She was fairly certain those patches were part of the Elven defense. But couldn't say for certain.  She could drop down for a closer view.

But decided it would be unproductive.  If it was any hostile enchantment, there was nothing she could do about it personally.   The best thing would be to report this to Anakri, or another Elven leader, just in case.

Other than that, there was no sign of the enemy that she could see, and she couldn't stay up here all day.

Thus, she urged Hermod to head back toward their own forces.  As in leaving, she would land some distance off from them, so as not to give their location to any who could be watching.

The army camps near Lecterna that evening.  They find the signs the scouts have been leaving behind- they went to a ford four miles from the town, with the intention of crossing there and then camping.  They found nothing of great interest in the town.  Still, the troops stay away, and Dunduin’s misdirection plan is put into place.

Texxor has a couple of his troops check the town out, just to be safe, while the “diversionary Elves” carry out Dunduin’s plan.  The Lucimburic Militia is recruited from all over Lucimburic, and Lecterna and its immediate surroundings have about 5% of the total population of the Duchy- thus he can be fairly certain that he’s got a few soldiers from around here, and he does- a pair of Wereboar brothers.

They report back in the morning- among the recent visitors to the town have been a Werefox and a Wererat yesterday- and they match the description of two of the scouts, Callidus and Zernit.  Also, a kind of creepy Elf who seemed a little, well, off, for Elves.  Bad skin, bad teeth, not the kind of elegance Elves are typically known for.  And the guy immediately took an interest in the “diversionary elves” and took off shadowing them.

Petra, having overflown the land around here, knows what it looks like, especially on both sides of the Sauer river valley- a rough, rugged maze of narrow valleys, rocks, gorges, gullys and grottoes.  Easy to get lost in.

Anakri approves of Arctos's idea, but the difficulties of travel have thus far left her with little time for scroll copying.  Perhaps if the army stops for a day or so, at some point.

 

Petra found Anakri and made certain to report the anomaly she had seen within the Elvish terrain.  Expecting it was in their favor, but curious to hear what she would say on it.

Then, she sought out Heolstor, smiled and embraced him briefly.  "Back in one piece. I can't say I'm yet jaded as regards to flying.  And never expect to be. But, I no longer feel I have to pray, prior to every flight." She canted her head slightly, in some consideration.  "As a cleric, I am uncertain whether this is good or bad." 

Then she watched as the odd Elven fellow made off, shadowing the diversionary troop.

"Reminds me of this guy back home. Got in trouble for robbing the old bait shack, near the coast. Once he was caught, they found out he didn't fish at all. Nor did he try and sell what he stole. No, when they found his camp...he was making a stew.." she finished with a repulsed grimace.

"I would not worry about praying," the Saxon suggested to Petra "If the gods would see you struck down, they will, if they wish you to triumph. You will. What are words, to gods? Deeds are what matter most, not words. You are a righteous woman, one who fights in the name of your gods; words are only wind, and they should know this."

"And if that is not so... Then they are not worth praying to anyway."

Then, in response to her tale: "A man will take what he can," Heolstor replied "And I am told nearly anything can be tasty in a stew." This last bit he added seriously, til his facade cracked and his smile grew tellingly sarcastic.

Heolstor had no intention of stopping for a day to allow for scrolls to be copied. Time was far too precious, if they could not be recreated on the march then it was simply not to be.

         Patre Arctos calls Scippio and Burris, his personal body guard, to his private
quarters within 'his' supply wagon. It isn't long before they arrive.  He looks to his
companions and begins to speak to them in confident and reassuring tones . . .

         "Mine fine stalwart axe companions, we shalt share in the bounties that art
High King shalt bless me with for faithful service in our current campaign.  Let us at
this very moment sharpen art weapons, check and mend our armor and prepare for the
upcoming battle that we art about to face, and mayst Mars and the gods of goodness
bless us for art endeavors in championing all that tis good in art world!"

        After having spoken Arctos pats the flanks of Melos, then proceeds to check
his armor and weapon.  Next he makes  any required repairs to his equipment and sharpens
his weapons, as does his guards.

With the possible informant distracted by Dunduin's Wild Elf Chase maneuver, they cross the river with the aid of the Lecterna Ferry in the morning.  In this cold weather, fording is simply too much of an ordeal, as it means drying and warming everyone on the other side.

Everyone resumes their "standard operating procedure",  the troops have now officially left Lucimburic, and are into the more questionable territory of the Elves.  It is rugged and densely grown, and according to Petra's reports they Elves have placed spells over selected chunks of land.

There are plenty of Elves travelling with the party, but they are Alps Elves.  They don't know precisely what magic their Ardennes brethren conjured up to protect the forest. However, they are of the opinion that the magical obstacles are not immediately fatal.  That would be dangerous to Ardennes Elves who accidentally stumbled into them.  Instead, they expect that the spells would weaken, confuse, mislead, and exhaust- not good things if one is going into battle.

Petra has a good idea of where these things are.  She saw them from above.

And the trail left behind by the scouts goes right into one.  The scouts have cut a northeasterly course following the terrain, heading for Beda, and this rocky gorge, as Petra recalls from above, is obstructed by one of the areas of shifting terrain she observed.

But there are the scouts marks, and they have left a clear message- this way, follow the trail with care, stay close to the right hand side of the gorge.


Very limited posts from me, if any, over the next few days.  Turkey Day traveling.
This message was last edited by the GM at 11:44, Tue 20 Nov 2012.

Petra blinked once at Heolstor's proclamation as regards the topic of prayer.  "Well," she said to that.  Rather plainly some conflict within, that stalled any immediate reply.

On one hand, the practical side of her nature did more or less concur.  But, she was a cleric, above many other things. And to that cleric, prayer was more than shallow and pretty words. It was the line of communication she had to her true superiors.  And it was very heartfelt, and soulful - not meaningless and sterile rhetoric.

"The Gods of the North are a very practical lot," she said finally.  "They do expect action from their messengers. And they help those of us who help ourselves.  And others.  And, in doing those things, we are surely closest to them. But - prayer is something like having those talks with your very closest of kin. At those times you most need someone who loves you, to hear and understand."  She shrugged. "I do not think I wish to dispense with it, just yet." Then a somewhat impish smile.  "Also, prayer is the channel by which I receive divine magic. Which has had its uses, you must admit!"

As to the matter of stew, Petra laughed and commented only "My lord, I must  differ some on this one. For I have sampled some truly wretched stews.  In more than one sense," she added with a wink.

After, she was all vigilance and business.  That their course wound in the direction of Beda wasn't lost on her.  Remembering well Phileas Argentos' thoughts as regarded that place.   But she had told Anakri, and these Elves were as warned as she could help them to be.

Crossing into Elven territory, the strategy repeats:  The troops follow the lead of the scouts, and Petra keeps watch from the air.

The scouts left a clear trail.

And they are headed towards Beda.

From the air it is visible from quite a distance.  The Elves grow trees like no one else, great trees that support their villages.  There is no way to see the Elven Home Trees fallen, even if one is not an Elf.  The mammoth thing brought down, the beautiful, elegant homes crushed and broken is a sorrowful sight.

This time, Petra has no problem locating the ground scouts.  And.. they have found something.  She sees them at the edge of a broad clearing, in the area of the Beda battlefield, not far from one of the fallen trees.  There are figures on the other end of the clearing, a few hundred feet from the party.  Hermod keeps his distance.  Petra can see that although they have dull gray cloaks they do not have the graceful form of Elves. And the big, bloated Ogre is hard to mistake for anything else.   One of the figures stands before a rock, as if praying to it.  The others, a half dozen plus the Ogre, seem to be standing guard.

Petra knows that the sky is no place to hide.  She can be seen at any moment.

* * * * * * *

Below and a few miles behind her, the Dwarves are in the lead as the army makes its way through the ravines and gorges, following the marked path.  To the Dwarves, it is obvious why the path is so important.  Dwarves often cast spells into stones.  It is a key part of their  magic.  Arctos recognizes enchanted rocks when he sees them.  Power has been worked into the land here, and straying from the path could be hazardous.

        Arctos calls out in an authoritative voice . . .

        "Scippio, Burrus, get thy steeds and come to mine side post haste!  Come Melos!"

        The Dwarven Patre grabs the reins of his mighty steed as his raven hued orbs begin to
squint at the surrounding stones in order to make an attempt at better understanding the magic
within them . . .

"Just a little further dwarves. Keep sharp and keep movin'" Dunduin barks his orders keeping the dwarven line on the move. He was anxious to get his forces in position. Getting attacked while in transport is something he'd would like to avoid if at all possible.

Arctos studies the magic as they pass the enchanted stones.

There's no sign of Infernal influence that he can detect.  In fact, when he does discover carved runes, they look a lot more like...

He realizes:  These are defensive spells of the Elves!

Which explains, at least, how their scouts, led by a native Elf of these parts, managed to lead them to a completely safe trail.

It is later in the day when the Lycanthrope scout, Zernit Whiskersniff, arrives after a long run, with the scout report.

"In the ruined area of Beda, there are strange stones," she says.  "I don't know how many. They are scattered around.  Dozens?  A hundred?  I say maybe ten.  But the stones are creatures- some kind of troll.  There is a small party of Huns there, and they are awakening the creatures."

She lets that sink in and adds:

"It seems, when the Huns left Beda, they didn't entirely leave Beda."

"Thank you Zernit."

Turning towards Heolstor "Lord Heolstor. I request that we send out a small strike team to deal with the minor problem before it quickly develops into a major problem. May I suggest, Arctos, Petra, myself, yourself if you wish, and any other heroes we may have available? The participating dwarves can use ponies for faster travel."

From the camp at Lecterna, it takes about 5 hours to walk to Beda.   Much, much longer if you don't take the safe paths marked carefully by the Elves.

The scouts had a head start and an early lead- they reached the outskirts of Beda in early afternoon.  Seeing that the Huns were up to something, Zernit came back, and described the situation.

The Dwarves are actually familiar with the creatures the scouts describe.  Dwarves have known them for centuries, and they are known by their Latin name "Stultus Saxum"**  They are a kind of troll virtually indistinguishable from a large rock when sleeping.  Old lore holds that some landscape features are actually gigantic variants of these trolls, permanently sleeping (fortunately.)

From the descriptions of the scouts, it appears that the Huns left a number of these creatures in Beda.  Anakri pieces it together:  "To wait until the next invasion, and then to wreak havoc deep within Elven territory, to disrupt the Elves just when they needed to organize to defend themselves. If the accounts about the Huns coming by river are correct, they will be here soon, and when the Elves prepare to fight them, there will be a force of trolls already infiltrated behind them.  That is not good.  Dunduin is correct, we must send a fast force up ahead to defeat them, hopefully, before many of them are awoken!"


**Latin:  "Stupid Rock"

Petra nodded her accord.  "Aye, lady.  Well that we move now to prevent such an ambush. I am ready to go whenever the rest of you are," she told Dunduin.

Heolstor listened as the others described their foe. "So it's trolls, then? I've killed a troll before, but none like this." He remarked superficially as he looked ahead along their intended trail. "It was a tenacious creature. Not the sort of things we should willingly give our back with a battle on the horizon."

"A smaller force seems best Commander Dunduin," Heolstor agreed "We'll make for the clearing immediately. This must be dealt with, and there isn't much time to assemble a larger strike force. Continue your column's advance - we will clear the way before the army is forced to bring itself to a halt."

Then, to Gallus, who was as always at Lord Strang's side. "Rouse our cavalrymen. Inform them that there are trolls ahead. If things go ill and we are outmatched they are to ride our foe down. Pwyll will be your signal, if he finds you we are in need."

Heolstor slid his sword partially out of his sheath, checking to make sure it would fly freely when the time came for it to bite. Then he mounted his horse again, putting first one foot up and then the other as he clambered atop his steed. Pwyll followed and found a place behind his master atop a blanket set behind Heolstor's saddle. "Perhaps now, priestess, is a good time for prayer." Strang smiled.

Then, again to Dunduin and the other assembled heros. "We've feasted and paraded for so long. Let's remind ourselves again that we're warriors." He smiled, face a portrait of eagerness. He'd been raised a Saxon. Battle was a dominion of men, and he'd been taught to seek it out gladly. "Are you ready?"

        The Dwarven Patre looks to his companions and quickly quips . . .

        "Mayhaps the Dwarven secret weapons art called for in carrying out such a task, as they
hath naught eaten their fill in a while!"

The troops assemble a small strike force to deal with the trolls and whatever lies ahead in Beda.  The Dwarves were first in the line of march  trolls and so quickly send their “pony platoon” up front- the Omniformes, alas, are much too slow get their on their on their own and the terrain is very unfriendly to the wagons used to transport them.

Trolls and Dwarves go back a long ways.  They are historic antagonists the way and the Dwarves are actually rather pleased that their enemy includes some of them.  It makes it more of a grudge match, to them.  It is the Trolls, and not the Orcs, that have the Villain-Of-Choice role in the ancient tales of the Dwarves.  Well, at least when its not Dragons.

The Human cavalry quickly joins them, along with a few Elven riders further along, and they head towards the Beda.

Along the way, this Quick Reaction Strike Force runs into the rest of the scouts; Brannoc, Calitus, Demus, Adesse and Erulian.

Now they have a small army.

With air support.

        After having mounted up, Arctos and his personal body guard immediately join the
vanguard of the Dwarven Cavalry that's making its way quickly towards the Troll threat
that lies ahead.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:19, Sat 01 Dec 2012.

Brannoc's expression melted to welcoming smile when the strike force arrived. The smile grew even wider when he spotted familiar faces among the force. Still the enemy was alarmingly close and the scout didn't want to lose their only advantage, surprise, which they held only as far as the Huns didn't know they were this close.

He stepped forth to greet them: "Quiet, friends, keep it quiet. The enemy is very close ahead."
This message was last edited by the player at 20:26, Sat 01 Dec 2012.

In reply to Brannoc (msg # 88):

Demus acknowledges the riders and says Hello. I would prefer to save my magic if at all possible, but I will use it if required.

The Frisian priestess did indeed say a prayer, prior to their moving out.  A simple and straightforward request to Freyja, Woden, and Ullr -- for victory from the first two, and for accuracy of her arrows from the latter.  Surely, battle was won by deeds, and not prayers - but it still boosted her morale!

She greeted the newcomers, then made a final check of her weapons and armor to insure she was fully prepared.

Unlike Heolstor, Petra had not encountered any trolls before. They did figure in her own people's history and folklore, though.  So she felt it fitting someone was here to represent Frisia during this little troll-smiting tourney.

Dunduin quickly relays the information to the scouting party and suggests combining forces into a joint strike force. Working together he believed they could secure a relatively quick victory. At least this new development was about the best he could hope for.

"Trolls shouldn't be taken lightly Dunduin cautions quietly. They may not be as powerful as most giants but they can still pack quite a wallop. Even for a dwarf" he finishes with a smile.

"Lord Heolstor our faster units like the cavalry can harry the enemy while the heavy melee units wade in together to finsih them off. Do you have any battle strategy preferences?"

They head towards the battle area, with some cavalry leading the way (both Dwarf and Human), Aerial Reconaissance, and Elven scouts who can move almost as fast on the ground as the horses.  Many other troops are following behind, and more cavalry is taking to the flanks to cut off the enemy if they try to escape.   But Heolstor chose a small advance force for speed and agility.

They head over into a new thread built just for this purpose, complete with map and everything!


Go to:
The Encounter At Beda

Heolstor confirms to Dunduin that other cavalry forces are en route, to finish the foe if their strike group is unable. Hopefully that will not involve the infantry, however, as he hopes to dispatch this roadblock before their columns arrive.

The Saxon commander's desire is to buy every second of advantage they can, so as to arrive before the Huns.