Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, again and again the hammer strikes against the nail, delving further and further into the wooden beam, Byrt wipes a bead of sweat off of his face as he finishes nailing the last bit into the wooden beam that makes up the wooden joists that are being used to uphold the structural stability inside the narrow shaft leading into the new iron mine that will be the pillar of his community's new income. He gives a slight grunt and say's in a hushed tone, " There we go!, that should do the job, better get as much as we can done before i have slim to no help getting this done after what was talked about in today's meeting with the Viscount, if i am right about these boy's of mine i know what decision they will make".
Byrt then remembered the event earlier that Day as the head of every household was ordered to meet at the Viscount's residency for whenever he makes his visit's to their small town of, "Eldermere", 137 family head's all sitting in a cramped Audience Chamber while the one heading this entire ordeal, " Viscount Frederck Fairbourne", a noble for all intense and purposes until a couple of year's ago, was just like them. A commoner, albeit a more well off Commoner, but due to donation's to the crown, he was able to climb the ladder and assume the rank of Viscount, in which the domain he was granted was a fairly new discovered region beyond the plains of the Eldersong Fields, where they had all previously resided.
With a quick grunt of his voice Viscount Fairbourne simply said," Attention everyone!! Although i do appreciate your quick response to my summons, we have much to talk about, but very little time to go over it, so please excuse my Forthright nature, but it is time to begin!, his wiry but slightly gruff voice cutting through the throng of men talking within the Audience chamber, causing all eye's to look up at him. With a quick Nod he continued, " His Majesty was Gracious enough to bestow this title upon myself, and has allowed us all to move out this way, this area that we now inhabit, " The Gilded Wilds", with the 3 settlements in this location, the expanding, and resource production has been magnificent as of lately, but there has been a costly miscalculation in this as well".
As those last bit of words come out of his mouth the murmurs begin to sweep through the crowds like wildfire, voices whispering, " Aye so it is true, the soldier's can barely hold their own against the Creature's that have been inhabiting the Forest before us!", Another whisper states, " It is so!, i have seen it with my own eyes, the Lecherous creatures just tore ole milford apart! his intestines were all over the logging site!, that's how his Son, Mildrew of only 17 years of age became the head of their house!".
The silent Whisper's quickly over powered the commanded silence that once Ruled just moments before, the noise level in the room quickly reaching a new height of Audacity before in just a moments notice all attention was redirected back towards the front as a sudden BOOM!, BOOM!, BOOM!, reverberated throughout the Audience chamber .The Person being responsible for this noise was Byrt Tenebrae. A former Captain of the guard for the Royal court's to the Royal family of the House of Solmire, with all eyes on him Byrt then states, " Hold your Tongues in front of the Viscount Men of ElderMere! It is most apparent that the Viscount is trying to address something, so please stay your words until he finishes!", with that Byrt Looks back to the Viscount Fairbourne and nods to him to continue in which the viscount says with gratitude and a face that seem's overwhelmed, " Thank you Byrt Tenebrae!, as i am sure you are all aware, yes the troops sent from the capital for our protection are in need of some assistance, although just earlier this week i have sent a letter to the capital, letting them know of our pressing matters, we all know how long that trip took us to get here, let alone how long it would take to get a response back.
So in the time being i have decided to inform you all, the respective heads of your houses that i will need 3 Able bodied young men from each household to undergo basic Militia training from the Current Captain of the Guards, Captain Ulric Dane!", with that the Captain of the Guard, Captain Ulric Dane stepped forward and Performed a Bow to greet all present and said, " I hope every house here can Cooperate, i know that all families that moved here had exceptionally large families. Your son's will only be needed until further reinforcement's arrive, furthermore should they ever be needed again they will already have the Necessary training to step up and be able to protect those around them, we only ask for this help this once, and in return they will gain new skill set's that will be beneficial to your own families.", with that , the captain Ulric Dane, stepped back behind the Viscount and waited for the groups response.
After a few tense moments, a farmer from the house of Piffel stepped forward and stated, " Look Viscount, captain, we understand why your asking what your asking, but if each of our households gives you 3 of our son's a piece, won't that slow down the growth of Eldermere, by which the king has commanded us to establish a new frontier town at? the timeframe you ask , it would slow us down by 3 month's , and that is even if, the Crown deems it worth sending more troops to protect us? he then turned to the captain and said, i do see your logic behind having additional skill set's, and being able to protect our own, but plenty of us already have this skills as we have been part of Milita's more then once. To keep up with the King's decree of settling this land and Pioneering new frontier for the kingdom Fatum i can agree to send out One son a piece, that in itself is 137 Able Bodied young men, who may have already been trained in Militia standards, compared to the Platoon of 75 soldiers, that seem's a bit more reasonable don't you think?"
With that being said, many voices began to voice their own opinion's bout deadlines, decree's and what their families are able to do, although not as raucous as before, the mumbling and whispers of incoherent word's finally died down, and with that once more Byrt step's forward and begins by saying, " House of Piffel, i do understand where your coming from, truly i do; therefore we must remember what we are dealing with now that we are here away from the protected enclaves of the Capital and it's surrounding areas, sure we must meet the deadline, but we won't be able to do so without protection; Henceforth i offer up this solution, 1st and foremost if we die here it is all for not, so i would say at the Bare minimum, each family sends One, we all have that One child that Idolizes a Soldier's life, that is for certain, 2nd we ask the other son's in our family if they would like the Opportunity to make this decision for themselves, as at some point they will all venture out on their to make their own stories and live their own lives, it isn't necessarily a bad thing if our Military strength grows in might within the confines of this area is it?
More Able bodied men, means less meeting's like this where we have to squabble over this nonsense. We have fields to Till, Mines to mine, Tree's to fell, Quarry's to dig, and Road's to build, and let's not mention all the Ale that must be produced before the Autumn Harvest Hits! With that a hearty Hazzah resound's within the Audience chamber, smiles pasted across every face in the chamber, as the cheers dial down Byrt continues, " With all that being said we are all Robust , and Hearty men of the Kingdom of Fatum! a little extra work per person has never stopped us from doing what has been requested of us, so when thing's end here, call up a meeting with your kin, and let them decide their own fates.
As it stand's now i dare say we are ahead of the schedule, and it mainly be due to the Brave men from the Captain's Platoon for keeping us safe! what say you , you men of Fatum?" with that being said a resounding silence echoed throughout the chamber, one by one with Proud looks in their eyes the men in the chamber looked at Byrt Tenebrae, and then back to the viscount and said, " Aye Viscount, we will leave it to our son's to decide what to do", and then Viscount Fairbourne and captain Ulric nodded towards the crowd and then looked towards' Byrt Tenebrae with thankful looks in their eyes and said," Then with that this meeting is Adjourned everyone, please be sure to have your son's report to the Guard's Post First thing within a Fortnight's time, that way they can begin their training as soon as possible", with that the men all left the chamber's and stepped back onto the carefully cultivated path's leading the either their homes, or their fields, some like Byrt even continued forward to their respective jobsites to finish what they were previously working on.
After that Memory Passed through his mind, Byrt looks back up at the secured Joist, and then looks around him, in the Iron Mines with him, securing the wall's for safety or steadily Digging forward, were his 7 Oldest son's Byrt himself being 36 year's of age, has been married to his wife of 21 years ,Ms. Cindy; their First Born came at the end of summer in August of the Year of His royal Majesty, Augustus Solmire's Crowing Coronation, after the death of his Father, his Majesty Maximus Solmire, just the week Prior. His oldest son Roland Tenebrae, was now 20 Year's of age, and was every bit the spitting image of his father, albeit of course with his mother's eyes, and every year after that for 14 years straight the God's blessed them with Healthy, and hearty Children .
Byrt sighed knowing what path all his eligable son's would choose in this matter, whether to help him progress the mine forward or help protect those trying to expand the fields and the wall's further for the Kingdom of Tenebrae, with that quiet sigh, he looked back to see the sun fading fast, and the lantern's already lit within his own house, he then call's back to his Son's and say's " alright Boy's! it's time to head on in, i can smell your mother's cooking from here, and if it is what i think it is, you can expect to have another sibbling announcment within a month or two!!", Byrt says with a loud and robust laughter, earning him the silent annoyed treatment from a few of his son's while their other's turned Green in the face and tried holding back what little was left of their lunch.
Sam, Byrt's 4th oldest son at 16 year's of age and just an inch Shorter then his older Brother Roland say's while covering his mouth, " please father, i don't think i can handle hearing another round of you and mother up there, you guy's echo throughout the house and the only ones who seem to sleep through it are the Twin's! so please don't make us suffer like this anymore and just retire your self to drinking Ale in the tavern!", saying this earned him a Hearty Laughter from his Father Byrt , in which Byrt responds, " Son! how could you say such things!, I am not even considered Middleage yet, ah well, we will see what the night brings us eh! come, come! i have thing's to talk about with you boy's after Dinner is over, so quickly let's wash up and go stuff our Bellies full of your Mother's lovely cooking! HMMMMM Smell's like shephards Beef stew tonight!", with that Byrt and his son's race from the mines and back home as the sun set's further down to rest itself underneath the Horizon.