Archon's Curse [Pathfinder Kingmaker]

[Imperator Pax]

Sarenith 4714 AR
They had roughly a week until the end of the month, but with Ilthuliak dead he was now prepared to end this. Kisandra had outlined the layout of Fort Drelev, and that had been largely confirmed for them by others. It was a large town situated along the lake shore and the hill prominence. There had been a lair of Chuul south of where the Sellen flowed out the Lake, that had needed clearing, but the River Giants had seen to that, and were now mustered with their boats at the southern banks of the lake... when the time came would sail north and land on the docks.... but that was only to be part of the matter. Maegar had crossed the Lake and the Siltstrand circling around to pitch camp on the northern banks of the river west of Fort Drelev. He was to largely focus on the west and north roads and prevent any potential escape.

Eire intended to enter the city by stealth, reach the temple of Erastil, and spend the night there, preparing for the actual investment of the town. The next morning he would visit the Velvet Corner, and the local priestess of Calistria. Kisandra's friend, Satinder, would ideally allow him to use here shrine to expand the force arriving in an ironic mirroring of Tazlford's relief.

Regongar and Amiri were too occupied with the great severed head of the dead Black Wyrm to pay mind to the matters of impending low warfare. That was not the reason he was leaving them here. The truth was he intended to invest the town, and preferably to distract whatever defenders by forcing them to move to the gap in the western wall before the columns of sunlight, and the arrival of archons informed the town that they were being 'liberated'.

... he hoped that the denizens of Fort Drelev would obey the celestial messengers to remain calm, and in their homes. He needed the streets of the castle town open and clear. Part of that was not just asserting control, but to ensure that they could deal with the hill giants apparently helping Drelev defend his town.

There were still yet other messages, and ground work that needed to be distributed. In particular the news of Ilthuliak's demise was being sent south to Mivon, with the proclamation that the Kingdom would be annexing Drelev's domain and that the Slough would be reopened to traffic upon the conclusion of hostilities... and also that the Mivonese Aldori would be told he was marching on Drelev soon. The truth was of course by the time Mivon was informed he expected that hte fighting would be done, but Mivon didn't necessarily need to know that.

The truth was he hoped to overawe the denizens of the castle or at least its surrounding town because he didn't want a messy assault... and also he was concerned about some of the other news of events still further west, and now from the north in Brevoy... but that would be something to deal with later, after this had been resolved.
--
The infiltration itself, the boat ride across the Slough into the delta where the siltstrand met the great lake was uneventful... most likely with Maegar pitched to the north west and limited guards Drelev was either concentrating his troops in his castle proper or at the apparent gap in his incomplete outermost wall... whatever the case it didn't matter. Fort Drelev was still a sizable town, even from reports they had weathered Elvanna's mad scheme worse than others.

Still if not for well built stone fortress on the hill, and indeed a number of other masonry architecture buildings Drelev had erected his seat of power in a largely typical brevic fashion. It was a brevic settlement with rows of sturdy little homes and shops built from wood. Just as the main outer palisade protecting the sprawling town was of wood.

The interior of the town's temple of Erastil, another hallmark of Drelev's rostlandic heritage, was unfinished... and there were no signs of its priests. Indeed the large stone building appeared to have been abandoned for at least weeks if not all winter. Still incomplete as a whole, the ground was consecrated. That would be enough... and silently Eire made a mental note that he would have to speak to his own Erastillian clergy at the Temple of the Elk to see about finishing the furnishings ... but its lack of attention would have to be addressed, or answered for.

He clapped his hands and sparks flew. The warm summer air drifted through the sanctuary. The bell tolled as lantern archons emerged from it to swirl around him in greeting, their lights dancing. He had little time to spend with the archons they were relying on magic to coordinate time, and while he was unsure if the guards actually thought Maegar Varn would mount a night attack, he hoped that the Issian scion had followed through with advertising his presence well.

There were no interruptions as night waned, and gave way to the first rays of dawn, and people began to stir, for another day of drudgery, and yet he was taking a chance of being spotted so early out in the street, but he no longer cared. The preparations in the church were laid, Erastil's temple would serve its purpose and there was still another sanctuary of sorts to visit.

He had actually misjudged the distance from the Temple of Erastil, to the Velvet Corner and his attention caught briefly on a small stone shrine across from it, before he turned into the gambling hall... and brothel. The bawdy house was typical of calistrian establishments pulling double or even triple roles as such, the same was true in Tatzlford after all.

He just needed to have a quick conversation with the priestess of Calistria before either the guards on the wall were lead to believe Maegar had begun his attack, or someone accidentally found the archons early. That proved easier said then done, as the Calistrian had little time this early in the morning trying to rouse a handful of unfriendly or downright ornery mercenaries who were sleeping off the previous night's drink... and then it was too late as the warnings went out to the guards, and Eire threw himself physically into one of the pitaxian sellswords.

Quicksilver eyes narrowed as fire boiled from his fingers searing through the man's neck, he left the man to fall on the wooden floor and swung his hands open to release the sun bolts.

"What-"

The screaming started though.

"I am Eire," It felt, off to use the first person singular, the draconic imperative wasn't truly plural but in the same royal we sense but it was more accurate to translate it as we, and in Taldane the royal vernacular was a much more clear royal we, "Kisandra Numesti sought my aid to," He trailed off... the discussion was almost pointless he could feel on his senses that the archons had begun to emerge to carry out his wishes and to direct the townsfolk to shelter in place... and also that they most likely had started firing upon the giants and guardsmen in Pitax or Drelev's service. "it matters not," He clapped his hands wrapping everyone inside the Velvet Corner in a much expanded word of recall and depositing them in the Temple of the everbloom that was sheltered the youngest Numesti daughter before he returned alone... or rather returned to the velvet corner's empty gambling hall with only the cleric of Calistria as a column of solar flame whisked down on the Temple of Erastil.

Unlike other times when they had done this, this time the column of solar flame came down in all its glory with the roar of heaven. Men emerged from the vertical sheet of holy fire armed and ready for battle, rushing forward to clear the space of holy ground provided by the temple, and rushed hurriedly down the streets invoking their gods as they moved.

"You said Kisandra sent you?"

The blue clad Calistrian had followed him back out into the street to see the forming ranks.
He cleared his throat, "We are Eire of Shrikewall," Eire reiterated for effect, but apparently Satinder Morne didn't speak draconic, "I am King of Narland," He stated in Taldane for the human cleric's benefit, but his attention had turned towards the battle as a flight of archons assaulted a stumbling hill giant.

--
Notes: Battletech will update in the morning I have a migraine and it needs some revisions before going up.

 

[Imperator Pax]

Sarenith 4714 AR
Maegar Varn lowered his far eye as he finished his count. There weren't that many guards.

There was one problem with this plan, Drelev shouldn't have been stupid enough to think that as an experienced campaigner that Maegar would launch an attack eastward marching into the rising sun... it would have made more sense for him to launch a night attack or one late in the day when the sun would be behind his forces... obviously of course Hannis still needed to defend his walls, especially with a gap in them already, but Drelev should have smelled that there was something wrong with the entire deployment of forces to his west.

The other issue was if the Tiger Lords had shown up to relieve the city, but Maegar had been less worried about that. They'd pitched their camp in sight of the walls, and the druids had raised formidable barriers to deter attacks... not that any of Drelev's knights had sallied out to attack them since they had been here, and there had been no Kellid tribesmen approaching from the west either.

Still he had maneuvered the troops into position to look as menacing as possible. It at least looked like they were moving to the threaten the lone watch tower that dominated the open gap of the walls. He had thrown up enough of a screen to the south that if anyone came out of the west gate they couldn't advance on them, but Maegar hadn't really seen much imitative from the Guards.

... given the lack of initiative he might have ordinarily pushed things, demanded that Drelev throw open his gates and surrender. He hadn't for a number of other reasons. Drelev had probably locked himself in his castle, and it had completed curtain walls, and a tower in addition to being set on the bluff overlooking the town. Hannis would make them assault the town and try and hide behind his castle walls... and with Pitax involved Maegar was leery of perfidy so he was comfortable waiting, and he didn't have long to wait.

The first column of solar fire was visible from more than a mile away. If Maegar understood the layout of the town, then that meant any giants that had arrived with the first wave could simply walk up the north road, and block the castle gates, they might even be able to force the north gate of the town by themselves.

He also suspected that if he, Maegar, hadn't thought to expect clerics transporting companies of armsmen across the land in columns of heavenly fire then Drelev probably hadn't expected that. He understood that the next phase would be securing the temple of Calistria, but also that the River Giants, and the Ulfen and Iobarian longships would attempt to cross the Lake and land at the docks in force... just as his forces were looking into the sun while facing the west wall, any guards on the docks would be looking across the massive body of water as the morning sun rose in the east.

--
Eire twisted his fingers in invoking gesture. There was an instant roar of fire and heat. A column of fire descended scattering the brigands in uniform stumbling through the street. He had pushed on from the Velvet Corner just as soon as he had marked it and then the Rat's Shrine; a small stone shrine to Hanspur, and then told Calistria's priestess what to expect; even if he had perhaps undersold things a bit.

Brigh's clergy had built mechanical clocks for the realm. The idea of a timed work day was unusual of course for a medieval realm, but they had been able to implement a time schedule, and thus also coordinate what needed to be done. They would signal through magical mirrors, and words of sending when the next parties would move from each temple.

From there it would be a matter of leapfrogging. The shrine to Hanspur, and the Velvet Corner were both on the western side of the down, and his eyes were already focused on the watchtower and the gap in the wall. He couldn't see Maegar's host beyond it, but he didn't need to.

If he had wanted he could have easily summoned a swarm of elementals from the plane for Fire to resolve this... but the truth was there were factors of restraint that needed to be conveyed. They needed to assert control of the town. The first troops to arrive at the Velvet corner would need to hold it to insure they had sufficient numbers to hold the docks to the south as well as check the watch tower... or at least that was the nominal plan, but if they could successfully land on the fishermen's wharfs then they could invest the town proper in short order and sweep east to link with further numbers arriving at the temple of Erastil.

There was a rush of wind as archons surged past the area and the guards he had blasted with flame strike and they, the lantern archons, struck out against the the tower's archers. Flashing pulses of radiant energy struck the upper deck.

As expected within minutes more columns of fire signaling the arrival of more troops from the various temples serving as staging points throughout the Narlmarches began to appear. They carried with them an array of forces but most were human regardless of ethnicity, though there were half elves and giants visible among the ranks.

Banners from the church of Iomedae were joined by those of Milani and Ragethiel as well as those of hawk headed Sokar, and falcon headed Horus. It was these that formed the main paladin vanguard behind which rangers and clerics from other faiths would follow.

It wouldn't have been wholly inaccurate to describe it as a holy army, or a crusader host given the disproportionate ranks of church membership forming the martial component... but of course that also went to the way they arrived... which Eire recognized would be something that would have to be discussed with more conservative churches like Erastil... that wasn't putting things fully on the human congregation of Erastil, but apparently no one had ever considered using churches in this fashion.

Something for later though, since of course again most of his troops were religious.

If it had been winter, or Winter adjacent such as with irrisen's incursion, the men would have had had wool cloaks, or even great coats dyed iron black through the royal textiles. Since it was summer most men had forgone those. The tabards of most of the paladins carried the holy symbols of their respective churches, otherwise emblazoned on shields. The Lion Rampant of Narland was disproportionately carried by giantish standard bearers from Stone Giants wading forward, and they largely belonged to Erastil's faith, though some served other giantish gods like Bergelmir. On the other hand it made the presence that much more outsized for its numbers.

There was no mounted component to this engagement. It was all men afoot. Drelev's layout was in no small part shaped by geography, and most obviously the lake on who's shores it was built upon. If Eire were to guess the house immediately south of the castle's hill, had probably been some of the first settlement. It had probably been the first brevic colonists here. He didn't know that for sure, but the North road and gate simply felt more planned, but that may have just been the wider nature of the thoroughfare leading to the north gate and its access to the castle gates.


Whatever the case was, with troops arriving in his proximity and at the Temple of Erastil the settlement was divided and there were still the troops outside as well. That was the point of course, no need to maintain a costly or protracted siege of a settlement of a few thousand people when this was an option.

 

[Imperator Pax]

Sarenith 4714
For all its size Drelev's town was actually smaller in population than it should have been... and yet at the same time smaller was a relative claim. Drelev's town surrounding his keep was large by the standards of Norman England, and meant that there were several distinct neighborhoods or rookeries where clusters of houses and shoppes gathered. For their numbers though, and regardless of discontent with the Baron there hadn't seemed to be any revolt forthcoming from the peasants living within the towns walls... and they certainly didn't need to be told twice to stay indoors as the archons swarmed about through the streets.

That was one less thing to worry about, and he was grateful for it. "I want that tower taken care of," Eire remarked matter of factly looking at the lone form of tower centered in the gap on the western wall.

There was a sharp nod from the sharp eyed bronze skinned form of the cleric of Shelyn. The giantess wasted little time in turning to the small collection of the clergy forming a throng around him. The air sizzled abruptly as the storm giant hurled a blast of lightning the exploded through the top of the tower... which rather effectively dealt with the problem, even if that hadn't quite been what he had had in mind... but that was his own fault he supposed for delegating without clear instruction.

A few moments later Maegar's voice echoed through the sending spell, asking for clarification on what it was he was supposed to be doing... if now was the time to advance? Whether it had been intended too or not it functioned effectively as. Drelev's gap in the wall allowed them to bypass the western gate house entirely.

Already his attention turned from the palisade, wooden protection ringing the city, to the castle's stone curtain walls. Given the growth of the city the palisade was an effective and inexpensive, and also the norm of brevic construction for defenses. The stone walls of the keep would b e more of a challenge, and given the rarity of stone construction in Brevoy might well have inflated Hannis's idea of safety.

Eire almost regretted not inviting Amvarean to participate in this, but they were already committed, and the truth was Drelev was already isolated. He had other forces elsewhere including Jaethal on other matters of state.

He started the walk eastward, past the Velvet Corner where now stood armsmen in Iomedaen livery directing traffic, and other men in piano black and crimson tabards stood further down the center thoroughfare running towards the Temple of Erastil. At the temple stood a centuries old stone giant cleric of old Dead Eye directing the matters at the fork where the east west course joined the north road near the temple and the stable and smithy. If Eire had had to guess he would have assumed that Drelev had staked out the site for the castle, and deforested most of it to provide the timber... admittedly he'd probably cleared much of the lakeshore tree line because had no doubt sunk much of his effort in his personal residence. Clearing the trees would have needed to be done, and he needed the wood to build much of the town... and while it wasn't exactly how Eire would have done planned it Drelev hadn't made any significant errors.

He had made good use of the terrain, it was probably just bad luck that Irrisen's mad scheme had unfolded... and that he'd been caught up in pressures and machinations of Pitax, and their barbarian allies. It was why he wanted to avoid damaging the walls if at all possible... it was why of course that close that gap in the wall would be something he would need to see to... after they had the castle in hand of course.

"They have locked the gate, my lord." A sergeant drawn from Hereford's garrison remarked approaching, "They have men in the towers," But either aware that his forces had taken magical precautions against arrows, or just unsure of what to do, the guards in the outer towers had made no attempt to attack. "There are further giants though in the courtyard."

"Ah," He replied with a nod, that made sense, "How many?"

"Six, sire. They seem well disciplined." The sergeant relayed.

The gate house was large enough to accommodate the giants, if Drelev attempted to sally they wouldn't have any trouble getting through the gate house. Drelev seemed to have erected his keep with high ceilings less because of giants but rather as a protection or comfort against the summer heat and humidity of the Slough. A part of him considered that maybe it would be better to provoke the giants to coming out. On the other hand, he had other options, "Prepare to knock the gate, gather to me a handful of our giant companions."

"Yes your majesty."

It took another half hour to assemble the necessary clerics to prepare to cast unshackle as well have enough men to reinforce the company of armsmen. It was an abundance of precaution since the majority of the realm's paladins were committed to this expedition. The senior cleric, a man nearly into his sixties... quite close to Jhod's age eyed the castle and cast the spell as Eire expended a spell of his own to cast dimension door for the mix of stone and storm giants around him.

The giants moved through the glowing portal of sunlight and warm flame as Eire turned to the towers raising his hands to release rays of sunlight as the two gate towers . He didn't necessarily care if he hit the men with in, it would serve him just as well if all they did was duck.

The gate was open and he could see the courtyard to cast the spell and thus his dimension door allowed their giants to simply appear in the courtyard. There were two more towers overlooking the courtyard but he doubted any men manning those were facing inward... and it didn't matter matter... for their part the Hill Giants had immediately started to action rolling to face the sudden challenge with surprising alacrity... but they were within the keep's walls.

--
The chorus of archons radiated across the town. It was in part magical, and part simply the number of archons which floated over the town. Unshackle was effectively Knock Mass it might as well have been called that and had been a surprise to keep in reserve until they forced the castle... but of course they had been prepared to bypass the palisades by magic anyway.

The mix of pitaxian sellswords, and the brevic guards from the Drelev demesne weren't intimidated per se by the archons, at least not any more than they were of the army as a whole. It didn't really matter the chorus was more for the peasants and the townsfolk anyway. Drelev's brother in law was a wizard and had had the foresight to protect the windows with magical locks, but probably against thieves not other spellcasters. The commoners on the household staff had hidden themselves away in their quarters when the fighting had spilled into the hall.

It was just as well.

What was not just as well was Drelev's disappearance in the assault. The man had probably fled during the chaos, the question really was where, and by what means... because it presented a problem. On the other hand the coward had abandoned both his wife and his mistress in the flight... which Eire supposed should have surprised him any... he doubted it would surprise Kisandra Numesti.

That was the other good news. Her father, Ser Terrion, at least had been in one of the few occupied cells in the north wall dungeon. He was fatigued from his stint there, but alive. That would probably make things easier in the long run.

Eire twisted slightly to regard the room. House Drelev's colors were a bit garish, and the room with its deep browns and bright gold tiles were probably fashionable by the standards of brevoy but they almost gave him a headache, and if they was a shrine or chapel in the keep his men had not been able to find it... still the audience chamber was tall enough to admit a handful of his giant vassals, including a storm giant cleric of Shelyn who had been elected from their ranks to join them here, along with one of the clerics of Minderhal who was to Eire's immediate right.

House Stroon, the deposed baron's in laws, were like House Drelev a baronial house of some standing in Brevoy of 'good taldane stock'. Simply killing the wizard and Drelev's wife out of hand was ... out of the question. The baron's current mistress was one of those dispossessed nobles from Galt and she'd ingratiated herself well enough with the baron even in spite of the troubles with Pitax... though that was probably just as much a facet of the Tiger Lords running rampant Drelev's hospitality had probably been been her best option.

"We are Eire of Shrikewall." He intoned royal and authoritative and warming the room a few degrees further.

Unsurprisingly the Stroon siblings both spoke draconic. The galtish womanish didn't. Not that it mattered the introduction was more for a matter of formal opening. That Ser Terrion understood at least that much draconic was also irrelevant.

There were several matters he needed to address formally as he glanced around.

Drelev had fled his keep in the face of a hostile army. He doubted he would have any protests from the churches of his realm and thus most likely their neighboring coreligionists to asserting his authority. He probably wouldn't have issues from Mivon... but Pitax was obviously going to be a matter of some trouble.

Whether or not a show of magnanimous clemency in sending the Stroon siblings back to Brevoy would win him anything he couldn't be sure of... but it was an option. Imeckus, the older brother of the baroness, had pledged his good contact ... and at the very least he seemed honest enough of having little positive to say of his brother in law... but Eire suspected the sooner he was rid of the two the better. He might regret it later but for now it was the expedient solution... and truth was the sooner this was resolved the sooner he could return to Shrikewall and start allocating resources to deal with other issues that Drelev's idiocy had alerted him to.

 

[Imperator Pax]

Late Sarenith 4714
In theory, with Mbottu brought to heel, Ilthuliak's demise and her tributaries otherwise removed as a threat the way into Lake Hooktongue was now clear to Mivonese trade. He hoped that would be enough to assuage Mivon's consent or concern as the political fallout settled. In the mean time there was the matter of the northern Slough, and the castle town.

Officially he was naming Kissandra Baron to succeed Hannis Drelev. It was 'officially' in the sense he had said it, but he had yet to draft the letters patent. He wasn't yet sure whether or not there would be a Drelev legacy. Would it remain Fort Drelev? He expected to write, when it came down to actually write it the actual barony would be named something like, the barony of the northern hooktongue or the like... and it might take another month or more to actually determine the borders the barony would entail similar to the demarcations that the Varnhold had undergone.

Then of course there was the endowment of the Church that would need to be built. Numesti's youngest and most impetuous daughter worshipped Milani... arguably it might have been better if she had worshipped the Inheritor but it didn't matter. The crown would fund a a temple to the everbloom, and would endow the existing church of Erastil with new clergy and complete it as well.

Part of that succession was it rewarded certain behaviors. The Numesti house traced its origins to ancient taldor, they were a knightly house of Brevic stock more recently they had the right pedigree and had been harmed by Drelev's misrule. It made sense on a number of points.

Admittedly Milani's temple would take time, time that they didn't necessarily have. Then of course there was ... well Drelev had apparently killed or been complicit in the murders of the previous erastilian clergy. Then on to of that issue, it was a largely brevic community so Abadar's church wanted representation... and there was an existing shrine, to a third deity, to the River god Haspur... which Eire had no particularly strong feelings one way or another... merely that the river rat's sole priest had fled Fort Drelev when the baron had surrendered, to Pitax, and gone seeking aid... the cleric had managed to end up with the refugees Tristian had shepherded along with some of his coreligionists fleeing Pitax.

Then of course was Amvarean, and the influx of others. Ilthuliak's demise spread fastest as a result of the silver dragon announcing it, and spread quickly among the horse lords... admittedly the Witch's severed head helped but the announcement shored up the attention from the eastern lands, well Iobaria's horse lords in this case. The slough was far from ideal to transit for humans much less mounted humans and the summer rains which had begun were now swelling the mud and while that facilitated riverine navigation it made the course of travel east to west much more narrower.

"I still would have expected the barbarians to raid the Lebeda domain." There were mumbles of agreement from others at Valerie's comment. "But Restov is richer still, the free city's merchants have greater wealth... it may simply be greed."

"Food stuffs wouldn't hurt, either," Maegar remarked in agreement "Securing food from the summer harvest for a protracted campaign."

Also a valid point since Armag had a great horde to feed through the winter.

He had no particular inclination to the taldane-rostlandic house of Lebeda one way or another... but from a purely real politic standpoint it would have been preferable to if the horde had been advancing into their lands, regardless of Restov's wealth. There was a rustling of magic as the shifting sands and structure of the realm map updated.

The influx of people, the prospect of concentrated, top down urban planning created a distinction between the Imperial Core as it would be later thought of an the more Brevic surroundings. Olegton, Tatzlford, the towns at the crossings under Kressle and Akiros, and the temple of the Elk were in addition to the northern slough, and the Varnhold all in the latter category. The distinction though of what was shaping lay in the expansion of the existing architectural distinctions, and the leadership guiding them. Then of course some of that was the immigration from the Inner Sea, from the great states of southern Avistan and further distant. Fundamentally the Imperial Core represented a body of land and legal authority distinct from brevic small holding traditions or tribal competing systems of authority.

Eire frowned, and drummed his fingers on the table in front of him.. The possibility as outlined was that regardless of proximity Restov might well have been tempting for its town goods, cities were cash cows, and there was likely more liquid wealth, and the foodstuffs as well, enough to feed a growing barbarian horde after the summer passed. The truth was he had been unprepared for the conflict with Drelev, or his fledgling barony... and it would have been easy to rally and turn to consider trying to bear through. "Amiri you said that there was further word from the six bears, they've signed on with Armag?" Not the words, not the idiom the kellids would have used, but one that made sense to the chelish and abadarians.

It wasn't exactly news either. Armag's confederation was taking what clans and tribes it could gather and using it to swell their ranks. That had been going on for a while now, but now it was an actual problem on their doorstep with fighting involved.

Amiri did not like the situation at all.

Much though as she might not have liked it, Eire recognized he had other priorities as well. "Maegar for the time being I am going to need you, and Amvarean to concentrate your efforts in the east," Eire paused... "And I will need to probably visit in the near future to speak with the Nomen centaur." Aecora Silverfire could hardly be expected to make a regular visit to Shrikewall given the distance... and frankly given the condition of the slough he hadn't planned to ask the Nomen for assistance with that problem if he didn't need to... and now in hindsight that did seem like it was going to be for the best. Most likely he would need them to cross the Shrike river to the north if they had to mobilize some force by which to make for Restov. "I expect also that part of that will be dealing with the iobarian," in the generic sense of ethnicity, "Horse lords as well, since they seem to be speaking to Amvarean regularly enough."

--
Eire folded his hands into a scholar's cradle. Not that that in anyway impeded or reduced the threat he could pose if he wanted to... and anyone with any real knowledge of magic would have known that, but it conveyed the appearance of less threatening, which for a man his size was relatively useful... even when he had several giants around.

Elder Hulthrak and Vordakai both made enough of an impression. The truth was regardless of the influx of population... actually that contributed to it after the fact, Eire knew that as an economic unit Narland had a labor shortage, at least in some areas. Not in agricultural productivity, that was not an issue, because of capital investment and the transplanting of techniques which were implemented that facilitated much more productive agriculture... and on already good arable land as well.. but in other areas there were labor shortages. There were shortages of in brick manufacture due to the limited number of kilns, there were limits in iron workers, and there were limits caused by limited supply of the base materials due to the lack of workers gathering those, or mining those as the case went. It was a long and complicated list of interdependent supply chains, capital and labor limitations that made the business of administration difficult.

"We will complete for the time being Drelev's walls with palisades," He remarked, it would be something he could call upon his druids for service to see to. That saw to some of his responsibilities, but he knew that he still had other bureaucratic responsibilities. He needed to expand the bureaucracy but that required an educated urban class that could read and write, and that meant compulsory education and that was something he had only had limited time to allocate his focus towards. "I will consider any recommendations you choose to make,"

Vordakai swept his single milky white orb around the room.

Eire had sent Maegar to join Amvarean, in his place were the two Aldori half elves... and the assembly was not short on others. Oleg had come down from his town, and that would be important given the Tiger Lords moving across the border with Brevoy...

The hall was filled with others... but it was also a reminder that he had neither an established community of middling orders, or nobility. The influx of people who settled the land, and even his own council and men of note had limited support structures compared to the web of organizing churches. On the other hand, no one questioned his expectation of oaths of fealty to the crown, the churches didn't brindle at the expectation of a loyalty oath. Still, that was an oath to a monarch, not to the nation.

This was not however a parliament except in the most potentially archaic sense of a body convened to provide advise to the monarch. Most of the people here were looking towards supporting the realm's expansion in traditional means. Drelev had been defeated in the field, and the settlement on the hooktongue seized. The outlying settlements of the barony were in the hands of the knightly houses Drelev had established and thus the best... way forward was to reiterate the crown's laws, and to exercise, to continue the royal program of construction.

The next stage from that would be to of course begin to lay territorial claim to parts further west, to the last of the proposed four baronies... the one that had never gotten off the ground in the first place. That was work which would largely fall to Valerie.

 

[Imperator Pax]

Erastus 4714
The seventh month of the year had opened with space to breath... with the third charter in hand, and new documents drafted... and were it that simple. Regongar and Amiri were likely to be busy for the summer months delving into the southern swamps, and hopefully once secure trade up the eastern sellen could resume and proceed up to lake reykal there... and enrich the newly enfeefed Numesti baroness that would be the best way to stabilize the new order.

He had to concede that Hannis had done a mostly ... efficient well thought out plan for laying out his castle, and the surrounding town. Admittedly it was likely Drelev had had help, and he would have prefered if the roads were wider than they were, but it was a well planned town. The siltstrand provided good southern security security from that side and the hill the keep had been reected on was well chosen. Given time Drelve's western defenses would haveen well sitauted ... that watch tower would have to go though. He planned to use the sight as the endowment to the Church of Milani and they would expand the western distract when they had time but that was still a matter of time and he doubted they would be able to lay foundation before Armasse.

The issue of course was the lack of roads. A problem that had already existed in the Narlmarches, if summer weren't already well upon them construction of a road on from Hereford in the western Narlmarches might have been feasible, and to connect them the thirty or forty so miles to reach the river network that flowed south from the Lake... but it was too late for the year now. The most they could ikely do were the surveys and to prepare labor plans for the following year, of asking the beaver folk and make plans for other feudal services to be rendered next year.

He had other vassals with whom he needed to address as a result of the latest territorial expansion. He would need to visit Gary at Mbottu and also receive the submission and really more accurately friendship of the bog striders of the southern slough... and insure peace between the two large humanoid communities. He would also need to rely on those communities to establish lines of communication and contend with any of the smaller boggard communities in the northern slough; east of the lake. There was also one further factor... and that was to be a beaverfolk settlement on the east sellen, north of hte legal border with mivon, and the temple to Eldas that would center their community. A community that would likely include river giants even the boat faring giants would only be a small part of the the community... so he expected to just as likely fund raising churches to perhaps Berglemir and Erastil. That was something for later, though, perhaps next year, perhaps further still.

"So now what?" Jaethal questioned. The Tiger Lords were still an unaddressed issue. One that he wasn't sure he had an ideal resolution for since really... and Jaethal had pointed out the Tiger Lords... at least Armag directly hadn't acted against their interests personally... and of course it was far from the only issue. The estimates in population were another matter.

He didn't immediately respond his mercury eyes drifting across Shrikewall's skyline, or more correctly the clouds out over the Tuskwater... and the castle in the sky, "We will raise a standing army." He replied... even though the plan was to prepare to call ... certainly not a levy en masse but to make calls to arms of parts of the feudal tenancies and the foederati if necessary... but that would be easier said than done. "That will require consideration of the treasury, and meaningfully other parts of the kingdom."

"The harvest wasn't disrupted by the outbreak of hostilities." Jaethal observed.

... but again that went to the matter of how much of the land ownership and cultivation was administered. The Royal Farms were centrally administered, how they used horse collars, and more importantly horses over oxen, and steel plows of 19th​ century Earth designs. That helped, this years winter wheat harvest had been another factor. "Which I know we should be grateful for." He replied honestly sounding somewhat terse in his reply, "Can we excercise control of the slough?"

"Can we, of course." Jaethal replied as imperious an elf as ever lived, and then, "You slew Ilthuliak, everything in the swamp is rightfully terrified of Amvarean, never mind your presence... and Gary," And it said a lot that Jaethal used the boggard's diminutive nickname, and the boggard's loyalty was genuine. "has control of his village, enough that he's confident to pledge a thousand frogs to the ranks." And the sootscale and mites of the Old Scyamore had offered a similar sized force, though if anything he expected Gary was more interested in matching or being perceived an equal of Trobold and Hargulka's promise of banners.

... and the truth was yes, the denizens of the swamp were unlikely to challenge Amvarean if it came to that, but also while forces had been offered... he didn't like the rumors of the massing tiger lords that he was hearing, and h didn't like how dismissive of the barbarian host Restov seemed to be.
--
As Chancellor Valerie dealt with official correspondence, that included the gratitude of Mendev as well as communications with the Mivonese and also Restov... and Brevoy. It also made her privy to the efforts of the communities and the work of the bell flower network, and the blind eye that the tiefling turned to their efforts.

She knew that Jaethal operated a internal directorate on his majesty's behalf as well who were likewise turning a blind eye. What she hadn't necessarily expected was a development with the Iomedaen church, and other patriotic organizations to merge ... not all of which were officially sanctioned by the crown... at least so far as royal warrants that had been publicly issued.

The establishment of the inquisition came though with the official publication, and reiteration of official policies for duties conducted, and discharged by the office. That was officially subordinate to the Cathedral of the Inheritor, whose official church staff numbered several hundred clergy now... and was not including other churches such as the one at Hereford.

If not for actual endorsement by the crown, Valerie wouldn't have had any reason to actually check the numbers of the church... and to an extent she understood that immigrants from the Inner Sea, leaving Cheliax would probably include members of the church especially since she was treading perilously close to Harrim's responsibilities as the councilor representing the many faiths of the world... but of course the dwarf was rather frumpish as one of her own former coreligionists put it, and the Brevic Church of Shelyn was anxious even to establish more direct ties, which she knew that the Church of Erastil were.... less sure of given the doctrinal differences emerging between Restov and the Temple of the Elk... but that was also in part due to the influx of traditions of Erastillian churches from the old heartlands of the Taldan empire on the Inner Sea, particularly Cheliax following the iomedaen influx... but it was also because the Rostlandic branch of Erastil's church could and had noticed the difference in other demographic factors.

The realm was disproportionately urban in population, which again also attracted the attention of Shelyn's church as town, and city dwellers were more interested in art. It also followed that unlike Brevoy where stone construction was quite rare Eire favored neat brick row houses where matters allowed him to plan his towns... and that made it feasible for town populations to expand. She had recognized the distinction from how Olegton... and Tatzlford had sprawled out from the center in Brevic fashion compared to Shrikewall's broad central streets even before giants in the kingdom made that necessary.

His majesty had said that those streets were wide for practical reasons... but the magic that protected the capital prevented fire from breaking out so the wide boulevards were not for fire prevention... unless of course Eire contemplated a battle between dragons erupting over the capital... which given the conflict with Ilthuliak yes she supposed that was possible. It was a sobering concern, but reasonable in the grand scheme of things.

It fell to her office though to also consider the internal domains within the realm. His Majesty spoke of territorial expanses of many tens of miles. Smaller than the charters issued recognizing territory by Restov but also much more manageable. Eire's notes on his baronial, and now royal, farms flew in the face of conservative rostlandic and erastilian farmers. If this had been her family's estate there would have been protests from the tenants not to do this that it just wasn't' done, that it wasn't how farming was done...

... but the Majority of the population and farmers were not Rostlanders. They were were largely chellish freemen who weren't familiar with the soil conditions and the terrain and the climate but still coming from taldane style large aristocratic estates. His Majesty had laid out the plan, and the chelish freemen had been provided the resources to undertake that work, and it had been done.

Those farms were much expanded now, and their products, their yields went to support the kingdom's population and loaded tens of thousands of bushels to be shipped to Mendev to feed crusaders, and the civilian populace in a land which blight by the demonic incursion could no longer feed itself. What she had not expected that to entail ... well was the reminder that this was not Brevoy and that her new country was not simply Brevoy in miniature.

 

[Imperator Pax]

Erastus 4714
As a monarch there were a number of impediments that frustrated his ambitions... or at least slowed them... Rome was not built in a day.

There were limits on the bureaucratic and institutional capabilities to which he had access to and magic could only do so much. Those limitations meant there was no point in attempting to create an army post on, post Napoleonic or specialist lines of the world war 1 driven reforms. The lack of firearms was superfluous to the issue, since there were other more basic structural components that were lacking. That he had printing presses at all was a much more significant advantage.

Still there were modern era innovation that could be integrated into the nascent prospect of a centralized royal army. Perhaps foremost among that were standardized uniforms, even if armor would be worn over some of that.

He did not like the notion of needing to be in a position to issue orders akin to the levy en mass. He hoped to avoid that. In the interim though the fundamental basic unit would be ten. The army would in theory have 'squads', but realistically the base ten unit would be built using formations of several ten man units of the same nature. Ten tens forming a theoretical Company.

He expected in all honesty to need to crib from the Mongols and the Turks at least to some degree on base ten organization. Most likely... most likely he would need a core of heavy infantry forming his center ranks and in pitched battle rely on cavalry on the wings... but that had ... that entailed its own logistical burdens. It would require him to create those formations, and that would mean finding a factor of common purpose when there was no unifying religion or national creed. That was going to be tricky.

"This is the other matter to which we require." The matter of artificers, and in a sense those would require something to be said for Napoleonic reforms... but they weren't there yet. The best for such was an expansion of the existing standards of measurements. That would be where they would start before they tried to get too far ahead... much as he wanted dedicated spell casters to call on.

Vordakai nodded, and Kanerah voiced her acknowledgement looking over the standards table. Weights, and measures. The short matter was that they needed to push forward with the airships, and their commitments to Mendev. Then still more on top of that was the fact that the dunsward was the northern tip of the expansive steppes of Casmaron... a steppe which of course extended well to the south of his southern border and the nomadic folk had little natural impediment to travel.

"You intend to appoint the other dragon to the council?"

"Meiqi, yes," Eire replied as Vordakai changed the subject from the matter of those commitments, even though the Mendev situation did shape that decision, "I want a civil bureaucracy, and in order to have that compulsory education is necessary."

"A wizard who cannot read is worse than useless." Vordakai remarked with the truism nodding, and with a pause, "And admittedly it would probably do well to have another dragon of high standing among the council given Casmarron's denizens."

The White Dragons of Iobaria were less of a concern... most likely any would take heed of Ilthuliak's demise and leave them be, especially given the climate of Narlhold... but Casmarron had more than whites. The blues, and the brass dragons had been discussed before but that had been before the wyrm had been slain... and of course even before that Amvarean had already had a young gem dragon among her own retainers.

"Yes," Eire replied, and it was here in the implementation he was somewhat leery about ... the secular authorities needed control over education... but that was an opinion from Earth, from modern earth where ... there were factors that didn't' translate one to one with Golarion's situation. More likely while he would need to set national curriculum for language, the realities of religion and magic were going to make things very different. Finally after the singular affirmative, and a moment as they waited for him to continue he nodded, "We will need to prepare the realm for war, I will need cavalry," That had never really been in question, "but I expect to require a contingent of heavy infantry."

Vordakai spread his hands, his bones creaking slightly at the gesture, "I make this remark only in broad recognition of the matter, but as I understand it your own church, and its affiliates would seem to be the most effective avenue of such mortal armsmen." and in the short term Vordakai was right the Inheritor's church and the Empyreal lord faiths did as demonstrated by the advance on Fort Drelev represent his most expedient option to raise heavy infantry.
--
The summer sun was high in the clear afternoon sky, and the market bustled with activity. Kallikke appreciated that clocks did provide a 'material use' but she didn't personally like the mechanical gadgets for the fact they imposed order on the day outside of the turning of hours, and the movements of the sun. The clock moved throughout the day, and with magical lighting insured that workers continued their tasks in shifts... it wasn't just those who manned the powerful mechanical looms either.

Kallikke and her sister sat at the top of the civil service... which of course was important given how limited the rolls of nobility were in the realm. The first summer harvest was already in, and the counting of it was being tallied, but so to were the spun clothes from the water powered looms of which some would of course be exported to the south down the mighty Sellen.

Part of trade, and of other textile goods would go to Mendev as part of relief supplies. Those shipments prevented a backlog of goods, and kept prices stable as the realm's subjects bought clothing when they needed them. The Varnhold did so less frequently than the populous of the Narlmarches and the growing Kameland towns, and she wouldn't have been surprised if even after Fort Drelev recovered its denizens purchased less of these 'jeans' than the center. On the other hand, the boggards and trolls and others might purchase jeans... they were popular clothing wares in Trollbold after all.

More importantly to trade though across the core, and to a lesser extent in Varnhold were the road network that projected across the Kamelands, and towards the major settlements linking with the Road of Shields. The watch posts and towers were expanding as the roads saw more traffic as Iomedaen, or she assumed, otherwise royally authorized retainers staffed the growing posts of horse stables and courier stations that allowed for the rapid transfer of supplies. There was no shortage of wood which went into frame homes where brick wasn't available and those way points meant that they could be shuttled rapidly where there wasn't a river to help as was the case in the central Kamelands or between the Mivon and little sellen.

Kallikke was still unsure of how to feel about the Irrissen diaspora but they were attempting to adapt to the climate, and the need to actually practice sedentary cultivation. Irrissen was a nation of serfs and their emancipation had proven a learning experience over the past year... and of course over the past year the knowledge that Narland had stood against the invaders had likely swayed further migration from the Inner Sea.

It gave her a lot to do.... even without accounting for splitting her time with Kanerah and her sister's interactions with Bozena. Bozena, and her half sister had been issued letters patent the year before and settled and Svetochka had in her tenure as duchess of wintercrux had relied on a bureaucracy of Jadwiga, while consulting no shortage of magical scholars, astrologers and so on which shaped how the two took to their new domains but didn't mean there weren't intersections not just between the sisters but her own, and the cyclops. It was true Wintersun was like other royal centers dominated by the church to the Inheritor at its center, and then also to the Church of Ragathiel raised along side it it was slated to house the kingdom's magic school, and thus was of great interest to Nethys's church, and others.

It was why Vordakai was actually going in person, and why he was requesting funds from the treasury to oversee Pendrod's expenses while the human wizard took over Vordakai's efforts to excavate cyclopean ruins that ancient cyclops would have otherwise presided over. She had no reason to refuse the request, it wasn't as if Vordakai was asking for any significant amount of additional money, just that the Maestro take receipt of it in his stead.

She had no objection. The realm's finances were expanding with a regulated system or standard policy of taxation spelled out within the law code. That annual tax, and of course the five percent tax on the value of certain transactions or services made it feasible for the realm to create teh royal infrastructure... it was what funded the great royal institutions.

Those taxes also, because of the shape the nature of the towns fell evenly across the populace. Her secretaries, the lieutenants responsible for sub officers, kept records for the towns. There were no great land holders in the realm with exemptions carved out, also the peasantry were not likewise burdened by dues and competing obligations. The Royal Court had universal jurisdiction as did the tax collection to which she and her sister were ultimately responsible.

 

[Imperator Pax]

Erastus 4714
The magical heat less flame lighting illuminated the hall far better than early electric bulbs. They threw no harsh glares, and provided ample light in all times of the day or night.

Feudalism, was as he was reminded by living on Golarion that feudal was largely a meaningless word. That it encompassed an idealized, for good or bad, sort of society that frankly didn't exist the real world practice on earth varied too widely even inside the borders of nominal kingdoms... and never mind here. Perhaps that was reiterated by the development of his own, of Narland's, Ivy league of universities... right down to permitting the church of Shelyn's ivy planting.

Officially of course the university at Shrikewall, here in the capital, Silverstep, Hereford, and also soon Wintersun, would house seminaries to the Inheritor... but they would be apart of Narland's national church with the doctrines that went with that. He wanted to do the same with Candlemere, but it was arguably the one community he expected resistance to Iomedaean hegemony (at least of higher learning), so it and Memphis nearby along with perhaps the growing community at the Temple of the Elk would likely form a second league of schools.

Such was both medieval and yet not really a matter of feudalism... feudalism was really more about rural methods of organizing labor, and his realm was while still predominantly rural had no insignificant number of towns of note. "you are prepared?" It was more a matter of formality than anything else.

The Cyclops bowed slightly, "Yes," He gruffed, then in a more alert tone "I am very interested in Irrisen's magic, I think we would benefit greatly from an understanding of it."

Elvanna had been dethroned of course, her mother, Baba Yaga, had apparently broken precedent and placed one of her grand daughter's on the throne of Irrisen. What that would mean for Irrisen was a question mark. It broke with 1400 years of precedence for the icy kingdom.

Beyond that though, Wintersun would be a center of magic. He needed wizards, and spell casters plenty. On the winter solstice the year before, on the holiday of Wintersun he had planted the first mana plants in the greenhouses of the city that carried the name. The aim was always to reinforce the kingdom, and the efforts which would go into Wintersun would reinforce the growing trend of the Imperial Core.

A medieval town could vary significantly in average population based on regional factors not limited to just the urban footprint. That could mean a town ranged from a couple thousand, to ten or twenty thousand. Then of course one had to recognize that cities was all too frequently a matter more of taxes and local government than it was of clear definition of what size. Formal city charters were something he.. he wanted to avoid... he'd need to allow incorporation to an extent but...

Vordakai departed, leaving Eire to examine the records. Canals, and the process of canalizing the rivers was a labor intensive, and frankly limited viability option. The Shrike was an example of this , where it wasn't practical, and Hereford was an example where canals were. The Shrike was wide enough, fast flowing enough that canals were an unnecessary expense to undertake. The broader tuskwater and candlemere lake network and river valleys surrounding the body created both an impediment to canals and also would have made them redundant. The Shrike's flow rate meant that it never froze even as one moved north past Nettle's Crossing, never mind closer still to the waterfalls which prevented one from taking the river all the way to Restov, which would have been a massive economic boon for trade.

It was annoying, but he had far more pressing matters to tend to. As much as he would have liked to preside over the construction that went into the realm especially with the population growth he was needed here... and as with the Drelev crisis was needed too often at the front... and Ilthuliak's demise would require him to be available to entertain the entreatments of those tribes who might potentially see him as an alternative to Armag... since he would likely need to sway them in order to provide troops quickly for any larger conflict. That was his most immediate concern, was if things played out with Armag threatening the borders, or Pitax for that matter making a play using Armag's host for something... and that had impacted the decision to go and kill Ilthuliak; and of course stacking the deck as far against the wyrm as possible before going.

A part of him wished to be proven wrong, and have Armag hay off to do as Regongar had speculated and invade Numeria to the west. That would have relieved a great deal of pressure, would have given them more time but there was no indication of that being likely. It also hadn't escaped him... that for whatever fertile nature the rostlandic plains represented and certainly they were a breadbasket of good soil the techniques there were confined to the early medieval period among other matters...

Matters which would just underscore the difference in productivity of Royal farms to the south... and he doubted that the focus would be on the role royal investment of capital. His farms allowed him to feed his growing population, supporter larger towns and cities, and export food to support the Mendevian Crusade in the west. If Armag waited long enough to take notice he would have problems... but Armag seemed more interested in older more traditional targets... and frankly it probably wasn't just grain it was probably the hunt for prestige in being able to extort from brevoy cash or tribute payments that would make Armag a heroic figure to an even greater number of kellid and iobarian tribes.

That in turn might see an even greater swelling of his ranks.

It was why he, Eire, needed to turn towards both the laws directed to establish a standing military, while also looking to fill out a force of a more medieval nature. In-depth military reforms, and broadsheets and efforts would have to be limited or wait in favor of expediency. The truth was, he disagreed with the traditional 19th​ century logic that steppe armies had been stopped by the advent of pike and shot in favor of a hybrid theory that that contributed but it was not the deciding factor rather it was their own political instability, the centralizing trend of strengthening sedentary states ... and ultimately the greater ability of centralized states to facilitate organized and coherent communicated responses.

And as he moved his hands over his own notes, and his maps, and so forth he lamented that this was not an academic conference. This was beyond the ivory tower, and he didn't have the telegraph, or the railway, or the maxim gun. He did have magic, but stopping a nomadic great horde would require much greater effort than anything to date. He needed an army of size.

Officially the edicts continued to cite the need for security, and spoke of natural rights, and the borders in broad terms. They were still much more early modern in language, but Eire couldn't help himself there. It would be Valerie's statements that would go out, but both under the Lion Rampant crest at their head, to lay out claims to what would have been the last of the four planned baronies. It didn't matter that he didn't intend to move further into the Glenebon reaches to his west the point was to layout his legal claim for later.

He wouldn't act on those claims until after this crisis with the Tiger Lords had been resolved. The late summer rains were also due in, and of course after that fall would mean a reduction in precipitation sometime probably in Rova. That was an important consideration since of course it meant that the southern Slough would likely swell as mud was churned. That was something he had to bear in mind with that now his western frontier.

Pack animals across level country could make an average of fifteen to twenty five miles. That was with a cart load of three to four hundred pounds... and part of that could be expanded with better harnesses or by using wagons over carts, but it was a logistical hurdle imposed by terrain. In short it was the same hurdle he'd been continuously dealing with, and often circumventing through the use of the river network that allowed him to move bulky supplies east west throughout his domain. That allowed him to circumvent the late summer rains that mired carts in the mud, but imposed other geographical limitations.

"Your majesty?" The chancellor questioned.

His hands moved over the papers in contemplation. There was, "So much to do," He murmured silver eyes narrowing ... he regretted not having the sheer utility of cheaply available lined notebook paper. Paper, even with the availability increasing availability of pulp provided by royal agriculture was still relatively expensive, certainly in comparison to the earth he remembered... and of course part of the reason to have Valerie issue the statements was because he would need to be touring the realm in the coming weeks, and months as the harvest either came in, or after it had been completed.

 

[Imperator Pax]

1 Arodus 4714
He had spoken the dawn's mass that morning, and as midday approached even the Cathedral bells tolled and smaller churches held service his court was convened. For Narland though, much of the populace was not concerned as they moved to celebrate the holy day... despite word from the north. He would have proclaimed the mass this morning even without the news... it was just now he had to bite back an acerbic I told you so.

Armag's host had swelled since the spring call to arms, with the promise of a campaign of plundering thousands had rushed to join him now that there was talk of real action. The result was that tens of thousands of barbarians had crossed the border north entering the fertile rostlandic plain. They had warned Kassil that this was going to happen... and he had been supposed to tell Jamandi. Jamandi though had been dismissive of the warning, and now... well now the situation was different.

Something on the order of maybe half of Armag's confederation spilling over the Brevic border to loot and pillage given a free reign by the Tiger Lords to do so. The present minimum estimate there were ten thousand kellids who'd gone over the border and were west of the East Sellen river forming many looting parties but not one great wing of battle. That was actually a good thing. Thus far no significant barbarian force had crossed to the east bank of the river. That was the good news... for them at least.

That hadn't stopped there from already being panic in Brevoy as the sudden incursion in force. The Church of Erastil had no effective way to level a response. It was the harvest season after all, if the harvest wasn't brought in people would starve in the winter. With hundreds of hectacres already burning there was no telling what wheat prices were going to be at market in a few months... and it wasn't jsut taking in the harvest, it would also be the question of was it safe enough to transport grain from farm to market.

That was only considering local problems... never mind what damage to Brevic harvests would do to grain prices in Numeria, or never mind in Mendev where the crusade was being fought. The problem was the conflict with Drelev. .. or rather its complications.

He doubted the barbarians could effectively invade across the hooktongue slough... or that they'd been want to do so, but they could attack fort Drelev where it sat on the western shore of Lake Hooktongue... or any of Drelev's former dependencies... which because of the geography of the slough were either west of the castle, or were fishing villages on the lake. Drelev had tried to dig a silver mine, but he had fucked that up.

The mine had flooded. The mine which was too far west to do anything about this year. Next year perhaps... if things had calmed down by that point.

Eire looked at the survey and rubbed his forehead. "Tell Numesti she is to hold the castle, her priority are reinforcing the defenses, and the temples to Calistria and Erastil," And that was probably going to be a headache. "I also want a riverine route up river into the Narlmarches for ferrying supplies directly from Hereford." That would supply both the Castle Town .. which was going to need a new name, and also the boggard village of Mbottu. The boggards were at least safe from a likely attack by the barbarians since there was no indication that they even knew they existed, or the bogstriders for that matter.

Such things were contingent on knowledge that thus far the barbarians hadn't crossed the sellen and moved east into Narland. If that happened they were going to start running into an obvious logistical problem of not having the manpower to defend the Northern Narlmarches... even bringing the Nomen centaurs from the east. Covering a ninety mile frontier from the Slough to Oleg's was not a readily practical medieval capacity for a field army. On the other hand they really didn't need to act as a field force so much as defend choice primary ground, and rely on the ability to teleport fresh troops to religious sights in the north to reinforce, but that meant holding Shrines, and temples in the north of the realm.

He supposed if he'd been willing to be charitable to Jamandi... which he particularly wasn't so inclined to be in this situation. On the face of it... dismissing the initial warning and sending Kassil to warn her about Armag must have seemed illogical. That was to say that Restov was far in the east it made little logical sense to think that the Tiger Lords and their confederates would move across the East Sellen and into the Rostlandic plain... but it didn't change the fact that they had warned her, in the face of their own problems.

"Your wisdom, majesty is uncontestable... it was the correct decision to prepare for a wider war." That was as much as the cleric of the inheritor chose to say... If Jamandi had not, if her patron goddess wasn't Milani then she likely would have been an easy target of recriminations but Milani's church was in or considered to be in his good graces so while 'obviously' misguided about the situation Jamandi wasn't likely to be too harshly criticized by the Chelish born clerics.

That he hadn't explicitly called Jamandi an idiot was why his own clerics were minding their manners. "Were that our preparations further along," He replied stirring the conversation away from Jamandi... and really Restov's lack of preparations for war, "Still to safeguard the peace we must prepare the war," He remarked rising from beyond the table and spreading his hands as he paraphrased latin into taldan, "The waltz is endless, Peace is only maintained by the establishment of a law strong enough to deter those who would breach it. Inevitably someone does try, but it is a cycle in three steps. We will organize at Armasse on the basis of ten men, under a leader and a unit that can be sub divided into two sections, two hands of five. Ten units of Ten a hundred above it."

The simple magic that weaved produced lights about the air, that shifted turned and become the draconic words for what he thought. Tens, hundreds, thousands. The basis of organization. A metric to guide by, and already common among the steppe. He would not be imitating it purely, because the shapes took form. He would recruit as needed, and by what resources allowed but at the core of any force were heavy infantry to stand their ground. To bring the enemy into the center where they could be enveloped and flank by men ahorse, and under attack from magic also... that was not something he was going to forget.

That Golarion was a world of sword and sorcerery and that forgetting to use the later was foolish. So while he intended to take lessons from Earth, it would not be limited to the mundane armies of the steppe, or those which had succeeded them. He was not going to be Ghenghis Khan but that didn't mean there were lessons that could not be learned.
--
The court had adjourned, it was after all the day of the Inheritor's Ascendance. Even as the laity gathered to celebrate the day that centuries previous Iomedae had succeeded to the place of Aroden's herald did not stop the work of state, and not with they had to contend. Armasse was two weeks hence and before all of this, the thought of such a swell of the ranks to warrant thousands would have caught him by surprise.

He could ill afford that impression, the numbers he knew he would need. The word carried by those fleeing along old taldane roads told him that much. The estimates of Armag's host was a place of concern.

Around him swam lantern archons swirling through the air, the tones and melodies a song lonesome, and fair. Mercedes Lackey's Cost of Crown not yet written on Earth echoed across his solar.

In truth he still needed to pen a letter to Mendev, and the Crusader Queen of that western realm, it was simply a matter of state given this time of year, but she would largely have to contend with shipments of food, and clothing and not martial aid. It was of course the Church's fear that Galt might potentially prove another challenge of demonic cultists and the terror of a second worldwound but he hoped that would never be. Armag though was a very real threat and a nation did not end at the walls of castles and towns.

What would distinguish Armasse of this year from previous was the expansion of the holiday yet again... and the expenditure investment of horses for riding, and training riders. That would warrant some degree of specialization between light infantry, and heavy cavalry. What was far less likely to draw attention was that Armasse would effectively be introducing the 'modern bureaucratic' system of a fiscal year.

Armasse's conclusion this year would coincide just with new military expenditures, but allocations to the broader royal bureacracy, and opening the discussion of compulsory education. And, of course though no one had mentioned it Noleski Surtova Brevoy's first and unpopular non Rogavarian monarch at least by his own claim for more than a decade didn't seem to be doing anything, but he also had left the chain across the Sellen river as well... no one thought to discuss New Stetven on the north end of the lake that dominated central Brevoy.
--
Notes:

 

[Imperator Pax]

Arodus 4714
The conflict with Drelev having been concluded forced him to turn his attention to matters elsewhere... but he would have had to contend with those besides. The truth was he recognized that he needed to stabilize the border situation. Armag had couched his claims in language that... given his background Eire perhaps himself found strange but it may have simply been his own misunderstanding of the situation. Armag's claim of being the Twice Born and he was of the Tiger Lords lineage did not necessarily make this a religious conflict it simply allowed Armag to call troops to arms... but the tribesfolk would expect battle, and booty.

... and that was something Armag no seemed intent on delivering by moving to plunder Brevoy.

He didn't want to authorize the expenses in labor or funds to fortify his northern borders. Part of that was he didn't think there was time, and there were so many other commitments. It was already late in the year. He had been weighing the introduction of paper notes to take, to address some of the matter of currency volume, or lack of volume in circulation, as well which construction would have economic issues.

That was one of the other matters with the population movements. The iobarian, and other steppe nomads used coinage to an extent but they and the river folk relied on barter given the general shortage of an accepted coinage depending on the location. He'd been attempting to in place a royal coinage, and the influx of Inner Sea populations had helped as had his minting of silver coins for the kingdom... but it took time to increase the number of coins in circulation and the cities were taking forms ... larger than he had expected.

Meiqi wasn't even the first dragon to migrate with the intention of permanently settling. Amvarean's gem dragon retainer had taken up a place at her court before this after all... though he doubted that had so much to do with law and religion. Those things had drawn Meiqi, and visiting silvers most of whom were too young to want to settle down.

That was fine. In truth Eire found Trobold's decision to focus on, to specialize stock grazing, corn animal feed production and ... well just choosing to specialize in agriculture to be very useful. Trobold did consume a lot of meat, but they could raise large volumes of pig, and pig was something they could do efficencently and use to feed large volumes of peasants. They could also raise cattle. The trolls had a harder time raising chickens, but the kobold tribes that lived in the south had been able to adopt to that even if the reality of transportation still made it difficult to bring eggs to market. Cardboard, and insulated containers weren't something they had time for... and it would be the former first, but again just because they could make paper didn't mean his mills had the output for that kind of consumption.

... but eventually, he suspected that the kobolds, especially city dwelling kobolds here, and most probably at Candlemere or Wintersun would manage to produce or expand production of the paper mills and produce alchemical ingredients for other applications. He needed tool making towns, and they would serve in that as well. That was only part of it though any conflict in Brevoy was going to require him to turn his focus towards expanding work on the Road of Shields, and their fortresses. He had always planned to do that of course they were too well positioned to ignore, too useful but Armag put them on a time table that was much tighter than he had expected.

That was of course part of which geographically bounded his focus. Trobold had been established on his original south western frontier, and Hereford and the Road of Shields were on his western frontier in the Narlmarches. To his north were Oleg sitting just south of the South Rostland Road built by old Taldane, and south of him were the Temple of the Elk and Akiros's fief, to the east of them was the old Scyamore, and Nettle's Crossing. Further east of them was the old taldane mine that had been where the disk had been hidden away. A mining settlement that was developing now, and also of course it was placed comfortably relative to the pass in the mountains that lead to Varnhold. It formed a rough crescent of his frontier lands but the realm had grown so, and also the internal realm shielded to the east by the Tors of Levenies had also changed. His printing presses were occupied with the producing copies of the realm's laws, and the reiteration that internal tariffs were verboten. That concept might have been harder to implement elsewhere, he knew Brevoy and in particular the Issian realms in the north of the kingdom made money from tolls on Rostlandic goods passing up river, but he would never allow those to develop here.

Similarly he had the ability to codify sales taxes and other revenues. He could put them into writing now, use the printing presses to insure those copies were far and wide and have them accepted. There was no parliament in Brevoy, and nor was there one here. In Brevoy though there were sufficiently strong noble houses which would have protested intrusions on their local rights. There were none such here.

From the Shrike across the Gudrin and Little Sellen down to his southern border where the Mivon Sellen formed the border with the Mivonese Aldori there were no competing strands of authority because all the towns were new. The farming communities on their outskirts and the development were all bounded within the Kamelands and those towns largely took their religious cues from here in Shrikewall. They all had clock towers, and town squares, and been built with wide avenue style boulevards.

If Linzi ever did manage to produce papers enough for regular consumption, for daily reading it would be these settlements which would be the principle consumers of that kind of publication... and also it was these towns which he had to focus on in terms of establishing compulsory education for children, and young adults.

Eire folded his hands resting his elbows on the massive oak hewn table. Not something he had prepared for. He hadn't brought books from earth to deal with preparing an education system, and there were limits to the books he had brought in terms of getting to where he wanted to be in terms of industry, and crafts, and the establishment of a government. Education, compulsory education, was going to require mass production of books even just basic books short primers were going to require more paper manufacturing, more pulp, more ink.

That he had begun ordering the planting of mulberry trees before this was happenstance. A coincidence, that they and tea leaves could settle here was ecology. Tea would cultivate better here than coffee, and so royal estates had set aside grounds for tea. For silk, that was more a matter of royal factories and weaving machines... Things, all things which were important, but he needed to prepare an army to defend his frontier.

... and he had Armasse to secure a call to arms this late in the year, and granaries stocked with farms on 19th​ century models full of food to winter troops. To train them over the winter if came to that, or to sustain them on the march if that was what it needed.

Eire stared down at the magically generated map... but his original realm had been more than the Narlmarches, and the kamelands. There was the greenbelt that ran the some fifty miles from the East Sellen to the Narlmarches, to where the northern narlmarches took shape. The greenbelt was a river valley if a wide one. It hadn't escaped him that he hadn't done much to settle or colonize the Greenbelt... for the Barony the original aim had been to work south settling and arranging his realm from Oleg to the capital and then work from there.

He shifted a handful of papers, reports from different settlements, and their census reports. He would not exempt people from taxes. Even himself, but on the other hand he knew that he could provide the churches with legal and functional sources of income... but there were limits. Mundane repair of goods, via things like mending would well effect and have knock on effects in the economy. He was already seeing more urbanization in the populace than he had expected, and that coupled with the mills meant more consumer goods, and less labor being done in the households.

People wouldn't need to spin their own clothes, even if they might still manufacture some clothes to wear for special events, but even that cloth, cotton or silk would still likely come from stores and not home grown. There would be less need for mundane repair if the churches were furnishing repair efforts as a service, or shoppes were readily available to simply buy replacement goods.

He sighed one thing at a time, and for the time being he needed to look forward to the publications which would need to go out for armasse given the war on their doorstep. A war that among other things would prevent him from trying to map out what was to his East, from supporting Maegar's efforts to chart the Dunsward and other efforts. Just, so much to do.

--
Notes: And in other news Apparently (eye roll) Paizo feels the need to kill off Gorum out of the core twenty. I'm not impressed by this decision, it seems stupid, inspite that Arazni is apparently replacing Gorum in the main deities. I like Arazni but it makes no sense given her portfolio and history versus Gorum. I really feel like this is some absurd marketting decision to be like 'look we're shaking up the setting' and not a well thought out lore decision it just doesn't not make sense as a good plot / writing choice.

 

[Imperator Pax]

Arodus 4714
The bright sky was high overhead. The late summer day warm, but not too warm. A perfect day to fly. The wind blue through her lustrous black hair as she peered around her surroundings from the promontory of Shrikewall looking over the Tuskdale valley that lay between the two rivers.

Meiqi surveyed the sprawling valley from the from the fortress wall, the nature a patchwork quilt of green, and blue with the stretch of other colors accounting for the humans. There were far fewer than she had expected compared to the Empire of Dragons the 'cities' were thin of people... but other than that she found for the most part things were to her satisfaction. All laws were codified in writing, and more than that translations from draconic with explanations followed from royal presses.

She would praise it.

The sprawling estate was worth of a true emperor even if the realm around it was not yet there. Of course contained within the palatial environs were the incubator for eggs, containing five mithril dragon eggs. The eggs would not hatch for another year and a half, but they were the dragons of heaven and Meiqi was not so foolish as to question her goddess's wisdom. She would dutifully obey and provide morally forthright guidance to the Church of Shizuru.

The yellow bird swept around, and flittered descending upon the red king's shoulder a soft trill. Eire's focus was more on the differences this place was to the majority of his realm. He wasn't alone up her on the bastion of course. His place here afforded him the opportunity to hold court, while surveying his domain.

Wattle and daub was cheap, and didn't require much in the way of skilled labor. There were trade offs as a result of that. There were no machine tools... or at least machine tools in the sense of he would have thought of them, but it was possible to use water wheels to turn a saw blade, and to cut lumber and lumber could then be kiln dried as opposed to waiting for it to try in a natural stone rack.

That was the issue of wattle and daub construction, wood naturally absorbed moisture and dried out. It had taken centuries for wattle and daub and ridgepole construction to be replaced in England by mortise and tennon and tongue and groove... and with Brevoy's abundance of timber and lack of stone the majority of the region was dominated by that old standby.

There was little truly complex or impeding about the alternate construction it simply required a specialization of labor and a direction provided from higher authority. The kiln drying method as applied to lumber was innovative only because of its scale in working with logs. The method of sawing was more technologically driven still but it was still a matter of harness water power to accomplish the task, and it allowed mechanical precision, and repetition.

Tongue and groove, and mortise and tennon both provided space for the expansion and contraction of the wood's reaction to wet and drying leading to a more robust and sound structure. It was still a timber product, but the kiln firing process was faster than waiting for wood to dry out in a shed naturally, and it resulted in a finished process allowing post holes to be dug in, and anchored facilitating the raising of simple practical buildings.

It was capital. Labor, and land usage were improved by the introduction of new labor saving machines, and standards which created time saving, and cost saving measures as well. Standardized boards, and standard nails, and screw pitches all contributed. It was timber that formed the basis for the majority of construction, even with bricks being produced by the thousands in tube kilns. In all likelihood the next steppe would have been the distribution of lathes and the manufacture of glue to fabricate standard plywood sections which would have only expanded wood products further. It was timber homes, and shoppes that were the majority of Narland's building. Brick merely supplemented timber architecture, and in most cases superseded masonry architecture as royal preference for the majority of state buildings. It was all, so far as Eire was concerned economics, or economics adjacent. The broad boulevards and granite set roads were economic adjacent yet, but they were also for military reasoning as well.

There was one ... small problem. Hither to the majority of his realm was, had been accessible if not easily by overland travel than largely be access to the waterways, the river network that defined core domain.

There was a shuffle of robes from the clergy as one man stepped forward.

All of that probably meant nothing to the priest of Nethys. It might have mattered to Brigh's church but that was still far from clear given their lack of unified position, and the church's lack of unified doctrine. He supposed there was no reason to expect a unified doctrine for such a thing. Minderhal's church had adopted the standard weights and measures as ordinal that such reforms were vital to construct strong objects. Of the Empyreal lords Mazludeh seemed the most doctrinally inclined to encourage the adoption of standards, with Eldas not far behind.

That distinction was not that important since the Empyreal lords' churches were overshadowed by the clergy from Yuelral, Ptah, and even Torag, which was saying something. Eire personally suspected Apsu's church at Silverstep was in attendance largely because Amvarean was here.

Flying islands were not unheard of. They were perhaps uncommon but they were apart of natural phenomenon, and thus highly sought after by Cloud and Storm Giants, or the favorite of silver dragons. Eire thought of the derelict that had drawn the attention of the Technic league in his then western lands... but his own flying ship while more intrinsically magical and the others like it were sufficient to reach the sky island above his capital. Enterprise, Endeavor, and Earnest were impossible for any of the clergy, or any of the denizens of the realm to miss... or for Mendev to ignore for what they contributed in carrying supplies to the Crusader state... and of course months earlier now he had issued the edict to establish a Royal Navy.

The easiest most effective way to access this floating island would not be by flying ship. He had too few of them. It would be by magic, divine magic and whorls of solar fire and that required sacred spaces... which admittedly the palatial estate already functioned as. He was not keen to advertise that per se, and of course while he would use it there were reasons to funnel churches here as well... as well as to raise another shipyard here among other things.

However, "Master," Teacher, the skull capped priest of Nethys bowed, "I have long studied stories of our ancient ancestors and the conflicts with the Shorry who themselves built great flying cities... in much the fashion of the Netherese you spoke of," The priest remarked side tracking himself for a moment, before finding his footing... the truth was Eire's comparison to Netheril had been an accidental slip of the tongue in a conversation related to the broader flying ships months earlier, and he had been unaware of the shorry's details, "with your blessing I would ask to be permitted to return to Osirion to redouble my research and return with findings in hopes of being of assistance to the construction of further magical vessels."

It was to be lucky timing. The expedition, mission to Osirion returned as other developments in the south would play out regarding that very topic. More than that of course, at least more pressing in the intermediate time was that Eire knew that their ties with foreign nations, particularly osirion which produced the cotton used in twill, and denim in particular for hte clothing his mills produced were a priority.

The doings of the ancient pharaoh Hakotep was only thing to be investigated. Just as further north, and to the kingdom's west was the shifts with Numeria, and the beginning of the Technic League's downfall and that that would wrought. The ascension early in the spring of the iron goddess Casandalee. This floating castle in the sky opened to the androids of Numeria who had already begun to be admitted on behalf of the Church of Iomedae, as well as those, to a lesser extent, of Desna and Sarenrae.

... and of course those were acknowledged churches, which was itself part and parcel of administering a polytheistic realm with a national, officially state organized church. As ruler he was patron of the acknowledged churches, and it was whether by intention or lack of care clear that even among that number there was a preference towards some and not others. It was simply a matter of how the world, how government in such a world functioned.
--

 

[Imperator Pax]

Armasse 4714
Eire had initially expanded Armasse from a week to two, because of course Vordakai was right it was amore practical matter than only a week of drill. It allowed him to assemble the community, and even though some of that needed to be delegated the touring could be done through the Kamelands and Narlmarch towns via the churches. What more than that defined the holiday was this year it was not just the community or those adjacent to Iomedae's church, this year the kellids and iobarians and other nomadic tribes including foederati like the Nomen centaurs were being apprised of the war to come.

That a war was on their doorstep, and his planning for it had impediments.

It wasn't however their inclusion which limitted his options, it was the realpolitik of the situation... and also at the same time the lack of institutional and structural factors. He could not simply prepare for a 19th​ century western war of mobilization or national identity and couldn't couch mobilization in those terms which left him somewhat at a loss. He did however have the option of forming zones, areas of operation, or the like from strategic regions.

There were roughly a hundred miles across difficult terrain between Shrikewall, and Fort Drelev on theopposite side of Lake Hooktongue. Silverstep, and Varnhold werecloser and much easier to access overland. Eire had envisioned his seat on the Tuskwater to be linked to Oleg and then to Brevoy inideally profitable trade with Restov... but that was not how things had developed. The value of trade with Osirion was far more important than to the Free City to his north east. He understood why that was the case. Osirion produced cotton, he had mills using water powered frames that spun clothe, the clothe produced high quality inexpensive clothes which were then sold in volume. It was economics in a way that simply didn't exist in a medieval production system. The agrarian system and the inefficiencies were a handicap.

It was also why he could uniform his soldiers, his recruits, and the army in universal standards. That would inculcate a cohesive identity even if national identity would take longer.

The knight bowed, "I will not fail your majesty's expectations." He had been assured of similar matters by most with similar responsibilities, from other knights, as well as by the clergy, including the Church of Milani, and Ragathiel. He hadn't precisely considered Ragathiel a patron of the holiday, but at least the local church had seemed to adopt it.

He accepted the profession of loyalty and duty from the knight and allowed the warrior to step away. His expression turned towards the sea of felt tents. Eire had already reached the conclusion and resolved that a war with Armag's confederation or at least some sort of conflict was inevitable the barbarian horde was simply too large now to not make some sort of challenge to his western frontier especially now that it had expanded to encompass the Hooktongue. He also recognized that the laminate composite bows typical of steppe nomads were going to have issues with the humidity of the Narlmarches and the Hooktongue... but he knew enough to recognize the problem and had his alchemists working on glues to prepare bows which would be less prone or even immune to such issues... but for a season or two of campaigning he doubted the humidity would be an issue... but if it went longer than that....well he needed the manpower.

That changed the contexts of Armasse significantly. At least they did for him, Narland's practice of the holiday was distinct, and changing from its inner sea counterparts and to the north in Brevoy there was no tradition at large. Mendevand Numeria to the west were unique cases as well. They couldn't be used for points of comparison either. Mendev had spent generations at war as the crusades had shaped the kingdom there... and Numeria ...Numeria was just strange in its own right but Mendev to its north certainly didn't help.

Eire had laid out the nominal strategy for what he intended to do if they were able to prepare his forces. He was ultimately constrained by the necessities of, to a degree of feudatory responsibilities... he, Amvarean, Jaethal, Shaoyu, Amiri, Maegar, Akiros, Regongar and the list went on for quite a ways were all required to participate or be available to in a real war, on the battle line. It would have been insane operationally to ignore that capability, but he needed a professional soldiery... in the interim though he had no shortage of horses. More horses than actually he could provide riders for even with a planned mongol program of reserve mounts and communications... that was in part what the knights would address.

He would be out the core of his army in heavy infantry fighting in the center with the wings where that was feasible supported by light and heavy horse. By armored knights, lancers, and bowmen. The focal strategy would be to convince the enemy to attack the center, then envelop and destroy them.

That still relied on having a cavalry contingent though to call upon.

--
Magic was a part of life. It was enshrined in the law code, so could never be forgotten. What they needed though was time, and time he wasn't sure they had. The last several years had entailed having the druids native to the greenbelt, and narlmarches ... basically the hinterlands of the rostlandic plain perform their feudal dues in labor. Setting fence lines, and suchthat would have feasible for peasants to do but otherwise been time consuming.

The stone giant druids, and clerics had largely superseded them in preeminence as the realm had expanded easterly and absorbed the Varnhold. The giants were also much more inclined to heed royal calls to arms. He could call on the human druids to do other things, like maintain lines of supply and communication or join the alchemists in preparing potions and care for the wounded as needed.

What he still lacked were wizards. Wintersun and its school would take time... perhaps three years before they could begin to address such from their own population...but Armasse was induction of pages and young potential clerics into the church's neophyte rank. Beyond those however were also the clerics who would at the end of the month be invested with newly forged cinder blades... those swords empowered his clerics would bolster the forces gathered. What distinguished this batch of alchemically treated sword blades were that Ragathiel church would receive a handful of blades... and likely given things progressing others would receive them as the metal works expanded to fill demand.

The truth though was he was already planning to expand the fraternity beyond. Those ranging clerics along river, and road would have to likely assume duties not unlike the staff officers of at least similar to Prussia with the education and professional civil service of post Napoleonic states even without firearms being involved. The truth was by the time clerics could cast flame strike unaided they were well established in the clergy and he would need them to serve in senior leadership roles within the martial church.

It was all magic, just different facets of magic. The spells which powered his foundries, the steam engines relied on heating metal inside of a vessel bypassing the problems that had lead to the development of Watt's engine on Earth, and also just generally being more efficient than the early Watt Engine. Limits on metallurgy, and implementation on standards and measurements meant they weren't far enough along in tolerances to go much further than that, but it was one example of magic's implementation in the realm.

It had no immediate martial application, and Eire knew that. He recognized that, but the application of steam power was what would insure he had the supplies to sustain the army. He could have used magic to complement a mongol style roster and levee system, it was already much more practical even without the use of firearms to rely on a derivative or the northern European, and ultimately Swedish allotment system... because again magic provided the ability to provide supplies. Even if those came not from cottage industries, but rather from royally established factories.

Jaethal scrutinized the image of the steel works, it was rather obvious that the elf did not per se understand the puddling pool but without ready access to crucible steel it seemed one of the best options he had available. "There are impediments."

"I know," The magic system at his disposal was not without its problem. The Narlmarches, and the slough would complicate his use of cavalry... and leaving aside how horses reacted to magical transportation the truth was most churches were not designed to permit groups of horses into their grounds. Shrikewall's cathedral and the basilica based on it, and the giantish religious sites to Erstig and other deities were exceptions.

The truth was the horses got skittish... but that could probably be managed.

"I am not going to like whatever it is you are about to suggest." Jaethal remarked.

"No... no you will not." He replied, "I will need to consecrate a temple to Alseta for what I have in mind, perhaps two even."

She knew what that implied given context, even if it was otherwise an innocent enough statement. "You mean to use the Aiudara."

"I do, we needed to head off concerns with Kyonin over their existence besides, but the Narlmarches and the Slough would impede the passage of my horse, and to tell the truth we will need garrisons for cavalry regiments that can manage their numbers of horses." And, already it was preparing to be more than that, he needed to be able to prevent a similar challenge from rising on the eastern steppes from either humans or one of the Rashalka lineages. "I mean to use them to secure my flanks, or supplement the transition of manpower, and it is only a partial solution, an arcane solution will still be needed where we can and those will need to be properly built fortresses." Or at least fortified towers.

 

[Imperator Pax]

Rova 4714
The two week period of Armasse, in its Narland format, had officially concluded the day before... but in contrast to years previous there was a change in the shape and gathering of aspirants.. there was less than a month before summer came to an end. His time had been spent in the intervening two weeks preparing his vassals, and preparing to face the challenge of geography as it shaped his northern realm. Feudal lords rarely attempted to campaign over the winter months, but the Tiger Lords were not feudal in organization, and were unlikely to stop in the face of it's cultural norms regarding warfare. It was thus that Eire found the need to prepare the same. He could feed the army over the winter. That wouldn't be an issue.

Barring a particularly harsh winter, which seemed unlikely, the rivers would be open, that would allow him to move troops through the Sellen network to the Kingdom's borders, if not necessarily beyond them. Instead of concluding as it had in previous years, they had begun the formation of royal regiments and the process of preparing those troops for battle. A training process that would still properly entail weeks of preparations... but that was what drill was for. He had ordered Bharanoal's clerics, the beaver folk settling his original western river lands to focus on mapping and charting the depth and tendencies of the rivers.

Again, both early modern innovation based on earlier lessons but one largely developed in the face of worsening strategic conditions as Europe's conflicts had increased and driven by economic and particularly agricultural changes of the late middle ages. The Drill allowed rapid and repetitive instruction to prapre units creating a program for attack, defense, maneuver, and the creation of works in the field. And, well riverine improvements were a process of greater understanding of the world around Europeans of the time.

The ability to put that into writing, and the codification of a national church with an emphasis on martial vigor, without having to compete with any written passages espousing pacifism or the like conflicting messages were the steps toward coherent national identity. The printing press would help with both those. The foundries and works which produced steel for plows and reapers and other farming implements were another matter... as the border moved or asserted to the east he planned to lay out increasingly complex royal horse breeding programs to support relays of material along the frontier land south of the Varnhold. Those institutions would of course also be focal points to enforce the written universalist laws of the realm.

There was so much to do. It would require him to divide his attention, and distribute duties to others but the process of preparing forces for the field wouldn't be impossible.

Eire poured over his books... the books brought from Earth and ... from the future... he regretted that only a small portion of his academic library had not made the trip with him to Golarion... but then so much of that was had been digital and he had carried no electronics with him. They would have been weight and reminders un useful things long before Jamandi had called for adventurers to venture into the stolen lands. Still he took his cues from across Earth's history... and there were in some cases equivalents or similar customs on Golarion... but he wasn't starting, hadn't been starting from the dawn of civilization. Still much of what was written were surveys and academic supposition and regardless much of it needed to be, all of it needed to be converted to vernacular understanding.

Agriculture was the obvious immediate priority to focus on. Then state institutions... he had already seen Kallike and Kanerah's report on the populace... and what his tax base looked like. He had actually built the census program off of that conducted in the 14th​ century steppe the early census of the mongols which were in turn based on the Persians and were then exported to China as a measure of counting the populace. Calling them the middle class would have been inaccurate though, but then that went back to the need to implement the farming reforms. What most people had failed to understand was that the bubonic plague had hit Europe at a time where agricultural productivity had been in dire straits relative to the population the plague had hit while famines had been occurring sporadically and supplies were limited... in short Europe had been vulnerable already.

If Eire was right, if the church documents were accurate. Then from the chronicling of the history of Golarion since Aroden's death the planet's ... or at least Avistan and the wider Inner Sea region had declined in the last two centuries due... he suspected to climatic changes in rain on the western shores... the Chelish Civil War and the ascendancy of House Thrune probably hadn't helped either but Aroden's death had had tangible effects onthe civilized southern nations. The Mendev Crusades after the Death of Aroden, and the political upheaval had meant a crisis. He hadn't processed that but the introduction of farming techniques, rotation, and horse drawn steel mold board plows and such were designed to make farming more efficient.

He could feed and move armies during winter time. He wasn't going to be dependent on customary feudal duties as Brevoy was. He was going to have to visit the nomadic tribes, and there would need to be payment and reciprocation but he would be able to keep them supplied in the field.

Then of course there was the matter of the Navy. He'd been more involved with Enterprise's construction for the simple fact they had been experimenting with a working hull design. Once Enterprise had flown them to and then returned them from Mendev there were lessons for the craftsmen to work from. That reduced his involvement to largely tending the mana plants native to the feywild within the royal greenhouse. The mass of glass and steel which formed the heart of the ships' were a polished expansion, around which engines and the ship's hull were built around, and those were a matter of skilled labor.

The Navy flew back and forth from Mendev regularly, and brought news from Mendev, and from the court there. Eire knew that what he really needed to be able to do was to appoint a permanent ambassador to formalize standing exchanges... but there just wasn't time... and he didn't have an ambassador to spare.

He could move mail, and communicate regularly with Mendev, but that was through letters. The practice of permanent ambassadors had appeared very late on Earth... and had been frequently a tool of giving some high born fool a sinecure where he couldn't manage much harm. He just didn't' have the resources for that, and unlike with his other state institutions with the matter of taxes he while he could use the bureaucracy to secure funding that would go into building his navy the offices of state would be trickier... and he would have to largely place that as a second ary priority towards arranging his frontier against the Tiger Lords, but it was just a reminder that there was no shortage of work to do.

 

[Imperator Pax]

Rova 4714
Eire had spent most of the waning days of summer, and early fall in the academic considerations of the economy of his state. Particularly on the unique characteristics that compounded the matter of the division of labor in a society where its 'racial make up' did actually entail tangible measurable differences... An individual giant was stronger than an average human, or an orc, or so on. The problem lay in the dimensions involved in simple tasks of labor moving of supplies the human domesticated field animals horse or oxen made things much easier, and indeed giants domesticated oxen, the native wild aurochs common to northern Avistan served as the beast of burden but it was a less efficient one.

The giants as a result of their size had a harder time developing animal based labor saving systems, even if it wasn't impossible for them. Horses didn't work for giants in the same way they did for humans, or that dwarves could rely on smaller donkeys. What Giants were used to doing was manufacturing metal tools, to a degree, arsenical bronze, copper working, iron. The problem was the caloric intake. It was much easier for giants as solitary communities to remain nomadic, or semi nomadic ranging across the land as they had for thousands of years. The transition to settled agriculture had been a much harder one than for humans, and humans hadn't exactly had it easy.

To that end thassilon had represented a bringing of giants into the fold with other races. Thassilon had been a human empire first and foremost, and as Vordakai was quick to point out an empire of human wizards. On the other hand the dragon realms hadn't been adverse to bringing giants into the fold... and of course the serpent folk had employed giant mercenaries from tribes and clans... and the giants had in the form of the cyclopes empires had managed to establish first city states and broader civilizations with complex tool use, urban apparatus, and organized states on the imperial model.

... but then the earth fall had happened, and everything had been thrown back.

Minderhal's clergy were quick to insist that from their god's perspective, Giantkind had benefitted from Thasilon's power. There were giants who disagreed with this, and there were those were ambivalent, but the result was that Minderhal's clergy supported Imperial rule. Part of that was of course Minderhal was a Lawful deity and the tenants of the faith included community living, rules based systems and that the community was safer as part of a larger entity that was more stable.

Minderhal's clergy were happy to participate in enforcing the law, and as part of the organized state church. It wasn't that the giantish Erastillian congregations did, but Minderhal's church was more inclined to assimilate faster into the hierarchy of urban and sprawling central administration.

Had Aroden, God of Humanity still lived and Iomedae not succeeded the last Azlanti Eire considered that this might have had consequences... but there was no longer a centralized Arodenite church hierarchy that wielded power. Iomedae's church was regional, based on local rules, local rulers in a given kingdom. He didn't have to contend with doctrinal protests from Westcrown and of course that presumed that Westcrown might have objected at all. This far north, this far east they might not have.

It had been of course as a result of this lack of centralization, central religious authority that the order of the godclaw had formed its pantheon by syncretic interfaith dialogues and assimilation of sarkorian traditions to smooth the differences between dwarven, brevic, and other traditions to make a coherent martial doctrine around the Five. The Godclaw was a knightly order, which had largely been born in a time of not just chaos but when Arodenite traditions of knighthood had still been strong, still strongly tied to the Arodenite faith.

The priest of Minderhal stood to his left, an adamantine maul hanging from his armored waist. The armored priest was silent as the knight of the Godclaw rose from supplication. One of Mori's fellow knights of the torrent had vouched for the man, and his wider coterie. Knights from Torrent, and Gate had journeyed from Mendev as part of a detachment, not so much an embassy to carry word from QueenGalfrey's court of ... well of heresy. "We pursue a cult we believe dedicated to Sifkesh," A demon lord who had long been the enemy of the Hellknights, as it had been heretics dedicated to the demon lord who had provoked the founder of the first Hellknight order to break with the church of aroden leading to the religious authorities of Westcrown to pronounce him the moniker Hellknight."They claim to be pious religious denizens speaking of a kingdom of the cleansed, preaching anarchy and not needing the laws of the land."

Eire nodded.

This was... not all together unexpected. There were not shortage of chaotic deities worshipped in the riverlands who's congregations might be vulnerable to the machinations of demon lords, and the truth was the influx of refugees from mendev's slums had always had potential issues. "Tristian will assist you on this," He said waving a hand, adding him to Mori's own place in the investigation.

It wasn't that he didn't appreciate the doctrines and ideas of the godclaw, and nor was it he didn't take this problem seriously, but this was his realm. The Godclaw and the Torrent, and their companions here were here with Mendev's sanction, but this was his realm. If, as he was keen to establish, they were heretics, heresy was treason against the crown, fermenting anarchy was rebellion, and the kingdom would deal with such.

On the other hand it hadn't also escaped him that the Church of Milani might object to his personal opinion. That was plenty of reason to send Tristian on this task, and not for example the Chelish born Vaclav... or for that matter any of his chelish coreligionists. He would need more information of course... he had little immediate reason to doubt the coterie's claim, they came with a letter from Galfrey and her chancellor vouching for their concerns.

He frankly doubted the Hell Knights would lie about the threat posed by cultists of Sifkesh, but he did still reserve the right to manage the investigation and insure his realm's laws were to be upheld and took primacy over charged. Tristian would hopefully be sufficient presence along with Mori toreign in any concerns of excesses or failure to follow Narland's standards of justice.

Regardless of however this investigation turned out he was going to need to involve Tristian in the discussions that would follow. Eire knew his focus needed for the moment to be on preparing the kingdom for war, but the investigation would also require speaking to Harrim as head of the religious and interfaith dialogue of the kingdom of large, as well a conclave that would include Vaclav and the other iomedaen clergy of note within the capital.

 

[Imperator Pax]

8 Lamashan4714
Amvarean's personal demesne around the great lake welcomed steppe guests to the opportunity to the broad grasslands that met the foot of the mountains and the safe water...and that her presence as a silver dragon mediated disputes.

Silverstep's great expanse reflected the full moon high above, two days previous had been the Inheritor's Ascendance Day feast marking the day that Iomedae had ascended to divinity through successfully passing the test of the star stone in Absalom. He mulled on that. Amvarean's domain played host to many from the steppe to his east.

The steppe was a matter. It wasn't just the original Varnhold charter it was also Vordakai looking out towards the expanse of what had been Koloran that stretched into Casmarron. He didn't have railways, the metalworking, the ironmongery necessary to produce the volume he would have needed simply wasn't there. Much as he looked towards some kind of industrial revolution it would not be next year or the one after , but he needed more.

What his towns did have were clock towers... and for now they were on a single time zone. That made things useful for organization, magical words of sending and messengers sent from temples allowed him to coordinate time and actions in a way that would have been difficult. The fact they had already set a kingdom wide time zone meant there would be no local time zones... but if they continued to expand into Iobaria's untamed wilds then at some point he was going to need to demarcate an easterly time zone.

The threat from their west needed to be resolved first. He looked towards the bonfires and the bombastic drums reverberating as the the strings on horse head fiddles and lutes were picked. They had been in discussion now for weeks, month seven, much more serious ones now. Amvarean had of course taken Ilthuliak's severed head to bring to the east.

The nomads already used a decimal system. From ten to ten thousand nominally. They could understand what he was doing in a sense. There were further details though. Finer details. Squad Company... Regiment Division.

Battalion, two battalions of five hundred, or five Companies.

At the moment it was unnecessary to provide more to the system in other ranks. Sergeant was fine enough a grade... and the general ranks didn't need to be delineated. Captains, Majors and Colonels would suffice for field grade commanders. A field command better suited Amiri, which was why Amvarean was here organizing things, besides of course she held silver step.

Amvarean had been busy insuring that word carried, she stood beside him in her half elf guise. Maegar was in Varnhold of course, but the situation in Rostland seemed to be worsening, and the Aldori seemed to have made no preparations, "The Tiger Lords incursions push farmers from their fields, and further south across the river." She remarked.

"I know," He had heard as much, and there was no indication that Restov or Brevoy as a broader whole was paying much heed to the Tiger Lords. "We will need scouts to patrol the frontier," and unfortunately as open and even eager the Nomen centaurs were to ranging it was less than practical to mobilize them across his entire northern border. Especially not this late in the season but arguably the bigger impediment was the terrain encompassing the northern slough, which was arguably the most vulnerable in this particular crisis.

And while hiring on tribes to defend the northern frontier would have been possible it was still the matter of moving horsemen from the steppes in the south through the marshland into the western rostlandic plain.... or crossing his eastern core and making a narrow trek across the rostlandic road.
--
Shrikewall, and Silverstep were both situated on great bodies of water and protected effectively from attack on three sides. Shrikewall had the added benefit despite its wider frontage of being on the promontory between the shrike and skunk rivers, while the Gudrin formed Silverstep, as a town's, southern boundary.

There were both rapidly expanding large towns, Candlemere and the shore towns along the Tuskwater and Lake Candlemere shores were similar but the capital and Silverstep were much more prepared to mass and assemble troops. In that they were medieval feudal strongholds, and the riverine access which allowed shipping through the Kamelands was part of that... but that same expanded river travel network also had more early modern trends...with magical additions.

Eire had wanted to expand the divine transportation network with an arcane system. Not simply coopt the Elf gates those were useful, could be useful but were far too limited. No, while they could be put to use, and of course their archaeological provenance was important historically... the ancient elf settlements in the lands could be investigated... it was simply more obviously practical to raise temples , consecrate ground and transport forces that way.

Amvarean understood this. An arcane solution, a system of great towers and assembly points that could teleport in a similar manner was more of an investment than they could perhaps afford to make at this point. To that same point, Eire knew that the steel production wasn't sufficient for the hundreds of miles of track a 19th​ century rail network would require... even if they did have everything else that would need to go along with that.... and frankly given the distances involved while that would help mass mobilization of the population would be more feasible. In the long term of course Eire envisioned a railway forthe economic carrying trade, one complementary to the river, but it would have to wait.

What Silverstep had going for it was in contrast to Shrikewall was it was better suited to preparing royal cavalry for muster, and Silverstep being further in the east was better positioned given the temple network capabilities to prepare troops before deploying them...

... and of course in that Silverstep's steppe was a series of squat brick towers around wide yards that brought men to assembly, facilitated the distribution of woolen coats, standard trousers, belts, and other leather goods. All this under the rampant lion banners that flew from the towers. It marked a shift from how things had been done previously, Armasse was over....these were no longer calls to the peasant population at large but the organizing of formal battalions for drill.

For a conflict he didn't want, but would he expected have to fight anyway. "The Tiger Lords are quite occupied in the glennbon highlands, we think perhaps as many as twenty thousand are encamped there" No doubt drawn from many kellid tribes, and clans who had flocked to Armag Twice Born's banner.

He nodded to the silver dragon's observation, "Your sister has some idea I assume?"

"They seek orvinbaane, the sword of Gorrum's champion Armag," The original of the tiger lords from thousands of years previous. Leaving aside that it was bragging rights, the great sword was a powerful magical weapon, "It was buried with him after the red slew him."

Yes, that was the reminder. That for all the Gorum and Phasasma quarreled and the goddess had coveted to reap the champion's soul it had been a dragon unaffiliated with either deity that had slain Armag in the days of yore.

Eire flexed his hand, as a flight of archons glittered through the air above them, "Continue to prepare the troops," It was at this stage, really all that they could do. The clock tower announced noon for all to hear as the bells called.
--


Notes:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6cv8jwxgM2Q

Well, I've fallen behind due to real life I need to redo the next segment, really I need to finish rewriting pretty much the whole end of year segments 4714 as we move into the Siege of Restov but requires balancing real life, so I may take a break from this and post scraps to buy breathing room in hopes of being able to pad my pipeline of stuff ready to go up.

 

[Imperator Pax]

12 Lamashan 4714
His return to his capital was heralded by the now common sight of the whirling column of fire, but that alone did nothing to state his temperament or the irritation that burned within at the abrupt recall. The only indication of his vexation was the temperature of the hall, and the brightly burning fire of the lights.

Kassil Aldori was just the messenger though, though they could have done without the all but shouting, "Your grace! We need to head to Brevoy immediately! Swordlord Jamandi requires your help fighting off a sudden attack on Rostland! A treacherous invasion of barbarians has caught the swordlords off guard -- it is presently only skirmishes but very soon there will be a major battle on the glenebon uplands. Restov is calling for help and i trust you won't turn back on your old allies when they need you more than ever!"

Eire forced a breath out as his eyes surveyed his court. The hall was occupied with plenty of southern ethnicities, but also a range of kellid and iobarian folk. Kassil was every bit the young bravo of Restov, dressed like a young Aldori ... and stood out even without the shouting from the sharp divide in clothes between visitors from the tribes. "A sudden attack you say," Eire's voice was cold and hard aloof, "I told your fool of a mother no less than thrice the danger Armag posed, and that Restov would be wise to take precautions" He remarked, and of course that was the problem, Jamandi was one sword lord among the Aldori and not head of the family in Restov... how much sway did she really have, "more than that I would suggest you never take that tone with me again."

Amiri's expression told him everything he needed to know though about the Tiger Lords opening hostilities, she braced her hands on the long oak table "So they've finally made their move, then," She scoffed, but refrained from doing anything like kicking the ground. She clearly wanted to do so, but stood firm, "The rest of my tribe is probably with them." but fundamentally she agreed with the need to act... even though he supposed that wasn't really in question, it was just her phrasing, "We should to scout their positions know or else we'll see the Tiger Lords smash the brevans about for sure,"

With the majority of the court's humans chelish in ethnicity there were not protests from the gallery in Brevoy's defense at the statement. With a significant number of Iobarians and Kellids among the ranks there were however plenty of jeers of agreement to her comment while his co religionists remained stoic and waited.

"Armasse began two months previous," He remarked, "An opportunity as good as any to prepare the community to rise to its defense," For all though that Brevoy did talk about its Taldane heritage or at least their noble houses, Abadar and Gorum were more important and had been even before Aroden's death... and his comment would have ordinarily found its greatest receipt among his coreligionists, "Armag's alliance with Pitax represents a threat to the realm, his presence in glennbon highlands alone represents a challenge to peace that can hardly be permitted to leave be," Which wasn't entirely true, quite frankly even after folding the Drelev demesne he wasn't inclined to view that a priority but it was still something he needed to, in a realist political sense at least make clear he was aware...or at least in a mass mobilized politically active middle class that would have been something... but in a strictly feudal sense the bigger issue was Armag's alliance with Pitax because Pitax had given them grievance.

That was something that applied to beyond simply the Iomedaen community of his capital city, and had abroad near universal understanding from the populace. It was entirely possible that Jamandi, and her heir for that matter simply did not, could not grasp the changes around them. For all the Brevoy did claim to be a 'civilized' nation, that it celebrated Taldor as its parent and that Taldane's traditions shaped Brevic ones it was very clear that it was in the sense of the medieval conception of succession from Rome despite the evolution of political systems to current needs.

Feudalism was a system of the division of labor. It had a political component, could impact political thought. Narland was vastly closer to an early modern absolutist state and though young its social culture reflected that with its immigrants from across the Inner Sea adopting to the prospect of written legal codes, and a bureaucracy that could rely on have explicit recordings, and a justice system that operated on trials which were carried out by royal not local sanction. There were in other words no competing centers of authority at a large, the law was a royal matter outside of strictly local ordinances for market conduct and such as were found in Olegton.

Amiri though wasn't wholly divorced from Restov's situation. Armag had done plenty to get under her skin, and the most galling was of course that most of the surviving six bears had flocked to Armag's banner. Amiri was offended by this, and it was a sentiment shared by some of the other kellid tribes who had left their own tribes and clans to flock around her leadership, but it as not truly a civil war notion.

Eire nodded, aware for once the candles burned higher in his hall... but Armag had perhaps fifty thousand swords, comparable to the Magyar host which had taken the field in the middle of the tenth century and had made it all the way to western France ... could Armag hold that much space, no probably not he probably wasn't trying. Booty and plunder seemed a much more likely explanation, glory, not territorial expansion.

That much he was willing to wager on. Nothing that they had heard from the gathering tribes suggested territorial ambitions in the state building sense. Armag's relationship with Pitax was strange by modern earth sensibilities but made sense in the context, and interplay of nomadic confederations and sedentary city states.... but Armag didn't seem to be interested in settling down or establishing a state along territorial lines.

That was something of a relief, but it didn't change the facts either.

This was not earth. Armag's host was large, but not impossibly so, but it would have magic users to some degree... it was better to fight outside of the kingdom's borders than within it. Eire did not want to be put into a position of needing to trade land for time, "I am prepared to allow you to range in advance of the force," He replied, "To ascertain Armag's positions," knowing what the tiger lords were really trying to do would be useful, critical even. "We know he set his camp in the glenbon uplands," they had this confirmed since the Tiger Lords had taken Drelev's hostages to this central location nestled in a canyon according to what Drelev had recorded if only to assuage his own bannermen and avoid further problems with them. Drelev had actually compiled quite a lot of notes on his erstwhile allies. "What we do not know is if he has crossed into Brevoy in person." He wanted to know that. "I will prepare the army to march, and I will ask those to join us as move north," by which he meant, what he actually meant was to call giants, and trolls and boggards if necessary to secure his western flank along the slough as his retinue moved. He would send word to Maegar and the Nomen on how he wanted them to deploy...

--
Notes: The forefather, and Tristian plotlines will come up in 4715 at different parts, in the 2E remaster of things Tristian's plot is called out for how people didn't react well to it in the video game, but yeah we move into the full blown twice born crisis. Next segment I'm pretty much rewriting from scratch but I think I can get it finished this week.

 

[Imperator Pax]

Lamashan 4714
It took only a handful of days to make the necessary assembly of men in the north of his realm. Admittedly part of that was the use of the Temple of the Elk, Olegton was simply too small and lacked the religious institutions to be the primary point of arrival in the north... but they did end up marching the force from Olegton.

What Olegton had been prepared to handle was the massing of supplies ahead of the army's arrival its large stockyards and warehouses prepared to receive food stores prepared for campaigning of the 19th​ century, even if canned goods were still in their initial infancy... and even that was overshadowed by stocks of spare boots, and clothes, since clerics abundant with the massing host were prepared to support the army's food needs with divine magic where it was necessary.

"For the faith," The cleric greeted.

He nodded to the Iomedaen dressed in black armor, with crimson highlights, "for the way of the sword." He replied.

"The army is prepared your majesty."

The statement brought a cleared throat a rattling harsh noise from Vordakai, but really it was just the cyclops complaining in audibly about their lack of wizards. There was no real solution to that, especially not for this campaign.

If they were fortunate they would have wizards prepared to negate enemy missile fire, to defeat or turn away arrows from at the very least his core of heavy of heavy infantry. Defending the cavalry being readied for this expedition would be difficult even under ideal circumstances, and the truth was he was hoping to protect them more effectively by using them to attack the flanks of Armag's force as his heavy infantry drew them in.

... but that also assumed that they could array into a pitched battle, which was not a given. Eire was not sure he could afford or that he wanted to rely on attritional attacks to wear down the tiger lords even if that were feasible.

The norman invasion of england had involved eleven thousand normans, flemish and bretons. A sizable force to transport over the channel. There was no channel to cross in this context. No channel to force him to use ships to cross the sea. The rostlandic plain offered few natural barriers to impede movement. Limited sources of prominent quarries also made stone castles rare in Brevoy.

He actually allocated a few more days to prepare the army. What he actually expected was that next year...especially next year would be the need to use Armasse to assemble more comprehensive rolls for martial assembly There was good historical precedence for that back on Earth, the Select and Great Fyrds of Anglo-Saxon England came to mind without even considering much later more modern pools of conscription. Even without firearms something akin to the Reforms of Charles XII had viable utility...but Narland was much more urban than 17th​ Century Sweden and in part that was why he'd been able to rally the troops for this expedition.

Because the majority of the manpower, lack of wizards or not, lived in the vicinity of urban centers with large religious sites that he could use to whisk them north in columns of divine fire.

The assembly here would allow them to cross the Rostlandic plain from a base of supply and enter Brevoy in force moving where they needed to be, "Has there been word from Amiri?"

"No, sire." Another priestanswered.

The iomedaen cleric was one of many of his coreligionists but there were few of Gorums clergy here. Officially Gorrum's clergy had declared that even if Armag were as he claimed the reincarnation of Gorrum's ancient champion it did not require them to give them his loyalty. To the point it was obvious that Sarenrae's clergy actually out numbered the lord of iron's sworn, and they while numerous were not in the greatest number one could count upon one hand. They did expect that Milani's faithful might rally to them, but they weren't taking it as a given... if the everbloom's church did move to support them then that would be good, but Olegton would serve as the logistical hub to keep the army fed and supplied. More to the point from its position north of the narlmarches proper it was better situated for overland reinforcement from nearby more established, relatively speaking, holdings within the narlmarches than say moving to support the former Drelev demesne.

The lack of response from Amiri was something to be concerned about. "and we're certain of the Tiger Lords encampment?"

"We are." The priest replied.

Vordakai shifted.

If Amiri had been able to make it back then she would have had more information for which they could have worked from.. and the truth was he had been hoping that information would have provided the necessary weight to emphasize whether or not he should expend effort to raise military fortifications north of Olegton. That was a concern since Olegton was the only major settlement this far north... and major settlement was a stretch in comparison to the much larger nascent cities of his Imperial Core.

"We should pass word that we will move forward." The Cyclops rumbled, choosing to speak in draconic to emphasize what he actually meant was that they should inform the dragons among his court that they were preparing to move.

Valerie as chancellor needed to remain at Shrikewall. He had almost left Shaoyu in her care, but the truth was he could hardly spare his ward. Jamandi's heir, Kassil, had ridden back to his mother. Amiri had ridden north with Regongar in tow. Tristian was occupied with his investigation, Harrim as chief minister of religious matters was needed at the capital, just as the twins were for the economy. If this lasted long he would need to deepen trade with the southern lands.

No, Shaoyu and Amvarean both were needed here on the front with him. Eire could accept that. It was why he had sent Jubilost, Octavia, and Ekundayo to the west to meet with Gary, and the bog striders as well to assist however they could with Kisandra Numesti command the Hooktongue territory.

It was a division of labor he had to accept. It was why Jaethal, and Maegar were both absent his war camp, and why he had brought scores of Iomedaen clergy with him. This was not supposed to be a crusade, but one might have easily reached that conclusion.

Eire nodded finally in response to the cyclop's statement, "We will do that, we need to locate my wayward companions." And even in that there was politics todigest. Politics for settled peoples, politics for nomads under the eternal sky. Politics for Taldane stock. Politics for Kellid folk.

He was nominally only going to investigate amiri's absence... admittedly with a very large body of warriors with him, but he had not informed the Tiger Lords of hostilities. He doubted, Eire doubted rather strenuously that if Armag Twice Born intended to raid, and or extort Restov and its hinterlands that conflict could be avoided, but well they would inform Armag of that face to face... and if necessary face to face in the context anywhere from one to four dragons taking the field to press their advantage.

He mulled it over, but that was of course a nuclear response, the truth was with a professional army in the process of forming Eire hoped that his assembled ranks could carry the field in a pitched battle with only a minimum of dragon fire, and that it would be human arms which won the day.
--
Notes: We continue with the Twice Born crisis, next segment will most likely pick up chronologically in a day or two from this one with a look at the Army of Narland.

 

[Imperator Pax]

Lamashan 4714
Lion rampant banners streamed as thousands of horsemen waited under the morning sky.

The stirrup alone did not make as critical transition to mounted warfare as it was sometimes given credit for. That was a simplification. Yes, it had certainly helped but changes to organization and the pairing with a saddle design... and of course selective horse breeding all came together to form the heavy cavalry revolution.

More importantly was what a mounted cavalry force allowed in terms of mobility, which had been another lesson of the Norman ascent to influence in western Europe. Mobility was important but it also had to be supported by other arms of battle. Proper screening, and coordination facilitated battlefield success that was not a modern invention it had been true of the distant past of earth.

Interlocking, cooperation, arrangement between combined arms was more successful than piecemeal assaults. Eire hadn't had time to engage in the production of mass production of crossbows ... it was possible, certainly his metal industry had the potential to cast the parts for crossbows , and a lathe used to build the stocks in common standard dimensions... but there just hadn't been time.

No the contingent of archers would be predominantly mounted skirmishers for the campaign. Some actual horse archers recruited from the steppe nomads others simple bowmen arrayed with horses who would dismount as skirmishers protected by heavy infantry. The heavy infantry would most likely form the center of his formation safeguarding the light foot bowmen and allowing the cavalry wings of the army to be prepared to make exploit

Those horse archers, and the contingents of Iobarians and Kellids, and parts of feudal levies answering the call to arms were select choices. Just as it was a choice to not concern himself with siege weapons for this campaign. The truth was while they might be useful, the arcanotech weapons under construction for the still developing flying ships of Narland's Royal Navy were better suited aboard ships... and of course also spell casters could serve as living siege weapons if need be.

Eire was also cognizant of the small yellow bird circling to descend to loft upon his shoulder as he inspected the troops. That was important... this inspection was important as he and Amvarean and Shaoyu rode down the ranks in the recently established mustering grounds. It was horses that would allow them to move, it was horses that would allow them to move wagons full of supplies, wagons more in the vein of the late 19th​ century armies made possible by standards and measures, and by massive water turned mills driven by the shrike river that the towns upon the river that housed those mills. They were horses simply because the kingdom's reserves did not have an abundance of mules to carry on labor tasks for the logistical burden... that was a facet of moving this quickly.

A fact he was aware of but one that in the medieval context of feudal levies had not translated. Charlemagne's army would preferred to march quickly, to move and live off foraging of the land but they were going to move into an area nominally friendly, and one likely already plundered by the tiger lords so he would prepare his baggage train accordingly. Especially in the face of needing to position his forces where they could swing into either the glenebon highlands or north east towards Restov.

"Has there been any update?"

"The impression is that Armag is not with the force on Restov's hinterlands." Amvarean answered bring her bey forward and closer to his own black, "Regardless it represents a serious commitment of his forces from the reports." And that of course was one of the factors of a nomadic tribal society mobilized for war compared to that of a sedentary feudal one. Armag had a much larger body of capable military age men to leverage that weren't absolutely necessary for sustaining the division of labor. That came with a nominally more egalitarian division of labor, but Feudal society did by contrast provide other economic activities, in theory the mobilized milites component of feudal professional soldiers should have access to heavier mounts, better equipment ...but that wasn't necessarily a given especially given the ability for the nomads to mass significantly greater numbers... and especially if Brevoy's elite couldn't coordinate their arms to leverage their own organizational advantages.

Abadar was arguably the most popular deity of brevoy's people, at least of its ruling class. In theory Brevoy should have had the resources to outfit its skirmishers with crossbows, whether or not Brevoy had the organizational doctrine to protect them with heavy infantry ... that was not something that Eire could speak on. He had spent a year in Brevoy, but he had never seen it prepare for war. Abadar's favored weapon was still the crossbow, and in theory Brevoy's number of crossbows should have been a useful component, and a not insubstantial one, to its feudal levees... and in particular for Restov to call upon in the situation at hand.

... but Restov had not communicated what preparations it had made. He supposed that the most likely explanation for that was that they simply weren't considering the matter of manpower like he was... or that the sword lords of restov had too many competing personages with individual retinues and that the free city simply did not have a coherent plan. The latter was nota good thing, but it would be understandable in the context of the situation.

"We should expect that the bands will be spreading out from Armags camp." Amvarean observed.

"That is most likely where Amiri is," Especially if she had gone specifically to confront the remnants of the Six Bears for choosing to side with Armag. "Then you believe we should ride into the Glenebon Highlands."

"Relieving any siege of restov while noble does not address the underlying problem. We must confront the Tiger Lords, and establish a boundary that cannot be crossed." They had to make their intentions known.

Eire recognized that. He would still have preferred having nice topographical maps of his surroundings, but that was a modern development that even in Narlands hinterlands he didn't have. It was something to do it was something else to do, but they would march to war with this army without those sorts of maps. Still Amvarean had a point, "We will declare our position, and be in a position to respond quickly," He responded continuing to carry the conversation on in Draconic as they moved passed the ranks of armored men.

There would little to no chance of concealing an army on the march. Even the comparativeness lateness in the year for marching an army of this size would, especially with the wagons laden with supplies would create a visible cloud of dust. Eire expected that even without the complex baggage train, if reports of Armag's host was accurate the same would likely be true, but as a precaution much of his light cavalry once they crossed the border would be dispersed in a manner of cavalry usage of the war between the states. It was to screen and move around the flanks to find and locate the enemy, to harass and aggravate them while the bulk of the armor was brought around to meet them. After that the plan was to provoke the enemy into attacking the center most block of heavy infantry... but that assumed Armag's host consented to give battle which he recognized was not a given in their situation

 

[Imperator Pax]

Lamashan 4714
Thousands of feet marched to the beat the drums keeping the men on foot inline... and while that organization dated to or predated even the medieval period the march base was based on the armies of the civil war. So to were the equipment and packs that the men carried, the ones not outfitted with early style bergen style rucksacks, using bent branches for the frame, even if those were far more limited. They were allocated to specialty troops, and he didn't expect that to change, even if next year, or the year following he might see the royal army's professional troops outfitted with entrenching tools for the times when there were no druids or other magic users to facilitate preparing breastworks.

That would not be this campaign.

They had departed from Olegton in the knowledge that other troops would be moving to join them. The brevic hinterlands in the south rostlandic plain were already beginning to see peasants pushed south fleeing the fighting, or really theplundering ongoing. Troops would move up to garrison Olegton and reinforce the defenses, and those would be the first real truly serious defensive works around the northernmost town of the kingdom.

Something... loathe as Eire was to admit it not readily factored into his planning for the realm. Olegton had been an early project that had fallen to the wayside of his planning, and his aims to build the kingdom. Not that Oleg minded, and as lord mayor was effective it was just the town had been subject to benign neglect being allowed to largely take shape and grow more along rostlandic and brevic lines ... and it was true Tatzlford was also more brevic in character, more akin to Varnhold in that respect or he supposed less so but still similar to the drelev domain on the lake than they were to his imperial cities.

The sheer difference though had surprised him when he'd arrived... and not just for the the reasons of religious institutions that were more prevalent in the southern portions of his dominion. That was something that would have to be addressed , especially if the crisis continued. He was hoping to force a swift resolution, but that assumed, was contingent on the enemy doing what they wanted... and that wasn't , was never a given.

The Rostlandic plain offered no real barriers to an invading army, or even just an army on the march even during the rainy season it was rarely prone to storms that might turn the land awash with mud, and winters except in the north rarely camecold enough to seriously imperil a prepared traveler. That wasn't to say Brevoy didn't have its share of bandits, and outlaws, but those were hardly a concern in the present situation.

"What do you believe is Armag's ambition out here?"

The uplands, the slight rising of theplains made no apparent better option for a base than that of the hinterlands. Brevoy's southern extent was lightly settled, and the lowlands that abutted it were largely empty grasslands. The uplands were a series of rugged hills and dense undergrowth, not all together dissimilar to the Narlmarches. "Ordinarily this would be a defensive hedgerow, but that does not seem to be the case." He paused, "Amvarean, how close are we to the Tiger Lords?"

"They're near enough, their ancestral lands are not too far from us," Which was relative, yes it was true they could march that way but close for dragons was always a question of wing flight. "All of this is land that the Kellids would say with truth that their ancestors walked in Armag's time."

He nodded, acknowledging the statement... and of course that it brought them potentially back to another argument over Stolen Lands, this or that who and by whom. Gorrum's champion had predated the founding of the city of Absalom. "And what is here that draws them?"

"I would suspect the tomb of that Armag," The silver dragoness replied, "And if history records truth then where Orvinbaane his great sword lays resting."Golarion had no shortage of magic swords, and it was no surprise the weapon of choice for the tiger lords, or most Kellids or iobarian warriors of note... and of course that was true of more southern nations. Ancient Azlant, its descendants in Cheliax and Taldan, Sarenrae faithful amongst the padishah empire, and people further still.

The sword was the weapon of heroes after all.

"We will need to cross the East Sellen River if we keep this course," He replied sparing an eye to the army on the march. Not that crossing the river would be a problem, it was just going to be ironic if they made the march alongthe Taldan road only to then swing south to the western border of where Drelev's influence had come up against where the Tiger Lords extended. It didn't matter, if that was what needed to be done, then so be it.

They road on for several more hours. The outriders turned and signaled they had spotted flags, and it was as the sky descended in the western horizon that the first banners stood on the horizons. The familiar masses of tents encamped of Kellids and Iobarian folk spread out. Shaoyu was static at the sight that splayed out before them. It was, she was right, what they had been looking for.

They were close to the Brevic border, but still yet beyond what was formally under Brevoy's crown at least so far as the Rogavarian dynasty that had disappeared more than a decade earlier had laid claim and to and actually administered... but it was close enough and near enough to the old Taldan road that the gathering of barbarians would have had an easy enough time to ride across the border... and likely in years previous for brevic nobles to ride down and disperse gathering, but much smaller, barbarian hordes before they could become much trouble.

... they were too late for that. If this was what it appeared, to be one of the outer tribes of Armags confederation, then no simple collection of barons and their heavy horse supported by peasant levies would have the weight to push them aside and drive them from their camps. On the other hand, as Amvarean was quick to make note of, "They do not appear hostile," And with reason, if Armag was still hosting visiting warriors.

"Then they may permit our passage," Though also likely would the army loose what if any element of surprise that they already had. A part of him regretted not bringing Akiros with them that might have benefitted them here to speak with the tribe here... or not it might it might have meant nothing but it might not have hurt their chances. "Or they may challenge it," He acknowledged, but this camp if he didn't misjudge seemed to be recent... and that was part of why he suspected it was one of the outer members of the barbarian gathering around Armag.

A confrontation or safe passage was possible for any number of reasons.

 

[Imperator Pax]

Lamashan 4714
Kellid society did not have uniform gender norms... the best example of this were Amiri's insular Six Bears tribe that stratified women and men into expected roles even if they didn't rigidly enforce it. That was perhaps the most important fact in comparison to other southern and more sedentary community the rigidity in enforcement was often a privilege of wealthier more sedentary societies with more complex organizational hierarchies to justify such practices.

The Kellid tribes simply had a different view of how to employ the division of labor than more urbandwelling societies, and that was often a by product of what resources they had to use. For Amvarean, and for the surroundings of Lake Silverstep the iobarians who came to pay her homage were of a people used to at least to one deree or another contacts with dragons.

The Kellids of the Lands of the MammothLords were not that different. In the land of the Mammoth lords dragons a known thing. A powerful force to cajole or offer bribes for protection from or protection by. Had Ilthuliak cared to do so she might have pressed down upon the river faring kellid tribes demanding tribute, and like Amvarean her gender would have been irrelevant.

Eire knew that their entourage musthave attracted some attention. Gorrum was a popular deity among Kellids, but hardly to the extent of the exclusion of all others. Though some of the barbarians here were grim faced and on guard most were not hostile... for the moment they were all guests and fair travellers beneath the open sky. The guest right would hold until it was broken, and more importantly their hosts were quick to speak.

Irovetti of Pitax was the one who put the idea, if the idea had really even needed to be put at all, in Armag's head about raiding Restov. There were any number of reasons for Pitax to want the barbarians to sweep north into the rostlandic plain... Pitax probably wasn't even having to pay all that much since such a campaign was likely intended to be self funding from the rights of plunder taken from southern Brevoy.

... and if Armag's host could actually sack Restov, or just force a payment of tribute to lift the siege then that was probably far more in value than Pitax could hope to pay from its treasury to encourage the raid. It was dangerous though...yes Brevoy was divided and the monarchy was weak and how supported it was was always a question, but it was a gamble to roll the device both if Brevoy did rally, or if Armag became too over mighty. Just because 'the Twice born' hadn't demonstrated an inclination to turn on Pitax didn't mean it was somehow impossible.

If Eire was already considering such he had to assume Pitax's petty king had that in mind... and if Irovetti had thought about it... well it was possible he was hoping that Restov took care of the problem... but all of that was less important in the here and now. Amvarean tilted slightly, "I am disappointed by the lack of Brevic response to such actions, I did not think I would say this, and certainly I do not do lightly, but I rather miss the Rogavarians." She remarked in draconic. Eire nodded in acknowledgement, though he could not comment on the missing dynasty of Brevoy, which had all disappeared before his arrival on Golarion, "And these scarred sisters they speak, more Fae I assume, I wish that Eranex had travelled with us."

The comment prompted another nod. TheScarred Sisters disfigured and veiled were with Armag, another partof his entourage... but one that didn't ... well wasn't so strangefor the Kellid tribes... Armag had grown his confederation and seeking the advice of wise women and potent spellcasters wassoemthing that could be understood. "I would have liked thatRestov had made good on their bravado, but we cannot depend on that." And as for those disfigured sisters... "we are here," He stated in draconic with emphasis... and the force assembled had noshortage of cold iron weapons that were faerie bane. Even facingnominally normal human warriors it would have been stupid to not take some precaution against meddling by the first world... and while lacking the truly impressive rivers of his own domain the rivers thatflowed into the tuskwater the grasslands west of the eastern sellen teemed with smaller waterways. He paused and turned to regard the stone giants beneath the lion banner, "They are not alarmed or surprised by our companions."

"Armag must have gathered giants of his own."

That had been rumored for months now, and of course there had been a handful of hill giants at Pitax. Enough of them to siege Restov? Perhaps so given the reaction. There had been skittering talks of Numerian weirdness as well... nothing concrete but all the same the plunder needed to satisfy such a force was not an encouraging development. It didn't matter if Armag was overestimating his own strength, or if he actually had it, "That may well explain his willingness to attempt it." And... the truth was, "We're going to have to expand the army," And probably the navy for that matter, the truth was it had been the establishment of the Royal Navy which had been a priority in this year's legislature. "And consecrate more temples." Specifically in the north of the realm.

Amvarean nodded, "This was known," the Silver replied, "the Hooktongue will require much of our time this coming year."

There was a shuffling from the kellid ranks as men reached out clasp one of their number as he moved forward through them. The figure made his way through, with a small entourage of other men. A priest of Gorum stood near in lockstep, and with a nod the cleric stepped, "Hail, I am Gwart, and I travel with Dugath of the Tiger Lords," The man who had been greeted by the throng of barbarians, who was dressed in a flowing cloak made from the hide of a smilodon of unusually large size.

"Well met," He replied, but what he really wanted to ask was what really brought the two here, and now. Dugath was a man in perhaps late middle age; one in excess of six feet in height. Old enough to be graying at the temples, but more silver fox if such were appropriate... and what he and his coreligionist had come this way with was the matter, the same matter that they had come this way for.

"I know of the Six Bears, and I know Armag trusts the wisdom of his witches who have given him shelter, and the promises they make to help him recover his sword," He shared a look with Amvarean even as Dugath spoke, "But while he places great confidence in their talents, they are not Kellid... not even humans, but women from the first world... and his actions are not of the Way. They wish him to erect a holding and rely on magic as the Taldan people do... as you have done." Dugath was merely stating what he believed... it wasn't an insult though he did seem to disagree with the course of action.

"I have seen no evidence Armag wishes to establish a territorial kingdom." Eire remarked.

The man nodded, "Armag himself has resisted their suggestions but the promise of plunder and controlling the wealth of great stone cities is a tempting one to any man, and their aims are to make him a king. To take and hold cities, and to command laws into being, which have never previously been... for what I presume must be to help them with yet other tasks, for they would have him conquer and wage war against the neighboring lands though for what purpose I cannot say."

 

[Imperator Pax]

Lamashan 4714
There was a pause in the conversation as Dugath took sight of what was around them, paused to allow men to exchange cups of wine, and beer and small plates of bread, and salt, and cheese, and cured meats.

Dugath had no doubt seen his share of armies over his life, but it was clear the cleric of Gorum was not quite certain what to make of the uniform fabric and colors worn by the assembled ranks. Handmade, homespun garments could affect the appearance of uniformity, they could, but there was a starkdifference between what a uniform machine needlework process looked like en masse. The chieftan nodded towards the stone giants before returning his attention back, and beginning to speak again, "Armag should be marching on Restov, or marching here to meet you," Thebarbarian remarked with a frown. Should was the operative word in the statement, "Were Armag in his right senses he would see that, and we might have an alliance or have battle... but we have neither." He finished in not quite halting common but some something of an odd accent.

That left the question of where was Armag, "Where is Armag?"

"We have found the lost tomb of the Armag who was," Dugath responded, stopping and gesturing to Gwart who nodded at the acknowledgment.

The other cleric of Gorrum nodded once in Eire's direction, "It is a great edifice, a mighty temple that our lord in iron commanded raised to bury Armag with Orvinbaane." Gwart's comment was the same, in content, that Dugath had said several minutes earlier, "It is a great sword, a powerful magical weapon and would be a potent symbol of Gorrum's favor to recover it."

Eire did not much associate with Gorum's church. Even in Brevoy the year he had spent there the household churches of the nobility had not been something he had frequented. "You have said," He remarked looking to the both of them, "That he means to take the sword, and the he appears to be interested in establishing a territorial kingdom, "And he knew that that terminology was probably lost on the two... it was a description from social science within anthropology, history, and sociology that had emerged in the 20th​ century on Earth from medievalists, and of course as had been pointed out it was not so much that Armag wanted to but he was being encouraged to do so... but even that raised questions... "I have heard this before."

"Hargulka?" Shaoyu said speaking up. Amvarean didn't interject but glanced to the young red, "This is no accident then."

It wasn't. Hargulka had had no scarred nymphs to aid him in establishing his kingdom but then he had never gotten to such numbers, and he hadn't been resistant to the idea of breaking with tradition either. Hargulka and several of his trolls were enthusiastic of building a complex society around sedentary urban settlements particularly because of what they could trade and make... but he doubted that had been the priority... or the goal.

The conversation paused, diverting to the subject of the last of the four attempted expeditions, the fourth would be barony... that of the expedition mounted by the Iron Wraiths mercenary company, which should have been able to establish itself, and of course in realpolitik Eire recognized would have created a buffer state on the border with Pitax capable of blocking the petty kingdom of Irovetti from making claims without running afoul of its border with the other aldori state. They had never gotten off the ground though.

Dugath nodded, "Perhaps not, when Amiri of the Six Bears arrived it was no secret what you had built, there had been others of her following before who had come to Armag's banner. Armag had questions for their shaman Nilak when they arrived," The statement established that Dugath had either been present, or had been informed that Amiri had at least reached Armag's camp... and that was good news of course, but it had other implications... not the least of which was the reasonable assumption that Armag was expecting them. "You have the ear of the gods, though you are not kellid many would recognize your kingship. More than would recognize either the man who rules in Pitax or the usurper in the north who does nothing to stop the army marching across Rostland." And then of course there was Numeria, and the Black Sovereign who was the last immediate monarch of note, the only of the three between Pitax, Brevoy and Numeria who was a kellid.

Gwart began to speak again, "Armag is unsteady, unsure or at least is unclear to the following what he means to do. There is confusion, as Dugath has stated we should be either allies or honorable foes, but Armag for all the questions he has asked of you has indicated neither course to be his preference. He vacillates on a decision without seeking counsel from chieftans or shamans of the tribes gathered under his banner. It is not right."

Eire didn't have any difficulty guessing that had Armag been leading the march on Restov, or leading the raids into its farmlands... Dugath would have been more inclined to support his erstwhile high chief. It was not that Dugath opposed the incursion, it was that Armag was not leading from the front, wasn't there for the fighting. "You want me to confront Armag."

"Yes. He must be made to see sense." Gwart agreed quickly. "We can show you to the Temple where he has withdrawn to," It could have been a trap, surely that would have been reasonable plan, and yet it didn't feel like it. Gwart and Dugath were fed up with their leadership, that was obvious... and Dugath was unwilling or for some reason of personal honor to challenge Armag for leadership, "He is there with your companion and the other Six Bears, along with the..." with the scarred nymphs who were even now trying to shape what Armag did.

"This will not stop the army that is marching on Restov even now."

Dugath nodded, "It will not. I will make no oaths to stop it. They have not met us in the field, and Armag has given the young bucks leaves to clash and loot and plunder. If they are defeated it is on their own mettle being lacking. Armag must be made to see sense, if you wish to stop them from attacking Brevoy you must prove stronger, or convince Armag to lead the army in another direction."

Numeria. Numeria was the easy choice point him westerly and see how that played out. It was tempting, it was sorely tempting... if things really were that simple. Eire really doubted it really was that easy. Amvarean looked prepared to protest, but the silver dragoness remained silent. "We will go to this tomb of the original Armag, and speak with him," And prepare the army to turn and strike any attempt to envelop Restov in a siege.

Gwart nodded seemingly relieved, "The sisters speak of another sword that they have asked Armag to find on their behalf. They have told us little of it, only that it comes from the first world, and has been lost since the time before memories."

"Another sword?"

"Yes. Armag has promised to seek it out once he is reunited with Orvinbaane, which I assume if he does not have it yet, he will have it soon." So there was another magical sword then besides just the ancient greatsword of Gorum's champion... that was lovely. Dugath seemed uncomfortable with the trade, or leading Armag to his previous life's sword, in exchange for finding another lost artifact sword.

"When Armag was buried the sword and tomb were set behind barriers and traps to test the mettle of anywho would enter, to keep Pharasma's mewling whelps away from Gorum'schampion it is another decision that is not proper. Armag challengesthe tomb with outside held, found the tomb with the help ofoutsiders."

"You have asked me for help."

"It is not the same." Dugathreplied, "I ask you to confront him with words or steel. This is not a trade, and I ask it under the open sky, and with the sun in the heavens surrounding by many warriors to hear my words and know I do not speak false. I do not ask you to help me bypass the challenges decreed by our lord in iron."

 

[Imperator Pax]

Lamashan 4714
Dugath was as good as his word. Knowing where they were going had made navigating the hills and streams easy allowing them to reach the massive sprawling temple edifice. Eire did somewhat as an academic curiosity how quickly the ancient kellids had been able to raise this temple, and by what means... but he supposed that if the story was true and Gorrum had directly commanded the complex built to house the remains of Armag then the ancient kellids had probably had few political resistances.


Of course if duplicity was involved Dugath would certainly prove to be in for an unfortunate and unpleasant, and likely very short reply. The army assembled was formidable, and Amvarean remained with it, which was in furtherance of their position. Not only could the army recall back to the temple of the elk if it needed to Amvarean was an adult silver dragon, and one without her sister's weakness to cold iron.

If of course the intention, to which might simply be paranoia, was to separate them from the army... well that wasn't going to work much better. The army though would have encumbered them in moving across the terrain... would have delayed them, and the truth was keeping Armag from his army and leading from the front would weaken his position as high king if he meant to keep it without some justification... it would give more conservative chieftains in theory more leverage to resist Armag's reforms.

Dugath seemed as good as his word though. There was no sign of treachery, and no magical communications had signaled a problem... and if Amvarean had had to recall the force the flames reaching towards the heavens would have still been noticeable. It also hadn't escaped Eire that Armag's array of clans and forces besides were arranged in a similar base ten formation of manpower... there were broader differences of course, but perhaps the issue at large was that the kellids must have also surely taken note of the detail.

What they could actually do with that information, with that detail, was debatable, but he doubted that it had escaped them. More immediate of a concern was the encampment around the entrance of the great stone complex was the presence of other clan leaders from the Tiger Lords, and of course the hostages from Drelev's domain.

Eire had counted at least a hundred tents there were probably more than that given the size, not all warriors of course, but perhaps upwards of a thousand people gathered here today. Armag's hostages from both drelev and presumably other forays by other lesser chieftains were largely urbane aristocrats, 'city folk' as the kellids referred to them. They were something to note, but hardly his priority. They were also not the only 'foreigners' present, or freely moving about... that was good.

None of the assembled warriors protested Dugath's arrival, or raised the alarm, but Eire recognized that they weren't going to be missed entering the encampment either even with the din of black smiths working the ore taken from the local hills. That might have even been the reason the Tiger Lords had long ago originally settled or laid claim here was to have the ore to extract to feed their blacksmiths and forge weapons. The smiths hadto form a substantive minority of the camp's population from the smoke and noise.

It was not a city. There was none of the complex administration that actually separated the definition of a city from a town... but it was definitely within the boundaries of the definition of the latter. Eire recognized that in that sense it was , or it would have conformed to the likes of the migration age settlements of the steppe. That wasn't necessarily a good thing, he didn't like making comparisons to the huns lightly.

If Armag was intending to establish aterritorial state... this might arguably be the best place toestablish a capital, and the attendant base of power, both from ageographic standpoint, and from the basis of an existing holy site.The goegraphic basis was easy, towns and cities were best establishedwith ready access to water and other natural resources... thelocation met that. It was in a defensible location, and that wascertainly a plus. For a political center of power the tomb, and itsreligious signifiance to both the Tiger Lords, and Gorum's churchwere all major benefits.

... and there was one other matterwhich was at the forefront of the site.

The tomb, the temple and its environs, was an almost ideal site to assemble a large army... and it was consecrated ground. Armag might not have the magical ability to transport an army here, and Dugath might not have realized that but as an assembly point the area had the space for a vast number of warriors. An assembly point that even without magic would have allowed the formation of an army to move in any direction almost... a detail that had likely been just as true in the time of the First Armag, and the Tiger Lords campaigns of conquest in that era.

This was the ancestral land of the Tiger Lords, that much was clear.

"Where is Amiri?"

"With the other Six Bears gathered here." Dugath replied, before repeating his earlier attestation that Armag had had questions about Narland too which Nilak previously had been asked, and that Amiri had been asked about. Those questions were largely innocuous. Not terribly different than the questions that Hargulka and other trolls had asked. How did you build a kingdom. Armag didn't have so much of a focus on literacy.;.. he seemed to prefer the idea of an oral tradition with memorization of the law code that 'readers' could recite... but there was an idea there of a legal code which would give Armag powers and authority more than the usual Kellid war leaders. That was what Dugath was worried about of course, the assumption of such powers by decree. In theory, "He has brought the champions here most likely to support him but has not asked even them to raise their voices in support." What Armag didn't seem to be as interested in were the specifics of some of hte reforms, the hows of production per se... but that was something to consider later.

Eire nodded and looked across to the felt tents gathered by the river and to the herds of animals that were grazing and drinking from the river. This was good pasture land. Choice pasture land, especially since it was likely a simple matter to drive the animals into the uplands to graze them over the winter... Eire doubted that the winters here were particularly harsh. The Branthelnd mountains to the west were probably more so, but here... here he imagined was a fairly mild environment...

As if reading his thoughts or more likely taking in his gaze, "It is good land." He remarked, "Many Tiger Lords have died on it, their blood watered these fields and Armag himself fell in battle against a great tyrant dragon in the time before."

... Eire nodded again, acknowledging the key point. That what had stopped Armag the Conqueror and his campaigns in ancient history had not been Pharasma's church or their supporters. It had been a red dragon unaffiliated with either deity... and he suspected that it was very likely that Dugath had weighedhis decisions based on the legends, and signs and omens and so forth. Dugath in that respect might have have been better informed than most of Eire's own peasantry, or his neighbors... which raised questions of its own, but from the ride here Eire suspected that the Tiger Lords contacts in Numeria extended beyond and north to Mendev. Gwart certainly seemed to know a great deal about the crusader kingdom.

Barbarians were not stupid, and it would have been a mistake to imagine their political systems and society to be simplistic... or that they weren't capable of talking to other people.

 

[Imperator Pax]

Lamashan 4714
If this had been Shrikewall, they would have ... well there would have been significant differences... if this had been his capital the most immediate differences would have been the grid... but that wasn't to say that it was disorganized. The base ten system by which the nomadic warriors organized their society delineated a series of 'neighborhoods' for lack of a better term regarding the clustering of herds, and workshops and felt tents.

The Tiger Lords had not been here long enough to have established agriculture, nor to establish significant protective works, but there was space to do so. It was a town in the sense that it lacked the complex bureaucracy that Shrikewall as an urban center had... religious diversity in religious establishments in stone had nothing to do with that.

Masonry architecture had nothing to do with that. The great edifice to Gorum's champion was a sprawling structure that descended into the earth, and the hillside, and its footprint was significantly larger than the Cathedral of the Inheritor. It had a much larger footprint... and that reflected their differing conceptions of how society interacted with their major religious buildings.

Dugath lead them into the commons of the barbarian camp. Drelev had been driven from his holdings, but the barbarians kept the hostages without consideration for the change. That was probably just as well given the five hostages still had family living there. But the hooktongue barony was also not Shrikewall... Drelev had never completed the ... indeed had murdered or been complicit in the murder of the Erastilian clergy... the large stone church that would have been his seat's religious center.

Shrikewall's cathedral, and lesser religious institutions meant Eire's court predominated with clergyand laity of note. It was in that if not in the organized aspect thatthe kellid faith in Gorum held similarities. Iomedae's was a church of the sword, and martial fraternity. While it was likely some ofDugath's coreligionists might have been dismissive of the book learning undertaken, and the study of logic, and reasoning they hadmore in common with the way of the sword than they did the effete and courtly rights that had been imported from drelev's urbane taldane imitations of his ancestral lands from brevoy in the north.

Somewhere within the massive structurewas Armag, supposedly seeking Ovinrbaane and to commune with Gorum. As a result a number of Tiger lords and other barbarians waited. The Kellids when they had built the structure had obviously built it for humans, the ceilings were largely a uniform twelve feet high... not nearly tall enough for stone giants... and while the oxidized streaks in the stone walls gave it a macabre appearance looking like blood they also held magical resistance to attempting to transmute them. That nature seemed also to discourage the fey sisters advising Armagfrom venturing into the complex.

"Chieftan Dugath." The nymph remarked her eyes narrowed.

"Witch." He grunted back.

The exchange was a simple and terse onethat largely amounted to the acknowledgement by both parties thatArmag had not returned. The nymphs, not being worshippers of Gorum had been reluctant to follow... which obviously suited Dugath just fine. There was however no requirements, and certainly no force barring non gorumites from entry through the great archway around which the commons had been put up.

There could be no doubting the two nymphs had recognized them. Attempts to maintain that masquerade would have been absurd in the clustering of kellid warriors and the introduction The nymphs didn't not respond... at least not the way Dugath had probably hoped. Eire suspected that the aged warrior had weighed that the nymphs might have potentially broken the guest righto attack them giving him honorable opportunity to kill them before they could confront armag within the sanctuary over that very action... but the two fae made no move to bar their collective entry.

"The challenges within are not sodifficult," Dugath remarked, "But they come from a time inthe people's history where magic was more accepted." That much was clear. Gorum's modern church, at least amongst taldans where there was an organized hierarchy of religious leadership and canon disdained necromancy.

When this temple had been built in the wake of the first armags death... the kellids had no objection to interning their honored dead in a broad and sanctified necropolis with the intention of those skeletal champions being set aside for use in an undead army. Likewise as they passed through the hallways were constructs, golems, and beasts and vermin. Eire half suspected given the lack of resistance that they faced either Armag's presence had disabled most of the traps... or possibly more likely was that this was intended as some Kellid test of kingship or chieftain ...worthiness of leadership that was divinely engaged. It also seemed likely that Dugath had been deeper in the sanctum than he might have implied to Gwart even.

Perhaps demonstrated by his familiarity as they made their way into a chamber dominated by two great flowing fountains. A series of sculptures and frescoes that were replete with tiger lord motifs in decoration but hardly the high art one associated with the likes of brutal nomad barbarian mercenaries. Perhaps once upon a time there had been a culture of art... orperhaps in Armag's day the Tiger Lords had been so expansive that the first Armag had had no trouble rounding up artisans from his conquests to impress them into the service of constructing such edifice.

Dressed in a cloak of roc feathers was the timeless form of a bronze skinned man. His exposed skin painted with woad that was a bright blue, and his armor was dragon hide from a black dragon. "Hail Elder Zorek." Dugath greeted.

The gray haired priest grunted, "You bring blooded warriors upon sacred ground Chieftain, Gorum welcomes all into this hall who bear weapons into battle, and do not shy from standing beneath the harsh light of the sun!" He boomed. It was not a familiar greeting, or sermon, but it was also delivered in Hallit... it almost certainly had a close enough iteration in modern Gorumite professions of faith.

Even so Eire had never heard Gorum associated with a clear solar motif. It wasn't impossible of course and in the Tiger Lords of old... in a bygone age it certainly wasn't impossible for such. Clearly much had changed given that necromantic energy he had sensed as they had made their way through the sprawling hallways.

The exchange in Hallit continued between chieftan and cleric, and Zorek turned his eyes away from Dugath after it concluded. "King in the East then you come to ascertain where your neighbor stands, why do you enter this chamber?"

Eire raised an eyebrow, even if somehow the ancient guardian were ignorant of the army marched across the upplands... which Eire doubted, he had even less reason to suspect that Zorek was ignorant of the stone giants whose height had precluded joining them within the temple. "I come to speak to Armag, to state plainly if he means to make war against me he shall have battle." The hallit translation of draconic was hardly great poetry... a bard he was not... but it was still the truth and that was what the old priest was looking for.

"Young Armag has taken up Ovinrbaane. Talking will accomplish nothing." He replied. "To convince a champion of Gorum you must prove that yours is strength is above all." That was no surprise... not really... it was just poorly timed given the magical word of sending that informed him that Jamandi had gathered a small force of outriders and located a barbarian encampment a few days from Restov that was likely intending to strike the free city soon.

The good news was that Zorek had no interest to bar their way, the interior of the sanctum opened into an ornate chamber dominated by a massive black sarcophagus... the solar motif was here light blazed down from a central octagonal focus in the middle of the room that outright made the room hot.

A heat that the large barbarian did not seem to notice as he stood before the black sarcophagus grasping the great sword.

"Eire," Amiri declared, "The sword, its like mine." She stated, "it has a soul in it."

... well, that was interesting. Thewarning was all that she got off before Armag turned and raised themassive weapon in a salute that looked entirely too easy. Dugath hadalready stepped aside, a gesture mirrored by Zorek. Armag unlike the priest it seemed had no interest in words or polite conversation.

 

[Imperator Pax]

Lamashan 4714
Amiri's brief time among the tiger lords had been one part honored guest and equal parts captive as well... it was not even that they had been aware of or preparing for the outbreak of hostilities with her own adopted tribe. She had not expected, or seriously considered an alliance with the Tiger Lords. The previous example of Hargulka's Trobold stood forward, as did Armag's poor choice of allies in Pitax and the actions of the city state hung in the wings of any considerations. Still there might have been the chance that Armag would turn east to Numeria. Peace might have been a possibility. Two powerful tribes might decide to simply pass warily around the other if elders or other proven wise ones could turn enough heads. She had counted on that though so much as that Armag intended to make good on the boasts he had made across the past few summers... and indeed had made grand sweeping claims about what he meant to do with Orvinbaane in his grasp.

Amiri had therefore paid attention to the sword, or the topic of it once brought up... and indeed it came up with great frequency.

The nymphs, the scarred witches from the first world had been almost as equally obsessed with it... and the prospect that in exchange for helping Armag secure the ancient weapon he would help them locate another great sword which had longbeen lost to time. She did not consider it spying. The witches were not secretive about such things, at least they had the decency to speak plainly and openly around the fire of what it was they were searching for.

Armag had received tribute of booty and plunder from the forays into Brevoy to the north. Most goods were ceremonial tokens of honor. Taken weapons, and seizures of casks of beer to venerate Gorum in their success. Amiri had seen how the noble, hereditary houses, lineages of Brevoy had venerated their Lord in Iron and Armag's practice was closer to those the Mammorth Lords...it was a more kellid tradition but he was somewhere between those of her own tribe and those of the brevic nobility.

She wouldn't have drawn those comparisons as readily a few years ago, but the time she had spent observing Armag's proclaimed kingdom had given her much to mull over, and patiently observing wasn't so alien to her. Amiri could be patient amidst the carousing, which was what dominated the majority of the time she had spent with the Tiger Lords. There was no denying Armag was strong. He lacked any of the obvious supernatural signs of power that characterized Jaethal or Eire.

Amiri might not have been a god caller and certainly did not wish to be, but she recognized that Armag clearly enjoyed Gorum's favor, but he was far closer to be a formidable mortal warrior than either Urgathoa's favored, Jaethal, or Eire. Both of whom were more inclined to dour moods, Armag could be naturally convivial and gregarious but he was more mercurial... which of course could simply have been a facet of his age.

Armag had been ecstatic to enter where his body his previous body had been laid to rest. He had no trouble with the tests of strength and endurance, nor of questions of strategic thinking that Amiri admitted would have given her pause. They were all of them far more complicated tests than it was to be a chieftain of the mammoth lords. These were the tests of a king.

The land of the mammoth lords and its followings lacked the traditions of kingship in the ways of old kellids from before. The truth was that such practices had fallen out of favor after Baba Yaga had established her kingdom of Irrisen and the more easterly kellid lands had been conquered by Iobarian or Taldane force who had their own ideas of how to rule, even though the Iobarian people were the more similar of the two. At the time though that the first Armag had lived, the Tiger Lords had been the rulers of a powerful confederation of nomadic, and semi nomadic warriors before Taldan ascendancy, and had been able to ready and able to bring foreign traditions to meet their needs.

Armag's tomb had been constructed and built to impress any who looked upon it. At the very heart of the tomb was the inner sanctum of a temple to Gorum. Amiri knew she would never be like Octavia, or for that matter like Nilak, but she had learned to recognize magical phenomenon that he she had seen previously. Or at least similar ones... Armag's grip on the greatsword had been an example of such.

Ovinrbaane could have easily been, before that a magical sword... just a magical sword.

Armag even before, in the few days previous, they had entered the tomb been vocal in how he disliked that Brevoy's king refused to ride down from the north and face him. It was truth that Armag was not physically in Brevoy, but the Suratova dynast had not stirred armies to come to the South's aid. The raids over the border into the rostlandic plain were with impunity. It was also clear that Armag was increasingly dismissive of Pitax as a partner or ally. The kellid warriors had had no shortage of cold iron weapons so when the portals to irrisen had brought hostile winter fey through at the height of what should have been summer Armag's warriors had showed themselves as fighting men.

Armag after seizing Ovinrbaane had shook, convulsed frothed even at the mouth before righting himself standing firm and proud... and ready to face another king in battle.

Armag for his part had not had to wait long within the sanctum of Gorum, which of course provided food and drink for those who waited there.

Amiri had been expecting Eire, but she also expected a much more formidable party. The interior spaces of the tomb were too short for giants, but she had expected Jaethal, and Amvarean to both join Eire, much as they had gone to battle Ilthuliak in the deep depths of the Hooktongue. It was impossible to miss their absence here. Armag had wasted no time before charging headlong. She'd barely had time to get the warning out.

Ovinrbaane glinted its blade hueing red in wave of baleful magic that crashed against the wall as Eire whirled out of the way. The bellowing roar shook the hall as the Tiger Lords war leader turned again, by that point a long silver blade had formed inhis hand. There was no denying Armag was strong, even if Ovinrbaane was not obnoxiously heavy it was still a long piece of sharpened steel and one that should have been more difficult for a normal man, even one six foot and change to swing that easily.

If Armag was surprised at the supernatural alacrity with which Eire moved he didn't show it, and for Eire's part he recognized Ovinrbaane's slash had likely been intended to suppress magic... which Eire doubted would work but it was the exact thing he would have tried in the face of a potent magus or other arcanist.

Armag had no time for words. Just another bellowed shout that shook the walls... and one that this time brought with it the mountain like forming supernatural presence of a watching god. They had Gorum's attention.

 

[Imperator Pax]

Lamashan 4714
Armag's defiant roar echoed around the sepulcher.

Direct action, the intercession of a god, could take many forms on golarion. Their presence could be made known through any number of ways to which people could become aware. Shrikewall's church of the Inheritor, the nominal national and patron church of the realm had its great success in part because of its immigrants but also because the Cathedral and Royal Churches could demonstrably show they had Iomedae's attention. That as King Eire enjoyed the ear of the goddess, and he had to wonder if Kellid gatherings... if Gorum had made his presence known before this to the assembly of chieftains...

It didn't matter. Gorum probably hadn't made some grand show of giving Armag kingship.

There would have been no reason for the temple full of tests that they had had to make their way through toget down here... and besides Armag hadn't found this place until recently. He'd been assembling his coalition for years if Gorum had confirmed that he was his champion then he still needed to secure his mandate by winning. That was the obvious orthodox position of the faith the Tiger Lords belonged to.

Gorum was more hands on than Nethys, but that wasn't saying much.

The barbarian chief raised the weapon causing to swirl again with chaotic force.

Disrupting magic... it was first time getting a good luck at the weapon.

It was adamantium. Sky metal as it was frequently named. Numeria wasn't that far after all, and Armag had originally been active a thousand years before Absalom's founding and the start of the arodenite calendar. That meant he had lived still three thousand years after the rain of stars ... which itself had occurred a thousand years into the Age of darkness when the Starstone had impacted Golarion.

Armag's weapon was magical, there was no questioning that, but it had been wrought... Eire would have laid treasure that it had been probably made for a giant originally from salvaged material from Numeria's surface and that it had only later come into the first Armag's possession. They too had most likely worshipped Gorum since for its size the markings were those of Gorum. Slayer of all Foes or something to that effect in Hallit or Giantish.

The scrawl was ancient, but the tiger lord motifs were equally undeniable, whether they had been added on Armag's acquisition or if the original giants who had crafted the massive weapon had included the smilodon in that past epoch of history.

Like Amiri had warned him there was asoul buried inside of the blade, a rampaging bestial force snarlingfor the chance to vent its rage. With every swing the soul and the aura around the sword grew a brighter more vibrant red form around the kellid warrior wielding it.

Eire raised a hand. A flight of silver long swords materialized and surged forward slashing at the red aura and biting into the barbarian's skin. The magical blades leaving burns behind where they passed... a sudden familiar recognition. Not of cold iron as a fae of the first world would be vulnerable, but akin to a lycanthrope. Not akin... just not the curse.

The aura bled, shifting from a formless miasma around the barbarian into a shape. A raging dire tiger... a smilodon... a sabre toothed cat of great proportions. Armag's eyes were bloodshot, red feral streaks forming across his cheekbones. The kellid warrior lept wielding the massive adamantine blade through the air with a terrific howl.

Eire moved rather than meet the charge, and Armag crashed into the wall behind him with a great ringing crash as the adamantine weapon reverberated like a gong. Armag's bare feet slammed into the metallic wall, flakes of rust filling the air in a cloud and giving the very air a coppery tinge. The frenzied madness in his expression punctuated by glowing bellicose eyes. The marks on his face having extended to around his bulging biceps, and his forearms.

Armag was merging with whatever was inside of his sword... becoming something more than just a man. There was no sign of rejection, no sign that the lycanthropy was a cursed affiliction, as if the soul inside the sword was reattaching itself like a long separated limb. Armag bellowed and kicked off of the wall, but Eire had already seen one charge.

Tiger faced Dragon.

Orvinbaane flared into a sweeping wave that filled the chamber. A vertical column of divine fire appearing above it and forced the sword into the ground. The flame had no lingering kinetic force so as quickly as the shockwave faded Armagwas already trying to swing it back up and towards him, but at that point more silver long swords had manifested. Orvinbaane's aura tried desperately to corrode them away, but one got through, then three then an increasing number overwhelming the protective shroud biting into the spiritual mass's bestial form and then into the warrior beneath.

Armag as merely a human warlord had been strong. Probably the peak of his age range, a big man, with along history of physical exertion, and hardy living. As an apparently natural dire were tiger blessed by his patron deity they weren't talking human strong man contestant they were talking giant level strength. The fact that there was no curse or disease afflicting him meant that strength couldn't be taken away by magic.

Eire though was no more mortal than, was even less mortal than Gorum's champion. The dire were tiger's fist split his cheek below his eye, and blood erupted into flame. The conflagration did nothing to diminish Eire's own vision, and while Armag's fist bubble under the magical heat, didn't slow in his attacker in trying to raise his sword. Another long sword manifested slamming downward into the middle of the chieftain's foot pinning him to the ground for a moment as Eire slammed a fist into the grinning rictus of the half transformed lycanthrope's face. His other arm looped going to crush the other man into his grasp and moving to sweep him off balance.

They slammed into the floor with enoughforce it would have shattered non magically reinforced stone or other building materials... but in laying down this structure Gorum had clearly expected such a clash to take place. It was built to withstand the battles of such champions. Dust fell form the ceilingas they wrestled, but by turning this into a grapple Eire had eliminated Orvinbaane's threat of extending armag's striking range. Armag could also, or refused to, not release the weapon which lefthim with only arm to effectively strike with, which allowed Eire touse his magic to bolster where he needed... and in this case simply batter Armag against the wall.

A lesser man would have been unconscious if not dead of course. Eire wasn't actually sure that between a barbarian's rage and the lycanthropy he could actually knock Armag unconscious but he was also reluctant to rely on any of the magic he might ordinarily have summoned. The tight confines of sepulcher would have meant his flames would have easily reached any of those not participating in the duel.

Armag bellowed aimed a head-butt that was probably meant for Eire's nose, heedless that a broken nose would have meant more blood which have become fire, if he hadn't ducked his head down to meet him half way.

 

[Imperator Pax]

Lamashan 4714
Armag's transformation pushed him well beyond human limits. Even without losing human form, or becoming more readily bestial the war god's blessing made him tremendously strong. Even flailing around Armag left wide pockmarks in the iron ore laden walls of the tomb, but the Tiger Lord chieftain refused to relinquish his death grip on Orvinbaane. That was his mistake. For all Armag's strength his unwillingness to recognize his weapon was a burden meant that for every cut and scrape he managed to inflict inthe grapple was in turn a burn he received as Eire's blood ignited into fire in the air. That was magic, and whatever protection against damage Armag enjoyed it was less effective a protection than it would have been against a man with a sword.

Dugath and his fellow priest of Gorum waited in the wings. Neither cleric would interfere even if Gorum had not been present observing the contest between leaders. Dugath might still have preferred the contest take place beneath the open sky, before all the warriors settled in the hundreds of felt tents around the tomb...

If Armag were defeated here then hisburgeoning absolute power could be checked. Dugath knew there wouldbe those who stayed, but some tribes would depart if Armag's aura of seeming invincibility were shattered. Dugath doubted, from what heunderstood of what Amiri's description of the Eastern King's realm that many kellids would readily accept the territorial monarch astheir war leader unless of course he was suggesting a campaign of hisown.

If that were the case then it was different, but the eastern king had already brought the sniveling Drelev to heel in a swift campaign in the longest days of the year. That prowess was to be respected by all those who practiced arms, but given sedentary rulers it seemed unlikely another campaign would be forthcoming... and that was what Armag had promised to his massing followers. Thus many would depart in hopes of earning booty as free swords in the west or would strike out to attempt to raid north or south on their own.

Most of the eager young warriors would depart. Those, including Dugath himself, who remained would have greater freedom to speak in the circles of equals. To decide their own course of action, but Dugath was not naïve. There were some among the elders, chieftans, and shamans who foolishly believed that Armag would lose any support he enjoyed if beaten. Dugath deemed this unlikely, he had seen far more tyrannical war leaders hold on to power... and he was not without support.

There were warriors who believed their station would be improved by adopting lessons learned from the southern lands, and their people. If Armag survived, as this contest seemed vigorous but not likely to be lethal to either context and underneath Gorum's gaze, then he would still have a following. That was an outcome Dugath could live with.

For Amiri the battering bodies and grapple was perhaps the best resolution of this, besides that she too might have preferred that such a dispute be in the public eye. Shaoyu would have agreed that would have likely been best... it was Gwart who reluctantly disagreed, if only as he put it, "It would in a crowd be too easy for persons to involve themselves." Under Gorum's watch that would be chancy but it would only take the attempt to risk the eruption of riot, or of open fighting, and thus a full onwar between the gathered parties.

That would be the ultimate method of arbitration. Narland had mustered its army in preparation for a full on war, and if needed their numbers could withdraw from the field. Shaoyu was silent that they could also return here if they so desired. Just as the young dragoness silently considered that if they were given battle it was very likely that they could hold the temple long enough to bring reinforcements from Shrikewall and the other great churches to the inheritor pouring martial clerics of the Inheritor, the Avenger, and still other deities to hold this far distant holy site.

Armag's focus in so far as his thrashing could be said to have focus was in trying to break free from what would have been a bone crushing grip. Eire refused to allow that, but recognized that Armag had a better chance of succeeding than his previous strategy... and it would risk the conflict becoming that much more bloody.

The difference was that Eire had the ability to fly. Even partially transformed the divinely ordained champion of Gorum did not have the ability to fly, and so there was a potential option there... unless of course being a dire were tiger insured that Armag always landed on his feet. Eire doubted that, but it was also the sort of thing he wouldn't readily put past Gorum's blessing... or that Armag had had the foresight to actually be in possession of a magical item conveying feather fall. Even among Armag's bellowing, and the bone rattling impacts as they crashed and dashed into walls and the ornate floor of the sanctuary he was cognizant that the world he dwelled in, and had these past years would offer magical protection... though he was also aware that Armag had also taken no protection, no precautions against fire.

It was that oversight that was perhaps most which was causing the barbarian chieftn to flag, and to considertrying to break free of the envelopment. Armag knew he that he was encumbered by his great sword, and that if he was to have any hope of victory he would either have to release it and focus fully on the context of strength, or he would have to break free and turn this into a conflict of blades. Even then, even with Orvinbaane free to be used Armag might have taken too many burns and was too winded for that to decisively carry against Eire.

It did not stop him from trying to do so. Armag had never willingly surrendered, or accepted defeat. Not in this life, and not previous. The Tiger Lord fought on his muscles bulging Gorum's blessing starting to manifest into the hybrid form finally. The transformation and the growth made the grapple untenable, and forced his hand. Eire took to the sky in a burst of speed the whipped the air as he flew up over the black sarcophagus and into the streaming sunlight that entered the ancient chamber.

They hurtled into the sky until Eire could see the bend in the river and the small fires of the camp and then he flipped and hurtled down into the grazing pastureland away from the majority of the kellid tents. There was still the risk of casualties and uninvolved parties, but no longer in the tomb Eire had no qualms calling forward a corona of solar flame to envelop his body as he plunged back down to the ground.
--
Notes: formatting Correction pending, we will wrap up Lamashan 4714 finally in the next update.

 

[Imperator Pax]

Lamashan 4714 Conclusion
Even though it was now late in the year, and though rains had not yet turned to snow but it was around the corner, and would have dissuaded most feudal armies from marching as the peasants were needed to make repairs, and winter proof their homes and slaughter and smoke excess herds to make it through the cold dark months of the year.

It wasn't quite the same for the Kellids not bound to small estates. They were much more mobile, and not tied to the land or civilities of a campaigning season.

The assembled tribes had no shortage of warriors, and clerics who had seen battle. Most all, indeed closeto everyone in the population had seen battle at least from afar, andcertainly seen its aftermath that prepared them for some of thenoise, for the strangeness of signs in the sky above them... but for most they had never see the conflict on this scale.

Orvinbaane knew its owner. The great sword returning from where it had sunk into the river, and that had allowed Armag a fighting chance since Orvinbaane allowed him to deflect at least some of the columns of heavenly fire that the multiple flame strikes reigned down as Eire mounted the assault no longer having to consider potential collateral. That Armag was a furious rampaging hybrid well was not necessarily to the Tiger Lord's advantage either.

It would only occur later, that Gorum had allowed them to depart the surroundings they had begun the battlein. Perhaps because he was taking Armag with him as he flew, and thus was not abandoning the fight, or perhaps the god had had no intention of limited the fight to the confines of the sacred space.

Armag was free of the grapple, but no longer had, or demonstrated none of his ability to think as he rampaged... and Eire merely raised a hand floating above the bank where the river bent. Fire burned from his finger tips. It was no trouble at all to unleash the spell. More columns of divine fire rained, Orvinbaane raised to parry and cut through the onslaught...but it cost him nothing to maintain the barrage even as it buffeted the chieftan hither and dither.

The Kellid War leader swung for thefences, furious and desperate to land a blow and draw blood. The great sword offered some protection so long as Armag's instincts were one with the artifact then he could cut through spells. Even with superhuman reflexes the Tiger Lord simply couldn't react fast enough to the spell fire, and he couldn't close with an opponent who could fly rather than was dependent on running and jumping.

Eire had no qualms pressing that advantage in mobility as he blurred into the open air, Armag could have cut through still higher level spells. Eire had access to other magiks, but Flame Strike was so second nature, so intrinsically associated with Clerics and the Monarchy of Narhold it flew from his hands or tore through the air from silver longswords conjured around him as if by instinct.

The corona of flame burned through the overcast sky of the waning afternoon. Bits of steam forming as sunshine penetrated rainclouds that would have been an afternoon shower. It was amidst a sudden muggy embrace that Shaoyu and Amiriwere able to land among the slowly advancing, careful strides, of the stone giants moving towards the river bank. The wizened priest ofGorum who had met them within the sanctuary of the tomb followed flying under his own power. Dugath, and the remainder no doubt having to make their way by foot back to the entrance.

Armag struggled on. Defiant, but fatigue and exhaustion took their toll.

Orvinvbaane absorbed the blows it could. Long swords struck, raining from the heavens until the dire were tiger more strongly resembled a porcupine. A storm of swords that showed no sign of ceasing and Armag's supernatural regeneration began to falter, leaving an opening as his speed slipped away. Eire struck, descending as a flaming meteor again that tore into the earth as he descended kicking Armag meters away from his great sword and leaving the concussed barbarian chieftain unconscious and pinned under a mass of broken river stone and uplifted earth.

That was it, Eire stood alone on the river bank bloodied, scraped, bruised, but almost whole. Certainly far more intact than his opponent. The stone giant elder strode forward, the druid glancing to the flying cleric of Gorum and nodded, "Your chieftain will live."

"Yes." He replied in giantish, "This is so. Gorum is fulfilled by this conclusion." The priest declared as more people from the mass of felt tents began to congregate around the devasted bend in the river. Some of Armag's closest companions moved to help the unstirring war leader back to his own tent.

There was no hostilities apparent. Even without intercession between clerics, or elders the broader population at large had no interest in disputing the outcome of a conflict between divine champions or their own disputes. No one was prepred to confront Eire or his companions over the fight... which left really little to do. While no doubt Restov might have liked if he would have ordered his small army to lay waste to the camp, Eire was not here to fight Restov's war for it... though that was likely to still involve itself.

More pressingly what he wanted for a kellid acknowledgement of his realm, even if not necessarily the territory that would have constituted the last of the four planned, sponsored, baronies in the northern river kingdoms. That would however have to wait, Armag was unconscious, and while had the opportunity to dictate terms a more binding option would present itself if he held talks later and with a council of the various leadership. Armag and Dugath would need to be present... and, "We need to rejoin Amvarean," He told Shaoyu, "any discussions with the Tiger Lords, or determinations of where we stand can wait until we can concentrate the whole force." It wasn't impossible that the Kellids had draconic speakers, but it was a quick statement to outline what he meant to do... which was not to overstay their welcome.

The Gorumite Holy Site was here and thus he could exercise it as an assembly point for the army, but for now he would need to rejoin his half of the force with that Amvarean had split off to ride north east across the Rostlandic plain.
--
Notes: We proceed to the wrap up of the year, with the Battle of Restov clearing the field, and then the conclusion in late Kuthona of Narland's festivities of state.

 

[Imperator Pax]

Kuthona 4714
It had taken several days of marchafter relocating the army from Armag's tomb, and the sprawled Kellid settlement that had grown around it after rediscovery to make their way into the outskirts around Restov. That had entailed marching from Olegton, and the reminder of its comparative lacking of ecclesiastical facilities, but at least it had easy access to the South Rostlandic road. Eire understood that he was rolling the dice. That it was possible that Armag might choose to muster his supporters and leverage for an attack... but he doubted it. He was banking that the show of power between the two would keep the Tiger Lords from committing to an offensive against Narland while he swung north east to join Amvarean and lift the siege of Restov so that they could retire for the winter... and if come spring ... well Spring would be a new year.


Eire had no objection of waiting until the spring thaw. If Brevoy did nothing over the winter months, made no effort to be prepared for hostilities then he would wash his hands of the affair, and focus on his own northern frontier, for now though they maneuvered through the later afternoon twilight. "The restov camp?" He questioned.

"Not far my king," The horseman acknowledged, his common taldane accented heavily. Amvarean's iobarian retainers had fanned out screening the flanks and motions of the host. "The Aldori are skulking in the woods." His intended meaning was probably less negative than the translation, at least from his body language.

The Aldori position was at least well chosen. Jamandi had chosen a rise overlooking the plain, the trees obscured observation of her position, but her lookouts could spy from the westerly approach and see that and the south... though even withthe low light vision of elven parentage Eire doubted that spyglasses were especially useful at the distances the plain extended to so latein the year, and at the present hour. The Aldori had however had the good sense to establish their observation post without streaming brevic banners from low heights of the hill, and thus there was little chance of their position being detected by happenstance.

If the Kellids were smart they too would have deployed outriders, and scouts ahead of the main line of advance, but the Tiger Lords had had only limited cavalry. Not that the Aldori seemed to have committed much in the way of mounted troops either. Restov which lay silhouetted by the free city's walls sat there. The rain of the last weeks of the month previous had come and as peasants had sought shelter behind those walls been churned to muck... but only on limited approach to the city's gates, of which there were several on this side alone. Neither Restov's town militia or the approaching tiger lords formed a significant bulk of their numbers with troops ahorse.

As it was, counting the assembled Nomen centaur contingent Eire placed his hoofed ranked at upwards of sixty percent of his available strength. One in ten of his ranks were clerics of the Inheritor or paladins or clerics from churches supported by the crown. Of the leg infantry assembled that forty percent the majority of those were in heavy armor. That was important to his strategy, as he had invested the abandoned Fort Serenko, with the bulk of the clergy spending time converted the old border fort into a place of the faith. He had drawn his stone giants to bring up heavy river stones and build breast works.

Serenko would never be in the same style of his Imperial Core's churches, the great timbers raised to support the roof, and the expansion of the palisade were more Iobarian in character, and less masonry driven... but it was holy ground all the same. A scratch force had been left behind to hold the site, but their orders had been to signal to Shrikewall if seriously faced with a challenge from the Tiger Lord bands operating in the Rostlandic plain.

With an abundance of outlying farms, hamlets, thorpes, and the larger settlements that filled the plain the barbarians had made no attempts ... in fact that was little evidence of their use of the South Rostland Road, and no attempt seemed to have been made to strike Nivakta's crossing on the Shrike River. That was a small mercy of course.

Eire directed the horse force to move into its shielding wing. By preference he would have liked to havehad the Shrike in front of him. Restov had been built north of the Shrike originally and it had grown over the centuries even as Taldor declined to encompass the South Rostland road that had been laid north of the river's rapid course through the land. Eire would not have been surprised if any pickets or partisans reporting to the aldori misidentified his massing horsemen with their emphasis on fast ponies and bows from the steppe as likely tiger lord confederates. Thus far none of his rank had been attacked, and thus they had been able to advance in good order, and without delay.

"This will not do," Amvarean remarked as they moved north and then west, and then north again navigating the approach of the hill. The dragoness was right of course, the Aldori were swordsmen, and fine ones certainly. Their retainers were largely more of the same, with some light spearmen, and handfuls of household guard with axes. The Aldori spanned the races common to Brevoy, orc, human, elf, and dwarf such was Sirian's legacy of adoption.

Jamandi must have gathered at least some volunteers for her expedition from other segments of the city.There were clerics of Pharasma and the Church of Erastil present. Then there were some slim pickings of bravos and craftsmen who had armed themselves, but Abadar didn't seem especially well represented. It was true that the half elf would likely put up a daring and spirited defense, and had a thin materiel advantage, the boon of operating closer to her lines of supply but that meant far less than those advantages might convey in other times.

The result of any battle here on the plain was likely a bloodletting. Even a victory at the tactical level might be a strategic defeat if it only drew more barbarian attention to Restov. "It will not," He agreed in draconic at their horses continued to make their way up the slope. Jamandi had posted thin lines of pickets, but even gathered together a decisive result was unlikely to be achieved from their numbers. Eire had no flying cavalry, no griffin knights or spell casters mounted upon rocs or still other impressive demonstrations to make. "If Jamandi is lucky she can prevent a break through of Restov," Even if she were defeated out of sight from Restov's walls then the other Aldori might still ferment a defense until a large enough barbarian host could levy an assault, but if her force was overrun and a retreat attempted to withdraw into the city, the Tiger Lords might well be able to push through and seize a gate in the chaos.

"The Tiger Lords brought hill giants with them." Amvarean observed, "The gates may not be enough, they may not need to weight."

Already the thin curtain of brevic men were eyeing his close retainers with concern. Nervous at the stone giants, and their massive primeval elk mounts. He caught the skaldic loan word of Jotun, from a few men as the congregated in a mass that while it reassured them would have have made them easy prey in a fight. As it was the hill giants might ordinarily have bowled holes in the lines of restov's defenders by hurling stones from their slings to devastating effects... that was one of the things that Eire had become... accustomed to in the world he lived in. "We will keep our own close," He stated, and did not continue with what he had been about to say regarding their strategy as burnished steel breastplates, and bright red stood out among the fur lined cloaks of the Aldori standing at the copse of trees near the summit. "Direct the army to prepare to array for battle." He ordered the dragoness, if the kellids, and aldori had not begun skirmishing they would do so soon. Eire dismounted from the horse handing the reins to a more junior cleric in his ranks who had dismounted quickly as Amvarean turned to move back the way they came. "You are not behind Restov's walls, Jamandi, that is imprudent given the equality of numbers my scouts have observed."

The half elf Aldori blustered some, and indeed her rhetoric made sense for an Aldori, a member of Milani's church to stand and fight, even if it made little tactical sense...there was honor involved certainly but the barbarians on an open field would have been a mess, "Without reinforcements it would be a near thing," She conceded, "But you're here."

He was... and apparently so to was Natala Surtova, but without a royal guard, or force of troops to reinforce the free city. "So I am, I directed you thrice to rally troops, this is a pittance," He reproved, ignoring the bristling of young bravos, who were decades Jamandi's junior "And will not serve you well, you will form on my eastern flank, I will bring my nomen foederati around to my western wing," He had never intended to have the Nomen on the side of the army nearest the Free City's walls, Amvarean's Iobarian horse lords... the human ones would have the dragoness minding them... but there was still the chance they could still be mistaken. "We will force the Tiger Lords to battle, and we will there after retire for the winter."

If Jamandi had been prepared to protest his dictates as her younger 'cousins' among the Aldori were preparing to do, that was itself curtailed as a gnomish cleric of Pharasma began to rapidly whisper to the half elf... no doubt relaying her observations of the composite of his retinue... and the banners which streamed from his gathered ranks.

As for the Surtova observer, it was irrelevant, he was here to secure his northern frontier from raiding parties, and any monstrous confederates the kellid warriors might have gathered to their own ranks.
--
Notes: This became a two parter, and I will fix the formatting shortly.

 

[Imperator Pax]

Kuthona 4714
Surrounded and deep in the formation the heavy infantry were all in black uniforms under a deep gray sky the approaching midday sun occluded by clouds. An easy solution, Eire had not needed to emphasize camouflage, for which a gray or green would have worked nearly as easily when it came to industrial dye making. The provisions which he had allocated and supported for the march were enough, they were a natural outgrowth of Shrikewall's cloth industry. He longed to return home to Narland, and to his milltowns even now.

Nylon was beyond him of course. Cotton had to be imported from Osirion, but that was surprisingly easy, especially as it could be then re exported as a finished cloth or even as garments back to the Inner Sea for a profit. The water powered spinning machines were under royal control and organizations and it allowed him to manage a trade. For the army it meant the ability to produce uniforms, and for the crown at large providing clothes to royal employees and subjects in the service of the crown.

The retinue spread itself ahead of the largely denuded landscape. Centuries of Taldane farmers around Restov had driven their oxen in long rows across the shared communal farms. The fertile plain with its ready access to water had allowed the commons to support the city that had expanded even as Taldan Imperial power receded from the region. What that meant was that in the intervening centuries and without a strong imperial order to exercise control, most of the farmsteads had sprawled outward, there was little order to the landscape as the population had expanded tocarve out new farms and toss up homes.

It made all together sense why despite being a free city Restov was a sight of Erastil's worship and less so Abadar... and why Pharasma was important to the locals. Also, that Brevoy's relative lack of quariable stone precluded abundant masonry architecture given those limited sources had to be shipped over the country side which had few roads, and even fewer good ones.

It was a gray late morning, of poor light, and windy. The horse mounted archers which comprised the bulk of his mounted forces were mounted upon light steppe ponies. If it began to rain, Eire expected that he would need to keep his heavier horse in reserve, but largely break an offensive he didn't see the barbarians... no, the kellids coming from the west able to successfully make.

Amvarean had vouched for the Iobarians for the White Scars tribe, and for those more southern whirling dervishes whose people were coreligionists of Tristian. Not that he'd necessarily needed the silver dragon to do so. His greater concern was the discipline of the formation to actually do what he needed to do particularly if he couldn't commit heavier horses to the field without overly serious concerns of the ground washing down. He intended to keep his heavy infantry in the core of his formation. Amvarean's gathered horsemen however wore the same uniform trousers and jackets and breast plates even if their banners remained those of clan and kin. If one were watching from the protective curtain walls of the free city while a mass of black their banners were those of iobarians and their horses swift small mounts.

In contrast to their ranks were the heavier horse. Lancers, and men with swords, and maces atop much heavier mounts. Their banners were those of Ragathiel, Iomedae, and supplemented by others including a small gathering of knights of the godclaw here to stand in defense of the faith. An offer Eire had accepted even if he didn't really see how this could be construed as a holy war, or that Iomedae's church was under threat from Gorumite worshipping Kellids gathered under the tiger lords.

Further bolstering the ranks of the heavy horse were the stone giants atop their great primordial elks. They were fewer still in number than his heavily armed priests, but their size and their raised totems made the heavier formation of cavalry much resemble to the untrained observer a mix of the nomadic, and barbarian folk mixed in with a gathering of civilized southern arms. The great volume of horseflesh though, and its preponderance in composition of his ranks made his core look smaller than it was. It gave the impression his iobarian numbers were larger than they were, even though yes, his troops mounted were the majority of his force.

"It is a sizable nomadic force," Less than a tomen of course, but the chieftain who had moved to reave through Restov's country side in anticipation of the wealth of the fall harvest had probably plowed some force that size at the beginning into the rostlandic plain, and most of that number was now threatening to place the free city under siege. "They're congregating may push them further still," Amvarean declared. If they waited a few more days, and battle wasn't joined the Tiger Lords might exceed seven thousand men. "The scouts say some thousand men joined them today," That was expected to be an accurate number for the banners observed two separate gatherings of five hundred men split into a left and right flank moving eastward towards them.

That would complicate the situation if those troops which were still in the enemy's rear were brought up into close ranks with the vanguard of the enemy. He did not want the enemy to be able to commit its reserves, but he also did not want them to be able to mount an effective retreat, "Do you believe Restov capable, or even willing to run them down if we allow them to flee?"

"No, I do not." Amvarean replied.

"We will attack, if they escape us we will not pursue. I will not have the army strung out over miles this far north," He ordered. "Sound the horn, and signal the wing to move to within arrow's flight." His infantry had the advantage of brass pipes, and drums to arrange commands. You could not readily organize cavalry like that, not with brass drawing and forming for instruments like the trumpet currently beyond their means. The command to direct the horse archers issued with a sharp note, and then a long call... perhaps too much like a moose, but unsurprising given the birch wood for which the horns had been made.

It took minutes for the joined ranks to begin to move. The ground was as he had noted was churned by the laden wagons that had retreated to the city's wall. Other horns called preparing the other wing of the army to assemble itself in preparation for the call that it would drive on. The clusters of horse were based into groups of ten, the same with the nomadic infantry they were opposing. They didn't march. The kellids were already in a loose formation and been covering the landscape around them in long lines of advance... it provided them some incidental protection against archery but that was a coincidence.

It also wasn't especially great protection as the light horses rode across their flank in a sweep crossing and then bringing their rain across. Part of his eastern flank would push within, as close as, thirty or forty yards as they moved between the Tiger Lords and the distant city wall. Those horsemen would continue to ride north, where upon eventually the White Scar tribesmen would round perhaps a mile beyond the enemy to reassemble. The tactical effort was to either distract the enemy or if the enemy became enveloped, that was to say subject to being rained divine fire upon by his heavy infantry to then harass their rear ranks with another number.

It was that which he had been concerned to ask Amvarean if the horse lords could manage, the coordination from that. He intended to make use of such things as the parthian shot, of course. It was too useful a tactic to ignore, but he also suspected that the steppe nomads strategy would be well known. It went by a different sobriquet here on golarion but the loosing of arrows as one rode away from the enemy's numbers was known to Avistan's eastern lands prone to facing the steppe people on their ponies.

The rain looked as if it would hold off, but he couldn't be sure of that. If it did break that way he would make one decision, and if it didn't he'd make for another. If the Kellids charged the Aldori on one flank, they would have to come across his center mass... if they pushed for the center he would bring them into close order... and his priests would push down the hill reigning flame strikes while his druzhina like heavy cavalry would run them down, driving the tiger lords with the lance.

That would prove likely decisive.

"We will see what they do now."He remarked adjusting his grip on the reins of his horse, as he surveyed the moving body of horseflesh as they pitilessly released their arrows into the front and middle ranks of the enemy. This harassment of their numbers could take potentially hours, or the enemy could fall back or advance swiftly and make the whole battle a matter of hours. They had to wait to see what the kellid chiefs would choose to do... but from the calls, and wild hooting of the enemy ranks, the first mass of tiger lords was going to advance and chase after the lighter wing of the cavalry that was moving across the farmland... and if they did that then they would separate out, the van coming too far forward to b e supported by their middle ranks, never mind the most recently reported arrivals at the enemy's rear. "But I am reminded, that a great chancellor and statesman once remarked that the great questions of the day are answered by iron andblood." Eire turned his quicksilver eyes around the ranks of gathered black cassock clad priests. "We must be decisive here gentlemen, secure a victory and return home. A lengthy campaign is not to be desired,"

The front rank of his heavy infantry was to be supported by unengaged clerics providing healing, and support by magical means... and if it came to it the army could be recalled back to what had been Fort Serenko or further afield back in the Imperial Core. The kellids by comparison if they broke here would have a long march back westward.

 

[Imperator Pax]

21 Kuthona 4714
The shrike's fast flow kept the river traversible. The tuskwater dotted with ships below the capital's promontory as bell tolled. Today was the festival of Wintersun. Unique to the National Church of the Inheritor of the Kingdom of Narland. From the towers, and steeples of martial buildings, and the churches banners streamed against the gray sky of winter, and the hard sunlight of a relatively chill day. Eire could not take the time to attend the winter festival and throngs of men and women in the streets. The snowfall in abeyance.

The Church of Aroden had had a patriarch, and a center of the faith at west crown, who had stood foremost among its ranks. That was not one of the traditions inherited by the faith upon Aroden's death by Iomedae's church. There was no single unified church of the Inheritor but rather many individual national, and regional clerical institutions of signiifcant power, and influence and today was a reminder of that. Cheliax, Andoran, Absalom, the great crusader states, and the border regions in between them all had local church leadership. Eire sipped the mead, and looked over the map, if there was any aspect of the sword goddess the nascent Church of Iomedae of the Kingdom of Narland that stood foremost it was her role as goddess of civilization.



Civilization in the sense of urban dominated, rule of written law, complex economic structure civilization... not the more generic a collection of people with a distinct culture. The rule of law was important, more importantly legal transparency and confidence in the system were important because they would support reciprocity. Urban in that Eire was not dependent on feudal gentry and their estates in a military sense. "The recent unpleasantness will require us to make certain developments within the countryside." Specifically the first... well railway was technically accurate but not in the sense of being self propelled. They'd use external horse driven power and the actual steam engines would be in the mines, but the rails themselves were intended to bring goods en masse to the river ways and down into the Kamelands and the capital region. "We will construct fortified blockhouses," Storehouses and fall back points on the edge of plains and steppes.

The difference from what he had shown to Maegar was that this railway network was more in line with actual carriage beyond just the area of extraction. This would go to towns. The Kameland urban area of planning was intended to cover ten and twenty square mile areas of preplanned urban settlement to support long term national development by stockpiling ores for smelting...they were the sort of thing unlikely to be targeted for the theft in the way cattle might be.

They still were dependent on cotton imported from Osirion to produce finished clothe, and from the surveys that wasn't likely to change but urban planning in the kamelands suggested that mulberry, and tea trees could both be cultivated alongside apiary produced honey... he had ideas for commodities but it would take time to set up, so they needed a well developed internal transportation network, and something that could transport goods overland from waterways, and to the rivers. Such a scenario of planning was feasible in the Kamelands but not so much for the Dunsward... they'd need more capital investment...

The problem was that 'recent unpleasantness'.

The papers ruffled. Paper documents were another emphasis for which Narland did not share with Brevoy, nor Mendev.

Today's gathering was being done with only part of the body of the council. Part of those w others who would otherwise attend or sit in. "The barbarians wouldn't know what to make of this sort of thing anyway... but," Valerie looked around. Kassil Aldori was absent, he had returned from Restov and he could sit in on the meeting once as Valerie hinted, Armag, and the other barbarian chiefs arrived... but it was complicated. Thankfully Maegar wouldn't be here until tomorrow, and Aecora Silverfire would be arriving from the east as well. Tomorrow's meeting would include the Numesti household, and Arsinoe from the Church of Aroden, and a growing list of others...

... but that expanded list represented part of the problem.

"Do we have some idea as to the population?"

Jubilost had wanted to dismiss a grand confederation claim of three hundred thousand... what would have been roughly equivalent to the Germanic migration invasion of the quote unquote 'dark ages' of earth... the problem was that Armag Twice Born had through various means invited a variety of different clans, and tribes, and ethnic groups both Avistani Kellid groups, and Iobarian nomadic horse lords to at least hear him out.
Three hundred thousand was high, but it wasn't outlandishly so for a great steppe confederation in the historical sense... not when it was drawing from Numeria, the land of the mammoth lords, as well as the eastern steppes... and possible the north from the world wound sarkorsis tribes as well... the same tribes whom Eire was in the process of attempting to relocate south, to ameliorate the great humanitarian crisis of a hundred year long crusade against a portal to the abyss in the material plane.


Eire wasn't particularly worried about carrying capacity. England at the time of Caesar until the Norman conquest had comfortably been able to sustain a population of a million and a half, it was only by the time of the norman conquest, and in particular the increased centralization that those conquests had brought that that population had begun to grow again. Brevoy was agriculturally productive for how primitive its early medieval farming institutions were, but that was nothing compared to the productivity that the Kamelands Royal farms and the broad grass pasture land could support with proper management. He simply needed to create the structures to establish stability, to be able to promise stability from people migrating from the perceived declining stability of the inner sea realms.

He had no interest in getting into a border dispute with Mivon, he certainly didn't want to accidentally instigate one by trying to encamp a large barbarian population in the southern kamelands and rely that they'd recognize that the importance of not crossing the Little Sellen River, which formed the greographic boundary in the south east... a border which he wasn't quite respecting in the far east either. The truth was Mivon's real eastern boundary of influence was the town of Jovvox.

He couldn't settle any perspective barbarians in the slough... and truthfully with the conflict with the marsh giants resolved he was hoping to convince the river giants to pledge fealty and with the boggard and bog strider insect folk open the slough up to potential polders for rice cultivation.

"The uplands," Valeriesuggested, reiterating again the point they had discussed. "With lawful overlordship over three of the four charters, the realm has made facto claim to the glenebon highlands all the way to the west. It is unpeopled, and reaches all the way to Numeria." The former paladin of Shelyn remarked matter of factly. The only downside to that was that the Tiger lords had launched across that frontier to raid the lebeda lands to the north which had started the avalanche of the brief war... but it was also in close enough proximity to the Tomb of Armag, which was a great holy site of the Gorumite faith now that it had been found.

Admittedly unlikely some faiths merely holding the site wasn't likely to be a massive pilgrimage site... in the traditional financial sense of holding such... but it would likely be an impressive claim to fame and power regardless of the general Gorumite tenets of living in the now. There was still an appeal to ancient victories, it was nature. There was no gorumite pontifex maximus though, never likely would be the gorumite church was not going to intercede regardless how popular it was among Brevic noble houses to stop the barbarians. It wasn't what the church was in its tennants.

The end of the year was around the corner, and what Eire expected in the new one was that once spring came again that there would be a renewed flurry of activity. Now would be the time to plan for that. It was for that reason he needed the council gathered. It was why he had assured Maegar that he would expand the road to Varnhold. His idea was roman in nature, but interchangeable with the Taldane road construction of the empire that had likewise declined into its dotage.

More than that though, were the numbers of reports. Jubilost had wanted to dismiss the number of the confederation and most would likely remain beyond his borders, but Eire had the more pressing issue of a kingdom that even without migration from Mendev's slums was already more than a million settled in his imperial core. The spring of the coming year was going to be a great work to reinforce his kameland expanse and the sprawls of farms and settlements around the great lakes of the kingdom... which would mean including the Hooktongue and House Numesti in the coming year. "Yes with overlordship secured we can lay claim to the Glenebon... though I would not be so hasty in calling it unpeopled, Valerie." He replied, and turned to look at Amvarean, who had warned him already that if the confederation broke some where likely to move west into Numeria, and others would likely seek money and food from Pitax to his south. "I want to fortify the Silstrand River, and western reaches of the Hooktongue," And that labor would likely come from the monstrous races of the bog, of all alignments really. There was hope that with Ilthuliak slain, and her tributaries no longer obstructing the East Sellen that trade might reopen along the northern reaches of the East Sellen River, but that would depend on if Brevoy's useless sovereign raised his chain.

That was deemed unlikely... and given the penchant for usurious tolls and fees on river traffic that passed through points controlled by Issian lords it might not even be worth it. The numesti overlords of the domain might be better off buying and selling goods south down the great river than trying to trade with Brevoy.

 

[Imperator Pax]

Spring 4715
The city around them was already awash with visitors even inspite of the sheets of rain coming down, which was itself a reminder. Jaethal as Royal Counselor was not without its share of controversy. Part of it simply came from the controversy of being an elf it made things awkward her history with the Kingdom of Kyonin down the river... but many were not wholly comfortable with Urgathoa's hand selected chosen...regardless of how silent a goddess she was.

Eire frankly found it less troubling for that reason. Urgathoa was no more talkative than frankly Gorum or Nethys. Churches of whom were far more represented within the conclave of religious institutions which comprised the kingdom and who enjoyed much greater popular support. For Jaethal it was a little more startling that the gods actually listened when Narland's king spoke. The Kellid shamans, and clerics of Gorum had acknowledged the contest of kings as having held the lord in iron's attention... which was of course useful in that it likely would make her job easier in terms of peacemaking... even if she did not look forward to the discussions to come.

For Valerie as Chancellor... she found herself in an equally unenviable position of being separated from a church that was quick to see, to curry favor with the kingdom and its people. The success of the late fall campaign only redoubled that. Shelyn's clergy had little interest in losing ground, in terms of pursuing royal favor to Gorum given the prevalence of the latter both among the Kellids as well as being one of the more common faiths among the Brevic aristocracy.

"They needn't be so concerned,"Jaethal remarked with a bored condescension to the observation of the clergy's concern, "Shelyn's churches are more likely to find themselves appealing to those who arrive from the Inner Sea." The kingdom was predominantly urban, with noble feudatory ranks few and far between. The western Hooktongue domain, and Varnhold had far clearer brevic roots, and traditions, but were dwarfed by the influx of migrants who had settled and without Chelish authorities to dissuade or outright discriminate against the church and its artists were likely to attract the urban crowds in throngs.

Clock towers tolled in the morning even through winter and had made it feasible for construction to be organized, and that meant roads were laid to create houses in rows made from bricks. Those homes in turn made it feasible to raise theaters to attract townsfolk to the performing arts, and galleries to show compositions, carefully erected gardens and public spaces for beer, and bards in the open air. It was not something that the Crown directly organized at that point, Valerie knew that the row houses, and the clock towers some purpose and created neat orderly districts of the townsfolk without requiring walling sections off... which given the pace of growth would have quickly sprawled beyond such borders ... but the crown had left the organization of art, and theater and music to the newly settled populations.

All of that work was less interesting to the Kellids. Or to Gorum's church who had little need for theking's printing presses which produced en masse the liturgy and tracts for the church. Eire had spoken also in support of formal institutions of learning, but Jaethal suspected regardless of what opportunities Eire might have viewed as possible with the influx of refugees and such, but Jaethal half suspected that the majority of them being humans had caused him to potentially overlook the differences of those who weren't.

As as part of the Kingdom's Council Jaethal, and Valerie both were privy to announcement aimed at a formal education system, a compulsory education system. For half elves, and humans that would have been one thing, even for dwarves and orcs it might be feasible but it was clear it had been developed with humans in mind... and even then called for mandatory education within the realm's urban domains.

What was worse for Jaethal was that it struck her as one of those good idea's that dragons all immediately latched on to because of course the dragons had agreed with the proposal. The cyclopean lich had also concurred, separately, as the printing press prepared new text books for use even if it wasn't an explicitly magical curriculum it still suggested the ability to support the burgeoning literate population. That a majority of publications, including the church liturgy were in draconic was likely to insure most of the educated townsfolk would have passing familiarity with the language was already likely to be complemented by the familiarity of the language among sorcerers; who were the most prevalent of arcanists far outstripping wizards except in the townships around Candlemere where the ratios were closer.

It was the sort of detail that Jaethal kept track of. What she had been less prepared to contend with was the volume of numbers. A detail that while had been discussed had exceeded all reasonable expectations... and Eire had made clear that he intended to encourage Mendev that it was in their interest to evacuate the slums that had grown up around the crusader strongholds in the face of the Fifth Crusade's explosion of violence. The eruption of the 5th​ Mendevian Crusade had been a focus on the Church of Narland up until the incursion of the eastern wing of Armag's horde into southern Brevoy that had culminated in the siege of Restov. As it was even now, Jaethal was privy to the internal discourse and letters sent by the church abroad as well as their part of the mobilization for the war which had stretched into the expedition of late fall that taken the army assembled from the highlands into the Rostlandic plain, and the environs around the Free City of Restov.
What had previously been the focus of domestic policy, and foreign policy, were now forced to contend with other matters... Jaethal recognized that the burgeoning urban population wanted, whether or not the Chancellor was keen on it, the church of Sheylns... it was not much different from how the Church of Pharasma's presence had been desired in the Varnhold to the west...and Jaethal recognized that Eire was quite likely to nudge the Osirion congregation to manage the Pharsmin churches within the hooktongue.

With the spring rains and the thaw approaching its zenith she expected that monarchy of Narland would announce the next round of objectives, and that, "He means to meet with the barbarians as well." The blonde remarked interrupting Jaethal's ordering of her own thoughts. "We will likely face issues from Restov."

That was true, and most probably in oraround the approaching spring equinox. That Armag wasn't deadreminded her of the resolution of the situation with Hargulka, but it also wasn't identical. Hargulka had had a great many trolls, and more now, as well as gathered other supporters but he had not had as long to bring themunder his banner. If Hargulka had been allowed the time to build uphis ranks it was likely he would have branched out to recruiting barbarian tribesmen or trying to contest overlord ship of theboggards or other swamp dwelling giants... but Hargulka had not hadthe time to do htat... and Armag had had existing kellid tribes tocall upon to gather up into his horde. "Let the bravos grumble,"Jaethal murmured in a dark low tone, the truth was the young Aldorifor in contrast to her the half elf sword lord was young "Jamandiwould have done well to heed her elders caution."

"I didn't believe you supported his majesty's intent to break bread with Armag and the Tiger Lord Chieftans?"
"I support his decision," Jaethal replied, "I simply expect there to be misunderstandings, and that Amvarean's eastern horse lords may yet cause us further confusion."

Valerie found that she didn't disagree. The Iobarians had been a presence on their southern, and southeastern grasslands as the monarchy had established the estates for royal horses, and there had been talk before the Varnhold crisis when the undead Cyclops had stirred but Amvarean's presence along the shores of the lake had changed things. Ilthuliak's demise had also kept the peace with the Iobarians... and if Valerie were honest had likely been the defining event which had kept the shamans, for whom Vordakai was tolerant at least of, from endorsing Armag's claim ofruler ship over the tribes of the eastern horse lords. Instead with Ilthuliak dead, and with Eire cemented in power with Amvarean on his eastern most great lake the Iobarian horse lords were much inclined to pay homage the King of Narland.


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Notes: Power went back on yesterday(Sunday) so we will be resuming the pre storm regular update schedule hopefully through the month