The Orkutsk/Argonia Incident: Suvi's Side
A hawk flies toward a cliffside, a message in her talons. The bird landed on the outstretched arm of a woman in a white coat. She took the letter in her free hand and smirked. She whistled toward the forest behind her. A bearded man carrying a large bow emerges from the trees and approaches the woman.
"Vali, rally your squad. I'll send some messages to our orc friends. Charmles wants to play? Let him break his toys against the mountain." She hands the note to the man. His beard shifted as his smile grew.
"I expected him to stir up some trouble, but this is more than I thought. This has finally boiled over." He waves a piece of dried meat in his hands while uttering some magic words. A small stoat approaches the man, who ties a small note to it before it runs into the woods. "Is there anything in particular you want taken off these soldiers my dear?" The man gave the hawk sitting near his wife a scratch on the neck feathers. The woman pocketed the note she was given.
"If you find any official stamps and wax blocks on them, take them. We can forge documents with them. Otherwise stick with the standard stuff." She made a short clicking sound and a squawk before motioning her head toward the forest. The hawk flew in that direction, toward the city of Orkutsk. "As for me personally, I've heard from some of our hawks that they've equipped some of their magic users with cloaks that harden like shields when grabbed a certain way. If you find one, please bring it to me. I don't know how useful they'll be to us, but I'm curious about them. We might be able to protect our healers from the freeze flies a little more if we can make something similar to it." The man nodded before kissing the woman on the lips.
"We're going to be busy the next few days, so if we don't see each other much know that I love you Suvi." The woman chuckled.
"Don't be so dramatic Vali. The only thing that'll keep you away from home is the victory party. Don't let Gujarek goad you into another drinking contest when it happens. How you can drink so much of what he brews without vomiting is beyond me. The stuff tastes like dirt, salt and licorice root." Vali's beard shifted as he let out a hearty laugh.
"It's an Orcish ceremonial drink. It'd be rude to not accept it. It symbolizes our continuing friendship."
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Two hours after receiving the message, Suvi was called to a meeting with the intelligence division of the Orkutsk Defense Force. A table was set up in a ring of bird perches, hawks, falcons and other birds coming and going with messages tied to them. She places her hands in the pockets of her jacket and nodded to the person sitting at the head of the table.
"It seems congratulations are in order. Normund just broke the nose of the head one of the most economically powerful states. The world will soon know Charmles isn't untouchable and Orkutsk doesn't take insults laying down. You raised him well Suvi."
The group clapped slowly as Suvi bowed. "This has been a long time coming. He just did what any good Orkutskan would do." She placed the letter she received on the table. "We have about a week before we see troops at our border. Five days if the Arcadians fold, but I doubt that will happen. They may try to cross the river as well, but that will take a lot of time to move a significant force." She turns to a man next across from her at the table. "Orvo, do you have any information on their equipment? Portable bridges, magical items, anything that might speed their march here?" The man shook his head.
"No major developments in the last month or so from my wrens and sparrows. They have a single instant bridge, but we know how to disable those. They can't move mass amounts of troops across that anyway. I've already sent messages to our allies in Arcadia. They'll hold Argonia back with bureaucracy and probably get their city a nice little trade deal out of it. They'll probably want something from us afterwards, but we can give them some boulders for carving and bricks. We'll figure that out later. Have you contacted our Orc friends?" Suvi nodded.
"I sent out two hawks soon after I got the message. They should be sending an envoy before sunset if they want to work with us. I have no reason to think they wouldn't. They hate Argonia even more than we do. Where do we want to put them?"
A map of the region was laid out on the table, weighed down with stones to keep it from blowing away in the wind. Two women stood on either side of the map.
"The Argonian military is largely composed of heavily armored fighters supported by mages. We can put the heavy hitters on the main road, push them toward the woods and the river. Since the snow has melted, our usual stealth methods won't be effective. We'll need to bring out the rock cloaks."
A bird with a message lands on Suvi's shoulder. She pats the bird on the head before removing the letter and reading it.
"Vali has gathered his squad, where do you want him?"
"Where he works best, the woods near the river. Have him grab Normund as soon as he crosses the border. Once he's geared up, all three of you will meet the force at the entrance to the tunnel. I'll leave you two to handle the first encounter. Distract them, capture them, do what you think is best. " The woman turned to another person at the table. "Prepare rolling boulder and log traps. If you can have one set to block the entrance on command, do it. They'll be a lot more compliant once we cut them off from reinforcements." The man gave a single nod before leaving the table. The bird flew to one of the perches that surrounded the table.
After a half hour of planning, the meeting broke. All the participants, including Suvi grabbed their weapons and headed toward the rocky terrain surrounding their homeland. Argonia had little idea what awaited them in the mountains.
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