Proving Grounds, Jin-Hark, Kingdom of Louria

"Strike!"

With a crack, dozens of projectiles left the smooth barrel of the swivel chargegun and tore through their targets, scattering hay and marked burlap everywhere.

There was a moment of silence in the aftermath. Then clapping from a single pair of hands broke the silence.

"This Fennian swivel chargegun is tremendously effective," said King Hark IV as he examined the devastation caused by the canister shot from behind the piece. A boy ran ahead and brought to him the remains of one of the burlap targets for his close examination. The black circles that had marked the fabric were now unrecognizable. After a moment, the King nodded and dismissed the boy.

He turned to the Qua-Toynian prisoner as the testing crew checked over the chargegun. "How fast can a drilled crew strike with one of these Fennian chargeguns?"

"A well-drilled crew could strike up to once every thirty seconds," replied Master Gunner Vol.

"I assume that's before they start to tire out."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"All those projectiles with just two men when using those small wooden barrels." King Hark turned to the nearby Centurion. "You and your men must be as fierce and courageous as wyverns to face the ends of three of these at Maihark and yet overcome their resistance."

The Centurion bowed his head. "Your words of praise shall be gladly received by my surviving men and shall bring comfort to the families of the lost, Your Majesty."

The King turned back to Vol. "By demonstrating to my men how the weapon works, you have fulfilled your part of the agreement. I see value in your mastery of the art of using chargeguns. Are you sure you will not switch sides and swear to me? My offer stands for one last time."

"I am sorry, but I must disappoint you, Your Majesty. I swore an oath to my sovereign when I joined her army, and I will not break it. As long as you are at war with the Princess, I will give no further aid to your cause."

"It is disappointing that you will not be persuaded, but I admire your steadfastness to your oaths. Guards, see Master Gunner Vol back in safe condition. Inform the jailers he and his men shall be moved from the dungeons and spend the rest of their time as prisoners providing for their upkeep as farm labourers."

"By your will, Your Majesty." The guards took Vol away.

"Despite their losses, your men still had enough discipline to capture many men of the piece crews. Their conduct reflects highly upon you."

"Your soldiers did as ordered, Your Majesty. Unfortunately, the commanders of the Maihark Gate chose to fall upon their swords rather than be captured. Their knowledge would have been most useful to overcome the remaining defences of the city."

"And yet your rapid seizure of the Gate must have made quite an impression upon Maihark's commander. You have proven that Fenn weapons though powerful, are not insurmountable. I've been informed that just the next day Dame Ine, now without hope for supplies slipping past the naval blockade into her safe harbour, agreed to guarantee the port city's surrender to us if they are not relieved in two weeks in exchange for the cessation of fighting and later safe withdrawal.

By the actions of your command, we now hold her most trusted combatant, Sir Keith of Maihark, as our hostage. Our spies have informed us that despite already putting himself out of frontline action by breaking his arm during his attempt to thwart your assault, the removal of his presence has resulted in a loss of morale in the garrison as they lack one of their most experienced minds. Now we face the real prospect of avoiding a costly assault upon Maihark's walls.

You and your men have measurably advanced our cause Spear-Bearer Photius Daphopates, and you shall all be rewarded."

King Hark turned to High Chamberlain Maus. "See to it that the Treasury further their resolve for the future and care for those they left behind."

Maus bowed. "As you command, Your Majesty. Your soldiers shall remember the justfulness and wiseness of your rule."

The King turned back to Photius. "In addition to coinage, you will find a commendation bearing my seal with your name on it. Start thinking about who amongst your men will succeed you in your current position."

The Centurion bowed deeply. "My most sincere thanks, Your Majesty. May the Four guide your path."

King Hark IV turned and walked away from the field. Maus followed behind with the excubitores.

After riding on horseback to the palace and warming up in its wide halls, King Hark chatted with Maus about various ongoing concerns of the state as they walked towards his chambers. Eventually, the topic turned to the owners of the fleet of big metal ships anchored in sight of the capital's northern walls. The largest of them was comparable in size and shape to the flying vessel carriers of the Holy Milishial Empire and Mu.

"Preparations are still being made for an official reception of the envoys of the United States of America and Mu. We are still waiting on the guest responses to our invitations for the associated banquet," said Maus.

"Have the American envoys begun their etiquette training?"

"Yes, Your Majesty. The tutors report that they have taken to the lessons with earnest effort and seem sincere in wishing to cultivate of relationship of respect with us. They have compared our rules with theirs, which means having fine manners is not a foreign concept to them."

"It's good they've indicated that they are cultured and wise, unlike the Meerkyans. My expectations of meeting them have risen. There will be much discussion when I hold an audience with them. Do we have an appraisal from the Archbishop?"

"The Archbishop is meeting with them for lunch today."

"Ah, then I can ask for his thoughts tonight when he visits. Very well then."

On the Plains West of Fortress Ejey, Principality of Qua-Toyne

"Incoming!"

Deputy Adem Aspietes watched a boulder the size of a single-room cabin sail through the clear blue sky. For a few moments, it appeared to grow in size as it dropped back down toward the earth before smashing directly onto the roof of the covered siege ram and crushing its crew, violently ejecting sharp rock and wooden splinters around. He felt his horse jerk.

"Incoming," yelled the spotter again.

This time the boulder hurtled towards a kentarchia of infantry. The men, seeing the great ball of death heading for them, immediately broke formation and scattered to the sides. The rock failed to collide with anyone directly, but the pieces of rock that flew outwards from the impact zone killed and maimed several soldiers.

"I've seen enough," said Domestic Pandour Raoul as screaming whipped through the air. "Pull the men back!"

"Cancel the attack! Retreat!" yelled an aide. Horns played in response to the command, causing the remains of the bandon of 200 soldiers to start moving back, eager to get out of range. A chorus of cheering and jeers came from the enemy on the walls as they watched the retreat. Since there was no enemy to pursue them, some of the braver soldiers stayed behind to collect the wounded and bring them back to camp.

"Our probing attack has shown House Nou's defensive siege trebuchets are too accurate to make a committed assault on the walls viable with our current equipment and numbers," declared Pandour.

"The Shield-Bearers didn't even make it past a third of the field of danger," observed Deputy Junfilla Argyros.

"I think Duke Nou's even smiling there from the battlements," said Chief Kalsio Planudes as he squinted at the pennants flying from the top of the walls.

"Your initial instincts were right, Spear-Bearer Aspieties," grimaced the Domestic. "It'll be weeks till enough siege towers are erected and tunnels dug. Domestic Neboulus Stethatus will soon be joining in this long siege along with replacements for our losses. We'll have to discuss whether a frontal assault with our combined forces would even have a chance against the walls of the Fortress Ejey with its garrison, or whether we'll need a whole another tagma."

Adem sighed, "Waiting for a third tagma would bring us dangerously close to the end of campaigning season. Unfortunately, we have not been able to secure aerial superiority over the fortress. Our limited high-altitude wyvern fires are too few and too inaccurate to destroy the trebuchets. The pre-war alternate plan to climb across the mountains by the found paths with a tagma to disrupt their supply lines and invest the fortress on both sides will not work if we are spotted by their wyverns. A determined aerial fire campaign and a small blocking force would enable the enemy to hold the mountain paths at a chokepoint and force a retreat."

"Hmm, let us return to camp and rest for the day," stated Pandour. "We'll continue our discussion tomorrow. Maybe the wyverns attached to Domestic Stethatus's tagma will be able to turn the air war in our favour."

The group turned their horses around and began riding them back to camp.

House of Unity, Jin-Hark, Kingdom of Louria

William carefully lifted a leg from around the saddle and crossed it back over as a stable boy held his horse reigns. Now sitting sideways, with a heave he slipped off and onto the wooden footstep placed for him. Patricia stood waiting for him to finish climbing down, having done so herself in half the time.

"My ass and thighs already ache from that one ride. How do you get used to this?"

Vlad swallowed a grin as he walked nearer the FSOs. He could empathize with William's pain as his legs ached from participating in the Lourian horseriding lessons over the last few days. His riding muscles had atrophied after not riding horses for ages.

"It's just like any exercise. You destroy your muscles until they build back up to adjust. Stretching beforehand helps."

"How long have you been riding horses for, Patricia?" asked FSO Daniel Reddick as he got off his horse. The tall African-American FSO joined the expedition on the USS Kearsarge to provide the team with expertise in law. According to William, about a quarter of the U.S. Foreign Service had backgrounds in law, trading in higher pay for less boredom.

"Since I was nine. My mom would often take me to Stony Hill Stables in the Hamptons."

"So you were a horse girl."

"Hah, I suppose so. I was regularly doing dressage and showjumping until junior year. Hmm, Dan, you're also a New Yorker right?"

"Yes, born and raised in Sugar Hill."

"When we go home you should visit Stony Hill Stables with me. It's been a while since my last visit."

"Thanks for the kind offer, Patricia."

Their Lourian guide and minder, Mezezius, returned after conversing with the guards at the door. "Archbishop Sgouros will meet you upstairs on the fourth floor. Please follow me."

The American entourage walked into the Domus Unitatis, the House of Unity. The four-story building was the main residence of the clergy who worked next door in the Ecclesia Reminiscentiae, the Church of Remembrance. Vlad was surprised by how the wide avenue the two buildings lay on connected directly to the Hippodrome and the Great Palace in a layout eerily similar to that of old Constantinople.

The similarities led Vlad to wonder if perhaps there was some other world out in the universe with a Constantinople-like city.

Once again, warm air heated the building, and immediately Vlad handed off his coat to the local staff like everyone else before they walked up three flights of stairs. Mezezius, obviously familiar with the building, led them down a hallway into an open room at the end. Bookshelves and tables lined the walls, with two armless couches facing one another. He directed the two FSOs to sit on one together, while everyone else found space to stand around the room.

Slow footsteps drew their attention to an old man walking down the hallway they just passed through. With the help of a cane, the white-haired and bearded man, dressed in silver and copper-coloured robes, walked up to the envoys, who stood up in response.

Mezezius introduced the religious head, "Presenting Archbishop Maro Sgouros, Head of the Holy Theme of Louria."

Vlad translated as William greeted the elder with a handshake. "It is our honour to meet you, Archbishop. I am William Harris, and my colleagues here are Patricia Sullivan and Dan Reddick. As Foreign Service Officers, we represent the United States of America on our expedition to this continent."

There was a snap from a camera as Patricia shook hands with the Archbishop. "Please, call me Maro. I'm too old to require such formalities from others all the time. I hope your journey across the ocean was a safe one, William, Patricia, and Daniel." He smiled when he received affirmatives, then sat down across the FSOs and motioned for them to join him.

"I first want to thank you for helping to arrange for our official expedition to this continent," said William.

"It's no problem at all. The Church has done so before for other nations with no previous contacts here. The requests from Mu helped speed up the process."

"I've been informed you're from the Holy Milishial Empire, Maro," said William, "Is it typical for the Archbishop of Louria to be from out of the kingdom?"

"I would say it occurs rarer than otherwise. When a bishop or higher-level positions become available, at the end of the year their would-be peers vote for their preferred candidates from amongst the priests and priestesses who passed the Examination of Candidacy to fill those positions. Now, it is very difficult to become a Candidate in the first place, so in some votes, an available position has no local-born to fill it out. The chosen few are then expected to serve in those positions until they vacate the seat through death or retirement."

"So once one becomes a bishop, they then cannot become an archbishop?" asked Patricia.

"You are correct. The Church of Four Stars holds the doctrine that those in governance should not aspire to a higher status, though in practice the rules do not prevent attempts to maneuver desired successors into a successful candidacy. In my case, there were two other suitable Lourian candidates for archbishop. However, they both filled out available bishop positions, since being a local is seen as useful as bishops have direct control over and would need to form good relations with the priests.

For Louria, it is considered good enough that I am a human who will soon age out of my role rather than an elf who would serve for a century or two."

The FSOs nodded along politely.

"Please allow me to ask a few questions of my own. I am curious what religions are worshiped in your secular… uh, republic? Am I correct there?"

"The United States is a federal republic," explained William. "You could consider our government structure to be a more complicated version of that which existed in the old Lourian Republic."

"Oh, but instead of a consul as your leader you have a…"

"President. The American people vote directly for him, as opposed to other democratic systems where leaders are selected by the elected party."

"Then what happens if you have an elected party ideologically opposed to the president?"

William smiled. "Perhaps we should save that explanation for later… We learned during etiquette lessons that you may be present at the reception should it be successfully scheduled."

"After the reception, at the banquet," corrected Maro. "You two may end up having to repeat yourself twice on that day after the King's done asking questions of you. I hope you have been taking those lessons seriously. Lourian society is especially strict about court manners and rituals. I beheld lesser envoys who were ejected out of the kingdom for breaches in propriety."

"I believe the instructor did give us favourable evaluations last session. Anyways, I should return to your initial question, Maro." William opened up his briefcase and took out a bundle of stapled pages. "Here is a printed Lourin translation of the last census of religions in the United States. There are some short descriptions of each religion included."

"Nice paper," remarked Maro, as he picked up the report. "I've rarely seen such white paper outside of the Central Continent. Even Muan paper tends to be a bit yellow or grey." The Archbishop flipped through and paused on a pie chart. "Hmm, these are some precise charts you have. They do not look hand-designed. How did you produce them?"

"They're produced on devices we call computers. Other people we met have previously compared them to personal crystals."

"Hmm," Maro nodded then flipped back to the first table. "Are you religious?"

"I'm Catholic," said Patricia.

"Baptist," said Dan.

"And I was raised Episcopalian," continued William. "Those are both different groups of Christianity, as outlined in the census."

"'Self-Described Religious Identification of U.S. Adult Population.' There seem to be a lot of different groups for one religion. I think there are more groups here than all the buildings of the Church of Four Stars in Louria, perhaps even all of Rodenius."

"Most of these groups differ because of disagreements in how and what in Christianity should be taught. These disagreements caused newer churches and groups to split from earlier ones."

"How frightening, I say. It says here that Christians worship a single god?"

"Yes, an eternal, supreme being."

"Do the races in your homeland not believe in different gods?"

William coughed. Dan looked at Vlad and asked, "Did you translate that right?"

"Umm, I think so?" Vlad heard the Archbishop say the word 'genus'.

"Let me ask for some clarification," said Patricia. She turned to Maro, "By races, I believe you refer to peoples such as elves, dwarfs, and wolfmen?"

Confusion fell upon Maro. "Yes, but is there any other meaning of the word?"

William spoke. "In our country and throughout our old world, we categorize humans with different skin colours as different races."

Maro raised his eyebrows. "But humans with different skin colours can still produce healthy human children, right? It's not like how a human can't have a child with a wolfman."

"Um, I believe we would refer to that kind of difference between the two such peoples by the word, 'species'."

There was no Latin word for species, and Vlad did not know if there was one in Lourin. Vlad did not translate William's last sentence as he realized he had a problem. "Hold on a moment," intervened Vlad, "I believe I made an error in translation." He turned to the Archbishop and spoke in Lourin. "I think I may have translated the Lourin word, genus, incorrectly into English. How exactly would you define the word?"

Maro furrowed his brows as he contemplated. "Let's see." He stroked his white beard. "I suppose it would be different people who are either unable to produce offspring together or produce offspring of great differences from the parents. Half-elves, for example, are considered to be of a different genus from humans and elves. However, we would refer to a human and something such as a landwyrm as different animals."

"So only people are referred to as being of a genus?"

"Yes, you are correct."

"And would you call a human and a fish as being different animals, or would there be a different word for that?"

"I don't know another word for differentiating animals."

"Please allow me to create a hypothetical. Would you consider a living rock or a plant that thinks just like a human as a person?"

"Hmm, I suppose so, though I cannot imagine how it would be possible to tell either a rock or a plant was one if it could not talk or move."

"I understand now. I did indeed make a mistake in translation. I used the wrong term when I translated genus into English. I apologize profusely." Vlad turned back to the FSOs and spoke in English. "I, along with the rest of the translation team, had been translating the Lourin or Latin word, genus as race, the standard translation, as it was clear the term did not fit the scientific usage you might remember from biology. It appears that genus is used here on Arda in a similar way to species except applied only to people or rather sentients, which would include a hypothetical sentient tree. For now, I'll continue translating it as race, but keep in mind the differing definitions. I apologize for the confusion."

"I guess going forward we'll have to watch for words from languages we know back on Earth being used differently here," said William.

"Such differences would have implications in law," said Dan.

"Better contact Doctor Banks later to warn her," commented Patricia.

"I will once we get back to Great Oak."

William sat up straighter. "Let's get back to the previous point of conversation. It was, um, Maro asked if we had gods for different 'races,' so inform him there are only humans on Earth."

Vlad did so.

"Intriguing. I wonder how the lack of other races affected culture and societal development in your world. I'll leave that discussion to later. It says here you just call your god, God?"

"Yes, as God is considered in Christianity to be the one true god, as opposed to being a god of many," explained Patricia. "God is also commonly referred to as the Lord, though the true transliterated name in English would be YHWH, pronounced as Yahweh or in certain sects, Jehovah. God's true name is rarely spoken because of its sacredness, and one of the ten rules of Christianity, as commanded by God and written in scripture, is, 'Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain'."

"So breaking an oath to God would be sacrilegious then."

"Yes, though there is disagreement between different groups on whether swearing oaths is permissible."

Maro nodded. "The concept of a single all-powerful god is not unknown to us, though the Church of Four Stars rejects such dogma as the words of jealous gods.

Moving down the page here, I see that 76.5 percent or more than 159 million American adults are Christians as reported by this census, though actual membership in a religious institution in the next table is much lower. How do you get 19 percent membership in no religion though?"

William was flipping through his copy of the census. "I believe these figures indicate membership in any religious institution despite their beliefs, so 19 percent of atheists still hold membership and never renounced their affiliation."

"Oh, that makes sense of these numbers, but do American religions not require periodical reaffirmation to maintain membership status?"

"Not for many institutions," replied William. "Confirmation and sometimes reaffirmation is practiced in some Christian churches, but generally, churches do not go around calling on members to reaffirm multiple times."

They continued to talk about American religions, along with why the US decided not to have a state religion, as the Archbishop continued reading through the pages for another fifteen minutes. Vlad's feet began to ache as he stood.

"Thank you for indulging me by answering questions about the religions of your country."

"It's our pleasure," replied Patricia.

"I should spare your ears from a detailed account of the beliefs propagated by the Church of Four Stars, lest we spend until tomorrow morning in discussion. I'll just give an overview. Every race here on Arda has one or more gods responsible for their creation. These creator gods are thus worshiped by each race above the others. Originally they were the sole gods for each race, and cross-worship was forbidden.

The arrival of the Sorcerors to Arda and their challenge of the rule of dragons changed this. In alliance with the demonic races, the Sorcerors began conquering the other races of Arda. After The Ruin, as their followers became endangered and were driven to Rodenius in the Continuation War, several gods came together in a Divine Pact and split their domains amongst each other so that through specialization they may together overcome the gods of the demons. In the summer of year 50 of the Central Calendar, the gods selected and blessed Four Heroes with divine powers to deliver the news, lead what is now known as the Quadruple Alliance, and call to worship other Pact gods for blessings according to their newly organized domains. For three hundred days the Alliance fought until they retreated to the final positions at Lea Nou Forest. All the remaining religious elders gathered to pray for deliverance from certain annihilation.

They were not left wanting. Shamash, the elven goddess of the sun and sky, conferred with her two sisters, Shin, the elven goddess of space and time, and the Unnamed, elven goddess of the land and sea. Together with the rest of the Pact, they convinced Ir, the human god of laws, to briefly break the laws of creation limiting Shin so she could call upon Emissaries from a distant god Shamash knew. Shamash appeared before the elders and delivered the news herself, for this Intercession came at the sacrifice of the Unnamed, who lost her name forevermore. All knew this truth, and they wept as a cave was revealed to them, where they received the Men of Stars as honoured arrivals to Arda. The Alliance and the Emissaries drove the enemy off the continent and back to the continent of Grameus. Many years later, with contact reestablished with the Milishial Empire, the Church of Four Stars was formed."

William and Patricia nodded as they processed the tale.

"Are you not able to give the Unnamed goddess another name?" asked Patricia.

"Any name made up so would not be her true name. Let me show you something." Maro stood up and motioned for the group to follow him over to the side.

He pointed his hand toward a stone tablet the size of a coffee table book lying on top of a waist-high wooden cabinet. "This is a reproduction of one of the earliest engraved prayers to the goddess of the land in Lourin. This blank space here is where her name used to be."

Maro picked up an object made from metal that appeared to be in the shape of a pen with a needle point at the end. He turned towards a small blank stone tablet and started scraping. "I could make up some name, say Gordia." He showed the smaller tablet where they could read the name. "But if I try to carve it into the prayer."

Vlad watched him engrave the letters of Gordia one by one onto the large stone tablet.

"It disappears."

Vlad blinked. The letters he had just watched carved up were gone. The stone showed no signs of changes made there.

"If I write in the margins elsewhere, you can see the name Gordia remains. But every time I write it into the prayer, it disappears."

Vlad felt the hairs on his back stand up. The name did not fade out like a transition in a slide show. It was there one moment and then gone the next as if it had never been carved into rock.

"Can I try?" asks William.

"By all means."

William took the engraver and practiced writing 'Sophie' onto the smaller tablet. Satisfied it was barely legible, he tried to fill in the blank space on the larger tablet. He wrote 'Sop' and then stopped and waited. Seeing the letters remain, he turned triumphantly to Patricia. "Hmm, it appears that if I stop after partially writing a name then-"

"It's gone," said Patricia.

William turned back immediately to the tablet, 'Sop' was gone. "Dear God," he muttered.

Patricia took the engraver from William and immediately started carving into the blank name space. Dan looked over. "Is that the tetragrammaton in Hebrew?"

Patricia finished, "Yes. I thought maybe a different language would-" Patricia gasped as her engraving disappeared. She dropped the engraver and stepped back away from the stone in horror.

"How about if you write something that's not a name for anything?" wondered Dan. He picked up the engraver and started carving the word 'the' into the space. He looked away then back. The word remained. He put down the engraver.

"Quite perceptive of you," said Maro, "Words that are not names and scribbles or drawings as such will not disappear. I'll just clean it up here." He added an 'o' to the end of 'the'. It became blank again. "The inability to give a name to the goddess applies to any written form of prayer. If you write with ink on parchment, the name will disappear from the prayer. It's unknown why the written word is affected but not when spoken. Nevertheless, this enduring miracle is what continues to attract followers to the faith when the memory of other miracles like the feats of the heroes are forgotten."

Maro looked at Vlad and then at the others. Patricia silently made the sign of the cross as Dan bent over to eye the absence of any markings that weren't already there on the space on the rock.

"How do you know this isn't just some magical effect?" asked William.

Maro frowned, "Godly miracles are magical by definition. Magic originates with the gods. A person with the Gift could sense a trace of mana whenever a false name is erased. The difference between the power of the gods and mortal magic is that theirs are not understandable. The mana emanated in such miracles comes from nowhere we know of."

"So a sufficiently advanced being with magic unfathomable to you would be a god to you?"

"Yes, because the gods are so."

Vlad considered Maro's perspective. For people who accepted a view of godhood with a lower bar than being almighty, more beings would qualify as gods as opposed to just God. So from the other perspective, monotheists (and atheists) could explain the disappearing names away as extra powerful non-godly magic. This was notable but not earth-shattering when viewing it from that angle.

"Let's sit back down. Perhaps I might guide our discussion towards more contemporary affairs."

The team calmed down significantly as they returned to their seats. William spoke first, "May I ask what is the Church of Four Stars' position on the ongoing war here on Rodenius?"

"Certainly. The Church views the war as a great tragedy brought on by the failure of the royal courts of Louria and Qua-Toyne to see eye to eye. Thus far, the Church remains neutral and has placed its efforts on protecting the lives of non-combatants. Property may be seized and destroyed, but the survival of those without ill will to anyone should be secured."

"Do you expect the Lourians, as the invading force, to displace Qua-Toynian civilians in this war?"

"Not as an end itself. The customs of limited war do not forbid the burning of land and homes to deny enemy armies sustainment for example. But such tactics would necessarily involve the displacement of those who toil in the fields. The Church though expects soldiers to allow those who have not violently resisted and thus acted as militia to evacuate with whatever food and clothing they can carry. The military chaplains embedded in the armies of both sides are obligated to report violations, though a refusal to evacuate when warned ends the obligation to safeguard such civilians from collateral damage.

Nevertheless, destroying such markers of civilization and removing the populace is not in the interest of King Hark IV, who hopes to benefit from productive farms later. Thus far though, Qua-Toynians have largely evacuated before the arrival of Lourian troops."

"Hmm, limited war?", said Dan, "So you're familiar with the concept of limited vs…"

"Total war, yes. The war between the Ancient Sorcerors and the Infildragoon is such an example. In a total war, there is little or no distinction between the treatment of combatants and non-combatants by one or all sides involved. The Ancient Sorcerors and the dragons gave no quarter. It's unknown if that war started as a limited one, but it certainly ended as a total war. Signatories to the Four Star Concordat are obligated to take no action against one another that could lead to such a calamity. By diplomatic custom, all the major powers across Arda abide by those rules. I hope I'll never witness such barbarity.

Speaking of total war, I have heard some disconcerting rumours about the policy of the United States on war."

William gravely frowned. "If those rumours were about the United States rejecting limited war and going straight to the effective destruction of an enemy country, I'm afraid they were right. I will note that this policy resulted from a limited war that the United States participated in, which due to the actions of the enemy, became a total war that ravaged the major powers of our old world. By threatening, and then acting when those threats are ignored, to annihilate any major political centres of the enemy, the United States aims to avoid even limited war and keep all conflicts at the desks of diplomats. This policy has successfully deterred warmongers before.

That said, in recent decades, the United States has recognized that there are conflicts driven only by dictators without the approval of the populace, so perhaps there may be some room for lenience where there are so many innocents, in which case the United States may attempt a limited war."

"Then it is true you process power equal to the Ancient Sorcerors in matters of destruction, even without magic."

"Yes, as we have stated to others, the United States possesses nuclear weapons. By manipulating the capacity for matter to split and fuse, nuclear weapons begin and maintain a massive continuous release of energy. A single such bomb weighing about two men, dropped from a bomber can destroy a whole city the size of Jin-Hark."

"What would happen if some of your people get into trouble abroad then? Is the United States willing to unleash doom for a few souls?"

Dan answered, "That would depend on the circumstances. Normally, the United States will have an agreement with the involved government concerning the treatment of individuals who've say, committed a crime in another country. The United States government has an obligation to safeguard the rights of its citizens abroad, but it would generally accept for example an American tourist going to jail because they stabbed someone maliciously."

Maro nodded, "Seems to be a reasonable approach. You're lucky to not have been transferred during the heyday of the Sorcerors and the dragons. To quote an old Infildragoon saying, 'The lowest dragon is above the highest king.' I hope you won't encounter such trouble when you later deal with the Quilans."

"Would you have any advice?" asked Patricia.

"On Quila? I have not had the opportunity to travel to the Lodges myself, but I've heard from well-travelled lay members that one should keep in mind that omnivores are considered the same as carnivores in beastfolk society. Never open your mouth while directly facing an herbivorous beastfolk, so only smile with your lips and face off towards the side when talking."

Maro's eyes narrowed as he leaned forward and whispered conspiratorially, "There was once a time when tribes of carnivorous beastfolk hunted and ate their herbivorous neighbours. To bare sharp teeth was an indication of a hungry desire."

Maro returned to his normal posture and adopted a neutral expression as a combination of shock and revulsion emerged on the faces of the Americans in the room. Vlad briefly wondered if that was considered cannibalism before deciding it was not.

"Luckily in our enlightened era with the long unification of the beastfolk under the great stags, only the demonic races overseas have been known to keep to such practices. In Quila, manducide is a capital crime punished with death by slow slicing."

To Vlad's knowledge, manducide was not a word in Latin. He could still decipher the word as likely a portmanteau of manducare and occidere, 'to eat and kill'. Lourin must have developed the word to describe what must have been an act more common here on Arda than on Earth. Since the English language already had similar portmanteaus of Latin like homicide and suicide, he kept the word as is when translating and defined it quickly as murder by eating.

"So death by a thousand cuts?" asked William.

"That is an apt description for it, yes. The kins of the manducide victim are allowed to make the first cuts. Quila is especially known for taking a tooth for a tooth approach to justice."

"We'll take care not to accidentally threaten the Quilans with our teeth then," quipped Dan.

Maro flashed a grin before adopting a benign expression and moving on to other topics of discussion.

Eventually, they concluded the meeting and bid concordial goodbyes. The envoys left and then spent the rest of the day seeing the sights of the city before heading back to the villa as the bells of the city rang to signal the nightly curfew prevalent across the lands of Rodenius.

Kingdom of Altaras Embassy, Esthirant, Parpaldian Empire

FSO Arthur Gilbert stepped out of the vehicle and onto the sidewalk as the Marine Security Guards guarded the perimeter. The paperwork with the Parpaldian equivalent of the DMV had finally gone through so now they could swap out the two LAVs for a convoy of four Humvees. Once the new embassy currently in the early stages of planning was built, they would switch to Cadillacs and Fords. Doctor Banks followed him outside.

The Altaresh Embassy stood out against the facade of the other embassies on the street. While many embassies were of local construction, the Alteresh had opted for what Arthur would describe as something similar to Gothic Revival-style architecture. The stone walls and gatehouse facing the street had tiny decorative battlements lining the flat roof. The corners of the gatehouse were instead false towers about one and a half to two stories tall and maybe seven feet wide, which flanked the arch-shaped barred windows and iron-gated entrance. The main embassy building that could be seen behind the gate showed a mixture of arched and rectangular windows along with circular, octagonal, and square-shaped towers.

Arthur approached one of the two guards standing behind the gate. He wordlessly handed the invitation to the scarlet-red uniformed man with an outrageous brown mustache that merged onto his sideburns. The guard accepted the envelope, opened it, and called for more guards waiting in the gatehouse. Two guards manually pulled the gate open as the rest stood guard.

He, Banks, and their two escorts were ushered by presumably an officer into what might be a tea room. A plush red carpet covered the floor, and a single chandelier on the ceiling illuminated the walls. Four sets of ornate cushioned wooden chairs sat around a circular cafe-sized table. Banks translated the officer's words that the Alteresh ambassador would join them soon.

As the two Marines stood near the walls, Arthur and Banks sat together at the table. His eyes flowed over the decorations on the walls. There were several portraits around the room, though one was set higher and central to the others. Although the figure in the featured portrait did not wear a crown, Arthur guessed it might be the King of Altaras. Below this portrait was an exquisitely carved wooden clock featuring what Arthur recalled from the Natural History Museum was a sea wyrm, the national animal of Altaras curled around its base. The clock face itself was white with simple non-numbered black paint stripes denoting the times as arrow hands ticked and tocked around. As the hands reached the hour, there was a mechanical whirl as suddenly a wooden bird popped out from a set of doors above and made a cacophony of cuckoo noises.

At that moment the door opened as the Altaresh ambassador and a guard entered the room. The guard stood on the opposite wall from the Marines as Arthur and Banks stood to shake the hand of the handlebar-mustached ambassador.

"Welcome to the Alteresh Embassy in Esthirant. I am Ambassador Aled Bevan," said the ambassador in Lourin. "I hope you found the chairs comfortable.."

"More than good enough. I am Foreign Service Officer Arthur Gilbert, and this is Doctor Louise Banks, a professor of linguistics."

"Well met, let's sit down."

As they sat down, Arthur looked back at the clock.

Aled noticed. "Do you like the clock's design?"

"Yes, is it mechanical?"

"It is. It was a gift from the Second Civilization Area."

"So not of Alteresh make?"

"No. Altaresh timepieces are based on crystals." Ambassador Aled rang a silver bell and a man walked in with a silver tray and placed it on the table. The server removed the cloche to reveal what looked like Southern biscuits containing raisins and covered in sugar.

"Here are Altaresh pice bach and black tea," said Aled as he waved over the food, "Baked cakes." As the server poured out tea with the usual options of milk and sugar, he demonstrated that the cakes were just eaten by hand.

Arthur took one of them and bit down on one. To his surprise, the 'cake' had a strong butter flavour infused within it, though the texture was thinner than scones or biscuits. If only there weren't raisins in it.

They shortly finished the first cakes. Arthur declined the offer of another and they launched into discussions after exchanging information packets. After talking about their countries, they moved on.

"I have heard the United States intends to do a lot of trade on Philades."

"Yes, so far though we've been focusing on making agreements with the Parpaldians here," said Arthur. The owner of Union Slider, who gave that criminal-catching Marine team a whole bunch of money as well as some fancy ribbons, had expressed interest in purchasing American steel for his fastest slidercars. There was a lot of potential in exports to Parpaldia, but Arthur was going to have to work hard to ensure Parpaldian products going the other way didn't have children's fingerprints all over them.

"You know, Parpaldia is a big market, but you'll be leaving the rest of Philades off the table if you solely rely on them."

"How so?"

"Parpaldia does not have strong relations with any of the nations north of it. As the hegemon of the continent, the other nations are wary of Imperial domination. Any goods going through Parpaldia are inevitably covered in tariffs no matter their origin."

"Then we'll put in the work to make trade agreements with each one of them."

"Yes, eventually, but you'll also find physical limitations to trade with them. How do you find Esthirant's ports?"

Arthur considered the question, as he did not want to reveal too much. "Suitable," he neutrally responded.

"Unfortunately, Esthirant's already the largest port on the Philades continent. You'll be heavily restricted with the tonnage of ships you can use in the ports of the coastal kingdoms."

"We would invest in the expansion of those ports."

"And lengthen the amount of time to attain trade flows of any significance to your economy."

Arthur inwardly grimaced as he took care not to show it on his face. The ambassador was correct. "I suppose Altaras offers a solution."

Aled smiled, "Altaras offers the largest deepwater ports in the Third Civilization Area. Our trade ships are welcome to every port outside Parpaldia and Fenn. You can ship your goods destined for the kingdoms to our island nation, and let us take care of repackaging them for shipment to their final destinations. As we deal in volume, we coincidentally offer the lowest fees to do so. You can double-check with the other embassies on this. They'll agree, and many already prefer to deal with us when trading by ship rather than with each other directly. The information I gave you includes the dimensions of trade ships we accept into our ports."

Aled's enthusiastic confidence made Arthur believe there was probably some other factor than low fees influencing its trade with the non-Parpaldian aligned kingdoms. He rummaged through his memories and recalled that recently, Doctor Banks had translated some Parpaldian news about a northern kingdom taking delivery of a new Altaresh-built ironclad.

Ah, it seems this world wasn't new to the wonders of the military-industrial complex. "Your kingdom's logistics network seems impressive, but I do have one major concern."

"Please tell me."

"Are there child labourers working at the ports?"

"As porters and packers," admitted Aled. "However, for those concerned, we also operate child-free ports. Those ports also happen to be our deepest ones, since the Holy Milishial Empire uses them."

Arthur nodded and finished his tea. He put the cup and saucer down. "The United States will take your advice with utmost consideration, Ambassador."

"That's all Altaras asks for."

Everyone got up from their chairs.

"Thank you for the food and tea, Ambassador Bevan."

"You are welcome," said Aled as they shook hands. "Officer Gilbert, Doctor Banks, I look forward to further meetings."

The American diplomatic party left the Altaresh embassy.

Target Field, Eastern Outskirts of Jin-Hark, Kingdom of Louria

"An arquebus, as defined in the Concordat, is an unsuppressed non-repeating smoothbore iron sights gun without integral or detached magazine or cylinder launching solid spherical ammunition no larger than 20 mm in diameter and fired, or struck as magical users call the process, through the insertion or touch of an external stick or cord.

With that definition, I'll let you fine gentlemen guess what type of firearm other than an arquebus would fit these constraints."

With his display of fluent Lourin, the Muan looked expectantly at the U.S. Marines gathered around the table. Like the rest of the Muans, the Muan Expeditionary Army armourer kept his long hair tied up in a low ponytail. Upon meeting the contingent of Muans when they passed through the harbour gates yesterday, Vlad noted that all had black hair and epicanthic folds on their eyes similar to East Asians. Eye colours usually ranged from black to brown and rarely dark red, and skin colours ranged from pale yellow to just as pale white as Private Blair McDonald.

Vlad watched with amusement as PFC Sharps struggled with his translation. The private was barely able to translate firearm terminology from what Vlad now deduced was equivalent to Neo-Latin rather than classical Latin. The translation team had hypothesized this was the case earlier for Lourin and thus started expanding their vocabulary in preparation, but they had not gathered conclusively delineating terminology until now. The Renaissance child of the Roman language was the one that had the word sclopetum for a firearm, from scloppus meaning 'bang'. Sharps' translation skills would have to do as Vlad judged the latest spiel as accurate enough.

"...A shotgun?" hesitantly answered a corporal. Huh, the definition was indeed loose enough for non-pump action shotguns to fit. Richard translated the answer to Lourin.

"Indeed." The armourer opened the large crate behind him and took out the gun inside for the Americans to see. "I present the Roden Special, a double over-and-under barrel 12 gauge shotgun with a pistol grip. You'll notice the rear of the two strikers extend behind the receiver and are exposed. This is to fit the requirements for an 'external' stick. You don't have to worry about accidentally discharging by pulling or pressing against them, as the safety mechanisms are sturdy enough to block any force short of one that would destroy the whole receiver. Just take care not to have anything loose that can snag on them and disrupt your attempt to use the weapon when needed. I'll now demonstrate its use."

The armourer stepped up into position on the firing line. "Press on this latch to release then open the action. Load in your shells. Close it back up. Line up the sights on the target, and…"

With two consecutive bangs, a dispersed pattern of pellet holes appeared on each of the two targets in front of the armourer.

"Open the action again to clear the breech." Two steaming shells launched up from the breech and back over his shoulder before landing on the ground. "Repeat as necessary until you've destroyed your target. We also have full-sized round shots available for punching through thicker armour, but because they're just regular spheres the effective range is reduced compared to the buckshot. Lastly, there's a bayonet lug, only compatible with the 248 mm long bladed Bayonet 95." He demonstrated mounting the bayonet before removing it and placing it back in its sheath.

The armourer placed the shotgun on the table. "Did this first impression match your expectations, Sergeant?"

After hearing the translation, Master Gunnery Sergeant Lane nodded to the armourer. "It's something I think we United States Marines can work with."

The armourer smiled and then motioned toward the stack of crates behind the table. "Now then, come one by one and get yourselves acquainted with your new lovers."

As the U.S. Marines picked up the shotguns and began familiarizing themselves with them, Vlad turned to the Lourian beside him. "So Mezezius, what do you think about the Muan weapons."

"Loud," said their guide and minder, "and perhaps inferior to repeating arbalests. As I understand it though, the Muans have repeating guns at home. Does your own country have such better weapons?"

"Yes, and they make a lot more scloppi."

Mezezius chuckled.

William walked up to Vlad. "It's time to go meet with the leaders of the local guard force we're hiring. PFC Sharps will take over while we're gone."

"I suppose this is when we part ways again," said Vlad to Mezezius.

The Lourian nodded, "I'll be watching your soldiers here train with the Muans. One of my men will go with you."

"They're marini," corrected Vlad, "not militi. It's a whole thing with them."

"My mistake. I'll be staying with your Marines."

Vlad and William walked away and joined up with Patricia, who was talking to two Muans in conversational Lourin.

"Does everyone wear their hair in um, …" Patricia mimed a ponytail.

"Our hair?" Ambassador Ahmet of First Snow pointed at his ponytail. "Not every Muan has low, long-bundled hair. You know how Mu is a confederacy of ten nations?"

"Yes."

"So this hairstyle originates from the four nations, the Host Nations, that guard the mountains that run the width of the Mu border. The three southern coastal nations, the Guest Nations, adopted it after they were forced to migrate northeast into the territories of their hosts by the invasions of the Servants of Kings, the Pagandan and Inertish peoples. The three northern coastal nations, the Free Nations, do not follow this tradition.

When boys in the Host and Guest Nations become men, they start tying up and growing out their hair like this. These symbolize they are at the age of maturity and remain in good standing in their nations. A common punishment for serious criminals is to cut them off. Women in the Host and Guest Nations, if they bundled their hair, ensure theirs hang from a higher point on their heads or are styled differently like with braids."

"I see. That's an interesting cultural tradition. Everyone here is from the Host of Guest Nations?"

"Yes. You'd rarely see anyone of the Free Nations outside Mu. It's… considered a great burden to be far away from home. The Free peoples don't have the duty to travel like the rest of us."

Envoy Kaleda of Loud Winds said, "Strengthening the homeland at home is generally given the greatest respect by Muans. Those eager to leave are considered those who, uh, would be afraid to fight for their homes."

"Cowards," clarified the Ambassador. "Burdening the nation you were raised by refusing to give back to it is one of the crimes that would result in a 'haircut'."

They noticed William and Vlad's approach. "We ready to go?" asked Patricia.

"Just need to wait for FSO Reddick."

Daniel Reddick was off somewhere taking a piss. There were no washrooms nearby.

"There he is," said Patricia.

They watched Dan jog across the field in his suit. As he stopped, he adjusted his glasses which had slid slightly down.

"You good?" asked William.

"Yes."

William turned back to the Muans. "Let's meet with the mercenaries, then."

"We'll walk," declared Ambassador Ahmet, "The tavern they gather at is not far from the south gate."

The group, along with two Muan Infantrymen, two U.S. Marines, and a Lourian minder walked out of the field. Mezezius stayed behind to watch the firearms training.

The Muan Ambassador did not exaggerate the short distance. Vlad was not sure if he had gotten acclimated to walking everywhere, but unlike the trip to the Domus Unitatis, his feet had not even started aching when they crossed the main street filled with merchants and farmers travelling in and out of the city and arrived at a fairly wide one-story building with a sign depicting a white goose.

A crier was standing on the street near the entrance. "The Goose only uses bread made from Lourian grain. Eat quality bread offered by the Millers and Bakers Guilds here. True Lourian bread, for true Lourians."

Inside, the main space of the tavern was filled with tables of all shapes and sizes and filled with a rather loud atmosphere. People here were eating, drinking, and playing various dice, cards, and board games. A man was busking in a corner by singing while playing on a lyre-like instrument. They made their way towards an L-shaped bar at the far wall, avoiding servers delivering orders to tables.

Ambassador Ahmet slapped down a small coin at the counter and addressed the bartender, "We're here to meet with Ioseppe."

The bartender snatched the coin and went back to pouring drinks. "Second private room to your left behind you."

"My thanks," said Ahmet. The group made their way to the door and knocked.

A man with a large pale forehead, bushy eyebrows above grey-blue eyes, and a great full light brown mustache and beard wearing a scarlet red tunic opened the door. Vlad found him a striking figure, instantly memorable. "Ah, you must be the Muans and Americans. I'm Ioseppe Hypsypops. I command the band of the six best fighters in Louria who are available for hire. Come on in and take a seat."

The minder attempted to follow them in, but the Mu and American escorts blocked his way.

"Sorry, private meeting. Why don't you find a seat and wait for us," suggested Vlad.

The minder frowned but took the suggestion. It was not like the group was planning to escape from him anyway.

The private room had cushioned seating around a circular wooden table. An older man with a long greying beard sat there. "This is Gemistos. He leads the other five travelling men and boys we'll be working with." Ioseppe poured wine from a jug into wooden cups as everyone sat down.

"Let us break bread first," said Ioseppe. He took a round brown loaf and split it into nugget-sized pieces. "Garum?"

"Sure," said William. On their first meal in Louria, the FSOs had been initially put off by the strong fishy smell of the condiment sauce, but they were converted by the surprisingly nuanced taste of it. Garum was like a less salty version of East Asian fish sauces or soy sauce but with just a little spicy kick. You could not taste the fish in it.

Small saucers were distributed around, and everyone gathered dipped their piece of bread and consumed it along with some wine in a casual but almost ritualistic habit. A round of cursory introductions followed before the talk came to business. Vlad let the Americans practice their Lourin and only translated where needed.

"So you're well-versed in trips across the border to Quila?" asked William.

"Yes, and to Qua-Toyne," said Ioseppe, "I've made round trips for over eighteen years now. Gemistos has been a cross-border travelling man for thirty years."

"Thirty years?" asked Patricia, "That's impressive."

Gemistos nodded sagely, "Thanks, my lady. I reckon I could make the journey from Jin-Hark to Barrat with my eyes closed. I'll ensure your luggage is all loaded correctly for the trip."

"Gemistos was on the last Muan expedition to Quila. You're in good hands with him," said Ioseppe.

Ambassador Ahmet nodded, "Gemistos recommended Ioseppe's people for the local force to accompany our convoy."

"He's a brave man, but brave men die every year," said Gemistos, "Ioseppe is skilled, experienced, and lucky enough not to join them."

"My fighters and I will be on horseback for the journey and will be self-sufficient. Gemistos and his travellers will drive the six wagons your luggage train needs."

"There are well-travelled way stations and campsites along the way," said Gemistos. He layed out a simple hand-drawn map that was more a list of places with connecting lines denoting roads rather than a map. " We'll head southeast along the Lourian highways until we turn northeast to the Quilan border. We have long-standing arrangements with the Quilan villagers. The main concern would be brigands, wildlife, and weather."

"The Quilan inland always has seasonal food shortages as the weather turns colder," explained Ioseppe. "We will procure extra rations before crossing the border for trade with the villages, but there is a chance a hungry group of raiders could ambush us. The risk will be higher on the return trip, especially if you end up deciding to visit Qua-Toyne from Barrat and thus return later. We'll teach your fighters the tell-tale signs of the threats to us."

"So it's advisable to finish our trip quickly," said Patricia.

"Yes. You're on a tight schedule if you wish to return to Louria before the new year. If snow falls, it will block the roads in Quila," warned Gemistos.

"When will you be finished with your business in the city?" asked Ioseppe.

"We should be finished in a couple of days," said William. He turned to the Muans. "What about your side?"

"We have nothing planned after our joint visit there," said Ahmet.

Vlad's heart momentarily filled with excitement. Tomorrow the Americans would finally visit the palace along with the Muans.

Ioseppe took out four copies of pre-signed contracts and placed them on the table. "Same rates as indicated earlier. Just sign them when you're ready."

The diplomats looked through the contract and consulted with the two with law qualifications, Dan and Kaleda. As Dan had taken Latin when he studied at Columbia University, Dan only rarely needed to ask Vlad for clarifications as he read the Lourin script. After reading it all, he remarked in English that the contract seemed well-written and more sophisticated than found in American or European historical texts. Vlad speculated it was probably because people like Ioseppe and Gemistos had to sometimes work for clients from the Central Continent.

Eventually, Dan and Kaleda agreed the contract was sufficient. Pens were taken out and signatures were added to the copies. The copies were distributed, and the parties shook hands, toasted, and parted ways.

The Old Bailey, Outside Maihark, Principality of Qua-Toyne

"What is this place?" asked King Rolfus Quila in Standard Elven as he rode his horse beside the Princess of Qua-Toyne. He found the Elven tongue difficult to pronounce properly, so he spoke relatively slowly.

Princess Rusgeth waited patiently as the king finished his question before responding. "The Old Bailey of Maihark," she said as their horses trotted past the wooden walls surrounding the bailey and into it. "It's the oldest surviving structure in the area and was the once the first defence against invasions from the sea. The port city of Maihark was later built and named after it. This motte and bailey castle design is long obsolete and was merely maintained for sightseers. In recent years, it has become a place for foreign travellers to come and stay to experience our culture." She turned to a man with long, neck-length, wavy hair in partial plate armour riding beside her. "I recall Sir Ailwin stated he once worked there."

"Your memory is impeccable, Your Serene Highness," said the Princess's Champion. "For a young swordsman of talent, the Old Bailey's proprietors pay amongst the highest rates in the land. Per day the wages earned are higher than being on retainer for many noble families. However, like the tournament circuit, it is seasonal work. Foreigners usually come and go with their holidays on a week to two-week rotations, so the rest of the time the place serves as a waystation and is staffed accordingly."

"What do the foreigners pay to do here?" asked Rolfus.

"Learn beginner martial arts, so smallsword fencing, archery, and riding. In the evenings, minstrels will come to perform their songs and dances and teach them some games like dice." Sir Ailwin pointed out the sconces lining the outer walls of the buildings in the bailey. "Those sconces carry not torches, but light gems. Foreigners from the larger continents are used to staying up past sundown, so these provide light for those times. Some even prefer having their largest meal be supper rather than dinner at midday."

"A large supper?" asked Rolfus incredulously, "That must wreak havoc on their digestion."

"Indeed. It also greatly inconveniences the cooks."

The princess's horse neighed as she stopped before a bridge that connected the bailey with the motte over a small moat. The square walled castle at the top had a set of stairs leading down the side of the motte to the other end of the bridge. Rusgeth announced, "The top of the motte will give us sightlines into the city."

Rolfus mentally groaned as he eyed the long set of stairs. His hoofs weren't meant for climbing like some goatman.

Sometime later, they finally reached the top of the motte. From a platform along the wooden walls surrounding the castle, Rolfus could vaguely see the wooden circumvallation and contravallation enclosing the Lourian camp. As a herbivore, his eyes were not optimized for peering into the distance. He couldn't tell how many levels the Lourian towers protecting the walls had.

He turned to Chief Companion Vulsgail, who read his mind. The foxman contrasted Ailwin's plate armour with his simple hauberk. Vulsgail looked into the distance. "The Lourian fortifications are quite extensive," he observed. "I see two-level towers along the perimeter for providing arbalest and ballista support. There are stakes and ditches surrounding the walls. We'll have to prepare material for crossing them."

"I see the banners for two tagmata and eight banda," said Ailwin, "That gives them around 8000 infantry and 1600 cavalry."

"How much time do we have until Maihark is obligated to surrender?" asked Rolfus.

"End of the week. Two days," said Rusgeth, "Dame Ine, the commander of the city, will keep her word. If we cannot break the Lourians here and relieve the siege, we'll be forced to fight them elsewhere after they've been strengthened by reinforcements and additional supplies."

"Shame the Fenn will not arrive in time to aid us here," said Rolfus. "Still, our current combined army outnumbers the enemy significantly by around 3 to 1. We should break through with an assault."

"The chargeguns and ballistae we have do not outrange their ballistae. We'll have to cover them with attacks on the defences as they get into position," noted Ailwin.

"Sir Ailwin, how dense are their spotlights?" asked Rusgeth."

"The reports say there's one on every tower covering the approach to the walls and several within their camp covering the skies, Your Serene Highness." Sir Ailwin thought for a moment. "A quiet force could still approach to sprinting distance of the walls undetected."

"You're thinking of a night attack," observed Vulsgail. "We do have a lot more fighters with good dark vision than the enemy."

Rolfus agreed. While a human could see farther than Rolfus during the day, once the sky had darkened and colour faded away from the world, Rolfus could see farther than a human during the night. Elves and a lot of beastfolk could. "Such a force could destroy their spotlights and allow a larger one to assault under the concealment of darkness."

"Tonight then, during the second sleep," declared Princess Rusgeth of Qua-Toyne. "We attack tonight."