First Winter

JP with Bandorchu and Winteroak

Ostiarium - Rectory

Alexis hesitated but decided to ask anyway.

“… you don’t have to tell me, but I’d like to know. What happened?”

The Friar sighed. No one had come out of what happened that fateful winter with a clear conscience and clean hands. But maybe it was time he told someone what had really happened, knowing full well that it was always a matter of perspective.

A mad trip financed by the King of Salos, sending close to 120 souls in 3 ships across the Sea of Storm in search for the mythical continent rumored to exist west of Helias. Back then no ship had travelled further from the old world's shores for more than 20 days. No land had ever been sighted. Not even by the more advanced naval realm of Torja. Many had been the vessels and lives lost to Cambena's endless expanses.

The trip was supposed to last no longer than 30 days. Provisions and water were supposed to last at least that long. But even before we reached a month at sea many of the sailors and pilgrims wanted to return. Fearing they would sail until we died of thirst and starvation or simply sail over the edge of the world. Day 30 brought a mutiny, as a group of sailors and passengers tried to wrestle control of the vessels from its Captains. A mutiny crushed implacable by Sir Zane and the discipline of his soldiers.

Some of us in the know, questioned why the man took to this task so zealously. Not preventing a mutiny, you see, but driving us forward to find this mythical land, when it was rumoured that his King had given him command of this mission not as a reward but as punishment, for some unknown slight.

The mutineers were hung from the masts and rafts of the ship and we pushed on. Forty days in with strict rationing of water and many suffering from dysentery, He came to us.

Kupen himself visited my dreams and that of my acolytes. He would find land. Arcadia, He called it, laid just beyond our reach. And that we must push through the pain and suffering to reap the rewards the Pillars had earmarked for us and our people. Sir Zane stood behind us and our vision, ever vigilant, implacable in his will. We would have never reached this land if not for him and the loyalty of his Knights. Nor without the faith of our people our Gods. Two weeks later, hope had abandoned most of us and we kept moving forward through the wild seas only by sheer determination or despair. I could not tell you which...

Almost 50 days after we sailed from Orb, the capital of Salos, a word echoed across the ships. "Land..." No one believed it at first but the jubilation that ran through us was palpable. We had made it. A two month sea journey into the unknown into the lands promised to us by the Gods.

We made landfall in a large cove we would later call the Bay of Pearls. We found streams of fresh water, small game and wild fruits in the surrounding areas, that after such a hellish journey tasted as sweet as mother's milk. Five days later we gave our thanks to Kupen for his visions and guidance and we raised the first shrine to the Pillars here in the land named Arcadia.

Summer rolls over as Sir Zane and the Knights build a fort where Stoneshade Keep now stands. Shelter was built using wood from nearby forests, small plots of land given to plant radishes, carrots, beans and barley, two small boats dedicated to fishing while we filled the cargo of the one ship that was to return Helias to announce our miraculous discovery and arrival on these shores.

We came into contact with the first natives. A small Odsier tribe that stalked these forests. Contact was peaceful at first. They showed great curiosity in us, our ships, clothes, weapons, language. We showed the same for the most part. Until some men having spent too long at sea, committed unspeakable acts against some of the native women. One night the attacked with flaming arrows and bloody axes, and again if not for Sir Zane and his Knights we would have all been killed, hanged from trees.

He spent the next few months exterminating the tribe. He executed those found responsible for the hideous acts too. Made very few friends on each side. Did what he thought was best to maintain order but also to ensure our survival on a land that could turn hostile at any point.

Autumn brough the rains and the cold. Most of our crops failed. We hunted what we could, but it would not be enough to sustain almost 100 souls. Sir Zane once again intervened, implementing curfews and job allocations to everyone similar to what it’s still done on arrival today. Everyone turned to foraging and hunting in a desperate attempt to increase our larder for the winter, that none of use knew how harsh it could be.

Strange things started happening in the woods. People went missing, others were found dead, butchered, with parts missing. We were sure some were reverting to cannibalism. Other falling prey to the natives. Rumours of godly visions in the woods, were the talk of the settlement and now we know it was the terrible Felfar and the Cult of Slivikh, slowly taking hold, praying on people's fears. People were quick to anger, volatile. Things started turn sour faster than anyone thought possible.

Winter arrived and punched us with its frozen fist into submission. Heavy snows covered the land. The numbing cold was the worse. Game became more and more scarce. We lost some fishermen to the storming seas. We were facing death. Zin's Garden beckoned. We did not have enough provisions to last us the Winter even with draconian measures.

Sir Zane selected whoever he thought would be more resilient and needed for the coming year and ensure the future of the settlement. Skills, personality, dedication, drive, sacrifice, all was taken in consideration by the man. Status and birthright did not play a part. He refused any help in the selection. It would be his cross to bear. He took those into the fort where him and his Knights bore no dissent. Where he ruled with an iron fist to ensure as many of us could see the new Spring and await the new ships from Helias he was sure would follow. And that he saved as many as he could when he could have easily just holed up in the fort with his Knights spending the Winter without privations.

Sir Zane and his Knights stocked up as many provisions as they could and took in those, he saw a need for. Not only for the future of the settlement but for our own survival. Those that stayed outside were left to fend for themselves. Most did not survive. Including two earls from minor noble houses that had joined the voyage. One a cousin of the King’s first wife. Tar refused to come with us. He disappeared shortly after. He believed that we should have died together if that was the will of the Pillars.

We endured. Thanks to him and his decisions. All of us knowing that without someone making difficult decisions we would have never survived. Ostiarium would not be here today without him. I for once could have not made the decisions he made. And so I wet along with it. The will to live is to strong in most of us to simply lay down and die...