The group of adventurers paused for a few minutes to rest and to talk among themselves. Captain Grimheld stood at ease and watched what they did and listened to what they said. He seemed greatly relieved that the battle had gone well for them. Elkin cast a stray glance at Rollvag. The Freeman looked perplexed, standing there stroking his chin with his left hand, the right resting in the crook of his left elbow. Rollvag scrutinized the canyon walls, then turned his gaze skyward. Elkin approached the young man carefully and asked: "What's troubling you Karwe?" Rollvag answered him in a manner that was almost soliloquy. "I don't understand," the freeman mused, "why the lutarwe marched across the glacier. It added hardship and slowed them down. Second, their attack on our position should have tactically worked. If Cher had not uncovered their aerial recon, and timely appearances by an Eyri and elven bowman, this battle would have gone quite another way. But I do not understand why they went the way they did. Surely following the path along the Sparkle, past Arbor Lake -- or even the path between the glacier and Mt Topper -- would make more sense. Peculiar, Elkin, peculiar..." Rollvag began to shrug and walk away, but Elkin smiled and said: "Hold! Perhaps I can explain!" Rollvag turned around immediately in order to hear what their mentor had to say. "First," began the Trysti calmly, "the glacier is wind-swept at this time of year. That means that the tracks of anyone crossing it would disappear in a manner of hours. They didn't want Toridar to know of their presence. Second, they chose to attack from out of the mountains, which confused their traveling direction and provided them with a terrain that they are comfortable with when fighting. You've got to remember also that the Drog, despite all their bravado, have a deep down fear of Dondor; and as you learn more about the history of Arveta, you will understand why. Third, it is almost as fast a trip along the south ridge as through the Sparkle Valley. Fourth, the Patrol has a few men in the valley that would have discovered their plan before they reached Trader's Nest!" Rollvag's eyebrows raised because of this knowledge. Elkin continued: "You must remember to take into account the possibility of winged reconnaissance, combat forces, and message delivery in all of your battle plans. In this case, all the Patrolmen in the valley would have had to do is go for help -- on their effereet." Rollvag said, "I'll remember that from now on!" Elkin stopped and smiled broadly for a moment, but then his facial expression grew hard again. "This next bit of news will not make you feel any better." "What is it, Sir?" "It was neither my fault nor Byc's that we did not foresee the ambush as such: their forces were hidden!" "What!" cried Rollvag in shock. "I mean, Rollvag, that I could not tell where the archer's positions were until they jumped up! But, I worried only slightly. I knew that the shield stars would protect you, and you all seem to have abilities far in excess of normal. Anyway, I waited in the center so that I could rush to either side in a hurry." "Why didn't you tell me all this before?" stammered Rollvag. Elkin was not even ruffled: "Because we needed to show them that we wanted to ambush them, which is what they expected; and because to do otherwise would give away our talents!" "Oh." stated Rollvag, somewhat dejectedly. "Don't worry, Rollvag, your strategy is becoming more and more sound all the time!" Rollvag recovered gracefully. "Well, time to move on. Before we go, we should search their remains and belongings for orders and so on. After that, we should bury them...." This was done by all the adventurers together. They covered their enemies' remains as best they could, as they had only one shovel. They discovered the following: 27 Gold Barbarian Coins One silver pendant -- tear drop shaped with silver chain. Two silver belt buckles Two steel arm bracers -- one pair 11 steel tipped hunting arrows twelve fine crafted long bows (might be traded or sold although slightly inferior to yours) four fair short bows (that might be worth saving) 11 good quality short swords (Byc, Tara, Kuros, and Cher each took one Kar-1) The winged scout had: A chain-link mail shirt Two fine javelins One ornate steel dagger A map! Nothing more than a pencil sketch of the Sparkle Valley. BUT Trader's Nest is circled in ink. A Parchment! Rollvag grabbed it and began to read the Barbarian words hastily: I don't care what you think, Dolg, you found his clothes, DIDN'T YOU!!! He MUST have walked that far. Now go and take that village. They must have taken him there. And remember, they took the hides off the Tzaenog! Our beasts have not been defeated in this way before, so take no prisoners. The rest of the group will wait one day for you to return. After that, we go back into the mountains to join the battle group for the invasion. Today Kanoli, tomorrow Toridar. MARCH ON!!!... Rollvag also removed and pocketed a pair of iron pins that were on the top of the winged scouts shirt. The adventurers paused for another break... ...When Rollvag had stopped reading aloud the words that the parchment contained, Grimheld said: "I will require that for my report." Rollvag handed it to him politely. The Captain went back to an at ease stand, but this time not so steadily. The situation seemed to be getting more complicated every minute: Tato made his decision: "Captain! We can not follow you back at this time. We have other important business to attend to. Everyone, we must rescue the Kanokai from destruction! Sir, I ask you to give us leave to fly into Baldor!" Grimheld looked perplexed, but he was not startled: "For what reason?" Kuros spoke up: "There is a small tribe of people in the province of Kanoli, now Kanokai, who have been captured and enslaved. We must rescue them." Grimheld frowned and then turned to Elkin: "Is this true?" Elkin just smiled and said: "Yes, and the Elven have a plan. It is ready to be put into action as soon as these and others like them, may follow us." Grimheld grew angry: "You're telling me that you are going to take a whole tribe out of Baldor and bring them into Toridar???" Rollvag tried to calm him down: "Sparkle Valley, Sir, an unclaimed area." "What!!!" Rollvag began to speak again, but Elkin interrupted: "Hold, Rollvag! ...We do not need to bring them here right away, at least not initially. There are several mountain ranges between here and there that they could wait behind; however Captain, if Toridar does not consent to aid them, they might perish utterly..." Elkin's words faded. Grimheld's countenance returned to it's rock-steady self as he thought out loud: "Very well, I shall give you my leave; though how you will succeed, I know not. You know that although I may consent to a temporary stay, my superiors may not consent. There could be trouble, but I will not advise that there should be any. I will speak on your behalf..." Then Grimheld appeared to think deeply: "The Baldor Hold is a strange and wild place, but many years ago, before the Hold name was changed to Baldor, there was a Lord there too..." At that moment, Kip turned to Elkin and asked as one amazed: "Why would the Elf help the Drog?" Elkin looked at Kip proudly and said "The Kanoli are Drog no more." Kip lowered his head and said nothing. Elkin continued: "Hence forth we shall call your people the `Kanokai' after the proud heritage of Dondor. I will now reveal the Elven plan to recover the Kanokai before they are lost as slaves. Here are some maps that you may pass around. Myriel and I will lead the adventurers to these caves, here. We will follow the underground passages to the castle, there. Once there, the adventurers must decide in what order they will recover the prisoners. The tower holds the senators and their families, and also the castle workers. The women and children are hidden in the old well house. The others, with the exclusion of some chosen warriors on patrol as sheriffs; forced of course, are held in the dry storage cave, over here. I suggest that the statesman be recovered first, because they have the longest to travel; the women second, and the cave people last. I must point out that fighting will most surely break out at the dry storage cave as we buy time for it's dwellers to exit. There are just over five hundred in the cave! My people will guard and work the passages until we are ready, But we are not many enough to engage any of the garrisons. I will, however, dispatch an archer unit to stop any pursuit through the upper Pine Forest. Kip, if you want to rescue your people, you must guide us within the walls." Kip looked at the drawing of the dry storage cave, shrugged and said: "I don't know how they will get out, I climbed over every inch of the cave when I was a boy..." His words faded to a whisper. Elkin frowned at Kip's lack of faith and asked him: "Do you know where the spring comes in?" "Yes." stated Kip. "Then you've never seen it when it is dry!" Kip positively beamed at this knowledge. "There!?" said Kip joyfully. "Yes, Kip, there is a passage there." Finally, Elkin turned to face the Captain. "Now you have some idea of what we are going to do!" Then it was the Captain's turn to grin. He said, "Remind me to be more kind to Elves. I am thrilled to hear and see what is happening.!" Elkin's face grew weary, almost with indecision; then: "Captain, there is only one thing that will persuade your Council. It is this: You all are in the presence of a Lord." Grimheld's reaction was astonishing. Kuros held his breath. Murki was shocked. Tato stood speechless. The others just didn't quite understand what was going on... "What?? How??" asked Grimheld. "You are standing right next to the Hold Lord's great grandson and only remaining descendent, this man, Kip Kanokai. He is Consair of Ontor, now Baldor. "Do you have proof?" stammered the Captain. Elkin withdrew a pendant from his cloak that had a four pointed star. Rollvag recognized it immediately: "Kip's Royalty Pendant!!!" he said loudly. "How," asked Kuros excitedly, "How did it get down from the tree?" Elkin, who was relieved, laughed and said: "Elves can climb too, you know!!!" To Chapter 3 Turn 4 Back to Arveta 3 Table of Contents Back to Arveta List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1999 by Abram Paradies. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com