Epilogue
Part One
The blizzard rages on for several days, the remainder of the Baron's forces, a mere 20 men, huddled alongside your party and the various others present, the cold seeping in through the walls and leading to many a restless night, the winds howling outside the heavily covered windows, audible through the very walls. The Baron, for his part, seems very pleased with himself and the state of things, regularly remarking on how it was a,
"job well done," and,
"God's grace came to our rescue after a valiant defense!" The men, for the most part, seem overjoyed to have survived, at least initially. As the days wear on and the storm rages, as the supplies begin to grow thinner and those with more severe injuries begin to cry out in the night, some feverish and in pain, that mood becomes slightly muted.
When the storm finally breaks, it takes some time to clear the doors of snow, and in fact some of you are forced to rappel down the side of the manor from upstairs windows. The courtyard, the Incline, the Rampart Walk and the fields beyond, all are pristine buried beneath several feet of snow that belie the grisly scenes of war buried beneath. There is no sign of the Kaiser's forces, where their camps lay is only an unmarred field of white. The city gates, visible in the inordinately clear weather, still stand, the Baron's Azure field with a silver Gryphon visibly being deploy over the snowed-in gate by several men on the ramparts. It takes the better part of two days to clear a path to the city, and what follows is a long week of toil, as the remaining civilians and soldiers, with you at their sides, slowly excavate the battlefield, makeshift archaeologists in the tundra. The bodies were well preserved, not surprisingly, however the ice and snow did little to hide the charred and boiled flesh of so many men, on both sides of the fray, frozen in layers three bodies deep at the Courtyard gate.
Despite the efforts of the week, you can't be sure if more bodies won't be found, frozen in snow drifts or trapped in icy graves under the river ice, which has reformed, and at least a foot thick. The Paters and Fraters of the Stargfelsen Church, what few steadfastly remained through the siege, walk the rows of frozen bodies laid out across the Parade Grounds, almost too many to count. They estimate that over
3,400 of the Kaiser's men met their end on the battlefield or from the blizzard, with countless more undoubtedly spread throughout the wilds between the keep and Bruchenende, the new border between Stargfelsen and the Kingdom of Saderia proper a tenuous entity which was similarly swept away in the gale force winds, and will have to be redrawn. Of his own men, other than the mere twenty injured who had shared the manor with you, another ten are found, having taken shelter in stables or village huts, with as many found frozen to death, cowering within the Keep's walls, unable to find food or shelter in the storm. The city had heavy losses, as well, though not nearly as steep as the keep - a hundred men still held the walls, with twice their number in civilians still keeping the homes warm and the hearths lit. The Golden Gryphon still stands proudly, offering a home to all those displaced, the lower floor being used as a makeshift prison for the roughly
forty Saderian prisoners who had survived the storm but had been unable to evacuate.
Of the friends and compatriots you met on your journey, many are now gone:
- Barry, the young "wizard" was seen cut down in the final waves of the defense of the High Gate, however his body is nowhere to be found. His carbine lays shattered and bent within a snowdrift, a broken toy cast aside.
- The Oaf is similarly nowhere to be found, having wandered out into the storm as the siege broke, no words on his mute lips as he wandered the courtyard and disappeared from sight.
- Friedrich, Wolfgang, and Marguerite Geroux, having fled the keep via the tunnel and sailed across the river, seem to have made good on their escape, the small rowboat being found stashed behind a log on the far shore, but no evidence of their passage to be found. Friedrich had left explicit rendezvous instructions with the Grayson and Kitara, should either of them survive.
- Klaus and Herzog shared the manor with you, trying to keep morale high and assist wherever possible. Despite the victory achieved here, there is no mirth in Klaus' face, as he seems preoccupied with the spring, and what the Kaiser may do next.
- Meg remains steadfast in her ministrations of the wounded at the Golden Gryphon, having waited out the siege and exhausting her supplies tending to what wounded she could, friend and enemy combatant alike.
- Boris the Blacksmith, unfortunately, was found frozen to the City Gate, his hammer in one hand, large mooring spikes in the other, the fruits of his work still holding as the gate was unearthed from the snow, the final defender of the city, and heralded as its savior.
- Alex is nowhere to be found, Meg reporting that he had said something of, "seeing enough killing," and he had traveled west with Duke Otto and his men, to seek refuge in Vargenburg. He left a pack of cigarettes with the woman, for Carter.
- Maximoff, Duke Otto's son, sits wounded in the Golden Gryphon, having taken a spear to the side during the rush of cavalry on the bridge. His wounds are healing, but his fighting days seem over, and it will be some time, if ever, before he is able to walk without a crutch or brace.
- Olaf, Kitara's brother, is not found among the scores of dead, despite all of your avid searches. Scores of men's bodies laid scorched at the entrance to the Courtyard, however, and in the heat of the moment, with a helm atop his head, she cannot be sure he was not among them.
- Ser Jacqueline the Red, Knight of the Templar, is similarly nowhere to be found. Only her red winged helm remains, at the center of the Saderian camp, propped atop the simple longsword of a soldier. Despite the raging winds and snow, the helm kept its final post, still facing the Keep silently.
Once the grisly work of excavation is well underway, the Baron takes your party and descends under the manor, to his vault, giving you each the choice of a "Gift from the Crown."
- To Allie One, he gives several pouches of gold coins, as that is all she asked of him.
- To Allie Two, a well crafted Chain Shirt of exquisite make, its purple links shimmering with a starburst of color in the torchlight, the finest furs lining its neck.
- To Carter, a specially crafted gunblade, care of Boris, the smith. A final gift from a promising student.
- To Emmanuel, a well adorned suit of Chainmail, thick and sturdy, with similar craft to Allie Two's.
- For Grayson, a plot of land to the south, his to claim and cultivate should he so choose.
- For James, several ingots of Stargfelsen's bounty, for future development and research, a grant in exchange for the further investment of the University and the future enrichment of the Barony.
- For Kitara, he personally gives her a glimmering white stone, several carats large, exquisitely beautiful and given with a few words of support.
- For Sarah, an even larger stone, a glinting Emerald half as big as her fist and the color of her eyes in the cool winter day.
All of you are further granted the title of
Knight Protector of Stargfelsen, Azure fur cloaks bearing the silver eagle given to you to keep you warm on your return trip home or wherever your journeys should take you.
The worst of winter seems to have passed, and while many cold months still lay ahead for the Barony, spring will soon return to Calidor, and so must you. With a bit of fanfare and many words of thanks, you depart with Klaus and Herzog in tow, to rendezvous with Friedrich and the Baron's son, Wolfgang...