Briox exhaled slowly the morning air turning his breath to mist upon the frigid mountain air. Behind him were his creations, each of them standing slightly apart from the others, those unable to fit the narrow road had climbed the rocky ground to his left, to his right was a steep incline, too steep to fight upon. The road was too narrow for two wagons, but spacious enough that soldiers could easilly march alongside them and provide protection. The spacious was truly narrow for a battle of magic but fitting for a small group to attack a larger one. Briox patted his mount and adjusted his grip on the standard he held. It bore his personal heraldry, chosen during his time at everseal. Creature Mages took up heraldry the same as nobles to proclaim who they were upon the field of battle. The green outline of a goblin in a red runic circle upon a field of white was the heraldry he had chosen so long ago, now that white for peace had been replaced by a grim black.
Briox watched as the convoy appeared, turning round a bend in the mountain. At the head of it marched half of the infantry and the runic soldiers though not yet visible marched behind them. Briox waited as they stopped, quickly forming a shield wall at the appearance of a mage and his monsters. From his perch upon his mount and on the upward slope he could see the squad leaders send runners to the back. He took another deep breath and slowly exhaled, calm was essential before the battle began. He had to remain calm, collected and unconcerned even if the gates of hell opened before his unit. That was the bearing of a commander of Islyander. He watched the enemy, a snear slowly finding its way onto his face as they screamed out commands and threw themselves into formation the chaos slowing their attempts to form a shieldwall. A quick charge and the entire line would crumble like paper before his warriors, but he waited, mere men were not his target this day.
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Iroglas Van Heisler slowly savored his wine as he and Holy Lord Emorthis rested within the runed carriage that had been requsitioned just for them. The vehicle was pulled by a team of four horses, enchanted for both protection from external forces and comfort, ensuring that they were both comfortably warm and felt none of the rocking of a mountinous journey. Emorthis used a gem encrusted blade to slice a leg from the roasted chicken that was set in the middle of the carriage took a greedy bite, his gluttony a contrast to his thin form. Iroglas glanced over and spoke in a droll manner "Your Holiness seems to enjoy his lunch". Emorthis snorted "Save the pretty words for others Iroglas we are both servants of his Divine Majesty and i still doubt that the wench you snatched is worth the trouble of carting all the way home". Iroglas cassually took a drink before he replied "She might not be, but she was an apprentice to a heretic mage, and they always need someone for the pyre, gibbets or cages. If the rabble of Islyander don't have a reminder of what happens to those who practice that which is not theirs to possess then they may get ideas". Emorthis swallowed another hunk from his chicken leg before he continued "Fine, but if the rumors of her brother having some sort of influence are true and he causes trouble don't expect me to cover for it". Iroglas glared at the mage-priest "Does it matter? from the sounds of it he is merely a remanent of a gang that fell apart some time ago. Even if he can gather some thugs do you really think they could cause trouble for us?". Emorthis snorted "Not all of the underworld is so easilly dismissed, just last year..." Emorthis frowned as shouts interrupted him and someone banged on the door of the carriage "What is it?". He pulled open the window beside him and the soldier outside reported "Sir theres a mage ahead!". Emorthis frowned and looked across the carriage at Iroglas who had set his drink aside, a gleam had appeared in his eye. Emorthis spoke to the soldier while keeping an eye on the Inquisitor "And what is this mage doing that it matters to us?". The soldier inhaled nervously and then spoke "He blocks the road with several dozen goblin variants". Iroglas grabbed his sword and pushed open the door a smile on his face as he began to buckle the sword to his waist "lead the way soldier". Behind him Emorthis just sighed and turned back to his chicken, Iroglas was too eager for his tastes but he was an inquisitor, there was nothing in these mountains that could stop the judgement of their divine majesty.
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On the mountains above four magi prepared a ritual circle, a few personal effects of the mage-priest Emorthis, each collected that morning by those hidden amongst the convoy, were placed in key locations, in others bowls of poison each with a different source and effect were set according to carefully divined ritualistic instructions. Now all that was left was for them to wait for the signal from below, for the watchers to call out and tell them to begin their casting.
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A servant quickly ran down the lines of the soldiers at the rear of the convoy, orders had come that they had been stopped by potential bandits. He quickly took a bucket of water down the lines allowing each man to slake his thirst before battle. Many other water bearers moved about giving water to soldiers, other servants, even the squires of the Runic Soldiers. A soldier nodded at the servant and offered him back the cup "Here, you should drink some, you look tired". Withers smiled back at him and shook his head "There is time to do so after i'm done, you guys may need it far more than me". The smile remained as he carried the water to every soldier in his line and then turned nearly running back to the wagons with the others. They didn't stop at the rear wagons however, their steps carried them further towards a wagon with a lone cage upon the back.
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The soldiers stood, cold sweat dripped from them as they waited, their formation the only thing that could buy time until help arrived. But Briox simply waited, his eyes seemed to glow alight with a golden fire when he finally saw the messenger return to the formation, behind him came a man clad in the fine clothes of a noble, the ruinic inscriptions on his clothes obviously those for protection and vitality. Even at this distance the power was enough for Briox to read the protections from fire, ice, lighting and mental effects. Those were simply the ones he recognized and were powerful enough to read from a distance. As the man advanced the soldiers formation opened, and he strode unimpeded to the front. FInally as he came to a stop Iroglas spoke "And what do w..." only to have his words interrupted as Briox roared out, his voice enhanced by mana "To Battle!". At that moment every one of the sixty-two red goblins threw forth a spherical black orb, before Iroglas could finish saying "...e have here" the deafening roar of sixty-two grenades slamming into the shields of a Hyser shieldwall signalled the start of battle.