The Adventures of Brandar Odaron
Book 1: The Hidden Continent
Chapter 31 Mustering For The Assault
The two Kings remained long in the Tower of Vortunas, together with the Dukes Flaven, Medhyos, and Phaedus. But few other Lords stayed in Deunomis, having their own affairs to attend to, and desiring not to dwell in tents upon the ground. There were, however, the Wizards Palphus and Calaren, and all of the living Officers and Soldiers whose homes had been destroyed thereabouts. But here also were the Kith and Lady Vearta, and the Last Three Northrons, now called the “Defenders”. And there remained the proud Men of Agereis and the Company of Geranost and other parties who wished to be present when the Kings at last decided upon the Defender’s request.
Two weeks after the Moot of Lords the Kings had not yet made their minds, despite having been closeted often in a certain room within the Tower and at whiles calling for various individuals to come there and be questioned. Meanwhile, the Kith repeated many times their vow to go with the Defenders into the Deel. But none were more vocal than Brandar’s daughter’s, who were supported in this by Palphus. And not even Lady Vearta could change their stance, though tearfully would she plead with them for fear of losing them. Neither were the two Kings against them and of whom Strabos once said: “This is to be expected of the Dames, who sprang from the loins of Brandar Odaron. His boldness of spirit they have inherited from him.”
Then the Kings, after another few days, called for a meeting in the Main Hall of the Tower so that all of those noted were in attendance when King Strabos declared: “The Defenders are correct in assessing that the Demon has been weakened, and that we shall likely have no better chance of assaulting him victoriously within his realm away in the North. Thus have we decided to grant to the Defenders’ request.” Then all of the people in attendance cheered while some raised their swords and voiced battle-cries. Yet, Aetas motioned for them to be quiet and said: “The Defenders are in the right, ‘tis true, but such action shall require the full mustering of the Sereghran; no less than the entire strength of all Three Realms gathered to mete out a final stroke so heavy that it cannot fail! For, it is certain, we believe, that Modeus has not shown his full strength, though it seemed that this may be so. Nay, the West is yet rife with Durwolc and other vermin, regardless of our victory. And who can say what evil lies beyond the Deel. Into the Darkness we cannot see, and thus cannot ken what fearful horrors await therein.” “But into the Darkness we shall go, nonetheless,” said Strabos. “All of us. And not as spies, nor assassins, but as conquering crusaders bent upon the destruction of our foes; as so oft’ the Demon has sent invaders against us. And if indeed Sereghran or Northrons are to pass the Deel in search of the Warlord, or upon another task, and risk never again returning to these Lands, then it behooves us to discover why the Demon hides himself in that Darkness. What is more, not unthinkable is it that he shall again expand outwards the circumference of the Deel, so that, in the end, it may come to encompass even the Mists themselves. So say we, the Kings of the Sereghran. And so shall we publish in our decree.”
Hence was the decision made, to launch an all-out assault upon the Demon Lord. And the decree was posted and went forth upon the lips of Heralds calling for all Sereghran fit to fight to take up arms and muster upon the Grasslands east of Kelebros.
This is the form of that gathering, the Greatest Mustering of the Sereghran. The Full Muster was to be in two parts, where Strabos would oversee the Muster By Land while Aetas would command the Muster By Sea. And the Muster By Land was gathered upon the Grasslands, though Strabos deigned to lead the Army of Sunthakis himself at its fore, while Aetus would mass an armada off the coast of Baerakis. And upon an agreed-upon time, the two Kings would enter the Deel at two locations; one upon land west of Kelebros, and the other upon the waters to the northwest of Agereis. And while Strabos was to move west and then north within the Darkness, and so come with his Army from the south to the Demon’s Castle, Aetas was to make landfall upon the coast above the Castle, and would therefore come down from the north with his Mariners, and with Soldiers who would be ferried aboard the ships. Consequently, the intention was that the Kings would besiege the Castle from two sides. And thus would this become the very greatest venture the Sereghran had ever undertaken.
Slow was the mustering of those forces. And the Defenders and the Kith grew restless and impatient with the Kings; seeing every delay as that much more time given to Modeus to build his forces and ready unknowable defenses within the Darkness. Nevertheless, ever would the Defenders and the Kith surrender to the will of the Kings while doing everything they could to aid in hastening the mustering upon land.
At length, when over a year had passed since the Victory at Vortunas, the Full Muster was ready. And the Sereghran set forth to engage in the most spectacular and glorious war in all of their history. Indeed, it would be the most tremendous conflict the Sereghran would see in all of that Age, and was named the “Crusade Against Modeus”. Long, therefore, are the Tells of the battles therein, where wide and terrible fights were fought, both upon land and upon the sea. And many are the songs sung of the valiant and heroic deeds of the Sereghran Warriors who survived, and more of those who fell in the war. Here, however, the stories are given in brief, as gleaned from accounts in the Lore of the Sereghran at Romin, based upon the Tells in the Annals of the Kings at Sunthakis which Brandar had asked Andarian Scribes to pen copies of the copies he owned.
The Muster By Sea was such a vast armada that its end could not be seen to the north or to the east, even from the crow’s nests of the tallest of ships nearest the shore at Baerakis. Yet, Aetas was sad that the Fleets of Agereis and Geranost had been lost, and could not therefore be added to this gathering, as it would thus have been half again as large. Even so, this was the greatest armada that the Sereghran had ever known. And it was so highly magical that it glowed from one end to the other.
Here were fleets from Baerakis and Sunthakis, and from Toquere and Berdareh, and Quiesos. And there was an enormous fleet of Elven ships from Linguonon. But there was also a gathering of vessels from fishing villages of the Coasts. And aboard each and every craft Aetas had placed a Mage or other user of magic, else he made sure that there was at least one powerful magical weapon or device in the hand of each Captain. Furthermore, all of the Mariners and Soldiers and Brigadiers who were packed aboard those craft were given magical weapons of various sorts. Thus did Aetas consider his muster well prepared to sail into the Deel, as he laid anchor but a furlong from it along two Lines north to south, with the Second a furlong behind the First. And there he waited upon the appointed time with four Fleets in the First Line, including the Royal Fleets both of Baerakis and Sunthakis at the center; the ships from Torquere nearest to the shore, and those from Berdareh farthest out to sea. But Aetas placed the Elven Fleet at the center of the Second Line, flanked to its north by the ships from Quiesos, but to its south by those craft which had become affectionately known as the “Fisher’s Fleet”, for those were largely manned by Fishermen and hardy Brigadiers who had volunteered to join the Crusade.
Aetas conferred with Strabos upon his Aefarin; often inserting supplications to the Gods in their conversation. And he felt that the Gods answered his prayers when he sailed without mishap into the Deel at word from Strabos to proceed. Yet, not a few Mariners and Soldiers and Brigadiers aboard those ships went into the Darkness with weapons in hand, shaking in their boots, and wide-eyed with fear.
Strabos put away his Aefarin as he sat mounted looking upon the wan blackness of the Deel with the three Defenders and the Kith arrayed together with his Company of Guardsmen, and with whom were also the Herald Farus and all the Knights who had survived the first five wars. But here also were the Wizards Flaven and Calaren, and the Lords Turlin and Medhyos, and many other high-ranking Lords and Officers. And behind these stood such a mighty army that it could not entirely be arrayed upon the land between the Deel and Kelebros but was placed along both banks, all the way from Baeren’s Lake to the Great Northern Bay.
Fourteen Divisions had Strabos in his Main Force, but six others he set along the West Bank of Kelebros as his Secondary Force, and eight Divisions on the East Bank as his Third, commanded by Duke Phaedus at the Fifth Tower. But the Duke’s forces were mostly Brigadiers, charged with holding the East Bank against counter-attack out of the Deel should the Crusade fail after all.
Strabos now entered the Deel with his Royal Company at a place west of the Fifth Tower, followed immediately by four Divisions spaced as a great curve along the outer shape of the Deel so that all four together entered at the same moment just after the King’s Company. And so large were these Divisions that together they formed a Front one furlong deep that stretched from ten leagues west of the Delta of Kelebros to where the Deel crossed the Foothills sixty leagues due west of the Seventh Tower. Yet, five more Divisions were to follow that Front, with two side-by-side entering near the Foothills but the rest, one after another, at the place where Strabos had entered. And the remaining six Divisions, initially set along the West Bank, were together to move west and enter last at various locations as final reinforcements.
Strabos had supplied his forces with many magical weapons and devices, and also charms of protection. And there was at least one Master Mage with each Division, and one Adept with each Company, in all of those forces. Consequently, so magical and powerful was the Muster By Land that Strabos believed these alone would be quite sufficient to whelm the enemy’s defenses and thereafter occupy the whole of the valley where stood the Demon’s great keep. And while both Kings were confident of victory, little hope was left of finding Brandar alive after more than a year since his capture, or even that the be-stoned forms of his three fellow Northrons would be retrieved intact.
Nevertheless, with the whole might of the Sereghran moving as one, the Kings deemed that Modeus would be soundly defeated, given the manner in which his armies had been crushed in the Fifth War -- for it was thought that Modus must have loosed nearly all of his strength at that time, considering the vastness of the forces which had issued from the Deel and from the Mountains and Highlands and Foothills, and also from far in the South. But the Kings could not have guessed the sheer number of Durwolc which Modeus had been breeding in the Darkness and in the Mountains. And it happens that these now numbered twice as many as he had sent against the Sereghran in the Fifth War. What is more, the Demon had sent spies into the Lands; evil Men disguised as ordinary Sereghran, who informed him of the mustering. He therefore gathered his own forces behind the Deel, and in the Foothills and Highlands and the Mountains just to the south of it. And he believed himself prepared for the coming of the Sereghran. Thus was the stage set for the Sereghran’s Final War against Modeus the Cruel, and which was later called the “Defender’s Crusade”.