//------------------------------//
// Chapter 7 - The Spider's Lair 
// Story: Banners of Griffonia 
// by GardenCanary 
//------------------------------//

Lady Elaine was a terrifying griffoness to be in the presence of.

The fear that I felt standing in front of her wasn’t the same sort that I felt facing down the hulking warrior that attacked Blackwood. No, in fact the Lady was a far more diminutive griffoness than most I had seen, her frame seeming even smaller when sat behind the gigantic ornate desk that dominated the study.

Instead, the cold dread that I felt came from the way that Elaine held herself. She had the aura of a blade barely veiled. Her eyes were sharp and searching, seeking out any weaknesses while sitting prim and proper at the desk. Lady Elaine was the type of griff to promise you the world, and yet at the same time be sliding a knife into your guts.

I had the sense that I had just stepped into the lair of a predator, that my fate was sealed as soon as the door shut behind me. Terror slowly crept up my spine, as though a massive spider was crawling all over me. But that was impossible of course. The only spider in the room was sitting behind the desk.

The rays of the setting sun behind Lady Elaine served to frame the white feathers of her face in shadows, only adding to the sinister presence that Elaine seemed to delight in. 

The opening statement she greeted me with hung in the air. Elaine sat judging me with a veiled expression, waiting to see what my next move would be. My response was caught in my throat as the proverbial sword dangled over my head. I stood there like a statue in the room, silent and awkward.

Seeing my lack of response, Lady Elaine spoke sharply. “I see that you have lost your tongue there, Geralt. A shame it was so loose earlier, else we might have been able to be introduced on better terms.”

Elaine flipped a pen knife into her claws and pointed the small blade towards me as she continued. Despite being almost on the opposite end of the room from her, I found myself taking an involuntary step backwards.

“All you had to do upon your arrival was to politely introduce yourself, then ingratiate yourself to some of the court and find your footing. At the very least, I expected you to quietly slip away after performing the bare necessities of courtly etiquette.”

The knife was slammed down into the expensive wood, the rush of air displacing the neat stacks of paper and ruining the perfect organization of her desk. With a scowl, Elaine tapped them back into their proper place as she spoke.

“But that is not what you did now, was it? I distinctly recall being informed that the very first thing you did after speaking with my brother, was to go around spreading the most damaging truths that you knew. And only then, after you had poisoned the air in the court with your words did you leave. All in the span of a few minutes.”

Elaine leaned forwards expectantly. “And that leaves me with a single burning question, Geralt. Why?”

“I’m sorry, it seemed like a good idea at the time.” I ran my claws through my feathers in embarrassment. “I felt like I was drawing too much attention to myself standing there alone, so I joined in with the nearest conversation. I thought it was going well at first, just listening in to everything that they were saying. It only started to go downhill once they asked me a question instead. I had no idea what to say, so I just told them about who I am. What else was I supposed to do?”

That answer seemed to anger Elaine significantly, and her tone became more aggressive. “Deflect! Dodge! Those are fundamental skills that I would expect from any silver-winged griffon I come across. You are not the first noble to be asked a question you had no answer to and will not be the last! There are ways to evade questions when desired, or to spin any statement back upon the one who spoke it! Do not make such weak excuses and whine that someone challenged you and you lost.”

Elaine leaned across the desk, and her wings flared out to the side in fury. “Silas told me that you were educated. I had expected that you would have learned at least the minimum of court strategies from your tutor, and when to keep your mouth shut. I had expected at least a modicum of social competence and wit from you.”

Elaine pressed her claws together and took a breath to regain her cold composure. “I know my brother can act rather childish, but I have seen genuine chicks navigate the court with greater grace than you have. What kind of education did you receive that grace and etiquette were so ignored? Did you even have one, or was that just a ploy to gain favor from him?”

I resented that insinuation. I had no idea about medieval politics, but I felt that Elaine was making this a far greater issue than it was. Sure, I had damaged her and Silas’ standing, but I had crippled my own. And I was willing to be that I knew more about technology than most of the court put together. I knew that I was no fool, and I had a good head on my shoulders. I just needed to find a way to prove it to her.

Looking around the room, I saw a chessboard sitting on a side table. The pieces were well polished, but the nicks and scratches on it indicated that it was something Elaine often used. Target identified. I was more than passingly familiar with chess. There was something I could use to prove myself with, since Elaine obviously had an appreciation for the game.

“My education was more about the physical world and its laws than the messy battlefield of politics. I may be a novice at most of the games you play there, but I do know how to play one of them. Chess specifically. Perhaps we can continue this conversation over a match?”

That seemed to surprise the spider. She paused for a moment, and I could practically see the abacus running the calculation in her head. Elaine came to a conclusion though, and gave her guarded answer.

“Very well then, Geralt. Perhaps I have chastised you for your ignorance and incompetence enough, and a game would lead to a more productive conversation as we continue.”

I nodded in satisfaction. A small victory for me there, now I just needed to play like my life depended on it. And unless I could impress her, it just might.







The two of us sat down at the chessboard. It had been a while since I’d played, but I was confident that I would be able to give a good show. At the very least, I hoped that I would at least be able to hold my own against her.

Elaine laid claim to the black pieces, leaving me to assume the seat behind the white king. I hadn’t thought that she would be willing to surrender the initiative of the match, but when I asked her about it she waved me off and ordered me to begin. As I made my opening, Elaine resumed the conversation.

“From everything that I have seen so far, you certainly weren’t born into any noble family. And you are no warrior either. Your face is far too soft for that, and you do not carry yourself the same way that a skilled combatant would. That leaves you a bit of a mystery griffon, and me with questions.”

“What sort of questions?” I asked worriedly. There was little chance that I would be able to avoid giving away my otherworldly origins if Elaine discovered that line of inquiry.

“Questions about your political ability. Most griffons, when they make their introduction try to disappear entirely until they can find a place to leverage their own knowledge and skills to ingratiate themselves and build allies. That is virtually the opposite of what you have done.”

One of my knights perished as Elaine countered my advance. “When you make it appear that you are incompetent, and yet a sudden appointment, you make it appear that the decision to hurriedly place you in the seat of the fief makes it look as though we are deliberately trying to slight the original recipient. You can see how that reflects on us, and makes the lives of my brother and I that much more challenging. You are not the issue here, it is the responses of the rest that matter.”

That was an unfortunate truth. Looking back, I could see where Elaine was coming from. As far as the rest of the world was concerned, I was a griffon that had appeared from nowhere and been suddenly lifted into a significant role. Every move that I made would be judged not on my own merit, but rather would be judged to see the quality of decisions that the rulers of the city state would make.

“I’m sorry, Lady Elaine. I wasn’t trying to damage you or your brother in court. I just didn’t think through what I was saying,” I offered an apology as I tried to shield my queen from the bishops hiding in the back. Elaine seemed to love hiding her attacks as far away from the focus as possible.

Elaine nodded in acknowledgement before she continued on, “At least you were a nobody before you arrived, and as such I suspect you will only be a topic of conversation for a few days before something else occupies the interest of the rest of the nobles. Fortunately for you, the south of the realm is more… distant from Griffenheim at the moment, and I don’t see the impact of your blunder reaching down there into the mountain foothills. On the other claw, if you wish to return to wider politics, you would either need a set of allies at your back or a more potent position to wipe the stain on your reputation away easily. Preferably both.”

I looked up from killing off Elaine's knights to take in what she was saying. It seemed that Elaine was actually interested in helping me out here. The advice was sound as far as I could tell, and I committed it to memory. I wasn’t sure about how I was going to go about gathering allies, but I had already set myself on track to elevating myself. I shared my proposal with Elaine.

“You want to build Blackwood up into a new market town? I see. There may be a need for it, but doing so will come with a number of difficulties for you. Managing a town is a far more complex affair than a village, and I wonder if you will succeed at it.” Elaine commented as she moved a rook all the way from the other side of the board to seize my queen. The rook perished as a result, but it was a heavy blow to me to take.

“Maybe, but doing so gives me access to a much larger resource base that will allow me to work on all the projects I have in mind. The age of chaos has just ended, and I believe that now is the time to kickstart a new age beyond anything the world has seen so far. A rebirth, if you will.”

That piqued her interest, and we discussed for a while the various potential industries that I aimed to establish in Blackwood. While I might not know the details of all the thousands of inventions that lead to the modern age, I was armed with the value of hindsight to know the general concepts that progressed society. And I knew I had the skills to try and recreate a number of the technical ones myself. It was easier to lead into the future when you had actually been able to live in it.

The chessboard was starting to become rather empty. Even at this stage of the game, I was still clinging to a chance of victory. The conversation returned to politics though, and the nature of my appointment.

“My brother is foolish and a child at times, but he can be a strong judge of character. I don’t believe he would take to you as he did if you were a poor excuse for a griffon. There is also the fact that your appointment was not the worst choice out of the other options vying for the village. Indeed it was a challenge for me to find one who would be both loyal and competent.”

Returning to her earlier attitude, Elaine issued a harsh warning. “I would not even be speaking about these details to you, if I was not convinced that your actions were fueled by pure incompetence instead of spite. While we were not enthusiastic about the competitors for Blackwood, spreading that information is inadvisable. At the very least, your lack of connections with the rest of the realm holds water, as I could find no member of any house both missing and matching your description. Make no mistake though, you are not yet trusted here.”

Elaine tipped over my king. “Checkmate. Apparently you were not as good as you thought. Nevertheless, you played a decent enough game there, Knight Geralt.”

Dammit. I supposed that I should have expected this outcome, Elaine was a clever and skilled opponent, as she had to be to manipulate court as well as she had. You didn't earn names like 'The Spider of Griffenheim' without a sharp mind.

“I believe that is a good point to end our friendly chat here. Do try and refrain from attacking the reputation of your benefactors in the future now, Geralt.”

Hadn’t we already gone over this? Elaine didn't need to keep harping on about my one political mistake so far.

“I made an honest mistake, I’m only a man-” I stopped myself. “Griffon after all. I've apologized already, and I promise to try and do better.”

I watched to see if Elaine had noticed my slip, but I couldn’t read anything on her face. Damn she would have been an excellent poker player. The only reaction to my statement was her rearranging the pieces neatly on the board.

With that clear dismissal I stood and moved towards the door. As I opened it up to depart, Elaine gave me a final parting message.

“One last point. I have very good eyes, so watch your back. If I feel that you will continue to damage us further, you may find a knife in it. This is not a threat, but a word of caution. I hope that you can prove your worth to our cause with your future actions, and remain loyal to this city. Good day, Knight Geralt.”







Once outside of the study, I took a deep breath. That was the most stressful thing I’d ever gone through. At least I felt that I had established enough value that I wouldn’t be deposed at the moment. Lord Silas might have been impulsive and childish, but at least he was pleasant enough to talk to.

His sister was not. There was no doubt in my mind that the threat she offered at the end was very real. She had expressed interest in my endeavors, but that couldn’t be the end of it. I had no doubt that Elaine had another angle at play here, and I felt that I was just a pawn that had proven it was worth enough to keep around at the moment. Or maybe to be sacrificed for a bigger prize.

In any case, I had survived another day. I couldn’t wait to get out of this damned city. Best to try and take care of the rest of my goals as soon as possible then. My mind decided, I headed towards the treasury to finally collect my money.

Silas would prove to be quite generous when it came to his coin, or at least valued security enough to make the payments appetizing. The treasurer was the oldest griffon I had ever seen up until this point, but they moved surprisingly quickly for their age, stacking silver on their scales as they weighed out the prize.

After the coins had all been measured out, I had a lovely little stimulus package prepared to pay some of the starting costs of construction. No more would my purse be dominated by boring coppers, I now had a pouch full to bursting with glimmering silver. The newfound wealth did much to put a spring in my step as I returned to my quarters.

“So, you are the new knight of Blackwood.”

I looked up at the new voice that interrupted my thoughts in the otherwise empty hall. Looking around, I realized that for the first time in a while there was no one else nearby. No guards, no staff, no wandering nobility. 

Stepping out of the shadows, a coal-feathered griffon emerged. "I've been wondering where you have been the past few hours. I paid a visit to your room, but you were absent." 

“I'm sorry, I was occupied elsewhere. Are you here to see the latest fool occupying court gossip?” I asked hesitantly. Despite the menacing introduction, he seemed interested in conversation at least. This was a proper warrior in front of me, tension held like a coiled spring in every movement.

This seemed to amuse him for some reason, and he cracked a grim smile that stretched the scars on his face. “Ha! I’d not worry about them so much. I certainly don’t bother with what they have to say. Most of the griffons who reside in this city and prance around the court are more concerned with their own appearance and pointless gossip than facing anything of real consequence.”

To emphasize his point, he drew his blade. A long shimmering sword, its blade coated in runes of all colors. Unlike the more ornate weapons that the other nobles sported, this weapon did away with any trims or decorations for a more spartan design. The only goal its maker had worked towards was whether it would kill.

“Now this, this is what matters out there. No expensive dress or cloak will stop a demon, it will not grow crops. All it does is let the one wearing it tell the world they know nothing of hardship. Soft and weak, I wonder if things would have gotten as bad as they are if we stood stronger against the world and its hardships.”

He peeled his admiring eyes away from the weapon and returned it to its proper place. “I don’t like taking advice from those sniveling sycophants. Much better to take a griff’s measure myself.”

The warrior blocked the hall in front of me. “So tell me Geralt, what kind of griffon are you then? What was so impressive about this nobody that Silas felt the need to make you a knight.”

I relayed him the abridged version of my exploits so far as I seemed to be doing so often recently. I then told him of my plans to build my little village into a town, and all projects and expansions that I had in mind. The mystery griff seemed quite interested in what I had to say.

“I tell you what,” They said thoughtfully, “I have a few griffons who would be willing to move out there, if you can promise them their safety. The south could use a strong guiding claw, in my opinion.”

That was great news for me. The hardest part I could see with my scheme was in figuring out how to encourage folks to move out to my village out of all the myriad hamlets that were out there. Having someone spreading the word would do wonders to that end.

“I can also offer you a loan, if you feel that you need some gold.”

“I think that I will be fine at the moment,” I said, jingling the coin purse I had just filled. “I was just paid out for a slew of bounties, and I expect more coming from the market after selling off all the excess kit stripped from the bandits.”

His face soured a bit at that, before recovering his usual smirk. “A prudent leader then, skilled in finance and battle. I hope to see a great town constructed down there soon. Perhaps I will even come and pay you a visit.”

“I don’t think that I know who you are. I can’t really prepare for a guest if I don’t know their name, can I?” I asked the mystery noble.

“Ah, how rude of me.” The mystery griffon bent into a stiff bow. “The name is Lord Leon. Master of the town of Vasterberg. The Warden of the West.”

“Knight Geralt, of Blackwood. But I guess that you already knew that one.”

Leon let out a short laugh. “I suppose I did. Very well Geralt, I am sure that we will speak again. I’ll let you be on your way now, this has been an interesting conversation.”







Elaine watched the door to her study shut, and let out a tired sigh.

The encounter had gone better than Elaine had predicted. He wasn’t actively attempting to sabotage her and Silas at least. Unless Geralt was the best actor she had ever come across, he was far too foolish to be able to disguise something like that. Intelligent, but unskilled.

But there was something suspicious about Geralt. His body language had a few strange elements to it, and he had referred to himself as a man once there. Whatever that was. He corrected himself, but that only made the slip all the more obvious.

That was deeply concerning. Elaine had heard stories of creatures that could wear the skin of another. Two kinds, in fact. The body-snatching demons that hollowed out the flesh of their victim and went puppeteering them around searching for another victim. The other came from a far older source. One of the books that survived from ages past spoke of an encounter with an insect creature capable of twisting its flesh with magic to appear as a friend.  Was Geralt one of them? They had been deposited from afar with by winds of chaos, that much she knew. But quite how far were they thrown?

That could wait until later though. Geralt wanted to build a town, he would get a town. Elaine was certain she could find some willing griffins to settle down in the woods from the flow of Griffins leaving the overcrowded city.

Elaine would of course be sending some of her agents to tag along and settle into the population. Done right, Geralt wouldn’t even notice the strings being wound about him, binding him closer to Griffenheim. 

Ever since the loss of Eyrinholm, they had been slowly losing influence down the Ruhor river. With no market, every village had to go further afield with their harvest, and not all of the harvests were flowing towards Griffenheim and feeding its large populace anymore.

Even worse, the past year Lord Leon had been building up a huge stone fortress near the junction of the Ruhor and the Griffen rivers. It was technically within his right, as it was his land. But the power projection that gave him over the two largest rivers in the realm was deeply unsettling.

Leon had been once been a stalwart supporter of their parents, but had been drifting away ever since the end of chaos. Elaine watched as he gathered his own set of allies around him, and essentially established a second high court in the realm within his own seat of power. Her agents told her that he was within the city at the moment, but he was a rare sight in court.

Elaine was convinced that he was aiming to foster a split in the realm. Whether he was aiming for the throne Griffenheim himself or wanted independence to push westwards alone was not yet clear to her. But Elaine and Silas needed to counter him. Whatever relation they had in the past, they were directly opposed now. 

Geralt could be a useful pawn for her in this. The complete lack of political skills would be far less of an issue when placed down the river, near the very edge of known lands and utterly isolated. Perhaps he would be able to come into his own later, but for now he would serve best far away from her city.

The new town of Blackwood would be the demarcation line for Elaine. A point to cut off the bleed of power to the west, and a staging ground for her to regain the initiative and attack Leon’s power base instead.

The south of Griffenheim was far more undecided than the other two areas. The lower population and lack of any major towns made the small-time nobles far more concerned with their own survival than any political games. They remained in line for now thanks to the promise of powerful aid from the city in times of need, but at the moment Elaine and her brother had ever waning influence in the region without loyal locals to lean on.

While the east and the west were firm in their support of their respective sides, the south would be the key to achieving dominance in any future conflict. Leon had already been trying to push down there, and in the relatively untamed regions his skilled soldiers garnered a lot of support. He had even tried to install his niece in Blackwood, but that partridge had been shot down already thanks to Silas. Even if Elaine still wished she could have her merchant knight there instead. They probably could have built a market town better than Geralt would as well.

A tug of war was about to begin, and Elaine was going to prove that Griffenheim had remained strong despite it all.

But for now, she needed to practice her chess. Elaine might have won that match, but Geralt played in a way far different from what she had seen before. It nearly led to her defeat, and that was utterly unacceptable to her. This was her game, and she would not be bested at it by some upstart country knight.