Captain Charles du Chevalier stood on the banks of the Dechain River staring intently into the forested foothills to the North. Somewhere in that vast forest, (die Schwartzen Walder as it is called in Eisen), his quarry mocked him. As he turned to survey the victims of the recent battle with the crew of the Windy Bough, or the River Mist, or whatever it was truly named, his mind began to go over recent events...

From the beginning it had been an embarrassing disaster. Having received a tip that spies, plotters,and enemies of his Liege, the Emperor, were staying in an inn under the very noses of the Musketeers, du Chevalier had ordered the inn surrounded and the men arrested. A meddling innkeeper and the wanted men’s ability to leap onto surrounding rooftops thwarted the arrest at the last second. After that, there had been that mad chase through the streets that culminated with the criminals escaping through the main gates themselves! Gates that were guarded by no less than 15 Musketeers and a like number of Towns-guard! That had been hard enough to explain to His Eminence.

What followed was a series of disasters and mishaps that were too much to think about. However he could not help but think of the main points: first capturing and then losing one of them, a Highlander named McCormick, and then losing them at the last minute (again!) when they managed to book passage on a ship and slip out of Manche’ at the last moment…

And now this! A large sloop flying the Montaigne flag lay just off shore in shallow water, most of it burned to the waterline. This would certainly put a large dent in the Emperor’s coffers, unless he made a royal decree that he did not have to pay it (which he probably would) A mishap in the powder room could explain it, but he couldn’t bring himself to believe that. No... The "nobleman" (if he were truly a nobleman) was responsible for it! He somewhat fit the description of one of the men whom he was after. Valmont, was his name, he believed, though the names were all most likely aliases. The nobleman had been seen escaping with his servant just prior to the detonation of the powder. Du Chevalier had been around too long to believe that this was pure happenstance.

Nearby the remaining crew of the Windy Bough stood chained ankle to ankle. The captain, one Lars Ostrom, had spoken for his crew, stating emphatically that he had ordered the attack on the Musketeers and that they were not to blame. The man seemed very capable and even, in some ways honorable. This distressed du Chevalier all the more as he simply could not let the man live after what he had done. A quick military trial had taken place and the man was hung from his own ship’s yardarm.

The body was left until midmorning when the Musketeers, the guardsman, and the remaining crew of the War Eagle broke camp for the nearest settlement, a warning for good behavior to the remaining captives. It has been cut down and placed on the pyre along with the bodies of all of the men killed in the fighting. Twelve crewmember of the Windy Bough, 7 guardsmen, 8 Musketeers, and 4 crewmembers of the War Eagle lay side by side on the bonfire. Several more had never been recovered from the titanic explosion of the War Eagle’s powder room and almost a quarter of the remainder were wounded. All in all, 41 persons had lost their lives yesterday. How so few men could cause so much destruction…

These deaths added fuel to the fires that burned in du Chevalier’s eyes… Once he had somewhat respected the men (and now a woman by the accounts of several of his men) that he pursued. Now that respect has been replaced by the over-riding need to bring them to justice. His honor, his career, and now his life depended on it. Of that he was sure.

"Yes McCormick and company," he said aloud "I will have you sooner or later. The Prophets grant that it be sooner than later, as I really do not like the prospect of chasing you all the way to Ussura."

With that he turned his men toward Starke, there to provision and plan his next move…