Prophesy Of Pendor Trade Routes

  1. Prophecy Of Pendor Trade Routes
  2. Prophesy Of Pendor Companions

Pendor
  • To use cheats, you must configure your game to allow cheats: After opening up the game launcher, before you click Play Mount&Blade, go to Configure. From there, go to the Game tab and check the box next to Enable Cheats. However, it must be noted that playing with Cheats enabled will stop you from receiving Steam Achievements (Mount & Blade: Warband). If cheats are used, you may disable them.
  • The Fierdsvain are like domesticated Vikings who were mostly brought over to protect trade routes or something against the Vanskerries, so those two don't like each other. Sarleon at one point temporarily united Pendor to fight off the Empire and Barclay, but that dream fell apart as soon as the main threat ended because nobody liked Sarleon.

Salt from singal to sarleon is another quick trade route that quickly increases your account, and there are also a couple other dshar towns that can have extremly cheap salt (ive seen it once being sold for 36 denars) that can be sold for 300+ in most cities on the map.

Prophesy of Pendor V3.42 WARBAND
SINGLE PLAYER ONLY
Not save game compatible with earlier versions
Synopsis
From the Founding of Pendor - the year is 354
A King has not ruled the shattered land of Pendor for many generations. What was once a proud accomplishment of man now is steeped in the myths of folklore and told as children’s bedtime stories. Yet, the legends live on of a prophesy of hope. A tale of a champion who comes from a distant shore and unites the lords of Pendor under a single Ruler and brings peace and prosperity once again to this ravaged war-torn land.
All is not as it seems as there are many powers who have their own ends in mind and an epic struggle is about to unfold.
Strap on your sword, and buckle your imagination. Prepare to enter the world of Pendor and accept the challenge of the Prophesy - if you dare.
For Mount&Blade users who want the latest Prophesy of Pendor download
Prophesy of Pendor 3.011 for MOUNT&BLADE
Prophesy of Pendor introduction thread and module details..
Click here for Introduction Thread
It is recommended that you read either the introduction thread or the read-me that is downloaded with the module.
Credits: Click Here for Credits and Acknowledgments
Where you can get a quick list of the many people who put their skills to use so that you can enjoy this entertainment offering.
Wiki:Click Here for Prophesy of Pendor WIKI
This is where you can gain additional information regarding the game world, how to do things, specials and lots of information. You are encouraged to not only read this, but to create an account and contribute.
Issue Reporting:Click here to get Support and Help
NOTE: We do not offer technical support on the M&B Repository, ONLY in the community forum listed in the many threads HERE

Prophesy of Pendor is a total conversion modification to Warband

[*] Well thought out cultures, armies, and conflicts
[*] Unique Backstory - The World of Pendor
[*] New battle AI System
[*] Enhanced Goals -
[*] Detailed Economy -
[*] Deep Immersion -
[*] Knighthood Orders -
[*] Minor Factions -
[*] More Events - and quests
[*] Dymanic Conversation System
[*] All new and unique items
[*] Expanded victory conditions.
[*] Special Items
[*] Speciality Enemy Heroes
[*] Designed to be a Challenge to Play - ONLY recommended for experienced players.
NEW 3.42 Changes Prophesy Of Pendor Trade Routes
  • Item Graphics enhancements and minor issues fixed.
3.411 Changes
Note 3.411 Not Savegame compatible with 3.41
  • Fixed Red Brotherhood chest.
  • Reverted Kill counter to not being continuous (to reduce potential lag). Use minimap on/off to get the kill counter to display if it does not.
  • Changed the economy to PoP3.4 (and fixed missing items that would occur in WB 1.143). This causes save game incompatibility with PoP3.41.
  • Changed Pendor Cavalry from level 30 to level 20 (to fix upgrade issue).
  • Removed defeating Noldor lords from victory conditions (- now you can win while the Noldor Lords are on the map).
  • Increased bulk item purchases penalties a little (and the same for selling bulk of the same kind).
  • Rebalanced how merchants stock their inventories, especially goods merchants.
  • Fixed Red Brotherhood to sometimes offer Bearclaw Berserkers.
  • Fixed the requirements of a certain bow.
  • Adjusted the cost of the mill and brewery enterprises.
  • Removed player supporter faction restriction on certain new items like Ebony weapons, Ranger armor, etc.
  • Cavalry in other groups than the default cavalry group are now also affected by the initial mount order (to counter game engine's dismount order).
  • Rebalanced noble recruits’ generation .
  • Relationship needed for lords to join is revised:
3.41 Features and Changes
Note: Prophesy of Pendor v3.4 and above works currently only with Mount and Blade: Warband version 1.134 and 1.142
  • Ported to Warband version 1.143 and included all fixes and new achievements that it includes (adapted to PoP).
  • Fixed Maiden Ranger having lower skill in archery than crossbows.
  • Fixed an issue that existed when a lord joins your faction but fails to bring over his holdings.
  • Fixed Melitine Lancers not using their lances.
  • Fixed units not switching from lances to melee correctly (when there are 3 nearby enemies).
  • Fixed Bearclaw shield being too abundant in loot after battling Mystmountain warriors and shamans.
  • Fixed issue where it was impossible to gain the two unique items in the game.
  • Fixed issue where companions promoted to lords/ladies would not wear their player assigned equipment.
  • Siege scene in Valonbray is fixed (by Abhuva)
  • Fixed the character menu report to report the correct prestige cost for honor troops.
  • Changed starting renown for companion promoted Lords/Ladies (lvl*28, capped at 1000).
  • Fixed the low cost of the Empire Old Shield (- this may need a new game to take effect).
  • Fixed an issue where a player could recruit troops higher than level 40 after a battle.
  • Talking to a lord at a feast when there is no host has been fixed.
  • Lords have had their faces updated to unique and appropriate faces. (- this will need a new game to take effect)
  • Heretic Magnus have had his bow and quiver replaced with throwing spears (due to issue where he would have a bow but no quiver equipped). (-This may need a new game to take effect)
  • Warhammers now have the same swing/thrust functions as Polehammers. (This may need a new game to take effect)
  • If the player is betrothed he will not get any orders to join the army (if he's a vassal) until he's married or ends the engagement.
  • Added a PoP game menu option where you can make it so lords can never bring over their holdings to your faction if you turn this option on.
  • Fixed a duplicate banner issue (Caliph Hamid and Sidonius Legatus). (-this needs a new game to take effect)
  • For players who like to have the original horse theme: There is an optional folder with original horses. It is in the folder named “Original Horse Textures v1.01”. In that folder are instructions on how to install the resource and textures to bring back some familiar old horse looks.
NEW 3.41 Features and Changes
  • VI updates.
  • Raised training skills for lords and kings where needed. Raised AI Tactics skills in general.
  • Nuanced troops and companions (they used to have the same proficiency in all weapons, now they don't). For example ranged troops are often less skilled in melee.
  • Increased morale modifiers for leadership (20%/25%) and food (100%).
  • Reworked routing to scale better and to take longer to occur.
  • Included option to turn off routing completely.
  • Starting troop slots lowered by 20.
  • Attacker siege retreats penalized by 20 renown, 2 honor and 10 party morale.
  • Jatu raider and lancer have had horse upgrades to respectable horses.
  • A few horses that had no hitpoint declaration have been fixed. (thanks Hoellenbewohner)
  • A party template bug for Shalavan has been fixed. (thanks Hoellenbewohner)
  • No horses for anyone in village lord raids (before only the enemy AI had no horses).
  • Lord parties who are accompanying another party are a bit more courageous than before (they don't flee as easily).
  • Added Caba'Drin's Dynamic Groups code (thanks Caba'Drin!)
  • Jatu armies reduced in numeric strength slightly (because their raiders and lancers are harder to beat now).
  • Two additional Sarleon Barons have received household troops.
  • Jatu Hunter resurrected from the dead.
  • Small fixes for typos and minor changes.
  • Fixed an issue with the Archer Defender Siege AI.
  • New Weapons, shields and armors have been introduced (and a few weapons gave been re-introduced).
  • Patrol radius for small knight groups and patrols have been tightened so they patrol their area better.
  • The steward now recruits from all bound villages (not only the player owned bound villages). This is a bug fix.
  • The faction kings’ hired Mercenary parties have higher initiative values.
  • Lords no longer automatically bring over their holdings to the player faction when they change allegiance to the player faction. Instead it is based on several factors (where campaign difficulty, player persuasion, relation with lord and lord rank are deciding factors).
  • Honor gain and relation boost reduced when freeing captured lords.
  • Honor gained by winning tournaments.
  • Increased relation requirement for lords to be willing to join player faction when talked to from capture dialogue (from 7 to 20).
  • Increased size of Knighood Spawns (on map).
  • Honor troop training is now based on (250-Honor)/10 Prestige points per troop.Minimum prestige cost is still 2 and maximum is still 25.
  • Player loot share reduced (to its original setting).
  • Certain companions have certain troop affinities.
  • Valonbray has had scene upgrades made by Abhuva!
  • Reworked mercenary payment a bit (not as profitable as before).
  • A new tribe has joined the Mystmountains: The Bearclaw Berserkers! These highly agile berserkers in full Bearclaw Armor are rightfully feared in the North. While perhaps not as skilled as the Fierdsvein berserkers they are more agile and more armored and they wield big axes If you are lucky you may come across a few who might join your army.
  • Kings will not accept vasselage of players who have a relatively high right to rule.
  • A new mercenary unit known as the Melitine Mercenary Lancer has been seen in taverns ... they are said to hail from Amala!
NEW 3.302 Updates
Note: Prophesy of Pendor 3.3x works only with Mount and Blade: Warband version 1.134 (the latest patch)
Version 3.302 is a Stability release with minor modifications to VI. It is not save game compatible with earlier versions.

  • All sounds in the Sounds folder have been converted to wav format to improve performance and remove crashes
  • VI updated so that enemy leader will charge player when player is 'close and scouting'
  • VI has been updated to send an automatic Mount order to cavalry at start to discourage dismounts.

Version 3.301 is SAVE GAME COMPATIBLE WITH 3.3
NEW 3.301 Features
    Changes 3.301 (save game compatible with 3.3):
  • Fixed companion as prisoner dialog missing (now ex-companions behave as normal kingdom lords when captured … was only partly fixed in 3.205).
  • Fixed weapon graphics and weapon lengths (no discrepancies between graphics and in-game lengths any longer – plus re-introduced some weapons from version 3.205).
  • Fixed the lods for white caparisoned horse.
  • Fixed Eventide Helm with Cape (was floating before).
  • Fixed Ithilrandir being killed to also affect Noldor relations negatively.
  • Reworked tax inefficiency a bit (larger base before penalty but a bit steeper penalty curve after that).
  • Updated a section of the Cavalry VI to fix a passivity issue.
NEW 3.3 Features

Prophecy Of Pendor Trade Routes


  • Horse graphics updates (by wanderer949)
  • Armors graphics updates (by smokindog and Archangel2K -- mainly for PoP4)
  • Weapons graphics updates (by anonymous)
  • Restructuring of brf:s and textures.
  • Fixed OP Code error when companion is ransomed
  • Fixed dialog so it no longer offers a feast if in non-player owned centers (and the spouse is not the owner either).
  • Sound notification for nearby enemies only triggered by larger groups now (and only if they are close to player's holdings).
  • Fixed ghost lady to only select non-player husband lords.
  • Changed rav battle axe to be able to thrust and swing.
  • Removed village raid sound.
  • Fixed notification message bug (for other faction relations that are affected by certain events)
  • Fixed village banner issue
  • Fixed a blank dialog issue with Town mayors
  • Increased player_loot_share (doubled it)
  • Lowered maximum Looting skill at character generation (compensated with increases in other skills to match the loss)
  • Inserted Rubik's improved looting system (for higher quality loot)
  • Added Weaponmaster for: Ediz - 4, Kaverra - 3, Sigismund - 5
  • Fierdsvein nobility who rode red warhorses now ride green warhorses and all Jarls are upgraded to these.
  • Fierdsvein Nobility that rode a hunter now ride a caparisoned green hunter
  • Noble Valkyries now ride Yellow Warhorses (instead of white warhorses)
  • Marleons Cavalry also ride Red Caparisoned hunter
  • Sarleon Knight can no longer ride Well Bred Hunters. Instead they can ride Caparisoned Red Hunters
  • Sarleon Lords that rode hunters now ride red caparisoned hunters
  • Ravenstern Lords that rode hunters now ride blue caparisoned hunters (count stephan rides a blue draped warhorse instead of a steppe horse)
  • A certain item's abundance changed from 80 to 0.
  • Reduced number of honor troops generated by reputation (and added a random element to it).
  • Reworked how quitting a rebellion functions (now all holdings will revert to original faction and all prisoners are released and player loses 5 honor instead of 20 honor).
  • Added sound notification for finished construction of buildings (in addition to the current text log notification).
  • Increased armor factor from 29 to 35 for all Caparisoned hunters (because other hunters cost less but have better stats).
  • VI: If there is Cav, then a mounted team leader will stay with them instead of infantry.
  • Field battle: When the player falls the troops are ordered to use any weapon and fire at will (in addition to charge).
  • Fixed descriptions of very prosperous villages and towns.
  • Added Feature: Building repairs (for AI and player) + AI building improvements.
NEW 3.204 Features
  • Fixed typo in dialog.
  • New sally forth feature.
  • Fixed stuck lords bug
  • Fix for Marshal OP error
  • Fixed Slot OP error spam (if player has assigned troops to slot 7 and has no troops assigned to slot
  • Fixed loot division by 0 OP script error.
  • Changed Dread Legion Infantry from archer to infantry
  • Intelligent tactical AI and battle formations (see forum FAQ for details and keys)
  • A hidden outpost of a minor faction (no spoilers here!)
  • New intro quests
  • Treasure maps leading to hidden lairs
  • Gender equality: females get fiefs when invited to join a faction and don't have a hard time trying to get hired as mercs
  • Added reference pages under Notes->Game Concepts for buildings and knighthood orders
  • Cheater achievement rewritten (cheating three times will trigger it, and it doesn't disable other achievements, only their rewards)
  • Factionalized items (there are many faction-specific items that are available only in faction's town stores)
  • Auto-recruiting from bound villages (seneschal dialo

Mount and Blade: Warband

The Kings of Pendor, by Keltiones

Chapter three: The dawn of opportunity

The sun rose early, as it had the day before. Fewer birds sang here in the city, away from the hardy forests and fields of the wilderness further north. The brilliant rays shone in through the single four-paned window in the tavern room; Arthur couldn't help but rise with the sun. Strapping on his sword belt and hefting his saddle bags over his shoulders, the young man strode through the sleeping establishment to the bar on the ground floor. The tavern keeper was the first waking man he encountered; he stood scrubbing the bar in anticipation of the day's customers. When Arthur reached the bar, the man looked up and furrowed his brow. 'Ye wouldn't happen to be Arthur Barclay, would you?' the publican asked with a thoughtful look on his face, as if trying to remember something. Arthur frowned and nodded.

'Ah, I thought ye might have been. Here, a delivery came late last night for you. A bag full of silver, mind – the messenger said that it was from the Guild master. He said that it was payment for your protection, something like that.'

Nodding and expressing his thanks before taking the offered pouch, Arthur walked out of the sturdy oak door and across the courtyard to the stables – constructed of the same sturdy material as the tavern's door – where he recovered his horse. Affixing the saddle bags to the animal's rump, he led it out of the gate and onto the apparently underpopulated streets of Ravenstern.

The streets were virtually abandoned at such an early hour. Arthur could still hear some noise from the general direction of the market district and considered heading there to acquire some further provisions, but instead decided to familiarise himself with the residential area of the town. As he grew further from the bustling centre of the town a cloak of silence fell across the landscape, almost oppressive in nature. Not a single resident had yet stirred, and this fact remained as he travelled further towards the outskirts of the town, by the wall surrounding it. As he travelled, the houses became smaller, ill constructed, close together. It reached the point where the area he was in looked almost like a slum, with the dwellings scarcely remaining upright on their rotten timbers.

He reached the end of the road, a dead end with the city wall on one side and shacks on two others, the only way back being the way he came through. The young man briefly looked the wall up and down, in its entire enormity, before turning around to head back to the market. However, upon turning, he discovered his way blocked by four scruffy, bedraggled men – each with a sword hanging conspicuously off their belt. One stepped forward. 'You're a foreigner, ain't ye?' he sneered, looking down his grubby nose at Arthur. 'I can tell. No local man would set foot in this part of town, for fear of having his purse and his throat cut. Lucky for me, ye were stupid enough to come strolling in here.'

Arthur's eyes darted about, taking in the situation. Running would be futile, as they were blocking the narrow path almost entirely. If he tried to mount his horse, they would cut him down before he had the chance to build up any speed. Fighting his way out seemed to be the only option, unless he tried to cry for help – which, given the man's statement, did not seem as if it would to him much good. Seeing that combat would be his only option, he drew a deep breath to steady himself. He had never killed a man, nor did he particularly want to; he constantly vowed revenge on the soldier who had murdered his father, but that seemed different, almost childish. This was very real indeed, and demanded his immediate attention. Letting his breath out, the youth's hand darted swiftly to his sword and drew it. He stood in a stance of readiness and watched as the other men drew their weapons, attempting to gain an inkling of their skill with the blade from the way they handled it. From what he could tell, the only particularly skilled swordsman among them was the man who had spoken first. Unfortunately, he would have to fight them all at once, so it looked like skill wasn't going to matter. He stopped himself from coming to the realisation that he might die here and instead steadied his nerves.

The first man came at him with his sword raised high, bringing it crashing down upon the young man's parry. The sheer strength and animosity behind the swing nearly staggered him, and he failed to regain his balance before the sword came slicing towards him once again. While he was able to deflect the blow and make a short swing towards the man's torso, he did not have time to avoid the fist which came hurtling towards his face, and he was knocked on his back.

It had happened in less than five seconds, and he was already flashing back to the night his father died. He had been in the same position, helpless to prevent that horrible fate which befell the man who raised him. Spurred on by the willpower he held deep within him, the utter determination to avoid that very same helplessness, he cut upwards with his rusty arming sword and caught the side of the man's leg before he jumped back with a cry. Adrenaline pulsed through Arthur's veins; he sprang up and tensed, preparing for the next onslaught. Unfortunately, at this, the remaining three men advanced on him all at once. His primal confidence was at once gone, the chemical drive fading. Futility once again overcame him, the fleeting moment of resistance over. He parried a blow from the right and jumped away from the man on the left, scarcely avoiding a thrust from the man in the middle. He just kept jumping, dodging, parrying, before he found himself pressed up against his ancient saddle horse, forgotten in the commotion. The thieves recognised the position their enemy was in and closed on him, easily knocking away his desperate blows. Arthur's sword was knocked to the ground and he was grabbed by the two men flanking their leader, forced to his knees.

'I would like that tunic of yours for myself, so I don't want some bloody hole in it from where I ran ye through,' he said with a maniacal smile. He raised his sword above his head. Arthur stared defiantly upwards and held his chin high. He would meet death as his father had, with true resolve.

Before the thief could move his arms, however, a small metal point sprouted out of his throat. His mouth worked, bringing up blood. More flowed from the wound in his throat. He slumped over sideways making small choking noises, coughing up more blood to stain the frozen road. Behind him stood a figure clad entirely in black plate mail, bearing an empty crossbow. The hilt of a great two handed sword was visible over his right shoulder, which he gripped and drew with little ceremony as he dropped his other weapon onto the ground. The two remaining men, recovering swiftly from their shock and horror, both ran towards the mysterious figure. The first and closest was cloven nearly in two with one effortless swing from the huge sword. The second man found a gauntleted fist around his throat, slowly cutting of his life. The action was pitiless, merciless, and utterly efficient. As soon as the thief stopped kicking, the man in black armour dropped the corpse, leaving it in a lifeless heap at the base of the wall. He stepped towards Arthur, who shrunk back into the corner, fearing on quite legitimate grounds for his life. However, the man simply offered his hand and hauled the youth off of the floor.

'Are you hurt? Bastards don't know what's good for them. This is the third group this week…' The tall figure continued muttering darkly to himself about the evil that plagued the land, and how it had to be crushed. Arthur shakily took a closer look at the man, noticing his carefully combed hair and shaven face. His neat appearance was utterly contradicted by his crazed slurs, directed at his past and future victims.

'Ah, quite all right, th-thank you…' he managed to stammer over the man's angry grumbles, dusting himself off and trying to act as if it had all been no big occurrence. However, he was not as good an actor as he had hoped, and the black-clad bandit hunter took note of his shaking hands.

'Why don't you come back into town? The dead bodies tend to scare off the others, but you never know when the bastards will attack.'

'I suppose I will – and thank you,' Arthur replied, trying to maintain his composure by taking a shaky, deep breath. 'I would have been dead by now if not for you.'

'There are plenty of people that could say that about me…' the man said under his breath. Arthur couldn't tell whether the comment was intended for his hearing or not, so he simply decided to ignore it and fetch his horse, standing nonchalantly across the road.

'I guess I should introduce myself,' said the large man as the two of them started walking. 'The name's Sigismund Sinclair. I'm a freelancer – I hunt down bandits wherever they happen to be, and bring them to justice.'

'So you're a slaver?'

Sigismund stopped. 'You ever seen a slaver carry a sword like mine?'

'Well, no, I suppose not…'

'Listen, there's things in this world more worthy of attention than money. There's an infestation plaguing this land, and someone has to deal with it.'

Arthur noticed the seriousness with which these words were spoken, and decided not to push the matter further. During the very same moment, he realised that the bandit he had wounded was nowhere to be seen. He said as much to his companion, who seemed relatively nonplussed.

Prophesy Of Pendor Companions

'He has nothing left now, chances are. I suspect we'll be seeing more of him soon; revenge is a noble cause to many.'

The young man shivered, acutely aware of the older man's cold intent to kill. He watched with mixed fear and awe as Sigismund loaded a bolt into his crossbow in anticipation of the attack. However, no attack came. They ambled along, gradually making their way further away from the slum-like abodes which clung to the city's skirts. They passed alleyway after alleyway, expecting the man to jump out, but still nothing happened. Arthur began to suspect that his escort had misjudged the thief, and he was not as experienced as he let on. Of course, he was wrong. Waiting for them at the final junction before reaching the main thoroughfare in town was not just one, but seven haggard, blood lusting bandits, each bearing a blade of a similar quality to Arthur's – a blade which was already sitting in his hand, though he didn't remember drawing it. He tensed in anticipation of the inevitable charge, but Sigismund had already taken the initiative, if it could be so called. The closest thief crumpled to the ground with a bolt in his chest, and the grim vigilante reloaded as calmly and effortlessly as seemed possible. Their attackers seemed shocked for a moment at the abrupt end of their comrade's life, but swiftly overcame whatever minute particles of grief they might have felt and ran at the two men. This was one thing which was, in a very twisted sense, commendable about bandits; their detachment from emotion made them remarkably efficient warriors. However, this did not mean they were in any way decent judges of situations in a tactical sense – another of them was felled before they reached their would-be prey. After this, it was simply a matter of which of them was furthest from the hulking, dark man. Looking on with reverent awe, Arthur stood transfixed by the grisly game which played out before him. The bandits danced around and slashed at the plate mail which rang like a bell whenever a blow struck. The man that inhabited the armour would dispose of whichever of them was unfortunate enough to be nearby.

It was all over in a minute. The maimed, collapsed bodies of five criminals slumped down in a haphazard heap around Sigismund. The other two were in a similar state of undignified slaughter slightly further away. The larger man turned to Arthur.

'You should have a look around; maybe find yourself a better blade. And they're sure to have some gold on them, too – you can help yourself to that as well.'

The young man looked mortified. 'Loot their bodies? That would make me no better than them!'

'I'd rather someone honest like yourself was in possession of it than some cut-throat who finds them later on. Besides, you'll need it. By the looks of things, you're not too familiar with the way this land works: if you have honour, courage, a sense of duty, then good for you, but that's not going to keep you alive. If you have gold, weapons, strength, then you at least have a shot at survival. The strong live, the weak die. That's just the way things are.'

Shrugging in acceptance of defeat, Arthur began picking through the men's pockets and sword belts for something worth taking. He resolved simply to take all of the weapons and evaluate their worth later on, or better yet, get a talented smith to do it for him. With the small amount of coin he found as well, he ought to be able to equip himself more appropriately.

With this in mind, the two of them continued the trek back to the tavern in silence, both mulling privately over their own issues. Upon arrival, Sigismund bought them both a flagon of ale and began to explain how the younger man should go about living in Pendor.

'You'll want to find at least one person to travel with, if not more. Travelling on your own, as you found out, is not unlike signing your own death warrant. As well as this, you'll want to get used to death. There's plenty of it in this fragmented kingdom, and chances are you'll be the cause of some of it before too long. Think that through, and resign yourself to it. I recommend taking a trip to the training fields north of here; you can get some tutoring there. Apart from that, keep your blade sharp, your mind sharper, and never trust a soul who isn't willing to risk his life for you.'

With that parting comment, the mysteriously sagely man drained the last of his ale, stood up and left abruptly, affording Arthur a brief nod of farewell. Pondering this, the remaining patron sipped at his own bitter drink and began to survey the relatively sparse crowd around him. Before long, his eyes fell on a young woman – slightly older than himself – in the corner of the room with red, puffy eyes and a vacant, dead look about her. Intrigued, he decided to investigate, and made his leisurely way over to her table.

'Good morning! May I ask what's the matter?' Arthur was straining to be as polite as possible, lest he somehow offend her and upset her again. To his surprise, she looked up brightly and responded cheerfully.

'A good morning to you, too! Nothing's the matter, I was just waiting for my…' She trailed off and sniffed, drawing a shaky breath. Clearly, she was putting up a shallow façade, which crumbled before Arthur's eyes; she resumed her weeping. 'In truth, I don't know what I'm doing… Or what I'll do. My only family is gone, and I've nowhere to go. I thought I could just carry on, but I simply don't know…'

Arthur, struggling to take the sudden outburst in, slowed her down. 'Hold on, hold on – take a deep breath. What happened?'

The young woman complied, and began relating her story. It was a sad one. She had come with her brother from, coincidentally, the same kingdom as Arthur, of which (as the son of a sworn man) he bore the name; Barclay. She and her brother were merchants-turned-treasure hunters, and had traversed the land looking for artefacts of the last bastion of the old elven races, the Noldor. There were all sorts of rumours about them, and they would reliably fetch a handsome price on the market, usually going to some arrogant adventurer who thought it would bring him luck, or long life, or some other bafflingly foolish theory. The two siblings had spent over a year searching the land for the artefacts when they finally found one in the forests north of Laria, clutched in the hands of a southern knight who had fallen victim to a stray arrow; an engraved kite shield constructed of a silvery material similar to steel, but with a brighter shine and a more durable constitution. Jubilant, they resolved to travel north into Poinsbruk to find a buyer. That was where it all went wrong. Within sight of the bridge which crossed the river south of the city, a band of Jatu raiders rode down their party. Their guards were felled in an instant, some before they even drew their swords, but the brother and sister's first instinct had been to run. They rode hard for the bridge and safety, but the young woman's elder brother did not have luck on his side. His horse's hoof caught on a loose stone and toppled to the ground, landing on top of its rider. The girl did not realise until it was too late. A Jatu Battle Raider dropped off of his warbeast and approached the struggling merchant menacingly, scimitar drawn. The young woman turned away as the sword came flashing down and connected with the man's neck. There was no noise but the dull thud of horse hoofs and the pulsing of blood in her ears.

'From there, I travelled straight to Ravenstern. The shield was in my brother's saddle bags; I didn't know what to do besides go back to the only town I really knew… So here I am.' The woman had composed herself significantly by this point and told Arthur she was feeling much better. He sat and contemplated her story for a minute or two before remembering Sigismund's words.

'You wouldn't happen to be looking for someone to travel with, would you? I have just arrived and would appreciate someone with knowledge of the kingdom to guide me.'

The young woman laughed bitterly. 'I'm not much of a guide, nor can I fight, but I can teach you the basic trade routes and how to exploit them… though if we are to travel together, I feel I have the right to know your name.'

He cursed himself for his rudeness. 'My name is Arthur Barclay. What's yours?'

'I'm Leslie. Were you the son of a soldier?'

'Of sorts… My father was a guardsman and trainer – that is why I bear the name I do.'

'Well, Arthur Barclay, it is a pleasure to meet you. I suppose I ought to start by telling you where we are headed next.'

The pair sat and talked together for a good hour or two, Leslie explaining the most profitable trade routes and plotting them out on a small map she produced from her pack. She pointed out that the wisest course of action from their present location would be to travel to Senderfall and purchase iron, selling it on at Rane or back in Ravenstern. This was a method which was frequently overlooked by merchants of the south because of the lure of spices and velvet to be bought and sold for great profit, but in small quantities. The advantage of iron was that it was constantly in demand; not only did blacksmiths need it for steel, but masons needed it for tools, and nobles needed it for armour. It was a product which was constantly in demand, and therefore could always be sold. Additionally, the central hub of all iron production lie only a few short miles away from them, and the trip could be made in a day on horseback.

Arthur was enthralled by the concept of trade and profit – it was something foreign to him, as the son of a guardsman. Enthusiastically, he agreed to accompany Leslie to Senderfall to seek what appeared to be the fortune which stood to be made in the business of merchandising, and so they set off as the sun reached its peak at the short summit of the Northern provinces' winter days.