Hushmaz Drops In

Hushmaz and his nearby forces has joined us in the village late on yesterday, they arrived just before the Gnaeblin priests as we were recovering from the battle.  I was still suffering from my wound but Hushmaz, who was surprised to see that I'd been in the fighting, was genuinely pleased that I'd been involved.  He sat down with Gallanarre and me, and we swapped the tales of our battles.

The Dzarraf troops had been moving quietly through the valley in the cover of darkness four nights ago.  They'd heard reports of some Gurgam column in that region, and their scouts found the enemy camp long after midnight.  The Dzarraf forces moved up and stormed the camp with surprise – they caught the enemy on the back foot, overwhelmed the guards quickly and brought the fight right into the heart of the camp.  The Gurgam eventually rallied, and they fought a pitched battle in the early dawn before sunrise, and the fighting continued into the day.  It would have been over far sooner if the command centre of the camp had not contained Ogruks; there were twelve of them.  Their presence was not wholly surprising, but did create a tougher obstacle in the fight to defeat the camp.

Hushmaz had only committed two-thirds of his force to the surprise attack, the rest he posted on the perimeter because he knew the Gurgam would eventually try to flee.  When they broke and ran, the waiting guards caught them and slaughtered them.  It was a pretty grim conclusion, but militarily the objective was achieved as a huge success.  They think they've taken out a group of some five hundred Gurgam and their Ogruk commanders, with the loss of only nine Dzarraf.  After the fighting, the Dzarraf scouts reported back to him, another column of Gurgam had been spotted heading in the general direction of these villages where we now met.  Hushmaz's forces were still recovering, so he sent a message to the villages to warn them – and to ask for a few more troops to help wipe out this other column.

After a few hours rest during the afternoon, Hushmaz set fire to the Gurgam camp and moved his forces uphill back towards the villages.  He sent a small and lightweight greeting force to meet the villagers, and together they raised some havoc with swift surprise attacks against the column during the evening, and after each they would flee into the wilderness.  This really upset the Gurgam, but not as much as the sight of the main Dzarraf force in the area, which presented itself just as night was falling.  Hushmaz organised his troops and hid them in small groups down the rise, and then used the front line of his force to lure the Gurgam away.  They fought with crossbows in the dusk from the distance, the Gurgam predictably tried to close to engage.  The backed off and backed off, pulling the Gurgam forces towards the defending Dzarraf forces.  As the Gurgam closed, they suffered volley after volley of crossbow fire – so much of it that the Dzarraf began to run out of ammunition.  Eventually, after the Gurgam had moved far up the slope,  the Dzarraf charged the front line of the Gurgam, attacking from all angles, and at the same time the small Gnaeblin force, which had been waiting for the signal, attacked them at their rear.  The Gurgam didn't even fight – they just tried to flee, and were cut to pieces by Hushmaz's experienced troops.

Hushmaz's soldiers moved back down the slope a little and set up camp.  Here they rested until the first light of day whereupon their scouts went out to gather as many crossbow bolts as they could find.  After the troops ate, they headed straight for this village, and arrived by late afternoon.
Many Dzarraf soldiers have joined us now, and they helped tend our wounded (including me – my shoulder now feels as good as new), and they've been greeted as heroes by the villagers.  It is so good to be surrounded by my own folk again again, but Hushmaz laughed loudly when he saw my injury.  Now he says he can truly look upon me as a warrior, and went on to show me some of his scars.

The villagers prepared a hearty meal for the soldiers – the locals seem well stocked in food.  During the meal Hushmaz talked to me away from the ears of Gallanarre, not to keep things secret, but to allow him to give me a candid report; he made it absolutely clear that he expected me to brief the Gnaeblin general later.   He told me that the Gnaeblin and the Dzarraf have utterly routed every group of Gurgam they've found.  The Gnaeblin forces had worked down the settlements from the west, while his Dzarraf moved in from the east.  Hushmaz's troops have been working in two groups, and he has been jumping between the two camps where it's been possible.

It is estimated that the Gurgam have suffered ridiculously heavy losses so far, with hardly a loss among the Dzarraf, less than one in twenty have died.  The Gnaeblin have suffered slightly more casualties – perhaps 1 in 10 of their warriors.  Hushmaz had two hundred warriors in each of his forces at the start, their losses overnight were the most they'd suffered in a single assault (although they'd not fought more than a couple of hundred Gurgam all at once before today).

As the village is well stocked the local mayor (his name is Bunnerth) has invited the soldiers to rest here overnight.  While the troops will stay, Hushmaz is off to meet his other column this evening.  He's had just a couple of hours rest in the last day, and he's still fired up for more fighting.  The warriors who are staying here will be heading off at first light, and Gallanarre and I shall journey with them – we're heading down hill into the valley for the last stage of our mission, and that is the direction that Hushmaz's troops will be taking too.

Right now we're in the middle of a tale-telling evening, and the Dzarraf warriors are relating various stories of their fights so far, and with plenty of humour.  From what they're telling us, it's clear that the Gurgam have had a right kicking.