3rd Expeditionary Force

Late in the winter, the herald's call changed. Goblins had been raiding forest villages, and they were getting bolder. Tensions escalated as Spring arrived. The herald's message now included a call for volunteers to the 3rd Expeditionary Force. The Etonia Council promised training and pay. A local hero, Hobbes Belefonte, was paraded around town to help recruit volunteers.

 

Hobbes had saved a family of indigenous people from a rabid bear. It had been a sensation at the time. He stopped the bear with nothing more than a club and his wits. He walked the family to Etonia and returned to his family's farm. The next time he was in the city to go to the Northern Plenty Free Marketplace, everyone was whispering around him, several people came up to shake his hand.

 

Hobbes' act of heroism occurred about two years ago, during the height of the exodus of the indigenous people from the forest. They claimed something was hunting them. The Avast Library documented many cases of missing people for years but were not able to recover any of the missing people. There were no reports of people in Etonia disappearing, whether indigenous or not.

 

Many indigenous families wore forest trinkets, called Linchak, around their necks to remember their home. The necklaces were said to focus their emotion and keep them on their path. A Linchak teaches and guides. A third of the volunteers that joined the Expeditionary Force were indigenous people wanting to serve with Hobbes and reclaim the land that was their home. They showed up on the first day with the Elders, who had moved to Etonia, and their trinkets. The Elders presented the entire unit with necklaces that had bear pendants. The pendants were made from wood and painted.

 

Structure and Training

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The unit commander was Captain Aryo, an experienced officer from the Rose War. Hobbes was given a commission as one of the three lieutenants for the unit. Lt Stoke and Lt Farim, also veterans from the Rose War, were recruited to complete the command structure. All the officers were recruited by the Etonia Council directly. Captain Aryo and Lt Hobbes handled the recruitment of guards while Lt Stoke and Farim ran the training. Each lieutenant led a squad of nine guards.

 

The Church of the Silver Dragon embedded Kate Fieldham as a field medic and mission expert.

 

Each squad in the unit had two war wagons and gear to handle a variety of encounters. Individual guards received training in using spears, shields, longbows, and swords. They learned how to use heavy armor for assaults or defense and simple leather armor for moving quickly through the forest.

 

The Avast Library provided magic-infused tokens that allowed basic but essential communication across long distances. The tokens allowed check-ins between the officers and from Captain Aryo to the Etonia Council.

 

Deployment

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The Etonia Council sent the unit into the forest within two months. Their primary objective was to investigate the growing number of goblin raids. High Priest Edwards added the collection of a book from the Autumn Hill Church to the objective list. Privately, the Etonia Council told Captain Aryo to set up a position around any goblin activity, so the entire guard could then mobilize to eliminate any threats.

1. Investigate Goblin Reports filed by hunters and farmers in the forest
2. Collect an Artifact from the Autumn Hill Church
3. Find the Goblin's Colony, report in, and set up a position until the rest of the Etonia Guard is mobilized

 

Stories About the Unit

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