The march of the 237th Regiment north from Grakis, after the fall of Angrath in 1569 AC, might be considered sudden. The soldiers, having just finished a difficult and bloody battle in Angrath, were expecting to be placed on leave, to return to their families and rest, once the reserves from the old capital of Steyis had arrived. This turned out not to be the case. Rumor around the campfires has it that the 237th's Warlock, a northern woman named Brynna, pulled some strings and called in some favors to put together this regiment to march north to her home. Fist Dmitri, commander of the regiment, also seems to have been a victim of politics, if the campfire talk is to be believed - Dmitri arrived late to the Battle of Angrath and tried to win some last-minute glory for himself, and the Hand was not amused when he received the report.

There is, therefore, no small amount of tension in the main camp as Brynna tries to convince Dmitri to march the men for longer, making it more difficult for the camp followers to keep up. Brynna clearly has no love or care for them. Fortunately, Dmitri does, and he has, so far, resisted all attempts by his Warlock to push the men farther than is wise to go. This also means that the camp followers may have had a rougher time than usual, being forced to fend for themselves for food on some nights and being left unguarded. The real payoff for them will come, it is promised by the soldiers, when they reach an outpost in southern Falakia and the camp followers who stayed on will be properly rewarded for their efforts. For now, though, days and nights have been exhausting, with the regiment driving north as hard as the Warlock can convince the Fist to push.

Breaking free of the fens of Grakis finally, the weather clears, with fresh air and sunny skies for the first time in a week. This morning finds the regiment camped just off the side of a road in southern Andarra that rings the Fang Wood, an expansive forest said to be the home of beasts and worse. A few days' march up the road is Kher Adain, a trading post intended to be a much longer stop for supplies. The morning air is ringed with the sounds and smells of cook-fires as well as the muffled sound of Brynna, shouting at someone in her pavilion. The expectation for camp followers is for them to show initiative and find work in the camp to do if they wish to earn their meals, and the Warlock is clearly already in a bad mood.