Neerin Neelia's observation table wasn't as polished as it could have been.
Mortal-watching was one of Jerim Jya's many hobbies-- maybe even her favorite.
Over her *centuries* of crafting tools on a whim, there were two pieces of artifice she considered masterpieces... and they were a paired set.
A runed full helmet made out of sky-wrought silver.
A beautiful staff tipped with two wings and with two cheeky snakes climbing up.
Together, they made a viewing device and a remote control capable of powerful, instantaneous, and highly adjustable magnification settings.
That thing could pierce through physical walls, adverse weather conditions, magical barriers-- Little Green even insisted it could see through
(That didn't make any sense but that was 100% what she said.)
In historical battles (especially those with few mages,) the casualty counts in the initial stages of any skirmish were low. Deaths occurred en masse when troops were routed, (commonly by a formation being broken by error or enemy maneuver.) Somewhat obviously, routs were more common near the end of a battle.