Shadows over Nothross

Shadows over Nothross
by Urpo Lankinen

Contents
Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 1
"Trinsday, 2nd of Warmening, 630. I was arranging my bookshelves this morning as Facyr brought in these two elven nobles. They gave us pointers on something that could be about an old headache the archmages of Colemia thought was already way past us for good - or that's just my hunch, it could be just a plain ordinary crazy mage at work. Gosh, and here I thought this was all just so insignificant. We're now on the way to Furinel, and I'm writing this on a little bit leaky tent, which I hope to get mended when we stop at Walvalley in three days hence."
--Gnedrnygr Adithebadoggr's journal
The guard posted at the Small Gate watched the early morning traffic with a certain kind of eye for details. Trinvnil, the sun of Avarthrel, was rising, and painted the hill behind him and the valley across the road with reddish hues. On clear mornings like this, it was possible to see far away, all the way to the nearest islands in the distance across the seas. Staan Athiv drew a good breath and reflected on the view to the valley for a moment before returning to guard the traffic: it was comforting that at least the views here stayed the same every year in each season. He was a constable, and was in for a promotion next week, and he knew that traditionally, the last week before promotions were always the worst for city guards and most people who depended on the luck. People tended to get killed in interesting ways just as they knew something good was going to happen them, as if Nottomwah had put a bump in the big roulette wheel in the heavens. Of course, Staan liked to think that he didn't need to depend on luck, just skill, and besides, he wasn't exactly getting a big promotion either, so he believed he was quite safe. It was probably not quite as dangerous as the week before retirement, for example. Yet, he felt it was still best to stay sharp, just in case.
He had developed an eye to ignore certain details and focus on things that weren't normal, and right now, all things were pretty much all blur to him. Focusing on really important things was thus easy. He had a good seat, or rather a guard post, from which to see how this country worked.
Two wagons took typical city-manufactured junk to the countryside: One had racks full of these finely crafted tools the city was known for, another wagon carried several mysteriously robed monks, each assigned to deliver some priceless books in person to monasteries in the north. Staan chuckled at this; was the city exporting books, or monks? With some religious upheavals in recent memory, you couldn't tell.
Some wagons, on the other hand, brought things from the countryside that spread all around the city, and from other cities beyond: Barrels piled upon barrels, all full of fruits and wine. Staan was just a guard and didn't know much of the scheming of the merchants, yet he knew, just by looking at the traffic and letting his mind wander to kill the boredom, that the trade was running smoothly and the city was prosperous.
This boring yet thoughtful routine had been that way all morning - absolutely nothing interesting or complex that would need his immediate attention, at least what came to guarding things. It was clearly a good day for philosophizing in the duty.
Boredom and philosophizing did not mean he would be caught off guard. He straightened himself up, having sagged a bit while pondering things, and tried to show that he was at attention, as a pair of travellers appeared from behind the hill on horseback.
When they got closer, he could see they were two elves. You don't see elves too often in the big city, Staan thought - and these two look very serious. Staan looked them with an eye of a watchman, which meant he squinted at the pair menacingly and tried to tell whether or not the pair was going to be of trouble. He quickly discerned that the elven male and female, while being robed in those fine, yet suspiciously inconspicuous robes, were not of any threat. After all, while he had never seen elven robbers himself, he tended to guess they'd go for a bit more lethal look, even while veiling themselves. These were just ordinary elves.
The two stopped as they saw Staan. "Greetings of a fine morning to you, guard", the male said.
"Good morning, sir", Staan replied. And who would this fair couple be? Nobles, that's for sure - though you could never tell from the elves. This couple definitely looked regal, apart of the fact they were here with