Everything unfolded just as Alistair had predicted. The orc forces, attempting to rendezvous near Ironstone Village, ran headlong into the army he had laid in ambush.
Outside the village, the human and orc armies faced each other in a tense standoff, separated by the frozen expanse of the Sablewood River. Though the season was mild, the local Rime-fin fish released a palpable chill into the water during their spawn, leaving the river ice thick and solid even now.
Dusk was falling. The golden light of the sun deepened to a blood-red, and the very air around Ironstone Village grew heavy and charged.
Numerically, even with the players, the orc legion held a significant advantage.
Alistair and Hawthorn's regular troops combined numbered just over five hundred. With the addition of the active players and a thousand hastily levied militiamen, their total force was a little over two thousand. But war was rarely decided by numbers alone.
