The Heavy Standard: The Whitelands

[Part of the Party Time journal]  

Rested up they abandon the Fool's March fort and meet up with their elven allies to continue North following the plateau wall into the lush rolling plains of Whiteland. Their mere presence deters a bandit attack on a merchant wagon mid-battle, making the bandits flee while the wary merchants tell them that the path up here has also closed from the great upheaval. The Emperor's Finger tower (fist with middle finger raised) high atop of the plateau is quite visible though (especially during sunrise), as an eternal insult to the people here.

They are also warned that any non-whites would not be treated kindly here, especially with the war against the dark skinned Nigians going on in the North. Some of the 555s are actually Nigian too as Emperor Hiatus Waiting had allied with them early in his reign. Even all the dogs except one which is pure white will be seen as evil. They journey North regardless, saving some kids from a wolf attack and returning them to their nearby town where they learn that they won't be allowed to pass the battle lines in the North.

This immediately makes them do an about turn back towards the swamp but are caught by a 100 strong force of white knights in white armor, white plumes riding white horses and carrying white lances and white flags. Seeing the filth of the 555 they attack! The battle goes very poorly for the poorly armed 555s until Juris does a big spell to make the white knights appear black. Blinded by their racial hatred they begin killing each other till only three remain, fleeing the field and letting the survivors loot their plate armor and weaponry.

They return past the frozen waterfall, past the empty Fool's March fort and up back up the winding rocky incline to the Southlands where they are surprised to find Bad Horse and his people camped nearby. The big man says they lost their territory, a lot of their people, and all the arrested folk from fools march to "flying serpents". The 555 agree to help him with this problem.