"Fall in soldiers!"
your awakened before dawn with your orders to report to Phoenix battalion, training is over and the true tests are about to begin.
Hengest grumbles as he slowly rouses himself from bed in the corner of the room.
"Anyone wake at this hour isn't up to anything decent."
The oracle splashes a little water on his face from the nearby basin and then begins to unwrap the bandages from around his hands and arms. His wounds are weeping again, so he takes a few moments to clean the ulcers before wrapping them in fresh linens. The rest will be toss in one of the open bonfires outside.
The morning ritual is complete once Hengest covers his mouth and nose with a raised scarf and pulls his hood down over his forehead. Only when his eyes are all that is visible is he ready to face the world.
Sir Manfred rolls out of bed, blinking to clear the sleep out of his eyes.
He rapidly dons his chainmail armor, uniform tabard and weapons; Cleaned and polished as well as he can get them. He makes his way to the stables and attends to Tornado's studded leather barding, saddle and gear; feeding him a brief meal of oats as he pats him. Making sure his pennon is affixed to his lance, he mounts up and canters out of the barracks.
Cantering up a street, Sir Manfred pauses momentarily outside a tavern; the familiar scents making his mouth water. He shakes his head and urges Tornado on with regret. He truly missed the days when he was a lone Knight Batchelor with no obligations, free to stop and drink with persons of low character whenever he pleased.
He can still feel the eyes of the troopers milling around on thier own business. Judging him; wondering when he would betray them to the Society like the rest of his family. The thought of meeting his brothers in battle made him ill, but... Sacrificing all that is to the Great Old Ones was beyond imagining. He could scarsely believe the reports; how his father and brothers betrayed their regiment, killing or capturing the entire army for the Society.
He was the only one of the VonFalkenburgs who stood apart from the crime, having departed long ago to make his own way in the world. Being the youngest of seven brothers, he stood no chance of inheriting after all. He was lucky to have a horse at all.
So now, to save VonFalkenburg name, he must embody a perfect knight. By joining the Order of the Sword become a paragon of chivalric honor and knightly virtue...
He sighed again as he cantered toward the army headquarters of the Phoenix brigade.
... God he needed a drink.
Gundahar looks up from his studies when the wake-up call sounds, About time, we can use some real information. Blasted bureaucracies!
Now, I must find the person responsible for the miserable condition of this place. There is no way they can expect me to live in these conditions
Gundahar snaps his spellbook closed and stride forth from his tent. It is time to face his assignment with the Phoenix Battalion.
Argus rolls out of his tent with a sigh, standing up he knuckles his back before doing a few quick stretches to get his blood pumping. Pulling his shirt of fine mail over his head he grabs his bow and strings it before pulling his big axe around to hang in the sling over his shoulder. Seeing the rest of the camp in motion he scratches the stubble on his face as he walks over to the mustering ground. His stride one of easy grace, instinctively stepping around twigs and leaves, he makes very little noise as he goes.
If his no good father could see him now. A bastard son of a minor noble house, his father paid him off to join the fighting not knowing that he had intended to go anyway. Now he lives on his own terms...or at least as much on his terms as he can in a military unit.
Seeing Hengest, Gundahar, and "Manny" as Argus calls the good Sir Manfred, are already there he heads over their direction.
Walking up with a grin he says, A knight, a priest, and a wizard...isn't that the start of a bad joke? Winking at them to make sure they know he is jesting, Argus falls in beside them.
Ixiomar was still asleep in his bed when the wakeup call came, in the throes of a violent dream. Thrashing about in his bunk, he could see the faces of his family members, their eyes glazed over in terror as the demons came for them, as their house burned to the ground.
"No..." he muttered to himself "They can't...they wouldn't... how did this... how could this happen!"
At the call from his officer, he snapped out of bed with a start. Suddenly realizing that he was safe, that it was all just a dream, at first relief washed over him... and then despair when he remembered that even though it was a dream, it had still happened... even though he was safe, his family was still dead. Despair turned quickly into bitterness and cynicism.
He reached into his pocket and found a small piece of dry fruit. He flipped it to his dodo bird Nippers, who scrambled over himself to reach the tasty morsel. Passing his gaze across his fellow recruits and reflecting on his dream, he thought to himself in silence.
The society killed my family. A family of powerful and influential archmages reknowned across the continent for their prowess with the arcane arts. Not only did the society kill each and every one of them... they killed them in a single day, leaving no trace of my house... no trace except myself... These so called men that the Onslaught has recruited... they're a ragtag lot. I've seen them in action. I know what they're capable of. I'm one of them. Me, a sixteen year old boy... and I'm one of their star recruits. How could we challenge an organization capable of the raw power that the Society has demonstrated that it wields? How could we oppose an organization that laid low a nation? What's the point? We don't stand a chance... and yet... if we don't fight... we'll all die... we'll all die, and what happened to my family will happen to each and every one of us
His eyes grew wide. Grabbing his spellbook and throwing off his blanket, Ixiomar snapped to attention.
"Ixiomar Erodel Albus Voralius the Third of House Voralius, arcanist extraordinaire, reporting for duty sir!"
As you enter the red and gold tent marking the Phoenix Battalion War room, you are greeted by an elven female in full plate.
"At ease men, We found a small outpost about 2 weeks out. It's in a forest to the east, they appear to be war training captured beasts and shipping them out to different locations. If you can stop or delay the formation of beast mounted cavalry this mission is a success, anything else is icing on the cake."
She points to a roll of paper and 5 vials marked CLW.
"Those are your supplies, we will discuss your findings when you return.
Hengest takes his potion of cure light wounds and careful stores it away. Then he unrolls the sheet of paper to examine its contents.
"Any idea what sort of beasts we're talking about? And how do they ship them out, in bondage or do they wait until the creatures are fully trained?"
Ixiomar steps forward and faces the elven woman. He thinks for a moment, considering what she has said, and then begins to speak
"If I may be so bold, my lady, I have a few questions for you about this outpost and the activities occuring therein. What beasts are they training? How many men are stationed at the outpost? How well do we know the layout of the outpost? And who shall lead us there? Do we know anything about where the beasts are being shipped off to? Are there any Society warriors, spellcasters, or priests of note involved in this mission that we should be warry of? And finally, what's your name? Mine's Ixiomar Erodel Albus Voralius the Third of house Voralius, and I'm very pleased to make your aquaintance"
He awkwardly grasps the elven woman's hand in a misbegotten attempt to kiss it. His palms at this moment are very moist, and his breathing is rather heavy.
Hengest looks up from the sheet of paper to watch the conjurer attempt to drown the elven commander in the stream of consciousness that makes up failed try at merging the war briefing with a clumsy hello.
By the Light, I've got a feeling I'll be healing this one a lot.
"They wait till they're fully trained, we can't tell how far along they are with the training at this point. They may have fully trained war mounts at the camp."
hengest looks over the map of the area. A small cave is marked not far from the circled area that the camp is located in.
She watches you study the map
"The cave is a possible base camp while you serch for the outpost."
Entirely ignored by the Elven woman, Ixiomar backs into a corner and sits down, blushing in embarrassment. He contents himself now with watching the scene unfold and gaging the situation before speaking in the future.
"There doesn't seem to be anyone worthy of mention involved at the camp, there may be logs at the camp that bring names to light but the priority is stoping this outpost. We need to build morale and victories are the fastest way to do that. We are unsure about the nature of the beasts, it has been different creatures every time.
The oracle nods.
"So, kill everyone we can and hope the animals are angry enough at the trainers we can goad them into eating the Society for lunch. Sounds good to me."
He looks at the other members of the group.
'Anything I'm missing? You lot seem to be good with animals and seeing the big picture."
Argus smiles at Hengest and says Nope that about sums it up I think. Grabbing his CLW potion he tucks it in his belt pouch. Taking a look at the map he says to the group Mind if I hold on to this as I'll probably be the one navigating? If no one objects he will unstopper his map case and carefully put the map in along with his paper and other personal maps.
Gundahar picks up his healing potion and examines it closely before placing it in his pouch. A month on the trail to disrupt a training camp for mounts. Sigh! I guess every war must start somewhere.
”The potion is appreciated madam. I assume we will also be able to requisition suitable rations and other, more mundane, supplies appropriate for an extended field assignment.
Gundahar strolls casually around the war room, frowning in disgust as he walks past Ixiomar. There is also the matter of this encampment current state of repair. As an engineer, I offer my services. Make arrangement for suitable quarters for me to work in and I will gladly assist in the design, repair and upgrade of local infrastructure. Time allocated to the project will, of course, be dependent upon field assignments.
"You can requisition whatever we have if you can afford it. Worst case scenario, your in a forest, hunt something. "
"We have people working on repairing the bay, you can help them when your not on assignment if you wish, but we can not allocate resources to a new recruit."
Sir Manfred stands at parade rest and helm off, carefully listening to the commander and the conversation surrounding him.
He accepts one of the cure potions and stashes it in his belt pouch.
When Argus asks to take the map, he nods his assent.
Looking at his companions, Sir Manfred asks; "Do we all have mounts and supplies for the journey?"
Ixiomar walks up to the group, takes his potion of cure light wounds, and puts it in his pocket. He walks in between Argus and Sir Manfred and stands beside them, looking over the party. Seeing that he's in good company, he gives a small nod of approval and walks back into the corner.
"Whenever you gentlemen are ready we should head out. As long as food and mounts are covered, there's nothing else I really need"
I am ready to depart, if not overly enthused at the prospect of a military that requires soldier to purchase their own supplies Gundahar states as he strides from the room.
I will await the rest of you by the gate. Try not to take too long.
Sir Manfred nods at the order from the Commander.
"Gentlemen, we have our orders. Let's move out."
He snaps a salute to the Commander, about faces and marches out the door.
At Gundahar's words, he pauses.
"Mister Brandt, bide a moment if you please. I would prefer it if we did not separate; it is all too easy to be picked off that way."
He turns to the others.
"If you would all accompany me to the Quartermasters, we will see about rations, bedrolls and tents for us and our mounts, as well as anything else we forget at the moment. Then we'll be able to move out."
He dons his helm and clucks his tongue Tornado to follow. The horse lifts his head from the tuft of grass by the tent, perks his ears at the knight and moves to follow.
He nods at his companions. "Shall we?"
Ixiomar follows Sir Manfred, looking sheepishly from side to side.
"Does anyone know if there are any rest stops we can stay at on the way to this outpost? Or is it society territory that we'll be traveling through all the way there?"
Sir Manfred glances at Mr. Voralius and frowns in thought.
"I think it unwise to depend on any convenient rest stops along the way; we head into enemy territory. The cave noted on the map will probably be the best we can hope for in that regard. You may wish to consult with Mister Pike. As a trained Ranger he will be the authority in finding safe campsites."
With some hesitation, Sir Manfred asks for one final thing; a shield cover with the insignia of the Society. It will cover the VonFalkenburg coat of arms in case they need to appear as enemy troops.
"Not that there's any difference 'tween the two hey?" Cracks the Quartermaster with a laugh that slides off his face as he catches a glimpse of the knight's face.
Face white, he jams the rolled up shield cover into a saddlebag and swings up into the saddle.
"Let's ride." He grits out.
Ixiomar admires a number of the fine looking horses and ponies stationed near the quarter masters stall. Thinking on how detestable it will be to walk the entirety of the way to the outpost, and also how it will slow down the group considerably, he decides to try to bargain with the quartermaster.
"Are any of these beasts avaliable to rent for a couple of weeks? I don't have enough coin to buy one off of you, but if you'd be willing to give me one for a couple of gold pieces to use for now, after the mission is completed I'll pay you a sum that will more than make up for your trouble. I can't give you more than 12 Gold Pieces now, but I give you my word that I'll return your steed to you in pristine condition"
Argus picks up a few trail rations as well and tucks them in his saddlebags.
Climbing briskly up on his reddish-brown gelding, it's deep chest and long legs speaking of speed and endurance, Argus waits for the others to mount before heading off with Manny. Once outside the encampment, Argus begins his normal task of scouting ahead in loops of half a mile before returning to the group for a ways and then heading out again. He travels with his bow strung and an arrow nocked, his experience being that when you don't have your weapons at hand is exactly when you need them.
Gundahar stands just beside the main gate leading outwards from the outpost, solid grey cloak slowly rustling in the morning breeze. Beside him stands a solid, if slightly worn looking, mule bearing a modest quantity of supplies.
As each of his traveling companions arrives, he nods in greeting.
"hhmmm. I'll take your 12 gold, and 50 upon your return. in exchange i will rent you a horse, not a combat trained one, but a horse none the less."
"If you wouldn't mind, I'd like to take a combat trained one. With how much riding I'm planning to do, and also the kind of conflict I'm looking forward to on my missions, it's a better idea to have a horse that will be used to the sound of combat and won't be spooked, both for my own survival and it's survival. Also, for just renting a horse, doesn't 50 seem a bit steep to you for only a couple weeks? Even after a mission that's promising to be fairly lucrative, I couldn't promise you that amount of money. After all, we're all on Onslaught business here, and it's not as though any of us soldiers are really wealthy"
"How about this then, your 12 will be a down payment on a light combat trained horse, I'll even reduce my fey so that when you return you will only owe 22 gold. Do we have a deal?"
Ixiomar thinks it over for a moment, then reaches into his pocket and pulls out a small purse of coins and extends it to the quartermaster.
"We have a deal"
He collects his mount and then after giving it a thorough inspection walks over to his companions.
"Now then, shall we depart?"
Hengest gets heads over to buy supplies for the journey, giving a long list of materials to the quartermaster and muttering as the order is filled.
"Had to come here on boat and the first thing they want me to do is go riding out looking for camps for the next month. Isn't there something a little closer I could fight? Something in walking distance, perhaps? No, no, let's just send the sick man deep into the woods and hope none of his limbs fall off. That's sure to put a dent in the Soceity's evil plans. Those bastards might have killed most eveybody they wanted so far, but want until they have to deal with me and my blisters."
6 gold and 6 silver left.
The oracle is still muttering when me meets up with the others at the gate.
Gundahar nods in greeting as Hengest arrives. Hmmm, I wonder where they dragged the leper up from?
"As soon as the others arrive we can begin this little foray.
You make remarkable time. Arriving at the cave in 6 days, only slowed by a detour for more water. As you enter you notice a small tree has been dragged to the back of the cave.
Argus looks closely at the tracks, making sure not to let the others obscure them before he has a chance to try and discern who they were and how long ago they left.
Hengest frowns as he sees one of his companions playing in the dirt.
"What do you see? Is it bad news or dinner?"
Seeing Argus notice something, Sir Manfred takes his helm off to look around, but doesn't see anything of note.
He raises his eyebrow at Argus, but doesn't interrupt.
Keeping his distance, Gundahar asks, "What have you found Argus?"
Ixiomar stands by Sir Manfred, wondering what's going on.
"Have you chaps seen something important? What's up? Should we be concerned?
The oracle looks around at the ground along with everyone else.
"It seems like we are all looking at dirt."
Argus is able to figure out that 3 humanoids and 1 four legged animal were the last to occupy this cave. You are unable to determine how long ago this was however.
Sir Manfred dismounts and looks around.
"Excellent shelter, very defensible. I would hate for things to come to that however; without another way out, this would also be a very good death trap if we are surrounded."
He looks around at the entrance.
"What say you Mister Argus, is there any way to minimize or totally conceal the entrance?"
Argus looks up at the rest of his group and says There were three humanoids here as well as a single four legged animal. The tracks were obscured so I cannot tell more than that I am afraid. As for the entrance, I am sure we could find a way to conceal it. Perhaps using that small tree at the rear of the cave.
Works for me, might as well lead the horses in before you get started.
Gundahar pauses for a moment before adding, Shall I go ahead and start the fire, or are we eating a cold dinner tonight?
Shall I go ahead and start the fire, or are we eating a cold dinner tonight?
Sir Manfred frowns.
"Hm. Well, I would LIKE a fire, but we are in enemy territory. Whatever Mister Pike reccommends."