"You want me to do what?" Aethelwyrd was aghast. She had no idea how the Commander could do this to her and her patrol. This went beyond the bounds of propriety.
"I want you to take charge of Aksel and his patrol," repeated the Commander for the third time, patience wearing even thinner than usual, "Show them the ropes and teach them how to survive. You'll be going out with Lord Arklin to take the fight to the Shadow Deep. This is not your usual patrol. You and Aksel will be scouts for the main army. Show Aksel how it is done. Dismissed!"
Aksel was standing rigidly at attention in one corner of the command hut. He seemed quite uncomfortable after hearing the discussion between the Commander and Aethelwyrd. He also seemed overly eager to hang out with the legendary leader of the Thrappled Lemmings. Aethelwyrd did not give a damn, but knew she had lost this discussion. She saluted and turned on her heel.
"Come on, Noob!"
Aksel followed her out, his eyes wide with trepidation and hero worship in equal measure. This was understandable. Who had not heard of the Thrappled Lemmings and their exploits both on and off the battlefield?
A short while later, Aethelwyrd had gathered her own patrol and Aksel's patrol of noob recruits.
"Right, Kalfr and Atli, you're going with Aksel. Keep him alive at least until he is old enough to shave."
She looked at Aksel's companions.
"Wait, what? What the hell is that bear doing there?"
Aksel grinned, "That's Sigrid. She's my best friend."
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| Sigrid (left) and Aksel |
Aethelwyrd took a moment to compose herself and nod before pointing to several of Aksel's companions, "You, you and you are coming with me. I shall try to teach you the ropes. I really don't have time to change your nappies and wipe your noses, so you're going to need to pull your weight and keep up. When you're out in the Shadow Deep taking the fight to the enemy there will not be time for rests or anything. Think of the upcoming fight as a gentle introduction to what comes after. Got it?"
She marched off to grab her gear without waiting to hear the answer. If they needed further instruction, she was certain they would die anyway, so no point wasting her breath. Behind her she could hear Kalfr and Atli sorting the others out and getting them in line. She knew she could rely on them because she had fought beside them now. Kalfr especially was as battle-hardened as she was and carried as many scars.
A short while later
Aksel was feeling very uncertain. It was his first proper battle and there were wounded and dead people everywhere. He and his patrol were posted away from the main battle. As scouts, it was their job to report to the commander about enemy troop movements and to warn of outflanking manoeuvres that might be about to happen. He took his job seriously and was watching as a line of white, wispy things advanced towards his patrol, flying too high to be hit. He sounded his horn to warn his commander, but there was little that could be done. Suddenly the Alladorean lines were hit by Gnolls and Spectres and other servants of the Shadow Deep from both sides. It could not sustain this assault and crumbled. The survivors routed towards Aksel's position. Inexperienced as he was, he knew his duty. He and his patrol would cover the retreat of the army.
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| The battlefield. The wounded soldiers need to escape to the bottom of the picture |
"Right, chaps and chapesses," his voice broke a little as his mouth went dry, but he did not think his followers had noticed, "Stand to and prepare to fight for Alladore!"
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| "I ain't afraid of no ghosts!" |
The new recruits looked frighted but excited. Kalfr and Atli just grimaced at each other and stood to. A slew of wounded Alladorean soldiers was advancing as fast as they could, which was not particularly fast, towards them. They were pursued by a line of Spectres. Aksel and his patrol ran to get between the soldiers and the Spectres. Their plan was to draw the Spectres after them to give time for the soldiers to escape. Sigrid was wounded in this first rush and Grim, the newest recruit, fell even before he had struck a blow. As new Spectres joined the pursuit, a hellish green light washed over the battlefield and a blood-curdling scream echoed all around. Half the patrol and soldiers froze in their tracks, startled by the call from beyond the grave.
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| Kalfr faces a target-rich environment |
Aksel and Sigrid were both badly wounded by now, as they sought to hold off the horde of Spectres. Kalfr was doing better thanks to his experience, but numbers were telling against him. A scream from across the battlefield signalled the end of an Alladorean soldier, his lifeless corpse crumbling to the ground as the Spectre assaulted him. This was too much for another soldier who howled and turned on her own, driven mad by the eldritch energies that coursed across the plain.
Aksel finally slew a Spectre as Sigrid got further wounded. Numbers told against Kalfr and he fell unmoving to the floor. Aksel soon followed too. There were just too many Spectres and he had misjudged his own ability. Despite that, he had given a good account of himself and many Spectres bore marks from his axe. Atli banished another Spectre as he desperately fought off the maddened Alladorean soldier at the same time. As the patrol was whittled down, more members of the Shadow Deep force appeared on the battlefield. The Orc archers took aim at Tomasa, who had just slain a Spectre. They missed, but the nearby Spectres soon knocked her out of the fight, and Sigrid too fell, overwhelmed by the enemy force. Atli was the only member of the patrol left standing as the Spectres swept forward. He fought on but a Spectre flanked him suddenly and cut him down instantly.
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| Spectres hunt for more survivors |
As the last of the Alladorean wounded fled to safety, the uncanny green glow of the Spectres settled over the dead and dying from Lord Arklin's army. Dark fell and the enemy regrouped. The remains of Aksel's patrol straggled back into camp, following those soldiers they had rescued. They were welcomed with open arms for their heroic effort, but Aksel and Kalfr were badly wounded and would be hurting for a while. Fortunately the rest of the patrol had only suffered minor flesh wounds in the end and was keen to take the fight to the enemy once more.
Blimey, that was even more brutal than normal. One major issue with this scenario was that the Spectres rolled really high when they won melees while the patrol just chipped away at the Spectres with lowish rolls. I'm not saying that I was diced, but I was diced! Half the patrol was one-shotted and Aksel went from 19 health to 0 in the course of a single turn. Fighting undead without magical weapons is clearly not a wise choice for inexperienced rangers. In retrospect, it would probably have been better to hold back and stay near the wounded soldiers rather than engaging the Spectres directly, although I feel that doing this would only have delayed the inevitable. Still, it was in character for Aksel, who is desperate to impress his idols The Thrappled Lemmings. Hopefully Aethelwyrd will give him another chance to impress her later.
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