According to their scouts' intelligence, their first target, the fortress of Stoneguard Keep, lay only a few miles ahead. Control of the strategic mining outpost would be pivotal to disrupting Daikrimore's hold.
Scanning their own assembled forces, Kaeso made a quick mental tally. Lord Drasus commanded nearly 5,000 infantry soldiers - a formidable number, though hardly of elite calibre. His own company, by contrast, was a smaller but considerably more highly trained and diverse force.
In addition to 1,000 heavily armed and armoured cavalry, Kaeso had at his disposal specialised companies of battle-mages and healers to support the main host. It was these mystical convictions that would provide a key arcane complement to their more traditional martial strength.
