In the light of recent events, Thanat Shamash recognized Khan as a threat, not a possible way out. Sending word of the serious attack on Arbassian colony in Aventia, he looked out of his tent, sighing, frightened of what was to come.

As soon as the letter arrived, Kamm Kutuk threw himself to tear apart the convert and reveal it. "Pashtar Sen be damned!" He swore under his breath as he began to write the letter back.

The basic, appropriate, adequate reaction to such actions. Of course, Khan started a what he believed to be another meaningless war, but it sparked sudden emotions of how Khan was a ray of sunshine in the middle of a storm. A drop of water in a desert. Even though terribly exaggerated and superstitious as it was, Kutuk found an opportunity he is not to miss.

Thanat Shamash received the letter from Kutuk as quickly as in ten hours, even though long for such a man to wait, extremely quick from Edoniras to Aventia. An emissary sent to Khan? An alliance proposal? "What a bloody strange thing indeed, but who the fock am I to judge?" "A governor of a colony in the newly found lands, of course." "And who is he to do it?" "A focking ruler of an Edoniran nation, of course, so shut up." Thanat played around with his tongue until bitterly finding himself staring at the confused emissary. He handed him a letter and sent him off cautiously to Khan.

Fate had smiled upon the Emperor and his forces that day, in many ways his plans had accomplished their objectives. The farms and villages of the burning and their harvests stolen. However, Emperor Si Fu quickly became aware that not all that had been between the border and the imposign walls of the enemy settlements had been taken. Some farmhouses had been spared, no doubt because the peasants had bribed his soldiers, others had been looted but were found empty whilst others still had held off his forces for so long that the commanders who were supposed to have seized the farms had called off the attack in order to rally his troops with the rest of the army outside the walls of the enemy settlements. Despite the best efforts of his Aznavorian weapon handlers it seemed that some of his men had experienced doubt when it came to assaulting walled compounds manned by musket armed peasants. More discipline would be necessary as this indecision allowed several dozen Arbassi to escape the clutches of his men some no doubt had fled back to the safety of a city whilst others had taken their belongings with them and hidden themselves away wisely choosing to avoid being found in static structures when the rest of Khans forces made their way over from the southern cities. These roaming bands of settlers armed with weapons varying from farm implements to hunting muskets and blunderbusses were presumably joined by the border guards that the Khans mounted Samurai had not been able to find and eliminate in the early hours of the invasion. Nevertheless they were a small force of undisciplined and poorly equipped men and women who without supplies could not hope to last long in the scorched lands between the Khans army and the Emperor's borders. They would have to attack the massive army camped outside the walls of their cities or starve. The choice was theirs.

Outside the walls of Wardenfall and New Stendsmark
The army was exhausted, having been force marched continuously from the borders of the Empire to the walls of the enemy settlement without rest and then being told to dig defensive positions. Many boots had become warn as they are wont to do during a spring campaign, and few had looted any replacements in the farm houses. The cavalry had returned from their night hunting and had little to show for it except horses whose shoes needed replacing and tales of abandoned farmsteads with large numbers of footprints leading away. When the Samurai followed these tracks they were led to a river after which it became impossible to keep tracking the survivors. This undoubtedly meant that some men among those who had survived the initial chevauchee had military discipline or more realistically had been hunters. Nevertheless the Imperial army now knew that enemy elements existed behind their siege lines. The next day the orders from Marshall Yat were made very clear,after the soldiers had been given the opportunity to rest for a day a second trench was to be built five hundred paces behind the original one to keep these survivors from surprising them at night. Once this was complete small but thick wooden palisades were to be erected behind each trench line so that the Imperial army could enjoy a degree of relative safety from the enemy should they choose to sally forth and take the fight to them.Adventurers trackers were then sent out to map the wrecked lands in which the enemy roamed free.
His orders issued,Yat wrote to the Emperor informing him of the situation.

TLDR.
The Invasion was not as successful as initially believed . Men were bought or ignored orders , and some were were held off from certain enemy houses.
Bands of armed Arbassi men and women are presumed to be existing behind seige lines.
The Imperial army was given forced rest for a day before being given the order to expand fortifications to protect them from both the men of Wardensfall and New Stendsmark and the threat of the militias behind them. The army is camped between twin lines of defenses that look somewhat like this

The City-State of Bennipolis
Bennipolis
The 14th Eponymous Year of Athenakles With Lysander as Interrex
Diomedes, since the ostracization of Athenakles, had become the Basileus Hierateumatikos. And one of the most important tasks for the Basileus Hierateumatikos was the arrange and prepare the Bennisia, the Festival of Bennis, which happened to be the most important religious festival in the whole Bennipolitan religious calendar. This festival happened annually during autumn, specifically in early October. Furthermore, once every four years, the festival was declared as the Greater Bennisia, which called for special festival games, similar to those that took place at Olympia, Delphi, Isthmia, and Nemea. Therefore, Diomedes drafted a letter, commissioned by the Ekklesia, to all the nations of Edoniras.





Meanwhile, the counterstrike naval force had been sent out. This force, as has already been mentioned, numbered 1400 men strong, including 1000 regulars and 400 knights, and 24 ships strong, including 2 Frigates, 7 Sloops, 7 Schooners, and 8 Brigs. While the Bennipolitan naval forces had not engaged with those of the Terheridonians, since the Terheridonians had not launched their navy yet, the Bennipolitan land forces had started a small incursion into Terheridonian territory. While they were there, they made the following decree.

Golden Rays

-In Edoniras summer came to pass, the sun is shining and golden fields line the countryside of most nations. I say most because even in these, the happy times, there was war and death all across nations. In the Councilate’s colonial province the Khan had revealed himself from his nation to strike fear into the hearts of all the citizens who lived there. However the major fortifications were well defended and were well stocked. This means that the Councilate lost any sort of money making good it could try and take as they are forced into their homes. On a brighter side for the Councilate rebel groups appearing behind the lines of the Khans forces. Patrols were attacked on their rounds and carts of supplies were ambushed. The Khan losses 100 swordsmen, 100 spearmen and 50 crossbowmen.

-Furthermore recent fighting in Bennipolis has become even bloodier as the leader of the Terheridon forces killed himself. Terheridon were planning on up sticking and returning home on a peace treaty with no strings attached however Bennipolis decided then that they would ask for a truce whilst also attacking from the sea. This kind of betrayal was un-acceptable, how dare they offer the olive branch with one hand whilst stab Terheridon with the other. The Terheridon forces then spent a number of nights discussing plans, do they return home and fight off the incursion or do they push on trying to take the capital itself. The answer soon became clear. Bennipolis forces had a much stronger navy and the incursion had come from sea, if they returned home the enemy’s men would simply jump in their ships and Terheridon could do nothing to stop them. And so they decided to cut the beating heart from the beast. Terheridons forces stopped pillaging and looting and marched, they marched up to the city of Bennipolis itself and begun to siege it with only one message sent.


-However the war in Dont is finally over. After a number of months of fighting loyalist forces have either joined the Alliance or been trialled and executed. The most notable was Former President Otto Von Klebb. He was given to the Republic as a peace offering and the revolutionaries took no time in exacting their revenge. Alongside a number of his rich friends he was tied to a cross, whipped and branded. Rotten veg and fruit was thrown at him before he was made to lick the boot of Robert the Freedman clean. Finally he was beheaded, his body crucified in flames whilst his head was tied to the gate of the Royal Palace.


-Finally! The economic downturn was over, as nations GDPs levelled out the nations were left trying to recover what they had lost over the year. Because of the cease in downturn and people’s investments in their economies there are some GDP gains. 10 Billion for those with a free market, 5 billion for those unmentioned and 1 billion for those with a state controlled market.

Denparkke, Warrus

Supreme commander Karol Lipeche II took the map of Edorinas in his hand and spread it out on a table. Next to him was his second in commands, Field Commanders Rubben Karbudden and Baron Handrick Von Speck. They observed the map very carefully, putting most of their attention on the border between Warrus and Terheridon.


(OCC: I'm really sorry about the horrible map.)

"Handersson's army are waiting at the Furlonne heights to advance Herr Oberbefehlshaber." Field Commander Baron Handrrick Von Speck said as he pointed his finger at the mountain range at the border of the alliance.

"Very well sir Von Speck, danke. I presume our army are ready to depart tomorrow?" Lipeche II asked Karbudden.

"Jawohl Herr Oberbefehlshaber." Karbudden replied. "The final preparations are being made this night and the cannons are coming this morning."

"Excellent." Lipeche II muttered. "Get some rest, tomorrow we depart for the border. Send a message to Handersson to start his advance. He shall take the cavalry forces and lure our enemies into the grandest trap Edorinas has ever witnessed."

The next day

Supreme Commander Karol Lipeche II walked out of his dwelling along with Field Commanders Rubben Karbudden and Baron Handrick Von Speck. They mounted their steeds and rode to their men outside the city. There the men waited already in formation. Lipeche II smiled a proud smile as he saw the 10, 000 men with fresh uniforms. The way the morning summer sun shone on them gave them a glorious look and Lipeche Ii couldn't help but show his emotion, like a proud father looking over his battle-hardened children. He rode in front every battalion, inspecting the troops with his head high. He was more than satisfied with the sight that greeted him. Most of the soldiers wore grey uniforms, they were from Nollin. They must have been the loyalist Dont soldiers who escaped to the Alliance. Some of them had scars, no doubt from the rebellion. He knew this men wanted revenge against the new government of Dont and so did he. How the dukes and the parliaments were going to provide them with that was their problem. Now, the hour of glory awaits.

After inspecting the men, Lipeche II halted his steed in front of them and spoke.

"Men of the alliance and former sons of Dont, we have suffered a grave defeat. This Robert the Freedman and his band of rebellious ingrates have taken control of Dont and have killed our families, our friends and the honorable Otto Von Kliebb. Such a crime cannot be forgiven. But alas, we are but to weak to face them. However, mother Altaiya has given us an opportunity to regain what we have lost and strike at the heart of our foes. Today, on the feast day of Saint John the Blessed, we march for Terheridon. This fools, who battle in the south but have failed to defend their lands, will soon taste the cold wrath of the four duchies. Once he was swayed this men to join our cause, we will strike at Dont and avenge the country from the grasp of the tyrant Freedman. Are you with me my brethen?"

"Jawohl Herr Kommandant!" The men said in unison, ready for war.

"Then we march for the south." Lipeche II said. "Ready your muskets and your blades, Terheridon would be the first to feel the ruthless wrath of the four united."

"Es lebe die Herzöge!" The men said in unison. "Es lebe das Bündnis!"

Three days later

Field Commander Samanthen Handersson had just received a message from Supreme Commander Karol Lipeche II to start the attack on Terheridon. Honor and duty awaited him and his men at the battlefield. Beside him was Brigadier Marshall Gormann Breviche. Handersson looked at Breviche and gave him a nod.

"It is time to start the attack." Handersson told Breviche.

"Jawohl Herr Handersson. My battalion awaits your orders." Breviche answered.

"Take your men to the nearest town and take its ruling noble as hostage. You must let this man 'escape' so that he may warn the next village and so on. Continue this unless your scout tells you the enemy outnumbers your brigade or that the town is heavily defended. You must then wait for us. Is that understood Feld Marshall?"

"Jawohl, Es lebe die Herzöge. Es lebe das Bündnis." Breviche said.

"Es lebe die Herzöge. Es lebe das Bündnis." Handersson repeated.

Breviche left the tent to prepare his battalion for the assault.

Commodore Thames had never expected to face such a situation as he peered over the battlements of Wardensfall, casting his gaze over the assembled force in front of them. They’d have to number northward of 20,000 men, huddled behind a wooden palisade they’d attempted a feeble siege of Wardensfall. The truth was the only way they’d take the city was through a mass assault, something they’d seemingly not been willing to undertake as yet. The longer they waited, the stronger the position of the Arbassian became for 10,000 Regulars arrived, they were split into two groups 1,000 headed to New Stendmark and 9,000 were directed here. The 8,000 carried with them the full artillery for the division; it’d be needed more in Wardensfall than in New Stendmark given the relative situations. A further 500 Veterans, 5,000 Regulars and 10,000 Recruits were meant to be on their way over the sea but the question remained as to whether they’d reach them in time to relieve the beleaguered forces.

In truth, their best option was to attempt a sally forth from Wardensfell, in an attempt to bring their artillery to bear against the masses of Khanian Infantry. He had with him 6 batteries of 5-pounder horse-artillery, highly mobile and potentially devastating small guns which emphasised mobility and agility on a battlefield. He further had 2 batteries of 20 pounders to deploy in the field, however once they were dug in they would prove hard to move. The last round of artillery he had, albeit the hardest to use were the 4 30 pound coastal artillery he’d move landward in order to help stave off the temptation to assault the wall. Moreover surely these savages would have no idea what the effective range of these behemoth cannons were capable of albeit they were being careful by encamping themselves an almost ridiculous distance away.

What they’d need to create was a field of continuous cannon fire in order to whittle down the numbers of their melee soldiers and to break their spirit. Surely the sight of cannon balls thundering across the plains would be unlike anything they’d witnessed before. Unfortunately he had no cavalry to mop-up after the cannon and muskets had taken their toll but he had some manner of contact with the irregulars beyond the city walls. He’d managed to organise some small, fast ships to keep them supplied; sailing around the fortifications built by their foes their come ashore bringing food, water and ammo to these men. Whilst they wouldn’t find much use in a pitched battle, they would be useful for harrying the enemy forces and leaving them incapable of sleeping easy at night, nor protecting their baggage trains.

His scouts had also reported the army had across a single stone bridge; seemingly the only landward bound supply train for these soldiers. It was especially important for their forces after they’d so effectively burned the land but the bridge was well defended by what appeared to be the major naval base for the Empire which would make any naval strike rather difficult, even with the technology gap. The reports from New Stendmark were positive however; the Khanian forces were holding a similar pattern to here, he’d managed to double his forces in the city and the military governor of that colony, subservient to Commodore Thames’ role as Minister of Colonies, had followed his ever order to prepare for the coming assault. There was boiling oil, jars of pitch prepared, ample stores of food, water and most importantly shot and gunpowder. The problem was besides the 4,450 soldiers posted there, the rest of the soldiers were little more than militia. Citizens given flintlocks or wielding their own, the strength of cannon would be needed to hold the hordes off until the promised soldiers from Edorinas arrived. The thoughts of what could go wrong with his plans haunted Commodore Thames’ pitiful attempt at sleep at night, despite the assurances of General Krunberg, the commander of the land forces, he couldn’t help but wonder.

The next morning, a sight bearing all the pomp and dignity that a nation as great as Arbassess was on show as out of the main gate marched the entire military force posted in Wardensfall. 14,000 Regulars marched out onto the flat coastal plain outside the city, their gold and white livery resplendent in the rising morning sun. The procession halted some 600 metres from the city walls as the howitzers broke off and dug their guns in along with 9,300 of the Regulars who formed three blocks of 3,100 men, each block flanking a fixed 20-pounder battery. A field ammo dump was dug-in behind the bulk of the army and manned by 200 volunteers from the city. The remaining 2, 700 Regulars marched another 200 metres ahead and formed three lines of 900 each ranking four deep. The whole endeavour is undertaken with a well-drilled ease, albeit doing it when not under fire or duress is relatively simple. The horse cannon are split into two batteries flanking the forward lines of 900, unlimbered and ready to fire, with the horses picketed behind the cannons. The waiting now begins.

Bobek grunted as he stared into the map scattered over the table. The tent's colour, red, was driving him insane. Never liked blood, but it is home to me. He thought. Just now he received orders from the high command stationed in Cheahattro, led by Efendi himself. Verun had a couple of ships readied over at the coast, just in case, while a couple thousand men were directed over to Bobek's command. The gruff, scarred man quickly appointed several advisers to help him out. Most were young and unexperienced, but held quite a potential he was aware of. "Agha Bobek! All neccessary preparations are made. We are ready to be deployed into Terheridon." A man spoke up, then took a couple steps left and withdrew into the corner of the room as to give his senior a bit of room to march around adding an aura of the other soldiers' insignificance. Bobek touched his nose, scoffed at the idea he had to leave the comfort of his tent, and then spoke up. "Very well! Send in recruits first, seize villages and small houses and farms, not harm the civilians unless they dare to attack us out of the blue, and then when met with the military, move back as to alert the regular regiments, which will storm in. Is it understood, everyone?" Everyone nodded.

Bolukbashi Diseni moved in, quickly taking position and tackling people who jumped at them with weapons. "Stay down!" Somi, their translator, shouted at the bartender as they confiscated every knife and possible thing from each person in the tavern. Diseni moved out. "Secure that fence! Look out for Terheridonian militia!" He shouted at the top of his lungs in Kamali. Several recruits moved out and began to construct a cover under the fences. Then he sent a couple over to the border, to Agha Bobek and others. The Regulars slowly began to step on the partially burned and stomped grass, now outside of their homeland. Diseni greeted another Bolukbashi and they jotted down their movements. For some time they would have to be cut off from Kamalao only receiving when in need. They'd need to secure a thin path where they would get notificiations of orders and so on. As the regular troops began to march in the secured settlements, the recruits left along with them to occupy the thin line cutting Terheridon off.

Walking along coastal towns, they began to build fortifications in the marked areas on the map.

http://s823.photobucket.com/user/Cayrouse/media/Sadko.png.html?filters[user]=103068613&filters[recent]=1&sort=1&o=0

The City-State of Bennipolis
Bennipolis
The 14th Eponymous Year of Athenakles With Lysander as Interrex

The Ekklesia has once again assembled for another meeting of the Demos of Bennipolis. The purpose of this meeting was to determine what they should do about the Terheridonian letter sent to them and the Terheridonian army that was beginning to siege their blessed city. Should they accept their peace terms and end the war? Or should they rely on their allies (and the Alliance, who was, while not an ‘ally’, invading Terheridon simultaneously)? Therefore, these were the questions that needed to be answered.

First arose Xenophanes, who favored peace over war. In this way did he speak.

“Men of Bennipolis, my brothers! You know what the situation is. The Tereridonians have brought a great bulk of their army up to our gates, already prepared to besiege our goddess’ sacred city. They, however, have offered peace to us, and here are the reasons why we should accept it. For starters, neither Tereridon nor Bennipolis would lose any territory, as all possessions shall be returned to their original owners. Furthermore, why should we fight this war? The only cause of this war has been extinguished, namely, the desire to install Athenakles as the sole ruler of Bennipolis. However, he nobly took his own life so that the rest of us could live on as free men instead of serfs to Tereridonian overlords and puppets, as Athenakles would have been a puppet ruler if he had acquired the thrown of Bennipolis. Therefore, we have no reason to fight this war, nor does Tereridon. We must recall the counter force, along with the navy and accept the peace. It shall be the best option to take.

And in this way did Xenophanes speak. Next, another man, a certain Cimon, arose and began to speak in this way.

“Bennipolitan men, do not be fooled by Xenophanes’ speech. We have indeed lost much because of this war and if we would take this peace, we would be getting the short end of the stick. Ever since the Tereridonians crossed the boundaries between our two nations, they have raped, pillaged, and burned our countryside. If we shall take this peace, what shall they have lost and what shall we have lost? We have, indeed, suffered more in this war than they have. Therefore, we must not accept this peace, but endure this siege. For we are not alone in this war, as the Kamalao and Aznauor have both committed forces to aid us in some fashion. Furthermore, there is a rumor that Tetrabasileia (OOC: The Alliance) has also launched an invasion of Tereridon. We are not alone in this war.”

“Furthermore, if they try to take Bennipolis by attrition, the Tereridonians are extremely foolish. While our allies shall blockade their supply train, we shall be able to bring in whatever we need through our port city to the south, Chelon. We are better prepared to win this war of attrition, as they are foreigners in a strange land, while we are fighting for our own fatherland! Once they start starving, while our own soldiers shall be well nourished, the Tereridonians shall be in a terrible position, as our allies will be on their rear flank and we shall be on their front. Our navy shall prevent any attempts to retreat by sea. Therefore, the only possible way we shall lose this if we ourselves mess up.”

“Therefore, our first actions should be to repair all the defenses that lay before our walls so that their approach towards our walls shall be more difficult. While our men do this, we shall also station our soldiers on the walls so that our workers might have cover fire just in case the Tereridonians feel daring. Furthermore, we must man our wall gunnery, or our defensive artillery, so that make the Tereridonian approach even more difficult.”

“Our next action should be to beginning building a defensive wall to the north of the city (OOC: dotted light gray line on map). This will allow us to reduce the area where we have to defend. Once that wall is up, we shall create a second wall to the west of the first (OOC: dotted dark gray line on map). The mountains to the northwest of our blessed city are quite rough, so we should not fear any major invasions from that direction. Nevertheless, we should post guards and watches up there just in case we need to send troops up there to defend our territory.”

“Finally, I have heard mumbles about the omen that happened last year at Chelon, about how our army shall never win unless we have someone of Amazonian blood at the head of our military. Therefore, I shall quell these rumors by proposing yet another idea. We should declare Adraändreis as Basilea Polemarche, in spite that she has not come of age yet, although she will in the fall, and in spite that her turn as Basilea Polemarche would not come for another two years. Nevertheless, we should declare her Basilea Polemarche only until the war is over in order to fulfill the omen. However, Ioannes shall remain de facto Basileus Polemarchos, while Adraändreis shall be de iure Basilea Polemarche.”

And in this way did Cimon speak to the Ekklesia. And the majority of the Ekklesia agreed with Cimon’s reasoning and therefore approved of his plan and called for it to be completed as soon as possible. Finally a letter to the Terheridonians was sent out.

Aznavor is back!
Victor was a vinter, well that’s what he told the Teheridonese women he met in taverns, a very important royally appointed vinter whose job it was to identify wines and plots of land with the suitable terroir for Aznavori merchants. Only half of the statement was true, he was royally appointed but he was not a vinter. Oftentime he would chuckle to himself knowing that most of the women he met would probably believe exactly the opposite, that he was a rich vinter who made bold claims of royal Aznavori patronage in order to gain access to their sheets. Victor knew little about growing grapes and less about running a business but this had never stopped him from keeping up the allusion that he was a successful man. In reality he had come to Teheridon some ten years earlier, when the borders were still shut to most foreigners, claiming that he wished only to find peace in the country and would not seek to ever leave. The world was a less suspicious place back then and he had been allowed to enter and every year he made sure to send a cask of wine to the customs officer who had granted him entry. Now, ten years later, he had delegated the running of his business to his eldest son who was in charge of collecting 15 barrels of wine a month from a clipper that made its way from Aznavor to Black beach every month then selling these wines to the burghers and merchants of this rich country which had few wine growers of its own. In theory he had all he needed to manage a successful business, a niche market, no competition and royal patronage although he never appeared to sell enough wine to maintain the quality of life he enjoyed. Victor did have royal patronage because he had become a spy an informant and an agent provocateur. For a year now he and his youngest son had been making contacts within the infrastructure of the country. After trading in grapes, soil and shipping for forgery, blackmail and bribery victor had developed quite a network of spies in Black beach. One of the most useful links of his chain of informers was Marlon a post official who owed him vast sums of money and wished to keep the secret that the was a catamite and had a lover at work. Twice a month Marlon was invited to dine at Victors house and the two men pretended to their wives and most of their children that they were best of friends and shared business interests together. In reality after the women left, Marlon, Victor and his son would go on evening walks into the countryside and Marlon would hand over interesting letters from military and political officials which Victor would copy and hand back to his guests during the next post-dinner walk. Port officials had been bribed to never pay too much attention to Victors cargo. Whilst his network expanded he also listened to rumours in taverns and spoke to disgruntled serfs who had come to voice their complaints to city officials but were always refused and held in contempt. After buying them a few drinks he would often and expressing sympathy to their cause and mention that he had heard that the Dontian people had overthrown their own oppressors and were now ruling themselves. Using his friend in the post office and forged letters Victor would at a later date have a nameless employee show the serfs fake letters detailing hugely increased requisition orders and heavy wartime taxes. The more village elders or headmen he spoke to the more the idea of armed insurrection spread across the countryside. It was common knowledge that the royal army was fighting far away in Bennipolis and to the north and would not be able to put down an armed serf movement. In the past few weeks words of hope had turned to actions as secret caches of weapons were being found near villages where Victor had noticed the dissatisfaction to be at its most severe. These weapons did not come from Teheridon, much to his regret Victor had no contacts in the royal armoury yet and had come in specially made wine barrels from Aznavor. The very same that were never inspected by port officials. The best part of this conspiracy was that his son who collected the barrels had no idea of their existence and thus could not accidently talk of them. The weapons were originally sent on ships from Oceansrock and carried weapons to be sold to Teheridon as part of their trade agreement but halfway through the journey were the weapons ship would meet up with the wine ship and the weapons would be put into one in every 15 barrels. When King Dearhear wrote to King Philip Duloire complaining about not enough weapons arriving in Teheridon the latter would regretfully assume that his ships had been boarded by many of the increasing numbers of pirates that roamed the seas or that summer storms had affected his ships causing much cargo to be lost to the sea floor. The letter would finish off with King Philips most heartfelt consolences. So now every month weapons would find their way off ships into his warehouse where they would be stored for less than a day before being carted off in non-identifiable boxes to angry serf communities. The soldiers were away and the angry serfs were being armed. The spark was lit.

Shipskeep, Aznavor
Today was a joyous occasion, Aznavor’s friends to the East had finally utterly triumphed against their oppressors, Bennipolis had fought back against their invaders and Aznavor’s southern allies had also joined the fight against Teheridon. Perhaps it was time Aznavor got involved. Perhaps. Perhaps not.
In any case King Duloire had decided to make the most of this conflict which had brought war to the continent to send off a second small floittla of colonists to Aventia. This time they would be better equipped, in larger numbers and would have two brigs and 500 regulars sent with them in case aggressive natives existed beyond the reach of the friendly Empire of Khan. These colonists were sent far to the south, to a slightly more equatorial climate where fruit was rumoured to be more plentiful and where winter would be but a distant memory. In any case the settlers were more prepared this time around and had brought more tools, medicines, supplies and medicine. The Kign hoped this colony would grow faster than the northern one and would bring back exotic trade substances to the nations of Edoniras.

Perhaps it was time to act after all. King Phillip had ordered the remainder of the fleet which had been sitting mobilised in harbour for two weeks now, the men were ready, the ships had been well supplied and could count of friendly harbours all along the way south. Their objective was simple hug the coastline until they reached Teheridon when they would then join up with the Bennipolitain Navy. Under no circumstances were they to fire a shot on the Teheridonese, the fleet were supposedly strictly observers and their job was to protect the ships carrying weapons to Teherdion and protect them from any pirates.

---

TLDR:
Teheridon Serfs are incited to rebel and equipped with weapons that should be going into the royal armory. To cover this up the King of Aznavor is blaming pirates and the royal fleet has moved in to secure trade lanes.
A new southern colonial expedition is sent south of Imperial lands.

Marshall Yat commanded the seige of WardensFall, General Tso's task was the taking of New Stendmark. Despite the Marshalls young age he held seniority over Tso this was because Tso was a follower of the Earth Party and Yat of the Fire Party. Tso's values were, like most Khanian nobles solidly anchored into ways of the past. Tso's seige would undoubtedly be conventional whereas Yat's would not be for Yat knew of the cannons. Neither he nor any of his general staff had seen one operated before but Emperor Si Fu had insisted that before marching to war he should meet with Ga Yao, the envoy who had spent weeks gleaming as much knowledge of the foreign world as he could during his extended travel. Ga Yao had told him of Aznavors’ own cannons guarding their settlements and that Ambassador Duloire had frequently of their range, probably in an effort to convince the Yao to advise the Emperor into purchasing Aznavori Cannons. Yet, in truth, to a military man like Yat such boasts meant little and could not be relied on. Ranges could be exaggerated, errors could be made in translation and Yao may have his own vested interests in cannons. Yat was a cautious general and would not risk his soldiers’ lives in an assault unless he knew what type of enemy he faced. On the first day of the twin sieges he had summoned 50 men who had disgraced themselves by failing to take the farmhouses that they had been assigned. These men were ordered to go beyond the palisade, beyond the trench into the wide stretch of land between the walls of Wardenfall and the siege camp with looking glasses and measuring instruments. They were told nothing of the enemy weapons and were tasked with examining the enemy battlements, towers and gates to find out what type of weapons their enemies wielded and what manner of men manned them. The men were told to go look from different points the first from 1,000 metres away the second from 500 metres away and the last from 100 metres away. When the men came back three hours later with a report of solid defences beign manned by what appeared to be disciplined uniformed men Yat learned two things. First that the enemy had not taken the bait and opened fire on his party revealing the range of the cannons second that city’s defence was in the hands of a competent commander who knew when to hide his strength. Without having met the man Yat admired him, for the man had not panicked at the sight of his vast forces, there had no tell-tale signs of paniccoming from the city. No ships departing carrying away the women, the children and the aged. This commander knew his business.
Marshall Yat was practicing his calligraphy when a messenger arrived from General Tso who informed him that his own counterpart in New Stendmark was not quite as competent and had been unable to prevent his nervous men from firing off three cannon blasts at the party of fifty disgraced soldiers that had been sent to ‘scout New Stendmarks defensive perimeter’. The first two shots had missed wildly but the third had struck the party as they retreated back towards their palisade (OOC: Gowia feel free to decide how many men this projectile would have killed out of the party of 50). The loss of men was regrettable but the former disgraced warriors had redeemed their honour by determining what seemed to be a rough estimate for the maximum effective long range of the enemy cannons at just over 890 metres. Even if he did not know of the varying types of cannons used by the enemy this gave Marshal Yat a wide berth to avoid having his forces strafed by the enemy weapons. The success of the scouting mission outside New Stendmark had also been successful insofar as it had introduced the soldiers who were participating in General Tso’s siege to the sound of the guns from a position of relative safety. Now they knew what to expect in battle, they would not run quite as easily as if they had experienced the thunderous sound for the first time.

Yat summarised what he knew of the enemy weapon to his aides and officers. He knew that such weapons fired stones and great iron balls over great distances, with impressive strength and could be fired slightly faster than his own siege engines. When the as the enemy organised their defences and shuffled their troops around Yats men set to work assembling and arranging 8 Khanian ballistas 10 trebuchets and half a dozen Onagers in a semi-circle all along the siege lines between the two palisades. Similar weapons were assembled in General Tso’s siege lines. Unfortunately the distance from the walls, that the cautious Marshall had insisted upon, meant that these siege weapons were nowhere near able to strike the walls from within the protection of their own siege camp.They would have to be moved up and platforms were being made for just such a plan when the enemy sallied out of the WardenFall. Soldiers were instructed to abandon the plans to move the engines and ordered to man the palisades, occupy the trench and brace for a sortie but it never came. Instead the enemy had elected to stay in the no-mans-land and to entrench themselves. As it became evident that the two armies were led by defensive generals and that neither would attack the other. Yat knew just enough about the cannons to refuse the enemy commander battle and he imagined that the enemy commander knew little enough of his weapons to remain cautious as well. It seemed there was a standoff as neither party willing to give up their fortified positions for a risky attack.Perhaps a peaceful solution would be possible?
Yat sent an emissary.


Emperor Si Fu had been making preparations for the arrival of two guests. The first would be the Emissary of the Kamalao Republi who had made his way over bearing an important message of friendship. He was given honeyed milk and told that he would be granted an audience with the Emperor and his Steward the very next day. Fresh accommodation was given to the man and inquiries were made as to whether the emissary required a bed warmer during his stay.
There was no reason to believe that the Kamalo Republi should be anything less than a friend to Khan.

The next guest to be received was the eldest son of Khans only current ally and trading partner who was to be married in Khan. Usually custom dictated that the wife go to the lands of her future husband for the ceremony but due to the Emperor power and his status as King Duloire’s elder brother, the foreign King had relented and agreed to send his son to Khan. This would truly be a ceremony to remember. Eunuchs and artisans were draping the entire capital in red, the colour of the Khanian Royalty, red silken Banners were hung from the city gates, red flowers were being bought in huge numbers and assembled, red wine had been bought from Aznavor. The Wedding would be a beautiful ceremony that would concretise the relationship between the people of the New World and the Old. All that was needed now was the groom.
Finally orders for the raising of more soldiers were made. 2,500,000,000 was put aside for the training of new warriors with a focus on crossbowmen and cavalry as enemy cavalry was scare and the Empire already had many spearmen to deal with this threat.

Summary:
Siege engines ( trbutchets, Ballistae and mangonels) are built in both siege camps.
Marshall Yat refuses to attack and sense the enemy refuses to fully commit to a sally so sends an emissary to negotiate.
Republi Ambassador is received
Preparations are made for a Royal wedding
More soldiers are being recruited to make up city garrisons as 30,000 more soldiers make theirway towards the two siege operations.