The Story of CivilizationBoard

Disputed lands, Ii

The letter from his son-in-law came as a surprise. An entirely unwelcome one at that. Caliskan did not expect Medila to notice his little excursion outside the imperial border. He thought that the imperial throne was too preoccupied with their own power games, what Mehmed-Sultan stepping down.

Caliskan had met the heir, of course, once, before the üyug's daughter's wedding. The young man was, contrary to what the rumors claimed at the time, not weak nor soft. Careful perhaps, yes. Caliskan expected that carefulness to show itself in this matter, that Ibrahim would stay out of the campaign. In a way, the üyug knew he was right. There was no overt rebuttal in the letter, but its mere existence showed everyone who was watching the true attitude of the imperial throne. Watchful. Aware of its own power. Ever-present behind one's back.

The boy was sending a message to the rest of the nobles and indeed to Caliskan himself. He went against the expectations of the throne, and now failure was not an option. The Sultan expected new territories.

Caliskan would be more cautious in the future and act with greater sophistication. He should not have presumed the throne complacent merely because the Sultan had withdrawn himself from the public eye. The üyug would watch the capital more closely and presume Ibrahim's attention and scrutiny.

For now though, there was this matter of the Bridge. It had to be taken under the control of Dedücä and thus, regrettably, under Medilan control. To accomplish that, Caliskan knew he would have to subjugate the smaller city named Süjuhä. It was rather irrelevant in the grand schemes of things, only being a minor trade center, one of many that revolves around Dedücä. The bey of the city taxed everyone who crossed the Bridge. It never bothered Medilans, as they had little need or interest in the northern trade routes, but this did represent a certain hassle for Caliskan. Dedücä did after all rely on trade and partially on land-bound trade, including the routes going via the Bridge.

Thus Dedücä was losing money because some bey wanted to be independent so badly. In Caliskan’s mind, that situation did not even warrant much pondering — only swift, decisive action. It turned out that he had been hasty in carrying out that vision. Indeed, he should have considered the reaction of the imperial throne and the heir…. He would not underestimate them again.

“My be-“ the general in charge of Dedücä forces stopped mid sentence and corrected himself, “Caliskan-üyug, we have arrived at the walls of Süjuhä. The siege engines are being constructed, but we will need some time assemble them… There aren’t many trees around to assist us, so we’re dependent on the shipments from Dedücä.”

“That’s acceptable, general,” Caliskan replied. “See to it that we do not waste time here. The imperial throne has caught wind of our operations and is now demanding I go to the capital as soon as we secure our victory here.”

“Of course, my-“ the general stopped again and hid a grimace. “Caliskan-üyug.”

Caliskan simply nodded. His officers were still getting used to Medilan titles, and the occasional ‘my bey’ could still be heard here and there. Caliskan did not like it, but he would not punish his men for recognizing his superiority to other nobles. After all, the second child of his daughter would return as bey.

Oops! All South IV
Expansion Post 2

"Occo?" The voice sounded like Cosca's, though it was murmured. "Go to sleep. It's midnight."

"You ought to go back to sleep. I have to inspect the maps and see where our forefathers on Kyojin went wrong."

Cosca walked over with her hand on her side and looked down at the maps. "Why?"

"Can't you see what happened to them all?" he asked. He pointed to the 80 CE map. "Polarean Kyojin was going strong until Polaria's Kaichō died. The prevailing argument is old age, though I believe it could have been foul play due to how the Kaigō played with its leaders. Either that, or it was due to the Bancos growing weary of Polarean control." He pointed to the 95 CE map. "This is but a few years before the Szwonian state collapsed. On the cusp of Year 100, Civilized Era, the Emperor of Szwonia, Oktawiusz, died due to causes I have yet to hear of. It could be that he was assassinated for consolidating too much control."

He paused for breath, letting it last only so long as to give time only for a breath. "From then until around Year 110, Civilized Era, the Okimosi administered much of the island in a hands-off yet still firm control. They collapsed, said to have been implosion due to civil strife though I have my doubts still. Look at where their capital was." He pointed his finger to the promentary of a river on the northern portion of the Okimosi Peninsula. "The Voltan took this territory just a couple years prior. Notice that it is exactly where the Okimosi capital was."

"So? It could've been a coincidence."

He raised his stub. "And I would agree with you were the coincidences not stacking up. It must be noted that the Polareans had operated a state-owned bank by the name of the Bank of Polaria, in addition to the private bank Exanoran Bank. This was in stark opposition to the Voltanese family-owned Bancos which very likely desired control of Shimmering Sea-side banking. In addition," he continued as he wraggled his stub around, "the Yoshie Bank operated within Hyldebrandt, a state which the Voltanese most certainly wanted within their sphere of influence against the Publectians who encroached from westbound."

"You're sounding like—"

"Furthermore, the island of Kyojin is important both strategically and diplomatically. Any nation with a superior grasp upon it has had its influence projected into both the Shimmering Sea and the Great Sea. This explains why the Szwonians and later the Okimosi collapsed — their holds were opposite that of the Voltanese. You may be wondering how Klaterkiegen remained and I can answer that simply; irrelevancy. The Gierigtum and Viftaelia's banks operate only within Viftaelia and select cities of the League, same with the Banco del Mar in terms of League operations. It cannot be left out of the question either that under-the-table negotiations may have afforded the Viftaelians a considerable hold upon southeastern Kyojin simply due to their strategic importance to the Voltanese sphere of influence."

Cosca was silent. Then, she murmured, "Oy vey. You ought to sleep. You're talking funny."

He too was silent until he sighed and nodded slowly. "You are likely right."

------

—

A proposal
Development Post

Despite not ruling for very long, one could easily see that Alaric's and Adelina's reign would be different, just by looking into the rooms of these two in which they worked and compare them. While Alaric's room was filled with trophies from either war or from a hunt and decorated with shields, armors and weapons of every kind he liked, Adelina's room was not as glorious decorated. Instead there were countless papers reaching from new law proposals to translations of publectian and prismean texts. Alaric was more of a tribal powerful king, while his daughter Adelina tried to be a more civilized ruler.

While both were considered good monarchs by the people, they saw the changes Adelina brought and while some Venusians were optimistic about these, others were skeptic about them. And yet Adelina's goal of reforming a society, which just unified a decade ago and could easily break apart again, are very ambitious, perhaps too ambitious. And Adelina fears that it might be too ambitious. As her husband Zelig is now gone, fighting the war against the Coalition, Adelina needed other form of assistance in her rule. This assistance came into the form of a female servant, called Amelia.

Despite being sure, that she can be a good ruler, Adelina needs someone to talk sometimes to not be totally stressed with her work and Amelia helps Adelina, when she needed someone to talk. Adelina doesn't talk about specific things, although she sometimes manages to complain about politics and society sometimes, which involves the servant with the ideas and wishes of Adelina about Venusia and how it should be. Amelia knows of Adelina's wish to reform Venusia. As a member of the Notra-Order Amelia has her own view how Venusia should look and she is ready to use the opportunity she has, to bring some of her proposals to Adelina.

~

Adelina: “Do you see these papers here in my hands?”

Amelia: ”Yes, I do see this. Why do ask me this my Queen?”

Adelina: ”Well, this papers here are texts. Translated from either prismean or publectian to the venusian language. Do you know what is written there?

Amelia: “I don't know. From scientific papers to philosophy it could be everything.

Adelina: “Exactly. They have written nearly countless amount of new information, they have written down many philosophical ideas and we?”

Amelia: “We are also collecting a high amounts of knowledge, we just haven't written most of it down yet.

Adelina: “Yes, you're right. I might just have become envious seeing these texts from from foreign cultures. I shouldn't forget that we have atleast build instruments able to look as far as into the skies. I wonder if these other cultures even know what Astronomy is. But despite that, it doesn't change the fact that we lack far behind the Prismeans or the Publectians currently.”

Amelia: “These cultures eventually started from zero too my Queen.”

Adelina: “I know, I know. It's nothing new for me. It's just... I wished for my people, the ancestors of the Gods after all, a bit more glory. Yes we're excellent in military measures, as seen in the wars against the Publectians, but I want my people to excel in philosophy and science too. Astronomy is sadly not enough.”

Amelia: “My Queen, I don't know if I can say this, but...I have a proposal.”

Adelina: “What's is it, what you want to say?”

Amelia: “You have always talked about how you want to improve the venusian society and I might have a proposal how to achieve this easier?

Adelina, curious: “Okay? I really wonder what ideas you have. Perhaps it's helpful, therefore talk about your proposal!”

Amelia: “You know, that the Notra-Order tries to collect knowledge from all possible sources, right?”

Adelina: “Yes. They are known for that. That's what they did since their founding. And...?”

Amelia: “Perhaps we could fund schools all over Venusia and let the children and perhaps some adults be teached by some of the Order members? There they could learn useful skills that would otherwise take them longer to learn. Math, the laws of nature, perhaps even philosophy and...”

Adelina: “I see. Not only would we able to learn certain things, we could even use the knowledge, to eventually get even more knowledge, which could be helpful in inventing new helpful instruments or get a better understanding in how the world works. I'm pretty sure my husband Zelig would appreciate the military possibilities of the gained knowledge [Rolling with the eyes]. But wouldn't that give the Notra-Order too much power ? The last time an order thought it got too much power, well you most likely heard what happened.”

Amelia: “Doesn't get the Tur-Order too much power too? The Tur-Order is increasingly getting stronger as more soldier join it?

Adelina: “That doesn't mean that we need another powerful Order. One is dangerous enough for me.”

Amelia: “You wouldn't need to worry about it. It would be voluntarily for the parents to let them go to the Notra-Order run schools. If they think that the Order's influence is too high, they could not let their children go their and teach them personally.

Adelina: “And if the parents are not realizing that the Order could take too much power? Or if this power increase would be worth it for the parents, if that means their children can learn?”

Amelia: “Would it be worth it my Queen? Yes, the Order's might may grow, but I'm pretty sure it would be worth it for not lacking behind against either the Prismeans or the Publectians?”

Adelina: ”It might be... Do you know what, you have successfully convinced me with me with this. Fine, the schools will be funded. I will try to find ways to counter the Notra-Order's influence later on.

Amelia: “Thank you my Queen for accepting my proposal. It's a great honor that something I proposed got accepted.”

Adelina: “Nothing to thank me for, I appreciate every help I can get. I just hope that it will not lead to any problems in the future.”

Amelia: “I promise you my Queen, you will not regret it!”

And so progress continued.

Expansion post
A mission,of exploration?

Cerokov put his book down,it had been 3 nights since he last took a break, and he was tired,but he must rest,for the next day he would b going on a exploration mission! He was to look into the possibility of people in a place called Venusia,they only heard rumors of them from some prismeans while kirkov was there.

He had to rest,but he could not,The moon was high in the sky,but it was a crescent ,and did not cast much light down upon them.He slept for a while after that.

When he got up,the sun had risen,casting its rays above the city.The Sky was blue,with some red on the horizon.he felt very awake ,and he was ready to start the expedition.

He woke up,his son was nowhere to be seen,and cerokov was sure he was at the library,and he was sure that he better get going,so he packed his supplies,and wrote upon the table in small letters that he was leaving,and that he would be on a expedition.He decided he would be going now,and walked out of the house.The streets were not packed,probably because of the clouds that stretched across the sky.

The Walk was long,and he was getting tired,and by the time he reached the city hall,he was tired ,and when the guards cleared him.he sat down to rest.He was noticing the sky clearing up,and the reason why he was not so sweaty was because of the cool breezes,now those were starting to go away.He decided to just start this now,and he walked through the door after opening it.He was used to this situation,so he was not surprised.But it still felt surreal.

He walked across the city hall ,and was noticing quite a few people in the hall,perhaps in order to discuss matters,but he did not know which. The room of which the meeting and discussion place was through the door,which loomed in the distance.

The crowded hall was difficult to navigate,as there was also a brief meeting with a local tribe in recently acquired territory,and he had to maneuver around them,and he was a only halve-way there.

The room was completed with some high windows,so he could see the clouds had mostly cleared up.And he could notice the sun. The light provided made him seem happier,although he did not know why.He walked down the room,and he reached the door,he knocked,and someone asked them his name,which he told them.the door opened and he walked inside,there were people inside,which he knew,not the king,of course,but other important figures.He was told to sit in a chair,to which he did,and the one person,expander-general-alexov blitzen,began to speak.

"People,we have been given orders from the king himself!"he said "We are to expand the country,by the end of the next few years,and we are to be people to do it,cerokov you shall lead the next expedition,and the nation will grow,and our power,along with it!"He finished,some cheering went up across the room,and he had a feeling,that was which would happen soon,would be big.

Virgin Lands - I
Expansion

Lower Gildeds

The fire crackled at his feet, ensconcing him in a small bubble of warmth that warded off the morning cold, his visible breath curling upwards and mingling with the smoke of the flames. Wandering embers crossed his vision here and there, but his stare was a distant one, focused on nothing in particular.

A hiss drew his attention. He looked down to the strips of meat dangling over the fire, sizzling and discarding fats, which cracked and popped as they hit burning wood. The aroma was starting to reach his nose now - that of breakfast, a hearty meal to get him through a long day of hard work.

He ripped his teeth into a piece of hardtack while he waited, a loud crunch echoing through the trees around him. They encircled him to all but one side, where a small plain opened up and descended down the slope; it left him a magnificent view of the virgin woods of the Lower Gildeds, his new home. They were rugged lands, viewed as having little value by the plentiful Voltanese inhabitants to his north (and largely inaccessible to the savage Kyustsaryans to his south). That, he believed, was their greatest quality - nobody yet laid claim to the land within them, and as far as he knew (and was concerned) he had an entire valley to himself.

A river, hidden by the trees, snaked through from the south, slowly (sometimes quickly) heading north, to eventually join up with the Voltan. It fed a small, turquoise lake he could see now - and had named after his mother - which he used to supply himself with fresh water, to bathe, and to fish - at least, he was trying to fish in it. He still had to make some progress there, and his catches were scant to date.

Alas, food wasn’t an issue for most of the year. Berries grew in abundance, and game pranced about the valley in quite plentiful numbers. His small plain was slowly being tilled and prepared for some vegetables and whatever other seeds he could find. It was fairly steep, which made the work difficult, but once he had made a handful of short terraces he would be fairly well set. Perhaps, he reasoned, he would even have enough room to build a small pasture to hold some sheep - of course, he’d have to find something of value to use to purchase the sheep first, but he could dream.

And dream he did, practically all day. The confines of a small family farm along the Voltan - never to be his, by virtue of having an older brother - were long gone. He now had land. Freedom, in a sense. The man he had met in his youth - that exquisite adventurer who had paid for a room at his family’s farm during an unexpected snow storm (not all too rare along the uppermost reaches of the Voltan) - had been right. This was the place to be for those without a place handed down to them. For those whose ultimate destiny was to be forced to seek out their own way in life, opposed at every turn by a system designed by-and-for the incumbents.

He looked down to his meat again, and judging it to be ready he quickly transferred it to his plate. One of the few things he had hauled here on the back of a mule, which he butchered before the first winter. The rest of those precious belongings - largely tools, and a few family keepsakes - sat in his small cabin behind him.

He enjoyed his life now. Hoped - perhaps beyond reasoning, he reckoned - that he would remain here, undisturbed, for as many years as he had left on Selm. After that - well, that was up to Astvats.

Virgin Lands - III
Expansion

Lower Gildeds

As he had for the last three days, Monferriz sat on the front of the carriage, adjacent to the coachman. It's not that it was more comfortable - the road was still terrible, and the ride jostled him at every turn - but rather that the view was far better, and the air much less stuffy. An endless wall of trees spread out to either side of them - forwards another few miles, and back dozens, all the way out of the mountains proper and into Levellac, which was nestled in their foothills.

They - the carriage and its small escort of troops - rattled along the beaten road to Reithal, a tight, poorly maintained route that was evidently seldom travelled (at least relative to the paved roads in the center of the Empire) and so under maintained. Perhaps he would be able to have a hand in fixing that - though given the occasionally troublesome gradient, he imagined it would be a very, very long-term project. But that was the beauty in his commission. It was a decade long, to be interrupted by only death, treason, or incapacitation.

There were many, many things on his mind besides the road of course. He had never been to Reithal (who had? Only a few thousand people, he reckoned), and knew very little of it. He’d honestly never been deep in the mountains before - certainly none as rugged as the Lowers - and so imagined he would be spending quite some time talking with...the mayor? Whomever was ruling in his stead at the moment. A year at least, probably, to become acquainted with the region and its problems. Time well spent making friends and offering what help he could provide (an account at the Banco de la Corona, for instance, or his power to write local laws) before trying to tackle things himself. If he could win over a few powerful friends from the start his life would be much better for the duration of his stay. It would also let him make his own mark as time wore on, and that would be essential if he wished to get a renewed commission - whether it be here, or in a more notable province.

“Ahhh, there she is.” the coachman cooed, “Pardon my speaking of course, Your Grace.”

Monferriz waved it away - he was still nobody as far as he was concerned, nor the kind of person who would take offense to any statement offered by a travelling companion of three days - and cast his gaze forward. A clearing was opening up, and slowly he saw the settlement of several thousand hove into view.

A few large, stone structures occupied the far side, and from there largely wooden houses - each on rather generous plots of land, many with small gardens attached - were spread out. Beside what he surmised was the core of the city was Lake Reithal, a glimmering turquoise oasis, picturesque against a jagged, mountainous background. Columns of smoke rose from many of the houses as they burned wood to warm them, and on the fringes of the city many small fields and pastures occupied the rest of the valley.

‘Absolutely beautiful’ he marvelled to himself - he might have left many of the luxuries of a major city along the Voltan proper behind, but here, he reckoned, he would discover the beauty in nature, rather than in the creations of Man. And with that, he was content. Especially as the coachman pointed out one of the more prominent stone buildings alongside the lake - it was the new Viceregal Manor, he explained, and apparently it had a sweeping lakeside veranda.

Nothing had ever sounded more agreeable to Monferriz. Not even news reached him that his domain now included the entirety of the Lower Gildeds, formally, as the final western half was formally incorporated.

Expansion Post: Duties of a Knight I

Knight Silas was a member of the Horkheimer Royal Guard and in the future when his father retired he would take up a mantle in the King's Guard, there was no more unworthy work for a great knight like him than hunting smugglers in Tokhae, the young knight would assign such a low task to city guards however the one who had ordered him to do it was none other than Marshal Hans himself and Silas' protests were ignored, according to Hans there was a risk that the city guard would not cooperate well with the Hakadians or that information shared with them would be leaked but Silas thought that the Marshal hated him for some unknown reason, the knight cracked his head trying to figure out the reason for such hatred.

According to the Marshal's spies a group of smugglers were using a large warehouse on the docks of Tokhae to supply armaments and rare goods to enemies of the Hisari Crown, to resolve the situation Silas was given 20 knights, to not waste the element of surprise they would go on foot and not wear full body armor, only a chain mail coat under leather clothing and jackets made to withstand strong winds, the Kashanite knights excelled in cavalry but they were still very talented in hand to hand combat and could fight on foot as well.
Warriors and Schaikazer were used for these tasks as they were cheaper to recruit and could be even more talented than knights at this type of combat in some cases.

The knights passed through the Tokhae fish market without much trouble, in recent weeks security in the city had been tightened and they could be mistaken for a group of Hisaris riders by the locals, in fact some of the knights accompanying Silas were Hisaris and trained with druids from Anchalagor.

The knights approached the area where the warehouses were located, which were almost unguarded because few people would be interested in destroying them or stealing the fish and sea fruits that they contained.

There were four very large warehouses, the two on the left were made of wood and the other two on the right were made of stone probably originating from the Barrier Islands, there were two decks where several ships stayed and unloaded their goods, Silas was lucky that there was almost no one there.

"Sir Janus, we will divide our men and each of you will be in charge of two, we with the right and you with the wooden ones, and don't forget to check the decks as well.'' Silas said to his second in command named Janus.

"Yes, commander, let's go, men!" replied Janus without hesitation.

Silas went to one of the warehouses that was dark, four of his men brought torches and lit the place that was full of wooden boxes and items for the fishermen's use.

Silas opened one of the wooden boxes only to see swordfish parts preserved, Silas' men reached into the other boxes but found nothing important and soon they went to the other warehouse, there was no activity on the decks so they focused on the warehouse.

The other warehouse was dark as well and the knights hurriedly went in to do their inspection. In the middle of this, however, armed men came out of a dimly lit part of the warehouse with Silas even thinking they were waiting for the Hakadians.

An arrow came out of the darkness and hit the Hisari knight named Araki in the elbow and he cried out in pain and dropped his torch that when it touched the ground went out.

Everyone raise your weapons!" shouted Silas to his men.

Immediately the Hakadians followed his orders, another two arrows flew out and hit the leg of another knight named Mathias who bravely stood up and faced his enemies, Silas saw what looked like a Hisari warrior come out of a barrel and take the position of leader of the enemies.

"You are brave to attack our hideout in a hostile city, unfortunately you only came here to die.'' said the warrior.

I am Silas of Ravia! Identify yourself thug or I will cut your head off." Silas spoke with anger on his face, the tension in the place was rising rapidly.

"Finish them off, boys!" the warrior ordered.

Soon the battle began to take place, it seemed that the smugglers outnumbered them and Silas decided it would be best to hold out until Janus arrived with the rest of the men, Silas began dueling with the Hisari warrior, the enemy did not have exceptional skill but still enough to be identified as a fighter.

Silas was dominating but the knight took a small bag from his waist, opened it in a fraction of a second and threw it towards Silas, its content was a white powder that made Silas temporarily blind and he found it a shame he didn't bring his helmet for the battle. The warrior took the opportunity to try to strike a lethal blow with the axe he was carrying, but Silas dodged it at the last second and punched the warrior in the face so hard that a tooth flew out.

"If you're going to play dirty, so am I." said Silas.

The warrior did not even respond and went up, a knight named Kruller ran towards the enemy leader and tried to attack him with his two-handed sword but three arrows came flying towards him with one bouncing off his helmet and the other two hitting, one in the neck and the other piercing his armor in the chest with Kruller falling dead to the ground next, the battle between the two was continuing with Silas in the lead, Mathias died in the middle of the battle and a knight warned:

The warehouse where Jaunus' men are is on fire!

''Everyone retreat! I will avenge myself one day, bandit.'' said Silas, and then his men left in retreat, and the bandits wanted to chase them, but the warrior stopped them with a wave of his hand.

''Are you sure, Sir Haakon? Our operations will be denounced.'' said the smuggler nicknamed rat.

We can no longer stop them all, let's retreat, let Yamatori know that he has fulfilled his plan well...'' Haakon replied.

It seemed that that knight of the Royal Guard was good, Haakon heard that the commander of the Royal Guard had died of old age and that the new commander was taking the opportunity to recruit new members, perhaps he would meet that man again one day.

The knights had lost Mathias, Kruller and Jaunus had died in a fire caused by the leader of the smugglers in the lumber warehouse, the casualties among the smugglers were unknown but the estimate was that they lost a few men, unfortunately it seems that they recovered the bodies just before the city guard arrived.

That was the report of the accident, Silas reputation was tarnished but Hans gave no punishment.

Expansion Post: Anfrai, the city of poets I

The Taquistan Confederacy had grown greatly and become a great power on Vadraya Island, now that the Gukhoi were unified they were no longer just a buffoon zone between the Rajyo and the Vedai, the rulers of the Confederacy knew that the Vedai would be concerned about the matter more that they would not seek conflict with them.

The Makor Suratman had caught blood fever and died, most of the island thought that the Turkmen Confederation would collapse like many others in the past without a strong leader but after only a month the Makores of the tribes managed to elect a new one from the Moghul tribe, all went well thanks to the mediation performed by the already old Rashendra.

He was a grandson of the deceased Makor Mehul who was called Lukmanto, the new leader of the Confederation sought to consolidate the alliance that his people had with the city of Anfrai through marriage. A commander named Tamul who was from the Gulmite clan was chosen to prepare a caravan that would take Makor surely to Anfrai.
Rashendra would be responsible for securing the diplomats and trade goods that the caravan would carry, after he had become Ravindra's advisor he had managed to bring most of the merchants of the city under his command and had learned valuable lessons from Dasra Tavade.

The city of Anfrai was known to be quite innovative and emerging with its main attraction being the city's poets who wrote their poems on its walls made of stone, wood, colored bricks and marble. The city had a spacious library where much knowledge was kept and which the local Vedai population could access freely, although the Vedai were the ruling class in the city it had already received much Gukhoi blood and few could consider themselves pure blood in the city.

Lukmanto began his journey asking Rhine for protection as dangers lurked in Vadraya though they were few common in the region, according to some travelers large bats lived around Lake Akmali and large orange monkeys were known to inhabit the hills and small mountains that lay east of the city in ancient times, according to Rashendra there was nothing to worry about as no one had been seen for 40 years.

The caravan stopped at a big fishing village on the south side of Lake Akmali and took the opportunity to stock up on supplies and buy some local guides for a smoother trip, and Lukmanto took the opportunity to visit a black stone statue representing an ancient Gukhoi leader who had guided them to Vadraya hundreds of years ago, the statue held a large tablet with several images representing the ancient event.

The Makor was thinking of creating a library in the Confederation so that more things about the island's past could be analyzed, as the Gukhoi currently lacked good scholars, so Lakmanto after being amazed by the statue talked to Rashendra that night about inviting some scholars from Anfrai to live in the southern lands and the former friend of the founder of the nation agreed without any problems contact that they make their base the city of Ravindra and not the lands of the Moghul, Lakmanto had no choice but to accept this condition.

The Coalition VII

As Zelig comes closer to the city of Flocivus he was surprised what he saw. The venusian banner could be seen on the publectian city gate, which look's, as if the attack on the city never happened, but instead was just given to the Venusians. And when Zelig came into the city, he was even more surprised, that the buildings were still standing and undamaged in the city. Sure, some buildings were clearly destroyed, but overall the city was still standing. Did Odovacar really conquer the city without much damage? Even if a city was conquered without much sacrificed blood, there was normally a lot of raiding. It's truly a strange mix seeing publectian civilians talking to each other, while venusian troops are patrolling through the streets. But Zelig isn't here for fun and travel. Zelig is here, because he want's to meet with Odovacar about future plans about the war against the Coalition.

The meeting between these two was in what Zelig thought to be the city's former senate building. They two sat around a table and began to talk.

Odovacar: “I got your letter, that you wanted to meet me in this city I conquered. What do you want to tell me?”

Zelig: “The Publectians aren't a threat anymore. After the fall of Medilanovium and Flocivus I'm sure their will is broken and that, even if they unite, we don't have anything to fear from them.”

Odovacar: “So you want the war against the Publectians to stop?”

Zelig: “Well yes, but actually no. A full control of the lake to our north would be very useful economically and perhaps even military. And the fact that after one war declaration of the coalition such an important piece of old Publectia was annexed by us, should make sure, that they do not dare to attack us again.

Odovacar: “So you just want me to tell that we must conquer the lake?”

Zelig: “Only the lake, maybe we can discuss later on if the publectian province south of us can be conquered too, but for now that's it.

Odovacar: “Aren't you the war hungry under us?”

Zelig, with a small smirk in his face: “True, I enjoy the war, I enjoy fighting and conflict and bloodshed. But I know that Venusia can't be stable with constant war, even if it's only minor powers we face. And there is also a second reason to do and that is, that I don't trust our trade partners that much anymore.

Odovacar: “The Prismeans? Come on, they're harmless.”

Zelig: “For now atleast. The years have gone by and we don't know if the leadership might have switched in Prismea. Maybe they don't think trade is that profitable anymore and begin to declare war to gain our land.”

Odovacar: “I doubt they would be able to do so.”

Zelig takes two maps, one showing the current borders and one showing the borders 30 years ago.

Zelig: “This is Publectia, the last year before it collapses. It was also the same year before we came from the mountains of the north. Now look at the map now, 30 years later. It's gone and we have a big part of their empire now!

Odovacar: “I see, what you want to tell me is that if we can cause the collapse of old Publectia and annex a big part of their land...

Zelig: “...they could do it too! Our Queen Adelina has trusted me with the highest military authority. I want you to cross the river with me and conquer the publectian province there as quick as possible. When that is done we conquer everything of the lake provinces the Publectians have. I have sent Luitpold a letter, that he needs to conquer the provinces east of Medilanovium, we will assist him by coming from the south.

Odovacar: "And then you want to attack the Prismeans afterwards?"

Zelig: "No, only if it's necessary!

And I certaintly hope it will not be necessary."

The Coalition IX

Soon the war will be finished. All that remains before the Venusians can conquer the lake, is one small publectian city. It's not really a challenge considering the conquests done before. Yet, it will be a great symbolic victory, as it will finally declare the end of another successful war against the Publectians.

Zelig has mixed feelings on this. On the one side he enjoys war, but on the other side he knows that Venusia can't be in a constant state of war all the time. He also wants to go back to his wife and Queen Adelina as fast as possible.

Zelig, thinking to himself: "I hope this war is over soon. I feel almost bad for leaving my wife alone at home with all that burden of ruling an entire kingdom. But it was necessary to bring the war to a fast decisive and victorious end for Venusia. Adelina needs to have atleast one successful war to boost her popularity among the populace. And as Adelina said she does not have the necessary military skills, so I needed to take control for now.”

Odovacar leads an army through the hot savanna lands to gain a favorable attacking position for the final attack. Odovacar told Zelig, that it would be better wo wait until they surrender, but he desperately wants to end this war now.

Odovacar, thinking to himself: “Does he really think, just because he married the queen, that he can do whatever he wants. I know that he told me, that he fears the Prismeans. But shouldn't we in this case just preserve our manpower instead of wasting it on a storm attack? Hopefully this fool doesn't use his special status to eventually convince the queen to declare war against the Prismeans afterwards. When I joined Alaric it was to keep my people's land rich and this fool would... I will need to keep an eye on him once this battle is over.”

Luitpold sets a camp up in the north of the city. After a forced march through the hot savanna, the men are already exhausted, but they can't rest, atleast for now. This is the very last opportunity for glory. Before the attack begins a speech is told.

Luitpold: “My warriors, I know it was a hard month and I know that you're exhausted, but keep standing! This is the last fight before we can rest. This is the last chance of glory for us in this war, so we will give our best in this fight, we will fight bravely among us and we will be victorious! Wi sin Venusiaes[1], do not forget this!”

And once again the Venusians storm a publectian city. First initiated by Zelig, in his desire to bring this war to an end, followed by Luitpold in his desire for glory and conquest, with the last being Odovacar, joining the storm attack in his desire to minimize the losses. As expected, the city fell quickly.

~

After the city fell, the news of the victory were sent to Queen Adelina, who immediately sent an offer of peace to the remaining publectian coalition members, offering peace in return of keeping the occupied and conquered land.

And thus once more the dream of an united Publectia was disturbed.

[1]: We are Venusians