{"id":687,"date":"2014-03-12T08:13:47","date_gmt":"2014-03-12T13:13:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thefourpartland.com\/blog\/?p=687"},"modified":"2015-05-23T09:17:28","modified_gmt":"2015-05-23T14:17:28","slug":"pillowed-comforts-part-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/thefourpartland.com\/blog\/?p=687","title":{"rendered":"Pillowed Comforts, Part #1"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is the opening of a new novella in an old setting, called Arhosa. I’ll be posting a thousand words a day of Work-in-Progress, with the end goal being five chapters of 10,000 words each, roughly. <\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cHow many? How many did we lose today?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cEnough. Some of them went willingly. You know our people, Iaprem. They are craven on every level. All their will has been stolen from them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Iaprem grunted in frustration. As Warleader of Cynlyaa, his home city, he was responsible for all that occurred here. Which mostly seemed to mean watching it shattered apart under the depredations of badnits and the weakness of those who resided amongst the broken down masonry.<\/p>\n

\u201cFine. Pull back the cordon to the old palace. Defend those grounds, and no other. Harshness is our new best friend, so anyone who is known to have given up or given in is to be left outside. Those inside, cultivate the grounds, and stockpile everything we can lay our hands on. Even with all the raids we\u2019ve suffered, there must be some things left in the city worth having.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yenque, his second, nodded in agreement. \u201cI shall see that it\u2019s done. But you know any show of strength will prompt another raid. And in greater force than before.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat will they take from us this time? Our lives? We have nothing of value left to offer them. Nothing that I know of.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have our wills. Until those are gone, we will suffer. Of course, when they are gone, we will suffer more.\u201d<\/p>\n

Iaprem slumped onto the stone seat that served as his commandant\u2019s office. It was little more than a broken lump from a column, carved slightly to provide a modicum of comfort. \u201cWhen you leave, find Dregnon. He and I need to discuss figures after this last assault.\u201d<\/p>\n

With a bow, his second slipped from the room, leaving Iaprem to think in silence. Supposedly, his people had once been a great nation, one of the wealthiest in all of Arhosa. Although it was not really hard to see, living as he did in the ruins of of that wealth.<\/p>\n

Yet they were called the War Lands of the Cynddeir, and had once, before civilizationhad come with its wealth and its lesure, conquered all that he saw about him. Now they were prey for petty thieves and bandits, ones who were so bold as to live within other districts of the same city they raided.<\/p>\n

His people had fallen far, and fallen long, and there was nothing in the way of a structure upon which to build their resurrection. A point proven all the more strongly moments later when Dregnon walked into the room.<\/p>\n

He went straight down to business. \u201cThere\u2019s three thousand people left in Cynlyaa, give or take a hundred. The old palace can hold up to a thousand, if we\u2019re being a little generous. Even with the extensive grounds, I don\u2019t think it can provide enough food for them all though.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSoldiers?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTwo hundred, and that\u2019s being overly kind. When the palace was built, the walls were designed to hold five hundred, so we\u2019ll be weak everywhere. And that doesn\u2019t even account for the degredation to the fortifications.\u201d<\/p>\n

Iaprem snorted. They both knew the structure was riddled with collapsed architecture, and the walls were no different. In places, they would still serve their puprpose, but only a fool would attack there. And the bandit lords who plagued him were not that kind of fool.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo at best what we do is a last gasp.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, do not discount the valour of our men. They fight well, and beyond the endurance of any of our opponents.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat I have seen time and time again. But for every ten that we lay, we still lose one, and that is far too harsh a price to play. Plus, that only counts those who do fight. Look around you and tell me how many of those there are.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is but one solution that comes to mind then \u2013 recover the lost children of Cynlyaa.\u201d<\/p>\n

Iaprem burst out into laughter, his roars echoing from one side of the empty stone chamber to the other, disconcerting in their timbre.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose cretins who won\u2019t raise a hand when the raiders take the last turnip from their children\u2019s lips? Them? Had I a hundred thousand such men as those, I could not defeat a single true warrior!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFar be it from me to tell you your job, but have you considered that perhaps they are that way because it is all they know?\u201d<\/p>\n

Fury writ itself large across Iaprem\u2019s face. \u201cAre you telling me that when I fight to spare them, spare their children, from whatever fate has in store, they cannot see another way? That they think us<\/i> the foolish ones for daring to resist? Then I curse them! Let Drancedigeath take their souls and shred them for all eternity!\u201d<\/p>\n

Dregnon fell back a step, his mind racing. Perhaps the strain of command was too much for Iaprem<\/i>, he mused. Or perhaps I need to approach matters in a different way. <\/i>Rather than face the wrath of a now-raging Warleader, he bowed and made a swift exit.<\/p>\n

It was time to take his case to Yenque.<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

The next few days saw Dregnon busy with the logistics of moving what remained of the city\u2019s population into the old palace. Remarkably, the structure amazed him with its ability to house the living, despite its abhorrent condition, and he was able to fit almost two thousand members of Cynlyaa within its walls. Of course, what that also indicated to him was just how far the city had fallen, for at its peak, the population must have numbered well into the tens of thousands, perhaps even higher. But those were considerations he could dwell upon at such time as he was at leisure.<\/p>\n

Which probably meant only when he was in Drancedigeath\u2019s embrace, and the God of Death had no use for him.<\/p>\n

The last thousand of the city\u2019s population he pulled in close to the walls, tucking them here and there amidst crumbled ruins and broken structures. Hopefully, they were in places that would be overlooked by the raiders when they came again. In truth, he knew he was leaving them to their deaths. Unless\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is the opening of a new novella in an old setting, called Arhosa. I’ll be posting a thousand words a day of Work-in-Progress, with the end goal being five chapters of 10,000 words each, roughly. \u201cHow many? How many did we lose today?\u201d \u201cEnough. Some of them went willingly. You know our people, Iaprem. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":[]},"categories":[60,4],"tags":[61],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pRIK4-b5","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":703,"url":"http:\/\/thefourpartland.com\/blog\/?p=703","url_meta":{"origin":687,"position":0},"title":"Pillowed Comforts, Part #10","date":"April 23, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Glancing backwards, he saw that the line of his soldiers had stretched out to the right, the man on that edge of battle attempting to hedge his unprotected side away from the foes who assailed him, with those placed near him unconsciously following. It was a natural outcome of fighting,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Arhosa"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":694,"url":"http:\/\/thefourpartland.com\/blog\/?p=694","url_meta":{"origin":687,"position":1},"title":"Pillowed Comforts, Part #3","date":"March 14, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"This is the next installment of a new novella in an old setting, called Arhosa. I\u2019ll be posting a thousand words a day of Work-in-Progress, with the end goal being five chapters of 10,000 words each, roughly. Yenque cursed as he watched yet another of the craven simply drop their\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Arhosa"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":695,"url":"http:\/\/thefourpartland.com\/blog\/?p=695","url_meta":{"origin":687,"position":2},"title":"Pillowed Comforts, Part #4","date":"March 15, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"This is the next installment of a new novella in an old setting, called Arhosa. I\u2019ll be posting a thousand words a day of Work-in-Progress, with the end goal being five chapters of 10,000 words each, roughly. Gathered around Yenque were the soldiers and recruits of the first of the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Arhosa"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":696,"url":"http:\/\/thefourpartland.com\/blog\/?p=696","url_meta":{"origin":687,"position":3},"title":"Pillowed Comforts, Part #5","date":"March 16, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"This is the next installment of a new novella in an old setting, called Arhosa. I\u2019ll be posting a thousand words a day of Work-in-Progress, with the end goal being five chapters of 10,000 words each, roughly. It was a panicked and upset messenger who burst in upon the three\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Arhosa"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":702,"url":"http:\/\/thefourpartland.com\/blog\/?p=702","url_meta":{"origin":687,"position":4},"title":"Pillowed Comforts, Part #9","date":"April 22, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"The soldiers of Cynddeir gave even better than they got, however, and despite the rust and the age of the weapons they wielded, there was no give when blade found opening and piercing flesh. Indeed, after the first heady moments of the clash, the front line of the battle could\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Arhosa"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":697,"url":"http:\/\/thefourpartland.com\/blog\/?p=697","url_meta":{"origin":687,"position":5},"title":"Pillowed Comforts, Part #6","date":"March 17, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"\u201cWhat do we do to stop this from happening again?\u201d Iaprem was furious, storming from one side to another of the small room he called an office. \u201cStop the raiders? Nothing. We haven\u2019t been able to stop them for years. Why should we suddenly be able to do so now?\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Arhosa"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/thefourpartland.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/687"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/thefourpartland.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/thefourpartland.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thefourpartland.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thefourpartland.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=687"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/thefourpartland.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/687\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/thefourpartland.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=687"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thefourpartland.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=687"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thefourpartland.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=687"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}