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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Dispater" data-source="post: 1160666" data-attributes="member: 683">"On his way, Sigurd recalled many things. Things that were not important and do not deserve mention, and other thoughts that carried him on through the night. His mind raced. It had from the beginning when he had heard about the return of the half-demon. He had feared this for some time now, but never spoken of it, in fear of it becoming true. All this drove him into a nightmare of recollections and memories, above all he saw the lone demon lord with his sword, standing atop a mountain of fire and darkness, howling into the night.The rattling of the wheels and the clattering armour of the knights woke him up at even distances. Low muted voices spoke nervously. Here and there he could his hear his men asking one another, if there had been any more rumours; of the enemy they would face in the South. None knew, but all asked, and the confusion spread. Sigurd closed his eyes and dozed off again in the saddle of Buchelas.A torch was lit up near by. In the distance, wolves howled. Sigurd hoped they were far away, beyond hills and mountains. A wolf is bad luck; seeing them before the eve of battle is a sign of defeat. Then, he imagined seeing hordes of goblins mounted atop worgs, wooing and shouting, charging at him. Sigurd prayed for hours to Odin, that the Wise One would send him a sign, an omen, of what to do. Odin remained silent.The troops began arriving early next morning at the village; Sigurd looked up the situation. The plain stretched before him was excellent for manoeuvring and carrying out the battle. In many ways it was too perfect, this could be maybe what Heracules had hoped for, that the humans would rush to meet him as soon as possible in the field and that with his superior force he could outflank them. He looked over at the party; Leo was worn out by riding and his slouched body barely got off the horse. Aos looked pale and distant, as if he had seen a ghost beyond worlds; this was probably true. The newcomers were huddled together in a group, Elros the archer counting his arrows carefully, Xiang polishing the tip of this black spear that everybody seemed to be after. In the middle of the train of wagons rode the Margrave and his guard proudly, he was wearing his finest cloak and with a ceremonial sword on his hip; this would do him no good in the oncoming onslaught, he thought. What would they do if they lost? They had emptied nearly every garrison from here to Gaxmor; they had pitted together every available force; they had gambled everything on this one card. Dulleaberg and Gaxmor could maybe have survived a drawn out siege, Heraceles would retreat in the winter, or the Scornic league would hopefully send aid; all this was too late now. If Heracules won, there was not a soldier between him and Dulleaberg.After two hours the razing of the village began. Sigurd had ordered this and the Margrave agreed reluctantly; he felt a certain disdain for himself, if he could have picked a better place to fight the enemy, he would. But only the river, small as it was though, would slow down cavalry and give the pikemen a good position, besides stakes could be planted in the mud and burning oil ran from upstream onto the enemy crossing. A clear line of fire was needed, so he could utilize the longbowmen to the best of their ability.Sir Alfius Kalakos, proud commander of the 200 land knights, approached him upon seeing the initial destruction of the village. He had doubt in his face. He questioned Sigurd's right to do so. His relatives had lived in this village for years. Sigurd was but an outsider, who knew little of the Borderlands or how war was fought. The Norseman snorted at his questions and showed the arrogant knight a map. He pointed at the northmost forests of the area the battle was to be fought. "Here you will hide with your men, and when I wave the banner of Dulleaberg, you will charge out, falling the enemy in the flank. Then you will drive into their centre, smashing them like a hammer against the anvil."Alfius looked at it, and nodded. It was risky, and the knights had no option of retreat. He might have disapproved if there were other circumstances. Right now they didn't have much time to argue. He saluted Sigurd and within an hour the landknights departed from the camp, crossing the river in silence. They knew that if things went wrong, they might not see the other side again, ever. They looked back with fear clouding their minds.Smoke and dust filled the air where once the houses of men had stood on the gray morning before dawn. Sigurd rode along on Buchelas as the men were digging ditches and setting up the wooden stakes on the riverbank. The goldhammer dwarves with their long beards and sweaty faces nodded as he passed. He had given them the honour of holding the centre against the orcs. Seeing centuries old racial hatred flaring up in his eyes, he nodded back and thought they would suffice; if not there would be many dwarven mothers cursing the orcen race for days to come.Saphie, another witch that had joined the party came up and nearly pulled him off his horse where he sat; she was angry and furious that he had ordered the destruction of the village. He listened patiently to her concerns and reassured her family and whatever valuables they had lost would be compensated. He sent her on her way back to the camp, saying they would have greater concerns when Heracules arrived here with his horde of orcs."Sigurd, Sigurd. You have returned, and I would love to hear the tales of your travels, but there is little time." He hadn't seen the Margrave arriving. "I pay you to defend us, but you do Heracules work for him." he joked and gestured at the remains of the war-torn village."The way we fight in Trafalgaris." Sigurd remarked. "We never give the enemy an inch of our land, and even if we do, it will be completely useless for him.""It’s not the way we fight here.""Would you rather sell him Gaxmor?"The Margrave laughed and tactfully changed subject."You friends were... rather shaken when they got here. Are you sure they will be able to fight him and win?""I am not sure, because Odin has not yet given me a sign. But I can say that I trust them with the task. Leo is a good man, he dabbles in witchcraft but he is as powerful as Xyzzy; he can unleash lightning and flame with mere words and gestures. But he can also create houses out of nothing; as for to shelter against sandstorms and cold, he can see far away with his eyes and he can make himself fly; I hope he will be able to control his powers, and that they do not run him astray.""And what of Aos and Titania?""Aos is a peculiar man; he fights with unmatched skill and elegance but is perhaps more preoccupied with his Goddess than anyone in the group would like. What her motives are and what she tells him, remains his secret. I can tell you for sure, he has probably stared too closely into the face of Death one too many times. Titiania seems a likeable person, more I cannot say. As for fighting, there is a man in our company, his name is Xiang, and with the spear he wields he fights with the strength of many men. And then there is Saphie, who seems quite furious for the moment." Sigurd smiled."Odin has not given you a sign yet?""He remains silent, as does Thor and Tyr, the great gods of strength and war. I search the skies for clues, but the clouds are cold and empty and the wind blows hollow, without voice. I take the silence as a sign of faith; it seems we must decide this battle ourselves.""I seems so." The Margrave smiled mysteriously and rode away.He knew that he would just sit here and wait. Wait until sunset. He would watch and absorb every detail of the battlefield. When he woke up in the morning fog he would give his friends a handshake; wishing he were by their side to fight the half-demon, wishing that Fate had decreed other circumstances for this battle. Then he would arrange the troops and wait for the enemy to come, hoping they would take the bait and fall into his trap."[here's to hoping I get that 397 XP for nxt session] <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f600.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":D" title="Big grin    :D"  data-smilie="8"data-shortname=":D" />-Lars</blockquote>

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