555/2/20: The
morning before a battle is a time to contemplate and reflect, to make
peace with my God, to steady myself before the coming conflict. This
morning was no different as I woke up and looked out over our
encampment. Some thirty-score warriors from two factions, Phad's blue
and our own Orgal's yellow, waking up to sack yonder castle, which as
yet does not suspect our intentions.
And that gets me to wonder. Why are the greens being so lackadaisical?
Surely they must know that a large force camps just over this here
hill. I can only think that they must believe we are allies, and
therefore don't suspect the foul treachery we are about to commit. A
foul treachery that causes me to wonder why we joined the army in the
first place. Sure, we wanted protection and assurances of safety in
this land. But getting involved in an internecine struggle is just
asking for something bad to happen to us.
Some two hours ready and our force was ready for battle. Our little
group had been given a ladder for scaling the outer walls with the
instructions to only take the outer walls, not to continue any further.
Apparently, all mercenary companies had been given the same order,
which suited us fine, though it did mean that there would be less
looting.
With the clarion call of the bugle we were off. Yelling and screaming,
we caught the defenders surprised and ill-prepared. Once at the wall
the few defenders there threw rocks down on us, but it was half-hearted
and rather ineffective as Tev, Krelga and Nakaro quickly swarmed up the
ladder and engaged the green-clad troops. And just like that it was
over for us. One defender lay dead, the rest fleeing to the inner
bailey.
We wandered around and watched as the main body assaulted the inner
keep. Against our standing orders, I saw Krelga hop over and try to
join some of the assault parties, but each time she was rebuffed.
Nakaro came up to me dragging a large desk, saying it was a gift for
me, for I was the only one of the group who had a specific item in my
shopping list of things to loot. Unfortunately it wasn't a desk, but a
dresses. Still a desk could do in a pinch and we hauled it back to camp
and hid it on our cart.
|
The rest of
the day was quite desultory. Bands of the victorious
chasing after greens trying to escape the massacre. Scores of small
fires burned unchecked throughout the day, imparting a haze to the
whole field. Even Tev seemed bored as he slept next to the fire,
oblivious to the hustle and bustle going on around him.
555/2/25: Surprisingly, our contract has been bought out by the Blues.
One of their Captains approached Krelga, making an astute observation
that she is the real leader of our party, with a highly dangerous
mission. They want us to attempt to assassinate Iitee, leader of the
Reds. Ok, how the heck are we supposed to do that? Easy, hire on with
the Reds and with the help of some of their agents, we'll be quite
close to Iitee when the Blues attack his castle. That will be our
signal to strike. The hard part will be getting back out.
The Blues offered to pay us well, which should have been a sign that
all was not quite right. Nakaro demanded a dresser from the war spoils,
which we got. So now I have my looting goals complete. We also get as
much blue cloth as we want, two Zinc coins apiece, and a salary of five
silver a day. With that kind of incentive we couldn't resist.
Now we travel with a Blue insertion party. The Blue general gives me
the chills, though I don't know why. Tev says he spotted a couple of
obviously chaos-touched soldiers. Krelga has heard some ominous
whisperings. I've started dreaming again. Pain, death, suffering.
Something terrible is going to happen unless we can prevent it. But I
don't know what to do. Should we continue with our mission; can we even
get out of it now? Only my desk and dresser provide a comfort to me now.
|