Lord Vermiculus ponders this idea carefully. If it's true, not only will he have another ally, but the borders will be secure. If it's not true, then he could be leading lambs to slaughter. "There is only one course of action. Reply back to the Queen, tell her that we do not meddle in other countries affairs unless absolutely necessary. I cannot in good conscience send troops to aid her, if I don't believe that those troops will be handled properly. If, however she needs to flee her country, I shall allow her and her advisors, as well as a small contingent of troops, to enter my lands under my personal protection. Otherwise I will do nothing." Messengers sent the let to the Queen, hopefully they won't get killed.

@Catchphrase

However, his worst fears came to bear, your messenger did not deliver the message because he had spotted a large Wolastran army waiting in ambush, most likely to ambush the army you would send in to help them with the "rebels".

Your messenger arrives back with these news. Your military advisors see this as a chance to ambush the enemy army in turn as they have not received your message.

@Mardox

The two Vaalgradi armies begin their arduous march towards the Nastrondi territories, however morale quickly starts dropping in both armies as raids to their supply lines make food and other supplies diminish in numbers quickly.

Their morale is not spared during nighttime either as mad cackles and hysterical laughs are heard during the keeping the soldiers awake. Most dismiss these sounds as just wolves howling or madmen wandering around and try to sleep, however quick raids in their camps keep them awake... and even more importantly, tired.

During the day as they march on, they find Vaalgradi camps filled with the dead soldiers that died during the raids in positions suggesting that they would have fun... and what's worse a large and disturbing smile was carved into the faces of the dead victims.

After so many labors to go through, the Nastrondi armies finally meet them in combat, the Vaalgradi armies are husks of what they were when they first entered Nastrond.

In the Southern army the engagement is short-lived, as order during most of the Vaalgradi armies collapses after the first minutes of the engagement, leaving only Lord Highmall's bodyguard and the 2.000 Great Knights(Vaalgrad special units) to fight the army.

Most of them quickly fall, despite a valiant resistance and Lord Highmall is wounded and captured by the Nastrondi armies. The retreating shambles of the army are quickly hunted down and killed it captured.

As for the Western Army, the situation goes a bit differently, a lot of the regular troops collapse and retreat, again leaving the prince's bodyguard and the Great Knights to fight the Nastrondi army.

However, this time, a massive mound of stone, easily 5 meters tall joined the battle on the side of the Vaalgradi soldiers, covering the retreat of the other soldiers and allowing the prince to retreat along with the shambles of the army to a safe territory. After the retreat was covered, the stone golem just collapsed and turned to a stone pile yet again.

Even so, two armies have been defeated, one having been annihilated and the other completely broken apart. To add to the wounds, Lord Highmall was captured.

Western Front Result: Nastrond Victory

Casualties:

Vaalgard: 15.000 spearmen(10.000 routed), 15.000 swordsmen(8.000 routed), 10.000 cavalry(4.000 routed), 10.000 archers(8.000 routed), 2.000 Great Knights.

Nastrond: 1.000 spearmen, 800 swordsmen, 500 cavalry, 200 archers, 5 Devil Guardians.

Southern Front Result: Nastrond Decisive Victory

Casualties:

Vaalgrad: 20.000 spearmen, 20.000 swordsmen, 10.000 cavalry, 8.000 archers, 2.000 Great Knights.

Nastrond: 800 spearmen, 600 swordsmen, 400 cavalry, 150 archers, 80 Mountain Men, 1 Devil Guardian.

News arrive that Prince Roderick is removed from the head of the shambles of the Western army and replaced with a general not because of bad generaling, but because of the danger of losing him to the Nastrondi armies.

Your armies celebrate their victories and ask to march towards the enemy territory and show them what's it like to mess with Nastrond. The mountain men that helped during the battle say that they will not help in a invasion since they do not wish to fo too far from their home and say that they'll only help in case Nastrond itself is invaded.

Lord Highmall and his surviving bodyguard are brought before you to decide what to do with them. Lord Highmall, despite having been wounded and captured does not look to Nieldun as a defeated person, but as an equal.

@Lauder

The reinforcements arrive and surround the cities beggining the siege in earnest and awaits for the enemy to surrender. A surrender does not come, and instead the Caliph sends a message to Anqallyt asking what the terms of his surrender are.

(Make your demands! Though be careful not to overstep your boundaries.)

To the Caliph of the Daraski,

The demands are that you will cede both Mtol Dærine and Avat to the Anqallyt Empire; failure to do so will have dire consequences of having both cities taken by force. Those will be our only demands, this will teach you what greed will get you. There is another alternative; become the vassal of the Anqallyt and change your ways. By becoming a vassal, you will remain independent but must come to the aid of the Anqallyt in the event of a war, grant full military access, and pay taxes to the Empire.

The King of the Anqallyt,
Felreich Helier

@Lauder

To Felreich Heinrich

I'm afraid your demands are too great, good sir, our terms would be to concede Mtol Daerine and the territory between you and Sha'an Tzien and to show you that we do not wish war, I will send you my eldest son and heir as a hostage to assure you that we will not war against you anymore.

The Caliph of Mtol Darask.

Nieldun looks at the reports and chuckles. "'Collect the enemy corpses for later use.' Has to be the strangest order I've given."
A guard enters the room and asks "Sir, what are we to do with Highmall?"
Nieldun replied "Treat him honorably and tend to his wounds, same with any other prisoner we've taken."
The guard bows and leaves "As you wish."
Nieldun then turns to his advisor in charge of relations with the Mountain folk. "Thank our allies for their assistance and send them home with rewards."
He then goes to his war room to plan his next move...

Lord Vermiculus hears the news about the army waiting in ambush, and breathes a sigh of relief. He was right to be cautious. He agreed with his advisors, an ambush against this army would be a great blow to Wolastran. "Make the necessary arrangements. Send and army to match their numbers, plus 4000 of our Dragon Riders. Make sure they move carefully and quietly, I don't want them to let the enemy know they're there until the last possible moment. I also want our secret weapon to be there in reserve." His advisors nodded, and the army was on the move, taking care to make sure they don't startle their prey.

@Mardox

The plans are set in motion and the army marches south and starts the siege of Gisting. The city has a garrison of 15.000 city guards. Lord Braveshine, who is in charge of the Southern Army informs that an assault on Gisting would take the city, but would yield large casualties on the side of Nastrond and ask what should be their next move.

Meanwhile, the general on the Western Front is wise enough not to face the Nastrondi army in battle and retreats to Eljun, leaving the fortress Dolgathasar to fend for itself. Lord Dragonstar, in charge of the Western Armies asks if he should attempt to besiege the fortress itself.

At Gisting and Dolgathasar, both armies are ordered to wait out the enemy and ask for their surrender. Until siege weapons are ready, no direct assault will be attempted and the Vaalgardians are to be starved into submission.

@Catchphrase

And so the ambushers become the ambushed as the Sequini army, along with their secret weapon smash into Wolastran army and quickly slaughter the army placed there, no survivors are left to tell the tale of the battle. Lord Vigilum was at the head of the army and now asks if he should march further into Wolastra, or leave without a trace.

Battle Result: Tar Sequinus Decisive victory.

Casualties: 20.000 spearmen, 30.000 swordsmen, 15.000 cavalry, 10.000 archers(Wolastra).

Tar Sequinus: 500 spearmen, 200 swordsmen, 100 cavalry, 50 archers.

Castor ordered a council of his most trusted advisors. Each holding much experience in several fields and often excelled in one or two. Almost all advisors agreed upon that Sylvannyr had no obligation to help out either nation. The advisor of trade, joined by Admiral Caledon, explained that there was on benefit from blockading the port. Furthermore, the economic impact would be troublesome to say the least. Castor took heed of this advice, and decided not to engage with the fleet.

@Mardox

Both generals understand their orders and start the sieges. Gisting asks the terms of surrender within a few days to avoid another slaughter like The Slaughter as the battle with Lord Highmall came to be known. And since Lord Highmall was the Lord of Gisting, they surrender as they lack a strong leadership.

However, the siege of Dolgathasar goes differently as the 20.000 troops in it never surrender despite the dwindling supplies such as clean water and food. The forces inside the fortress launch daily raids towards the besiegers aiming to destroy the supplies, not inflicting casualties. However, realizing that a relief force will never come, Lord Marthall agrees to surrender the fortress as long as Nieldun promises that his men and people are spared. If he does that, Lord Marthall agrees to surrender the fortress and himself, if not, he and his men will resist to the bitter end.

@Legion02

Vaalgard, however took this as a personal insult and the king ordered that trade with Sylvannyr be diminished, weakening the economies of both Vaalgard and Sylvannyr.

Some of your lords demand retribution for this insult and ask that the city of Reyksalar be seized from Vaalgard in response.

Lord Vermiculus smiles at the news, and sends new orders to Lord Vigilum. "You are to advance into Wolastran a hundred paces. You will erect spikes, and put the heads of the enemy dead on them. Burn the bodies and leave no trace as to where they were killed or who by. Then return immediately. Your service is greatly appreciated, thank you for all you've done."

The Caliph of the Daraski,

Your terms are acceptable. We hope that there will be no strife between us after this. Despite there have only been one battle, I feel enough blood has been shed.

King of the Anqallyt,
Felreich Helier

King Castor was surprisingly saddened by the Vaalgard king’s response. Sylvannyr’s economy has always been fairly strong, so they could suffer the blow. But never the less, the coffers got hit. The king knew that the time of easy peace and comfortably, mundane, good but stagnant relations was over. Enemies would be formed, and in a response, good allies would be required. Especially if Sylvannyr would desire peace when all their neighbors seems to desire peace. Thus Castor began to develop a plan. He has a daughter, still unwed. He has two sons, also unwed.

Aline was a dream princess. Elegant, fair, smart and beautiful. Just like her mother. While she had not learned the art of seduction yet, she did turn the heads of several knights and lords at court. Through her he knew he could secure a strong alliance.

His second son, Elias, was less so. A strong knight on the field. Not so much in jousting as in sword dueling. Elias grew up to be much bigger than his older brother. Much stronger too. The man wielded a bastard sword with ease, and has been known to try the great sword as of late. But he was rude and arrogant. Taking the favor of ladies as granted and ate like an animal. His time for wedlock seemed still far out of reach.

So instead of giving his troops the order to march forward, he ordered them to simply strengthen the southern border. Furthermore, he send messages to Vaalgard, Airgiallne, Toran, Gnyr Shalorn and Nastrond. All invites for the tournament that would soon take place. A sizeable sum was promised to the winner of the joust and duels. Each nation was allowed to send 3 knights and their retinue to fight for their country. He did not know what Gnyr Shalorn’s response would be. They were a scorned nation now. Denied to expand their borders. Castor expected them to not accept the invitation. Never the less he didn’t invite Noatun. First he knew the men of the island were sailors, not knights on horseback or wielding valiant swords in combat. And if Gnyr Shalorn did come, then there was no saying what could happen. With the same kind of fear he did invite Nastrond and Vaalgard. Knowing full well he was setting a potential stage for more conflict. Never the less he had to find suitable candidates for an alliance. Though he held that reason out of his letters.

@Lauder

No letter comes in response as news of a revolt near Avat is heard. Though it is quickly heard that the revolt has been quelled, this goes to show that the people in Mtol Darask are unhappy with the peace.

To add insult to injury, it seems that the emperor of Sha'an Tzien and his two vassal states(the unnamed territories) consider Anqallyt a threat and as such have placed an army of over 150.000 soldiers to guard the borders in case of an invasion. Your councilors also grow suspicious of this and ask that more people be placed on the new borders with Sha'An Tzien.

As a result of your seizure of Mtol Daerine and some of the territory from Mtol Darask you can draft an extra 50.000 people into your army.

@Legion02

The Kingdom if Airgiallne, despite being a reclusive kingdom, they were strong and prideful warriors so they gracefully accept their invitation to the jousting tournament. Three warriors arrive, two male and one a beautiful female wearing leather armor. The two warriors were not of a noble family, but the female was the youngest daughter of Lord Westover, King of Airgiallne.

While the tribal confederation of Toran avoided all contact with the other kingdoms, they do accept their invitation and send three and large burly men, dressed in their tribal uniforms. Despite their looks however, they were very chivalrous, despite having no notion of the concept.

As expected, Gnyr Shalorn refuse the invitation towards the tournament and kindly ask for the king of Sylvannyr to cut all contacts with him as he does not view Castor as an equal anymore.

Vaalgard, after a long time accepts their invitation and sends the eldest son of the Vaalgradi king, Prince Roderick Grainwad and two veteran warriors to the tournament along with apologies for their hasty actions in cutting down trade relations with them.

The young King of Noatun, Markus Northwood arrives at the tournament along with several bodyguards and two young beautiful ladies, most likely his sisters. He apologizes for coming uninvited, but he did wish to at least witness a tournament of not able to participate in one.

@Mardox

A letter arrives to Nieldun from the king of Sylvannyr asking to send three of the nations best warriors to participate in a grand tournament. Lord Bornetall, upon hearing this asks:

"My king, I do not wish to flatter myself, but I am your greatest warrior along with my sons, so I kindly ask you to send me to this tournament to show them the strength of the Nastrondi warriors." Lord Bornetall says bowing to Nieldun.

In response to the army on the Sha'an Tzien border, a letter asking for the army to stand down as the Anqallyt are not looking to actually fight the Sha'an Tzien or the vassals. However an army of 5,000 will be sent to monitor the large force that had been sent. The army at Mtol Dærine shall replinish its forces until further orders.

---

The King ponders for a moment before looking over to one of the guards and says "Bring the boy that the Daraski sent me."

Upon hearing Bornetall's request, Nieldun nodded. "My good sir, I would be honored if you represented the Nastrondi people. You have my blessing to go and compete in the tournament, best of luck and may your sword hand never fail you." With this, Nieldun saluted Bornetall and went to attend to the matter of Vaalgard.
Hearing the terms offered by Lord Marthall, Nieldun composed a brief letter.
Esteemed Lord Marthall,
I assure you that the "The Slaughter" as it has come to be known was not something I would ever do to a force that honorably surrenders. Furthermore, my men are not permitted to harm civilians unless attacked. As such, I gladly accept your offer and your people will be treated honorably.
Sincerely, King Nieldun Gildedtongue of Nastrond
Then, once that was done, he issued orders to his armies. 20,000 new recruits each would occupy Gisting and Dolgathrasar. The Eastern Army would march to Sachaila while the Western would besiege Eljun. The same methods were to be used with the entire city encircled from a camp outside arrow range.

@Lauder

A young boy of about 22 years of age dressed in fine silken clothing is escorted to the throne room, hanging at his side was a sheathed scimitar. The boy's skin was tanned and eyes of the boy were crimson as it was normal for amy Daraski male to have. He bows courteously the Felreich and asks:

"What does your highness wish of me?" He asks, a polite smile on his face.

---

While not the entire Tzieni army is removed, it's numbers are dropped to 75.000 and they make sure to send a message that this army is merely to protect their own borders not to threaten the new Anqallyt Empire.