Lord Jouse of Helwind was not a man who asked for help easily. Those who knew him understood this about him, the particular pride of a lord who had built his town into something substantial through his own decisions and preferred to keep solving his own problems the same way. So when he sat down to write the letter it took him longer than it should have, not because he did not know what to say but because the act of saying it required setting something down that he did not enjoy setting down.
He wrote it anyway. The situation at Bareborough Peaks had moved past the point where pride was a useful consideration.
He addressed it to Marquis Felipe Don Castilian XVI of Don Castilian Town, a shipping settlement to the east that served as the primary legal entry point to their isle, connecting it to the broader trade routes of Arkanus across the water. It was a newer settlement than Helwind, still finding its full shape, but what it lacked in age it made up for in position. Felipe's territory sat closer to Bareborough Peaks than any of the other neighboring nobles, which made him the practical choice. The fact that he was also a reasonable man made him the preferred one.
Jouse chose his words carefully.
"Lord Felipe, I write this letter to request the aid of your noble house in a matter that has grown beyond my current capacity to resolve alone. The village of Bareborough Peaks which falls under my jurisdiction has suffered a catastrophic loss. Multiple Bearowls have emerged from the forest of Loark in numbers and with behaviors inconsistent with what we know of the species. These are solitary creatures by nature and yet they have been moving in coordination, which leads me to believe something deeper within that forest has disturbed them and driven them outward. One of my knights and her retinue engaged and killed one of the beasts and managed to evacuate a portion of the village's population, but the village itself I fear has been lost to the occupation of these creatures in the time since. I am asking for beast hunters. In return I offer one demand of your choosing, within reason, and full compensation for your warriors.
Best regards, Jouse"
He sealed it, pressed his ring into the wax, and handed it to his servant with instructions to deliver it to the postmaster before the hour was out.
That letter had been written three days ago.
The letter now sat open on the desk of Marquis Felipe, who read it through twice with his chin resting on his hand and the particular expression of someone running calculations behind a neutral face. Felipe was not an impulsive man. He was not especially warm either, not in the way that made people assume generosity without thinking about it. What he was, was fair, and Jouse's letter was a fair request from a neighbor who had never given him no reason for hostility and had also never gone out of his way to offer friendship. A workable relationship. The kind that is worth maintaining in the long run.
He set the letter down and looked at his advisor.
Thebes had been standing slightly to the left and slightly behind, as was his habit, close enough to be consulted and far enough to be ignored if the lord was thinking. He was a lean man with the careful eyes of someone who spent most of his time watching situations develop before offering an opinion on them. Felipe trusted his counsel more than he trusted most things, which was a considerable statement from a man who trusted very little by default.
"Thebes. What does Don Castilian need most right now?"
Thebes did not hesitate. He had been thinking about this since the letter arrived. "Equipment, my lord. Helwind's ironworks is the finest in this region and we are behind on outfitting our own guards adequately. If we are rendering a service of this scale then iron goods at a favorable rate would be appropriate compensation." He paused, then added, "Additionally, if the village of Bareborough is successfully retaken and its logging industry restored, a standing discount on timber purchases would serve us well in the long term. Twenty-five to thirty percent would be a reasonable figure to propose."
Felipe looked at him for a moment, then nodded. "Good. Write the response."
Thebes wrote it and Felipe signed it.
The reply confirmed Don Castilian's participation and laid out the terms clearly, iron equipment from Helwind at a negotiated rate and a timber discount from Bareborough Peaks contingent on successful retaking of the village. Assembly of their beast hunting force would require two weeks. The expected size of the contribution was one hundred specialist knights and a retinue of five hundred, a serious column by any measure and one that would change the arithmetic of the problem considerably.
The letter went out the same afternoon carried by one of Don Castilian's postal birds, a large white avian with long legs and an oversized beak edged in blue, entirely distinct from the small Blood Hawk Messenger Crows Helwind used for military communication. These were the civilian posts, common to every settlement's postmaster, reliable over long distances and carrying no blood registration, simply trained to route and deliver.
It would reach Helwind in three days.
Back in Helwind, Brina was on the eighth day of her suspension and had taken to running the perimeter roads before dawn because lying still had started to feel worse than the alternative. She did not know about the letter yet. She did not know that two weeks from now a column six hundred strong would be staging at the edge of the forest of Loark. She did not know that her suspension would end just in time.
What she did know was that Bareborough Peaks was still out there. That the beasts were still in it. That the people who had stayed behind were either alive or they were not and she still did not have an answer either way.
She ran and she waited and she kept herself ready.