Chapter 22
September 4, 1257 - October 12, 1257
"After their initial victories the Sarranids have been unable to counter the Rhodok and Swadian lords swarming over their borders. The news that they have now lost Shariz and every castle near it comes as a disquieting shock. From this I can clearly see that neither of the attacking factions actually rely on their king for anything other than figurehead politics, that their lords are perfectly capable on their own and perhaps thankful to have a puttering fool out of their way. I had hoped instead to hear the same news I had been hearing for so long: that all sides were deadlocked and couldn't move. Now, however, the Rhodoks and Swadians are slightly stronger and if I am to slow their advance at all I will have to be very quick about raising a siege-worthy army.
I've considered it a great deal and I know I'll need one thing right away when I begin: shelter my men can defend against a large attacking army (or several) with room in a hole for some prisoners. I've considered digging a hole into the side of a mountain and defending ourselves from there but the idea is rife with problems however, so a castle it must be, I need to take someone's castle from them. So far it seems as though the best time will be when one has just fallen. In that confusion right after the new owners will be weakened and unfamiliar with their new conquest, as ready to fall then as any other time. The question, however, is not so much which castle and when - they are changing hands often enough now - but WHOSE castle. I dare not antagonize the Swadians as all of my troops once called those lands their home. I hate to join the vicious dogs Graveth and Harlaus but I might have to take advantage of the Sarranids' plight by snatching a castle from them right after they snatch it from someone else.
The other option is taking something from the Rhodoks and losing my supply for my dyeworks. That is something I cannot afford at this point. Once I begin my war path I have to be ready for all of my sources of income to dry up, I have to have enough saved to keep my troops fed and paid for a long, long time, surrounded by enemies. I need to keep a closer eye on these wars to better understand their ebb and flow, better spot my opportunities. Perhaps it will even be possible to steal away an entire town, freshly caught from someone else... Then at least I'll have a pool of reserves in the form of the merchants in the town. I wouldn't dare rob them and likely wouldn't ever come close to needing to since I expect to face furious resistance from every other lord for daring to take a town under no banner but my own. They'll bring plenty of men wearing plenty of gear I can kill them out from under then sell to the merchants in town; hopefully the established order won't send so much gear my way that I'll find prices dropping in town from a market flooded with bloody gear. I guess the upside to that would be extremely fertile land just outside the walls...
I'm still amazed at how freely the traders move throughout the battle lines. I suppose the towns and villages care not at all who specifically is taxing them and continue their daily lives regardless of banners on walls. It seems silly though... commoners are looked at like cattle so much that they even see themselves that way, not as allies or potential warriors. A caravan will make it through almost any seige and once on the other side can manage all sorts of unconventional mayhem! Also, I see no reason why villages couldn't act like armed outposts, harassing enemies that come too near and reporting back on local action, ready messengers ensuring they get heavy support when needed.
The key to new tactics such as these would be to gain the locals' adoring loyalty and that I think I can do. My men are inspired by me all the time they say: my fearlessness, my fury, my bold and deadly action, my disregard for all injuries - mine and theirs - except when grave and then I sit by the dying man's bed and talk to him about the things he's done. Jeremus credits me for having saved a few lives just by being there though I think my presence should be too closely associated with that of death since I never linger so for the men bound to pull through. Point being, I'm the spitting image of a dashing leader and my ideals are literally revolutionary. I can bring the common man and woman into such fevered activity as to blind my enemies with their speed. The lords of this land go to war and keep their gains. I will go to war and hand them all to my citizens then ask for a small percentage back - I will receive a thousand times what I requested."
"A farmer in Praven whose nearby and wealthy village is so neglected by their lord that he is reduced to begging for help in the local tavern... We helped them immediately and without seeking reward. It was extremely lucky that none on our side were injured given that Azgad is obviously built for defensibility, something the bandits who had occupied it were well aware of. With buildings built close together and sharing narrow streets up the lengthy hills we were hard-pressed to push through and I was forced to divide my men into 4 distinct groups to search out ways to attack the interlopers. We succeeded but only thanks to our heavy horses. It is unfortunate that the locals knew less about defending their own village than the bandits that so easily forced them out. I entertained the idea briefly of forcing all citizens under my eventual empire to undergo some basic strategy and weapons training but that sounds much too totalitarian for me. Perhaps I can create some incentive for them to learn to defend themselves, or at least require each village to maintain a strong militia..."
"Good lord: I just finished the calculations and through selling salt from Tihr to Sargoth we cleared 6,000 denars in PROFIT - IN ONE RUN. The bags were going for as little as 39 and we fetched more than 300 for the first few! Amazing, this trading game... I'll have to keep my eyes open for more recurring opportunities, perhaps I can take what I learned from poor Floris and combine it with my own experiences to create something better..."
"Poor Floris spotted me in a tavern in Reyvadin and ignored me. Just to test how things were I greeted him coolly from a safe distance away. He responded in kind and I let it be. Since I did not yet have the means to bother with him further and had not yet begun my war on the world there was no reason to stick around and visit with him. Considering the hundreds of thousands of denars that have flowed through my hands these past months and the fact that my businesses (1 in every city as of October 5th!) provide me with nearly 16,000 a week after paying for my troops his request of 20,000 to have him on my side seems less unreasonable but still absurd. Though, I did learn quite a lot about him last time we kept each other's company and he could have uses beyond what I've seen..."
"Rivacheg, you deadly, dangerous place... This is not the first time your street hoodlums tried to kill me there but it is the first time they came so close to making it happen... Your raiders are plentiful and lethal but thankfully your street thugs are less so. A close brawl, a close brawl indeed. Of the 4 blades I carry - Annabelle and 3 daggers of varying sizes - not a single one came away clean and two were actually lost in the scuffle. I'm bone tired and Jeremus says severely injured. He wants me to put this journal down but I'm compelled to continue writing on, I know not why..."
"We mourn the loss of our first man in nearly a month and a half. His death came as a surprise, I guess. It has been so long since one of our own died that I just stood, staring almost uncomprehending at his corpse for a time. Maybe it would have been easier to understand if I had seen it coming, if he had been injured and died after the battle. But no, there he was, dead as the raiders around him just as soon as the fighting cleared... Poor man."
"Another death in the same week. I suppose we are getting back into the swing of things but it has gotten too easy to count my men, too easy to remember a face then see it staring and dead. I'll be recruiting more men very soon, that I promise. I want my forces up around a nice anonymous 50 or so, the largest my troop has ever been. That will give me - us - plenty of men to not know and even enough that when they are all trained to at least mailed knights I can even consider bashing some bannered heads!"
Damages to the journal make a few of the next sections unreadable but apparently Evangeline goes on a tirade about King Yaroglek being a complete coward for not finishing what he started while she acknowledges him for having had enough courage to stand up to his bloodthirsty lords and sign a peace treaty with the Sarranids - immediately after being released by them. It would seem that at that point he topped her list of least favorite men.
September 4, 1257 - October 12, 1257
"After their initial victories the Sarranids have been unable to counter the Rhodok and Swadian lords swarming over their borders. The news that they have now lost Shariz and every castle near it comes as a disquieting shock. From this I can clearly see that neither of the attacking factions actually rely on their king for anything other than figurehead politics, that their lords are perfectly capable on their own and perhaps thankful to have a puttering fool out of their way. I had hoped instead to hear the same news I had been hearing for so long: that all sides were deadlocked and couldn't move. Now, however, the Rhodoks and Swadians are slightly stronger and if I am to slow their advance at all I will have to be very quick about raising a siege-worthy army.
I've considered it a great deal and I know I'll need one thing right away when I begin: shelter my men can defend against a large attacking army (or several) with room in a hole for some prisoners. I've considered digging a hole into the side of a mountain and defending ourselves from there but the idea is rife with problems however, so a castle it must be, I need to take someone's castle from them. So far it seems as though the best time will be when one has just fallen. In that confusion right after the new owners will be weakened and unfamiliar with their new conquest, as ready to fall then as any other time. The question, however, is not so much which castle and when - they are changing hands often enough now - but WHOSE castle. I dare not antagonize the Swadians as all of my troops once called those lands their home. I hate to join the vicious dogs Graveth and Harlaus but I might have to take advantage of the Sarranids' plight by snatching a castle from them right after they snatch it from someone else.
The other option is taking something from the Rhodoks and losing my supply for my dyeworks. That is something I cannot afford at this point. Once I begin my war path I have to be ready for all of my sources of income to dry up, I have to have enough saved to keep my troops fed and paid for a long, long time, surrounded by enemies. I need to keep a closer eye on these wars to better understand their ebb and flow, better spot my opportunities. Perhaps it will even be possible to steal away an entire town, freshly caught from someone else... Then at least I'll have a pool of reserves in the form of the merchants in the town. I wouldn't dare rob them and likely wouldn't ever come close to needing to since I expect to face furious resistance from every other lord for daring to take a town under no banner but my own. They'll bring plenty of men wearing plenty of gear I can kill them out from under then sell to the merchants in town; hopefully the established order won't send so much gear my way that I'll find prices dropping in town from a market flooded with bloody gear. I guess the upside to that would be extremely fertile land just outside the walls...
I'm still amazed at how freely the traders move throughout the battle lines. I suppose the towns and villages care not at all who specifically is taxing them and continue their daily lives regardless of banners on walls. It seems silly though... commoners are looked at like cattle so much that they even see themselves that way, not as allies or potential warriors. A caravan will make it through almost any seige and once on the other side can manage all sorts of unconventional mayhem! Also, I see no reason why villages couldn't act like armed outposts, harassing enemies that come too near and reporting back on local action, ready messengers ensuring they get heavy support when needed.
The key to new tactics such as these would be to gain the locals' adoring loyalty and that I think I can do. My men are inspired by me all the time they say: my fearlessness, my fury, my bold and deadly action, my disregard for all injuries - mine and theirs - except when grave and then I sit by the dying man's bed and talk to him about the things he's done. Jeremus credits me for having saved a few lives just by being there though I think my presence should be too closely associated with that of death since I never linger so for the men bound to pull through. Point being, I'm the spitting image of a dashing leader and my ideals are literally revolutionary. I can bring the common man and woman into such fevered activity as to blind my enemies with their speed. The lords of this land go to war and keep their gains. I will go to war and hand them all to my citizens then ask for a small percentage back - I will receive a thousand times what I requested."
"A farmer in Praven whose nearby and wealthy village is so neglected by their lord that he is reduced to begging for help in the local tavern... We helped them immediately and without seeking reward. It was extremely lucky that none on our side were injured given that Azgad is obviously built for defensibility, something the bandits who had occupied it were well aware of. With buildings built close together and sharing narrow streets up the lengthy hills we were hard-pressed to push through and I was forced to divide my men into 4 distinct groups to search out ways to attack the interlopers. We succeeded but only thanks to our heavy horses. It is unfortunate that the locals knew less about defending their own village than the bandits that so easily forced them out. I entertained the idea briefly of forcing all citizens under my eventual empire to undergo some basic strategy and weapons training but that sounds much too totalitarian for me. Perhaps I can create some incentive for them to learn to defend themselves, or at least require each village to maintain a strong militia..."
"Good lord: I just finished the calculations and through selling salt from Tihr to Sargoth we cleared 6,000 denars in PROFIT - IN ONE RUN. The bags were going for as little as 39 and we fetched more than 300 for the first few! Amazing, this trading game... I'll have to keep my eyes open for more recurring opportunities, perhaps I can take what I learned from poor Floris and combine it with my own experiences to create something better..."
"Poor Floris spotted me in a tavern in Reyvadin and ignored me. Just to test how things were I greeted him coolly from a safe distance away. He responded in kind and I let it be. Since I did not yet have the means to bother with him further and had not yet begun my war on the world there was no reason to stick around and visit with him. Considering the hundreds of thousands of denars that have flowed through my hands these past months and the fact that my businesses (1 in every city as of October 5th!) provide me with nearly 16,000 a week after paying for my troops his request of 20,000 to have him on my side seems less unreasonable but still absurd. Though, I did learn quite a lot about him last time we kept each other's company and he could have uses beyond what I've seen..."
"Rivacheg, you deadly, dangerous place... This is not the first time your street hoodlums tried to kill me there but it is the first time they came so close to making it happen... Your raiders are plentiful and lethal but thankfully your street thugs are less so. A close brawl, a close brawl indeed. Of the 4 blades I carry - Annabelle and 3 daggers of varying sizes - not a single one came away clean and two were actually lost in the scuffle. I'm bone tired and Jeremus says severely injured. He wants me to put this journal down but I'm compelled to continue writing on, I know not why..."
"We mourn the loss of our first man in nearly a month and a half. His death came as a surprise, I guess. It has been so long since one of our own died that I just stood, staring almost uncomprehending at his corpse for a time. Maybe it would have been easier to understand if I had seen it coming, if he had been injured and died after the battle. But no, there he was, dead as the raiders around him just as soon as the fighting cleared... Poor man."
"Another death in the same week. I suppose we are getting back into the swing of things but it has gotten too easy to count my men, too easy to remember a face then see it staring and dead. I'll be recruiting more men very soon, that I promise. I want my forces up around a nice anonymous 50 or so, the largest my troop has ever been. That will give me - us - plenty of men to not know and even enough that when they are all trained to at least mailed knights I can even consider bashing some bannered heads!"
Damages to the journal make a few of the next sections unreadable but apparently Evangeline goes on a tirade about King Yaroglek being a complete coward for not finishing what he started while she acknowledges him for having had enough courage to stand up to his bloodthirsty lords and sign a peace treaty with the Sarranids - immediately after being released by them. It would seem that at that point he topped her list of least favorite men.
!
