Chapter 6: Chapter 6- The Meeting Part 1

With the meeting day having arrived Etrius left its house, with it being in a much better shape than it originally had been. It was still an aged building, but much more livable. As it made its way down the path to the town's roads, Etrius saw the familiar sight of children watching it from the distance. Ever since Michal had first been scared away, many local children made bets, seeing how close they could get to it before being noticed. Playing along with them, there were days that Etrius let them get within sight of the house, and other times it made its presence known before they even managed to get on the path to its house. Sometimes even Maul entertained them when Etrius was busy.

Thanks to this many children, though scared, had become familiar with Etrius and no longer cried at the sight of it. That being said, a few were still brought to tears when it suddenly appeared to watch them as they tried to sneak up on it.

As children followed it at a reasonable distance, Etrius moved through town towards a large meeting hall near the center of town. From the letter that it received, the meeting would be in two parts. The first being the open to the public introductions with the town lord and various directly involved guild leaders. This was mostly to give the townsfolk an idea as to what Etrius' role in the town would be and tell them in clear terms as to its policing powers in said role. There was also a possibility that citizens would be able to directly ask questions that were relevant.

The second part would be a more private, and in depth discussion between them. Official documents and concerns of both parties would be had with no audience involved. Afterwards, a summary of the events would be posted to the board directly outside the hall for all to read. As for how many people in this town could read, Etrius wasn't sure but considered it to be at least half, with how often Etrius had seen people send and receive mail inside the town.

Etrius, being early, headed inside towards a back room before the hall was filled. This room was specially prepared for it and had two maids stationed in it. Upon seeing it, the two froze and let out a strained welcome. Not long after, the two excused themselves, doing their best not to look at it. This was nothing unusual for Etrius, but would be troublesome in future meetings or just whenever it needed to talk to others.

Glancing at the crawling shadows at its feet, spoke it's intentions. The shadows looked up at it and moaned. Their skin cracked and colorless forms appeared in them. As the shadows broke away, these colorless forms crawled out, the tangle of broken limbs and burned wings began linking together. On the foot of its cloak, a layer was formed and the limbs crawled up. On top of that, another layer appeared, and another. From the ground, to the peak of its hood, the limbs crawled, each layer as thin as a thread, and linked together as such. Upon completion, the shattered shadows which lay at its feet faded into themselves.

The effect was immediate. Etrius felt the shivering of those outside, though they failed to notice themselves. With nothing left to do but wait, that is exactly what Etrius did. As time passed, the sounds of the audience hall grew louder as townsfolk  with time in their schedule filled the room. As for the room that Etrius was in, no one approached. Possibly because they thought that the room was empty, or any number of other reasons. Eventually however, there was a knock on the door.

 

In the audience hall, several podiums were set up facing the audience for each of the participants. One for Torie herself, two for the territorial militia and town guard leaders, four for the guild leaders of the blacksmith, hunter, forester and butcher guilds, one for each of the four town leaders of the territory aside from Torie, and finally one for Etrius.

Torie, like the others, was already standing at her place behind the central podium. Today, she was wearing the blue dress that she had ordered. Unlike those bulky dresses in the capital, this dress had no internal frame nor did it flare out. It looked similar to something a merchant would wear when conducting a business deal. Something that fit the style of such a distant town on a somewhat little used trade route. Dress aside, she wore black flat shoes polished till they shone, had her short hair neatly done, and unlike most days, wore a pair of thick lens glasses. On both sides of her, were the guild and town leaders along with the militia leader and the local town guard. With all the regional leaders gathered, all that they waited for was the newly arriving ranger, Washington.

With all the local leaders and influential people of the territory gathered, one might expect this to be a very important event for the region. However, in the history of the kingdom, this was highly unusual. Rangers were, for most of the population, unimportant individuals. They kept an eye out for poachers and illegal logging in land controlled by royalty and nobles. In this territory so far away from the capital, the king had no land, and for the entire territory, there was one noble family, whose land had been open to the public for over twenty years. In all of the territory's history, there were only three rangers. Two of which only visited once a year, stopping over thirty years ago, and the third being the newly assigned ranger, Washington.

Would this suddenly trigger a drastic change in the policy of forest management? Only one person knew the answers, and that was the newly arrived ranger. The very same one which, intentionally or unintentionally, frightened the populace. Worries were high, and thanks to the current territorial lord, citizens had the opportunity to hear for themselves how this would affect their lives. With everyone gathered and waiting, the ranger finally arrived.

Hearing the sound of knocking and the opening of a door, Torie turned towards the offender. One of the two maids she had assigned to look after him held open the door, though she wondered why they had remained on the outside instead of attending to him. Before she could think much about it, Etrius appeared. With light steps that she couldn't hear he grew closer. Due to either Etrius's appearance or because the meeting was starting, the audience grew quiet. Smiling a business smile, Torie nodded to Etrius. Once he arrived at the empty podium, the meeting officially began. Clearing her throat, Torie spoke.

 

"Citizens of Crasmere, I the temporary lord of the Haywood realm, welcome you to the fifth open session of the calendar year 627." Torie said, addressing the crowd. "Today we have gathered to welcome the appointment of the Ranger Etrius Washington to the territory and address any changes that may come of it."

 

Torie paused to be sure of the audience's reaction, and once she was satisfied, continued.

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"As many of you know, we have not had a ranger for some time and many may be wondering why now?" Torie asked. "For that, I have no answers and we must rely on Ranger Washington's testimony. So, Ranger Washington, why after all this time has a ranger been sent here?"

 

With eyes turned towards it, Etrius answered.

 

"I am Ranger Washington and, as previously explained, no ranger has been assigned to the territory for quite some time. And according to the laws of the kingdom, no region of the kingdom is to be left without a localized defensive force as well as a direct link to the capital, to guard against invasions or uprisings. As a ranger, I am that link to the capital, however that mainly is our secondary role. Our primary role is to guard against poaching, illegal logging, and smuggling in lands held by royalty or other nobility, that is why I am here." Etrius explained. "As for why there hasn't been a ranger in these parts for so long is due to a witch hunter related fire in the ranger headquarters, documents regarding where rangers were deployed and which regions required them were lost."

 

Upon saying this, many in the crowd muttered about the nuisances that were the witch hunters. Etrius waited for them to quiet down before continuing.

 

"Upon discovering that there was no ranger stationed here, the crown acted to fulfill their legal requirement and as a result, I was transferred here." Etrius said.

"I see." Torie nodded. "So tell us, what changes can we expect from your arrival?"

"I will be performing my primary role of deterring poaching and looking into any suspicious activity in land held by the local nobility." Etrius said. "As for your day to day life, I will have little to no impact. Aside from any special request of Lord Haywood, town mayors, or militia leaders, I will not act in any way deviating from any local laws or customs."

 

In the crowd, many breathed a sigh of relief and the local leaders too looked more relaxed than when the meeting began. Smiling, Torie adjusted her glasses and glanced at the papers on her podium.

 

"Now then," Torie started. "with the most concerning questions behind us, let us continue with the meeting…"

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