Quietus Clarion (IC)

[Homp]

As the other half of their group rejoined them, Kael focused and attempted to suppress the tension that had been building in him for the past day, he was still adjusting to the feeling of not having his compass. He ignored the father as he spoke and gave only a brief glance to Riddar. He took a mental note of the soldier legate's new appearance but stopped himself from asking any questions of it. As the sisters rode up behind them he looked them once over but said nothing.

This is what we've halted our pursuit for? These greater numbers will only slow us down in the end.. and in all white? They'll never blend in a crowd...

Kael turned back towards the path and began walking, his words nearly cut the sister off as she finished speaking, he was loosing his patience.

"We've waited for you long enough. If you have any questions you can ask them while moving."

[Luiniel Blades]

Amiril watched her companions closely, as a feeling of anxiety stirred in her gut. All of this was very alien to her, especially the appearance of the strange dog-man. Despite these emotions however, she remained composed; having Sister Mara by her side helped put her at ease. Mustering the confidence, she addressed her companions. "I don't mean to speak out of turn or delay us further, but would anyone mind telling us the purpose of our journey before we depart?"

Xein turned to the Sister who had spoken.  "We are currently hunting after a dangerous group of outlaws that have managed to escape us before.  I lost their trail when they took to the river and headed downstream but they should still be traveling in a wagon toward somewhere in the Kaladrun Mountain range.  If we move fast though, we should be able to track them before they can reach the Kaladruns themselves.  I was also able to gather a fair amount of specific information on them individually, if you'd care to know I can tell you on the way."

[Johanas]

Roycilo looked at the ladies.

"Essentially Sisters, we are searching for a highly resourceful group of insurgents who are seeking nefarious ends. We have been brought together to find them, and bring them to the Shadow's Justice. Also Kael is looking for a prophet.

"Have you any specific questions before we start? However, I agree with my companions; we can talk as we ride."

With that, Roycilo turned his horse, and started to slowly ride west. He kept himself slow enough to be able to maintain a conversation.

Hopefully this will kick them into motion.

[Johanas]

Roycilo called back over his shoulder. "Nothing? Nothing at all?"

[callie]

"Let's speak while we ride. I don't want to delay us any further." With that, she turned to follow, spurring her horse firmly. Once they were at a gallop, she called to Xein, "What kind of details have you gathered on these individuals? Anything that may prove useful in combat?"

[Luiniel Blades]

Xein thought back to all he had seen the night of the raid and during the wagon chase that followed, gathering his thoughts.  He rode for a time in silence before finally answering the sister.  "Most of them are quick and prefer fighting at range.  A young Sarcosan woman named Siobhan is a fighter who wields both finesse and strength, but most notably she can command fire to some degree, she is emotional however especially when it comes to her mother Cara and her father Garion.  A young Erenlander woman named Amethyst is not what I would call skilled in combat but she is innovative in a way I can't accurately describe, she is more prone to using her sling in combat... There is a large Dornish man, taller than most of his people, he wields great strength in battle.  He lacks control, letting the momentum of his swings do most of the work for him but in short bursts he can call to a strength that makes it not seem to matter.  There are two of the Dunni with them.  Ivy a female who seems to have a weak ability to Channel.  And Nefario a male who is strangely scaled and possesses claws.  There is an older Erenlander male named Mandag, I'm not sure of his fighting prowess.  There is also a young Erenlander Male who's name is Eirik, I didn't see much of his ability though.    There are three gnomes.  Wendle the wagon driver, he doesn't seem terribly useful in combat except as a driver.  Then there is Otter and Star both of whom are skilled fist fighters.  Lastly are the three cloaked figures.  One is an archer, one is a Channeler, and the last wields two blades and shields the Channeler from harm.  All of them are very dangerous."  

[callie]

Amiril thought for a moment, absorbing all the information Xein had given. It was time to start deciding her strategies for battle, and her means of subsequently interrogating any outlaw taken captive. "Do we have a plan of attack?"

[Luiniel Blades]

Xein's tone was grim as he responded."Our first attempt was a direct assault, we had superior numbers then and they were forced to come directly at us to escape.  We failed to stop them.  Surprise and stealth during the night is our best option.  Destroying the wagon would be our first priority, either the wheels or the axle.   At the same time I will need to stop the cloaked Channeler as she is the most dangerous if left to her own devices, but she will need to be deprived of her guardian as I don't believe I could match blades with him.  If she falls, only then could a continuous skirmish effort be used to bleed them out...  During that time we would be dealing with their support; Eirik, Ivy, Nefario, Wendle, Amethyst, and the tallest cloaked figure with the bow.  Our largest problem will be their fighters; the Dorn, Siobhan, Otter, Star, and the Blade wielding figure.  If we cannot take them by surprise then the fight would be lost.  Even with the addition of you and your companion Sister, we are fewer than before.  As long as they have those cloaked figures, any direct assaults would likely be lethal to us more than them.  For any of this to be successful, I believe we'll need others."  

[Doomed Hero]

Near Kurgen Falls, Arc of Obares, Dusk

"I believe we'll need othersss." the hobgoblin hissed.

Work teams had been working all hours, even during the day. They had made up for lost time efficiently and effectively. The new pass was wider, of more solid construction, and less prone to ambushes. Guard towers had already been constructed at the base of the pass and three more were in varied stages of completion. In a few more weeks they would be able to safely move an army through this pass.

Dunkin had returned a few days prior but had made it a point to always be in the middle of some tedious or dangerous project whenever the Legate Jael made his rounds of the work sites. Kjellan had told him about their meeting with the new overseer and about the strange change in behavior Marakal seemed to have on him. The pragmatic dwarf had decided it was better just to accept this strange gift of fate rather than try to figure out where it had come from. he simply put Marakal and his Ogres right in the thick of everything, ensuring that anyone who wanted to come bother the dwarf would need to make it through an Ogre worksite first. He'd discovered he was bothered a lot less frequently since implementing that policy.

Sadly, all good things had to end eventually. The trio from Durgis Rock found themselves at a planning meeting in the overseer's tent flanked by the hobgoblin engineer Clouse, Kahv the oruk security chief, the commander of Jael's force of Dead Mother orcs, the hobgoblin coordinator and Legate Jael himself.

The coordinator was discussing the endgame of their project.

"We have enough soldierss here to hold the passs, but not nearly enough for any ssort of push into the mountainss. The progress reports I have been delivering have begun raising questionss from many directionss, and I don't know what to tell them. There are questions of ssstrategic relevancse, proper allocation of resourcesss, and mossst importantly, where in the world the ordersss for this project came from originally. It ssseems that no one knowsss. It sstarted with Foreman Dunkun." the hobgoblin's reptilian eyes locked on the dwarf. "Tell me where your orders came from."

[Pheros]

Dunkan meets the hobogoblin's gaze without flinching, his voice neutral, almost bored.

"Same place all my light-blasted orders have come from for the last three hundred arcs: you or one of your elf-licking cousins meets me far enough from the holdfast not to blow my tree-blighted cover, tells me the child-hearted orders, and hands me the parchment with the seal on it.  And no, before you ask, I don't have the weak-gripped parchment since I burn it after inspecting it like I was fleeingly told to at the start of this whole charade.  The seal was the crest of The Lord above a sword piercing a circle, same as it has been for the last 80 arcs."

Addressing the larger group.

"I was told to expect a small scout team, them" he says as he indicates Kjellan and Marakal, "and a small escort crew who decided to be lazy and die not long after I met up with them.  The laborers were supposed to have been here already, but of course the elf-whores weren't.  Other than that I don't know much."

[Doomed Hero]

"A ssword piercsing a csircle." the hobgoblin said slowly. "I do not recognisse that cresst."

"I do." the Legate Jael said crisply. "But it does not matter any longer. This project is not under the direction of that person any longer. It is now the business of myself and my master. How it began is irrelevant. Simply tell any curious parties that orders now come from Theros Basalta."

"Yes sir."The hobgoblin nodded, clearly unsure what the legate's orders meant but a lifetime of teachings keeping him from asking questions. "The project nearss completion. When I am asked what the nexsst ssstep in your plan is, what do I ssay?"

"Tell them whatever you like." Jael said, clearly uninterested. "They will not think you have been told the truth anyhow."

"I musst tell them ssomething, ssir." The hobgoblin pleaded.

"Simply tell them that there may be an item of significant importance in the catacombs beneath the fortress and my master feels the potential gain is worth the resources." Jael said dismissively. "Moving on. I need a threat assessment of the dwarves' fortress." Unrolling a large parchment he weighted down a surprisingly detailed map of Durgis Rock, blank only on the insides of the larger and more centrally located buildings. "Foreman, you and your team have been inside. I need the layout and the strength of their forces."

[Pheros]

Dunkin looks at the map with a mix of surprise and respect, and his voice takes a serious tone.  "You have a fair good map already, Legate.  This here is the main Keep," he says gesturing at the largest blank set against the mountain.  "A little over two hundred of fighting age in the Rock, but only a handful watching the gate.  Scouting parties make up the bulk of their intelligence, but are getting smaller and less frequent.  They'll likely see us coming, bar the gate, set traps, and wait.  If the gate falls, they will retreat to the Keep, bar it and set more traps.  Their food stores would hold through the winter on minimal rations, if you were planning a siege, though they would harry your forces the whole time."

[Doomed Hero]

"Draw the layout of the keep." Jael said sliding a paper-wrapped bit of charcoal to the dwarf.

"Engineer," he continued turning his attention to Clouse, "Are you familiar with the construction of siege weaponry? Catapults, Breaching Towers?"

[Gabboge]

"Yess, me and my teams should be able to provide you with whatever you need, as long as we have sufficient materialss. This also means that as soon as we have constructed the equipment it will become a top priority for dwarven ambushes."

Clouse tried to calm himself. Don't get invested in this again, trying to predict them is useless! but it was no use.

"Also...We have seen a lot of stall tactics up until now. By all rights that slide could have caused a lot more damage had the road been cleared and a caravan or regiment come through. For some reason they wanted our time-tabels pushed back and it was more important then hurting us."

Clouse paused, considering his options.

"If I had to guess they are expecting something. Maybe reinforcements tunneling in, an escape rout out or an even bigger trap up ahead. These dwarves think big, that land slide might not be the worst thing they have in store. Whatever it is it's time sensitive and if we push them sooner we may catch them off guard."

[Doomed Hero]

Jael looked critically at the hobgoblin and nodded. "You are intuitive, Engineer. They are waiting for something. That is the reason I am here. They want this pass open as much as we do. We are not going to catch them off guard. We are going to let them have exactly what they want. Once they get it they will try to cut us off. That is what we will prepare for."

Speaking to the rest of the group, Jael points to positions along a second map depicting the pass. "Dunkun, I want slide-breaks installed along the first thousand feet. Marakal, I cliff walls reinforced with heavy timbers. Lumber will be arriving daily. Do not concern yourself with stretching the materials. Use it all. In addition, water barrels will be placed every twenty paces. We cannot wait for rainfall to fill them. We need another water source. Scouts report there is a waterfall nearby. Dunkun, have your assistant survey the area, I need to know how hard it would be to take and hold that location for a few days."

Turning back to Clouse he pointed out a few marks on the map. "Guard towers will need to be built by the time the pass is clear. That means constructing them in the middle of active work sites. Can it be done?"

[Gabboge]

"Yes, anything is possible with the proper allocation of resources. We can speed up the process by prefabricating light parts of the towers and assembling them into position at opportunistic times. This will also reduces my engineers to exposure from attacks and make sure we don't get in anyone's way. I will set up the assembly lines for production and schedule the Ogres for hauling once completed."

Clouse turned to set to work but then paused.

"The prefabricated pieces could also serve a dual purpose as cover in case of further ambushes. I will keep this in mind when I design them." Clouse's smile returned to him, the gears in his head began to turn and his mind fixed towards the task.

[Doomed Hero]

"Good. You all have your assignments. Get moving. Foreman, take your time with that map." Straightening up, Legate Jael walked out of the command tent leaving his leaders to discuss things among themselves. The hobgoblin coordinator followed him.

Kahv looked over Dunkin's shoulder getting a good look at the layout of the dwarven hold and then gestured to the orcish commander. "I need to see your troop allocation. Let's go find someone to eat while we work."

As the massive blue-skinned Oruk left with the skull-mouthed Orc the tent suddenly became a lot less crowded.

[TwiceBorn]

Throughout the meeting, Kjellan kept silent at the back of the tent with eyes on his toes, relying on Dunkun to do all the talking. It was so easy for one so small in stature to be forgotten... and he liked it that way...

The stout gnome waited for Dunkun to lead the way and to issue his instructions regarding the survey mission. As he overheard Khav talking about "going to find someone to eat," he sighed inwardly with relief, glad to have remained in the oruk's favour this whole time and to have escaped the horrid end that awaited so many of the slaves... so far...

[Gabboge]

Clouse got up and strode to the exit, he commented over his shoulder "Well dwarf, for what it's worth, I wish you luck. I don't know if you believe in luck, most hobgoblins don't, but it is very real. I have felt the pull and wane of it twist fate, mostly in my favor. Sometimes I think it's force is not that much different to the blessings of our lord. I think you have some of it yourself, so use it wisely."

With that, Clouse exited the tent leaving no time for rebuttals. A tactic he loved to employ with the dwarf, who would see it as a retreat from the conversation but annoy him none the less.

[Pheros]

Dunkin looked up from the map, and said nothing as Clouse left; he simply watched his back as he went.

When the room was empty save for the Durgis Rock crew, Dunkin sighed once, and looked to Kjellan and Marakal.  
"This has gotten a lot bigger than what we thought it would be at the beginning.  

You both heard your orders.  Marakal, I want you to do your best to reinforce those walls.  As the Legate said, use all the resources you have at hand.  Kjellan, you know the waterfall he speaks of?  Be careful while you scout the area, especially if you run see anyone from the Rock.  Some there suspect us traitors, Modi and his crew especially.  If Kiron or Rarth are out scouting and you see one of them, have them tell Woden that no small trouble is on the way, but don't trust any besides those two.  

This Legate is smart, and more than we bargained for, I fear."

[TwiceBorn]

"Aye, I think I know the waterfall he has in mind... is it the one with the old trading post? It's a good distance away, if I recall. Even if I left at the crack of dawn, I'd probably need to overnight there... Is that likely to be a problem in the eyes of the legate? Can you arrange for me to take some overnight gear?"

Kjellan had mixed feelings about spending a night away. On the one hand, a break from the depressing company he had kept these past arcs would be most welcome. On the other hand, he would be completely unprotected out there in the wilderness, and who knows what might prowl the night... including ornery types like Modi and his henchmen. But whatever had to be done, had to be done...

[Doomed Hero]

Base of the Kaladruns, Kurgun Pass, Arc of Obares, Dusk

With no real sense of where their quarry had gone, the hunters stuck to high ground and continued the way they had been going. After a few days Rash'gar had noticed smoke in the distance. With no other leads, they decided to investigate.

The mountains had loomed ever larger day by day. Rash'gar was amazed. In his experience far away things looked smaller, and got bigger as he neared them. These things called mountains were larger than anything he had ever conceived of. He kept imagining they would reach them soon, but day after day they kept traveling and they kept looming larger and larger until they devoured half a horizon.

Xein had spotted large groups of tracks running parallel to the foothills, Riddar estimated a force of a few  hundred. A small force from what he remembered of the mountain war. Perhaps reinforcements, or a specialty response force. In either case, something was happening here, and it was out of season for engagements. Orcs were hardy against the cold, but they had to eat and supplying a force larger than a company with food in the winter was difficult. Deciding it was worth knowing what was going on in the area, the group pushed further toward the mountains following the path the troops had taken.

When they finally ranged into the foothills they found a copse of trees being worked by twenty ogres and perhaps fifty goblins.

Xein, and the two sisters had never seen Ogres before. Rash'gar had never even heard of them. His hackles rose involuntarily and his tail tucked at the sheer size and menace of the brutish creatures. They were mostly hairless, which served to accentuate their mottled leathery skin and massive muscles. Their eyes were slitted and yellowed, and their ears long and sharp, and strangely delicate in comparison with the rest of their hulking bodies. They stood half again as tall as Sir Riddar and twice as broad. As the group approached, they stopped working one by one, as if the movements of one triggered the movements of the next until they all stood and watched like enormous ground-squirrels. One of them picked up a horse-head sized rock and hurled it toward the group, leaving a plume of dust and heavily scarred ground where it struck some twenty feet in front of them.

Cursing and lashing sounded from the trees and the ogres began to go back to work as a lone creature who looked like a large furry goblin strode out to meet the group. It seemed as large as an orc, but it was covered by thick fur which made gauging it's actual mass difficult. It's flat face seemed puzzled at the group's approach and it's ears twitched. It carried a whip and a banded club, but made no threatening motions toward them. It simply asked who they were and what they were doing. After the formalities were out of the way, it was forthright and helpful, introducing itself as 'Overseer Grug, third year ogre handler'. As always, Sir Riddar had wasted no time demanding answers, which the Bugbear overseer began to give stupidly, but with due respect.

"I don' really know, Suh." the bugbear said to Riddar. "I'm just 'ere to make sure the lumber gits up the pass, and that these guys don't wander off or forgit what they're doin'."

The ogre workforce had cleared an impressive swath into the copse of trees, hacking down the narrow conifers with enormous splitting wedges. Other bugbears were overseeing teams of goblin carpenters who were sawing limbs off downed trunks in bursts of vicious hyperactivity.

"It's a big job." The bugbear continued. "The pass was blocked, but it's mostly clear now. Th' damned dwarves tried to knock it back down a few times. That's why we need the wood, t' brace up th' walls. 'Fraid I don' know much more than that. If you need more information, you should go talk to Legate Jael. He's usually at the main work camp. Can't miss it." he finished, pointing up the mountain past the first set of newly built guard towers in the distance where the road bent.

[Homp]

Kael didn't care much for ogres. In his experience they were dumb creatures and though they provided good muscle, they were insufferable to work with. It didn't help that his headache had remained unchanged. He had hoped that as they moved it would change in some way and give him some clue as to which way he should head, but it had been days and nothing had changed. All he could do now was try to block out the pain until something changed.

As the bugbear spoke, Kael's attention faded in and out until he heard the bugbear say his name. At that moment, his consciousness snapped back into place and he could only focus on one thing.

No, it can't be. What would he be doing up here?

Suddenly he was ten years old again. He remembered it vividly, it was the day the cabal had taken his brother away, his brother who had protected him, kept him fed, taken care of him. He remembered the last words his brother had said to him. Remember little brother, be strong. The weak are always the first to die. Just stay useful, they keep you around if you're useful.. Those words had always stuck with him, kept him motivated during his training. They'd seen each other two more times since that day, and it had been five years since their last meeting. He'd been so busy since then that admittedly his brother had rarely crossed his mind, and he had never fully considered the idea that by now his brother would be a full blown legate. There were others in the world who shared his brothers name, but the coincidence was too exciting to pass up.

Once the Bugbear finished speaking and pointed them towards the camp, Kael marched on. He was different now though, whatever in his head had been bothering him seemed to disappear, and a smile had spread across his face.

[Luiniel Blades]

The ride east had been a long hunt for Xein, longer than any other he had been on before.  The outlaws were elusive and the constant lack of any sign of them frustrating but given what he had seen, not entirely surprising. Xein had spent the days scouting around and at night he kept himself wary of his companions taking note of their moods.  From what he could gather Ser Riddar seemed relatively unchanged save that he was paler and seemed to need less sleep.  Sister Amril was pleasant enough to talk to and inquisitive, but he couldn't get much more of a read off her other than that.  Thus far Sister Mara had not made any attempt to talk with Xein and seemed only to keep quiet conversation with Sister Amril and that was fine with him.  Meanwhile Father Illustrian had not changed in the slightest since returning from the Abbey.  When not attempting to hunt or gauge his companions, Xein spent his hours training with Rash'Gar.  He was the only one of the group Xein felt comfortable enough with to let his guard down... Or would have, save for the final member of their group.  The presence of Skindancer made Xein silent and brooding especially when near his younger "brother."  After Lord Skinners plan to have the Astirax bind himself to Xein failed, Skindancer had raged and then fallen silent for a time.  Now however the Astirax had begun to speak to him again, full of loathing it would comment on what it thought inside his mind and Xein would respond in kind.  There was nothing either of them could to change this however...  yet.

As they had made their way into the foot hills of the Kaladruns following the largest number of tracks Xein had ever seen, several surprises made themselves apparent.  The first were the Kaladruns themselves.  He had heard of them, even once seen a map of them in Lord Skinners study but had never imagined the size of them.  The second were the Ogres. They were huge and the sight of them made him feel truly small in comparison.  They reminded him of the Dornish man on the wagon though they were still larger than him by far, Xein wondered if even he would have been able to stand to one of these monstrosities.  He wasn't surprised to see the goblins or the Bugbear commanding them.  They were commonly used as scouts and trackers but were clumsy and useless at it as far as Xein was concerned and he had once seen a Bugbear leading a slave Caravan of Dorns from the North come to Lord Skinners manner.  As the Bugbear came near, speaking to Agent Kael, Xein did not miss Rash'Gar's instinctive response and he whispered harshly.  "Not here brother, calm yourself!"  As he turned his attention back to the front of the group he saw a third surprise.  Agent Kael was Smiling.

[Jade17]

Sister Mara leaned close to Sister Amiril: "Hm. The ogres are not quite what I expected." Sister Mara had spent her entire life in the Abbey, and had already decided that the world outside was different from what she had expected. Much of her knowledge of the world had come from speaking with Sister Amiril of what she remembered from before joining Mara in the Abbey, and the few visitors she had had access to in the Abbey's remote location. She was beginning to realize that many travelers must have a tendency to exaggerate in their storytelling. The unfamiliar (and somewhat uncomfortable) feeling of being outside cloister walls had caused Sister Mara to rely heavily on her training in the Abbey.

She could almost hear Mother Superior's lessons. If you are uncertain of something, and still wish to command respect, remain silent and wait for others to speak. You can learn much in this way, as many find silence uncomfortable, and will fill it with information.

However, unlike the travelers that had passed through the Abbey, her traveling companions seemed largely content to remain silent. She began to wish that she were a bit more like her Sister, able to speak confidently with these men. She was more than capable of...communication...with those who needed to be questioned and brought to justice for their wrongs, but as a newly raised Sister in unfamiliar territory, she found that she was very uncertain of herself. She reminded herself again of Mother Superior's teachings, and decided that she would speak to Amiril of this when they stopped for the night. Perhaps her Sister would share some of her wisdom on the subject.