183 The Night Before (1/2)
”Commander, are you in here?” Varda asked from beyond the tent flap.
”Come in,” I called.
I had just finished reviewing the reports sent to me by our kobold spies in the region. Things were looking dire by the second.
Varda entered the tent and strolled over to where I sat at the head of the wooden expedition table we lugged around whenever we sortied.
”You look more troubled than when I left you, Commander,” she noted as she sat on the seat to my right with her feet dangling just an inch above the floor.
”War's starting early,” I said before pointing to the scattered papers on the table. ”The skirmishes along the borders of the Westersand desert have stopped…”
”Isn't that a good thing?” Varda asked.
I shook my head. ”It means they're unnecessary now… both sides are pulling back to get ready for the big one.”
Varda tapped on the table with her fingers. ”How big are we talking, Commander?”
”Reports from the Council say that the Sunspire Dominion is bringing two-hundred thousand to the battlefront,” I sighed.
Varda whistled appreciatively. ”And how many does our Western Army have now?”
”At the moment,” I checked the troop sheet on my desk, ”One hundred and twenty thousand… We're expecting another forty thousand reinforcements from central so we'll probably end up at a hundred and sixty thousand, give or take…”
”That's forty thousand less… it's not a small number,” Varda noted her eyes widening slightly at this revelation.
”No… it isn't,” I agreed. ”So… what's the word on troop count, supplies, and morale?”
Varda rifled through the bundle of papers in her hand and passed me the one that held squad numbers.
”Besides the fifty soldiers we left to guard Hoodwink Tower and our casualties from recent battles, all of our original five-hundred members are accounted for,” Varda reported. ”We've received a hundred and fifty reinforcements from the Eastern Army too… From what I gather, they're new recruits of Fort Darah.”
”Vardoom and Thors should have sent a few veterans too,” I reminded her.
Varda took a second to look through her notes before nodding her head. ”Yes, there are a few veterans among them. Dwarven artificers and warriors from my uncle's legion.”
”Good…” I nodded approvingly as I knew we needed more experienced soldiers in the unit. ”Orryn was also supposed to send reinforcements…”
”Yes, the chancellor is sending fifty volunteers from the palace guards as well as another fifty magicians from the Shärleden's Magician's Guild… A hundred bodies total,” Varda explained. ”But they aren't here yet. I expect they'll meet us en route to the army's designated gathering grounds.”
”A one-thousand-man commander who's short a thousand men, huh,” I chuckled softly to myself. ”Guess we'll just have to make up the difference later on…”
This map, which was one of the three we'd received from the Pilgrimage during our trip to the Undercroft was a treasure trove of information. It would certainly prove useful later on.
”The rally point's the oasis Verania stole from us,” I scowled. ”They're calling it the Folkor Oasis now…”
”We'll win more oases in the war, Commander,” Varda assured me. ”You can name them all Dapper if you like.”
The confidence in my quartermaster's voice was heartening to me especially since I was still a little worried over the story Aura told me and Luca.
”Zarz' with the unit?” I asked.
Varda looked through another piece of paper in her hands. She nodded and then said, ”He's at the rear of our supply line along with the new toys you had him design for, um,” she looked through her notes, ”siege warfare…”
Varda raised an eyebrow at me.
”Expecting a lot of sieges in the desert, Commander?” she asked in almost joking manner.
”You'll find out soon enough, Quartermaster,” I chuckled. ”I assume the supply line's secure?”
As it was Varda's number one responsibility in the unit, she was all confidence when she gave me the thumbs up. ”All good, Commander… we'll be stocked even if the army isn't thanks to our merchant friends.”
That was reassuring to hear. In a war with this many soldiers, an exclusive supply line for the unit wasn't a bad idea. At the very least, it meant we wouldn't need to rely on Garm's hand-me-downs if it came to it.
There was one other thing to discuss with Varda, and so I asked how unit morale was holding up.
”You should come see the men for yourself, boss,” she answered.
”Alright, I'm due to do rounds in a bit, but before that could you send Nike, Fila, and Vans over… I need to send a few messages out tonight,” I said.
”Roger, Commander,” Varda said, saluting me the way fairies do here in the Fayne.