Thomas and Maurice were sitting together relaxing over some Gnomish Light Ale after a fried breakfast at the Inn when Josephine approached with a despatch; while she was there, she asked, “What level of muster would the King expect? Do we have to provide more as we have a Duchess?" Thomas was interested in the question and was happy to reply,” The Kingdom of Fecundity generally expected a Market Town to be able to provide 100 troops muster if required by the King. Our official Garrison was 250, and Big Bear Town was a Barony awarded to Nita Big Bear; his descendants have always done well by the Crown, although they had always declined any additional settlements or land to the original Barony. Indeed by the time Aurora was born, she inherited the title of Countess and only became a Duchess as a reward for her husband’s actions in the Battle, which cost him his life. Saving the King from the Ice Elves a decade ago, doing his duty for his Country and his Clan, meant that both rewarded the Adalbern's Old Duchess and also our New Duchess with loyalty and honour, deeds for which the Clan and Country would always be thankful.”
Thomas thought on, considering the despatch on troop numbers; our hidden garrison on site in the catacombs was 1,000 soldiers plus 100 reserve rangers. Joined by reinforcements and supplies arrived from Hibernation City, adding to our number 500 Bearkin soldiers, mostly veterans, with an extra 300 Bearkin rangers and an additional 1,000 Bearkin tradesfolk with tents to occupy the new territory of the city and another 600 High elves here to help with building the city infrastructure with 250 High Elf Archers to help defend the City. Thomas decided to dismiss Josephine to get on with her other duties but said in parting, “Adalbern will provide more than is asked of us by the King, and we will likely grow in stature and prestige this year.”
The valve control house of the Sewer was the unlikely setting for the meeting between the Duchess and the new Spider Queen. A cart load of preserved beef which had recently been brought up from Hibernation City was presented as a gift to the Spiders, and they savoured this with appreciation. The Sewer Master, an elderly Bearkin named Winston Wallowfur was also present; Winston agreed that he and his journeyman and his apprentice would assist the Queen in whatever way she needed and let her have a free hand in the Sewer provided the water run freely, a stipulation the Queen was happy to agree to this and as goodwill gesture gifted the Duchess a ring of discernment and explained how to use it, the Spider also advised using it at the Council of War, Theria was delighted with the gift.
While beneath the city, Theria inspected the Mycology's planned expansion into the catacombs' third and fourth level and StongMedicine; the Chief Herbalist greeted Theria and explained they were short-handed and needed more workers to help make this happen; otherwise, progress would be steady but slow. On the second floor, Theria inspected the Clan's secret grain reserves, ten years of harvest surplus hidden from the world ready for the coming war and the arms and armours the Ironchest Dwarves and the High Elves have spent more than the last fifty years preparing. Theria planted the Spiritwood tree in the central courtyard of the Keep of Big Bear with the help of the Green Elf and thanked him and asked for her greetings and thanks to send back to the King along with an offering of local Honey, she hoped the one-eyed King of the WildWood would like it.
The no longer aptly named Joy Viscounty had elicited us with reinforcements. They came from both Southern Joy, controlled by the quieter and steadier Viscountess Hope Joy and Northern Joy controlled by her twin brother, the louder and opinionated brother Viscount Love Joy. Theria was sure that taking potential resources from both might help maintain the peace. Theria had recruited a total of fifty-seven mercenary adventurers from the two adventurer guilds, sixty-seven green elf archers, seventy-eight Lizardmen legionnaires and three mages. One of the mages was an experienced wandering Beastman mage with lots to teach our mages. We looked for those who were best fit and decided to invite some from each group of recruits who were amenable to it to join the City Watch and stay at the Inn.
After the arrival of the first three waves of reinforcements and eight days after the Duchess’ death, the Summons for a Council of War and a Muster from the King, Leonardis V, to the landed nobility was decreed and then copied out laboriously by scribes starting with the most distant areas so Big Bear were probably last to be done and sent out the following day. Two days ago, asking for us to arrive with the muster within twelve days; four days had already elapsed. The King asked for all nobility to bring what they could muster, and he asked us to try to provide double our normal muster and to send two hundred troops to the Capital. The Icekin alliance infiltrators would know this standard set timetable and the expected normal muster of 100 troops we’d likely be sending north; we expected an ambush attempt as we knew the Ice Elves had long memories.
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We prepared to send 3 Bearkin mages and the other two hired mages, five clerics, along with four hundred Bearkin veterans to answer this first muster, along with two hundred and fifty Ironchest Dwarves, one hundred rangers and adding in the additional fifty mercenary adventurers, fifty green elf archers and 50 Lizardmen legionnaires and 50 Dragonians armed with swords and bows. With a support staff of ten pages and twenty specialist support staff, as well as Theria herself and her fifty-one persons strong personal protection squad.
Theria planned a forced night march through the trees avoiding the roads to Jade City to attend the Council with the King leaving two and a half days early and with additional hidden rangers scouting for a suspected ambush. Stealth for that many travelling at night and hiding during the day was possible due to the skill of the Rangers. At the end of the first night, they prepared to make camp when Theria was interrupted by a large horse moving towards her as she put up her tent. She stopped what she was doing and wondered what the horse was doing and who had lost their mount when the supposed horse lifted its head, and a horn was revealed, which glowed in the diffused moonlight that broke through the forest canopy above them. The Unicorn offered to aid Theria with a legendary blessing, significantly increasing Theria’s Wisdom, luck and endurance.
During the second night, they encounter a force of 500 red, green and grey-coloured Goblins with 200 blue-coloured Kobold camp servants. The troops slowed and moved in position to strike at Dawn. The rangers and elven archers surround the Goblins, moving through the trees and then attacking the Goblins with arrows raining down from the trees' tops as the sun rays broke through the horizon. The massacre of goblins was total when their sight was the least good, and they were not expecting enemies to be in the area.
With the 50 Goblin camp guards dealt with by the Rangers with minimal issues, the attack was over as quickly as it began, with few goblins needing a second arrow. The capture of the Kobolds and their surrender was relatively straight forward. The Kobolds simply did not want an arrow and didn't have a common cause with the Goblins, Orcs and their allies. The Kobolds preferred being underground but didn’t like mining. The offer to the Kobolds to become farmers for the Bearkin was agreed upon. They were escorted back to Big Bear by the Rangers to assist in growing and harvesting the mushroom crops in the Catacombs.
We arrived safely at Jade City, and the flag of King Leonardis V flew above the City with ten more days to wait till the War Council would sit, and the furthest to Muster should have time to arrive. The entrance is smooth; we are waved through the gate. A slight delay as a cart with a broken wheel was blocking the road, and it took five minutes for the Watch to get it cleared away and the road reopened. The Adalbern Embassy building was built to accommodate our numbers with our double-sized compound, and everyone fits safely inside.
Waiting inside the Embassy for Theria incognito was the King’s second oldest brother, the Marquess Leonardis Purple, Warden of the Northern Shore. Thoria took a moment to consider her Mother and her’s longtime ally with whom they shared an underground Dwarven expressway with three key exits, the Iceflow Keep, which overlooked the main bay where any invasion force from the Northern Wastes would find it easiest to cross if the sea freezes on our Northern Shore. Farreap, The fortified Capital of the Northern Province. The Lumber yard at the Fortified Garrison Town of Mittfield. Which is halfway five days of normal travel either way on to Jade City to the South or on to Farreap in the North. She fingered her ring of discernment, which went green, the safe colour, and then she relaxed. They sat up late into the night discussing the forthcoming cold winter enabling an Icekin Alliance invasion across the frozen Northern sea straight to our Northern shore and evacuating the blindfolded young and lumber near their towns to Big Bear to make matters things harder for the Icekin and easier for our rebuild. Our Rangers' discrete actions in reinforcing the Northern province let people assume the Rangers reported directly to the Warden rather than indirectly as a Courtesy. The Warden was particularly grateful for the wagon of bows and four wagons of arrows that had been dispatched with the News of the Duchess's death; the early hours were melancholy, and duty called in the morning, so the night ended there. The Warden left through a secret way to avoid prying eyes.