NationStates Jolt Archive

OOC: Hey everyone. This is my first post, and I'm trying to start up an RP set in my country. Here is a map of the country...

Dvinskaya, Gallia, and Kadan (http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh285/discreet_novgorod/DvinskayaGalliaandKadan.png)

Anyway, here is the first part of the story...

[IC]

King Peter IV Ivanov sat in his majestic throne room at a large, ornate wooden desk, hunched over a thick stack of sheets. Most of them were various goings-on in the kingdom, and most of those he didn’t care about. The ones he was actually trying to comprehend were the scouting reports.

Most of his scouts and spies were in the eastern half of Dvinskaya, his kingdom, in the provinces he had recently acquired from Nova Rossiya and Gallia. Almost fourty years ago, his father, King Peter III, had allied himself with the Rossiyans against the strange other Europa peoples that had settled the continent. They called themselves “Latins-Gallic,” and were followers of unclean practices such as worshipping deities and slaughtering animals to them. These people had come to the continent around the same time the Russo-Germanic Dvinskayans had, and it was clear from the time the two first made contact with each other that war was on the horizon one day.

And indeed, war had come. Upset with Gallian colonies coming closer and closer to Rossiyan and Dvinskayan territory, the two had joined together to invade and drive back the evil Latins-Gallic people. In the year AJ 760, the combined armies streamed over the Pfalsk River and into Gallian territory. For thirty years, the two armies drove deeper and deeper into Gallia, moving towards the capital city of Segovia. They never reached it. The armies had split, and in 792 when the Rossiyans were already at the sea, the Dvinskayans became bogged down in the city of Buridava. Fearing annihilation of their army, the Dvinskayans agreed to peace, and Gallia agreed to cede all the land from Buridava to the sea at Kadan to the alliance.

Rossiya chose to take no land, only remembering the betrayal that had cost them complete domination over their neighbors, and once the army had returned home, the leaders began to plot in secret on how to get back at Dvinskaya.

Dvinskaya took the next ten years trying to integrate the new, hostile territory, and bring Dvinskayan order to the area. Now, the area seemed relatively under control, and there were many reports of open friendship between the remaining Latins-Gallic citizens and Dvinskayans.

And that was what was so confusing about the reports. They seemed to show a sudden desire for revenge among the Latins-Gallic, with scribbles about street fights and riots against the soldiers and such. The king called in his chief advisor, Dmitry Kaganov, to explain the meaning of these reports.

“Well, sire, I know exactly what you mean. These areas have been peaceful for several ments (months) now, and there wasn’t any indication of underground movements or dissention in the populace. But these reports say it all. And there’s a rumor from the Kadan they’ve seen our troops fleeing south from Kaymelut,” said Kaganov minutes later, addressing the king on the situation.

“I want answers now. Send out a runner, and tell him to send the first soldier he sees anywhere across the Pfalsk River straight back here. And tell him to make it quick!” spoke the king, suddenly seeming on edge and alarmed, much more the Kaganov had ever seen.

Suddenly, there was a commotion across the room at the entrance. “Please, kind sirs! I must see the king! He must know of the rebellions in the east!”

“Go home, you gossiping peasant! The king need not see the likes of you!”

“Wait a minute! Atlas! Herots! Send him here! I want to hear what this man has to say,” shouted the king from his desk.

“But, sire…” the one called Atlas started.

“Now, Atlas!”

The guards reluctantly parted their pikes, and let the man through. It was obvious he was in a bad state; his clothes were torn and ragged, he walked with a pronounced lip, and his face was full of cuts and bruises.

“Thank you, sire! You will be most pleased by my knowledge. I come from the east, where there are many a grave tiding!”

“Speak, peasant! What goings-on are there in the east?” Peter asked the man.

“Well sire, the word is that a man appeared in the town of Polesia, supposedly a Latins-Gallic man, who spoke to the populace and told them of unspeakable travesties committed by Dvinskayan soldiers during the war. He also told them that you were planning to massacre the populace there, and raze all the cities to the ground in order to cleanse the east of all traces of Gallian influence.

"At first people didn’t believe him. They could not believe in their minds that you, great king, would try and kill them all. But then strange things started happening. People started disappearing, and there were several incidents of soldiers getting into fights with citizens. It all combined with the amazing rhetoric of this man to start a riot in the town.

"The people managed to drive the soldiers out by sheer number, and once the news spread, riots developed in many of the towns. The conditions are terrible now, sire. There is no law. The soldiers have gone. All that’s left is death, destruction, fear, and the strange figure that started this all. And just on my way here, I heard a trader talk of soldiers clad in green and blue ravaging the countryside in the east.”

“Do you know this man’s identity?”

“No, sire. No one does. It was said he appeared one moment and was gone the next. All his mysterious ways only added to the uncertainty.”

“What about this trader? Who was he?”

“I’m sorry, sire, but I only caught a mere glimpse of him. You might try sending some people down to the market. They might know who spoke of the soldiers in green and blue. I do remember that he was wearing a very strange hat, one I had never seen before in my time spent in the east or west.”

“Very well then. Thank you, sir…?”

“Andréi, sire, if you please.”

“Sir, Andréi, then. I hope that you stay here in Brünnsk for a bit, maybe keep your ears open in the market for more strange news?”

“It would be an honor, sire!”

“Then please do so. I expect a report from you soon.”

“Yes, sire, of course, sire!”

The peasant, clearly overjoyed by his inclusion in an important mission from the king, left happily, barely short of skipping out of the throne room. Kaganov appeared from the shadows. “Can we trust him?”

“I think so,” replied King Peter. “What better way to hear the news from the people who experience it? Besides, he seems to pick up information better than half the spies working for us. Maybe it’s time for a new crop of scouts and spies to be employed by Dvinskaya. Ordinary people, planted by us in the important towns, to watch out for enemies of the nation.”

“Perhaps it is, sire. Perhaps it is.”

OOC: If this interests anyone, please feel free to post a reply. I could probably use some citizens or soldiers that are out in the east, or maybe someone to RP as Rossiya or Gallia to respond to the situation. Please remember that this is set in the equivalent to the 1200's or so, so no guns or anything. If you need clarification or more info on something, you can make it up or send me a message.

I give you....bump!

OOC: Am I allowed to roleplay with Samurai instead of western technology?

OOC: I'll check it later. If I can, expect an IC post soon

OCC
I will Rp as a captain of Dvinskaya soldiers - currently based in Kabensk.

IC

Captain Charles Ney was 33 years old, young for a captain of a company of His Majesty's King Peter IV.
He was garrison commander for the Kabensk area and he was a very worried man. For weeks he had been hearing rumours of uprisings further to the east, and over the last few days refugees and soldiers fleeing the carnage of uprisings were pouring into his Castle the Chateau Hof, the former Palace of a Gallia noble.

He needed to know the extent of uprising so was preparing a strong patrol to march south to Kebelski and then east to Polesia. he didn't want to fight pitched battles and would do all he could to avoid battles, one of the reasons his patrol 120 strong were all cavalry, they could move quickly.

His men were all veterans of the wars, but over the last few years many were leaving the army and becoming farmers around Kabensk, he would send a rider out to warn these men and then families, perhaps they would return to the kings colours, or at least move their families closer to the castle.

He needed to send a message to the King in Brunnsk, warning him of impending troubles.
Quickly writing out his message

To King Peter IV Ivonov
From Garrison Commander - Kabensk
Captain Charles Ney

Sire
I am writing to inform you of reports of growing unrest in the former lands of Gallia. I have seen columns of refugees and fleeing soldiers pouring into my area, I am trying to collect the fleeing soldiers and reform them.
The reports I am receiving seem to indicate the presence of resurgence some sort of resistance or army within this province.
However all information is difficult to substantiate so I am sending a strong Patrol to Kebelski and Polesia to determine the truth in these matters.

Currently I have in Kabensk a garrison of 300 men, by calling in the retired veterans and reorganising the fleeing soldiers I estimate a further 100 men which I will form into a Militia company.

I will forward all information by riders as I gather facts. I intend to be away from Garrison for approximately 2-3 weeks. I will leave Chevalier Jochiam Foy as my Garrison commander.

Your Obedient servant

Captain Charles Ney

Having sent the message away, Charles Ney shook hands with Chevalier Foy and joined his Patrol.

OOC: NS that should be ok, just introduce why the character is using samurai stuff instead of western stuff.

IC:

Brünnsk, Kingdom of Dvinskaya

It had been two weeks since the peasant Andréi had come to warn King Peter of the troubles in the east. Since then, more and more reports had been flying in from the area, all basically saying the same thing: the people were practically in a rebellion, and the law was all but gone.

"Sire! A letter for you, from Captain Nay, in Kabensk," said Dmitry Kaganov, the king's advisor, running up from across the room. He reached the desk that was located near the throne, and dropped the letter on the top of a stack of notes and other letters.

The king reached for the letter, unrolling the paper and then reading slowly the words upon it. "It's getting worse, Dmitry."

"Where are the men you sent to Pruskyy now? Are they close? Because surely they've run into soldiers or refugees by now."

The King consulted a map on his desk, laid over with small figurines to show the position of armies. "They crossed the Pfalsk River (OOC: that's the big one running down the middle, in case that wasn't clear..I need to go fix that map a little bit.) at least a few days ago, according the reports their captain sent. But I have recieved nothing from them since then. They are, for all intents and purposes, lost, for now."

"Maybe you could reassign a spy to try and find these soldiers?"

"That I shall not agree to. All those men are currently assigned to finding out the identity of this...revolutionary...and that is where all of them will stay."

"As you wish, sire."

"I'm not sending anyone else over there until we know where these soldiers are, and why the hell they haven't reported back to us since they crossed the Pfalsk."

East of the Pfalsk River, on the Southern Plain

Captain Ross Seden slowly moved his head into exposed area next to the tree he was hiding behind in order to see if the monsters were still there. Seeing a green uniformed man standing atop the nearby hillock, he quickly put his head back into safety.

Seden was the leader of the expedition sent by King Peter IV Ivanov to try and quell some of the rebellion in the east, the former Gallia. He led 200 of the kingdom's finest men, each strongly equipped with an impeccably made suit of chain mail and a finely crafted pike and sword. None of his men chose to ride horses, so no animals came along with the expedition.

After crossing the Pfalsk river two days ago, the men had run into strange soldiers, wearing uniforms of no country they recognized, and speaking a language so painful to the ears, one of his soldiers fainted...

Two days earlier

"You, soldiers there! Stop now!"

The strange men in green and blue stopped what they were doing and turned to the Dvinskayans soon approaching.

"What business have you here in Dvinskaya, with your imposter uniforms and strange mannerisms?" No reply. "What say you? Do you speak, or only listen?"

One of the men stepped forward. He emitted a harsh cry and then began speaking, or at least they guessed it was speaking, for he was opening his mouth and sounds came out, but nothing like words they had ever heard before.

"Stop that! I command you stop that right now! I am a captain of the army of Dvinskaya, and hold higher rank than you, whoever you may be!"

Hearing this (somehow, over that screaming), the man stopped. His eyes suddenly started acting wild, and he seemed almost drunk as he tried to move around. Looking like he was fainting, instead of falling, he grabbed a spear that was lying on the ground next to him and launched it into the air, throwing into into the crowd of soldiers behind Captain Seden.

Seden turned to look, if only for a second, at the results of the spear. It had actually somehow pierced one of his soldier's chain mail, and the wound was oozing green goo and blood. The man was screaming, crying for mercy, and then suddenly he just fell to the ground, writhing in pain.

"Men! Attack these unwashed fiends!" screamed Captain Seden. His men hefted their pikes, prepared themselves for battle, and charged the men in front of them.

Bloody battle ensued. Each time a Dvinskayan fell, his wounds oozed green goo and blood. Surely that's not a good sign, Captain Seden thought. But ignoring it, he fought on.

Until there were only ten of his men left. The fiends were devils in hand to hand combat, and easily overpowered the Dvinskayans. Exhausted and disheartened, Captain Seden tried to gather the last few together and flee into the forest nearby. Once they started running, the other men gave no chase.

(Back to current)

Two days the Dvinskayans had spent hiding in the woods, hunting for food and trying to stay out of sight from the monsters out on the plain. Captain Seden needed to get a message back to the king, but all his men were exhausted still from the combat, as was he. Those men had seemed almost...superhuman.

And the more he thought about what had happened, the less he could find himself doubting that perception.

End of Part II

OOC: feel free to post away!

It took Captain Neys Patrol twice as long as usual to travel the distance between Kabensk and Kebelski, the roads being choked with refugees. The odd thing for Captain Ney was the reports were not about who the strange warriors were, but what were they.

Kebelski was normally a large trading town, like Kabenski the nature of the town had changed since the war. Once both towns were trading centres between Dvinskaya and the former Gallia, now with the disappearance of the border, the towns were becoming agricultural centres rather than just trading.
New farms abounded in the region, but as Captain Ney and his men passed them he noticed most were empty or had been pillaged by refugees.
Many begged him to leave men to protect them from the marauding refugees, but he steadfastly refused, not wanting to dissipate his strength.

Once in Kebelski he noticed there were more soldiers than he had seen previously, he ordered his men to scour the town and taverns and bring the
soliders to the town square.
Meanwhile he ordered 30 of his men to patrol out of the town for 10 miles circumference, just to see what was around, again collecting soldiers as they went.
The Captain dismounted and made his way over to a tavern on the edge of the square, pushing the door open inside he saw huge numbers of people, all were yelling and screaming either at each other or at the publican.
Beside him was Sergeant "Bear" Brunswick, a huge man hence the nick name.

When the crowd saw him walk in, it went quiet for a moment, and they then started up again, Captain Ney signalled "Bear" to bring some men in and get the people out of the tavern.
It only took a few minutes and the last of the noisy crowd were tossed outside into the square.
One man, a army sergeant yelled and abused Bear, not a wholly intelligent thing to do. With a simple club fist, Neys Sergeant thumbed the man on the crown of his head knocking the man senseless.

From inside the tavern one of his men came out with a tankard of bear, given to him by a grateful publican. The trooper handed the tankard to Ney.

Quietly sipping the beer Ney walked amongst the crowd, who were now subdued and quiet, especially since now they noticed the mounted troopers who surround the square.

Captain Ney spoke
"Who the fuck wants to tell me whats going on here?"

No one spoke, as he looked into the eyes of the people he passed, he saw terror, there was not much common sense amongst these people they were simply living off the mass hysteria of each other.

Ney noticed a soldier..
"Where is your unit?"

The man swallowed hard, realising he was moments away from being charged with desertion.
"They all ran away sir, left me they did".

Ney looked the man in the eyes, taking a swig of beer he handed the tanker to Bear, who finished the rest of it, with a disappointing gulp when he realised his Captain had drunk most of it.

Speaking to Bear Ney said

"Sergeant here before us we have a true hero, a man that stood to his post to the last while his unit deserted. A true hero Sergeant, what do you say"

Bear stepped up to the man, inches from his face,
"Sir I see a snivelling coward, a deserter; a man that needs hanging, Sir".

"Now, now sergeant, hanging a hero, no surely not" replied Charles.

"Sir, if this piece of shit be a hero, I'm a fucking Gentleman"

"Well sergeant, a gentleman you are not, nor ever will be;thank god. So if you
are not a gentlemen this piece of shit cannot be a hero. String him up"

The sergeant grabbed the terrified man, he kicked and struggled but in the iron grip of the huge sergeant it was futile.
Two of Neys men closed in taking the struggling soldier they dragged him to a tree that stood in the market square, the people stood watching, silently; fearful.
The Neys men placed a rope around the neck of the struggling, begging soldier, they threw the rope around a bough and tying the rope to one of the troopers horse they looked to Captain Ney.
Ney nodded and the horse moved forward and the kicking struggling man went up, hanging by the neck.
The crowd went silent.

Ney mounted his horse, looking to the still struggling figure he spoke in a loud voice

"This piece of snivelling shit isn't being hung for being a deserter, if he was a deserter, I would have cut his throat. No this man is being hung because he was running, spreading rumours, creating fear where there was no need for fear."
He moved his horse ever so slowly amongst the crowd, as he moved they noticed a rugged, scarred captain, his chain mail was well kept but clearly old. His sword a huge sword, hung to his side, his horse one of the biggest horses many of these people had ever seen.
As he looked down on the people from his horse, they would see the deep red scar that ran from forehead down to his cheek, a sign of a very deep old wound.

Captain Ney continued,
"My men will continue to hang scaremongers, and there a many among you right now".
He looked down, noticing a man that had all the hallmarks of being a gentleman.

He bent down to the man, inches from his face.
"Sergeant, this man is another snivelling scaremonger'

Sergeant bear roared for the benefit of the crowd,
"Let me hang the bastard, Captain; god how I hate snivelling cowardly scaremongers, please sir, let me hang him"

The man backed away, trying to disappear into the crowd, but was pushed back least one of them became the attention of this murderous captain.
The man realised there was no retreat, he fell to his knees.

"For gods sake captain, have mercy, I am not a scaremonger, I am the Mayor of this town, please have mercy"

"Do you hear that Sergeant, this man is the town Mayor"

"Sir please let me hang the bastard, there is nothing I hate worse than snivelling scaremongers than a fucking snivelling mayor sir".

The captain, looked over at his sergeant.

"Come, come now sergeant, we cant hang mayors, they are town leaders, they set examples for their towns people, surely hanging isn't a good example".

The sergeant looked at the Mayor grovelling on his knees, while shaking his head with the captain.

Pointing to the mayor, the sergeant said
"What sort of example, is that sir, for gods sake the snivelling piece of shite has just pissed himself, hang the bastard sir".

Captain Ney looked down, the man was indeed kneeling in his own urine.
"Alright sergeant, take him and put him up with the other coward". Again the same to troopers pushed their way through the crowd, pulling the mayor up; the captain spoke to him and the crowd.

"This man is being hung because he too is a scaremonger, but he is also a leader and should have shown leadership', take him away and string the coward up"

The troopers dragged the struggling, begging mayor away.

Captain Ney continued his walk through the town square, his men now joined by the patrol that rode out earlier.
The patrol leader, sergeant John Card reported,

"Nothing other than refugees and deserters, we have the deserters over yonder captain" he said indicating the tree where the mayor was being hung from.

Captain Ney nodded,
"Well sergeant, we cant hang them all, I will question them and then decide what to do, take them over by the tavern, I shall be there directly".

He then once again turned his attention to the crowd.
"Right, you piece of worthless shits, I don't have ropes to hang you all, but i have swords aplenty. Is there one among you that should live"

The crowd roared, as they all wanted to live.
"I will let you live, on the grounds that you stop your running, stop your rumour mongering and start living like human beings"

He rode through the crowd, followed by the somewhat disappointed huge sergeant.
"You live if you will organise this town, you die by my sword if any of my men catch you or any other refugees fleeing from this town. Remember my men and I will be patrolling this region, any one running will be brought back and hung, and one of those who stayed will be hung for letting them go.
You have nothing to fear from out there, its me you need to fear"

He pointed to the two corpses, still swinging from the tree,
"Deserters and scaremongers will have my justice done to them".

He then rode over to the tavern, dismounted and walked up to 4 men, men who had clearly been running hard.

Captain Ney walked up to one of them, he seemed the leader and clearly wasn't afraid.
"I don't fucking care if you hang me captain, cos believe me sir, you and your men will be doing the same in a few days"

Captain Ney thumped the man in the mouth, with his huge fist.
"Did I ask you to speak, you piece of shit. My men don't run from anything or anyone".

The man sitting on his haunches, rose up again, with blood flowing freely he said

"My men didn't run either, my men died fighting, I would have died if they, the fucking godless devils hadn't left me for dead"

Captain Ney looked at the man, this was one of the first men he had spoken to that had seen one of the invaders.

"Godless devils, what the hell are you talking about"

"Well captain they ain't human, they have these spears see, if one hits a man, he bleeds green shit and stuff and dies a horrible death, and they fight like demons"

Captain Ney, indicated to one of his men
"Go get me two tankards".

Taking the man, Charles led him to a table
"Tell me more man, where was this?"

"It was four days ago, east of the Pfalsk, I was with Captain Sedon".

"Ross Sedon" asked Charles

"Yes sir, and a better captain you will never find" he said looking Charles directly in the eye. The trooper arrived with the tankards, Charles noticed one was considerably lower than the other, he looked at the trooper who smiled sheepishly.

Charles pushed the tankard over to the man, his mouth having stopped bleeding.

"Well I agree, Ross Sedon was no coward, what happened to him"

"I don't rightly know sir, I was in a fight and was knocked unconscious, when I came to it was all over and there were a shitload of my men were dead, all of them bleed green shit".
I gathered a few men and made my way here, some I guess are in the woods near where we were attacked.

"How did these devils fight"

"They fought hard, like men possessed, they have throwing spears and when then hit, the green blood starts. But they do die, if you are lucky enough, but they sure can fight."

Captain Ney, swilled the remainder of the tankard down, he indicated the other man should do the same.

"Well I will give you a horse and a trooper, you are to go to Brunnsk and report what you have seen"

"Sir you and your men look like fighters, I would like the chance to have another go at those fuckers sir"

Captain Ney looked at the man, he nodded. This was a man that was looking for his self respect, he deserved the chance.

"Alright, we will get you a horse, meanwhile I want you to write down all you have seen"

Parchment, quill and ink were provided and the man related the story he had told Ney. Charles went to troop Guy Sayer, the youngest and newest trooper,
"You are to meet the King Sayer"

The young man swallowed hard,
"The King sir, me"

"Yes lad, I will give you a message for the King, you are to ensure it is placed in his hands"

"Yes sir, I will"

The man finished writing his report, Ney noted on the end of it that he was going east to find out what happened to captain Sedon. Giving the message to the young man he bid him farewell.
He nodded to his sergeant
"Get the men ready"

Captain Ney walked over to the other deserters that remained.

"You men will stay here, you will police this town and ensure no refugees go beyond the town. The scaremongering stops here, or I will hunt each and all of you down myself.
I am giving you a chance to regain your self respect as soldiers, help organise this town for a defence, I will return in a few days, you best be here"

Captain Ney now mounted led his 121 cavalrymen out of Kabelski, towards the only battle site in which the strangers were engaged that he knew off so far.
They made an impressive sight, their Lances standing high with pennants flying, each man dressed in light armour or mail, some had shields attached to their mounts.
These men were not knights, they were mounted sergeants, or realistically medium cavalry.

(OOC: My PT nation is based on Ancient China. Any chance of me joining? See my factbook for more info (you can ignore the magic section, I won't use any for this.))

OOC: Angenteria: This was more of a character RP than a nation RP, besides the ones I mentioned, but if you can fit in your nation to the story well enough, then yes, I suppose you could RP it that way.

I'll try and get up my part of the story soon, because it'll take a few minutes =\.

EDIT: In the mean time, a different map is now up showing a slightly different area.

OOC: So, then I'll just use a character from my PT nation, if that's alright with you.

Brünnsk, Kingdom of Dvinskaya

Guy Sayer walked nervously down the long chamber that was the throne room of King Peter IV Ivanov. At the end of the hall was a desk and a throne, and today, King Peter sat upon his throne, speaking softly to someone standing next to him, who Guy guessed was an advisor.

"What news bring ye, soldier? What terrible story have you?" inquired the king, seemingly uninterested.

Nervously, Sayer cleared his throat. "Sire..., I bring a letter from Captain Ney, currently bringing order to the town of Kebelski. He recieved a man claiming to have fought the strange men we've been hearing about. The man claimed he was from the regiment sent by you, sire, to bring order."

"Bring it here, man. Let me see the letter."

The room was quiet for a few minutes as the king read over the letter, taking in the words scratched onto the sheet by both Captain Ney and the soldier. When he was done, he sighed visibly, and passed the letter to the man standing next to him, bidding him to read it.

The advisor, probably unaccustomed to the horrors of war being locked up in the castle at Brünnsk for all his life, was much more animate about the letter, and the words upon the sheet.

"Son," said the king, addressing Sayer, "Go back out for a minute. I need to consult with my advisor here."

"Of course, sire!" He slowly backed up and then turned and walked back down the long hall.

Edifare, Duchy of Kadan

Duke Leopold Banastre Johansson stood quietly in his throne room, looking out a grand window northward, towards the troubled Kingdom of Dvinskaya, his neighbor and friend.

Reports had been streaming in of chaos, anarchy, and general hell being raised in the former Gallian provinces from his spies near the Salet River. He wasn't really sure what to make of the situation; in the Gallian Invasion Wars, his father had helped secure independence from Nova Rossiya, which had made the Rossiyans bitter, but he had also maintained good relations with the other combatant, Dvinskaya.

When the war was over, a treaty of non-aggression and friendship had been signed between Dvinskaya and Kadan, and since then they had remained on good terms even when both recieved new leaders. The treaty had never mentioned intervening in an internal conflict, because it was never expected to happen, but the treaty did say the two would support each other in times of war.

And the way he saw it, Dvinskaya was at war...with Nova Rossiya. Some of the early reports had cited villagers from the northern towns like Kaymelut and Asiya talking of a man who suddenly appeared, preaching about the evils of King Peter IV of Dvinskaya and how he was intent on killing them all.

It was exactly the sort of thing the Rossiyans would do: there were always rumors that magicians and sorcerers lived in the mountains of remote southern Nova Rossiya, and to plant a so called magician in a country they were already angry at to incite a major rebellion was the sort of thing a cunning leader like King Alexei Isiltsiy would do.

Ever since Kadan had declared independence King Isiltsiy grew colder and colder towards the Duke. Maybe an intervention to help save Dvinskaya and convince them to go to war against their southern, oppressive neighbor later would help Kadanyans find closure against their neighbors.

But to risk the lives of what few soldiers he could spare to send to a foreign conflict against rumored superhuman beasts roaming the countryside? It all was very confusing, but he had to make the right decision soon. His life and country depended on it.

EDIT: OOC: sorry I didn't say anything, you posted while I was getting this chunk of the story up. Yeah, that would be great.

Yuan Jun (http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b62/fangorn87/blog/07Sep/forbiddenkingdom-still03.jpg) lowered the brim of his sunhat as he passed through one of the many villages of the unknown regions. He had come a long way from the Empire he had called home, his travels taking him to distant corners of the world, and going places that even His Most Divine Majesty, Emperor Xuo, did not know of. This was one such travels. A traveling warrior-scholar, he sought to increase his knowledge of the areas outside the vast expanses of his homeland. And his search had not been fruitless. He had crossed a multitude of places since he had left home. He had been through scorching deserts, frozen wastelands, and just about everything in between. At this point, even the buildings had become strange and foreign to him. Soon, however, it would as familiar to him as his own hands.

But something was up. The smell of trouble was in the air, and it made his, and his horse, discomforted.

His mount neighed, kicking the air wildly.

Yuan patted the mane of his steed in an attempt to give it comfort, as he turned his head to look down the path in front of him. Ahead, he could see lines of armed and armored horsemen, soldiers probably, moving down the path in battle formation, leading away from a nearby town.

They were coming in his direction.

"This can't be good." He said to himself, as he pulled on the reigns of his horse, forcing it to calm for awhile. Those soldiers looked hungry for battle, and they were only getting closer.

Yuan cursed himself. His strange clothing and face made him stand out like a beggar in the Imperial Palace.

OOC: @ A...you might want to find a different picture. It's blocked.

OOC: Try it now.

OOC: there we go. So now we wait on Rechburg, yes?

OOC: For now, unless someone else shows up first.)

Captain Ney's men had only just left the village when they saw a lone rider approaching, he stopped the patrol and surveyed the terrain; it was too open to be an ambush, so he waved them on, the patrol slowly advanced to the lone figure.

As he neared, the features of the man became clear, he was different, he looked like no man he had seen before. But the eyes, he remembered the Jesuit Monk back in his home village talking about foreigners with slant eyes; and this man had eyes just like that.
He was dressed very differently as well, now on his guard he signalled to the man who had just joined his patrol, the ex deserter called Morrison.

"Morrison, does that man look like one of your devil warriors?"

"No sir, nothing like them" Morrison rather nervously replied.

Captain Ney advanced alone to the stranger

"I am captain Charles Ney, commander of his majesty's King Peter IV Ivonov, do you speak English" he asked.

Yuan looked at the man who had approached him, introducing himself as Charles Ney. He looked at the man. He was quite young, but already had the hardened look of one who has fought many battles before, and the look in his eyes betrayed a darkness that slumbered within him. His study into the local language had not been fruitless. He reached into his pack, and pulled out a flask of wine, taking a sip. Did he mention he liked to drink? He dismounted his horse, approaching Ney.

"I am...a traveler." He said, his English accented to a degree. "I am called Yuan. Is something wrong?"

Seeing the foreigner dismount, Charles did likewise. Handing the reins to Bear, he walked over to the stranger.

"We are investigating reports of a foriegn invasion to the east, also some rumours of devil warriors in the area, low and behold we find you. Fortunately you don't look like an invading army, though you could be a devil warrior"

He looked around, to see if there were any others following the stranger. He turned and signalled his men, sergeant Brunswick recognising the unspoken sign sent riders off to the flanks to scour the area while they were halted.

"Have you seen any sign of an army, or battles? Charles asked.

Yuan looked around, almost in a comical manner. "No armies here. Tell you what, though. If I find one, I'll let you know." He took another swing of his wine flask, but found it empty. "Ahh." He said aloud "The wine's gone." He turned around, walking back to his horse, muttering in his own language "Ha. Did you see any armies or battles..."

OOC: EDIT: I changed the picture of my dude.

Convinced he was talking to an idiot, worse an idiot that talked to his horse, Charles made his way back to his horse, mounted it and signaled his men to march on.
Charles turned to the sergeant, "he talks to his horse, the ediot"
The serjeant simply shrugged his head, "I think the horse is an idiot too, it replied to him".
He casually saluted the stranger and continued his search for the battle site and Captain Seden.

OOC: It's Seden. Sorry to be picky, its an OCD sort of thing.

Yuan jumped back on his horse as the armored cavalry passed him by, probably convinced he was nothing more then a useless idiot who had lost his way. Clearly, these people did not understand the first rule of the warrior.

All warfare is based upon deception.

Shrugging, Yuan decided that it was time to head into the town, possibly looking to replenish the drink he had used up. Upon proceeding to the town square, he was more then a little surprised to find a pair of men hanging by the neck from a tree, and a small crowd of people dispersing from it, with other armored and armed individuals patrolling the area. Wondering what was going on, he stopped one of the local commoners.

"What happened here?" He asked, gesturing to the hanging bodies.

OCC - oops my bad, sorry about that.

While I am on patrol you will need to feed me info about the country and whats happening. Some players getting touchy if a Rper suddenly starts creating events, towns or people that they didnt want in their storyline.

OOC: what sort of info do you need?

OCC

well rumours about where the enemy are, battles that may have been fought or individuals that have a story to tell.

Esentially my men are simply a source for gathering info that will be passed back to your King so he can react.
Im assuming there is an enemy out there, so someone must see them, and possibly run and tell.

Next my men will arrive on the scene of the battle, I know you have survivors hiding in the woods, but how many bodies lay out on the battlefield, in paricular the enemy ones.

Hmm ok..

Well, the strange soldiers have left the battlefield here: http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh285/discreet_novgorod/battlefield.png, and are moving towards Kisentsiya, so there will be hell raised there pretty soon. If you're still moving towards Pruskyy, the people there would probably tell you that there have been reports of troops (no one knows whose) near Dortesk and the Salet River, and that the mayor of Pruskyy has fled. (But maybe you'll run into him on the way, because he forgot to disguise himself as a refugee/civilian.)

If you were going more towards Barentsiya (the one on the Pfalsk River that isn't marked because I missed it), the people there would tell you they had refugees come in from the south that claimed they saw a battle between Dvinskayans and other soldiers who they did not recognize, where the Dvinskayans lost.

If you weren't going to either of those, you'd have to tell me where you are going, because those seem the only two viable options.

There are probably about 220 or so bodies on the battlefield, obviously most of them Dvinskayan. (Oh, and LOTS of green goo) Of the ten that made it back to the woods, the only one still alive would be the one you received in Kebelski; they sent him out to find someone to tell about the battle and then the rest were found by the strange soldiers and massacred, so there would be 8 or 9 bodies in the woods as well.

Sorry about the everyone's dead part...I meant to RP it from the captain's pov, but I had to leave for a while earlier so I never got the chance. Unless you still want me to...?

That's all I've got for now...if you need more let me know.

OOC: What about my post?

Is that my character? Sorry, I'm pretty tired and not paying much attention =\

OOC: Don't worry about it. I've been there. And yes, it's your character.

OOC: Would it be ok to use Middle Eastern type forces? I'm kind of wondering if Gallia and the other regions are located anywhere which could be accessible to say... I dunno, holy warriors from Persia dead set on spreading certain religious values? Might be fun to RP past tech Parthia I think.

hm..well, you could RP as some warriors from the north...Gallia's pretty much set as it is, but I'll telegraph you a map of the northern areas, and you can pick where you want to go/start from. And Angentaria, I'm working on the post, it'll be up within an hour =\

EDIT: the maps are here...

the map in question is here: http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh285/discreet_novgorod/DnirskayaGalliaandAriadne.jpg

and compare it against this: http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh285/discreet_novgorod/CarpentatiaPolitical.jpg to see where everything is

Actually, maybe you could do that for Balgariya? I always sort of saw them as an exotic area, being hidden in the mountains and all. I'd rather it that than Dnirskaya, because I have special plans for them later on.

[IC]

"I'll tell you what happened here, man. What happened was that butcher of a captain came in with his beast of a sergeant and threatened to hang us all! He only ended up hanging a soldier and the mayor, but still, he was close on it for the rest of us.

"He claims he's here to restore order, but incidents like that won't help one bit. The people here are already fearful of the king and the army because of what that magician-man told us all about. This only serves to further incite the people to riot!"

OCC
Lots of info there and don't worry, it will mostly kept small unless I bang into a horde or something.

IC
The journey to Pruskyy was like moving against the tide, there were many refugees who quietly and solemnly made their way along the roads away from the town.
It had been several days since the incident with the stranger, Charles would stop and question refugees but generally he would let them go.

He was somewhat surprised however when he rounded a bend and almost ran into a Gig, the Gigs horse reared up, the driver taking a whip to the horse as he tried to drive around the sudden mass of soldiers.

Bear leant across and grabbed the halter around the horse neck, with a strong grip he yanked the horse down and to a stop.
The driver, obviously a gentleman, stood up,

"What is the meaning of this, out of my way you scum?"

Charles directed his horse and rode along side, leaning over he pushed the man down onto the seat.
Dismounting Charles walked around the the back of the gig, noticing the travel bags and satchels he paused, looking.
Sergeant Brunswick now handed the halter to another trooper while he too walked around the back of the gig, seeing the bags that Charles was looking at, he shrugged his shoulders and grabbed one.

The man rose from his seat once again,
"I demand you leave those bags, they are my bags, my property".

Charles climbed up beside the man, pushed him back into his seat. He noticed the man was dressed in fine clothes, considering the state of his dress, the quality bags and the fine gig; he was obvious this was a wealthy man.

"Who are you"? demanded Charles.
The man looked across at the man sitting beside him, the cold eyes told him volumes, and warned him to be careful.

"I am mayor of Pruskyy, and I am on urgent official business, who are you"? he asked.

"Captain Charles Ney, Garrison Commander of Kabensk"

"Kabensk, kabensk, you are a long way from your garrison captain"

"Yes indeed, I am follwing rumours of invaders and strange warriors, have you heard of either"

"Good God man, of course I have, everyone has".
Pointing to the refugees who were walking by,
"Ask these people, they are all running from the invaders, and captain you would do well to join them and return to your town"

"Indeed" replied Charles, he was interrupted by Sergeant Brunswick's outburst

"Holy mother of God, look at this" he tipped the open bag and gold coins poured out.

The mayor, suddenly flustered said,

"That's mine, put it back, immediately"

Charles pushed him down, he said to Sergeant Brunswick,
"Open them all".

By now the troopers were gathering around, most never even seeing a gold coin let alone bags of them.
As the bags were opened more gold and documents were discovered. Charles climbed over the seat and picked up one such document, it was a land deed, not yet used; there were many such documents.
Climbing back into his seat he sat beside the shaking, sweating mayor.

"You have only one chance to explain this, lie and you will hang from those trees over there."

The mayor, licked his dry lips
"I am getting out of the way of an enormous invading army, an army of strange monsters and warriors, an army that will devour you and your men"

"Have you seen this army" asked Charles.
The mayor almost shaking in convulsion with fear
"Of course not, I would not be here if I had"

"Have you seen these strange warriors that will devour me?"

"No, no of course not".

"So it seems you are running from an army you have never seen, from monsters you have never seen, with bags of gold and valuable documents. It seems to me Mr mayor of Pruskyy you are a either a looter or a thief, and in my books they both end up under a tree with a rope around your neck."

He nodded to Sergeant Brunswick who walked around and grabbed the shaking incoherent mayor,
"You cant do this, I am a man with influence, I am a wealthy man, you cant do this" he screamed as the bear and several troopers dragged him to a tree.

Charles Ney shoved the gold back into the bags, he decided he would split the spoils with his men, since they haven't been paid for months it seemed fair and just.
As for the documents, they would be burned.
He looked over at Brunswick who stood waiting beneath the tree, the mayor on his knees, begging for mercy.
Charles climbed down and made his way to his horse, before remounting the horse he looked over at the Mayor and Brunswick

"Hang the looter and label him as such"

At that Brunswick nodded to one of the men who rode his horse away, the tethered rope pulling the swinging, jerking mayor up into the air, the man and horse halted, while the mayor died.

Charles said to Brunswick,
"Give your horse to one of the men, you can be a gentlemen and bring this contraption with us to Pruskyy. the men can get paid, and the towns whores can get laid, if there any left". He rode on making his way to Pruskyy and a nice warm bed and a jug or two of ale."

"I'll tell you what happened here, man. What happened was that butcher of a captain came in with his beast of a sergeant and threatened to hang us all! He only ended up hanging a soldier and the mayor, but still, he was close on it for the rest of us.

"He claims he's here to restore order, but incidents like that won't help one bit. The people here are already fearful of the king and the army because of what that magician-man told us all about. This only serves to further incite the people to riot!"

Yuan listened closely to the commoners tell him of the butchery of the Captain and his Sergeant, who had apparently threatened to hang them all.

"Calm down." He said again, realizing that the soldier he'd just met had most likely been the same butcher who had had those two strung up. "For what crime were they hung?"

Ziyoshiyua Ashida and his small band of mercenaries had been riding toward the capital for days as soon as they heard of the uprising. Seeing the capital, they headed for the keep. They needed a contract, soon.

"Well, sir, the Captain and his men went back and forth over whether or not the soldier was a deserter for staying behind when his company had left, which they decided he was. So there's your first neck.

And the mayor. The captain was disappointed in his "hopeless" leadership of our town and for doing nothing to stop the rumor-spreading and general hell being raised here and all across this area. But what about you? I recognize you not, nor the way you dress or speak? What new land are you from, stranger?"

OOC: I really need to figure out a name for this area, other than "east" or "former Gallia" ...*thinks while waiting for next installment*

The small group of mercenaries, the Ronin, quickly found the entrance to the keep, and were greeted by a guard.

OOC: Dvin, where should they go?

Brünnsk, Kingdom of Dvinskaya

"Sire! A man named Ashida here to see you. Claims to know about the rebellion, and wants to help," called Atlas, King Peter's loyal guard, from the entrance to the throne room.

Glimpsing the strange man behind Atlas, King Peter replied, "Let him through, Atlas, but tell him all those weapons had better be left there, or else you're coming up here too, pike drawn!"

"As you wish, sire."

Turning around, Ziyoshiyua saw a guard coming toward him.
"The king wishes an audience with you immediately." said the guard.
"Very well." said Ziyo, motioning his company to remain behind, and untying his katana and wakizashi from his belt and setting them on a conveniently placed table.

Walking towards the king, Ziyo put his arms at his sides and bent forward, eyes towards the ground.

OOC: Not anymore

"No need, good sir," said King Peter, looking interestedly at the man standing before him. "Now, my servant tells me you have services for the kingdom?"

Still facing toward the ground, as was tradition in Kagetora, Ziyoshiyua said
"Milord, we have recently been informed of the uprising within your dominion, and we would be willing to sell our swords to your cause. For a reasonable sum, of course."

Yuan looked at the commoner who he was talking to. Well, he supposed he should have expected questions about his home. He was different from then in just about every way.

"Where I'm from..." He said "is a long way from here. Picture the place you've been that's the farthest away from home you've ever been, then go even further then that, to where even the stars become strange to you." He stared at the man with a very serious face for a moment, before suddenly laughing. "It works best when you're had too much to drink!" He recovered from his laughter, getting back to the situation at hand. Something that the man said earlier had piqued his interest. It appears that this place was, in fact, a land in turmoil.

"But it appears I'm quite far from the land I call home. Tell me, stranger..." he patted the man on the shoulder "...where exactly am I, and why is this everyone so bitter?"

OOC: I'm going to bed. Really tired.

The king chuckled softly to himself under his breath. I should have known. Mercenaries, he thought to himself. "I am interested to hear who informed you of events in my realm, for I feel it obvious to point out you are not from this country, nor its neighbors.

Perhaps after we can determine if a business transaction is appropriate for the situation, yes?"

"Of course we are not from this area, we come from the islands of Kagetora. My 46 comrades and I have recently become ronin after the death of our daimyo. After that we had boarded a ship, interested in learning the ways of the west. In the port we landed in, we saw soldiers mobilizing to move on the uprising. And of course Peter-sama (a suffix used to show respect)."

Kebelski

"You are a strange man. But strange or not, you are in the town of Kebelski, in the areas captured from the strange country of Gallia several years ago, in the kingdom of Dvinskaya.

King Peter IV Ivanov rules us, but he is an evil man. According to the magician-man, who said he had been in Brünnsk and listened to the king speak, King Peter wants to purge this area of all people, raze all the towns, and plant new, loyal Dvinskayans from the western cities in order to bring this area better under his control.

The magician-man went around to several of the towns in the region telling this to all those commoners who would listen, and it sounds like most did. I'll show you a map later, if you wish. But anyway, once the people heard this, riots began, and the workers and crafters and shopkeepers rose up against the soldiers in pitched battle to liberate themselves from utter annihilation!"

OOC at Kagetora: where did you come from in order to get to the capital? Look at the map in the first post to help, because if you came from a port, then you would have crossed the rebellious area, or is that what you were trying to portray?

OOC: What about Salsk? Isn't that under your dominion

OOC: I'll keep RPing it, but if I've misread your reply, let me know.

[IC]

Brünnsk

"Saw soldiers mobilizing you say? They were mine, I presume? But then again, maybe I don't, I've heard reports of five different countries' soldiers mobilizing into my territory, but so far none have been proved. Did they wear the Dvinskayan blue and yellow that I'm sure you've seen? Or hoist the noble Tryzub?"

"Some were, but they were mostly sentries. Most of the soldiers we saw were wearing red."

"What?" the king demanded. "Did you happen to catch where they were headed?"

"No milord. We had stopped at a tavern, and found them there drinking and talking about their families."

"Fair enough. Excuse me for one moment," said King Peter. He called over his chief advisor, Dmitry Kaganov, and whispered something in his ear. Kaganov nodded, and then urgently retreated away to the shadows.

"My apologies. Now then, surely you've come a long way since arriving in Salsk? Have you seen anything interesting in your travels?"

"Milord, I am not one to decide what is normal and interesting in these lands, but I have seen many soldiers wearing red, green, and your colors. Near Salsk, there were large war machines being created."

"I see. I worry you no more with my troubles or questions. What is it you wish to propose? Personal defense or general army, or maybe you came here for something else?"

The stay in Pruskyy was enjoyable, they stayed there two days; there werent as many refugees this far west as there had been back east, which was a little puzzling, that was until a refugee family came in from Kisentsya.

The trooper who had interrogated them felt this was a vital piece of a large puzzle so he brought the family, children and all to the captain.
After explaining to Charles what he had been told, Charles and the trooper went outside the recently vacated mayors office to talk with the family.
he greeted the family and shook hands with the father.

"Please would you repeat what you have seen, and please differentiate btween what you know and what you have heard. You will understand I have spent the last few weeks chasing rumours, I need facts"

The father looking down at his family, who to Charles mind made a pitiful sight

"Your honour, we live just out of Kisentsya, and we are poor farmers, life is a struggle you will understand.
We dont leave our area very often, if at all; but we cannot go back there"

The man, his hand gently stroking his wives hair, was almost in tears.

"Several weeks ago, nay nearly a month or so ago we saw a small army moving down the valley, they wernet dressed like your lordship, in fact they looked like them Nova Rossiya soldiers, we have seen a few of them in our time. Any way, i saw this small army and I knew right there and then that we was in trouble"

One of the children started to cry, the mother taking the child in her arms rocked her back and forth

"Anyway I gathered Mary and the children here and we hid in the woods, we stayed there for a few days, then I went out and saw it"

I was heading into Kisentsya to find out what happened when I saw a soldier, he was crawling, I knew he was wounded and he had the same unform as your lordship. Anyways, I goes over to him to see if I could help, but by the time I got there he fell. I rolled him over to see if I coul help him and his face, his face was one of having seen pure terror, His eyes were bulging out of his sockets, his tongue swolen and, and it was green'

The captain looked up at the trooper, then back to the man telling the tale

"Green you say, are you sure it wasnt because he had fallen on Grass, or perhaps he had been hungry and eaten green fruit or vegetables."

The man looked up
"No your honour, his tongue was green, and, and, from, his, his wound he was bleeding green blood"

Charles was taken back
"For gods sake man, green tongue, green blood, what the hell are you babling about".

The man shrunk back, from the outburst
"I swear its true your honour, on the lives of our bairns, it was green, and whats more I found others that were bleeding green, not all mind you' some had normal blood."

Charles rose from the family, he walked away, rubbing his stubble on his chin.
All he had defied logic, yet it had a ring of truth to it. It gave the rumours a sense of substance.

He dug into his pocket and took out two gold coins, he walked back to the family and handed the coins to the father. It was more than the father had seen in many years.

"Thank you your honour, thank you"

Charles, turned to the trooper,
"Find the bugler and get the men roused, we are heading out"

Meanwhile he quickly wrote a report, itemising all he had seen and done, including paying the men from the stolen means fund, and rewarding the family who had lost everything. he also included verbatum what the father had seen and heard.
He finished it by informing his King he would travel south from Pruskyy to the Nova Rossiya border and then west back to Kisentsya where he had rumours of fighting.
He gave the message to the youngest trooper present, take this to the King; urgently.

"I see. I worry you no more with my troubles or questions. What is it you wish to propose? Personal defense or general army, or maybe you came here for something else?"

"Within my group, we have some very, specialized, individuals." said Ziyo. "We can do whatever tasks it is you want us to."

OOC: Maybe I didn't clarify this, but the strange soldiers aren't Nova Rossiyans. Everyone is still trying to figure out who the man who started everything was, and where he was from (likely Nova Rossiya), but the other soldiers are from a different place.

OCC
Yes i assumed that and I realised that, but people would associate armies with the nearest border, so to this man it would seem that the logical army moving through his land would be Nova Rossiya, so captain charles is attempting to find out if thats true.
I realise its a futile chase, but he wouldnt have known that, he has to follow leads and report them as he sees fit. The KIng has to decypher whether it is fact or fiction because he is likely the only one with the big picture.

"I think I have just the task for you. You see, I received a report recently from one of my captains in a town called Pruskyy, well back to the east. He gave me a report that there has possibly been an invasion of the nearby area, possibly coming from Nova Rossiya, our not-so-amiable neighbor to the south. All I've been getting from captains, spies, civilians, you name it, is rumors.

I'm dead tired of rumors, and the next person that reports a new rumor to me will most likely get hanged. This is where you come in. You seem like a trustworthy man. I want you to go to the area my captain is heading for now, which I will show you in a minute, and scout around, see what you can find.

I need facts and answers, Mr. Ashida, not more rumors. Does that make sense?"

EDIT: OOC: Oh, ok. Gotcha.

"Yes milord. Is there anything else your lordship would care to ask of us?" said Ziyo, unsure of what "Mister" meant. He figured it must have been the western equivalent of san.

"No, I believe that's a good start. I am prepared to pay well, sir, but understand I need results and answers, not foreigners running off with my kingdom's money. The currency in my realm is the Brunn Marque. I believe you'll find 600 sufficient for your needs.

Acceptable?"

"Yes of course my liege." said Ziyo, standing straight up for the first time.

"It is settled then. Come, please, I will escort you to my treasurer, and he will transfer to you the necessary marques."


OOC: This dialogue is done, by my views, so I'm going to go ahead and call it a night, for me. I've stayed up too late already. ;-\

OOC: I agree

IC:
Ziyo picked up the marques, his swords, and exitted the keep to meet up with his troop. The troop mounted up and began to ride east toward Pruskyy.

Edifare, Duchy of Kadan

"You called me, my duke?" asked General Húgo Toledo. He walked up near to the Duke's great desk, and motioned if he could sit down.

"Yes, please, of course, have a seat," the king said, seeing his friend's motioning. "And yes, I did call you, for we have things to discuss this morning."

The general looked confused. "Of a...military...nature?"

"Naturally, naturally. I have brought you here because I have decided it is in the best interests of our nation to intervene in Dvinskaya."

"Oh, of course, my duke. What sort of intervention were you planning?"

The duke motioned for the general to lean over his desk, as he turned a map of Kadan and the surrounding countries to show him his plans. "What I would like," he began, picking up a quill to point out places, "is for the army to leave here, and head directly west until they reach the border town of Asecha, on our side. From there, I would like them to cross the Salet and move either north to Kaymelut-" he pointed to the town, "or southwest to the town of Dortesk-" he pointed to this one as well, "or, if, depending on what you hear when you cross into Dvinskaya, it turns out the port of Salsk is more important, they would go there," giving the map a final tap.

The general looked over the map carefully. "What would the role of the army be in the conflict?"

"I believe your task shall be a simple one. I am expecting at least one Dvinskayan army to be in the area, for there was a confirmed battle with some other army here-" he pointed to the map once more, "And it is my guess they would continue to move east as they explore the battle, looking for the other army. Once you find that army, you will determine from talking with its leader where the best place to be is. And once that has happened, you will go there, and kick whoever's ass is trying to assault Dvinskaya."

"And...if they don't agree to help us?" the general asked, now seated again and rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

"I have no reason to believe they will. The country is falling apart, General. They need all the help they can get."

"Fair enough. And so I am to lead this army?"

"That is correct. I want at least 3,000 of the best Kadanyan soldiers with you, ready to go by the end of the week."

The general got up, bowed respectfully, and left the room to make preparations.

Several days later...

"General! I want you to know that all of Kadan is praying for you and the army, and for your safe return."

"Thank you, my duke. It means a lot to the men and I."

"I expect full reports at least once a week as you near closer to Dvinskaya. I need to find out what's going on over there, General, and I'm not ready to initiate contact with the king just yet."

"I understand sir. You can expect them promptly."

"Very well. Good luck, General Toledo. And as a friend, I tell you: be safe."

"I will, my duke, I will."

OOC: this happened before Rechburg's last post, in conjunction with the little spolier info I gave a couple of posts ago about troops near Dortesk and the Salet River. The captain Ney may choose to follow this lead once he has properly inspected the battlefield, but he doesn't have to. They will come to him soon enough.

Bad Umpires Make Plays

The journey to Kisentsya didnt take all that long even allowing that they didnt go by the direct route. Captain Charles rode along the border seeking signs of whether the Nova Rossiya army had invaded, by the time he reached Kisentsya he was convinced it wasnt the Nova Roosiya.

While in the town, he interviewed the few remaining inhabitants as to where the battle took place, he rode out there to investigate.
There were many bodies, but they were badly decomposed, it was difficult to tell what had happened to them as the wounds were not distinguishable and certainly there were no signs of blood or green "goo".

Charles ordered the bodies collected and they were given a proper and decent funeral, always a grizzly task and especially after a months decaying.
They never found the body of Captain Seden.

Rather dissappointed and weary of the long journey, he returned to the town of Kisentsya and wrote his report.

To
King Peter IV
From
Captain charles ney in the village of Kisentsya.

Sire,
I have travelled may hundreds of miles in search of the invaders and following rumours. On my journey I have encountered much disturbanceamongst the populace, mostly based on innuendo and unsubstantiated rumours.
On the outskirts of the town of Kisentsya I have found signs of a bloody battle, sadly due to the nature of the bodies decomposing it was impossible to
determine the type of wounds suffered (thereby giving a hint at the weapons used).
I have buried the dead ensuring a proper and correct burial.

I will reamin in this town, giving aid and reassurance to the inhabitants, in the hope people will return.
I will wait here for further instructions from your majesty as to whether you wish us to continue the search or to return us to our Garrison.
I have included the Gold that was taken from the mayor who had stolen your majesty's taxes, you will find a proper and true account of any funds I have dispersed in your name, which included the payment of arrears from my soldiers.

Captain Charles Ney.

OOC: so the strange soldiers have already left Kisentsiya? Or they're lying in wait nearby?

OCC

Im assuming they moved on - unless there is some reason i dont know for them to wait hiding nearby.
You may need to develop some more contacts somewhere with these strange warriors and a good explanation why the green gunk would be good :confused:
Gotta admit thats got me scratching by balding head.

OOC: Hehehe...I know all the secrets! Just kidding. But in all seriousness, I see what you mean, so they're gone on now (they've left the country).

*MAJOR PLOT SPOLIER TWIST THINGIE!!!*

The green goo is a form of poison. Made by people. That haven't been introduced yet. And spreads through the body like a disease almost instantaneously, and makes them bleed green.

I know, that probably doesn't make sense, but it will. It will.

OOC: I'm not entirely sure what's going on right now, even after reading the posts. Brief summary please?

Captain Ney left Pruskyy for Kisentsiya, met some civilians there and also investigated the battlefield from the original Dvinskaya-monster battle nearby. Meanwhile, before he left Pruskyy, people there told him they thought they saw an army to the east, near the Nova Rossiya/Kadan/Dvinskaya border, which is actually a Kadanyan army, that I RPed leaving the capital.

Does that make sense?

OOC: Yes. I think people just post too much unnecessary info in their posts.

Ziyo and his troop rode eastward, stopping every few hours to rest their horses. In their line of work, you never knew when they would need to mount a charge, and they needed fresh horses for that. So far they hadn't seen any soldiers besides the Dvinskayans, but as they got closer to Pruskyy, that would probably change.

OOC: is that supposed to be replyed to? (the IC not the OOC)

OOC: Well, you're the GM, you decide what random events happen to people

Ok. Random event time. (Well, sort of random.)
I'm going to assume you are somewhere on the road between Pemsk and Barentsiya.

It was quiet in the west. Most of the refugees had settled into towns right on the river, and only a few decided to keep moving further west into the big cities near the capital.

One of those few was a man named Adrian Kiv. His family had been trampled and killed in the rioting near his home in Polesia, and since then he had slowly, sadly trekked west, seemingly aimlessing moving on, day after day.

As we walked down the dirt road, on a clear, cool day, he came upon a troop of armed men. They were unlike any he'd ever seen before. Fearing they were more invaders or monsters, he tried to run off the road and hide in the bushes nearby while the troop passed, but it was too late; they had already seen him.

With a small motion of his hand, one of his men tossed a knife right above Adrian's head.
"Don't move if you know what's good for you." said the man.
Walking over, Ziyo dislodged the knife from the tree it had embedded itself in, and tossed it to the owner. Then he grabbed Adrian's shoulder and stood him up.
"Who are you and where do you come from?" he asked

Brunnsk

Dmitry Kaganov walked up to King Peter, hand outstreched, containing another letter from Captain Charles Ney. "For you, sire."

The king tore open the seal and read the letter. After a few minutes of silence, the king started slowly, "This man has traipsed across the country, hunting down leads and trying to do his duty to his country. I admire that, and I wish to reward him and his men. Get a runner out with a letter; I want him to come back to Brunnsk, and I want his men to return home, for they have done quite enough."

"As you wish, sire."

"Oh, and Dmitry?"

"Yes, my lord?"

"Could you send my wife in once you've finished? I find myself incredibly tired this morning, and I wish to see her."

"Of course, my lord. It shall be arranged."

Adrian put his head down quickly, realizing he had just come within inches of losing his life. "My...my name is..is Adrian. Adrian Kiv. I..I'm fleeing the rebellion, and I've lost all my family."

"Good. You know your way. You don't look like you have anything to lose. How'd you like to be our guide?" said Ziyo with a hint of danger in his voice.

Adrian wasn't expecting that. "Gu...Guide, sir?"

Realizing he was practically stuck between a rock and a hard place, he consented. "I would be honored to guide the kind sir. Sir...?"

"Sir?" Ziyo said, turning around to look at his troop. They shrugged. Turning back around.
"My name is Ashida Ziyoshiyua (family name first). Very good. If don't annoy us, we can arrange something for you when we arrive where we need to be."

"Very well Mr. Ziyoshiyua (He doesn't recognize the family name first). And, pray tell, where is it you would be going to?"

OOC: To all those not currently participating, but still reading this thread, I encourage you to join. Don't worry, its not too late! Either post here OOC or TG me so we can work out who or what you can RP.

"Very good. We are on our way to Pruskyy. If you would be kind enough to show us the way?" he said, motioning to one of his men, who came over. Ziyo whispered something in his ear, and the man went and fetched one of the packhorses.

"You are a strange man. But strange or not, you are in the town of Kebelski, in the areas captured from the strange country of Gallia several years ago, in the kingdom of Dvinskaya.

King Peter IV Ivanov rules us, but he is an evil man. According to the magician-man, who said he had been in Brünnsk and listened to the king speak, King Peter wants to purge this area of all people, raze all the towns, and plant new, loyal Dvinskayans from the western cities in order to bring this area better under his control.

The magician-man went around to several of the towns in the region telling this to all those commoners who would listen, and it sounds like most did. I'll show you a map later, if you wish. But anyway, once the people heard this, riots began, and the workers and crafters and shopkeepers rose up against the soldiers in pitched battle to liberate themselves from utter annihilation!"

Although Yuan did not appear so, he was actually listening intently to what the man was saying. It seemed wherever he went, whether the land was civilized or not, there was some sort of military or political intrigue that threatened to rip apart the fabric of the very society they were supposedly serving. Even the halls of the Imperial Palace itself was not exempt from this rule, as bureaucrats of all sorts competed blindly for favor from His Divine Majesty. For the most part, Yuan had accepted this as a part of the endless circle of humanity under Heaven. However, something about this situation was not right.

Yuan had heard rumors of men and women who were skilled in the forms of magic before, and had even met those specialists back home, who were able to channel their inner energy to help them accomplish otherwise difficult tasks easily. There was something about this magician-man that made Yuan tick.

"Oh." He said simply, feeling like he had a firm grasp of the situation "However, a wise man once told me to 'believe those who are seeking the truth; doubt those who find it.' Tell me, stranger, why are you so quick to believe this 'magician-man?'"

Adrian's eyes widened when he heard the destination of the troop. Hesitating slightly, he said, "I...I will take you there, and you all seem like good, well-trained men, but I must warn you. There are so many stories of armies and monsters and all manner of unpleasant things both on the way and near the city itself." Damnit, he said to himself, back to Hell for me.

The man thought about the teaching the strange old traveler had just said. "You are certainly a wise man. But as I said, this man claimed to have heard the king say it himself, and his skills of rhetoric were convincing to the general populace."

Charles Ney read the leader ordering him to send his men back to Garrison duty while he went to Brunnsk to see the King.

He had read the message out to Sergeant (Bear) Brunswick,

"Why would the King want to see you" asked Bear rather piqued

"Well perhaps he has need of my wisdom, you know some people value my ideas" replied Charles.

"More like he wants your goddamn head off, for all the use it is" Bear snapped back.

"Well regardless, I'm of to see the King, though he said I was to send the men back, I'm sure he wouldn't mind if I take a personal bodyguard, a man like you; you pathetic piece of shite"

"The only reason you want me along is to hold you goddamn horse and do your work for you, Sir" replied the sergeant as he began to pack up his gear.

Charles left the groaning bear alone, he went out to the men and instructed them to return to the Garrison. Immediately there was activity as the men long bored with hanging around made ready to leave.

Bear had already loaded his and Charle's horse, they both mounted and with a brief salute and waves they left for an appointment with the King.

OOC: who's leading them back to Kabensk?

Adrian's eyes widened when he heard the destination of the troop. Hesitating slightly, he said, "I...I will take you there, and you all seem like good, well-trained men, but I must warn you. There are so many stories of armies and monsters and all manner of unpleasant things both on the way and near the city itself." Damnit, he said to himself, back to Hell for me.

"Ha! The men of these lands have no discipline. The drinks flow at the taverns, their lips are loose, and most have no skill with a blade. Where I come from, the only people who don't know how to use a blade are children and women. All manner of dangerous people and creatures roam the countryside. This will be a piece of kekki to what we used to do." said Ziyo, letting the man with horse take control, and heading back to his horse and mounting up.

"I thought so." He sighed. "Very well, let's get going on then," he said sadly, mounting the horse one of the troop's men had led up to him. He guided the animal into a turn and then a walk, back down the road from whence he had come, contemplating all possible meanings of the word "kekki."

OOC: Kekki=cake in Japanese. And you do know I gave you a horse right?

OOC: I realized that, but he didn't. You did? I missed that. *Runs to fix*

"And who is to say that his claims are the truth?" Yuan retorted, somewhat shocked at the gullibility of the populace. He could understand if the land had just been newly annexed, but it seemed that it had been taken quite some years ago. "Where would this 'magician-man' be now?"

"No one knows where he is now. It's how he got his name. Everyone thought he was a magician because he appeared and disappeared at random, seemingly being there one minute and not the next, if you catch my drift. Anyway, I heard once the news of the battle spread north, he stopped appearing for good."

OOC: I have to leave for a while so don't expect my IC replies for at least an hour =\

Near the forests south of Kebelski

"Is that their army?" asked a man quietly, standing beneath the shadows of the great oak forests of central Dvinskaya. "I was expecting so much more. These men barely look like they have the strength to walk foward!"

"Quiet back there!" someone hissed up front. "The column is passing soon. Wait for the signal, then we go!"

"I know that!" the man hissed back. "You've only told us this twenty times a second!"

There was no reply. There were about 120 men around him, all eagerly awaiting the chance to spring out from the woods and destroy the hated Dvinskayans.

Somewhere back, a series of bird calls rang out through the forests. The notes of the call went down in quick sucession. "Hurry! Men, move out; that was the signal!"

The group hidden in the forest slowly marched foward with uncanny precision. Step-left, step-right, step-left, step-right. Their boots made a harsh but intimidating sound, but thankfully it didn't carry far.

The first line of men reached the edge of the forest. "NOW! Charge, bring down the Dvinskayans," someone yelled. "For honor!"

Brunnsk

"Ah, Captain Ney, I presume? Welcome to Brunnsk," said King Peter, smiling as widely as the situation permitted and outstretching his arm for a handshake.

Kebelski

"Tell me though, good sir, why you are so interested in the magician-man. After all, he has gone from the land, as far as we all know."

South of Dortesk, on the plains north of the Salet River's bend

General Toledo looked warily across the plain at the army assembled across from him. He sat on his horse near the front of his line, in between the first and second blocks of men. He could tell around him the apprehension in the air as the Kadanyan army faced off against an army of monsters.

General Toledo presumed this was, in fact, the army that had destroyed the Dvinskayans in their territory farther west and had since gone on a rampage near the Nova Rossiya/Dvinskaya border. He remembered civilians in Dortesk telling him the men in the army were human-looking, but communicated in harsh screams, and lofted strange looking spears to battle.

This army certainly seemed to fit the bill. He had marched the men to follow a strange sound they had been hearing all day, and realized with dread once he had come upon the monsters that the sound was indeed them. He could faintly see the spears the Dvinskayans spoke of, long, trunk-like things with enormous points made of some sort of golden-colored material.

Now, within minutes his men would match their pikes with those spears, and pray to God that they were not the ones to be struck down in a pile of green goo and blood. He knew his men were brave, and would fight to their bitter end, but he also knew that no matter if he had brought an army with the whole population of Kadan that these monsters would be a formidable deterrent.

[End IC]

OOC: I know this was kind of a crazy post, but I had to get things moving a little bit. The first two are Rechburg's I belive, the middle is Antengeria, the last one is mine, and I'm still working on yours, Kagetora.
Here are the two battle sites above: http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh285/discreet_novgorod/battlefield-1.jpg

OCC
Sergeant Jochiam Hube will lead the men to kabensk.

IC
Captain Ney, being a common soldier that had risen up through the ranks was not comfortable in courtly etiquette so he rather awkwardly bowed and took the hand of his King,
"You do me a great honour your majesty".

"The honor is all mine, Captain. I have heard well of your exploits in the name of Dvinskaya. You have done well these past weeks, Captain, in the east. But tell me, I hope nothing too time-consuming or detrimental has befallen you on your journey back to Brunnsk?"

Just outside the town of Barentsiya

Adrian stopped his horse for a moment and turned around. The leader of the troop behind him called a halt as well. "This is the Pfalsk River, and right across the bridge is the town of Barentsiya. If you want information, you might want to stop there and ask around. Or, we could just take the other road and skirt the town. Which would you like to do, Mr. Ziyoshiyua?"

"We are not from here, and moving into the town is likely to cause a commotion. I think it would be faster to circumvent the town." said Ziyo

"Very well. We continue now, yes?" Adrian asked, already knowing the answer. He turned his horse back around and urged her back into a healthy walk, down the southern road.

Several Hours Later

"We should probably stop here. It is dangerous to traverse the roads in this part of the country at such an hour as this," said Adrian, stopping his horse.

"Very well." said Ziyo, making a few quick hand motions. The troop dismounted and set up a camp on the top of a small knoll, disregarding the supposed dangers of the area. Some began to set up tents, others started fires, and others unslung their bows, remounted and darted off to hunt.

"Now" said Ziyo "tell me what you know of the rebellion."

"The honor is all mine, Captain. I have heard well of your exploits in the name of Dvinskaya. You have done well these past weeks, Captain, in the east. But tell me, I hope nothing too time-consuming or detrimental has befallen you on your journey back to Brunnsk?"

"Not at all Sire, we rode the back roads to avoid the refugees and it was quite uneventful, I rode fast and direct your majesty." replied Charles.

"Not at all Sire, we rode the back roads to avoid the refugees and it was quite uneventful, I rode fast and direct your majesty." replied Charles.

"That is good, very good. Now, I'm sure you are very curious as to why I have called you all the way back to the capital, and I sincerely hope you did not expect anything detrimental to come out this, for I have only the utmost respect for you and your tireless efforts in the name of the country.

It is for that reason that I brought you here to Brunnsk, and it is for that reason that I ask you to graciously accept the new rank of Governor-General of the East. I must confess, there has never been a move so unprecedented in the history of our great nation, but these are changing times that present many new challenges. You have done well in the service of your country, and I see a bright future for you continuing that lead in the rank I wish to present to you today. Now, let me explain a little bit about your duties.

This post will be required to oversee the overall defense, rebuilding, and general day-to-day activities of all the land east of the Pfalsk River, which I will soon announce to be officially organized as the province of Gallant.

Right now, the most important thing that you would do is try to restore order in the major towns and eliminate the rumors and misinformation spreading throughout the region. You will be backed up by both myself and the military, and you will should have no fear of legal action lest you abuse your power for crimes against the people.

Should you do that, I fear my nation has come to nothing more but shallow, deceitful people who respect their neither their country nor their king. But alas, I trouble you not with such thoughts, for I believe you to be an honest and trustworthy man that shall wield the powers of such an office well, yes?

So, what say you? Will you take such a post and agree to serve?"

"Tell me though, good sir, why you are so interested in the magician-man. After all, he has gone from the land, as far as we all know."

Yuan considered your question a little, but to the man it would appear nothing more then an empty stare.

"Just...curious." He answered, smiling. Suddenly, he remembered why he went there in the first place.

"It was great talking with you, but I really need to fill up again, traveling takes a LOT out of you." He patted the man again on the shoulder, before moving off to find the nearest inn.

Kagetora;14327724']"Very well." said Ziyo, making a few quick hand motions. The troop dismounted and set up a camp on the top of a small knoll, disregarding the supposed dangers of the area. Some began to set up tents, others started fires, and others unslung their bows, remounted and darted off to hunt.

"Now" said Ziyo "tell me what you know of the rebellion."

"Well, I originally lived in the town of Polesia, many miles north of here. Perhaps you know it? Anyway, several weeks ago, a few times in a week, this strange man appeared in the town. He went around the market and the square, rambling on about how he himself had heard the king swearing to kill us all.

My father used to live in Brunnsk, and was good friends with King Peter III, our current king's father. I remember he always used to tell me what a great and honorable man his friend was, and I remember meeting the future king several times while we lived there. I simply could not believe this man would suddenly turn on us for no reason and kill us all. He needs us. After all, these towns are the future of this area. It would seem unreasonable to kill everyone and raze the towns.

But despite my knowledge, many other people believed the man and his rhetoric, and so the people became angry. One night, they attacked the soldiers guarding the town, and a riot began. Several buildings were burned to the ground, including my own house, with my wife and her unborn child as well as our young son still inside."

Adrian stopped for several minutes here, visible tears welling up in his eyes and it seemed he was frozen in the past, terrified of what he was remembering of the night.

Charles stood transfixed, likely his mouth open, he kept thinking to himself, speak, you fool say something.

"Your Majesty, Sire I am a soldier, I have been a soldier all my life. In this you do me by far the greatest honour a simple soldier has any right to expect.
I will do as you ask of me Sire, and I assure you as Governor-General of Gallant the province will be a shining jewel in your Majesty's Empire."

He kept thinking to himself
What the hell is Bear going to make of this.

"Excellent, Governor-General. I expect you can stay an extra day here in Brunnsk for a formal public ceremony in conjunction with the official organization of the province? It would be most appreciated, and I assure you that afterwords you may in all speed return to your jurisdiction."

After a time, Adrian re-gathered himself and began to speak again. "Apologies, Mr. Ziyoshiyua, it is a difficult thing to recount. As I was saying, the rioters did major damage to the town, and many people, not just my own family, were killed as a result of the violence. After that, I realized there was no reason for me to remain in Polesia and I left for the west, hoping to go back to Brunnsk so I could find solace once again, and perhaps see my childhood friend the king.

But alas, along the way, I stopped in many a village or town, or met a passerby, that spoke of horrible things befalling the country. Foreign invasions, strange monsters, riots across the region, and many other things that have contributed to the chaos. That is why I tried to hide from you when we met several days ago. I foolishly believed you were a foreign army.

But it is still obvious that you are not from here. Who are you, and why are you going to the warzone? What purpose have you here in Dvinskaya?"

"Of course Sire, I will find quarters for myself and my ummm servant, in the city"

He bowed and almost floated out of the room, not wanting to make an error least the King change his mind.

OOC: Do you want me to RP Hube and the ambush near the forest? Or are you just still working on that? (Rechburg)

"We come from across the sea and in a land called Kagetora. Back home we (tells story of the 47 Ronin to the point where they kill the person who killed their lord) and then we fled the country and came here. We have a contract with the king to find information."

"I see. I wonder...what is it you plan to do with me once we reach Pruskyy? For as I'm sure you can tell, I am no military man."

"As long as you don't get us killed, we will pay you and give you a horse."

"Then I shall do my best to guide you safely there. By all accounts, we should reach it in a few days."


OOC: Are you like...asking for an ambush? Just wondering, because you specifically said they set up a conspicuous camp...

Sergeant Hube was nervous about being in charge of over 100 men, but it wasnt the first time that he had commanded cavalry.
He knew having seen how the captain had operated over the last 5 years that one didnt lead by charging over the countryside, it was careful and cautious.

The maps indicated that they were entering an area of many forests, so he warned the men to be alert, even sending 10 men to scout ahead. After an hour of travelling throug many small woods the caution was a little more relaxed.
They came to an area where the woods closed right on the road, his advance party must have seen nothing as they had obviously carried on.

OCC
You can do the ambush thing, it will make it simpler.

OOC: I said they set up a conspicuous camp to show their arrogance. They think they're better than the people of your nation.

The men hiding in the forest broke free of the treeline and charged down the slope to the road (OOC: I'm thinking Teutoburger Forest here...) and smashed into the unprepared cavalry. At first it seemed like the cavalry were going to try and pull away, but the ambushers were already too far into the cavalry column to make retreat a viable option.

The man who had remarked on the army before stood towards the middle of the line, trying to identify a commander and isolate him. Seeing none immediately, he surged foward, trying to push his was through the soldiers around him until he could get to the front, where the actual fighting was taking place.

OOC: Gotcha. I'm going to wait on continuing that section of the story until this part is done, because they will become intertwined here soon, if you don't mind too much. (Kagetora)

Spabodh Hormizd Suren-Pahlav took great pride in his family history, being a descendent of the man who gave his aristocratic house his name, the hammer of the Romans known as Surenas who trounced Crassus’s legions at Carrhae, he was immensely happy to command Persian forces.

The Suren-Pahlavs had produced hundreds of generals in the nearly thousand years the House of Sassani ruled Iran, and many more in the time of the Arsacids before them, Hormizd was merely the continuation of this great tradition, a military man who had been brought up with no greater purpose in mind than to command forces in battle. The Shahanshah of Iran however, had seen the Spabodh as a threat, becoming too popular for his own good and, in his own way, seeing the general as overly ambitious and too big for his britches. Because of this, Hormizd had been forced out of Persepolis, and then, with rumors spreading to his estate in Daylam the Shah intended to capture and kill him, he acted quickly, calling up his personal estate’s forces, their wives and children and setting out towards the steppes of the north. In the steppes, he moved eastward, his intent to create his own Shahdom in the distant reaches of the world, to create a new Iran for himself and his descendents

The Kipchaks which inhabited the steppes to the North of Iran were brought to the Spabodh through conversion to Zoroastrianism, or, on occasion, through the promise of plunder and riches in the process of conquering his own Shahdom. They provided the bulk of the army, with the small Persian contingent offering only support, but important support.

For the task ahead of him, the General, or in Persian, Spabodh, had been well equipped. 1,000 cataphract cavalry formed his personal guard, fully armored in scale and plate, riding upon armored horses, their heads protected with a helmet which covered the face in a bronze facsimile of the warrior’s true visage. In battle they were frightening, fighting with bow, lance, and sword or mace, their charge could break even the bravest of men. To supplement them, 3500 Persian lancers were also deployed, riding on unarmored horses, but otherwise fully armored, carrying lance, bow, and sword or mace. Persian infantry also followed, 3000 Daylami heavy infantry carrying axes followed the general’s column, while 2500 Persian archers also followed, once again, heavily armored and also equipped with maces and shields for use in close combat.

Though, the real numbers came from the Kipchaks and steppe peoples brought to the General’s banner. 5000 horse archers, unarmored, but carrying powerful recurve bows and 10000 infantry, nearly all spearmen or bowmen drawn from those on the steppes unable to afford their own horses.

The men knew their role; they believed they played merely the earthly role of the cosmic battle which had swept the world since the day of creation. They fought for truth, for Ohrmazd against the lie, against Ahriman. Gallia, weakened and tormented by war, and the whole kingdom of Dvinskaya would fall, and Hormizd would cease to be Spabodh Hormizd, but rather, would be Shahanshah Hormizd.

The plan was simple; the whole column would advance towards the city of Semblvsk, capturing it as a base of operations before advancing across the Semblisk River towards the city of Semsk. If need arose, the Kipchak and Cuman cavalrymen would be permitted to loot and plunder, if only to keep their spirits high and morale up.

OOC: It's the city of Semblirsk and the Semblik River. Sorry, my handwriting sucks =)

Semblirsk, northernmost city in Dvinskaya

Semblirsk was a sleepy, peaceful town, well away from the rebellion and turmoil that swept the rest of Dvinskaya. With a population of just over 10,000, it was the fifth largest city in the entire country, behind several western cities. It had been established by the original tribes that had settled the Dvinskayans, ethnic Russo-Germanic Europa peoples, in the year 727 AJ (local year counting). Originally it held strategic value as the link between the southern tribes (Dvinskaya) and the northern tribes (Dnirskaya), but as the relationship between the two faded, so did the real importance of the town.

Semblirsk had not received many refugees from the eastern regions, but traders and soldiers that filled the markets and garrison told the townspeople of the horrible events befalling the kingdom. The mayor had kept leadership well, and kept the populace under control, unlike many of the towns to the south. Though there was a slight fear in the citizens of the town, most people were calm since the majority of the fighting was so far south.

Peter Svanska was an infantry cadet, out on his first day of sentry duty. The walls of Semblirsk were thick and sturdy, and protected the city well. On the northern wall were eight towers, each about 150 feet apart, and all with several powerful ballistae machines on the top. Peter was stationed on third tower from the northeast corner.

It had been a quiet, clear day. The weather was perfect for being outside. It had been a while since he had last done his usual checks, so stood up from his comrades at the fire and looked out upon the northern landscape. His mouth dropped open. Upon the northern horizon was a massive group of men and horses, bearing down upon the walls.

"To arms," he called out, loud enough for the world to hear, "We are invaded! To arms!"

OCC
You'r doing a brilliant job Dvinskaya, good RP with lots of interest.

Wondering when you sleep :p

OOC: thanks! Honestly, I haven't been tired the past couple of days, seeing this thing take off. I was up 'til like 3 or 4 A.M. yesterday (or today, I suppose), and I have all intentions of doing the same today. This is really fun.

OOC: Angent, are you waiting on a reply?

OOC: No, I'm trying to think of something for my dude to do. And it seems you've discovered the joys of RP'ing. See how it eats away at your soul?

OOC: Indeed. And oh, what a pleasant meal there is taking place in my soul!

A single horseman rode forward from the force waiting in the woods outside the city. Hormizd was an honorable man, and it was thought that giving the locals a chance to surrender would be the best move, after all, it was estimated the Persians and Kipchaks could capture the city with quite a bit of ease. His diplomat, a Kipchak who spoke the Dvinskayan tounge would tell the citizens of the city their options, surrender now and be spared or fight and face a worse fate. The worst of all, however, would fall if they killed the diplomat, if that indeed occurred, he would scour Sembirlisk of life and pile the heads outside the city gates in pyramids.

The Persians, however, expected them to fight, and because of that, seige engineers built with the plentiful wood supplies a dozen trebuchets, ten seige towers, numerous ladders, and, most importantly, began the process of tunnelling, using the steppe infantry to begin the process of digging tunnels from Parthian lines 1000m out to under the city walls, a process which would take time, but would eventually serve the needed purposes of the Shahdom.

As the diplomat rode out to the city, whatever happened next would determine everything, already, they prepared for the worst, piling clay naptha pots next to the seige engines. If they were, as rumored, the white barbarians of the north, then the worst would befall them.

Spabodh Hormizd waited patiently on his armored nisean horse, his face was left exposed for now, the two halves of the bronze mask which covered it left opened for a better view. Cavalry in a siege was useless, and so, they had been left behind the lines, ready to fight off enemies sent to relieve the city, but left safe from combat.

OOC: Now I feel so unimportant. But I still haven't shown Ziyo's true standing yet.

OOC: Don't look at me, I'm still trying to figure out what to do with my guy.

OOC: what do you mean...his true standing?

OOC: The Shogunate of Kagetora doesn't tolerate those who kill the government. Meaning the story he told earlier was a lie.

OOC: *GASP* plot twist! Oh noes! Lol jk...

Oh and, sorry about the kill your part of the story atm, I'm waiting on a reply from Rechburg so that section can continue and we can bring you and Adrian back in...=D

OCC

How many men are attacking me, it has a lot to do with my options.

There's about 120, heavily armed, but not superhuman like the other guys. Oh, and they have PLENTY of inspiration, so they're likely to fight even harder.

Sergeant Hube was taken by surprise by the sudden attack, the first thing he knew of it was the hail of arrows that dropped a dozen men, that was followed by what he thought was hundreds of warriors, all screeching their battle cry. Hube cursed himself for his carelessness, but he quickly over came his shock and anger and ordered the bugler to sound form column of attack. It was the only possible formation considering the lack of room, before he could finish the Bugler died with an arrow through his mailed shirt.

Horsemen on the side of the road were desperately fighting the hoards while those in the centre formed up.
Hube was grateful his men were all veterans, his horses all battle trained war horses, they were giving as good as their riders, rearing up and lashing with their hoofs.

Hube saw more men coming down from the wooded slope, he knew he had to get out of here, in his loudest voice. he yelled

"Charge the road"

At that signal the mass of horsemen closed ranks and charged the warriors on the road in front of them, the shear momentum carrying them forward and hopefully through the ambush site.
Hube assumed he must have lost half his men, but the warriors had paid a price, but not enough to make up for Hubes neglect.

One of the ambushers heard a man called out a forward charge, seemingly in a last, desperate attempt to save his force. Assuming him to be the leader, he tried to force his way to the center of the fight. He could not. The stream of men forcing their way against the Dvinskayan army was too much, and he could only stand where he was, and attempt to thrust his spear at any soldier wearing the blue and yellow.

It seemed most of the fighting had moved to the front of the column, where the Dvinskayans were trying to break through. It seemed to be proving futile. And while the Dvinskayans took heavy casualties, the ambushers had only 15 or so dead or too wounded to fight on. The ambush had worked impeccably.

At last the Dvinskayans seemed to be practically beaten. The last few soldiers were surrounded, and they stopped fighting once they saw the odds were very much against them. "Stop the fighting! These men are to be taken alive," called out a man from the back, presumably the leader. The ranks of black-clad ambushers parted, and a tall, medium built man in an ornate black coat of mail stepped forward to meet his prisoners.

"Greetings, thou failed combatant!"

Semblirsk, northern Dvinskaya

In the center of the northern wall of Semblirsk was the great northern gate, an ancient and striking structure that served as the barrier between the open countryside to the north and the city and ones like it to the south. The magnificant structure slowly opened up, and out from within the city came a man on a horse bearing two flags; the first was that of Dvinskaya, the second was the white flag of peace.

His name was Sergei Beneshkov, and his job was garrison commander of the city. He rode out on the dirt road leading north until he approached the diplomat from the invading force.

"Who the fuck are you? What do you want with Semblirsk, and for that matter, with Dvinskaya?"

Back upon the wall, a line of soldiers two deep and several hundred wide stood at attention, with archers in the first line and pikemen in the second. The archers had bows at the ready, and were prepared to unleash a hail upon the force should negotiations go sour.

Brunnsk, capital of Dvinskaya

The king stood upon the front balcony of the castle, looking out into the square below at the thousands of people gathered there to hear him speak. Standing next to him was the new Governor-General Ney, and behind the two were King Peter's advisor Dmitry Kaganov and Ney's accompaniment Sergeant Brunswick.

At precisely 9:00 A.M., the King called for order in the crowd below as he began to speak. "Friends, countrymen! I come before you today to address the deplorable situation in the eastern part of our country. As I'm sure many of you all know, Dvinskaya is at war with certain, unknown parties, who have infiltrated our country, planted lies and sowed rebellion, and ultimately killed many of our brave and noble citizens. Shall we continue to let these unjustices stand?"

"No!" came the shout from the crowd, eager to hear more of what their king had to say.

"Of course we won't! And it is for that reason I wish to bring to your attention a new and decisive step in the restoration of order to our country. I have here standing next to me the honorable Captain Ney, a man who, as a noble soldier and just man, led his troop through the rebellious areas, attempting to restore order and reassure the populace. He traveled far for the sake of his country, and it was he that gave proper burial to the brave soldiers who fought the monsters."

The king paused as cheers and applause came pouring out from down below.

"Please, please. All in good time. As I was saying, this man has done his country many a great service, and is to be rewarded. Thus he is promoted to the rank of Governor-General, a new and important post for the people of Dvinskaya's good.

I am officially announcing that all land between the Pfalsk River and the boundaries with Gallia, Kadan, and the sea currently in Dvinskayan jurisdiction be organized as the province of Gallant. In his post as Governor-General, Mr. Ney here will be in charge of seeing to the general well-being of the province, as well as overseeing the defense of the area from foreign hordes and the restoration of order in the cities and towns. He will have the full backing of both myself and the entire army, and he shall not have to submit to any court in the name of restoring order, lest he use his powers in an abusive manner, of which I have the fullest belief he will not. And thus I say to you, people of Dvinskaya: what say you? Do you agree to these new measures, and do you support Governor-General Ney?"

"Yes! Ney! Ney! Ney," came the resounding shout from the throngs of people.

King Peter turned and looked at Ney, smiling. "Perhaps you'd like to say a few words, Governor-General?"

Charles looked back at sergeant brunswick, who simply nodded to him

He nervously stepped forward, looking out on the crowd, moments passed by then he spoke

Friends, I am a simple man, a soldier who only knows how to do his duty, yet I stand before you a Governor of a province. Never let it be said, that a simple man cannot strive to succed in Dvinskay, not only strive but succeed.

People of Dvinskay I am one of you, I know what pains you for I have been in that pain, I know as a simple man what pains the new province of Gallant, its is security and the chance to live in peace.
I vow to you people of Dvinsky, and before our King, Gallant will be free from terror; I will hunt down your enemies and bring peace to our new Province.

And with that, the crowd roared approval for the new Governor. "So! I officially name Charles Ney, formerly Captain of the garrison at Kabensk, to the post of Governor-General of the province of Gallant, for he has received the blessing of both myself and the people! All hail Governor-General Ney!"

The streets below erupted into applause, and it seemed everyone on the balcony was overwhelmed by the sheer sound brought on by the crowd.

"I think you've done quite well, Governor," said the king, turning back to where Ney was and giving him a hearty grin, "I think you've done quite well indeed."

OOC:A friendly comment;This is one of the better medieval RP's i saw recently,good job lads,ill folow this thread with in interest.

OOC: thanks very much, Cukarica. You wouldn't happen to be interested in joining, would you?

OOC:
OOC: thanks very much, Cukarica. You wouldn't happen to be interested in joining, would you?
Im very interested and would love to join but i have a lot of current activities and im not sure that i would have time,and that lack of time would not benefit this awesome RP.

OOC:

Im very interested and would love to join but i have a lot of current activities and im not sure that i would have time,and that lack of time would not benefit this awesome RP.


I understand. Good day to you! =)

OOC: Good day to you too =)

After his little speech Charles stepped back, Sergeant Brunswick just looked at him in amazement.
"You know sir, you are a canny wee bastard, I liked you as my Captain but goddamn I think I'm gonna love you as a Governor".

"The funny thing is Bear, I'm still in a Captains uniform, so we best go get some new clothes, though I'm certainly not throwing my campaign uniform away".

"Well you need new clothes sir, but mine are fine" replied Bear.

"You are wrong Bear, as captain of my new Guard you new clothes"

"Now Captain, err Governor, don't you be doing that, I'm no captain of the guard poncing around court, I'm not a couch poodle, me I'm more your wolf hound and us wolf hounds dont look good in Courtly clothes sir".

"Well from today you can be a wolf poodle for all I care, I need someone I can trust by my side and someone who will tell me what I need to hear not what people think I should hear. So get used to it captain", demanded Charles.

"Well in that case, I will tell you there is a rumour just arrived that our men we left under Hube, have been ambushed and annihilated."

When bear looked up at Charles, he saw a man that was almost white, that huge scar running across his face even more pronounced.

"All of them bear, surely not all of them"

At the ambush site

"So...this is a captain of the noble army of Dvinskaya. What a pitiful attempt at a battle, good friend. Such a slaughter we have inflicted upon your ranks! But, alas, rejoice, for you have been spared by the noble king, and should not fear us to attack you again. Long and hard this journey back home will be for you, but I think you'll find it'll have been better than the alternative."

He spat on the Dvinskayan captain, turned, and walked away. "Load him up. Head home. It's time to collect our reward," his words carried back to the ring of ambushers. And so they did, tying up the captain and the three other survivors, putting them atop a packhorse that was led out of the woods.

The prisoners were placed in the center of the group, with a ring of heavily armed men around them, each with swords drawn. The leader mounted up on his own horse, a black and powerful mare, and started the march. They had walked only a short distance when he said, "I have a better idea. We're going to play a little trick on King Peter of Dvinskaya. Everybody! Grab a Dvinskayan uniform, and trade it for your own, and then make sure the prisoners are placed into ours. We shall move across the countryside as if we were the real Dvinskayan army, yes?"

The ambushers hurried to carry out the orders, running back to the battle site and switching their uniforms with the fallen men. Once the deed was done, the men went back on march, south, back towards their home.

Plains south of Dortesk

General Toledo found himself unable to contain his happiness despite the grim situation he faced, and broke into a smile. One of his lieutenants noticed this, and asked, "Sir! Why the happy face?"

General Toledo replied, "Because, captain Atavado, we are winning."

It did indeed seem the Kadanyans were slowly but surely pushing back the monster army. General Toledo knew the losses were heavy, but he also had many more men at his disposal than the monsters had. If one of the Kadanyans fell, for now, at least two could take his place. Hopefully, the monsters would be worn down and falter eventually, but Toledo knew not to keep his hopes up. He had little evidence so far the monsters even knew what emotions were, or knew anything besides fighting to the very death.

And it was for that alone Toledo had the slightest respect for them. Human or not, they knew their own duty. But so did he. And he vowed to himself that the battle would not get out of hand. He knew that he was destined to win this day.

[End IC]

OOC: Semblirsk isn't technically under Ney's jurisdiction, but the king was going to ask him to take over operations there anyway, so it's all good on that front. =)

Oh and Kagetora, you are officially now back in the story. That little post is coming up next, soon as I get a reply from either Rechburg or the Parthians.

OOC: I guess I'll check out the warzone. Maybe run into a suspicious prisoner convoy...

Yuan walked out of the local tavern rested, filled up, and happy. He had spent quite some time there recovering from his long journey, to which he had sufficiently recovered from, or so he felt. But hey, if he felt good, he was. Thanking the stable hand for keeping watch over his horse, to which he gave a pair of strange-looking coins (http://www.exoticandoriental.co.uk/acatalog/coinlarge.jpg)m which left the by scratching his head in confusion while Yuan calmly rode out of the village, his sunhat firmly back atop his head.

But it seemed things were rapidly changing. Word was quickly spreading that there was a new Governor-General of this prefecture, a man by the name of Ney. Yuan let out a little laugh, wondering how long had he actually been asleep. While the Captain's heavy-handed tactics did not sit wel with himl, he was quietly sure that the man would be able to restore a semblance of order to the area.

But now, he rode ever further and further away from the town into unknown territory. He picked his head up, and surveyed the area around him. Arrows littered the ground, and vultures picked at the fallen corpses of armored warriors. The area reeked of death. But this area was too small for a full-scale battle to have taken place. Certainly, an ambush must have taken place. However, the dead here did not wear the blues and yellows of the soldiers he had seen before, and Yuan briefly wondered if he had passed into another realm. However, that did not seem possible. He had only been traveling for a couple of hours at most.

Yes. It most certainly was an ambush. Muttering a quick prayer for the souls of the dead in his native language so that their souls may ascend into Heaven, he remounted his horse, and headed south at a quicker pace, so not to be caught up in the ambush. However, it wasn't long before he heard the clattering of wagons, and the marching feet of soldiers yet again.

OCC
Dvinskaya - Im not sure why you are waiting for me to reply. last I was aware of Ney was in the capital, should he be somewhere else by now.
eitherway i will moving him to his new province in my next thread.

Outside Sembirlisk

The diplomat smirked, "Earth and Water. We demand these as a token of submission. Should they be granted to our Shah, we will spare this city. Should they be denied to us, we will have no choice except to take it, and if that arrives, no guarantees can be made for the well being of your cities' people."

The Persian and Kipchak force began to set up pavises for the trebuchets and archers themselves, their recurve bows at the ready, the Kipchak archers prepared for battle if the Dvinskayans turned against the Persians. Trebuchets were loaded with special clay naptha pots, while the bucket line preparing tunnels continued in earnest, behind Parthian lines.

Souroush Tabari, one of the heavy Daylami infantry waited with his unit of men in one of the seige towers. Below them, under a special wheeled canopy, a team of Kipchaks would be deployed to pull the seige tower to the walls, where the Daylamis could pour out on the defenders. He was prepared for battle, as were the axe weilding heavy infantry around him, covered from head to toe in chainmail and plate, their faces obscured, like the cataphracts in steel or bronze masks which sat over their face. Their ancestors had provided the finest infantry Persia had to offer and perhaps the only troops of the ancient world that could match a Roman legionaire.

If they were to storm the city, they would live up to every expectation, a Tabaristani axe would bring forth death to the White barbarians.

The Palace was a bustling place, full of people who were important, people who thought they were important and people trying to be important.

However Charles was ensconced in his room, provincial maps on the floor, taking notes and reading books on the history of the area.
He was reasonably familiar with the province, he had travelled it for a long time, he new the towns and the people, and what was better many knew him.

His concern of course was the almost total collapse of the province with marauding warriors, invading armies and so called monsters.
The one thing was certain, he needed good fighters, so he determined he was getting the best.

He drafted a letter to his old friends Owain Gruffydd a captain of mercenaries that Charles had fought alongside in the Gorky wars.
He had the men that travelled from war to war, they were rare in the world of mercenary groups, not in large numbers, likely only 200 - 300, but they were disciplined and they fought with Long bows and swords with equal expertise and ferocity.
He couldn't understand how Hube had allowed his men to be ambushed and so easily beaten, these had been his men and they were all veterans. Clearly he was fighting a new enemy, so he had to have new answers and he was doing just that.
He also wrote to Guy de Montfort another of his friends from the Galway wars, Guy was the best trainer of soldiers in the business, whats more his wife Elanor was the best armourer he had ever met; a rare quality in a woman Charles always thought.

With these people coming to support his cause, Charles now made his preparations to leave Brunnsk, all he needed to know from the King was

1/ How many soldiers and what types did he have control over?
2/ How many fortresses did he command and where?

Semblirsk

"You ask us to submit to you without a fight? You, you foolish barbarians that stream in from God-forsaken places down upon the civilized peoples of this continent? You, you unwashed fiends who bring only death, destruction, and chaos for my people? You, you bane of men that look not like us and fight not like us? No, no. It could never be agreed to.

If you want Semblirsk, nay, if you want my country, you shall not have it freely. I swear by the King, by God, and by all that we have all ever held sacred that you shall never inherit the throne of this country, and that your foolish endeavor shall fail. Get out of my sight, barbarian bastard. If it's a fight you want, it's a damn fight you'll get."

And with that, Beneshkov turned his horse around, and urged her into a gallop back to the city gates. "Men of Semblirsk! Noble soldiers! Prepare...for war," he screamed at the top of his lungs, loud enough that every single soldier upon the walls could hear him. "Remember your duty! We fight for honor!" At a cue from the walls, the archers in the first row of soldiers released a deadly hail upon the foe, and then reloaded to begin again. On the towers, the ballistae were prepared for fire.

Southwest of Pruskyy

"Mr. Ziyoshiyua! There's a convoy, up ahead. Looks like ours. What would you like to do?"

Brunnsk

"Governor Ney! A minute if you would?" asked the King, stopping near the room that Ney had used to stay in for the past several days.

Ney looked up from what looked like maps, along with a stack of books almost as high as his waist. "I do apologize for interrupting you in your work, Governor, but there are a few things I would like to bring to your attention.

As you know, I have been reluctant to send much of the army over to Gallant, because of the instability, but now I fear I have little choice. I'm sending 10,000 men either with you or after you, whichever you choose, to do with what you wish. 6,000 are pikemen, 2,000 archers, and 2,000 cavalry. This is in addition to the local garrisons, which at last report seemed to be about 7,000, spread across the cities and towns.

I do wish to express my utmost concern as to the circumstances behind the recent reported ambush of you former troop. I would like to know what happened there Governor, and I would appreciate a report with all speed once you know the nature of the situation.

I would also like to remind you that if you do make march to track down the ambushers of your men, that you are leaving the entire province, from the Pfalsk River to the sea, exposed, and relatively hopeless should something drastic happen. This would be most unpleasant for both the people and yourself, for the consequences of such a breach would be incalculable."

"King Peter! Your majesty! Dvinskaya is invaded," someone screamed from down the hall, yelling at the throne room entrance despite being pushed back by the King's two guards, Atlas and Herots.

"Governor Ney, please come with me. It seems we should probably hear this, yes?"

As the diplomat rode back quickly, the archers hail of arrows came down on Persian lines. Pavises prepared for beseiging forces had done something to prevent excessive casualities, but nonetheless, many of the front line troops fell to enemy arrows.

Spabodh Hormizd raised up his horse in defiance, pulling his shamshir from its sheath and raising it into the air. "Fire!"

Persian and Kipchak archers returned fire on the city walls in one gigantic rain from their composite bows, firing them upwards to cover the city walls with a barrage of arrows which fell from the skies like a cloud of hornets. Their bows were potent, but their real advantage came from the natural inclination towards the bow the Kipchaks and Persians shared, raised from youth to hunt with them, they could loose arrows quicker than most any other bowmen, and continued a rain of arrows down on the tops of the walls.

Meanwhile, the massive arms of the trebuchets let go as the ropes holding the projectile net were released, sending stones flying towards the city towers with the first barrage from a half dozen of the machines. The remaining six launched their loads upon the city walls, clay pots filled with naptha were set aflame, then launched towards the tops of the city walls and towers. When they broke, they splattered flaming liquid upon the defenders.

Meanwhile, under the feet of the besieging army, the miners continued their work, using trigonometry, the Persian seige engineers planned to dig tunnels under the city towers, where they could destroy their foundations through a classic mining operation and break holes in the city defenses through that means.

As the arrows that had been loosed from the walls found their marks in most cases, a barrage of arrows from below was fired towards the walls. The besieging army's skilled archers quickly got off more rounds of arrows, much faster than the bowmen of Dvinskaya. And they were deadly accurate too. Many of the front line archers were killed in the first few barrages.

And then came the trebuchets. The few ballistae employed by Semblirskans seemed futile against the overwhelming power of the army laid out in front of them. The trebuchets, too, found their mark well, and sections of the wall began to fracture and crumble.

Up on the walls, captains shouted encouragement to the nervous soldiers, trying to reassure them despite the rain of death surging upon them all. But even the bravest captain's words could not reassure his men against balls of fire that caught to everything: the stones of the wall, the clothes of a soldiers, his weapons too.

The battle had barely started and already it seemed the odds were not in the favor of Dvinskaya. Beneshkov stood with several other officers on a roof near the walls, watching the battle unfold. "We're going to need a lot more men," he said quietly to the others, "A lot more."

Brunnsk

"You! Stop your screaming and struggling and come here! Tell me of your news! What invasion threatens our country?" asked the king of the man trying to force his way into the throne room.

"Oh sire! Please! You must hear me! We are under attack," the man yelled, turning to see the king and Ney walk over from where they had been conversing.

"Yes, man, we've established that. Where? and who?" said the king, quickly tempering up.

"Well, sire, I was supposed to go sell my wares in Semblirsk last week, because there was a big market festival there, and I was hoping to rake in a few extra marques, you know what I mean?"

"No, seeing as how I'm not a trader. Get on with it," said the king, already annoyed at this man.

"Apologies, sire. As I was saying, I was headed for there, but as I got to the gate, I was stopped by a soldier there, and he said to me, 'Go home. You won't want to be here when the siege starts.'

So I says to him, 'What siege? Who's attacking us?'

And he says right back to me, 'We don't know. But a massive army appeared from the north not yesterday, and they've been preparing for siege since they got here. I suspect you'd like to keep your life, yes?'

And I say, 'Rightly so, sir. I'd best be leaving now. Good luck to you, mister, and I hope you come out of this right well.'

So then, after I leave, I thinks to meself, 'Hmm. The king must know of this invasion.' So I came here, trying to find you, and here we are."

"That's all fine and well, and I applaud your efforts. But how many men were attacking us?"

"Well, sire, I rightly say that the guard there made mention of at least 25,000, or so he thought. Maybe more."

"T..t..twenty-five thousand, you say?" the king said, stunned.

"I remembers correctly, sire, twenty-five he say."

"Right. Thank you, sir, for your information. Stay in town, I will get someone to contact you about a reward for this."

"Thank you, sire! Thank you very much!" And such standing, the man walked off.

Once he had left, the King consulted Ney. "Governor, I know this is not your jurisdiction, but you are the ablest general I have at my disposal. Semblirsk needs to be reinforced. What do you think of this situation? Will you lead the army?"

"The seige goes well Spabodh" Zartost of Damghan spoke quietly to the general. As the Spabodh's most trusted bodyguard, he was party to many of the decisions the army made, and equally, as his most proficent seige engineer, had performed many of the planning needs for the taking of Sembirlisk.

Spabodh Hormizd watched another naptha canister explode on the wall in a storm of flame, the scent of burning human flesh hung in the air. "This is too easy Zartosht. They have yet to send anything which shows me they intend to relieve the city. But I know they will. They have to."

A trebuchet unleashed a rock against the tower again, a loud crack announcing the boulder had hit its mark.

"You should attend to the seige, I must take our cavalry and prepare to take any force sent to relieve the city. We cross the Semblik river and will await for the responding force to come, then we crush them. I might also remind you, hold back the seige towers unless the mines fail to collapse the towers and open a path to the city. Until then, I'll take my leave. Keep the blade close to their throat and, if you can, cut the aqueducts and keep them from recieving supplies. I want that city taken, and don't spend the lives of too many men doing it."

With that, the Cataphracts, lancers, and horse archers broke from the rest of the army, making for the Semblik river and awaiting news of a Dvinskayan response to the seige. It had to come, all knew, but when or how large, none did.

"Sir! They're retreating! They've broken off," someone shouted in the direction of Sergei Beneshkov, the leader of the defenders.

"No," he replied, watching the enemy's manuever with a practiced military eye, "They're simply splitting the force. I assume they wish to head off any reinforcements that may come here. Though, right now, I can't imagine they'll have much purpose. No reinforcements here."

"Orders, sir?" one of the captains asked Beneshkov.

"Stay the course. Stay strong, men. We need to hold out as long as possible, for the sake of the country," Beneshkov replied, watching yet another fire bomb fall upon the wall, creating a new fire about fifty feet to his right. He sighed heavily. Will we all truly make it out of this alive? He had no answer to his question.

Governor Ney followed the King out of the room, they were joined by Captain "Bear" Brunswick, the captain of the Governors Guard, even though he didn't have one at the moment.

As they were several paces behind the King, Bear whispered to Charles

"You look fine and dandy in that new regal outfit, but what the bloody hell do you still wear that goddamn big sword"

Charles looked at his friend, and said
"Because I feel naked without it."

Charles still remembers the sword that was given to him by Elanor, it was said she was part magician, that the sword had powers. Charles often laughed at that, but he did admit that when he carried it into battle it felt like it gave him extra strength.
He had talked to Bear about it sometime ago, but Bear simply scoffed at it.

"Nah, it aint magical, capn, you is just a lovely bloody Berserker. Nothin more simple than that, when you fight you change and god bless ya, you become one helluva killing Berserker"

Charles smiled to himself as the followed the King, unaware he was stroking the pummel of the Berserker sword as it had become known.

"Mr. Ziyoshiyua! There's a convoy, up ahead. Looks like ours. What would you like to do?"

OOC: I'm assuming this is the next day or so, and they're on their way again

IC:
Glancing over to the convoy, he motioned with his hands again. (Lol, I must have a bajillion hand signals). Most of his men moved off to the side of the road.
"You'd best come with me. It's not likely these men have heard of us yet, and no telling what they will do." said Ziyo to Adrian, clopping off into the forest.
All that remained in the road were two men. The one who had thrown the knife earlier, and one of the hunters. They had ridden back aways and started forward again in a slow pace.
"Now let's see what they do. If things are hostile, they'll resemble pincushions in a few seconds."

OOC: yeah it is. About two days later. Ok, wait, so what happens in your post? Sorry, not quite following. Angent, time for your character to make an appearance. You've got next post. Rechburg, do you mind RPing Hube during the convergence?

OOC: Most of the riders and the packhorses move into the surrounding trees. Ziyo and Adrian move off into the forest, afraid of what the army would do to foreigners. The guy who threw the knife at Adrian and one of the hunters are still in the road, and the guys on the side of the road all have their bows drawn

Yuan continued his ride down the road, taking another sip from his wine flask. It was still cool, thank Heaven, and it was very refreshing to feel it slip down his throat and esophagus.

As he proceeded down the road, the rattling of the carts and stamping feet grew ever closer, and he looked his head up to see what it was.

What he saw was pretty much what he had expected. He had come up behind some sort of prisoner convoy, who were obviously taking prisoners to some city to be sold into slavery or whatever these barbarians did to their prisoners. He rode up, his horse trailing the convoy only a few feet behind, easily noticeable.

"You there! In the back! Halt! State your business here," someone called from the back. Many of the ambushers turned around, including the leader. When he saw who stood there, he smiled.

"Hello, good sir! May you be so kind as to tell me the reason for your presence here?"

(He's good at sugar-coating his words like this. You'll find out why later.)

No one noticed the two other warriors standing on near the road crossing nearby, just up ahead.

"You there! In the back! Halt! State your business here," someone called from the back.

OOC: Who said the this?

OOC: who said that? One of the ambushers. He turned around and saw Yuan. You're in front of them, and in the woods around, correct?

OOC: KK, and yes

You there! In the back! Halt! State your business here.

Yuan looked up, lifting the brim of his sunhat a bit to see who was addressing him. Looking, he noticed that the soldiers in the convoy had spotted him, with many turning to look upon him, and probably wondering why he had been so close to them.


"Hello, good sir! May you be so kind as to tell me the reason for your presence here?"

Yuan sized up the man addressing him. He was tall, lean, a born soldier. However, there was a dark aura that wrought about him, and it was quite disturbing to Yuan.

Yuan smiled back. "I am just a simple traveler." He said, taking a swing of wine. "But if I might say so, I thought your city was..." he pointed, almost comically, behind him. "...that way. Unless I'm wrong. Which happens a lot."

Hube saw the stranger, he recognised him from the their meeting with the Captain several days ago.
He yelled out a warning to Yuan

"Save yourselves, these are the warriors that are plundering the region, we are their prisoners"
Other prisoners also shouted their warnings, despite the danger.

"Run, flee, warn the local garrisons, were all the words being yelled by these men.

The ambush leader (whose name I continue to not reveal for a reason =D) didn't miss a beat. "I thank you for your concern, my friend. As you can see, or actually, maybe you can't, we have prisoners here that we are taking south. Several days ago, our column was attacked by a hoard of soldiers clad in black. It was a difficult fight, but we managed to prevail."

It was then the prisoners had their outburst. "As you see, they are quite unstable now that they have been beaten. Most of them suffered trauma, and I think their sense of identity is a little bit off.

But alas, I find myself curious. You say you are a simple traveler, but yet you also point out the cities are in the opposite direction. Why are you traveling south? Would you not find it more pleasing to sleep in a warm bed and drink your share in the local taverns?"

OOC: Kung-fu ass kicking time! I've been waiting for an excuse to start something.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBSd1sFdGTY&feature=related to set the mood.

IC:
"Save yourselves, these are the warriors that are plundering the region, we are their prisoners."

Yuan's head jerked toward the cage, looking at the prisoner who shouted at him. The clothes he wore were different, but Yuan recognized the face of one of the soldiers that he had met when he had first arrived. Looking back toward the leader, he spoke again:

As you see, they are quite unstable now that they have been beaten. Most of them suffered trauma, and I think their sense of identity is a little bit off. But alas, I find myself curious. You say you are a simple traveler, but yet you also point out the cities are in the opposite direction. Why are you traveling south? Would you not find it more pleasing to sleep in a warm bed and drink your share in the local taverns?

Yuan smirked under his sunhat.

"That may be so..." he began "...however, I am no ordinary traveler."

As soon as he had finished speaking, he leapt of his horse with a graceful flip, landing right in front of one of the soldiers. He smiled at the soldier, who seemed confused as to what was happening, before a spinning kick sent him spiraling to the ground.

"Charge this man! He is a traitor to the country," shouted the leader, drawing forth his own sword. Seeing one of his men go down, he smiled once more. "That's all fine and well, traveler, but can you match all my men? We will annihilate you," he yelled, losing his previous pleasant smile and instead donning a harsh and intimidating look that had sent men running from him before, once in his life.

Yuan spun around, forming a perfect combat stance as the soldiers charged at him, weapons drawn and screaming. Like the leader, his cocky grin had formed into a more serious one, fully intent on focusing on what he was doing. The first soldier, now within arms reach, took a stab at him with a spear. Seeing it coming, Yuan sidestepped the attack, and delivered a hard strike to the man's face. He grabbed the spear mid-air, and smashed the tip hard into the ground, breaking off the metal tip. He spun the new weapon over his head, before forming a stance. The next soldier leapt over the body, his sword held high. Yuan rolled to the side as it struck the ground, and, using the broken shaft like a qurterstaff, slammed it down on the enemy's head, stunning him. The next enemy came running at him, and Yuan leaned back, the sword swipe passing over his head. Returning to his full height, he grabbed the enemy by the arm, and threw him at the stunned soldier, who had just recovered from the bash on the head, and was now busy rushing at Yuan yet again. The two bodies slammed together, and both went down. Yuan spun around, just in time to see two more soldiers running at him, swinging their swords. He sidestepped the first swipe, and used his newly-acquired weapon to block the second. Promptly, Yuan jabbed the staff into the chest of one, forcing him back a few steps, and grabbed the arm of the second as his sword came down again, delivering a solid kick in the chest. Focusing his attention on the other, he spun the staff around, whacking the enemy several times before a solid punch sent him to the ground.

This one is good, the leader thought to himself. He is unorthodox, but it serves him well. He stepped foward, as the traveler in front of him stopped, planted, waiting for the next attack. The leader waved his men back, wishing for a solitary struggle with this strange fighter.

But again, he could not help but make small talk. Smiling as the two exchanged blows, staff to sword, he said, "So! I figured we might as well better acquaint ourselves before one of us dies, yes? I know you are no traveler. Who are you, and where did you learn to fight like this?"

Yuan's face remained emotionless as he took part in the endless foray of dodging, attacking, blocking, and counter-attacking. His opponent, who he had taken as the enemy's leader, was quite skilled with the use of a blade. While his form was sloppy, and his attacks unrefined, Yuan knew that he was a skilled fighter, whose teacher was the battlefield itself.

"I am called Yuan, of the Eastern Plains." He replied, leaning back as the sword passed over his body. Yuan delivered a counter-attack with his staff, only for it to be blocked by the same sword. "What are you called?"

In between parries, blows, and everything in between, the leader of the ambushers found a moment to say, "Me? Why, I am not who I look like. I wear the uniform of a Dvinskayan captain, but I am not. What am I called? I am Tomas Isiltsiy, Crown Prince and next in line to the throne of Nova Rossiya."

Yuan blocked an oncoming strike, and delivering a small blow to his opponent's side, but not enough to stop his momentum.

"And what is the purpose of your presence here, Great Prince?" He retorted. Truth be told, he did not know anything of this country known as Nova Rossiya, but they were obviously of some rival power to Dvinskaya.

Blocking another sharp blow, and then turning it back on Yuan, only to have that blow parried, he replied, "You grace me with your titles, o enemy, but Tomas shall do. I am here on the orders of my father and king to spy on Dvinskaya and to bring back a viable informant, like Captain Hube, I believe it was, to help us plan our invasion."

Yuan did a backflip, putting distance between the two combatants. He spun the staff over his head, re-assuming his stance.

"So open with the details of your plot. You it seems lack both discipline as well as common sense. What makes you think they will divulge their information so easily?!"

OOC: 1000 POSTS!!!!!!!! OH MY GOD, I MADE IT!!!! *runs off to tell everyone*

Isiltsiy stood back now, letting the talking go on, and leaving the fighting for a moment. "They will divulge their information because I will make them, simple as that. There are plenty of ways to make a man talk. And you speak of carelessness, displayed by me? I should think you careless yourself, drawing attention to yourself behind a caravan of heavily armed men. And now, you will pay for your mistake!"

He charged, sword raised, ready to strike a death blow, yelling out a cry of sheer hatred for this insolent stranger.

As the fighting had gone on, Ziyo's men had spread out on the sides of the road, with a few behind to guard the horses.
As the leader of the supposed Dvinskayans told of his line to the prince, Ziyo pulled back on the bow, and his men did the same.
"Hold your fire.." he muttered
He charged, sword raised, ready to strike a death blow, yelling out a cry of sheer hatred for this insolent stranger.
Ziyo loosed the shaft at the feet of the prince. (fired the arrow)

The arrow that almost impaled his foot stopped Isiltsiy in his tracks. "What the fuck? Who goes there? Was that you, you old damn magician?"

Yuan took the momentary pause to strike at his opponent. He rushed forward and, planting his staff in the ground, used it as a lever to help him swing toward the Prince in an attempt to give him a hard kick with both feet.

Caught off guard by the sudden attack, Isiltsiy was hit dead in the chest by the kick. Though his armor protected him slightly, he was still knocked over on his back, flailing to try and get back up.

"CHOTTO MATTE!" Ziyo yelled, still hiding in the trees.

Yuan opened his ears as the man yelled. Instantly, Yuan recognized the dialect from that of the people who dwelt in the islands to the east of his home.

A good thing for the prince as well, as Yuan stopped himself just before he delivered the final blow to the Prince's neck.

Ziyo handed his bow to Adrian, hoping that Adrian had some experience with bows.
Pulling out his katana, he walked toward the road. His wooden armor (yes, the samurai wore wooden armor) gleaming from the oils rubbed into it to stiffen it.
As he walked down, his men all revealed themselves, bows almost at full-draw, aiming down into the mass of people.
"You. Prince. Let's make this quick. What is Nova Rossiya doing in Dvinskaya?"

Sergeant Hube, speaking through his broken teeth, spat blood down at the Prince

"Take the fucker back to the King, he will talk, before they cut the murdering bastards head off."

He added

"And get me out of here".

The prince was caught off guard by the sudden appearance of the strange warrior in wooden armor, but nevertheless, he stayed calm. "Now, now. I may be nice, but I'm not naive. The presence of Nova Rossiya in this land is my business, and my father's. Oh, go ahead, try and glean it out of me! I will tell you nothing. Go ahead, try and kill me! It will only bring the full might of Nova Rossiya down upon this land, for the poor prince was on a diplomatic mission and was attacked by savage warriors employed by the king.

Won't look so good, will it? You see, either way, I have won this fight."

Sergeant Hube yelled back, still wiping blood

"The bastards are going to invade anyway, he just said that, best we kill the prick or take him and make him talk and then kill the prick. Since when you arsehole do diplomatic missions include slaughtering villagers and attacking troops inside their borders.
Piss on the bastard I say, and forgods sake get me out of here."

The prince was caught off guard by the sudden appearance of the strange warrior in wooden armor, but nevertheless, he stayed calm. "Now, now. I may be nice, but I'm not naive. The presence of Nova Rossiya in this land is my business, and my father's. Oh, go ahead, try and glean it out of me! I will tell you nothing. Go ahead, try and kill me! It will only bring the full might of Nova Rossiya down upon this land, for the poor prince was on a diplomatic mission and was attacked by savage warriors employed by the king.

Won't look so good, will it? You see, either way, I have won this fight."

Ziyo pricked the prince on his ear, drawing blood.
"It's obvious to me that this area has a much lower pain tolerance then we do in my country. But, we have very different methods back home then you do here. None of our methods can kill you."

Sergeant Hube yelled back, still wiping blood

"The bastards are going to invade anyway, he just said that, best we kill the prick or take him and make him talk and then kill the prick. Since when you arsehole do diplomatic missions include slaughtering villagers and attacking troops inside their borders.
Piss on the bastard I say, and forgods sake get me out of here."
"I have no idea who the hell you are, so unless you want to look like a porcupine, I'd be quiet." said Ziyo without looking up.

Sergeant Hube was both in pain and humiliated for being taken prisoner, he was also increasingly getting angry.

"I am sergeant Hube of the Dvinskaya Army, we were on patrol when we were ambushed by these bastards and taken prisoner, now for gods sake stop your goddamn washer woman chat and get me down from here".

"I think you'll find my pain tolerance much higher than most, stranger," Isiltsiy said, not even flinching as blood ran down his ear. "Don't worry, I've spent too long hidden away in a torture chamber far below my father's castle. I'm familiar with the concept of pain."

Sergeant Hube was both in pain and humiliated for being taken prisoner, he was also increasingly getting angry.

"I am sergeant Hube of the Dvinskaya Army, we were on patrol when we were ambushed by these bastards and taken prisoner, now for gods sake stop your goddamn washer woman chat and get me down from here".
"Fine. I believe you." said Ziyo, signing again with his hands. His men came down, drawing their katanas. They were all expert swordsmen, being trained in the art of the sword since they could walk.

"I think you'll find my pain tolerance much higher than most, stranger," Isiltsiy said, not even flinching as blood ran down his ear. "Don't worry, I've spent too long hidden away in a torture chamber far below my father's castle. I'm familiar with the concept of pain."
"Even so, there is no way to train for the kind of torture that we use. Water torture, fire torture, earth torture, wood torture, and the most primitive, the metal torture. We know how to incorporate all of the elements in what we do."

"Go ahead then. Do what you want. I swear by my father's kingdom you shall not ever know the secrets of my country!"

Should I plant the tree in his ear first, or maybe the water torture? thought Ziyo.
"First off, your men will drop their weapons, otherwise you die here and now. Any treachery will get you killed. If you kill me, the armies of Dvinskaya won't be the only enemies you will fight, I promise you that."

"Agreed." He waved his hand in a put-offish motion, and his men dropped their weapons, look silently around at the large party of warriors that had appeared out of the forest.

"Good. Release the prisoners." said Ziyo, motioning to one of his men. The man came over.
"Mizu." said Ziyo, and the man ran off.

Yuan retracted his weapon from the Prince's neck as the hidden warriors revealed themselves all around. Yuan was a little surprised to find the islanders of the east to be so far from home, and was also glad to see some people he recognized. He made his way to the first man he saw, who apparently was their leader.

"I thank you for your assistance." He told him, in the man's own language "Tell me, who are you?"

Brünnsk, Capital of Dvinskaya

The two women had done their job well. So far, they had traveled across the country, through several major cities and towns without being recognized. They had the manservant do all the business, while they remained in the shadows, keeping an ear open for news of what they sought.

Now they were in the capital, and about to go and meet with the king, but they were incredibly nervous. They had good reason to be too. For the king to believe their impossible tale, their identities would have to be revealed. And once that happened, there was a good chance the king would refuse to hear them out, or even continue looking at them.

But that was diplomacy at its hardest. You go in, do your best, and hope you don’t get made into a prickly throne room decoration when things go sour.

OOC: This is a prelude to major plot twist coming at you later on tomorrow. =D Before it can go up though, the woods scene must be resolved and Governor-General over there has to make up his mind about leading the relief force.

Sembirlisk

Under the eight towers of Sembirlisk, the Parthian miners had struck their targets; the Kipchak diggers hit the foundations and began to move downwards. Their goal was simple,: dig under the towers, supporting them temporarily with heavy oak beams as they dug under the foundations, bracing the stone fortifications above with heavy wood to keep it from collapsing partially as they dug.

The real benefit would come when the tower had been completely mined and supported by beams brought in by the miners, when that came, the Parthian siege engineers would pack the mine with dried manure, kindling, and pitch, then set it aflame, destroying the supports and bringing the towers down, creating breaches in the city wall through which Parthian troops could pour.

Until then, the siege continued, trebuchets maintained their pounding of the walls, though stopped firing firepots in favor of stone to conserve those for later in the campaign. This current phase required the walls to be breached, but if that failed, they would call up the siege towers and pour over the walls under the force of the Daylami axemen.

Zartosht of Damghan smiled as he watched the plans come together. Many of these men on the ramparts had never seen a proper siege operation. The little he knew of these northern people had told him they preferred to simply storm a city with ladders and rams rather than artfully take it with a big of seigecraft. A shame, of course, but one which worked to the advantage of the Persians.

Across the Semblik River, 25 miles southwest of Sembirlisk

Spabodh Hormizd smiled as he saw the remaining Kipchak horse archers cross the river. Ahead of him, the Dvinskayan countryside waited for them. They were going to send reinforcements to relieve Sembirlisk, they had to, or at least to head off his army, but when they would do so, he had no idea.

He had to draw their army out, into the open field where his cavalry would run roughshod over them, he needed to bring them into open combat and crush them so he could have this country. But what would convince them to attack? The answer was simple; he would ravage the countryside in the triangular region between the cities of Borskyy, Dnivets, and Semsk, burning villages and destroying cropland, serving the purposes of cutting supplies of food to those cities, while also encouraging the king of the nation to send an army.

With that, the column of cavalry set out at full gallop, the barbarian Kipchaks leading the way. No village would be safe, the Spabodh knew, from the ravages of the Kipchak horsemen who burned as well as they used a bow.

Yuan retracted his weapon from the Prince's neck as the hidden warriors revealed themselves all around. Yuan was a little surprised to find the islanders of the east to be so far from home, and was also glad to see some people he recognized. He made his way to the first man he saw, who apparently was their leader.

"I thank you for your assistance." He told him, in the man's own language "Tell me, who are you?"
In the native Kagetorian (AKA Japanese), Ziyo replied
"Daimyo (Lord) Ashida Ziyoshiyua (family name first). I serve the Shogun and have come here to observe the land under the guise of a mercenary troop. Here you see some of our most talented samurai and shinobi Kagetora has to offer."

It had been several days since the King had given Charles the command of the army, in that time he had ordered the concentration of the Kings army at Dnivits. By the time Charles arrived the town was a bustling army base. He was extremely pleased to meet his old friend Owain Gruffydd with his 300 Longbowmen. Guy Montfort was there with his wife Elanor, she was already busy helping the armourers sharpen swords pikes and Lances.
Most of the smithy's and armourers were getting used to having a women doing what was traditionally a mans task, not only doing it but doing it better in most cases.

Charles and Guy sat upon their horses, watching her

Guy said
"The armourers have got used to her now, you will know the ones that haven't, they are the ones with bandages and the like"
Charles watching this beautiful fragile woman, beating metal into shape replied,
"Its nice to see some things don't change"

Guy looked Charles up and down,
"Well it seems you have, last time I saw you, you were about to be hanged for abusing Lord Signoy back in Galway, now look at you, not only a general; but a Governer General to boot."

"Well someone had to do it and I just happend to be there" Charles replied.

Guy answered with a snicker
"I doubt that, I'm sure the King knows you are the man to kick this rabble into shape"

"Aye well it has to be done, and done quickly"

"I wonder Guy if you could spend a few days away from your lovely Elanor, I need you to take the Horse archers away on a little task".

"Hmm I think I can manage a few days away from her, but will the army be safe from her with me away"

Charles laughed
"Well away with you, go get ready and meet my border Cavalry in Semsk, I will give you your orders in a moment".

Charles with captain Brunswick in tow made his way over to see to Owain

The Welsh mercenary captain saw Charles coming over to him, he turned to one of his men,

"Now who the hell do you fancy we have here, it looks like a bloody King, but you know I think its another one of them bloody Gypsies that plague this godforsaken shit hole"

Charles grinned at his old friend, dismounting from his horse he went over and gave Owain a great hand shake
"Im glad you came Owain, I was worried you wouldnt"

"Well your Highness" Owain said with a menacing grin, "It wasnt for the love of you; it was your money; to be sure".

"Well you bloody robber, you make sure your men have their eye in, I have a particular task for them"

"Dont you worry yourself now Charlie, you just point us at the targets you want down and they will be down, you know we are good for it"

"I do that old friend." He patted on Owain on the shoulder, Come over to the tent later tonight, I have several barrels of fine wine and grog"

"I'll be there, I see you still have that hulking Teuton behind you, lets see if he can drink like he used too".

Bear just snarled,fortunately it was followed with a grin "I'll be seeing you under the table you Goddamn papist"

Chevalier Foy had a difficult time adjusting to the rapid change of events around him. He had accepted begrudgingly that he was to miss the Patrol his commander Captain Ney took out several weeks ago. After all Kabensk the town where they were stationed had to be garrisoned, however then came the news that Captain Ney was in pursuit of some mysterious soldiers, even monsters. The next he hears about Captain Ney is he is back in the Capital being made Governor General of the new province of Gallant, then the shocking news that the Patrol that Ney had left when he was ordered to the capital had been ambushed and destroyed.

Now a message from General Ney, god this man gets about Foy thought to himself

Commander of Kabensk Garrison
Chevalier Jochiam Foy

Dear Jochiam,
Could you please prepare the remainder of the company for campaign, our old friend Guy Montfort will be arriving in a day or so to take it away on campaign.
I estimate the company now has 500 horsemen left, please ensure they have supplies for two weeks and supplies of Naptha as well.
With the remaining soldiers you are to prepare Kabensk for siege, it will likely not happen but preparations must be made. I realise this leaves you terribly shorthanded but I hope to be with you in a few weeks anyway.

Governor-General Ney.

He re-read the letter and then made preparations for the cavalry, his last veterans these 500 men were his last hope should Kabensk be attacked, now with simply the town garrison of militia he had little chance of holding out if attacked.

General Ney stood on the outskirts of Dvinsk watching the columns of his army move northwards.
They were lead out by the Vardarioti the elite horsemen that had their roots going back to the Maygars, splendid in their chain mail with the composite bows that had huge range, these men lived in the saddle.

Behind them the archers in light armour, each man carry 3 large pointed stakes as well as his bow and arrow.
In amongst the archers Charles notice Owain, captain of the Longbows, bows that could out range any bow on the field and punch an arrow through armour.

Behind the archers were the Latinken, the heavy infantry with heavy Armour and swords, and behind them the pikemen.

The whole was followed by the Light Cavalry and the Heavy cavalry.

Once out of the town the light cavalry would screen the army as well as undertake long sweeping patrols. The Long patrols were not only destined to look for enemies, but to talk with local farmers and villagers, gathering information and movements of any blocking force as they approached the besieged city. The advance not being all that difficult this area was known to many of the men, the men that were locals of an area were sent with scouts togather information from friends and relatives, the results of these interviews were being reported back to General Ney.

As the army march past, Charles was getting rousing cheers from his men, to say the was the proudest day of his life was to make an enormous understatement.
He wasnt entirely comfortable with the mix of the army, it was something he hoped he could discuss with the King in the future, at least he could institute change in his own province initially.

He was interrupted By Bear, his companion and Elanor, the wife of his friend Guy Montfort.

She asked Charles

"I suppose Guy will be away now, on his wondrous journey "

Charles watching the army march past, glimpsed quickly at her, smiling

"Aye he will, I sent him some local scouts who know the Semblirsk area very well. With them leading him he will travel the tracks and back roads , and gain intelligence from the local people as he goes forward. I'm sure he will avoid contact until its time."

OCC
I'm sorry for the 3 threads at once, I just wanted to catch up with where we should be, as I missed the starting point of this episode. Presumably we are now up to the present.

OOC: Be careful with your European references. Remember, they are ethnically European, but they haven't been in Europe in almost 800 years. And yes, I think you've now caught up quite nicely. I was originally planning to finish out the little side track today, but I have to leave so I'll get it up tomorrow morning. Until then, adieu!

OCC
Understood re european reference. I thought I would slip in a race that would have had contact with parthians and asians but still be kinda european, so i have based them on medieval Byzantine type of race, so they cover European type people and possibly asian people as well.

The good thing about a byzantine race is some provinces (themas) were Asian,african, european and some east european,the whole mixd with European mercenaries such as the Vangarian guard units which were norse, Norman etc.so you can claim the lot in your nations bloodstock.

But its your nation and you can have any you wish, I have removed reference to any nationalities and just kept weapon and unit types, such as Longbow and Latinken which is simply a Heavily armoured foot knight.
The Varariotai I already explained in the thread, bloodstock traced to the Maygars but not actually Maygars, they were still experts on the horse and with the composite bow.

OOC: Sounds great. Much appreciated.

bump for Kagetora

The mines underneath the towers of Sembirlisk had been set, fully prepared, and now, the Kipchaks who had been doing the digging began to retreat from the mines, but not before filling the section underneath the towers with pitch and kindling, then lighting it aflame. As the supports holding the towers burned, smoke billowed from the mine holes in Parthian lines, acrid black flame rising into the heavens with ferocity as the soldiers waited. Whether the towers stood or fell decided the next course of action.

Kipchak macemen prepared for the next step, advancing behind the archers, teams of them also carrying seige towers with Daylami infantry waiting behind. If the towers stood, the siege towers would be let go and the Daylamis left to their own devices. Otherwise, the Kipchaks would pour through the breaches with the Daylamis in tow.

Souroush waited patiently, having pulled his steel facemask into place, he removed his two handed axe from the sling over the back. The Daylamis, also called Tabaristanis, derived from the Persian word for axe, Tabar, described the axes carried by the people of the region. Most fought with a single handed one and a shield, some carried two handed 60 pound monstrosities, capable of splitting a man in half. If the towers fell as the miners claimed they would, the Daylamis would be the second force into the city after the Kipchaks, there, Souroush predicted, he could spill the blood and take the limbs of many a man. He smiled behind the bearded steel visage covering his face, before waiting to see the crumpling of the towers. If they didn't fall, he would be part of the first wave, taking the walls via seige towers.

Semblik River

The local scouts had been watching for any blocking force that would try prevent the Dvinskaya Army reaching the fortress Semblivsk, or at least delay the approach. However they had advanced unopposed, the scouts searched out several crossing places, found one unoccupied and the army pushed ahead, securing a crossing.
General Ney saw a messenger riding hard. coming from the Nor east, in other words from the siege.

The messenger pulled up in front of Charles.

"What is it trooper?" Charles asked.
"General, the attack is about to start very soon"

It was as General Ney presumed, the chances of getting to the fortress before the attack was always going to be a long chance, but he had tried.

Now he would continue the advance and either catch the enemy in the attack or totally disorganised after it, they were after all only a short distance away; there was still a chance.

Once again the march continued, the light cavalry spreading out, lead by local people who feared the Parthians, they would ensure a secure approach.
He had only advanced a little way when word came that the blocking force had been found.

Semblivsk

The 500 light cavalry had been hiding some distance from the siege works, their scouts had been watching the progress of the siege, but frustarted that their numbers were insufficent to break the siege.
However now the attack on the fortress was about to start, so the Maygars mounted and rode hard for the fortress.

They arrived just as the towers were collapsing and the army was advancing.
The Dvinskaya Light cavalry poured into the rear of the enemy camp, in the first salvo the 500 arrows were still in the air by the time the next 500 were ready.

(OCC)
These cavalry are raiding the camp, HQ and the rear of the advancing army with arrows, they are not physically attacking the rear of the troops.

Semblirsk

Beneshkov heard the explosions before he realized what they were. Once the towers began to crumble, bringing a good chunk of his men down with them, he saw with chagrin the obvious strategy employed by the Parthians that he had blatantly missed.

If I ever get out of this, I need to tell the king to make a conference or something. Our strategies in war are becoming much outdated he thought to himself. He was relatively certain even the best Dvinskayan generals would be hard pressed to come up with a strategy like that in a siege situation.

As the towers fell, so did the walls, and the captains on said walls tried vainly to save both themselves and as many comrades as they possibly could. It didn't do much. He saw entire regiments of garrison killed, crushed by rubble from the walls. What had once been a great achievement in his nation's history was now undoing the brave soldiers that defended the country.

"Sir! Orders?" one of his lieutenants (right guy?) called over the din of falling rock and trebuchet projectiles. Beneshkov only stared foward in shock, watching as his entire defense crumbled before his eyes. The lieutenant ducked, just missed by a flying rock. "Commander Beneshkov! Orders? Sir," he called again, desperate. Beneshkov said nothing, and his lips did not move either. "Sir! Please! Orders?" Nothing.

And upon the last word, Beneshkov fell to the roof facefirst, instantly killing himself. His lieutenant looked sadly at the once great man, realizing that he had put all his faith in the men on the walls, and it was all for nothing. Muttering a prayer to God, he turned away and shouted orders down to a troop of soldiers on the street below, while preparing himself for the invading soldiers to come through the major breaches in the wall, or what remained of it.

Brunnsk

"My king! Two travelers here to see you. They will not reveal themselves, nor will they state their purpose. What shall you have me do?" asked Atlas, running over from the entrance to the throne room.

The king frowned. "No information at all about these two?"

Atlas shook his head. "No sire. Only that they have traveled very far with important things to tell you."

Peter sighed. "Let them in. But I want Herots to get Dmitry in here, and you need to stay up here once they come in."

"Of course, sire." He bowed, then quickly ran back to relay the king's orders.

"He will see you now, travelers," said Atlas, bowing out of their way to let them pass and then following them back in towards the king. The two bowed once they reached close to the foot of the throne.

"Please, stand up. As I am sure you know, I am King Peter IV Ivanov of Dvinskaya. Who are you, and why have you come here?"

The two stood. One of them spoke up, in a strange, raspy voice, "Thank you, your majesty. Our presence here is benevolent, I assure you, but I do not feel comfortable revealing my identity to any but you," the traveler said, turning and gesturing to Atlas and the approaching Kaganov.

King Peter eyed the two cautiously for a moment, and considered the words just spoken. A minute of silence passed, and then the king finally replied, "Very well. Atlas, Dmitry, leave us. I believe I can handle this from here."

Both hesitated, sharing a glance of concern. Neither moved.

"Now, please, you two. I will call if I need assistance."

Finally, they silently gave in, bowed, and retreated from the room.

Once they had both left, the king said, "Now. Who is it that comes to me under the cloak of disguise, leaves me to dismiss my guards and advisors, and claims to have important news? Show yourselves!"

Both looked at each other, then slowly removed the deep hood that covered their faces, revealing feminine features and long, blond hair. Please, your majesty, my name is Isador, and this is my sister in God Selena, and we-"

The king suddenly tightened up. "I know damn well who you are, don't I? You two, you're priestesses of Ariadne, aren't you? God damn you to hell, pagans!"

The two cringed visibly, looking at each other. "Please, your majesty, let me explain-"

"Explain what? Your devil-worshiping and witchcraft? No. I will not hear a word of it. Get out! Get the hell out of my throne room, and never come back to this land!"

OOC: Cliffhanger! =D

"Daimyo Ashida Ziyoshiyua. I serve the Shogun and have come here to observe the land under the guise of a mercenary troop. Here you see some of our most talented samurai and shinobi Kagetora has to offer."

"I see." Yuan replied. "And what would His Excellency, the Shogun, want with this land? Surely, His best warriors would have better use elsewhere then simple scouting."

"Advance forward!" Zartosht of Damghan yelled as his horse raised up on its rear legs and his shamshir waved forward.

As the signal from the horn went out, the Persian and Kipchak archers unleashed a barrage of flaming arrows, partially to break morale, and partially to set buildings near the walls in flame. The skies above were ablaze as thousands of flaming arrows created a massive sheet which travelled from Parthian lines into Sembirlisk, falling like thousands of tiny balls of fire.

As the barrage ended and the trebuchets fell silent, the Kipchak macemen charged forward through the archers at the front of the Parthian force, 5000 of them, followed by the Daylamis swinging their axes and giving a sensational scream as they moved forward, the very ground shaking as they advanced forward in their heavy armor.

Just as the macemen and Daylamis charged forward, Zartosht caught from the corner of his eye a man on a horse in the camp, not a Kipchak or Persian, only one thing that could mean, Hormizd's column had missed a force of cavalry. No matter, thought the general. He could pin them and destroy them all with the reserves. He turned his shamshir around and called out to the Persian and Kipchak archers, "defend the camp, let the others take the walls." The Persian archers replied by loading their recurve bows with arrows, then letting go a shower of them, fired in a more horizontal than vertical direction unlike the rain they let loose on the city walls. Fired like this, the bows they carried were deadly, capable of punching armor like a 6 foot yew longbow, yet much easier to use, with an easier draw weight which allowed an arrow to be launched every 15 seconds or so. They would shower the cavalry with arrows as the general and the reserves made a response.

Wheeling his personal bodyguard of 49 cataphracts around, they picked up their lances and began to move towards the light cavalry, slowly building up a charge, with their momentum growing slowly, but building up to an impressive point as they lowered the long lances towards the light cavalry and charged, yelling as the armored men on armored horses closed on the light cavalry, poised to smash into them like an iron fist inside and iron glove.

As the heavily outnumbered, but exceptionally equipped cataphracts charged, they were followed by 2500 Kipchak spearmen held in reserve, charging towards the flanks of the light cavalry. If the cataphracts pinned them in close combat, the Kipchaks would annihilate them with their spears, unless they decided to withdraw quickly, cataphracts, after all, couldn't keep up with light cavalry.

Semblirsk
Seeing the awesome cataphracts advancing on them in one group and infantry in another, on the signal of a horn the horse archers split into two.
Both turned away from the Heavy cavalry, the group not being chased by the Cataphracts stopped and peppered the infantry with arrows, always staying out of range.
Also their flaming arrows were landing amongst the tents and wagons of the baggage train.

The Group being pursued simply kept ahead of the charge of the lumbering horse, the whole while shooting arrows at the horse from their composite bows.

A few miles from Semblinsk

The Dvinskaya army formed for battle, they advanced against the blocking force.

(OCC Parth - could you give me some idea of numbers and types of troops in the blocking force.)

OOC: Bump. Don't let this die, people!!

OCC

I agree - However I think its a sucky time of the year for RP's. Im still hanging in there.


If you havent already people have a look at Dvinskaya's web page - very good. In fact its inspired me to do the same and set up a medieval nation bsed on Byzantine Empire. In fact I have even borrowed his theme of a great flood - It would be great if we could gather a community of medieval type players -- blah me and my wish list.

OOC: I agree too! =D Thanks for the praise Rech, don't think I've ever had something of mine been called "bloody brilliant." That would be quite interesting if a whole sector could be devoted to medieval tech countries.

Anyways, back to the cliffhanger I left last time!

[IC]

"Please, your majesty, be reasonable, we have information-"

"Reasonable? I am being damn near cordial as it gets towards pagans, you! I will not hear another word of yours! Now, get OUT!"

The one called Selena began to turn away, but her "sister" Isador stayed. "King Peter of Dvinskaya! How dare you turn your back on friendly emissaries from a foreign country, insulting them and refusing to hear but a few words from them! It is despicable! Shall your whole kingdom be of this opinion towards all unfamiliar peoples?"

"This is exactly what you deserve. You come in here and presume that you have rights equal to mine in diplomacy. You do not. I am king of this country, not you, and you will leave this room now or I will call in the guards and have you both arrested or killed!"

Isador's gaze turned from harsh anger to sudden fear. "Please, your majesty, we have vital information about the green men-"

"Green men? What the hell are you talking about?"

"The soldiers who invaded your country, do not speak your language, and fight with the poison-tipped spears."

"What could the lowly dependency of Ariadne possibly know about those soldiers?"

"We created them."

"You did...WHAT?"

"Please, your majesty, they were not intended to invade this realm and destroy your armies. It is precisely why we have come. To explain our fault and attempt to make amends," said Selena, now walking back up towards the throne, regaining her confidence.

The king shook his head in amazement, unable to believe that women could possibly..manufacture...some sort of super soldier. He sighed. "Explain."

[End IC]

If Rech or Parth needs a post from me about the siege, drop me a TG or something in the OOC thread and I'll take care of it. Otherwise I leave you with yet another cliffhanger! =D

Sigh...I sense dyingness...

OCC Yup though Once Parth gets back and confirms numbers Im sure we will get back into them things like killings and mysterious green warriors that ooze green stuff.
For me Im back working till New years day, so time becomes limited again.

OOC: The blocking force is a cavalry force consisting of 5000 Kipchak horse archers, 3500 lancers, and 1000 cataphracts. Essentially, it’s the cavalry force of my army.


As the army sent to reinforce Sembirlisk and relieve the siege advanced forward, the lancers and cataphracts began to withdraw, heading back for the Semblik River, spurred on by Spabodh Hormizd. The earth shook as the heavy cataphracts made back for the rest of the Persian army, followed by the lighter lancers.

To delay and guard the withdrawal, the Kipchaks, skilled horsemen and talented with the bow, began to unleash the tactics which made them so difficult to face in battle. They charged forward, scattered apart to reduce casualties from enemy arrows, and fired a shot from their composite reflex bows. As they advanced closer, they began to wheel to the right and left, forming a continuous J stream of forces as they wheeled, firing arrows with a shockingly rapid speed, before withdrawing at a gallop, the horse archers turning around on their horses for a single Parthian shot while the horses continued to run away


Meanwhile, back at the camp, the Cataphracts, knowing better than to pursue horse archers, merely stuck their lances into the ground, then removed their bows slung behind their back, joining the Kipchak foot archers in peppering them with arrows from their own recurve bows. The spearmen, meanwhile, fell behind the archers, giving them a better and more direct field of fire.

Against the Blocking Force

The advance against the blocking force marched on towards the Semblirsk Fortress. The Pikemen marched in a wall shielded by skirmirshers. behind the Pikemen were the several thousand archers including the 500 longbows.
If the skirmers were threatened they would fall back through the gaps between the pike blocks, once the threat was dealth with they would advance out and join in the arrow fire against the enemy horses. if we are attacked in the front the pikes close up and the archers fire over their heads.
If we are attacked in the flanks our own cavalry deal with them and the archers continue firning at them.

On the flanks were the cavalry, horse archers, Lancers and Heavy cavalry. They would wait until enough enemy were disordered and then charge.

The word from General Ney, prior to the advance was to drop the horses

If I see one archer aiming at a rider I will personally shove the arrow up his arse. You aim for the horses, they fall and the riders are dealt with by the infantry.
Remember, in 1 volley that we unleash approximately 3,000 arrows, for before the first arrow lands we should have 9.000 arrows in the sky.
So 9,000 arrows means a lot of dead horses and once we have fucked the cavalry we will then ride them down with our own. we keep that up until there are no horses left.
Owain, your Longbows take care of the heavy cavalry in particular.

Semblirsk.

The horse archers swept in on their initial attack, the Naptha on their first volleys were meant for the baggage trains and wagons, that attack was reasonably succesful.
However a the foot archers were taking a toll, and the cataphracts were joining in the fusilade. However the attack on the enemt rear was having an effect of disrupting the main attack on the fortress, and Guy reasoned every little bit helps.

So far he estimated that in the first minutes of this attack he had suffered approximately 150 casualties, an expensive cost, but to see the devastaion and disruptions was reward enough.
He ordered the trumpeter to sound the recall, the horse archers would fall back and regather, out of arrow range, they would continue thus, while they had the strength to muster enough men.

The men in the fortress would have seen the attack, hopefully that would encourage them to fight on.

OCC - I will be away for a day and 2 nights at a new year gig i will fight on when I return.
Happy New Year guys.

Semblirsk

"Lieutenant! Reinforcements," someone shouted nearby, pointing down at a group of cavalry engaging the enemy beyond the ruined walls.

He turned to look, then slowly smiled. "Excellent." To them all he said, "Come on men! We are reinforced! Fight on, for the country, for the king!"

To that he was given a general 'hurrah' and the soldiers began to push back the breaches in the wall gaps. But he realized that there was no way he could hold out forever; he just didn't have enough men left to hold up against this assault.

The lieutenant, seeing that his command post was no longer relevant or safe with trebuchet stones and naptha bombs falling nearby, exited the roof, ran through the building and out onto the street below. From there he continued to shout orders and encourage his men, determined to hold out by the walls for as long as possible.

Brunnsk

The king slumped slightly in his throne, obviously tired and annoyed. He gestured for the women to begin.

"Thank you, your majesty. I promise you will not regret this," said Selena.

"Now then, I shall begin," said Isador, picking up the story. "It was almost 160 years ago that we were kicked out of the oppressive Gallian society into the countryside to fend for ourselves, without the protection of a king or an army, for we are instructed by the Goddess never to keep an army. It was at that time that we began moving north, and found an excellent spot to establish ourselves near the Guvais River."

"I believe I am familiar with the founding story. Must you bring all of this up?" the king asked irritably.

"Indeed, your majesty, it is all relevant. Now then, after we had settled there and established our city of Ariadne, the high priestess and her cohorts immediately began planning the demise of the evil and misguided Gallians. It was at this time that they began work into the fields of magic."

"Wait, wait, wait. You're telling me that magic...exists...and that you've used it for over 160 years now?"

"No, your majesty. I did not finish. Please, patience."

The king nodded his head shortly, waving his arm like one would to a naughty child. "Continue."

"Thank you. As I said, they began to look into magic. At first they thought it progressed well, but then there was a terrible accident. The high priestess was spared, but all of her maidens were not, and she was persecuted for murder, as the rest of our society was unaware of the circumstances.

When a new high priestess came to power, she found hidden away in the Great Tower, the residence of all high priestesses, a chest full of scrolls and instructions, written by the previous high priestess. She began to investigate these writings, and found she could work basic magic by the time her tenure as high priestess was coming to an end.

From then on, each high priestess passed down her secrets to the next, ever developing their theory, slowly becoming more advanced and more powerful. They began looking into animation and summoning by the time of high priestess XI, and the first research was a disaster.

But, they were finally able to work out the holes in the formulas and things in the reign of the next high priestess. The system was not fool-proof, obviously, and mistakes were often.

Eventually, the secrets of magic began to be shared with the general population of women in Ariadne, but not the men. It was thought that they were too weak of mind to be able to concentrate for the tasks of magic. And so the entire city began to practice magic, always plotting how to use it against our hated enemies.

High priestess Rhiannon XIV was the first one to be able to create a soldier like the one that came through your country, with the intention of releasing it on Gallia. It worked, and it caused havoc in far north Gallia for at least a month before being killed.

After that, she and, eventually, her successor began to manufacture more. Soon they had an army, without breaking their pact to the Goddess never to hold an army, for it was made up of no actual flesh or humanoid beings. She planned to invade Gallia with them, but died before she could finish preparations.

After that, the current high priestess, Rihannon XVI, became an expert in their field, and planned to start the invasion that had never happened. Only...she lost control. The army became too powerful, went on a rampage through the city, and then moved south, presumably into your territory. The high priestess feared for her life, and was almost ready to leave the city in exile, when she decided there was a better solution: outlaw all magic. This meant she had to tell the men about the history of magic in the city, and after that, many of them left for either Dnirskaya or your own country.

The high priestess tried to forget about what she did with the army, but when a report reached her of Dvinskayan soldiers slaughtered mercilessly by the monsters, she realized she had to send someone to you: us. I will admit we were unable to come immediately, but we are here now, and now you understand what has happened."

The king was silent for a long time, presumably trying to fathom the woman's story. After a very long silence, he finally said, "I...I am disappointed in the city of Ariadne for this...incident," obviously choosing his words carefully. "You mentioned...making amends. I ask, how do you possibly plan to make up for what you have done?"

Selena swallowed, stepped forward next to her "sister" and said, "The city of Ariadne is deeply sorry for what has transpired. You have our word that our priestesses will never again practice their magic, even in future generations, and the city is prepared to pay...300,000 Dnirskayan marques, presumably equal to around 275,000 Brunn marques, am I correct?"

The king gasped. Actually gasped. "What...how could you possibly accumulate that much money? You are just a dependency!"

"I am not allowed to give an answer to that question. I am sorry, your majesty. There were several things that could not be left to you, even as high and powerful as you are, for these things that my sister has told you are state secrets, and not to be shared among your populace. I came here in confidence, your majesty, as did my sister, and I hope you will acknowledge that."

The king gave each a long look. "I understand. Though I trust that no other betrayals of trust occurred in the acquisition of such a sum?"

Isador snorted softly. "Trust? No one has ever trusted us, your majesty, least of all you, no offense. The sum was acquired in a way that is not against anyone's moral code. Is that acceptable?"

"Yes, I suppose it is. So how will the funds be transferred to us?"

"Another emissary should be here within a week or to, in possession of the sum. They will give it to you, no questions asked."

"Very well. Can I have a name, so I know who to let in?"

"I don't know, your majesty. We left before it was decided."

"Fair enough. Thank you, ladies. I wish to welcome you and your city back into the hands of Dvinskayan friendship, for I will make it so."

"That is kind of you, your majesty. I shall pass on the message to the high priestess. Goodbye, your majesty." And with that, the two bowed, turned, and strolled out of the room.

South of Dortesk

"Sir, that's the last of them. All the monsters are dead and burned," said a lieutenant, speaking to General Toledo of Kadan.

"Good. How many of ours are dead?"

"We estimate around half, but it may be more. The full count is going on now."

The general looked north, to the blue horizon, and where it met the land. Faintly, he could see the outline of a town's buildings. Pointing to it, he said, "That's where we're going, lieutenant, soon as we've finished here. We've got to figure out what's going on up there."

Edifare, Duchy of Kadan

"Duke Johansson! A message from General Toledo," one of the Duke's administrators called.

"Bring it here."

The man walked over, handing the message to the Duke. The Duke unwrapped the scroll, and read the words upon the sheet.

Duke Johansson,

We have traveled far from Edifare to this open plain, south of the town of Dortesk, north of the Salet River's bend. Here we have encountered what we presume to be the mythical "monster" soldiers. We greatly outnumber them, but I know they will fight fierce. The fight will be tough, and I am still uncertain as to its outcome. Please know that if we fall, we have done our duty to you, and we will look down upon Kadan favorably from heaven. Until we meet again, good friend, goodbye.

Toledo

"Leave."

"Sir?"

"Get out! Leave this room," the duke yelled, suddenly inflamed with anger. The man ran out of the room, confused as to what he had done.

[End IC]

Sorry it took so long to post, I just had to work out the kinks in the plot so far. Anyway, we need Kagetora!! Right, Angent?

bump

OOC: I'm back. Don't worry, it's not your rp that's dying. Anyway, the holidays gave me a 360, so i've been busy elsewhere.

IC:
"I see." Yuan replied. "And what would His Excellency, the Shogun, want with this land? Surely, His best warriors would have better use elsewhere then simple scouting."
"The country is finally united. We have little need of warriors back home, and the daimyo are getting restless. The Shogun wants the violence to be channeled out of the country, and to expand his dominion at the same time."

OCC

Parthia are you still in, I am waiting for a response to my actions so far.

bump for Parthians

OOC: Very much in, just been delayed of late.

And here is the post.

IC:
The Persian army had found the relief column, fast approaching the city of Sembirlisk, moving closer by the minute, it would soon throw all the hard won advantages Parthian seigecraft had provided for the battle. The Persians could not afford to both attack the city and take down the massive enemy army bearing down on them.

The assault on Sembirlisk would pause, the Kipchaks leading the way would hold their position, but the Daylami forces behind them would take a new position, they were needed elsewhere.

The entire army would set itself up on the Semblik river outside Sembirlisk, using tried and true tactics, it would hold the river against efforts by the Rechburg forces approaching, they were a real threat, so far as they could tell, they seemed to field an army like the distant Greek Emperors in Constantinople, potent warriors, but not invincible. Persian armies, after all, had often been the undoing of their Roman ancestors.

The Persian force set itself up in two lines. In the center, Daylami axemen set themselves up, the ones carrying shields setting themselves in the front together to set a shield wall, banding together to form a wall of metal and steel to avert any attempts to break them with cavalry or heavy infantry. To their flanks, stretched out, the 5,000 Kipchak spearmen prepared their defensive positions, their spears at the ready and prepared for war.

In the front and center, the Persian archers, 2500 of them, waited patiently. If the enemy attempted to cross, they would bombard them with recurve bows, while the 2500 Kipchak bowmen also stood at the front, equally prepared to rain death upon the enemy force quickly approaching.

The cavalry, meanwhile, split. The cataphracts and lancers would set up positions in a copse of trees off the western flank of the army, hiding there in case the Rechburg forces attempted to cross there, while the horse archers would wait on the river banks to the immediate west of the south facing Persian army, if nothing else, it would draw the Rechburg forces to the flank where the Persian heavy cavalry waited.

All that remained now was to wait… and pray.

OCC Great to see ya back.

In case you missed it in a earlier thread I wrote


Semblik River

The local scouts had been watching for any blocking force that would try prevent the Dvinskaya Army reaching the fortress Semblivsk, or at least delay the approach. However they had advanced unopposed, the scouts searched out several crossing places, found one unoccupied and the army pushed ahead, securing a crossing.

and then in a later thread

Against the Blocking Force

The advance against the blocking force marched on towards the Semblirsk Fortress. The Pikemen marched in a wall shielded by skirmirshers. behind the Pikemen were the several thousand archers including the 500 longbows.
If the skirmers were threatened they would fall back through the gaps between the pike blocks, once the threat was dealth with they would advance out and join in the arrow fire against the enemy horses. if we are attacked in the front the pikes close up and the archers fire over their heads.
If we are attacked in the flanks our own cavalry deal with them and the archers continue firning at them.

On the flanks were the cavalry, horse archers, Lancers and Heavy cavalry. They would wait until enough enemy were disordered and then charge.

The word from General Ney, prior to the advance was to drop the horses

If I see one archer aiming at a rider I will personally shove the arrow up his arse. You aim for the horses, they fall and the riders are dealt with by the infantry.
Remember, in 1 volley that we unleash approximately 3,000 arrows, for before the first arrow lands we should have 9.000 arrows in the sky.
So 9,000 arrows means a lot of dead horses and once we have fucked the cavalry we will then ride them down with our own. we keep that up until there are no horses left.
Owain, your Longbows take care of the heavy cavalry in particular.

It was at this point I assumed you would have seen my army advancing towards the city and moved out against them.

This makes sense since if the sequence went like this

1) using local guides I found a crossing unknown to the Parthisans. (My thread)
2) I form my army up (my thread)
3) parthian army finds my army just after its crossed and sends warning back to the Fortress. (your thread)
4) The Parthian attack on the fortress goes into hold, you withdraw troops to meet my army (Your thread)
5) My army has moved out into the plains. (my thread)
6) the time you disengage your army to join the blocking force (this would have been extremely difficult and definetly time consuming since the parthian had launched their attack.) (assumption)

7 Our armies meet on the plains (next thread)
8) Nor sure what happens back at the fortress, except the garrison and my raiding force would have had a field day with all the comings and goings. ( assumption and threads to come)

Im not trying to steal the show, and I realise it reads like that; but that was the sequence I was working to.

(What do you think. Im trying to be open so if theres a problem with sequences Im prepared to relook at things)

If this is ok, you can reset your forces on the plain, keep the wood nearby, assume one flank secured on a river if you wish, or secured on the wood if you away from the river, whatever turns your fancy.

Don't mean to be a nag, but I just want to remind you that there's no Rechburg in the RP, Parthians.

I don't mind either way what happens with the siege, I'll just go along with whatever makes sense.

Oh, and glad to see you're back :p

OOC: Bugger, you're right Rech. What you suggested though I'd probably do, set my forces up on the river with one flank blocked by it, then with the cavalry in the woods and the horse archers scattered across the front of the force. If you want to go ahead and assume I did that, that would be fine.

On the Plains before Sembirsk

Realising that his army had been discovered General Ney formed his army up in Battle array. His intention being to march along the river, until opposite Semblirsk, then being close enough to the fortress swing inland to relieve the besieged castle.
General Ney kept the 500 Longbow men on the opposite side of the river, from there they could provide a devastating flank fire from any enemy line formed to oppose them.

The march continued for an hour or more, the smoke and dust from the struggle within and around Semblirsk being evident on the horizon. The scouts reported the Parthian had formed up in a defensive position about two miles ahead.

General ney rode ahead to inspect the enemy, ensuring he and his escorting Lancers kept out of arrow range he noted the enemy position.
Clearly they intended to hinge their line on the river and a very worrying copse of wood out on Neys left.

The reports Ney had received over the last few days all mention large amounts of cavalry, yet here there didn't seem to be too many, therefore the conclusion must be they were in or behind the woods.

Ney rode back, with a clear impression of what must be done, whether this army was capable of it was an entirely different thing.

The Pikemen marched in a wall shielded by skirmishers. behind the Pikemen were the several thousand archers .
If the skirmishers were threatened they would fall back through the gaps between the pike blocks, once the threat was dealt with they would advance out and join in the arrow fire against the enemy horses. if they are attacked in the front the pikes close up and the archers fire over their heads.
If they are attacked in the flanks our own cavalry deal with them and the archers continue firing at them.

On the left flank all the cavalry, horse archers, Lancers and Heavy cavalry were placed, there orders to meet any threat from the woods.

The word from General Ney, prior to the advance was to drop the horses, all his archers were to aim at the horses, the composite and Longbows all capable of penetrating the chain mail on the heavy cavalry.

Ney told his archers prior to the march
"If I see one archer aiming at a rider I will personally shove the arrow up his arse. You aim for the horses, they fall and the riders are dealt with by the infantry.
Remember, in 1 volley that we unleash approximately 3,000 arrows, for before the first arrow lands we should have 9.000 arrows in the sky.
So 9,000 arrows means a lot of dead horses and once we have fucked the cavalry we will then ride them down with our own. we keep that up until there are no horses left."

He gave Owain the commander of the Longbow men different orders.

"You advance parallel with the river until directly opposite the enemy line and then turn in and face their flank and rear. From their your men are to enfilade the entire enemy line. You are safe from attack being protected from the river.
Make sure you concentrate on the enemy closest to the river and once they show signs of breaking or weakening move your fire inland.
Keep your wagons with you so you have plenty of arrows."

The army advanced until the enemy line was in sight, both armies formed up in preparation for the slaughter that would indubitably follow. Clearly audible in the distance was the battle around the Castle, Ney hoped the commander was doing the right thing there and either holding on or breaking out into the enemies rear and joining up with the cavalry that were attacking the enemy besiegers at the moment.
Out on the right across the river, ney could make out the dust of the longbow men as they approached the river in skirmish order.

Ney order the battle horn blown, this was the signal for the archers to step out and commence fire.

All most at an instant day was turned into dark as the arrows from both armies covered the sky in a great arch.

Ney watch the enemies flank on the river, the Long bowmen had a very tempting target of a long line before them in which surely every arrow would find a target. The enemy line at that end was being peppered from their front and flank, there thought Ney must be where we unhinge the enemy line.

Out on his left flank the cavalry were formed up in Echelon or refused flank, leaning slightly backwards so as to protect his own flank.

He ordered his horse archers to loose fire arrows into the woods, thereby setting a conflagration that would chase any enemy out of there.

His own line was now suffering casualties, but that was expected as long as that enemy flank weakened.


Semblirsk.

Meanwhile back at Semblirsk the enemy army was in some disarray. The attack on the castle had started and was being met by fierce opposition, then Guy and his cavalry attacked the enemy in the rear, the fire arrows created havoc in the enemy camp, setting stores and equipment on fire. The Parthian General retaliated by ordering troops from his besieging forces to chase the enemy away, this they had only limited success and it would unnerved an army that was already in battle to know that their baggage train and all the women and booty were being raided.
Then came the order for the infantry to join the blocking force to stop an enemy army approaching.

Guy watched has the enemy army straggled back from the breaches that were still being defended. They were in danger of falling no doubt, but now, the army pulled back and marched away. the enemy units left surely must be weakened, disheartened and vulnerable.
He ordered the Battle horn sounded again, and once again his men rode at the enemy camp and the soldiers defending it. Hoping this time the garrison commander would see his chance. If they could break this weak besieging army now, not only would they take his supplies; but hopefully they could attack him in the rear down on the plains.

bump

Sorry Guys Im out of this one for now, it was an excellent RP and it was sad xmas got in the way and buggered the flow. Since then its never really taken off again.

Dvinskaya if you ever want to do another RP with your nation TG me, I have a NS puppet state set up in this period and I like your style.
Thanks guys for a enjoyable RP, just a shame we lost the flow thing damn good Rpers one and all.