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During my watch, which the first part of was shared with Barr, we heard some rustling off in the bushes to the south of our camp. It didn't sound like anything big, but it was moving past our camp along the top of the rise. We both quietly moved up there to see what it was, we weren't intending to be gone for more than a few minutes. We were quite surprised by what we saw, though. Sneaking through the bushes was a single Gnaeblin, dressed in leather armour, but only carrying a small sword for defence. He didn't even have a shield. When we saw him (actually I saw him, Barr couldn't see anything in the dark) he wasn't aware of our presence.
I had to whisper very closely to Barr, this Gnaeblin was only twenty feet or so from our position. Barr then moved up the hill towards where he thought the soldier was. He was so silent, even across the undergrowth of matted old leaves and brambles. There was a faint 'unnng' noise, some whispering that I could barely hear, then quietly two figures returned to our location; Barr still had his hand clasped over the Gnaeblin's mouth. I introduced myself and told him we were on the same side, then Barr let him go - I'm not sure how he would have reacted if I weren't here. We all kept quiet as we went down the slope and closer to our camp.
Barr woke Elenhugh and we talked to the scout. His name, he said, was Fegulian, and he was working as a scout out of Bilgrut, a town only five or so miles from here. He told me that they'd been watching this column for the last day as it approached, and that they were preparing for an assault. They wanted detailed numbers to help plan their defence better. We'd already counted them, so we told him - and Elenhugh offered our help, he was quite up front about the bounty that they were chasing (but he didn't tell him how much the price per ear was). Fegulian seemed relieved that there were more experienced warriors willing to join in. As far as he was concerned we could have all the ears we wanted, as long as the Gurgam were dead.
He, like many who lived in these outlying villages, had been expecting a visit from me and my team a couple of weeks ago, until the news that I'd been involved in an attack and had been pronounced missing presumed dead. Fegulian told me how he'd met Hushmaz only a week ago, and that the old campaigner was absolutely horrified that I'd gone missing in a fight that he could have been involved with. He'd even summoned more Dzarraf forces to help fight as a result of my disappearance.
He told me that only a couple of days ago twenty Dzarraf had arrived in the village for precisely this attack. He'd never seen such a blood-thirsty bunch in all his time; they're really angry about the Gurgam, and seem to have become quite feral. He relayed to Elenhugh the general layout of the village, and where the column were expected to attack from, the lands give them a few options to attack from, but they thought they had it all covered.
He spent about an hour with us talking over these things before heading back to his village with some good news. He could see my armour plight, so he took off his leather shoulder protection and his gauntlets and handed them to me - they're just about the only armour he's wearing that come close to fitting me. I even tried his helmet, but it's far too small.
He has more available in the village, he said, but he was worried that I had nothing for the fight I was about to join in with. I objected that he still had to journey back to his home, but he was adamant - there is nothing about that could be a danger other than the enemy, and he's fully aware of their presence. This is fortunate - the equipment is quite tight, but it's far better than just simple woollen clothes. I will return these items when we get to the village and the fighting is over - hopefully later today.
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