Chapter Two, Scene One

Since her rescue, the caravan had passed through the Krinnistag forest, which is one of the most notoriously dangerous areas of North Ambriland. They were attacked twice, but the guards defended the caravan and they suffered only minor injuries. The bandits suffered permanent fatalities.

The lands they travelled had at one time been the frontier of a peaceful, civilized nation. But the former kingdom Sarmathae of had all fallen apart just over thirty years ago when the king had been assassinated. King Indiric the Third was a young boy when he was killed and there was no clear heir to the throne. The nobility had fallen upon each other in assassination and open war.

The kingdom fractured and the farthest areas from civilization had quickly fallen to lawlessness. With a power vacuum in the frontier, local warlords grabbed what power they could and bled the population of gold and goods. The inner territories had it a bit better. The nobility had reigned in these areas for years and they still maintained armies which kept the law intact. For the past decade, the status quo had been maintained and the nation of Sarmathae was no more.

As the years wore on, the roads deteriorated and trade had trickled off to almost nothing. This strife was bad for the people but good for mercenaries and caravan guards. Mercenaries sold their services to the highest bidder, often changing sides when the cause was lost or the enemy offered more gold. There had been times that the caravan guards had turned out to be in league with the bandits.

This led to the formation of the Guild of Free Warriors. The Guild licensed and guaranteed the mercenaries and guards. They could only be hired through a guild house and the guild insured their fighters stayed true to the contract. Those that did not were hunted down by the guild. The first few bloody examples were enough to prove the guild meant business.

“Shoag, why are there so many bandits,” the young girl asked.

“There are always men who prey upon the weak,” he replied. “Things are tough out here in the frontier lands. I guess there are too many who give up on the honest life and turn to banditry.”

“Why won’t anybody do anything to stop them?”

The girl had taken to riding with Tra Lun, one of the few female wagon drivers in the caravan.  Tra had become an older sister to the orphan. “It takes gold to pay soldiers. To get gold, you need to have a lord or somewhat to collect taxes. Then you need people to pay taxes. Not a lot of any of that around here. Not for a long while.”

“Aye, what Tra says is true,” Shoag grumbled. “The brigands run these areas now. Companies like ours are just big and strong enough to make the costs of taking the caravan not worth the risk.”

Talyssa was wrapped in thoughtful silence for a while, “I would do something to stop them, if I could. That way no more families would be killed like mine.”

“It is a noble thought, lass. Maybe someday we can do something about that.” Shoag said.