1 Chapter 1: The Law

It was a cool summer morning and the Grandmaster sat outside of his cabin in the mountains of Middle Tahl, sipping from a tin cup filled with black coffee.

His name was Maxis Adelwulf, son of Standing Wolf, the Tonkawa medicine man and war chief. His mother was a poor Norwegian girl whose family immigrated to the new world.

But this world wasn't new, in fact it was rather old by 1870. This world had been discovered first by the Norse in a time long forgotten by people, next to come were the Mongols, they were the first to introduce the natives to horseback warfare, something that changed everything.

The sun started to slowly rise more and more as Maxis watched, his long ebony hair blowing in the wind.

"Hello darling," a voice said as a young blonde haired man opened the door. "You're up early," Maxis then tiredly said, "I wanted to watch the sun rise with you, is that okay?"

"Of course it is."

After a while, the couple went back inside of their cabin and began to get dressed. "Edelweiss!" yelled Maxis from the bedroom

"Yes?"

"Where's my earrings?" Maxis shouted again.

"I told you to put them on AFTER you get dressed," Edelweiss replied, a bit irritated, "I put them on first so I won't forget to put them on later."

"They're in your drawer."

"Thank you!"

The two then left their cabin and mounted their horses and started riding. Their destination was Middle Tahl, a huge fortress city that separated the great plains of the west and the woodland forests of the east. The city had some of the tallest and thickest walls in the southern kingdom but there were bigger. There was a tower about every thirty to forty yards, some taller than others. They were constructed inconsistently of different colored stones and bricks and there were a few cracks here and there. At the bottom few rows of bricks and stones moss and vines grew up. There were a few gutters and tunnels that were probably from bandits or vagabonds trying to get inside the city or escape the guards.

Their reason for going to Middle Tahl was to appear publicly with King Skinner of Middle Tahl who was announcing a new law.

Maxis and Edelweiss rode through the main gates of the city then proceeded to the palace. The palace was very obviously inspired by gothic architecture. The palace was made with dark stone and long, pointed arches with stained glass running up the walls. On the ledges of the walls there were stone carved gargoyles and on the ground and on the different layers of the palace there were buttresses used to support the building. The inside of the palace was decorated with animal heads mounted on the walls and long banners and flags representing all of Middle Tahls allies as well as the previous flags of the kingdom. Maxis and Edelweiss walked through the main entrance and were escorted by a servant to another room that was filled with notable people, guards and friends of the King as well as small tables and chairs. The tables were draped in white tablecloths and had platters and trays of a multitude of appetizers and small finger foods and drinks. At the opposite end of the entrance there was a grand staircase that split into two other staircases that forked into opposite directions and led to other parts of the palace.

"Maxis! Good to see you old friend," a young man with white hair said, approaching him, "Good to see you too Wivven." Wivven wore a buttoned up waistcoat with a gold watch chain hanging across the center from his pockets, a pale grayish-blue puff tie was tied around his neck and stuffed into his jacket. He always wore a belt on him that carried a bottle of a potion, three throwing knives, and a state of the art matchlock pistol. It is not known why and how Wivven had this odd hair color. Some believed he dyed it while others believed it was a birth defect because of his mothers promiscuous lifestyle.

"Still got those earrings from Santa Fe, huh?"

"Yeah, I still have the full set, breastplates and everything. I think that Mongolian food there made me sick though."

"Ah he musta' been bitter about what happened in 1790," Wivven said with a laugh.

"But I'm not even Cheyenne or Mexican."

"He didn't know that!"

Maxis thought back to his grandfather's stories of fighting the Mongols. In 1790 a band of Cheyenne, Kiowa and Sioux warriors raided a Mongolian settlement in the north. Among the warriors was Maxis' grandfather Red Wolf. They attacked at nightfall on November 12th and slaughtered everyone in the village. The raid was only one of many gruesome conflicts between Mongols and the native tribes.

Edelweiss stood next to Maxis and greeted his friends. Soon, King Skinner appeared from the grand staircase that led to the rest of the palace.

"Greetings friends, family and… Maxis."

"Good to see you too," Maxis said, rolling his eyes.

"Oh, you know I'm joking," said the King as he walked down the stairs. "How were things at the fort?"

"Things were good until the raiders of the Pines overran us," Maxis replied.

"Listen… I'm sorry about what happened and I won't make the same mistake again. The deaths of those men upset me as well but there is nothing we can do now."

"Yeah.."

"Attention everybody! I'd like to thank you all for coming!" Declared the king, raising a glass of wine from a table. "To Middle Tahl!" The King shouted

"To Middle Tahl!" Everyone responded in unison.

"Don't you think you should be sober before you declare that new law publicly?"

"Hmm, maybe. But it doesn't matter, the people of Middle Tahl love me!"

"They sure do. They don't seem to care that you were only crowned in January or that you're only nineteen."

Soon, it was time for the young king to appear. Horns blew out triumphantly as the King walked out to stand on a balcony of the palace, accompanied by Maxis, Bones, Wivven and several other members of the King's guard.

"People of Middle Tahl!" The King shouted "I have heard your concerns regarding the Christian militias who roam these lands in search of 'satanic influence' and I have decided to do something," The crowd cheered loudly, already knowing what the king was going to say. Maxis and Bones looked at each other, slightly worried and a frown began to grow on Wivven's face as the king continued the speech,

"A new law will be passed the next day that will prohibit the raiding of non-religious homes and settlements. Christian militias will first be asked to disband or join in Middle Tahl's military. If they continue to raid and pillage after being asked, they will be summarily hunted down and imprisoned or killed. No longer will the people of Middle Tahl have to fear the religious zealots who have terrorized our great kingdom for too long, they cannot force their beliefs and religions on us and if they try, it will not end well on their part," The crowd cheered wildly as Skinner looked down and smiled at his people. Wivven looked over to Maxis, with a troubled look taking over his face. This wouldn't end well, for anyone.