"That is very true and you have my full support in your mission in that case." Brennus replied, looking intrigued. He glanced at his cousin for a moment in case she cared to comment on this before he spoke up again.

(Posting for Petra because she will unavailable for a few days)

 Petra has done some scouting, and some listening to one who knows more than she says.

“Splitting the Huns is part of what Theoderic wants to do,” she says.
“That's why this is happening here, on the far north end of the Hun's holdings.  It's a long, long way for the Emperor to respond, and if he doesn't, all the other Hun lords along the Rhine river will wonder if they too would be forsaken if they were attacked.”

Lunelle offers her own two copper pieces.  “This is their weakest end, it's true.  They've bled themselves for years against Mos Trajectum, and never taken it.  Last year was as close as they got, but the river itself rose to defeat Zerova."

"The river is on our side," Petra says. "But we cannot depend on it for everything.  Still... we should trust it."

"Where do you go from here, then?" Lunelle asks.

"To Mos Trajctum, and then, where the plan takes us... the whole of which we do not know, yet."

"Mos-Trajectum is Gwalthus's city." Brennus commented. "Though more a fortress that a city so given over to war is it. He is a Frank of Clovis's kin but he and his people are close to Belgicans these days. War makes strange allies and the Huns are the enemies of us all."

Brennus suddenly looks a little unneasy.

Lunelle does not consider Gwalthus a strange ally... the Elves, maybe.  No one would have thought of them openly working with Humans a few years ago... Elven pride, Elven aloofness would have gotten in the way.  And certainly, from their perspective, the Elves must have a few complaints.

"I have more than a score of men there.  I have no qualms about Mos Trajectum," she says.  "We've helped pay the blood price for the bridge, there."

For centuries it was the only bridge on the Meuse north of the Ardennes in Roman hands.  Now.. it is more or less a bridge to nowhere, with the Huns controlling everything beyond it.  But to the people who have fought for it, it has meaning.

"Brennus, may you lend them wisdom," Lunelle says.  "I think they will need it more than might, I have a feeling.  If Theoderic intended brute force there would be hundreds of horsemen here.  I will add a few others.  Leanna has fought at the bridge and across it, and she knows the ways of the Orcs."

Reinforced and re-equipped, and fed, the troop prepares to move north.



http://europa512adgame.pbworks...5235/Mos%20Trajectum

"Yes... of course cousin." Replied Brennus, who looked anything but happy to be sent to the cockpit of the war but could hardly refuse such a request.

As the audience drew to a close he departed to alert his servants, ready his horses and make sure his armour and weapons were in condition suitable for travelling.

Lunelle  provisions the group as best she can.  The trip to Mos Trajectum takes less than half a day, across flat and fertile farmland.

The group is expected- Theoderic had sent word ahead.

Brennus, who lives in this area, has been to Mos Trajectum before.  Information on the town can be found here:

http://europa512adgame.pbworks...5235/Mos%20Trajectum

The town looks much the same as it always has, from Brennus's point of view. The only thing different is the camp of a troop of traveling entertainers, the New Europa Review, on the south side of the town.

Brennus has heard of them.  According to the stories being told, they had been enslaved by the witch-demon Zerova and forced to do their bidding, and escort her around, becoming her servants and playthings, as well as her “cover”.  But Zerova was destroyed just as the Hun war began, and the troupe, recovering and reorganizing, has spent the winter in Belgica.

They've become locally well known- by default.  It's not like the region has a lot of these groups running around.  The New Review is it.  Supposedly, they are quite good, and vary their routine a lot.  Every now and then, they put on a dramatic retelling of the battle in which Zerova was killed- with the aid of the River Goddess Mosanna.

Rumor also has it  (and this is rumor substantiated by eye-witness account) that some of the entertainers turned on Zerova and helped defeat her, and for that reason, were granted some of her property- enough to establish the New Review.
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:21, Mon 17 June 2013.

Brennus glanced disdainfully at the New Review camp as they passed by. To one of the troops who asked him he muttered: "The entertainers? Frankly I don't trust them. Consider, if they were good enough to act as a cover Zerova, just who might they act for now? Travelling players go where they will and such people make excellent spies and thieves. Were I Gwalthus I'd keep a very close eye on them. As it is one of days he'll probably be sorry he didn't."

He rode on, trusting no member of the party would chose to linger with such folk.

Brennus knows that a visit to Mos Trajectum almost obligates him to call on Duke Gwalthus, at his keep.  It's a serious social faux passe if he does not.

He knows this place, on the south side of the city, a section of fortress turned into a home… or a large home turned into fortress.  The blend is so complete it is hard to tell which came first. As Lunelle’s general court “smart guy” he’s been back and forth to the court of her principal ally.  He knows Gwalthus is the youngest Duke of Belgica, and like Lunelle, lost his father to the Huns.  But despite common tragedy and alliance in war, they are different.  Mos Trajectum has been the first line of defense, and Gwalthus is dedicated to it.  Lunelle… sometimes, Brennus suspects she would ignore all defense of her people, if it gave her the opportunity to kill Huns.  Gwalthus has always been the more cautious of the two.  Winning, to him, is more important than vengeance.

After greeting him, and Gwalthus eventually let's Brennus know of the news he's recieved.

"King Theoderic sent word ahead by messenger," he reports.  "Several messengers, actually.  He’s a clever one.  Three messages, each meaningless without the other two."

He shares what he knows- he regards Brennus as a trusted retainer of an ally.

"He means to go east, Brennus, and strike hard at the Huns.  Not just a raid- he intends to sieze and hold.  I have lived my life with this damned bridge, with the Huns always a threat on the other side, and now, finally… this is something we’ve waited for, Brennus.   But Theoderic has gone out of his way to hide this.  He isn’t moving with a large group of soldiers.  I think he has it in mind to infiltrate and do as much damage as he can from behind their lines, first.  In truth, it’s a line I’ve never been across."

There is no “front line” as far as Brennus knows.  There is the river line, and there is the bridge, but that’s the last line.  East of the river, fourteen miles in, is Coriovallum.  It is the nearest Hun stronghold.  Huns have gone west to the bridge, and Gwalthus’s patrols have gone a few miles east from the bridge, and they’ve clashed in the forest between, most notably at an old ruin called “Falcon Ridge”.

This fourteen miles…  contested, patrolled by both sides... but no one really holds it.  Too dangerous.

Brennus eyes widened at the news. He was impressed by the King's audacity... if it worked they could start the process of rolling back the Huns. If it worked.

"Duke Gwalthus, as you know I've always said that the best way to weaken the Huns is to strike within - assassination, rebellion, bribery. Force the Huns to fight their slaves or better yet themselves. I am no warrior but if King Theoderic feels infiltration can work I am all for it."

He frowned. "That said we will need men who know forests and their ways better than the backs of their own hands."

"Theoderic knows I cannot supply many," Gwalthus says.  "A handful, at most.  The men who guard Mos Trajectum guard all of Belgica, they cannot be risked on audacity.  I can assign a few scouts, and no more.

"But I would guess that Lunelle was a little more eager to aid, and so she volunteered you, did she?  I wonder how this is to work.  Is Theoderic planning to send spies ahead, or simply launch an attack.  Did you pass the performers on your way in?  They were spies.. or at least, some of them were.  Zerova... the Demoness... had a gang of loyal followers mixed in with the performers, and those.. beast-men she called her sons.  But those that stood with her are dead now, or fled, there are a few we could never find.  I wonder if the others would be willing to be spies, again.  I wonder if I would trust them."

Brennus looked dismayed.

"Frankly I wouldn't trust them, a least for a task of such importance. I have heard the story often enough but I confess I have always had doubts about their part in Zerova's downfall.  But even if they did act with pure motives then how are we to trust them now? Travelling players owe no loyalty to any one ruler or city and they make excellent spies; how are we to know if they are not already in someone's pay?"

He sighed.  "If you feel you must use them then I would accept your judgement Gwalthus - but I'd advise keeping some of the players as hostages in guarantee for service. If they are loyal then set them free with appropriate reward. If they are not... well you know what to do."

“It’s true, at least a few of them are shameless opportunists,” Gwalthus says.  “Maybe it’s best to rely on my own scouts.  We have a few that have put in a lot of time east of the river.  They would know more than anyone, other than the Huns themselves.”

Gwalthus has one of his servants round up whichever of his scouts are currently available.

The scouts, as Brennus knows, can be a little problematic themselves, but not like the entertainers.  They are dependable.  On the other hand, they know they are worth far more than the regular soldiers, take on much more risk, and are better paid… and often have a disdain for military formalities.

The senior scout is the first to arrive.  He is Sanwolt, a veteran with years of service.

"This man knows all of the towns to the east, even as far as the Rhine," Gwalthus says.

"Yes," replies Sanwolt.  "And when I last saw them, I was younger than you are now.  I haven't been east of Falcon Hill in years."

"Sanwolt, this is Brennus, of the court of Lunelle.  And Heolstor, who is sent by king Theoderic himself.  Falcon Hill, please explain further for our guests."

"An outpost on a hill, an old tumbledown watchtower atop a hill cut through with caverns.  It's a temptation, but a curse.  In your father's day, we took it several times, but each time the Huns were hiding in the caverns below, and were loosed into the tower at night.  It's the halfway mark between here and Coriovallum."

Brennus was not a military man but felt he had to offer his thoughts, to at least show he was paying attention.

"Hmm... could we not lay fires at the entrances to the caverns and smoke the Huns out?"

"No, not unless the caverns rose up from their entrance." Heolstor replied. "I have fought in caverns before: trolls and orcs, they are at home in the dark winding ways. Falcon Hill - this place, what significance does it hold? Enough to sacrifice the secrecy of our mission?" The Saxon had his doubts. He was a man who, by his reputation, had no reluctance to bring the sword to the Hun... But this hill, were they to take it, could not be cleared from within its caverns. They would have to sit, by night, and await the enemy's counterstroke.

While word traveled East, to their enemy.

"I would have my men bypass it. Our path, and our objective, is clear: without need, I would not complicate it."

Brennus nodded thoughtfully.

"Perhaps a diversionary force, seemingly sent to capture Falcon Hill then? The Huns would be busy watching that while the real mission takes place elsewhere. We could perhaps use the traveling players after all in the ruse - if they are in the pay of the Hun so much better as they can pass on exactly what we want the enemy to hear."

Leanna was a bit later then she had hoped she would have been. She wasn't expecting to be summoned on such a short notice for that matter and was slightly unprepared to leave her child in the care of friends.

After she had left her daughter behind, something she struggled with every time, but she knew it had to be done. She was wearing a plain and simple looking leather breastplate. Over her back she kept her Greatsword, over that rested a simple wooden small shield. On her hips she kept a pair of simple axes. Her rugged red hair was kept in a simple loose ponytail.

When she entered she made a slight bow to Gwalthus and looked over the others for a brief moment. You summoned me Lord?

"Gentlemen, Leanna," Duke Gwalthus says.  "She knows the Huns, and their ways.  I am not clear on the details, perhaps it is something she will share, but her knowledge has been helpful to us.  She knows more than my other scouts, and she knows their language."

Then the young duke turns to his newly arrived scout.

"My cousin... our new king... plans to launch an attack of some kind to the east, the lands beyond the Meuse that you know well.  It seems he is trusting to skill, stealth, and speed instead of great numbers. It is his will that only a small force be entrusted with this.  But they are gathering, here.  I have heard that Elves are on the way to join us, and the king himself will lead this.  He has not specifically asked for any of my forces.  But the experience and knowledge we have here is much too valuable a thing to hold back."


Below is a view of the area east of Mos Trajectum.  Patrols have typically gone as far as Falcon Hill.  Leanna is one of a handful familiar with more.


South of the main road, the "Via Belgica", the forest becomes hillier and denser, until it reaches the Ardennes, which is Elven land.  There has never been a clear boundary, and the Elves have patrolled up from the Ardennes, but as far as anyone knows, not as far as Via Belgica.




 

And here is a reissue of the wider view, covering all of the area between Mos Trajectum, the Meuse and Rhine rivers.  The close in map above covers about an inch from Mos Trajectum eastwards.

 

"Then she will be of great use to us," Heolstor replied "The road ahead is unfamiliar to me and mine." The Saxon returned Leanna's measuring glance. She looked a soldier - that was good, soldiers Heolstor understood. Soldiers he trusted. It was other men, with winding motives and labyrinthine minds, that he had learned to be wary of. Heolstor's hands hung at his side, one free and the other wrapped about the sheath of his blade to steady it.

"Though the Hun doesn't hold these lands, I am sure he does not allow them to sit quiet. If you know secret paths, old forest trails, that parallel the Via Belgica then perhaps those are the roads we ought to take. To avoid patrols and complications." Heolstor suggested. "Til we reach the Wurm... And then, on to Aquae Granni."

Heolstor had to admit he would feel more comfortable walking the forest ways, even if this forest wasn't one he had ever known. Pwyll clung tightly to the Saxon's shoulder - bobbing his dark head in wordless agreement.

Brennus gave Leanna a nod in greeting as he he tried to hide his chagrin that Gwalthus hadn't bothered to introduce him.  Evidently his rank extended only so far.

He gave a start when Heolstor mentioned Aquae Granni. Glancing at the soldier he asked curiously: "You mean the temple of Apollo Belenus at Aquae Granni? Do you know anything of it?"

There was a very slight, almost unnoticable, glimmer of distaste in his use of the name of the deity.

Leanna knows the forest well enough to lead anyone across it without using the roads.

And Petra, the Frisian priestess, knows a little about the temple at Aquae Granni.

"I know something of the temple there," she says.  "It's sacred to more than just Belenus.  Mosanna, the River Goddess of the Meuse, considers it important too.  The waters there are charged with healing magic, and flow into the Meuse, so they add to her power.  The temple complex there is just south of the town, and is built around ancient, sacred springs."

Gwalthus asks, "Others are on their way.  Do you intend to start off from here ahead of them, or wait on their arrival?"

I'm going to be traveling for a week starting tomorrow.  Posting might be scarce.

The Saxon nodded as Petra said her piece. There was something more to the way he watched her. A familiarity. Was that a private smile creeping along Heolstor's solemn face... Or had it just been a trick of the light?

"I know enough," Lord Strang answered when it came to be his turn to speak "Enough to be satisfied that it is a well-chosen target. Distant enough to be vulnerable. Important enough to hurt; the Hunnic emperor will feel this pinprick. Theoderic, your King, is no fool. There are many holy sites in the grasp of the Hun... All mean something important, to both us and the Hun. This one is close enough to reach out and grasp while they reel from their defeat at Beda."

Strang's hand reached out, palm upward, closing around imagined fruit - low hanging, ripe, and ready for picking.

"We took Lingones from their slavers. Tullum from their despots. We smashed them at Beda. Now this shrine, we pull from the grasp of their infernal overlords. Every chain shattered along that road, every soul freed, a victory." Heolstor suggested. "We cannot stop. Not til every link in their cursed chain is sundered, or they'll gather their strength again, and threaten to strangle us with it."

"I will not wait. Every day spent in waiting, they muster and my people sit undefended to the South. If nothing else: we may prepare the way for our allies' arrival." Lord Strang explained. His return was long overdue. What would Tullum and Lingones look like when he returned? Unchanged, he guessed, but men coming back from war often thought the same... And time, he knew, had a way of proving them fools.

Leanna quietly listened as the others spoke. In her thoughts she wandered to her daughter. When the others went silent for a moment she pushed it from her thoughts again, quietly praying for her own safe return and the safety of her child in her absence.

After she cleared her head she spoke up, foregoing any formalities on her part So where are we going into the Hun their lands? And it is still theirs, they only lack the numbers to hold it properly. They're put down to about a hundred from what I heard. Though the leader does have some large beast. I got no idea what it is and he has used it against the elves so far, leading to victory's for them.

Brennus stirred uneasily, uncomfortably aware that being neither scout nor warrior he was out of place at this gathering. It was an unwelcome reminder to hear Heolstor speak of 'my people' that he, Brennus, had no title or lands for all his noble birth.

They make the decision not to wait for the rest of the force before beginning eastwards.  Duke Gwalthus promises to relay the information to Theoderic and the others when they arrive.

Gwalthus is not about to let them go… not without adding his own contribution.  Let it not be known that the Duke of Mos Trajectum approved this expedition, and failed to help them!

”Leanna… wait,” he says.  “I have armor here for you.”

She knows the armor he is talking about.  It had belonged to one of the priests of Mos Trajectum.  Two of them were slain during the battle at the bridge last year, when the Demoness Zerova was killed.  So perhaps it does not have the most glorious history.  But not even the best armor is perfect, and Zerova’s band included her powerful, demon-born sons.  Even looking at it, it is obvious it is far more valuable than the armor Leanna currently wears.  It is bronzed steel, and bears symbols of the pantheon of the Romans- a Jupiter’s lightning and Mars’s sword, crossed, over Minerva’s shield.

”I do not believe it to be cursed or deficient in any way,” Gwalthus says, as he is also very aware of the death of the last owner- it happened very near here.   “Just… overmatched. Zerova was a powerful foe.  You can use it if you wish.”

They head for the bridge when they are ready.

The Mos Trajectum bridge, around here simply called “The Bridge” is the reason the town exists- it is the only bridge over the Meuse for many miles, and across it, the Via Belgica connects all of Belgica to the northern Rhine area.

It is a great stone bridge, with multiple arches, wide enough for two lanes of wheeled traffic with pedestrians passing to the side.  Carvings of the Roman gods, and tributes to the emperors line the bridge, and there are still lamps on poles.  The ancient magic still works, and the lamps still have a soft- though reduced- glow.  .

On the Mos Trajectum side of the bridge, the west bank, the bridge entrance faces a large commercial plaza, the Mosae Forum.  (Zerova was ambushed in the large “public hall” building of the Mosae Forum, where she was decieved into giving having her performers put on a show.  Badly wounded by the fight with the priests here, she fled to the bridge, where she was stopped.)

On the far side, the east bank, the bridge landing is surrounded by a maze of ruins, mostly just walls and tumbled piles of stone, brick, and moss.  This is the remains of the town that once occupied the east bank, across from Mos Trajectum.  It has been laid waste.  There is nothing to be looted here- these ruins have been fought over for years.  The ruins provide hiding places for the scouts of both sides, and those who have crossed the bridge… such as Leanna… know that this is the first place one is likely to encounter some force of the enemy.  Since the battle, though, Huns have been few here- if anything, just scouts, here to observe the city.

As Ben rode along his hand constantly strayed to the hilt of his sword. He was not a true warrior by training or experience or inclination but neither was he completely unblooded. When ever the attack came the others would not find him wanting.

He eyed the ruins doubtfully; expecting a horde of Huns to rise out of the rubble at any moment.