First Charge of the Sons
DM Note: I have set up a "reward system" where Players can earn bonus XP to apply to their characters by providing "Narrative-style" session reports from the POV of their character.
13 June 1023, Imperial Calendar
“Repeat that, Quartermaster?” I asked the new NCO, looking up from the rough, hand-drawn map that the scouts were updating daily. The fledgling company was suffering some growing pains but we were expanding fast so it was to be expected. I would have liked to have any of the other officers here though. Instead I had some greenhorn quartermaster telling me food supplies were already low.
“Well sir, records show that the company has never spent more than one week in the field. I was not informed that this would be an extended endeavor.” Ouch.
“Fair point, Kurosh. Set at least two weeks rations as our standard moving forward. In the meantime, prepare for half rations if necessary. I don’t intend for it to get to that point but better safe than sorry. Kelith, poll the men on who’s got any experience in this terrain to forage. Let’s get it.” The new staff broke out of the command area and got to work.
I was pleased with the results and felt more at ease about extending the recon mission. We’d been dancing around this pesky cult for weeks and were finally taking steps to track them down. Unfortunately I was caught off guard by just how far they had traveled, running us far to the north in pursuit. With the swamp on our left and the knife ears’ forest on the right, we had to be careful to thread the needle.
We pegged the cult at about three hundred in their caravan and rumors out of Samichi had them carrying non-combatants, which was a departure from our previous interactions with them and a disappointment to me privately. I still held a grudge over the murders of Bharat, Erikos, and Jack and wanted some revenge but I didn’t look forward to the complications of dealing with civilians. Again I cursed having the rookies with us where I’d normally have Padre Luke’s moral compass.
Our band broke into the mountains soon after, confident that we had a few more days before we’d have to turn back. I was really nervous about the terrain, particularly as it narrowed, doubling guards and losing sleep. The steep sides of the canyons prevented us from running screening forces and it definitely had me sweating ambushes. It seemed like the cult was still quite a bit ahead of us so the likelihood of them leaving established ambushes was low, but hope for the best and plan for the worst.
Some native bugmen creeped us out while we camped one night, but they were alright for bugmen, offering to show us a prime foraging spot to hunt and fish which significantly multiplied our rations. Their shaman wanted to learn about the other cult, but I’m garbage at keeping track of these maniacs and again Luke wasn’t there to get too far into the details. We shared the information we had on them, that they were gathering at the Necropolis. We also learned that both of these cults were looking for some otherworldly portals of some kind. The bugs thought that they were fleeing some imminent doom but I didn’t think the Sons had gained that level of notoriety. I was flattered nonetheless.
Using our captured mechanism from the evil alchemist’s setup, we narrowed down the timeframe for these portals to be active. It wasn’t much but we hoped to get some more intel and support from the locals before this cult unleashed some evil demon or some other craziness.
We parted with the natives on good terms and kept it moving, coming across a gruesome scene shortly thereafter. Our scouts pieced together that a winged, fire-breathing beast had wiped out a platoon of cultists and this just added to my stress level. There was some effort made to learn in which direction the creature had departed, you know, for future use, but tracking a flying creature over rough terrain didn’t work out.
Our objective for this mission was clear. Company Commander Sikandar wanted us to kill or capture cultists to interrogate them and make a splash with the local powers that be. Our company had been extremely effective but not very public and we wanted to get our names circulated among the nobility. Sound tactical considerations allowed us a chance to achieve this goal, with our forward scouts picking up an enemy detail just the other side of a stout bridge around the next bend.
We had the element of surprise but lacked experience. The sum of our actions in the field were skirmishes with monsters and guard duty while the principals delved into various locations. We used a quick sketch in the dirt to formulate an aggressive plan in which I would lead a charge across the bridge to break through their camp and secure their line of retreat while the bulk of our unit covered with their composite bows.
Our inexperience was quickly revealed by the fact that the estimated distance across the bridge was quite a bit farther than our scouts reported. Already at a canter and committed to action, there was nothing for it but to charge.
As we barrelled across the bridge, I hollered some foolish warcry that I’d have back if I could. I’m sure I sounded like an idiot. But the boys took it up and we rushed our mounts through the enemy camp as arrows fell among them. All that practice at the yard paid off with the lead volley proving to be devastating. Added to the fact that their horses were hobbled and we had successfully cut off their retreat, the fight was over in no time.
We rounded up the prisoners and had a short interrogation. I had to stop the overzealous from pitching them off the cliff one by one as a means of intimidation. We needed as impressive of a victory parade as we could get and the handful of cultists that we had in custody were already a dubious display.
We learned that they were building a temple of sorts further up the mountain canyon and were encamped there. Their number of fighting men did not seem to have swollen all that much from what we had expected. We endeavored to do a full debriefing once we got back to civilization.
Kurosh split out the supplies that were captured from their camp among our men and then wanted to mangle the bodies and burn the tents to look like a dragon attack. Rather than set fires willy nilly and get too grisly with the work, we took some time to police our arrows and spread oil out in a cone shape to make it look like a strafing run of fire breath. Then we torched it and boogied out of there. We had reason to believe a rider from the main camp would be along within a short while, so time was of the essence if we wanted to escape clean and also blame the dragon.
Getting back was much easier than getting in. The captured supplies maintained us all the way to Samichi where we realized another gross oversight and failure of leadership in the fact that we had no company banner. How were we to gain notoriety without a standard? Growing pains indeed, but I pushed ahead incognito to purchase the banner and hire a few local drummers for cadence. Then we made our glorious return to the Empire at the head of a few dozen horse archers and a handful of bedraggled prisoners. We paraded into town under the standard of the Sons of Mithra, three stars argent over a mountain argent on a field azure, and into the history books. Or local drunkards’ tales. Or immediately forgotten. Listen, the jury’s out but we felt like big damned heroes.
Captain Cassander of Kaslav
CO Force Recon Detail
6/13/1023 - 6/28/1023
Cassander, Son of Mithra - Downtime
6/10-6/12
No Rest for the Weary
Bharat’s command tent was well appointed, with little having been changed since Sikandar succeeded him. I lounged in a camp chair with my booted feet propped on a stool, listening to the secretary that Bharat had hired early on rattle through reports. Once the little feller wound down, Sikandar thanked and dismissed him, cracking his knuckles before settling into the next thing. I don’t think he had been prepared to be thrust into leadership so quickly but here he was, carrying out the founders’ mission and avoiding falling on his face so far.
“Fancy a trip to Samichi? I know it’s been too long,” the company commander joked. I groaned. “I want to know more about the cult’s whereabouts before we act against them. I could also use some pricing on spellcasting from your guy at the Council of Ancients, what was his name?”
“Siegmund”
“Yeah, Elder Siegmund, that’s right. Stop by on your way through Sojenka, would you? Continual Light and Haste, maybe twelve casts each? I’ve got a scheme.”
Widening my eyes in feigned surprise, I got to my feet and stretched. “A scheme?! Certainly not. We are but thick-skulled mercenaries good for nothing but killing! Why, it was just yesterday Padre Luke was reminding us of how dangerous our plotting and planning…” I carried on in this way as I departed the tent with a casual salute which he returned with a chuckle. In short order I was on the road to the region’s capital, Sojenka, regaling my mount with my hyperbole. It’s a boring ride, shut up..
I stopped in with the mages of the Council of Ancients where I inquired briefly about their rates. They were all, “But, why?” and “We have questions” and such. “Listen, I’m just the smooth-brained messenger. Thank you for your time, we’ll be in touch.” I liked the plan in theory but the details escaped me. There were no enemies in it to dispatch so I was pretty sure I wasn’t gonna be involved in it much.
I stopped in for a quick pint with some of the boys from the Iron Bear and then left for Samichi. The road was quiet, the weather was nice, and I didn’t have to keep someone from stabbing me. It was a good day.
For some reason I can get people to talk to me. I don’t really get it. I feel socially clumsy and not particularly well spoken, but I suppose I bathe regularly and don’t express any offensive convictions in mixed company. The next few days supported this observation where I frequented the markets, taverns, and staging grounds in and around Samichi talking to anyone who would let me buy them a beer. While I had a good time, I wasn’t really learning anything that I didn’t already know until I met a group of hunters trying to offload some pelts. Turns out that they had indeed seen a very large Berserker tribe headed towards the swamp accompanied by a large skeletal giant of some kind. Eww.
I spent some time with my new best friends and then hit the road. I might have been a little tipsy but I’m smart enough not to have shared with my horse, who got me back to the camp lickity split to deliver my report.
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