Barony Of Vatavia, The Friar Wanders to War

The Friar Wanders to War

One of the precepts of the order of friars is to go out among the people. Having time on my hands and hearing of war on the eastern borders of Calontir (there is always need of spiritual guidance in wars), I followed this precept and wandered east.

The site of the confrontation was in the lands to the south of the Barony of Three Rivers. But I had to wonder if a marauding army had already ravaged the barony as all the highways I traveled upon were undergoing extensive repair, slowing my progress. As I was not familiar with the area finding the proper highway was difficult, and it was late at night before I found the encampments.

The next morning, I wandered the camps to see if I could find anyone that I knew. And in the middle I found the tent of Sir Stephen de Norfolk and went to greet him. We were the only Vatavians at the war. While we talked he remembered he had several of my books and finally returned them to me, as task he had been attempting to do for several months. We then set up his weapons display.

The origins of this war predate the existence of Calontir. The founding baron of Three Rivers, Steven Ironhand, had made some unwise promises, which caught up with him when the Middle Kingdom and Meredies went to war. His actions to fulfill his promises labeled him forever more as the Traitor Baron. The fallout from this was that the Barony of Grey Niche had a claim on Three Rivers. The current dustup is the result of the Baron of Grey Niche presenting Three Rivers as an offering to the Princess of Meredies, to which the current Baron of Three Rivers objected.

When the forces assembled that morning, Grey Niche was greatly outnumbered. Its Baron explained this was because he was simply out on an inspection tour with only his personal guard appropriate to his station. No one believed this, and it hardly stopped the commencing of bloodshed. And so the rest of the afternoon was filled with the usual banging and clanging appropriate to this sort of activity. Needless to say, Three Rivers swept the field, though Grey Niche faired better in other venues.

Meanwhile I visited with Sir Erich Hlodowechssun who was going to be made a Laurel that evening for his research. I also viewed the arts entries, which consisted of icons of someone named Elvis whose cult has a major presence in Grey Niche. And I watched some riders go though some exercise with their horses, including one lady who couldn’t be much more then six years of age. But it was at court I realized I needed to get out more. For while I knew that the Known World had expanded to include new kingdoms, I had never heard of the Kingdom of Rock and Roll, whose king made a brief appearance at court.

The evening meal was taken at the Bumblebee Tavern, which consisted of steak so well done that it was literally falling apart. A little later dancing broke out in front of the tavern. The evening ended at the bardic circle lead, as usual, by Sir Master Erich and Master Andrixos.

The following morning I made my way uneventfully back to Vatavia. Too bad not all wars could be so friendly.

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