Mustering The Troops

13 SEPTEMBER 3460

They sleep until after noon, not having gone to bed until 6.00am earlier in the morning. They wake to find a wholesome breakfast/lunch prepared for them all.

‘There ain’t no point in movin’ on today’ says Heimlin ‘Another day more to go home ain’t gonna make no difference,’

Straight after lunch, Winnacer blows on the horn to attract the attention of all of the villagers. They stop what they were doing and come to where Winnacer is standing. He tells them to use the horn as a signal for a possible Nyemetz attack. He then goes through all of the villagers separating them into a group of those whom would make fighters, and those who are too old, young or weak to be of much use. He then gives instructions as to how to use each of the weapons that have been reclaimed from the orcs, how to don mail and some rudimentary combat moves.

The villagers start to try out the weapons. In the beginning, the results are less than impressive, as villagers are constantly dropping their weapons, or cutting their fingers on the blades, but after a few hours, some definite progress has been made.

Kesryk has been watching the training session with interest.

‘It is good that the villagers have experience with a variety of weapons, but through the portent of the orange horse, Spravedelna has decreed that the sons of Holitze will become Her Holy Horsemen, smiting the unjust with Her Holy Hammers’ he says with eyes blazing.

‘As soon as we get some horses, I will select the best warriors amongst my flock to form a campaigning force to go wherever is necessary in this land to smite the unjust. The others will remain in the town as a militia to protect their homes from any retaliation.’

Honza and Petr, the smith and weapon smith seek out Darius and Yaz.

‘We are not armorers and were not able to construct shields of metal for you, our beloved liberators. However, Michal the tanner and Orlik the cartwright were able to make you some simple shields that we hope will protect you.’

The two of them hand Darius and Yaz a couple of shields. A small one for Darius and a larger one for Yaz. The shields are constructed from leather covering a study wooden frame. Painted on the leather is the symbol of an orange horse’s head.

Kesryk is very much in demand that afternoon. He has a very lengthy debate with Maire’ regarding the safety of the villagers and the danger of Nyemetz reprisals. Maire’ suggests the forming of evacuation plans to get the villagers into the relative safety of the nearby woodlands should the Nyemetz come to Holitze looking for revenge. Kesryk immediately sets a small group of the villagers on the task of preparing such counter-measures.

Corrow patiently waits until the others have finished with Kesryk before speaking to the priest himself. Corrow tells Kesryk that the party will need some assistance in recruiting forces if a large number of forces are to be recruited for the cause. He asks Kesryk whether he would be able to help in recruiting people from the surrounding area to also muster forces for a crusade.

Kesryk thinks for a moment:

‘It would be an honor for me to give all of my assistance to you brave people in order to further the cause. As the parish priest, I do have some influence in the surrounding villages and, if Spravedelna wishes it to be, then I believe that I may be able to summon a reasonable force of devout men and woman to fight for the noble cause. However, my influence does not spread so far. Only rarely have I visited the mighty towns of Pardubitz and Hradetz Kralovye and have no friends there. I fear that I would be scorned by the townsfolk for being a crazy rustic were I to try and enlist their support. I also would be unable to tell friend from enemy there and fear that, in the midst of the Nyemetz controlled areas, I would be soon revealed as a rebel and put to death.’

‘Sir Corrow, rely upon me to form a unit or two of medium cavalry, but the rest of the army must be down to you and your brave colleagues to muster.’

Corrow’s curiosity is aroused at the mention of a mighty mage’s keep in the area and asks what became of it.

‘The keep is situated close to the border with what we now call Polsko’.

He goes on to give an accurate description of where the keep is situated.

Heimlin interjects ‘Oh, I know where that must be, it’s only about half a day’s travel off our route to Dvur Kralovye, high up in the hills.’

Kesryk continues:

‘The keep is still there, I believe, although I have not seen it with mine own eyes. From what I have heard from wandering minstrels and storytellers, it has crumbled a little from the outside, but inside it remains untouched since the day that Yaromir brought Spravedelna’s wrath upon Boscobelous. Inside are sure to be many items of great value, particularly to one interested in the mystick ways such as Maire’ and your good self. Of course, many have tried to obtain these items for themselves, but all have disappeared without a trace. The reason is that the keep, according to hearsay, is still inhabited by the living dead that the evil necromancer Boscobelous used for his foul deeds as well as other mystick enchantments and protection. You have all shown here that you have great skills, and you now have Spravedelna’s holy artifacts to assist you. Still, even with these items, I would recommend great caution were you to try and remove the bounty for Boscobelous’ keep.’

Later that afternoon, Xavier plans his interrogation of the orc. He decides to use the good guy, bad guy method, with Darius only too willing to take the role as bad guy.

The two of them descend into the cellar of the ‘Thug and Succubus’ where the orc has been lying in chains for the past 20 hours.

Xavier and Darius start to talk with the orc in orcish and goblin respectively. Darius laughs maniacally as he brandishes his shortsword and tells the orc in explicit detail as to what he is going to do with the orc unless he divulges answers to all of their questions. Xavier acts as if he is having difficulty trying to keep the crazed goblin under control, until he realizes how crazed Darius really is, at which point he struggles to keep the goblin under control for real! Xavier tells the orc that it would be by far in its best interests to give up the information quickly, so as to avoid unnecessary suffering.

After spending 20 hours chained up in a cold, dark cellar, the orc has already been softened up a great deal, and the antics of Xavier and Darius set the orc squealing like a stuck pig, begging for its sad life:

‘What is the strength of the local garrison?’ is the first question put to the orc by Xavier.

‘Hradetz Kralovye is from where come I. Think I be 100 orky longbow, 200 ….errm 180 now, orky infantry, 300 gobbo spears, 100 gobbo shortbow, 50 gobbo worg riders, 50 orog heavies, 20 ogre mercenary super heavies. Know not I more. Know not what in Pardubitze.’

‘What type of troops are in the local area?’ Xavier asks next.

‘2nd Regiment orky infantry, big boss say you go get hooman slaves fight Slovene wiv us. Five companies each have 20 orks different way from Hradetz go. Company 3rd mine was. All others you kill.’

‘What were the plans for conscripting the slaves?’ continues Xavier.

‘Plan simple. Simple is best. Go find villages. Find all hooman who good could fight. Take hooman back Hradetz.’

‘What were the slaves to be armed with?’ is the final question for the orc.

The orc gives a little shrug:

‘No know that I. Spears? Axes? Sticks? No me tell that. I no care.’

Darius starts to laugh maniacally and brandishes his sword once more. The orc starts to whimper again:

‘No hurt me. Beg I. What I know you know. No hurt me.’

Xavier and Darius leave the orc in the cellar and report their finding back to the rest of the party. Xavier asks whether there is anything else that could be useful to know, or whether the orc should be handed over to the villagers for justice.

Upon Xavier revealing the information that he was able to extract from the orc, Maire' asks for another two questions to be asked of it. The first is, what sort of magical support the Nyemetz have in Hradetz Kralovye, and the other is for him to ascertain where the other orc companies were dispatched to.

Xavier and Darius go back into the cellar and ask the questions to the orc.

Once again, the orc is quick to come up with answers in order to avoid the wrath of Darius.

'Orcky witch doctor have three, gobbo shaman have four, ogre shaman is one, hooman witchfinders is five, witchfinder general is one.'

As regards the locations of the other companies, the orc responds:

'Company 1st go to evening sun, company 2nd right of evening sun, my company 3rd to morning sun, company 4th right of morning sun. Know not where go company 5th.'

Xavier and Darius leave the cellar and lock the door behind them again. They give the new information to Maire' and the others.

'So, is there any more information that you would like us to extract from it, or should we hand it over to the villagers now?'

Winnacer and Corrow are very interested in Kesryk's information regarding Boscobelous' keep. Winnacer asks Kesryk whether there was any chance of his accompanying the group to the keep in order to add its contents to the cause of the rebellion.

Kesryk thinks for a while, and then responds:

'Although I believe that there could be many items of great use to our cause contained within the keep, I fear that they could still be protected by the necromancer's undead guardians, and that such a trip would face many dangers. What if we were to go on such an expedition and we were all slain? What would become of Her holy crusade then? The people would once again lose their chance of removing their bondage. The chance of such a tragedy befalling us is too great to warrant the risk, I think. In any case, I believe that I am most needed here, to organize the villagers to becoming the first military unit of the revolution. Therefore, I regret that I must refuse to go with you on this endeavor, and would ask you to use extreme caution, should you embark on the trip yourselves.'

This leads on to a conversation about what Kesryk can do in order to add fuel to the fires of revolution. Corrow shows to Kesryk a glyph of an eye with long lashes and a single teardrop. He tells Kesryk that this will be the contact sign to show that any agents claiming to be working on behalf of the party are speaking truthfully. He asks Kesryk whether Spravedelna has Temples in Hradetz Kralovye and Pardubitze, to which Kesryk replies that there is a Temple in Pardubitze, but not in Hradetz Kralovye. Kesryk believes that, were they all to speak with the High Priestess there, then they would have a good chance of gaining her support. He is not, however, sure that he, himself, would be able to secure the Temple's support on his own, as he is quite far down the pecking order, and has got himself a reputation for being something of a trouble maker. If they decide to contact the Temple in Pardubitze, then the marking that Kesryk has applied to Winnacer's armor and the liturgy that he has given to him should ensure that the members of any Spravedelna Temple look kindly upon the party.

Finishing his conversation with Kesryk, Winnacer goes off in order to find a group of womenfolk who are gathered around the well, washing clothes. He offers to the women a good sum of his money for the sake of their children. At first, the women refuse to accept Winnacer's donation, saying that he and the rest of the party have already done so much for the villagers. However, at Winnacer's assistance, they finally accept the young knight's charity.

In another part of the village, Jihan seeks out Heimlin and starts to speak to him in broken gnomish. He mentions the fact that a gnomish merchant who he traveled with by the name of Luhhan Goldstone taught him something of the ways of the gnomish tongue, and the gnomes' astuteness in financial matters.

'Bloody 'ell!' exclaims Heimlin, 'You've met me Uncle Luhhan! Well I never, 'Ow is the ole scoundrel? I 'aven't seen 'im in years. Used to see 'im regularly whenever 'e came through Mnyesto, but after the Nyemetz came, 'e couldn't come through there no more, so I 'aven't seen 'im in years. Actually, there's a good chance you'll meet up with 'im again when we gets back to me village. Luhhan's got a big place on the opposite side of the village from me son's place.'

Others from the group join in the conversation, and one of them mentions the fact that it is perhaps not wise to be walking around with large quantities of coin with them.

'Don't be worryin' about 'avin' to cart loads of coin around with yers. When we gets back to me son's place, I can exchange all of yer coins fer gems. That way you can carry a king's ransom around in just a little pouch.'

Jihan moves on to spend some time with Kesryk. He tells the priest about his views regarding the fact that bows would be better weapons than crossbows.

'Bows are fine for those who are strong enough in arm to draw back the bowstrings. The finest of the villagers will be fighting by my side on their chargers, so Holitze's defenders will be drawn from the women, youths and old folk who might not be able to draw back a bowstring far enough. However, I think that some of them will be able to use a shortbow, if not a longbow. The villagers will be trained in guerilla warfare, as they are never going to be able to hold their own in a pitched battle, even if it were just with goblins.'

The whole of the afternoon has been spent talking. The villagers start to prepare another feast for the evening meal, as the party has indicated that they will be carrying on with their journey tomorrow.

Jihan spends much of the afternoon with the villagers, trying to impart as much of his knowledge concerning archery that he can in just a few hours.

Before the night's celebratory feast is ready, Winnacer calls the others together away from the villagers in order to have a private meeting regarding a number of decisions that need to be taken prior to their departure from Holitze.

The first issue is regarding the distribution of Yaromir's holy relics.

'Such noble items need noble names. Xavier, I am pleased that you consider yourself worthy of accepting the might blade of Yaromir. My suggestion is that it be referred to as "The Justifier". Yaz, your holy armor also needs a name, my suggestion is "Yaromir's Iron Will", but I'm sure that there is a good chance that you will have a different name in mind. Finally, the knife, I believe we should call "Yaromir's Tooth" unless any have better suggestions. By the way, who is going to bear this artifact?'

Yaz says that he already has one of the artifacts so believes it should go to another. Jihan already has Langzhan, a personal reminder of his father.

'So what about you Maire'?' asks Winnacer 'Would you accept this fine artifact?'

With the distribution of the weapons agreed upon, Winnacer asks what the decision should be regarding the party's future transportation. It is easily decided that they will leave the orc's wagon and the holy orange horse with the villagers and continue with the loyal Giselle and her cart.

Finally, there comes the subject of whether to leave funds with the villagers and the amount that it should be. This produces quite a fierce debate amongst them all. Winnacer and Jihan argue for giving the villagers 2000gp in order to form an effective unit. Darius, Yaz and Corrow, however, believe that it is reckless to give such a large amount to the first village that they have come across. The debate rages for several minutes before they decide to split the difference and settle on the median sum of 1000gp.

'Fine' says Heimlin 'I said that I wanted the money to go to a good cause, and this is the best that I've seen so far. Let's present the villagers with the funds at the end of the feast as a 'going away present.''

Jihan decides that he would like to have one final interrogation session with the orc before it is handed over to the villagers to impose justice upon the beast. However, no sooner has he gone than he returns with a puzzled expression on his face.

'The orc is dead' exclaims Jihan 'Someone has hacked him to death.'

The rest of them immediately head towards the cellar in order to see the site for themselves. Sure enough, the orc is discovered to be horribly butchered lying in a pool of it's own blood. Winnacer alerts Kesryk to come and see the sight and asks whether he was responsible.

'Certainly not' replies Kesryk. 'It is not Spravedelna's way. I was going to give the orc a fair trial in front of a jury, imposing Her vengeance should it be found to have committed injustice, in which case I would have performed the act using one of Her holy hammers, not a blade.'

Kesryk brings the villagers together to ask whether any of them committed this act of vengeance or whether they saw anyone else do harm to the orc. All of them say that it was none of them, nor did they see any others commit the act.

'Very strange' says Kesryk in contemplation, 'Still, we should not let this event spoil our second evening of celebrations.'

An hour later, they are all seated in the center of the village once again. A plate of vegetables has been brought so that Yaz and Jihan can eat with the others.

During the feast, Winnacer asks if Kesryk may have some vials of holy water to spare, as such items may be useful should they decide to try to enter Boscobelous' keep. Kesryk replies that the Nyemetz defiled the font during their looting session, so he does not have a great deal to spare. However, he does have five vials that he is able to give to the party.

As the feast is coming to an end, Winnacer tells Kesryk that the party has decided to give him and the villagers the Holy Horse and the orcs' cart as well as the sum of 1000gp in order to buy horses in order to start the cavalry unit. Kesryk is, not surprisingly, overjoyed at the party's generosity and says that it is too kind of them all. He tells them that it is market day in Pardubitze the following day, so they will be able to get horses immediately.

Once the deal has been reached, Heimlin produces a couple of gems, an amethyst and a fire opal, which he hands to the priest, receiving their great thanks.

One of the villagers looks a little jealous at the transaction. He reveals himself to be Stanislav the local jeweler. Not to be outdone by a gnome, he then announces that he will match the gnome's donation, pulling out a handful of lesser quality gemstones that he puts before Kesryk.

The priest is now ecstatic:

'With these gems, and a little bit of negotiating, we should be able to purchase ten sturdy mounts to form our unit. It will be the nucleus of a mighty unit!'

The feast goes on for another couple of hours before everyone retires, knowing that all will have long journeys the following day. Once again, the party is treated to a night of luxury, sleeping in the villagers' beds.