One year ago… [Ulrik's Story: Chapter 2]

The air is crisp, the sky is clear, and the township of Caer Caldwell is bustling with activity everywhere. The winter festival is but a few days away. Set atop a small row of hills, bordering to the west is the Scarborough Woods. A large forest over rolling hills and a winding path leading through it, takes almost 6 weeks by horse to travel to the next town of Yarnell. To the south and east are the Hammerlock Hills. These are rolling hills as well, and take several days to cross on foot to reach the town Belgrinn. To the north of Caer Caldwell lays a small grassy plain that rides up to the base of the Talonshear Mountains. Within the town, lies the center of Lord Caldwell’s domain. Caldwell Keep, a large castle surrounded by forty foot walls at least fifteen feet across in its thinnest sections, and up to twenty-five feet across at its thickest. The main keep, the garrison and several barracks and stables fill most of the space within these walls. There is some space provided for training, but most of the training grounds were moved outside of the keep walls many years ago.

The township has prospered under the recent ruling of the forth Lord Caldwell. In the past 15 years, Caer Caldwell has seen growth unlike ever before. Lord Darrin Caldwell had the vision to see opportunity, where his predecessors did not. During a war that had dragged on for nearly a decade, Darrin had shifted the balance of power by placing strategic embattlements at specific points surrounding Caer Caldwell, and building up break-walls. He had slowed the enemy’s forces down to such a degree that the Caldwell soldiers could take out most of the enemy forces at range. He deftly negotiated a truce sixty three days after his soldiers defeated over a thousand enemy troops, while only losing thirteen Caldwell soldiers. A trio of new recruits in the lords’ army had shown remarkable combat skills working together as a team, with one of the three standing out among the other two. Six feet tall with short black hair, steel blue eyes, and the beginnings of a full on beard, the young 16 year old Ulrik Taewynn has shown to be the lead point of this group. Despite being younger than the other two by only a year, the raw combat prowess of Ulrik is remarkable. Even besting a few of the top knights in a duel, Ulrik was clearly a force that could not be easily stopped. When paired with his two lifelong friends, Eric Leness and Hemet McGrory, these three are absolutely remarkable in combat.

Now the town has grown from a few hundred to almost fifteen hundred, with around three hundred and fifty of those being the soldiers of the town. Prospering as a trade point, the local mines from the Hammerlock Hills sell raw ore and refined metals. Caer Caldwell also supplies some excess farmed food as trade stock as well. Now thirty one years old and part of the Elite Guard surrounding Lord Darrin, Ulrik enjoys a respected life he never could have dreamed of. Combat tactics and maneuvers seem to be simply absorbed by him whenever he views something new for him. Thinking five steps ahead only seems to be natural to him, like it’s something so obvious. He trains himself with a different weapon every day, while attempting to discover a new way to use a weapon in a certain type of situation. Whether it’s close quarters fighting, cramped hallways, or open expanses, Ulrik does everything he can to use whatever is at hand in various situations.

A few years back he was sent to train in unarmed combat from monks in a distant monastery. The monks at first would not train him, but he spent several weeks simply observing the monks in training, and practicing what he saw in private each night. Then one day he asks again to be shown proper training, but when he is denied training again this time, he challenges the high ranking monk to combat to prove his worthiness. At this point the monk declines and informs Ulrik he has to leave. Then something unexpected to the monks happens. Ulrik simply states, “Make me.”

After three hours of combat and five exhausted monks later, Ulrik is finally restrained. The monks are surprised as they are impressed with the level of hand to hand combat Ulrik has picked up in the short time he has observed them. In his final attempt to become a student of the monks Ulrik says, “I have trained to the best of my ability with only that which I have been allowed to see. My dedication to the art and the way of the monk is not taken lightly. After now seeing my devotion, if you still wish for me to leave, I will not disobey.” “You have shown great prowess and remarkable improvisation with techniques of the other styles of combat you already know. You seem to be very dedicated, but you could still afford to learn more about respect. We will train you but make no mistake, if you slip from the path we lay out before you, your training is finished.” states the head monk. “I understand.” replies Ulrik. For the next five months Ulrik trains until he feels he learned enough. He has no use for the higher advanced techniques that would require years of practice and patience to achieve. His main focus was to learn to be the best he can be without an available weapon in hand, be able to protect himself if caught unaware, or while asleep.

Throughout his years of service Ulrik garnered much attention. Well known throughout the township, Ulrik saw fame and recognition in what he did. He met and married a woman named Brianna. Ulrik was dedicated to his work though, and rarely did he see her. Always was there someone that needed to be trained in something new. But being one of the handpicked few that serve as the lord’s personal guard, this did break his routine of keeping the soldiers in top condition. For now, there hadn’t been any real need for so many soldiers in the past few years, so the lack of personalized training for his soldiers hadn’t been a pressing issue. But now, a heavy decision was put on Ulriks shoulders. Retire some of the older soldiers, or put them into reserve duty. No need to keep them on a steady pay if their services weren’t needed, but just letting them go wasn’t really an option that anyone liked. A tough and hard decision was about to be made….