I am Tefra, born into the family of Herome in the city of Kadra the fallen, under the coal black boughs of the burnt Horevo in the city that once was Gold that now lies in the Lands of Ohia the Viper. My family were merchant princes and even ruled Kadra the Golden, in the days before the Serpent Queen rose from the gape of the river and the armies of the Viper were sent out to subjugate the independent cities of the Gandzono.
I am the sergeant of the Exiled Red Brigade of the Rainbow Guard of the Kingdom of Galadiahos and it is with them that I feel closest kindred of all in the world, for we are all exiles and wanderers, brotherless and friendless and far from home. I sought the brigade out in the far north, following stories of their passage through the ports of the world until I finally met with them in the city-states of Loyismos, not long before the burning of the Twin Cities.
Of my own family I can hardly bear to speak, save to say that the priests slaughtered them, man, woman, child. My own escape vouchsafed by a friend in the church guard (whose name I will not set down for fear of what might become of her if this letter should be discovered) with whom I had served in the army during the great crisis in the reign of Omokentra the Patriarch of Edra when the forces of the ancient Sfeeka swept down from the mountains and threatened to overwhelm the Pagoth cities until we destroyed the great Queen in the caverns under Nekronos. My friend and I had often whiled away the the time in barracks discussing the fine points of Southern theology and never once did the difference in our patron cause us to grow more than slightly animated in our discussion, despite the known fanaticism of her family for the purity and sole incarnation of Ohia the Viper as the mortal-immortal serpent priests and the unfashionable but ancient belief of my own family that Ohia was merely one of the family of Southern Gods; my own patron is in fact the little-known Haravyee, bringer of the dew, the tiny water-snake whose duty it is to slither over each rock at dawn to leave the precious summer dew that saves a dying man in the desert.
Suffice it to say that the priests of Ohia had decided that our family could no longer be permitted its heresy, however mild and debatable that heresy may be, and that we were to be eliminated. That Euporis, patriarch of Kadra and scion of the family Kapsoulis, had long coveted our wealth and lands of course did not enter into the decision. My friend, who did not know whose family was being targeted but whose actions were forced by means upon which I shall not dwell was nonetheless able to recognise her old friend and ensured that I could slip out of the city unobserved. I believe that Euporis was found choked to death on the remains of an inadequately cooked water-snake some days later, which implies that either my patron heard my prayer or my friend regained her senses. I like to think that it was both.
where was a professional soldier from a fallen family in a fallen city in a decadent kingdom who follows a heretical minor goddess to go? In my heart I wished to fight and spill the blood of the worshippers of Ohia the Viper, but in my head I knew that most resembled my friend far more than they resembled Euporis the Patriarch- how could I set out on a holy war when one of the devout of the goddess my enemy had spared me from the clutches of her own priests? I could not. It was as I sailed away in my little boat that evening that I remembered the tales of the Exiled Red Brigade and the rumour that they had sworn an oath never to serve the priests of Ohia the Viper. Here was a way to dedicate my life to confounding Ohia's priests without attempting to wage war upon her followers. Even though I had decided to keep my biographical introduction short, I fear that I have already covered too many lines. Let me proceed therefore to inform you that it is currently the twenty-sixth day of the sixth moon in the thirteenth year of the rule of Queen Evnia of Galadiahos, by whose rule the brigade is apt to keep its reckoning.
We are in service to a variety of employers in the City of Cantik in the Sungai Baik, principally as a marine force guarding small merchant vessels against pirates. The brigade is up to a strength of two hundred men and four sailing vessels, having recruited new members principally in Cantik itself.
The pirates appear to be mostly Outlander tribes who have taken to ocean reaving as a more profitable and less strenuous lifestyle than hunting in the forests or fishing for their supper. They do not appear to have a centralised organisation and most pirate vessels operate alone. They are principally interested in stealing cargo although they have been known to swap vessels if the pirates' vessel is particularly distressed (or just in need of a month in drydock) and the merchant vessel particularly fine. Some tribes take captives as slaves, most will let the majority of prisoners go free or at least for ransom; a few tribes will sacrifice an enemy to faveros the Terrible or Ksenkano the Avenger after the battle to appease their god. It is said that the full and the dark of the moon are the most dangerous times, for the Outlander gods are fighting over the moon and it is on the nights of light and dark when one god is totally dominant that sacrifices are most often required.
Morfazo refuses to admit that there is some clear driving force behind these raids, despite the evidence presented by myslef and by Vreeo (Rekor's apprentice). We believe there to be a principal mind behind these raids. I shall not set down all the evidence here but let me state that the timing of follow-up raids is remarkably accurate and that if one examines the geographical distribution of the strikes one can clearly see that the pirates in fact sail in loose fleet formation, probably staying just in sight of each under a quarry is sighted. That they do not attack in force despite this organisation I believe is clear evidence that their controller does not wish to inform his prey of the fact of his own organisation. Vreeo and I will continue to gather our information so as to be prepared.
I feel that the lack of a Lieutenant is a real weakness in the current organisation that Morfazo should address. The man is a tactical genius but, let us state here and now, a strategic idiot.
The other current bane of the company's internal hierarchy is Rekor the sorceror. I believe something happened in the burning of the twin cities that has affected Rekor's ability to operate in an effective fashion. He spends an increasing amount of time in his workshop, which is probably useful activity, but he seems unconcerned by the level of sorcerous attack which our brother sustain during the major sea engagements and is leaving I think too much to Vreeo, whose own level of activity can barely be said to rise above the comatose on most occasions.
Oh my, I've just read that bit back. I really do sound like a vinegary old bitch, don't I?
Look, Morfazo has done excellent stuff getting the brigade back on its feet after the Twin Cities and I have never served under a commander whose tactical acumen was greater. I have lost count of the times that Morfazo has pulled a stunning coup that left us victorious without having to draw blade. It is just that I think we really need a long term planner.
Rekor I can't say so much about, he's a lot older than me and everyone knows sorcerors are crotchety and secretive. I'm pretty sure that he's got some problem, though, and I've got this dreadful premonition that we're going to need sorcery in a bloody hurry some day.
It is now the fifteenth day of the twelfth moon in the fourteenth year of the reign of Queen Evnia of Galadiahos.
The brigade continues to be engaged upon fairly routine marine escort duty, although because of Morfazo's tactical acumen and Vreeo's deft assistance we have bolstered our bloodthirsty reputation and are able to command the highest prices of any marine vessel in the fleet of the Sungai Baik, independent or government. If the merchants of Safir want to make sure that the shipment of Sapphires gets to Stavrotos safely, it is us that they will hire.
I continue to be convinced that the brigade needs a strategist, because it becomes more obvious to me every day that this so-called "piracy" is nothing less than an attempt to gain a stranglehold on the trade throughout the great sea. A year ago, the waggling tongues said to the twitching ears that the pirates were just barbarian raiders on ships that were little more than logs lashed together, hardly a patch on the fine reed boats of the south or the great oared merchantmen of the north. Today we find ourselves fighting men as well armed as we, as well armoured as we, whose vessels are every bit as fine as ours, albeit that many of them are war spoils. The only things we have going for us are our guile and our training, and that will not suffice for ever. We have been attacked by dark sorceries and it said that some captured vessels are burnt and the souls of all we serve on board sacrificed to some nameless outlander god.
Morfazo now agrees that there is more to this pirate problem than meets the eye, but is unwilling to let the brigade take any leading role in beginning the long-term campaign that must happen if we are to overcome this Outlander threat. If the campaign is not started soon I believe that the Northern civilizations will soon be fighting for their survival. The south is stronger but if the north falls the south will surely follow.
I have one more sad fact to record. Rekor the Sorceror died three days ago, it is believed from a heart attack. Vreeo has taken over as Sorceror. I do not go back on what I said in my first entry regarding Rekor, in fact, I believe that it was attempting to reverse whatever curse he was labouring under that finally brought on his heart attack. However, I regret both the fact and the manner of his passing. I hope that Vreeo will be able to safeguard us against the increasingly large number of sorcerous attacks to which we find ourselves subjected.
It is the tenth day of the tenth moon in the fifteenth year of the reign of Queen Evnia of Galadiahos. The company is now under contract to a cartel of merchants and merchant houses in Cantik. We are rarely there, however, as we spend most of our time at sea.
The pirate raids have grown much stronger and now the pirates are not afraid of showing their true strength. Merchant vessels now sail in convoy and pirates attack in convoy. We are at the head of a small fleet of vessels, mostly captained and crewed by other independent operators like ourselves, which act as a convoy escort for the fleet of the merchant cartels.
Despite these heroic measures (and considerable cost to the merchants) many vessels are not getting though. The northern cities are beginning to buckle under the strain; soon I believe there will be a general collapse of the merchant houses and a consequent ruination of the cities themselves.
However, by far the most worrying development is the commencement of pirate raids on coastal villages. Up until now, these settlements have been relatively safe, with the odd pirate vessel sailing in for a quick rape and pillage on the way to a raid. Now, however, the raids are clearly planned and much more damaging. Morfazo has finally agreed that the situation is both extremely serious and we, the brigade, have begun to agitate for concerted efforts to seek out and destroy the bases and command of the pirates.
It has furthermore become clear that many of the village raids are performed in order to gather people. It is not known at this time whether these are to be taken as slaves or as sacrifices, but it is abundantly clear that the Outlanders have found a new demi-god to worship. We think that they call him Veliki Val Krav but the locals call him Vonis the Divider. It is his name that the pirates call out before battle is joined and him that they thank with sacrifices after a successful battle.
Vreeo and I have been speculating that Veliki Val Krav (which means something like "Seas stained with blood" by the way, which shows that the Outlanders have a powerful if basic way with words) may be the name of a leader, priest-king or sorceror-king rather than an actual deity. Vreeo points out that the Outlanders have never been known to acknowledge anyone other than their two moon-wrestling bloodletting gods, but I know that even the apparently monolithic cults of the great Southern empires have their sub-cults (which the locals would describe as Avatars of the one and all gods, which seems like a good way of putting it to me) so why shouldn't the Outlanders? It isn't as though even the Scholars of Merah have gone out into the Outlander tribes to discuss the finer points of their theology with them, is it? I acknowledge that such an endeavour would probably end up in a first hand demonstration of applied theology at the hands of a grinning priest with a very, very sharp knife, but to acknowledge the existence of the bloody cults is not to deny the existence of the others. Perhaps the family gods or tribal gods are private in some sense where the two moon gods are the public face of their religion?
Anyway, we should find out more about this Veliki Val Krav. It is the twenty second day of the fifth moon in the sixteenth year of the reign of Queen Evnia of Galadiahos.
We are still fighting pirates, but at least now the cities have woken up to the threat and have turned their full attention to squashing the invaders. It is amazing how many people are saying "I told you so" when they did not.
Vreeo and I have continued our theological investigations and have come to the conclusion that Veliki Val Krav is probably a deity but that the organiser of the Outlander pirates is his high priest and maybe also a sorceror-king in his own right. This is not exactly what Morfazo wanted to hear, because he has found himself in charge of the third fleet of Cantik, which is what used to be our convoy escort fleet but is now principally a hunt-and-kill roving fleet. We are trusted with detailed plans of where most of the convoys are going to be sailing. Vreeo, Morfazo and I then try to come up with plans to entrap Pirate forces, enticing them to attack apparently lightly-defended convoys whilst co-ordination counter-attacks by various means which I shall not set down here.
The brigade is still at two hundred men, although we have lost almost fifty since I started writing this history. We have found no shortage of volunteers to join, although the older hands are getting just a little tired of nursemaiding idealistic teenagers who have signed up as prospective candidates in order to save the world. Those few that are accepted will soon learn that we are not in the business of saving the world.
The pirates have finally been smashed. It is the thirteenth day of the eleventh moon of the seventeenth year of the reign of Queen Evnia of Galadiahos. We played a leading role in the assault on the fortress of Lovac Vel Krav, the sorceror king who had so nearly brought the north to its knees. Needless to say, the gratitude of the city and the merchants was magnificent to behold and lasted right up until payday. We are now unemployed.
Vreeo and I had finally managed to get some handle on where the Outlander raiders were coming from. (It is some nameless bay on the far sea shore from Cantik, actually- I don't know that I could navigate you there if I tried. Not my department.)
We tipped off Lantaran, the commander of the first fleet of Cantik, and an investigative expedition (which we went along on) found a mighty fortress of black stonewood guarding a fine natural harbour with many stolen boats docked. Since we had the numbers, we sailed straight into the harbour and started firing ships. The naturally unhappy Outlanders tried to attack us back but a fortification without heavy catapults isn't much use against a foe who has such weapons mounted on board his ships. We sat offshore out of their range and dropped rocks and burning rags on their heads until there were a few holes in the walls. We were ordered to land first, of course, and I have never been so glad to have Morfazo leading us as I was that day. He saved us from perhaps a dozen traps, relying heavily of Vreeo for early warning. we even got into the throne room, but too late to be of much use because Lantaran's honour guard had already found and slain the great sorceror king. No-one ever said how the great sorceror king was disposed of by the honour guard but I suspect that Vreeo was not the only sorceror on our side that day.
There was a remarkable amount of pillage from the fortress, and once their holy king was dead, the Outlanders seemed to lose cohesion and disintegrate into warring factions once more. We have a few strange artefacts liberated from the caves beneath the stonewood fortress but I don't think I will discuss those here; they are more Vreeo's department anyway.
The plans for the brigade are not clear. We are considering sailing upriver to Safir and trying to get work there- at least we have worked for the merchants there before and there are always dangers around outland mines...
Morfazo says that he's not sure he wants to carry on as Captain if we end up as a land-based unit. It is true that his primary expertise is marine, but then so is the rest of ours these days. I have a feeling were all going to be feeling for our land legs for a while. It is said that there are still river pirates up there, but I suspect that that is just exaggerated tales of normal banditry.
I have to note with some regret that there has been some dissension in the brigade which I attribute principally to personal animosities and private grudges. As sergeant it is my job to try to contain these tensions and, preferably, to divert them from hurting each other to hurting our enemies. I have so far been unsuccessful in this.
I have even had cause to remind both Borus (the younger) and Ponteekos that full membership would surely not be granted to either unless they follow the oath. When it looked as though matters might get out of hand, I have had to step between the two to stop bloodshed.
What makes it worse is that Borus has recently learnt that the stories about his ancestry were true and that Ponteekos and he are indeed half brothers.
What makes it worse yet is that certain older members of the brigade seem to find it useful to encourage the feud, though for what reason I cannot imagine.
Needless to say, when I find out, there will be more than latrine duty to pay. I intend to have the culprits whipped so severely that their backs will a mass of blood. Then I might have them expelled. More likely I will simply execute them. I will not tolerate this. It is the sixteenth day of the seventh moon in the eighteenth year of the reign of Queen Evnia of Galadiahos. The brigade has taken up residence in the Northernmost city of the Sungai Baik, Safir. We quickly cleared up the "river pirates" and are now serving once more as escorts for merchants. We have sold three of our ships as it doesn't seem likely that we will get a marine contract again in a hurry.
I am putting pen to paper not to describe the goings on in the outside world but to record my own failure as sergeant of this brigade. Two days ago, on a hunting expedition as a preliminary to an extended mission, Borus the younger attempted to murder his own half-brother and fellow probationary member of the brigade, Ponteekos. That the two were together on the expedition is my first failure, for I had attempted to keep them apart as much as possible. I knew that Borus was not ordered to go hunting but did not check the departing men as I was otherwise engaged. Had I done so I might have discovered the extra volunteer and been suspicious of the little houftia.
That the apparently "mistakenly shot" arrow was intended for his brother was clear even without Vreeo's later confirmation of the fact. That it did not hit Ponteekos is testament to my second failure as Sergeant- against an unsuspecting target at that.
At least Ponteekos' survival and single-handed despatch of the mighty Kejang he had been stalking at least speaks well of Skaree's training. Borus was whipped and dismissed. I think Morfazo should have killed him. If I meet him again, I shall, for the oath does not protect him any more.
It is the first day of the first moon in the nineteenth year of the rule of Queen Evnia of Galadiahos.
We are still in the service of various merchants in Safir and are operating primarily as cavalry. We have sold our last boat.
I believe that it was that that was the final straw for Morfazo. He never was much of a Kavala-rider and he has finally carried out his threat to resign. I suppose that was not unexpected.
What was unexpected was the brigade's choice of his successor. Trehatos the Pagoth is a good man but nobody seems to know why he was elected as our Captain. My name was put forward but I suspect that years as a sergeant do not make people think of you as Captain material, especially when your mainstay has been naval strategy! I think that the coincidence of the brigades increasing restlessness with our transformation from naval to land-based unit is mainly responsible.
Anyway, Trehatos immediately shook up the officer organisation a bit. I am now the lieutenant, which appointment I cannot argue with! Montelo, who is one of our newer recruits, takes over as Sergeant, an appointment of which I certainly do not approve: although talented, Montelo is to my mind simply too young to serve as sergeant. At least what little experience he has got has been cavalry, though.
On reflection, I do him an injustice. Particularly given my own promotion, better to give some fresh blood a chance at sergeant. Similarly, I think appointing Ipar as a proper quartermaster (Skaree's being doing that job for years but has always hated it) was a good move.
As Lieutenant I cannot really continue to write this history, so I will ask Ipar to take over. He seems like a very competent young man.
Last modified 15 Oct 1998
Questions or comments to: Hywel Phillips