Post by saoshyant on Sept 22, 2014 22:08:07 GMT
Keir's Climb, Hessnyian Hills.
Alphred led his horse up the trail towards Keir's Climb, stepping between the boulders and steep hill faces that the path weaves through and over. As Alphred and his half dozen mix of bodyguards and followers walked the trail, he watched the patches of light that swept over the hill across the small valley, the sunlight beaming through the gaps in the gray clouds above them. The dirt path turned once more in the long route up to the ancestral manor of his family, then finally he saw over the head and shoulders of one of his companions the red tiled roofs of the longhall and a small collection of other similarly roofed buildings surrounding it.
As they drew closer, Alphred spotted the bare wooden beams of a long building in construction. Various workmen engaging in skilled or unskilled labor in and around the site on the edge of the courtyard furthest from the entrance to the manor. The horses of the new arrivals tied their horses against posts that substituted the lack of any stables or even horselines, Alphred chimed his ears to the sound of iron or steel being struck between a hammer and an anvil from the smithy the posts where staked into the muddy ground behind.
Alphred walked as he gripped his cloak closely around him as he recognised a man sitting in a intricately carved chair with an equally intricate table beside, it's thin pointed legs digging into the mud as the figure turned his head around to see the approaching Alphred.
"Hah! Alphred!" the man said as he raised himself from his seat and turned to the cloaked youth. The man was in a cloak in the colour of their family's orange along with striped breeches that were tucked into his leather boots and a pale white tunic only a few shades lighter than the man who wore it. Alphred took the time to bow but was quickly caught in an embrace before he could complete the action necessary for royal decorum.
"It's good to see you my dearest of cousins, I trust the journey faired you well?" the man said as he gripped the youth's shoulders after they broke the one sided embrace and grinned at the young man. "I'm your only cousin my lord?" Alphred responded to the King of Hessnya. "Exactly why you're my dearest, Alphred" the King kept up his grin as he finally let go of the youth's shoulders. Casomir was only a few years older than Alphred, yet even he was fooled by the dark beard that Casomir could of been anywhere from a decade older than himself, despite knowing the truth which was four summers.
"The trip was fair, we stayed in Prystrol before we made our way into the hills proper and they treated us with the same hospitality they probably give you when you visit" Alphred told his cousin who smiled from between his facial hair and lifted his dark eyebrows.
"Believe it or not Alphred, the last time I visited Prystrol was when I was barely... six, maybe seven. Even then, I'm sure lord Vilstoe didn't try to baptise you with chalk... did he?" Casomir laughed as Alphred chuckled to the reference of Casomir's first tour of the country.
Alphred glanced over to the construction that made it presence ever noted with the sawing of lumber or the lifting of clay tiles to the yet to be completed roof of the building. Casomir looked over to the construction and opened a palm with a stretched an arm towards it as if presenting an elaborate gift. "Do you like my new project? It's going to be a bunkhouse for a collection of troops I'm trying to get together" Casomir told the younger member of the family, they both watched intently as a new beam was staked up and the outline of the building grew longer.
"Troops would require alot of upkeep at full strength my lord, that and when we went through Prystrol we saw no miners bring up iron or other such metals from their quarry?" Alphred informed Casomir as they both looked back at each other, only to see the King among them perk up a smile longer than the one he had of pride moments earlier.
"That's partly the reason I invited you back here cousin, but let's get inside shall we before we discuss that shall we" Casomir told Alphred as his riding companions had tended to their steeds enough and walked into the open doors between the whitewashed walls and dark beams of the longhall. Casomir placed his arm over his cousins shoulder as they felt the warmth of the center fire pit start to warm through their cloaks and the mud gave way to wooden planks and straw.
Alphred led his horse up the trail towards Keir's Climb, stepping between the boulders and steep hill faces that the path weaves through and over. As Alphred and his half dozen mix of bodyguards and followers walked the trail, he watched the patches of light that swept over the hill across the small valley, the sunlight beaming through the gaps in the gray clouds above them. The dirt path turned once more in the long route up to the ancestral manor of his family, then finally he saw over the head and shoulders of one of his companions the red tiled roofs of the longhall and a small collection of other similarly roofed buildings surrounding it.
As they drew closer, Alphred spotted the bare wooden beams of a long building in construction. Various workmen engaging in skilled or unskilled labor in and around the site on the edge of the courtyard furthest from the entrance to the manor. The horses of the new arrivals tied their horses against posts that substituted the lack of any stables or even horselines, Alphred chimed his ears to the sound of iron or steel being struck between a hammer and an anvil from the smithy the posts where staked into the muddy ground behind.
Alphred walked as he gripped his cloak closely around him as he recognised a man sitting in a intricately carved chair with an equally intricate table beside, it's thin pointed legs digging into the mud as the figure turned his head around to see the approaching Alphred.
"Hah! Alphred!" the man said as he raised himself from his seat and turned to the cloaked youth. The man was in a cloak in the colour of their family's orange along with striped breeches that were tucked into his leather boots and a pale white tunic only a few shades lighter than the man who wore it. Alphred took the time to bow but was quickly caught in an embrace before he could complete the action necessary for royal decorum.
"It's good to see you my dearest of cousins, I trust the journey faired you well?" the man said as he gripped the youth's shoulders after they broke the one sided embrace and grinned at the young man. "I'm your only cousin my lord?" Alphred responded to the King of Hessnya. "Exactly why you're my dearest, Alphred" the King kept up his grin as he finally let go of the youth's shoulders. Casomir was only a few years older than Alphred, yet even he was fooled by the dark beard that Casomir could of been anywhere from a decade older than himself, despite knowing the truth which was four summers.
"The trip was fair, we stayed in Prystrol before we made our way into the hills proper and they treated us with the same hospitality they probably give you when you visit" Alphred told his cousin who smiled from between his facial hair and lifted his dark eyebrows.
"Believe it or not Alphred, the last time I visited Prystrol was when I was barely... six, maybe seven. Even then, I'm sure lord Vilstoe didn't try to baptise you with chalk... did he?" Casomir laughed as Alphred chuckled to the reference of Casomir's first tour of the country.
Alphred glanced over to the construction that made it presence ever noted with the sawing of lumber or the lifting of clay tiles to the yet to be completed roof of the building. Casomir looked over to the construction and opened a palm with a stretched an arm towards it as if presenting an elaborate gift. "Do you like my new project? It's going to be a bunkhouse for a collection of troops I'm trying to get together" Casomir told the younger member of the family, they both watched intently as a new beam was staked up and the outline of the building grew longer.
"Troops would require alot of upkeep at full strength my lord, that and when we went through Prystrol we saw no miners bring up iron or other such metals from their quarry?" Alphred informed Casomir as they both looked back at each other, only to see the King among them perk up a smile longer than the one he had of pride moments earlier.
"That's partly the reason I invited you back here cousin, but let's get inside shall we before we discuss that shall we" Casomir told Alphred as his riding companions had tended to their steeds enough and walked into the open doors between the whitewashed walls and dark beams of the longhall. Casomir placed his arm over his cousins shoulder as they felt the warmth of the center fire pit start to warm through their cloaks and the mud gave way to wooden planks and straw.
