Book II: The Sword of Valour
The march northward began with grim purpose, the dust of Viraleth’s Ford still fresh on the wind. Anevia’s scouts reported a force of nearly two hundred tieflings entrenched up the river, their banners hanging like scars against the ruined battlements. Prisoners were likely among them—too many lives to abandon. Rather than meet the enemy head-on, the heroes wove a cunning plan. Illusory diversions shimmered along the distant banks, and under that veil of misdirection, the crusader host swept in from the rear. Steel and faith struck like thunder. The tiefling formation broke beneath the surprise assault, their lines collapsing into panic as the heroes turned a fortified occupation into a decisive rout.
In the aftermath, the battlefield fell to an uneasy quiet. Healers moved among the wounded while scouts combed the shattered fortifications. Amid this work, Nurah began quietly casting a spell—her voice low, her gestures subtle—until Frod’s watchful eye caught the motion. Confronted, she claimed only to have heard something suspicious on the wind before dismissing it with a nervous smile. The question lingered unspoken: was it simple caution… or something more?
Survivors were found among the ruins—shaken, bloodied, but alive. Led by the resolute Kamilo Dann, they spoke of a greater host massing farther north in Keeper’s Canyon. With Viraleth’s Ford reclaimed but left vulnerable, Kamilo gathered the survivors and began the hard road back to Kenabres, bearing news of the battle and a plea for reinforcements to hold the crossing.
The heroes remained behind only long enough to rest and gather what supplies the broken outpost could spare. By dawn, the march resumed—stone cliffs rising around them like the jaws mahindra of some ancient beast as they entered Keeper’s Canyon. There, among the bones of a forgotten town, they spotted a cluster of dretches milling through the ruins. The crusader host moved to strike… and the trap was sprung. A second tiefling force surged in behind them, sealing the exit and turning the canyon floor into a killing ground. What was meant to be a clean engagement twisted into a desperate struggle for survival, banners snapping in the choking dust as demons and mortals clashed at arm’s length.
Victory came—but only just. The dretch filth was scattered, the tiefling ranks broken… yet the cost was staggering. Many lay wounded, others dead, and the army stood battered beneath the shadowed cliffs. With no strength left to press onward, the heroes ordered camp to be raised among the ruined stones of the ghost-town. There, beneath a sky bruised by distant stormlight, they tended their wounds and counted their losses—knowing that the road ahead was growing darker, and the true heart of the enemy waited still farther north.
Rewards:
Exp: 650 each
Quests:
- March to Drezen, take the Citadel and reclaim The Sword of Valour
Is that a MAHINDRA?!
Damn Straight!