Letter to Mordred (IC)

A messenger is sent out from Kulum to the capital city of Sarleon with the following message-



Your majesty,

It is I, Sir Aranor Vilaren, your humble servant, and servant to Astraea.

There is a situation in the Fierdsvain province that you need to be informed of.

As you may of heard of, the Dawn has faced another schism, after my punishment at Avendor, 2 high-ranking members of the Dawn took along with them 190 knights and 125 retainers, they call themselves the Red Dawn.

The red Dawn symbolizes the right-wing of our order, the wing that is infamous for burning villages, the wing that I have been trying to turn the Dawn away from for years.

This is the reason that our friend, Sir Roland, was slain. He was on his way to Avendor so we could meet and negotiate an alliance and perhaps also entice the Red Dawn into peace talks before the situation could escalate.

This is when they proceeded to attack your citizens and commence heretic burnings in Javiksholm, I suspect now that they have captured my good friend Aedin Redsword, and have occupied the city. They rule now with fear and terror, from what I have heard from the peasants.

Due to these recent events, I can only consider them enemies to the Kingdom.

I reacted as fast as I could, I have secured the villages and closed the mountain passes and valleys to make sure their filth does not spill into the kingdom, I have also sent out letters to Mastifus to stop the knights from escaping to Ravenstern. I have formed an alliance with the new Dawn faction and Roland's heir, Rodrick, and plan to formally accept all Rolandian reforms after this incident is resolved.

I have also called upon the Ebony Gauntlets to send a force of 50 knights to aid us. They have proved most valuable.

So far, the villages are safe, and we have stationed ourselves at Kulum.

The Red Dawn have secured several positions.
Their main base of power is at Javiksholm.
My patrols have told me that there may be several dozen Red Dawn personnel at Ironoak castle, and a spy I have sent has informed me that Lord Bloodsword welcomed them into his home.
I also suspect that they have a presence at Windholm, but this has not yet been proven.

The Red Dawn are burning people every day, they grow stronger, and I must act. But I must stop the Red Dawn from growing, and the mobilization of the royal army would not be able to get to the city fast enough to combat them, and if they can, the siege will endanger the citizens too greatly. I am to assault the walls of Javiksholm, please understand my actions. I must protect the innocents.

I meant to send you a letter before we started this, but I could not afford any risk of the Red Dawn intercepting the messenger before I got all my men in place.

I do not mean any insubordination by organizing this retaliation to this event. In order to prove this to you I shall do two things

First,
To show my sincerity of the purpose of my force,
here are the numbers of the men under my command.

312 knights-
95 New Dawn knights
167 Loyal Dawn knights
50 knights from Ebony Gauntlet

828 retainers-
453 New Dawn
375 Loyal Dawn

Plus the Dawn militia at our stockade.
100 militia
100 militia archers

This sums up to 1340 men.

I do realize I was wrong to form this army without your explicit permission, I am deeply sorry for this.

The second thing I shall do is swear an oath to you.

I, Grandmaster of the Dawn, do solemnly swear on my honor, that this army shall only be used for the continued well-being of the populace of your kingdom. I also swear that this army shall separate after the red Dawn are dealt with, and shall not be assembled until you yourself ask. Also after the strikes on the centers of power of the Red Dawn, the Dawn shall personally pay for any repairs and spend any manpower it would need to restore order in those areas.

May Astraea guide us in these times,

Sincerly,

Sir Aranor Vilaren,
Seeker of Shadows.

Grandmaster Aranor,

His Majesty was of course aware of this situation, however we are very pleased that you chose to write personally about the situation. I of course object to any disturbance in my Kingdom, however so long as this matter remains purely internal in your Order, then we shall not interfere in these matters. Keep the suffering of my people foremost in your thoughts, and I hope this matter is swiftly dealt with.

Mordred, King

OOC : War of Honour CB awarded against all holdings of the Red Dawn. Allies may intervene without cost.

Your majesty,

Once again it is I, Aranor Vilaren. I am writing to you on the subject of the siege of Javiksholm. By the time is messenger reaches you there is no doubt that you may have heard of some things that have happened.

I will set the record straight. After you so generously sent the mission of Griffons and Dragons, we approached the walls. Darlion wanted to meet with Aedin and see the massacre for himself. After 3 days he came back, and said that he couldn't touch Aedin Redsword. There is no doubt that the citizens were dismayed when they saw the royal symbol enter the city and allow the massacre to continue. I will try to calm them. He then told me that he was going to leave to fight the Snake Cult, which reports have informed me that he just returned to Sarleon. The Dragons stayed, which I am forever in their debt for.

He promised me a force of Griffons to go to Windholm, to send me word of the Red Dawn there. I shall adress that later.

During the siege, after taking the walls, caravels entered the harbor and dropped off all the Red Dawnites from Windholm to bolster the forces there. After arrival, they attempted to burn down large swaths of the city, as a final act before leaving. This act was sanctioned by Redsword. My men were not able to pursue the Red Dawn, but we were able to capture the Bishop, and sink several of their ships before they set off.

After the burning started, Aedin attempted to flee the city instead of aid or rally his people. My men attempted to capture him for trial, but he resisted capture, and he was slain in the fight with a sword in his hand.

The Red Dawn have been successfully repelled from Pendorian shores. Unfortunately, the Griffons never sent messengers about the Red Dawn in Windholm, nor did they attempt to impede them from leaving. Instead, I am told that when the Red Dawn left, they entered the city and began to seek to gain influence with the citizens there.

My men were able to save most of the city, the legendary Dawn treasury shall be put to use in repairing the city and the lives they affected.

However, concerning the next-in-line for the throne of javiksholm, vigdus Bloodsword, I fear that he is the same as his uncle. I have been able to extract from the prisoners that he allowed the Red Dawn to not only inhabit his castle, but recruit soldiers, and burn people in his county with impunity.

I have two requests to make of you,

Firstly, I believe the actions of the Red Dawn warrants them to be declared outlaws by your majesty. The annuls of the Dawn have all the names of the schismatics, and we are prepared to produce it for official declaration of the Red Dawn as being an outlawed order.

Secondly, I wish to bring The Lord Vigdus Bloodsword to trial for neglect of his citizens. He and his uncle have shamed all of Pendor with their actions, and I cannot allow them to get away with it.

Astraea guide you,

~Sir Aranor Vilaren

Grandmaster Aranor,

we have duly considered your request to outlaw the Red Dawn and have come to the conclusion that based on the multiple and independent reports on their crimes there is no other possible consequence but to do so. We shall issue an edict that the knights calling themselves the Red Dawn have forsaken their knighthood and are forthwith banned from Pendorian soil under pain of death.

However, we cannot agree to what you said about Lord Bloodsword. As morally appalling his actions may be he overstepped the law itself at no point and can thus not be prosecuted for his actions. When he harboured the Red Dawn they were not yet outlawed and we shall not resort to issuing retroactive verdicts. Should it turn out that there is actual proof for him committing crimes then we should reconsider, but as that is not the case according to our current state of information we must deny your request.

Modred Adalhard, King of Pendor