Post by Horas on Nov 12, 2008 1:45:03 GMT -5
Lord Commander Jaymes Farman sat on the back of his garron in the middle of a tiny town in the New Gift. Located on the very southern edge of the Gift, only a few leagues distant from the border of the Kingdom of the North, the village was a mining town, on the western side of the Frostfang Mountains. The Frostfangs were rich in minerals and metals, although few were brave enough to weather the severe cold that permeated even the deepest mining shafts. Jaymes had sent First Ranger Cracker back to Castle Black with 65 of the 90 men that they had with them.
Five and twenty rangers still rode with Jaymes, and they had been following Evergreen’s trail on a merry chase through the mountains for nearly eight months. It had been five years since Evergreen’s Elope, as some Black Brother’s still referred to the incident, but many villages in the gift remembered being terrorized by the band of deserters, and were happy to give information to the esteemed Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch when he came by seeking vengeance on the deserters.
Evergreen had run around randomly with seemingly no intent for almost four years, before changing course and riding due west. The trail had led to this tiny mining town that did not even have a name, which overlooked the coast of the Bay of Ice. From this high, he could see the Wall looming up above the ground in the distance, though it was below him at this point, and almost forty leagues north. He could have simply rode to Shadow Tower and taken a boat down the Gorge, to here, although he would never have known that this was the spot that Evergreen had left the mainland.
“But he’s not here anymore?” he asked one of the miners, who seemed to be the most willing to cooperate with the Crows. The half dozen dragons that Jaymes had given him surely loosened his tongue a little.
“Nah, ‘ee’s long gone,” the miner said with a thick accent. “ ‘eer’s a path dow’ ta the coast, there’s a few fishermen down there, with boats,” the man added, point to what looked like a carved staircase, leading down the side of the mountain toward the coast that appeared so far below. “Tha’s the way ‘ee went, milord C’mander. Might be ‘ee built ‘imself some ships, there’s lumber down there too.”
Jaymes thanked the man, and turned again to look over the sea. If Evergreen had sailed away from the mainland, it would be hard to track him, but there was really only one place he could go in the kind of boats that could be found this far north. Bear Island was not visible beyond the horizon but Jaymes knew where it was and stared in that direction for several minutes.
Finally he gave the orders to his horsemen, and they turned north, heading back for Shadow Tower, and the Wall. It was a treacherous path through the mountains, and many of the horses suffered from the cold, though the black brothers suffered only a little less from their woolen blacks, which afforded far less protection than they desired. After several weeks of traveling through the mountains and a slow pace, the twenty-five black brothers arrived at Shadow Tower with their Lord Commander, who was pleased that none of his brothers had fallen victim to the elements under his command.
Lord Commander Jaymes Farman improves toward Grandmaster Tracking
Lord Commander Jaymes Farman improves toward Master Horseman
Five and twenty rangers still rode with Jaymes, and they had been following Evergreen’s trail on a merry chase through the mountains for nearly eight months. It had been five years since Evergreen’s Elope, as some Black Brother’s still referred to the incident, but many villages in the gift remembered being terrorized by the band of deserters, and were happy to give information to the esteemed Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch when he came by seeking vengeance on the deserters.
Evergreen had run around randomly with seemingly no intent for almost four years, before changing course and riding due west. The trail had led to this tiny mining town that did not even have a name, which overlooked the coast of the Bay of Ice. From this high, he could see the Wall looming up above the ground in the distance, though it was below him at this point, and almost forty leagues north. He could have simply rode to Shadow Tower and taken a boat down the Gorge, to here, although he would never have known that this was the spot that Evergreen had left the mainland.
“But he’s not here anymore?” he asked one of the miners, who seemed to be the most willing to cooperate with the Crows. The half dozen dragons that Jaymes had given him surely loosened his tongue a little.
“Nah, ‘ee’s long gone,” the miner said with a thick accent. “ ‘eer’s a path dow’ ta the coast, there’s a few fishermen down there, with boats,” the man added, point to what looked like a carved staircase, leading down the side of the mountain toward the coast that appeared so far below. “Tha’s the way ‘ee went, milord C’mander. Might be ‘ee built ‘imself some ships, there’s lumber down there too.”
Jaymes thanked the man, and turned again to look over the sea. If Evergreen had sailed away from the mainland, it would be hard to track him, but there was really only one place he could go in the kind of boats that could be found this far north. Bear Island was not visible beyond the horizon but Jaymes knew where it was and stared in that direction for several minutes.
Finally he gave the orders to his horsemen, and they turned north, heading back for Shadow Tower, and the Wall. It was a treacherous path through the mountains, and many of the horses suffered from the cold, though the black brothers suffered only a little less from their woolen blacks, which afforded far less protection than they desired. After several weeks of traveling through the mountains and a slow pace, the twenty-five black brothers arrived at Shadow Tower with their Lord Commander, who was pleased that none of his brothers had fallen victim to the elements under his command.
Lord Commander Jaymes Farman improves toward Grandmaster Tracking
Lord Commander Jaymes Farman improves toward Master Horseman