Grazis' intentions in becoming a warlord had made him rowdy militias rowdier, as they threatened mutiny or desertion if they weren't paid a bonus or given a chance to loot in their long journey east to siege the castle. Grazi was able to stall their demands and threats for a long time, but not even the most charismatic leader can avoid paying his soldiers, and so he conceded to the threat against his life unless he took a detour to raid several villages nearby their route.
Many of the early villages they encountered did not have much, as their harvest was stripped by a passing warlords' army, and their houses were devoid of possessions. Their explanations did not please the "righteous claws" however, as they grew restless emptying already-looted sacks of grains, finding chests empty even of the most basic of tools or equipment, as the village seemed to have regressed into the stone age looking at their conditions. The armys' continual annoyance soon boiled down to anger, and finally into bloodlust, as one griffons' sword slashed a farmers' neck brutally, wedging the blade into the poor peasants' neck and killing him slowly. The witnesses cried bloody murder throughout the village, and they all began to route. One thing led to another, and it led to the majority of the male adult population being slaughtered, and the children and female griffons being captured, and the former being used for "recreational" purposes by the soldiers to increase morale.
Grazi was disgusted by these actions, however, was more concerned in every raid than the possibility of a warlord army approaching from the horizon to ambush their army into a disorganised rout. He had feared he lost the initiative once he detoured and deviated from the path towards the castle, however, the response army seemed to never materialise before him to crush his disorganised army. And so, his army continual raped and plundered their way haphazardly throughout the countryside towards the castle, their newly-gained armour becoming soaked with the blood of the villages they burned and slaughtered, their mere sight and smell alone being able to make villagers flee in terror.
Thankfully, their bloodlust was able to be toned down, as they encountered a relatively "untouched" village, which meant that the villagers were able to barely able to scrape by from their stockpiles and farms. However, their "serenity" quickly became replaced with the familiar feeling of dread, as the raiders "confiscated" their stockpiles and took all of their valuables, dooming the farmers to starvation and death, either when they starved or a tax collector sold them all for slavery. Many griffons still executed several griffons in the name of "mercy", as they believed it would end their suffering and their fate as a slave, destined to die.
Grazis' numbers also grew exponentially, as most of the villagers that were raided were already destined to starvation and poverty, which led to many griffons who were already starving and suffering to join Grazis' army in the prospects of wealth and food to quench their immediate hunger.
For a trip that would normally take 10 days, as they were travelling through two counties, it took them a little over 30 days, and they weren't even close to their destination. This was due to a combination of issues, them being: that Grazis' forces were growing in numbers for every km he travelled, there were many detours along their way to either forage for food, or more likely detour entirely to raid a village nearby. Despite the ability to fly, many of the griffons were wearing heavy armour which they had acquiesced from the forts which were weighing them down, slowing down the army as a whole in the process, as Grazis' paranoia of an enemy army approaching anytime kept on shutting down discussions about dispersing his army to better maneuver and allow the lighter-equipped soldiers to advance and wait for the slower soldiers by hunting and foraging until they arrived. Due to this, Grazis' army moved at a snails' pace, but it wasn't a foolish move, as Grazi was right: the warlords could attack him anytime, except maybe that's what they wanted him to think. Brazil shook away the thought and continued planning for his next move.
The "righteous claws" were currently marching and flying in conjunction through the forests, which Grazi quickly realised as the same forests that were located moderately distant to the village which he had to capture before moving on towards the castle. He knew this, because of the unmistakable landmarks that was present if you flew above the thick forest into the distance, as you could clearly see the start of the "great northern mountains" which acted as a wall to keep the violence of the griffons contained safely in the eastern lands. Grazi breathed in deeply, immersing himself in the smell of nature and its tranquillity it brought, he smiled briefly but then was disrupted by a mysterious presence in the air... Grazis' eyes quickly darted back and forth as to catch the disturbance, and finally looked up to see... A normal cloud. Grazi scoffed at this, scolding his own paranoia and continued leading his column.
Atop a cloud, a Berlin soldier observed the column below him, despite the forests obscuring most of his vision, he had counted at least 2000, half the entire population of their city! He looked around to spot his partner, and saw him on another cloud, looking at the column at a different angle, their eyes met once waving at the other and both began gesturing to each other.
They both gestured to go back to the barracks to report their findings and began drifting their cloud slowly away from the view of the griffons below and began to speed up once they were out of view. We must make hast!
Grazis' army continually marched through the forest, their armour still coated with the blood of innocents, weapons unsheathed and covered with dried blood. Grazi had 1800 and more soldiers at his disposal and his morales were high. If he was able to forceable conscript the upcoming village, he could swell up his numbers up to 2000 and properly siege the castle further east. His prospects were high, his luck seemed even brighter and his soldiers were quite optimistic about their chances of taking the castle. Not a single griffon within their army thought a second longer regarding the upcoming village, as they believed it would fall quickly as every other village did.
But the new city of Berlin would fight back ferociously and come out the victors. As after all, you must know your enemy before you defeat them.