Bobby
Lord John De Burgh
Swinford

A week it had been since Lord John had assumed the town of Swinford as his southern post of command, leaving a defensive garrison at posted in the northern outpost, some 15 leagues away. His time was most spent in counsel with his southern campaign commanders, creating a grand strategy for the remainder of the war. With Duke Zacharov in his custody, John would ploy to add him to his growing list of allies. On this day, though, John had a monumental decision to make. After the battle of Swinford, the victorious regency captured shy of one-hundred barbarian prisoners of war, who for the past week have been a logistical horror to maintain. His counselors of war had most seen war far more than Lord John, so he often gave their words respect. In this particular instance, his marshalls had unanimously agreed that the prisoners should be killed, to varying degrees of brutality. One went as far as to suggest they should be crucified on a road leading back to Iron Gate, to mockingly "Lead the way" To the city. 

 Stepping out of the custom-house of Swinford revealed a much more pleasing image than how he had entered it. On the center fountain no longer lay the corpse of a young boy, impaled through the chest with a spike and bodies had no longer ridden the streets. A day after his forces had made camp, they had taken to the streets assisting the common people to rebuild their town. Lord John himself took the streets bare-chested, helping the soldiers and citizens rebuild damaged infrastructure. However, John's conscious was plagued by fear as he worked. How the common people felt for the Lord was beginning to look up, but if he was overtly cruel on prisoners of war, he may make martyrs of them. John had deferred his responsibility to the later hours of the day, and in the afternoon he continued to work in the wheat-fields with the citizenry.

A man near fifty, John wasn't much inclined for hard labor. Rather than assisting the soldiers in the repairing of infrastructure, John loaded the town's harvest onto wagons to where they'd be sold to the common people. He used this opportunity to tan himself before the winter had set in. Fortunately for the citizens of Swinford, the autumn harvest had appeared to be strong enough to last them the coming Winter and longer. For this reason, the citizens were most grateful that the Regency armies had liberated the city before the Barbarian armies could steal their grain and poison the rest. Unlike most others of Northwind's noble status, John did not mind work. In fact, he thought it to be a stress-relieving pastime to take his mind away from the endless bloodshed that had preceded him to his current state. Calluses dotted the bases of his fingers, and sweat dripped down his back. The citizenry made conservation with John as he worked, but the difference in dialect and education made it quite difficult. The northerners of Iron Gate have a bit less colloquial diction than the lower cities, and most of the wheat-tenders hadn't spent longer than a week in school.

 John's conversations were interrupted when his Steward came bearing important news. "My Lord.." He said rather nervously. "There appears to be a host forming ranks in front of the City gates." John stared at the man wide-eyed, waiting for him to continue. "However, they do not have siege equipment, and haven't attacked our walls... They're simply standing there." John stood in silence, laying his equipment to rest. "Perhaps they wish for an audience, get me my coat." He commanded, trudging his boots through the dirt pathways towards the stables. "As you wish, My Lord. I shall also assemble your guard to escort you." They exchanged nods, as the Steward disappeared from sight.

Mounting his snow-white stallion had been the greatest feeling he had experienced since he occupied the city, and he had been searching far and wide for an excuse to ride once more. His guard joined him as he left the stables, his steward finally delivering to him his wolf's-pelt coat once they were well past ready to make way for the exit. Seeing their liege shirtless on horseback in nothing except for muddied pants and boots must have been quite a sight for the townsfolk to see. As he donned his coat, they rode off into the streets. Twenty men followed close behind and just in front of the Lord as they made their way to the city entrance, which John had made a note of renovating first in his stay. He had not exactly known why, but the decrepit gate had bode an ill omen when he had first laid claim to the city. Just before they had reached the portcullis, John noticed a large envoy of guards approaching him.

 As the ranking officers of both escorts met, they briefly exchanged words. Wishing to be ahead of the curve, John disembarked his stead and approached the guard. His annoyed mood suddenly appeared to change when he had seen the escortee. Prince, now Lord, Albert Rhoderick had apparently saw it fit to return to Lord John's graces. John walked hastily toward the young man, embracing him before Albert could even say a word. "Albert, how happy I am to see you! I feared for your life after not hearing back from your... Travels." Truthfully, John had known that Albert's will was not in his favor but a mix of emotion and theatrics had compelled the Lord to neglect Albert's move against him. "I truly am sorry, my poor boy. I put you through a dilemma I couldn't hope for you to be able to resolve." He let go of his embrace, and faced his guard. "Get the boy some food and water, and have some servants tend to his bath. He's marched a long while to get here." With that, he embarked his stead and smiled to Albert as he continued to make for the gate.

As the gate opened, John was revealed to what his Stewart had suggested. Just past his military camp, a band of freelancers had made themselves known. He trolled through the military camp, making way through the many soldiers who had stopped their work to see their Lord pass. The black and golden tents, Johns colors, held firm in the packed dirt, and heavily contrasted to the colors flown by the unknown army who stood before him. Once Lord John had reached a comfortable distance from the unknown host, he held up two fingers. "Halt!" The guard commander roared to his subordinates. Just like that, the escort stood in its tracks as John pressed forward to personally have conversation with the other army's commander. It was customary that two commanders, acting in good faith, would meet if their armies were at odds. As the Commander made himself known, John held up a single hand, waving to him. "For what purposes have you gathered this mighty host? Do you wish to make war?" John asked, narrowing his gaze.
Carol
Levi Cortez
Northwind

Levi stood tall, his black armor standing out amongst his men's rather lackluster gear. His face was covered by a hood matching the rest of his armor, and no skin was showing. He was silent as the men approached his camp, and when the other leader showed himself Levi stepped forward. 

"John De Burgh, I presume. I am Leviticus Eradius Cortezial, leader of this group. I am here on behalf of the now deceased Sir Quatlebaum, Lord of Breckinaire. Unfortunately he was slain by a rather deplorable creature who was taken care of quickly." Levi said, removing the hood and taking the letter out of his pocket. 

"This is a peace offering, and a show of loyalty to a hopefully prosperous future." Levi said, gesturing to some of his men to get the chest containing a portion of the gear they had collected on the way. "I am sure that you can find a use for some of this." Levi said, tipping the chest so the contents could be seen. Some gold pieces fell out, and a few eyes began hungrily staring at them. Roryk stood up from his seat and stood beside Levi, dwarfing Levi in comparison. He whispered something into Levi's ear before handing Levi a bow, and Levi spun around and shot an arrow into a bandit that had been hoarding gear, stealing food and other necessities. 

"Everyone knows the rules. He received his punishment, an arrow through the hand for thievery! Anyone else dare to test me?" Levi said, before turning and looking at John. "I really do apologize for the interruption. Where were we?"
Frankie
Lord Albert Rhoderick
Swinford

Rhoderick blinked for a moment, then stood there awkwardly, wide-eyed and open-mouthed as he struggled the greeting he had just received from John. It was disturbingly warm, and Albert found himself both baffled, confused, and most importantly, suspicious. There was no reason for John to be so warm with him; something was afoot. There had to be some catch or some trap lurking! More importantly what dilemma had John given him? What impossible task had John put before him? He hadn't been on the orders of John when he had sought out the Whylders. He had intercepted that letter... 

His mind was racing and he must have looked like one in shock, for the guard stepped forward and placed a hand on his shoulder before leading the dumb-struck young man away. The young man felt as if he were in the midst of some bizarre dream that, at any moment, might turn into a nightmare, but he tried not to dwell on it too much. His mind was so preoccupied, however, that he was grateful for the guiding hand on his shoulder. Soon, they came to a large mess tent where meals were being prepared, and the guard saw to it that Albert was given a hearty stew, fresh bread, and a few other things for his meal. It was not quite the fine dining that Albert was used to, but after several days on the road, he found that he was grateful for it and dug in. After scarfing the meal down, it was off for a bath and, to his surprise, new clothes.
Jill
Erik Sucher & Jax Brightwater

Erik nodded with a chuckle. Reaching out to pat his sister on the head like you would a child.

"As long as I get to fight, sister, I'm happy doing whatever jobs we can." Erik always loved proving he was stronger than everyone, even if he already looked it. The giant man that pushed past 7 feet tall and used a hammer half that size was the typical sign of brawn you'd hear about in legends, almost as if the man's creator was super into Greek Mythology at one point.

Meanwhile, Jax was moving. He had his hood up, attempting to blend into the crowd, and his eyes were down, focusing on the feet in front of him to avoid any unwanted collisions that would draw attention.

The Eclipse Captain had spent two days staring at this fortress before coming up with a feasible strategy. It was dangerous, bold, and completely idiotic. That's why Jax had reached out to the twins, the first person coming to mind when he thought "Idiotic," Was the massive bull who broke out of his chains just to fight his guard, and his sister was an added bonus.

The two he designated "B Squad" Consisted of Jax and the Lady Skagerlly. They were to make there way to a side entrance reserved for delivery, that being the least guarded doorway, and once inside they were to work their way up until they found Aleksandr. Meanwhile the twins and their henchmen were the distraction. Jax didn't know how exactly but the two were essential to creating a distraction big enough to get the garrison from the castle as involved as they can. The less guards inside was less interference for B Squad. In a perfect world the distraction would go off just as they got to the door, and the castle would be empty, with giant arrows pointing to their goal.

Jax tightened the scarf around his mouth and sighed as the delivery entrance came into view. He was nervous, excited, and worried, because Jax knew more than anyone that this was not a perfect world.
James
Northwind
Kelsafyr Skagerlly 

Ever observant eyes were quick to spot out the delivery entrance and briefly Kelsafyr wondered if she was capable of this task. Though plenty spirited, action was a relatively new concept to her, would she be prepared for whatever was about to happen? With every passing second, the far from strategic plan, seemed to disintegrate before her as she quickly considered all that could go wrong. The list was extensive.

Taking a deep breath, the Skagerlly woman closed her eyes for a brief second, inwardly checking herself for any symptoms of anxiety and eradicating them. Her thoughts were resolved, fear would do them no good now. Her eyes opened once again and a ghost of a smile passed her lips, *She was ready*