A situation arises...

[Dezza]

// In the north new faces appeared amidst the Siphe Garra ranks as those who joined Steel to travel the Pits recovered enough to participate in engaging with Shadrixkayls forces near the Principality border. Huntsmistress Jil having transfered from Sundance to join Steels mission decided her skills were better served in the north and with her decision other scouts joined her, Sehky, Ferritt, and even a Wolfswood ranger, Aden. The famous bard Andrew Reid also lent his voice to the affair at Siphes main battlelines, as did mercaneries like Jetta Ravenlock and Arfur Dumas. Even famous Captain of the Beacons, Argali Trueaxe joined with Lady Commander Daniella Stormhaven on the front lines. Of Steel and Razeriem, little was seen, Steel had suffered a heavy injury in the battle to close the portal, and being Al'noth related, Razeriem was doing what he could to try and repair the injury that had rendered Steel's arm completely useless depsite its apparent health.  The final addition to the Siphe Garra ranks in the Principality was the arrival of Knight of the Wyrm Captain Gabrielle Millison with a thousand Rofireinite Cavalry from Hilm Castle. Not content to sit and let their Toranite brothers face Shadrixkayl alone the Knight Captain had decided to do something about it and rallied tose at Hilm Castle and brought them south to the Principality.



// In the week prior to this stage of the war in the North things were happening in the south.

Tired of waiting, Major Griff, true to his word broke camp early one morning and led his Voraxians westwards before angling north. His intention being to attack the Shadrixkayl cultists camp. Upon arrival however he found the camp barely attended and after a short, bloody battle the token force left in the camp had been wiped out and the camp taken. In searching the camp Griff discovered a hole that had been dug under cover of one of the tents by the Shadrixkayl cultists. The hole led to a series of extensive caves and tunnels under the surface of the Roughlands. Figuring them to be old demon tunnels Griff led his Voraxians into the tunnels.

No further word was heard of from Griffs force except a scout who returned to Vrebels position to reveal what they had found and what Griff's intentions had been.

With some of his best scouts now in the North with Siphes forces Vrebel made plans to go and join Griff, uon hearing what he had found, and leave the force overseeing the Horde under the command of the Hilmite Field Commander. Just as he gathered his pack and several veteran soldiers, including Captain Kromlek, who had a arrived mere hours before to lend a hand, dozens of horns sounded in the Hordes ranks. Cursing softly Vrebel and many others raced to the edge of their camp to watch as the Horde slowly and inexorably began to pack up camp and head northwards.

Vrebel was torn...to go and find Griffs dwarves in the demon tunnels underneath the Roughlands, or take his force north and harry the backside of the Horde. In the meantime he sent runners as fast as possible south to inform Sir Lance of the latest developments.

[Aphel]

There was something beautiful to this place. It had seen many battles, and as far as he could tell, Andrew has his troubles with it. Bad memories, fighting against the people they now should help. The hardened bunch of warriors, grim, somber. But they had a certain attitude that reminded him of those of the pack. Good in some ways, bad in others.

After rising early -- it was easy to get some rest without a child waking you in the night, morning, or whichever time his son required his parents, in some aspect Kyreth was worse than Midnight when hungry -- he noticed the sun going up on the horizon. So he washed the dust from his face, made sure the blisters on his feet were healing properly -- a nuisance he had known from before the rangers, now, after his time in training there, he felt like going on message runs cross-country just for fun.

They were given quarters in an old, partly reconstructed storage building, maybe a warehouse.  There were exactly three different things Aden found out on the first day here. First, there was another member living in their modest place, and it was called rules. They wrote them with chalk to the walls, and it covered nearly their whole entry area. He supposed they had to wash them down at some point when cleaning the building -- there was a whole paragraph for that, typical military -- and write them back up.

He also noticed that due to the unfinished state of rebuilding, it was very easy to get from one floor to the next nearly undetected from the outside, which was nice for assassins and such people. Weren't there those...he had a lot of elvish words for them, none very modest, but the very presence of the Dark Guard or how they called their bunch was sufficient to ponder how fast he could exit the building carrying a poisoned man and having a bolt in the side himself. Was good to have all the Toranites around. He maybe could slip them messages, before bad things happened. Needed to know who was best recipient, tho. That could be difficult. Jill maybe. If she remembered him.

And the third and last thing was his secret, one he intended to keep unlike the second one, which he gave away early, voicing his concerns on the security here.
The third was that it was simple to get on the roof of the building and enjoy the sunrise without being seen and shouted (or shot) at by the guards. So many roofs, so many places he could climb up and sit there like one of those gargoyles, enjoying the view over the city at dawn or dusk. Oh well. Maybe he would tell Andrew or Sehky, maybe they wanted to paint a sunrise over the roughlands. Such colors! He envied the poor guards of the morning shift, on the other hand, they were surely already sick of it. He wondered about the tune of this place, of its light and shadow. They were building a small shrine to the Hand of Virtue nearby, and Aden offered his hand there. Got a grumpy reply, but they let him help. Which was good for training and for thinking. Colored glass. Hm. Maybe he could ask his fellow Angels to make a window.
Or, at least help with a small memorial for all the Fallen, a memorial against all these wars. If there was a way to prevent them, Steel had the right idea. Mostly.

Now he needed to learn how to make the Roughland his ally. Clothes, torn, of the right color. Wouldn't be to hot, either. He needed to give it a try.

Visit Miss Trueaxe, too.
And Steel. Needed to find out what the enemy was capable of. Demons weren't his day to day enemies to sneak around, and he had to know their senses, their abilities.

He made tea with herbs from the Wolfswood and other places, if served hot, very soothing to the throat. If cold it could be used to see if somebody was dead or not -- if no flinching or comment in regards of the taste was made, you had either a very polite Hempstead oligarch in front of you or a undead. Or a monk. Monks were tricky.

"Tea!" He announced when Arfur and Andrew returned from stage. He was grinning. "Also, kittens!"
He had found a injured cat nearly drowned in a gutter together with her litter. Tail was gone, front left leg paw broken. Litter strong, after taking care of mother and feeding her. Small ones, cute and clumsy. Good for morale. And mother would hunt mice in order to keep her kittens fed, once the wounds were healed.

He didn't tell them that the bandage was mostly fake, and that all it took was to focus on ... stuff to get a weird glow about his hands. Injuries gone. Lucky cat, but confused Aden. He thought he was unable to weave or call upon the weave. He was sure by now that he hadn't checked the paw right, and that it was only a small cut. No bones broken. But how? Cats weren't exactly resilient to kicks and cuts and things, and the poor thing had looked quite bad. Maybe a rat instead of a human?

He wanted to make a glass window now. Well. And those flowers, but no idea how to make those either. Some work he could do while thinking about...stuff.

[RollinsCat]

"Tea and kittens?"  A grin and he takes the cup with a nod and a warm smile - well, a cold smile, the air feels chilly, but he anticipates warmth in the wisps of steam that carry a clean herbal scent to his nose.  There is a scraping behind him; the "stage" is a collection of empty crates covered over with wood slats and as soon as his boots leave it it's being scavenged for other uses.  In truth he's surprised they let it be built at all.

But, some morale boosting, always good.  And now some morale for him.  Kittens - he likes them.  Playtime!

[mixafix]

Arfur follows in the wake of Andrew, looking important, and trying to bask in some reflected glory and generally avoid any real work needing done nearby.
 
 "Kittens eh got to love them ..couldn't eat a whole one though!"
 
 Eventually noticing Andrew seems quite ernest about the kitten playtime thing he produces a belated smile
 
 "Just joking of course. I mean war and famine would never ...make me that hungry..no no..aw look at the lovely little cat...meeaaw."
 
 He unashamedly hangs in there as there seems to be too many harder tasks going on round about.

[Lance Stargazer]

*Lance takes the note and frowns , after dismising the runner for a well deserved rest his eyes goes back to the map *

For goodness sake , Griff.  - *he looks frustrated towards the campsite, counting amoung the troops and the map he re draws where the fog may be, and the proper ways to handle this. he looks upon the small red piece representing Griff unit and move the piece towards where the dwarf moved*

*He sighs at the situation and calls upon one of his lieutenients*

I want to know what exactly this people are up to *gesturing the cultist of the shadow dragon that is near* They may be just a diversion for our troops, but i want to know exactly waht they are doing, their defenses, and exactly why is that they haven't moved.

*Then calls to the runner as he pens a reply* Take this to Sir Vrebel in the front. We need to refocus our efforts.

**he then moves aside towards one tent and again pulls out a blue stone that lightens as the thought and the code is spoken *

Sister.. . Its  Lance. . . . .

[willhoff]

*From the bluff he watches with his looking glass as the horde slowly moves northward.  A quick nod to the newly arrived Captain Kromlek*

Nice ta have ya here Captain Kromlek.  Looks like their pullin' out to the north still.  Somethin's changed with the mist storm.  Major Griff needs to know about this.

*He whistles over to the scout from Griff's party that relayed Griff's position from before*

Take ten elite soldiers from the Hilmite division and send word to Major Griff in the tunnels that the horde is on the move northward.  Tell him we need him to come back topside as soon as he can unless he's found something better to do with his time. *He shews him off* Get goin' double time!

*He reads Lances letter and frowns reciting the key parts* "Stay idle till further orders" *a head shake*  How can I stay idle when we got thier backsides to us now?

*Just then a scout approaches with a grim look on his face*  

Sir as you asked we've recovered the captives bodies down in the gorge.  None survived.  The ones who didnt die of sun exposure had their throats slit.  A message was left on one of thier bodies.

*The scout hands over the blood stain note.  Vrebel shakes his head reading it aloud for those around him to hear:

"Dont act against us, we have more prisoners who will suffer if you do."

*He sighs and turns to Captian Kromlek*

Captain Kromlek please see that the prisoners recieve proper burials and have their respective faiths say some words over em'

*Vrebel mutters to himself* Were did all my scouts go off too.

Alright *He calls for his fastest scout left*  

Send word to Commander Stargazer that we have movement from the Horde to the north.  Tell him the shadow mist seems to have changed too.  I've sent word to Major Griff to return to our camp unless he finds something more important to divert his forces.  Inform the Commander were holding but once the dwarves return it wont last long.  Take the fastest horse you have and make haste man.

*He returns his gaze to the Horde moving slowly to the North and then to the mist that seems to have receded for some unknown reason.*

[Alatriel]

Daniella looks at her stone, then moves into a tent.  After a few moments she comes back and approaches the increasingly terse and irritable Lord Siphe.

"Commander Stargazer has located some of our captive soldiers.  The horde is moving north, it seems, and into a gorge.  There is a small group trying to rescue the prisoners.  If we move now we can meet them to strike at them from both sides."  She looks over Siphe to try to gauge his ever-declining mood.  "It's a good plan, but we need to make sure we aren't leaving ourselves open here either.  If we get word to Oaxsama Battleforce, we might be able to bolster their force with some of ours and have them hold the line here while we move up to intercept the Hilm forces."

She pauses.  "Stargazer is waiting on our reply."

[incahootz]

Kromlek nods to Vrebel, "Aye der lad, Oi'll see teh it. Ifn yeah beh askin meh, Oi'd say dat Lance fellah beh acting cautious loike. Dem orcs goin teh kill dem prisoners nay matter what. Oi say we go an give em a good swift kick up deh backsiode as dey leave. Make em sorry dey turned der nose up at us an think dey can simply walk away. But dats just meh." He spat onto the dirt covered ground.

He looked around at the several thousand soldiers camped in the low mounds nearby.

"Oi reckon too dat ifn yeah said you was goin teh do dat, most of dese folks beh wit yea. Oi know Oi would beh."

He walked away with a shovel over one shoulder and his murderous axe over his other.

"Maybe oi'll rename meh axe teh Orcsplitter and go after em meself!" Is the last thing Vrebel hears before he is out of range.

[michb]

After arriving at the front lines and seeing the cavalry under her command billeted and the horses cared for Gabby arrives at Lady Daniella's command tent and speaks with the Toranite guards outside.

"I'm sure the Lady Commander is pretty busy right now but could you let her know please that the Rofireinites have arrived to join with their brothers and sisters in arms against the threat here? I tried to see the Sovereign Lord but his people told me I was to report to the Lady Commander instead. So, here I am." She smiles in her pleasant manner. "I can wait if you like, or come back later when the Commander is available?"

The Toranite guards nod at her and head into the tent. She looks around at the ordered confusion of the army camp and sighs. "It seems all we've done for the last twenty years is travel from one continent to another to deal with threats such as this. Is there no end to this chaos?" She glances skywards for a moment as if asking her question of Rofirein directly.

[Alatriel]

Daniella steps out of the tent and looks over Captain Millison.  "Captain, I understand you've come with the Rofireinite troops.  Thank you for coming.  I don't believe I've seen you since the last time we held off this region against the enemies.  It's good to see you again."  She introduces her to two officers, one in Toran blue, the other with a Siphe Garra insignia on his shoulder marking him as a Third Rank officer.  "This is Major Jonas Surrey and Third Rank Ahrak.  If you'll go with them they will debrief you on our operations so far and where we'll be able to incorporate your forces."  A grim smile before she heads off.  "Welcome to the Siphe Battleforce.  At least with your dragon benefactor, I know what to expect."

[michb]

Gabby gives an uncertain smile back and then salutes Daniella. "We'll do our best Lady Commander, we figured you could use a bit of Gold to offset all that red." She hesitates a moment then adds.

"If I may lady Commander, you should know that Lord Alexander didnt stop us, but certainly made it clear he was not happy that we were coming here. But, the men and women with me are totally committed to supporting our Toranite allies in this fight, I know there aren't many of us, but we'll fight with claw, tooth and steel to help win this with you."

She turned and headed off to where her people were waiting for her.

[Alatriel]

Daniella nods once in response.  "I know, but thank you for the confirmation, Captain."

[davidhoff]

*Griff and his Voraxians make their way carefully but quickly through the tunnels that the Shaddisites had been seen using.  The tunnels stretch far and ever winding.  After closing out several possible routes within the tunnels they reach something interesting...a huge underground cavern.  The cavern lies some 20 miles north of where the Shaddisites were seen.  The cavern roof is thin and very close to the surface, and lies directly below a narrow pass that the Allied forces would most surely have travelled if they were to pursue the Horde going North.

Griff looks to the roof of the cavern and catches a reflection from his torch*

"Aye der, scouts dat roof beh shin'n back at meh.  What ye tink some fresh chip'n off it ye reckon?  Go have a look n beh careful of a cave-in.  Report tah meh at once"

*The scouts report back, that sure enough, the roof had been chipped away so that the roof was even thinner now.  It was clear that this was a trap lying in wait for the Allied forces to trudge over and fall to their deaths when the roof broke under their weight.*

"Fan out n small groups.  Get up in des small tunnels 'er n der.  Let's see if maybe ders still some bassards deh left tah pounce once ours beh fall'n in.  High alert on des sweeps n full battle wards.  Vorax beh wit us cuz Oi smell a rat."

*With that Griff ordered several Captains to take small groups into the nearby smaller tunnels that broke off the large cavern.  Soon after the dwarven battle shouts were heard.  Griff and his Voraxians 2000 strong were now in several bloody mini-battles against a force of hobgoblins twice his numbers.  The battles were fierce up front, but tunnel fighting is what dwarves do best.  These were trained Voraxian Red Axes and their morale could not have been higher as they pursed their despised enemy of Grand.  The dwarves formed strong front lines and caught the hobgoblins a bit by surprise.  The goblins got run over in the narrow tunnels by the sturdy dwarven legs pushing their tightly formed shields and axes forward.  Replacements were made when need be.  Quarter was neither asked nor offered and the hobgoblins perished to the final beast.  Casualties were had by the dwarves, but the battle was theirs.*

*After clearing his tunnel, Griff returned back to the cavern and re-assembled his warriors after all the tunnels were cleared.  Griff's removed his bloodied helm, which left his neck and eyesockets still painted red.  He looked upon all his battle-tested kin as he put a boot up on a rock and leaned to rest his weight*

"Aye yeh done foine battle 'ere today kin.  Some foine fight'n up front specially.  Dis 'ere war gon'a beh won by deh axes n hearts a us Voraxian's.  Red Axes Up!  Praise Vorax!  *with that a resounding loud echo by all the Voraxians as they raised their axes* 'Red Axes Up!  Praise Vorax'

"Aye dat.  Now den, scouts Oi want dis place searched for letters, messages or any such dumb tings des bassards moighta lef' behoind.  Den Oi wan' all us topsoide n Oi wana cave dis sucker in.  Get deh wounded patched up n seen by our 'ealers.  Den weh got'a get word tah our Sundance battle group."

*The cavern and tunnel areas were thouroughly searched and all evidence or items collected.  The cavern roof was carefully collapsed by the dwarves with the help of some Battle Priests and carefully placed boulders adding weight to the cavern roof.  With the cavern roof caved in, there was still plenty of room on the sides of the crater to get by.

Soon after Vrebel's 10 elite Hilmite soldiers arrived to the area of the cave in.  Griff welcomed them in and gave them food and drink.  He explained to them what had happened and that Griff and his Red Axes were going to make camp at the crater.  He sent them back to Vrebel to tell what had happened here and with instructions that the Voraxians would wait five days here to rest and make battle preparations.  After that they would proceed against the forces of Grand with or without their aid.*

[Aphel]

He couldn't sleep after another nightmare, couldn't go back to rest. The sound of marching steel sabatons never left his head, and the strange feelings that come in the backwash of such dreams. Fanatism, war neverending, religious zealots. He flipped through his diary in the pale light, felt the weight of the pages, compressed fate. How stupid he had been, ignorant, naïve, blind. How easily he trusted the rest of them. How much he learned, when he could have learned so much more. He tried not to feel, not to think too much about it. It was then that a small folded piece of parchment fell from between the pages when he turned them. He picked it up, unfolded it and read the poem with a frown on his face. The parchment smelled old, and he read the poem twice. Folded it up and put it back. He took a quill and wrote a single word onto the last page.
Then to stare up to the Stars, where a man was a god now, a man who never put himself on a pedestal or believed in any god ...
All men must die, and not where they came from but what they did will be remembered -- how they meet death. A rendezvous, he had a rendezvous with death...

[Dezza]

Hundreds of miles to the south of the ensuing battle between the Siphe Garra, their Toranite, Hilm and Rofireinite allies another conflict was already ongoing.


Captain's Vrebel and Kromlek, Major Griff, and the small force of Hilmites, Toranites and Voraxians pursued the enemy Horde as it made its relatively quick passage north. Their forces constantly nipped at the heels of the horde forcing them to dispatch numerous counter attack forces to their rear in an attempt to fend off the ferocious attacks by their determined pursuers.


Despite the Shaman of Grand leaving dead prisoners in the Hordes wake the allied host did what they could to harrass the enemy, as best they could. Hundreds fell to their incessant attacks, maybe thousands, but it was not enough to put any real dent in the tens of thousands within the giant carpet of non humans moving north.

That is until, purely by some miracle of fate, the allied forces discovered the prisoner transporter and a large cache of water supplies for the Horde and immediately launched an all out assault. Most of the prisoners were saved and all of the water stores with them destroyed.


The act finally stirred the Horde into action, the affront too much for even the Horde leaders to bear and slowly, inexorably the Horde reversed their direction and poured into the Roughland ravines where the allied forces had gathered and waited, the location the only source of water for at least a hundred miles, water the Horde now desperately needed.


What followed was a battle on the scale of the extraordinary. Several thousand against the Horde of tens of thousands. The front line was formed of a wall of dwarven Steel, the legendary Red Axes led by Major Griff, and behind them shoulder to shoulder Captain Vrebel with the combined Hilmites, and various allied soldiers who had come with them from Sundance.

For days a new river formed in the base of those ravines, a river of blood, as the Horde poured itself into the narrow ravines again and again trying to destroy the allied force that was to them the bee whose sting had finally enraged the massive beast.


When the sun rose on the fifth day of the fighting in the Ravine, those amongst the allied forces who remained alive finally gave ground and their resistance crumbled. The Shaman of Grand, Segemek and the Orcish Warleader Argemek, desperate to break the allied forces and get to water for their forces sent forth their best soldiers, the ones they had specifically reserved to send against the adventurers gathered in the North. These elites still suffered heavy losses but they got the result the Horde wanted.
 

Captain Vrebel was finally brought down by sheer weight of numbers and the combined power of the Hordes best. Once he fell, the last of the Red Axes died in a tight ring holding off thousands of attackers. Major Griffs last words before an orcish club smashed his skull was to shout his defiance to the bitter end and to praise Vorax. He knew that they had done the impossible, that their sacrifice would hold the Horde in the south and not let them join Shadrixkayls forces in the north and that ultimately it would mean the Siphe Principality would be saved and more than likely Hilm as well.



In years to follow the battle of the 'Wall of Iron' would be remembered, recorded and studied by leaders and warriors as a study of exceptional defensive tactics in the face of overwhelming odds. The location where it took place would be dedicated by Sir Lance and Lord Alexander as the 'Iron Gorge' in memory of those brave men and women who fought and died there.



But they are days to come. As the Horde finally broke through the last defenders what order held by the orcish leaders was lost as thirsty creatures broke for the spring fed oasis. What followed was a slaughter as the creautres of the Horde turned on themselves in desperation to get to the water and hold it. Thousands perished around the oasis causing the water to putrify for months afterwards before the Orcish leaders regained some measure of control but it was not enough to hold the Horde together and for the next few months Sir Lances soldiers out of Sundance launched forays and patrols across southern Hilm to drive the non humans back to the moutnains where they had come from. The last word from the Half orcish Shaman was that the horde would return one day and exact its vengeance.




Meanwhile in the North by the time the sacrifice made by the allied forces who made up the Wall of Iron was known several weeks of sporadic fighting occured along the southern border of the Siphe Principality as Shadrixkayl launched half hearted attacks at the remaining defenders.

Of the mighty dragon Ractrafiorez nothing was seen and by the second day of the Siphe Garra reclaiming their border defensive positions the Fire Giant allies announced they were leaving. They collected their fire stones and returned to the mountains.

Within a month of the Garra's offensive to reclaim their lands taken by Shadrixkayls forces the fighting had died down to the occassional skirmish at night and within two months even those attacked died completely. Slowly the mist began to evaporate from the Roughlands south of the Siphe Principality and for all intents and purposes the Siphe Garra began to believe they had won the battle. Certainly nothing came forward for the months that followed to dissuade them of that notion.

Several things had changed by the wars end though, Jaedon Siphe was almost always accompanied by the Lady Commander Daniella Stormhaven whose legend had grown amongst the Garra for her pivotal role in helping defeat Shadrixkayls curse, the mist that had covered the land, and her almost single handed slaying of a powerful Mist dragon that had killed so many of the defenders during the offensive that retook the front lines.

So too the other adventurers who had aided in the conflict were recognised for their efforts and granted free passage to and from the Siphe Principality lands for the rest of their lives.

At Daniella Stormhavens urging the Temple to Toran was completed in short measure and the Siphe Garra finally given permission by Jaedon Siphe to attend freely if they wanted to.

Thus was to begin a tough but new era for the Siphe Principality, the fledgling nation trying to establish itself in the aftermath of a long and bloody war against the Green Dragon Cult.

[incahootz]

After returning to Sundance at Captain Vrebels command before they entered the ravines to get the prisoners and water. Kromlek is devastated to learn he missed such a legendary battle at Iron Gorge and curses Vrebels decision to send him south instead of letting him join them in the ravines.

Kromlek then finds Sir Lance and makes his report of what Vrebel and Griff were going to do then asks to be allowed to command some soldiers to go and join them.

((Assuming thats approved by Lance))

On the journey north Kromlek comes across scattered survivors from vrebels force who recount the epic battles. His mission then becomes finding more survivors and harrying the remnants of the Horde as they flee to the east. At least exacting his revenge on them that way.

The whole time he tells the people with him what he's going to do to Vrebel when he sees him again for letting him miss the Wall of Iron battle, in good humour of course!


/// Congratulations everyone, I heard it was epic!

[Dezza]

In the aftermath and clean up from the battles to reclaim the front lines of the Principality the following were granted additional honours;

A roll of names of promotions follows and in them appear the following notable names:

Marion MacMurray (Promoted to the Seventh for bravery in the face of overwhelming odds by holding the line while wounded were transfered from her battlegroup)

William Leox (Acknowledgement and a Bravery award for standing firm in the face of insidious evil.)

Hector Bael (Acknowledgement and a Bravery award for providing cover to a unit separated from their main Battlegroup.)

Lady Eliza Karlgarl (Promotion to the Seventh and a Bravery award for leading a charge to save the lives of a number of Siphe Garra)

Princess Shey'kar Maillard (Promotion to the Seventh and acknowledgement for her skill and kill count of the enemy)

General Ni'tok of Nesar (Acknowledgement for his leadership of his cavalry and bravery in the face of mortal danger)

Lady Daniella Stormhaven (Acknowledgement of her Bravery and leadership against overwhelming odds, Promotion to Ambassador of the Principality and an Honourary position amongst the Firsts.)



Amongst those who were named in the lists the following received additional acknowledgments and civilian awards for bravery in the face of overwhelming odds.

The infamous Mercenary Steel
The Philanthopist Razeriem
The emminent Bard Andrew Reid
Hilm Huntmistress Jilseponie Kendall
Scout Ferrit Pandorn
Scout Sehky
The Mercenary Jetta


Once the ceremonies were over the familiar figure of Jaedon Siphe crossed the parade compound with Lady Daniella Stormhaven at his shoulder.

The Toranites who had served with the Garra for the last two years were rounded up and presented in parade formation.

Jaedon Siphe looked over them carefully then stopped a short distance in front of them.

"All of you have fulfilled your terms here with the Siphe Garra, you have given more than I could have asked for in your time here. When you arrived I saw mewling kittens. Now I see before me the makings of fine soldiers.

Your terms are over, I release you from the Garra should that be your wish."

He glances at Daniella a moment them moves to stand in front of Eighth Rank William Leox.

"Your term has ended soldier, I thank you for your dedication and service. You have already been reassigned. You are to report to Sir Lance in Sundance and coordinate with him the removal of the remnants of the Horde from southern Hilm."

Siphe then leans in very close to the young man and speaks several words softly leaving the young man slightly puzzled for a moment before his usual stoic resolution enters his face once more.

"Dismissed Soldier!"

He returns to Daniella's side and nods slightly to which Daniella looks at him questioningly but he says nothing further about the words he spoke to the young Toranite William.

"Dismissed all." He salutes them in the Garra fashion.

[RollinsCat]

Leaving the parade grounds, limping proudly.  "Dismissed my bum, ain't gettin' rid of Mari MacMurray that easy."  She's grinning ear to ear.  "Little trip home, then I re-up.  Toran, think you can throw Ausir in my path mebbe?  Um, scratch that, sorry.  I mean only if you want to...um...nevermind."  Limping and blushing, Seventh MacMurray heads for her tent.

[Nehetsrev]

*After the awards and recognitions are over with, Jetta mutters to no one in particular.*
 
"Well, that's typical.  The famous and favored get the credit for everything.  But I know if it wasn't for my decoy portal idea Steel's extra-planar mission would likely have failed miserably."
 
*She wanders off to find a place to sit and brush out her hair and to contemplate where next she can put her skills to use for profit.*

[Aphel]

William salutes in Garra fashion, his face a stoic, somber mask of stone.
"An honor to have fought and served with you, Mylord." He pauses for a moment before continueing in his usual no-nonsense straight to the point kind of speaking. "Live and fight well."

He turns on his heels, grabs his things - there was nothing more here for him, either - and leaves for the small building build for Toran, where he sits, lost in thought, with his blade Sacrifice resting on his knees, reading from a small notebook that appears to be a diary of some sort.