June
Lord Eric Stafford
Hagen Keep

Eric had let Elise go back to making preparations in her keep. Eric was outside, inspecting positions for defenses while Captain Hart was setting up patrols, patrols hadn't been completely figured out yet and there some gaps as Stafford had only been there an hour or two. Some guards saw some dark smoke rising from the side of the keep, where a large trellis attached to the side of Hagen's keep had caught fire. The five man patrol saw a man running from the scene.

"STOP!" One shouted, when he didn't, "Shoot him!"

Three crossbows snapped. The first shot went wide, but the second bit deep into the man's lower back and the third into his upper left shoulder. The man went down almost instantly, by the time the party of five recovered the body, it was essentially too late. He was on his last breathe and when Eric came to the body, the unnamed man died. 

"You five, pull that trellis down, _Now_!" Eric commanded. The fire was spreading across it, licking the stone walls and singing them but not doing much other damage. The five men moved to the side of the trellis that the fire had not spread to yet and pulled it down into the green, wet grass.

"Let it burn out." Captain Hart called out. Get some buckets of sand incase the fire spread onto the grass. Three of the men obliged and ran off to dig up dirt buckets. Captain Hart looked at Eric and lowered his voice. "What the fuck was that?" 

"I don't know." Eric sighed, shaking his head and rubbing the bridge of his nose. 

"Was he affiliated with this Lord Duckly?"

"He died before I got to him. They said he was trying to run." 

"We'll get guards around all the trellis. Trying to light a stone keep on fire, what a genius, huh?" Captain Hart scoffed before walking off to finish sending out patrols. 

"Yeah." Eric shook his head at the dead man. "Clean up the body." Eric commanded, "Bury him somewhere, don't bother marking it." 

With that Eric about faced and walked back to the main section of camp.

Where a man on a horse was stopped by the bulk of Eric's force being questioned, the man was wearing Stafford's colors and held a letter in hand. 

"Lord Stafford," One of the men called out as Eric approached, _What now?_ Eric complained in his thoughts. "A letter from Lady Stafford." The courier announced as Eric reached him, taking the letter. 

"Hm, thank you." Eric's stomach twisted hoping it wasn't bad news. He broke the seal and began to read, with some thirty onlookers.

As Eric's eyes followed the letter, his grip on the letter tightened and his lips tightened. "I see." He muttered. He looked to the thirty men, "Continue setting up defenses. You five," He pointed at a few men in front of him, "Start readying your horses as well as mine... _Now._" Eric's tone did not need a response, only the sound of footsteps. "Courier, you're go back to Stormalong and inform Lady Stafford I am on my way." 

"Aye Mi'lord." And he turned the horse around and rode back to Stormalong. 

"_Captain Hart!_ " Eric called out.

"Moving!" Was the response, and Hart seemingly materialized. "Everything all right, my lord?" The stressed look communicated that every was _not_ all right.

"Take charge, I am writing Lord Coridon to take my place. You'll take commands from him unless it is something stupid. You're a man of common sense, you know what stupid is."

"Aye, and Lord Duckly?"

Eric rubbed his temples. "I'm telling Lord Coridon to attempt to get the two to negotiate. If Lord Duckly gets hostile, write me and defend this keep. I'll descend from Stormalong and rip him apart."

Hart nodded, "Of course my lord, safe travels."

Eric sighed, "And good luck to you here. Make the most of it." With that, Eric stepped off to write a letter to Lord Coridon and to leave for Stormalong.
Alex
**
Lord Syric Vignola
Audemaus Forest**

The trip back to Stormalong Keep wasn't long, and when he arrived Angelica was standing in the foyer, pacing back and forth as if she was waiting on someone. When he opened the doors she'd looked up, a light filling her eyes that disappeared with a blink. 

"Lord Vignola, did you find the man you were seeking?" She questioned, and Syric gave a nod, moving aside to gesture towards the man who claimed to be the healer. Angelica's eyes moved over the older gentleman, and her grip on Marcus against her chest tightened. The child gave a small wheeze in response, and she loosened her hold a bit. 

"Were you waiting on me this whole time?" He asked, curious why she looked a little... Well, strung out, to be polite. 

"No. Eric's on his way home." She answered shortly and looked to the guard. "Upon the Lord's return alert me immediately. I need to be the first one to speak with him." She instructed without waiting for a response, and turned on her heel, leading the two gentleman down the hall.
Robert
David Bradshawe
Stormalong, probably

The old mystic had followed Lord Vignola all the way to Stormalong, and the journey wasn't too bad on him. He's not used to long distances, and so it had left him a little winded and achy by time they made it to Stormalong. When the lady that was most likely nobility asked about him, he kinda lifted a hand a gave a teensy little wave, though he remained quiet. He doesn't belong there, and he's 100% aware of it. His eyes shifted to the babe in her arms, and he heard its wheeze, which made him cringe a slight bit. This child was clearly not well, and it surely sounded like a lung issue. Lung issues are not hard for him, it doesn't require too much of his magic to alleviate. And then she turned to walk away. He stuck close to Vignola, thinking that he would most likely not get lost that way.
Alex
Stormalong Keep 

Angelica was lost in thought as they walked, all too aware of every sound that came from the keep around her. She chose a path that followed the exterior walls, her head turning to look out every window that passed on the way to the meeting room. She wasn't opposed to magic, but she'd only grown more paranoid with each passing day and having yet another stranger in her home without Anyanka or Eric to stand beside had her at her wits end. At least Syric was here, and the Lord offered to take Marcus from her but she rejected the offer with a small but firm shake of her head. 

Her blonde curls had gone flat, and she turned nearly immediately as they entered the room. It was set up with basic accommodations to host a meeting of about twenty, but she didn't bother to take a seat.

"I hear you've been preforming magic in the Audemaus. It's not exactly ideal to have those rumors floating around so close to Brewerns." She told him plainly, and Marcus coughed in her arms, a rough rattling sound that made the woman close her tired eyes- revealing just how purple and dark they were without the blue to contrast it. When Marcus settled once more, she continued on her question. 

"So I need to know who you are and why you're worth protecting."
Robert
David Bradshawe
Stormalong Keep

David had watched women closely as they walked, trying to notice her mannerisms. The main thing he noticed is that she seemed trouble. The old man had to be the observational type, given what sort of thing he does. As soon as they entered the room, he shifted off towards the side, a bit away from the two of them, but his eyes still making contact with her. He listened to her words, and then painfully to the baby's coughing, and then to her question. David's face showed little to no emotion, not wanting to give anything away.

He blinked at her mention of Brewerns.. He raised a hand to his face, and placed his fingers against his temples as he thought to himself. Brewerns, Brewerns.. Where is that? He had no recollection. "Who am I, you ask? I am simply Valentine." He replied to her, before continuing. "And do not worry, I ask not for your protection. Lord.. Vignola, yes, Vignola led me here, saying that a child with royal blood needed aid. I am capable of doing such a thing." The mystic was trying to keep his words vague, not giving anything away.
Alex
Stormalong Keep

His explanation had Angelica's eyes darting to Syric, who gave a small shrug. "You tasked me with bringing him back here, it seemed the only way to get him to agree." 

"_My_ son's health isn't something to be spread through all of Stormalong, Vignola." She retorted, and looked to the man who claimed himself Valentine. He was older than herself, and from her guess older than Anyanka too, which placed him at prime age for the fall. A magic user hiding in the woods wasn't the best use of that sort of magic, and she wondered if he'd felt the pull to Astoria. Maybe that was why he was lingering in the woods. 

Or, rather, maybe he'd been there all along, and only now that Stormalong had started to stand on it's own was anyone paying attention to things like this. 

"Aid how?"
Bruce
Lord Duckly 
Ducksbury, Southern Feyshore

Jeff's body was thrown down at Lord Duckly's bejeweled toes. He was a proponent of wearing a *Minimum* Of nine toe-rings, each adorned with a different precious gemstone. He glanced down at the mangled adolescent body. When questioned, he responded with a simple "I do not know this man." 

"Is this another victim of the Hagen wench?" Lord Dorcas sneered. He looked pointedly at the Stafford men. "Perhaps instead of murdering young boys, you should try and arrest the madwoman who blindly armed a town of illiterates."
Robert
David Bradshawe
Stormalong Keep

David, to put it simply, watched the two squabble for the little time that they did. He raised an eyebrow at it. It had been a long, long time since he'd had to listen to courtly troubles, and it was almost.. Amusing, in a way. His reasons for being there are quite plain and simple in his mind: To heal a child. After that was done, he planned on going right back to his forest home, where he could study things in peace. A part of him said that since he came this far, there's a good chance he won't be going back. He chose to ignore that part, to say the least.

"I thought it would be quite clear how I would aid. After all, I was dragged from my home to do just that." He said at first, and then gave a sigh. It was against his own laws to share his magical secrets. "I will say this: I can heal him. I refuse to say how, though."
Alex
Stormalong Keep

Her brow rose, and she gave a scoff of a laugh. "You're not touching my son without telling me _exactly_ what you intend to do." She told him, twisting her torso and Marcus away from him. 

"Angelica, that's rather backwards thinking for someone who is so close to the Queen. You'd let her preform magics on you and your family but not this man?" Syric questioned and Angelica looked at him like he'd just asked why she'd ride a horse but not let one care for her infant. 

"The Queen has saved my life countless times, I trust her with all of our lives. And besides, her magics are-"

"Untrained?" 

"You verge on treason, Vignola."

"Why? This man has practiced and successfully provided a skill for what-" He glanced at Valentine, and held his hand up, prompting confirmation "Ten years? Longer?" 

"_I didn't request him here to poke and prod at my son._" She said finally, frustration making her words sting more than she'd intended. Marcus hiccupped in her arms, and started to fuss, clearly upset by the situation. "Valentine, I'll be frank, the woods is no place for a man with power that you're reported to wield. I'd like to see you to Astoria, to train under Doctor Coren in the Astorian court. He's teaching others how to use craft and medicine together. I'm certain the Queen would love to have you work with him and his students."
June
Lord Eric Stafford
Storamalong

A knock would sound at the door of the room Angelica was using, a voice would call out after the knock, "My lady, Lord Stafford has been spotted on his way to the city." He'd report. 

The report he was given was actually old by now, as Eric was passing through the gates as the steward was knocking on the door. The streets cleared when Lord Stafford rode down it, quickly the populace gave Lord Stafford and his party of five room for them to quickly ride directly to the keep, most hailing Eric Stafford as he passed by. They were ignored, Eric needed into his home _now_.

As Eric was making his through the streets of Stormalong, and the steward that had just walked away from the door, another man appeared, "Ah, Lord Stafford is in the city, Steward.

"My, he was riding quick." The steward went back to the door, "Correction, my lady, Lord Stafford is in the city on his way to the keep, I'll prepare a welcome for him." He called again through the door before going to the main hall where Lord Eric Stafford was waiting, still dressed in mail, making for an uncomfortable ride. 

"My lord! I wasn't expecting you_"

"Where is my wife?" He asked sharply, cutting him off. 

"Follow me, my lord." And the steward turned on his heel toward the hallways and toward the room. Once they were in the hall, Eric had a good guess of what room and outpaced the steward and went to the door, opening it and entering abruptly. Being taken a little off-guard by the company with Angelica.

Captain Hart
Hagen Keep

Was looking at the lord sternly. By the time Lord Duckly arrived, minor defense and stakes had been put into the ground forming a perimeter in the front of the keep. There was a line of Stafford men-at-arms watching Lord Duckly and any men he might have brought with him. "My lord," Captain Hart began, remembering his courtesies, "This boy was caught setting the keep of a Feyshorian noblewoman on fire. When he was apprehended, he ran. Rather than allow an arsonist escape, he was shot twice. How would you rather we deal with arsonists?" He questioned, crossing his arms. "Lord Coridon has yet to arrive, when he does, Lord Stafford has instructed us to oversee negotiations so we can avoid fighting." Captain Hart added. 

Lord Coridon was exactly six miles out from the location, not exactly moving fast as he had a taste for comfort and was bring a small baggage train, some hedge knights and his own men with him into the field. If Lord Duckly had any scouts watching the south, he'd know that Lord Coridon was well on his way and would be arriving in an hour or two.