Marching North
The next day was not one of travels, at least, but also not one of idleness, at least for Albrich, who spent it doing repairs on weapons that had been damaged during their travels so far, sharpening them up to get rid of notches that might undermine their durability. Sir Rolande took a little time on his own to wrap some iron wire around the hilt of Ebharing to make sure he didn't fall prey to its influence again and drew it without knowing. He had made his mind up: he was going to throw the evil sword in the volcano by the Iron Tower. He only kept it for now because he really wanted to be sure it would be destroyed and Albrich kept saying that they should keep it as long as the dragon was something to take into account.
The rest of the day, he spent close to Colonel Praanz da Kaelve as he organized the expedition. It was very clear that the man had done this before. He was meticulous and the two found respect for each other. The expedition would consist of 60 Trakorian soldiers from the garrison, armed with sabres, shields and bows, and armoured with leather jerkins (though the officers did have mail). About 10 Marjurans volunteered, led by Hildur Boartooth and his son. Snaketongue told Sir Roland that Hildur had once been one of the leaders of the Marjuran resistance to the Trakorian invasion, so he definitely knew the land well and could handle himself in a fight. The White Berets would also join, of course. Finally, da Kaelve ordered Abrelax, the ogre foreman at the slave camp to join as well. While thick as ogres tend to be, the massive man would certainly be an asset when it came to crushing skulls of any kind, and he was as loyal to da Kaelve as a dog to his master. To supply the company with food (mostly hardtack), shelter against storms and fuel for fires, the Colonel required most of the available cliffcrawlers and wagons.
The journey began quietly enough, the constant drizzle being a steady companion. Even though the party marched quickly enough, the wagons were not built for speed so it still took them two days' walk to get to the end of the path that took them along the glacier to the point where they would make a turn for the East to meet the giants.
They made camp there, under the cover of the white moss forest. The plan was to get up on the glacier before noon the next day and the traverse it towards the objective, rather than going through the mountains. However, when the Colonel had assembled the commanders at his tent, a White Beret runner came with news. The number of Undead in Cruri had grown considerably over the past few days. da Kaelve wanted to know more about what was going on before making any final decision for the next day, and Tindri spoke out, too, calling attention to the fact that she could move unseen in the wild very easily and was really curious about finding any traces of spell workings in the area to learn more about what was going on.Two scouting parties were sent out. Tindri, together with a White Beret and da Kaelve himself went towards Cruri to see what they could learn about the numbers and origins of the Undead, while Perrima and Rowri went ahead up to the glacier to see if they could contact the Kvurs and use their help to get in touch with the giants sooner; it was still a week until the pre-arranged meeting, but it was becoming increasingly clear that time was running out.
Rowri and Perrima moved quickly and silently through the dark lands and got safely up on the glacier. There, Perrima prayed to Kmorda, and her prayers shaped the ice into lenses and crystals that could replicate a Northern light on the ground. It was an old way for the Kmorda druids to talk to the Kvurs when needed, and the need was great now. It worked. Not even an hour later, a Kvur landed his fuzzard next to them and got the instructions: assemble on the army marching towards the Iron Tower. He left immediately to summon both Kvurs and giants.
Tindri found, to her dismay, that a great many Undead had, indeed, risen. They were more than she could count. And they were...doing things. Regular city citizens things, like digging ditches where needed, or cooking a great stew. Only, there was no city, no ditch, nothing. Tindri could feel great power in this area, but no one had woven it into spells. No necromancy had been used here. While watching, a small group - about a dozen - of these bog-people, all soldiers, marched across the remains of a road, one of them carrying a stick that might once have been a standard. The dagger Dementius explained that this was the herald of great King Ottar.
While Tindri wanted to press forward, da Kaelve forbade her, and they returned. Talking to the other commanders, da Kaelve was no longer certain that he wanted to press on towards the Iron Tower immediately. Some argued that it was possible that the Undead in Cruri were not actually raised by the Shagulites. They might be another faction entirely, and thus might be neutral, and not at all hostile towards Trakoria. But if they were hostile, they definitely numbered more than some hundreds. More like thousands, and Arhem would have to be evacuated immediately. Da Kaelve had sent orders to the galbalon in the convoy to return immediately, but it might still be several days away, if the messenger had even found it yet. The Colonel needed more intelligence on these Undead.
He got it sooner than he expected. A sentry came with word - Undead soldiers approaching, an entire company by the looks of it. The alarm was sounded and everyone got into position for a battle. The Trakorians formed the centre, with a shield wall and some archers behind. The Marjurans took position on the left flank, closer to Arhem, and the White Berets on the right. Albrech and Sir Rolande were slightly ahead of the formation to see if they intended no harm. Perhaps, the Undead were walking on some errand that did not concern the Trakorian force at all?
That turned out to be a forelorn hope. When the first Undead appear, the two heroes shifted towards right. A commander of some sort stood in the rear, wearing greened bronze mail and a strangely shaped green bronze helmet. Inside was a black skeleton, nothing more, but it stared right at Sir Roland and raised its sword towards him. It's jaw moved, and the other Undead started marching towards him, swords raised. Albrich and Sir Rolande retreated behind the shieldwall immediately.
The battle of Cruri was about to begin.