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North, and then into the valley. Secure the valley, bring back order, and then strike from the rear. Thus bypassing Kathis Omichlis altogether. A sound plan, and with a vague enough timetable for you to schedule, and with the majority of the crusaders going south, it is obvious that you will be one of the bigger fish up north.
Indeed, the southward heading crusader already has elected a leader for them, and with a good majority of Aurilién lords in the army, they have chosen the Duc de Montpèlerins. A powerful duke from Aurilie as their warmaster, he is also a full cousin of the King of Aurilie and thus had the social gravity to be made the leader. It helps that that is uncle is cardinal as well.
As for your northern journey, it would be less organised. No one has really tried to force a unified command structure. The biggest armies were your own, the Comte de Castelanne, from Aurilie, the Viscount of Marlwick from Angenland, and the Count of Westlaasen, from the western part of Tautenland. Or at least, those were the banners that you saw being carried north; there will most likely be people who will come afterwards, and you don't know if they will go into the valley as you did.
The last thing you did before setting out properly was buy some provision in the form of fish, whether it be pickled, salted, dried, or otherwise. The locals were at first suspicious, especially when they saw you come in with a coin, though they were more than happy to accept it after they had the old man with good teeth bit it for its value when it was proven not to be debased junk like the Mithradian coinage. They eagerly accepted your transactions. You leave the city with barrels filled with fish, fresh water, and some vegetables that don't rot easily. It shall take you a few days before you are properly north and near the entrance of the valleys. You pass by some other villages on the way there. Yet the weather remains pleasant, the army itself in good spirits.
Before you reach the split to go properly inward, you and the other northward armies are constantly followed by two to three ships that follow you along the coast. These are here to raise the alarm back in the capital in case there is an unexpected emergency. They are also here to allow the Mithradians to monitor the situation. Something you feel less warm over, but nevertheless, you manage to have a quick and quiet journey before you reach the split in the road where the road to the mountains and valley joins with the straight road along the coast. As you climb up the roads into the mountains, away from the coast and into the valleys of the interior, the climate begins to cool, the outside feels more comfortable, a nice change of pace from the warm climate that dominates Mithras, and the flora also becomes more green. Though the human settlements begin to be few, you are in the semi-wilderness now.
(1/2) The red thread thingies are mountain passes.
