World Revolution

[Rezantis]

"Maybe. I don't think we'd survive the attempt either.  The main reason I suggest it, though, is because there's a limited window for it . . . and one way or another we have to get Eske free to move, or we'll never make it back to the keep.  If we stay in the field they'll eventually run us down and kill us, most likely sooner rather than later."

[Brian]

"So ... what's the plan then?" Liandral asks.

[Dracos]

"The plan is to wait till Maithias can locate accurately the other loremaster, then send a secret message to the loremasters at the keep and hope they can take them out.  If that fails,we'll have to quickly follow it up with a direct assault while they are still disorganized from whatever raining death the mages can deal out.  Any objections?"

Dracos

[Rezantis]

"I don't like that very much either, although I admit it's safer.  See, the Dreadmarch lorekeeper won't go anywhere near the keep so it'll be at very long range, and if they miss . . . the lorekeeper will know we're gunning for him and do whatever he can to thwart another such attack - or set a trap."

[Dracos]

"We'll have to be in contact with them during the attack.  Coordinate it so that there is not time to organize a trap or set additional preparations.  If the first attack fails, the second has to come immediately afterwards."

Dracos

[Rezantis]

"The only way to do that is . . . well, they'd hear, and they'd know."

[Dracos]

"Not true.  A notice of 'go in now' sent if it fails, yes, they'd know, but what could they do about it in the very immediate sense when their loremaster is running for his life?"

Dracos

[Rezantis]

"Make him alert and very hard to drop a gateway directly onto, as well as having copious amounts of dreadmarch soldiers rushing to protect him."

[Dracos]

"Then so be it.  It's better for the safer and then risker gambit than to just chuck away a few hundred or so mens lives when we could've gotten him without such risks."

Dracos

[Rezantis]

"This is true, and I'm not saying it's the only way, but it's a possibility. We need to talk to Mattias, and then we need to do whatever has the best chance of working - because if we screw this up, we won't get another chance, and then it's quite likely that we all die out here."

[Dracos]

"Agreed enough on that note."

Dracos

[Brian]

"For what it's worth, the path of most resistance might not be such a bad idea," Liandral finally opines.  "Eske can work his gateing mojo on the other side of the seal, as I understand it.  He can also drop us right before the edge of the army.  The mouth of the pass is relatively narrow, right?

"I'm thinking -- this may be a long shot, but it could work -- if he can make a wide gate, wide enough to fill the gap, then any Dreadmarch that comes after us will end up out HERE, while we end up on the tail end of their charge against the keep.

"This is a kind of all-or-nothing gambit, especially if we bring all the women, children, and wounded with us.  But we can wait until the moon sets, so we know the battle's started.  Open the gate, and cut off their reinforcements.  Hit them hard, and with everything we have.  Rush the ones we're trying to protect straight into the keep.  If we do it right, and crush their General, the day is over, and they retreat -- again, through our own gate, which drops them here.

"We leave nothing of use to them behind, and any who get dropped here then starve or freeze, without any way to reach their reinforcements."

Liandral gives both of you a moment to consider this, and then adds, "And best case scenario, we get their magus, and the whole thing is moot, right?"

[Rezantis]

"We were thinking about that earlier, but making a gate -that wide- didn't even occur to me . . ." Rez hums, "Exactly how many noncombatants do we have?"

[Dracos]

"That's particularly insane.  I like it.  We have to see if it's fesiable at all though.  If Eske can't make a gate that large or close to it, we'd have a problem.  I don't think we have that many non-combatants, but you know, I've never bothered having a count taken."

Dracos

[Brian]

"Eighteen thousand non-combatants, not counting wounded, which I think are at about five hundred," Liandral replies.  "It's ... if I understand correctly -- I've been watching the magi, because them betraying us is something I classify as worst-case-scenario material -- it's a tradeoff between size and duration when it comes with the portals.  And he may not be able to move or defend himself.

"Ideally, he can make something too high for arrows to be shot over, and hold it for as long as we need.  We do have the practical upshot of the fact that a wider gate means we can get through it faster, so if there's less time, we may still be okay.  But the arrows are something that concerns me, as I've seen zero Storm-riders with shields, and the same number of armored non-combatants."