Re: The Belgica Road in March
Brennus learns that there are people held to the north, in a place called Juliacum.. in fact, Humans are slaves wherever there are Orcs, because the Orcs depend on Humans to provide food for their lazy hordes. Juliacum is a bit different.. the people here think there might be Elves held there as well. Elves are never set to work. Orcs see Elven captives more as entertainment.
Brennus talks with the locals about the Orcs, and what they were doing, and slaves, and between what he already knows about events over the last year, and what Heolstor and Petra know, and the stories here, he builds up a picture- and sees how Aquae Grannis fit into the much larger scope.
Aquae Grannis is on the north side of the Ardennes, the deep and rugged forest that is home to the Elven Kingdom of the Ardennes as well as the much smaller Lucimburic. Last spring, the Emperor of the Huns began laying the groundwork for an offensive designed to do two things- crush the independent, upstart Belgican Duchies and destroy the Elven Kingdom. It was ambitious, but the two goals overlapped- defeat of the Belgicans would result in the Elves being completely surrounded by Hun armies, and the Elves could not be everywhere at once.
“Unforeseen events” caused the Emperor’s plan to stall.
Heolstor and Petra had been with the force that checked the Emperor’s advance from the east. Heolstor had brought a force of Human warriors all the way from Burgundy, and along the way they had allied with Dwarves and Elves moving north with the same purpose. Orc thinking simply didn’t allow for such unprecedented cooperation. The Huns’ eastern force slammed into a “field fortress” created by Dwarves, something the Orcs were unprepared for.
On the western front, the Hun army cut through Belgica quickly, and then advanced into the Elven forest. Here, also, Theoderic played against the lack of Hun appreciation for cooperative effort. He had Belgican troops retreat into the Ardennes. He had to overcome some Elven reluctance to have Humans swarming into their lands, and it left some Belgican towns open to the Huns, particularly Bruxzella, but it meant that when the Orcs finally reached the point where the Elves decided to stop them- Namaco, on the Meuse River- they were met by Elves, along with many Belgicans, and Theoderic’s Frankish cavalry, assisted by a company of Centaurs.
Thus were the two main Hun offensives stopped.
Here, on the “northern front”, there was something of a side show. The Emperor didn’t have enough troops on hand for a third major offensive, but the Elven kingdom is divided into “Marks” and the north side is home to the Mark of the Royal Line. Where the Emperor could not focus his main attacks, he used “holding attacks”- raids and feints designed to tie up his enemies’ resources, so that they could not join in defending against the main attacks. The goal on the northern front was to pin down the Elven King and Queen, and their considerable strength.
So while much larger forces met in the main contests on the east and west sides of the Ardennes, Aquae Grannis became the staging point for a series of probes, raids, and feints against the Elves.
This was very costly for the Huns. One does not lightly raid into Elven forests, especially into land guarded by their king. The Huns planned their “winter war” knowing that frozen ground and leafless trees worked against the Elves. But it wasn’t enough of an advantage. Hundreds of Orcs were lost- along with Ogres, Trolls, and other servants of the Huns. A few Elven prisoners were brought back. According to the people of Aquae Grannis, perhaps ten. And of course the Orcs told tales of vast slaughter of Elves… but who could believe them?
The Elves retaliated, but this was more dangerous for the Elves. They killed many more Orcs, but paid for it. There were several Elven attacks here, and one early on killed the powerful Orc shaman that was supposedly in charge- leaving Silok. Still, the Elves were not able to take the town, and it is likely that they weren’t really trying. The Elven raids stopped midwinter, when the last prisoners here were moved out.
But overall, as costly as it was, the “northern front” war achieved the Emperor’s objective: the Elves here could not go to the aid of their brethren elsewhere. The winter war left Aquae Grannis very depleted. Only half as many Orcs were here as there were a year ago. According to what the party recalls about the Elves, though, this is not known by the Elves. Apparently Elven Reconnaissance has overestimated the number of Orc still here, and underestimated the damage the Elves had inflicted.
The Humans here know a little of Hun politics- more than the Huns ever thought. They know that the Huns were planning on “restocking” Aquae Grannis, but there are some ongoing squabbles among the great Hun warlords. Aquae Grannis has earned a reputation with them, a place of constant friction with the Elves. Orcs enjoy fighting Elves, but Orc Warlords do not enjoy seeing their war bands frittered away through bloody attrition. So there has been a lot of disagreement over whose turn it is to garrison Aquae Grannis.