IC Scene - Smoke on the Horizon...

Sir Vinson halted his men somewhat behind the rest of the Orders and rode up to the gate with Sir Lucius. He let the flamboyant man do the talking to the guards while he looked over the horizon of the city. He gave his troops a hand signal and a lightly armored man atop a horse galloped towards the East and around the Duke's Castle in hopes to scout the status of the Church of Astraea from afar.

He then fixed an icy stare on the Knights and guards in their way. He took in the details of each Order's forces.

Sir Seph looking around notes a new forces arrival and one man in particular staring intently towards the gathered forces and so approaches.

" Allow me to save you the headache, I am Sir Seph Knight Commander of the Clarion Call and with me are 12 knights ready for battle, who might you be staring so intently at us? "

Seph rests his hand near the haft of his axe.

As if there were no enough members of Knightly Orders gathered about and making demands of entry another band came down the road at a leisurely pace. Leading the group was a large man on a horse in a blackened mail hauberk under a simple steel breastplate, also painted black. Emblazoned on the chest was a simple white cross and on one side his waist hung a well used morningstar, on the other hung a large leather bound tome from a chain looped across his chest, locked with stout looking padlock.

Behind him came his companions, a pair of Barlcay Conquistadors, looking intimidating in their heavy plate and mail astride powerful chargers, and on foot came more Knights armed with vicious looking pole hammers and attired in the same way as their leader, the same sigil on the chest pieces of their armor. They were followed in turn by lighter armored men who marched with the precision of trained soldiers. Their leader halted a dozen paces away from the knot of arguing knights, a look of bemused confusion on his open friendly looking face.

I see I am not the first to arrive. It's good to see so many come to the aid of the stricken city! The mans voice was loud, apparently used to speaking to groups of people.

" It does seem to be getting a little crowded out here doesn't it?
I am Sir Seph of the Clarion Call and who might you be? "

Aelos suddenly turned his horse around and backed away from the gate.

"Alm, did ye bring the ale?"

short, simple words, but he immediatly got the attention of his friends. Alm, in particular, had trouble not smiling through his intimidating faceplate as he answered with the short tapping on a large skinlike flask. Aelos figured it was probably filled with some sort of extra strong ale, as Alm preferred it, and he signalled them to follow as he gave his horse the spurs in the general direction of a nice overlooking hill.

"Let's drink before the battle."

Mattus was sitting with his men leaning on the wall, they were eating some bread and talking about what they had to do. He looked down the road as he saw another Knight approaching, he wore the sigil of the Radiant Cross but he couldn't make out who it was. He stood up and walked down the road towards him, the moment he heard him speaking he knew who he was. When he was finished he raised his hand and greeted him from afar.

"Greetings Morek, how was the travel? You already missed some fun, it seems the City is more important than we thought."

Morek looked pleased to see another member of his Order there.

As I live and breathe! Mattus Meraxes! I should have known I would find you here, you'll always be where the action is no? The travel was uneventful thankfully; I think the forest bandits aren't quite stupid enough to try and rob a detachment of Radiant Cross.

The large man looked past his comrade to Ser Seph. Well as my comrade here so nicely introduced me as, I am Ser Morek Valran, Knight-Captain of the Radiant Cross.

Morek looked further past him to the gates. Why are we standing about anyways? Have you tried knocking on the door yet and saying please?

" Ofcourse but we have yet to recieve a response. "

"I think we have to thank the Dragons for that, If he had a ram he would break down the Gate I think. Better wait and see what happens."

" I can understand why he would want to, I dislike being made to wait out here for no good reason while my true enemy is given time to regroup.

Rivatha whispered something to her companions, then she unveiled her hood revealing her face and dark curly hair in all their beauty catching the eye of a few knights. She then walked to the griffon leader.

"Sir Gilaver, is that right?"

The guards in the gatehouse appeared increasingly alarmed as more knights appeared. Had the disparate groups not been part of different orders, it was certain an alarm would have been sounded at this point. Two of the guards whispered something to each other before one ran off. Over time and as more knights arrived, it became apparent that troops were gathering on the walls. Their intent did not appear hostile, though they were watchful.

Finally a guard captain, his armor emblazoned with the crest of Windholm, took to the wall. He surveyed the varied temperaments of the knights before announcing, his voice clear over the chatter below, "Knights of Pendor! As you have clearly seen, our city is in chaos. Allowing so many soldiers through the gates leaves Duchess Greysword...uncomfortable. You may enter, but she requests that each order chooses representatives to state its case before her for being here."

He motioned to somewhere within the walls and the gates began to slowly grind open.

Seph approaches the gates nudging Sir Natir along the way.

" I am Sir Seph Knight Captain of the Clarion Call, myself and my companion Sir Natir will represent the Clarion Call. "

As guard was talking Revatha was carefully listening to him, and once the gate opened Revatha quickly said to Gilaver with small smile.

"Maybe next time" Afterwards Rivatha walked to the gates without rush, there were plenty of knights close to the gates ,and there were no point in trying to fight whose gonna get in city first.

Rayvs and his horsemen arrived just as the guard was giving out his instructions.

"Bloody hell, it took ages to ride here, and still at the back of the pack."

He waited until the gates were clear, and dismounted, giving the reins to one of his retainers.

He then whispered something into the ear of the retainer, and then said, "Take these horses somewhere safe. We will enter on foot."

He approached the city then, with his entourage close by.

While knights where entering the city Rivatha whispered to her Gloves "Follow each of the groups see what they learn, if anything important find me immediately", and soon enough Ebony Gloves disappeared in the crowd, each following their target.

Sir Vinson's gaze lingered on the Clarion Callsmen.

"We are beside a warzone and you ask why I look over those who might be my allies or enemies? For your men's sake I would hope you have greater sense in battle than formalities."

He began to examine the growing number of Order representatives that approached before turning his attention back to the gatehouse.

As Mattus saw the Captain of the Guards he immediately got his attention. He walked closer as he talked and was standing right before him when he was finished. He waited for silent moment and then started his plea with a deep bow.

"Greetings Captain, my name is Mattus Meraxes of the Radiant Cross and we are mainly here to escort an Important member of our Order out of the City. He arrived a few days ago from Amala. To assure you of our goodwill we can tend to your wounded, you know the Radiant Cross is famous for their Healers."

Mattus gestured for Morek to come closer. There were surely many wounded inside the City, they have to let them in.

Morek hadn't been paying attention, getting distracted by looking at all the other Orders that had arrived, lingering on the ebony gloves before they had vanished . They hadn't looked much like Knights to him. Realizing Mattus wanted him, he touched his legs to his mounts flanks, spurring the dun colored hunter forward a few steps to stand beside Mattus and catching the last of what he was saying to the Captain.

Aye, it's true! I doubt you'll find better in Pendor, and there are none better in Amala!

Gilaver looked at his troops.

"Make a temporary camp for yourself, this may be your last chance for proper rest for awhile. Join Klaus' detachment if he arrives before I return."

Gilaver dismounted himself and walked to the gate to join the other representatives as the only Griffon. He would have to wait for Klaus it seemed.

Lucius acknowledged the guard captain with a firm nod, then pulled on the reins of his horse and made headway to the gate with his men in tow. The Knight deftly avoided the crowds around the main gate as best as he could manage, seeing that he was eager to get into the city. He was slightly annoyed that he would have to explain why the Order of the Dawn had arrived in Windholm to Duchess Greysword—the Astraean Church already had a presence in the city under Bishop Gundar's leadership. If this were to interfere with the work of the Goddess, the Dawn would be most displeased.

"We will stop by the Duke's Castle," Sir Lucius explained to his men, loud enough for the knights of the other Orders to hear.

The captain of the guard seemed to notice Rayvs and his retainer. "You may use the stables nearby, provided you pay the owner," he called to them. Turning is attention to the the rest, he added, "We will not prevent any of you from taking your horses into the city, however, it is risky to ride in the streets right now."

The gates finally opened fully, revealing the inside of the city. The streets here, near the keep, did not appear to be scarred with signs of battle. Within the shadows of the walls, however, the world beneath the smoky cover in the skies above seemed considerably darker. A large number of soldiers, approximately sixty, were lined up on either side of the road. While it may not have seemed intimidating to the large number of order knights slowly being ushered inside, on the other side of the wall, it was clear that the soldiers on top were archers, well-supplied with arrows. Windholm may have been letting the knights in, but for now, they were clearly not welcome.

Walking out of the gatehouse, the captain nodded respectfully to the representatives. "If you would follow me to the castle," he said.

Leaving the bulk of the knights outside of the gates or just before the castle, the captain led the representatives up to the castle. It was increasingly clear that the bulk of the city's professional soldiers had been called back to the structure as yet another group fell in behind the knights.

"I feel I should warn you," said the captain, "that the Duchess can be quite stubborn when she feels she has been slighted. You should avoid doing that."

Passing through the castle gates, the knights did not have to walk much farther as Duchess came out of the inner chambers to meet them. She wore a breastplate and a sword was strapped to her hip. Her face looked haggard, as though she hadn't slept for days. She regarded the assortment of order knights before her, crossing her arms before her. "As you can imagine," she began, slowly pacing before them, "I don't appreciate anyone coming to my city with a small army and panicking half the guard, let alone knights. However, I can only assume you have purpose or you would not be here. So state your reasons or take your troops and begone."

" With your permission Duchess I will head into the city straight away, my GrandMaster sent both my company and that of my Brother captain here to aid you in putting down this little revolt of yours.
My companion will likely have more to discuss with you while I see what needs to be done to bring this to a swift end.

So if it is acceptable I will head into the town and begin bringing this situation back under control, though I would like to request that I be given command of your forces for the duration of the problem to augment my own knight.

I would also need all relevant information on the situation, and the numbers and equipment of the rebels. "

Lucius let the other knight finish making his plea to the Duchess, though doing so tried his patience. "Excuse me, my lady," he interrupted, stepping forward from the rest of the Order representatives. "I am Knight-Brother Lucius of the Dawn." He kneeled before the Duchess when he finished speaking, annoyed that he was having to put on this display at all. He held that stance for several moments, then stood again and looked Greysword.

"I cannot vouch for the other Orders and I would not presume to do so. The Order of Dawn does not intend to interfere with the current crisis in Windholm. We merely wish to locate Bishop Gundar and root out the Heretic—the likely cause of your current predicament—that is rumored to have arrived in Windholm. Any information that can be spared would be greatly appreciated."

Vinson waited with his men, choosing to let his fellow Knight-brother fluff the Duchess's meager show of order. He suspected the truth that she held little to no control over her city and he truly didn't care. He awaited his scout's report on the status of the Astraean Church shortly.