The sky was shrouded in a thin layer of morning mist, with the ground below a chaotic scene under the gray-blue sky.
Broken shields in the muddy earth and arrows scattered all around spoke of a battlefield that had raged here just days ago.
Amidst this old battlefield, military tents were scattered in an orderly fashion, with their gray coarse cloth tops caked with mud and dust, and several bonfires burning at the camp's center.
Firewood crackled with crisp sounds in the fire, with faint smoke swirling in the air.
Around were fortifications made of earth walls, and occasionally, fully armed soldiers could be seen standing on sentry posts.
Warhorses were tied to wooden stakes, occasionally snorting, restless, and stamping the muddy ground.
In the morning, mercenaries gathered in twos and threes, yawning around the bonfires, holding rough wooden bowls of soup, their faces weary and pale, with a numbness in their eyes.
