Emerald Chronicles, Volume 5 (book)
There are six volumes in the Emerald Chronicles. These books detail the rise of Graev and the Emerald Knights as forces protecting civilization from the dangers of the Dark Hand beyond Corik's Wall.
- Emerald Chronicles I
- Emerald Chronicles II
- Emerald Chronicles III
- Emerald Chronicles IV
- Emerald Chronicles V
- Emerald Chronicles VI
Emerald Chronicles V: The Child
11th day of Arhat
Year of the Crystal Snow Hare, 202
Hren,
Ptera came back and was with child! She arrived on the
Hand's surge at the wall's eastern leg wearing no armor and
bearing wounds from the swarming diggers. Though she is
exiled I feared for her safety, Hren! I couldn't allow her
and an innocent to die on our watch, no matter the
Ferdahl's decree. I ordered Second Farol to take her to
Shadow's Reach where she would be safe from the fray below.
Thank the Mighty that neither the watch who spotted her nor Farol recognized her in the cloaks she wore. I scarcely recognized her myself! When I went to the recluse' dwelling to speak with her the following morning, I could not see the knight that once lead us under those verdant silk banners. She is a maiden of the moors, Hren! How far to fall! She made no explanation to me of her situation (which I don't expect I am owed) but we spoke long about the Hand and I thanked her for the warnings she sent to us.
It's been a gypsy's curse to try and keep secret this woman and her black-haired babe as the men are like jackals once they've the scent of gossip. I cannot help but have pity for her, and she does not need to hear what bawdy and cruel tavern songs are sung about her name. It would cause a riot among my men if her identity were known; as many say she and her rangers are blackened by the wood and now ride as its minions.
If you could spare it, would you send some of the
girls' clothing from their infancy? The boy has only what
swaddling the recluse has given him and he will grow too
big and restless for it soon enough.
Geoff
33rd day of Ka'len
Year of the Crystal Snow Hare, 202
Hren,
Many thanks for the clothing, which arrived on a caravan
last evening. They should suit him well enough until he is
walking. I will be going to the Reach at week's end so the
babe shall have them then. It is terrible to have to be
sly in my movements, but if I am seen traveling to the
Reach it will only cause more questions.
I'm glad to hear Tijit's training is going well. She will bear more bruises before she is able to ride with a lance, but I think she is up to the measure if she puts her mind to practicing each andu. Tell Einselda to mix her poultice in larger batches!
We've finished cleaning up from the Hand's last surge and took far less damage to the eastern leg than I'd feared. It should take only a few weeks to make repairs once we've gathered some supplies. The repairs are never as difficult as defending the breaches while they are made. As the winter will be upon us in another month, I am glad we will not have to battle snow as well.
A package should come by rider in a few weeks and this
will have your Shosandu presents. It is early yet, but
keep them safe until then. I trust my man with it better
than the post riders. Take care to keep it from falling,
as there are some items of glass inside.
Geoff
5th day of Lirisa
Year of the Silver Unicorn, 203
Hren,
I went to the Reach this morning and the recluse says our
maiden and her rangers have left again for the Hand! She
has abandoned her poor babe to the old woman, giving him
only life and a name, Seome, before leaving him to his
fate. Is her heart so cold? Or is it truth that the demon
wood has made it so? If this is so then I can only hope
her child should at least be free of its wickedness if he
cannot have the comfort of his mother's hand.
Thank you for the gifts you and Alizia sent. The fur
lining fits well in my great cloak and the belt is a fine
choice! I have lost some of my girth since last we saw
each other and yet the belt will accommodate. It's quite
smart and I'm sure Alizia had a hand in its choosing.
Thank you all, I will use them in good health and glorious
battle.
Geoff
8th day of Nissa, 203
Hren,
We are having difficulties again purchasing enough food to
meet our needs with the Ferdal's coin. I'm afraid I must
ask you to look up our clerk friend and see if he is able
to make arrangements for us again through his guild
connections. I would not ask given your current trials
were it not a dire need.
My cares are lifted some when I am able to travel to the recluse to see Seome. He is broad-chested already, Hren! And such a battle-cry! He is ruby-cheeked and happy, an odd contrast to the dour and grey-skinned recluse who takes moments to glare at me while she shuffles through her dwelling during my visits with Seome. She is not pleased with my coming and makes it clear with few words, but if I come with food or cloth and other necessary sundries, she allows me in.
No child should be abandoned by its mother, but no
child should have to bear the shame of his mother either.
Perhaps it is best if he never knows of the circumstances
that brought him to the old woman. Please be well and you
will hear from me soon again.
Geoff
12th day of Uthmor
Year of the Bronze Wyvern, 204
Hren,
Your news does not bode well for us, as the clerk will do
us little good fishing on the north banks of the
Gwenalion. Our larder is empty and the pantry emptying
quickly. And there is none of lamp oil for purposes other
than the watch. The men have begun to notice the thinner
soup and it's beginning to affect their general spirits.
I've sent a small group of my men to hunt so that we may
have some meat this month. As the winter draws close, the
hunt will become harder and we will have to have other
arrangements before then. The Mighty forgive me for
saying so, but damn that Eloth for his games! The defenses
cannot fail for want of bread.
Geoff
12th day of Dolefaren
Year of the Bronze Wyvern, 204
Hren,
Thank you for your package, friend, it was very well received. I know it is all you can spare and I will not be selfish with any of it. Even the smallest morsel goes far, as we've had only hard biscuits and troll fat for nine weeks. You must tell Maerdelle and Maerissa that their uncle Geoff is very pleased at the chestnuts they gathered. Alizia's pie was as good as gifts from the Immortals and all of my officers appreciated a slim slice of it. I will bring some of the cheese and nectarines to the lad, as he will not grow on hard tack and grease alone.
I've posted a letter to Roland and I hope he does not
disappoint. If I hear good things from him in the coming
andaen I will tell you our plans. Pray for us, Hren!
Geoff
36th day of Ka'len the Sea Drake
Year of the Bronze Wyvern, 205
Hren,
We've had Chadatru's blessings at long last! Roland's
letter arrived this morning and he's had success guilding
the crofters. I worry not of treason, as should the Baron
ever have cause to discover us then he will surely see
the worthiness of the cause. His throne is as scarred from
the Priests' war as any in the Southlands. If we can just
get their goods to us in the south, the crofters will take
our price if we contract with them annually. Likewise, I
can only pay you fifteen bronze per barrel, but you will
have an annual contract for five hundred barrels. Now that
is a measure of security.
What we yet need to do is arrange with the trade
minister in the Crossing to bring your barrels north to
Roland at the driver's cost and to see if our old clerk
friend north of Riverhaven can help us get the loaded
barrels south to us. I've enclosed a letter of
introduction for you to bring to the trade minister in your
city. He is a brother by marriage to one of our ranks and
the letter mentions his name. I should wish that you
travel north to be the one to speak with the clerk, as he
was fond of you and I think you bear our best advantage. I
know Alizia and the shop can scarcely spare your absence,
but it would be a great service to the realms. Will you do
it, Hren?
Geoff
25th day of Moliko the Balance
Year of the Bronze Wyvern, 205
Hren,
I hope this letter finds you settled in from your journey
and that your words found purchase in the clerk's
sympathies. You've done well in any event, comrade, and
the Emerald Knights are once again in your debt. The
hunger and shortages have become quite clear, and we have
had the shame of deserters. The Hand does not rest because
our bellies are empty and the men are weary with hunger. I
have beseeched the Ferdahl for more food or coin, but he
only questions my command and speaks of limits to his
supplies. I cannot fathom the people of this land, Hren.
It makes my mind tired and my heart sad.
In the darkest anlas, though, I do not regret my
command. The only haunt that finds me in those times is
that I have had no children and no legacy. I see the lad
as often as the recluse allows but it is not enough to
satisfy my affection for him. Had I taken the time in my
youth to find a maiden for my hearth I might take this boy
into my home and raise him to be a knight as was his mother
once. He is three now and talking strongly. His simple
curiosity is a joy to an old man, but I admit his questions
can become so tiresome that I am happy to turn him back
into the recluse' care. With each visit my admiration for
your fathering such a fine brood of girls grows. Blessings
are yours, friend!
Geoff
32nd day of Nissa
Year of the Bronze Wyvern, 205
Hren,
Though much delayed, the caravan at long last arrived just
after the anlas of Meraud's Blessing! A blessing indeed!
It didn't take long for delicious smells to find their way
from the hearth outside to my windowless office, decreeing
the end of our starving time. Tonight the refectory was
full of joyous noise and the delighted clattering of forks
upon tin plates. I have never before relished an onion as
the sweet Therengian bulb I pulled first from the wagon and
could not restrain myself from eating. Second Farol might
have thought me mad were he not as hungry as I. With my
permission, the second onion was his!
This will be a glad Shosandu at the Wall and I know
each knight will be at chancel that eve. Let us pray for
blessings in the new year! Your packages should arrive
from the Northlands as Roland and I have conspired together
on your gifts. Do the girls still use the glass cream bowl
I sent? I have given Seome one much like it and have
instructed him to fill the bowl with cream and leave it for
Divyaush Shosandu eve. He is so young yet, but he
understands. I only hope the recluse allows it, as I'm
still unable to tell the difference between her scowl and
her smile. Blessed Shosandu to all of you!
Geoff
17th day of Lirisa the Archer
Year of the Amber Phoenix, 206
Hren,
Tidings! I hope you are all well. I have recently been
taken to bed with a fever, but am recovered fully now.
Such fevers travel through the barracks and wall walk
infecting every third man. This was a mild one and we have
had no deaths to it.
I stayed from the lad for two months to be sure I would not carry the illness to the recluse's home. I'm anxious to see him and will likely go before the end of the week. He grows so fast that even a few months find him much changed. I have bought a drawing slate and chalk to bring him (parsnips and cotton thread for the old woman) and will begin teaching him to form letters.
I am so very sorry that I should miss Tijit's tournament. Nothing would please me more than to see her joust, the idea of it fills me with pride! But I cannot leave the Wall for so long at this time. You will report all of her performance to me, won't you? I know she will be modest in her letters and she will tell me less than half of it.
Have you yet purchased the lot adjacent to your shop?
I should think an additional yard would be a great help to
your small coopery.
Blessings of the Mighty,
Geoff
34th day of Uthmor, 206
Hren,
I can have a rider bring you the gold by the morning you
buy the lot. I know you have a keen sense of things, but
please see to it you meet this fellow in a busy place, like
the market square. If you fear any scuffle, take Tijit
with you as I believe there is nothing so serious that
should happen that your combined sword skill cannot make
short work of. It is always good to have a Second, Hren.
As boys, you were always there to back me up, and I am glad
to have Farol to do it now. If he should put in a few
more good years, I believe he will earn my command. Please
send word when the deal is through. I wish to know it went
without trouble.
Geoff
2nd day of Ahrat
Year of the Amber Phoenix, 206
Hren,
Blessings upon you, Hren! I'm glad to hear your business
went smoothly. At present the men are preparing the
refectory for an ale festival some have brought from their
Danduwen homes and I will drink one in your honor!
I would like to bring Seome to the festival early in the
afternoon to hear the music of the Northlands and to hear
some of the old language spoken. I don't know if the
recluse will allow it, but he is old enough now to voice
loudly his own wants, so her control over him weakens. He
also wants to play outside her dwelling more now that he is
older and we take long walks together. He is such a
curious lad, and I enjoy his simple company.
Geoff
28th day of Ka'len, 211
Hren,
I hope you are once again settled with your family, dear
Hren. I will be grateful always to each of them for
sparing you to my aid for so many years. So too I thank
Chadatru you've good hands to keep your shop for you. It
would grieve me eternally if my injury caused injury to
you, old friend.
Without you here, the day is harder to push through
and I tire quickly. But as you tell me, each day is
better. I continue to walk the wall every morning, no
matter what pain it brings. It is getting easier. I have
also continued taking my duties back from Second Farol.
It's slow, but as Father Galwydd would say, "nothing worth
having is easy in getting." You will have more from me in
a few andaen, but I'm weary and will rest some. Bless you,
friend.
Geoff
14th day of Lirisa, 211
Hren,
Good tidings! You should be most amused to hear that
Second Farol found your woolens hanging from the northern
parapets. You may not have noticed the oddly shaped red
standard hanging there as you left, but the men grew
fond of you and played the prank with much affection, you
can be sure of it.
During my wall walking this morning, I broke my cane.
I've taken it as a sign from the Mighty and will take no
other. The pain is slow to ease, but as I am forced to
move about with no aid I have gained greater mobility in
the maimed leg. Making the climb to see the lad is what
drives me, though I say nothing of it, of course. It's
been too long since I have visited and I fear he won't know
me anymore.
Geoff
19th day of Moliko, 211
Hren,
Raise your ale tankard, friend, there's cause to
celebrate! I've made the long journey to the Reach and saw
the boy. I took a stout walking stick and several anlas to
spare so that I could rest at each leg of the climb, but I
have made it up and back again alive. I ache today,
however, and will not take my wall walk. Is it possible I
used to make this journey in a third the time and with not
a second thought? I'll need a full month to prepare
for another trip.
The ache is well worth it for the warmth in my heart at seeing the lad again. He remembered me well and had even written Chadatru's mantra in perfect form upon the slate I gave him! The recluse must've had word of what happened, because the lad knew of it and asked to see my scars.
He is big, Hren! He's still red-cheeked and pitch-
haired as the day of his birth, but he has much more the
look of his mother now and I pray that doesn't curse him
later. He is sharp-witted and quick to laugh, but his
eyes are always cold as blue ice. I should take to my bed
now, friend, as this day has wearied me already.
Geoff
19th day of Nissa, 211
Hren,
It pains me greatly to hear of Alizia's illness, but it
must be terrible for you and the girls to bear. If the
empaths at the Crossing can find no help for her, perhaps
there are healers elsewhere that can. I will post a letter
to one of the healers at Leth Deriel who came to me shortly
after my wounding. Perhaps she would travel to see our
poor 'Zia across the river.
On my last visit to see the lad I thought to teach him a few things of the blade. Though I am not so spry on my feet as I once was, I wish to prepare him for a gift-sword as he will soon be of age to be a man. He took my short sword into his grip like he was born with one and handled it with experience. I don't know who's instructed him, but perhaps the old woman knows something of sword skill to have survived upon the Reach alone.
The Mighty bless you all in this time of trying. I
will see about the healer and write again soon.
Geoff
2nd day of Uthmor, 212
Hren,
It's been almost thirty years since my eyes first struck on
these battlements and I feel thin as an infantryman's soup,
old friend. I understand my mortality now, as I never
have. I barely recall the knight I was when we first
arrived at the Wall and the knight I failed to be at
Morganae's Arm. Since then, there have been so many
battles lost and won, and so many fallen. It is without
end, unlike the lives of men.
Last evening brought us much rain and a call to arms. The Hand surged as it had not in some years, and all that we built up in those years has been torn down. Second Farol was among the fallen. He was my best hope to pass on the command, and now his talent and experience is spoiled in a single moment! So many fallen. This is truly the heaviest weight of leadership.
I wish another life for Seome, away from this place. When he will come of age in a few short years, would you take him as an apprentice? He is bright and strong, and I think he would be as great help to you as you to him. Please consider it, friend. I will not speak of it again until you have thought on it.
My heart aches even more to hear of Alizia's misery.
She, of all, least deserves such a fate! It is well you
have brought her bed down to the parlor, as she will be
comforted to have her family close during the day. I
am so sorry there is no other comfort she may have.
Geoff
37th day of Ka'len, 213
Hren,
My apologies for this letter's delay, but the ache in my
hands gnarls them so badly at times that I am unable to
write. I am only glad there are younger arms to heft the
sword at my word. My bark has not yet been lost to the
cruel ambushes of age!
Of course I'm pleased to hear Tijit wishes to come to the Wall. It isn't that I doubt her training or ability, but rather I wish to keep her from this foul and terrible place. I have written to her telling her as much and I hope she believes my words. I don't wish her to think ill of me for trying to keep her from harm's way. If it is her will to come, then she will have the welcome she's always had in my heart and my esteem, but to the knights she will need to prove her worth. Should she wish it, it would please me to recommend her to the Ferdahl as my Second.
Give to the girls my tidings and wish them good
cheer. Tell sweet Alizia she is in my heart and prayers,
as you are you, dear Hren.
Geoff