forum The Sound of War (oxo closed)

Started October 03, 2022 by @ElderGod-yellowqueen

tune

There was some mumble of agreement, but it was dry. The prince was repeating himself, and no one really cared for that. The words concerning recruitment and drafting confused them; the king had already set that into motion months ago. The system of recruitment in place was already well established, and what was normally done was different than the rules Thaddeus put forth. It soon became understood among those in the room that the cultural differences between them and the prince would be a hindrance to this meeting. More whispers rose among them.
“Yes, prince, we are aware,” Commander Nashi spoke. Her brow was raised, but she kept her voice even. “And the recruitment process has already begun. Let us just get to the point, hm?”
The matters that brought up the most concern were how the army would organize itself throughout each stage of the first ambush, and where they would go from there. The split into three units was a good starting point, but the army had its own subdivisions that had their own strengths and weaknesses. A good portion of the Ensian army were sailors, ship captains, maritime magicians, or otherwise part of the navy, and so they knew they couldn’t be apart of this. This reduced the amount of soldiers at their disposal, which also was a concern. Recently however, both newly drafted and seasoned soldiers were put through a training program that would hopefully allow them to become familiar with terrain of the Ensian/Vallasarian border. This meant that more soldiers in the army would have less experience with being in combat, which was another concern, one that had been debated before in this room. Aside from that, how would each unit be composed? Many ideas were proposed, they all had their merit. It was mostly agreed that the commanding officers in Azmarin just need a good slit in the throat, so unit three would be mostly made of weapon users. The other units could have a bit more variety, but another popular idea was that archers and witches could be best utilized there.

Thaddeus leveled his gaze at the commander. "The point is, you're going to be obliterated if you don't take my help. Your men will be tortured to death and your women will be raped before their throats slit open. You do not have a significant army. You're strength is in the water, not land. While we can always hold out hope we can bring this to the water, don't hold your breath. And ships will have no effect against dragons, which they have. I will draw up maps of the terrain, you should do your best to memorize it along with the rest of your soldiers. I will meet with you all individually to discuss who you believe will be best for this mission and who best to organize in the rest of our waves. You know your soldiers best. You know who's best fit for these missions and who isn't. Over the next few days, I'll work with you all to nail down the details. In the meantime, send your scouts to Azmarin, as well as these surrounding camps," he moved his fingers over the board, "If you can place any spies in any of these camps, if the palace, now is the time to do it. We need to know everything possible that they could be planning."
Yes he had been there. Yes, he had sat on the war councils, plotted and memorized their plans. But he had left. He had been gone for a week. There had plenty time for then to alter or otherwise concoct a new plan. He knew his family, knew the generals. He knew how they thought. But someone had to fill his now empty seat. Someone had to fill in the seats of those he brought with him. And it was those knew voices being brought to the table that worried him. His father was easily swayed if the right voice whispered in his ear.
"I want this job to be silent and quick. Whoever you chose to be apart of this team must file into that. No one knows outside of this room. The soldiers you chose won't even know what they're being chosen for until we're about to leave. I want this locked up. If you don't believe for one second that my father does not have spies in thei court, you're a fool. If they catch wind of this, we're fucked.
"Now, if we could wrap this up, I would like to be with my husband for breakfast."

Commander Nashi’s brow furrowed. “Your Highness, we gladly accept your help. That was the deal, after all. What I meant was—“
“His Highness thinks we’re stupid.”
Commander Nashi’s head snapped toward the voice. One of the witches was staring at them with a faint smirk and glint in his eye. The room went quiet, then more whispering erupted. Commander Nashi gave a disapproving glare, but it didn’t faze the witch.
“Well? It’s true, isn’t it? That’s why you’re telling us all of these things that we already know, why you’re repeating yourself. Don’t worry Your Highness, we are well aware of how desperately we need your help, that we need to be as swift and silent as possible on this mission, and how much more advantage Azmarin has over us. We get it. We can move on; we don’t need to be told these things a thousand times like we are mere children.”
“Aksha.” The commander’s voice was pleading.
“Nashi,” the witch said, without skipping a beat. “By the way, Your Highness, I appreciate you drawing up maps. How about I send out spies? It’s something of a specialty of mine.”

Thaddeus crossed his arms, his demeanor relaxed. His lips were turned up, amused. He watched the two of them converse for a moment before speaking himself. "Having recently been on the opposite side of this war and seeing your pathetic attempts, it would be a hard conclusion to draw. Your army is mediocre at best, pathetic at worst. If you think if my father had decided it, we could have wiped you out in a fortnight. We have numbers, we have dragons. What do you have? A few witches and some farm boys that can hardly hold a sword?" He sat down in the seat behind him, draping himself on it. "I'll need time to assess your army, your units. I'll likely adjust the training if I find it insufficient. Unfortunately, time is against us. My father knows I'm here. My father knows that I have brought my dragon and some of my men, and likely, more of the men that were under my command will desert him and end up here. He will act quickly. We must act before that."
He crossed his leg over the other, placing his hand on his knee. He knew it was only a matter of time. Beneath his skin, his anxiety was running high. He knew that he was risking abandoning his father and his cause. He knew he was risking his own death, his throne, and his people by doing this. But he was doing this for his people. They were suffering from endless war. They were losing their fathers and sons and husbands every day for a war they did not want. All because his father wanted more power, more land, and more money.
Thaddeus nodded at the witch. "I would appreciate that. We need any information we can get on my father and his movements. However, I think it would be important to send them out in the other neighboring kingdoms as well. Will they stand with or against us? Are they going to bow to my father because they're to much of a coward to fight back? It would be good to know where our allies lie."