The mountains with their passes did a lot to keep trouble the either side from spilling into the other. Never mind that the free cities, for the most part, were too concerned with fighting each other to organize and march over the mountains, their divided and combative nature made them unappealing for conquest.  The ascension of the trade league had placed a stable and growing realm just on the other side of the mountain pass. The administrator of that realm was a known mercenary, skilled in the arts of war it had been a surprise when Theasar Lazeris became king of sorts, in all but blood at least.<br/><br/>The rumors of trouble over the mountains had motivated him to send patrols and scouts into the passes, no one claimed the lands, and if some ambitious lord thought to mark troops into the desert to grab up some more and he wanted to know about it before he had an army marching through the pass. To that end, he had been rebuilding some ancient forts along the pass for the last few years. It was from one of these the man himself had taken a patrol into the mountains, the sound of horses and a carriage moving through the woods had sent the soldiers, a squad of scouts, into the woods to hide. They had carefully followed out of sight from there. They saw a lot of fancy knights, the coach, and that was it for some time, at last, they seemed to come to a meeting place.<br/><br/>They watched the meeting as close as they could, listening as it became clear that the knights and soldiers were in the act of betraying the others at the meeting. It had all happened so fast, they had not been expecting it, and all by the princess were left when the order was passed, arrows began flying from the trees, two of the knights fell with a shaft in their neck. With that two lines of ten men streamed from the woods, coming together locking shields together, with short swords, clearly ready for a fight, and their commander standing behind them, shield on his arm, longsword drawn. All were dressed in chainmail, while the commander had the added protection of a breast plate.<br/><br/>“Good morning!” he called across the distance<br/>