Iron Kingdoms: War and Glory

Ford Prefect · Post by **Ford Prefect** » 2007-05-28 08:47am

Keeping low against the blackened wall of a shattered house, Guren crouch-walked forward. Both hands cupped The Person in the Forest, and he strained his senses trying to hear living movement. He breathed deep, picking up charred scents, bloody scents. Against the corner of his covered, he moved the magelock around the corner, sighting through it, trying to sight the architects of this destruction.

The Nomad · Post by **The Nomad** » 2007-05-28 10:18am

Arkady whispered to his familiar to scout out the surroundings, and warn him if the raven found anything. "Be careful not to lead anything back to us," he added.

After this he cast a spell of protection against missiles that would ward him for some hours, and readied the focus of a more ephemeral, immaterial shield in case hostiles showed up. He put a bolt in his crossbow and hung the strap of his staff to one shoulder, to snatch it the moment he would need it. He then followed his companions as stealthily as he could.

Imperial Overlord · Post by **Imperial Overlord** » 2007-05-28 05:04pm

A crow squakked at Soloman and hopped to another corpse. The village was desserted, save for carrion feeders who were glutting themselves on the bounty. The dead appeared to have been slain by enormous claws or tore apart by powerful jaws. There was no sign of survivors.

Ford Prefect · Post by **Ford Prefect** » 2007-05-28 08:45pm

"Ah don't feel anyone." Guren said, moving to the centre of the main street, drawing Crossfire. He was standing over a corpse, and he shook his head as he saw the mauled remains. Only the remains of a long skirt told him that it was a woman. "Do any of these look like Winter Guard to ye lads?"

As he spoke, he moved slowly up the street, keeping both sides of buildings covered with his firearms.

Imperial Overlord · Post by **Imperial Overlord** » 2007-05-29 12:28am

A number of the corpses were wearing the remains of what could have been Winter Guard armour and uniforms. Several of them still head weapons, simple military rifles and axes.

The Nomad · Post by **The Nomad** » 2007-05-29 02:47am

"This is not the work of weapons," Arkady commented, "it looks like some kind of beast had a field time tearing them apart."

He stayed close to his companions. "Except that I doubt that mere animals would have dealt with Winter Guards so easily". He looked for signs of the use of magic in this onslaught, with little hope considering the time elapsed since then.

"Oleg, can you identify the things that have done... that, or tell us which direction they came from?"

Imperial Overlord · Post by **Imperial Overlord** » 2007-05-29 02:52am

"I cannot tell you what did this," said Oleg after examining the bodies and the tracks, "but they came from the north."

The Nomad · Post by **The Nomad** » 2007-05-29 06:36am

"North we will go then, if all agree," Arkady mused. "Though I'm still curious..." He looked at the ruins, trying as best as he could to determine whether the houses had been plundered before being burnt, or if wanton slaughter had been the only motivation behind the assault.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but it's not the entire company that's been slaughtered here. Oleg, can you determine if they were returning from the north? Perhaps they were fleeing what they had found, and tried to make a last stand here. Or they had been ambushed prior to reaching the village, and hoped to find shelter in here."

He tried to find the corpse of an officer, in search of proof to bring back to Tverkutsk.

Imperial Overlord · Post by **Imperial Overlord** » 2007-05-29 06:56am

"Some of them came from the north," Oleg said. "Lots of prints, hard to tell exactly."

The Nomad · Post by **The Nomad** » 2007-05-29 02:38pm

"Perhaps they managed to hurt our foe inside its own lair," Arkady commented. Or they were so thoroughly routed that their buttocks would have been bleeding for weeks had they lived that long.

"At any rate, anyone capable of handling these Winter Guards is out of our league. It's not looking good. We'll have to be extra stealthy. A quick recon to pinpoint their location, maybe try to identify them, and we're back to the city. I guess none here want to risk such a messy death for so little money."

Just to be on the safe side, he searched a Winter Guard officer for readily identifiable items that would serve as proof for the commander of Tverkutsk's guard.

Raj Ahten · Post by **Raj Ahten** » 2007-05-29 09:15pm

Konrad kept a very close watch on the sorrounding area, his carbine held up to his shoulder.

Little good this will do, Guns didn't do these poor bastards any good.

"Guren, I'm going to climb to the top of that church tower, see what's about. Back me up, would you?"

Konrad headed towards the church, thinking furiously.

This mission is looking fan-fucking tastic. Looks like dogs out of hell or something ate everybody, and we need proof of what they are to get paid. Arkady's got the right idea, we better be as quiet as an ant pissing on cotten; or we are screwed. I don't give a damn how it messes with his offensive powers, I want him to prepare invisibility spells. It could very well save us from an encounter with whatever did this. Unless they can track by scent. God damn it.

Imperial Overlord · Post by **Imperial Overlord** » 2007-05-29 10:17pm

Arkady was able to find both insignia and sealed orders in the pouch of a Winter Guard lieutenant. Unfortunately, the small village church had no steeple, but Konrad was able to get a better view from it's roof. From there he could see a trail of bodies off to the north.

The Nomad · Post by **The Nomad** » 2007-05-30 06:34am

As Konrad climbed down from the church's roof, Arkady handed him the envelope: "Let's try to take a sneak peek at this," he smiled, "but if you are not sure you can remake the seal whole, please abstain. While the insignia alone could be considered proof, I guess, that would be incontestable evidence that we indeed achieved part of our objective. And we wouldn't want to antagonize our employer with a bit of ill-placed curiosity, now would we?"

Though the sealed orders thing stink. What if that glorified grunt of a commander knew something went afoul here, and sent us here unprepared to face something really nasty? He must have been quite certain that a discreet, small party would fare better than a very noticeable company, to the point of withholding critical information.

His old paranoia kicked in. Maybe we'll have to take precaution, just in case the commander doesn't want us to spill his beans.

He thought aloud: "That the lieutenant did not open it upon reaching Korovo, seems strange. He must have had exceedingly precise instruction on when to break the seal, or else these orders were not meant for him. But for whom, then?" Knowing that Konrad was about as paranoid as he was, he nonetheless added: "Proceed with caution: there are some magical writings that trigger unwholesome effects upon reading, and some poisonous coatings or innocuous looking powders or spores can spell doom for the unwary."

Leaving Konrad with the orders, he searched the surroundings for some reagents. He dimly remembered the recipe of a salve that could hide their scent, which could prove useful if their foes, apparently bestial in nature, could track them with their sense of smell. He could prepare it quickly enough and in sufficient quantities for the lot of them - if he found the relatively simple components, and some very basic tools.

Ford Prefect · Post by **Ford Prefect** » 2007-05-30 08:16am

Guren kept step with Arkady. In this sort of situation, letting someone wander off alone would not be the most prudent of moves.

Imperial Overlord · Post by **Imperial Overlord** » 2007-05-31 04:06am

The village had been ravaged, but not looted. Arkady was able to find what he needed.

The Nomad · Post by **The Nomad** » 2007-05-31 04:34am

Bringing along his findings to where his companions stood, he asked them: "Shall we settle here while I prepare this little salve, or get back in the woods? It'll take one hour at the very most if everything goes right."

Raj Ahten · Post by **Raj Ahten** » 2007-06-03 09:31pm

"Let's stay to make that goo. I probably don't have to tell you to be as quick as you can about it. We can keep a good watch on the area, and gallop off if we see anything. A hunch says what we are looking for is to the North of us."

A trail of bodies can be a good indicator.

"Arkady, hand me that letter, if you would. I'm willing to risk opening it. We need all the information we can get."

I doubt the commander had a mage that could cast anything too nasty on the orders, bing on the ass end of nowhere as we are. Why go through that sort of trouble when a good cipher can work without killing someone who accidently opens a letter?

"Just in case, you all might want to stand back a bit."

Imperial Overlord · Post by **Imperial Overlord** » 2007-06-04 03:31am

The orders were merely sealed and not even coded. What it said was as follows:

"Should you scouting patrol encounter clearly unnatural monsters, particularly those with draconic traits or traveling in a mixed band with elves, the communication of that information to the Greylord Covenant is of the highest priority. All of your men are expendable to ensure that the information gets through."

Ford Prefect · Post by **Ford Prefect** » 2007-06-04 04:31am

"Did anyone else hear the sounds of coin htting a stone floor?" Guren asked, probing the cup of one ear with his little finger.

The Nomad · Post by **The Nomad** » 2007-06-04 06:57am

"I hear the sound of sizzling, cremated flesh and deadly whistling arrows," Arkady commented somberly while he put the cooling paste into a small jar. So much for the Hidescent salve, he thought, I should have brewed Mufflesound lotion, if such thing existed.

"Monsters with draconic traits? Traveling with elves? I smell trouble. Well, more trouble than the gold is worth. Was there any indication that those Winter Guards managed even to hurt their foes? For all we know they are still at peak strength, waiting for adventurers to chew."

He breathed hard: "I'd say we go back to Tverkustsk. Considering what happened here, the best the commander could do would be to send a full scale assault with warjacks. Perhaps we can enlist in this expeditionary force. Meh. If they have elves, even locating their den would be dangerous - if they have any, nevermind coming close enough to identify them."

"The most I'm ready to do will be locating their den. If we can get a chance glimpse of them, well Morrow bless us. At the first sign of trouble we run back to the city."

Ford Prefect · Post by **Ford Prefect** » 2007-06-04 07:13am

"I cannae hear your logic and reason over the sound of gold coin rain." Guren said, snatching the orders from Konrad's hand. "This has to be worth a fair mint, really." he glanced around. "If we get some right evidence, o' course."

Raj Ahten · Post by **Raj Ahten** » 2007-06-05 11:28pm

"Frankly this bussiness stinks . Either whoever did this hid their losses and carried their dead with them, or took no losses. Either way they are not to be trifled with. I wouldn't necearily trust that letter either, it could have been planted. If it is true, it means te Commander had suspicions he didn't share with us. Heading back into town is probably the smart thing to do. However we probably won't get paid that way, and we'll never know what happened here either. I'm willing to continue a little further. I won't have it be said that I turned and fled without even knowing who the enemy was."

If it is elves and fucking dragons though, I'm getting the hell out as fast as I can run.

The Nomad · Post by **The Nomad** » 2007-06-15 04:20am

Arkady sighed. "Fair enough, if neither Auric nor Oleg have anything to add, we should get moving before night settles in. Elves have good night vision, so by day we should not be too disadvantaged. It will still be quite risky though."

Ford Prefect · Post by **Ford Prefect** » 2007-06-15 08:24am

Changing the load in his magelock from normal shot to one of his handful of personal rune bullets, Guren grinned. "Risk? What's a wee bit o' risk in our lives?"

Imperial Overlord · Post by **Imperial Overlord** » 2007-06-15 01:56pm

The group reluctantly began to follow the trail of the dead. It soon became clear that this was not a running battle, but instead a panicked retreat. Dead men and horses could be found at irregular intervals over next two miles. There the adventurers were able to find the scene of an actual clash. To be fair, the ravens made it easy to find.

Nearly three score men and horses were lying dead on the ground. Arrows had killed some, but most of them bore the marks of large claws and teeth. The bodies had been subsequently devoured. But they had taken some of their killers with them.

The enemy dead were of two recognizable types. The first was squat armoured mass with gaping jaw that a shark would envy. There were five of them laying in the dirt, their bodies perforated by bullets. The second were a pair of troll sized bipedal nightmares, with thick armoured scales and vicious spikes protruding from its hide. They had a vaguely crocodilian head on the end of an elongated neck and six limbs. Massive amounts of firepower had been concentrated to bring both of them down. Both types of creature sported longs claws and tails.