50th of Ash, 2623
Stars, hide your fires; Let not light see my black and deep desires.
Once again, the Gravekeep Mountains framed the horizon for the imperceivably ancient scouting veteran of the Halamire, the smell of the Arcanacrag mines' spewing smoke filling his lungs and even burning a bit as his entry to the Daravinic war efforts occupied his five senses. The newcomers from the season prior were hard at work, some being seen repairing weaponry that had been damaged or dulled in combat, and a few others were training their skill in weaponry. One of them even looked up and saw Volundr, the blood draining from his face as he remembered how the veteran had easily dispatched six of the newcomers with relative ease and dexterity. The view of his fairly new steel longswords across his back gave the older looking man even more worry. However, Volundr noticed and simply rose a hand to his chest facing outward to show that he was not here to put some sense into anyone who thought they were too good. No, he had come for another reason. Heading into the Mage-Commander's tent, he waited patiently for the member of the Entente to finish sending messages to various other people, hopefully other upper members of the Halamire, but most likely to various mistresses and sweethearts. Looking up, a cold and calculating smiled crossed the Mage-Commander's lips, standing slowly despite being a head shorter than the Kohrun. Moving those dark locks from his face and ever present in his gilded armor, he walked up to Volundr, but kept some distance as if to remind them both that he was above Volundr in every way.
"Ah, Volundr Strom, as I live and breathe. It seems like your little.... excursions are usually necessary, whether it be to get information or to give you your much needed rest." The last three words dripped with a venom so potent that it might be fatal were it not simply words from the lips of the golden spoon-fed. Volundr gave a simple but deep salute in order to show that he was still respectful of the rank difference. "Mage-Commander, I apologize for leaving again. I was sent to a village further away in order to purchase and retrieve my new longswords as the blacksmiths around were-" "Yes, yes. I know, we are employing them to make for us all of our war machines and weaponry, I understand. What I need you to tell me is if you are going to be suddenly disappearing again, I have a task for you." Being interrupted so many times by that smarmy prick always annoyed Volundr, but he kept that feeling down as he stood at attention, ready to receive the new assignment. Instead, the Mage-Commander handed Volundr a small scroll and waved him off, a couple of his personal guard escorting the soldier out before he opened and read the scroll.
By order of Tuatha Damien Berkeley, any and all scouts currently not on leave are commanded to take to the borders and learn everything that is to be learned about our enemies. And if needed, disposed of. It was a simple order, but being given the order by the Lord Commander himself was extremely important. Volundr had personally only ever seen the Lord Commander in paintings and heard of his exploits through discussion, but the man was a living legend. One that he did not plan to infuriate or disappoint any time soon. Folding the scroll into a small rectangle of paper, he put it away in a small bag that he had before preparing provisions and various simple items required for stealth. Going back to where the Mage-Commander could see him once he was out of his tent, Volundr held up the scroll, now folded neatly into a rectangle, and began making his way into Radenor. Having been enemies with the four countries that made up Radenor for centuries if not millennia, Volundr had been made aware of the dangers of the countries, including the existence of Fume Dragons within the military makeup that were bonded with the highest ranking military members. While seeing one was rare, it also meant that highly important information could be gleaned from their presence. Their brick-red color was very noticeable, and the stories of their blinding speed and intense flames made it very difficult to even attempt to see one, let alone attack or kill it. For that reason, even though Daravin had a long tradition of hunting dragons, if one was seen, it was wise to retreat with as much stealth as necessary.
59th of Ash, 2623
Nine days, Volundr had explored the various camps of Radenor, both occupied and not. While he was of Daravinic origin in terms of national identity, he did not portray himself as Halamire or as a Daravinic local, meaning that he could fairly effectively dodge enough questioning to continue his travels. When it came to infiltration, Volundr hunted by night and often used Obscura when he had the energy to. However today was a day after he had used the ability, meaning that he had little energy to do it again. So, he went for the more practical approach. Ducking into the tall grasses and shedding his cloak and armor, the only thing he took with him was his longswords and journal. Using a large tree as a marker for his items, he used some water from his waterskin to make a small pool of mud, smearing it on his face in tiger stripe patterns in order to blend into the tall grass much easier. Off in the distance would be a very inhabited war camp, easily fifty strong when it came to soldiers. Most likely more, seeing as how the fifty count was only the ones who were at the camp and awake. But, with all the preparations complete, he made his way towards the camp, using both the tall grass and the errant tree here or there as natural stealth. Within 100 feet of the camp, he could hear the voices of various soldiers talking, as well as the sharpening of weapons.
"How's your lady?" "She is doing well, as is the child in her. Hopefully will be a father when I get back." "There we go! How about a celebratory round of drinks for everyone?" The currently awake soldiers cheered and a large keg was passed around, sloppily filling tankards and waterskins before they all drank themselves silly. This was the waiting part for Volundr, keeping absolutely still and quiet as he waited for the right moment to infiltrate the camp. Hours passed, bugs landing on and delivering all manner of stings and bites on his person, all of which felt like a child poking him repeatedly. While annoying, it did not give away his position. In the early darkness of the next morning, Volundr slowly rose from his position and went into the camp, the soldiers passed out from their own drunkenness. If he wanted to, he could even systematically kill off this entire camp. But something about killing them while asleep, even if they were enemies of Daravin, did not sit well with him. So instead, he simply traversed the camp and looked through barely open flaps of tents, avoiding as many of the occupied ones as possible.
Coming up to the commanding tent, he peeked in quietly as his soft leather boots silenced his footsteps, walking toe-to-heel to silence himself further. Seeing nobody within, he slowly slunk in and looked around, noting all of the boxes of supplies and various maps, scrolls, and weaponry. He could take several days to look through absolutely everything, but he didn't have time. Under the light of the moon, he began copying down troop movements and supply lines that were marked in the Radenor land, as well as what looked to be possible attacks towards known Halamire encampments. He marked the amount of troops being sent as well as if any Fume Dragons were to be sent. Thankfully, there were none being sent, as this was more of a border controlling war rather than outright slaughter of the other group. As Volundr made his way out of the tent, he kept to the shadows as his under armor was very dark in color and allowed for his stealth, leaving the camp much in the same way he had entered it. Making his way to his hidden items, he calmly put everything on once again and took his journal, keeping it tight in the gap between his under armor and actual armor before making his way back to the camp. And seeing as how he wasn't making any stops at other encampments where he had done much of the same, the journey back was much faster and much safer.
66th of Ash, 2623
Entering the camp just outside of Jarden, Volundr was finally able to breathe a sigh of relief, the scouts who had come back welcoming him as they tended to do. Beelining for the Mage-Commander's tent, he only waited temporarily before setting down his journal in front of the gilded douchebag. "There's the information I found." The Mage-Commander did very little but open the journal and look over the sketches and notes, deciding to once again do his magic of transferring his written words and sketches to a scroll, leaving the pages blank and therefore reusable. "I continue to expect you to do your job in this military, whether or not I'm here. And the slightest bit of disobeying or malcontent will be met with the harshest punishments I am allowed to give you." Holding out the journal to Volundr, the Kohrun made a motion to take it before Mage-Commander dropped his hand to make sure Volundr missed. "Is that understood, soldier?" Keeping his desire to completely break his commanding officer's face, Volundr stood fully at attention. "Yes sir." "Good lad." Once he handed the journal back to him, Volundr made his way back to his tent and laid down in his bed, opening the journal to the page of his personal records. A new note was written along the side of one of the pages.
Våre fiender er ikke den vi tror de er, forbli på vakt mot urettmessig straff. Our enemies are not who we think they are, remain vigilant against wrongful punishment.
