Upon entering his pitch black tent, the Swordsman spied four pair of red eyes staring back at him. Smiling, Sterling allowed his eyes to adjust to the gloom and then seated himself in a small travelling chair, while Spirits, Doc, the Lieutenant and the Sergeant waited for him to get situated. As always Nightrunner wanted to be in on their strategy sessions, and as always, the Captain asked his war wolf to wait outside and guard the tent. Obediently, Nightrunner silently complied.
"Spirits, did you sweep the place?" asked Sterling more than a little concerned.
"Just before you got here, Cap'n!" burped the Drow War Mage, "It's clean!"
Over the decades, Spirits layered and weaved every new alarm, eavesdropping, detection and silence spell and ward that he had ever learned--one on top of another--into the very fabric of the tent itself! Their leader had always wanted a quiet place where he could plan strategy without being overheard by anyone--including the sharp ears of his own men--and Spirits had given it to him.
"Okay, situation reports, then strategy." began the Dark Elf getting down to the business at hand, "Gentlemen, where do we stand? Logistics?"
"Once we have our supplies, sir, we'll be able to attack the enemy at any point and time of your choosing. If we were to move against them now, we would simply have to live off the land. Which we can do, but I wouldn't advise it!" explained the Lieutenant.
"Morale?" asked the Swordsman.
"As you saw for yourself, Captain, morale is pretty good right now! The men know that they're getting paid--quite well I might add, they know that they're getting into a fight, and they've even almost forgotten the fact that they have a Wood Elf among them--almost! But all in all, they're itching to stomp a mudhole in some Orcs face and walk it dry!" said the Sergeant strongly.
"Magic?" asked Sterling.
"Personally, Cap'n, in lieu of what we're going up against, I've decided to start drinkin' heavily!" belched Spirits openly, "However, I wouldn' mind havin' a chat with that Sun Elf Druid of yours! He's got power, sir, I c'n feel it! It's practically all around 'im! Heck, even I c'n learn a thing or two from 'im, if he'd be willin' to open up and teach me somethin'!"
The rest of the Drow in the tent--save for Sterling--gave Spirits a shocked look! The Drow War Mage stared back at them saying, "What!?! I'd learn from Lloth herself, if she was willin' to teach me somethin'!"
"I'll see what I can do," replied the Dark Elf Captain, "But sometimes Gareth chooses to keep his own counsel! Still, it can't hurt to ask! Casualties?"
"None to report, sir--except for Sticks getting kicked in the 'nads by a schoolgirl!" snickered Doc maliciously.
The rest of Sterling's officers burst out laughing, and even the Swordsman giggled a bit at Heidi's act of feistiness.
"But I'll tell you this much," continued the Dark Elf Chiurgeon getting deadly serious, "We're going to need those supplies if we're going to be going up against Venger's army, Captain. I wouldn't advise riding up against those Orcs without the bandages, poultices, and other stuff I need to hold our guys together!"
"Duly noted!" replied Sterling calmly, "Okay gentlemen, if our sitrep is out of the way, then let's talk about strategy! Lieutenant, show me a map of the King's Highway and the surrounding terrain. If the Orcs are using it to march out of the Black Hills, we might as well try and hit them there!"
A Point To Ponder
