As You Command [5E Evil] {IC}

[Lentrax]

The sounds of the impromptu camp waking to a new dawn fill the chilly air.

As you all exit your tents to the feel of frosted grass crunching beneath your feet, your breath frosts in front of your faces. As you warm your hands, you watch the villagers, ragged and ragamuffin, being paraded out for weapons training. Keira wants them all trained well enough to be able to hold their own in what she sees as the final battle for the kingdom. Her attentions have been like an arrow, loosed and flying straight for the target. Everything she has done, thus far, has been to gain an army and lead them on to the capital city of Aerwyck.

But this morning, a runner approaches each of you.

A young boy, not more than ten, wearing the ragged remains of what what might have been decent commoners clothing approaches Dorothea, the princess's white hair a match for the chilled frost touching the snow.

"Highness?" His voice squeaks as he bows. "Lady Moronterro, wishes to see you in her command tent."


A young girl approaches the dark-haired scout, Brooke. Brooke recognizes the girl, mostly because for some reason Brooke hasn't been able to figure out yet, the girl has taken it upon herself to copying everything Brooke does. From the way she walks, to the way she talks with other people. She copies almost everything, and has yet to be put off by the half-elf's demeanor.

"Brooke? Keira wanted me to get you. She said that she thinks I am probably the only one who would come close enough to do it? And she laughed when she said it. Why is that funny?"


Calcifer, an almost perfect twin to the Lady Paladin Keira Moronterro, is approached by an older girl. Not quite old enough to handle a weapon, but old enough to help with other camp business, she comes up to the faded copy.

"The lady Moronterro told me you likely knew she wanted you already, but asked me to bring you to her."


Einhart Namenlos exits his tent to find a six year old child, hair shaved completely away, with rags defining the child only as a they. "Sir Namenlos? Lady Moronterro has asked me to send you to her."

[AvatarVecna]

A young girl approaches the dark-haired scout, Brooke. Brooke recognizes the girl, mostly because for some reason Brooke hasn't been able to figure out yet, the girl has taken it upon herself to copying everything Brooke does. From the way she walks, to the way she talks with other people. She copies almost everything, and has yet to be put off by the half-elf's demeanor.

"Brooke? Keira wanted me to get you. She said that she thinks I am probably the only one who would come close enough to do it? And she laughed when she said it. Why is that funny?"

She grimaces. "Most people tend to get on my nerves. I guess they learn quick to see when they're not wanted. Did she say what it's about?" Without really waiting for an answer (because refusing the Lady isn't really an option), Brooke gets what things she didn't already have strapped to her back and follows.

[Japheth]

Calcifer stood just a slight moment before being summoned by the girl, already walking to Keira's tent before she started her sentence. "Thanks. Report to the distributors, they need more tanners preparing saddles to match the newest batch of acquired mounts."

On the way to Keira, Calcifer notices Brooke following a runner at a brisk pace in the same direction. Picking up pace until matching strides with the half-elf, the aasimar uses Shape Water to shave a thick layer of mud off an enameled shield, still wet from sparring with the latest batch of trainees (not including the newest arrivals). "The group from that town on the riverside has two with potential for magic, five with potential for weapons, and twenty-three for the front lines. Our Lady will be pleased."

Calcifer is one of very few that actually understands exactly what Keira wants the recruits to be able to handle, and pushes them to their limits. Usually, they got lucky to find one person out of fifty that could attempt basic magic, and two or three that were skilled enough fighters to help train fresh additions. Those who had trouble wielding the simpler polearms would probably end up as fodder for defensive traps in the siege to come. By the aasimar's estimate, they had a moderate chance at actually taking the capital city, but likely with losses so heavy that they couldn't seize anything else afterwards. Fortunately, the capital was their only remaining objective.

After another moment of walking, a smirk crept upon the aasimar's face, followed by a chuckle. "She may be your junior by almost a century, but by the way she acts you two could have been sisters born five years apart. Cute."

[Dusk Raven]

Not for the first time, Einhart questions the morality of his actions. He wondered, vaguely, what the point of trying to convince people to join Lady Moronterro was if they were just going to end up like this. He made a mental note to speak with the Lady about the conditions of her "troops," as soon as she'd actually listen. Otherwise, there was nothing to be done about the situation of the peasantry except to achieve victory as quickly as possible.

"Very well. I will go." His features are hidden behind the helmet, and his deep voice is even and measured. "Find yourself someplace warm to be," he says. It's all he can do at this moment. His own tent is spartan enough that it doesn't have anything he might give to the child, unless the child wanted to use it as a temporary shelter. He certainly wouldn't oppose that course of action.

Meanwhile, he set out for the Lady's command tent, as prepared as ever to face the day, and what trials it would bring for everyone involved.

[Illven]

Dorothea passes off what remains of her breakfest.

Here, young child. Eat this, and stay in here to warm up. She said soothingly reaching down to pat his head, as she walks off towards the command tent. Best not to keep Lady Keira waiting.

[Lentrax]

As you each dismiss your runners, or bring them with you, as the case may be, you arrive in what passes as the command center of the camp.

You enter the tent where your leader, the Paladin Keira Moronterro, is going over the maps of Aerwyck and its surrounding land on a small camp table. As you enter, she looks up, and a lock of her pink hair falls across her face, obscuring her left eye. She hooks it back over her ear as she smiles at each of you as you enter.

"My friends!" she says, as you come to stand before her. "We are nearing our goal. Soon enough, we will have this treacherous villain off of his throne, and we will be able to return this kingdom to glory."

She looks past you toward the camp outside her tent, and sighs heavily.

"This affair has weighed heavily upon me. I know what I am doing is right. It is just, and the people see it as well. I pity that it must cause all to suffer, but what other option is left me?"

Her hand curls into a fist and she slams it atop the table.

"I will finish this. I will make everything right again."

She closes her eyes, takes a breath and then opens them to look up at you again.

"And to that end. I have a task for you. You four are the most capable followers I have, and I do not have many I can trust to get what needs doing done."

Keira begins searching through the maps, lifting the edges of each to look at the map beneath it, until she finds the one she is looking for. She then pulls it out from the stack and sets it on the top. The map is a simple one, just showing the kingdom with the capital, and larger towns and cities named. But a new name has been written on it in fresh ink. Taegwyrd.

"This," Keira says, pointing to the new name. "Is Taegwyrd. It isn't a place many people know about, because the crown has had it hidden as best it can. You see, it is just inside the Taegen Wood. This is important because of what they do there. Which was building the kingdom's supply of siege weapons for our war against Agrila."

She taps the spot. "And that is where I need you to go. Taegwyrd. Go there and secure whatever siege equipment you can for our assault on Aerwyck. We need those weapons so that the battle goes the way we need it to, to be successful."

[Dusk Raven]

Einhart respectfully removes his helmet as he enters the tent, revealing a mess of sandy blonde hair, and a faint smile on his face. Seeing Keira Moronterro never failed to lift Einhart's spirits. Even with the burden she bears, she's still beautiful, and has a personal presence that none can deny. Einhart's smile only grows when his lady's hair falls in just the right way, and when she gives him and his fellow retainers a smile in return, and for a moment, things seem at peace. But then she sighs, unable to escape serious matters such as the state of the camp and its conscripts. Einhart's smile fades with hers.

The best way to end all this is to bring her victory, Einhart reminds himself. The purpose of a knight, after all, is to serve their lord or lady and bring them victory, honor, and glory. And in Lady Moronterro's case, his goal is to bring her peace of mind as well. To that end, he will accept any mission from her, and the only questions he will ask are the ones that help him complete that mission.

"As you command, my lady," he says, giving a short bow, really little more than a nod of the head and shoulders. "Is there any other relevant information about the site? Defenses, for instance?"

[Lentrax]

"All I know is that there is a garrison of some kind. A hundred perhaps, maybe more, maybe less. It's secrecy was its primary defense. The Taegen Wood is, after all, not often... accomodating... of outsiders. Brooke, I believe knows best of what I speak?"

Brooke does indeed, know that the Taegen Wood is home to a number of tribes of the Fey.

There are four major tribes of Fey. These are:

Pixies
Satyrs
Dryads
Sprites


There are legends about an ancient guardian that protects the heart of the Wood. Some have come out speaking of a creature of shadow, but no one has actually seen anything definitive.

[AvatarVecna]

Brooke nods. "The faerie courts' presence is at work in those woods. More than a few fae tribes we'd have to tangle with if we got on their bad side...and potentially more dangerous guardians as well. I've only ever caught rumors myself. My best guess is that somebody was spoiling their games and got on the wrong side of an archfey...but it's only a guess. Who knows what lurks in the depths."

[Illven]

Could we attempt to keep hidden from the fey tribes? Dorothea muses outloud.

[Japheth]

Calcifer listens, and then takes a step towards the middle of the group before initially responding to Dorothea, "As long as we focus on handling the garrison and don't delve into the trees, we should be fine. Unless the fey take the whole of Taegwyrd deeper into the forest, we shouldn't cross any boundaries."

It then shifts its attention back to Keira, "With so much of Taegwyrd's focus on secrecy and production, we should be able to sneak in with a returning lumber operation if we want minimal casualties. We can take two hostages, probably the operational manager and one of the grunt laborers, and promise not to harm them if they help us get inside to chat with the kingsman in charge, which will ensure the remaining crew won't run and raise alarms. If Dorothea or Einhart can't convince the kingsman to join our cause, we immediately capture him and behead him in public. As long as we leave no time for a rescue operation, this should allow us to take Taegwyrd in the least amount of time and with the least resistance. If nothing goes wrong, that is.

I'm open to better suggestions, but those are my immediate thoughts of a plan. Also, my Lady, the new batch gave us two casters and five soldiers. The rest of them lack talent and will have to be split between bolstering the supply chain and dying at the front lines of our last battle. Since we're seizing siege weapons, I'd recommend devoting all of them to the supply chain. Some of them are educated, so they might be capable of manning the artillery."

After saying all of that, Calcifer steps back into the position where it was standing before, causing a strand of hair to fall across its right eye. Pulling back the strand of hair, Calcifer inclines her head in a small, but reverent bow.

[Lentrax]

“I don’t think you understand. Taegwyrd is, in fact, in the Taegen Wood. The people the crown sent in to make this encampment have some kind of bargain with the fey. What it composed, or what the Fey get from it, I don’t know.”

Keira goes over to the tent flaps,, and her hand comes to rest on the pommel of her sword as she surveys her camp.

“Everyone here is here because they chose to be. From the soldiers to the followers. So I use them all, because it was their choice.”

“These people,” she spits out, turning back and pointing to the map. “Get the same choice as the rest. Join or die. There is no middle, no neutral. I don’t care what happens to them if they choose not to join me, but they do not get to go back to the King.”

Her voice grows angrier with each word until at last she snarls at you all.

“Bring me my siege weapons, so we can be done with this.”

[Japheth]

"Of course, my Lady. It will be as you say."

[Illven]

It's a shame, if he shared more with me, we might have been able to sneak in with the gift of gems he sends them each year. Dorothea muses.

Perhaps we could try a similar trick. Say my father is requesting more siege engines to deal with his conflicts?

[Dusk Raven]

And thus, Keira's darker side asserts itself. Einhart's expression hardens, and he steps back. "It shall be done."

As the group begins to discuss strategy, Einhart inclines his head. "Interesting. Bluff our way into take the weapons without actually presenting them a choice? That might work. But we may have to fall back on Calcifer's plan if that goes south."