The Barons' War
Copyright© 2025 by Lumpy
Chapter 18
Kasikskad, Rikshof, Werna
Kasikskad was like no city William had seen before. It sprawled across several natural terraces carved into the hillside, with timber and stone buildings clustered around ancient ruins at its center. Morning fog clung to the valleys, but standing on the heights overlooking it, the autumn sun cast long shadows across the landscape.
“Not quite what I expected,” William said.
Eskild pulled his horse alongside William’s. “Towns built on ruins never are. The old structures dictate where the new must go.”
William nodded. They were dressed in simple traveling clothes: wool tunics, brown leather jerkins, and mud-spattered boots. Nothing that would indicate they were Sidorian, let alone that he was a prince of that kingdom. They’d hurried out of Paranafn, only buying horses and some clothes as a disguise. Even with that haste, it had taken almost a week to get here.
“Remember, we’re from Lynese,” William reminded his men. “So speak only when necessary and try to keep it short.”
William had an ear for accents and his was passable, as was one of the other men in their group, whose mother had been Lynesian and spoke the language well.
For the other man and Eskild, however, there was little hope of hiding them for what they were.
They rode down the winding path toward the town gates. William took in the sights. While military matters had always been of the greatest interest to him, he’d enjoyed his tutors’ talks about history, and this city had actually come up several times. Werna hadn’t been a major part of the old, pre-fall empire, but its distance from the Reckoning had meant that it had the most intact sites in the entire Shattered Lands.
While sightseeing wasn’t his goal, he didn’t know if he’d ever be back to one of these sites and wanted to take in as much as he could.
The town guards at the gate gave them only a cursory glance. William had chosen their approach carefully, arriving with a small group of travelers and merchants heading to the morning market.
“Keep your eyes and ears open,” William said. “We’ll take the bottom ruins, and you take those on the top terrace. He’ll be at one or the other. Be discreet. Meet here in five hours, whether you’ve found something or not.”
The two soldiers nodded and peeled away, heading up the widening street to the top terrace. William had wanted to send Eskild with one of the men and take the other with him. Not that he didn’t trust the soldiers to get their job done; he just would have preferred to have the sergeant leading one group. Eskild, however, had flatly refused to leave William’s side.
“The ruins are more extensive than I thought,” William said as they secured their horses at a public stable.
“Most excavations I’ve seen are little more than holes in the ground. This place still has walls standing.”
That was something else he liked about the man. He was more-traveled than anyone William had met. He seemed to have experience with everything.
“The ancients built to last. Or so the acolytes tell us.”
Because it was also a tourist destination, and not just an active excavation, there was signage indicating what the major buildings were. The biggest, and the one still standing, was the grand hall. Like a few others scattered around the lands, it had survived when most everything else the ancients built crumbled and decayed.
He’d never been given a good reason for why these buildings were important, but they clearly had been.
Around the hall were the outlines of other buildings, their foundations dug up and marked off, slowly being excavated by acolytes crouched around the site, doing delicate work. Some were carefully brushing dirt from objects, others making notes on parchment, while novices and local laborers moved earth under their direction.
“Alright, let’s see if any of these acolytes will talk to strangers.”
They approached the excavation site from the main path. Two novices stood at a makeshift gate, checking the credentials of those who wished to enter. When William and Eskild approached, one stepped forward.
“The excavation isn’t open to visitors today,” the young man said.
Or at least William thought that’s what he said. His Wernerian was terrible.
“We don’t wish to disturb your work,” he said in Lynesian, hoping the man spoke the language so he didn’t have to try Sidorian. “We’re trying to locate Brother Tomas from Sidor. We have a message for him from associates in Paranafn.”
Most acolytes were well-trained in the major languages of the Shattered Lands, and William was fairly confident one of them would speak the language.
“You should speak with the brothers working in the cataloging tent,” the acolyte said, switching languages and pointing at a large canvas structure near the central ruins.
William thanked him, and they proceeded into the complex. The excavation was well organized, with different areas clearly demarcated by stakes and string.
Inside the tent, three junior acolytes were working, sorting artifacts onto shelves and making notations in bound ledgers.
“Good day, brothers,” William said as they entered.
The acolytes looked up from their work. The oldest among them, a man perhaps five years William’s senior, spoke first.
“How may we assist you?” His tone was polite but reserved.
“We’re searching for Brother Tomas from Sidor. We bring a message from associates in Paranafn.”
The man looked William up and down, taking in his dress and style, thankfully coming to the conclusion he’d wanted them to come to.
“What business do merchants have with a specific brother of our order?”
“Family matters. His kin in Paranafn asked us to deliver news while we were traveling this way.”
“Without proper introduction to our order, we cannot help random travelers locate specific members,” the second acolyte said, who was looking past William to Eskild. “Especially considering the company you keep.”
“Don’t mind me,” Eskild said, keeping his tone light in spite of the implied insult. “I’m just hired to watch his back. Nothing more.”
William was about to speak again when a new voice interrupted from outside the tent.
“These men have work to do, and I’d ask you not to disturb them.”
An older man with weathered features and gray-streaked hair entered the tent. His robes, while similar to the others, bore subtle markers of higher rank within the order.
“Brother Ohanas oversees the cataloging of discoveries,” the first acolyte explained. “These men seek a Brother Tomas from Sidor.”
“And why would merchants search for an acolyte?” he asked.
“We carry a message from associates in Paranafn,” William said, repeating the story. “Regarding an urgent family matter.”
“You’ve come a long way to deliver a message. Especially when wyverns would have been faster.”
“Our business brought us to Kasikskad regardless. The message was entrusted to us personally.”
The older man was thinking, clearly considering William’s words. He must have found him believable, because after a moment he nodded and said, “Brother Tomas was indeed working here, but you missed him by several days.”
“Oh, that’s terrible. I’ll be honest; I’d agreed to take the message for reasons beyond just curiosity. I’ve always been fascinated with these kinds of digs and had hoped to talk to him about what he was doing. From his family member’s description, it had sounded like he was working on something interesting.”
William could feel Eskild’s eyes boring into the back of his head. Yes, it was a thin lie, but William had had many acolytes as tutors in the past, and they all shared one overwhelming trait.
They loved to talk about their studies. He’d never met one that wouldn’t drone on at the slightest invitation.
“Well, I’m not sure what he was working on, although he was concentrated on an area of the dig site that I’d always thought was particularly interesting. We still don’t know what the building was used for, but I stand by the side that says it was a workshop of some type.”
“What did Tomas think it was?”
“I have no idea. The man was uniquely focused on his work, and that’s saying something considering the company he kept in his order.”
“Oh, I see. I’ve only ever had the privilege to see a few sites of pre-fall dwellings, never anything as impressive as what you have here and certainly not a workshop. I would have loved to have him tell me about it. Well, thank you for your time,” William said, trying not to hold his breath as he baited the hook.
“Would you like to see where he conducted his research?”
“Only if it isn’t an imposition. I know you must be very busy.”
“One is never too busy to share the knowledge of the ancients. It is one of our order’s highest commandments.”
Ohanas sent the other acolytes back to work with a gesture and led William and Eskild from the tent, walking through the excavation toward a partially unearthed chamber at the far end of the complex.
“Brother Tomas must have been studying this site for some time because he arrived with specific goals of where to excavate. Although he didn’t share his findings with us.”
“That seems unusual,” William remarked. “I thought the acolytes valued shared knowledge.”
“Normally, yes, which is why he stands out in my memory so well. Otherwise, I might not even remember him, considering he never even stopped to take meals with us.”
They descended a set of newly cut stone steps into an underground chamber. Cool air enveloped them, carrying the scent of damp earth and ancient stone. The space was roughly circular and at its center stood a stone pedestal.
“Brother Tomas spent most of his time here and was the one to discover this chamber. It was quite exciting, really. I’ve actually worked this site before, and I’d had no idea this even existed, and he was here only a few weeks and has one of the best finds in decades to his name.”
“What was in here?”
“Nothing, as far as I’m aware. Just the pedestal as you see it. Honestly, I was surprised he didn’t stay longer, after a find like this. The brothers are nearly tearing themselves apart to be part of the team to examine this chamber first.”
William nodded, looking around the room and thinking. It sounded to him like there had been something in this chamber. Something that Tomas had specifically been looking for and he’d left in a hurry once he found it.
“Do you know where he went when he left?”
“I believe he returned to Paranafn, which makes your journey kind of pointless, since he will be there in a week to get the message himself personally.”
“It does, but as I said, I was headed this way already, and it was an excuse to stop and take in a sight I would not normally get to see, so perhaps on balance I am still ahead.”
The man beamed, pleased to have his life’s work appreciated. They might not have found Tomas, but Tomas had clearly found what he’d been sent to find, and if possible, William wanted to find out what that was.
“He left no notes at all?” William asked.
“None that he shared, which is a problem. We have strict rules about how information is treated, and he violated those rules. Several brothers reported his behavior to me, but by the time I arrived to speak with him, he had already departed.
“Do you have any idea what he might have discovered?”
“I’m not sure he discovered anything, not that it matters. The room itself is a discovery that would get his name placed in the annals in the Hall of the Mystics. It’s a shame he didn’t stay to get his discovery on record and get the credit for it.”
“Did he travel alone?” Eskild asked.
The acolyte glanced at the sergeant sideways, clearly not comfortable talking directly to a Thayan. While there was a general distrust against people from that dusty land, the real bigotry sat with the acolytes, whose very mission was the antithesis of what most Thayans believed.
“As far as I know,” Ohanas answered after a beat. “Though he seemed in a great hurry when he left.”
“I see. Well, thank you for your time, Brother.”
“Indeed.” Ohanas led them back to the surface. “I hope you find Brother Tomas in Paranafn, though I suspect he may have already moved on. If you are ever in this area again, you are welcome to come and learn more about what we’re doing here. It’s rare to find a young man not in the orders with such a curious mind to the old ways. It’s refreshing.”
With a bow, William climbed out of the chamber and left the site, Eskild in tow.
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