"Ettinsmoor? Is that what we're calling it now?" Imira asked.
"Better than 'the northern lands the Ettins inhabit' don't you think?" Peter asked in return.
"I suppose it's catchy," she agreed. "So what do we do now?"
Peter looked around the room...
Special thanks to @LadyAristana for suggesting a fantastic dwarf name.
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The wind was howling, the moon. invisible behind the thunderous clouds. Distant lightning flashed in the north, and silence reigned over Cair Paravel. But Cair Paravel is not where this story begins.
No, the action was happening many miles north of Cair Paravel, past Owlwood, across the Northern Marsh and up the River Shribble. There, on the northern plains, on the furthermost corner of the kingdom, a small settlement of friendly Narnians was located. A settlement composed of a dozen or so wooden huts, empty tree trunks turned into homes, a few farms, and the simplest of castles. There is where the next chapter of our story begins.
"That sounds terribly close, m'lord," Ogerius said, glancing nervously at the window.
"Nevermind the thunder, Ogerius. The council's got greater concerns than lousy weather," Sir Derrick said, dismissing the centaur's anxiety. "Dimius?" he turned to his right.
"Our latest scouts place the Ettins here," Dimus the satyr said, pointing to an area less than two hours from their position on a large map of the North Sir Derrick had spread before them on the large oak table, "and here. They are getting closer, I do not like it,"
"Neither do I," Sir Derrick agreed, thinking of the mess he had gotten himself into when agreeing to travel north and take Lord Tyrne's place safeguarding the northern settlement. Not like he could have refused King Peter, but he certainly did not expect to find the place in such a dire situation. He had been given a garrison to take north with him to protect the border from the ever-increasing Ettin raids, the latest of which took Lord Tyrne's life.
"I've said it before and I will say it again, we need to relocate all these people," Sir Derrick insisted. He had been trying, to no avail, to get the council to agree to relocate the settlement temporarily until the Ettins were dealt with, but Sullenose and the others were stubborn.
"These are our lands, we can't just pack up and leave," Sullenose, the head of the marshwiggles, huffed.
"Just temporarily," Sir Derrick explained. He had been trying to convince the council of this since his arrival but Sullenose keep blocking his efforts.
"And just where do you propose we go? The woods?" Sullenose asked mockingly.
"Not the woods, of course," Sir Derrick said, resisting the urge to roll his eyes at the marshwiggle. "There's the beach, the riverside... How about the great lake?" he suggested, but the look on Sullenose told him everything he needed to know: he and the Marshwiggles were not going anywhere.
"What do you propose we do then, Master Sullenose? Fight the giants?" Ogerius asked mockingly. Ogerius was the only once who thought Sir Derrick's suggestion ought to be listened to, everyone else refused to leave the settlement.
