New Warden Among Other Things (1/10/15)

King Feran Malwan sat by the General’s bedside, watching the old man breath. His moments of peace – though quiet – were more pleasant than the periods of madness where he would rave at unseen enemies and not even recognize the king’s face. Better for the old dog to sleep. Logically, he knew this was becoming all too common, but Feran’s heart refused to let go of the hope – hope that the old man would wake, give him that crooked smile and bark at him something like “a king should have better things to do…” He had been doing so well, too. For a few weeks he had been the old Regar. Storming around the halls, barking orders at the staff and mumbling about the elven threat. A relic from a bygone age, it didn’t seem he would ever change, but time wasn’t having that. Time was going to have the final say.

Brother Marty’s arrival was a mixed blessing. The boy’s touch was able to bring the Regar around and back to his senses, but Feran had barked at Euwyn, vented his frustration on the young prince who was only giving voice to his own inner fears. He would apologize later, but Euwyn had such horrible timing. When Regar looked at him and asked after the young priestess, Mjelde, Feran knew the old dog was back. “But for how long?” a tiny voice cried unheard deep inside him.

These days back in town, as fall settled in and temperatures grew steadily colder, were filled with numerous activities. Brother Martin subjected the General to a curse and a zone of truth attempting to get to the bottom of the man’s strange relationship with the King. He uncovered two things: one, Regar loved the king like a son, and two, Strom didn’t like Marty cursing loyal, Malwanese citizens. Lexington dispatched Lt. Kenny Ismort to Coronado’s Ferry to retrieve Mjelde so she could see to the general. The Councilor suggested Euwyn break off his relationship with the Bell family, but recanted when Euwyn mentioned love. “We’ll work it out, somehow,” she had said. Shelby stepped down from her post as warden, and after much debate the job eventually fell to her second, Captain (now Warden) Wallace Frasier, a young officer carrying Shelby’s support and the least argument from the nobles. Euwyn reached out to Yuri for help with Relania’s embattled family problems, and Yuri promised to fix everything.  A monster was spotted in the city. Long-limbed and hairy, it bounded across the rooftops of the bazaar. For a time, it was thought the Edgar might be the monster, but he had a strong alibi, having been present at the original sighting. Marty bumped into Lumi at the castle, and the two made up, at least far enough for Lumi to stop sleeping at the forge.

On the day Mjelde returned, Euwyn assembled his team to begin making nightly patrols in search of the monster. Lexington refused, calling the idea stupid. He and the Prince argued for a time, with Euwyn finally conceding that Lex’s help wasn’t essential. He had no idea of the Marshall’s plan of a secret triste with the Lady Bell that night. Euwyn and the rest spent a cold night wandering the streets until nearly midnight when Ilyana, transformed into a bird, spotted the beast near the castle walls!