D&D 5E To The Strongest: A Mercenary Story

"Well met Captain Basileios, I am Mercutio, Calvary Commander of the Iron Wolves, here to discuss the details of our contract." His voice was stern and confident, very different from the casual conversation between the two elves earlier.

The pair of human riders regarded the Elves for a moment more, as if trying to sense a possible betrayal. However, both turned and separated to allow space for the Wolves between them upon the dirt road.

" Then come," Basileios waved Mercutio and Delphina forward, " General Thalassa was not expecting you so soon. If you intend to accept the good Queen's offer, you are indeed most wise."

The Captain looked over at Mercutio, narrowing his eyebrows slightly and keeping his mount a good distance from the tiger.

" However Elves, if this is some trick, I would think your deaths would be quite painful."

" My blade is far faster than your sluggish thoughts, Human," Delphina muttered in the tongue of The Eternal. Surprise crossed her eyes when Basileios responded in the same language.

" And my arrows are sharper than your dull wit, Elf."

Delphina was dumbstruck for a half-second, before nodding politely to the human captain and giving an elbow to Mercutio's side as she flashed her white teeth.

" Perhaps I will enjoy working with these ones. For a time."

Mercutio smiles innocently at the Captain trying to ease the tension a bit. A slight chuckle even finds its escape as the two banter back and forth. Mercutio relaxes a bit and just takes in the surroundings.

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It was barely a half hour more until Mercutio, Delphina, and their escort reached a clearing in the trees: a natural glade in the thick forest Avernix lands. Not a single plant had been felled to make room for the tents and other accoutrements of Pantea's scouting force. Here were barely thirty men and women, though all of them busy at work in some way and displaying arms.

Horses were being lead to water, anvils were being used to repair blades, and one tent even held a fletcher affixing arrow heads to shafts. Three soldiers approached Basileios upon the group's arrival, offering to take the horses of the two humans and Delphina. For the tiger, none were quite sure what to do. Seeing their Captain not fear the beast, however, left them more at ease.

A larger tent had its flaps thrown open, another human stepping out and striding right up to the new arrivals. A woman with greying hair cut to just above her shoulders, she was arrayed in an Elven style lorica of scale and carried a blade at her hip, the handle looking made of pure ivory laced with gold. Of note was the belt around her stomach, adorned with the symbol of a Sun. With an aquiline nose and eyes of matte brown, she may have looked as though she belonged far more in a University or within the Senate, not leading troops into battle.

And yet, every soldier that saw her snapped to attention immediately, greeting her with the utmost respect. It was clear that they regarded her as their commander, and she was polite enough to at least give a nod to her assembly. Upon approaching the Wolves, she gave them no salute or the like, for such mercenaries were not on an equal rank with a warrior of her status. Her voice was strong and smooth: marble in every way, matching her chiseled cheekbones and jawline.

" I take it you are our mercenary help that Queen Pantea has asked me to hire," she observed aloud, resting her hands on her hips.

" I am General Thalassa, leader of The Spears of Foslo. Welcome to our camp, Iron Wolves; considering you come under the escort of my captain and with no weapons drawn, am I to assume you bring good news between our forces?"

Upon Horses, Theoparlis and his escort were able to reach the stone walls of Halveroth shortly after Mercutio was meeting with the Wolves' new allies.

Halveroth was a rather large city for the Dwarves, but even it was buckling under the pressure of hundreds of refugees sheltering within her embrace. Her watchtowers even had humans end elves manning the ramparts, these guards cheerfully waving to Theo upon spotting the colors of the Iron Wolves. A call went up and the wooden gates were slowly opened, allowing them entry.

Inside were the familiar thatch-roofed buildings and paved dirt of the city. The center was home to a great, powerful Oak, adorned with all manners of decorations and painted sigils from the faith of the Avernix. Every passer-by made sure to greet or wave to Theoparlis and his men, and there were even a few offers of food or small gifts. The city itself was bristling with activity, the sounds of farming, forging, building, crafting, weaving, cooking, and trade all about within the walls. Pigs trotted as they pleased across busy streets whilst oxen helped to carry heavy supplies towards a side of the Western Wall: it appeared to have been damaged in some way and a team of carpenters and masons were trying to assess and repair the critical gap in their defenses.

Ahead of the Great Oak lay the hall of the Druidic Council: 5 wise Dwarves and Halflings that guided the Avernix in matters political and spiritual. It was they who had reached out to the Iron Wolves for their last contract, knowing the mercenaries to be good for their word. It was they who, upon being alerted to Theoparlis's presence, were unhurriedly waiting upon the front steps of their vaunted home, arrayed with torcs of gold around their necks and staves of strong oak that they leaned upon.

The chief amongst them, Taraneos, smiled under his red beard upon spying the trio of Wolves. He turned to his fellow priests, bidding them to turn to other duties whilst he spoke to Theo alone: no need to trouble the rest of the Druids with a simple negotiation.

Motioning for Antipater and Telemachus to remain behind, Theoparlis advanced towards Taraneos his face composed, hopefully showing none of the angst he was feeling.

"Good afternoon Druid," he began and had to skip to the side to avoid a boisterous pig that was clearly intent on something further down the road. "May we speak in private?"

[sblock=deception roll]

[roll0]

Trying to compose a professional mask. So I am guessing it is deception.

[/sblock]

Artemis walks up, staring coldly at the woman and says "We accept your offer, I imagine you have work to be done?"

Mercutio slides off of Evelyn and whispers Sylvan in her ear, "I'll call you soon, until then run free." With that the large tiger rears back as if ready to pounce. Mercutio smiles with his hands up to reassure everyone there was no threat. With a mighty spring and a crackle of thunder she leaps, disappearing mid air, returning to her own plane.

"Just follow my lead Delphina." Mercutio whispered as they were led to General Thalassa. "General!" Mercutio says, snapping to attention and saluting. Assuming a more relaxed posture he continues, "Your assumptions are correct mam. We accept the terms of the contract provided. As we speak the wolves are scouting the fort you detailed in the contract now to formulate a plan of attack." He pauses. "The reason for my personal visit was to see for myself who the wolves would be working for and better understand your intentions. We are mercenaries and will do as you ask, however if you ask us to in anyway become aggressors toward Druids we would have to respectfully decline, but if your aim is to use us as the tip of the spear in a battle against General Patroklos then it would be an understatment to say that we are anything less than eager. Mam."

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Taraneos nodded slowly to Theoparlis, waving his hand towards the temple behind him.

" Of course, my child - We welcome you with open arms and ears."

Antipater and Telemachus for their part made to relax under the shade of The Great Oak, passing the time with idle chatter while the local guards helped take care of the horses' needs.

Taraneos led Theo inside and off to a small shrine, displaying the image of a powerful boar with a wreath of holly about its neck. The room was small, but comfortable: there were no chairs to sit upon, but the Dwarven Druid made to kneel upon the soft, woven rug that covered the wooden floorboards. He bade the Wolf to do the same, still keeping his smile upon his weathered features.

" Now, what may this humble servant of Nantosuelta do for our vaunted friends of the Wolf?"







Thalassa regarded these mercenaries with a calm, calculating eye. Clearly this was not her first time hiring such sellswords, but she kept her composure between Artemis's direct approach and Mercutio's more diplomatic words.

" Not willing to turn on a former employer, eh?" she questioned upon Mercutio's stipulation that the Wolves not fight the Avernix, " I must say, there's a level of comfort in that."

Thalassa chuckled, but continued unfazed.

" No, Wolves; The Avernix are not my concern, nor are they the concern of Pantea at this moment. Patroklos and his forces are a threat to anyone in this region. Were he to seize the land of the Dwarves, he could become even more dangerous, possibly even a true challenge for the rest of the Haere. Nobody needs a man like that with loyal warriors carrying Dwarven Steel."

Delphina kept quiet, but moved to stand next to Mercutio, wanting to be a part of this little spiel.

" It is good that you have already begun scouting efforts: I see your reputation was not undeserved. We've had a few reports that Patroklos has begun fortifying that base in preparation for movement elsewhere, so be on your guard. I will not lie that Pantea has every intention of using the Wolves as bait: an attack on that fort will surely draw a response, and you will be expected to hold it from any counter attack. But, if this succeeds, I can lead my Spears to trap his army between your fort and my arrows. We'll crush them in one, fell swoop, and I doubt Patroklos would be able to recover from that before we're outside his capital's walls."

She remained rather rigid throughout the entire talk; statuesque in her presence. A hand continued to rest upon the hilt of her blade, grasping the pommel gently in a relaxing manner.

" Again: your Dwarven friends are safe for now. It is my, and my queen's intentions that once Patroklos is out of the picture entirely, the Avernix will be annexed peacefully and be added to our growing kingdom. We've no intention to assault Halveroth if we do not have to: it is a waste of men and resources for us both. However, we also have every intention to take these lands as well. The Druids can either profit from this and keep their city and culture, or they can face us in battle where there will be nothing left by the time my Queen gives the order to stop."

It was not a threat in the way that Thalassa said it, more a matter of fact: there was no hatred in her voice for the Dwarves and their brethren, nor did she seem aggressive or eager for blood. She did, though, have an overwhelming amount of confidence that what she told the Wolves was precisely what would happen if everything went to plan.

" My recommendation would be to scout what you can and hopefully take the fort by surprise sometime this week: a siege would be too costly and take too long. Strike fast, strike hard, and you should be able to overwhelm the defenses before the guard knows what happened."