Lead by: Shadwell, Commander
Attended by:Arc, Senuir Guardsman
Drake Reilly, Watchman
Edmund Rufus, Junior Scout
Mela, Junior Scout
Olchafa Serpent, Officer Cadet
Vlad, Regular Grenadier
Late this evening, a team of Cove's soldiers carried out a mission deep within Yew territory. The goal of the mission was to deliver a message: Cove is capable of striking Stonekeep at will. Shadwell, after discussing the matter with our lord, relayed the objective to those gathered along the barracks facade. We traveled via magical gateway to the lawn of Empath Abbey and immediately began the trek south, swiftly passing through the village and across the wilderness.
I found it hard to breathe with the lump in my throat. This was a tremendously dangerous mission, possibly more-so than the open warfare witnessed in Vesper. What overshadowed my apprehension was the sense of pride of working alongside a group made up of such accomplished Covians.
Aside from the monolithic trees, I could almost imagine that I was not far from Cove, patroling the road to the Ironwood Inn. But this was not our land. This land belonged to other people, and they would kill me the moment they saw me. I was as out-of-place in this forest as I had been in the Solan tunnels the day before. I don't remember blinking once during the march south. I had never been this far into the region, and I made sure to keep pace with the rest of the force.
We arrived at a cemetary, a small plot across from a pair of towers that looked like they had been carved from mountains. From here we continued south at a crawl, entering the heart of the Yewian military effort. The scouts in attendence, Edmund and Olchafa, slipped into the underbrush and out of sight, quickly reporting back that there were no immediate signs of activity. We set about constructing the standard of our homeland, focusing on our individual assignments; knowing that completing the goal quickly was the key to departing without incident.
As the project neared completion, I had turned to retrieve more materials and when I looked back I saw a portion of the banner had been torn away. I didn't immediately understand what had happened, but the senior officers did not suffer a similar moment of confusion, a mental pause which could very well have lead to my death. The more experienced soldiers recognized at once that we had been detected, that there were Yewians hiding among and around us. Senior Guardsman Arc went about orchestrating spells which sprung fire from the ground, attempting to reveal the hidden threats.
One of us tossed an incendiary which erupted in a flare of heat, and from the bed of flames a figure leaped onto the porch of a nearby building. Someone, I don't think from among our force, shouted out: "D'Gar!". The figure dissappeared into the shadows just as quickly as it had emerged from the inferno.
The rustle of leaves was drowned out by the footsteps of our enemies. Shadwell ordered a formation, despite volleys of arrows and whirling spells which were unleased at us in waves. To be honest, I thought we would be cut down where we stood. I was going to hit the dirt path and my body wouldn't even have bounced. However, we stood our ground. From the liberation of Vesper, I recognized the Yewian tactic of tricking our forces into chasing them, splintering the team. Of course we had expected to be met with members of the Yew militia, but it was quickly apparent that a portion of the Britannia Guard had arrayed against us as well. A catastrophy seemed imminent.
Then came one of those moments in battle that you can only look back at in wonder. We persevered, we covered each others' backs and we calmly, professionally withdrew from the vicinity of Stonekeep. Ultimately, despite being far from familiar territory, despite being surrounded at every turn, despite facing the soldiers of two factions, we were able to disengage with hardly any casualties.
Shadwell ordered each of us to regroup at the moongate, far to the north. The running battle spread in a wide arc across the countryside of Yew, degenerating into personal combat between individuals of both armies. I was able to meet up with Regular Grenadier Vlad, who ordered me to continue on towards the moongate. I could not accommodate that order. A member of the Royal King's Guard and I had been maneuvering against one another; neither of us were close to yielding the fight. Only after Vlad joined the fight, and the sergeant lay on the undergrowth, bleeding from countless open wounds, did I heed Vlad's command. With one last glance back at the heights of Stonekeep, I made my way through a forest that was filled with the sounds of combat.
We assembled at the barracks, Shadwell confirming that we had indeed reminded Yew of the vulnerability and fragility of their borders in the face of a possible Cove attack.
Although this is just conjecture on my part, I can only surmise that some of the villagers we passed while moving through Yew had managed to relay advance warning to Stonekeep. What surprised me was the presence of Britain guardsmen alongside the anticipated Yewians. The unity of their response is, of course, a tremendous obstacle to both Cove and the greater North.
-Drake Reilly, Watchman
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