Campfire Stories: Sir Briefadel

As a group, the exploring party have been travelling together for a few days and the social barriers between the six members have all slipped slightly. That night, after Egrow - the magnificent had 'conjured' up a campfire and the four pigeons, brought down by Saphony the hunting falcon, are roasting on a spit, Sir Briefadel coughs deliberately and sits down.

Dressed in just his padded under-armour gambeson, his platemail already stored for the night, he coughs again.

"I just wanted to apologise for my earlier showing off. It was crass of me and the stupid fly didn't deserve it. It's just that everyone assumes I'm just a typical effete aristo and I rarely get a chance to demonstrate what I'm actually capable of."

As he gestures, Arowe notices a small charm tethered to Sir Briefadel's now visible wrist.

"Ah this?"

Sir Briefadel raises his right arm, displaying the tiny wooden disk with concentric red circles within it, held on a leather cord.

"You probably think my name and title are an honour but they're actually an insult. My father is Lord Urderel: High Commander of this entire region but my mother wasn't his wife, nor of noble stock. She was a gifted mystic, a healer but still young and beautiful. My Father was besotted by her and I was the product of their union. A shameful blot on the family name. In his embarrassment, he had my mother, his unwilling mistress put to death and sent me, his dirty little secret, as far away from civilisation as he could. He then 'bestowed' upon me a near forgotten name from a long dead branch of the family tree and expected me to be grateful..."

Momentarily trailing off, Sir Briefadel is silent for a moment before continuing.

"This bangle is all I have left of my mother. A small tribute to the woman I barely remember, a reminder of the horrors of my past and a goad driving me toward my future."

With that, Sir Briefadel takes a sip of the rather nice white wine that he'd brought with him and swills the bitterness from his mouth.

"Martha's Vinyard's best. I bought several crates of it for a bargain on the last day of the fair."