Years of constant warfare had severely worn down the equipment of Rand's troops, and the soldiers, who had not mastered the technology of smelting iron ore, found it difficult to repair their damaged armor.
In such a state, their equipment grew progressively worse, until now they were dressed much like destitute Wanderers or bandits.
Their living quarters were very ordinary.
But these were just appearances.
The 90 elite were Lind's harvest from this expedition, of course, the biggest gains were the two he had before him at Upper Rank.
The four-armed Armorer, Bard, didn't see much improvement in combat; on the battlefield, he could only carry around four swords or four shields, using his Upper Rank strength to dominate.
With more arms, his fingers had also become more agile. In Bard's words, he should be able to craft finer armor and mechanisms, given the materials.
Lind liked to hear words like these—materials were no problem, and Bard had plenty of time to prove it.
