3. *'War of the White Dragon' -Defender Meeting*

*'War of the White Dragon' -Defender Meeting*

  • G

    Lyte nods, listening

    _"It seems obvious to me that losing both Norwick and Jiyyd means destruction for all towns and communitys within marching range of the enemy.

    Much of Peltarch's foodstuffs, and also ore and wood originate from it's south. Pirates and storms make shipping in raw materials expensive and unreliable.

    The more southern communitys that fall, the more homeless, desperate people will eat up the foodstuff left available from a shrinking supply.

    Each step we fall back increases the likelihood for a total enemy victory, with us losing resources, and the enemy gaining.

    For this reason, we are forced to hold Jiyyd and the crossroads as a new line….and this position could certainly be much, much worse.

    In effect, it is is one front, not two. It is a long front, yes, but it is easy for us to move troops along it's straightish, flat, roaded length...and much harder for the enemy to move troops from the roadless, forested,cliff broken fronts between the near plains, and the valley north of Norwick, which are the enemies two active fronts.

    Now, we absolutely need to baracade and wall Sam's Hill, yes we do. It has naturally excellant ground, which is fortunate.

    We should be able to interlock the hill with the cliff we already defend adjacent to it. Currently we have baracades there, but perhaps we could add a gate on the cliffs, between the two positions, for fast access to aid one another.

    Also, I suggest we move our existing artillery, catapults and the like, onto the strip of cliff between Sam's Hill and the western defenses, where the Gypsys have for long posted right between our forces.

    There, all of are artillery will be centrally located to strike both south east and southwest, defending either section by turning slightly.

    Our dragon weapons also should be set and camoflauged in this region, to support an attack on Sam's Hill or the Jiyyd defenses.

    Key right now is to get baracades, walled gates and such things up on the hill....and fast.

    We have sent the extra barracades we have over, and they are portable and sectional, and are simply pegged into the ground. I expect many are already firmly in place as we speak."_


  • Dwin furrows his brow.

    Havent ya seen the smoke comin from Norwick these last ten-days? Norwick IS burnt… Not much stands there from what I hear.

    As for the supplies they reap from Norwick, we had enough for a small town to last a ten-day or 2 at the most. I would assume those supplies have already been squandered and spolied by the invaders.

    Norwick is not a supply resource for them, but I do not doubt it is now a depot for their own supplies, soldiers and filth.

    The Rawlins is where they draw their supplies from.

  • Y

    Alvah waits for a suitably long lull in the conversation and hubbub caused by Grag's sudden appearance before slowly rising to his feet and speaking.

    _"First of all I would like to state that I hold no title other than Sentinel, and hold sway with no political organizations in any town or city. In fact, I command but a few loyal men.

    Furthermore I should say that understand the desire to not lose any further ground to these invaders.

    However, with due respect to those plans that have been presented here today, my conscience obligates me to point out the unfavorable position that current plans of attack would keep us in.

    Jiyyd's defensive wall was an incredible effort, however, there was one fatal flaw in its design; the designs, like most of us, did not forsee the fall of Norwick. However, a wise man knows that plans must be altered as situations change.

    The situation has changed.

    As it stands, those defenders that still live from the fall of Norwick have little chance of holding back the armies that they are now proposing to sally fourth and assault. If Norwick is no longer a barrier, there is nothing to keep them from marching right into Jiyyd behind their defensive line. That means that Jiyyd now fights a war with enemies on three fronts. The orcs in the central plains, the giants to the east, and the goblins and bugbears that will no doubt come from behind when it suits their purposes.

    With this army ready to march right around the Jiyyd wall, we are forced to acknowledge that the wall is no longer fulfilling its intended purpose. Thus, there is no reason to keep it.

    One way that has been suggested to deal with that problem is to attempt to hastily retake Norwick with a sneak attack. This -may- work. However, I would say that it is most likely not the best option. To get the number of warriors that such a plan would require defenders would have to be drawn from Jiyyd's battlements.

    As I recall, the enemy nearly overran those at the same time that it was taking Norwick. The enemy has the numbers necessary to make it safe for them to divide their forces. We do not.

    The report we heard earlier stated that the enemy is drawing most of its supplies from raids on Jiyyd, and from recently occupied Norwick.

    I say we take those supplies from them. Norwick is a wooden city. Burn it, and take away the enemy's supplies by doing so. Of course, if a single, united, stand was the chosen course of action, something similar would have to be done to Jiyyd. We would take what supplies that we can carry from it, and destroy the rest.so as to avoid it being used by our enemies. Once the people there are evacuated there will be no reason for us to make our stand in such horrendous conditions."_

    Alvah points up towards the large map that Lyte used in discussion of her strategy.

    _"The logical place to hold them is north of the crossroads. Further north than the Hobgoblin cave so as to avoid the possibility of a flanking assault. We could hold them there. The combined forces of Jiyyd, Norwick, the Camp, and Peltarch. There we would fight without our self imposed divisions impairing our ability to achieve victory. There we could fight as one.

    This would also allow us to group our artillery, and anti-dragon weaponry in such a way that would maximize its efficiency.

    And while it might not leave a sweet taste in our mouths, I do believe it is the option most likely to bring about victory."_

  • S
    Legion

    Walks in covered in snow and uncloaks himself*
    Freinds I have been honored to be visited by my old freind Argentius the gentle! HE gave me hope and showed me a way to git to Sharn! I shall be assembling a task force to git rid of this abstad we shall CUT OFF THE HEAD AND WATCH THE BODY ROTT!!! raises his arm in anger THose tha I willbe nedin I hope ye will musta up the courage for this dangerous but very importunt mission to stop this war onc ean fer all!
    scurries off to send letters to those needed


  • Lily opens the binder looking through it and following Lyte before answering

    "Number two under …'eatin' the Pan. If we 'ave folks tha' can successfully ruse the orc into believin' they 'ave a mage capable of summonin' constructs… Are we equally able ta place an orc ruse within their gates ta gather intel?"

    looking over the plans some more she continues...

    "Another alternative brought up by others as far as deversions go was mebbe using the same ruse yuh folks are talkin' 'bout 'ere ta trick something else into attackin' the Norwick gates. Mebbe trolls... We 'ave enough maglin's wanderin' 'bout as em day in day out... mebbe one a em could trick their ranks into fightin' against the orcs. Wether it be with words... or one a their brethern fallen to a claimed bugbear beserker…"

    shrugs tossing out some questions and ideas as she continues to flip through the binder...


  • I have discussed a plan with Dwin to take Norwick from the east, the south, or both. Combining his plan with the invasion by the Featherflights will make it much more effective. I think that plan is a bit more fleshed out, sounds a bit more manageable, and should be used in lieu of "heating the pan".

    I would add one more element to our overall plans, which is that we should try to intercept enemy messengers with our own sneaks positioned at certain strategic chokepoints, especially in the underdark. It is actually not difficult to travel quietly and safely through the underdark, if we're lucky, if we hold the chokepoints against runners, and keep our force as far east of the lake as possible, moving quickly.

    The elemental force cannot be summoned quickly, it will take days to build it up. It will have to be raised either around Oscura and brought through the underdark; in Saurial lands; or someplace else–perhaps the Featherflight lands, if they'll allow it. That's something that needs to be looked into seriously.

    I doubt we can stop them from getting resources in the Rawlins. It's just too big and too spread out. Also, the goblins and orcs apparently aren't trading much with each other. I would rather move into Norwick quickly and hold the gates before they can muster reinforcements than hitting them anywhere in the Rawlins and thus alerting them to our attack before we secure the towns.

  • M

    "Jerr, flight into the Featherflight camp can be arranged.

    "Lyte, if this affects your plan at all, druid scouting trips have revealed that there are normally around 100 bugbear, 300 goblins, and a few orcs and giants in Norwick. They patrol the area to the southeast of town the least, though orc runners have been seen that way."


  • Dwin listens to Lytes plan with a concerned look on his face.

    The Rawlins is THEIR limitless resource base now. Not just food, wood, ore… but manpower... We need to have some kind of force that will hit them hard in the Rawlins during an attack such sas this, or we will face wave after wave of greenskin and bugbear.

    For decades, if not centuries, the forest has been kept in check by settlements. Now they own it all and travel freely throughout.

    We cannot let this supply chain go unchecked... we need to cause a major diversion south of Jiyyd and Norwick in order for a plan such as this to work.


  • Sudoc stands on his seat and exclaims

    I like Dentin's idea! Let's just blow them all up.


  • Jerr calls out form the back . . .

    Cera has said that the Rom will house any evacuees we bring to the camp. Once behind the defences we can open camp them or send them past the Hobbies with a small strike force to place them inside gypsy boundaries.

    We can send limited drum calls to the Featherflights to help coordinate but more complex messages will need a person to fly there, avoiding the traps. Beorn should be consulted and briefed in detail for the full extent of this.

    He then sits back down and continues to listen taking in all around him with a quiet (for him) gaze

    Jerr

  • G

    General Lyte has been listening intently to each report, and several times takes some notes down on one thing or another. After Colonel Dwin, Captain Genzir, the Peltarch officer, Dentin, the member of the Sentinels, Aelthas the young Captain of the Gypsy Camp, and others have offered reports and information she again steps forward.

    _"Thank you all for your timely information. Great thanks to Peltarch and General Lavindo for sending us more companys for helping hold Sam's Hill and patrol the supply road north…two critical areas that will spell our deaths, should they fall into the enemies hands.

    Much of our future existence depends heavily on each of our respective forces working efficently together, and sharing intelligence. Too often, a commander falls into the trap of keeping his or her plans to himself, which then requires them to personally supervise the timing and objectives of an assault or of all defenses him or herself alone.

    We need to firstly trust one another.

    I will not be keeping back plans. The leaders of every faction for the defense is present here today, which is a rare occasion.

    There are some who would council secrecy, but it is my thought that here we face an enemy composed of evil frost giants, orcs, bugbears and goblinkind.

    If we cannot believe the Captains gathered here as trustworthy, I feel we do not deserve to survive. So, I will be sharing with you what plans and strategic ideas I have to ensure our eventual victory.

    I trust each of you will be careful with this information, sharing it only with those you trust most, who need to know."_

    Lyte smiles slightly, she is calm and her actions, like her words, seem confident, yet, somehow pleasant to watch and listen to.

    _"The most important single thing for all commanders to keep in mind in this war is that we are outnumbered. The enemy is not just more numerous than us, they are also stronger.

    That is the reason for carefully placed, extremely heavily baracaded defenses. If we cannot beat the enemy toe to toe, we need to whittle him down over time, bit by bit, while still surviving ourselves.

    Each day that we live, the enemy is a little bit weaker.

    Now, the enemy, as we have seen, isnt going to be content to attack carefully finished defenses that we are crouching behind. They will try to lure us to one area, and strike elswhere where defenses are incomplete, or where we are weakest.

    Taking this tendency into account, which they have used to great success taking Norwick, we should be able to use feints and surprises to lure them into committing armies into traps which they cannot quickly reinforce.

    We may even be able to retake Norwick using such a plan, but, it seems to me striking them directly is much less likely to succeed.

    Before unveiling a plan of battles designed to take the hills near Norwick, I would like to touch on what we cannot allow to happen, and our general defensive status, for any unaware of the outer fringes of this vast battlefield."_

    Lyte flips a map

    http://www.pixhost.com/pixd/dukstuf/supply.jpg

    _"An army can only fight when it is in supply. A town that is cut off from outlying farms and other towns can be starved out.

    The city of Peltarch itself, which we think of as unassailable and huge with it's massive walls, has to eat. Much of the regions produce….wheat, corn, fruit and vegetables, comes from the region in which we live.

    With Norwick taken, we can fight on. But if Jiyyd should also fall, what then?

    Jiyyd's situation, her survival, depends heavily, perhaps absolutely, upon the supply the long road, which leads to the crossroads and hence the Gypsy Camp and Peltarch.

    As you can see, losing the crossroads is not a viable military situation. We could perhaps lose either Jiyyd or Norwick and still win a war, eventually, against these armies assembled against us.

    But, we cannnot let the crossroads fall against such formidable foes, if either town's economys are to survive.

    These things....bugbear blackguards, frost giant berserkers, orc elite warriors, would completely halt all traffic on the road, permanately. Jiyyd would starve, no matter how strong her defenses.

    So, our fundamental rule to survival is to hold the crossroads, via the Sam's Hill position, which has excellent ground, is anchored by the Wolve's den in the west, and the Jiyyd western defenses in the east.

    The defenses west of Jiyyd are now complete, and quite formidable in that they force the enemy to proceed through narrow gates flanked on both sides and the front by raised positions. Jiyyd's Command Headquarters is located on the eastern most cliff, accessed through a seperate gate near Jiyyd.

    Jiyyd itself has been baracaded off as best we can secure it. Our traditional southern gate and wall is now butressed with a tall, very thickly briared cliffs courtesy of Wolf. The old well is heavily blocked. The swamp entrance is iron gated, as is the well inside the batcave. A trail inside the Silver Valley is baracaded. The eastern road, out of Jiyyd, in the farmlands, forms our combined far eastern flank.

    We collapsed the worg caves, sealing them off with Wolf's aid, to deter an orcish assembly from this quarter. We have dug great pits, covered them with planks and sod, which will support people's weight but not giants, and we have also some other surprises out there, and a fire wielding catapult team standing by to discourage any separate giant excursions.

    Defensively we hold a wide, sweeping front. At Sam's Hill, we are still building, and are at our weakest. We should expect attacks from this quarter, if the enemy is smart.

    Colonel Dwin wishes to secure the area immediately in front of Norwick for an assault on the town, to retake it. We should look to securing back Norwick in steps, realizing that this first assault, on the highest available ground, will be very difficult.

    The first exploratory skirmishes have proven harsh, with hordes of bugbear and goblish archers on the hills holding the narrow approaches into Norwick.

    The ground here is very poor for us, as attackers.

    Unless some other solution in the way of aid from another quarter presents itself, we may need to think of other ways of approaching and cutting off these hills to take the entrance to the town.

    The enemy surely knows of the underdark methods of travel. This makes using the goblin caves to access the enemy rear tricky.

    I have a plan to unveil to you, worked out by Legion staff officers. It calls for careful preparation, a series of carefully timed battles, that, if successful, will give us back the intiative and leave us in a position to retake Norwick.

    After we look at these plans, I'd like to hear your thoughts and suggestions about the operation, before we close the meeting with some discussion of the enemies goals in this war."_

    *Lyte passes out some black binders with the words 'Operation Buttered Pancakes' in gold letters on the covers.

    She pauses while everyone reads the contents, whilst she eats an apple.*

    Operation Buttered Pancakes

    OBP is designed with a threefold purpose in mind.

    1.) To wrest away the initiative from the enemy, letting us choose the time and place of attacks.

    2.) To rescue the Featherlight women and children trapped and surrounded in Featherlight lands.

    3.) To cut off the forces guarding the gateway to Norwick from the balance of the enemy inside the town, and then destroy the guards quickly from front and rear, taking the hills and quickly baracading them from the enemy, before they can react.

    The Operation will be performed with a series of strikes, designed to keep the enemy off balance.

    1. A strong strike out from the Jiyyd western defenses towards the Featherlight camp, with Featherlight archer support. This extraction will be called "Lighting the Oven"

    Ostentiably, we will be rescuing the Featherlight women and children, with our force seeming to simply bring them back to our defenses with us, angering the orcs and giants, probably into a considerable assault upon our walls.

    We hope this might also pull some troops away from the southern Norwick area, towards Jiyyd.

    In fact, we will secretly leave a small but powerful troop of mostly our mages INSIDE the Featherlight Camp, with their warriors, and the warriors of the neighboring tribes who are already present.

    This is the force, combined Featherlight and strike force, will secretly make their way into the Norwick cemetary under cover, using a very secret trail, as the intial assault is ended.

    Reasonable defensive forces will be left at Jiyyd's western defense, and the rest will gather under Colonel Dwin to ready for what appears to be a reckless frontal assault on Norwick's hills.

    Colonel Dwin will ready a hidden force of engineers and builders behind his strike team, who will follow the warriors on a prearranged second signal.

    Signal number one, a flare, will alert the Featherlight troop that Dwin is setting off. Colonel Dwin's charge will be a feint, to draw out the close by guards of bugbear archers deep into the hills surrounding Norwick's gates.

    2. Colonel Dwin's assault will be code named "Heating the pan". He will try to inflict some casualties, then move his force to nearby cover.

    Upon seeing Colonel Dwin's flare, the secret troop inside the cemetery will move. The mages will cast elementals helpers, and cover the force with illusions that all appear to be orcish mages.

    Using this ruse and good magish orc language skills, Captain Genzir will lead his team brazenly into Norwick, under apparent Sharn orders to wipe out the stupid "humies and beardies" who are sending a silly little assault force against the hills.

    Their real purpose will be to get between the defenders out on the cliffs, and the gates accessing Norwick.

    3. Colonel Dwin will wait a specific, prearranged time, fire a second flare, and begin his second, true assault, code named "Pouring the batter", upon the now limited, cut off enemy, followed by his engineers and builders at some distance.

    The featherlight team, fronted with elementals and supported by wizards, will hold the gates, and kill whomever approaches from either direction, until the hill is taken.

    Barriers will be quickly erected, as the forces join together to hold the gate.

    Upon completion of the mission, the words "Buttered Pancakes Served" will be sent back to Headquarters to acknowledge a successful mission.

    Preparational work:

    1. Contact the featherlights to get their cooperation in this Operation.

    2. Perform an intelligence flyby to acertain the condition of forces in the Norwick cemetery, means of egress to the front gates and hills defending Norwick, and numbers and quality of troops obviously in the town.

    3. Seed the enemy troops wth rumors of new orc mage with elemental helpers. -(completed)

    4. Gather enough barracades on wagons for the job, (building more are needed), and finding volunteers to set up the defenses while the fighters hold.

    5. Gather equipment to help perpetrate the "orc mage" ruse.

    6. Have a plan for the featherlight evacuees.

    7. Ensure that all possible forces are available for the planned battles.

    This will be a tricky, dangerous undertaking.

    Surprise is not just hoped for…it is essential to success.

    This plan requires extreme precision in timing, and should be attempted soon, before the enemy has time to put into effect their next offensive operation.


  • Keira pads over to William and Genzir (and other scout commanders) in turn offering her expertise in scouting, if desired.

    // Usually available early evening EST - can be later by arrangement.


  • Mark calmly steps forward to speak, seeing as no one else is, right now

    I bear good news, and I bring bad news, today.

    As you have no doubt noticed, part of my division is already present at the Norwick refugee camp.

    They will remain there for the time being, with the protection of the civilians as their priority.

    Peltarch is already of a mind to send aid to evacuate the Norwickians north.

    Captain Talgrath and his Talon Guard will be joining us to bolster our defenses around the crossroads in a few days time.

    The bad news, however, are the ogres and hobgoblins on the road making travel difficult.
    As you may have notcied, of my division, only fifteen men made it through. Few have fallen, but after their skirmish with the ogres, most had to retreat to the city for healing.

    I believe they will also be making travel difficult for Talgrath, Aghila and Headpriestess Daisy.

    I ask if there are any willing and can spare the time and men to help keep te roads clear. I myself will be attending any and all expeditions with this purpose, as my officers are quite capable of leading my men at the Hill.


  • Dentin stands up and makes his way to the front, hanging up a few maps and sketches.

    "Firstly, the Sentinels and the Legion engineers have made good progress regarding the siege equipment we need. By next tenday, we should have six working catapults and eight or so ballistas. Together with the heavy equipment from the dwarven hold, that should be enough to cover the Jiyyd defenses, the Norwick fortifications and the secondary position at Sam's Hill. What we need now, is people to operate the catapults and ballistae. Preferably, three men or women per catapult and two per ballistae. Though we will not be able to make experts out of anyone in such a short period of time, myself and Sudoc will train volunteers and those assigned to the siege equipment enough that they can generally hit things on the right side.

    Secondly, myself and Elridith have been looking into defenses against the dragon, and we have come up with two things. Firstly is a set of special ballista bolts, that split in flight to fold out a barbed chain. We hope that we can snare the dragon as it flies by and force it to the ground. Secondly, I have managed to convince the Chessentan chapter of the Sentinels to.. loan.. me a battery of, what is known in laymen's terms as, shard rockets.
    I will save the history of that Invention for another time, but most of you will be familiar with gnomish fireworks. This is similar, but instead of a pattern of colours, the rockets explode in clouds of seering iron shards and nails. The whole contraption is only useful when the dragon is higher up, out of reach of the ballistae, and I doubt the shards will kill it. We hope, however, that covering the air it is flying trough with stinging and hot metal, we can force the dragon to fly lower, and into the range of our ballistae, or to abandon its attack altogether.
    We have three carts loaded with the launchers, and enough rockets for each launcher to fire up to three volleys of 25 rockets. The crew for these installations has also joined us here, so we will not need to train anyone in its rather complex use.

    The problem that the occupation of Norwick has presented us with is coverage. The three carts are meant to be positioned in a triangle pattern to ensure a good .. screening.. of the air above. However, the rockets will be far less effective if we spread the carts along the entire line. It is a question of covering a small area well, or covering a large area poorly.
    I will defer to the Legion and Militia's decision on this, though it should not be made lightly.

    Finally, Elredith has been working on creating a capable group to deal with the dragon in the event that we do manage to force it to the ground. We both agree that we cannot expect people on the line to fight both the orcs, bugbears and giants, as well as a dragon, so we would rather have a dedicated group whose sole purpose it is to handle the dragon. I will leave Elredith to speak more on this, should she wish to.

    All in all, we have prepared as well as we could, though we must not forget what we are facing. A dragon in itself is a powerful and dangerous adversary, and now we are facing both it, and an army of beastmen. The rockets may have no effect. The chains may fail to snare the dragon. Fog may eliminate visibility. No matter how well we prepare, everyone should be ready to adapt and improvise at a moment's notice.

    Thank you.
    He then moves to stand besides Dwin and Lyte to answer any questions.

  • N

    Ad Breezes in with an apologetic 'sorry I'm late' smile and quickly locates Tala

    A hushed "Have I missed much ?" conversation follows between the two with much nodding on Ad's part, as they await the next speaker.
    On hearing of the camps overcrowding Ad quickly hisses to her " What about opening the Den ? It's the most defensible area in the southern pass and we have water aplenty, food for that many would be the only issue. Aye it's a dead end canyon and that might work against us if the crossroads fall but we've got enough high ground to give us plenty warning of any advance in that direction. I'll leave you to mull it over and suggest it if you think it fair"

    With that he settles down to await the next speaker


  • Aelthas pushes off the wall, clearing his throat to get everyones attention.

    Several people have been working on some defences for the pass, in case a retreat is needed farther than the crossroads. We can hope it does not come to that, but it may, so best to be prepared.

    I will send copies to all the Commanders of the respective forces once I am done with them, they will be a rough plan of what to get ready, feel free to tell me any ideas you may have.

    He pauses a moment and looks around, before speaking again

    Also, I am saddened to tell you this, but the camp will no longer be able to accept any refugees. The amount of refugees we have, is the current limit that will be able to be supported by the Romani.

    I regret having to pull out the aid when it is so needed, but if we start taking more, they will simply starve.

    I would suggest, if the city of peltarch doesn't mind. That we setup a refugee camp in the only safe place in the Pass at the moment, near the Watchtower.

    If a Peltarch representative would bring this to the attention of the Senate, it would be appreciated. If I must, I will write a letter, with my duties at the Crossroads I don't have much time to travel.

    We need to get these people off the battlefield.

    He just leans back, talking to Raver quietly.


  • The enemy has obviously split itself…giants and orcs in the Plains, and the greenskin and bugbears in Norwick. We know that they travel freely in the mountain passes between the Rawlinswood and the plains, I do not think that ascertaining their communication methods should be that difficult.

    Dwin stands and walks towards the front of the room and the easel, where he points to the various areas as he speaks.

    We are building defenses north of Norwick near the Kelemvorite temple and along the road to the Keep. We are also fortifying Sam's Hill. We have the dwarves of the Hold to thank for their tireless efforts in masonry–without their assistance and their seige weapons we would be in a much worse place right now. Right now the enemies seem to be content in Norwick. I can only imagine that they are fortifying themselves and procreating--time is of the essence.

    I have no doubt that we can take Norwick back if we have enough seasoned forces. The Bugbear archers control the high ground near the northern gate, so we will need to dispatch them first before we can make a run at their gate. We have some ideas already.

    The biggest problem we face is that BOTH armies, the orcs and the bugbears, have the near limitless expanse of the Rawlins resources at their disposals. They also control the best known paths for getting to the Rawlins. Dwin points to the southern portion of the map.

    Strategic strikes from small groups, operating in stealth, could be of great use. One group could attack the bugbear camp. Another, the Goblin Hold. Well-placed explosives could keep them busy enough that we can at least slow their progress. The problem is getting the folks there, and getting them back. The underdark is the only good option, and we know the perils one would face using that way. I don't want this to be a suicide mission.

    Years ago I was attacked by ogres in the far west Rawlins that had come down through the cold caves and the Spider Valley, and assumedly over the hills that house the Goblin hold. _Dwin points to the lower, left hand side of the map._I have never been able to locate their path, but it must be there. Perhaps some of the Romani could help in this regard. Dwin nods to the Romani table.

    I need to move our Norwick residents out of the crossroads area. Norwickians are hardened, tough folks, and they do not want to leave their realm, nor do they want to believe that they will not be back within a ten-day. Lucid and I will be speaking to them shortly. One thing we don't need is a bunch of civilians in the same area as a large scale battle, nor do we want them carried off by the hobgoblins and ogres that have been scouring the pass.

    Our defenses should be ready within a few days. I would like to ask any able bodied warriors to assist in retaking the town, just as we have assisted many times in the last months in the defense of the Long Road.

    I can promise a well-planned strategy. I can promise a good battle. I can promise as much healing as we can provide. I will be in charge of this offensive, and my officers will be assisting me. We welcome any bow, spellbook, blade … or spear... to assist. However, if you cannot follow directions or accept authority, I must ask you not to come. One thing we cannot risk is confusion and the chaos that follows from lone-warriors acting on their own accord.

    Colonel Dolvak steps to the side near Lyte and awaits any questions or comments.


  • I need some basic information about the orcs' communications with the goblins and bugbears. We need to know how they send messages back and forth. I suggest we get all the scouts together who are willing to help with this. I need this information within the next ten-day, if possible.

  • J

    Call walks into the meeting as Genzir is giving his report, sits himself down beside Jerr, he listens silently


  • Based on our work flying over the central plains and surrounding areas, before Norwick was taken, I made the following estimates:

    I estimated about 1000 orcs on the plains, not including the fortress, one out of ever fifteen or so was a spellcaster, most of them were peons and warriors. I also counted 200 frost giants, also mostly warriors.

    I have determined that most of their food comes from hunting animals in the woods. Most of their supplies come from raids on Jiyyd, Norwick or caravans.

    It is also now known that the approach to the central plains is guarded by a shallow moat, barricades, and traps on their side.

    The number of giants on the plains was only about 30 when they took the orc fortress, so that means they are likely getting reinforcements from the mountains, and without going through the cave, which is still closed. One assumes that the population there is finite, as well, but they are said to number in the "hundreds and hundreds," so they could probably bolster their ranks, somewhat, given time. That said, I imagine their appetite for untimely death is also finite, especially when their strongest elite troops have died in numbers–there were around half a dozen elite axers, as many spellcasters, and a dozen or more berserkers in the last attack, all dead.

    According to Mord, Norwick militia had orders to destroy any useful supplies if the town was in danger of falling, so Norwick should not be a windfall for them.