The Find 49.

Autumn.

The giant hole in the ground. Also know as the pit. Within which is the ancient city of Dalphene. More commonly called the City of Ruins.
He has the watch after midnight, simply because he has the best hearing and vision out of the group.
Hilmik the dwarven warrior, with his cloak wrapped around him. For even he feels the chill this cold autumn night.
Does a circuit around the ramshackle looking barn he and the others are spending the night in.
Once he's back around the front of the barn again, which faces to the east, towards the City of Ruins.
The young dwarven mercenary who hails from the Colevar Mountains. Yawns as he stomps his feet in his heavy, iron shod boots. Then after a quick look around, he wanders away from the barn, heading in the direction of the giant hole in the ground.
Hilmik goes a couple hundred yards, and though he thinks about walking right to the edge of the pit, which is about a half a mile from the decrepit looking barn.
The young dwarf whose clan hold is on the northern slopes of the Colevar Mountain Range.
Stays here, a couple hundred yards from the barn that the others are in. Here he looks away to the north, and as he suspects he sees nothing in that direction.
Then Hilmik looks southwards, first along the ground, then up into the night sky.
The dwarven mercenary who spots small herds of farm animals further to the southwest.
Spots something all together more interesting, not to mention more lethal than cows and sheep up in the night sky.
Hilmik with his natural farsight, as well as his night vision that non humans have, sees in the distance, just to the south of the giant hole in the ground, within which is the ancient city of Dalphene, also know as the City of Ruins.
An airship in the night sky. About a half a mile to the south of the towns up top, at that end of the pit.
The dwarven mercenary who joined Maygam's company in the summertime.
Watches the vessel for a bit, as it isn't moving particularly quickly. Then he realises the crew must be all human.
Who are being cautious as they approach the southern edge of the City of Ruins.
Hilmik then nods to himself, as he sees that the airship is actually a warship.
Another of the vessels that the mercenary captain Jorkamin has been rumoured to have.
And unlike the other airship of Jorkamin's that was brought down in the afternoon.
Which was a converted merchant vessel, turned into a fighting ship. This airship, is definitely a warship. And has always been one.
Even Hilmik, who doesn't have a lot of knowledge about such things. Can tell that this vessel, is a way more lethal airship than the one that was destroyed earlier in the afternoon.
Wider of beam, and longer than the destroyed vessel, and this one is twin masted.
That from his best guess, has at least twenty magetubes onboard. While the single masted converted airship that was destroyed, only had a dozen of the powerful magical weapons.
The dwarven warrior watches it approach the towns at the southern edge of the pit.
Then he slightly frowns as something grabs his attention, a bit further to the south.
After a few moments, the young dwarf originally from the Colevar Mountains.
Nods his head as he sees it's a wyvern in the night sky. Following behind the warship, about a mile or so to a stern of it.
At the speed the wyvern is flying, it will soon catch up to the warship. The wyvern being another in the company of the mercenary captain Jorkamin.
Hilmik slightly winces, for though the wyvern is at least nine miles away. It still might spot him, standing out in the open, less than half a mile to the west of giant hole in the ground.
Within which is the ancient city of Dalphene, known far and wide as the City of Ruins.
The dwarven mercenary turns and hurries back to the ramshackle old barn that they've taken shelter in, on this cold autumn night.
Once he's back to it, and standing on the northern side of it, looking around the front corner to the south.
Hilmik continues to watch the warship in the distance to the south. As well as the wyvern, which is now a few hundred feet above the twin masted vessel.
Keeping pace, and watching it. As it makes it's way over the towns at the southern edge of the pit.
Then it passes over the southern lip of the giant hole in the ground. And is now flying over the City of Ruins, on this cold autumn night.
With a steel boot, lord Farque nudges Dorc da Orc in the side and says in the ork language "Get up cunt".
The large ork who is fast asleep, and is snoring loudly, doesn't wake up until the large, heavily armoured deathlord basically kicks him awake.
"Huh?" grunts Dorc da Orc who yawns as he sits up, rubbing his side, wondering why it feels a bit sore.
"Go and get it" says the undead warlord with a nod of his full helmed head to the corner behind the ork warleader.
The big, burly ork from the southern polar region blinks a few times as he sees what the lord and ruler of the lands Farque is holding.
Dorc da Orc or Dorkindle which is his given name, scrambles to his feet, and gleefully chuckles "Get some".
As he hurries to the corner, and gets the other magetube that they recovered from the wreckage of the downed airship in the afternoon.
The ork weaponsmith, with the magical weapon that weighs more than he does. Follows the lord of the death realm outside.
"What is it?" quietly asks Jarjin Littlefoot the hobbit who is outside taking the after midnight watch.
"Stay here on watch" replies lord Farque in the elven language, who then adds "We're going to take care of something".
"Oh?" says the halfling, who is a former air sailor from the Sultanate of Dreese, which is on the far east coast of the continent.
Dorc da Orc stands there scratching his ass as he wonders what the large, heavily armoured deathlord and the halfling, who is one of his advisors is talking about.
The weaponsmith from the wolf tribe of orks might not know what they're discussing.
But he does know that the hobbit, who to him is pretendy Zubu. Is surprised by something the lord and ruler of the lands Farque tells him.
Dorkindle grunts as the undead warlord sets off, gesturing to the large ork to follow him.
The ork who is a general in the armies of Farque, as he follows the lord of the death realm.
Notices pretendy Zubu looking up into the sky, away to the south, on what's a cold autumn night.
Well cold for everyone else, not cold for a big, burly ork from the frozen bottom of the world.
Nor is it cold for the undead being who he's following behind as they walk southwards away from ruins that the group have made camp in this night.
Dorkindle hurries forward when lord Farque waves him forward to walk alongside him.
"There's two of them" says the undead warlord who also has the name of Draugadrottin, which the people of his lands know him by.
"Don't shoot at them, until i say so" continues the large, heavily armoured deathlord, who then adds "And when you do, keep shooting at them until they're destroyed".
The lord and ruler of the lands Farque, who has the elven name of Des'tier, which means, The Destroyer.
Then dryly tells the ork general in his armies "And don't fucking stand infront of me, or behind me".
The son of the previous matriarch of the wolf tribe of orks. Who he killed, which was only fair, as she was doing her best to kill him at the time.
Grunts then says "Me won't" the big, burly ork from the southern polar region of the world pauses for a moment or two, then he says "Er Farque, who we fucken shooting at?".
"Them" is the reply of the large, heavily armoured deathlord as they walk around one of the ruins in this part of the pit, and he points away to the south in the night sky.
Dorc da Orc blinks, then he murmurs in glee "Fucken sweet" as he lifts up the magetube to take aim.
"Not fucking yet, they're too far away" says lord Farque who directs a withering glance at the ork warleader.
Who grunts and lowers the near nine hundred pound magetube, then licks his lips as he waits in anticipation as they watch the sky to the south over the City of Ruins.
Jorkamin the mercenary captain is woken up by Darmos the wizard who quietly tells him "Come and look at this".
The mercenary captain flings his blanket off him, gets up and follows the spellcaster who is the second in command of the company.
They make their way out of one of the more solid, and intact ruins in all the northern half of the City of Ruins.
"Here captain" quietly says one of the lookouts, after they head up some steps to the ancient tower that's affixed to the building the company is using as their headquarters during the battle.
It's a square, blocky tower, that though it's missing the wall around the roof, is still fairly solid considering how old it is.
Jorkamin takes the expensive eyepiece handed to him by the lookout who spoke.
"What am i looking at?" asks Jorkamin the mercenary captain who looks to the south through the eyepiece, when Darmos points in that direction.
The brass eyepiece makes the nighttime look like day, well dusk or dawn really.
So the mercenary captain quickly, and easily sees what the wizard Darmos points to.
A grin appears on the face of Jorkamin as he looks through the brass, cylindrical eyepiece.
"They've made fairly good time" says the mercenary captain, the wizard standing beside him nods in agreement.
"Not even halfway between midnight and dawn is my guess" says Darmos, who is wrapping his cloak tight around himself to try and ward off the cold.
"What's that wyvern doing?" quietly says Jorkamin as he continues to look through the eyepiece.
"I sent the message to have it fly higher up, to search for any threats to the ship down on the ground" says the practitioner of magic who follows that with "It's the wyvern doing the actual looking at night, unfortunately it's rider is human, as it won't allow any of the dwarves and elves in the company to fly it".
The mercenary captain grunts, as he often wonders why he even bothers with the wyverns he has at his disposal.
True, they're fierce in battle. And they're excellent for scouting and patrols.
But they're also flighty, and extremely volatile at times. As they're fractious to begin with. And often won't do anything they don't like.
"They were told to set down at this end of the neutral zone" says Darmos the wizard, followed by "So they can begin around dawn".
He looks at the mercenary captain and tells him "They'll be able to locate and attack anyone up here, who are out and about early".
"Good" murmurs Jorkamin, who knows that his rivals and their companies up here in the northern half of the pit.
Thought they would have some kind of reprieve with his warship that was destroyed in the afternoon.
But that reprieve is going to be short lived, as he now has his other warship. Which is bigger, and more lethal than the one that was destroyed.
Here in the pit, to renew his attack on them just before first light, on what will probably be another cold autumn day here in the City of Ruins.
"We'll have them search the ground between the neutral zone and here first" says Jorkamin the mercenary captain, who continues with "Then out to the west, where our ship went down".
He briefly pauses before adding "With the twenty two magetubes they've got onboard, they'll do a lot of damage to anyone they find".
The wizard, who is the second in command of the company nods his head in agreement with the mercenary captain.
As they watch the warship away to the south, start to drop in altitude as it's now over the neutral zone of the pit. While the wyvern circles above it.
As the twin masted vessel, which would be a packet ship, or a line vessel. If it was in the aircorp of a nation.
Drops to a couple hundred feet above the northern end of the neutral zone, just a little over two miles from here.
Jorkamin takes the brass, cylindrical eyepiece away from his face, and turns to Darmos to tell him something.
When suddenly he sees a streak of colour away to the southwest, followed a mere moment later by a recognisable thud.
They quickly look that way, as another ball of colourful light, accompanied by a thud comes from the same direction.
Followed by another, and another, and another, and another. Lighting up the night sky in that direction.
Jorkamin the mercenary captain quickly looks at Darmos the wizard, who looks to be as stunned and shocked as Jorkamin feels.
As that's a magetube firing, from the ground, repeatedly as well, all towards the sky above the neutral zone too . . . . . .