From the Introduction A small company of spearmen, over all not quite sixty strong, has set up camp at a riverside. Their colorful red or blue striped tents, visible from afar, have been set up in semi circle open towards the river bank. Their weapons, kept ready in racks next to the tents entrances, suggest that each tent houses eight men at arms. At the center of the camp a large fireplace has been constructed. Its pit, lined with heavy stones, is by now almost completely filled with old ash, hinting at the length of the companies stay in this camp. Nevertheless fresh logs have been stacked at its center in preparation for the next evening. Surrounding the fireplace a few rough wooden benches have been arranged just inside the well trodden, tightly packed dirt path connecting the tents.