When the troops were assembled, and Mystislav drew them up in review, he found that they numbered twenty thousand. He went to the land of the pagans, and these twenty thousand men marched with him. He passed through that land from end to end, not stopping till he reached the seacoast. He seized men, cattle and property; when there was need to punish, he reduced all before him to ashes. In one word, he established obedience. Then he turned toward Pskoff. According to old usage, the posadnik of Pskoff was appointed by Novgorod, but on this point there were endless disputes between the two cities. The Pskoff men wished independence and their own prince. During the winter of 1180 Mystislav planned a campaign for the springtime. He remembered the offenses of Prince Vseslav, the Plotsk wizard, who could turn, as the people declared, into a gray wolf and run in one night from the Caucasus to Novgorod. Vseslav, years before, had seized a part of Great Novgorod; he had carried off its assembly bell and borne away holy images and church vessels. Mystislav resolved to bring all these back to the city. The prince in Polotsk at that time was Vseslav, a brother-in-law of Roman, son of Rostislav. When spring came, Mystislav moved against Polotsk with his army. Roman sent an envoy to meet him with these words: “Thou hast not been offended by Vseslav, why go against him? If thou decide on attack, thou wilt meet me before others.” Mystislav, not wishing to offend his own elder brother, turned back from his enterprise. Barely had he reached Great Novgorod, when he fell ill. No man could tell what affected him. For a time he lay without memory. His wife stood at his bedside, as did his drujina and best friends. When his mind returned, he looked at those present, and tears came to his eyes. Only a few of the words which he uttered had meaning. Vladimir, his youngest son, he entrusted to a favorite boyar. Of the two sons left to his brothers, one was renowned much in later years as Mystislav the Gallant. “Forget not my children,” begged he of his brothers. He raised his hands, sighed from the depth of his heart, tears came to his eyes again, and his breath left him.