It was finally time for the arranged predawn morning meeting that the infernal magics of Chillblood Walrusslayer, the Orc shaman, had made possible. The Ice Elf King, Gorthaur Iceberg, enjoyed the anticipation of using his paired Seeing Stone to interrogate the traitor; he enjoyed having someone with the rank of Baron under his control. The Traitor was hunched over the Seeing Stone in a private room at a secluded temple in Jade City and delivered the events that had transpired at the Council meeting to their new Master. Gorthaur gleaned the details of what was known of the strengths and the weaknesses of Fecundity's defences. After the meeting, Gorthaur decided how best to unleash his second wave to attack. He sent for Chillblood to come and lead his fleet against the Northern shore of Fecundity and to establish a foothold before the ice extended across, and then the third wave could merely walk across the ice.
For the Seeing Stones to work, they had to be in very close proximity to places of power and outside of Jade City, to the North; the next place where this could be attempted by the traitor was the fortified town of Mittfield.
Later that same morning the King held the Queen tight as the stood wrapped up warm, watched from the roof of their Keep, overlooking Jade City, which was full of the bustle of troops as the army began to cut into the calf-high snow by rolling out supply wagons in the middle of the road with troops flanking them all heading North. The Army's first objective was to reach the Fortified Garrison Town of Mittfield just five days away, and then for the Warleaders to hold a War Council when they got there to act on the latest intelligence.
King Leonardis V's main army was led by the Warden of the Northern Shore and consisted of 2,000 Heavy Cavalry, 10,000 Light Cavalry and an infantry force of 30,000, 50 clerics and 20 mages. Duke Leonardis Gold led a phalanx of 4,000 spearmen. Marquess Leonardis Purple, Warden of the Northern Shore, also led a mixed force of 12,000 conscripted townsfolk and prisoners who agreed to earn a pardon through military service and hired troops. Every evening and morning, they were made to train for an hour on top of the expected eight hour march a day, and this helped form a more cohesive fighting force.
Additional top up reinforcement had reached Warband leader Ur’sid, via the Dwarven expressways, so he now led Clan Adalbern’s forces. 250 Rangers which acted as scouts for the whole Army, Ur’sid had combined forces to form 1,000 Legionnaires, 20 mages, 20 clerics, 150 archers. Ur'sid had troops train in the evenings, light touch sparing, then standard formation manoeuvres only for 1 to 3 hours.
Earl Bloodburn had decided to come out of retirement and took every opportunity to be seen dressed in full armour upon his Great horse. He led a force of 1,000 Berserkers, and on behalf of Countess Threadstore's he led 1,000 Axe-bearing Shieldmaidens; the two forces took every opportunity to train together. They marched, camped and planned to deploy together. The Countess herself remained at Jade City with the King. She planned to rally reinforcements in case, as she feared they might yet be required.
Viscount Boon led 750 men at arms. Viscount Love Joy eager for honour in battle, had a force of 600 light cavalry troops and 10 mounted mages. Viscountess Hope Joy led 350 archers, 100 Spearmen and 50 Halberdiers and 10 clerics. Viscount Smart led 500 legionnaires.
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Baroness Elwin led 400 assorted men. Baron Pecharti led 300 heavy infantry; Baron Grey led 250 light infantry skirmishers; Baron Masti led 225 lightly armoured men; Baroness Rosen led 100 heavy Cavalry.
A contingent of 300 men had been mustered, led by Lady Runesmith, Baron Icemauler’s Cousin; she was a resident of Jade City. Six other Nobles of Fecundity, without land holding of their own who were seeking advancement for themselves and/or their Houses: Lady Purple led 500 assorted fighters; Sir Bloodburn led a force of 350 Berserkers; Sir Gold led 200 heavy infantry; Sir Threadstone led 150 light cavalry archers; Sir Smart led 100 legionnaires, and Lady Grey led 50 heavy infantry.
With the King’s alliance yielding 1,000 High Elf Archers under the command of the strikingly handsome figure of Prince Gilgallant of Ashvale and Three Rivers, the Prince had a bodyguard of 100 heavy infantry.
The King and Queen watched the last of the army depart through the gates. The fate of the Kingdom may well be decided by this army, the King thought, and with the Queen, they both returned to the warm. The King's long cherished dream was that he might one day be able to pass the Crown in peace to a child of his without the threat of war.
The army’s march through the snow was a grim, hard slog and was slower than had been expected but also wholly uneventful. Most beings had decided to stay away from the snow; anything else that was abroad in the snow decided to give the army a wide berth was the intelligent thing to do. Anything stupid that might have caused an issue and some of the intelligent encounters were targeted by the Rangers and despatched before they got away or became a problem. All the meat collected was sent on ahead to the people of Mittfield to ensure a warm welcome for the troops.
Ur’sid's legionnaire contained quite a few Ironchest Dwarven warriors who naturally sang as they marched; this seemed to be infectious, and by the end of day three, all Ur'sid's Legionnaires were singing as they marched, including Ur'sid himself, thankful he thought stealth wasn't part of the army's plans for this force at this time. The Adalbern Legionnaires soon gained a reputation with the rest of the Army and became known as the singing battalion.
It took a week for the army to reach Mittfield. When they did come in sight of the fortified town, many of the troops were shocked to see the Fortified Town surrounded by the massive white snowmen, the Golems had been waiting in the snow for the Army to arrive for some time. It took the army half a day for them all to arrive and form a camp for the army. besides the town, they left a wide trail from Jade City all the way to their camp that required no skill to interpret and which could not be concealed.
The next day the town hall was requisitioned for the War Council, and the townsfolk of Mittfield helped prepare hot meals for everyone. Three days of combat training were organised for the army and the town's militia and garrison on rotation so all would join in the training. This gave the War Council time to take stock and plan their subsequent actions and for the logistics to make it happen to be accomplished.