband's bouts of self-flagellation entertaining. "Brycham," she said, "you'll be fine. Sure, you are all those things, but on top of that, you are also kind, and compassionate, and wise, and fair. You may lack funds, but you do not lack virtues. The king is no fool, he chose you because he knows you will accomplish his mission."
Suddenly the door opened. The ship's captain, Carratocoros strode in and walked towards Brycham. "My lord," he said, "land has been spotted. We should make landfall tomorrow morning."
"That's excellent news," replied Aur, "you may leave us now."
Carratocoros frowned, clearly irritated by the slight, but he left the room anyways. Aur turned back to her husband, "See love? We're going to arrive at Hibernia tomorrow, you've survived the Cambrian sea, and that was perhaps the most dangerous part of the journey. It's a sign from the gods, it is your destiny to rule these people; the gods will it. Now, get ye to bed. It's a long way from the beach to Emain-Macha, and we need you well rested for when we arrive."
Brycham agreed, and rose from his chair. He wished his wife a good night, and eased himself into his bed. "The gods will it, eh?" He thought, "well, I suppose we'll see about that."
The next day was beautiful; the sun was bright and warm, and there wasn't a cloud in the sky as the small group of boats approached the beaches of Eastern Hibernia. As Brycham clumsily made his way to the front of the boat, bumping into several people along the way, he marveled at the incredible organization of the sailors. Everyone knew exactly what it was they were supposed to be doing, and they did it efficiently. Finally the boat hit land, and Brycham watched as the sailors quickly jumped off the boat and started pulling it ashore. When all four of the boats had been drawn up successfully, Carratocoros told Aur and Brycham that they were clear to get off the boats.
It was an incredible sight, to be sure, the white beach appeared to go on for about 50 meters or so, followed by a small hill. Down the coast, Brycham could see massive, majestic cliffs. "This truly is an incredible land," he thought to himself. After about a half hour, the sailors had finished unloading all the supplies. The group then assembled and prepared to move out. Alongside Brycham and Aur was their personal guard, about fifty Vallorix headed by Cynfawr, a big Cambrian with blonde hair and a long blonde mustache. He was old and experienced, Esrellyn recommended him to Brycham for just that reason. Beside them were Carratocoros and his sailors. At the end of the wagon were 2 horse carts which carried the group’s supplies.
The group walked for about a half hour, when Carratocoros stopped the group. "This is where we part ways," he said to Brycham, "This is where we part ways. I shall return to Cambria and inform Esrellyn that you made it safely to Hibernia." Brycham thanked the man and the group continued on.
They walked all day, and when night came, they settled down and made camp. The group scoured the countryside, and food was in good supply to everyone. Once they finished eating, the group settled down to sleep. The group woke up early the next morning, packed their tents into the wagons, and continued on their way.
They continue on the worn road, little more than wheel grooves, and presently they group came to a passage in the road overgrown with bushes and tall grass. As the procession passed through this section they could hear a rustling off to the side of the road. Cynfawr looked to Brycham, and Brycham nodded. Cynfawr motioned to three of his guards, who drew their swords and headed towards the thicket from where the rustling came. After about a minute Brycham saw two young men, boys more likely, running away from the thicket, moving quickly to the North. Behind them he could see his guards trailing them. The procession was idle for a half-hour, waiting for his guards to return. Eventually the guards returned, empty handed, "They were too fast for us sir.," one of the guards sputtered, exhausted by the run.
"Well, it's your call Brycham," Cynfawr said, "What should we do now?"
Brycham made his way to one of the carts, and stood on it. From his vantage point, he addressed his group: "Well my friends. The Hibernians know we're here now. We all know these men do not like us, and they will do whatever it takes to ensure that our stay here is as short as possible." Brycham paused. He saw as some of his men shifted nervously from foot to foot. He knew that no one wanted to die here, in an unfamiliar land, so far away from their friends and family. "However," he continued, "That does not mean that we should engage at first sight. We are peacekeepers, not conquerors. So therefore I say to you, be prepared for the worst, but hope for the best. The less threatening we appear to them, the less likely it is for them to attack us. Listen to me, and we...should...get out of this alright. Thank you." Brycham got down and walked to his wife. "Well, they know we're here," he said.
"Yes, but I think you and I both knew this would happen," she replied. "We'll be fine, let's get moving shall we?"
Brycham nodded, and motioned once again to Cynfawr. "Move out!" Cynfawr barked, and the procession continued. It was another two hours before the procession at last could make out the silhouette of the city's massive walls. As they group continued to make their way towards the city, they started to notice that there was what appeared to be another, smaller wall in front of the city.
The group closed in on the walls, and Brycham noticed that the small wall in front of the city wasn't a wall at all, but an army, prepared for war. Many were in full armor, swords drawn, and spears pointed towards the procession, the city's spies had done their job flawlessly, and now the citizens of Emain-Macha were ready for a fight. Brycham could hear his men whispering behind him. Cynfawr brought his hand down to his sword, and began to draw it. Brycham put his hand on Cynfawr's. "No, let me talk to them." He told his men to stand their ground, and then walked out towards the group, Cynfawr by his side. Before them, Brycham saw a man in the center of the mass sheath his sword, he was obviously the leader of the army.
Brycham approached the crowd and, after a minute, addressed the crowd: "Who are you people, and what is the meaning of this?"
"We should be asking you the same question. Who are you?," responded the leader in an aggressive tone.
“My name is Brycham dy’Aran of the House of Calandoros and, by the power vested in me by High King Massorias of Casseia, I am now King of this city. And as your King, I demand that you all lower your weapons and let me enter my city.”
The man opposing Brycham’s eyes narrowed, irritated by the haughtiness of Brycham. “Your words have no sway here. Our city does not need a King, especially not one appointed by a Casseian swine. We Hibernians are subject to no one, and, if your fool of a King wants to dispute that, he can come here himself and wrest this city from our cold, dead hands!” The crowd of Hibernians roared, showing their approval for their spokesperson. “Now,” the man continued, “I am going to ask the whole lot of you to leave, as outsiders are not permitted within the city walls.”
“This is ridiculous!” Brycham replied, “You cannot tell us what to do. Come on men!” He shouted, gesturing to his troops, “we’re going inside.” The caravan began to move, but the Hibernians quickly produced their blades and took fighting stances, the city walls shut tightly behind them.
“As I said,” the man replied in a disdainful manner, “The city is closed to outsiders, and if you try to enter, we will prevent your entry by force.”
Brycham grimaced, “very well,” he growled, “we shall not enter your city.” The man smiled. “Men!” Brycham yelled, “We shall camp outside of the city walls, over there.” He said, gesturing towards a patch of flat land several hundred meters from the city walls.
The man frowned, “What is the meaning of this?” he asked, incredulously. “I told you not to…”
“Enter the city?” Brycham interrupted, “why, that’s exactly what I’m doing. I figure, that since I cannot enter my city, that I might as well be as close to it as I can. As Brycham made his way back to his group, he reveled in his victory as he heard the other man yelling loudly and stomping his foot on the ground in anger.
Brycham entered into the crowd of Casseians waiting eagerly for him to return. “Hail to the conquering hero!” He heard one cry. “You beat that Hibernian raw! At this rate we’ll have that town in no time!” cried another.
“Alright, alright,” Cynfawr finally interrupted. “Stop your yapping and start setting up camp, I want a good perimeter established before dusk men! Step to it!” Thanks to Cynfawr’s yelling, the men finally settled down and began moving towards their camp site, but not before they all took their final chance to congratulate their leader on a battle deservedly won.
As the last man stalked away, Brycham turned to himself. “Aye, the first victory falls to me, but indeed it shall be the first of many, for these Hibernians are a resilient bunch, much easier for they to bend words than to bend their knees. This conflict will be much harder than I thought.”
Several hours later Brycham was making his way through camp. The sun was just setting behind the hills and Brycham was tired, more tired than he could ever remember being; his head was drooped over, with his feet dragging slowly behind him. He ignored the smell of roasting meat from the nearby campfire and proceeded directly to his tent, too hungry both to eat and to be bothered to socialize with his men.
He ripped the flap of his tent and fell onto the firs that made up his bed; he was asleep in minutes.
***
The young man slipped past the preliminary tents of the Casseian Camp. “Easy,” he thought to himself, “they’ll be so busy feasting and reveling in their ‘victory’, that they won’t even notice I’m here.” He quickly moved through the camp, making sure to steer clear of the campfire on the eastern side of camp. Finally he closed in on his objective, the main tent. He slowly pulled back the flap and entered the tent. It was dark inside, but the man could see that it was empty; no one there save himself and his target. “Prefect, he’s asleep, this’ll be easy!” he thought. He produced a dagger from his dark cloak and, raising it aloft, stood at the foot of his target. He smiled before striking at his target.
***
Brycham had been having the most wonderful dream. He was dreaming that he was back at sea, the ship was rocking gently back and forth as he held his wife close, looking back to his beloved Cambria. Suddenly storm clouds accumulated around the boat and a storm ensued. The boat rocked furiously, and he struggled to hold his place, all the while trying desperately to keep Aur by his side. The boat continued to rock, and then a great wave hit the boat. Brycham watched in horror as several of the hands were hurled off the boat, and then, tragedy struck. His wife lost her footing and was flung to the deck of the boat. Brycham tried to hold onto his wife, but a great wave came and swept her away, Brycham felt warm tears roll down his eyes as his wife was swept into the sea. He got back to his feet and began bounding towards the edge of the deck. He was heading towards the sea when suddenly one final great wave formed before him. It must have been at least 30 feet high, and beneath that black water, nothing survived. Brycham’s mouth was agape as the massive wave crashed into Brycham.
The shock of the wave snapped Brycham from his dream. He woke up with a start. As his eyes began to focus, he saw the outline of a person standing before him. He watched as whoever it was before him reached into his clothing and pulled something out. He saw the form raise the object above his head and begin to launch it at Brycham. Brycham noticed the object flash briefly and then realized that the object was a dagger! He reached his arms out and grabbed the assailant’s wrists, stopping the man dead in his tracks. Brycham lifted his legs and kicked the man hard in the stomach. The man reeled in pain and fell over into the side of the tent.
Taking advantage of the few moments to himself, Brycham remembered the dagger Caratadoc had given him. He pulled it out from under his pillow and moved to where the assailant was knocked over. By the time he got over there, the assailant had re-composed himself, and was standing waiting for Brycham. As Brycham approached, the assailant took the initiative, and tried to strike at Brycham with his dagger. Brycham dodged the attack, and lowered his foot and tripped the man. Acting quickly, Brycham got on top of the man and lowered his dagger at the assailant’s throat.
Now, for the first time, Brycham got a good look at his assailant. The attacker was no man, but a boy! His face was soft, and his eyes innocent. He looked like a boy who may not have even shaved his chin, let alone even thought about killing a man. Brycham began to find conflict within. “He tried to kill me, I must end his life, I will appear weak if I do not. However, he is but a boy, I cannot deprive a person of a life he has not even begun to experience. He lowered his dagger, and rolled off the man. “Well, go on, get out of here!” He yelled at the boy. The boy got up and ran directly out of the tent.
A couple minutes later Cynfawr, Aur, and a few other guards came bursting into his tent. “My lord!” Cynfawr shouted, “We heard what sounded like a scuffle, what happened.”
“I was attacked, a young boy tried to kill me, however I managed to fight him off, I’m fine now, thank you.”
“How could this happen?” Exclaimed Cynfawr, incredulously, “I bet it was that lazy excuse for a soldier Adde asleep at the post again. I’ll give him such a beating that he’ll never even be able to close his eyes again!” He shouted as he stalked out of the tent, but not before ordering his guards to remain with Brycham.
“Oh you’re hurt!” Cooed Aur, pointing to a cut in Brycham’s forearm, “here, let me patch that up for you.”
“Thank you Aur.”
Aur patched up his arm, and the two slipped into bed. Sleep at last welcomed Brycham to sleep with open arms.
[CENTER]***[/CENTER
Brycham woke up bright and early the next morning to a very grumpy stomach, so he immediately made his way to the campfire to see what he could do about breakfast. Slowly, more of his men began to come towards the campfire with the same intent. Soon the men were all around, most praising Brycham for his bravery and stoicism of the previous night. Spirits were at a high, and many soon became even more confident that the city would be theirs shortly.
Brycham, however, was disturbed. It was not because of the resistance he had experienced in getting to the city, that wasn’t entirely unexpected, however he was more perturbed by the recent attempt on his life. “What did it mean?” He asked himself, “Who was it from?”
“Why it was from those damned Hibernians, of course!” His mind responded.
“Indeed, then it means that they are adamant about our staying here. What on Earth am I going to do? Their minds seem as one, they offer a concentrated force which I cannot match, I will need to think about this, they have to be weak somewhere…”
Brycham’s reflection was cut off by the approach of several men: two guards and a young man. Brycham stood up to greet the guards.
“Sire, we found this one trying to, er, sneak into camp. What should we do with him?” Asked one of the guards.
Brycham looked into the captives face. Those brown eyes, that young face, he knew that face. It was the assassin from the previous night. The guards threw the boy to his knees.
“I say we kill him,” said one of the guards at the campfire, “the only good Hibernian is one that’s dead.”
“Please don’t kill me!” pleaded the boy rapidly, “At least not until I’ve told my story. Once that has happened, then you may do with me as you please.”
Brycham frowned, but sat down all the same. “Very well,” Brycham said, “tell your story.”
The boy remained kneeling, and then he started his story. It started slow, with quivering voice, he started quietly, but picked up in force and intensity as his story drew on.
“My…name is Eddoros dy’Emos, Patriarch of the Deirris family of Emain-Macha. My family was once great, one of the three Great Families in the city, and we had many families who served us. Once upon a time, most would think twice before crossing us, however that all changed when the Druids were killed. With the destruction of the Druids, the architect of the action, a young man named Duratios took power of the Comulae, another of the major families in our town. He quickly used his newfound popularity and strength to strong arm many of the lesser families of the city into pledging allegiance to him. With his newfound vassals, the Comulae quickly had enough power to renew their feud with we, the Deirris, which the Druid’s had prevented a week before their deaths. Our family could not match the strength of the Comulae, and, although our warriors fought bravely, we were losing. Soon, our vassal families saw that we could no longer offer them protection, and so split off and joined the Comulae. Meanwhile, our warriors continued to die. Soon, I was one of the last remaining men of the family, and thusly, at the age of 15 I was named the patriarch of the family. Realizing that this feud could not continue, I, Eddoros decided to pledge the allegiance of my family to the Comulae. Things finally seemed to be settling back to normal, and the Deirris appeared to finally be able to recover in peace. That is, until you and your men showed up. Duratios was enraged by your gestures before the city gates. He considered an affront to his power, and so, he ordered me to prove my family’s worth, and end your life.
Why did you not end my life, most powerful Casseian, for the pain I suffered from the shame of returning to Duratios in failure was far greater than any wound you could have inflicted upon me. For my weakness, Duratios banished both me and my family from the city, forever. So now, I come here, I am at your mercy, mighty Casseian, for I have nowhere else to go. Kill me if you it is what you desire, Casseian, the gods know I deserve it, but I humbly beg you, spare my family. Take them as your vassals if you must, anything to ensure their survival, they mean everything to me.
There was nary a dry eye round the campfire as Eddoros ended his story, so deeply were the men touched by this young man’s bravery and devotion; it mattered not to them if he almost killed their lord. Brycham remained, silent, stone faced. Finally he spoke: “Before any decision can be made, I have some questions for you.”
“I shall try my best to answer them truthfully, Casseian,” responded Eddoros.
“Firstly, you said that you were one of the three great families in the city. I’m assuming that the Comulae are the second, but who is the third?”
“That would be the Emain. They are the oldest family in the town, some even assert that they were the founders of the city. Their power is great, great enough o keep the Comulae in check, at least for now, but I believe that it will not be long ere the two begin fighting for total control.”
“Interesting,” responded Brycham. “Now, secondly, I noticed that a large body of men were behind Duratios when we arrived at the city. Is he popular among the people?”
“Hmm…I think that at one point, yes, he was very popular among the people. However, after these past few weeks, I think that his following is based more on fear than by adoration.”
“So then, if he did not appear quite as powerful, then you don’t believe that so many would be so apt to follow him?”
“No, indeed not.”
Brycham smiled. “Rise, proud Eddoros, I shall not kill you. Neigh, I offer both you and your family the full protection of the Casseian Empire. The Deirris family shall stay in camp with us, and, when I succeed in becoming King of this place, you, Eddoros, shall be well rewarded.”
Eddoros bowed before his new master. “Thank you my lord, you shall not regret your decision, I guarantee it. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to give my family the good news.”
“No so fast,” Brycham said warmly, “there is something I need you to do first.”
***
The gates of Emain-Macha open as Eddoros strides in. He does not care about the crowds of people now turning to look at them. He hears some whispering to one another, and he knows that soon Duratios will know that he has entered the city. However, he doesn’t care, for he knows that as soon as this one job is finished, his family will be safe, and, come what may, he has the protection of the Casseian Empire standing beside him.
Eddoros approaches the center of town, soon a huge crowd of people has begun to gather around him. He finds a box, places it on the ground, and then climbs on top of it. The crowd settles as Eddoros looks upon the people of Emain-Macha. “My fellow Hibernians!” He shouted, trying his best to project to the crowd, “as you surely already know, my name is-”
“Eddoros,” came a voice from the back of the crowd; it was Duratios, “I thought we banished you last night. Guards, escort this man out of town, and this time, make sure he stays out, permanently.”
Eddoros felt the trickle of sweat fall down the side of his face. He gulped loudly and then tried to continue his address with two burly guards pushing his way through the crowd towards him. “You see, er, I was banished, tha- that is true, but you see I have a new lord now, and he has an important message that he wanted me to give to you fine citizens.” Finally the guards reached him, and were beginning to lift him up when another voice interrupted their work.
“Stop,” the voice ordered. The crowd turned to see a grown man, perhaps in his thirties with dark hair, and striking blue eyes. He was a tall man, and his stature alone would have been enough to frighten even the most experienced soldiers. The look on his face was that of a soldier, and the fact that his face and limbs were unblemished stood only as a testament to his military skill. His name was Ivomagos, and he was Duratios’s chief rival, the patriarch of the Emain clan.
“And just why should I stop Ivomagos?” sneered Duratios.” This man was banished from the town, all know it, he should never have returned, and for breaking this command, he should die.”
“I think the more important question should be why you are so apt to end this man’s life, Duratios,” retorted his rival, now turning towards the crowd. “This man has done nothing wrong. If he came only to deliver a message, where is the harm in that? I say we let him speak!” The crowd yelled in agreement.
Duratios, knowing that he was beaten, ordered his guards to stand down. The guards reluctantly did as they were told; lowering Eddoros and then returning to their lord.
“Now,” continued Ivomagos, “what is this message you have for us Eddoros?”
Eddoros glanced around, and then, deciding it was safe, continued to speak, exactly as his lord had instructed him to: “His lord Brycham says that he does not wish to be your enemy. He was sent by the High King merely to help administer justice to the area. Since he is unable to conduct business within the city, he will do it from without. He wants to let you all know that if there is a dispute within town, he will be happy to mediate the affair if you bring the case to his tent in the Casseian camp.”
Brycham sat on a chair in his tent, impatiently waiting for Eddoros to return from the town. He was simultaneously pleased and relieved when he saw the tent flap pulled back and Eddoros enter in one piece. “I assume everything went as planned?” asked Brycham.
“Aye my lord,” responded Eddoros, “I gave the message just like you asked, although I don’t understand why you needed me to risk my neck to deliver such a message.”
Brycham smiled. “It’s simple my friend. Duratios controls the city through fear. No one will overthrow him because he is too powerful, and there is no one to contest him. By offering to hear cases, I am doing several things. Firstly, I am showing the people that I am not their enemy, I am instead their friend. Secondly, I am dividing the city. By doing this, I am showing the people that there is someone who can contest their lord. They will begin to doubt Duratios, and soon he will lose support. “All we need to do now is wait,” said Brycham easily as he leaned back in his chair.
***
Several days pass after Eddoros’s announcement to the Hibernians, and yet nothing happens. The men began to get restless, Brycham could hear the things they were saying. They thought him a coward, a fool. They began to wonder why they were even there in the first place. However, Brycham was resolute. He believed in his plan. Every day he set up his chair in his tent and waited.
“Sir,” said Cynfawr on one of these days, “I think that we should rethink our plan.”
“And why is that?” inquired Brycham.
“Because, sir, this one is obviously not working. The men are getting restless, I’m beginning to fear a mutiny.”
“Nonsense, this plan will work. It’s just going to take a little more time. The idea of a second choice in their minds will eventually lead them to become dissatisfied.”
“But my lord, this is ridiculous. We’re soldiers, we don’t wait.”
But Brycham did not respond, for standing before them was a very old woman. She was small, even more so because she was hunched over, a cane in her right hand.
“Oh noble Casseian!” she said in a quiet voice. “My name is Edda, and I have come to your protection, seeking justice. I have been wronged, and unjustly served by Duratios. Therefore, I come here in hope of a fair decision.”
“See Cynfawr?” asked Brycham playfully, “things are looking better already. “Edda, your pleased will not go unheeded. Why don’t you continue and tell me your problem, and I will do my best to serve justice fairly.”
Brycham heard and came to a decision on the case rapidly and, although not both sides were joyous about the agreement, they all agreed that it was just. After this day, more people began taking their issues to Brycham, first at a trickle, then to a full stream. Most of the cases came from the lower rungs, and all of the people coming were from the Emain family, however this did not dissatisfy Brycham, for it meant that his plan was working; people were beginning to trust him.
One night, after a long day of hearing the woes of the people, Brycham lay in bed beside his wife. He was having trouble getting to sleep that night, and so occupied his time by shifting back and forth. Finally he could take it no more and got out of bed. He pulled back his flap to see an orange glow coming from the city. He began walking forward to investigate when a young lady ran by him. Brycham pulled him aside, “What is the matter good miss?” he asked.
“It’s a fire!” the woman cried hysterically, “The Emain household is on fire, we have to get out of here!” The man could take no more, and immediately began running off. Quickly Brycham ran towards Cynfawr. He shook him awake and then ordered him to rouse the men and fetch buckets of water to bring in the city before running off towards Emain-Macha.
When he arrived at the town gates before him was standing several guards standing before him. “You’re not allowed in here, turn back!” They ordered. But Brycham did not turn back, instead he right through them towards the fire in his city.
As Brycham approached the fire, he quickly realized that it was much worse than he had expected; the entire house was engulfed in flame, with a large plume of smoke above. Hibernians were all around trying desperately to put the fire out, but Brycham could see it would be of little use. Suddenly beside him he noticed a young woman beside him. She was in tears, all the while screaming to the Hibernians, “My baby, my baby. My beautiful baby boy is still trapped in the house, someone must save him, quickly!”
Brycham wasted no time as he burst through the doors of the house. He could faintly hear the sound of screaming, but he didn’t know from where. He quickly ran from room to room desperately trying to find the child, all the while his insides were screaming at him. His nose mouth and eyes were choked with smoke, and he felt as though he were about to collapse, but he continued on. He went upstairs, and the screaming got louder. Then before him he saw the child, it was a miracle itself that he was still alive. Brycham scooped the child up and rushed downstairs and outside just as a burning beam collapsed, blocking access to the house once and for all. Brycham returned the child to its grateful mother before collapsing. He took some time to collect his breath, and then went on the help direct the actions of his men.
By this time, the efforts of the men were no longer about putting out the fire itself, but about preventing it from spreading to the entire city. After several hours of work the fire destroying the Emain’s centuries old house had finally died down, the fire was contained and the city was saved.
After the men were sure that the fire was contained, everyone gathered around Ivomagos, who was about to address the assembly. “My cousins”, he said, “thanks to all of your brave efforts, the fire has been contained!” The men cheered loudly, until Ivomagos raised his hand to silence them. He continued, “It is indeed unfortunate that the house has been destroyed, however I guarantee you that it shall be rebuilt. It’ll take more than a small fire to destroy this family! It is my belief that this fire was no accident. Indeed, I believe that it was the work of Duratios. We all have long known that he has wanted to end our family and take power for himself, and his absence here only further implicates him. My cousins, I guarantee you all, that this deed will not go unpunished!”
“Now, I think there is someone who we should praise. Brycham dy’Aran,” he shouted, “Come up here, my wife would like to thank you.” Brycham was surprised, but he walked forward nonetheless. Before him he saw the very same woman who was so hysterical before, the woman whose child she saved.
“Thank you,” she said, babe clutched tightly in her arm, “without you, our little Verica would probably have died, that was very heroic.”
“Today, we have all learned something from this Casseian,” said Ivomagos. “This night we have seen a truly selfless act. This man risked his own life for a woman he knew not, for a people not his own. He has shown bravery, compassion, and an ability to lead that few possess, and for that, I have decided to throw my lot in with him.” Brycham was astounded as he watched the man kneel before him, and then watched as the whole crowd did the same. “Brycham the Casseian, I place myself at your mercy, from this point I shall serve none but you; I implore you to accept my offer.”
“I shall indeed,” replied Brycham, “I vow to ensure that you and your family are forever safe and secure, and that no harm shall befall you whilst I you are in my service.” The men rose and cheered their new lord. Brycham smiled, things were coming together nicely.
The next few months saw more and more successes on the part of the Casseians. The very next day all 8 protectorates of the Emain attached themselves to the Casseians. Then, the families of the Comulae began leaving Duratios, and placing themselves under Brycham. The Herenti came first, followed by the Opulae and the Trigontae a couple weeks later. As autumn turned to winter, the Dolonae, Magulos and Arnae pledged themselves to the Casseians. Soon the Comulae found themselves entirely without vassals; they were all alone.
One winter day, the remnants of the Comulae left the town and approached the camp of Brycham. “Casseian, come out!” he roared. Brycham came out.
“What do you want?” inquired Brycham.
“I challenge you to a duel! The winner will control all of Emain. What say you?”
Brycham thought awhile, but finally accepted Duratios’s challenge. “My lord, you’ve already won, you don’t need to do this!” urged Cynfawr.
“I’m sorry Cynfawr, but I cannot appear weak, and I want to have unanimous support within the area. I cannot rule the land if there are dissenters.” Duratios smiled as Brycham removed his armor and drew his sword. Duratios did the same. The Hibernians formed a circle around the two, and the duel began.
Duratios took the initiative and quickly struck at Brycham with a large sweep towards Brycham’s head. Brycham deftly deflect the blow, but did not retaliate. Duratios followed up with several more attacks, but Brycham blocked them all; his military training with the Druids served him well. Finally Duratios began to become infuriated, he started attacking more rapidly and flamboyantly, but Brycham blocked everything. Without even having to strike a blow, Brycham had Duratios on his knees. “Alright, you win,” said Duratios, “get it over with and kill me.”
Brycham raised his sword to end the man’s life when Massorias’s advice echoed in his head. “You must never resort to violence as the aggressor. If you do this they will harden their hearts towards you, and you will never be successful.” He lowered his sword. He realized the dilemma he was in. If he didn’t kill the man, he would lose the respect of the tribes already pledged to him, however, if he killed them, his aggression would start a blood feud, and perhaps lose him support anyways. “I will not kill you Duratios,” he said after pondering for a while. “The honor is Ivomagos. I shall leave the decision of what to do with the Comulae to him.” Ivomagos thanked his new lord as the Comulae were taken away by the Emain, Duratios was crying.
***
Spring had come to the hill of Tara. The winter snow had melted away, and was replaced by green grass and colorful flowers. Birds chirped, and the nearby streams ran. “What a great day for a coronation.” Brycham said to his wife standing beside him, arms interlinked.
“Indeed,” Aur replied, “it is a day which shall be remembered throughout the ages.” Brycham smiled, and together they began to ascend the ancient hill, Hibernians all round were cheering for their soon to be King. Presently the couple ascended the hill, beside them were the heads of several families. Some, such as Ivomagos beamed at their new king, others, such as Duratios were emotionless. It had been a long time since there had been a king who had actually managed to unify the whole country, and thus earn the honor of being crowned upon that holy hill, but Brycham had managed to do it. After the Comulae were graciously spared eradication by Ivomagos, word quickly spread of Brycham’s wise and just hand, as well as his kind gestures towards the Hibernians. Soon, kings were coming from as far away as Ictis to pledge their support to this Casseian. Now the crowd became silent as Trwtian, the last living drwdae of Tara bid the man to kneel. Brycham got on one knee as Trwtian placed a crown upon Brycham’s head. “Rise, Brycham the Casseian, High King of Hibernia.” And Brycham rose as all the Hibernians bowed, for just the second time to a Casseian. Hibernia at last was pacified.
Re: The Aeduic War: A Test Mini AAR
Originally Posted by Owen Glyndwr
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