Imperial Captial
25th of Midyear, 4E 205
“Oh but the gods did give me other gifts, the gift of sword singing, the thrill of battle, Frandar Hunding's Book of Circles, THE WAY OF THE SWORD.”
Ciralen had remained seated in a rather large waiting room, one greatly decorated and polished. Imperial sensibilities in architecture might not have been on par with his peoples, but it certainly held a rather defined kind of taste to it. Ciralen counted the minutes as he waited, noting sourly that the dirt of the road still clung to his tunic and pants; a rather un-dignifying way to meet with an Emperor.
After two turns of the hourglass however, a man followed by two imperial guardsmen, entered the chamber to inform him the emperor would now see him. He nodded and rose, though frowned as the man informed him he would have to remove his blade. However, he recovered quickly enough and reluctantly surrendered the sword. Did they really think him mad enough to strike out at the Emperor? He supposed after the assassination of the last, they felt like taking more precautions of late.
"Thank you, the Emperor will see you know."
The Emperor had come down from the chambers above in his regal clothing, with his sword still at his side. The doors opened and the two guardsmen escourted the redguard into the Elder Council Chambers beyond. Large imperial banners hung down from the pillars, and at each pillar stood a member of the Blades, named in homage to the old order that defended the Septims and now hunted dragons in cold of Skyrim.
Given that the room was currently mostly empty, save for the Emperor, his guards and two Councillors who were scribbling away at a draft for a legislative proposition in hushed whispers, it could easily be gathered that the council was not in session, which was probably for the best given how much noise an Elder Council meeting can make.
The Emperor rose from his throne as he heard the door creak open, and quickly looked the Redguard up and down, noting his dirt-ridden clothes and crossed the room to meet him. The Two councillors looked up from the paper they were scrutinizing to glance at the newcomer before looking back down and returning to their whispered debate.
"Well met, Redguard" The Emperor said as he walked around the master stone table to reach him “I trust you are here to negotiate?"
Ciralen gave a tight bow. "And well met to you Emperor Gaius Triarius the First, it is an honor to meet with you in person." He then smiled as he added, "And you may call me Ciralen, current Knight Captain of the Order of the Lotus. I have arrived to act as any envoy to Vanquisher Temijen, as you have already guessed. I come to formally cement our deals made during the Summit in black marsh."
"As you may already know, a mutual defense pact was put forward to be established between the Empire and Hammerfell. As well as trading rights and military access within reason in the event one side is declared war upon. The details of the agreement must still be formalized however, and I fear that such a pact might be tested quicker then we'd like, if reports of altmer ships sailing across Hammerfell waters is to be believed. "
"The Dominion? I trust the good king Aelid actually took word of the peace with the Empire, and the alliance between Hammerfell and the Empire, home. His word means nothing then." The Emperor said, folding his arms "Well Knight Captain, it would seem best that we hurry along the negotiations for this, then. We don't want to be standing around a table while the Thalmor steals people’s homes."
“I could not agree more, with that in mind I shall get to the point quickly then. As agreed upon, the Empire will have trade rights, along with access to Hammerfell controlled ports for resupply, which to that effect will include the ports of Haven and Woodhearth that the Bosmer had ceded to us. Temijen has also decided to offer the empire the southern coastline of Strid River. Redguard honor demands that the land your warriors have fought for be given to those who spilled blood for it, even if it is a small piece. I am sure you have long since learned of the agreement between Vanquisher Temijen and the Bosmer Keeper.”
“Temijen hopes this gift will be a show of his continued commitment to peace between this new Empire and his people. “ He paused for only a moment before adding. “I would personally suggest as well, considering the recent moves thus far of the Dominion. That they no doubt seek to break the treaty of Stros M’kai, which will only reveal to the rest of Tamreil what we all know to be true already, that the mer have no intention of keeping peace, and are as trustworthy as a two faced fork tongued serpent. We might do well to consider in preparing for the worse, while praying to the gods that the mer are merely flexing their muscles in a vain attempt to frighten us. Still, Hammerfell must know, should the Altmer come against use, will the Empire stand with us?”
"That aside, we thank you for such, and we have indeed learnt of the Agreement. A master stroke, I must admit, the Thalmor must have hated that. It may have undermined my own peace treaty with the Aldmeri Dominion, but Temijen is not a psychic, he had no way of knowing I had made such a treaty at the time. The Imperial navy is inferior to the Altmer navy so I cannot help you at sea or on surrounding islands, but if the Thalmor try to land forces on Mainland Hammerfell, the legions will help to push them back into the sea."
"But as for the sea and any surrounding islands, I cannot commit the navy to help. I have to do what I can to ensure a continued peace between the Aldmeri dominion and the Empire, High Rock trades with them and a war would thus be bad for the Bretons."
"A war would be bad for us all Emperor, but to allow the high elves free reign of the Abecean Seas could be disastrous. We will simply have to trust the Empire will know when the time is right for force projection in the western seas. However, there is one request Hammerfell will ask of the empire. It is understood that the Empire captured several vessels of altmer make in their reconquest of Valenwood. We would ask for just 10 of these ships, to be escorted to Rihad at the Empries leisure. We have some of the finest ships in Tamreil, but even they pale to altmer war vessels, if we can study these ships, we can find weaknesses and perhaps improve our own craft."
"Indeed, I believe so. We did indeed capture a few dozen of the Elven Craft, I'd be glad to give you some. We should try to end the Aldmeri's Dominance of the sea's... without that, they'll be the Dominion of nothing." The Emperor said, before pausing and speaking a few moments later "I shall have them escorted as soon as we are done here, it will be wise for us to uncover the secrets of Altmer vessels, and indeed I was already planning such."
Ciralen smiled glad they were of the same mind. "Excellent, I am glad we are of the same accord, and should the Empire wish it, we will be open to sharing our findings. My people are master ship builders and seafarers, and the Empire has a found understanding of enchantments. There is much we can learn from one another I am certain."
The Emperor nodded "I agree, let us combine our strengths to uncover the secrets of the Altmer vessels. Whatever they are made from, I am certain that we can replicate it, and then the Aldmeri Dominion will finally be irrelevant and everyone can sleep easier at night."
"Very well then, it seems it is all arranged then, should the empire ever have need of the blades of Hammerfell, know that we will aid you. We only hope that when a time of need ever comes upon Hammerfell, we can count on the support of the legions."
"You will have the legions, my friend, may any future discussions be as useful" The Emperor said, nodding as he turned around to leave the room "Tribune, send word to Anvil at once, have them take 10 of the Altmer vessels to Rihad, bring the rest to the Imperial City, and inform the University that I want their enchanters scouring them" The Tribune nodded and half marched out of the room, while one of the guards approached to escort the Redguard out of the Council Chambers, offering him his weapon back now that the Emperor had left.
Eight Leagues West of Verkath City
4th of Sun’s Height, 4E 205
The column of men was almost like a slow moving tidal wave of bodies, not unlike a hoard of ants swarming over the corpse of a long dead dog. The wind swept pass was just large enough to permit the rather large force to travel in a fairly wide sea of Ra-gada. Armor glistened in the high sun, the click and clank of armor or sheathed weapons skipping about at ones waist echoed up from the pass along the thousand and one other sounds a marching column of men produces while on the move. Outriders came back and forth now and again as the passage was continually scouted, despite being so far within friendly territory the Lance Defenders, the allied formation of Hammerfells many knight orders, were taking no chances. Local guides had even been enlisted to guide sentry parties through the rocky terrain the main body could not travel.
Astrid his destrier Ortho'Velve Azzast, Supreme Knight General and otherwise known as Anointed Blade of Vanquisher Temijen’s Lance Defenders in Hammerfell, watched the columns of men march in ordered fashion. Azzast was among the few who could fully appreciate the sight before his eyes, primarily having to do with his esteemed position. Atop his steed, a light grey charger, watching from an elevated patch of land and rock, he was offered a grand view of the moving force. It was a heartening sight for a variety of reasons, first and foremost was the simple fact that he was seeing a marching army at all, for just ten years ago Hammerfell possessed no standing army let alone a centralized government of any sort to put forth a proper armed force. Knight Orders had previously filled the gap, used as a defense force or sometimes even to police the roads and cities, perhaps clear out a bandit lair or two. They had never been able to fully cooperate however, thus the full might of Hammerfells resources had never once been brought to bear.
Vanquisher Temijen had changed all that however, building from almost nothing the foundations of a stable and formidable, if yet not fully tested, force; its primary purpose buried within its name. Azzast could also not help but a feel a glimmer of pride as well, for he had been the man entrusted with leading these brave men and women. Gilded in an exquisite piece of heavy plated mail forged from dwarven metal, and armed with his favored and beloved blade, an orichalc weapon fashioned by one of Hammerfells most masterful swordsmiths; Singer Atakwon G’ye Matani was a true master of his craft of that there was no doubt.
The sound of hooves slowly increasing in volume behind him forewarned him of his approaching messenger. He turned ever so slightly in his saddle enough to look back across his shoulder. A man in long robes of a sandy brown shade astride a mare of marble white neared, galloping then stopping short several feet away from Azzast.
“Hail, M'ejer. Of what news do you bring?”
M'ejer took a moment to catch his breath while he removed the face cloth of his headdress from around his mouth. “Well met Anointed blade, I fear I bring some interesting if troubling news, reports have it large scores of orcs moving north… towards Orsinium.”
“What? Are they certain?” Azzast tone becoming a mix of surprise and worry, such implications did not bode well.
“They followed them for a day now, and they have not turned from the path, more so from what they have overheard, it seems their destination is assuredly Orsinium.”
“Well then, that is…troubling news…” Azzast mushed, though perhaps not so unsurprising. The tension between the orcs and redguards of the Dragontail Mountains was as old as the first days of the Yokudan’s coming to this new continent. The timing could not be more inconvenient all the same. “Send a messenger back to Sentinel; we will continue marching to Elinhir but settle in the region until further orders.”
The scout nodded, saluted in the old ra-gada fashion of, making a fist before ponding it to his chest to then extending his arm to Azzast before turning his aside horse and galloping back down the path to deliver his generals orders. Azzast spat in the dirt before turning back to regard the marching column. He had been tasked with assembling an army as he marched from Totambu, their rally point, through Skaven, then Dragontail to eventually amass in Taneth then Rihad. Now it seemed that was no longer going to happen if the orcs were seeking to steer up trouble. If nothing else a full-day rest would also be the best time to redistribute the daily rations, change the marching passwords, and perhaps to snatch a little time for drills.
Events were fast moving, all the same and it seemed only one thing was certain in the days to follow; War was coming, and many were going to die.
-Hammerfell and Empire have officially establish previous dealings
-A two large force from Hammerfell have begun assembling, one North the other in the South near Sentinel
