[The Grand Duchy of Voruta] The Fortress Voruta

The rain was still falling hard on the capital city, making the unpaved roads quagmires, forcing the party to keep to the main Royal Road, the only real paved avenue in the entire town. The Royal Road led straight to the heart of the Citadel, though the path became crooked and twisted as they ascended up the hill.

Even though it was a stormy day, the city was bustling, though not with the usual signs of a market day. The sounds of clanging hammers on metal, the smell of blacksmith's furnaces, and the cursing of masters to their apprentices filled the working quarters of the city. War horses were being moved into stables, or walked in circles by their riders to loosen up there muscles, to keep them from growing soft. Heavily muscled and scarred men lounged around in the taverns, playing card and dice games out of boredom, getting in arguments over supposedly loaded dice and dealing from the bottom of the deck. But, beyond their boredom, their anxiousness was palpable, their restlessness filling the city with the same energy. A few less than polite comments came from those men lounging in door ways or on covered steps, saying how the mares would make great breeders for their horses, and that extended to Lady Hepburn as well, followed by rowdy jeers and clanking of mugs of ale. 

Their arrival was made known to the castle as they approached, causing the staff to scurry to prepare for the unexpected guests. Retainer infantry, wearing the green of the Gediminas house, watched the approaching knight brothers with apprehension, resting their hands on their weapons. The gates were already opened for the day, to allow the movement of supplies from the town below to the citadel. Two heavily armored men resting their weight on their spears, wearing green capes over their hunched shoulders, asked the arrivals first in their harsh native tongue, then in heavily accented Isran, "Koks yra jūsų verslas čia? What is your business here?"

With the scrying done, Lord Jakub Gediminas jumped to work. Turning to Bloise, he ordered, "Send word to Vyatautas, even if his leg is still broken, we need his men," then briskly exited the room, leaving the wizard to his own devices. Walking down the stairs to get to the main hall, he yelled to a page, "Send word to the city, tell them to be prepared to move when we are joined by Vyatautas' men! And make sure notices are placed in all the taverns for any and all adventurers!"

"My lord, there are strangers at the gate. They aren't Israns," said another page, appearing from a side corridor.

"Well, whoever they are, tell them they need to make it quick, we have a war to fight!" Yelled back Gediminas, as he finally found his way to the hall. It was a great stone room with tall vaunted ceilings held up by pillars. It was sparsely decorated, though that could be fixed easily by the hauling in of large tables for feasts. A dais sat opposite the main door with three thrones of varying height. The tallest was filled with a portrait of the Empress Naoki, and the second tallest was Gediminas' seat, with the third being Vyatautas. Sitting in his throne, Gediminas prepared to receive the Knight-Brothers, whoever the hell they were. 

Resting back in his throne, Lord Gediminas watched with great interest as the party entered into the throne room. A less experienced man might've simply rested his eyes on the striking beauty of the Duchess, with her sparkling sapphire eyes and flowing crimson hair. But, he wasn't a young man anymore, and his main focus was on her more heavily armed companions. He could practically hear the humming of magic emanate from their armor, and he wasn't the only one.

Resting in an alcove in the main hall, shadows hiding him, Lord Gediminas' personal Witch Hunter was quickly scrawling notes on all he was seeing. He would need to do research on these white and black knights.

Bowing forward in his chair when Lady Audrey introduced herself, "There is no reason to be sorry, Lady Audrey, for you did not know of the hour of your arrival. And the representative of the Duchy of Voruta would be more than happy be guests at your feet. But, unfortunately, that won't be me. I'm needed elsewhere, and I'm passing the reins of control to Lord Erik Vyatautas. I'll pass along your invitation to him on the quickest steed. Is there anything else I can help you with? A place to rest, refreshments, supplies for your journey home?"

A loud snap echoed from the alcove when the knight offered to fight alongside them, as the Witch Hunter's quill snapped on the page, followed by a quiet, "Please excuse me," as he bent over to pick up the broken tip. He expected many things, but that wasn't one of them. Quietly excusing himself, the Witch Hunter exited out a side door of the hall, heading for the library. Turns out he was going to have even less time to do research than he expected.

Giving a harsh glance at the Witch Hunter at the snapping of the quill, he turned back to Duchess Hepburn, and said, "I would be more than happy to extend that offer to all of the lords, but most will be riding with me. It's been too long since our last great ride," turning to the Sibrand, he bowed to him as well, "and we would be happy to have our guests with us on this beast hunt. The supplies of the city are yours as well."

Sibrand did not expect to separate from the Duchess, and so watched her leave with a heavy heart. He bid his farewells to his fellow Brothers and returned his attention to Lord Jakub. The armored knight, assuming the lord was not otherwise occupied, approached Gediminas and would ask “what is the situation? I will request what reinforcements I can and have them rendezvous with us.”

Sibrand nodded, "if Voruta raises the shield, the Brothers shall raise the sword. I will write to my superiors and request reinforcements at once. They will meet us on the road. For now, if you don't mind, I can accompany you during the war preparations."