Lead by: Erik Arkay, Grenadier Captain
Attended by:Drake Reilly, Watchman
Mela, Junior Scout
Nicholi, Junior Dragoon
Cove's army has been and still remains the spearhead of the campaign to push loyalist forces from the North, and so it is no surprise that we shoould face the threat of sub-human invasion head on. Captain Arkay devised a mission that would serve as a stunning display of Covian capability and intention. He would personally lead the team whose goal would be to breach the occupation of Papua, forge north and strike at the Ophidian stronghold, then depart through the network of caves which lead to Serpents' Hold, and, finally, to smash the Ophidian toe-hold on that isle. Cove would emerge with the first major effort to challenge the vicious reptile onslaught.
When approached, I was a bit apprehensive towards the capacity for such a small team to reach such a distant goal. But I trusted Erik's leadership and appreciated his confidence in my abilities. Of course, I could hardly ask for a better team to be a part of than one which includes Mela and Nicholi. Once we were all prepared and well supplied, we made our way to the moongate and crossed over the Moonglow, heading towards the teleporter which would bring us to Papua.
The moment we emerged from the grasp of the mystical transporter, we recognized that something was amiss. From the windows of the Papua mage's council, we viewed a pitched effort against the ophidian overlords. We were surprised to find the despicable guardsmen of Yew, just as they were surprised to have been discovered by our force. Of course, despite our remarkable selflessness in fighting for Papua's defense, the Guardsmen set upon us as soon as we exited the mage's den. Being outnumbered at least three-to-one, and the guardsmen displaying their usually sneak tactics, necessitated that we quickly withdraw from Papua. Congratulations are in order for Yew: They defeated Cove in battle today, and, in doing so, damaged Papua's chances for liberation. It was Captain Arkay's apt insight that Yew was possibly to blame for Vesper's plight! If Yew's Guardsmen have been wrecklessly hunting the opidians, pushing them out of their natural habitat, then they very well may have initiated the serpents' plight into our civilized lands! We should inspect this angle in the future. I sympathise with Papua: suffering two varieties of wretched oppressors.
But now that the war had been started, it was time for us to push those creatures back to where they belong. And so, to let them know the hardship they have visited on us, we were to return the favor. We left the town of Papua, heading north through the desert valleys.
The blistering heat of the landscape was an incredible burden for our party. Roaming the dunes and molten ridges presented a very real threat: exhaustion could drop us to our knees as easily as any creature. Beads of sweat stinging in my eyes, I struggled to remain focused on the object and perceptive of our surroundings.
Numerous fiends swarmed from the rock ridges, crawling from cracks in the scorched hills. It seemed some time since we left Papua that we encountered actual ophidians. However, when we did come across their brethren, we stumbled into vast waves of the slithering sub-humans. Captain Arkay employed a reserved advance, ordering us to stick close together and progress one position at a time. One moment the sands seemed desolate and uninhabitable, the next moment we found ourselves virtually buried in the endless droves of ophidians soldiers. Their wizards chanted in the lispy language of their culture, filling the sky with perpetual sorceries as they tried to fell our righteous approach to their fortress. The battle was relentless, their numbers pushing us back even as we butchered all that came at us, leaving them to rot under the open sky.
The thought crossed my mind, as I peaked around a cliff and saw the piles of serpent bodies sprawled in the sun, that they would already have plenty to regret even if we were incapable of reaching their home. As our entrenched force shoved forward yet again, we came across a very peculiar presence of some desert tribe of orcish kin. Who can tell why they were in attendence for the fight, but they payed for their curiosity.
The moment came when their front was sufficiently thinned and distraught, and the Captain sounded the full charge. Boots chomping down into the sand, I pushed myself myself across the wide open battlefield, and, for some reason, noticed that there wasn't a single cloud in the sky. Nicholi and Mela were right beside me, likewise sprinting towards the sun bleached structure ahead. We did not hesitate as we crossed from sand to stonework, momentarily grateful to be shielded from the sun. The ophidians in dissarray, we stormed up to the second floor and instantly spun around to hold the higher ground. The staircase became a wreckage of ophidian corpses. We slayed many, dead falling across other dead, and visited on their race the horror of invasion.
A calm silence emerged from the last few deathcries. The rooms of the fortress were quiet and placid. Only in the distance could the ophidians be heard. I couldn't tell whether they were battle commands or wails of sorrow.
Our Captain made use of the oasis of calm to congratulate us on our efforts. We had already accomplished a great task for such a stout force, and there was much left to do. Not far from the entrance we had just assailed, the creeping forms of the ophidians heralded a regrouping effort on their part. If we idled, we would be consumed by their overwhelming masses. A rousing speech reinvigorated our morale, with Captain Arkay leading the charge out of the miserable stronghold. We ran back out into the sparkling sunlight, straight towards the converging clusters of soldiers and spellcasters. We ducked, tackled, leaped and dodged our way through the lines. We struck so that they recoiled, but never stayed put for a moment. I grit my teeth, squinted into the sunlight, and put my mace to work crushing whatever bones lay inside those disgusting serpents. We were Covians, and their weapons could not harm us. We slipped through their line, jogging south through the anonymous valleys and towards the path to Serpent's Hold.
Compared to the preceding struggle, the trek through the caverns was a respite. We encountered hardly an honest threat throughout the journey. A spirit of blood-red wind was the most potent and that was dispatched without concern. I believe we were all grateful to emerge from the caves; to a sunlight that was somehow more tame than that found amid the ophidian homeland. The transition from the anarchy of battle in a foreign land to the streets of a civilized city was quite a clash. The thought that such madness was not far removed from the quaint streets of Serpent's Hold was striking, though it was a very real concept. The civilized society we had returned to was threatened by the very devasation we had just faced. Not far from where we stood, clear across the isle, the ophidians had established an outpost. We knew that unless we acted, Serpent's Hold might face the same disasterous cataclysm that has befallen two other towns.
The sight of Covian uniforms must certainly have been a strange occaision for the citizens we passed by. As we marched through the streets, i wondered to myself: would prideful Yew attempt to prevent our assisstance of this community, as well? We proceded to the western limits of the town, where the shops and domiciles gave way to naked jungle. We paused to quickly sum up the situation, contemplating the best route to assault the scattered ophidian forces, before plunging into the woodland. Had we not been the disciplined professionals synonymous with Cove, or had Captain Arkay not been such an experienced commander, we should would have been mired in the treacherous terrain. Tick undergrowth and an impenetrable foliage combined to form a landscape that tangled and trapped us, but solid formation tactics forced the enemy to approach us. In this way, not a single casualty was suffered. After some time, the ophidian expedition had been all but scattered. They would no longer face us as a group, making us hunt them down as individuals. The battle would not be won today, but we surely detered any imminent attack on the local population.
Today, a small force of Covians battled the Ophidian threat on every front. We fought them from the tip of their attack, to the very heart of their society, and clear through to the other side. I'm honestly very proud to have taken part in this mission. It sets the standard for any faction that similarly attempts to counter the invasion. They will have to follow in Cove's footsteps.
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