King and Generals
"Well, looks like you've got me again, Boss," the old man standing across the table from Cleph de Rossi conceded, throwing a white handkerchief. Despite his advanced age, he wasn't leaning too heavily on his cane, and his hands only trembled slightly. "Good game."
"Good game, old friend," Cleph returned, reaching over the table. The two men shook hands over the Witchflight board. "You could say I have had a bit more experience."
"Hah! You young whippersnappers these days, with your tabletop war games." The old man began packing up his miniatures, shaking his head in amusement. His voice was much more tremulous than it had once been.
"We had toy soldiers back then," Cleph observed idly. "At least until we became them."
"I think it's much better from up here," the old man commented, "We're not the ones getting shot at!"
"It'd have been real nice to have a bird's eye view of the whole field too," de Rossi agreed.
"Well, if that was all a game, I don't think I want to see what reality is like."
The two men lapsed into a comfortable silence. The younger, aged man steadily packing up his army, while the older, youthful man organized his army to the side of the board.
The aged man straightened as he finished. "It was good seeing you again, you old bastard." He grinned, reaching out a hand a second time. Cleph shook it again.
"Are ya going to make it back to the hotel, ya stumblebum?" de Rossi retorted, though partly seriously. As spry as he was for an elderly human, Chicago could be a rather hazardous place. The drivers were bad enough, let alone the street violence.
"Bah! If it's my time, it's my time," the old man scoffed. "I'll be able to tell the younger boys that Clifford's still red enough for the Rainbow, not to mention that ridiculous mustache."
"Entschuldigung!" Erika de Rossi interjected, striding over to their table, dressed fashionably, as always (even if for the wrong century.) "I believe your grandson seeks you."
True enough, a rather perturbed looking young man stood by the game store's doors, eying the two de Rossi warily.
"Did you run off on your own again?" Cleph asked drily.
"Hah!" the old man laughed, "I'm not quite dead yet! And well…" He gestured to some of the Witchflight posters, particularly the ones done in the style of old propaganda posters. "This all reminds me a bit of my younger days… a little too much, actually."
He stepped to the door, Erika supporting him. "Grandpa, you know doing this is unsafe," the young man chided.
The old man scoffed. "It's been a long time, sonny. If they wanted to blip me off I'd be coolered a long time ago."
He turned, straightening. He brought his hand up in a smooth salute, still practiced, even after all these years. Cleph returned it.
The younger man hustled the old veteran out of the store, keeping an eye on the two vampires the entire time.
"Not much longer," Erika observed, gliding back towards her husband.
Cleph nodded sadly. "Not many of us left."
He would have preferred to play a few more rounds with his old friend, but family business called.
The de Rossi head wasn't sure why the Old Monster wanted to meet, not to mention interrupting some of his usual activities. But there were few who would dare to refuse the White King.
"Why seeks the Raith you?" Erika asked, leaning against his side, asking the question they had both been wondering for some time.
Nominally, their families were allied, but it was quite clear they were far from on equal footing; never had been. Even at their height during the twentieth century, the Barbarossa had been definitively lesser than the Raiths. They had perhaps been equal to the Malvora and Skavis, but war and violent peace had cut down many of Cleph's relatives and splintered the family, leaving his own branch theoretically in charge in the new world.
"Still can't say for sure, love," Cleph replied after a moment. "I'd guess it's about your favorite Raith."
Erika stiffened, a concerned frown crossing her naturally severe face (not that most people would be able to tell the difference.)
"Never thought I'd see you take a shine to a Raith," Cleph teased. "What would the kids think? They're being replaced!"
"Hmph." Erika snorted, her nose curling up in aristocratic disdain. "They would demand another sibling."
Cleph chuckled. "And they will continue to do so until it stops riling you up." Their family liked to fight, but had made sure it was mostly in good fun (otherwise things would get… messy.)
Those of the White Court tended to be a backstabbing and scheming bunch, but the Barbarossa had always been more direct, in no small part because of their choice of flavor.
That was not to say Cleph didn't have schemes of his own. It was often better to be thought a fool, than to play one's hand too early.
"Tania is odd," Erika commented, rather blatantly changing the subject, even though she knew that Cleph could sense her simmering irritation. "She is more like a Tarquin than a Raith."
"Sure of herself, unshakeable in her beliefs, and very determined to get what she wants?" Cleph twirled his mustache in amusement. "You got a point there."
Erika sniffed. "I always do, dear." Cleph patted her arm affectionately.
"Though, you'd think Eilean was a Raith," he observed, shaking his head. "Kids these days."
"Mei," his wife shot back, causing Cleph to laugh.
"Ha! Our granddaughter is rather wild."
At least little Rosa was relatively tame, keeping things to schoolyard fights for now.
Erika stood back up and returned to stalking tensely around the store, jackboots thumping steadily on her umpteenth circuit. The store's regulars thought she liked to cosplay, which pissed her off. But, funnily enough, this was the kind of place where she received the fewest strange looks.
Times change, and their children changed with it.
But that was enough reminiscing. Cleph sat up slightly straighter, outwardly idly adjusting his miniatures, but inwardly not so different from his pacing wife, periodically flicking his gaze over his surroundings.
He could sense when The Raith arrived.
There was a shift in the atmosphere, an animalistic sense that someone, or something important was afoot, raising the hackles of everyone in the store.
Lord Raith strode into the store, his daughter Elisa hanging off his arm; the two inhumanly beautiful monsters drawing the attention of everyone in the store, like moths to a flame. Cleph and Erika stilled, their Hungers growling angrily at the intruders.
Like the de Rossis, the newcomers were dressed in attire that would not have been too out of place in the city a century ago, the head of the family in a white suit, white pants, and white dress shoes (clearly a theme there), and his daughter dressed like one of the adventurous cosmopolitan women that had flocked to his kind during that time.
A pair of doll-like bodyguards trailed after them, one man and one woman, bearing an uncanny resemblance to the Barbie and Ken dolls.
The King of the White Court smiled, opening his arms wide. The room waited for his words with bated breath, especially the handful of young women.
"Cleph," the Old Monster drawled, grinning lazily like a satisfied cat. "It is good to see you, young man. How are you faring these days?"
"Mario," Cleph replied, standing up to greet The Raith. "It is a pleasure to see you again." That wasn't his name, but when you played mysterious, you opened yourself up to the imaginations of other people, or lack thereof.
Lord Raith snorted, even though Cleph sensed a flash of irritation as they repeated their typical greeting. It was a bit strange; when Cleph was young, Lord Raith had been a distant, but ever considered threat. He had not expected to be the one representing his family, nor could he have been truly prepared for how… sedate Lord Raith had become in recent years.
"Wrong again," the White King declared, shaking his head in feigned amusement. "You will have to study the classics closer to find my name." It made sense to disguise one's name, particularly one's True Name. They may not be as vulnerable to that as some others, but it was still a potential vector of control, and the White King would not risk that.
It was also a dig at his counterpart's youth. Compared to The Raith's long life, Cleph's three centuries were quite short– shorter than some of the White King's own children, in fact.
"Hmm…" de Rossi mused. "More classic than Mario? Perhaps Latin?"
Raith snorted. "You are welcome to try." His name was likely Etruscan, but feigning ignorance tickled his rage, so that was what Cleph did. It wasn't something he would have risked half a century ago, but either the White King had learned more restraint, or he was getting complacent.
"Erika!" exclaimed Elisa Raith, nearly bobbing out of her short dress as she bounced on her heels. "It's so good to see you!"
"Elisa," Erika greeted blandly. "Likewise."
The two men took their places across from each other at the table. Lord Raith set his case down to the side, smoothly unpacking his own miniatures. "So, what assault have you designed today, Cleph?"
"I like the get up, Erika," Elisa twittered. "Looks good, if a bit dated, like you."
"You are certainly taking after your mother," Erika replied drily. "Or are you the consolation prize today?"
"Artillery is always a fun surprise," Cleph drawled, handing 'Mario' his army list, hiding his amusement at Elisa's angry snarl and spike of rage. Who could have guessed the family of Lust would have parental complexes?
"As if! At least I'm not a trophy wife, like you!" Elisa snarled.
"Unlike you, I am not a daddy's girl," Erika shot back.
Strong emotions bloomed from the two women, their argument drawing the attention of most of the store. A mix of irritation at the loud argument and no small amount of lust at the sight of two attractive women getting heated. Cleph could never tell where the line between cooperative performance and actual hostility was.
"Children these days," Mario tutted, shaking his head disappointedly. "Feuding in public, how pedestrian." He looked more amused than anything, but honesty was a rarity among the White Court. That was partly why young Tania was so interesting.
"They are really getting too comfortable nowadays," Cleph agreed; the Raiths' position was becoming more tenuous, especially as the Malvora and Skavis gradually made inroads into media influence.
The social influence the White Court wielded over humankind was also blinding them to their own peril. Humanity could be… unpredictable.
"Oh, envy looks bad on you," Elisa sneered. "I think it suits you." Her face morphed rapidly into a pleased, smoldering smirk.
"What is there to envy?" Erika inquired rhetorically. "Just like your mother: pretending to be free and independent while still hiding behind daddy's pants and money."
"Quite so," Mario agreed with Cleph, looking pleased. He swept his hand over the board. "Shall we?"
"We shall."
Cleph readied the objectives deck, shuffling the cards dexterously in well-practiced motions. He set the deck in the middle of the now empty board. 'Mario' cut the deck.
A quick flicker of cards, and the two men each had a hand of five.
Twirling his mustache in thought, de Rossi considered his options. He could only input two cards into the pile they would finally select from. Johnny Fireball, while quite a powerful character, was not the brightest when it came to long term thinking, so normally only had one pick. Fortunately, he had the well-advised trait, so Cleph could select two cards instead of one.
"More money and better pants than yours!"
"He is not your father, you are his toy!"
Hmm… Exterminate, Pitched Battle, two copies of Breakthrough, and an Inopportune Encounter. Mario was fielding Liberty Belle and her combined arms, a rather dangerous combination list, built around unit synergies. Very difficult to dislodge from objectives, especially with the morale boost.
"Aw, does your husband not play with you enough?"
"Always overshadowed by your sisters; none of your conquests are your own."
Cleph's own army had excellent firepower and artillery, but it was rather lacking on the mobility side, so Breakthrough was out. The more objectives the scenario called for, the greater Mario's advantage, so Pitched Battle was not in his favor. That left Exterminate and Inopportune Encounter.
"Oh come now, it's been years! Your siblings are dead and gone, just move on!"
"Would any of yours mourn your loss? Or would they be too excited about daddy spending more time with them?"
He set his pair of cards in the middle; Mario placed three out of his hand–Liberty Belle giving him more choices. Five more random cards went into the pile. A quick flourish, and they had their objective cards.
Stand Your Ground? That worked pretty well for him, as Johnny Fireball was a pretty difficult character to shift. The Raith flipped over his card with a sly grin. Inopportune Encounter, which rewarded him for preserving his forces. Theoretically… they could simply keep their forces well away from each other, and they would both score easy victory points.
They drew secondary objectives.
Hmm…
"You're one to talk. You ran off to a whole 'nother continent when your siblings died."
None of them were easy, though he had drawn the tiebreaker objective, which was always a funny card to win on. Mario gave no indication how useful the secondary objectives he drew were.
"You slept with the man who killed your mother."
The two White Court Lords placed terrain down onto the board, looking to create advantages for themselves.
The Raith placed several denser terrain pieces on his side, which would grant his forces cover against de Rossi's greater firepower. Cleph placed his own dense terrain in the center of his side of the board, making it a strong defensive position.
Aside from the fortified locations, the terrain they drew was mostly flat but rough ground, slowing movement across it (perhaps it was muddy or the like.)
The weather card drawn was Clear, which meant that there would be no effect at the moment, though there could be rapid change. In some ways, it was the worst setting, since it was harder to plan around.
The battle would take place at night, likely selected by Mario to mitigate Cleph's greater firepower.
Erika and Elisa continued trading insults, their Hungers rising threateningly. The other games in the store slowed to a crawl as the two women made a scene.
Their lords largely ignored them, accustomed to their long running cooperative animosity.
Neither of the men's objectives required aggression, so both their opening moves were cagey, securing their holds on their objective locations and sending probing flights to spot for artillery.
The Raith forces took some damage from de Rossi's longer range artillery, but the night conditions and dug-in infantry limited its effectiveness. Cleph opted not to fire with the majority of his artillery, instead moving them into different positions.
Raith moved many of his units into place inside the fortifications, but sent some of them forwards, most likely to pose as tempting artillery targets.
The second turn started much the same, with Lord Raith sending token forces to prevent de Rossi's aerial mages from spotting for his artillery. Cleph did not bother firing his artillery at his opponent's exposed forces, instead continuing to shell the fortified enemy positions, doing limited damage, but allowing him to improve their effectiveness on following turns. He kept some of his guns ready to dissuade Raith from attempting counter battery.
While it was true his objectives called for Raith to preserve his forces, sitting still and scoring points would not guarantee victory if Cleph was likewise scoring points by sitting on his own objective. This level of caginess was not uncharacteristic of the Raith, or the White Court in general, preferring indirect action as they did. However, in Cleph's experience, Lord Raith's pride would not let him be satisfied with a victory left to the random chance of secondary objectives.
His hunch proved right, when on turn 3, Lord Raith abruptly shot his mages forwards, making an attack run at de Rossi's heavily fortified position. It was reckless, notably more so than the White King's usual behavior, though it was not entirely a foolish gamble. They had close to parity in terms of numbers in the air, but Cleph had more ground attack mages, meaning that Raith would have the advantage in aerial battles.
The de Rossi's ground forces were not helpless against mages, now dug in as they were, not to mention a significant amount of anti-air firepower. However, that was not going to completely block the aerial mages from picking apart the fragile artillery units.
While it could be considered a risky, but potentially effective move, it wasn't really necessary. Mario could have quite easily won based on points if he simply kept his forces out of range of Cleph's artillery, aside from keeping a few units hunkered down on a critical location.
The de Rossi scored points for every turn he held his location, while Raith scored points for units surviving until the end of the game. Based on their random roll, this game would end at the bottom of turn seven, perhaps before that, and if Raith kept his forces intact enough, his score total would quite comfortably exceed de Rossi's. Sending them forward like this did not exactly work to achieve that aim.
If he wanted to win, Cleph would have to destroy a good portion of his opponent's forces. So he sent his own flight mages ahead, ignoring the enemy mages bombarding their compatriots, instead returning the favor on the other side of the board. At the same time, de Rossi saturated the Raith position with artillery. If they were about to die, he might as well make use of them.
All he had to do was hold his location.
As Johnny Fireball blasted a sizable hole in the Raith fortifications, Cleph caught a faint twinge of annoyance in Mario's mood. The White King kept a perfect poker face, of course, even down to keeping his Hunger silent, but Cleph had long ago learned not to rely just on any one of his senses, and he noticed the slightly quickened breathing, as well as a longer than normal look at the blasting wizard. Hmm… did he have a particular dislike for this character?
"Come on, Erika! Don't you ever get tired of pretending? The Nazis are never coming back!"
"That remains to be seen, especially when sluts like you are ever eager to lose your clothes for tyrants."
Ah, they were at that point of their performance/argument.
"Ah, excuse me, sirs?" One of the hostesses interrupted as the two men were wrapping up their third turn. She was a pretty little thing, likely a university student willing to trade a bit of feminine dignity in exchange for catering to a largely male crowd that was often not considered very desirable to women, but notably rather liberal with their spending habits.
The two Lords of the White Court turned to her, and she visibly trembled under the force of their gaze. "Could you…uh…please control your…uh…" She glanced over to the two arguing women. "Arm candy?" A wince passed over her face, surprised at her own words.
"Are they bothering you, dear?" Lord Raith crooned, reaching out to clasp the girl's arm in a comforting gesture that was anything but. "Why don't you stay over here for now, they will not bother you when you're with me." The hostess froze, quivering in a mix of fear and excitement, glancing around nervously.
When she looked in Cleph's direction, he shrugged. "My wife can make her own decisions."
As expected, an insecure young woman offered no resistance to Lord Raith's charms, and she ended up waiting on him attentatively, giving Erika more ammunition, if Elisa's rising anger was anything to go by.
Ah, such a delightfully sharp tongue! And the other families wondered how they kept a lasting partnership.
At the end of the third turn, things got interesting. A sudden storm occurred, forcing their aerial mages to ground, many of them right in enemy territory.
This proved worse for Raith than for de Rossi, as Johnny Fireball and his posse were quite dangerous even on the ground, while the more generalist aerial mages on the other side were not much more effective than normal infantry on the ground, not to mention possessing far fewer numbers.
As a result, by the end of turn four, both men had lost most of their mages, with all the units Mario sent to attack Cleph'a artillery being destroyed or driven to flee. In return, he destroyed most of Johnny Fireball's command, but the plucky mage refused to die, much to the Raith's irritation.
Frankly, it was greater irritation than de Rossi expected to see from the White King over a board game. Perhaps he found Johnny in particular annoying, or he had run afoul of surprisingly resilient grounded mages before.
The storm further limited the effectiveness of de Rossi's artillery, but Johnny Fireball could count as a spotter, as long as he blasted something, so he directed most of his fire there. Ironically, this meant that Raith's sacrificial forces actually reached de Rossi's position, unmolested by artillery. They helped contest the objective, albeit not for long.
The catfight in the background devolved further, moving from character insults to rather ineffective attempts at critiquing each other's appearances.
Hah! Erika had brought out the measuring tape.
This must be for show, given that their Hungers always kept them in peak condition, and Cleph knew his wife did not care that much about her appearances.
Back to the game at hand though. Amusingly enough, Mario's mages getting grounded technically meant they had contested Cleph's objective, even if they had not lasted long. On the same note, driving them off also nabbed the de Rossi a few points, rubbing a bit of salt into the wound.
Johnny Fireball managing to inflict indiscriminate damage throughout the bulk of Lord Raith's army also proved irritating for the White King. Fireball was one of the worst named mages at maneuvering, but compensated for that with impressive firepower and remarkable survivability, not to mention being able to explode on death. This meant that he was actually quite effective when grounded, compared to any other flight mage character.
Turn six saw the storm worsen, inflicting further morale penalties on top of the drop from the nighttime conditions. Mario's forward infantry broke and fled, but the Raith managed to wipe out Johnny Fireball's unit. Frustratingly for the White King, Fireball himself managed to survive.
The storm condition always made for interesting matches, as it effectively neutralized the most mobile units in the game (except for Silbervogel), resulting in a more traditional tabletop war game. Without the mobility of their aerial mages, their tentative early turns now meant that there was not much either of them could actually do to change the outcome of the game before the potential end of the game at the bottom of Turn seven.
Erika and Elisa seemed to have had their fill, as they actually left when someone finally worked up the courage to ask them to take their argument elsewhere. Well, that, or they were annoyed their partner was paying more attention to their game than them. Cleph could taste Elisa's conflicted rage at her father seducing another girl. What a sorry state.
Compared to the chaos of turns four, five and six, turn seven was actually less eventful than the first few turns, with the most interesting event being Johnny Fireball exploding in a, well, fireball. After that, their forces were too far apart to accomplish much, and the storm prevented their aerial mages from spotting for artillery. Given that the battle was at night in the middle of a storm, the two armies couldn't even glare threateningly at each other.
It was… not a very satisfying game, though Cleph had seen it coming based on what objectives they had drawn.
Despite the relatively light damage their armies took (in numbers, as opposed to logistical cost), and the fact that the bulk of both their armies had not really fought, they both managed to score quite a few points. Well, for Lord Raith, preserving his forces was his entire objective.
"I count 29," Cleph announced, flipping over the two secondary objectives he had managed to score. Mario stilled, a surprised look on his face.
"I also count 29." He revealed his own secondary objectives.
Cleph let out a bark of laughter, flipping over his tie-breaker card, reveling in the spike of rage from the White King. "The best laid plans of mice and men…"
"Bah!" Lord Raith scoffed. "But we are not mere men, are we?"
"No," Lord de Rossi agreed. "Though we are likewise subject to random chance."
The White King smirked, looking down at the game board. "Perhaps some can depend on the hand of fate, but there are plenty of ways to tip the odds in your favor. You are young, yet, Cleph. You will learn, in time. Or not."
Without another word, Raith turned and left the building, leaving his army on the table. How wasteful.
Cleph shook his head. When one had so much money, they could afford a certain level of financial imprudence. Even so, it was a sign of a poor leader to discard their soldiers so readily, especially after a failure wrought mostly by their commander.
Erika reentered the store, looking slightly flushed as she was when she had recently fed.
"Had fun antagonizing the princess?" Cleph asked, a hint of amusement coloring his tone. He packed up his miniatures, smiling apologetically to the flustered hostess.
"She was less dull than usual," Erika reported. "Something is indeed off."
Hmm…it was possible the Raiths were finally going to be making a move in this current climate, or it could mean something else entirely.
"What do you think, dear?" Cleph inquired, wrapping an arm around his wife's shoulder, following her gaze to one of the Witchflight advertisement posters.
Erika growled, throwing off his arm. "I will inform you when I see something," she grouched, studying the artistic rendition of Silbervogel, who looked remarkably similar to his most… obsessively studious student.
"Why, dear," Cleph teased. "If you keep mother henning the little Raith, our children are definitely going to conclude you need to give them another sibling!"
Another flare of irritation, and his wife's Hunger nipped at his own. He pushed back, taking a calming breath.
"Don't be ridiculous," she snarled. "I was simply thinking of her visit to my shop the other day."
"Oh?"
"She mentioned some undesirables infesting the city. A problem of the Gypsy kind."
Cleph frowned. Black Court could be dealt with fairly easily if they were foolish enough not to guard against their weaknesses, but the older ones were canny, and even weak Black Court could overpower one of the White Court head-to-head.
"I see," Cleph mused. "Do you wish to offer our assistance? More than what you already have given."
Erika nodded. "Tania's a clever girl, but she may be in over her head."
"Why, aren't you being consistent?" her husband joked. "And here I thought you had your fill of street violence."
Cleph smirked as his wife slapped him on the chest irritably, her Hunger pushing against his. "If you keep this up," she warned, "you will be sleeping on the couch tonight."
"But that would be lonely!" Lord de Rossi pulled his wife into another embrace, his Hunger grappling with hers.
They both slept on the couch that night.