The enemy is on the move

The group had a healthy shopping list. A ton of supplies were going to be needed for the trip ahead and all possible contingencies were considered. Extra weapons, arrows, bolts, provisions, even spare wagon wheels were purchased and loaded up in the carts. A nearby wizard's shop was visited and any scrolls or potions they could scrape up the cash to buy were purchased. And on the way out of town a quick stop at the Halfling church by the two halfling Clerics yielded a few more healing items and holy water. All of this was done and the party was still able to leave the city of Umbriola by early afternoon as they headed out due east to move as quickly out of the populated area as possible.

They headed east and looped around outside the city limits trying to keep a good distance between them and any potential for being spotted by the approaching Sudalon forces. Looping around they headed north a mile or two east of the river with the plan to follow it north until they found the crossing point Jeb had told them about. Only it was not long after they began moving north that a number of the hover wagons were spotted crossing the river in their direction. At first it only looked like a few but as they continued to make way north and got a better angle at the force crossing the river it became apparent there were many more than just a few. As they continued north another group of the hover vehicles was spotted ahead of them moving in their direction. Raifer made a quick decision and the group turned due east heading for the cover of the forest area in that direction.

They made good time as the ground between them was relatively flat and easy to traverse. They made the woods by nightfall and slid in to the area just inside the tree line to set up camp for the night. A watchful eye was kept to see if they were followed but there was no sign of it. In the morning a new travel plan was set to move north along the tree line in order to keep some cover available. As they began to head out large plumes of smoke were visible from the direction of Umbriola. It was apparent a number of large fires had been set in the kingdom. They moved out and stayed along the trees until they were due east of the crossing and then turned to cross the open plains area making way to the river crossing. But it was not long before travellers were spotted moving north in their direction. The travellers who appeared to be no more than common farmers came upon the group. Their story was a sad tale of destruction wrought by the marauding dwarven army. Much destruction and mayhem was inflicted on the populace and these farmers had fled in fear for their lives looking for a safe place to go. The group directed them back towards the towns of Qat or Mulrein in the woods to the east or maybe even to Al-Alin.

The group moved along and made it to the Boat house area. Splitting up, a small group moved up to scope out the situation at the house. Raifer, Justin, Jimmi and Meercon rode up to see if all was clear. As they approached they saw 4 people attending the dock, one of which appeared to be a guard in leather armor. The port master met them at the dock and discussed arrangements for travel across the river. Raifer was careful to not tip his hand regarding the size of his group and a price was agreed upon for the four there but there were some odd issues that struck the team. The skiff was much smaller than they were led to believe he should have here and when Jimmi tried to go up on the dock to look around the guard would not let him up until they had paid the fare. They discussed options and asked about other crossings of the river and the port master mentioned another crossing further north that he also owned. Raifer decided it would be better to move along and see that area. With that the port master walked away and went in to his boat house leaving the guard standing at the dock steps.

They mounted their horses and asked the guard to assist getting Jimmi on the horse but he rudely declined. As Justin went to dismount to help Jimmi both he and Raifer spotted the port master at the back window of his house holding a sign that read "HELP!" Justin moved casually over to Raifer's horse, with a look he confirmed that Raifer had also seen the sign. As he reached the horse he asked the simple question "Now or later?" The answer was a definitive "Now." With that Justin wheeled and fire an arrow from his bow at the guard but missed. Surprise was no longer on their side.

Raifer and Meercon dismounted and moved forward. The guard quickly uttered some form of spell and Justin fired again. This time it was a perfect shot, only the arrow deflected off as if striking some invisible barrier, most likely the effect of whatever spell the guard cast. Jimmi tried to use a Spiritual Whip to attack the guard but the spell fizzled. Raifer moved in and attempted to engage the guard in hand to hand, a move that is one of his specialties. But the guard was able to deflect the attempt leaving Raifer with the impression there was some deception or other magic at work. And Jimmi followed up with another spell, this time a Bless to aid the group.

The guard attacked with his short sword striking Raifer. The cut was not nearly as bad as the poison the blade also carried. Raifer was able to fight off the full effect of the liquid and on they fought. This time Jimmi moved in and struck a decent blow with his mace startling the guard. Raifer continued to attempt to enter hand to hand but again the guard rejected the attempt. This time Raifer was left with an odd handful of scales.

As this fight moved on the guard shouted something and the other two dock hands moved in to action. The first hand in the skiff began to untie the ropes that held the skiff to the dock. The second ran for the boat house and re-emerged quickly with a machete in hand. Meercon moved to block this dock hand but it became apparent the dock hand was not hostile towards the group. And a moment later the guard uttered another quick spell and disappeared. The brief silence of the suprise was broken by the sound of a splash out in the river but it was impossible to identify where it was exactly due to the speed of the moving water.

The port master and dock hands quickly relayed their story. This guard was part of a larger group that was camped on the far shore. They were not allowed to bring large numbers across at a time which explained the smaller skiff on this dock. They explained they had been beaten and essentially held hostage to do the work these aggressors demanded. The port master directed Raifer to head north to the other crossing. He gave him a token to give to the port master there. It would let the other attendant know there was trouble at this location and to help Raifer and his group. Meanwhile the port master and the dock hands would detach the crossing guide ropes and be off until the situation had resolved itself.

The small group returned to the main group and they headed north. It was only 5 or 7 miles they had to travel to get to the other crossing. When they produced the coin the port master here was eager to help and curious as to what the situation was. A quick exhcnage of information was done and they moved along across the river. They headed for Zumbrota approaching from directly north. There was little to indicate any trouble on this side of the river. The fields were placid and the farm houses undisturbed. They spotted watch towers and spot lights around the city as they neared. Once again a small group broke off to enter the city to scout ahead.

Zumbrota is not your typical city. It is more of a trading post where a whole bunch of people decided to bulid their homes. Many caravans were scattered all abouts and there was no pattern or design to the placement of buildings. A few here, a few there, one over there and a few more over in that area. Clusters of buildings formed centralized conregation points. Raifer and his team spotted a caravan of a few wagons and approached to see what they could find out. They met the caravan owner Luis. He was a dealer in fine materials. Silks, Satins, Cotton and the like. Luis was able to tell them about the area, what to expect and that it would be perfectly fine for them to bring in their wagon train and set up in pretty much any open area. that's the way this town worked. There would be no one asking for a rental fee or some other municipal charge.

So in they brought the remainder of the group and parked their wagons about 40 yards away from Luis'. They rested for the night and in the morning sent out two teams to forage for information. One group of all the Rangers hunted around for signs of the Sudalon forces that had been there recently and one group of Halflings that would visit the local SUGAR outpost Sasha had informed them was there. The rangers found 8 different locations where the hover carts had been parked and a few odd pieces of left behind material but nothing significant. The size of the force was likely about 200 and they were transporting livestock, supplies and likely a few heavy weapons. The halflings got more specific info from the guild. The dwarves moved through but did not attack, they shopped. They were transporting the supplies for the larger force that was ahead of them and numbered in the area of 2,000. This left the garrison defending Sudalon to be in the 100 to 200 range at most.

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