Glory of Antaria - Second Calling
Authors note: So this is the start of the second book, im sorry but I cant make the promise of updating this daily, but If I happen to have time I will, first I would like to note some changes to the story that I have taken liberty to change in order to make the story go somewhat better along the side with the actually mod: Continent isnt called Antaria anymore, its Korward (dont ask why, youll know soon enough
) So here it is, Second book, oh and changed the master title of the trilogy from The last king of Antaria to Glory of Antaria, first chapter dedicated to Arch, my ever so faithfull fan :p
Prologue
Ariadram was sitting on a wooden chair, the chair was really uncomfortable and old, but he didnt care. Ariadram gleanced trough the window and a magnificent sight of city of Khudan, its bustling plaza and old but sturdy fortifications offered contrast of colors and when the light of the sunrise slowly but surely started to light the city, its magnificence rose to a new level. In the last month Khudan had become home for Ariadram and his company, together they had bought a sizable estate near Khudan and most of the soldiers were working in the city watch, as for Ariadram, he was planning for the next stage of his plan to wrestle Korward back, it wasnt easy but Ariadram was determined. The first stage of his plan would be executed sooner than Ariadram would have ever guessed.
Bustling merchants plaza
"High quality swords and low prizes!" a Merchant yelled, but it was soon mixed with the multitude of other merchants advertising their own products. Ariadram tried to walk against the mass of people going towards the opposite direction, he was guarded by two of his trusted soldiers and after few minutes they finally reached their target. Ariadram arrived to a plaza full of people, they were surrounding a slave merchant in the middle. Ariadram yelled with firm voice "How many slaves do you have?!" he asked, merchants attention was immediatly captured by Ariadram, "close to 120 sir!" Merchant yelled back, Ariadram smiled and yelled soon back towards the merchant "I want to buy all of them!" Ariadram yelled and continued "Would 7000 denarii suffice?!" he yelled, soon everyone in the plaza were frozen and the merchant couldnt believe his ears. "7000... 7000 denarii?!?!" Merchant said, gasped air and continued "Yes, yes! It is just the right amount!"
Courtyard of Ariadram's Estate, Furnhelm Estate
Slaves were all standing still and listening what would be his orders, they were all amazed that their new master was only teenager but still so wealthy. "Gentlemen..." Ariadram started "You are going to be part of something great, after that you will be promised 1000 denarii and freedom!" he said, slaves couldnt believe their ears but their awe would still continue, soon few of the Ariadrams soldiers came to the courtyard and brought weapons and armors "You will be trained in the ways of soldiering, my men will teach you, they are veterans of many battles" Ariadram said and continued "Training starts now!"
Chapter 1, Today or Never!
The untrained slaves were slowly turning to be soldiers, Ariadrams plan was cunning, and the chance of succes was slim, but Ariadram would need to do it in order to have even a slightest chance in wrestling Korward back. Ariadram heard that someone knocked the door "please, come in" he said, a young messenger rushed trough the door "Khergit army has started massive assault on the heartland of Vaeger, most of the military have already retreated to the capital! City council of Khudan is giving every nole residing in the countryside to be escorted inside the city" messenger said, Ariadram thought for a while, and answered "All right, I will join your escort, is it waiting outside?" he asked, "Yes it is, sire" messenger answered. "I will come there shortly" Ariadram answered and dismissed the messenger.
Courtyard of Estate, few minutes later
Over 30 elite soldier stood still, waiting to escort Ariadram. Only in few weeks Ariadram had proven the City Council of his heritage as a King and after that he rose up amongst the nobles of Khudan as the most prominent one. Soon, out of nowhere, Ariadram and over 60 of his soldiers attacked the soldiers, in the chaos most of the elite soldiers were slaughtered, those that were wounded, were taken as a prisoners. Ariadrams plan had worked, the city council of Khudan was a weak but their military power was vast. Ariadrams plan in its simplicity was to stage a coup in Khudan and form it as the first Antarian city in Caldaria. After that, messengers and spies would be sended over the mountains to Korward, in order to inform the citizens and villagers about the Antarian resistance far away, hopefully that would bring most of the Korward Resistance and multitude of normal folk to reinforce the dwindling forces of Ariadram. Ariadram and some of his soldiers dressed up as the Elite soldiers while the others were disguised as refugees. In total Ariadram had 180 soldiers, 40 of which had been infiltrated inside the city councils elite guard in the last 2 weeks.
Moments later, before the Council Hall
Ariadram and 30 of his soldiers had managed to infiltrate the city gates without being noticed, they were standing infront of the Council hall, inside of which the Council members debated whether to send help to the heartland or turn Khudan into a fortress. Soon Ariadram rushed in and killed the two guards infront of him, dozens of Ariadrams soldiers went to arrest the Council member of high-profile treason. Ariadrams plan had worked so far. Now all he needed was the support of the people. As the news of enemy soldiers inside the Council Hall swept trough the city, more and more people gathered near the vicinity of Council Hall, just as Ariadram had hoped. In matter of hours Council hall was surrounded by city guard and a huge mob of people. People were suprised greatly when a familiar figure that emerged from the shadows. "Its Ariadram! He is the enemy!" Someone from the crowd yelled, but Ariadram silenced this man with his fearless glance. "Dear, city dwellers!" Ariadram started to speak to the mob infront of him "Im not your enemy! Your enemy is the weak city council, who has done nothing to the Khergit threat!" Ariadram paused his speech to make sure that everyone in the mob infront of him listened "But, there is even greater threat! Legion! Their iron fist has already crushed my homeland, people of Calradia know my land only from the folk lores told to childrens as a bed time story! I come from the ancient land of Korward!" Ariadram let his eyes meet everyone in the mob. The mob didnt know what to say, most of them knew the story about Korward. Ariadram was anxiosly waiting how the crowd would react, soon like a wave of relief the mob started yelling Ariadrams name "All hail Ariadram! King of Kings!!!" The crowd lifted Ariadram high in the air and they started walking trough the streets yelling the message of Ariadram across the city streets.
Week later
Like a tidal wave, the news of the rebellion of Khudan swept trough the Kingdom of Vaegir, but Vaegir army was having so much problems keeping the inner kingdom together that they didnt have time to ever quell the rebellion. Soon most of the border outposts, towns and villages near Khudan had joined to the rebellion. Ariadram had started massive construction works for a mountain fortress and at the same time all of the males of his regime had been called to arms. Ariadram's army now comprising of 14 000 soldiers, was now ready to take on the Khergit invasion. With more that 30 000 soldiers still in training, things looked great for Ariadram and his hope for the reinstated Kingdom of Antaria.
Chapter 2; Siege of Curaw
Outskirts of Curaw
And so it had started, again. Ariadram was leading a host to war. Being only 17 years old, Ariadram had seen lot of grief, sorrow and war. This time it was different, Ariadram had an army that was trained specifically to fight against the khergit threat. Khergit armies used efficent but simple tactics. Using their superior speed and mobility they ferociously charged at their enemies while a bulk of their forces flanked the enemy army. Ariadram had seen this tactic used by the Zerikkanian Sultanate, but unsuccesfully against the Triariia wall of the Romans. Ariadram had used that knowledge and the army behind him was trained to be superior against any cavalry in the known world, but still not forgetting the importance of the other parts of the army. While almost half of the army were lightly armored pikemens, there still were heavily armored Swordmens, Cavalry, Archers and Siege. As the host behind Ariadram kept walking towards Curaw an sound of hoofs was getting louder and louder. "Men ready for battle!" Ariadram yelled to his sergeants "Order the skirmish forces to the forest there and cavalry, tell them to wait for further orders, pikemen form two columns between of which the heavy swordmens will be located" he said, "Affirmative!" Sergeant said and rode out to give the orders.
Few moments later, Before Curaw
Ariadram was standing atop of a hill, he could see his forces and the Khergits now hurrying their forces to meet Ariadrams forces. Khergits were clearly taken by surprise and the army that was going to meet the armies of Ariadram wasnt clearly at its best shape. The battle was soon to be ensued, and the Khergit force infront of Ariadrams army was huge. "We have estimated that the Khergit forces have atleast 30 000 soldiers in Curaw, plus 15 000 in the countryside around it." An advisor of Ariadram said. Ariadram was still confident, his forces had been trained for this situation in particular. Soon the Khergit force started their charge, it was halted by the pike and sword wall of Ariadrams forces. As suspected a bulk of Khergit forces strated their flanking manouver, "NOW!" Ariadram yelled to a archer behind him, archer fired his fire arrow into the grass under the Khergit horsemens and the whole area was englufed with flames. This was a sign for the forces waiting in the forest near Curaw, they charged into the flank of the Khergit army and soon the whole battlefield was in chaos, the Ariadrams forces had surrounded the Khergit forces and they were falling like leafs in autumn. The remainder of the forces retreated inside Curaw to get ready for the siege.
Week later, Siege camp infront of Curaw
Ariadram was looking at the map, that was found in the archives of Khudan. Its showed the city planning with amazing accuracy. Ariadram had pretty much come into a conclusion that Curaw was almost impenerable fortress. The only way Khergits had one was because they basically just tired out the defence forces and then struck out with deadly force. The siege that ensued in Curaw when khergits were trying to take it lasted 4 years, more than anyother siege in Calradian history. Ariadram didnt have time to tire the defenders out, as he knew that reinforcements were most likely coming, and with greater force. He had send scouts ahead, on the mountain pass near Curaw and Khergit border to warn them of enemy armies. Ariadram's army had diminished from around 14 000 to 9000, these were minimal losses considering that the Khergit force still outnumbered Ariadram 2 to 1 and that Khergits had done 2 sallies against the siegers.
"Ariadram?" a young boy asked on entry to the tent, "I have a message for you from the city council of Khudan!" boy said and continued "Vaegir armies has one a spree of victories on the heartland, they are led by a stranger, who is said to have come from the mountains, he carries the name of Dregan Halifunor" Ariadrams heart stopped, so many questions were rushing trough Ariadrams head, was Dregan captured and brainwashed to serve Legion? Did he escape? and most of all, what was he doing here? But Ariadram didnt have time to think, the siege was still going hot and Ariadrams plan was soon to be perfected.
10 meters under the walls of Curaw
"Sergeant! I found it!" a young trainee said for an elder sergeant that pushed the trainee aside and tried the land with his hands. "Yes, pefect!" sergeant said and yelled to the engineers behind him "Bring the pipe!" and the Engineers brought an enormous iron pipe that spanned from the siege camp to under the walls of Curaw.
Outside Curaw
"Do it!" Ariadram yelled to a Engineer behind him, and only few hours later the walls of Curaw grumbled. "Now! CHAARGE! INTO THE BREACH!" Ariadram yelled to his forces, and they did as told. Citizens of Curaw that had lived under a brutal rule were more than happy to join and soon the army of 9000 multiplied to span tens of thousand. Defenders were overrun in seconds without a fight. Ariadram progress trough the city was swift and when they reached the pillaged city hall they stopped their progress and let the angry mob to finish the work. Curaw was another major city that was emerged with the newly founded Antarian Remnant Empire, while only 1/8 of the people in this regime was born in Antaria of the now nearly 76 thousand population, everyone had embraced enlightement as their new religion and the people were working with full gear for this new regime. Temples were built and soldiers trained. Most of the soldiers were volunteered and the most high ranking officers were slept and fed for free inside the cities.
half an year later
Ariadram had taken huge steps forward, Antarian Remnant Empire had progressed hugely after forcing the Khergits to peace. But now, an inevitable war against the weak and shattered Vaegir Empire was going to consume both nations. While Antarian Empire was ahead in both economically and in military Strenght the war against Khergits had taken its toll. Curaw had been sieged twice and Khudan had sieged three times. All of the sieges had been catastrophical failure for Khergits that had started to doubt their military leader so much that a rumor about a coup in the heatland had swept across Calradia, shortly after that Khergit emissaries had arrived pledging for peace. Inorder to evade the war Ariadram was going to make a diplomatic journey onto Rivacheg. To see Dregan.
Outside Rivacheg
Ariadram had arrived to his destination, he had with him only his personal messenger, two of his closest guards and a chest full of money. ARiadram had been aching to know the intentions of Dregan. He would be suprised. Happily. He was riding his horse toward the castle inside Rivacheg, upon reaching he was greeted by no other than Dregan himself. "Hey there Ariadram! Nice to see you!" Dregan said with joy and went to hug Ariadram, but Ariadram ignored Dregan "how did you survive? Are you working for the Legion?!" Ariadram started bombarding dregan with questions, Dregan answered with calm voice "Calm down, everything will be explained"
Chapter 3; Alliance of Liberty
Inside Castle Rivaren
Dregan and Tsar Alexei's son Pjotr were both standing infront of Ariadram, Dregan started speaking to Ariadram calmly "After the battle of Koran Pass we met the roman forces, or atleast we thought they were roman forces, but in reality they were just an ordinary town folk. The ones we ultimately murdered with the ambush" Dregan said and looked into Ariadram's eyes, he could see that Ariadram had still a furious look on his face when speaking about that atrocity that Romans did. Dregan continued "I decided that I would make a last stand and try to win the decisive victory purely in a battle" Dregan sighed and continued "The battle that ensued was ferocious, but we were outnumbered 20 to 1 and finally the Antarian blood was drained out, I was captured, taken to a prison castle near the border where ancient Arnoian border used to be. I spent months and months, living with bare minimum food and water. Then a strange thing happened as I was finishing my daily meal, a alarm bell rang and soon the entire castle was being sieged by an unknown force, the sieging force executed the siege with such a precision that the romans couldnt get any word out, and only in 3 days, the entire castle had been captured" Dregan said. "New Arnoians, my father..." Ariadram said.
"Yes, you father saved me, he said that he had met you and rescued you from the claws of Roman army, he also informed me of Turn´Qhel, the hidden golden city of Arnoian empire, and that the Resistance had started working. He gave me a mission to find you and to help you in your task to ally with Calradian Empire, but as I figured out like you did, there isnt any Calradian Empire to ally with"Dregan said and smiled to Ariadram. Ariadram had a huge smile on his face, he had been wrong, and Dregan was still working for Enlightement and for Antaria.
Prince Pjotr, who had remained silent the entire time started to speak to Ariadram "My Father, Alexei is in bad shape, he wont survive for very long time, and im not in a shape to lead a nation alone, my training in economics and in other fields of kingdom management are mediocre, but the times are dire, and Vaegir Empire needs a strong figure to lead them. I would need a guiding hand in those things, and while Dregan has been invaluable in training Vaegir forces to be better equipped to face Khergit threat, he is not an economic advisor, thats why I want to make an alliance with you, an alliance that will fight against Khergits and Legion here, on Vaeger soil, and when the time comes help you in wrestling Antarian soil back and to free Korward from the oppression its facing now. Dregan here has already made an alliance between New Arnoian Empire and Vaegir Empire, and we want you and your Antarian Remnant Empire." Pjotr gave Ariadram time to think, but he already knew the answer "Yes, count me in!" Ariadram said and continued "Our next target is the border fort in Sungetche Pass, Sungetche Castle!"
Week later
The allied army was standing before the great sungetche mountains, the mountains were guarded by one of the most largest, heavily fortified and garrisoned forts known to man. Sungetche Castle. Built oringinally by Caldarian empire as a refugee for Emperor and the most highest nobles, it was adopted as a border fort by Vaegirs when the empire fell. Vaegirs doubled the size of its fortifications and built it walls to withstand any for of attack. Then, 30 years ago, khergits attacked without a warning. They sieged almost garrisonless castle for 3 years, until finally, it was captured. Khergits quickly repaired the damage done to the castle and upgraded it, and built catapults and trebuchets to rain death from above for invaders. This time, they didnt have time for 3 years of siege warfare, as reports were coming in from Korward that Romans were gaining an upper hand in the battle between the new Arnoian Empire and Roman Empire.
The allied army started marching. It consisted of almost 60 000 brave soldiers. Hundreds of engineers had been designing day and night for a new kind of siege tower. One that could reach the wallments of Sungetche. after few hours of tiring marching uphill, they finally reached the Castle, Khergits were quickly alerted and in minutes the castle walls were full of soldiers. An eerie silence fell between these two forces. No arrows were exchanged, nothing. Engineers started working on the siege tower and in 24 hours it was ready for action.
The siege tower was shaped more like a giraffe than a regular siege tower, it was reinforced with steel and clay and it was protected from fire arrows using leather. The Siege tower was reaching for the skies, and with its height of almost 12 meters, it was longest tower that Ariadram had ever seen. It was the first tower to get up from the 12 that were being built. Ariadram inspected the khergit forces occupying the fort. They were hardened veterans of many battles, their faces were grim and scarred, their eyes were filled with experience and force of will. Ariadram turned to see his own forces, where khergits had an experience of tens of battles, did Ariadrams men have a experience of about 2 battles average. Most of the forces were fresh out of training. Still, Ariadram felt confident, he knew that no matter what, his forces were behind him 100 percent.
"Sir! My king!" a young messenger yelled while running uphill towards ariadrams position, he was carrying some sort of necklace. "This is from the city council of Khudan, they want to give it to you, it's one of the most sacred relics we have. It's the Blood Necklace of the Tzars. It was worn by the first tzar of Vaegir Tzardom, Nikolai the Bear Hunter." Ariadram gazed the necklace with awe, it was one of the most expensivest things he had seen in his life. A huge, 200 gram ruby was placed in the middle of the necklace, while the edges were covered with little diamond. The rest of the necklace was one of the finest metals in whole calradia. Salvorum. It was found in very small quantities across the Vaeger Mountains, the necklace most likely had more Salvorum that had been mined in the last 100 years. "I would be honored to wear this necklace when I'll strike my blade into the heart of Vaegers enemies!" Ariadram stated firmly, handing his palm out to receive the necklace. The boy gave it, with a little hesitation. "You have done well messenger, what is your name?" Ariadram said and gazed at the messenger, seeing a bit frightened face of the young boy he quickly added "Dont worry, I'm only human" and laughed a bit, the boy joined his laughter and answered "M'lord, my name is Lev Protorski, I serve the house of Jebul in the city council of Khudan." Ariadram was suprised, House of Jebul had been one of the most difficult ones to persuade to accept Ariadram as the city's new leader, this was problematic since Jebul was the most wealthiest and the most powerful house in all Vaeger. They had basically founded Khudan, and by killing their House's head Maksim Jebul, Ariadram had poisoned their relations. "Well this was a surprise, tell them that I'm most grateful for the gift, and that I will bring victory in the name of their House and in the name of all who live in Vaeger-Antarian alliance!" After proclaiming this, ARiadram dismissed the messenger and started to get ready for the battle.
Few hours later, Hour before Sunset
Khergit forces were still waiting in dead silence, they hadn't shot an arrow and had only waited for the Allied forces to do the first move. The first move was about to be made, week ago Ariadram had silently ordered the men to dig a tunnel to the other side of the castle, and a fourteenth siege tower was secretly being built there. When the battle would ensue a small force of 300 elite soldiers would infltrate the khergits from the rear and burn their armory down thus destroying most of the arrows they had. After all the khergit military prowess was found in the field of marksmanship. The moment was upon them. A massive battle horn was blown, and Ariadram's forces, as instructed, started their advance behind and on top of the siege towers. At the same time Khergit archers started their volleys with deadly precision, every moment soldiers were lost from the arrow volleys that blackened the sky like a flock of crows flying. "We need to get the elite forces in, what's taking them so long?" Ariadram asked from a sergeant beside him, "I don't know" sergeant answered but soon yelled with hope "M'lord look! Their Armory, it's on flames!". "Finally! Tell the rest of the elite company to go under the tunnel to the other side and to reinforce the infaltrating forces." Ariadram ordered the sergeant, "Yes, M'lord" Sergeant said firmly, and ran out to give the orders.
Moments later, on the wallments
"Were are those reinforcements?! They are killing us!" Yelled an Khergit soldier to his fellow soldier nearby, "They aren't coming anytime soon, they are tied up fighting against the elite cadre attacking from our rear!" The Khergit soldier said, while still fighting against 2 Antarian swordmens. "They are getting the upper hand, we need to retreat inside the inner keep!" Khergit soldier said to an officer near him, "It's not for me to decide, our main commander is sitting inside the comfortable inner keep, we need to push them back! CHARGE!" officer said to the khergit soldiers near him, but the charge that ensued was completely waste of energy. The battle on the outer wallments was going well for Ariadram, khergit forces were outnumbered 3 to 1 and had lost almost all of the elite siege troops that were trained specifically for siege situations. The experience of the Khergit soldiers was starting to show it's power, when the odds turned from 3 to 1 to 6 to 1, Khergits were still inflicting serious casualties to the attacking forces, and the death toll was reaching tens of thousands. While the khergit death toll was staying under thousand, still the odds were turning against the khergits simply because the allied forces outnumbered them almost 8 to 1. Soon a reliefing command was given to the khergit forces "Withdraw from the outer walls, into the inner keep!" and the a massive withdraw manoveur started.
Inside the inner keep
Commander Helius was a fat and old commander, he was so obese that he couldn't ride a horse. He wasn't respected at all by his soldiers, and his military skill was lacking, the only reason he was the commander of the most important fortification in entire Khergit Khanate was because he was a close friend of the Khan, and had more money than anyone could dream of. He was eating a huge rosted chicken when he was interrupted by his military advisor. "Commander, the Allied forces are attempting to break trough the gate, what should we do?" Military advisor asked with uncertainty in his eyes, "Charge them, gather everyone you can and charge" Helius said and dismissed the Advisor, Advisor was hesitant to leave "But commander..." He started but was immediatly interrupted by Helius "I'm the commander here, now act as ordered! Youre dismissed!" Helius yelled with anger. As the Advisor turned around and walked out from the hall, commander looked at his advisor's back for few seconds, shrugged his shoulders, and kept on eating.
Outside the inner keep
"M'lord, khergits are doing an another suicide charge, this is strange." Sergeant beside Ariadram noted, Ariadram looked at the gates, which were being opened and a cavalry charge followed immediatly, it was halted by spearmen regiment guarding the gate. "This is strange indeed, it's the third charge they have done within the hour, each time their losses are almost complete, while ours are minimal. Sergeant, any theory on why they're doing this?" Ariadram said and looked at the sergeant on his right side. "I'm sorry sir, only thing I can think is that the Commander is a complete idiot." Sergeant answered with a little smile, hinting his amusement over this. "Hmm, indeed, but clear that smile from your face, he is killing his soldiers in vain, hmm, I need to end this now" Ariadram said and turned around towards Main Engineer Urder and asked from him "Are the engineers ready?". "Just give us few moments, almost all of the trebuchets have been completed, 4 more to go, we have also enough stones for 4 hour continues barrage from all of the 60 trebuchets" Urder answered, "56 trebuchets are more than enough, you have 15 minutes to get ready for the barrage, just make sure most of the shots hit the walls and not the keep itself, we want this place intact." Ariadram said to Erdur, "Yes M'lord, as you wish."
Only moments later and all hell broke lose, it took about 15 seconds for the barrage to turn northern wall to rubble, and most of the Khergit soldiers immediatly surrendered, facing allied army head to head. Ariadram then ordered his soldiers to storm the keep itself, and only in a matter of minutes a Antarian flag flew high above the castle. Commander of the keep was dragged from the halls, and was forced to kneel before Ariadram. "Are you the commander of the castle?" Ariadram asked fully knowing the truth, "No sir... Im just a servant here, please dont kill me" Helius answered with his voice vibrating from the fear. "Liar!" Ariadram yelled and slapped Heliuses face. "Drag him to the deepest dungeon you can find in my entire domain, and throw the key away, give him minimal amount of food, he needs to lose weight anyway." Ariadram said to a soldier behind Helius, and as ordered the soldier forced Helius to stand up, and they both left. "Engineer, you need to repair the damage done unto the castle as soon as possible, I will leave a sizeable force behind, lets say, 7500 veterans and 12 000 trainees, the commander of this castle will be my trusted friend and captain of my elite quadre, Erian Fellhorn. Also I will donate 500 000 denarii, into the rebuilding and will ask other kingdoms in our alliance to do so as well. I'm also ordering you to build this keep to greater hights than ever before." Ariadram said to the engineer, and continued walking until he reached the newly promoted Warmaster Dregan.
"Hello my friend, what are the casualties?" Ariadram asked with a hint of sorrow in his voice, this was the most hardest part of the battle, to hear the losses. "The losses reached 17 000 dead, and 7000 more wounded, about 3000 of those have minor wounds and are fit for duty in a matter of weeks." Dregan said with calm and cold voice, he had witnessed so many battles that this was only one drop of water in the sea of battles. Dregan waited a moment and added, "It's less than we expected, we expected 35 000 dead" and tried to comfort Ariadram. Ariadram looked up into the eyes of Dregan, Dregan could see the sorrow Ariadram was going trough, but soon Ariadram recovered. "How many troops are currently going to reinforce our main army?" Ariadram asked from Dregan after a moment of silence. "Currently we are getting almost 16 000 soldiers as reinforcements, ofcourse most of these are recruits, but after 4 weeks, we should be back at our maximal suistanable strength, which is 65 000 soldiers." Dregan answered and asked "What's the next step?". "Our army will pillage trough Khergit Khanate, and we will stop only at the gates of Narra, you will lead the second wing of our army, you will have 30 000 soldiers, your main objective is to capture Ichamur and continue on towards Halmar, I will take the rest of the forces and move towards Tulga, we will meet at halmar, and from there on continue towards Narra. This should invoke a rebellion between the already fragile Khergits.
Authors note: So this is the start of the second book, im sorry but I cant make the promise of updating this daily, but If I happen to have time I will, first I would like to note some changes to the story that I have taken liberty to change in order to make the story go somewhat better along the side with the actually mod: Continent isnt called Antaria anymore, its Korward (dont ask why, youll know soon enough
) So here it is, Second book, oh and changed the master title of the trilogy from The last king of Antaria to Glory of Antaria, first chapter dedicated to Arch, my ever so faithfull fan :p Prologue
Ariadram was sitting on a wooden chair, the chair was really uncomfortable and old, but he didnt care. Ariadram gleanced trough the window and a magnificent sight of city of Khudan, its bustling plaza and old but sturdy fortifications offered contrast of colors and when the light of the sunrise slowly but surely started to light the city, its magnificence rose to a new level. In the last month Khudan had become home for Ariadram and his company, together they had bought a sizable estate near Khudan and most of the soldiers were working in the city watch, as for Ariadram, he was planning for the next stage of his plan to wrestle Korward back, it wasnt easy but Ariadram was determined. The first stage of his plan would be executed sooner than Ariadram would have ever guessed.
Bustling merchants plaza
"High quality swords and low prizes!" a Merchant yelled, but it was soon mixed with the multitude of other merchants advertising their own products. Ariadram tried to walk against the mass of people going towards the opposite direction, he was guarded by two of his trusted soldiers and after few minutes they finally reached their target. Ariadram arrived to a plaza full of people, they were surrounding a slave merchant in the middle. Ariadram yelled with firm voice "How many slaves do you have?!" he asked, merchants attention was immediatly captured by Ariadram, "close to 120 sir!" Merchant yelled back, Ariadram smiled and yelled soon back towards the merchant "I want to buy all of them!" Ariadram yelled and continued "Would 7000 denarii suffice?!" he yelled, soon everyone in the plaza were frozen and the merchant couldnt believe his ears. "7000... 7000 denarii?!?!" Merchant said, gasped air and continued "Yes, yes! It is just the right amount!"
Courtyard of Ariadram's Estate, Furnhelm Estate
Slaves were all standing still and listening what would be his orders, they were all amazed that their new master was only teenager but still so wealthy. "Gentlemen..." Ariadram started "You are going to be part of something great, after that you will be promised 1000 denarii and freedom!" he said, slaves couldnt believe their ears but their awe would still continue, soon few of the Ariadrams soldiers came to the courtyard and brought weapons and armors "You will be trained in the ways of soldiering, my men will teach you, they are veterans of many battles" Ariadram said and continued "Training starts now!"
Chapter 1, Today or Never!
The untrained slaves were slowly turning to be soldiers, Ariadrams plan was cunning, and the chance of succes was slim, but Ariadram would need to do it in order to have even a slightest chance in wrestling Korward back. Ariadram heard that someone knocked the door "please, come in" he said, a young messenger rushed trough the door "Khergit army has started massive assault on the heartland of Vaeger, most of the military have already retreated to the capital! City council of Khudan is giving every nole residing in the countryside to be escorted inside the city" messenger said, Ariadram thought for a while, and answered "All right, I will join your escort, is it waiting outside?" he asked, "Yes it is, sire" messenger answered. "I will come there shortly" Ariadram answered and dismissed the messenger.
Courtyard of Estate, few minutes later
Over 30 elite soldier stood still, waiting to escort Ariadram. Only in few weeks Ariadram had proven the City Council of his heritage as a King and after that he rose up amongst the nobles of Khudan as the most prominent one. Soon, out of nowhere, Ariadram and over 60 of his soldiers attacked the soldiers, in the chaos most of the elite soldiers were slaughtered, those that were wounded, were taken as a prisoners. Ariadrams plan had worked, the city council of Khudan was a weak but their military power was vast. Ariadrams plan in its simplicity was to stage a coup in Khudan and form it as the first Antarian city in Caldaria. After that, messengers and spies would be sended over the mountains to Korward, in order to inform the citizens and villagers about the Antarian resistance far away, hopefully that would bring most of the Korward Resistance and multitude of normal folk to reinforce the dwindling forces of Ariadram. Ariadram and some of his soldiers dressed up as the Elite soldiers while the others were disguised as refugees. In total Ariadram had 180 soldiers, 40 of which had been infiltrated inside the city councils elite guard in the last 2 weeks.
Moments later, before the Council Hall
Ariadram and 30 of his soldiers had managed to infiltrate the city gates without being noticed, they were standing infront of the Council hall, inside of which the Council members debated whether to send help to the heartland or turn Khudan into a fortress. Soon Ariadram rushed in and killed the two guards infront of him, dozens of Ariadrams soldiers went to arrest the Council member of high-profile treason. Ariadrams plan had worked so far. Now all he needed was the support of the people. As the news of enemy soldiers inside the Council Hall swept trough the city, more and more people gathered near the vicinity of Council Hall, just as Ariadram had hoped. In matter of hours Council hall was surrounded by city guard and a huge mob of people. People were suprised greatly when a familiar figure that emerged from the shadows. "Its Ariadram! He is the enemy!" Someone from the crowd yelled, but Ariadram silenced this man with his fearless glance. "Dear, city dwellers!" Ariadram started to speak to the mob infront of him "Im not your enemy! Your enemy is the weak city council, who has done nothing to the Khergit threat!" Ariadram paused his speech to make sure that everyone in the mob infront of him listened "But, there is even greater threat! Legion! Their iron fist has already crushed my homeland, people of Calradia know my land only from the folk lores told to childrens as a bed time story! I come from the ancient land of Korward!" Ariadram let his eyes meet everyone in the mob. The mob didnt know what to say, most of them knew the story about Korward. Ariadram was anxiosly waiting how the crowd would react, soon like a wave of relief the mob started yelling Ariadrams name "All hail Ariadram! King of Kings!!!" The crowd lifted Ariadram high in the air and they started walking trough the streets yelling the message of Ariadram across the city streets.
Week later
Like a tidal wave, the news of the rebellion of Khudan swept trough the Kingdom of Vaegir, but Vaegir army was having so much problems keeping the inner kingdom together that they didnt have time to ever quell the rebellion. Soon most of the border outposts, towns and villages near Khudan had joined to the rebellion. Ariadram had started massive construction works for a mountain fortress and at the same time all of the males of his regime had been called to arms. Ariadram's army now comprising of 14 000 soldiers, was now ready to take on the Khergit invasion. With more that 30 000 soldiers still in training, things looked great for Ariadram and his hope for the reinstated Kingdom of Antaria.
Chapter 2; Siege of Curaw
Outskirts of Curaw
And so it had started, again. Ariadram was leading a host to war. Being only 17 years old, Ariadram had seen lot of grief, sorrow and war. This time it was different, Ariadram had an army that was trained specifically to fight against the khergit threat. Khergit armies used efficent but simple tactics. Using their superior speed and mobility they ferociously charged at their enemies while a bulk of their forces flanked the enemy army. Ariadram had seen this tactic used by the Zerikkanian Sultanate, but unsuccesfully against the Triariia wall of the Romans. Ariadram had used that knowledge and the army behind him was trained to be superior against any cavalry in the known world, but still not forgetting the importance of the other parts of the army. While almost half of the army were lightly armored pikemens, there still were heavily armored Swordmens, Cavalry, Archers and Siege. As the host behind Ariadram kept walking towards Curaw an sound of hoofs was getting louder and louder. "Men ready for battle!" Ariadram yelled to his sergeants "Order the skirmish forces to the forest there and cavalry, tell them to wait for further orders, pikemen form two columns between of which the heavy swordmens will be located" he said, "Affirmative!" Sergeant said and rode out to give the orders.
Few moments later, Before Curaw
Ariadram was standing atop of a hill, he could see his forces and the Khergits now hurrying their forces to meet Ariadrams forces. Khergits were clearly taken by surprise and the army that was going to meet the armies of Ariadram wasnt clearly at its best shape. The battle was soon to be ensued, and the Khergit force infront of Ariadrams army was huge. "We have estimated that the Khergit forces have atleast 30 000 soldiers in Curaw, plus 15 000 in the countryside around it." An advisor of Ariadram said. Ariadram was still confident, his forces had been trained for this situation in particular. Soon the Khergit force started their charge, it was halted by the pike and sword wall of Ariadrams forces. As suspected a bulk of Khergit forces strated their flanking manouver, "NOW!" Ariadram yelled to a archer behind him, archer fired his fire arrow into the grass under the Khergit horsemens and the whole area was englufed with flames. This was a sign for the forces waiting in the forest near Curaw, they charged into the flank of the Khergit army and soon the whole battlefield was in chaos, the Ariadrams forces had surrounded the Khergit forces and they were falling like leafs in autumn. The remainder of the forces retreated inside Curaw to get ready for the siege.
Week later, Siege camp infront of Curaw
Ariadram was looking at the map, that was found in the archives of Khudan. Its showed the city planning with amazing accuracy. Ariadram had pretty much come into a conclusion that Curaw was almost impenerable fortress. The only way Khergits had one was because they basically just tired out the defence forces and then struck out with deadly force. The siege that ensued in Curaw when khergits were trying to take it lasted 4 years, more than anyother siege in Calradian history. Ariadram didnt have time to tire the defenders out, as he knew that reinforcements were most likely coming, and with greater force. He had send scouts ahead, on the mountain pass near Curaw and Khergit border to warn them of enemy armies. Ariadram's army had diminished from around 14 000 to 9000, these were minimal losses considering that the Khergit force still outnumbered Ariadram 2 to 1 and that Khergits had done 2 sallies against the siegers.
"Ariadram?" a young boy asked on entry to the tent, "I have a message for you from the city council of Khudan!" boy said and continued "Vaegir armies has one a spree of victories on the heartland, they are led by a stranger, who is said to have come from the mountains, he carries the name of Dregan Halifunor" Ariadrams heart stopped, so many questions were rushing trough Ariadrams head, was Dregan captured and brainwashed to serve Legion? Did he escape? and most of all, what was he doing here? But Ariadram didnt have time to think, the siege was still going hot and Ariadrams plan was soon to be perfected.
10 meters under the walls of Curaw
"Sergeant! I found it!" a young trainee said for an elder sergeant that pushed the trainee aside and tried the land with his hands. "Yes, pefect!" sergeant said and yelled to the engineers behind him "Bring the pipe!" and the Engineers brought an enormous iron pipe that spanned from the siege camp to under the walls of Curaw.
Outside Curaw
"Do it!" Ariadram yelled to a Engineer behind him, and only few hours later the walls of Curaw grumbled. "Now! CHAARGE! INTO THE BREACH!" Ariadram yelled to his forces, and they did as told. Citizens of Curaw that had lived under a brutal rule were more than happy to join and soon the army of 9000 multiplied to span tens of thousand. Defenders were overrun in seconds without a fight. Ariadram progress trough the city was swift and when they reached the pillaged city hall they stopped their progress and let the angry mob to finish the work. Curaw was another major city that was emerged with the newly founded Antarian Remnant Empire, while only 1/8 of the people in this regime was born in Antaria of the now nearly 76 thousand population, everyone had embraced enlightement as their new religion and the people were working with full gear for this new regime. Temples were built and soldiers trained. Most of the soldiers were volunteered and the most high ranking officers were slept and fed for free inside the cities.
half an year later
Ariadram had taken huge steps forward, Antarian Remnant Empire had progressed hugely after forcing the Khergits to peace. But now, an inevitable war against the weak and shattered Vaegir Empire was going to consume both nations. While Antarian Empire was ahead in both economically and in military Strenght the war against Khergits had taken its toll. Curaw had been sieged twice and Khudan had sieged three times. All of the sieges had been catastrophical failure for Khergits that had started to doubt their military leader so much that a rumor about a coup in the heatland had swept across Calradia, shortly after that Khergit emissaries had arrived pledging for peace. Inorder to evade the war Ariadram was going to make a diplomatic journey onto Rivacheg. To see Dregan.
Outside Rivacheg
Ariadram had arrived to his destination, he had with him only his personal messenger, two of his closest guards and a chest full of money. ARiadram had been aching to know the intentions of Dregan. He would be suprised. Happily. He was riding his horse toward the castle inside Rivacheg, upon reaching he was greeted by no other than Dregan himself. "Hey there Ariadram! Nice to see you!" Dregan said with joy and went to hug Ariadram, but Ariadram ignored Dregan "how did you survive? Are you working for the Legion?!" Ariadram started bombarding dregan with questions, Dregan answered with calm voice "Calm down, everything will be explained"
Chapter 3; Alliance of Liberty
Inside Castle Rivaren
Dregan and Tsar Alexei's son Pjotr were both standing infront of Ariadram, Dregan started speaking to Ariadram calmly "After the battle of Koran Pass we met the roman forces, or atleast we thought they were roman forces, but in reality they were just an ordinary town folk. The ones we ultimately murdered with the ambush" Dregan said and looked into Ariadram's eyes, he could see that Ariadram had still a furious look on his face when speaking about that atrocity that Romans did. Dregan continued "I decided that I would make a last stand and try to win the decisive victory purely in a battle" Dregan sighed and continued "The battle that ensued was ferocious, but we were outnumbered 20 to 1 and finally the Antarian blood was drained out, I was captured, taken to a prison castle near the border where ancient Arnoian border used to be. I spent months and months, living with bare minimum food and water. Then a strange thing happened as I was finishing my daily meal, a alarm bell rang and soon the entire castle was being sieged by an unknown force, the sieging force executed the siege with such a precision that the romans couldnt get any word out, and only in 3 days, the entire castle had been captured" Dregan said. "New Arnoians, my father..." Ariadram said.
"Yes, you father saved me, he said that he had met you and rescued you from the claws of Roman army, he also informed me of Turn´Qhel, the hidden golden city of Arnoian empire, and that the Resistance had started working. He gave me a mission to find you and to help you in your task to ally with Calradian Empire, but as I figured out like you did, there isnt any Calradian Empire to ally with"Dregan said and smiled to Ariadram. Ariadram had a huge smile on his face, he had been wrong, and Dregan was still working for Enlightement and for Antaria.
Prince Pjotr, who had remained silent the entire time started to speak to Ariadram "My Father, Alexei is in bad shape, he wont survive for very long time, and im not in a shape to lead a nation alone, my training in economics and in other fields of kingdom management are mediocre, but the times are dire, and Vaegir Empire needs a strong figure to lead them. I would need a guiding hand in those things, and while Dregan has been invaluable in training Vaegir forces to be better equipped to face Khergit threat, he is not an economic advisor, thats why I want to make an alliance with you, an alliance that will fight against Khergits and Legion here, on Vaeger soil, and when the time comes help you in wrestling Antarian soil back and to free Korward from the oppression its facing now. Dregan here has already made an alliance between New Arnoian Empire and Vaegir Empire, and we want you and your Antarian Remnant Empire." Pjotr gave Ariadram time to think, but he already knew the answer "Yes, count me in!" Ariadram said and continued "Our next target is the border fort in Sungetche Pass, Sungetche Castle!"
Week later
The allied army was standing before the great sungetche mountains, the mountains were guarded by one of the most largest, heavily fortified and garrisoned forts known to man. Sungetche Castle. Built oringinally by Caldarian empire as a refugee for Emperor and the most highest nobles, it was adopted as a border fort by Vaegirs when the empire fell. Vaegirs doubled the size of its fortifications and built it walls to withstand any for of attack. Then, 30 years ago, khergits attacked without a warning. They sieged almost garrisonless castle for 3 years, until finally, it was captured. Khergits quickly repaired the damage done to the castle and upgraded it, and built catapults and trebuchets to rain death from above for invaders. This time, they didnt have time for 3 years of siege warfare, as reports were coming in from Korward that Romans were gaining an upper hand in the battle between the new Arnoian Empire and Roman Empire.
The allied army started marching. It consisted of almost 60 000 brave soldiers. Hundreds of engineers had been designing day and night for a new kind of siege tower. One that could reach the wallments of Sungetche. after few hours of tiring marching uphill, they finally reached the Castle, Khergits were quickly alerted and in minutes the castle walls were full of soldiers. An eerie silence fell between these two forces. No arrows were exchanged, nothing. Engineers started working on the siege tower and in 24 hours it was ready for action.
The siege tower was shaped more like a giraffe than a regular siege tower, it was reinforced with steel and clay and it was protected from fire arrows using leather. The Siege tower was reaching for the skies, and with its height of almost 12 meters, it was longest tower that Ariadram had ever seen. It was the first tower to get up from the 12 that were being built. Ariadram inspected the khergit forces occupying the fort. They were hardened veterans of many battles, their faces were grim and scarred, their eyes were filled with experience and force of will. Ariadram turned to see his own forces, where khergits had an experience of tens of battles, did Ariadrams men have a experience of about 2 battles average. Most of the forces were fresh out of training. Still, Ariadram felt confident, he knew that no matter what, his forces were behind him 100 percent.
"Sir! My king!" a young messenger yelled while running uphill towards ariadrams position, he was carrying some sort of necklace. "This is from the city council of Khudan, they want to give it to you, it's one of the most sacred relics we have. It's the Blood Necklace of the Tzars. It was worn by the first tzar of Vaegir Tzardom, Nikolai the Bear Hunter." Ariadram gazed the necklace with awe, it was one of the most expensivest things he had seen in his life. A huge, 200 gram ruby was placed in the middle of the necklace, while the edges were covered with little diamond. The rest of the necklace was one of the finest metals in whole calradia. Salvorum. It was found in very small quantities across the Vaeger Mountains, the necklace most likely had more Salvorum that had been mined in the last 100 years. "I would be honored to wear this necklace when I'll strike my blade into the heart of Vaegers enemies!" Ariadram stated firmly, handing his palm out to receive the necklace. The boy gave it, with a little hesitation. "You have done well messenger, what is your name?" Ariadram said and gazed at the messenger, seeing a bit frightened face of the young boy he quickly added "Dont worry, I'm only human" and laughed a bit, the boy joined his laughter and answered "M'lord, my name is Lev Protorski, I serve the house of Jebul in the city council of Khudan." Ariadram was suprised, House of Jebul had been one of the most difficult ones to persuade to accept Ariadram as the city's new leader, this was problematic since Jebul was the most wealthiest and the most powerful house in all Vaeger. They had basically founded Khudan, and by killing their House's head Maksim Jebul, Ariadram had poisoned their relations. "Well this was a surprise, tell them that I'm most grateful for the gift, and that I will bring victory in the name of their House and in the name of all who live in Vaeger-Antarian alliance!" After proclaiming this, ARiadram dismissed the messenger and started to get ready for the battle.
Few hours later, Hour before Sunset
Khergit forces were still waiting in dead silence, they hadn't shot an arrow and had only waited for the Allied forces to do the first move. The first move was about to be made, week ago Ariadram had silently ordered the men to dig a tunnel to the other side of the castle, and a fourteenth siege tower was secretly being built there. When the battle would ensue a small force of 300 elite soldiers would infltrate the khergits from the rear and burn their armory down thus destroying most of the arrows they had. After all the khergit military prowess was found in the field of marksmanship. The moment was upon them. A massive battle horn was blown, and Ariadram's forces, as instructed, started their advance behind and on top of the siege towers. At the same time Khergit archers started their volleys with deadly precision, every moment soldiers were lost from the arrow volleys that blackened the sky like a flock of crows flying. "We need to get the elite forces in, what's taking them so long?" Ariadram asked from a sergeant beside him, "I don't know" sergeant answered but soon yelled with hope "M'lord look! Their Armory, it's on flames!". "Finally! Tell the rest of the elite company to go under the tunnel to the other side and to reinforce the infaltrating forces." Ariadram ordered the sergeant, "Yes, M'lord" Sergeant said firmly, and ran out to give the orders.
Moments later, on the wallments
"Were are those reinforcements?! They are killing us!" Yelled an Khergit soldier to his fellow soldier nearby, "They aren't coming anytime soon, they are tied up fighting against the elite cadre attacking from our rear!" The Khergit soldier said, while still fighting against 2 Antarian swordmens. "They are getting the upper hand, we need to retreat inside the inner keep!" Khergit soldier said to an officer near him, "It's not for me to decide, our main commander is sitting inside the comfortable inner keep, we need to push them back! CHARGE!" officer said to the khergit soldiers near him, but the charge that ensued was completely waste of energy. The battle on the outer wallments was going well for Ariadram, khergit forces were outnumbered 3 to 1 and had lost almost all of the elite siege troops that were trained specifically for siege situations. The experience of the Khergit soldiers was starting to show it's power, when the odds turned from 3 to 1 to 6 to 1, Khergits were still inflicting serious casualties to the attacking forces, and the death toll was reaching tens of thousands. While the khergit death toll was staying under thousand, still the odds were turning against the khergits simply because the allied forces outnumbered them almost 8 to 1. Soon a reliefing command was given to the khergit forces "Withdraw from the outer walls, into the inner keep!" and the a massive withdraw manoveur started.
Inside the inner keep
Commander Helius was a fat and old commander, he was so obese that he couldn't ride a horse. He wasn't respected at all by his soldiers, and his military skill was lacking, the only reason he was the commander of the most important fortification in entire Khergit Khanate was because he was a close friend of the Khan, and had more money than anyone could dream of. He was eating a huge rosted chicken when he was interrupted by his military advisor. "Commander, the Allied forces are attempting to break trough the gate, what should we do?" Military advisor asked with uncertainty in his eyes, "Charge them, gather everyone you can and charge" Helius said and dismissed the Advisor, Advisor was hesitant to leave "But commander..." He started but was immediatly interrupted by Helius "I'm the commander here, now act as ordered! Youre dismissed!" Helius yelled with anger. As the Advisor turned around and walked out from the hall, commander looked at his advisor's back for few seconds, shrugged his shoulders, and kept on eating.
Outside the inner keep
"M'lord, khergits are doing an another suicide charge, this is strange." Sergeant beside Ariadram noted, Ariadram looked at the gates, which were being opened and a cavalry charge followed immediatly, it was halted by spearmen regiment guarding the gate. "This is strange indeed, it's the third charge they have done within the hour, each time their losses are almost complete, while ours are minimal. Sergeant, any theory on why they're doing this?" Ariadram said and looked at the sergeant on his right side. "I'm sorry sir, only thing I can think is that the Commander is a complete idiot." Sergeant answered with a little smile, hinting his amusement over this. "Hmm, indeed, but clear that smile from your face, he is killing his soldiers in vain, hmm, I need to end this now" Ariadram said and turned around towards Main Engineer Urder and asked from him "Are the engineers ready?". "Just give us few moments, almost all of the trebuchets have been completed, 4 more to go, we have also enough stones for 4 hour continues barrage from all of the 60 trebuchets" Urder answered, "56 trebuchets are more than enough, you have 15 minutes to get ready for the barrage, just make sure most of the shots hit the walls and not the keep itself, we want this place intact." Ariadram said to Erdur, "Yes M'lord, as you wish."
Only moments later and all hell broke lose, it took about 15 seconds for the barrage to turn northern wall to rubble, and most of the Khergit soldiers immediatly surrendered, facing allied army head to head. Ariadram then ordered his soldiers to storm the keep itself, and only in a matter of minutes a Antarian flag flew high above the castle. Commander of the keep was dragged from the halls, and was forced to kneel before Ariadram. "Are you the commander of the castle?" Ariadram asked fully knowing the truth, "No sir... Im just a servant here, please dont kill me" Helius answered with his voice vibrating from the fear. "Liar!" Ariadram yelled and slapped Heliuses face. "Drag him to the deepest dungeon you can find in my entire domain, and throw the key away, give him minimal amount of food, he needs to lose weight anyway." Ariadram said to a soldier behind Helius, and as ordered the soldier forced Helius to stand up, and they both left. "Engineer, you need to repair the damage done unto the castle as soon as possible, I will leave a sizeable force behind, lets say, 7500 veterans and 12 000 trainees, the commander of this castle will be my trusted friend and captain of my elite quadre, Erian Fellhorn. Also I will donate 500 000 denarii, into the rebuilding and will ask other kingdoms in our alliance to do so as well. I'm also ordering you to build this keep to greater hights than ever before." Ariadram said to the engineer, and continued walking until he reached the newly promoted Warmaster Dregan.
"Hello my friend, what are the casualties?" Ariadram asked with a hint of sorrow in his voice, this was the most hardest part of the battle, to hear the losses. "The losses reached 17 000 dead, and 7000 more wounded, about 3000 of those have minor wounds and are fit for duty in a matter of weeks." Dregan said with calm and cold voice, he had witnessed so many battles that this was only one drop of water in the sea of battles. Dregan waited a moment and added, "It's less than we expected, we expected 35 000 dead" and tried to comfort Ariadram. Ariadram looked up into the eyes of Dregan, Dregan could see the sorrow Ariadram was going trough, but soon Ariadram recovered. "How many troops are currently going to reinforce our main army?" Ariadram asked from Dregan after a moment of silence. "Currently we are getting almost 16 000 soldiers as reinforcements, ofcourse most of these are recruits, but after 4 weeks, we should be back at our maximal suistanable strength, which is 65 000 soldiers." Dregan answered and asked "What's the next step?". "Our army will pillage trough Khergit Khanate, and we will stop only at the gates of Narra, you will lead the second wing of our army, you will have 30 000 soldiers, your main objective is to capture Ichamur and continue on towards Halmar, I will take the rest of the forces and move towards Tulga, we will meet at halmar, and from there on continue towards Narra. This should invoke a rebellion between the already fragile Khergits.
