Legendary Exploits of Three Not Viking Brothers

Robillard laughs. "We will be the scouting party! We can determine all of this. Otherwise, what are we to do, wait here with the camp attendants? We must be bold and strike forth!"

Gwain raises an eyebrow at his brother's brash remarks. "Is this some kind of game to you? Have you not spared any thoughts reflecting on our last thoughtless plan, the one that resulted in two of my friends dead?"

"Our last thoughtless plan? Men die in battle, Gwain. They die by the dozen, by the hundred, by the thousand. If you are not prepared for that, then I fear we are already lost. If I act brash, it is because in times like this we must laugh. Otherwise we shall surely cry. It is clear that we can no longer pray to Themis; she has forsaken these lands." Robillard's voice grows serious as he is forced to confront his brother's naïveté.

"So that's it then? Just accept that my friends will die? And what should I do when my brothers are in danger. Oh wait, I remember, NOTHING! Imagine: I wait for eight years to welcome back the brother I haven't seen since I was a boy, and what do I get instead? An apathetic monster who's lost conviction for his family and his god."

"And what should I have done," roars back Robillard, heedless of the men who must be marching with them. "Burst in like an avenging fury, and slain the priests? It would have been both our heads. I was forced to make a choice in those dungeons, Gwain. A choice between your life, your balls, and Themis, and I. Chose. You. You have not seen what I have seen, the horrors of war. That battle in the cave was but a taste of what's to come when we enter the Blasted Lands. Accept that your friends will die and hope that few do. "

Leewan steps in and speaks when both brothers turn to acknowledge his presence.

"Your arguments weaken your reputations among the men. Scout ahead with a small party and our hired guide. We cannot afford to cross into the blasted lands and be caught by the lich armies before we join the main force. As you ride with only a few others you will have the freedom to deride each other."

Leewan switches to a more hushed tone.

"Robillard speaks the truth Gwain. The world we live in does not support idealism. Men die and sexual dalliances end with bastards, illness and punishment by the faith. If you want this world to be another way then make it so with your abilities. Overcome and slay your miserable baron Bradford. Secure the crown and nourish our house alliances."

Gwain halts his torrent of bile at the beheadst of his lord, but the flames of rage still dance furiously in his eyes. "Fine. Then we leave at sundown. The cover of night will be our shield. And Robillard, if you make so much as a squeek in that armor of yours, we're leaving you behind."

Robillard swallows his pride, as well as the vitriolic comments racing through his brain, and nods tightly. He restricts himself to a single sentence. "If you were not my brother, I would challenge you to a duel for your insults."

"Hmph," is Gwain's only response to Robillard before turning to Leewan. "I will meet with our guide and finish making arrangements for the mission. Any of us who feel they can contribute are welcome to join the discussion."

With that, Gwain leaves to find their guide and assemble Gwain's Guard. When all are collected, he asks their guide to share any knowledge he might have of their current location. How volatile is the whether? Are there any risks of mudslides or flooding? Are there any hidden caves or secret passages? What about the fort housing the crown, what strategic value does it have? Is it often occupied, and by how many?

Gwain slides down from his higher perch with his brothers to the columns of men marching along past them. He asks around the officers for where Gisgo has gone and eventually Gwain learns the Farasian has ventured ahead of the rest of the army. Gwain finds this hard to believe initially because he and his brothers were at the front of the army but he then realizes there is a good chance he missed Gisgo venturing off while he was arguing with his brother.

Slightly perplexed and a little worried by Gisgo's absence, Gwain decides to search for tracks that might lead away from the main army. If their guide left any time after the rain started, his trail will be easy to follow through the newly created mud.

[11 on awareness]

It is initially difficult for Gwain to find any tracks to follow after Gisgo but nonetheless, he manages to find a set of tracks that obviously belong to a horse (since horse hooves have a pretty easy to identify indentation) and lead off away from the main army. Gwain follows after them for a little while away from the army and realises they go off quite a fair distance.

Choosing to pursue on horseback and not on foot, Gwain goes back momentarily for a horse and rides off alongside the tracks. After approximately fifteen minutes of pursuit, Gwain stops upon cresting a small hill (more like a dune but made of mud) to see Gisgo atop his brown horse about fifty meters away. As Gwain watches Gisgo dismounts from his horse and starts walking up a mud dune in front of him in the direction of what Gwain realises are three cloaked individuals poking through some mud with some sticks and a shovel.

"Fraud, stay here with the horses and watch for any sign of trouble." Gwain orders in a low voice. "I'm going to see if I can get any closer. If something goes wrong, I'll give the signal for help. One hoot for an avenging arrow, two hoots for ride back to the army and relay what you saw."

The sparsity of the planes will make a stealthy approach difficult, so Gwain improvises some camouflage. He removes his cloak and slathers it with mud until it shares the same dull color as the surrounding ground. Then he sets off at a careful pace until he is within earshot.

[14 on the stealth check with 1 destiny point used for an extra +1B]

Gwain moves down from the dune as quietly as he can and as best as he can tell Gisgo hs not noticed him. As Gwain stalks forward he cringes at the occasional squish and squash noise that his boots create in the mud but nonetheless continues his move forward. As Gisgo walks ever closer eventually one of the three people sifting through the mud look up and in a blur of motion Gisgo throws out his hand and a long steel dagger suddenly appears in the man's eye socket.

As blood begins to run from the wound the other man with a stick jumps up startled and starts to run off. The man with the shovel takes the exact opposite approach and charges forward with a yell to split Gisgo's head in two.

Gwain spurs into action, knocking two arrows and lining up a shot for the figure running away. As soon as the target comes into focus, he looses both projectiles at once with the aim of rendering the figure unconscious.

[25 and 27 on the shots]

Gwain fires off two arrows into the man fleeing and the hit him with such force and pain caused to him he is forced face first into the mud. Gwain prays that the man still lives and turns back to see Gisgo pull a glistening curved sword and effortlessly deflect the obvious overhead attack from the charging man. Gisgo disarms his opponent by, well, disarming him in one swift swipe of his blade. The not armless man stares at the stump in terror as the shovel falls and implants itself into the mud and Gisgo ends his pain with a swipe across his neck decapitating him with a sound similar to cutting wet paper.

As Gisgo kills the man in cold blood Gwain sees him turn to where the man running presumably would be but realizes that he has fallen into the mud with arrows sticking out of him. Dumbfounded, Gisgo looks around before seeing a mud covered Gwain behind him and his facial expression becomes more akin to its usual emotionless state.

Gisgo flicks the blood from his sword and sheathes it and finally speaks to Gwain as he pulls his dagger from the dead mans eye "I did not realize you had come out all this way, Gwain Von Griswald. Finished arguing with your brothers so soon?"

Gwain does not allow himself to be distracted by the guide's useless line of questioning. "I was not aware Lord Griswald permitted your wandering from the main body of the army. He's a very cautious man. If he were to know you traveled alone like this without good reason, he might very well have your head. I came searching for you to discuss this evening's plans, but it would appear you have other arrangements. Luckily, I am more understanding than Lord Griswald. So, care to explain?"

Gisgo turns to Gwain and says in a rather bland tone "My contract requires me to act as a guide and ensure the dangers of these lands do not harm the army."

He gestures with his arm to the two dead men "These men, had they continued their foraging, would likely have seen the army as it moved and sold the information of our whereabouts to a local raiding group, or worse, a Lich. I was going to take one alive to find out what groups are active in the area but unfortunately that seems like it's no longer the case." The last part he says while looking at the man with two arrows sticking out of his back.

"You might be in luck then. I did not earn the title Arrowsplitter without good reason. Check his pulse."

Gisgo walks over to the man in the mud and reaches down and feels for the man's pulse. After a moment he stands back up and kicks him over to reveal the mud covered face of the poor sod who happened to be in the wrong place today. Gisgo shouts over to Gwain "He's alive, but unconscious from the shock. Give me a hand with getting this one on my horse and we can head back to the army."

Satisfied with Gisgo's explanation, Gwain helps hoist the limp body onto the guide's horse. "I hope my actions don't come off as distrustful. I simply had reason to speak with you and took the most direct route. When I found you, it looked like you were busy, so I approached with care. It's good I did too, otherwise this one could have gotten away."

GIsgo shrugs as he grabs the legs and Gwain grabs the arms. As the two lay the man across the horse Gisgo says "It was impressive, shooting a man with two arrows and intentionally having him survive."

With that, the two (and the member of Gwains Guard) ride back towards the army and soon enough Robillard and Leewan receive word that their brother and Gisgo are returning with what appears to be an injured man. Upon arrival, Gisgo asks Gwain "Would it be preferred I not be present for whatever questioning you may have for this one? I can assure you I won't go off on my own again for some time."

"No, stay. It might take someone familiar with this land to know what questions to ask. And besides, we wouldn't know if he told an obvious lie without your knowledge of the area."

"You have captured this man? Let us take him somewhere private so we might revive and interrogate him."

Gwain says nothing to Robillard and continues leading the horses towards Leewan's tent.

Gwain guides his horse toward the tent that is being setup for Leewan by family servants with Gisgo (and the captive) in tow. Robillard manages to keep pace with the horses easily due to his large strides and when Leewan receives word that his brothers have arrived outside Gisgo is already removing the captive from the horse and hoisting him over his shoulders.

"Lord Griswald," calls Gwain, "Gisgo and I captured a prisoner while we scouted the surroundings. We have him here for questioning."

Leewan responds: "Our immediate priority is to uncover whether or not the lych armies have already marched across the wastes and cut us off from joining the imperial forces. The men cannot stand in the mud for too long, it drains morale before the attrition has begun."

"Did you hear that, prisoner?! Tell us what you know!"

The prisoner says nothing due to an overwhelming amount of unconsciousness and arrow heads stuck into his back

Robillard spits on him. "Bring a healer for this weakling. If all heretics are this easily removed from battle, our Crusade will surely succeed."

Robillard's bravado covers his memories. Arrows flying through the air, the wet thud of them landing in his friend's flesh. The howls of heretic armies as they rush forward, heedless of the swords and spears awaiting them.

Leewan adds.

"Securing a prisoner was not the intent of your excursion. If he can unveil new knowledge in time then he will prove useful. However, knowing if the path is open to meet our allies is an urgent matter. Gisgo, what can you say on the matter?"

A medic comes running over after Robillards call and sets to work immediately as Gisgo responds to Leewan "The path as far as I have gone is clear of any threats. This one was captured to determine what raiding parties may be in the area. Your brother has ordered me not to venture from the camp without your orders again. If you wish me to venture further and determine how clear the rest of the path is you will need to give me the permission."

"Don't mince words Gisgo, I presumed no such authority," declares Gwain. "I merely informed our guide that unannounced ventures would be taken to kindly be Lord Griswald."

"Keep us informed of your coming and goings. Beyond that exercise freedom in completing your duties. We will move ahead to our allies.While the wastes are open we have to cross them towards the southeast."

"But before the real fighting begins, there is the matter of tonight's scouting mission." Gwain adds. "What can you tell us about the fort ahead?"

Gisgo gives Gwain a questioning look and says "You plan to scout a fort that is five days travel away tonight? I know nothing of the occupants as only those with death wishes go near the forts. The walls look sturdy from the distances I've seen it before, attributed by it's continued existence."

For clarification (and a reminder of details you may not remember) the planned initial army staging area is towards the East about thirty-five miles away. The Lich armies were last reported to be camped one hundred miles to the North East from your current position. The fort where the crown is being directly between your current position and the Lich armies fifty-five miles away. Infantry can march on average twenty-five miles a day through decent terrain while horses can march thirty-two on average.

"Let us take a small force to investigate the fort while the bulk of our men ride for the meeting place. They can begin building defensive fortifications while we wait for the rest of our allies to arrive."

"Denied. Before you and Gwain set yourselves to the task you must know when and where to find our forces. We wait for the remaining armies of Acren to join us."

"Then let us begin digging! Manual labor will keep the men from thoughts of rebellion. You know what they say, 'idle hands are heretic's hands.'"

"My lord," suggests Gwain "if we wish for our task force to be in position when the main engagement starts, shouldn't we be in position near the fort anyway? We can stake out the fort from a safe distance, then begin the operation once we see a large force depart to join the fray."

Leewan nods "Go then, succeed."

"Then let us go! A little travel is just what the men need to keep up morale!"

Gwain sets about preparing for the expedition ahead. Deciding that the mission will be better served by a small party, he summons just four members of Gwain's Guard to accompany Robillard and himself: Treachery, Fraud, Sloth, and Gia. He packs the horses lightly, taking just rope, two shovels, and enough food and camping supplies to last. The men equip themselves with their usual arms: bows, swords, and daggers, and also follow Gwain's lead in dyeing their normally wood-green tights brown with a healthy caking of dirt.

Before setting off, he summons Gisgo to where the men are finishing their preparations. "Is there anything we're forgetting?" asks Gwain.

Gisgo comes answering Gwains summons and responds to his question bluntly "You'll need a means to stop raiders from killing you for everything you have on your person"

Gwain ponders the statement for a moment. "I had assumed that with a small force, we wouldn't attract any undue attention. However, if raiders frequent these lands, perhaps we should reconsider. What can you say of their roaming patterns and tactics?"

Gisgo shrugs and says "One or two people they will rarely bother. If they do they'll merely shake them down for some coin and be off. They only roam during the day on foot and on horseback but any man who would travel these plains at night in such small a party is likely to never be heard from again. The raiders aren't well armed and armoured but most carry simple weapons and bows. Their leaders are commonly the largest of their lot and are easily identifiable."

"How large are these bands of raiders? Perhaps we could camp in hidden places at night to avoid their attention. How large a force would we need to be able to easily protect ourselves?"

"Their sizes are as varied as the types of people in this world. If you wish to stay out of their sight at night I suggest digging holes in the ground to keep you out of sight. If you wish for easy protection, I'd suggest staying with the army."

"And what is this danger that comes skulking in the night?" Gwain muses.