Camp City was quite active for the evening hour. A commotion in the distance caused King Darian to shift his gaze away from the early morning sunrise. A patrol was coming in, and by the way that they were kicking up dust, they were moving fast.

King Darian stroked his long black beard. He was a sturdy man, in his late-forties, and was considered to be quite handsome in a rugged way. He strode thru Camp City towards the approaching patrol.

It was Captain Elliot and his men. The eleven riders looked exhausted, with their hair and beards matted with sweat and blood. King Darian immediately noticed that one yule was carrying two men.

“Swamp Crawlers!” Captain Elliot blurted out, as he half-fell, half-slid from his saddle.

Captain Elliot was a short man, with a bookish look about him, yet he was well versed with the sword. He was an extraordinarily capable leader, and was in charge of the only yule patrol not led by a lord.

“We rode all night, fast as we could,” Captain Elliot gasped, pushing his gold-rimmed glasses further up on his nose. “Swamp Crawlers are in the Upper Glen!”

“Are you sure?” King Darian asked with surprise. “How do you know it was Swamp Crawlers?”

“They bore the markings and had the blotchy skin. I remembered the tattoos from the lessons at the Captains Academy in Port Turin,” Captain Elliot answered. “We killed eighteen of them today.”

Captain Elliot held out a bloody sack and continued, “I thought you’d want to see for yourself.”

Captain Elliot adjusted his glasses again and dumped out the contents of the bag. A goblin’s head thudded to the ground, its dull lifeless eyes staring off into the distance, with its mouth frozen in a perpetual scowl.

Sure enough, it bore the markings of a Swamp Crawler, and it also had the brown splotches on its skin that were common to its tribe. Most of the men watching had never seen one before.

The Swamp Crawler Tribe dwelled in the marshy regions around Timber Lake, where they thrived in the muddy environment, which was probably the reason that they didn’t venture into the dry lands of the Glen.

The constant moisture caused their skin to blotch and molt, and quite often thin layers of their skin would actually shed away. This left fresh green patches in various spots on their bodies. They were vile creatures.

“This isn’t good news for the Glen,” King Darian thought aloud and scratched his beard, as he often did when contemplating his next move.

“There’s more sire,” Captain Elliot said. “We passed Lord Fidium’s patrol on the way in. They were coming in slow, because several of their yule’s were wounded. They said that they had defeated a horde from the Skin Peeler Tribe somewhere on the Eastern Rim.”

The Skin Peeler goblins had distinctive body shapes as well. They were tall and lanky but had large pot bellies. They earned their name from their tendencies to skin their captives alive, making them one of the most hated of tribes.

This was one of the few times in his life that King Darian found himself at a loss for words. It was surprising that some Swamp Crawlers had been encountered in the Upper Glen, but a second horde from another uncommon tribe? King Darian wasn’t sure what was going on, but as king of the Yule Riders, he was going to find out.

Later that evening, two more patrols came in. Lord Fidium’s patrol of ten riders were the first, and they confirmed the presence of the Skin Peelers in the Upper Glen with a goblin head of their own.

The second patrol that arrived was that of his son’s. Lord Prince Talban’s patrol returned to Camp City with three of his riders rolled in tarps and strapped to yules. This was the customary way that they carried their dead.

King Darian was happy to see his son, but waited for the dead to be taken to the Preparation Tent, as tradition required, before they spoke. The dead warriors would be marked for their afterlife journey, and then their bodies would be burnt on a funeral pyre after the sun went down.

“Sire,” Talban wearily greeted his father.

“My son, an ill wind blows across the Upper Glen!” King Darian replied.

“Yes indeed. I heard about the Swamp Crawlers and Skin Peelers. I’m afraid that I’ve more bad tidings.” Lord Prince Talban rubbed his neck, then continued, “The goblins we encountered were Bone Breakers.”

“That’s not out of the ordinary,” King Darian said.

“No, but the steel weapons that they used against us was. Swords, spears, and daggers. Even a large axe. They crossed deep into our lands and dug them up out of a field.”

“Steel weapons?” King Darian could not believe his ears; or eyes as his oldest son pulled a large rusty axe from his back and handed it to him.

“They dug them up from some type of protected box in the ground,” his eldest son informed.

Then the legends of Hogarth are true, Darian thought to himself. Hogarth was the Glen’s heroic first king and had entered the Glen more than a thousand years ago.

Hogarth had driven out the seven tribes of goblins, along with ogres, giants, dragons, and a wide variety of other creatures that had resided on the large peninsula. Hogarth then created his own kingdom, and all of the men who now resided in the Glen were descended from him and his people.

Incredible legendary tales of King Hogarth and his victories were still told around campfires all over the Glen. Some were so incredulous that many believed them to be fiction.

One such legend told that when the goblins were driven into Timber Lake Mountains, they stopped, just long enough to bury their steel weapons in iron boxes in the fields of the Upper Glen. They did this as a promise. A promise to return one day from the mountains and reclaim their ancient homeland.

“What patrols are still out?” King Darian asked. “We need to warn them about the weapons.”

“Father, Nye’s patrol is the only one still out, and they’re overdue.” Lord Prince Talban continued,” Lord Winston’s patrol passed by them yesterday. He said that Nye and his men were tracking a horde north towards Tortle Village.”

Lord Prince Nye was the youngest of King Darian’s three sons. King Darian scratched his beard as he thought.

“Summons all the lords and captains to the Central Meeting Tent,” he ordered. “We’ve much to do.”

Camp City was exactly that, a temporary camp the size of a city. Every few months King Darian would order Camp City to pack up and move. In this manner, they moved about the plains of the Upper Glen, setting up in various locations as the king saw fit.

The outer tents consisted of troop housing and yule stalls. The second ring of tents housed various small shops and eating areas. The third ring of tents housed the common folks and their families. Directly in the center of the camp were two large tents.

The first, and the smaller of the two, was the king’s quarters. The second tent, which was large enough to hold the entire camp of nearly a thousand people, was the Central Meeting Tent.

Normally they took about a week to move the city. In an emergency, all of the shelters in Camp City could be rolled up fairly quickly and mounted on pack yules to be moved in about half a day.

A short time later, roughly seventy men were seated in the Central Meeting Tent. They were the leaders of the twenty-two yule patrols. The tent fell silent when King Darian strode in, surrounded by his uncanny air of confidence.

The men respected their king, because he always made well thought out decisions, and once he chose a course of action he moved quickly. No one in the tent doubted the man in any way.

“As you’re aware, we’ve run into several goblin hordes in the past few days from the Bone Breaker, Black Eye, Swamp Crawler, and Skin Peeler Tribes. It would appear that they’ve been digging up steel weapons across the Upper Glen.” King Darian paused for a moment, and then continued, “I think that it’d be prudent to assume that there’re goblins from the Bloody Thrasher, Skull Crusher, and Flesh Eater Tribes here as well.”

King Darian thumped his fist on the table in front of him and said, “If that’s our assumption, then we can treat this as no less than a full-scale invasion of the Upper Glen by the seven goblin tribes!”

A mumble went through the rows of men. Lord Winston, a small, usually quiet man, spoke up,” We can’t defeat all seven tribes alone.”

Lord Borlan, a large, well-muscled man, grunted out, “They haven’t birthed the goblins that can beat my patrol!”.

Lord Fidium, a man well respected for his courage, spoke next, “We could move south to the Hills of Hogarth. It’d be easier to fight the goblins from the highland passes with support from our brothers of the three hill kingdoms.”

King Darian raised his hand to silence his men. “We’ve been tasked with defending the Upper Glen. I’ll not surrender it without a fight. Besides, we’ve five villages that need to be evacuated at the base of Timber Lake Mountains.”

King Darian looked about the room and gave his beard a tug, before he continued, “These’re your orders. First, I want Camp City struck by morning and prepared to move out.”

King Darian locked eyes with his middle son. “Lord Prince Nehi and Lord Draydon will take their patrols and guide our women and children south to the Hills of Hogarth. Take them to the Frontier Fortress at Kaylor. They should be safe there.”

“Father,” Lord Prince Nehi interrupted. “My place is on the plains with you and Talban, looking for our missing brother!”

“Prince Nehi,” King Darian’s voice became stern. “It’s a king’s most important duty to protect his people. I’ve the largest patrol, so I’m needed here. I’m asking you to honor me by stepping in and fulfilling my duty. Can I rely on you for this?”

“Yes sire, my apologies.” Lord Prince Nehi looked embarrassed and fell silent.

“Lord Marcus, take your patrol and ride for Gilead Castle. Warn dwarf King Sturdy Axe of the danger.”

King Darian thought for a second, and then said, “Lord Mintor, ride for Trader Town and warn King Wilsom. The kingdoms of Hogarth Hills must be alerted so that they can prepare for attack.”

“Lord Fidium, you’ve a better relationship than any other with Gorin the Gorilla King. Take your patrol to Ape Town and try to convince him to send out his raiders to assist us. Also, advise him to move his females and young to Hogarth Hills. I doubt that he’ll listen, but still, you should suggest it,” King Darian said.

Ape Town is what men called the gorilla city of Tuggle. It sat close to the western foot of Hogarth Hills. The ape raiders had moved into the Upper Glen a few hundred years ago, when the goblins burnt their villages and forced them from Timber Lake Mountains.

The men of the Glen learned to tolerate the apes, but relations were strained due to some recent cattle raids on the nearby human villages. Lord Fidium had not been given an easy task.

King Darian continued to hand out assignments. “Lord Borlan, take your patrol to the village of Nushia and move the people to Hogarth Hills. Lord Grey take your men to Nilot Village and do the same, while Lord Winston goes to Ladox Village. Lord Prince Talban you evacuate Sev Village. Get those people to safety as quickly as possible.”

The men nodded as King Darian continued, “Lord Brickor, ride out with your training unit and find the herdsmen. Have them take the cattle north and out of harm’s way.”

“It shall be done,” Lord Brickor promised.

The king sighed and then finished,” Lord Bruce and I will take our patrols to Tortle Village and find my son, Lord Prince Nye. I want the remaining patrols to ride out, full combat gear. Engage the enemy wherever you find them and make them pay in blood for our plains. We will re-unite at the foot of Hogarth Hills on the road to Kaylor in ten days. Come sooner if you suffer heavy losses. Are there any questions?”

“Shouldn’t we send warning to the high king in the Lower Glen?” someone in the back asked.

“He already knows,” King Darian replied, and strode from the tent.