Nature Abhors a Vacuum.

[Carnath-Emory]

...and so, it seems, do bodies of goverment. Twin communiques are dispatched from the Meetinghouse, this evening. The first is quite predictable...

I, Giscard Guillaume, Lord of Lothbury Estate, Interim Governor of the Myrken Wood Judiciary, to His Honour Aloisius Treadwell, the Councilor for Administrative Sanctions: Greetings.

I will state my hope without preamble, which is for a meeting in the Council chambers on the evening of this Friday, 18th of February. We have much to discuss, foremost being the brevity of this letterhead; several positions must be filled with all the haste that we can muster, not least because several voices have made themselves clearly heard upon the matter.


Done by my hand at the Estate of Lothbury, this 16th day of February.
Giscard Guillaume.


And the second, just as... inevitable.


I, Giscard Guillaume, Lord of Lothbury Estate, Interim Governor of the Myrken Wood Judiciary, to Joshua Kilborn, Lieutenant of the Myrken Wood Guard, Order of Straka; to Matthew Duvall, Lieutenant of the Myrken Wood Guard, Order of Straka: Greetings.

Word has reached me of the Captain's ailment, and I wish to offer my condolences on his recent incapacitation; this is a trying time for Myrken Wood indeed. I regret that I must ask after the extent of his injuries: will he be returned to his duties within weeks, months? What arrangements exist, should he be unable to do so? In a time of such turbulence, we are the lesser for his loss.


Done by my hand at the Estate of Lothbury, this 16th day of February.
Giscard Guillaume.

[Rattrap]

Another letter would reach Lieutenant Kilborn at about the same time as Giscard's, addressed much more informally and far more brief:

Lieutenant,
Right now, I can barely so much as leave my bed. In fact, the good doctor here is writing on my behalf, as my writing hand is useless.

To the point: you're in charge now, Joshua, until I can return to my duties.

Good luck.

Signed,
Captain Thomas Daniels

The envelope it would arrive in was neatly sealed, scrawled with a doctor's handwriting. Fortunately, the script was easily legible.

[Treadwell]

Interim governor. The title still doesn't sit well with Treadwell, a fact evident in the just waking old tub's soured expression as he finally gets 'round to reading the letter sent to him last night. Needless to say, he puts things in order by his own system of priorities, first turning back to the veritable platter of bacon and eggs his loving wife just set before him for breakfast.

Soon, though, Treadwell is writing a response in his usual sloppy, heavily written penmanship.

= = = = =
Giscard,

Tomorrow evening is, at the moment, fine by me. I will most certainly be there, barring such reasons as loss of good sense, dismemberment, death, or the dreadful fate of being struck down by having had too much supper and needing a good long nap.

Aloisius
= = = = =

And so that's one more letter sent through Myrken Wood at the hands of a huffy lad tired of being run all over town!

[Tyralor]

So he was in charge of the Order. Officially speaking. Not that this particular bit of knowledge happened to please him overly much. Too much had taken place that no one within the Order had been able to control. Too much passed whichi the Order could not prevent.

There was nothing the Order could do for the most part. The Order would always protect the township of Myrken Wood so long as there was a member of the Order standing. Such was their sworn duty, both to the townsfolk, and to Straka. The Order was simply not equipped to handle the torrent of evil that swept across the countryside. Truly, no one was.

And now he was in charge of this shipwreck. At least until the Captain recovered from his wounds. The Order and the Wall. And this Kerrak individual was still about stirring trouble. The man's speech had stirred trouble. It could've gone better if there were members of the Order about. That could've been arranged, but hadn't been. And that worried Kilborn as well. He knew too little about the true purpose of the wall. The true motivations of Kerrak. The ulterior desires of the Council, at least of those who remained.

The Captain's note was passed over to Key, who had been patiently waiting as Joshua mused over the contents of each letter.

Send this to the scribes and have copies of it made. Post them in the barracks so that the men are aware.

Of course, that only alleviated one of the issues that was currently at hand.

The individual that attacked the Captain is still in the gaol I assume? The silence was accompanied only by a nod. Have his thumbs cut off by the evening supper bell. The lieutenant concluded with a weary sigh. It was a harsh punishment, but the difficulty it would present a warrior who was capable of escaping a guarded cell was powerful. Of course, the man would eventually be hung. He'd killed several people. However Kilborn wasn't about to allow the man opportunity to do so again.

Then there was the letter to Guillaume to write. That would take a bit more time to concoct and perhaps would be best done in person.

Send a messenger to the Council, informing them that by Daniels' decree, until Daniels recovers that I am in control of the Order, and I would enjoy speaking with one of their members at their convienence.

And for the sake of all of us Key, get some sleep. I've seen night hags with less circles underneath their eyes.

Not that the Lieutenant looked much better. Of course, he'd had a lot on his mind recently. And now had the pleasure of enjoying even more weight.