The Stories of the Guardians of Tannie

General Gouram

General Radcliffe Gouram stood next to his new Queen Maria and his good friend the Admiral on the Balcony, he felt a sense of shock. He had known she was going to be different from her parents from the start, she had always been different from what he had seen of her. But this was a path he had never seen her having a chance of going down.

She had done what he had only dreamed of happening, the people of the Kingdom of Tannie were to be treated equally, slavery was banned, she had even gotten rid of the hag that had been running the castle to the ground and promoted Erma to her place. 

He glanced over to Admiral Ackeraff and for the first time in a long time, saw the old spark return to his eyes. He had hope, they all had real hope for the first time in a long time. He turned his gaze to the crowd below and saw the jubilation the people felt at her words. 

He was glad when the Queen immediately set her words to paper, making sure her words were not just an empty promise.

"We must protect her, at all costs." Admiral Ackeraff said to them after they had finished speaking with Maria. "I agree, she is far more important then any of us!" General Gouram said. From dinner to how she changed her staffing Maria kept on surprising General Gouram.

Maria set about getting information from the library and General Gouram and the Admiral set about getting information on those noble families knew opposed her and her ideals. 

They were gathered at a staff table in the kitchens, she had summoned them there for a meeting, General Gouram felt that she was going to tell them something they were not going to like. So she had picked a setting they would be more relaxed in.

Maria put down her fork and told them her plans, she was going to go meet with the Dwarves to try and make peace and become allies. General Gouram felt fear and worry clutch at his chest, they had just gotten the best ruler they had ever had and she was going to get herself killed before she marked her first year.

General Gouram slammed his fist onto the table "ABSOULOTELY NOT! You could get KILLED!" Admiral Ackeraff nodded his head in agreement. "It would be a great risk to your life Maria, why not let us handle this?"

Maria shook her head no "I must do this myself, I have to show that I am serious about it. All they have known from our previous rulers is death and battle, hostility on all fronts. I want them to know that I am changing things, hopefully for the better. Besides I need you to keep an eye on things here along with Erma and Algerof. I do not trust those families and it is only a matter of time before they try something. Have they followed the new decree?" General Gouram snorted "From what we can see, with much hostility on their part, our men say that everything looks to the letter on the outside. But they can't shake the feeling that something is being hidden from them. I suppose you are right, I need to find out what they are plotting and quickly." Admiral Ackeraff nodded, "The noble families that cause problems are not near the sea, but I have heard some strange news of sightings of flashing lights off the Daiki coast, near Hoverta cliff I will try and find out if they are trying to bring in any foreign help for their schemes."

Maria sighed "That most definitely smells of them sending signals to some ships, I would try and send a scout ship into the waters we know are safe to see. I think the first Magical Creatures I should try and go see are the Dwarves." General Gouram started up from his chair "They not too long ago killed your parents, their anger is probably still fresh, it would be safer to leave them to last!" He shouted his worry and agitation showing clearly. Maria looked up at the General "They are also the ones that we recently tried to attack, but are by far not the most wronged by our kingdom it would be wiser as a ruler seeking peace to try and mend that fence quickly." General Gouram sat slowly back into his chair and gave a long weary sigh "I can see child that you are going to make my hair go as white the first snow before a year has passed." Admiral Ackeraff burst out laughing, patting the General on the back as he did "Agreed Gouram, but what she says is true, to appease our worries Maria I believe it would be best for you to take some well-trained guardsmen with you."

Maria nodded her head in agreement "Of course, but none with bloodlust and I would prefer people who were half-elves or even half-dwarves, do we know anyone who is...?" she looked around the room. Admiral Ackeraff shook his head no "No Maria, dwarves tend to isolate themselves in the mountains, and should any child of theirs been born a half and half they have never come down from the mountains." Maria sighed "It was worth a try, half-elves then maybe? They might be frowned upon less I think." General Gouram looked at Admiral Ackeraff and they both nodded their heads in agreement and set off to pick the men and women that would be best suited to protect Maria.

"Do you have any ideas on who would be good?" Admiral Ackeraff asked General Gouram as they headed down the hall. "As a matter of fact yes, I have a unit that has been doing really well. They pretty much put themselves together, they are all half-elves except for one she is a quarter elf. They are some of the most skilled people we have, and I think that they would be perfect for this mission."

Admiral Ackeraff grinned, "Good, it shouldn't take us long to get things sorted then, a day or two?" General Gouram grunted, "No it could be weeks, they are out on Mission and they haven't been answering their Mirrors, they go dark when they are on mission." Admiral Ackeraff raised his eyebrows, "What kind of mission are they on?" General Gouram smiled, "Word of Maria's decree has reached every corner of this Kingdom and the military has embraced it wholeheartedly, currently they are tracking some slavers who are trying to ship their wares out of the Kingdom stupidly enough."

Admiral Ackeraff raised his eyebrows, "They have viable routes through the other Kingdoms?" General Gouram shook his head, "No they are desperate and not wanting to give up their trade, so they are being fools and heading to certain doom." Admiral Ackeraff sighed, "I suppose we shall just have to wait till they are back from their mission then." General Gouram nodded and the two men set about telling the commander of the area to send the unit here when they returned.

Almost two weeks after their meeting with Maria General Gouram and Admiral Ackeraff stood in front of their chosen unit. Their eyes gleamed, they had just come back from a successful mission, a mission they had been trying to covertly do before the Queen's decree but had now been able to do freely and with even more support.

"What are your orders General Gouram?" The young man called Diji asked, General Gouram smiled. "A very important mission, its also a very dangerous one. We want you to guard the Queen." They all looked at one another, "Doesn't she have plenty of guards? Why are we needed, do you suspect that some of them are traitors?" Airia asked a frown on her face.

"No, but we need people more experienced in the field, more specialized in certain aspects of combat..." They raised their eyebrows, "The Queen Maria is going to go to each of the Magical Creature Kingdoms on our borders and attempt to meet with the leaders to make peace and ask to be allies... To also learn their names, their respective borders and redraw the maps of our world." They stood stalk still, "I respect the Queen Maria for everything she has done so far, but does she have a death wish? They are not going to be so welcoming especially to one whose Kingdom has done so much to them in the past." Frederick said dryly.

General Gouram sighed, "That is why we wanted you, especially as the first place she is going to head to is the Dwarven lands..." Mita and Miza let out a low whistle at the same time. "So close to her parents death? She is either very brave or very stupid, or both." Raka came up behind the two of them and slapped the back of their heads. "That's our QUEEN your talking about, and no she's not. Makes a bit of sense actually, we did after all just try and attack them, best try and mend that fence before its to badly burned. Try and stop any attacks from their side before they happen." Raka said tilting her head. Mita and Miza rubbed the backs of their heads sheepishly.

"Whatever the task, we are honor bound to do so, and it would be my pleasure to protect a Queen who has changed are Kingdom already, for the better." Diji said giving two men a bow. General Gouram and Admiral Ackeraff nodded their heads. "Its settle, in a few days time your journey will begin."