Interlude - Morning Plans
Gunther wiped the sweat from his brow as he worked the fields of his home. The harvest was shaping up to be a good one for Blackwood this year.
As Gunther’s eyes swept across the fields that stretched out around the only home he’d ever known, his heart swelled up with pride at the beautiful sight. Filled with potatoes, rye, and beans, those crops reaching up to the skies as they grew were the lifeblood of his village. Farming was good honest work, and it was the kind of work that was always going to be in high demand.
There was a reason that villages had continued to be founded and rebuilt no matter how many of them were destroyed. While it may have been safer living behind the walls of a city or a town, none of those places could remain standing without their villages providing a constant supply of foodstuffs to keep all the mouths fed. That was the great pride of the countryside, that they were the hardy griffons that kept the world running. He knew that everyone living out here believed that they were a tougher sort to stand and face the monsters of the world head on, with no tall walls or soldiers to hide behind.
Of course, it was a lot easier and a lot safer to be a farmer nowadays. Ever since the age of chaos had come to an end, there was no need to keep a blade on you whenever you stepped outside the village proper. No more watching the horizon while the rest worked the fields, keeping a nervous eye out for the myriad of horrors that lurked just out of sight. The world had gotten a lot quieter recently, that was for sure.
Gunther didn’t know who or what was responsible for the end of all the suffering, but he would be grateful regardless. He had worried that if things had gone on like that for much longer, the world itself might have come to an end. There could only have been so long they all could keep managing to scrape by.
With things having ended though, he was willing to bet that tons of griffons from the city would be packing up their saddlebags and getting out. Whenever Gunther had gone up as an escort of the harvest, he couldn’t stand the horribly cramped and dirty streets of the city. There was a lot of empty space out here in the wilds, and no reason to hide away anymore.
That wasn’t to say that things were all nice and peaceful now. The bandit attack recently was proof enough of that. But the monsters and demons that had been so common to see stalking along the treeline had begun to disappear, much to the joy of the village. Everyone here could remember someone they had lost, and there were only a couple of villages that Gunther could name whose eldergriff placed emphasis on the ‘elder’ part of the title. You just didn’t tend to live long enough for that out here.
Gunther looked up to the skies, and saw the sun was perched near directly overhead. About midday then, a good enough time to take a little break. As Gunther shuffled over to the shade underneath the lovely patch of birch trees that had been left from the land clearing for just this purpose, he spotted his daughter nearby talking to Lord Geralt.
Lord, now there was another one of those big changes that kept happening recently. As far as Gunther knew, there had never been a Lord of Blackwood before. They had always been part of Griffenheim, and weren’t considered important enough for them to have their own noble sat living among them. Settling himself down on the soft grass with a grunt, he couldn’t help but wonder about that.
With the monster threat going away, why did they need to have a knight now of all times? Probably some political games going around up in the court. Maybe that damned spider of a sister that good Lord Silas had was the one responsible.
Letting out a discontent sigh, Gunther supposed that it didn’t really matter. The lord had the right to appoint vassals as they wished. So long as they were a decent enough sort, life would end up going on pretty much as it always had. The problem that Gunther had with the whole ordeal, was that he hadn’t even been considered once to take the title of his own damn home.
He had been the eldergriff here for years dammit, and he had been the one to see them through all the problems that the world had thrown against them as it tried to wipe them off its face. He could fight, and he could lead. Wasn’t that what a knight was supposed to do?
And while being the eldergriff wasn’t nothing, it just wasn’t something official. Sure griffons respected the eldergriff, they were the ones that villagers came to smooth over ruffled feathers, or to act as the village spokesperson. But at the end of the day, he was just another peasant. It would have been nice to have been rewarded for his years of work and care, for everything he had done.
Apparently all his efforts weren't enough for Lord Silas, and he had been passed right over for the young griffon who had wound up on their doorstep. Just one night of drinking with the biggest lord around, and Geralt had become a noble just like that.
It wasn’t like Geralt was a bad kid. He had some decent ideas kicking around inside of his head, so at least their young lord had some brains in him. Geralt had also fought for them, and that meant something. Gunther wouldn’t forget that anytime soon, and Geralt’s work had probably ended up saving several lives along the way.
Gunther just wished that someone would have approached him about the knighthood. That someone had thought a little bit more about what would happen if they shook up the order of things around here, instead of following whatever feather brained whim entered their mind. That they had treated the post like it mattered, and not some idle afterthought.
As a result, he couldn’t help but grit his beak in frustration at the new Lord. Oh Gunther knew that Geralt probably hadn’t gone out to try and anger him, but Gunther couldn’t help the way that he felt. To make matters worse, Geralt seemed oblivious to Gunther’s concerns, and they hadn't spoken much to each other since the knighting last week.
It looked like that was about to change though, as Gunther noticed that the Lord himself was heading over to speak to him. Guess it was time to face down the source of his frustration.
As Lord Geralt approached, Gunther rose off of the comfortable ground in order to properly bow in greetings to his new lord.
"What can I do for you today, Lord Geralt?" Gunther asked as respectfully as he could muster.
Lord Geralt shifted uncomfortably at the use of his new title, but answered steadily. "It’s nothing about you doing something for me, but I wanted to ask you a question, Gunther. Something that I think can benefit us both.”
Geralt paused for a moment before delivering his question. “What do you think about learning how to read, Gunther?”
Learning to read? That was a surprising question to ask him out of the blue. Gunther gestured for Geralt to continue speaking. Where was he going with this?
“You know, you’re still the eldergriff of the village, even if I’m the lord now,” Geralt began. “And I’ve said this before but it's worth repeating. No one rules alone. As the eldergriff, I see you as the one who I can rely on as my second, to do the running of the village while I lead it. Basically my… I think steward is the right word? Guess that’s not the important part right now.”
Lord Geralt took a seat beside Gunther and gestured for him to sit back down as well. “Anyways, as my steward, I was hoping that you would be willing to learn some literary skills. I believe that it would be something you could get a lot of benefit from, and would be a major boon for the rest of the village too.
You have a lot of experience in running the village, and I would be an idiot not to use it. But also, talking with Cynthia has given me a good guess as to why you have been so cold to me lately.”
Gunther stiffened at the last statement. What had Cynthia gone and told him? He hoped it was nothing that would anger their new lord.
“You’ve been the eldergriff here for, I believe she said you were going on eight years in the role? I get it, you don’t like having someone coming into your home and taking it for themselves.” Geralt turned to look back at Gunther with a bit of a sheepish smile.
“And to be honest, I had thought you were a good choice myself. Silas apparently disagreed, or at least told me that he wouldn’t make you lord since you can’t read. Also he was apparently worried that you would end up floundering a bit once you found yourself in the court.”
That was the issue!? Gunther could suppose that it was important for the nobility to be able to read. But he could have learned dammit! It wasn’t like he was opposed to reading, he just didn’t have the chance to pick it up. As for the rest, he knew how to keep his mouth shut and bow his head. He would have lived dealing with a couple of pompous assholes.
Gunther’s train of thought softened as he considered Geralt’s offer though. Wasn’t that what Geralt was offering him now, the chance to learn? Geralt seemed to genuinely want to help Gunther out. With a lord now in place, he had to admit he had a little more free time on his claws, so why not attend those lessons?
“Alright, you’ve convinced me. It would be good to finally learn to read.” Gunther stretched his back as he rose to his feet. Geralt’s face immediately brightened, and he started gushing about the virtues of reading.
“That’s great to hear Gunther! I’m sure that you’ll love it, reading is the key to opening a lot of doors for you. The bounds of knowledge awaits you, you can understand the mysteries of the past and prepare for the future. Writing is the greatest invention of all time, and everyone should try to take advantage of it as soon as they can!”
Gunther walked off, trying to hide the smile that had blossomed on his face despite his best efforts to remain stoic. When Geralt got going like that, he sounded a lot like his daughter back when she was just a chick telling him about all the cool new stuff she saw that day. Geralt acted as someone without any clue of the cruelty of the world, completely ignorant of hardship.
Must have been nice not having to worry about the worries of the world, or whether you would have enough to get through the winter. Raised in some manor house somewhere, with others standing guard. Free to do what you wish, and to dream constantly of tomorrow. That kind of attitude would have been crushed with the hardships of village life.
Times had changed though, and maybe that hope for tomorrow would be a blessing on their little village. For all his naivety, he at least could stand his ground when it counted. Maybe they would be able to get some good out of this Lord of theirs yet. And steward, well that sure sounded like a step up from eldergriff to Gunther. Once he had put some distance between himself and the others, Gunther finally let his smile spread across his beak as he returned to work.
It had been a sour morning at first, but the day was looking up. The bad times never lasted after all, something good always came around eventually.
Lady Elaine of Griffenheim was not having a good morning. It had started out well enough, but nothing good ever seemed to last for her.
She had finally, finally, finagled the court into agreeing to reduce the toll fees across their holdings for all travelers, letting traders and settlers come and go as they pleased. That was something that needed to happen, they needed to open themselves up to being connected again now that the dangers had passed them by.
The countryside was vastly depopulated, and Elaine was certain that the major settling out period that had just begun would continue for some time. The drop in revenue from the tolls would be offset soon anyways by the taxes raised out of new villages that popped up. Having griffons that felt loyalty toward the city of Griffenheim spreading through the realm into the other houses was an added benefit. Indeed it was major step forwards for them all, and Elaine was immensely proud of her accomplishments
Things had started to go downhill for her once Elaine learned that her brother Silas had returned to the city.
Silas liked to stylize himself as the grand knight of the realm, the protector of the innocents, and saviour of the downtrodden. In a way it was true, he really did seem to have a heart of gold beating inside of him. Even if he was incredibly shortsighted in Elaine’s opinion.
He would often choose to do something just because he believed that it was the right thing to do. He would go charging straight into the fray while damning the consequences just because he believed he had a duty to help.
From the first moment that he took power, he had begun instituting various programs to help the common griffons of the realm. From bread doles to find work programs, Silas had done everything he could to improve the lives of those under his ward.
And Elaine was the one who was left to pick up the political price. A little bit for every griff ending up costing an awful lot for the whole, and increasing taxes was never going to be a popular move. Elaine had spent a lot of the political capital that their parents had built up on stabilizing those radical reforms, and dealing with the fallout of Silas’ whimsy.
Silas may want to be the knight and savior of the realm, but he was also supposed to rule it. And therein lay the issue.
A knock on the wooden door of her study indicated that her brother had come to chat. Opening it up, sure enough Silas was waiting outside, standing there with that ever present smile on his face.
Inviting him in, Elaine began to update her brother on the affairs of the realm during his absence. Hopefully he had done much to clear out the vermin from the countryside.
“It is good to see you have returned safely. Do you remember what we had discussed before you departed?” Elaine made sure that he still had a grasp on the issues they were facing. A nod of confirmation satisfied her enough to continue.
“Very well. I have spent a great deal of effort in order to find those who are both capable and loyal within the city for us to appoint to the villages. I am confident that they will be grateful enough for the elevation to the peerage that they will support us for years in the court. And it is best that we move on this quickly, before the other houses begin their own maneuvers to place members of their families just outside of our city.” Elaine grabbed a piece of parchment with a list of names off of her heavy oaken desk and began to read.
“As an example, for the village of Blackwood I would recommend that we-” She was cut off by her brother’s boisterous voice.
“Ah, no need to worry about that one. I have already found and appointed a capable knight for that village on my travels,” Silas told her with casual confidence.
Elaine couldn’t help but feel frustrated at the dismissal. She set her paper down and stared her brother dead in the eyes. “Oh really, you did. Would you mind telling me who exactly you have found for Blackwood?”
Silas then regaled her with a tale about chasing a horde of bandits across the countryside, only finally catching up to them at the village of Blackwood. There he apparently found them crushed by the village militia, led by someone by the name of Geralt. It was this Geralt that her brother had given the status of knight, bestowing him the title the following morning after a night drinking.
Elaine sighed as she took in the information. “I wish you would have spoken to me about this, or at least taken some time to consider what you were doing before you did it. Rescinding promises is never a good look for me to take, and now you have forced my hand. You need to spend more time thinking about your castle and realm. Every move you make ripples, Silas.”
Elaine’s voice finally snapped as she spoke, and let the anger that had begun bubbling inside out into the conversation. “You can’t just play at being a knight anymore. Ever since mother and father died, you are the one who is supposed to be ruling this city! So you need to act like it, stop playing the hero and start thinking about what your actions cost us!”
“And you need to get out of the castle more often, Elaine,” Silas growled back at her. “I know that you have heard what they call you out there. The spider in the web they call, that you go about trapping and devouring all in your path. The common people have no love lost for you, not least helped by your complete and utter disregard for their plights.”
Silas approached her desk and thumped his claws down on the expensive lacquered wood. “You call me a child, someone with no thought to my actions, but I believe that the commons are the keys to the kingdom. If I am loved by their people, what can the lords and ladies of the realm do to oppose me so overtly when their people sign my praises in the streets? I would rather be loved than feared, and to lead by example.
And another matter, sometimes you need to take action. If you spend forever waiting for the perfect moment you will never do anything at all. You let the ghosts of the past haunt you too much, dearest sister. You must be able to seize opportunity when it comes if you want to move forwards. You have been stuck in this castle and city your whole life, you need to see what our realm is beyond these walls. I have a feeling that the world will grow faster than we can imagine, and you cannot shut it out forever.” Silas spread his claws wide as he finished his speech.
Elaine puffed up her chest in indignation. “I am the one who ensures that this city remains standing, for all that you go gallivanting through the countryside. You seem to forget, the common people aren’t part of the court, the nobles are. They are the ones we need to work with if you want any of your creations and ideas to spread, for even within this city we need others to follow us in order to exert control. I don’t care what the commoners think of me, I will make sure that this city thrives regardless of what their opinions are.”
She pointed a finger accusingly at Silas. “You are the one who sits on the throne, not me. It doesn’t matter if I am loved, only that you are. Let them hate me if that allows me to make the hard choices that you cannot. I can suffer to be the villain in their stories so long as these walls remain standing as a result.
You may have the common griffon’s love, but you need to spend some more time caring for the opinions of the nobles. They see you as impulsive and childish, and as if being told off by a child they would rather ignore your commands and do as they please. You speak of the world outside the walls, yet you disregard those who rule it. The world is cruel, and you cannot solve all its problems.”
Silas shook his head sadly as Elaine finished. “I worry that you disregard yourself too much dear sister. You spend all this effort on the numbers and the running of the realm, but you need to consider that we rule people, not stones. It has been so long since I’ve seen you smile, and I worry that you have forgotten how.”
With that Silas turned and departed the study, casting one last glance back towards Elaine as he did. “I trust in the rest of your appointments, see to it that we have new friends in the court as soon as possible. I will see you later then, dear sister.”
With that he disappeared through the door, leaving Elaine alone in the room once more as it shut behind him.
Elaine let out a tired sigh as her brother departed. She had laid such careful plans to secure their immediate hinterlands, and now she would have to revise her timetables once again.
It was only a single village true, but she had spent time signaling to notable families of merchants and craftsgriffs that they would receive a fief soon as thanks for their support of the ruling family. Now she would be made into a liar, and to make matters worse any coin that had been saved to move out and construct their manor would most likely be spent spreading that word throughout the circles of power out of spite. A rise in complaints against her was almost guaranteed, and Elaine must be prepared to counteract them.
Whether they knew it or not, this Geralt figure had just made poor Elaine’s life that much more difficult. Elaine would have to take the measure of this griffon at the first opportunity, and see if they would be any great danger to her plans moving forwards. Elaine looked towards the corner of the room, where an ornate chess board sat on a small table.
She stood from her chair, and began to practice the game against herself. While not one to play the game recreationally, she loved the cold calculus of it all. To maneuver your foe into a corner, sacrificing the needed pawns for a chance of a greater victory.
Plans and plans, as she took on the role of the spider in the web of the court while her brother enraptured and rallied the people behind him. If all played out according to her schemes, pieces moved about to strike at unexpected angles, victory was assured. People appeared to be chaotic and alien on the surface, but deep down they all wanted the same thing. Their blind arrogance and self-service would doom them all if they couldn’t be chained and directed by someone.
Elaine soon tipped over one of the kings. Silas's parting words remained in her mind. Had she really stopped smiling over the years? Elaine made her way back towards her desk, and plopped back down on the soft fabric of her chair. Maybe she had become a little… dispassionate, about her life. But it was all for a cause, couldn’t he see that?
Elaine would see her home secured no matter what it cost her. She would never let these walls be breached so long as she still stood. Let them hate her, let them view her as the monster up in the castle on high. She would endeavor to protect them all the same, even if they couldn’t see the results of her constant toiling.
Sighing, Elaine opened the top drawer of her desk. One of the city’s apothecaries had just introduced a new way to distill alcohol from potatoes. While the potency of the alcohol was intended for use in remedies, something about cleansing the wounds, it was not long before the idea was copied by a brewhouse.
The result of those efforts was a slightly less powerful concoction, but one that could at least be forced down with some effort. Elaine had managed to acquire a bottle of this so-called ‘vodka’ for herself. The drink was utterly devoid of flavour besides burning, but sometimes you just needed something to make things a little easier.
Elaine grimaced as she took a drink of the transparent liquid. She could see why some of the castle guards had become so infatuated with the powerful drink, but as it stood it wasn't for her. Maybe mixed with something to give an actual taste to it. Something sugary would help. Like fruit juice.
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11512078
That or he feels by having Geralt as its Knight, he wont have to be called away all the time trying to defend the land. Hell, his plan might be use Geralt as his defaco commander and send him off to deal with problems while he stays home. This could be how Geralt gains followers by leading the very armies that protect them? Many possibilities here.
How is Silas going to react to Discord's reformation? Or are you not going to do that in this story?
great chapter
11515332
considering this is before NMM he is going to be long dead before that event
I'm glad you included this. As satisfying as meritocracy is– such as awarding newly conquered land to notable knights in Crusader Kings, the fact is that it just doesn't happen. Someone somewhere either has a claim to that land that must be honored, or has power to be bought using that land.
11515418
(Snowfyre)
ALICORN GRIFFON.
Why? How?
Because Friendship is Magic and shut up and let Magic do its thing.
11515537
(Kkslider)
Nice to also see you here too. Who would have guessed that you played Crusader Kings 1/2/3 (?).
Incest is Magic and keeping the bloodline pure, only brings benefit to one's royal bloodline.
11515332
I don't think he will be alive in 1000 years to comment
well made and thought out chapter. going to be intresting where you go from here.
The ironic thing is: Elain and Geralt could have probably been the best of friends if they had simply started trading cocktail recipes.
Elaine have to be careful with the vodka, as a cheap and powerfull alcohol can ruin a country's economy like it did with Russia's. a griffon down on their luck may develop alcoholism to cope and because they're drunk is even harder for them to pull themselves up, this will create vicious cycle
Glad to have found this story! There is a real lack of good griffon stories on this site.
Geralt needs to get in on that city emigration as soon as possible. If griffons are just going out and founding new villages by themselves, giving them a temporary barrack to sleep in and basic security could attract a lot of them.
11515318
Yeah, you may have a point. And after reading this chapter, I'm kinda feeling like this is Far Cry 4 all over again. Two siblings trying to maintain order in their own house of power.
To the mighty potato saving two worlds from starvation. But leaving that aside, they cover cultivation with soil(Hilling), don't they , or haven't they reached that technology yet? If it were not for that tuber they would have no population to do anything and...
This is a good story! Btw I was wondering instead of using words like “hands” or human like terms why not griffin terms like “claws”, “ talons”, “feather”, “everygriff” for example just to make it á interesting read.
Can’t wait for more! Cynthia I could see Geralt being with unless it’s the Princess though she might be a villain… tough love ❤️
11518728
Indeed the potato is a truly majestic plant. I'm sure the ponies will be very interested in the crop once they meet the griffons.
Hilling is indeed used, both to keep the potatoes edible and to ward against the northern frost. Currently a 3-field crop rotation is in use, with the usual fallow fields limiting total yield.
11520703
Glad you like my story so far!
As for terminology, I do try and use the griffon terms as much as possible for body parts. For the term griff or griffon I use it when referring to an individual or a group of griffons, like a fishergriff or a group of speargriffs. I treat it similar to how we treat words like fisherman or the like. I prefer to keep the 'one' suffix for addressing characters though, either directly or as an unknown entity.
I will of course follow the pony conventions of anypony, somepony, and the like for when ponies speak though.
11522663
Please continue with this story I would love to see it reach 100k words at least 👍👍👍👍
Gerald is an interesting chess piece. He started as a pawn, but unlike most pawn which are either sacrificed or used as a shield, Gerald got promoted to one of the strongest pieces on the board.
Your brother made his move, now it’s your turn Elaine… and remember, fear that 1 pawn.
On a constructive note, this chapter in very well written, and shows the different sides of the political system. There is no good or bad here. Each has its own strengths and weaknesses…
Eliane you are very wrong. The villages are the power mot the nobles. For where does your food come from?
Your may go overboard but he is right more then wrong
The lower class is weak till they learn to count and after they realize 100 out numbers 1 and they can read so they can understand what has happened in past, and see new ways of life..... well they start realizing they no longer need that 1.
11515609
Who knows. Maybe he could turn into the alicorn equivalent of griffons and gain immortality.
I'm just gonna guest that this will cause a small civil war in the future.
Fun fic so far.