Remanence of War (Epistle 9)

Fourth Age, Period of Yourath's Children, 29th December 2415

Two months have passed since the war was won and the smell of death still lingers in the air, as I carry out my daily patrol through the capital city. Scoreth has seen better days; it has taken a brutal battering during the battle to regain its liberty, the remanence of which, still clings on like a plague.

Appointed as the new General of the armed forces, my first task is to rebuild Scoreth. We are housing many of the homeless within the royal palace and its grounds, providing tents where place within the palace has not been possible. Our initial priority has been getting the hospitals and schools rebuilt, to allow people to be tended to in a proper location and to encourage the parents to send their children back to school. This not only frees up space in the palace grounds but also creates some very much needed normality for the children, who have seen atrocities that not even an adult should have witnessed, for the past year.

I have tasked the army along with any blacksmiths and builders to start the refortification of our city walls and rebuilding of the homes of our people. The navy have been helping distribute clean water to everyone and have been bringing in supplies from our neighboring countries. Sutel have been gracious in sharing their food with us whilst Eternes have been offering rugs, linen and any additional building supplies that we require.

Knowing fore well that we cannot rely upon the generosity of others, we have started to look beyond our city walls and start thinking ahead for the spring next year. The gods have thankfully blessed us with a mild winter thus far and the cavalry have been helping our farmers and priests to clear up our countryside, to ready it for the coming spring, which is only a few months away.

I have sent scouts to nearby villages and towns across the island to gather a report on the status of the country. Thankfully the remote villages have seen less of the war but it is the cities and towns that have been affected the worst. We will now start spreading the armed forces as much as we can, stationing regiments back in their former locations across the country, to help their surrounding areas.

It will take a long time to clean up the filth that has made an imprint on our country but we can do so with the comfort that we are home again and it is once again ours.

Vayan Ifraan, General of the Orticel Armed Forces