Dawn broke to find Palona wreathed in a pall of smoke it billowed thick and black from the shattered remains of the powder magazine bespeaking something more potent than simple gunpowder. Dozens of fires burned along the axis of attack and along the line Bianca and her scouts had ridden, adding to the omnipresent haze that rendered the enemy camp half invisible. Every now and again the wind gusted enough to drive away some of the cloud, revealing bodies laying where they had been hacked or shot, burial detail apparently still not having been arranged. 

"What are they waiting for you reckon?" Cadger asked as he laid down two towers and scooped the pot. Bianca scowled but if the dwarf were cheating she couldn't detect it. He had fetched a blow from a mace in the night fighting, partially deflected off his shield, that had laid open a cut on his scalp. Nambi had tried to heal it, but as with all things dwarven the cut was partially resistant to magic. A paste of Bianca knew not what had been laid over it and hardened like plaster, save where serum had seeped through and colored the center a pale yellow, making it look for all the world as though someone had dropped a fried egg on her uncles liver spotted pate.

Torm and Nambi tossed in their own cards and Bianca began to deal again. It was a company tradition to play cards after a battle, the theory being you had been lucky enough to survive so you would probably be lucky enough to win. Bianca sucked at her teeth, irritated that she couldn't be out there answering that very question, but the Captain had flat forbidden it as too dangerous. She had three dead, Kali, Rivens, and Marcs, and she had yet to broach the topic of replacements. There were a couple of Aeon's infantry she was considering but it would be impolitic to ask so soon.

"Probably killed too many officers, takes time to sort out he new shitting order," Aeon opined, his smile brilliant against his dark skin. Aeon was technically the watch officer, and so the game was taking place in a guardhouse by the main gate. Bianca grunted. That was always a possibility with foes like this, particularly if a big wig contracted a bad case of sword to bowels without a clear successor. There was no way they could bring up enough food to feed their men, but they might not have realized that just yet. With any luck they would dally for a week and half of them would starve on the march back south.

"If I'd seen Torm and the Nargard come screaming out of the night it might take me a few minutes to find my balls too," Nambi said, opening the bidding by tapping two fingers on the table. Cadger growled and tossed his cards away. Bianca examined her own cards and followed suit, triggering a redeal, much to Aeon's evident displeasure. The rules of the game were arcane, a company tradition imported from the Gods knew where, and involved a sophisticated system of calling your shot with a certain suit as trumps. Torm grunted but didn't respond directly.

"You should have seen those Nargard, frothing at the mouth and slamming axes on shields. I think I saw one of them kill a man with his teeth," Cadger cackled. Black Ryann slithered into the post, his uniform neat and clean as always. The wizard rarely took part in the game, and was a notorious and obvious cheat, somewhat ironically for a wily intelligence broker.

"Cadger, Captain wants you," he barked, drawing a sigh of resignation from the dwarf who stood up and headed away towards the temple.

"Surely the mercenaries will tell them which end of the sword is sharp," Torm speculated, laying down a run of staves that was capped with a Hierarch, leaving the cards exposed for a second in case anyone had the Wisp of the Throneless King. No one did and he swept the pot, flicking Cadger's share back to his pile chivalrously. 

"Ha, those sanctimonious bastards would say the sky was red if a lowly hireling tried to tell them," Aeon laughed. Play continued in a desultory fashion for a another few minutes. Bianca was getting ready to make her excuses and go find some company when Roni, a lanky scout hustled in looking troubled, his eyes scanned the room and then settled on Bianca.

"First... where is Cadger?" he demanded eyes wide. Play had already stopped all the participants too seasoned to ignore the interruption. 

"He is at the Temple, whats up?" she asked, not in the most friendly of tones.

"I don't know, there is a dwarf and he wants to talk to Cadger," Roni blurted. Bianca stood though she was still confused as to why Roni was acting like the sky was falling.

"You speak dwarf don't you First, can you come talk to him? He is over at the Taproom," Roni asked, desperate to pass a potential problem up the chain to someone who knew what they were doing. Bianca did speak dwarf, having grown up among the hardy race after her own parents had been killed. It was vanishingly unlikely that the dwarf in question didn't speak a human language, but they were a clannish folk who often didn't trust outsiders.

"Sure, you head up to the temple and get Cadger. He is with the Captain but don't be afraid to barge in," she directed. She turned to speak to the others but Torm was already buckling on his sword belt, evidently having anticipated her request. Aeon was stowing his winnings preparatory to heading up to the wall to make sure all was well.

The dwarf in question was filthy, dressed in battered chain and a vast surcoat that had probably once been red but was now stained so badly it looked a rich brown gray. He wore an eyepatch over one eye, but judging by the uneven soot deposit over both eyes, it was an aid to limit a delvers eyes rather than a covering for a missing organ. Dirt was caked on him to an almost ludicrous degree but even so Bianca recognized him.

"Thossak Ironballs as I live and breathe," Bianca blurted out. The dwarf turned and peered at her in confusion.

"Cadger kon kanak gur?," he growled in equal surprise, then flipped up his eye patch, grinding at a reddened eye with a balled fist.

"Cadger kon gur macton Bianca," she replied. The dwarf seemed to relax, almost visibly deflating.

"You know this dwarf?" Torm asked, his tone showing that he didn't understand but expected to be made to shortly.

"He is one of Grimgi's Gak, his lieutenant actually," Bianca supplied.

"You mean, the enemy artillery company?" Torm asked, "how did he get inside."

"Time for that later," the Thossak broke in, demonstrating he could indeed speak Kindan, the common trade language of Shimmer Sea.

"We need your help, you and your company's," Thossak rumbled. Bianca arched an eyebrow, it was unheard of for a dwarven company to turn coat without a formal surrender.

"Ummm... I can take you to our Captain," Bianca temporized. 

"You don't understand lass, those lunatics are about to assault the walls with everything they have, all sixty thousand of the bastards are whipping themselves up into a frenzy," he growled, "and they are going to launch it right after they burn our lads to appease their mad god!"