A little reunion

Courtyard -- Creatrach Keep

Creatrach Dun, the greatest fortress in Caerdh, flies the red banners of Clan Bear proudly from its high reinforced bulwarks. The tops of dark evergreen trees are just visible over the tall, manned walls of this keep which protect the inhabitants against the evils abroad in the forest below. Inside, the earthen ground of the courtyard is laid with gravel for drainage, and is well-trodden as the Bears move about their daily business. The keep proper takes up part of the west wall and the whole northern section of the courtyard. A short flight of steps leads up to the keep doors into the foyer. A small shelter, beside the wooden gates, serves as the guard post.

A row of small stone buildings line the southern wall where thick smoke rising almost continually from the chimneys of Mederon the Smith and his rival Smithy proclaim their trade. The shingle of a grinning bear holding a mug swings over the door into a squat structure. This is obviously the Grinning_Grizzly. Behind the tavern is an outhouse. Clan Bear appears to be building a small city within the confines of the keep\'s walls.

The appearance of the courtyard morphs throughout the day, dawn to dark to dawn again. During the day, the south side of the courtyard is transformed into a bustling market and the cry of merchants and peddlers hawking their wares echoes throughout the courtyard. A pair of Bear warriors guard the wooden gates that leads out while a second pair patrols the courtyard. Two more Bear guards bar the other main entrance in the courtyard, the Great Doors to the inner keep. Visitors and residents enter and exit the inner keep foyer through these doors. The low wood enclosure of the militia training ground may be seen at the far north-eastern corner.

Obvious exits:

Grinning Grizzly leads to Grinning Grizzly Alehouse.

Great Doors leads to Main Foyer -- Creatrach Keep.

Wooden Gate leads to Southern Misty Mountains - Dunland <>.

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Dunland Time and Weather Forecast

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Real Time is: Fri Jan 09 00:56:29 2009

IC weather is: Wind: gale - Clouds: moderate - Rain: moderate

IC Moon is: Not visible

IC time is: Late Morning

IC date is: Mersday, Day 25 of November in the year 3045.

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[Olmys(#32384)] The snows of the previous day have now turned to rain, turning the courtyard of Creatrach into a quagmire of mud and ice. The games that have been going along almost continuosly since the beginning of the Gathering have come to halt with the news out of Redvyrne and the men of clan Bear now fill the Grizzly and the Hall of the main keep. The question on most minds is whether there will be war now with the Wulf.

One of those not within the hall or the tavern is the \'Bear\' hunter, Olmys. Though recently taken into the service of Fian Gabhran Kavanagh, the hunter has yet to be fully accepted by the rest of the Kavanagh men and volunteered for the morning watch. While the others drink and talk of war in relative comfort, he and his brother stand at the doors of the main hall.

A lone figure in a dun cloak emerges from the training grounds as others begin to use it. Breveg, it seems, is up early as always. His footsteps take him toward the Keep, and his head lifts as he studies the pair at the door. For perhaps an instant his cheek twitches, then his features are still again. \"Morning,\" he offers the pair pleasantly, his steps slowing as though perhaps he were considering a different destination.

[Olmys(#32384)] Olmys nods in greeting to Brev and gives the younger man a smile. \"Think you can manage to watch the door without me for a few moments?\" he asks. \"I\'m still supposed to find a storehouse where Fian Kavanagh can unload the grain he brought for tribute.\"

He waits not for an answer from Croman but steps away from the door and turns back to Brev. \"Think you might be able to show me where I might find a suitable place for such?\" he asks. He lifts a brow slightly. \"Unless of course you fear there may be someone out there who\'d turn us in to wee toads,\" he says in a much softer voice and cracks a larger conspiratorial smile.

Breveg frowns at the question. \"Should that question not have been directed to the Ceann?\" he enquires, his lip curling, then seems to relent. \"But aye, I can show you where Ranich\'s tithes were placed. I had an errand for the Fian in any case.\"

With no more said, and without matching the other man\'s smile in the least, he jerks his head and moves across the courtyard, threading his way through a jumble of carts and bales, past byre and dung-heap.. He halts eventually before one building that is indeed a shed and pushes open the door. It is empty, save for some sawn timber - not even a rat watches. \"Here, perhaps?\" Then, as he turns, hand resting near his knife as it has since they began their journey, he remarks crisply, \"I had heard that a man of your description might be found in Laeg.\" He does not drop the clear, precise manner of speech just yet.

[Olmys(#32384)] \"Oh aye,\" Olmys replies as he peers into the shed. \"This will do fine,\" he steps inside and moves towards the timber and takes a seat upon it. \"Wonder if I\'ll be needing to move this timber,\" he says in a voice loud enough to be heard should anyone pass by.

\"In Laeg?\" he asks in a bit lower voice. \"Well, I have kin amongst the Stag,\" he adds. \"Perhaps it was a cousin you heard of,\" he lifts a hand to brush back a lock of hair from habit, but there is no hair to be brushed back.

He beckons for Brev to come inside and lifts his voice once more. \"Well, seems to be big enough, but I best pace it off to make sure,\" he says in a loud voice for anyone that may be nearby.

\"I\'ll give you a hand, then,\" Brev offers in response to those first words. The mention of a cousin brings a twitch to his lips for a moment, though he says naught of it. Dutifully he steps inside the shed, and leans against the wall. \"Fine. I\'ll wait.\" Anyone outside would here the creak of timbers.

In a much lower voice, he hisses, \"It is you. What are you doing here?\" Oddly enough, duspicion rather than welcome seems to be uppermost in his stare.

[Olmys(#32384)] \"Aye,\" Carac replies. \"It\'s me.\" His nose wrinkles slightly as he winks towards his friend. \"I decided that I should come have a look at who the new Ceann would be,\" he says. \"Snows have Laeg and the north shut up until spring and I wasn\'t much lookin\' forward to spending a winter shut up in the caves with Garaig.\"

He chuckles softly. \"\'Bout choked when I saw you here as well, been tryin\' to find a chance to speak with you, but Kavanagh is a harsh one. Always has some little thing that needs doin\' and being the newest of his men, I\'m the one always doin\' it.\"

He nods towards the Keep then. \"I see you\'ve found a Fian of your own.\"

As Olmys - or Carac - speaks, the suspicion gradually fades from Breveg\'s face. \"Aye, a bit more comfortable down here with food and bed and someone to watch your back.\" He hesitates, then. \"Ranich\'s a good enough man. Trusting as a babe, but .. eh, he\'s learning. Slowly. Maybe Caerdh isn\'t all rotten.\" He gives a shrug.

He bends down to pick up a piece of timber and drags it across the floor, the sound loud enough to be clearly audible from outside. \"Ranich folks have enough food squirrelled away to feed several armies, I reckon. Might be able to get hold of some of it, but ... depends whose army it would go to feed.\" The suspicion is back. \"Who are you working with?\" he demands in a near-whisper.

[Olmys(#32384)] Carac listens closely and then. \"Damn, did I say ten across or twelve?\" he calls out loudly.

\"If he\'s not rotten then he\'s one of the few,\" he says in a softer voice. \"I\'ve done a bit of sneaking and creeping around, and there\'s a few here that are passed rotten to just plain putrid. That Maulduin\'s for one, I heard him talkin\' with this new Ceann. \'Twas him who set the Wulf on those in Redvyrne. Something to do with a plan to get hold of another Fian\'s lands, but had to move on before I could hear anymore. Watch out for that one.\"

He chuckles softly. \"Who am I working with? Well I\'m here with that crazed bastard who calls himself Halen,\" he says and then shakes his head. \"I may have to do something about that one myself, the man is obsessed with vengance.\"

\"Thought you said eight?\" The query, clear and condescending, is pitched to carry.

Breveg arches an eyebrow at Carac\'s information. \"Maulduin\'s devious, that\'s true enough. Not that I have to deal with that one, he considers bastards beneath his notice.\" He grins. \"Caileann was supposed to be speaking to him ...\" The words trail off, and he frowns, his features growing cold. \"Vengeance? Against whom? The men whom his father, or whatever-he-is,\" he snorts with contempt, \"fought are dead. Have him stir up trouble in Laeg if you like, but warn him off Caerdh.\" His amber eyes lift in a glare.

And then comes a noise from outside. In a disgusted tone, Breveg announces loudly, \"I\'m not here to keep track of your addled brains. Time\'s wasting, if you want this place measured you can do it yourself.\" \"Later,\" he adds in a soft hiss, then he\'s off and out the door, striding irritably away.