But it was one of these regular days when he found an impatient messenger standing wearily by the gates of the castle, irritated and pacing back and forth.
"Lord Cassius, Lord Margrave requests your presence in his study."
Cassius cocked an eyebrow at the man's inflection, although he wouldn't describe himself as arrogant, he knew the messenger was pushing his luck by making his irritation so obvious.
The silence stretched just long enough to make the messenger squirm.
Obviously the messenger had realised he had misspoken, before sighing ruefully. "My apologies Lord, grim news has arrived from Fort Stroh at the border, your father will explain further."
"Ah." Cassius replied, assuming correctly that the Cross had once again rallied an army to besiege the March of Stenfall. Who the hell forms an army for attack a few months before a harvest? He thought to himself. Based off what he had learned from his many lectures with Akeem, the Cross Kingdom would only sally forth in the late spring, or the late fall after the harvest.
Perhaps they're betting on the more favourable weather for a breakthrough? He thought. If they had planned to blitz an unprepared garrison, they were going to be sorely mistaken. A network of merchants, and common folk who regularly travelled to the Kingdom worked as a loose spy network, constantly sharing what they'd seen on their travels.
This worked both ways however, and oftentimes people who set out for the Cross Kingdom would simply never return, being captured and interrogated for information.
Regardless, more considerations ran through his head as he found himself sat once again before the fully armoured visage of his father, his entire bearing having shifted from a doting father, to Militant Margrave of the Southern Border, "Great shield" of the Realm.
His father stood overlooking a large carved wooden table in the corner of the room, carved completely out of the singular trunk of an Oak tree, it was clearly a highly detailed miniaturization of the Stroh pass, and the lands surrounding it.
Cassius had to admit, it was incredibly impressive and quite frankly, cool as hell.
He pulled over a nearby stool to get a better look at the carving and leaned on the table alongside his father in comfortable silence as they studied the landscape together.
He could tell right away that a lot of time and effort went into this carving, with Fortress Stroh having intricate details of the fort carved into the stone itself.
The "Fortress" Was actually two separate constructions with a large pair of walls creating a courtyard between the two castles, The "Low" Castle having been positioned directly in the pass, with the keep itself built into the mountain, carved from stone and rock. The "High" Castle, having been built on a small plateaued hill, a large strong stone tower had been erected in the center of the keep to allow defenders a vantage point for observing friend and foe approach from both ends of the pass.
The High Castle walls were about eight meters tall, short in the grand scheme of things, but it was the most economically viable height to defensive ratio that the men of Stenfall had figured out. What with the Castle being in various states of constant repair for nearly the past century.
The low fort itself was actually larger than it appeared, with deep wide caverns being slowly chipped away from bedrock and stone, slaves and prisoners of war from the Kingdom having been used for manual labour.
Which might seem cruel and unusual, but there was a mercy provided to them; If they could not afford to pay their ransom, they would work for ten years in the Ironforge kingdom as a slave before their 'ransom' was considered paid.
This is of course assuming they did not die in the process.
Of course this only applied to the regular troop and file, any nobles or notable knights and warriors captured were usually immediately ransomed by their Lords, or Lords Lord, or were held as a bargaining chip.
Strangely enough, most of the younger slaves ended up settling down after the 'Tithe of the Forge' was exacted from them, preferring to become a resident of Ironforge instead of returning to the constant warring state that was the massive Cross Kingdom.
Miles of tunnel had been dug out by this point over the past seventy or so years, with several observation posts, and a large command room having been chiselled out further up the tall mountain to allow for a commanding view of the pass. If Cassius had been a GI from the second world war, he would have had innumerable flashbacks.
As Cassius studied the carving, he realised the thin, winding road that had been created up the opposing slope leading into the pass. Suicidal was how he decided to label the Cross Kingdoms nobles.
At its thickest, the path was wide enough for thirty men to walk up abreast. At its thinnest, perhaps a single cart could pass by with difficulty. If any sort of gunpowder weapons existed at this time, it would have been a complete and total bloodbath with no survivors he thought. No cover, tall steep cliffs on either side, in bad weather the slippery trails would be a death sentence for any creature to have lost their footing.
Something about the pass also unsettled most pack and war animals. Legends had it that a great carnivorous Leviathan had been slain here centuries ago, and its great and violent death had permanently stained the walls of the pass with its tainted blood, startling and unsettling lesser beings by virtue of its presence.
Another benefit of the great pass Cassius thought.
Ultimately the silence was broken by his father who turned to look at Cassius with a look of great expectation.
"Are you aware of why I brought you here?" He questioned
Cassius turned away from the great carving and studied his father. "I'm sure it has something to do with our great enemy to the south, trying to make another attempt at the border?"
His father nodded, "Indeed, however, according to what we're learning, something about this time something is different. The force preparing to assault us is a magnitude smaller than what we've previously seen."
Well, nothing about that can be good.
"It makes sense, why bother sending 40,000 men into a pass that can maybe fit 2,000 people?" Cassius replied honestly.
The Margrave spared Cassius a rare smile, "My thoughts exactly, previously hundreds if not thousands of men have plummeted to their deaths during their ascent to the top. During my fathers reign, a great host of perhaps seventy thousand had even camped all along the trail, with many thousands perishing when a great fall rain had stripped their footing from beneath them."
"Now, as to why I've summoned you. I will be departing personally to oversee the defence of Stroh, I'm suspicious of the Cross's intent, and I want to view their new tactics first hand, in my absence I have summoned Lord Vratori to govern in my stead."
"While I would normally choose your eldest brother, he is still on patrol and his task shall not be interrupted, Hence why Lord Vratori will be coming here to take governance in my absence. Before he arrives, Lord Castellan Jericho Sol will have command of the garrison. I would like you to accompany him while Vratori is travelling here and learn from him."
Cassius pondered this simply, "Very well Father, I will do my best to assist Lord Jericho while you're gone."
Laurence eye brows furrowed as he smiled knowingly, Cassius's words obvious. Jericho might be the one assisting Cassius by the time I return, I fear.
Elsewhere, Jericho was tending to the wall, and felt a deep chill creep up his spine. The thin man felt that somebody had planned some ill intents for him.
—---------
Meanwhile… Elric stood face to face with one of the local village chiefs, the tall elderly figure studying the young noble scion with great suspicion.
"Could you say that again, Lord Elric?" He asked with anticipation.
Elric let out a deep sigh, this was the third village he had visited since arriving in this part of his fathers territory, every time he was greeted with great suspicion, or dread by the local villagers. Fearing that the tax man had come to strip them bare, or that they were here to purge them on suspicion of working alongside the bandits.
He would patiently explain each time in front of the village chief what he was actually doing here, his intentions, and the good news he brought them.
Each time they would remain sceptical, until Elric passed on a parchment scroll to whatever literate man was present, typically the chief, and have them read it aloud for the village to hear.
This time, the village chief asked to meet him in private however, appearing to have become incredibly excited when he reached the bottom of the scroll, where he found an addition that Elric had added as a final extension of an olive branch to the people of the territory.
"-Any and all bandits that should cease their activities and return home will not be held accountable for their crimes. In addition, any bandits that turn themselves in of their own volition will see their village's receive additional supply and support."
These terms were unheard of, and entirely due to the bandits having shown immense restraint, never severely assaulting or bringing death upon the caravans they targeted. Of course there were a few accidents, and people had been roughed up, but most of the merchants had been quite impressed with the professionalism and polite conduct of their robbers.
The bandits' odd behavior was puzzling to all except Cassius, who saw something vaguely familiar about their tactics. They were operating with a level of discipline and restraint rarely seen in common criminals—no bloodshed, no unnecessary violence, and they seemed to be avoiding fatal consequences at all costs. It was almost... strategic.
He didn't know why, but the methods tugged at a memory he couldn't fully recall. Somewhere in his past—or was it a story he'd heard?—this type of restraint had been used to ensure they wouldn't cross the merchants bottom line, or draw the ire of the authorities.
He figured whoever was conducting these robberies was experienced enough to know the repercussions that would follow, and how to best avoid them.
Fortunately, whoever was conducting these robberies was saved by Cassius, who had helped Elric to read between the lines. Eventually, Elric would later inform the individual leading these bandits, who proceeded to stand slack jawed at his luck, until eventually bursting into a deep, long laughter at his fortune.