>>5275145This is a expansive area, and you won't have much time for personal expeditions after you report in. This plateau is a strong defensive point at the base of a gargantuan mountain; off in the distance a green pine forest emits the scents of these early spring months. You bump Orland with an elbow. "What do you say to a leader's reconnaissance, Lord Orland?"
He gives a wide grin in return as your adjutants look on. "That sounds like an excellent idea, Lord Jovann."
The pair of attendants start to head into the camp, Howynd glancing over his shoulder and mentioning something about "setting up accommodations befitting your station", which conveniently leaves the pair of you free to head out. Walking on foot is a fair bit different than traveling by carriage, but years of training and rigorous exercise have left you both in more than sufficient shape for the short trek around the nearby area, even with it being as rocky and inclined as it is. Moving casually at a comfortable pace, you and Orland pass around the outside of the camp itself a few times. The fortifications are mostly textbook Legion work- tall, sharpened palisades emplaced near a set of long trenches with thick, Breath-grown brambles along the edges. It's not an easy thing to assault, even if it were undermanned: with the main gate of the camp enclosed, it would take proper siege equipment to destroy.
Beyond the camp, though, are a number of unknowns. Your enthusiastic companion points off in the distance, near the horizon and towards the forest. "Isn't that smoke there, in the forest? Looks like it's not too far away, no?"
You look to the forest and spot the slight and wispy smoke that Orland's pointing at. <span class="mu-i">Looks like it's originating from inside of the forest somewhere.. hm.</span>
Nodding, you set a hand on your companion's shoulder. "Well, no better time than the present, right? Best to check that out. Maybe we can get some sort of knowledge as to what's going on here without having to get it from the camp commander."
"Makes sense to me," he says, and he straps his axe-belt on a bit tighter as the two of you march off into the greenery.
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