[IC] A Campaign Eternal

[Didos]

"Once we pass through these mountains, none of us will be turning back until Dumnonia is conquered." King Tyros walked between the ranks of his 30,000 men. He carried his spear in his right hand, and his helmet under his left. "No longer will Piran's abominations linger over us. No longer will his shadow creep along the edges of our cities. No longer will we fear an empire he can barely control."

"Now, we all know of the thousand nations of the Dumnonian Empire and the force that comes with it, but the Umbrian is the greatest warrior this world has ever known," and it was true. Each and every man standing around him had been fighting since birth. Many present had even fought each other at some point in time, but that did not matter now. Right now, they were all Umbrian.

He kept walking, chills making their way down his spine as he took in the full power of his army. Umbrians from all over the region stood together, in uniform, with the exception of a few specialists and officials here and there. The mountains that stood before him were taller than the eye could see. The only passage out lay directly in front of him: a half-mile separation travelers often called the "Umbrian Gap". He had never gone through there, but he knew what lay on the other side. An army of millions defended a vast territory encompassing many races and cultures. Tyros was determined to conquer it all.

"They say Piran has the Kings of Dumnonia feeding out of his open hand. He has subdued them, humiliated them, stripped them of their freedom... all so they may retain what is left of their pride and power. I will be damned in any Umbrian must live under Piran's rule. Our way of life has never included dominion under some foreign nation."

"No longer can we ignore what lays beyond the borders of our lands. We have proven enough to one another what we are capable of. It is time to show the world our true power."

He came to the foot of the gap and turned. Tyros put on his helmet, and motioned for his people to follow him into the unknown.

[FinDragon]

Kaylen stood among his men and listened to the speech with them He focused a little to the king or his speech, and was already writing his own in his head. Each man and woman around him he knew and trusted to, every one of them had he trained and fought alongside for a long time. None of them liked him but respected him, just as they should. When the king finally got to the end of his speech, Kaylen pulls his sword out and points it onward."Brass Boars, advance!" He ordered loudly enough for the order to reach the ears of all and every single man under his control and the ones nearby as well. His unit begun marching on at steady pace after the king, each and every warrior in it armed with both bow and shortsword, and eager to clash with the enemy."First one who complains about his feet will stand guard throughout the night, does anyone here feel like complaining about their feet?" He yells loudly."No Captain Hunter Sir!" Was the reply from each soldier as they march on with their heads high and equipment shining brightly.

[Marcus XVI]

Speeches had never been much to Ramia's liking - not that the king's speech hadn't been good for inspiration and boosting the morale of the troops, but in all fairness she had never quite understood the whole concept of 'rousing speeches'. The dark haired woman rolled her eyes as she went through the speech again in her head. Even though their own force numbered 30 000 - gathering of such force had already been a magnificent feat - the enemy would no doubt have a much larger force to throw against them. Still Ramia had read her history well and knew that many a time had a smaller force overcome great disadvantages.

The Cunning Wolf of Kastagir took a better hold of the reins of her steed - who had eyed the closest soldiers rather meanly "Faran, you'd better behave yourself... and no prancing, ok? It degrades both of us." She chuckled as the stallion harumphed and shook his head - as if not quite agreeing with it's rider. Ramia took a quick glance around the gathered force and the baggage train that would follow with them. Keeping a force of such size supplied at all times would be even more a magnificent feat than what calling it to arms had been.

She smiled faintly as the Brass Boars began moving. Their captain's loud voice was easily heard even through the buzzing of the crowd after the king's speech. She had a feeling that this was going to be a beginning of a magnificent war. Ramia situated herself near the baggage trains, but within close enough proximity from the king that she'd be available if needed.

[Halvtand]

“Aah, the wolf of Kastagir, just the lady I was hoping to meet”
Cornelius almost had to shout to be heard over the constant droning of wagon wheels, horses and men stomping through the landscape. He sat atop the first of the baggage wagons, on his wondrous enchanted chest. In one hand he held his staff upright like a standard bearer, but without the flag. In the other he held what seemed to be a chalice (non-regimental issue) and every now and then he took a sip of something that made his lips curl ever so slightly.
He had observed the strategist from his vantage point during the king's speech, curious about how she'd react.
He was quite fond of the woman, and secretly treasured each chance he had to speak with her. Not only was her mind as sharp as a knife, but her tongue was as well. On top of that he absolutely adored the fact that she'd risen to such a position of power as a female. Her strategies were successful often enough and some of the other military commanders loathed her for it. Every time the king asked Cornelius for advice, he tended to favour lady Ramia. She brought something extra to the table... Subtlety, finesse. Powerful men could be so simple-minded.

“I have spoken with the lord... [loud rumble as the wagon rolls over some rocks] The lord general... [an officer shouts an order, and a choir of sodiers answers] Hold on.”
Cornelius put the chalice down on the chest and with a wave of his hand the clatter and noise of the moving army disappears. The rythmic clop-clop of lady Ramia's mount is the only sound that still lingers. Strangely enough everyone else still trudges on like nothing is wrong.
A thousand leagues away the otherwise quiet forest erupts with the sound of soldiers marching, metal against sand and rocks, officers bellowing out orders and a constant low grinding of a heavy wagon being dragged uphill.

“There, now we can speak undisturbed. My ears ache already and we've only just started. As I tried to say earlier, I've spoken with the lord general lssiam about what awaits us on the other end of the Umbrian gap. He feels that we should have the advantage of surprising the Dumnonian army and thus have a few... As he called them 'easy victories' before they are able to regroup and mount a proper defense. Now, of course I would never call the lord general a fool... I'd much rather hear you say it with all those fancy military words you like so much.”

[TimasheTiger]

"The young King Tyros, having conquered all of Umbria, uniting its people, called together a massive force. 30,000 men, ready to fight and die for their king, something unseen since the conception of this great country. Today would mark the day that a once warring nation, united under one banner would stave off the shadows of the imperial's wing. Today Umbria marched to war, in what would be known as the great... the er... the... hmm..."

Thallus slowly twirled the ink dipped quill in his hand, mulling over the proper words to use on the parchment. "Ay suppose...this would be something of a...revolution? No...more like a crusade... its definitely a war, the laddie certainly made that one clear..." Placing the quill down at his side, he set the parchment on his lap as formulated the sentences in his head. Pulling a wooden pipe from his pocket he put it in his mouth, clamping it in place before grabbing a vial from another pocket and filling the pipe with tobacco. Afterwards he grabbed another vial, this one filled with dried cinder leaves, he ground them between his fingers before tossing them in the bowl, small sparks ignited the load and allowed him to pull in a few puffs so that it could cherry. So engrossed was he in this process he barely noticed how the low din of the troops suddenly turned into war cries as the army began its forward march.

"Ay, looks like its time to go," picking up the reigns he spoke to his ox, "off we go Benjy! HYAH!" He whipped the reigns and the ox groaned as it slowly began pulling the cart alongside several other supply wagons.

"Long journey ahead boys!" he said to no one in particular, "who wants to sing a song?!"

In the merry month of June, From my home I started,
Left the girls of Tuam, Nearly broken hearted,
Saluted me father dear, Kissed me darling mother,
Drank a pint of beer, My grief and tears to smother,
Then off to reap the corn, And leave where I was born,
Cut a stout blackthorn, To banish ghost and goblin,
In a brand new pair of brogues, go rattling o'er the bogs,
Frightening all the dogs, On the rocky road to Dumnonia.

One, two, three, four, five

[Didos]

Tyros marched at the front of army, followed by all else in orderly fashion. He was partially surrounded by his personal guard who chose to ride on horseback, along with a few other officers; some even chose to ride on chariots or carriages. He kept his helmet on, and carried both his shield and spear in his left hand. Tyros remained relatively quiet, and kept his answers brief when his officials would occasionally inquire about his plans for the campaign.

The King was swarmed with various feelings about what his journey held: curiosity about what lay beyond his lands, awe towards both his army and Piran's, excitement to see his power clash against Dumnonia, and most of all ambition to conquer the massive composite military that would surely oppose him. He could only hope that his men could empathize, but nonetheless they were all present out of duty to their country, out of honor to themselves.

After a morning's walk, the army reached a valley at the end of the Umbrian Gap. Before them was a lake right in the middle of the valley. The army began moving along the southern edge, and soon found that the mountains only continued about a quarter-mile inland. A few scouts to go around and make about the same distance around the northern edge as the rest of the army put on the current one. The rest of the army took a second to rest and hydrate from the apparently clean lake, and Tyros consulted with his officials.

A few hours passing, the scouts returned. They reinforced Tyros' suspicions of the lake being within the mountains. He put his army back to their feet, and had them continue their march long the southern edge. If merchants use this to cross over to Umbri, the other portion of this gap must be directly on the other side of this lake. It will most likely be a clear path if it is so commonly used. He could only hope he was correct, and refused to look like a fool in front of 30,000 Umbrians.

At about what seemed like meeting the half-way mark, an island within the lake came into view of the troops. On it sat a shining copper house, whose foundation seemed to be embedded within the island. Some also began gossiping about a large shadow moving through the water, which seemed to be following them. Some officers directed their subordinates to march a bit further inland for their safety.

Word eventually got to Tyros up front, yet he still continued his march. He had noticed it a while back, but concluded that whoever resided in that copper house had some control over this beast, if he had managed to settle peacefully there. He may have thought the beast was harmless, but he has talking the worst-case scenario, and this seemed the most rational. He did not want to worry his men with such suspicions, but he felt others among his ranks were coming to similar conclusions.

A man stepped out of that house. He looked somewhat Umbrian; probably a mixed-breed of some Dumnonian vassal. He motioned for Tyros to approach, and ordered his men to quickly construct a boat from two of their carriages. In about an hour, Tyros was already paddling his way to the island. He wished to go alone, fearing the presence of his advisors would only work to over-complicate the situation.

The man seemed welcoming, and he and Tyros stepped into the copper home.

The sun began to set behind them, and Tyros finally came within sight from the shore. He tossed an object into the waters, and appeared to be washing himself for a second before paddling the rest of the way back. He ordered his army to rise up once again, and ordered them to complete their march to the mouth of the other side of the lake, even if it took all night.

In only about 2 hours, they found their way to the other passage. Tyros set up camp by the lake, with his army extending settlement nearly to the entrance of the passage.

When asked by his historians for his biography, Tyros stated "I negotiated passage with the man, who cast a spell to settle the beast. He was to reverse it once we have fully crossed."

When asked by a handful of officers about his disposal of the object before he reached shore, Tyros said "I cut off his head. The spell will not be reversed, and the men that shall join us have no need for such a trivial matter."

[Marcus XVI]

Ramia nodded politely to Cornelius and flashed a little smile. "It is good to see you too Cornelius, I hope you have been well." She chuckled at the old mans next comment and grinned. "You'd rather hear it in military terms? Very well." The dark haired woman sat up on her saddle and partially wiped the grin from her face. "First of all there are no easy victories, second of all if someone claims so that person is either a total ass, or drunk - though these two things usually go hand in hand." Ramia took better hold of Faran's reins and shook her head a bit. "My apologies, I shall head closer to the king in the case his own brains stop working and he needs mine." She lifted a finger to her lips and hushed.. "Just don't tell him I said that." The Wolf of Kastagir politely bowed her head to the old man before she rode closer to the front of the army.

After a good while of riding - several hours by her estimate - the army stopped at the lake with the copper house on it. Ramia waited patiently with some officers for the king to return and when one of them had inquired the king about his actions with the person in the house and the king had told about his rather brutal way of dealing with it she spat on the ground and approached Tyros. Her left hand rested on the wolf's head pommel of her falcata as she took a deep breath and dismouted from Faran's back. Her right hand gripped the reins tightly. "With all due respect king Tyros... From a tactical and strategical standpoint your actions were not wise. If this man was a wizard of some kind - to which all signs would point to - it would have been wiser to try and persuade him to join us. After all an army is never too large." The dark haired woman's left hand moved from the hilt of her sword to her hip. "Killing the man may have seemed like a good idea at the time, but what if he has relatives, or powerful allies who could cause trouble for us? Also there is the fact that you slew - as far as we know - an innocent man. You may be a king and even the Son of Tractus, but slaying someone innocent who has mildly inconvenienced you is not a deed fit for either." Her dark brown eyes stared directly to Tyros's green ones. Ramia was quite close to losing her temper - though she hadn't yet even increased the volume of her speech it was obvous. The hand that rested on her hip trembled slightly.

[FinDragon]

Upon reaching their first stop, Kaylen saw the king leave off to his business, he immediately takes one of his men and positions him nearby the leading officers and waited patiently. After the king returns, it doesn't take too long for his spy to return to him and fill him in with news before falling back in line. The captain frowns and glances over at the king."That's one way to rule." He mutters to himself. Monster or not, for now it had been of no threat to them, if something it could've been of use, it's controller was their people, under their influence and protection. Or, that was what Kaylen had thought originally. That was no way to rule, they were on this path now to kill the oppressors, enemies of their people, not their own people. Kaylen turns to his men and looks at them."Should any one of you ever do something like that, he will not only be put to death, but it shall be done by my hand personally. We are here to strike against our enemies, not our people, especially not against civilians. Friend or foe, ours or theirs, we are to kill those who really threaten us. No matter what others tell you to do, you will follow my command, and no civilian will be killed by your hands. We are here, not to follow the king, but to protect our home, not to slay our own people. Understood?" He then turns his back to the men, he could care less whether someone else aside from them would hear him. He did not come here to watch his king kill his own.

[Didos]

"The sorcerer was son of a traitor. We could not put the fate of our entire army in the hands of that half-breed!"

King Tyros could feel the backlash of his actions. Many of his advisors berated him for slaying the sorcerer, insisting that he should have left him alive and made him some kind of ally. Even Ramia, who was recruited as a high-ranking strategist despite being a woman, had challenged his leadership style.

He tried to explain his reasoning to her: "His father was a mercenary of Piran's father, and rather than coming back to Umbri, he was granted the Umbrian Gap as settlement."

Tyros knew everybody had already made up their minds about the situation, but the cause ahead was greater. He had no desire to negotiate and take the chance on this man's loyalty to a nation he had never known. Even in his talks in the copper house, Tyros had made up his own mind as the sorcerer spun the tale of his origins as the son of an Umbrian mercenary and a royal Dumnonian concubine his father received as payment.

"Nonetheless, what's done is done. It is a shame the man knew nothing of the Dumnonian landscape. It may have been a sort of redeemable quality we could have implemented, but there is now no question that the Umbrian Gap is available to us."

"At dawn, we will continue our march. Eat and rest up, we will not stop again until we find civilization. Captain Kaylen Hunter and his Brass Boars will be marching at the head of the army, behind my guard."

[Halvtand]

As lady Ramia disappeared from his vision the magician Cornelius tried to remember her words, for he valued them greatly. Her temper and rudeness was one of her greatest assets, for she was honest and fearless, qualities that would make a poor diplomat, but a fair advisor. Cornelius was never above taking other people's advice, they reflected the human behind them so well...

With a wave of his hand the forest once again fell silent and peaceful, though no one was around to hear it, and all that sounds of a marching army flooded back to the mage. He didn't enjoy the noise at all, but knew that he had to suffer through it. Displacing sound like that was difficult in its own way. Not complicated or hard, but taxing...
The chalice disappeared from his hand together with whatever fluid it had contained and with nothing else but a large quantity of time ahead he opened the chest and brought out a thick leather-bound book. The lid closed again on its own and Cornelius sat down to read.

Several hours later the army arrived at a lake with a small copper house sitting alone on a tiny island close to the middle of it. The soldiers whispered about a strange shadow in the water that followed them around. Cornelius found they were right. No magic had to be used, the shadow was huge and could be seen clearly with the naked eye. There was power nearby as well, partially hidden by the metal plating of the house, but whoever lived there could bend magic, much like Cornelius and his fellows. Suddenly a man stepped out of the house and Cornelius could get a clear view of his power. There wasn't much, and most of it was raw talent. A few years at a proper university would do the man well, he might even become great.
King Tyros demanded a boat to be built and while the whole army waited Cornelius tried to speak to his king. He warned his sire that the man on the island was no ordinary man, that he had power, and requested that the king should bring him along for protection, but king Tyros refused. The king said that advisers and diplomats would only complicate the matter, that a talk man to man was needed.
Cornelius tried to change his king's mind, but to no avail. Once the boat was done the king went on board and kicked off without waiting for anyone. The mysterious shadow lurked between him and the island, but a strange power was cast from the copper house, a sleeping spell, and the shadow sank to the bottom.

Cornelius joined the other advisers and listened to them talk and bicker and argue about what would happen. One of the fools even suggested that they should have the archers fire a volley across the lake to show the strength of the army, as a warning to the stranger. A single angry look from the lord general Issiam was warning enough.
In this case Cornelius agreed with the general. The act could only be seen as an act of aggression, and if the man had any violent plan in store for the king, it would only serve to spur him on.
Besides, the man couldn't possibly have that much magical talent and still be blind. There were at least five greater mages present in the army, and enough power between them to turn the little copper house into a butterfly, with or without passengers.

Some time later the aura of power coming from the house disappeared. Only the talentless amongst the advisers kept talking. Those with the power to sense magic knew what had happened. The king appeared and threw something in the lake before he washed himself and paddled across. Another march was ordered and Cornelius returned to the baggage train.
Later, when the king revealed what had truly happened many saw fit to openly doubt and defy the lord within earshot from the troops. Cornelius was one of very few who said nothing.
“Cornelius!” said one who sought to further damage the king's reputation. “Talk to him! Tell him that it was wrong!”

“I will do no such thing!” Cornelius sneered. He was never above hitting someone who deserved it on the head. Verbally, if need be. He moved closer to his king, poking a historian in the ribs with his staff when the man wouldn't move. He sensed that the situation could get ugly, and the mage had subtle ways to control a crowd that weapon-bearing body guards didn't seem to understand. Luckily it was never needed. The king ordered a march at dawn and left for his tent. Cornelius followed him there. A body guard tried to stop him outside, but quickly changed his mind.

“Your advisers are fools, my lord. Why you even bothered to bring half of them is beyond me. Most have already made up their minds about the entire campaign, and it will be hard to change them after this.” The kings mouth never opened, but his eyes spoke volumes. Cornelius continued, but with calmer words.
“You put yourself in needless danger today, even after I warned you about the man being more than ordinary, you refused to bring even one guard. Why?”

[Marcus XVI]

Ramia listened to the king's words with a barely calm expression decorating her face - below the thin disguise of calmness lay a very thick layer of barely contained anger. She shook her head and stormed off without another word while gripping Faran's reins tightly in her right hand. The dark haired woman walked back and forth for a good while to calm her nerves and occasionally paused to give a little kick to a rock or two that had for the time being earned her ire. After collecting her thoughts and finally managed to subdue her anger in to mild annoyance the Wolf of Kastagir glanced around - she had wandered to the very edges of their force and was now behind the baggage trains. She took a deep breath. "That damned idiot! Ordering someone to kill a man is one thing, but doing it yourself in that mans damned position is just..." Her left hand moved to the hilt of her falcata and with a swift swing of the curved blade a thin branch of a willow tree fell to the ground. "I didn't train for years to put up this kind of crap from a fool." Another swing was followed by another branch hitting the ground. Ramia admitted silently to herself that she was overreacting slightly - well quite much actually, but the partial irrationality of the kings actions were just agains everything she had learned during her studies.

The dark haired woman returned the falcata to her belt after cutting off a third branch. She took another deep breath, mounted her steed and shook her head slightly. "The beginning of this campaign hasn't been a good one, let's hope the rest of it is." She rode back to the main force and quickly sought out the Brass Boars. Locating that lot wasn't such a hard thing to do. Her eyes scanned the group and soon found the captain "Captain Hunter, I'd like a word if you have the time."

[TimasheTiger]

All the Historians were told one story, but even before the uproar that came from the head of the army Thallus already had his suspicions. A king who refused his guards, walking alone into another man's house, no way there wasn't going to be any bloodshed. While the act itself was atrocious, the only thing that made it worse was that damn captain of the brass boars, more like an iron ass if he were asked. A nation, recently united after centuries of separation, would most likely take any chance to continue its separation. What was most likely meant to be kept under wraps, considering the king lied to his historians, was now up in the air for everyone to hear. Thallus gritted his teeth, he definitely wanted to smack the boy upside his head, but causing trouble this early on, especially after a reveal like this one, would more than likely lower morale than raise it. He felt something hard poking into his backside, looking down it was one of the wizards trying to bypass him, stepping aside he let the old man walk off to the king.

"Tch, of course we needed rudeness alongside the instilled dissent," he spat on the ground, "not much we can do anyway, what's done has been done."

He turned to the rest of the historians, obvious panic and anger in their voices, "OY LASSIES!" His voice was loud enough to silence the bunch, "you heard your king, we're heading out."

A man half his size walked up to him, "and why the hell should we listen to that murderer?"

A flash of anger and the man was up off the ground, Thallus' grip tight on the man's collar, "because he's your damn king, and your damn king said move the lead out," he looked to the rest, "NAO!"

Dropping the man the rest scattered, grabbing their supplies and getting back into the caravan, Thallus took his place and kept going, waiting for night to fall.

[FinDragon]

Kaylen wasn't least bit happy how things turned out after that incident at the copper house. The army was now advancing again, but the soldiers, officers, advisers and even the damn supply lines were bickering among each other. He was relieved for once when the Cunning Wolf called him over, usually they points of views tended to differ, with him usually solving things with brute force, and she with tediously slow tactics. At least that was Kaylen's opinion. He disengaged from his unit and begun to head towards the strategist, but he stumbles upon two units arguing with each other, they were clearly both filled with good men, but other side followed the king blindly, without even really knowing why to fight, the other side simply did not know when to shut up to avoid open conflict. Kaylen frowns and stops between the two groups."What are you doing!" He yells at them."You are acting like children! Weak, pathetic, barely walking brats! This is not the time for haggling over something you have no control over. The King had his reasons, whether they were good or not, and you WILL accept them, now keep marching, and shut up. If I hear ONE more word from any of you, the rest of the army must hold me back!" He snorts and makes sure to give icy glare to the commanding officers. After that little farce was done, he finally arrives to Ramia."Yes, since I am here now, I apparently did have time in my hands. What do you need?" He asks bluntly, not bothering with any form of courtesy.

[Marcus XVI]

Ramia rolled her eyes and lifted her hand to a quick and very proper salute as a little smile crept to her lips. "Apparently so." She shook her head slightly and dismounted gracefully - making sure that her cloak covered her properly. "Now, in all honesty I do not care what you think of me as a person, or how you think of my tactics and other such." Her right hand took a better hold of Faran's reins. "Taking in to consideration how finely this trip has started - and my obvious lack of authority, probably due to my gender - I'd suggest we combine our efforts. Your martial prowess with my wits - even if this whole trip will end badly I want to live through this." She coughed politely, switched the reins to her left hand and flashed a little smile while extending her right hand towards Kaylen. "Or to put it in simpler terms you watch my back and I'll make sure someone watches yours."

[Didos]

The encampment was calm. It seemed the men were accepting Tyros' actions, although some of his higher officials were still debating the whole ordeal. He had to be careful of his actions further into the campaign. It was enough work to bring all these people together, but keeping them like this may be a tricky situation. Allowing officers across Umbri to command the units from their homelands made it all even more fragile. In a heartbeat, these men could break away and turn right back home, reigniting the regional conflict until Piran finally made his move against all of them.

Cornelius approached his tent after sunset, and began inquiring about Tyros' choice to handle the situation alone.

"Honestly, Cornelius, I have never cared much for magic, or sorcery, or whatever any of you choose to call it. It is unnatural, playing with the elements and wielding powers not inherently given to man. I can appreciate that you and several others in this group possess those kinds of powers at high levels, and that does give us an advantage over Piran, if not just put us on a level playing field."

"As for the half-bred sorcerer, I am not afraid of a man with those powers, because he is still merely a man. At first, I only wished to retrieve some information out of him. Bringing an entourage could have either intimidated or insulted him, and I was not going to take any chances on him closing himself off to me."

---

When sunrise finally came around, the army composed themselves and began their march through the second leg of the Umbrian Gap. He had his cartographers keep track of their location, giving routes for messengers back to Umbria and marking potential re-supply areas.

After only about 2 hours, an intricately-designed stone gateway came into view. It stretched from mountain to mountain, and had to be at least 30 feet tall. On either side of the gateway, Dumnonian idols were carved into pillars, and a double-headed eagle was engraved above the arch. Surely, we will be in Piran's domain soon.

They stopped a quarter-mile short of the gateway, and Tyros began gathering a delegation to approach the governor of this territory.

He left his generals and a few other commanding officers to supervise the army. They were to stay attentive, and be ready to march in if the delegation was met with hostility. Besides, he was not trying to appear threatening to these people in his first entrance.

"Ramia shall be my key advisor in this discussion. For the majority of the coming discussion, only me and her shall speak. If anyone else wishes to voice themselves, I you will request permission from both I and whoever governs this place. I do not plan on fucking this one up, especially if it happens to be a military stronghold."

"Accompanying us into their chambers will be Thallus the Thaldorian as scribe,... Cornelius Nerva the Sorcerer,... and my own personal guard. Captain Hunter and the Brass Boars will explore the city and provide any useful information pertaining to this city, and the path that lays past this one."

---

At noon, the delegation set off towards the gateway. Even his escort seemed like a formidable force for this city. As they passed through, they were met with the loud voices of merchants and traders. Kiosks decorated in a multitude of ways, carrying a hefty variety of products, lined the streets. Many were familiar to Umbri, which seemed to lay on this transnational trade route. The architecture, however, was clearly alien to them. All there were were high walls, gateways, and a single capitol building sitting at the center of the city.

It looked like a fortress, at least 3 stories tall and capable of possessing a barrack and armory of its own. They walked towards it, and the Brass Boars were ordered to depart from the group and wander the city until they were finished. They were given odd looks, but still the merchants hassled them for business.

The delegation reached the base of the capitol, and made their way up the stairs. In all, there could not have been more than 8, with 12 of them being part of Tyros' bodyguard waiting at the base of the structure. Tyros took off his helmet, and held in under his left arm, whose hand also held his spear. It was an odd sight indeed: an man only donning heavy armor followed by 7 properly dressed individuals.

They reached the top, passed the door guards, and found themselves standing in some sort of lobby greeted by a young eunuch. "I am Tyros, King of Umbri. My delegation and I desire audience with your governor."

"Let me inform him of your presence, sir."