Peek: The White Stag

The Voice of the Southwood bounds through his lord's domain.  While he's in no particular hurry to get anywhere in specific, his lord's demesne is vast enough that he needs to be quick if he wishes to get anywhere at all.  Thankfully, he has been blessed with fleetness that the winds should envy, and even an easy jog for him lets him traverse leagues in mere minutes, rather than days.

His lord has been calmer, of late, after giving the Inspector the quest, and even more satisfied when he felt the quest complete.  The Stag would even go so far as to say his lord was relieved when they received word of Fourdock's plan.  While his lord is powerful indeed, he is a gentle soul, and combat ill suits him.  The Stag is glad to step up and shoulder what small burdens he can, and dealing with the increasing invader behavior is one such burden.

At least his lord has many spawners to help defend himself.  The birds of prey help keep smaller invaders at bay, while the weasels help with the smallest.  The modest wolf spawner helps with larger, and bears with the largest, along with the arcane help provided by the magical deer.

Still... the attacks slowly grow with each day, and his lord is forced to continue to upgrade various spawners to keep up.  While something like dire bears would give all but the most dangerous of invaders pause, they would spawn too slowly to be able to provide much assistance, in the grand scheme.

His lord is wise in asking for assistance from the Fourdock dungeon in this matter.  If it truly has subsumed Neverrest, as everything indicates, it is a fearsome foe.  And yet it cooperates with the Inspector and delvers, so it is not mad.  While a powerful ally can become a powerful enemy, the distance involved should help keep their relationship cordial.  Far better for it to lend some denizens and keep a fight far from itself, rather than let Southwood face this on his own.  If it had abandoned them, at best, Fourdock would have a dungeon that doesn't like it, should his lord win.  If his lord should somehow fail... the Fourdock dungeon would have to deal with something that has gained his lord's power, in addition to whatever it possessed previously.

The message that they would not receive much help until spring came at no surprise, and the timeline was actually far better than expected.  The longer expeditions have even reported seeing small groups from Fourdock, clearly blazing a trail so that actual forces would have a much easier time arriving, once winter thaws.  Yes, his lord has fine taste in allies.

The Stag's musing are put on hold as he becomes more aware of where it legs have taken him.  This is further west than any of the concentrated attacks have come... but he can smell their stench on the wind.  His antlers glow as he summons what forces are closest.  They have time to set an ambush, if his nose is correct.  It smells like more wolves, though not too many of them.  A scouting party, certainly, sent to probe for weaknesses.

While his lord may be a gentle soul, the Stag is more than happy to destroy whatever enemies present themselves.  While the delvers might find the denizens from his home spawner to be just a step above a resource node, none have dared attempt to hunt him in the same way in quite some time.  He almost wishes they would, sometimes.  Some of his lord's favorite flowers grow best with the proper fertilizer.