Dispatch from Fort Caldrith¶
Intercepted by Imperial Intelligence during routine courier inspection. Forwarded to the Senate Defense Committee. No action was taken.
FROM: Acting Commander Dravos Kael, Fort Caldrith, Northern Garrison TO: Grand Marshal Valerius Thorne, Silver Legion Command, Valtharion DATE: 5A 851, 14th of Frostwake CLASSIFICATION: Urgent — Eyes of the Marshal Only
Grand Marshal,
I am writing this dispatch for the third time. The previous two were sent by standard courier in Stormrest and Ashfall respectively. Neither received a response. I am now sending this by bonded falcon, which I am not authorized to use for non-emergency communication. I am using it anyway. If that costs me my commission, then at least someone will have read this.
The situation at Fort Caldrith is not what the Senate believes it to be.
Garrison Strength: On paper, I command four hundred soldiers. In reality, I have two hundred and sixty-three. Forty-one transferred south without replacement. Eighteen deserted in the last three months — all of them veterans who have served the northern line for five years or more. The rest are sick. Veil-Sickness is up across the garrison by a factor I hesitate to put in writing. The field medics are rationing treatment. We are losing men to a disease we cannot explain to soldiers who are already afraid.
Vaeryn Activity: Jorvak Blood-Eye has united six of the nine highland clans. My scouts report coordinated movement along the Frost Pass for the first time in twenty years. They are not raiding. They are drilling. Formations. Signal fires. Supply caches placed along routes that lead south. These are not bandits preparing to steal cattle. This is an army deciding when to march.
Morale: I will be direct. The men do not believe reinforcements are coming. They have heard the rumors from the capital — that the Senate considers Caldrith a “managed frontier” and that resources are being redirected to the Ironridge question. If those rumors are true, I need to know. If they are not true, I need reinforcements, and I need them before the thaw.
The Vaeryns will not move in winter. They never do. That gives us until Bloomond. After that, I cannot guarantee the northern line.
I have served The Empire for twenty-two years. I have never written a dispatch like this. I hope that conveys what the situation reports do not.
Respectfully,
Acting Commander Dravos Kael
Archivist’s note: Fort Caldrith received no reinforcements. Commander Kael was reassigned to a garrison post in Velmere in 5A 852, officially described as a “lateral transfer.” The northern line was placed under the command of a junior officer with no frontier experience. The Senate’s response to the dispatch, if one was issued, has not been located in the public record.