PatCronz
Recruit
2.2 - On the March (in April)
Whilst encamped outside of Praven, which the party had done for some time in order to try and patch its wounds following the battle, several things happened. First, one of the two Monks who had joined the party had told Benedictus that he was to become a Priest and was to immediately return to the seminary, and the other told Benedictus that he did not have the stomach for fighting. The two left, never to rejoin the party; the first eventually went on to become a Bishop then a Cardinal, and an important member of the Calradic clergy. The other returned to solitude and was able to shed the memories of bloodshed and return to peaceful thoughts after some time.
Secondly, Benedictus got to know both Ymira and Nadia better, but the former especially, who attested to being quite happy with the state of affairs within the party, a sentiment Benedictus got from many of the soldiers as well, and a sentiment that made him quite happy.
After some time, reports were that small amounts of Rhodok forces were at work around Haringoth castle, and the troops, eager for action, encouraged Benedictus to drive on there. The march from Haringoth to Praven took unusually long, almost a day, and when the force arrived, they discovered about an equal sized Rhodok force with more experienced units, headed by Count Etrosq. Although eager for action, Benedictus anticipated a slaughter and decided not to engage, at which point it became evident that the King himself was in the region. Unable to meet him, the King chased off the potential attackers before returning to Praven.
Worried about inaction of the armies but at the same time concerned about the potential of meeting an overpowering opponent, Benedictus continued his patrol of the countryside, and, finding no bandits, returned to Suno to purchase some food, somewhat disappointed about the lack of opponents for his troops to fight. Recruiting two more men from Ibiran, the party finally found and engaged a group of forest bandits. It was neither a clean sweep nor a crushing loss; six men were lost, but the entire bandit party was vanquished in the open field. A decent bounty of loot was acquired, and it provided much needed combat experience. Additionally, several man-hunters and peasants were freed from the bandits capture and were recruited to the party; not an important victory, no, but something to keep the troop fresh, for sure.
Selling the loot and ransoming the prisoners, Benedictus now sat and waited on the call from Count Haringoth to move out with the army. Surely, he had joined the army for action and prestige on the battlefield, and was somewhat disappointed that the Marshall had not yet asked for Benedictus to join him in a campaign. Worse, Cronis harbored secret doubts about the man that was Marshall; Uxkhal was now under siege by the Rhodoks, and Haringoth was evidently nowhere to be found. Instead, the Counts and Lords were enjoying a feast in the city of Suno, which Benedictus found to be intolerable; in Urcea, such frivolities were canceled in times of emergency. These opinions, however, he kept to himself. He camped outside Suno when he received word from a messenger that Haringoth had been removed and replaced with Grainwald, a man that Benedictus now hoped would lead the Kingdom to battle.
While encamped, Benedictus caught wind of a large Swadian Army, headed by Count Mirchaud, heading off into the country. He found the unit and met up with them, and followed Mirchaud closely behind. In the first action of the war, the faster force of Benedictus caught up with Conte Gerluchs in the forests outside Ibiran, and a battle ensued, the first of the Calradic career of Benedictus. Three hundred and seventy five men of the Swadian army faced the Conte's force of just eighty three.
The Battle of Ibiran Wood ended up being a complete rout for the Swadians; only three of Benedictus's men died, compared to nearly the entire Rhodok force. At the end of the battle, the allied Lords met and decided to award the honor of taking Conte Gerluchs, who had been captured during the battle, to Benedictus Cronis, who had led the initial forces to battle. It was a great honor for the old Urcean noble, who had been looking for recognition and battle of this scale for a long time. For Swadia, as well, which had been losing the war on several fronts, it was a much needed victory. In several towns and villages of the Kingdom of Swadia, the "Victor of Ibira Wood" was whispered by the commonfolk and the nobility alike. Benedictus Cronis found himself on the map.
Cronis continued to follow the force for a time, as it turned back to Uxkhal to lift the siege. However, Benedictus noticed in the distance a party of riding and marching men, carrying an unrecognizable banner. When asking a fellow noble, Count Rafard, he identified it as a Rhodok general. Seeing opportunity, Cronis marched his men away from the main force in pursuit of the Rhodok, Barone Fudreim. The pursuit took them to the edge of Swadian territory, almost back to the valley of Veluca, but not quite. Fudreim's force numbered just eleven after several battles, and Cronis hoped to score two consecutive victories over the Rhodok nobility.
A hard fought battle, the initial wave of Benedictus's troops were dispatched easily by the veteran Rhodok soldiers, but the Rhodoks were no match for the bulk of the Swadian force. Seven had died and were quickly buried, and the Rhodok forces that survived were rounded up and were imprisoned in chains in Benedictus's camp. Fudreim himself fled like a coward before the end of the battle, opting for his own safety rather than stay with his men. Benedictus had gotten a taste of the Rhodoks, and he liked it; he wanted more.
Marching towards Uxkhal to join the forces of the Kingdom, Benedictus stopped first in the village of Nomar to recruit more Swadian volunteers, and five joined, and also made a quick trip to Burglen, where four more Swadian volunteers joined his troop. He then set full march towards Uxkhal, where the some of the other armies were gathered. Count Rafard was of the opinion that the Swadian Army had to wait for reinforcements, an opinion with which Benedictus concurred; the Rhodoks had nearly twice as many men. With this lull in the action, Cronis made a quick trip to Suno, where he ransomed his prisoners and resupplied his army. Quickly returning to Uxkhal, where the force encamped for some time, before the Rhodoks made an attempt to enter the city. The Swadian Army charged into action, with one of the war's largest battles looming. Benedictus weighed his commitment to the Kingdom (although he had not been ordered; participation in the battle was voluntary) and his commitment to his men. Although the odds were slightly against the Swadians (there were about eight hundred Rhodoks and five hundred and fifty defenders, without Benedictus), Cronis decided to join the battle in search of another major victory for his cause.
Upon his arrival, Benedictus was told he was the lone commander, as the other leaders had all been wounded in grievous battle. The walls were holding still, but only barely. The enemy came in waves, each coming closer to toppling the wall but none succeeding in doing so in each successive wave. They come close, they are hit with arrows, they reach the top, and are pushed back down. This was the largest battle Benedictus had yet witnessed; the small engagements in Urcea he had seen did not even compare. He tried to lead the allied forces as best as possible. Bodies of fallen Rhodoks seem to fall in every direction from the first wall, and none are able to pass to the second wall, at least initially. With only a few defenders on the first wall, the next push is a victory for the Rhodoks; they have broken through the first line of defense.
The next portion is not so easy, however. Skilled Swadian archers turn the field between the two walls into a killing ground. Rhodoks cannot reach the ladders, as the bodies and shields and all manner of equipment pile up in the no man's land. The Rhodoks, however, are determined, and will not retreat; they push onwards, and almost reach the second wall before the sound to retreat is called. In the end, the siege will continue, but the assault is broken. Benedictus and the Swadians now lay within the walls.
