Winter Gardens of Justice Keep - January 15, 795 TR
Jerreck listened to the woman finish her tale.
"And you are..?"
"Ah, of course." She chuckled. "I'm Kiara, simply someone
who wishes to help our great nation."
When she didn't say anything further, Jerreck nodded.
"Of course."
He looked at Rolshin who sat in deep thought.
"Kiara may have a point with the infiltration plans and
the mysterious tent, but we will still need an army to
protect the farmers from the raging barbarians. I never
thought i would ask this of you, king Rolshin, but the
land i have known for home the last couple of months has
been invaded. Will you give me a group of soldiers to
lead against the barbarian horde?"
Rolshin suddenly looked up at the troubled warrior in
front of him.
"I do admit i don't always understand your motives,
scarred one, but i am not one to check for flaws in the
mouth of a given horse. I hoped you would ask."
He thought for a few moments. "What kind of unit are you
thinking of?"
"A mixed one i guess, but i would call them mounted
infantry. And i will want to train them personally for at
least a month. If possible i would like to handpick them
from your ranks of soldiers. I want to make warrior adepts
out of them."
Jerreck paused at this, as if expecting some sort of
reaction. Rolshin didn't quite understand though, and
tilted his head quizzically. Even Kiara looked slightly
perplexed.
"Adepts?"
Jerreck nodded. "Adepts. I doubt i can take more than
thirty apprentices though. At the most. Not everyone has it
in them either. We will see how many i can find in your
ranks, if you will let me do this."
Rolshin looked even more perplexed. "Thirty soldiers?
That's just a platoon, Jerreck! I can put a thousand men
under your sway and you want thirty??"
Jerreck stayed calm, "I can not train more than thirty in
just a month, and i don't believe we should waste more time
than that unless we want the horde banging on the door to
Justice Keep itself. Also, i need to handpick them.
Handpicking a thousand would be interesting, but regrettably
take a little too long."
Rolshin sighed. "If you say so. But surely we could fill
out your ranks with more ordinary men-at-arms?"
Jerreck thought for a second.
"Maybe. First i need to find these thirty though. It's not
going to be an quick or easy task."
Rolshin nodded. "You are free to set up a recruiting office
then. Take what resources you need, and report back to me as
you begin making progress. This project interests me a great
deal, i must admit."
The king turned to Kiara.
"I will make sure you have your equipment back as well as
your pigeon. Whatever disinformation we could send the
barbarians' way will surely aid our cause, even if they know
it may be false."
He added smiling, "Perhaps you two should work together on
this. Jerreck, Kiara here has proven her worth and is to be
trusted as a good ally. Kiara, Jerreck is one of the Saviors
of Loebar, which you know from what i told you earlier. He
has also served this land in many other ways, even though he
yet does not see himself as a citizen."
Jerreck grumbled, and Rolshin chuckled. Kiara pondered her
options.
After a momentary silence, Kiara spoke.
"Hmmm, perhaps these barbarians can be diverted until a proper plan can be put into affect. I could take a part of the army -- I wouldn't presume to lead them, just travel as a sort of consultant to the present leader -- south of the barbarians last known location. A few scouts ought to help determine there actual location more accurately. I can send a message via the homing pigeon announcing that the assassination was unsuccessful -- I don't think they would believe it otherwise -- but that the army is marching towards some arbitrary location nearby. It might tempt the barbarians to try and ambush when, in actuality, we could ambush them. Then, if they don't take the bait, we could bring the forces behind them and use some guerilla tactics. Enlisting the help of some locals who the area particularly well could be beneficial. While I was with them, I got a pretty good idea of how they set up their camps. We could launch hit-and-run attacks with archers and cavalry, start fires, rockslides, maybe even poison some food. It's just as easy to die from a thousand little bee stings as it is a dagger blow to the belly."
She had the manner, not of a general dictating a plan, but more of an observer deeply interested in a problem.
that should be "...locals who know the area..."
Rolshin had retired for the evening. Kiara and Jerreck sat in a
smaller meeting room on the most guarded floors of the castle. Warm
herb tea had been brought in, as the two intended to stay up until
their plan had been detailed into perfection.
Jerreck strode back and forth in the lavishly furnitured chamber.
"I do like the guerilla warfare approach. This is something along
the lines that i had thought my small unit would operate. We would
strike when they are the most vulnerable, harrassing them until
their losses are so great that they either have to halt their
invasion, or take their chances with whatever army Dantimos may
have laying in wait for them. They may be uncivilized, but i doubt
they are stupid."
Kiara nodded.
"This would buy us time, which is good. But it won't create any
miracles on its own. We'll need a real army to face this threat. If
our bee-sting tactics work, perhaps a smaller army of a thousand men
would do, if Rolshin won't give us more."
Jerreck swept the rest of his tea in a swift motion. He stood
still for a moment, before he put his cup back onto the silver
tray and continued pacing.
"I will have my unit ready within a month. If Ravyson and Reeven
are still alive, they should be back by then with their companies.
Rolshin will have to give them reinforcements and then we can set
up a more precise plan. Until then, i will have to concentrate on
putting my unit together."
Kiara sipped her tea, leaning back in her chair. "Sounds good. I
reckon i should travel with your group then, since i know the
enemy from within. It'll be easier for us to stab them where it
hurts if i'm with your unit."
"Alright. But i won't have my men poisoning any barbarians. It would
ruin that which i will be trying to teach them. Mudslides are alright
though." He grinned.
She smiled, "That's alright with me, as long as you know you're
doing it the hard way."
Jerreck chuckled and purposefully misunderstood her. "Sometimes the
hard way is better than the soft way."
They both laughed at that and withdrew for the night. The next day
would be a busy one. On the way to his chambers, Jerreck pondered
more than just the task ahead of him.
There's something about her... who is she?
OOC:
It would probably be helpful to establish, OOC, rough approximations of the present sizes of both the barbarian and Dantimosian armed forces and a general idea of their composition as in their "types" of forces -- infantry, cavalry. Nothing really specific, just a general idea like Kiara would probably have about the barbarians from being with them for a while.
I suppose we'll have to ask Ravyson for this information as it pertains to the barbarians.
OOC:
Very true... Ravyson, could you provide us with some rough numbers and disposition data?
/Jerreck
Well, lets see...
It definately isn't a small army. It consists mainly of footsoldiers, armed with axes or swords. Their armor is of the leather variety. Although they aren't as well-trained or as well-armed as the Dantimos army, they have more in numbers.
The Dantimos army is also mainly footsoldiers, although they do have the support of calvary and archers, moreso than the barbarians do.
As for numbers, the army of Dantimos has around 100,000 soldiers. That's a very rough estimation and may be completely wrong. They are also very spread out. Another 50,000 could be made available through recruits, and if the entire population was called to arms, there would be a lot more.
The barbarians have around 300,000 soldiers. They also were unaffected by the BMW, which makes them less fatigued, but less experienced.
On the technological scale, the barbarian army would be around that of the Germanic tribes that invaded the Roman Empire. The Dantimos army would be more advanced, but not the level of the High Middle Ages. More like the armies of the Early Middle Ages.
These figures can be tweaked as much as you want. I don't know what the average army in the ancient world was sized, so if you find these amounts to be illogical, feel free to change them.
I think it's really the proportion that matters more than the actual numbers. Thanks a million for the info.