Chapter 2: South Wind

[Dicer]

"Like thisss," Veskassdak commented on the brew, "Would like sssome in flasssksss to enjoy when not here. How much 'money' trade for it?"
Finding that he could get six for 2 golden disks, he handed them to the tent owner and continued drinking the drink Wren had brought. It was when he looked around him that he noticed Baird. Baird had a vacant look in his eyes. Almost like the mammal Gordib had, but not that bad.
"Right sssomething not be, Baird?" he asked. "You not ssseem here be."

 

[Clockwork Syringe]

Just returning from that awful vIsion Baird uncharacteristicly puts down his glass and does not sip from it any further as he is stunned by this sudden revelation. The golden one still mourned for his beloved's death after all these years. Silently stashing away the amulet, one could see his sudden change in attitude if they looked hard enough. Baird, however, still stood by his decision earlier in the day; he would look out for the group in terms of magic to the best of his ability. Placing his finger and thumb on his chin, Baird aimlessly dazes off until Veskassdak addressed him, "I'm ok, I just-" Baird's voice then trailed off.
Dicer Sherwood Psychie Silanon

 

[Psychie]

Renna looks over at Baird with concern. "Hey, you just look like you've seen a ghost. I'm the one that's supposed to be feeling loopy from the drink, not you!" She places a comforting hand on his arm. "Are you ok?"

 

[Clockwork Syringe]

Baird looked at Renna for a moment and saw that she was genuinely concerned. Sighing, he reached into his robes and brought out the amulet that hung on his neck. "I was the recipient of a vision just now. It illuminated the memories of the original user of this pendant for one. Also, this was not the first time that this happened.
Psychie Dicer Silanon Sherwood

 

[Psychie]

The paladin leans in and says, "What did you see?" She is still concerned, hoping for good news.

 

[Clockwork Syringe]

"What I saw was true reason why this amulet is what it's called. Its referred to as, "The Dragon's Promise," and it showed me what that promise was, and the tragedy that befell it's user."
Psychie Dicer Silanon Sherwood

 

[Silanon]

As the sorcerer hínts what he has seen, the ifrit glances over rather curiously - he remains silent, however, serving drinks and answering other people's questions rather than disturbing his guests' privacy. You probably stay a while longer - a drink or two, maybe a meal - before finding yourself a place to rest. Either you brought your own tent, or you'll be able to borrow one from the dwarves - in any case, you settle down at the northern side of the camp, right between like-minded fighters recruited by the Army of the Third Prince. Mostly humans and dwarves - decent company, at least. The lizardman certainly attracts attention - but mostly in a respectful manner.

You'll find a few hours of restful sleep - ended by the sound of distant bugles in the early morning. A few dwarven shouts, but no panic - nothing out of the ordinary, as it seems. If you decide to crawl out of your bedrolls, you'll find a barrow in front of your tents, containing the armor and weaponry you purchased. Those who got their equipment enchanted will find them mostly unchanged - a few fancy dwarven runes to hint the subtle changes, that's it - but you'll be able to notice the difference once you wear or carry armor or sword, respectively. The lizardman's armor fits perfectly, quite astonishing given the short time Dalim took to look at the needed changes. The dwarf certainly knows what he's doing.

Shortly after, a familiar face shows up - Io, the elven scout from earlier. Apparently knowing precisely where to find you, she approaches the group of you, mustering your puchases. "Dalim told me you found his tent - was quite happy with how things turned out, rather unusual for him, really. First time he equipped a lizardman - he hopes everything fits well as it is." She pauses for a moment, then points northwards. "The scouts of the Forgotten have encircled Kazragun, taking a closer look at the fortress. Bjarki asked me to grab a few people and join them to get a first impression myself. Figured I'd ask you to come along, not much else to do here, really. If everything goes well, the fighting starts tomorrow - might as well see what we're up to before that."

 

[Dicer]

"Agreed," said Veskassdak. "Alwaysss good to know enemy'sss acsstionsss before acsstionsss made by enemiesss. We now leave sssoon?"
He adjusted his new armor slightly and it fell into place. It almost was like he wasn't wearing it at all. He felt ready for whatever trouble they might wind up causing.

 

[Clockwork Syringe]

Baird awoke with a start as Io entered the tent suddenly realizing that he was grasping "The Dragon's Promise" tightly. ~Ugh, what happened last night?~ He mused to himself before hearing what Io had to say. The Scouts of the Forgotten? Who was the forgotten? In any case, Baird takes a look at the ceremonial robe and the Dragon's Promise in an attempt to figure out what they do (Spellcraft/knowledge Arcana, whichever's higher)
Silanon

 

[Psychie]

When Renna collects her Greatsword from the dwarven merchant, she hefts the newly enchanted blade with a smile. "Thank you for your excellent service, Master Dalim. I will make sure to pass on the word of the quality of your merchandise to all I can. That will undoubtedly send you more business, and I'll come to you first with my future supply needs." With that, she sheaths her blade on her back and heads out to find the others.

Reunited with everyone, she tells Io about the excellent deal that Dalim gave her for the sword. "Thanks to Wren, she helped to talk him into a great price for top quality work." She pats the hilt of her sword as it sticks up by her head. "With my newly enchanted blade, I am now ready to go out and face the orcs and deal with their evil."

 

[Sherwood]

Wren is quite happy with her enchanted leather armor. She adds her voice of support to that of Renna's when talking to Dalim and the expert quality of his wares.

Looking to Io, she nods, "Sure, lets do some recon. I get antsy if I sit in one place for too long."

 

[Silanon]

"We can leave as soon as you're ready - no need to wait for anyone else. As I said, the mercenary friends of the Forgotten company already lead the way, there shouldn't be too much resistance for now. Pretty sure the enchanted sword will come in handy, though - if not today, then tomorrow." She turns towards Wren as the paladin mentions Wren's negociation skills. "I'll ask you if I ever need something from Dalim - haven't been able to get anything cheaper from him, and I know him for a few years by now."

Meanwhile, Baird examines both objects - again, you cannot see any particular spells on the robe. As for the amulet: By now, you have seen one of its properties twice - to show memories of the former owner, or at least that might be your interpretation. That said, the spell on it is too complicated for you to understand it, or even have a guess if there's more to discover.

 

[Clockwork Syringe]

Baird then puts on the ceremonial robe and goes over to everyone to voice his own views. "Yeah, let's go over and do some scouting."

 

[Silanon]

You gather your gear, preparing to leave - a few minutes later, you're back in the swamps, the camp hidden behind lines of magnificent trees. The ground is still swampy, and the same smell as usual accompanies your steps - but the surrounding is drier, at least, and that's even more the case as you travel further north. Granted, the muddy waters still are all-present, and will cause trouble for any bigger advancements, most importantly stopping any attempt of a cavalry attack in its tracks. But for a group like yours, moving forward turns out to be quite trouble-free, at least if you ignore the accivitous ground.

You all know that Kazragun is located right at the coast, where high cliffs edge the Northern Ocean. A small elven settlement on top of the cliffs, five years ago - not much of that is to be seen when you get a first glance from afar after about two hours of travel. The first thing you notice is smoke in the distance, coming out of hundreds of chimneys. Right on top, there is a bastion, improvised stone walls guarded by half a dozen bulky towers. Perhaps, that's where the orc chieftains and their king reside - it will be a hassle to even get there: That's because the fortress is only the top of a giant settlement, thousands of tents and wooden shelters, a mess of palisades and waters separating dozens and dozens of sections. You cannot hear the noise for now - but you can imagine it to be a constant rumbling, as the orc army waits to make their final stand.

As the newly built city comes into sight, Io pauses for a brief moment. Maybe she compares the number of tents with those you have seen within the camp - even someone unable to count would know that the number of orcs must be at least ten times as those of the Order and all mercenary groups combined. Maybe she contemplates the lack of trees as all of them seem to have been chopped down in the surrounding area, probably to fortify the place. Or she asks herself on of hundred different questions that might be in your minds right now. Somewhere between the small hill you climbed and the big black place named Kazragun, you can hear various bugle calls, the men and women hidden in the remaining forest. Maybe the scouts, maybe orcs - hard to say with certainty. What you do notice, however, are hundreds of footprints pointing northwards, not very orcish by the looks of it - but too many for just a couple of scouts.

 

[Dicer]

"Lotsss of green mammalsss, orcsss," Veskassdak commented seeing the encampment around Kazragun. "Make difficult to fight ssso many. More numbersss than usss."
Looking at the footprints trailing northward, he continued, "Too many for ssscoutsss." Indicating the direction the footprints go, he added, "We follow to find who?"

 

[Psychie]

Renna looks about, then nods. "We would be poor scouts ourselves if we didn't. It might be something critical to the mission of stopping the orcs, and our army may need to know about it."

 

[Sherwood]

Wren kneels down to take a closer look at the footprints. "Let me take point; I have really good eyes and can move quieter than our iron maiden over here." She points a thumb over at Renna as she says that. "I'll signal if I come across anything to worry about."

 

[Psychie]

"Don't range too far ahead; I cannot protect you if you get into trouble when you are out of the reach of my blade," Renna cautions the rogue. "Other than that, I have no objection to your plan."

 

[Sherwood]

Wren laughs. "No need to worry about me! I can run pretty damn fast when the bad guys with the sharp pokey things are chasing after me." With that, she turns and sets off into the swamp, moving carefully to avoid making a lot of noise.

 

[Clockwork Syringe]

Baird chuckles at the jab made at Renna's expense, but decides that while Renna is off scouting, he would stay behind and lend his sight to the group. Turning to Io, he speaks Elven in an attempt to mask the question he asks. "Io, the amulet has been speaking to me both last night and the night before."

 

[Silanon]

The elf does not respond directly, instead continuing to stare at the task ahead. Finally, when you almost think she might not have heard your words at all, Io speaks - not turning around, her voice low and thoughtful. "What exactly did it tell you, then? Any hint on how to storm such fortress, or why they simply sit there and wait? By the looks of it they should have the numbers to fight our army twice and still come out victoriously." She switches from Elven to Common after the first sentence, to make sure that the others get to understand it as well.

Meanwhile, Wren decides to scout ahead - following the tracks, you leave the small hill behind, reentering the forest-like surrounding. The wildlife is rather quiet, but you notice no immediate danger - moving forward, you reach a clearing, cut in half by a small, muddy trickle. On the other side, you can see multiple dead bodies, too far away to see any details. Do you wish to proceed, or turn around?

 

[Clockwork Syringe]

"It showed me that the dragon has been mourning for his beloved, as well as why the amulet is called what it is," Baird then picked up on Io's cue. "I trust Wren to stay hidden, but us, we'd make alot of noise."

 

[Sherwood]

Wren kneels down in the tree line, looking around and listening as well as she can.

How large is the clearing? Can I estimate how many bodies there are, and what species?

 

[Silanon]

The clearance has a diameter of about 100 feet, with the dead bodies way on the other side. From your position, you can notice about half a dozen corpses, all of them roughly human-sized. To see more than that, you'd have to get closer, leaving the cover that presumably hides you for now.

On the small hill, Io keeps quiet for another moment, then nods. "For someone unfamiliar with these lands, she is less noticeable than many. I doubt the orcs would not see her come, though, they have been here for years by now."

 

[Sherwood]

Wren will move along the treeline to get closer to the bodies, doing her best not to break cover.