Tuesday, April 26, 2016

The First Ghosts




"We must operate in silence, in shadow, in secret. We must have a way of communicating with each other that is ours alone. If we must leave each other a message, carve these symbols somewhere, just above a man's line of sight."

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"I learned from our ill-fated foray into the northeastern woods that fear is as potent a weapon as any other. I need you to craft me a... uniform, I suppose, for my agents and I. Ideally we should never be seen, but if we are, I wish to strike terror into our foes' hearts."

"It shall be as you say, Lady Reynhild," Arturo replied.
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A very rigorous training schedule is written on a parchment and pinned to a post in the yard at Fort Caedmon. It reads:

--Climb the broken tower. You may use a grappling hook. Run to the end of the courtyard and back. Climb the broken tower again.
--Go to the pile of logs the masons are using. Jump over one. Then, pile another on top of it. Jump over both. Keep adding logs to the pile and jumping over them. Count the number of logs when you are finally unable to jump over them fully. I'll buy a flagon of mead for whoever has the highest number.
--Practice hiding. The human eye seeks out the human form, so the most effective way to hide is by disguising the human form. Crouch, curl into a very small ball, use your shroud to cover your knees and arms, hide your face. You will be invisible in underbrush. Practice dropping into a crouch from standing, over and over again, as fast as you can. 
--Go to the large oak at the west end of the courtyard. Jump, grab the lowest branch. Pull yourself up. Hiding up a tree is extremely effective. Do this until you can no longer.
--I have scattered the yard by the oak with gravel. Practice walking silently across it, on the sides of your feet as I showed you. Whoever can walk the most silently and leave the least trace... I shall also buy you a flagon.
--Target practice as usual, but in pairs. I've constructed cylindrical straw butts that roll quite quickly. One partner rolls the straw butt, the other shoots.
--Finally, I've had Medwyn scribe copies of the most relevant passages from Caedmon's treatise. Please commit them to memory. 

A sentence is scrawled beneath in different handwriting:

I'm getting too old for this nonsense, Reynhild. 

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