Legendary Exploits of Three Not Viking Brothers

Robillard stumbles for a second, trying to remember. However, the events of the past few days feel like they happened a lifetime ago.

"Yenin, perhaps you have forgotten or perhaps you have not yet been informed," he says slowly. "Snake is certainly involved in nearby villages. The man you and Gwain captured had a cloak from the same Lich. Is that not evidence enough of his involvement?"

Gisgo shoots Robillard a death stare and Yenin bursts out laughing. Yenin, barely controlling himself, practically shouts through heaving breaths "Snake is dining on those in the mud here?! How desperate he must be! What I'd give to rub it in his face!"

Gisgo, speaking far more seriously, maintains his stare at Robillard "The man had what on him? He bore no cloak bearing a serpent when I put a knife on his shoulder. I never pegged you for one to jest but please tell me you are."

"Do you not remember his cloak? Such craftsmanship could not be found casually in these fields of mud. But perhaps you are right. My memory is hazy these days. I try not to dwell on recent events, for they are too painful to consider."

Trying to change the subject after realizing that Leewan must have had a reason to keep his secrets, he then asks, "But let me question you further on a different topic. Should we head to the fortress which we scouted before, are we likely to encounter the same barbarian bands once more? With the forces we currently have marshaled, it would be child's play to recover Guinevere from the monster who took her."

Gisgo eyes narrow in suspicion at Robillard as Yenin ceases his laughter saying "You mean he's not here? What a shame."

Gisgo, changing his gaze towards Yenin "Better for all of us he isn't." Looking back at Robillard "Those raiders may still be in the area we came across them. They'd have to be extremely bold or desperate to attack a marching army, however."

"I think we've said enough on that subject and we," Gwain throws a death glare at Robillard, "will have to wait until Lord Griswald has finished his business to discuss it further."

Gwain turns his attention back to Thistle. "I couldn't agree more that we need allies everywhere we can find them. As it happens, we have a task that a skilled tracker would be quite useful for. While it may be dangerous to venture outside while the battle rages, forestalling this any longer could spell doom for our whole operation."

"The man who attacked us, Bohdan if you will, was able to ambush Robillard and I at the edge of our own camp. The trail should still be fresh. Are you up for a little excursion?"

"I am most ready to hunt down more heretics. We could truly use your aid, Thistle. Will you help us?"

"Of course," Thistle says, "just point me in the right direction." She picks up her spear and bow, and pushes Nibs up. "Those dog things were cleared from there, right?"

(she got a 13 for tracking, btw.)

"The whisper-wolves were last seen devouring their former master, this Bohdan. Surely by now they have filled their bellies with his damned flesh and gone on their way. Does your cat sniff out foes as well?"

"She sure does," Thistle says, "but we need to let her sniff around the area to get a read."

She turns to look at the rest of the party. "Yennin, did you want to join us?"

"Let's not be too hasty here. Lord Griswald must be informed before we fling ourselves into danger again."

Leewan contemplates for a good long time before responding to Holzer's accusatory questions.

"So long as the other lords are confirmed to be alive and well enough to lead then Frey and I will begin the march."

Noske, in a somewhat exaggerated gesture, raises his hand towards the sky "Then may Themis above protect you and your soldiers because if the others are not alive then you'll simply die at the walls or on them. I cannot willingly allow you to take soldiers to their probable deaths on a hope that reinforcements will come quickly enough."

Holzer throws his hands in the air and turns around in frustration muttering curses under his breath. Frey stops Leewan before he can respond with a hand on his shoulder "There'll be more opportunities to drive the Lich's from these lands and we cannot call ourselves their betters if we don't look after our own."

Holzer turns back to the assembled lords having managed to collect himself "Woe betide Acren if her champion doesn't have confidence in his peers. This attack was obviously an attempt to kill the armies leadership and it has failed. Lords Ettlinger and Bronstein are undoubtedly clearing their sections of the camp."

Noske sighs and looks at Holzer "It's not a matter of confidence in the others lords but a matter of safety. It's far too early in this war to risk two whole houses forces!"

As the lords make to continue their increasingly heated debate the king shouts "ENOUGH!" All those near and within the circle turn to look at the King as he suddenly interrupts his lessers "This war was undertaken with immense risks in mind and if we are to baulk as soon as challenge confronts us then we may as well turn and run to the safety of Acrens mountains. Lords Frey and Griswald you are ordered to take your forces and lay siege to the fort, take it in Acrens name, and hold it until reinforcements can arrive."

Frey with a disheartened look responds to the King "Then we are to risk the lives of hundreds on an assumption? March forth with the high likelihood of death in foreign soil?"

The King looks long and hard at Frey. Responding sternly "You are to fight and die like the future of Acren depends on it."

Without another word, Frey turns and takes his leave of the circle. The expression on his face hidden from the other lords as Holzer speaks to the King "This is is the right decision, my lord. We cannot afford to wait and play our enemies games."

Leewan bows out of the conversation now that orders have been given. He makes way back to camp and sees his brothers eager to raise new concerns and requests to perform acts of chivalry.

He casts a glance at them. "What is the matter?"

Rob steps aside with Leewan and Gwain, making sure none can overhear. "We were just discussing a possible scouting trip to track the man who accosted us. He may be dead, but we can still follow his trail. The strange woman you see there is Thistle, a native of these lands and a tracker."

"There is no time to spare for vengeance. This barbarian attack affected neither your image nor robbed the house of precious artifacts. Lest there is other business you two must act with haste to organize our forces for the march. Before you set off on your way beckon this native tracker to report to me. Her experience will be of use."

Rob beckons as ordered, eager to move on with the plot (to wrest the kings crown from the lick lords).

Thistle does as beckoned and approaches Leewan's camp, nervously.

Leewan looks up and down the diminuitive blasted lander. He pulls at his chin and continues in deep silence for a minute.

"Thus far the more ragged and native your local kind are the more useful they have proven themselves to be. I require education on the unseen hazards and opportunities of this land."

Leewan begins heading to his tent. Several steps later he turns towards Thistle.

"Follow."

Taken a little aback, Thistle trails after, with Nibbs following at her heels. The other two seem mostly normal, she thinks, but the oldest is the scariest of them. I need to be careful.


"How much previous experience have you had in the Blasted Lands, er...your lordship?"

Leewan steps into his tent and takes a seat at the makeshift map his scouts developed from their surveys and Gwain's report of the keep. Marked wooden pieces denote the location of the forces of Acren and the estimated locations of the lych forces.

He looms over the map and cranes his head up to look at the meek guide as she follows into the tent after him. He slams an open hand against the map.

"Improve it. Educate me on the myriad threats that are still not noted or unmarked. My experience is wholly in the slaughter of man, not the subhuman."

"Well," Thistle says, "you should probably move your camp soon for a start, or find a way to deal with the dogs." She waves a hand at the spot on the map in the general vicinity of the camp. "Those dogs like low lying areas. If you had set up a few miles north, " she points at a hilly section, "then it wouldn't have been as much of an issue. They're not real keen on the uplands."  

Thistle taps one of the hills northward. "That's my village. It's small and there's not exactly much left, but there's a river that runs nearby it that you can take up to the next big market town.  No lich encampments near by, but maybe some further up or down stream. There's one slave pit yond the market town, but I've never been there."

She hesitates a little. "If you do need to reprovision, that market town is probably the best place to do it. I have a sister who lives there who can probably help."

Thistle points to a patch further east ward of the camp and makes a broad sweep with her arm. "Whatever you do, though, you should probably avoid that area. It's mostly swamp, but there's lots of weird, nasty things that live in it. Your horses and carts will get bogged down easy enough. There are lich roads through that are raised off the ground, but they're well guarded. Beyond the swamp, maybe a day or two's journey, is another fortress, but I'm not sure who is heading it now. Whoever's on charge runs the pits in the swamp-they're there, but well hidden.

She points out a few other lich outposts a ways a way, but not particularly close.

"Is there anything else you want to know?"

"What do you know of this castle?"  Robillard indicates the fort that he, Gisgo, and Yenin scouted.

Leewan leans in with an inked quill and scratches in quick adjustments on the map according to the tiny wild one's report. He lifts his gaze a few degrees and stares through Thistle.

"This is your welcome to the forces of Griswald. Deceit is met with death."

The lord of Griswald rises and leaves Thistle to her own devices. The pieces of a developing plan are coming together in his reptilian mind. He doles out orders to the couriers and the officers. Messengers scatter through the camp to convey to Frey's forces that Griswald begins their march on the fort. A small scouting squad is sent with Thistle's improved intel to confirm the presence or lack of forces at the market town and to estimate the time the march would take.

He trudges through dust and debris to find Gwain and relay one final set of orders. To procure vast quantities of driftwood and firewood from the imperial stock or elsewhere.

Thistle eyes the departing Griswald warily. Well, that definitely won't backfire on me at all later.

She turns to Rob. "Oh, you and Gisgo went there? I'm surprised you didn't run into the patrols. There's two barrack posts over here." She points near the fortress and grabs a quill to mark them out.

Thistle scratches at her head thoughtfully. "I think Snake is in charge there still, but he's away a lot and usually he leaves a smaller garrison when he's away."

"It's in a bad state though and any time I'm by there it's never looked in great shape. Lots of crumbling walls, the guards sometimes use a gap near the back to get in and out unseen. "

"They've also got- what do you rich people got, where you throw your chamber pots down a bunch of shafts? Sewers? You might be able to get in and out using those."

"Would you be able to lead us to this 'gap' in the rear walls? How many men would we be able to sneak through there? If we could open the gates from the inside, we may be able to avoid a costly siege."

"I've never actually been in the fortress, so I can't say for sure how many men or how big it is. But it's probably not that big. It would depend on how long it would take until the guards notice."

"But I can definitely show you where it is."

"In that case you can join Gwain and I in our quest. Bring that cat of yours; I'm sure it can take down a guard or two." Rob stands and puts his massive, still gauntleted hand on Thistle's shoulder.

"Now, shall we go and pray before we leave on our mission?"

"Sure," Thistle says. "So who exactly are you praying to?"

As Leewans order for massive quantities of firewood goes out (not a particularly difficult request in the current circumstances) Lord Frey approaches with a small entourage of officers. With a nervous expression, he says "Until we get several miles away from here we won't be safe. My forces will secure our way out and maintain a perimeter until we are clear of the Scar. I'll leave supplies to you."

Whether Leewan gives a meaningful response or not Lord Frey goes along his way and he and his officers begin issuing orders as a path out of the makeshift barricades is created. Leewan and his own officers begin ensuring sufficient resources are secured. Still suspicious of the mud peasants, Leewan eyes across the camp to see Thistle speaking to Robillard while Yenin and Gisgo begin doing their part in loading material onto carts supplied by the King. Not long after the order for firewood was put out, Gwain returns to report that four cartfulls have been gathered and made ready to move. Perhaps concerningly, none of the brothers sees Daratra among the soldiers but time forces them to assume she is somewhere among the crowds.

Under the cloak of darkness and silence, Lord Frey's forces move ahead of Leewans through the camp and ensure no ambushes await. Meanwhile, the Griswald soldiers and support forces follow closely behind with the only sound above a whisper comes from muffled pack animals and the creaks wooden wheels. As the combined army reaches the edge of the camp the extent to how lucky both House Griswald and House Frey were becomes apparent. Leading up to the path out of the Scar dozens of corpses are impaled on makeshift sets of stakes with eyes and tongues removed leaving a bloody visage on each face. Already, many of the corpses show signs of being eaten by scavengers and as the brothers march along they come to a soldier staring in horror at the scene. In his hands, the soldier holds a single piece of parchment on which is written a single word:

"LEAVE"

As the soldiers move up the path out of the Scar Frey's forces maintain the perimeter and keep vigilant for any monsters that may try and attack the moving force. Soon, the brothers and Thistle are free of the death and carnage below them. Leewan and Frey take a moment to consolidate their forces and establish the direction to march. Extremely wary of any forces that may be waiting in the darkness, scouts are sent out immediately to assure there is not army hiding from sight. When reports come back negative, everyone breathes a sigh of relief and the march begins. Lord Frey orders as many lights as possible be ignited to scare away any would-be assailants.

With direction established and patrols around the army watching for enemies, the march begins towards the Lich castle. Fortunately, no further attacks of events unfold (aside from several soldiers falling asleep on carts when they shouldn't be) and as dawn begins to come over the horizon Lord Frey suggests that a temporary camp be established to allow soldiers to catch up on sleep before the coming battle. Accepting the limitations of flesh and blood Leewan agrees and a very tightly packed tents are put up (clearly soldiers trying their best to not be on the outskirts). Shifts are established to allow each soldier to get a modicum of sleep while Robillard, Gwain, and Thistle are left to their own devices. Meanwhile, Lord Frey sends a summons to Leewan to plan for the upcoming attack.

Leewan orders his brothers with him to follow further along for the discussion. He makes no explicit order for any Gisgo's band to not follow.

Leewan weaves through the dense hovel of tents and apprehensive soldiers and up to Frey's tent. Once inside he greets the patriarch of Frey with a subtle nod and looks down at the markings and pieces arranged on the damp parchment of the map. He immediately notices proportions and empty spaces disagreeing with the information brought to him from his own contracted scouts. He reaches down with pointed finger along the reported passage under the fort walls.

"Sealed gates will not yield to ordinary siege according to our required schedule. Protracted siege out in the open will bring the enemy nipping on our heels if the pestilences of this frontier do not cripple the soldiers first. Our indigenous scouts have observed a narrow passage beneath this fort wall and claim that days ago the fort was occupied by only few elite forces. Any expedient success here will entail use of this passage in some way, either as honest attack or diversion.

What are the tallys of your forces lord Frey?"

Gisgo and Yenin do not follow along leaving Thistle to her own decision. As the brothers enter the tent they see that Lord Frey is not alone. By his side stands a man as old as Lord Frey but far more battle worn with several scars across his face and an eyepatch presumably covering a missing eye. Frey nods in acknowledgement to Leewans information "We cannot allow whatever siege that occurs to last more than two days. Any more than that and we'll be cut down by whatever reinforcements arrive to surround us."

He gestures to the wooden blocks that are laid out on the table. All three brothers see that there are two blue, one red, and one green block setup together "My forces include two hundred infantryman, eighty archers, and one hundred mercenaries my house has hired. My houses personal guard are also present in the small count of fifteen men. This old fart is Kleiner, the head of the mercenary band and a royal pain in my ass since my youth."

The aged veteran speaks through a thick beard and a hoarse voice "Only because you insist on dragging me to these hellholes. Lucky your house always pays well."

"A diversion from the front then." Leewan exhales the sentence with something resembling exasperation.

"Attacking under cover of dark from the opposite end of the cranny with a sizeable chunk of our forces. The other lot ought lie in wait a few hundred paces from the broken wall in the dark with ladders at hand. The most elite our combined forces can muster must be forceful as hammer to nail and gain entry through the underpass."

Leewan trails his finger along his suggested route of surprise attack.

"If they are swift, if our diversion is believed, the guard along the broken edge will be few in number once our fight along the opposite edge is well underway. That will be the moment."

Leewan draws in his finger and slams down on the castle with a closed fist.

"The elite squad will make space atop the rampart for the ladders and the fort will fall soon after."

“An excellent plan, my lord. Let us attack tonight, before they have time to send out word of our siege. I beg the honor of leading the vanguard.”

Frey scratches at his beard and responds to Leewans plan while ignoring Robillards request for glory "We'd be fools to not take advantage of the small force guarding the castle but a night attack would work against us more than to our advantage. Coordination and timing will be critical to a two-pronged attack necessitating daylight. Not to mention the excessive dangers of scaling a wall during a siege in darkness"

Leaning down to be more on level with Leewan Frey takes the bricks representing his forces and lines them up in front of the castle gates "My forces can handle the distraction at the gate. The time until tomorrow morning will give me time to get a battering ram made which should provide a convincing distraction. How fortunate that the crown is paying for any necessary siege equipment." The last he says barely keeping a smirk back and gives Leewan a wink.

Leewan subtly shakes his head in disagreement.

"To evade premature detection this insurgent squad requires the cover of dark. My forces can lie wrapped in weeds and mud just prior to daybreak. The insurgent squad will act under a tight schedule to invade just before sunrise. Launch your assault a small time before dawn and once the sun rises my own men will take to the opposite walls. If all is well they will crumble beneath the pressure."

Frey stands back up straight "Weeds may be a little conspicuous but there is no shortage of mud and dirt around here. A daybreak assault is an acceptable compromise between surprise and the necessity of daylight. My only concern is discovery of your forces by enemy scouts, or worse, those beasts that attacked us last night."

“We have fought those beasts twice now and still stand to tell the tale. I fear them not. We shall return victorious, my lords.”

Rob turns to Leewan. “Leewan, might I request the use of Scout Daratra? She would make a valuable member of our team.”

Leewan waves his hand lazily.

"Make use of any few personnel you require. Speak with lord Frey's veteran to assemble the most able of Gwain's guard, our forces and lord Frey's for this elite vanguard. If these black clad warriors of the lyches are an errant fence in our path we will bring the most powerful hammer break them down."

Thistle tags along and finds an unoccupied spot in the tent.

"That's a lot of men you're trying to conceal," she says, "especially with all those beasties at night. I can help, but that's a lot of risk taking."

Given his duty, Rob turns to speak with Frey's veteran.

"May we speak? As Lord Leewan suggests, if we pool our most skilled men, we shall easily crush the lich foes. Tell me your name that I might sing your name should you fall in battle."

He also sends a message (perhaps via Gwain, if he is here?) for Gwain's Guard to assemble and for Daratra to join them.

Frey nods to Leewan and says "Then let's get preparations underway. We'll strike out once darkness provides our cover and we'll make for the fort. Once near, we'll separate our forces and commence the attack at daybreak."

Kleiner (the merc veteran) responds to Robillard very briefly "Certainly."

With that, the meeting adjourns and Gwains Guard is assembled by a quick whistle from Gwain himself. To Robillards surprise, Daratra does not answer his summons. Concerningly, no soldier knows her whereabouts. Kleiner simply follows the brothers and Thistle out of the tent. Leewan is left to his own actions as preparations are made for the coming battle.

"We will worry about Daratra after the battle. For now, we must prepare. Kleiner," Rob says, turning to the dour-faced veteran. "Call your ten best men here. Joined with our forces, we should be able to clear the walls easily. With ladders going up unopposed, the lich slaves will be unable to stop us."

He turns to Gwain and Gwain's Guard, making clear that he is addressing all. "Spend the next hour preparing for our assault. Pray to Themis, sharpen your weapons, and check your armor. We will move out soon to hide and prepare our position. As soon as we hear the attack begin, we will strike with the dawn."

Before final call for the infiltrators, Thistle approaches Frey's captains and gives advice on how to avoid getting sniffed out while they lie in wait.

After that, she rejoins Gwain and Rob, and spends the remaining time sharpening her spears and chucking the last of the mice at Nibs.

With preparations made and dusk following not long after the call for the army to assemble goes out. Leewan, having been unable to sleep due to his anticipation for the upcoming battle, assembles his officers and instructs them that no lights are to be light this night. To compensate and disguise the size of his forces Lord Frey instructs each soldier able is to carry two torches such that any watching scouts will think the approaching army has not split (you all will be unaware of his success/failure on the deception test). With final preparations made and night completely upon them, the Griswald brothers give whatever uplifting sentiments of luck and fortune they can to Lord Frey and depart into the cold dark with their guide leading the way.

As the march goes on Thistle can't help but catch murmurs from the soldiers around her voicing suspicion and hate. Staying close to Yenin to avoid any spiteful harm that may come her direction, Thistle can only bide her time in the silence and wonder what this invading army she's suddenly working with will do with the Blasted Lands should they win their war. Perhaps more concerningly, the enigmatic man Gisgo who dragged her into this war and spent the dead of last winter turning her into a killer in the tundras far East. Perhaps not all bad, she got Nibs out of it after all. A feline foreign to this part of the Blasted Lands more at home in the cold; much like tonight.

Fortunately, no harm befalls the Griswald force through the night but an unpleasant drizzle picks up as they march on. Eventually, Gisgo tells Leewan they are near the fort and that too much closer will ensure discovery. Looking over at Thistle he nods and says "Work with the Griswalds to find a suitable place to hide the army. We'll need a dense area of craters to hide this many soldiers. Hopefully the rain doesn't turn into a downpour and cover us in mud."

[some sort of test from Thistle and/or Gwain (via assistance if two people) to hide the army. Degrees of success or failure will determine how soon the army may be discovered and how close you will be. Might as well also get a Warfare check from Leewan to determine how well timed the Griswald attack will be with Frey's.]

Thistle, looking to prove her worth or perhaps just not die, suggests that the army hide east of the fort. The dawning sun making it difficult for any watching to see men hiding low in the craters. Gwain, either finding no fault in this plan or curious to see the womans aptitude, says nothing about the plan. Following the suggestion, Leewan orders the army to hide among the craters and keep as low a profile as possible until sunrise. As the men set about covering themselves and doing their best to hide Kleiner walks past Leewan and gestures to Thistle,

"We're to trust this one with hiding an army? She's likely never seen more than ten people in one place before this. We're as likely to not be spotted as I am to shave my beard."

As the brothers take their own places in hiding Thistle does her best to help Yenin find a suitable hiding place (a very difficult proposition given his size). Eventually, a deep enough crater is found and Yenin begins wading into the centre through dozens of soldiers. A young boy, barely old enough to be in the army, looks up at Thistle and says "You can't be putting him in here?! He'll take up all the space we have." Yenin, perhaps out of pure spite, lays down in the crater forcing several men aside with his sheer strength and props his feet up right next to three soldiers who stare at him with disgust. Thistle really only left with the option of telling the boy to suck it up before Gisgo comes up beside her,

"Pretty sure rocks would be more comfortable than this. Still better than a spear I suppose." Gisgo's paltry attempts at humour fails to strike a chord. Removing the thinly veiled facade, Gisgo takes a serious tone "There is no need to involve yourself in the battle tomorrow. You're not a hired sword and there's no need to prove yourself to men like them. Your first concern needs to be survival, and the walls of a lich's fort are the furthest away from that goal. Think about that before you go volunteering to help people who'd have killed you any other day."

With that Gisgo takes his own place hiding in the crater leaving Thistle to consider her place in the coming dawn. Meanwhile, Gwain ensure that all of Gwains Guard are accounted for and orders them all to be ready for his orders. Treachery gives Gwain a worried look, one that Gwain can reciprocate in his heart. However, as a leader, Gwain does his best to maintain a confident air and assures his trusted comrades that all will be well. Whether the brothers speak to each other at all in the crater or maintain an awkward silence is a mystery but one thing is for sure, their blood flows hot in anticipation; a noble blood of survivors and the fox.

Finally, as dawn draws near, Leewan begins to issue orders for the man to assemble and prepare. Doing his best to guess Lord Frey's own attack he does his best to ensure the soldiers are ready to surge forward to the walls. Officers quietly designate soldiers to carry ladders and others to shield them with body and wood while the vanguard consisting of Frey's mercenaries, Gwains Guard, and Robillard (a considerable boon to any force on his own) make their way to assigned squads they will be spearheading. With one final moment before the order to move is made the brothers and Thistle are given a last chance to speak before hell breaks loose.

As Rob sits in the crater, he takes a moment to center himself.  He thinks of the halls of Heretics' End, where he spent his few happy years of childhood. How strange that this muddy crater should feel more like home.  His brother to one side, his mind races back to thoughts of family, now a broken imitation of what might have been.  He thinks of Edward, and the family he hopes to build with his scarred love. Some half-remembered lines of poetry rise to his lips, and he whispers forth:


A quiet ringing is heard as he draws The Rising Sun.  Crouched and quiet, he points the way with his blade, a shining (yet subtle) signal in the dark, preparing his men to attack as soon as Frey's forces are engaged and drawing all attention to the front of the walls.

Thinking back on what Gisgo said, Thistle stews quietly in the crater as she preps her gear again, for the umpteenth time. Faced with the option of staying behind with one myseterious boss or going forward and doing what she does best, she stubbornly opts to stick it out with the brothers. She'll take up the rear of the approach through the gap and help out where she can.

The last winter was an eye opening experience, but she hardly knows Gisgo or his motivations for signing her on.
She remembers home and her own brother, maybe dead, and her sister (who she still hasn't heard back from in weeks) and the money and food that working for Gisgo will bring. But would it make up for collaborating with these people, these invaders from the west? In the past, sometimes they killed a few of the lich lords, but rarely lasted long in the crucible of the Blasted Lands and, without fail, haven't established any permanent base here. They're temporary allies, at the end of the day, and maybe later, when they leave or succumb, she can quietly slip home through the mountains with her reward and avoid the fallout.

But maybe they do succeed and she can find out what happened to her brother and figure out a way to navigate that new power shift. The brothers and their troops all look reasonably healthy and well fed and presumably she might be able to get the same for her and her own by working with them and being useful. Or maybe she can carve out some new arrangement for the blasts lands, without the lich lords or these ones. But, still...

Eventually, she turns to Gwain. "This is something that will have to get discussed later, but what happens at the end of this? After we kill the lich lords. What happens to the people here?"

With that said, she leans back against Nibs and waits for the order to advance.

Up to this point, Gwain has remained largely silent. The subtleties of maneuvering such a massive force are lost on one who has spent most of his life with just a small cadre of trusted allies. While the plans were concocted, he contented himself with following orders, meeting the fellow soldiers of the army, and securing whatever equipment might help in the coming battle. To that end, each member of Gwain's Guard now holds something that just might be the difference between life and death: Fraud carries a mud-colored tarp, Violence a first aid kit, Heaven a large quantity of oil, Gluttony a long length of rope, Wrath a shovel, Heresy hammer and pitons, Limbo a musical flute, and Treachery a spyglass.

Gwain turns to Thistle, acknowledging her question. "If it were my decision, the people of this land would select for themselves a just king. Heretic or not, no one deserves the weight of oppression. I laid down my life once to free strangers from a mad ruler and I will gladly do it again. However, it is not my place to make such decisions. For now we must only survive."

With that, Gwain knocks an arrow and crouches low into the crater, ready to spring into action.

Leewan ...

LOOMS

As Leewan gazes out upon the fort he takes a second to turn and nod to the nearest officer. The officer draws his sword, points it straight at the wall and shouts to those behind him "CHAAAARGE!!!"

Surging forward as one large wave the soldiers let loose a war cry and raise shields to withstand any immediate archer fire as they move from the craters. Fortunately, no arrows soar into flesh or wood and Thistle can't help but smile in satisfaction at the success of her hiding spot. With the vanguard of Rob, Gwain, Thistle, and Frey's mercenaries rushing toward the wall as quickly as they can the sound of a half a dozen sentry horns blast their warnings into the air. Shortly thereafter, several arrows begin to whistle through the air that are quickly swatted away from their targets by shield walls guarding those moving the ladders.

Importantly, these arrows that seek to strike down good soldiers do not fly in dozens or hundreds but only scattered few. Adding to this, as the vanguard clears half the distance to the wall the sounds of battle become very audible. All of this together the brothers and Thistle take to satisfyingly mean their assault has been well timed with Lord Frey's. As the vanguard begins to near the wall, finally, retaliation begins in earnest as full volley's of arrows and (once close enough) javelins begin raining down. As soldiers are cut down by the heathens upon the walls Robillard shouts words and prayers of encouragement while taking great satisfaction as projectile after projectile bounces off his heavy shield and armour.

At last, the vanguard reaches the base of the wall and everyone does their best to start raising the ladders while fending off the assault from above. Gwain takes a moment to peak out from between shields at those attacking them from above. On the wall, Gwain does not see strong soldiers well protected by fine armour but stunted peasants. As he looks a javelin cracks off one of the shields held next to him and, after flinching, he notices that the weapon is little more than a sharpened stick. Shaking him from the moment, Kleiner shouts practically into Gwains ear "Everyone up the ladders! For King and Goddess!"