Chapter 1: Setting up Camp

Valdius Pindia - Ranger Platoon, 21st Legion

*****

Valdius let out a gasp as he suddenly fell to his knees, managing to not fall flat on his face thanks to him holding himself up. Coughing a bit he stood, looking around to observe his new surroundings. He stood in a small clearing, what looked to be oak trees surrounding it. A few collapsed pieces of stone lay around the clearing, the material looking to be the same as the ones that were present in the encampment.

Eyes flickering around they widened as he spotted a strange looking mushroom growing at the base of one of the trees, one that had a red cap with white spots.

Ignoring the sounds of his fellow rangers also arriving out of the portal he walked up to the mushroom, kneeling in front of it as he racked his brain for anything that looked like it native to Tamriel. Being a ranger meant that you had to go through rigorous training in both combat and the environment. This also meant that you had to memorise every sort of plant and terrain on Tamriel.

And it just so happened that this mushroom was not anything he was familiar with. Carefully picking the mushroom he turned to show the 12 other rangers his findings. Sure enough, after double checking, and than triple checking all of their knowledge they confirmed that this was in fact something not native to Tamriel. Which by extension meant that the portal had worked.

Invigorated by this revelation the the party of rangers quickly got to work. 8 of the 13 in total spread out in different directions to check for any potential dangers to the Legion while the remaining 5 remained to guard the portal and send word that it had worked.

Valdius was a part of the former group, looping his bow off of his shoulder, he pulled up his brown leather hood and half mask before nocking an arrow from the quiver attached to his belt. With his preparations complete he quickly began moving in his designated direction in a half crouched jog.

Time was of the essence after all, and it wouldn't be good for the Legion to suddenly be ambushed by some strange monster.

This jog continued for a while until he mentally ticked off the five kilometer mark, having kept track of the distance he had travelled. It had been five straight kilometers of forest, with the occasional animal entering his vision every now and again. The forest wildlife appeared to be very similar to that of Tamriel's, albeit smaller than the ones he was familiar with.

Having spotted nothing of interest he looked around for a moment before spotting a particularly tall tree. Looping his bow back around his shoulder he made his way over to the tree looking for any grooves.

Spotting some he quickly used them to pull himself higher up, eventually getting high enough to breach his head over the canopy, allowing him the pleasure of a breathtaking view. The sun was high in the sky, and the forest seemed to stretch on for a long time. To the west lay an imposing mountain range, however Valdius could already spot several gaps between the mountains that could be used as routes.

To the north and south the forest continued on to the horizon, making it a sea of green. This sea was also mimicked by the east, however was cut short, instead making way for rolling hills and expansive plains. His eyes narrowed as he spotted a stone fort on the edge of the forest. He could also spot the faint brown outline of a dirt road leading around the fort and over the hills, its destination made unknown.

By his guess the castle was about...10km slightly south east of his current location. which meant that it was also relatively close to the portal, and by extension the probably already arriving Legion. Once he reported back about it's whereabouts they would undoubtedly have to scout it out further so as to ascertain exactly what was in the fort.

Satisfied with what he had seen so far he scaled back down the tree, bringing his bow back into his hands before jogging back to the portal.

*****

The Legate

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A chilling sensation swept throughout him as he stepped out of the portal, feeling as though he had been doused in water yet remained perfectly dry. Blinking a couple of times his knees threatened to buckle both under the sudden change and rapid change of his position as well as the weight of his armour.

Despite this however he straightened himself up looking around until his eyes landed on a pair of rangers that approached him. The rangers wore a full leather kit, including a green cloak that could be used for limited blending into the environment. A quiver was attached to their belts, with a curved dagger sitting opposite of it.

Both of them saluted him as they gave their reports. So far they had sent out 8 rangers to scout the surroundings. The 5 that remained had continued to secure the area, setting up their tents on the outskirts of the clearing. They had also confirmed that this was in fact not Tamriel, as much of the native fauna and wildlife that they had seen had either been something entirely new or simply looked similar to that of Tamriel's version.

A whooshing sound from behind him signaled the first arrivals of the rest of the legionnaires. Not wanting for people to start falling on top of each other as they came out of the portal he quickly pulled the first three to their feet and directed them to set up their tents along the outside of the clearing. As soon as they collected themselves and moved to fulfill his orders more legionnaires stumbled out of the swirling blue portal.

This cycle of him quickly directing the arriving legion continued on until the Legate decided to delegate the task to one of the already present rangers. Making his way to the edge of the clearing he approached the small group of the rangers that had been scouting the area, speaking with each other and corroborating their findings.

"Give me your reports, rangers." He commanded, to which the rangers eagerly nodded, taking turns at informing him of their surroundings.

A mountain range that stretched from north to south lay to the west, a few of the peaks being visible from the clearing. The forest the Legion was beginning to make camp in continued parallel of this range, following it over the horizon. To the east however, several rangers report of a stone fort that seems to be set up nearby a dirt road, most likely to protect the people travelling said road.

The forces stationed within said fort were at present unknown, as the rangers only saw it from a distance and chose not to get closer so as to not be noticed by its denizens.

The Legate nodded as he stared down at the grass, pouring over the information that had been presented to him. Dismissing the rangers once they had finished he walked over to where a few legionnaires had just finished setting up his tent. Albeit it lacked the proper furniture due to the wagons being located at the back of the column. Regardless it was not necessary.

Ordering the legionnaires to go help the others he entered his tent, the bustling sound of the outside now being slightly muffled. Breathing out a sigh he sat cross legged in the grass, closing his eyes in meditation.

It seemed as though there was indeed a functioning society here, one which had a decently modern thought of military if the stone fort was any indication. And while of course there could indeed be a chance that it was in fact not a fort and just a really big house he wouldn't risk it. Remembering the size of the clearing he mentally calculated how much of his legionnaires could actually set up their tents in it.

He clicked his tongue as those calculations finished, coming to the conclusion that they would have to expand the clearing to have enough room. Plus they could use the wood from the chopped down trees to construct some defenses in case something unforeseen happened such as whatever force was in the fort marching on them.

Standing up he quickly walked over to the sapper corps. Time was of the essence after all and they were essentially on a time limit, as it wouldn't be long before someone noticed the 5,000 armed soldiers in the forest.