3. Zhentarim Invasion: Juniper On The Walls

Zhentarim Invasion: Juniper On The Walls


  • Juniper surveys the Giantspires from the walls of Peltarch. Somewhere up in those mountains lay potential doom. Deep in the Underdark lies another fragment of that potential doom, but that was for others worry about. Her chosen current Agilent assignment is to ensure the defense of Peltarch's walls with her thirty strong, elite Knights in Silver. It was so weird to be back here as Knight Captain in Silver. Before word of the Zhent invasion reached her ears, Juniper would've easily thought she might never be back here in Narfell outside of the occasional jaunts into the Romani Pass to ensure her family's camp was supplied.

    She prayed to Selune the Zhent forces won't make it all the way to the walls, but she had knights and what guards the city could spare to barricade up the syreets indide the gates in such way that Zhent troops would be funneled through killing zones of archers set up on rooftops.

    With the hope the Zhents didn't get inside the walls, she also had the guards and any citizen volunteers to dig trenches parallel to the walls and trenches intersecting perpendicular to the first trenches, all of them lined with wooden stakes and oil soaked sticks and hay to be easily lit by flaming arrows. Zhent troops would have to fight through spiky, fiery hell to get to the walls, while being fired down from the same walls.

    Her thirty Knights in Silver, she assigned to squads of five to lead and supplement larger groups of city guards spread along the length of the wall and rooftops.

    That was the plan, hopefully grit and determination would be enough to see it through, if the Zhentarim made it to the walls. And in the back of her mind, Juniper thought of they came up from below then the rooftop positions and barricaded streets would give Peltarch a fighting chance.

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  • Juniper plunked herself down on a bench in her garden, sighing massively in relief to finally be off her feet. With the defeat of the Zhentarim in Narfell, she and her Knights had been called back to Silverymoon. Since getting back from Peltarch, Juniper has fallen back into mom mode. It's not the life and death, high geopolitical stakes of hunting down and thwarting a Zhentarim invasion, but no less grueling.

    She had the five children in her family's care, four of her own and one foster child, busy weeding her garden by hand. It was one of her two oldest who voiced complaint on behalf of all five little worker bees. Coraline chirped up from the flower bed she and her siblings were hunkered down in, "Amil, why can't we just have Aunt Cherry or Aunt Arel'in use some of their magic to do this?"

    Juniper chuckled kindly and fixed Coraline and the other children with a warm smile, "You can't fully appreciate the gifts of the Weave unless you do things with honest, hard work first. And that builds character and the wisdom to use those gifts judiciously."

    A collection of young eyeballs roll, joined by a disjointed chorus of, "Amil! Mooom! Moom! Ammmiiil! Ms. Amalith!"

    Juniper chuckled again, sipping her tea. She cheerfully chided them, "Don't but Amil or Mom me. You all agreed weeding the garden would be your chores for the day. The sooner you get it done, the sooner we can go meet your cousins at the park. And Loretta, you don't have to call me Ms. Amalith. You can call me Juniper."

    There is collective grumbling, but the five hellions get back to their chore of weeding. With hard won and very temporary peace and quiet in hand, Juniper settles back to enjoy her tea. She also pulls out her one journal unrelated to her botany and nature studies. Quill and ink brought out to the garden for just this purpose also ate fetched from her pouch. Opening to a fresh page she starts organizing her thoughts in written form.

    Hello again Journal

    I know. I know. Long time, no write. I also wasn't sure I'd ever write in you again, so this is a surprise to us both.

    Thinking back on it, writing about the Zhent Invasion of Peltarch back when things were at their grimmest really helped me sort things out. Now that Geraldine is taken care of, and the Zhentarim will be getting nothing more out of Narfell for awhile, I thought it might help to put my thoughts down one more time on all of it.

    It was great being back in Narfell, yet I'm very much relieved to no longer having the Zhentarim threat hanging over us every day. I look forward to visiting again, hopefully for more purely social visits, though I know I'll be heading back in a professional capacity in the not too distant future. Speaker Leonora Starym has informed me that High Mage Silverhand has no intention of Silverymoon being blind to Zhentarim activity in eastern Faerun again.

    Since the Knights in Silver are always needed in and around Silverymoon, agents of the Moon Garrison (They handle most external threats anyway) will be handling most the information gathering up wnd down the East. They need only be our eyes.

    Narfell is another matter. There may be Zhentarim remnants who did not get their new superior message, and worst of all the Butcher's whereabouts are unknown. High Mage Silverhand herself, has assured me, we will not stop until his fate is ascertained. And if he's still alive, he will meet Silverymoon justice one way or another.

    Another small contingent of Knights in Silver has taken my contingent's place in Narfell, rotated in to keep an eye on the post-war developments and any sign of Zhent activity. Mostly reconnaissance with a special aim toward investigating the fate of the Butcher. I wish them all the luck in finding him and bringing him out down. Part of me hopes he eludes is just long enough for me to be the one to bring him justice. Too many of my comrades in arms and friends fell and were eaten by that monster!

    To end on a positive note journal, it is so, so, so good to be home again, and to be able to see all my children every day again. After we finish our turn patrolling the Moonwood and help fend off a couple raids of Menzoberranzan drow or drive back the usual Malaran nonsense (There's no shortage of troubles immediately around Silverymoon), then my squad and myself will rotate back into Narfell and relieve our own replacements. Whether I will be leading a manhunt or information gathering remains to be seen.

    Until next time, Journal.
    Knight Captain in Silver Juniper Amalith

    P.S. During the invasion, one of my Knights in Silver, Lokelani, came to me asked for a leave of absence. She lost her family to a Zhent raid on her village in the Moonwood, and was one of the fiercest volunteers to serve in protecting Peltarch and Narfell.

    I cannot fault her for jumping at the chance to kill Zhentarim. That's why her request for leave came as quite the shock. If anyone would see our mission against them to the bitter end, I would have bet it would be her.

    When she informed me she had learned of a promising lead on the whereabouts of her twin sister (a sister that it was my understanding Lokelani believed lost), I understood immediately.

    Considering how undersranding my old commander in the Moon Garrison had been when it came to preparing for the Amalith family raid on the City of Bronze to end our family curse, I couldn't deny her the same chance I was given.

    Wherever your search has taken you, Lokelani, know your fellow Knights in Silver and your captain are with you. May the Moonmaiden watch over and guide your search until both you and your sister may return home to us.


  • Juniper sat at her desk where she usually did her write-ups of her naturalist hobby. It held a small library of journals filled with her notes and observations of her various finds of flora and fauna around Faerun. Mostly from around Narfell and the Silver Marches. She also noted the process and results of her horticultural experiments with some of floral samples she taken of her finds.

    The result of her latest horticultural experiment sat neatly potted at the left end of her desk. Arguably her most impressive horticultural feat to date. Certainly one of the most visually striking. She has grown a Juniper's Orchid of a color not found on nature. Using a concentration of kobold poop enzymes several times more pure than could occur naturally, the Juniper's Orchid grew such a deep, deep purple as to appear pure black. Only in direct sunlight does the subtlest purplish glint show in its petals.

    Yet, despite the beauty of her latest discovery, the page she had meant to write all her observations about it was still blank. Current events were distracting Juniper from her distraction.

    Casting her violet gaze across the open space of her home's ground floor, she watched her two oldest Coraline and Illair playing a three-way variation of chess of their own collective invention at the gaming table with one of those current events. Namely, young Loretta, a child rescued from the clutches of the Zhents in Narfell only the other day.

    Juniper closed her current nature journal, exchanging it to the desk shelf for a fully blank journal. Watching Loretta play and just be a normal child with her two oldest, Juniper collected her thoughts before writing.

    Dear Journal?

    I'm not one to write my personal feelings where someone else can find and read them. All my usual confidants are busy doing other things also important to me that I'd rather not interrupt, so here I am.

    I relish any time I get to spend with my children, but right now I really should be with my knights. The onset of harsh winter weather in Narfell may have slowed the advance of the enemy even a little, but the most crucial battles against the Zhentarim are nigh. I'm not scared of Ironjaw. Well I am, because I am the sane one in this family. My fear only means I won't be doing anything stupid to bring him down. Mark my words, Journal, we will bring him down. War or not,that butcher will not escape iustice in the name Silverymoon's people again.

    The point you ask, Journal? The point is, it is not because of my own healthy fear of being eaten that I'm safely back here in Silverymoon, while my knights are still in harm's way seeing to keeping Peltarch's walls and defenses ready for the worst. I'm back here because as my lieutenants insist, that at such a critical juncture before the big battles, that my knights can't afford to split their attention between guarding me from Ironjaw's menace and keeping Peltarch's defenses finely tuned to last minute changes. So I'm back here in Silverymoon where Ironjaw can't get me so my knights can stay focused on their mission.

    Once I hear from Speaker Starym about High Mage Silverhand's hopeful approval to bring in another compliment of Knights in Silver, I will return to Peltarch to oversee any last minute changes necessary to our preparations in person. I sent word to the High Mage's offices as soon as I arrived back home. Commanding through messenger is a complication we can do without. I trust my lieutenants to carry things out on their own, but I still hate not being there to help them. Even if we can't spare a full extra compliment of knights to hunt down Ironjaw, I should at least be afford enough extra knights to watch my back so the rest of my knights can stay on task. But Ironjaw is one of the most notorious war criminals to so far escape Silverymoon justice in recent memory. I can't imagine his apprehension or death wouldn't be a high priority. The bastard ate.. ATE some of my closest friends in the Knights. And so many other of my fellow Knights in Silver... mostly elven ones. It is very, very, VERY personal.

    Thankfully, I have reason for a little time in Silverymoon besides keeping my knights from being distracted with worry. I have been looking after Loretta... more accurately my aunt Cherry has been looking after Loretta and my own spawn for me. That girl has been a lot, and I fear she's going to be going through so much more once her mother's case plays out in Peltarch. If she's going to be with us for awhile, I'd like to make sure I'm not a total stranger to her. And at the very least it does my heart good to see my little hellions doing their part to make the poor girl feel at home.

    Thanks for listening, Journal. Maybe we can talk again sometime.

    With a lightened heart, she close the journal and places it at the near end of her desk library. She was ready to return to duty as soon as she heard from either Speaker Starym, escalation against her knights on Ironjaws part or news from her own knights that battle was imminent.


  • Juniper's Checklist

    An unofficial checklist Juniper wrote out on a scrap of parchment to help sort her thoughts.

    Things to do

    >Barricade city streets to funnel invading troops coming through the gates through three separate chokepoints. -Check

    >Ensure the chokepoints are easily reached by our own forces to ensure safe and orderly movement between them. The chokepoints are meant to slow the enemy and create killzones against them not against ourselves. -Check

    >Dig system of trenches in front city walls, one running parallel to the wall and several perpendicular. -Check

    >Have enough stakes sharpened to line trenches. -Check

    Soak dry hay and other flammables in oil. -Check

    >Line trenches with the sharpened wooden stakes and oil-soaked kindling. -Check

    >Stock the walls with supplies for non-magical flaming arrows. -Check

    >Mine the open spaces between the perpendicular trenches with available explosives and various traps. (We want to slow the enemy advance toward the wall and discourage them away from the wall) -Check

    >Leave the road through the city gates safe and clear. -Check

    >Concentrate majority of ballistae and all allied Elven ballistae around city gates to bring concentrated fire on road approaching city gate. (Ideally, the enemy should driven together and crowded together between the minefields and flaming trenches on the road. Ballistae stationed over the wall center and city gate should hold fire until the enemy does start to crowd on the road. All other ballistae will be free to fire on all enemy troops approaching the wall to help drive them onto the road.) -Check

    >Build destructible bridges between walls and rooftops to aid in mobility of archers from walls to each designated killzone. (The bridges should be sturdy and durable with a single built-in weakness to allow them to be easily disposed of. This will allow them to be scuttled when necessary and prevent any enemy troops who happen to take the wall from pursuing our troops when they withdraw to each designated killzone adjacent rooftop.) -Check

    >Ensure all the barricades and bridges lead from the walls to City Hall. This is where we want the enemy to believe we are making or last stand. Every surprise in their fight this far into the city should make them hesitant to storm directly in. Instead, citizens and those important to establish a Peltarch government in exile will have been busy evacuating to Gypsy Pass through teleport circles set up inside City Hall as soon as or just before battle starts. From Gypsy Pass they will complete evacuation to Silverymoon through my home's portal. In Silverymoon the refugees will be escorted to tents set up for them in Mielikki's Glade. Additional tents may be set up outside Silverymoon's north walls on edge of the Moonwood for any overflow refugees from the glade. There, the refugees may hold out until the all clear is given, or the government in exile can form its plans for the future.) -Check

    >Have Spellguard mages cloak the Gypsy Pass from any prying or scrying Zhenterim eyes. -Check

    >Arrange for flight spells to be cast on myself, my Knights in Silver and a select number of Waelvor's elves prior to battle. (We will be spread out in groups of five along the wall as planned, but flight magic will allow us to rally swiftly to any place place along the wall or rooftops we are all needed in a pinch. Also easier to dispatch or harass any airborne assets the enemy bring.) -Check

    >Build bridge over last chokepoint and load with rocks and debris. (This last bridge is to be scuttled to drop all the debris and block, slow the enemy's final approach to City Hall. To be triggered to give the last defenders outside City Hall time to retreat inside.) -Check

    >Arrange for barricade inside City Hall that can be pushed into place to slow enemy's entrance into City Hall. Last combatants should evacuate through teleport circles at this point.) -Check

    >Leave home portal open long as feasible to maximize the number of people evacuated. (If enemy finds Gypsy Pass, to prevent Zhentarim invasion of Silverymoon it may be necessary to close my home portal and strand some refugees in Narfell. This is automatic, the runes that allow my portal to exist despite the Wards of Silverymoon will extinguish in the presence of individuals of hostile intent, closing off the portal.)

    Juniper organizes these thoughts into a more coherent battle plan and it off to General Gom with the message:

    Pink-Haired Elf's wall defense and evacuation plan and preparations complete and ready as ready can be.


  • Juniper, under the cold northern morning sun, was once again reminded how swiftly she'd grown used to the comforting warmth of Silverymoon. The Wards of Silverymoon ensuring a more greater warmth within its walls than its northern environs would otherwise permit. It's not that Juniper was inconvenienced by the chill, it was just a reminder of how subtle differences can seem so important. And there is a subtle difference between roughing a few days outside Silverymoon's walls on the job, and living the cold 24/7.

    Choosing to ignore the morning air's biting cold, she turned back to the task of leading her lieutenants and a select number from among the elves, guards and local volunteers. These were people she knew either by observation or the suggestion from others whom Juniper thought were looked up to by their peers. If she could even a modicum of a sense of camaraderie in them, she hoped they would in turn inspire and spread a modicum of that sense in their fellow elves, guard and local volunteers.

    She knew very well the limited time they had was insufficient for true team building, but even the seeds of camaraderie could smooth and speed the final preparations along. All along Juniper had been grabbing any and every potential advantage she can think of and smooshing into planned defenses and potential evacuation.

    To finish up her impromptu team building, she left off with this, "If your people question why on Toril that Silverymoon pink-haired elf captain is making them do this with only couple days till things come to a head, then just let them think it's because a little... eccentric if you have to. If they get nothing from these exercises... maybe they'll at least share exasperation. Channel that into the work ahead. The Zhents are almost here, but we'll be ready!"


  • Juniper returns to the room in the Mermaid that has been adapted to serve as a local office for her unit of Knights in Silver after having to regretfully let her friends head off into battle without her. She had to stamp out a small social fire between city volunteers and a couple of her knights.

    With the Zhentarim looming in ever closer, she knew there was no room for the least little wrinkle in her plans. She ultimately reassigned a couple more troublesome volunteers to somewhere they won't be able to agitate their fellow volunteers against the foreign knights leading the preparations for defending their city.

    That headache dealt with, the Knight Captain from Silverymoon ensured her knights had gotten instructions to prepare to have flying spells cast on them the moment Zhentarim troops were in sight of Peltarch's walls. The extra mobility would come in handy moving between the walls and rooftops as the battle progressed, and make bringing all 30 Knights in Silver to bear on any problems that may flare up during the siege.

    Second, after rereading General Gom's most recent letter to the 'Pink Haired Elf', she rolled her eyes and shook her head. Part of her briefly wished it could be a easy to reassign the good general out of her hair as it was those volunteers. Selune and Corellon grant her and the newly arrived Elven allies the patience to see this all through.

    Spirits rose to read her proposal had been approved. At least the general didn't let her elvishness get in the way of saving lives. She immediately wrote and sent word back to Silverymoon via messenger through her home portal to the Spellguard.

    Normally, she would need permission to draw on Spellguard aid, but as a Knight Captain in Silver on an officially approved and active mission, she was free to call on the same three mages from the Spellguard that usually worked with her knights when extra magical aid was needed. Her letter specified she would need those three mages to help cloak the Gypsy Pass from prying eyes until the Zhentarim have been defeated, driven off or evacuation complete. The letter went on to spell out the plan for evacuation should it prove necessary and how cloaking the Gypsy Pass would be crucial to ensure her Knights in Silver and as many Peltarchians as possible could ushered through her portal before the Zhents caught up.

    Once that communique was sent off by messenger, she wrote a response back to General Gom:

    Peltarch Defender General Gom,

    It heartens my knights and I to know we will be to do all we can to save the people of Peltarch and its leaders should things go for the worst.

    I have sent word to Silverymoon for three mages of our Spellguard to join us. They will be tasked with cloaking the Gypsy Pass from outside eyes the same as the Moonreach priestess will cloak your troops. They will be the pass cloaked from now until the Zhents are driven from Narfell or as many as can be possibly evacuated are safely away.

    Regarding those 8 explosive munitions plus your own, if any of them can be spared, I would request that some be planted outside the walls in front of the trenches we have dug to supplement the traps. And that they be rigged to be set off by advancing Zhent troops. Advisably, they would be set far enough away from the walls not to damage them, but close enough to make the Zhents slow down and second guess rushing the walls. The longer it takes them to get to the walls or gate the more our archers can make them pay for even thinking of setting foot in your fair city.

    May the Moonmaiden Light Our Path to Victory,
    Knight Captain in Silver Juniper Amalith

    1 Reply

  • Internal Missive
    Flamerule 07/12/24 (Two days post Eastland Skirmish; seven days until 3,000 Zhentarim arrive.)
    From: Pelt. Gen. Leonard Gom
    To: "The Pink Haired Elf With A Plan"

    Hey, Pink Haired Elf,

    It's General Gom.

    I like your plan. I've instructed Commander Lycka to assign a band of Ceruleans to stay behind and assist with any emergency evacuations, should they become necessary.

    I want your people to figure out the best places to hide in the Gypsy Pass. Something hard to detect, including when it comes to magical mumbo jumbo.

    As you know, when it comes to that asshole Geroldine's 3,000 new troops, the Golden Geese's plan is to work with the Moonreacher priestess, who'll hide virtually all of our forces among the Giantspires for an ambush using her freaky fog. We have 8 of the enemy's explosive munitions, plus our own. And that'll be after our new-fangled allies in the sky have harassed the enemy's forced march.

    If the enemy catches on that we've left the city proper vulnerable through all of this, we'll need a back-up plan, and yours strikes me as a good one.

    -- Peltarch Defender General Leonard Gom.

    [DM Xanatos Gambit]


  • Juniper and her Knights in Silver were enjoying lunch in the commons, and brainstorming for any last second details that might've been missed in all their preparations.

    It came up that the absolute worst case scenario was all 4300 Zhent troops reaching the walls with any help already defeated or outmaneuvered and hours aways if not days.

    With that in mind Juniper and most trusted leftenant drafted a proposal to General Com, th It e King and High Mage Silverhand. The finishing touches on barricading the streets would allow for strategic retreats and running fight to City Hall. Inside City Hall teleportation circles would be set up if possible to evacuate the people necessary for Exile government and anyone else there was time to get out.

    The evacuees would be teleported to the old Gypsy Pass were they could complete evacuation to Silverymoon through the Amalith portal. The portal would left open long as possible until Zhent forces closed in and forced the portal to be closed.

    In theory, the government-in-exile would be free to make any future plants it deemed necessary in safety. This last contingency depended on approval of Peltarch to accept retreat as a possibility and Silverymoon accepting refugees from the Zhents.

    Juniper has a copy of the proposal sent to each, General. Com, the King of Peltarch and High Mage Silverhand. She orders her Knights in Silver to prepare the final barricades as if plan had been approved. She fears waiting for approval to begin will leave no time to complete them.

    If approval is not given, then at least the barricades will be in place. If the powers that be don't want the teleport circles, she'll see to having just one for herself and her Knights in Silver. She knows every one of her knights would gladly give their lives for the cause, but as their captain, she cannot allow their lives to be thrown away needlessly if all else is lost.

    Juniper's confidence in the Zhentarim being turned away or destroyed is growing, but having an exit strategy for the worst possibilities brings peace of mind.


  • After learning some of the rumors swirling around her knights, Knight Captain in Silver Amalith took it upon herself to ensure they don't hamper their morale. Speaking to each of her thirty knights individually and din the privacy of basement training room of her tree home in Silverymoon, she sought assuage any fears and help reaffirm in their hearts why they were working out in Peltarch. Her training room was just a short jaunt back to her family's camp in the Romani Pass, and on the same floor as the portal to and from her home. She felt somewhere private back in Silverymoon might help most knights open up.

    She had a prepared little speech that only varied slight from knight to knight,, but the gist went like this:

    "First, I want you to know, I have it on good authority that these rumors are likely from a group of false Selunites from somewhere called Moonreach Keep."

    "Second, I know the eccentricities, especially my ex-husband, can make it difficult to not believe the worst. They really don't help their case sometimes, but when it comes down to it, underneath all that, they are good people. and before you say anything...even my ex-husband, but I will deny saying that if you dare try to tell him. Anyway, the point is, we can trust them with our lives. I do, and have. It would be fair to say that I might not be here to be your Knight Captain if they had not saved my life on more than one occasion."

    "Third, we are Silverymoon's finest! We've fought Many-Arrows orcs, the forces of Menzoberranzan and Luskan together. A few rumors will not put us off our game and distract us from the mission at hand. And while that mission is about defending that city and its people, ultimately it comes back defending Silverymoon. You've all now seen what Peltarch holds. It may be a far flung, backwater, but all of friends and family here in Silverymoon will be far safer if we can keep Peltarch and all its riches and materiel out of Zhentarim hands. Every resource denied the Zhents elsewhere, is resources they can't use against us back here in Silverymoon. So remember! We're not fighting only for Peltarch, we are fighting to defend our own homes and families."

    Then to help demystify Cormac, being certain he would always take the most effort to explain, she would show each knight the oversized combat dummy she had made into a likeness of her ex-husband. The dummy's face showing explicit signs as being used as a makeshift dartboard. She'd explain how used the dummy to let off steam after their split, and how she still uses it from time to time. Several goofy Cormac stories are added to help soften the brooding bard's image in her knights' minds. Stories like he went around wearing a wolf head to be a ship captain,,, or how her children used to steal his boots and try to burn them or how he goes around muttering things like 'Bah! Pest.'

    Only once she felt they were in a headspace to ignore those rumors did she escort them back to duty in Peltarch.


  • Once her knights had their orders, Juniper took a small break to let her mind relax and also replnilsh her personal stock of key potions while she could. Window shopping at Violetta's was always a guilty pleasure of hers. An excellent way to unclutter her mind.

    She discovered Isolde, Rey and George had something of the same idea. Rey and Isolde were advising George on his fashion. Everyone needs to blow off steam in overly tense times. After watching George's newest ensemble come together, they all parted ways, grim duties ahead. A few parting words with Rey helped Juniper learn a little more of the Zhent commander behind all this tumult. She learned how he favored multiple attack vectors on Norwick. So even with the acid weapons neutralized as a threat, and the possibility of attack on Peltarch from below greatly diminished, she felt it would be foolish to dismiss the possibility outright.

    After replenishing her personal supplies, Juniper gathered her knights and had them spread the word to have every sewer entrance and tomb entrance within walls to be barricaded up in addition to the barricades already being put up in the streets. Anything to slow down the enemy even in the worst case possible could buy critical time during the upcoming siege and battle. Still she prayed again to Selune that it all wouldn't get that far, and the Zhentarim would be stopped cold in the mountains.

    If there was time,, she also requested the sewers and tombs be trapped up, along with the ground in front of the trenches she already had been dug in front of the walls. The only safe place left outside the walls would be the road going through the gates. Juniper also had the ballistae heavily concentrated around the gate,, in addition to the archers already planned, to have that safe zone turn extra deadly on any Zhent troops that brave it during the possible siege. The remaining ballistae were to be placed evenly along the rest of the walls.