Northeastern Fringe

"How many?" Thalibald inquired from the panting man. The scout had left a few hours earlier on horseback and with three others, but returned on foot and alone. He struggled to speak from exhaustion and so tossed his hands in the air and croaked out something that Thalibald deduced as 'not certain'.

The old chief cursed and waved his hand at his warriors. At the moment, only about fifty warriors were assembled in the courtyard that extended beyond Thalibald's hillfort. These men were the heaviest soldiers Thalibald could muster; they were local strongmen handpicked by the chief himself, who were then trained and equipped better than anyone else in the village. They all wore mail armor and carried wooden shields lined with leather. Each one carried an axe, sword, or mace, depending on their preference. Open-faced iron helmets covered their heads, and each one came up into a point at the top.

"Assemble on the western side of the village," the rough voice of the chief beckoned his bodyguard away. One of the men, however, was his personal adviser: Kustis, a man who was better learned than the rest of the warriors, having spent time with a Vessian theologian. "Muster what mean you can in the village. Any hunter and marksman should arm himself with the bow; the rest should be given spears, arms, and shields from the armory. If their are any who have seen a fight before, equip them with whatever armor we have left." Kustis nodded at his chief and went into the village to find able-bodied men fit for battle.

Thalibald then spotted Sir Frederick coming out of his quarters; he had been equipping his steel armor. Frederick was a Vessian Knight and had been assigned to assist in keeping order in Thalibald's village; he had with him twenty-five men-at-arms, all equipped with mail armor, close-faced helms, lances, and swords - and each one maintained a warhorse in Thalibald's stables. "Frederick, my scouts spotted a band of Barbarians in the east. Will you ride with us?"

"That is my job," Frederick replied nastily, pulling his helmet over his head and walking by the chief. Thalibald snarled with disgust at the pompous knight.



Coming to the open field where the scout last saw the Barbarians, Thalibald's army halted and organized themselves in formation. Thalibald and his fifty warriors, along with Kustis, maintained a tight formation in the center of the field. They were ten men across, and five men deep. This was the core of the army. On both flanks of the Bodyguard was three-hundred spearmen: mostly unarmored, but each one carrying basic spears and shields; this equipment was stored in Thalibald's armory in case he needed to muster fighting men. The six-hundred spearmen were similarly five-men deep. In all the main battle stretched a total of 170 men.

Behind this main battle line was a score of fifty archers. These men were armed with their hunting bows, and a few were given longbows used by actual soldiers.

Behind the archers and Thalibald's Bodyguards, was Sir Frederick, and gathered around him was his 25 heavy mounted men-at-arms, all armed with lances, melee weapons, and shields.

Sir Frederick spat on the ground. "Filthy pagans... show yourselves..." He was tired of these people, tired of Thalibald, and only wanted to return home to drink and flirt. At least he might have the chance to rape any surviving female-warriors after their victory; the pagans seemed to enlist women at times. Maybe they had a camp further back behind the treelines, filled with virgin women and little girls fit for breaking in. The dastardly Vessian Knight grinned at the thought and made him all the more ready to rout these filthy Barbarians.