>>5534877

Sitting upon your throne, surrounded by the greatest men of the Empire, you watch as the door slowly starts to close.

Its hinges creak.

And they shut with a loud:

-
(POV shift: You are Armentarius Theocritus, weeks past.)

Thud !

You smash heavily into one of the Akeonian men-at-arms, your horse neighing with rage as he stampedes the man below him, the full force of the shock had been impossible to hold back as your entire formation smashed into the Akeonian formation still reeling from the loss of their leaders to. The holy knights drop from the skies, drawing away even more officers, but with a pain in your eyes, you watch as one of the knights is impaled by a spear, his griffon screeching in agony and going berserk in between the Akeonian, tearing and ripping the men apart before more and more spears pierce into his flesh. As the noise of rage dims and becomes a painful whimper, the situation around you turns for the worse.

As you had smashed into the Akeonian formation, your arrows flying high, the death toll you reaped had been a great one, men trampled, heads smashed, throats split. These men are the elite core of the entire invasion force, and it begins to show as your momentum starts to slow, until eventually it comes to a halt as a haphazard formation of spears and shields had been set up before you, the warhorses, courageous and valiant as they are, would not dare to charge ahead out of fear of what they see as likely death.

“Around, around !” You shout out, your right raised high and your spathion visible to the men behind you. Another spear thrusts forwards towards you, you reel backwards and smash the overextended spear away and spur your warhorse onwards, all around you, the Akeonians seem to have finally come to their senses and are beginning to encircle you, their shields raised and minds determined. That unfortunately leaves you with only one option of escape, as another horseman besides you is knocked off his horse, a spear piercing his eye in a lucky attack, another falls down as his horse’s armour is penetrated and it goes wild, throwing off its rider to the ground and spurring itself onwards, the man’s feet still in the stirrups, his screaming comes to a quick end as his head rises for a third time and impacts the ground in an unnatural way.

“Mur ! Mur !” An Akeonian officer shouts out over the noise of battle and another shieldwall starts quickly forming up before you.

Just as you harden your resolve for a charge against the thin line, a screech above you grabs your attention as six, the remaining holy knights, dive down as one, their griffons spreading their wings wide as their razor sharp claws and sheer speed smash away the incomplete shieldwall, crumbling it before you.

>>5534880

“Forwards ! God’s with us !” You shout atop of your lungs as your horse leaps over one of the newly mutilated corpses. Twisting your body, you lower yourself and swing your mace with fury right at the armoured head of an Akeonian noble or something undoubtedly similar judging by his splint armour with chain underneath it, the sound of bending metal and the sight of red spurting out of the eyeholes of the beaked helmet gives you a modicum of satisfaction.

Finally breaking out of the formation, you look around you and quickly notice as your cavalry reforms itself, that you are about fifty men or so short. With a look behind you, hundreds of corpses litter the ground, freshly made by your charge, but fact of the matter stands, the Akeonians held and their formation had almost finished reforming.

Shifting your focus ahead, about half of the siege wall is now at the very least smouldering, the panic that this had first brought on had been a decisive advantage for your side, but now, the Akeonians had adapted, being able to withdraw their warriors from the smouldering parts and instead redirect them to the parts of the wall that are still holding, and send off more and more troops to deal with the Tarrizans who seems to be making decent progress.

-
(POV shift: You are Orso Silvestro, a halberdier, one of the elite warriors of the great free city of Tarrizo.)

You interpose your halberd, using its metal body to smash against the falling axe, putting strength into your chest muscles, you yank backwards, the metal of your halberd smashing against the bottom of the axehead, causing it to fly forwards, causing its wielder to also fall ahead, quickly using your footwork, you once again move ahead, smashing right ahead at the Akeonian, your shoulder smashing into his stomach, employ all the power you can muster, you throw the armoured Akeonian over your shoulder and cause him to fall to the ground, your muscles scream from the sheer exertion of your feat, and your right shoulder especially hurts as it had to bare exceptional weight. Quickly turning around, your swing the head of your halberd downwards, smashing it right into the head of the still recovering man as he tries to rise at his feet. A wet crack andd a sickening crunch puts a stop to his struggles, as your hammerhead gets stuck in the man’s skull. Quickly putting your armoured foot onto the Akeonian’s neck, you pull it out and cause more blood to squirt out, your hammerhead now covered in viscera, brain matter and gore.

>>5534883

You breathe heavily as moving in your heavy armour and swinging such a heavy weapon had drained much from you. All around you, your fellows had also slowed down their rambunctious, their swings slower and their movement heavier. Still, the Akeonians, whilst increasing in number, had not increased in organization, nor their equipment, nor skill. As such, you use the butt of your halberd to smash right into the shield of a charging Akeonian, his movement is quickly halted, the heavy shield now tripping you up, ignoring the pain rolling up your arms from such an attack, you bring your weapon down from a powerful overhead swing, smashing right into the man’s chest, as he had at least some common sense to raise the shield in a vain attempt to protect his head. Unfortunately, the blood spilling from his mouth marks his painful death as his internal organs had been eviscerated by your attack.

“Signore, Akeonians advancing in a formation !” One of your men shouts out, having delivered a final blow to another foe.

“Come together, together, we shall break them !” You scream out. Taking a moment to catch your breath as your men rally to you, whilst the dispersed Akeonians run to the safety of their formation, having learnt that Tarrizan are not only the greatest sailors in the world, but that they are also the most ferocious warriors upon land.

The sight you see is an uncomfortable one, the so proud Thephian Emperor’s bodyguards had been given a walloping and they were forced outside of the still healthy looking Akeonian formation. A few hundred dead from the charge is impressive and all, but there’s still over a thousand of them, and once they run off the cavalry, they will undoubtedly turn to face you, and fighting the Akeonian elite warriors whilst being outnumbered at least ten to one, if not more, is high odds.

Your ears perk up as the noise of a horn comes loud from the town you had come to defend. With some confusion, you watch the happening ons as through the raging flames you see the battered defenders limp back wounded and hurt back to their town’s walls. Cowards ! You think through gritted teeth, rage building as the, oh so great Thephians had broken and run with tails between their legs.

Looking around, you realize that you have no time to curse out as your men had gathered, and that formation looks awfully close. One way or the other, you will have to break them before you can retreat or advance.

“Battere !” You shout out, your men charging forwards to the close by formation.

>>5534884

Using your superior armour, you simply allow the blows to land upon you, gritting through the pain, using your own weight you quickly overwhelm the first line, knocking the defenders down and away, that is followed by a well drilled and practised motion that could only be achieved by the great discipline of your men as everyone who can swing down as one, cracking skulls, breaking bones and tearing flesh, the second line crumbles instantaneously, quickly, half of the halberdiers push forwards, interposing themselves against the enemy whilst the other half quickly bring the halberds down, piercing and smashing the men of the first line that still live, quickly dispatching them. Whilst some still live, you ignore them as you are massively disadvantaged by your foes and their superior numbers. Meaning that you have to advance and you have to break your opponent before you brought to a halt. Once again, a full force attack breaks the third line and what you hoped had happened, the Akeonians begin to rout, as even they inflict casualties upon you, their fear of your potential had won you the day and the formation, that perhaps numbered three or four hundred, retreats back to their camp where another group is quickly being organized to be hurled at you in a vain attempt to buy time.

But, with the defenders of Bylleira routed to their defences by a charging group of Akeonians, the chances of them mounting a counter attack are low, even as said Akeonians, faced with a shut gate begin to retreat as arrows and stones rain down upon them.

Instead you direct your gaze towards the beloved Emperor’s guards, whom had tried a few more charges, repulsed each time, though at least their leader, Ar- something or another had enough common sense not to overcommit and see himself encircled.

Well then, what’re you going to show me ?

-
(POV shift: You are Armentarius Theocritus, weeks past.)

You discard your broken sword, it had bent in a most uncomfortable fashion upon your last attack, instead you now hold tightly in your hands a spear dropped by one of the Akeonians you had killed. The formation had become, much to your annoyance, a hedgehog, the mass of the formation simply stands and faces you, moving slowly and carefully, whilst squares of men, their spears spread out, are sent from the formation, beginning to slowly surround you with each passing moment, the only advantage you have is the fact your foes are torturously slow, both out of a fear what a charge could cause if they spread out and because the holy knights are high above, just waiting for a moment to pick off a noble or a leader, the paranoia instilled into them by the griffon’s razor sharp claws seems to be a well learned lesson.

>>5534885

Another thing that causes you to hesitate are the Tarrizans, instead of pressing their advantage, their entire formation, whilst orderly and ready, is standing completely still, neither advancing nor retreating. The Tarrizans are unreliable, their actions are unpredictable. Of that, you are sure.

Taking a moment to regain what little strength you are able, you regard the situation, the noise for retreat had sounded out from the town and it seems that what Akeonians went chasing after had run back beaten and bruised by the defenders still at the walls. But most importantly, they left the gates of their siege wall open.

As you turn to regard the main enemy formation, right in front of it stands that annoying man in black plate and dragon wings upon his helmet, the bastard. His two-handed sword, stained with blood resting upon his shoulder, almost daring you to charge.

And around you the square formations are closing in, it will take some manuevering, but it should be relatively easy to break free, the issue would be the Akeonian cavalry still upon the isle, they would no doubt give chase once they learn of your presence, and their footmen would follow without stop, so mounting the ships in order to retreat would be painful, but most certainly possible as you regard the raging inferno that was once the Akeonian fleet still at the harbour.

>Perhaps you could still set up a duel ? Though it may give the enemy enough time to finish their encirclement.

>If the bastard wants it, give it to him, pierce his throat with the very spear used by his men.

>Break into the town, the gate is wide opened and you still have a change to get to it before the fire spreads to it as the Akeonians themselves are keeping distance.

>Simply break out and ride hard into the isles depths and try to coordinate with Mundus to get upon his ships as soon as you can.

>Simply break out and ride hard into the isles depths, you will wage a war from the shadows if you have to, you have the manoeuvrability for that.

>With the Akeonian fleet gone, maybe you could open up negotiations ? It’d buy time if nothing else.

>(Write in)

-
(End of POV shift.)

You duck under the blow, but the sheer bulk of your armour makes it difficult for you to get back up, a delay of perhaps a second or two due to your lack of proficiency with such heavy armour, but for the Scholae (School) before you, a man of a hundred wars and a thousands battles, hesitation of a few seconds is all he needs to bash his shield against yours, completely messing up your balance and forcing you to sprawl upon your back.

>>5534886

“Your majesty, are you alright ?” He asks, putting down the sword as the servants around you rush ahead in the same annoying fashion and help you back up, your most august person cannot simply lay on the ground, or so was continuously hammered into you when you first tried to refuse their service. It was so much better with Armentarius. You think with a sigh, realizing why he requested to hand pick servants to attend to you for your training sessions.

“We are fine.” You say with a rough breath, the heavy armour sticking uncomfortably to you, to the point where even in such winter conditions, you can feel sweat pouring out as the layers upon layers of armour and padding make it quite warm, surprisingly so.

“Perhaps we should end today’s training session, your majesty.” The man asks with some concerns, exhaustion nowhere to be seen on his body.

Directing your gaze upwards, you watch as the Sun had reached its zenith, you had been training for nearly four hours today, the usual time you spend training day to day, if not more. You had thought that you had gotten a hand in this whole fighting thing, until you were encased in full armour, no part missing. And I will have to ride a horse in this, a warhorse ! You think with some annoyance about the difficult task still ahead of you. But, there is one thing different about today, whilst you would usually request extensions, today is the day when some documents were finally brought over from Myralos, months out of date no doubt, but they are at least something that demands your attention.

“Yes. Let us end here for today.” You finally say and begin to drag your bruised and exhausted body back into a warm room. Having barely stepped in, your servants start to swarm around you like a bunch of locust would a field of grain, quickly stripping you of your armour just as your giatrós (doctor) begins to inspect your body and ease the pain of your bruises, applying oils here and there, checking if anything is broken before a medical bath, supposedly good for one rejuvenation, had been prepared beforehand. Dismissing the servants, you take a quick dip into the large bath, a huge wooden barrel really, rather than the proper bath that you had gotten used to, still, this does bring back a few memories of childhood, when your mother had taken you to a larger village that had a bath, where you had bathed in containers similar as these, it had costed a pretty penny as well, a sliver coin for both you and your mother, but it had been right before your birthday and she had wanted you to look your best in celebration of yet another year that had been granted to you by God’s grace upon this Earth.
.
.
.

>>5534887

Having soaked your worries away, you march back to your bedroom turned office, your two guards, vigilant as ever, stand at attention at your approach as you enter the room, with one of them opening the door for you. You are immediately greeted by the grey blur of Pistis, happily coming to you. Ruffling his fur, you give him a couple of pats on the head. “Good boy.” You say with a smile on your face moments after the door closes.

Looking upon your desk, roughly shoved into the room, making it feel far more cramped than before, you see piles parchment neatly stacked on one side of the desk.

I am so happy to see this ! You had never thought you’d be so excited to see paperwork, but the boring part of a war, that had not been documented in most works you had read, had made you yearn for anything to do, anything at all. Although training is a good way to relieve such boredom and exercise your muscles, your mind had remained unused, and everyone knows that to be healthy, one must have a strong body and mind.

Sitting down before the desk, you grab the first document and begin reading it, nothing more than a simple report about the state of Myralos, that doesn’t really seem to have anything overly interesting in it, or anything that catches your eye, which you suppose is good news, that despite your absence things remained orderly.

Then you grab the next report. A cry for more funding from one of your kyvernítis (governor). A cry you had gotten quite used to hearing, unfortunately, you shall have to simply command him to make more with less. But, something does stand out as you read the report. The public baths, that is what’s lacking funding. It seems that they shutdown once funding for them was cut off, which is odd, since public hygiene is incredibly important, everyone knows that disease spreads through bad smells, as such cleanliness is paramount to a healthy society. Looking through the report deeper, you quickly find out that the previous kyvernítis (governor) had been funding the public baths, chariot races and celebrations using his own funds, rather than those of the treasury. The previous kyvernítis that had failed your test. Meanwhile, the new kyvernítis is a self-made man, a merchant with a modicum of wealth, but nowhere near enough to be able to afford to maintain these functions.

>>5534889

You quickly start looking over the other reports, putting the previous one to the side, a separate pile, which keeps growing with each piece of parchment stacked upon it. Public works, baths, celebrations, heavens, even infrastructure maintenance in some of the most extreme cases, had been maintained by the previous kyvernítis. There had even been reports of one of your new officials being pelted by rocks and rotten food whilst he was on the street doing his daily inspection of the town he is in charge of. And all of these reports have one thing in common, all of your new kyvernítis had tried to reach out for help from their neighbours, only to be rebuked and informed that it is not within their authority to assist them in such matters that do not concern the waging of war. And those that would be willing to help them, well, they are all facing similar issues of barely trying to scrape by with what they have and are unable to assist their peers.

Frustrating. No longer paying out of their pockets, the old kyvernítis had not done anything wrong, after all, it is their own treasure that they were expending for the good of the public, there is nothing illegal with them stopping said support. But the rising dissatisfaction, hell, the fact that there are a couple of petitions from a couple of thémata (placement, district) requesting the rescinding of the kyvernítis, signed by the local citizenry is concerning. Granted, most signatures are nothing more than a simple X next to various names, so perhaps their fabrication is likely... but these were collected by your servants, all of whom had gone through the same test as everyone else.

>There is nothing you can. Simply send your best wishes and hope that it eventually blows over or that you are able to scrounge up enough coin to satisfy these requests.

>You are the Emperor, dammit ! And these petty tricks will not work ! Issue a decree forcing the old wealthy families to continue their financing of these institutions.

>Perhaps a softer approach is needed. Many family heads or their representatives that are mentioned in the reports are currently alongside you on campaign, surely a solution could be found ?

>You are good with books, and you are good with numbers, redirect funding here, take a bit of it from here, it shouldn’t hurt in the short term, and put it there. Not a perfect solution, but a solution nonetheless. SPECIAL OPTION: HIGH ADMINISTRATIVE SKILL

>(Write in)

>>5534895
>Break into the town, the gate is wide opened and you still have a change to get to it before the fire spreads to it as the Akeonians themselves are keeping distance
Goddammit, we should have retreated instead of committing to the charge. I really don't know how we're going to retreat the Tarrizian Halberdiers, but perhaps they'll be able to make it to the walls before the fire cuts them off?

>You are good with books, and you are good with numbers, redirect funding here, take a bit of it from here, it shouldn’t hurt in the short term, and put it there. Not a perfect solution, but a solution nonetheless.
It hurts, but the Empire needs to wean itself off of mere largesse as a method of funding public infrastructure.

>>5534886
>Break into the town, the gate is wide opened and you still have a change to get to it before the fire spreads to it as the Akeonians themselves are keeping distance.

We'll be surrounded again, but the sea is ours and we can continue to get supplies and reinforcements from that avenue. We've prevented the town from being taken, we have the walls, the sea, and the once we get inside and rest our men without fear of being hounded throughout the isle by enemy cavalry then we could always try a pitched battle once again.

>>5534895
>You are good with books, and you are good with numbers, redirect funding here, take a bit of it from here, it shouldn’t hurt in the short term, and put it there. Not a perfect solution, but a solution nonetheless. SPECIAL OPTION: HIGH ADMINISTRATIVE SKILL

The previous governor may genuinely be generous and working in the best interest of his governed subjects, but the fact that he couldn't manage the funds he had well enough to manage everything without dipping into his personal funds does not speak well of his financial acumen. Not to mention that fact that the signatures could be easily forged and that this seems like an obvious ploy to undermine our appointed man. Our appointed guy got his post by merit, and we've possibly already slightly undermined ourselves and our kyvernítis with some of our previous decisions regarding the faults of our new appointees and with some of the 'both sides-ing' we've done, at least if I recall correctly. Better to just redirect some funds to him and rest easy knowing he'll use it better than his predecessor.

>>5534895
>Break into the town, the gate is wide opened and you still have a change to get to it before the fire spreads to it as the Akeonians themselves are keeping distance.

>You are good with books, and you are good with numbers, redirect funding here, take a bit of it from here, it shouldn’t hurt in the short term, and put it there. Not a perfect solution, but a solution nonetheless.

>>5534914
> Goddammit, we should have retreated instead of committing to the charge.
This is not what I voted for and I don't think the others did either. I wanted to disengage if the enemy didn't rout after the charge, what was the point of staying committed if they didn't break?

Glad to see a new thread right after I had just caught up to the last one.

>>5534886
>Break into the town, the gate is wide opened and you still have a change to get to it before the fire spreads to it as the Akeonians themselves are keeping distance.

>>5534895
>You are good with books, and you are good with numbers, redirect funding here, take a bit of it from here, it shouldn’t hurt in the short term, and put it there. Not a perfect solution, but a solution nonetheless.

>>5534886
>>With the Akeonian fleet gone, maybe you could open up negotiations ? It’d buy time if nothing else.

They are going to have to ask for terms in any case, they've suffered some very heavy losses and are now trapped on the island.

>>5534895
>>You are good with books, and you are good with numbers, redirect funding here, take a bit of it from here, it shouldn’t hurt in the short term, and put it there. Not a perfect solution, but a solution nonetheless.

>>5534895
>Break into the town, the gate is wide opened and you still have a change to get to it before the fire spreads to it as the Akeonians themselves are keeping distance.
This is quite problematic. The Akeonians under their top commander really don't want to break, some seem scared but they don't fucking break. Getting inside the town could be tricky and i am not sure if it can work, especially for the rest of our army and the tarrizans halberdiers not just the schola. The akeonian commander could order his army to fully charge for stop us from entering for example, and i can't see that going well honestly unless we have all the army of Armentarius at his back.

Perhaps we could open a space for the tarrizans with a light attack from schola and griffons, or tell them to retreat to the ships while we get inside. Akeonians still have a ton of soldiers both infantry and cavalry, so they can charge at us if we retreat.
NewbQM remind me the rest of Armentarius army is deployed or still in the ships ? The charge for get inside the town would include them alongside tarrizans i imagine, and i would prefer knowing were they are since we have spent money for get some merc infantry here too.

>>5534895
>You are good with books, and you are good with numbers, redirect funding here, take a bit of it from here, it shouldn’t hurt in the short term, and put it there. Not a perfect solution, but a solution nonetheless. SPECIAL OPTION: HIGH ADMINISTRATIVE SKILL
When we have enough authority to do a great action again (like the revoking of world shield province if some remember), i am so going for siphon even the shittiest deformed ancient copper pennies from the rich families wealth.
Jokes aside, taking a substantial part of their wealth will do us good when we have the authority available.
Hopefully we can also get some coins out of the peaces from this two wars, otherwise reconstruction/recovery will need more time.
The De La Mare coins paying our wedding and the feast after it sound like a very kind gesture from them.

>>5535537

>NewbQM remind me the rest of Armentarius army is deployed or still in the ships ? The charge for get inside the town would include them alongside tarrizans i imagine, and i would prefer knowing were they are since we have spent money for get some merc infantry here too.

The mercs broke and ran, you have no idea where they had went, but neither do the Akeonians as their mobile elements were crushed by Armentarius in the beginning stages of the battle.

As for the Tarrizans, their ships are still at the beach and they themselves had not advanced all that far, being used to naval warfare and establishing beachheads as they are, the Tarrizans are probably confident that they can get away if things go awry if their confidence is anything to go by.

>>5535537
>Jokes aside, taking a substantial part of their wealth will do us good

Yeah, that's an excellent idea, can't see how that would fuck us over

>>5535555
Cool thanks

>>5535657
It will not fuck us over, when we use our imperial authority after a while (which will be a certain amount of time, likely a year or a few of them). We have use said authority in the past for order and pass what we wanted, the trick is not use it always and put some time in between before using it the next time.
World shield province was in the hands of a big family (could have happen to one of the other 3 families too, there was the choice and there might be again in the future), and we kicked them out. The province is directly under our control now.
Also i said considerable not all, they will not die on the streets and still live in their palaces and villas no need to cry for them.

>You are good with books, and you are good with numbers, redirect funding here, take a bit of it from here, it shouldn’t hurt in the short term, and put it there. Not a perfect solution, but a solution nonetheless. SPECIAL OPTION: HIGH ADMINISTRATIVE SKILL

Completely forgot to post this:

Twitter for update announcements: https://twitter.com/NewbQm

Archive links: https://pastebin.com/YKkQ2YWT

Dramatis personae: https://pastebin.com/9vw43LdL

>>5535078
No, this is pretty much what was voted for. A charge was made and it was stopped. The holy knights opened up another hole to charge through but Armentarius failed to break them that time too.

>You have to buy time, the wall can go either way, but if that formation restores itself, your defeat is a certainty

The formation restored itself, and now the field is lost.

>>5535710
I mean if your goal is to incite a civil war then it's a fine idea.

>>5534895

>Simply break out and ride hard into the isles depths and try to coordinate with Mundus to get upon his ships as soon as you can.
It wasn't the best result but counting on the dice is always like this, at some point we'll will lose.
About the situation on the island? Fuck it, it's just another city and they don't have a navy anymore, after a couple of weeks of attacking from different positions using the ships we'll be able to negotiate their surrender. It's not like what's left of their navy can beat ours anyway.

>You are good with books, and you are good with numbers, redirect funding here, take a bit of it from here, it shouldn’t hurt in the short term, and put it there. Not a perfect solution, but a solution nonetheless.
Considering the state of the empire as a whole, I'm amazed that these requests didn't arrive sooner.

>>5534895
For now I'll go with
>Break into the town, the gate is wide opened and you still have a change to get to it before the fire spreads to it as the Akeonians themselves are keeping distance
If we are going to start getting our asses handed to us, like say the akeonians cone back with a fleet or the chucklefucks are breaking into the city. May I suggest the nuclear option? Newb did give us a free pass last thread, or are we saving that to safeguard Manuel?

>>5534895
>Break into the town, the gate is wide opened and you still have a change to get to it before the fire spreads to it as the Akeonians themselves are keeping distance

Both of these
>Perhaps a softer approach is needed. Many family heads or their representatives that are mentioned in the reports are currently alongside you on campaign, surely a solution could be found ?
>You are good with books, and you are good with numbers, redirect funding here, take a bit of it from here, it shouldn’t hurt in the short term, and put it there. Not a perfect solution, but a solution nonetheless.

Try to sort out the situation diplomatically first

For every wealth family that starts paying again, the State gets a reprieve

>>5534886
>>Break into the town, the gate is wide opened and you still have a change to get to it before the fire spreads to it as the Akeonians themselves are keeping distance.
>>5534895
>>You are good with books, and you are good with numbers, redirect funding here, take a bit of it from here, it shouldn’t hurt in the short term, and put it there. Not a perfect solution, but a solution nonetheless.

Man I hope we still can win this

>>5537700
Yeah

Biting the top of your quill, you sit in front of your desk for a few seconds, calculations running through your mind. Putting the quill in its inkstand, you lean forwards and grab another document, a report on the infrastructure renewal program you had ordered, or well, one part of it. Checking the report, it is on one of the many stone roads across the empire, but this one is directed towards a théma (placement, district) whose populace had fallen by nearly two thirds, one of the reasons why it was connected with another théma, as such, the foot traffic had seen significant reduction, meaning that you can scrounge up a few coins up by ordering a delay for its restoration, it might not look good, it may also not fit in perfectly with your restoration plan, but if the road here is remade a bit later will have no real impact on the overall task of bringing the ruined infrastructure back.

Quickly grabbing the quill once again, your quickly write out a set of orders to redirect the workers that would proceed towards the road to instead skip it and send out their workers towards one of the main arteries of the empire, so to say, rather than concentrating upon the veins. That’s a few hundred silver coins that you can redirect elsewhere. That’s at least a couple of towns worth of public accommodations you can finance.

You grab parchment after parchment, reading reports, requests so on and so forth. Granted, you simply skim through most of them expect those that you could divert funds from, most likely to the chagrin of whomever sent the report in the first place. You concentrate deeply upon your tasks to such an extent that you quickly find it hard to read, only realizing moments after that the Sun had once again set and its final dying embers had begun to pass away. Grabbing a couple of candles, you also soon find out that you have to call for your servants to restart the flame in your room’s fireplace. You had originally intended to use the fire from there to light up the candles, but now you have to call for your guards, so that they could call for your servants, so that they then could fetch some firewood.

With Pistis’ head upon your lap, you scratch behind his ears as he enjoys laying down, he had now grown quite capable, and he seems to like you well enough to rip out the throats of anyone who would dare threaten you, but you had noticed that Pistis’ aggression against anyone whom dared to attack you had only grown. That is one of the reasons why you had not taken him along with your training. Gazing down upon Pistis, you watch his perked up ears as they flap side to side with an occasional brush from your hand. This tame beast in your arms could now knock any grown man down and rip them apart.

>>5545056

Leaning back in your bed, you look upon the door following Pistis’ gaze as he stares ahead, his head lifted, you can see muscles straining and strength going to his limbs. As a knock comes, Pistis reveals his sharp white teeth, and it takes you a few calming strokes upon his back, with a bit of strength exerted to calm him down.

“Enter.” You calmly say.

The door swings open and a man dressed in simple clothes comes in, bearing firewood in his arms. The simple greying tunic made from linen and simple grey woollen pants, shoes made of rather plain leather, tied together with strong ropes of hemp reaching to his shins. He kowtows before you as you notice a tattoo upon his right arm, even from here, the strong dark ink makes in clear what is written down. M-19-1080-BAS] - Man, nineteenth of the year of one thousand and eighty since the Shepherds ascension, Basileús (Sovereign). The man’s a slave, your slave.

You stay quiet and the man finishes his kowtowing, speaking directly to a slave is similar as it is for you to speak with a foreigner instead, you remain silent as he quickly sets up the firewood, a bit of hay underneath it and he takes out a small leather cilinder, whom he quickly opens up and pours out hot embers upon the hay, no doubt around the leather the embers had been encased in metal. In only a few moments, the fire roars up once again and the man kowtows once more before departing.

Finally letting go of Pistis, he quickly jumps off from the bed and runs towards the now closed door and stares at it for a few seconds, his ears twitching and he himself twisting his head, seemingly trying to hear better. Which if nothing else, does get a chuckle out of you. Still, watching the slave you had thought about the words previously said, about how everyone who can afford it is purchasing slaves without stop and is putting them to work. And that does raise a few concerns, as slave revolts had been quite common throughout the Empire’s history, and with your armies as weakened as they are, with your people as thinly stretched as they are, it is an issue that you may need to address, if it ever becomes an issue. But for now, you can only hope that no one gets any ideas of revolting.

Having finally secured your candles, you once again take out your quill and dip it in the ink, before quickly scribbling down another set of instructions, as you evaluate yet another document.

-
(POV shift: You are Armentarius Theocritus, weeks past.)

You hold your brand new blood-stained spear, your grip increasing and decreasing in strength as you watch the man, perhaps one, maybe two hundred metres away from you, standing before his formation, almost daring you and the holy knights to ride forwards in an attempt to decapitate him.

>>5545059

No. It’s a trap, it has to be. Your rational mind takes hold and you eventually let out the breath you had been holding. Your rage shall serve no use in a situation like this, the temptation of achieving victory in but one swift strike. The thing with tricksters is that, once you know that they are as such, falling for their tricks becomes nought but the fault of a fool. And you are no fool.

“Topotērētēs (place-warden, lieutenant).” You say to the man next to you. “Signal the town, we are retreating into it, have them open up the gates.”

“Right away, domestikos (domestic, commander) !” Quickly responding, the man takes up a horn he had by his side and begins relaying your message.

With at least a hint of satisfaction, you watch as the cocky self-assured man’s arms fall to his side, as you deliver a final mocking laugh, perhaps not even audible from such a distance, but all that matters is that you had not taken the bait as your cavalry masterfully begins to manoeuvre towards the still opened gate leading through the siege wall.

Soon enough, the sound of trumpets echoes from the Akeonian lines, and in response, the disorganized levies still within the camp start scrambling towards the still opened gates, trying to grab onto it and start dragging it closed.

In response, your horsemen quickly unleash what arrows they still have left, the arrows whizz across the air, easily piercing the thin clothing or the thicker cloth, those whom value their lives over fallowing orders, or simply posses better reaction times than their peers, quickly raise their shields as arrows impact them with loud thuds, the arrowheads themselves more often than not penetrating the worked on wood and leather with ease, earning your side some pained howls as arms are injured, still, even injury serves your purpose as it keeps the enemy fearful and unwilling to foolishly risk their lives.

You lower your body closer to your horse, leaning ahead, the spear you had taken lowered, its tip holding steady despite the rough ride. And you use it to impale one of the braver Akeonians , the spear ramming straight in between the shoulder blades, the impact being so powerful that the spear goes through the man’s back and out the front of his chest, the spearhead itself appears to be bent and broken from having severed the man’s spine and pierced through his sternum.

Letting go of the ruined weapon, you instead grab onto the warhorse’s reigns and encourage him to ride forwards as you clear the gate, numerous bodies of the dead and dying litter the ground before you, their fresh corpses pouring out blood upon the green grass below as you and your Scholae (School) trample over the dead, the hooves of your horses struggling to find even ground underneath.

>>5545066

Not letting this chance go, the panicking Akeonian defenders rush to the top of the wall and begin hurling whatever is at hand at you and yours, trying to drag a few of you down to the depths of hell when the gates of heaven are right before you. Grabbing the shield you had fastened to the horse’s side, you quickly use it to halt a spear throw that had aimed for your head, the heavy spearhead thrown from a distance punching into your shield and getting stuck there. Having to deal with the extra weight, you still power through and raise the shield to block a rock, quickly followed by an axe.

Finally, your horse clears the lines of dead and quickly begins to gallop once again. Lowering the shield, your arm stings from the exertion you had placed upon it, and from the corner of your eye you watch as the Akeonian elite warriors push ahead back to their camp, but, much to your relief, and to the Akeonian annoyance, the gates of Bylleira are thrown open by its defenders, the town’s walls now fully lined with men equipped with crossbows, bows, javelins and rocks, no doubt eager to exact their revenge upon the foreign invaders.

Soon enough, you quickly lose sight of the enemies as the noise of shouted orders is quickly followed by the loud sound of gates smashing closed. You’re safe, for now. Tension leaves your body and all of your aches and pains slowly begin to creep back up, the excitement of battle quickly beginning to wear down.

Sitting atop your exhausted horse, you look around the area and look upon the defenders, you see no man that is not covered in mud, blood, waste, and guts. It is a mixture you had long since come to expect, young boys, perhaps those whom had just reached adulthood, no more than fifteen years of age, sit side by side with elders over fifty with greying if not completely grey beards. The sight of able bodied men in their prime are few and far between, most of whom are those still standing, manning the gates, or keeping watch atop the walls. Their equipment is as poor as you had imagined, overwhelmingly old surplus stored in armoury without proper upkeep for years, hastily thrust into the hands of the skillless. The few still standing tall and proud at least have some chain to put over their colourful padded cloth, a few here and there even sport bronze gauntlets and lamellar, some have splint, the no doubt riches, have it reach below their thighs, leaving rest of the protection to their greaves, some of steel, some of iron, some of bronze, sporting shields with strong colours, depicting animals, environments, a few buildings here and there. You see huddled groups of men gathered around these, in their eyes, experienced and well-equipped veterans, that or they are the tenants of their lands, servants, or slaves brought to war.

>>5545067

“Domestikos (domestic, commander) !” A man shouts out from the entrance from one of the towers, clad in full lamellar, proper steel gauntlets and greaves, he has a spangenhelm similar to your own, a plume of gold and silver fluttering in the wind a top of it. Surrounding him is at least a dozen men equipped in a similar manner, the imperial wolf painted upon their shields in red and gold, approach you.

“Kyvernítis (governor) Lukas Psellus, I assume ?” You say dismounting.

“Correct. Shame we couldn’t have broken through the damned wall, but your appearance is certainly reassuring.” He say taking off the helmet and quickly slipping out of the padding underneath. His short cut black hair glisten in the sunlight as they are covered in a layer of sweat, his brown eyes look distant and tired, the large eyebags underneath quickly reinforcing the idea of the man’s exhaustion. A crooked nose rather adds to the man’s rough features, a stout looking jaw, overly large ears, scarring upon the face left from smallpox that had ravaged his body some time ago.

“Their majesty knows of your plight and they had sent me and my most elite to protect our lands. So you can take solace in that.” You say, raising your voice in an attempt to encourage morale, whilst taking off your own helmet.

“That is reassuring news.” He says with nod, his expression still being the same tired, but determined look.

You conversation is interrupted by a griffon landing in the middle of the grounds, frightening the resting men half to death judging by their reaction. You can even see Lukas flinch as the griffon spreads its wings wide before sitting down upon the ground, breathing heavily, the holy knight atop of it looking much better than anyone gathered here.

“Domestikos, the Tarrizans had retreated aboard their ships in good order and with surprising swiftness.” He says, carefully couching his words.

Had they advanced with such enthusiasm that they have when it comes to running away ! You think, anger rising in your gut. “I see. Good for them.” You finally spit out.

“Domestikos.” Lukas once again grabs your attention. “If you would give men the honour of following me, there are important matters to discuss.”

Only the thoughts of rest come to your mind as you notice your own men, some just outright laying down upon the dirty ground, just to regain a bit of strength before they start to move on again. Still, duty comes first. “Very well, lead the way.” You say with a nod.

>>5545068

Returning it, Lukas begins to walk down the town’s street, the road underneath you is a welcome change to the rough ground you had to thread most of the time upon the isle. Walking the town proper, you see signs of the locals, those too young, too old, too sick or infirm, as well as women resting in their homes, with the locals only quickly making their way to the forum, where merchant stalls had been requisitioned by the local soldiery to hand out rations of bread, soup, fish. Things easily accessible and easy to store and maintain. The overall look of the people, if nothing else, is not malnourished, so far at least. It seems that the town does have enough rations, though you do spot more soldiers, if you’d even dare to use that word, whom have nought but their own clothes on their backs and spears, the occasional shield here and there, and even that looks half-rotten and falling apart. The buildings around you, despite their age, seem to be maintain well enough, though you do spot cracks here and there, a few rather large breaks in their structure, but nothing overly threatening, however noticeable.

Eventually you reach the mayoral manor, built in a proper Thephian classical style, with white, large columns, large wide roof encompassing the entirety of the building, but no doubt leaving a gap in the middle so that a garden could be put down for the enjoyment of the building’s inhabitants. Frescos are painted in alcoves, depicting the Shepherd’s journey and God’s blessing to mankind are exposed for all to see and admire as they walk past it, meanwhile, dozens of statues, set atop of the building and around the frescos are covered in thick cloths, no doubt depicting ancient pagan gods, the only uncovered, highly detailed people depicted would be various ancient heroes of myth and legend.

>>5545070

One of the few uncovered statues depicts a man with a body of god, detailed bulging muscles, a stern chiselled face, a helm resting atop of his head, ensuring that the face is unobstructed by it, archaic looking armour, made from real bronze covers the man’s chest and legs, leaving the arms exposed as he grips a spear and a large oval shield, a curved shortsword hangs upon strap at the man’s side. Cleisthenes, the ancient Thephian strategos (general), whom with only 5,000 thousand men had successfully conquered the entirety of Lefkados, the now new heartland of the Akeonian savages. Besting armies at least ten times the size of his own, through the usage if incredible skill, bravery and exceptional charisma, he had brought the lands low in but few short years, and when the local rulers had desired to proclaim him Despotēs (Lord) of the entirety of Lefkados. He had every last one of the would be traitors executed, and their crowns sent back to Myralos. Old books describe the man as a demigod, son of one of the pagan devils, but now, through endless discussion, he had been redeemed as one of God’s blessed, divinely enlightened, rather than having divine blood. A difference you do not really see as all that large or important, but one to the clergy’s satisfaction, apparently.

Entering the building itself, you see well crafted looking furniture, busts, with plaques underneath informing that each and every one depicts the previous Kyvernítis of the isle. Each every depicted with their eyes closed, busts of the dead, right at the entrance, rather macabre, even you have to admit.

“Prepare a meal !” Lukas shouts out to the air and only now do you spot few servants quickly scurrying away following his order.

Finally, you sit down in front of a large, long table. And you slowly take off your gauntlets as a servant pours down a goblet full of wine for you. Which you take unceremoniously and greedily gulp it all down, before extending the goblet outwards and it is filled up once again. Havin quenched your thirst, you actually take a moment to enjoy the sweet taste after a hard fought battle.

Lukas had seemingly done the same as you, still almost entirely clad in his armour “We’re out of weapons.” He grimly says having gestured for the servant to leave.

“I had noticed.” You respond, wiping your beard.

“Food, we still have plenty for perhaps another six, maybe eight months, double that if we cut down the rations. Even more if we stop feeding those that cannot fight, but I’d rather it not get to that, lest the men’s willingness to fight is stripped entirely.”

“Understandable. Though the situation may call for it, depending on how the Akeonians are doing upon the isle.” You say eyeing the man. Your task is simple and clear - drive the foreigners out, guard the imperial lands.

>>5545071

“The situation ?” He says, scratching his cheek and taking another gulp. “I can hardly tell you anything overly important. We had been under siege for weeks now, we had been rolled back over and over again whenever we tried to face the Akeonians upon open fields. And if we didn’t ? We would lose settlements one after another in gruelling sieges. What you see here are the remnants of a few garrisons that I was able to secure before the Akeonians arrived in such force that further breakouts and sallies had become impossible.”

“And these defenders ?”

“Perhaps three or so thousand. Out of that, most are poorly equipped and unfitting to fight in an extended battle. Perhaps half are able-bodied men, out of those, maybe two, to three hundred have themselves equipped to proper standard, rather than relying on what we had laying in the armouries. And outside our gates, the Akeonians keep gathering in larger and larger numbers. Just their elite warriors of their, before your arrival that is, had equalled us in size, if they had not been larger than us in number. Then there’s God knows how many more of their warriors that have nought but spears and shields.”

“With their fleet gone, it is only a matter of time before those very same soldiers turn against one another out of sheer desperation.”

“Who knows, depends if they have the island secured. The granaries were filled to the brim with the year’s harvest of grain and fish, even if we presume that they have ten, maybe twenty thousand upon the isle, they can still last the winter, they can last even longer if they simply take from the populace at large. Hell.” He says with a chuckle. “They could even settle these lands at this point. Removing them then will be a true struggle.”

That last comment does cause you some pause. If the menfolk had been fully gathered for war, and if all that’s left of them are these scant few, these lands could just be taken unless we can mount a stronger response. You think dourly and with some annoyance.

“In that case we can land at the doc-“

“You cannot.”

“What do you mean ?” You ask with some puzzlement.

“Well, first of all, most of the Akeonian fleet is still burning. Secondly, the waters around the dock are shallow, and now they are filled to the brim with wrecked ships. Until the waves wash them away or we try to drag them further out into deeper waters, I am afraid that the only ships docking at these docks will be nothing more than rowboats.”

You let out an annoyed grunt. If nothing else that will delay any attempts to land troops or supplies in a timely manner, without being observed by the Akeonians.

“So, what are your plans ?”

>>5545073

“Plans ?” He sighs. “I have no more plans. I know not if I even have enough men to tend to harvest come autumn, let alone fight off an invasion of an inexhaustible, fearless army of savages. There are no plans but to hold the town until either the Akeonians give up, or my own people beg to surrender. So if you have any brilliant ideas, I am all ears.” Lukas finishes, slumping in his chair, his armour clinking as his body slides slightly down and finishes off his second goblet of wine.

>”Once the men are rested, and the fire’s over, we shall sally forth again before they can rebuild their siege wall.”

>”It’ll be slow, but a sizeable number of your men can be transported via our ships, then we can make a landing upon some other part of the isle.”

>”The Akeonians value individual honour above all things, apparently so, if I challenge the Akeonian leader, he will no doubt accept after the bloodied nose I had given him earlier.”

>”Then we shall sue for terms. It is probably the best position we can be in, establishing a truce will give us time to recover and prepare.”

>>”Then we shall sue for terms. A peace that our majesty must accept, as such we shall have months of time to prepare a surprise attack.”

>(Write in)

>>5545076
>”The Akeonians value individual honour above all things, apparently so, if I challenge the Akeonian leader, he will no doubt accept after the bloodied nose I had given him earlier.”
Ride out to face the enemy before the walls of the city, just like another hero of legend...

>>5545076
Great update. Good to see we reached the town in one piece. Sad to see our situation is still shit.

Hmm striking while the enemy is off their rhythm. If this one fails then I think it's time to negotiate a true or some shit before all out men die.

>”Once the men are rested, and the fire’s over, we shall sally forth again before they can rebuild their siege wall

>>5545076
>”Once the men are rested, and the fire’s over, we shall sally forth again before they can rebuild their siege wall

Nice an update. I cannot think of a reasonable way for deal damage without risk.... and we cannot deploy the halbediers immediatly either.
Matched again and again, and becoming tired. Perhaps we could see about giving the holy knights and griffons more breathing room and medical attention.
Or see what can be done with our good admiral Mundus.

If we rest, we could skirmish them again if nothing else (even if the armory here is lacking and we have not much at all). I suppose it doesn't hurt to ask a few questions.

>(Write in)
"Governor Lukas, his the town provided with sewers ? Were they end and start ? Did the enemy block them already ?"
"Tell us of the town surroundings, there is anything of note or importance the people know far better about the territory than the invaders could ?"
"In the previous weeks you have fought the akeonian commander with the silver dragon symbol correct ? Tell us how did he fought and what kind of tactics did he use against you ?"

>>5545291
+1
I like his write in

>>5545076
>>”It’ll be slow, but a sizeable number of your men can be transported via our ships, then we can make a landing upon some other part of the isle.”

>>5545076
>”It’ll be slow, but a sizeable number of your men can be transported via our ships, then we can make a landing upon some other part of the isle.”

Slow to embark and disembark, sure, but nonetheless transport by sea is still faster than on foot, we can attack some other captured settlement on the island or maneuver to favourable terrain from which to camp and strike out at detachments or patrols, eventually taking another pitched battle.

I'll also support the write in from >>5545291

>>5545076

Well, at least we have a possible place to send the barbarian tribes and ensure they remain allies. From what I see the territory of the islands will remain under attack for a long time, and the main reason is the lack of our citizens to maintain these territories. Under constant enemy attacks and the proximity of the capital, these barbarians would be more likely to be absorbed into our culture.

Now about the current and very complicated situation. On the one hand, eventually the invaders will realize the lack of troops in the other settlements, which means that they will be able to extend this fight without fear, either as a guerrilla campaign for the island, or in a siege of months.

Besides, we don't have the money to hire another mercenary army at the moment. From what I see, our best chance is to take advantage of their fleet still burning and at least ensure the withdrawal of their troops in the region, In a diplomatic settlement.

>”Then we shall sue for terms. It is probably the best position we can be in, establishing a truce will give us time to recover and prepare.”

>>5545291
>>5545076

“I have a few ideas, but a few more questions came to mind.” You say as a platter of deliciously smelling fish is placed before you upon a silver platter, the beautifully roasted salmon steams before you and your stomach begins to roar, the hunger of a day’s fight rising to the fore.

“Ask away.” Lukas nods taking another large gulp from his goblet before digging in to his own meal.

“Does the town have sewers ? Where do they start and where do they end ? And had the enemy blocked them if they are present ?” You ask in between the bites.

“Ah, our water supply. We have wells of freshwater and reservoirs full as rains are common enough. As for waste, yes, we do have a proper sewer, old and in need of maintenance, but still functional. The sewage is thrown out into the ocean, we have a large grate there, halfway built into the water, a man could perhaps squeeze through, but that would be difficult to do in any modicum of proper armour.” He says having devoured the fish before him.

“And the surroundings ? Anything of note that we could use to our advantage ? Something that the Akeonians would not be aware of.” You continue your questioning as boiled pork alongside a collection of cabbages quickly replaces the fish’s bones.

“Anything of note ?” He says, halting his cutlery. “Other than being a defensible position, the township had been established here for its good docks and fertile land, but other than that, there isn’t anything exceptional that could be used to our advantage.” Having said so, he digs in.

“Disappointing.” You say biting into a fresh cut of bread that you had dipped in honey. “What about the Akeonian commander ? The one with the silver dragon, how does he fight ?”

“Rarely. He seemed content for the longest time to allow the various warlords under his banner to carry out their own little battles, some which we won, but whenever the silver dragon banner shows up, some come the elites of their army, their cavalry run circles around us and their heavily equipped warriors, the very same ones you had fought just now, form a strong anvil upon which the horsemen would deliver their hammer. The worst defeat, and the one in which my predecessor vacated his position had seen thousand of us encircled, we struck with great force, having mustered our own best equipped for a decisive battle, and we had thought that we had victory in our grasps as the enemy centre retreated and retreated, but when the flanks fell upon us, and when the cavalry struck our back, it was all over. A few, just like me, managed to get away, but after that had happened more and more Akeonians started to show up and the silver dragon had decreased his presence until, I assume at least, he decided that taking the théma (placement, district) capital would be possible.” He says, now snacking on some dried dates.

>>5545076
>”It’ll be slow, but a sizeable number of your men can be transported via our ships, then we can make a landing upon some other part of the isle.”

Further, the holy knights should be able to locate what remains of the mercenaries with ease, and get them loaded up on the ships. Perhaps there are other holdouts on the island that could be found?

Either way, we should be able to force them to split their forces while we secure food stores. Once that starts happening I'd say we'd do well to start raiding them or executing ambushes.

Perhaps we might be able to get reinforcements brought to us since we control the waves now?

So how many ships did we sink in total? How much do our enemies still have?
If we destroyed their fleet is there even any reason to attack their army? They are stuck on an island next to a walled city that is no longer blockaded with no way to replenish their supplies.
The city can be held indefinitely since we can bring in supplies from the sea while the besiegers can't bring any for themselves since our fleet is present. Can't we just let them starve under our walls?

>>5546952
“With their fleet gone, it is only a matter of time before those very same soldiers turn against one another out of sheer desperation.”

“Who knows, depends if they have the island secured. The granaries were filled to the brim with the year’s harvest of grain and fish, even if we presume that they have ten, maybe twenty thousand upon the isle, they can still last the winter, they can last even longer if they simply take from the populace at large. Hell.” He says with a chuckle. “They could even settle these lands at this point. Removing them then will be a true struggle.”

That last comment does cause you some pause. If the menfolk had been fully gathered for war, and if all that’s left of them are these scant few, these lands could just be taken unless we can mount a stronger response. You think dourly and with some annoyance.
>>5545073

>>5546954
Yes I've read that part but what does it matter? They can have all the food in the world but if they don't have ships then they are stuck on this island.
Good luck annexing or settling it while every incoming ship will be sunk by our fleet. People need more than just fish and grain to keep up the siege.

>>5546957
Now that I think about it having their main army stuck on one island doing nothing is good for us. If they stay here under the wall they can't plunder and siege other places.

>>5546964
That would be perfect but only if we have indeed sunk the majority of their fleet. Which is why I've been asking about actual numbers.
Been wondering about numbers in general. Like how many troops did these guys even bring in?
There was like 10k(?) on that island that we left and then there is 20k on this island. Then there were troops on small islands where we started the campaign.
This is pretty mindblowing to me desu. Even the first crusade had only 30-35k troops and that was easily one of the largest medieval armies.
Akeonians are throwing as much bodies at us as all of the Crhristian world combined managed to muster lol.

>>5546975
I am looking at Wikipedia and it says the first crusade had 130000 troops

>>5546957
They can hunker down, build fortifications, consume all the foodstuff meant for our people and when they settle begin farming some more food. That's the worst case scenario.

Either way I don't fancy just sitting back in our walls. We might be able go replenish supplies but if we just give initiative to the
Akeonians then the worst case scenario is bound to happen with time. So I think we either attack their siege engines or start on getting the men on those ships.

>>5546977
You are right
had a brainfart sorry lol
>>5546978
How are they going to settle with our fleet having complete naval superiority?
I doubt they brought anything for building and farming with them
>Akeonians then the worst case scenario is bound to happen with time
Like what?

>>5546979
Unless they killed every single woman and man they encountered, they have woman to sleep with, and people to take knowledge from. They don't need to ship settlers, the governor just said they could do it with the army on the island. If they control the island that is.

Hell.” He says with a chuckle. “They could even settle these lands at this point. Removing them then will be a true struggle.”

And if this war isn't won decisively then a truce is likely coming and after that their burnt fleet won't matter because they can now use merchants or smaller ships to send settlers without fear of Imperial navy. That's why just sitting back and letting the enemy do what it wants is not the best idea.

>>5546978
I don't understand how would they be able to settle on an island surrounded by hostile ships. Armies need supply lines not only for food but for medicine, weaponry, armor, tools, clothes. They can't produce it on their own.

>>5546986
>they have woman to sleep with, and people to take knowledge from
They have no supplies. They have no way to bring in those supplies. You need more than food to settle and maintain the army.
Do you reaally expect them to start making children? Adding even more mouths to feed while they have very limited food supply is just braindead.
>If they control the island that is.
Well good thing that they don't then. We hold the biggest city on the isalnd and control all the waters around it.
>a truce
Here's a pro tip - don't sign the truce until they starve to death.
Do you have any idea how much food an army of 20k + thousands of horses consumes? They will go through all the local supplies in a few months.
Also the idea that they can get enough food on their own is ridiculous. They can't fish because our fleet is present and wheat takes months to grow.

>>5546999
Nobody ever wants to sign a truce. But this 1 island isn't the only thing that decides that. By controlling the island I meant the Island proper not its waters. We control 1 city with the remnants of the islands army that got destroyed. And have no information on the rest of the island, you think they don't control it yet and that might be the case but if we just sit back then eventually they will.

Ships can't walk on land, unless they grow legs they won't help our situation especially since the dock is fucked and limited to rowboats. It's going to be slow to transport the men trapped here(if the option wins) now imagine supplies and men in numbers. We are stuck on this island with a large enemy army. If the threat of enemy settlement/control of the island wasn't a real danger the government wouldn't have mentioned it and it wouldn't be a worry of Armentarius. If the island didn't have enough food the governor wouldn't have literally said that the island has enough for an army of 20k.

Anyway that's enough for me. I'm really just playing devils advocate for the idea of sitting back. I think each option is truly fucked lol. The attack might fail horribly. The transportation of troops might not find a suitable beach in time. Or the enemy notices. Duels are always sketchy, and the last 2 option are just trash.

>>5546952
We've sunk around 100 warships in the last battle. I believe Akeonians shoud have 100 - 200 ships left.
Are you going to make a write in?

>>5547007
Look anon I have never heard of an army occupying an island that is surrounded by enemy fleet and then settling it. Because it's retarded no matter what the governor says.
If you have any historical examples of this happening please share them with me.
As another anon said they would need things other than food to settle or to farm. Things that they can't produce and can't bring in. And farming would take a very loong time which they also don't have.
Currently we have 5-6k troops + sailors against enemy's 20k. Attacking them head on is a bad idea.
I don't believe that we've reached the point where signing the truce is something we should consider since we are at war over islands and we are for the first time have more ships than the enemy.
>>5547023
>100 warships
Pretty good. i doubt they will attack our fleet head on with what they have left. Also we still have more Patheran ships coming in I believe.
>Are you going to make a write in?
Nah I don't believe i will get enough votes to pass.
I will vote for ships. I like it better than slamming our head into the army that is 4 times bigger than our forces.
We could use our naval superiority to evacuate coastal villages into the city together with their food supplies.
Maybe then the idea of a surrounded army settling the piece of land that they are stuck on will become ridiculous enough for anons not to consider it seriously.
>>5545076
>>”It’ll be slow, but a sizeable number of your men can be transported via our ships, then we can make a landing upon some other part of the isle.”

>>5545076
>>”It’ll be slow, but a sizeable number of your men can be transported via our ships, then we can make a landing upon some other part of the isle.”

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>>5546999
They absolutely can "settle". Maybe not maintain the siege under our walls while doing so, but you are acting as if their equipment will magically erode at hundreds of times the normal speed when not in use. What the quoted section from the other anon is talking about is the possibility of the enemy dispersing throughout the island and the settlements they've already taken and simply forcibly taking the women and living off the land and the stockpiled food from our citizens. The governor Armentarius is talking to directly says so.

Sure, they may not making progress taking the town, but nor are we any closer to rooting them out. Eventually if we truly controlled the seas then we could land additional troops and simply wipe them out, but in the relative short term they are not gonna starve or be wiped out with any degree of certainty unless we make it happen. But that is the issue, we seem to lost track of how many of the enemy ships we've destroyed. We may control the local area and thus be able to move safely by ship around the island, but functionally the war is still ongoing and several islands are either contested or completely controlled by the enemy.

If the war were to suddenly magically stop and the present situation become the status quo, the enemy would not starve without resupply - though the horses may - as they control the hinterland, which should be enough to feed them. In such a scenario the islands would essentially be contested as they would be divided by two different polities. If anything, it is our towns that have to worry about shipping in food rather than the other way around, at least long term, though at least we can do so securely. Armentarius is on the eastern most island of the campaign area (pic related) if I recall correctly, one of the two largest islands and the district capital, except now the enemy has control of most of the isle except the capital city. The big western island is Acaea, where Armentarius was previously.

>>5546979
>They don't have anything for building or farming

wtf are you talking about. The situation being discussed is the enemy simply taking over the hinterland of this island and taking stuff from the locals. Our citizens have tools for farming and building, so they will simply use those. This is a large island, one of the largest in the campaign area and one of the largest seven islands in the greater sea region the war is taking place in, I checked the maps. The denizens of this island are in all likelihood not dependent on the outside world for basic necessities and tools.

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>>5547026
>>5547071
I mean, you can make up your own headcanon if you want, but both Armentarius and Lukas don't question it.

For comparison, Lesbos is the eighth largest island in the Aegean sea, it currently has a population of close to 90000, back in the 1500s - so before modern agriculture and shipping - it had a population of around 36000. Now there is some distance between that time period and the 1000s, circa the Eastern Roman Empire, but the point is the population numbers are plausible, as premodern agricultural and demographic figures are going to being broadly similar before the advent of industrialized farming and transportation. Sure, there are minor advances in agriculture during the ancient period and middle ages, the heavy plow, water powered milling, blah blah blah, etc, etc, but they are close enough.

>>5547071
Cool story anon. So they will take over hinterland and then what? They willl build a new civilization on it while isolated from their empire?
Any historical examples of such "settlements"?
>>5547083
It's an island half of it's food surplus is from fishing which is not possible for them atm. Growing wheat takes months. There is not enough food to sustain 20k men + their horses for longer than a few months.
If this was a province famous for it's food production I would believe it but this is a fucking island that is at the moment cut off from any supply chain by our fleet.
Once again - no army stuck on an island in the middle of the war is going to "settle" it while there are still enemies around. They are going to plunder and ration hoping that their fleet will rescue them. maybe will attempt to take the city after awhile.
Starting a farm is not something an army is going to do while in wartime. That's just beyond any suspension of disbelieve. Please provide me with an example of an army doing so if it's so reasonable of an idea.

>>5547096
There's no need to "make a new civilization". One does not need perfect security to administer oppressed civilians and to feed ones self. The burden of proof is on YOU to prove that they will starve when the evidence from the story is against you and you are making a positive claim.

You are just making shit up, claiming they'll starve when both Lukas and Armentarius seem to not question that it is possible that they'll be fine. They have full granaries and the island isn't at its full carrying capacity since the men were recruited for the war and the empire in general is suffering a demographic crisis. So the island won't be overpopulated, there will probably be enough food for them. The horses may starve, but that just means they can eat the horses.

The scenario about the war magically stopping and the islands being permanently divided was a hypothetical, of course the enemy will simply hope to be relieved, but they aren't being dislodged or starved in the meanwhile.

Not to mention it took me a single google search to get the two longest sieges in history, Candia and Ceuta. The latter had the Moroccan sultanate farming the land around the besieged place and former had Venice blockading the Ottomans from bringing supplies to their besieging army on Crete.

>>5547111
>Candia
The Venetians lacked naval superiority to cut off the Ottomans from resupplying and reinforcing. Their allied fleet lost multiple naval battles against Ottomans. At least read the wiki article or something.
>Ceuta
Are you taking a piss? Ceuta is not an island. Morocco had a land supply route. The Morrocans didn't need the fleet to supply themselves they had a land border with Ceuta.

Whatever supplies villages will have was not set up for 20k men. The city is the biggest center of population here and most of the food is also going to be in the city.
Whatever food villages have is enough to feed the village population during winter and most probably while they would still be fishing. Any surplus would go to the city. That's how it works. That's just common sense.
And yeah we are in the middle of winter so your soldier-farmers wouldn't be able to start growing anything for like 2 months at least. One more time - there is not enough supplies to sustain 20k men for longer than a few months.

So any actual examples of an army that is during wartime started to farm and "settle" while stuck on an enemy island with active enemy troops while being cut off from the world by an enemy fleet?

>>5547130
Oof anon, you can do you and disregard info given from the QM via his characters but I'll take it as face value unless. If the governor says 20k can survive winter and even longer if they control the island then I'll believe it because he know how much food is on the island.
>Who knows, depends if they have the island secured. The granaries were filled to the brim with the year’s harvest of grain and fish, even if we presume that they have ten, maybe twenty thousand upon the isle, they can still last the winter, they can last even longer if they simply take from the populace at large

And if it is also said to us that even if they haven't conquered the island yet they could do it because we have so little men left. I'll also believe it
>If the menfolk had been fully gathered for war, and if all that’s left of them are these scant few, these lands could just be taken unless we can mount a stronger response

So if they haven't conquered the island, they could, and if they do(did) then they will be staying for quite some time
>Hell.” He says with a chuckle. “They could even settle these lands at this point. Removing them then will be a true struggle.”

So yeah we need to hope some stragglers or some other remnants are out there or that they haven't finished their conquest. And if they do then we need to do out best to disrupt their occupation. Staying holed up is not the answer when all the info QM has given us tells us to act before that happens. But again you do you. Just that next time you make a claim like "oh they're gonna starve", "the info from the update is stupid", and "this island doesn't have enough food, tools...need imports to survive etc" back it up beyond "trust me bro" and "it's common sense" when the info straight from the update says otherwise.

>>5547150
Holy shit anon if you want to believe that there is a magical supply of food that could not have existed there due to geographical/logistical factors don't let me stop you.
If you want to believe that there is an army that during wartime would've started farming and "settling" while stuck on an enemy island with active enemy troops and being cut off from the world by an enemy fleet despite such a thing never happening in the history of mankind don't let me stop you.
You are free to believe whatever you want. It's just so happens that my suspension of disbelief is not as strong as yours. I hope you won't hold it against me.

>>5547150
For the record, I agree with >>5547155.

Just because a character says 2+2=5 doesn't make it true. It's ridiculous to think that an army can survive on an enemy island while being harried and having no outside help for any significant period of time. Their only sources of food would be what they brought, what they can take from the villages and what they can gather or hunt from the island. Farming is out of the question. There is absolutely no way they can sustain 10k-20k men for months from that alone.

>>5547155
>>5547163
I don't care if you think it's true/possible. I care that you need to stop spouting baseless suggestion that contradict the update and its info just because you have a differing opinion.

If it bothers you that the situation the characters are giving is implausible take it up with NewQM, that one anon asked questions and got an IC response, do the same idk. Until you have confirmation or solid info stop pushing unfounded suggestions.You 2 give no support to your statements beyond "can't be possible" "it's ridiculous".

Like I said ask QM some IC questions and get some actual facts and support for your ideas because spamming "nah, not true, I don't think its possible" is dumb.

>>5547096
>They willl build a new civilization on it while isolated from their empire?
Nothing like that
They aren't really an empire, and Akeonia is a fairly new kingdom overall.
The King of Akeonia and head of the De La Mare family is a cruel man with plenty of internal enemies too. He launched the war because of the large amount of warriors coming to serve him and because of internal issues (shooting an entire hall of nobles with crossbowmen might not be a perfect solution, who would have thought). It's not impossible that some will cut out from him for get their own piece of land, if they are landless and have committed a lot to the war..... and don't want to serve him anylonger.

This war still remains very exhausting for the Thepians, even with the victories so far achieved. We can't exactly remain stuck watching this island either since there is other akeonian forces, the silver dragon commander probably knows that.

>>5547172
>Like I said ask QM some IC questions
Good suggestion. Uhmm
Perhaps we could ask if there is some engineers in the town ? We could have them organize the people and build something for defense of the town or for attacking the Akeonia camp. If there is any materials laying around.
The knowledge of the sewers could be of help if we had skilled men for sneak around, perhaps throw a torch at night and then flee. There is a lot of corpses around too. Though the Akeonians know we could try this tricks since they had seen what we previously did in one of their cities.

>>5547172
What are you even arguing about at this point?
I made my case and backed it up by explaining the reasons I believe so and drawing parallels with the real world which the quest's world is largely based on.
You are telling me "If it wasn't explicitly mentioned in the quest then it doesn't exist" but that's just stupid.
I am sure you wouldn't doubt the fact that manuel takes a shit once in a while despite there being no scenes where he does so.
And similarly if QM were to say "Actually all this time Manuel wasn't breathing because he is a magical man" you would have probably found that to be hard to believe.
What do you want from me? I am sorry I do not believe in what you believe please don't stone me for it.
>>5547182
>It's not impossible that some will cut out from him for get their own piece of land, if they are landless and have committed a lot to the war..... and don't want to serve him anylonger.
Ok. They are still stuck on an enemy island surrounded by a hostile fleet only now they also have nowhere to escape.
Don't see how that would be a problem. Just keep them trapped on the island and they will starve.
>We can't exactly remain stuck watching this island either since there is other akeonian forces
We have naval superiority now and once more patheran ships arrive we will have numbers advantage 3v1 in ships.
This is a defensive war for an archipelago. Whoever has the bigger fleet will have a huge advantage.

>>5547172
You keep referring to the assertions on the update like they're the word of god. Again, a character can say 2+2=5 but that doesn't make it true.

And spare me with this "unfounded suggestions" nonsense.

Men need food.
Thousands of men needs lots of food. A LOT of food.
What they could have feasibly brought, what they can gather and what they can steal is not enough to sustain that number for very long.

You can try to square this circle all you want but it's that simple. There would need to be something else to explain this, like the governor saying that they were entrusted with a supply hub for this and all nearby islands. ( Though that would raise the question of why it wasn't in the city )

Otherwise this would just be a big plot contrivance.

>>5547150
>>Hell.” He says with a chuckle.

On the spectrum aren't ya?

>>5547130
I did read the wiki, the Venetians also won a couple naval actions before their defeats, which you leave out. In 1655 and 1656 before their eventual defeat. Of course I could be wrong, as I said I just googled this, but presumably in those couple of years the Ottoman's didn't have significant naval resupply and thus would have to live off the land, which is all we've meant through this discussion when we say "settle".

Not to mention the situation is still in flux, the enemy still has ships to spare. We could be pulled away, have a failure during the blockade, or simply lose a pitched battle. The certainty of them simply being blockaded forever is pretty low given this.

Me citing Ceuta was simply to show an example of a besieger cultivating the nearby land to help sustain themselves.

This is all tangential to the fact that you are just asserting things without evidence and still can't prove your claim. I shouldn't have even bothered to tack on the historical bits so you can win pity points when the actual evidence from the story goes against your claim.

The governor directly says that the granaries are full, enough to allow the enemy to last through winter and perhaps even longer. You keep hammering on the idea that the enemy has at their disposal the upper limit of what we can guess they have, 20 thousand, when in fact that isn't clear. It is somewhere between 10 thousand and 20. We know seemingly most of the men have already been recruited into our ranks, some of whom will have already died, leaving the island with quite possibly with enough food capacity to accept more 10-20 thousand people. Given the number I quoted earlier for the number Lesbos and similar islands were sustaining, they can make it work, especially if they eat the horses. (Really they have to eventually)

You are correct in that obviously a town has the biggest concentration of people and thus must have the biggest concentration of food in a single place, that does not mean that most of the food and people on the island are in the town though. Most people still live on rural land in this time period.

>One more time - there is not enough supplies to sustain 20k men for longer than a few months.

This right here, prove it now. This is your claim - well, one of them - that you keep repeating, the one that goes against the evidence from the story. All you've done is argue from incredulity and reassert your claim over and over again, and appeal to common sense, a bunch of logical fallacies essentially.

You COULD be right, I have no problem if you are, but the QM's writing doesn't seem to support you.

>>5547163
Regardless of if the part about them settling indefinitely is possible, they can survive winter. We'll see what happens when the oceans are safe to travel again and the naval actions resume. I'm just glad we've seemingly evened things up pretty decently so far in this war.

>>5547217
Anon the Venetians didn't have naval superiority. They could win as many battles as there are numbers but as they couldn't secure the coastline the ottomans just kept pumping supplies and fresh bodies into the siege. This is not our situation at all.
>Not to mention the situation is still in flux, the enemy still has ships to spare. We could be pulled away, have a failure during the blockade, or simply lose a pitched battle. The certainty of them simply being blockaded forever is pretty low given this.
Ok so what's your point? You just said that the waters are not safe to travel during the winter season and since we have the island surrounded the enemy fleet is unlikely to learn any time soon that the army needs their help. Pateran ships will soon arrive and then we will be able to split our fleet in two where each half would still outnumber the Akeonian fleet.
>Me citing Ceuta was simply to show an example of a besieger cultivating the nearby land to help sustain themselves.
That was possible because the Maroccans had an easy supply route to the farms. They could afford to use them because they could bring in as many tools, animals, seeds, building materials and workers as they liked since there was an army between the farms and the Ceuta at all times. The ones farming weren't soldiers but actual peasants and those farms did not supply the besieging army on their own. Most of the food came due to the supply route to the kingdom.
Most islands have fishing as a huge chunk of their food surplus. The farming alone is simply not enough to feed the island population. On top of that there will be winter months when farming is not possible and then the wheat will need time to grow which will take at least 3 more months. By that time Akeoians will already be eating their horses if not each other.
All that even assuming that the Akeonians will be allowed to do whatever they want. As it was said before we could evacuate at least all coastal villages together with their food supply. Time is on our side here.
>This right here, prove it now.
I already repeated everything I have to say multiple times anon. If that's not good enough for you then so be it.
There is only so many times I can say "The sky is blue in our world so we can assume it's the same for the world of the quest" before it becomes trite.
>I shouldn't have even bothered to tack on the historical bits so you can win pity points
That might be news to you but the quest we are playing is based on the real world. If something is retarded in our world during the corresponding time period it's also retarded here.
For every decision, maneuver and tactic we used in war you could find an example of people in the real world doing the same. You can't find examples that would back your position because they do not exist.
I accept your concession.

>>5546124
>>5547182

You take a bite of soft goat cheese, that you then take along with some smoked pork. “Does the town have any architecti (engineers) ? People capable enough to actually use their skills in combat.’

“There are a few.” Lukas says having finished his dried dates. “The town’s walls are not thick enough to house any proper siege weaponry, nor do we have much wood to work with within here in the city, unless we start gathering from the locals, smashing down doors, tables, chairs and the like, though the quality of such woodwork for siege weaponry would be questionable.”

“And would we have enough to throw things against the Akeonians ?”

“Plenty of washed up rocks, the cliffsides are also relatively easy to work with, so getting rocks from there would be easy. It would take perhaps days to build sufficient weaponry, but perhaps, with the holy knights upon our side, we could more accurately direct our attacks.” Lukas says with a sparkle in his eyes. “We had been reeling and retreating so much that the thought hadn’t crossed my mind. The forum has enough space for such weapons, though as I had implied before, it would take some time until we make accurate attacks, presuming that the Akeonians simply do not retreat further, now that they do not have to regard the safety of their fleet.” He now has his full attention upon you.

“Good, we might need to do that, despite the time it would take to build them.” You finish off the last of your meal and finish off your wine goblet. “Now, for the sewers, you said it would be difficult for properly equipped men to sneak through, but what about those having nothing but their weapons, and torches ?”

“Perhaps, we would have to undo the grate, and of course we would need some rather willing volunteers to swim through shit. I suppose it could have some merit, with the cliffs there, it would be hard to climb up, but it would mean that no doubt the watchful Akeonians wouldn’t notice the force there, since they would be keeping watch on us or upon the fleet.”

Can be taken alongside previous option. Can pick more than one, Must reach half total votes to pass.

>”Start building siege weaponry. It will take time, but we can start driving the fear of God into those men, and clear up enough distance to allow us to properly set up outside the town’s walls. Though it would be that we would lose any element of surprise.”

>”Then look for some volunteers, it is probably the best chance we have to actually burn down the Akeonian camp, with their supplies gone, they will have no choice but to abandon the siege, lest they start to starve.”

Will update tomorrow.

>>5551017
>>”Start building siege weaponry. It will take time, but we can start driving the fear of God into those men, and clear up enough distance to allow us to properly set up outside the town’s walls. Though it would be that we would lose any element of surprise.”
>>”Then look for some volunteers, it is probably the best chance we have to actually burn down the Akeonian camp, with their supplies gone, they will have no choice but to abandon the siege, lest they start to starve.”
Try for some sabotage while siege machines are being built.

>>5551102
+1

>>5551102
+1

>>5551017
>”Start building siege weaponry. It will take time, but we can start driving the fear of God into those men, and clear up enough distance to allow us to properly set up outside the town’s walls. Though it would be that we would lose any element of surprise.”

Forgot to vote.
>>5545076
>”It’ll be slow, but a sizeable number of your men can be transported via our ships, then we can make a landing upon some other part of the isle.”

>>5551017
This >>5551102.

Duel 1
Sally 3
Ships 6
Terms 1

Total 11

SPECIALS
Raid 4
Siege weapons 5

Using ships wins, as for the specials:

Will wait an hour before locking in the vote and starting to write. Need at least 1 person to vote for siege weapons for it to pass and at least 2 for the raid to go through.

>>5551017
>>5551102
+1

>>5551017
>>”Start building siege weaponry. It will take time, but we can start driving the fear of God into those men, and clear up enough distance to allow us to properly set up outside the town’s walls. Though it would be that we would lose any element of surprise.”
>>”Then look for some volunteers, it is probably the best chance we have to actually burn down the Akeonian camp, with their supplies gone, they will have no choice but to abandon the siege, lest they start to starve.”
Voting for both

My ID changed but I am this anon >>5547029

>>5551017
>”Start building siege weaponry. It will take time, but we can start driving the fear of God into those men, and clear up enough distance to allow us to properly set up outside the town’s walls. Though it would be that we would lose any element of surprise.”

>”Then look for some volunteers, it is probably the best chance we have to actually burn down the Akeonian camp, with their supplies gone, they will have no choice but to abandon the siege, lest they start to starve.”

Doing both is probably worth a shot.

“Then I suggest to assemble the best volunteers you can find, kyvernítis (governor), attempting a raid as such could potentially see the Akeonians losing their supplies and forcing a total retreat. As for the siege weapons, gather the architecti (engineers) and order them to start building. Whilst all of this is happening, I want for you to give me what men you can, it will be a slow process, but we will be more manoeuvrable upon the seas and able to strike anywhere, though loathed I am to say so.” You say with an unpleasant grimace.

“Not a man of the seas ?” Lukas asks with a jest. “But very well, you shall have what you want domestikos (domestic, commander). For the day however, I suggest rest, everyone needs time to recover.”

-
(POV shift: You are Evgrius Glycas, a hearty young and brave man.)

“Oh, God, the stench.” One of your friends, in his early twenties, Castinus, curses out. Being born into a wealthy family, he had gotten used to daily baths, fine oils and perfumes, he had only ever used the sewers to flush down his shits thanks to the expensive piping system installed in his home, a thing that you admit are envious of, as you have to use public toilets yourself, or simply go to the woods.

“Less complaining, more moving, the longer we delay the longer the Akeonians have the time to reorganize themselves.” A rough voice down below calls out, Georgius. A tanner by trade, having to cure leather using manure, he had long grown accustomed to the smell. Though that is to the point where he himself has a continuous smell following him. Still, a man in his mid-forties, when you were raised for war he had been the guiding hand for all of you.

Going down into the sewers right behind Castinus, you catch the sight of the guards standing around the sewer covering, the kyvernítis himself standing before you, lanterns illuminating his stern face in the total darkness, with large clouds overhead blocking out whatever moonlight you could use to navigate.

“Best of luck.” He finally says once you reach the bottom, his voice echoing across the sewers as the heavy lid is placed atop once again, leaving only two lanterns, one at the head of the brave group of twenty, and one at the back. As you glance around the nervous volunteers, all of whom are in nought but simple clothing, swords at their sides tightened the best they can.

“Check the pouches, make sure they are fine.” Georgius calls out, naturally falling into the position of the leader of the group. Something that everyone accepts without much complaining. As you regard the faces around you, the fact that besides you and Castinus, and two other men, the remaining sixteen are either young boys, or similarly old fellows similar to Georgius in age, if not older, still, all of the elders seem to carry themselves a lot better than the younger lot of you.

>>5554319

As you look over the pouch, tied over your body, closer to your upper chest, you quickly ascertain that the flint, steel, kindling and some olive oil are all there, safe and dry. This little pouch possessed by all of the volunteers is the means of guaranteeing your success. Something that you have to keep as safe as your own heart, lest you bring shame upon your name and family.

“Everyone good ?” Once again Georgius says. Everyone echoes out in positive. “Alright, I memorized the map of the sewers and I will lead the way, make sure you do not get lost. Once we reach the grate, we should meet with local guards whom had opened it up. Then we swim into the ocean and we start to climb. Everything clear ?”

“What about when we get to the top ?” You ask the question no doubt on everyone’s lips.

He turns to regard you, the lanterns light stinging at your eyes. “Then, we go by ear. If we get caught, if anyone gets caught. We are all dead. If that happens, raise hell, be a distraction to allow the rest of your fellows to complete their mission.” Georgius coldly finishes. “Any more questions ?” Silence is the only thing that answers him. “Alright, let’s go.” Saying so he turns around, allowing the lantern to illuminate the path ahead.

“I should have dressed in poorer clothing.” Castinus moans out a complaint, still clutching his nose, which while it stinks, isn’t all that bad for your nose.

“Are you certain that you shouldn’t have used less make up ?” You take a jab at him.

“Make up ? God no, do you know how expensive it is ?” He replies in an equally jokingly manner.

“I run the tavern, so don’t worry once you lose your make up, I will give you a mug of wine on the house, though only the cheapest kind.” One of the older men joins in the conversation.

“Oi, does that apply to us ? Though I wouldn’t drink the cheapest one, made out of rotting grapes that !” Another older man jokes.

“What ?! How dare you, I’ll have you know that I have the best wine on the isle, even if it is watered down with piss !”

“It sure tastes like it.” You say back, causing laughter to erupt from the men.

“Jovial, are we ?” A voice calls out from the front, one unfamiliar to your ears.

“Men marching to their potential deaths for honour and glory should be allowed song and humour.” Georgius says with a hint of roughness in his voice.

>>5554321

“I suppose so.” The person replies, whom you now notice has thick cloth over which is chainmail reaching to his ankles, steel greaves, clearly shined to polish, now stained by the refuse of the town, decorated gauntlets, clearly made out of steel, but with symbols of Shepherd’s cross upon them grasp a spathion and a shield. The helmet upon his brow covers most of his head, with silver engravings showcasing heroes of old slaying mighty beasts. Someone closer to Castinus in social standing, no doubt. Which means that he must be hating every second he spends here, judging by his vibrating brown beard with his every word, a face of a man in roughly his mid thirties, with cruel looking eyes regarding you with contempt.

Around the man is another group of soldiers, a few still wet, their clothing soaked in liquid shit and piss as they look around with annoyance themselves, the grate undone is raised out of the water behind them, a layer of unspeakables coating its lower half.

“Well then, glory to the empire.” He finally says, his voice choked, that you now realize is because he had plugged up his nose. “We will be putting the grate back in place the moment you leave. Meaning that you won’t be coming back this way. Though we had been order to stay on watch here until morn. Still, your survival is on your own heads, not mine. Clear ?”

Annoyed grumbles call back to him, a few hidden curses are also whispered out with quite some spite.

“Clear.” Georgius says, putting down his lantern. “Remember girls, keep your mouth closed.” He says a final joke, more as means of insulting the arrogant man before him rather than done out of good humour.”

The rest of your group start making their way down one after another, and when it comes to your turn, you can feel your muscles tense as the cold washes over, the smell becoming even stronger, and you swear you can hear Castinus gagging behind you out of disgust.

Shivering and with your teeth clattering, you swim out into the ocean itself, instantly feeling the strong waves starting to pull against you, throwing you side to side, as a wave smashes right into your face, filling your nostrils with chilly, salty water, making you cough.

>>5554322

“Told you to keep your mouth shut.” Georgius calls out, and you notice that he had, quite skillfully, gotten himself onto the stiff cliffs. Quickly, you start to swim best you can in such weather, luckily, being born upon an isle, and in a port town, meant that you had gotten quite used to swimming in your youth, so you can easily make your way towards the cliff and grasp the slippery stones. Putting strength into your arms, you manage to lift yourself up and start to scramble to look for somewhere to place your feet. Steadying your breath, You begin your climb, careful step, by careful step, you eventually reach the top and pull your body over. And then you just lay there for a second, gazing upon the dark clouds above, the strong wind southern wind clashing against a colder breeze that you can barely make out coming from the north. Though being soaked as you are, maybe its just your mind playing tricks on you.

“Shepherd bless.” Castinus curses out, making his way over the top, breathing just as heavily as you. “Fighting in armour for an hour isn’t as exhausting as all of this was.” He says word by word over strong gulps of breath, before laying down on the ground.

Having regained some of your strength, you look around and notice that all twenty volunteers had managed to make their way up. A small miracles in and of itself, as you can swear you had perhaps spent at least half an hour making your way here, perhaps it was much shorter, but it certainly felt long.

“Check pouches.” Georgius again commands.

Remembering the most important thing on you, you quickly look it over. It had gotten wet, and you pray that the insides are still dry, and much to your relief, they are. The material and the oils applied to it keeping everything inside nice and dry.

Letting out a breath, you finally rise to your feet, barely making out the surrounding the terrain, to the point where it is hard to distinguish faces before you, were it not for their movements, you aren’t certain that you could have spotted your comrades.

“Listen up everyone. Split up in groups of two, the nearest man next to you will do. Remember, either make no noise, or make a hell of a lot of noise. May Shepherd guide you all.” Georgius says before you see his figure rise alongside another, and then they quickly disappear from your sight, only their footsteps can be heard, but even that quickly becomes inaudible.

“So, we’re going ?” Castinus asks next to you.

“I am honoured you had chosen this humble one, Despotēs (Lord).” You say with a an over exaggerated bow.

“Well then, my loyal servant, let us march to battle.” In a shouting whisper he proclaims, playing along with your joke.

>>5554324

The final jests exchanged between men destined to die are whispered throughout your little group, a few goodbyes from men that know one another dearly, a few promises and oaths that all soon go silent as you walk, or more accurately stumble through, the surroundings. The uneven ground, usually not that much of an issue during daylight, had become a serious problem as yet again you stumble to your knees and take a sharp breath as your knee sends out signals of pain, you must have landed on a rock or something as it is quite painful.

“You okay ?” Castinus asks silently.

“Yea, I’m fine.” You respond rising to your full height, having checked that your knee is not wet with blood.

As you continue your slow advance, you finally make our the rough faces of the Akeonian camp guards. Looking at them from the distance, you quickly ascertain that there are primarily three lines of night watchmen. The first, is just outside the camp, away from the campfires that provide warmth and means of cooking up meals, as well as provide illumination of the surroundings. Having their eyes adjusted to the complete darkness allows them to make out things much better than the second line of guards, keeping watch of the camp itself and its immediate surroundings, no doubt drawing the envy of the first line guards whom have no fires to keep themselves warm. And the final and last line, so to say, is made up of the camp guards themselves, they keep marching back and forth in groups of five, their armour and chain making barely audible noise that you can make our even from your distance.

“So, any brilliant ideas ?” You ask Castinus.

“Well, seems like their strategos (general) hadn’t slept through his martial schooling, unlike my brother.” Castinus says, going down upon his stomach, which you quickly follow. “I suppose we crawl.”

“Crawl ?”

“You have a better idea ?”

With a grumble, you begin moving forward, unwilling to continue the whispering match with enemies so close by. “You able to make out where their storage is ?” You eventually ask as you keep slowly moving.

“No, but my guess is whatever large tent doesn’t house their patricians is the one with the supplies. They’ve got to keep them dry.” He says with confidence, and then stops. “Actually, another way that was mentioned upon the Strategikon.”

“What’s that ?” You innocently ask, and an annoyed grunt comes from Castinus.

“A manual for any patrician, especially those of the senate must learn. Now, if you wouldn’t interrupt me.” You keep silent. “Good, anyway, as I was saying, one of the suggested ways of storing supplies was to dig out an underground area, reinforce it with woodwork and it will keep it cool and dry. Much harder than simply setting up a tent, but it is easier to guard.”

“And easier to set alight ?” You ask.

>>5554328

“Well, maybe. I am not entirely sure, but if there is a dugout as such, we could look for an elevation in the ground where they could have made their hidey hole.”

“Okay, let us assume that they stored their supplies there, or even part of their supplies. Doesn’t change the fact that we have no idea how to get to there.”

“Well, men cannot stay alert for overly long, they will have to be replaced, or they will slip up, that’s when we will have our chance.”

“Alright then, so we sit ?”

“Yup.”

“Well, the clouds better not clear up.”

“Yup.”

You sigh, and then you lay there. Watching the silhouettes move about, or sipmly shift in place, you can feel your body growing continuously cold as you shiver, having stopped moving, your wet clothes combined with the cold night make you tremble. But you still wait.

Suppressing a yawn, you wipe away the tears that had formed in your eyes as the lack of sleep. Once again, a cold shiver runs down your back. Until you start noticing something, one of the guards appears to be swaying back and forth. You feel yourself yawn alongside the guard forcing your eyes opened and you hit Castinus’ side, rattling him.

“Don’t tell me you fell asleep ?” You ask with some venom in your voice.

“No, no.” He says yawning himself. “Of course not.”

“Look ahead, you see that guard right there ? He’s swaying a bit, he might soon fall asleep just like you. We’ve got to start moving.” You say once more beginning to crawl.

Coming closer and closer, you can feel that the wetness of your clothing is no longer just the salty ocean water, but rather you own sweat and that poured out due to the sheer nervousness that you are experiencing as you keep moving. Eventually, as you close, you finally get a good look at the guard, leaning against his spear, a round oval shield placed before him. Whilst it is difficult to make out his features, you quickly notice that he does not appear to have any sorts of armour upon him, besides a simple iron helmet, crudely done, placed upon his head, a large knife, longer than most you’ve seen, but also shorter than any swords you ever had witnessed, lazily hangs upon his belt. His long and plentiful beard moves up and down alongside his breathing, his eyes appear to be closed, his spear and shield holding up the man’s weight.

You slowly inch forwards, using what light reaches you here to carefully drag your body ahead, trying to avoid anything that could possibly cause noise and would awake the man, with some annoyance, you hold onto the scabbard housing your shortsword, while it makes crawling forwards that much harder, it does make it a lot more quieter as well.

Careful, careful. You think, your heartbeat rising out of control as you had made half way around the guard.

>>5554330

Despite feeling like throwing up out of sheer stress, you ultimately manage to pass through without any issues. What drowsiness you had experienced gone. With your eyes full of alertness, you quickly start regarding the Akeonian camp proper. It is abuzz with activity, as one could expect at night. Whilst most men are no doubt sleeping, being used to rising with sunrise and going to bed at sundown, there are still plenty of warriors around, sharing stories or feasting with what food they have prepared in large cooking pots atop roaring fires. You try to strain your ears, but most of what you hear if beyond your comprehension, you never had the luxury to study foreign languages, hell, you do not even know how to read or write your own tongue ! Still, judging by the downtrodden tones of the discussions, at least some you can make out throughout the overall talks, it seems that the Akeonians are not entirely satisfied with their current situation.

The patrols inside the camp, are a lot more different than the outer line of watchmen, as you had heard before, but now confirmed with your eyes, the men on patrol are the Akeonian elite, well armed, disciplined, and not all that sleepy men keeping an eagle’s eye out on any disturbances, to the point where much of the discussions seem to silence if not completely stop as a patrol passes by.

For now however, you have to concern yourself with the second line of defences, the man standing there appear to be of a higher standing than those on the outer layer, there’s chainmail, gauntlets, greaves, occasionally a breastplate or two, nothing on the level that Castinus usually wears, but a lot better than what you have, which is nothing other than your father’s old shield and helm, lack of whom now make you feel uncomfortably naked.

You dare not approach further, luckily, the eyes of the guards being accustomed to the light instead of complete darkness around you means that they have yet to spot you. And yet again, you find yourself waiting. But not for long, as you see the guard being taken away by some others. Not overly questioning the good fortune, you rise to a crouching position and keeping your body low begin moving forwards with some speed, you have to get to some cover before the watchmen return.

Exchanging a glance with Castinus, you both quickly try to survey the camp best you can. Tents, larger tents, numerous bedrolls laid down underneath the stars surrounding the numerous cooking fires.

You feel a light hit on your right arm. Turning, you regard your friend. “Over there, see ?” He points forwards, and straining your eyes, you do spot a slight elevation in the terrain, a large wooden board laid down there. It seems Castinus’ ideas was correct. The only down side being the half a dozen men in resplendent lamellar and steel standing around the entrance. And of course, half of the army in between you and your target.

“Aha.” Castinus murmurs.

“What ?”

>>5554331

“I have an idea. That tent right there, fanciful, strong colours, guards standing their distance. Servants carrying in food. Delicious looking food at that. That is no doubt a tent of someone important. If I start a fire there, it could work as a distraction.”

“All that would do is alert the camp that something’s wrong.” You hiss back, a bit appalled by the suicidal plan, there are no gaps in the defences there, so the only way for Castinus to do what he proposes is to run head first at the heaven’s gates.

“Don’t worry. My grandfather used to be a senator, before he passed away. Would I, a man of such privilege and honour die from mere plebeians ?” He taps you on the shoulder.

“Well, this ple-“

“We’ve got no time to argue. I’ll see you in the morn.” He says taking off.

Crazy son of a bitch ! You cannot help but curse out, as running after him could see both of you spotted.

Turning around and look ahead once more, you grasp the pouch upon your shoulder. And then you see something that chills the blood in your veins. One of the volunteers, the one whom promised everyone cheap wine, is being dragged away, his chest coloured red with blood, arms twisted and broken in an unnatural way.

May God give you peace and bless your passing. You murmur the inaudible words. Luckily, no alarm had been raised, for what reason, you cannot possibly imagine, but it is not raised, and that is all that matters. But the nearby patrols seem to have doubled in size as they pass by, that being the only indication that the Akeonians know that something’s wrong.

“Feu ! Feu !” You hear only a couple of minutes later coming from your left. And watch as everyone goes abuzz, rising to their feat and looking at the commotion. That’s not where Castinus went. You think to yourself as the scrambling men are halted in their steps, look towards your right as another similar cry comes out.

Exhaling and calming your heart, you simply stand up and start to jog through the panicked group. You tank your lucky starts that no one stops you, to the rushing and panicking men around you, see seem just like one of them, just wetter, but no one seems to mind. Oh, God, please, make sure that these foreigners do not ask me anything, please, please. You plead in your mind as you make your way towards your objective. And quickly turn your prayers into curses as you notice that the guards around the wooden board stand unmoving, despite the commotion. Shit ! What do I do ?! What now ?! Anxiety flairs in your mind.

>>5554334

You cannot stop moving, you have to keep moving, halting could raise questions as foreign words are thrown around you, none of whom you can actually comprehend. Through the corner of your eye, you spot Georgius, his eyes lock with yours for but a moment, and you see him rise to his feet and sprint ahead of you, the fastest you had seen the tanner moving. The guards around your presumed storage cave cry out something, but he does not stop, annoyed now, they draw their blades as Georgius closes the distance, and faster than you could have ever expected, drives a knife through the throat of one of the men, who then gags and stumbles backwards in surprise. Not wasting a moment, Georgius turns around and runs off again, the guards seem to cry out a single word over and over as they surround their dying comrade, letting out howls of pained beasts, four of the now five remaining guards run after Georgius, whilst the last one holds the dying man in his arms and slowly rocks him back and forth.

You watch this with cold detachment, these savages had sacked your home, raped your sister and mother, killed your father and brothers. The death and suffering that they are currently experiencing is nothing more than God’s judgment upon their horrid sins. You try to calm down, feeling anger rise to the fore, as with the last guard distracted, you quickly approach the door. Lifting it open, light streams into the darkened chamber, and you see stacks of boxes and barrels. Whilst you do not see weapons, you can easily recognize sacks of flour and grain, pieces of meat are hung from the ceiling further affirm your suspicions. Whilst the place is rather large, all thing considered, it is nowhere near as large as would be needed to feed thousands, still, this should strike quite the blow.

Closing the door behind and once again being consumed by the darkness, what little light that comes from the door is all you need to grasp your pouch and remove its content. You strike the flint with great vigour, feeling pressure building up as every single moment wasted is a moment in which you could be discovered.

Come on, come on ! Light up you bastard ! You grind your teeth as you strike the flint yet again, and the sparks finally alight the kindling you had placed in between the crates and right above a bunch of sacks of flour. Quickly adding some oil, you encourage the flames to spread and climb upwards, soon enough, the flames shall be fed by the hard labour of you and yours unjustly stolen by the scum of the Earth.

Rising with a satisfied smile, you carefully try to look through the gaps in the door, and slowly, carefully, make your way out as pandemonium holds the camp. You run, as fast as you can, taking deep breathes as you vanish in the night, towards the cliffside you had first climbed up. And once you get there, you wait for the rest of your comrades, that very same smile upon your face remaining strong.

>>5554335

And you wait.

And wait.

Until sunrise comes.

And yet you still wait.

-
(POV shift: You are Mundus Helenos. five or so days later.)

You watch with some amusement as Armentarius and his men sway side by side upon the rowboat, much to the annoyance of the sailors delivering them onto your ships. Fearful of the water underneath, they all lack their resplendent armour, which would no doubt be shining brightly. A large splash of water quickly showers the men much to their continued discomfort which causes you to burst out in laughter. Looking back at the land, you see that the cause of the splash had been an Akeonian javelin, thrown by a strong hand, and said strong had is quickly running away from the beach as arrows rain down upon it. It will be quite a run as the Akeonians had pulled their camp back by around half to one kilometre, once the town started raining boulders upon their camp. Yet they still send out these rather well equipped raider to constantly try and harass you.

Speaking of which, you see as a large stone sails over the town’s walls, though with an annoyed clicking of your tongue, you see as the skirmishers had scattered before the rock could crush any. A griffon’s cry above you informing the town’s defenders that their prey had slipped away.

“Domestikos (domestic, commander) ! How good to see you upon the seas again !” You call out with a chuckle. For once in a long time, things to be going entirely your way, which had put you quite the jovial mood.

“Megas doux (Megaduke), I see that the suffering of men is to your amusement.” Armentarius says, clutching his stomach having made his way onto the deck.

“Suffering ? I wouldn’t says so, consider this a learning experience. You will get used to it the more you swim.”

“I still prefer land.” Sourly he responds.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, aaaaa-” You hear some shouts followed by a scream and horses neighing as one of the boats, transporting the beast flips over. The horse panics as it swims around and your sailors laugh at the misfortune of their peers whom in annoyance cling to the still floating, if wetter boat and throw out a myriad of curses that would make even the hardest of men blush.

“So, how’s the situation ?” You ask having put your jokes aside.

“Better than could have been.” Armentarius says. “The sabotage worked well enough, forcing most of the Akeonians to break the siege lest they start starving. Only their elites, numbering near three thousand still remain.”

“Still an unbeatable force ?”

“One that I wouldn’t want to risk engaging on its terms with what I have. The situation in the town is, not great, in terms of manpower.”

“And the rest ?”

>>5554337

“Retreating in smaller groups, scattered to the winds, if the holy knight’s words are accurate. No doubt spreading out and trying to find places where they can hunker down for winter. If not, they might be grabbing more food from the surroundings to bring back here, either way, the Akeonians had to split up.”

“Would that be bad or good for us then ?”

“Both.” Armentarius says with a sigh. “On one hand, there is no single great force to oppose us, on the other, this may very well strengthen some of their garrisons. In either case, it will be some time until the Akeonians will go on the offensive.”

“And that will be our time to strike !” You say with a confident grin.

“Best as any. Had you scouted out the surroundings ?”

“I have. The Akeonians, other tan skirmishing with us upon the seas seem to be unwilling to take any fights, so I reckon we can go anywhere upon the isle if we move with a large enough force...”

>”we could strike at Patrakros, the second largest town on the isle at its North. No doubt a hard target with a large garrison, but it would be an important foothold.”

>”we could land on the other side of the isle, that being the East, perhaps there are still towns and villages holding out there, awaiting salvation.”

>”we could strike the South of the isle, no doubt that is where what supplies the Akeonians are still transporting over the seas are located.”

>(Write in)

>(Something else?) (Describe what sort of target you wish to strike. Up to QM approval if the target is valid or even exists)

“Also, the holy knights reported that they had found the mercenaries, or at least some of them. The dishonourable scum had sacked some undefended villages and taken from them everything they can carry. Then they retreated to what woods, creaks, hills, and wherever they could hide and are now constantly skirmishing with the Akeonians themselves. Whilst good, in terms of trying down some Akeonian men, they had devolved into nothing more than bandits, as mercenaries oft to do.” You continue. “Since you are in charge of war upon the land, I’ll leave whether we should bother with them up to you.” You say to Armentarius.

He frowns, no doubt his sense of honour already screaming for him to go and deal with them himself, but eventually he opens his mouth and says:

>”Leave them be. We shall deal with them once we had defeated the greater threat.”

>”We should try to reincorporate them, we need all the fighting men we can get, but have no doubt, that judgement shall be passed upon them.”

>(Write in)

Thephians:

1,000 Unfitting condition levies

600 Levies

200 Well-equipped levies

273 scholae tagmata

6 Holy knights

78 halberdiers

Total fleet strength:

18 Warships (Tarrizo)

5 Warships (Maniakes)

50 Warships

10 Warships (Merchants)

170 Warships (Pateran)

A total of 253 warships

Tomorrow is such a loose word.

>>5554339
>>”we could land on the other side of the isle, that being the East, perhaps there are still towns and villages holding out there, awaiting salvation.”
+bodies for us -potential supplies for the enemy.
>>”We should try to reincorporate them, we need all the fighting men we can get, but have no doubt, that judgement shall be passed upon them.”
We are outnumbered right now. Every body counts.

>>5554339
>”we could land on the other side of the isle, that being the East, perhaps there are still towns and villages holding out there, awaiting salvation.”
>”Leave them be. We shall deal with them once we had defeated the greater threat.”
I agree with anon that potential manpower from the east is good. However, I think that it's a waste of time to recapture these mercenaries when they're already competing with the Akeonians for supplies.

Colour me surprised though, a suicide mission actually worked! I wonder if the Thephians of the far future would use kamikaze...

>>5554339
Hey Newb am I understanding this right that we are on the western side of the island? Would we be sailing over the north or the south if the second option wins? Couldn't we do both
>”we could land on the other side of the isle, that being the East, perhaps there are still towns and villages holding out there, awaiting salvation.”
and
>”we could strike the South of the isle, no doubt that is where what supplies the Akeonians are still transporting over the seas are located.”
at the same time?
Lead a big group of ships over the southnern end sinking any ships we meet and raiding any coast supply caches we see. Would that be logistically feasible? Hard to figure without the island map.

File: Isle of Dyrea.png (87 KB, 1000x810)

87 KB PNG

>>5554498

Red is under known Imperial control.

Orange is under known Akeonian control.

Grey is under unknown control.

>Hey Newb am I understanding this right that we are on the western side of the island? Would we be sailing over the north or the south if the second option wins? Couldn't we do both

You can split up your fleet and troops as you'd like, that is why I gave you your numbers. Attacking on the way will slow you down, thus risking the Akeonians reinforcing other areas, as they are aware that you are planning a naval landing somewhere, due to the fact of how long it took to ferry your troops from the town and onto your ships.

>>5554632
Alright thanks. I'll stick with the east then.
We can raid the supplies later but we cannot ressurect people and we really need manpower now.

>>5554339
>”we could land on the other side of the isle, that being the East, perhaps there are still towns and villages holding out there, awaiting salvation.”
>”Leave them be. We shall deal with them once we had defeated the greater threat.”

I am not sure we can trust this mercs, raiding our lands

>>5554339
>”we could land on the other side of the isle, that being the East, perhaps there are still towns and villages holding out there, awaiting salvation.”

>”Leave them be. We shall deal with them once we had defeated the greater threat.”

As it is the mercs are tying up the Akeonians, probably not worth the risk to try and link up with them.

That was a monster update QM. It was great stuff. Very happy to see that sabotage work. Ah those troublesome mercs, also I hope those grey area ate sill under Imperial control.

>>5554339

>”we could land on the other side of the isle, that being the East, perhaps there are still towns and villages holding out there, awaiting salvation.”
This is the expedition with the least risk of loss. But the question remains if we find enemy forces in the area will we attack them immediately?

>”Leave them be. We shall deal with them once we had defeated the greater threat.”
My fear is that they will change sides after all they are mercenaries, but losing the initiative would be worse. Anyway problems for the future.

>>5554339
Great update QM - made me feel bad for supporting the suicide raid.

What will happen to young Evgrius?

>we could land on the other side of the isle, that being the East, perhaps there are still towns and villages holding out there, awaiting salvation.”
Potential for supplies and manpower with likely limited enemy garrisons

>”Leave them be. We shall deal with them once we had defeated the greater threat.”

Enemy of my enemy, etc

>>5555726
>What will happen to young Evgrius?
Perhaps he might be rewarded with being trained to join the scholae?

>>5555984
Depends if he survives and we are able to accumulate more wealth for do what we need to do. Could be good for spies too really.
Or if he interested in a job like that. There is to mention the war is robbing him of everything he has.

>>5556047
If we were to begin a cloak and dagger organization we could definitely use men like him. If nothing else, being lucky is a fine qualification. Any other anons on board?

QM, would it be possible to ear mark him for such a thing?

>>5556052

>QM, would it be possible to ear mark him for such a thing?

Him being the only survivor would have him named in the report that would eventually reach Manuel. So if you feel like having him present himself before you for a fitting reward, it is up to you anons to decide.

>>5556104
Well I'm for it, anyone else?

>>5556104
>>5556116
Sure, seems like a good enough chap. Shame his mate didn't make it though.

>>5556052

In the old days QM would let this happen, but after several autistic discussions the rules changed. We would have to choose a specific focus, to develop the empire.

Our last chosen focus before the war was infrastructure development, and soon after we decided to choose the focus of dealing with religious division in exchange for winged troops.

In short unless QM has changed her mind I'm afraid it won't be possible to create that kind of organization now.

>>5556116
we can have him arrive at our court, when everything is said and done. At the moment, we cannot create a spionage corps or similar, so he will enter in our retinue instead i suppose.
We are still focused on infrastructure, plus the other reforms. Since we promised to deal with religious issues, we will be a tad to busy especially with other things still remaining on our table to resolve/continue (like infrastructure and reforms, even if in background or not the main focus they wouldn't go away).

..........

Rolled 11 (1d100)

>>5572502