Albertus sat upon his horse and surveyed the group with which he would travel. They had decided it would be best to send a small group in hopes of infiltrating the Char prison camps with greater ease. He was accompanied by Dennizon of course, he and his old friend rarely traveled apart, Phoenix, who would not stay behind had they tied him, Jaha, who had joined the Council Guard under the command of Kitana of course, Ledocteur, who would be needed for his healing abilities, Freedom, unwilling to stay behind, and Ragdinolin, who was versed in the elements of magic. Kitana was to stay behind and continue the day to day running of affairs at home and would function as the governing body in the absence of the High Council.

Each member of the party rode a horse and carried several weeks worth of provisions with them on a separate horse. These horses were meant to help carry back any prisoners they may be fortunate enough to rescue. There was little noise made as the group left the Great Hall for they did not pass by the village on its outskirts. Instead they veered towards the old battlefield in which their fight had originally taken place north of the great wall of Ascalon. It would be a long march but one worth the making Albertus thought to himself.

A little over a week had passed when they finally reached their destination and it was here that they decided to go further north and west where the char documents had suggested this camp was at. So far they had met with no opposition whatsoever since the bulk of the char forces where engaged in their siege of Nolani. If that place fell Ascalon would fall most assuredly for it was the main supply line from the Dwarves in the Shiverpeak Mountains who still allowed their passes to be used for the transportation of food and water from Kryta since the lands in Ascalon had never recovered from the blight the meteors put upon them.

They traveled for two days in this way before they began to see evidence of Char activity. Here and there a footprint could be seen or still smoldering wood and bones where some nasty feast had been held. The terrain was largely dry dirt, a few weeds that could survive the desert like climate, or pools of sludge that may once have been part of flowing rivers or serene pools and lakes. Albertus could not help but feel great loss as he looked around at the blasted lands, utterly ruined by the destructive Char. What was it that drove these beasts to such acts of violence? He could not fathom the reasons but felt an anger welling up inside of him towards these creatures and their careless, hateful ways.

Finally on the third day Albertus saw a huge cloud of dust rising over a long rock that spread for miles to either direction in front of them. Phoenix volunteered to scout out the situation while the others found a small copse of dead trees and rocks in which to hide themselves and their horses. It was late in the afternoon when Phoenix finally returned, his armor covered in a fine dust that must have come from the cloud Albertus had seen earlier. “It’s a quarry, a giant quarry that the char are using prisoners for slave labor in” he said roughly as he sat down to the food the others had been preparing.

“They are using slave labor?” Asked Ragdinolin in disgust. “Aye and the work is brutal. That hole must be a mile down with spiraling roads for great carts of rock and flint to be toted up. They have no beasts of burden, only the slaves and their whips to drive them.” Phoenix said around a spoonful of soup and a bite of bread as he hungrily continued to eat. “Sounds like you will be busy healing to me Ledocteur” Ragdinolin said to his friend, he had paused eating his own meal and taken on a deep frown that furrowed his brow in deep rivets.

“But what of the prison camp?” Asked Jaha, breaking his usual silence for only the second time on the trip so far. Phoenix paused eating for a moment and without looking up said, “Well, follow the slaves at the end of the day and I expect you will find their lodging less than suitable. Perhaps there.” Before he resumed his meal.

“Well that is good news then” mulled Albertus as he sipped a cup of coffee fresh from brewing atop the fire. “They cannot march these poor souls far and then expect to bring them back here and work effectively. The Char may be cruel, but they do not appear to be stupid thus far.” For a moment everyone sat eating their supper, sipping their coffee, and looked altogether lost in thought, the entire lot of them frowning. Finally, Dennizon spoke up, “I think Albertus is right, but we will need to be sure. Was there sufficient cover for us to follow when they slaves are taken from the quarry Phoenix?” “I could not accurately tell from the ridge on this side of that blasted hole. I shall go immediately and reevaluate milord.” Dennizon began to speak and Phoenix had already tossed the last bite of bread and soup into his mouth, risen, and began to put his armor back on in preparation to leave when Jaha spoke out. “Let me go Phoenix. You are tired and will be needed for your battle expertise when we do move. Let me scout out tonight and see where these prisoners are taken to.” Jaha stood and was easily taller than anyone else in the party and stouter too. He was a man large in size and very able with sword, axe, shield, and hammer in Albertus’ memory of watching Kitana take volunteers to replenish the Council Guard back home. Jaha of course had already been proficient in battle before Albertus had ever met him and therefore seemed a perfect candidate for the Council Guard in Kitana’s eyes. Albertus watched him train both young and old as Kitana had directed and the man had both a forceful and gentle manner in achieving this. Altogether he was a valuable asset to the clan and the Guard. Phoenix, however, was ever duty driven and objected right away. “No, your size is far too great for a mission requiring stealth such as this Jaha. I have more experience in these matters, I should go.” “You need to stop trying to hoard all the glory there Phoenix,” said Ledocteur in a stern manner given away only by the slight twist of his lips which Albertus knew to be a smile, “for I may not always be interested in healing your unnecessary fatigue and wounds.”

Phoenix bristled a bit at those words and seemed to not quite know what to say in return when Dennizon interjected again. “Phoenix you have been driving yourself very hard, perhaps a small break will not do you any harm. I don’t want you to wear yourself out anymore than necessary at this point. I worry that the difficult part of our journey is yet to come.” Phoenix may have bristled a bit before, and he still obviously wished to leave and do his duty, but Albertus saw a visible reaction in him when Dennizon spoke. Perhaps it was because Dennizon had once been the man’s First Knight, or perhaps it was because of the many battles they had fought together and relied on one another, but Phoenix gave a slight bow of his head and looked less likely to run off into the night. “Well I still say that Jaha’s size will be an impediment to him being stealthy out there” Phoenix said again. “What if the Char see you and we have to…” Phoenix trailed off as he turned back to look at the place where Jaha had been sitting and his eyes grew wide and mouth simply hung open for a split second before he snapped it closed again.