You awake in the morning unsure what to do. Your plans had been of an easy year living off your money and you could still do it, prices would probably go up for a time but you'd still comfortably now that your settled. But you are now sure you'd lost any place that you had called home and your closest friend in the fire so you at least wanted to find out what had happened.


You grab some food then head out to start trying to ask questions and see if anyone is the wiser about what had caused the fire, and to do a last look through the survivors for any sign of your friend.


You ask several guards but most don't seem to know any more than you do. Eventually you see a guard that isn't as shell shocked as the rest and he tells you that the captain over at the military barracks has all the information about the fire and that you should speak to him. You head there to see what he knows.


'The Barracks' as it is generally know does contain the city guard's barracks but also the military side of things, the army barracks, its armory, offices and everything else it needed all in one giant building  that straddled and made up part of the wall between the iron and stone districts. You quickly see a small group of people talking to soldiers outside one of the entrances and approach them to hear what is going on.


Its one of the captains explaining the fire to them, a few minor details extra but basically what you had heard before. Once he is done you ask him about how it started. He looks you over then sends you in and tells you to talk to the man at the desk, first room on the right. You enter and realize you not left with much choice as to where to turn since there is a group of soldiers blocking the corridor a few meters away with only one door standing open between you and them. You enter and approach the man looking at you from behind the desk.


"What can I do for you?"


"I want to know how the fire started."


The man seems mildly amused by your abrupt response but any trace of amusement quickly vanishes as he replies.


"A ship packed with flammable fuel was set alight and rammed into our docks. the fire was deliberate."


Stunned by the sudden revelation you ask "Are your sure? wait are you just telling everyone this, wont it cause a panic?"


"There's no point trying to keep it a secret, half the fishing fleet saw it happen as did many of the survivors that ran into the sea and were picked up the by the ships, the entire city will know in two days at the most. Also there were thousands of people in that district at the time, I wont dishonor them by lying about their deaths."


"But who would do it, what is there to gain from burning down old district?"


"We think it was Carn, at least the burning ship and the one that had been accompanying it bore their colours"


You think for a few seconds but the name rings no bells "Who?"


"Carn, the city a few weeks along the coast by boat, you been living under a rock or something? There has been minor trouble and trade disputes between us for nearly two years now."


"I've been up North for years in the mines, news apart from bandit activity doesn't make it up there..."


"Well long story short we started full maritime trading over 3 years ago, then two years ago some minor trade problems began, then it was about land, finally about fishing rights. things had been getting tense for months with armed ships keeping fishing boats company for protection and guards on our borders but no-one expected this. They have been sent ravens with questions about the ships but they will of course deny all knowledge, then it will be war. The king has already started recruiting to replace the men lost in the fire and more to fill out the army."


You just stand unsure what to say, should you hate an enemy you don't know for what they did? Denounce their tactics, or just avoid the war and try and rebuild a life in the city.


"So son" the commander stands up "we are still recruiting and the army wage is just as good as the miners one. You want to enlist?"

You cant accept what They did to your city and your friends. Setting the city on fire with no warning to kill civillians was not an act ment to go unpunished so you enlist.

Life in the army starts with training. You're assigned a bunk and basic leather armor on the first day and the next morning at dawn you're woken with the other new recruits to head out for basic training. Your unsure what to expect but life in the mines has kept you strong and and in excellent physical condition so the exercise runs, weights and jogging in full armor don't overly strain you. Other recruits don't fare as well but your not given the time or opportunity to help one another.


Your thinking the training is a little harsh for the first day as many of the men and boys in your group have never done physical labor when your all gathered and told that today was the testing day. They needed to asses what sort of condition you were in so they could get you into the proper training programs. You see that everyone is relieved by this and you start marching back to the barracks as your sergeant tells you the last task for the day.


"Everyone is to be interviewed about their experience and past jobs, don't worry this isn't a test and it will be kept informal, we just need to know if you've ever held a weapon before or which part of the army suits you best".


You all enjoy your evening meal then are called over one by one to the sergeant's table. You tell him that your good with a bow and passable with a knife but that you've never had formal training with a sword before. Your experience in the mines interests him more and one of the other men at the table takes over and asks you several technical questions about struts and construction work. You answer all he asks fairly well and after the Sarge gives him a nod he says "Welcome to the engineering division".


You look momentarily confused until he laughs and asks where you thought all the forts, war machines and defenses came from and who you thought build the army's outposts. The light dawns on you and the man smiles.


"That's right, you'll be supporting the army using your experience, building our defenses, putting together our war machines and constructing everything from our forward base to our cooking tents. It may not sound as glamorous as charging in with the vanguard but we have a much, much higher survival rate and if the camps are attacked we defend them shoulder to shoulder with all the rest, what do you say?"


Your readily agree and Sergeant Reardon, as he introduced himself, leads you off to meet your new training squad. Your introduced and learn they are made up of everyone from those with basic unskilled labor experience to a couple full guild engineers who signed up on the day of the fire.


Your training goes well and you get on well with your squad, learning to treat them as your friends as well as squad mates. After a couple of weeks pass War is finally declared. You had known it was just a matter of time but you quickly find your Sarge and ask what it meant for you.


"For you and your squad? Nothing at all! Your not fully trained yet and once your basic is over you still need to be assigned to your unit and your duties explained. Since you've got good solid construction knowledge and the experience to back it up you'll most likely be sent to Third company on our borders to get the forward forts built and running as the war progresses. Wont be for another month yet but either way no chance I'm letting my boys out near the fighting till they are ready."


Reassured by the Sarge's attitude you pass the info onto your squad and finish out the last of your basic training in the barracks.

You third company

The Sarge is a little off in his estimate of your departure time. It actually takes a month and a half to get your squad in shape. Its been a long wait but you are finally all ready to head out to the front to help in the war effort!


Your squad is woken by an early bell ringing somewhere in the barracks tower and you all assemble in your new polished steel armor. during your training you had all been measured and fitted out in strong forged steel, it turned out many of the iron mongers and jewelers of the city had turned their forges over to making weapons and armor so there was no shortage of equipment for the army.


The Sarge gives you all one last look over.


"Well its taken longer than I'd like but your all ready to serve your king! You're all heading out to the 3'rd to help in the construction of the new bases so our boys on the front have a good foothold in place before winter hits."


A soldier to the left pipes in "But I thought we already had bases on our borders?"


"Our Borders? Boy do you think the entire army has been sitting and waiting for you since the war started? They have been advancing solidly for the past 6 weeks. The new borders are near 2 weeks march further forward and THATS where we need the new bases."


You think to yourself that the army has made pretty amazing advances considering the fact that Carn was the kingdom that started the war.

You it DOES seem odd, so you speak up

"Sir, Our men are making amazing progress in the war but I have to ask. Carn were the ones that started the war, I mean they sent the ships into the Old Quarter and everything with the trade disputes. Were they not prepared for our counter attack?"


You see the Sergeant frown and a shadow clearly crosses his features. He quickly shakes it off and explains that the first week or two on the border was intense fighting and lead to a great many casualties. However once the army had broken through the initial defense line, it had been much easier to push ahead and prevent the Carn army from regrouping properly.


You think that this is indeed a possible explanation but a few doubts still remain in the back of your mind.The Sarge says a few last tips and goodbyes then heads off. The last you see of him is as he walks out the door with the shadow back over his features as if he didn't really believe what he had said himself.


You see a soldier you don't recognize step forward.


"Right then, I'm Capt. Argor. Since I took an arrow in the knee and had to come back here for treatment, I've been given the onerous task of accompanying you to the front lines to make sure you ladies don't get lost. You were all told to report here in full gear and with all your supplies so has anyone left anything behind that they just must run back to their rooms for? Hankies? Training Bra? No? Good, I might not have to babysit you all quite as much as I feared, lets head out cos this is gonna be a long trip for you city folk."

You quick march out of the city with the new Capt. Calling you all little girls for the entire 6 hour march.

You are given a break for lunch with only cold rations, then double speed marched hard till dusk. The Capt. Pulls you all off the road beside a small stream and even though your all ready to collapse and pass out he has you form up.


"Right then, this is first point spring. A few generations back some officers from the 1st and 2nd companies were insulting the 3rd, saying we weren't real soldiers because we just built things while they won the war. Our officers didn't take too kindly to this and lets just say a bit of an argument broke out. After the tempers calmed a bit our men challenged the rest of the army to prove their supposed superiority"


He paused to give you all a big grin.


"Our boys in the 3rd work hard every day moving timber and stone, carrying loads long distances and almost never take days off. Their boys sit on their arses most of the time and only train short periods a day when they aren't actively attacking something. So our officers said they should all go for a little march. You all just made it here within daylight hours which isn't bad at all for this time of year. The 1st and 2nd company soldiers made it in about the same. OUR officers beat them by 3 hours and had a full camp set up and running by the time they limped in. They looked up from their fires and said this is normally just the first point the 3rd stop at before marching on but they had thought they should wait for them to catch up. Its been known as first point ever since. Now anyone joining the 3rd makes the march, so welcome to the 3rd gentlemen, now get our camp up!"


Relieved that Capt. Argor wont be calling you all girls for the rest of the march you all set up camp and get some fires going. You're just settling down beside your fire to have supper when a couple of other come over and join you.


"We had been thinking the same thing as you about how fast the war is going so when you spoke up we thought we should have a chat and share our concerns about the situation."


You think slowly before the reply

You say "Well then what did you think of Sarg's answer?"

The two men seem to sense your hesitation so think for a while before one answers.


"I would say... that I'm not sure he believed it any more than you or I did."


It's exactly the feeling that you had gotten but you also wonder why they are bringing this up now.

You say "Honestly? Your right, I'm pretty sure that no-one really bought it and there are other higher ups back at the barracks that seemed to share the doubts."

The men think for a bit before replying, the one who had been silent up till now looks at his companion and says "On your head be it." then gets up and leaves.


"Sorry about him." the man says "He is just a little bit on edge about this whole situation."


"And just what is this whole situation?"


"Ha! fair enough. Well I can tell you some of it now, You did some work in the mines recently and our employer owns several of the new sites that have been opening, so in reality you've been doing work for him."


You nod slowly, its common for prospectors to open several sites to ensure one produces. You don't have enough information to pin down a specific job or owner though so keep listening.


The man continues "He developed an interest in you from the reports he was receiving which is what put you on our radar and your behavior and reaction to the war made up my mind to come speak to you. Now you can appreciate how much of a risk I am taking here but I have decided to trust you. The war isn't all it seems and you know that. There are a lot of things you don't know about but the main one is that Carn didn't start the war and didn't attack the Old Quarter."


He pauses to watch your reaction before continuing.


"Now lets set one thing straight, we aren't talking treason here, we are completely loyal to the king, but we think he is being betrayed and tricked by his council. Now I will give you tonight to think this over and talk to you tomorrow evening again if you want to know more."


The man gets up and leaves. You realize you don't even know his name but he is too far to call out too now so you sit back and think over your options.

No matter what they claim, they are commiting treason, report to the Capt. During the day and stop them!

Evil council tricking the king to start a war, its like something out of one of your dreams... you briefly mull over the fact you haven't had any of those recently but put it down to being so tired from army life and move on to planning.


You know what the two men look like and one other man that they talk to a lot so you just need to avoid them during the day and get to Capt. Argor with your information. You keep an eye out during the next days march and try to act as normal as possible, when one of the men comes over to you during a break you even share a water flask before moving off so you don't raise their suspicions.


You finally see your chance as the camp is being set up for the night, the two men are off at the edge of camp to set up their bedrolls like normal and the man they talk to a lot is on sentry duty. You don't know their names but you can give a near perfect description and point them out once you have the Capt. and other guards with you.


You move quickly over to the Captains' fire where he is talking with a runner from a temporary camp up ahead. He motions for you to wait until he is finished, you are impatient to tell him what you know but have no choice but to wait a moment since you don't want to blurt it out in public.  One of the cooks hands you ale and you sip at it nervously as you wait. The man drops his tray against your ankle as he passes and you almost jump out of your skin but just about remain calm and give him a nod when he apologizes.


Theres no sign of the men and you only wait one minute but you are dripping with sweat as he waves you over. You realize its FAR too much sweat as you try and speak and feel your throat close over and collapse at his feat.  The Capt. immediately calls over a medic and crouches beside you but you are suffocating and he cant help, the medic runs over and immediately points out two small puncture wounds on your ankle. "He's been bitten, looks like Asp poison, I'm sorry but theres nothing we can do."


"It was the cook, he poisoned me and stabbed my leg when he dropped his try!" you try to shout, but all that comes out is a rasp.


You fade into black as you hear the Capt. ordering the men to kill all snakes on site and double check all kit before use.