In the preparation for war, I took command of a small group of skirmishers. They have a good deal of skills and one of them seems to the have the grace of the gods flowing through him. We moved up to High Hill to complete the mock battle. Silverload had warned us of trouble. Our group of ten split into two. He took command of one and I took command of the other. We decided to carry our normal weapons just in case.
A huge half-ogre named Gragonis lead a betrayal on the field. He and large group of Cudgel’s army pulled steal, and started to slaughter the towns folk. It started with Gragonis attacking Cudgel. Our team moved up to try and take some high ground. A brave lad named Darrett joined us. We started to get overrun by some horse man. I took over one of the warhorses. We started to pull back as Gragonis moved up, but brave Darrett stayed to slow down the enemy. We circled back to help defend him and his position. Arni gave the final blow to the ogre. That changed the morale of the fight, and Volger loyalist turned the tide of the battle.
We headed back to town. The mayor (Mayor Raven) and Becklin had a command center in the tavern. I suggested they stock the keep, create barricades, in hopes of defending the city. I was shocked that they needed to be told this. Their command should have been in the tower. Cudgel started to act mildly shady. Most of the group struggled to trust her. We decided to head up to her military camp discreetly.
In camp Donnie and Lyric searched a tent that we thought was Gragonis’ but it was likely Cudgels. It had coins that seemed suspicious. The coins were a restamped coin from Kalaman. They are now marked with the mark of Tiamat. It looked like Cudgel had a closer relationship with Gragonis than she revealed earlier. We did not confront Cudgel. We decided to head back to Volger to rest and follow the path Grangonis left with a scout the next morning.
Wharfinger Umpton Lanth guided us past the camp. He followed the trail left by Gragonis the day before. It went north by northwest of Volger. Camped about 3 hours from town was an army. It looked to be about 1000 strong, filled with some of the flying lizard men. I tried to instruct Donnie and Lyric on how to estimate troop strength. I am not sure they understood. I may need to work on basic math with them and the rest of the squad. We decided to head back to town to warn them of the army. Arni swung into Cudgel’s camp to let her, and her army know about this new threat.
Becklin and Mayor Raven have been running too long and were not thinking clearly. We informed them that they had two real choices: surrender or evacuate. I informed them that they could try to fight but that they would lose to this army. Cudgel has offered to use her troops as a delaying force. This seems risky to me. There is some wealthy family that recently moved the Volger and wants to act like a royal family. They sent Bakaris the Younger, to make sure his family was consulted. When the battle comes, He will be on the front line.
I pulled my team aside to decides our best solution for Volger, Kalaman, and Krynn. Eros is working on an evacuation plan. Lyric wants to stay and help defend Volger until the last moment. I have not been able to find Silverlord and his squad. Arnie wants to go to leave. I was surprised as I thought kender had no fear. I think Volger is just a staging place for a larger campaign on Kalaman.
The alarm rang as a horseman came to the main gate. The horseman was a messenger. They claim to need the city for one night. Volger can offer this peacefully, or they will take the city. This means the mayor and Becklin have one day to make plans. There must be something we are missing. That army would not move this fast unless something else was on the line.
I need to rest and will decide my squads next move in the morning.