[RPG] [COL]Tales of Lek and Sennianus: Bridging the Gap

[Richard Devries]

Sennianus spent most of his time exploring his new home. He had no troops,
no gold to recruit them and taxes were still days away. He didn't even have
a sword. Many of the peasants were busy hiding their valuables from the
Outer Tilogian tax collectors. Anything left in plain sight would
undoubtedly disappear into the tax coffers. Sennianus liked this place.
Finally there was a place where he was amongst equals, where nobody looked
down on him for his barbaric manners and dubious sanity. Instead, they all
participated. To be honest, some of them even made Sennianus frown a bit.
Yes, he might even stay here indefinetly... He had just installed himself on
a riverbank with a keg of ale and a loaf of bread, when he felt a presence
behind him. He turned around to see a man standing there. Fairly tall, brown
hair, normal-looking... Too normal to be an Outer Tilogian.

"Sennianus Andrasta? Is that you, sir?", the man said.

Sennianus squinted his eyes. The man seemed strangely familiar. "Depends on
who's asking."

The man seemed surprised. "You don't remember me, sir? It's me, Elrdred!"

"There's a lot of things I don't remember, lad, and Elrdred is one of them."
Sennianus replied.

Elrdred scratched his head, then dipped into his pouch and took out a small
wooden chest, which he held out for Sennianus to see. "Do you recognise this
emblem, then?"

"Sorry, lad. Now would you mind stopping the guessing games and telling me
why you're here?" said in a mildly annoyed tone.

Elrdred wasn't sure what to make of this.  The man looked like the Sennianus
of old, his hair was white again and he was definitely naked.  El hadn't
been expecting this complete lack of recognition, however.  He tried again,
"Sir, I come from Lady Lek of Taselak.  She sent me to find you and deliver
to you your belongings and this message."  El held out a note and a folded
cloth.  He looked closely at Sennianus, "You do remember my Lady Lek, do you
not?"

Sennianus grinned amiably at this strange man. "Well, if she's sent my gear,
I'm sure she must be a fine 'lady', but I can't say as I know the name.
 It's so hard to keep track of them all, isn't it?"   He took the note from
El and opened it.

Sennianus started reading the note, and a frown appeared on his forehead. He
read the note out loud, just to make sure he got it right.

"Sennianus, my only beloved,
Please remember.
You gave this to me once and I have treasured it always.
I wish that I had told you that.
I wish I had  told you that I love you.
I wish I had never hurt you.
I wish you would come back to me.
I would do anything to be your fair Lek once more."

Sennianus rubbed his beard. "Your mistress is a strange one, lad...", he
said, "Are you sure she's got the right person?"

Elrdred nodded. "Positive, sir. I remember you clear as day."

"Well... I can't say the same about her. Most ladies I grace with my
presence ask some sort of compensation for it, if you catch my drift."

Elrdred grimaced. "I assure you, sir, she's not one of those ladies..."

It was worse than El had thought.  Not remember his Lady Lek?  "My lord,
please!  Believe me when I tell you that you loved this lady like no other,
songs were written about your love, it was so great!  And if you will not
come back to her in Taselak, then she has sworn to come here to you.  Lord
Sennianus, she has sworn to follow you to the ends of the earth."

The Viking just snorted at him and dipped himself another mug of ale.

Elrdred racked his brain for the right thing to say, "Sir, can you not
remember?  In Taselak you were comrades-in-arms, and then you grew to love
her, you brought her this,"  he gestured at the cloth,"The first night she
invited you to her tent."

There was no recognition of these events on Sennianus' face.  El decided to
try another track. "My lord, she has something of yours, a sword. You leant
it to her once, and she is determined to return it to no hand but your own.
 It is your grandfather's, I believe."

"My grandfather's sword?" Sennianus asked with disbelief.

He had always been very protective of family heirlooms... if he had given
this Lek a sword that belonged to his grandfather, then she must have been
something out of the ordinary. But he couldn't actually remember giving it
to someone, ever. "Sorry, lad... maybe she took it when I wasn't looking,
but I assure you... I would remember giving it away myself."

He took a swig of his ale. "Tell her I want it back. The sooner the better."
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