Shaman’s Records
Second of December, Seven Hundred and Sixty Ninth year since the Seminal War.
Shaman Mul the Silent of Clan Glacierheart recording
It has been some time since I have made an entry into these Records. Shaman Koroc the Singer has been experimenting with new ways to set off gunpowder, and he has found one… at the cost of singing his eyebrows away and burning one hand quite badly when one of his experiments worked a little too well. He will recover with time and care, but will forever carry a scar to remind him of his momentary carelessness.
The weather has remained clear for the past two days, which has let preparations move forward on all fronts. I can’t speak for the other warbands here in the Westmarch valley, only the one Sgt. Gork commands. Their plan is to get clear of this outpost as soon as the weather permits, for there isn’t enough food stored here to sustain them. Far insufficient to allow them to fight. But they have stayed here to guard their prize (sixty five barrels of gunpowder) for the moment, so that a small portion of it can be used offensively against the Army of the Jeweled Cities. To that end, several men and orcs have braved the cold and the snow to scout the snowed-in approached to Fort Westmarch under the cover of night. While I have assembled a sled fit to run easily and silently across the snow while loaded with as much weight as I can pull. While Shaman Koroc the Singer has risked his fingers (and eyebrows!) experimenting with ways to create a delay between when the flame is applied and the gunpowder explodes.
There are storm clouds on the horizon. Tonight, under their cover, I will load my sled with as many barrels of gunpowder as it will hold, cover it with a white tarp, and make for Fort Westmarch. With only a little luck, I will be able to park it next to the sheltered wall, out of the wind, and away from the eyes of the sentries driven back to their fires by the storm. I will apply the flame and then endeavor to get clear before the gunpowder explodes. With any luck, the explosion will cause some disruption and harm to the Army of the Jeweled Cities.
The night has fallen and the snow blows on the wind. It is time.
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Reth Nakima’s Journal
Third of December, Seven Hundred and Sixty Ninth year since the Seminal War
Bastard rebels blew a hole in the wall last night. Everyone sleeping all comfy like, except for the poor sods who had sentry duty, then Boom! There goes a chunk of the outer wall that just happens to also be the back wall of a barracks. That woke everyone up all right, and we had to put the fire out and start getting everyone to the healers. Not many of the wounded are expected to survive. That kind of thing happens when a three foot long splinter rips into your back and out your belly.
That barracks isn’t going to be usable ever again. The hole in the wall is big enough to walk through without ducking. The fire and smoke ruined everything that wasn’t blown up. The bloodstains underneath the ash and snow are never going to come out. Of the two hundred man company bunked there, only fifteen are even close to being ready to fight. That number may go all the way up to twenty five once the healers finish their work.
Everyone is still on edge, and the new leaks in the roof aren’t helping any. A steady trickle of snow is filtering in between the wooden shingles before melting on the floor. Never thought I’d have to deal with fires and mud in temperatures this cold.
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Lord Ochen Shagari’s War Journal
Third of December, Seven Hundred and Sixty Ninth year since the Seminal War
Fort Westmarch has been attacked. Gunpowder was planted at the base of the southern wall and detonated sometime in the night. It is the single largest loss of life suffered by this Army of the Jeweled Cities in a single attack. Word of it will inevitably reach Sapphire, Ruby, and Opal. It will draw comment, and perhaps questions, from the Serene Dominas. I have already instructed my minions staff officers to begin sifting evidence and taking statements to determine what happened. If I were to hazard a guess, I would say that one of the raiding parties got hold of some gunpowder from one of the convoys, probably the one from Ruby that arrived on November Twentieth. How they got it from wherever it was captured to a safe storage location, and from there to just outside the walls of Fort Westmarch is as yet unknown. This is being looked into.
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The amount of gunpowder used in the attack wasn’t a grand amount, probably no more than a barrel or two. Such a weight would not be too hard for one or two men to pull on a sled in this snow. What is more surprising is the fact that whomever the attackers were, they managed to get past the sentries undetected. At least on the way in. If they hung about just long enough to make sure the powder did indeed explode, they could have slipped away in the confusion without much difficulty. The state of the sentries at the time of the attack is being investigated.
I am unsure if such attacks can be repeated. We do not know how much powder was captured, nor how much of It has survived the snows that have wrapped the Westmarch valley in their frigid embrace. I can only hope that this kind of attack is indeed difficult to repeat, if not impossible due to lack of supplies.
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Chronicler Vian’s Log
Third of December, Seven Hundred and Sixty Ninth year since the Seminal War
An explosion echoed up from the Westmarch Valley last night. One of our warbands did something, probably. Hopefully it wasn’t too stupid, and we didn’t lose too many men in the doing. The other possibility is that the Ruby component of the Siege Corps suffered a mishap. I don’t think that was the case: the explosion was too quiet and Fort Westmarch is still standing (albeit smoking) down in the valley.
When it comes to known casualties, the list is slowly growing longer. We have almost no contact with the warbands still operating in the Westmarch Valley, though most of them have fallen back on the Clanholds with this much snow in the air and on the ground. Of one thousand men that set out from Sapphire, we know that four hundred have managed to reach the clan holds, and another four hundred are known to be dead. Of the last two hundred men there has been no word. Some of them are probably still alive and fighting against the Army of the Jeweled Cities, but some of them have probably succumbed to the cold. I can but hope for as many of the former and as few of the latter as possible.
One of the returning warbands pointed out that the Ironbark standard is flying over one on the Northern Outposts. It seems like one of our warbands has decided to taunt the occupants of Fort Westmarch by being so close and yet so far out of reach. They are the only warband I know of close enough to have attacked the fort, and that means it’s probably Sgt. Gork’s squad, with their attached guides and Shaman Mul the Silent. Shamans now if Shaman Koroc the Singer decided to stick with them instead of moving on to another warband. I hope Assistant Chronicler Aris Cretu is still alive. He was attached to that same formation when it was dispatched, on account of it being under strength by almost fifty percent before counting attachments.
This snow is unlike any I have seen before when it comes to raw volume. It is just ridiculous. Over three feet fell not even a week ago, and still more is coming down. There is even talk of digging tunnels through the snow to link buildings back together again if it keeps getting any deeper. There is no shortage of food or water, only the difficulty of getting it out of storage and preparing it safely. The children (and guards, when no officer is looking) are having great fun with snowball fights and other winter pastimes. There is still some concern as to the outcome of the war, but not much. I’ve even begun to learn how to snowshoe so that I can get about in these conditions.
The short days are keeping people inside. I have spent some time going over Shaman Koroc the Singer’s translation of the Log of Innoch. Much of his work is indeed exemplary, including not just the translation but also notes of phrasing and context. Some parts are obtuse or awkward, and there are several sections that are marked as not to be translated. I asked Shaman Elder Wolfbite about those sections, as Shaman Koroc has gone forward and is unavailable, and he mentioned that translating those sections had a traumatic effect upon Shaman Mul the Silent. I think that those sections in question will be copied over as is when the Logs of Innoch are transcribed into a new volume. Not including them would be to deliberately omit a section of Ironbark Company’s past, something that not Chronicler ever wants to do. I think that I will also include a forward, explaining and marking the common translations, and why the untranslated sections remain so. It seems the safest compromise available to me.
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Shaman’s Records
Fourth of December, Seven Hundred and Sixty Ninth year since the Seminal War.
Shaman Mul the Silent of Clan Glacierheart recording
The attack on the night of the second (two days ago) went off without a hitch. I was able to approach fort Westmarch without being detected and emplace the gunpowder. Shaman Koroc the Singer’s ‘black fuse’ worked quite well. I used a substantial length of it, just in case, and it was good that I did so! It burned far more quickly than I expected thanks to the wrapping I put around it to keep it dry. The explosion was quite satisfactory, but I have no idea how many men, if any, it harmed. I was tempted to remain nearby to make an examination of the damage, but the commotion after the gunpowder detonated was too great for me to approach Fort Westmarch any closer. So long as supplies hold out and the weather remains favorable, I’m tempted to try the same tactic again. Perhaps it may even be possible to set off a smaller charge inside the fort? The damage wouldn’t be as wide-spread, but if it was in the right place…