War of Southern Itur

[The_Oan_Isles]

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Southern Itur was a geographical region that was made up of a number of independent nation states. This place had a variety of landscapes and geographical features such as rivers, mountains, forests, fields, swamps, and valleys. The land was rich in timber, fish and fertile soil. The land had animals such as deer, bison, boar, and wild cats. There were two great lakes in the west and east. There were mountains in the north, east, and west. The coast lay to the south. There were four large islands straddling the coast.

The native population was made up of sentient wolves called lupines. They were all the same breed. They were grey. Unlike their wild cousins, they had smaller teeth, walked upright, spoke, wrote and read, sculpted pots of clay, raised herds of deer, and farmed the land. They had a mixed diet but depended on meat for a large portion of their food. They were very social. They built cities, most were of wood, but the greatest, known as Movu, were built of stone. They had Kings who ruled over them and elders who guided the people and judged disputes. They had armies with archers. They did not venture beyond a few kilometres from the coast. They feared the Mahigan people of Laiatan and stayed in this small corner of the continent warring among themselves.

There were six kingdoms: Voltaland, Oboltaland, Warreland, Basmaland, Edelland and Rigavsland. The Rigavs and the Obolta people did not like each other. They fought about fishing rights a lot! The Basma people were cowards who kept to their own little corner and did business with everyone. Perhaps they were smart. The Warren people loved war and violence. They constantly fought with the Edel people and Volta people about herding rand hunting rights and the right to quarry stone and fell timber near the northern mountains. They avoided the northern and eastern mountains because they were not very useful to them at the time.

In 1700, when the Hamanians and other people were squabbling for land in Borea, a man called Shafiru Mahadu took a ship to Isa Island and started a small settlement. He traded with the lupines. He gave them guns and gold in return for pelts, wood and other materials. He built a massive fortress that guarded the town and protected the harbour. He grew very rich because he had exclusive trade with the lupins of southern Itur. He named the city after the great Isa (known as Yasue or Yeshu in some languages). He built the Isa House of Worship and started the Abrahamic University of Isa Island. The island was flourishing.

Everything was going well when a man by the name of Bakaru Lahidu took and expedition to the inland. He was shocked and revolted by the people of this land. He captured the Princess of Warreland and paraded her as a freak in the city of Komodu. The people of Warreland found out that was kidnapped by a Hamanite. They were very angry and attacked the city of Port Isa. This was around 1800, by this time Shafiru Mahadu was dead, but his son Likaru Mahadu was in charge of the town. He tried to protect the town from the Warren people. They laid siege to the town for ten days. Likaru sent a message to the King Ahamadu of Hama to ask for help.

[The_Oan_Isles]

Battle of Port Isa
1730
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The Hamanians had a very interesting device called a steam engine at their disposal. This device used steam to power a piston or a turbine to perform work. They used it to pull buckets of pyrite from beneath the urth. They used it to pump water from underground. This technical innovation significantly reduced the amount of work that was being done and increased their productivity. They were able to stay in their fortress for a fairly long time without worrying too much. Unfortunately, steam engines needed a lot of fuel like coal or wood, and a lot of water to work. The people in the fortress were hopeful, but even the most hopeful person gets a bit worried sometimes.

The Warren people were very pleased with themselves. They camped outside the fortress and waited at a safe distance for the people to get weary and give up. They were led by Commander Ulric. He was a very cowardly man. He had been the son of a wealthy member of the elite community in Movu Alara. He had been given this assignment at the insistence of his father. The Hamanians had not anticipated an attack so they did have enough soldiers and guns to fight them off. So they were forced to sit patiently in their fortress and wait for help.

Luckily, the message arrived in Komodu. King Rashidu sent three warships to free them. They were sailing ships. They were 40 metres long. They had an aerodynamic build and were very fast for ships of their size. They had cannons on the sides of the hulls and on the front of the deck. There were soldiers who were armed with curved swords called scimitars and with guns called a musket or a gun with a long barrel that used a flintlock mechanism. There were forty soldiers in each ship, while there were fifteen sailors and staff who were responsible for getting them.

The wolves still used the wheellock, which was not nearly as good as they flintlock. They did not really like using guns anyway. They preferred cannons instead. But they weren’t able, or willing to bring any into a battle. They were not as ferocious as their wild cousins, but they were still more powerful and fast than a human. They had preferred to use a type of gauntlet with long sharp claws instead of swords or daggers. They did not ride horses. They were, however, able to run very quickly on all fours.

The Hamanians were led by Commander Yakobu Obadiahu. He was fairly brazen but did not show it because he did not speak a lot. He sent ships in a pincer formation. The flagship was in the center while the two ships cam from either side of the harbour. They fired on the Warren warships. They exchanged cannon fire. There were explosions and lots of screaming. Shells flew threw the air, but the Warren ships were disabled. The Hamanians docked, dropped anchor and sent their troops in. They were outnumbered and the wolves were closing on them. They kept a tight formation, with musketeers in the front and flanks. Several wolves fell.

But the wolves were not stupid. The Hamanians chased them through a ravine. The wolves detonated bombs that caused the walls of the ravine to collapse. Several Hamanian soldiers were flattened by the rocks. Another group of Hamanians found an alternative route and surprised the wolves on that side. They fired from below, reducing any chance of direct engagement while trimming off a few of the wolf soldiers. The wolves through grenades that caused a few Hamanians to go up in a couple pieces. The Hamanians formed two teams and outflanked them.

Metal claws met scimitars. The clanging of metal echoed. With a twist, Commander Obadiahu escaped a claw to the face. He swept his foot and the wolf fell. He sent the end of his scimitar through his chest. Just before another wolf could rip his throat out. He was shot by a musketeer from behind. They made their way through the mess. The cowardly wolf commander, Ulric, stayed in the back yelling orders waving his claws in frightening fashion. Commander Ulric grinned and ran straight for him. Ulric jumped before the scimitar’s blade could sever him at the pelvis. He landed and kicked Obadiahu in the chest. Obadiah fell down.

Ulric tried to knee him in the chest, but Obadiahu quickly turned and avoided a broken sternum. He got to his feet and charged straight for Ulric cutting madly in the shape of an infinity sign. Ulric deflected a slice from the right with his claws and ducked another from the left. Obadiahu jumped on his back and held tightly to his neck. Ulric went on all fours and bucked madly, but Obadiahu managed to slingshot himself around Ulric’s neck and break it. The wolves were dying and fragment, surrounded by the Hamanians on all sides and could not escape. They dropped their weapons and lifted their paws in surrender.

Obadiahu looked at them disdainfully and ordered his soldiers to slaughter them. Bullets tore through flesh and blades sliced. All the soldiers were decapitated and their heads were impaled on sharpened sticks along the beach as a warning to all who dared to attack Port Isa. Obadiahu and his men were welcomed into the castle with shouts of joy. They took their dead and buried them in a dignified funeral and placed markers on each grave so that their widowers, children, parents and loved ones could find their bodies and mourn them.

A sentry on the mainland was able to see what had happened. He hurried back to Movu Alara on his wheeled sleigh pulled by three boars. He had to beat them constantly so they could get on course. He arrived in Movu Alara and told the King of the Warren wolves what happened. The King sat down and consulted with his council. He felt insulted by the Hamanians when they took his daughter and humiliated when they defeated his army. He wanted revenge. He decided to pit the Mahigans against the Hamanians and hatched a clever scheme to bring this about… To be continued[edit_reason]changed Musa to Rashidu[/edit_reason]

[The_Oan_Isles]

How the Royal Trade Company was founded and what it did in Itur
The Royal Trade Company was founded in 1670 by the King of Hama, Muhammadu II, to handle trade on behalf of the Hamanian Empire. The ships of smaller merchant guilds were confiscated and their assets were seized between 1670 and 1675. Often force and coercion were used to bring merchants under royal control. Between 1670 and 1680, Hamanian trade suffered. As the situation normalized trade bounced back and the company thrived. It owned many ships and employed thousands of merchants. It had a private army to enforce the payment of debts and fees, protect its fleet from pirates and coerce its competitors.

The attack in Port Isa on 1733 worried King Rashidu. He wanded to distance himself from the incident and handle it quietly. He commissioned the Royal Trade Company to take over the situation from the imperial army. The Doharian Order was not pleased with this and protested, but they could do nothing. They were under the King and were obligated to follow his instructions. They withdrew the majority of their forces from the theatre and returned home. Some forces remained to guard Port Isa under the command of Chief Command Officer Yahobu Obadiahu. The Royal Trade Company was shrewd and decided to use the judicial system to advance its ends.

The Royal Trade Company sued the Kingdom of Warre for the damage to ships and loss of profit during the Battle of Port Isa in the Court of Port Isa. The Judge sent the Warren King a letter demanding that he appear before the court and plead his case. The Warren King laughed and sent the Court Marshal back to Port Isa and tell the court that he would do no such thing. As the Warren King failed to appear before the court, the Judge gave the Royal Trade Company the right to forcefully seize assets that were equivalent to the damage and losses that it suffered. The Royal Trade Company felt that at least 70% of Warren territory would adequately compensate for the loss and damages it suffered.

Unfortunately, the Royal Trade Company did not realise that this action would incur the ire of the Laiatanese.

The Warren King sends a letter to the Monarch of Laiatan
1730

— Begin quote from ____

Salutations to the King of Laiatan

We hope this correspondence finds thee well. The Kingdom of Hama, a surly nation, has greatly offended us. One of their kind, unknown to us by name of face, but known with certainty that he was of the people of Hama, abducted our daughter, the Princess of Warre, in the night as cowards oft come cloked in darkness and hiding from the day. Taking great offence to this, as we naturally would - considering the great offence and injustice that was done to us - we demanded her immediate relief and compensation for this grievous act. Failing to respond, a clear sign of the Hamanite contempt no doubt, we disciplined their city that looms like a sentinel an unwelcome and foreign intrusion at our shores, Port Isa. We were entitled to satisfaction and the weight of their disrespect of our kingdom, it was fit that we assail their city. We had been, up until that point as circumstances naturally changed and led us to an unnatural state of war, their acquiantances and engaged peacefully. But they were not amenable to reason, therefore it behoved us to take matters into our own claws.

After this an entity or guild sued us for damages to their property and supposed lossed suffered by way of our justified action, in their court which cannot be trusted or held to any regard, and demanded that we cede our realms to them. We politely refused this ridiculous instruction for do not recognise the authority or legitimacy of this court on our land. As a sovereign state we are entitled to discuss matters of state with their King first and not be drawn to court as lowly subjects. They have now threatened to invade our nation. We ask his honourable and just majesty to send help and defend our nation from this impending attack.

Regards
King Pyotr of Warreland

— End quote

[The_Oan_Isles]

The First Iturian Campaign
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The Hamanians liked to think that the wolves were unsophisticated brutes who were only a step up from their wild cousins and did not even have the benefit of being dogs. On the contrary, they were people with a government, religion, and a sense of identity. They were a little rough around the edges, but they could be reasoned with. They had feelings and aspirations and lives and livelihoods. Unfortunately, corporate exploitation is not a new phenomenon, but existed hundreds of years ago. It seems that the Hamanians were determined to undermine the humanity of other cultures and people in order to advance their agenda. It was part of their culture. Their highest symbol, the Gold Star, represented how special they were. That is the level of arrogance they they had!

A representative of the company was sent to Fawa Wama, a city near the coast on the banks of the Obolta River, with a small retinue of soldiers for show rather than for protection. News had spread of the Warren’s disastrous defeat at Port Isa and the wolves were more careful in the way that they dealt with the Hamanians. The representative went to the castle of the Lord of Oboltaland.

After some brief formalities, the representative got to the point, “Your Highness, I believe that you are aware of the attack on Port Isa by the Warren people. The event was a spectacular defeat for them and news of such things spread. Moreover seeing as this event occurred close to Fawa Wamu it would be very unlikely that you were not aware of the events”.

“It seems that you have answered for me”, the Lord said, “By ‘them’, may I venture a guess that you imply the Warren people”.

“So you admit that you might have known about the attack that was planned on Port Isa. Warrenland is a landlocked nation. It has no ports by sea. So they would need to travel by the river or over land, through Oboltan territory to reach Port Isa”.

The Lord replied, “It seems you have made up your own mind and my testimony on what I knew and did not know is not needed. Why are you here?”

The representative smiled slyly. He was enjoying this sense of power (because when he returned he would be put in his proper place). He said, “I want you to confess to aiding the Warrens to attack Port Isa, and by extension the Royal Trade Company. I would like to present you with an instruction from the Royal Trade Company. It reads: 'In lieu of the Oboltan complicity in these acts, the Lordship of Oboltaland is charged with conspiracy to undermine the Royal Trade Company and treason against the Crown of Hama. We demand that you present your litigation before the court of Port Isa in defence of or admittance of the accusations levied against you”.

The Lord laughed, “Hahahahaha hawooooooo! It seems that the trial has already happened and concluded without us. The verdict has been determined. I shall make myself clear: I respect your King and acknowledge his reign over Isa Island. I have no qualms with the Hamanian’s trading and fishing in OBOLTAN territorial waters WITHOUT LICENSE! But I will not let some shrivelled naked rat stand before me and threaten my nation with trumped-up charges. There is no justice in your court. Inform your Royal Trade Company that the Lordship of Oboltaland wants to sue the Crown of Hama for failure to file a license to fish in Oboltan territorial waters, failure to pay requisite fees and failure to register all ships at the Marshal’s Office in Fawu Wama. That is all! You are dismissed”.

The Lord barred his teeth and growled. The representative quivered and quickly bolted out of the door to deliver the message.

“You should have let me bite off his legs, father”, exclaimed Prince Vladimir, the Lord’s son and heir.

“No my son! These Hamanians are convinced that we are mindless brutes and they attempt to intimidate us with their intelligence. Not all battles are fought and won on the battlefield”.

[Southern_Yugoslavia]

The History of Laiatan

Quite some time ago, the western half of the Itur continent used to look extremely similar to the current political situation in the south. Fractured and almost constantly in conflict, the petty kingdoms that stretched across the land looked out for themselves. No one kingdom dominated the political landscape, until the mid-4th Century. The Mahigan Kingdom was a petty kingdom based around the relatively young trading city of Volkgoroda. Using the nation’s trade and military power, its leaders were able to exert force on the surrounding kingdoms and ultimately subjugate them. In 365 the King of the Mahigans, Svetlov Kosma, cemented his country’s rule of the central areas of the region and founded the Grand Principality of Volkgoroda.

This Grand Principality would continue exerting pressure through trading and threats of military force, though its territory would largely stabilize by the early 5th Century. Controlling a large swath of land centered on Lake Mahi and its tributaries, this nation acted as a central hub for trade between the various kingdoms that called western Itur home. Expansion began again under various Grand Princes throughout the next three centuries, eventually leading to the establishment of the Kingdom of Laiatan by Grand Prince Yura Lainov in 1154.

The Kingdom of Laiatan was viewed as a largely aggressive state due to its near constant wars of aggression and conquest with neighboring kingdoms. This could be attributed to the former Grand Prince Yura Lainov, who took the title King of the Lupines. This title was taken by subsequent kings and queens of Laiatan, and used at almost every available opportunity to expand the nation’s borders and pull more lupines into the kingdom. These wars of expansion would cease after a particularly nasty defeat to the Kingdom of Laiatan to a coalition of petty kingdoms in 1329. Borders stabilized once more and peace would rule western Itur until the early 1530s.

Alexander III sought to unify at least the southwestern area of Itur under the Laiatanese flag, and ultimately was successful during his campaigns against the Kingdom of the Teekons. Forcing the Teekons to the islands of Kazakavo, they would remain out of reach for Alexander III as death took him on April 19, 1562. His eldest daughter Katerina took the reigns of the Kingdom, determined to finish what her father had started. Katerina I, as she would come to be known, started the bloodiest period of warfare the western half of the continent had seen in centuries. Aggressive and industrious, Katerina launched countless campaigns in all directions to grow her kingdom’s power. After fifteen years of conquest and the establishment of vassal states, Katerina had accomplished what her father failed to.

On July 8, 1577, Katerina met with her vassals and declared a new era had begun on the continent and transformed the kingdom into an Empire. The dominating force in western Itur, the remaining petty kingdoms largely fell into line with the new empire. Slowly but surely the Laiatanese Empire strengthened their grip on the southwestern region of the continent while various military campaigns sent the borders further north. While Katerina I would die in 1607, her work towards establishing the empire, its institutions, and technological advancements remained.

The Laiatanese Empire in the 1700s

The early 1700s were a relatively stable time for the Empire. Ivan (ruler of the empire from September 1, 1704 to his death on November 12, 1730) had voiced his support regularly of the lupines in southern Itur, maintaining the view that the Laiatanese Empire was the protector of the lupine species. During the 1600s, Laiatanese troops would occasionally make incursions into Warreland and Rigavsland to either enforce peace or loot neighboring provinces. This was especially the case during the rule of Tatiana, Ivan’s mother. Tatiana’s rule brought Laiatan to controlling much of its present day land, finishing the conquests of the north. When she died, Ivan was encouraged to begin a new stage of conquests and push into southern Itur. However, Ivan hestiated.

Instead of aiming for bloody conflict, Ivan opened communications with the neighboring petty kingdoms. Ivan would be the first emperor to stop incursions into the neighboring kingdoms, but the distrust remained. The occasional trade caravan would be sent into southern Itur, and they would send trade caravans of their own. But for the most part, the empire and petty kingdoms left each other to their own devices. Of course, this changed in 1730 with the arrival of a letter from the Warren king.

Kamenev Castle, Volkgoroda, Elita Oblast - 1730

While Ivan was still Emperor, his son Yuri had taken over quite a few duties. It was believed the Emperor would not survive the rest of the year, and suffered from various health problems. His mind was still largely in place, but his body was surely close to giving out. Even with his health problems, Ivan was disturbed by the idea of humans taking historically lupine land without permission from its rightful owners. In this case, the Laiatanese Empire believed the rightful owners were the Warren people.

As Ivan felt his time to leave this world was near, he involved Yuri in his decision whether or not Imperial troops should be dispatched into southern Itur. Naturally, Ivan had raised Yuri and his siblings on the idea that ultimately the Laiatanese Empire had a duty to defend all lupines. With this idea in place, Ivan and Yuri wrote a letter back to the Warren king stating Laiatan’s intentions.

— Begin quote from ____

Greetings King Pyotr,

We have been keeping our eyes on your corner of Itur for quite some time. We are greatly disturbed by this turn of events, and extend our greatest sympathies to you and your kingdom for the loss of your daughter. It is truly upsetting that a lupine princess has been stolen away from her home and family, and it is completely unacceptable that the offending nation show no remorse for these actions. We shall lodge a formal complaint with the Hamanian Empire and demand your princess be returned home.

It is also unacceptable that some trade company is demanding territory from a sovereign state using a foreign court’s ruling to back such a claim. No lupine king shall bow to any judiciary - except for his own nation’s. I give you my word that you have the full backing of the Laiatanese Empire. Our nations may have a complicated past, but Laiatan has a duty to defend our lupine brothers.

I must be candid with you, King Pyotr. I am not sure how much time I have left in this life, but please know that my son, who will ascend to the Imperial throne as Yuri II at the time of my death, also supports you. Do know that in the event of my passing that the Empire will continue its support of your cause and defend you.

I will be dispatching five regiments of Imperial soldiers into Warreland to take up positions to defend your capital and any other important areas. Know if more troops are needed, they will be supplied.

I hope this letter finds you well, and that the presence of my soldiers in your lands ultimately be unnecessary.

You have my regards,

Imperator Ivan Fedorovich Kamenev

— End quote

[The_Oan_Isles]

Making a case to the Court of Port Isa

The Oboltans, unlike the Warren’s, were willing to present a case before the Court of Port Isa. Usually, foreigners do not have the same rights as a citizen. For instance they might not be allowed to present full testimony or evidence. The Lord of Oboltaland was able to successfully apply for full rights at the Sheriff’s Office. He sued the Royal Trade Company for it’s failure to comply with Oboltan law: it failed to file a licence for fishing, it failed to pay fees and failed to register it’s ships. This was humiliating for the Royal Trade Company. The Oboltan Lordship demanded compensation of 100 gold talents. This was a large amount of gold that would seriously damage their efforts in Warreland and set them back considerably.

The Royal Trade Company countersued for conspiracy, attempt to and complicity in committing treason against the Crown of Hama and to undermine the Royal Trade Company by damage of its property, threatening its employees and creating conditions that were conducive to financial instability. They presented the idea that the only routes to Port Isa were over Oboltaland. They presented an invoice of all the ships that were destroyed and statements of the losses that they incurred. They were confident that the judge would sympathise with them and hand the case over to them on a silver platter.

The Oboltans countered this accusation by stating that there was a river that formed the border with Rigavsland. It began in Lake Warre on the banks of which the Warren capital was situated. The river was neutral territory, patrolled neither by the Rigavs or the Oboltans therefore the Warren’s could have used that river to travel to and attack Port Isa. The Royal Trade Company was unable to disprove the accusations made by the Oboltans.

The judge carefully studied the laws of Oboltaland and the laws of the empire. He filed an appeal with the Privy Council in Komodu. The Privy Council carefully studied the information contained in the docket. The docket filed by the judge of the court of Port Isa brought into question where the law of the empire extended and where it didn’t, and by extension, where the jurisdiction of the court lay and did not. They Privy Council was of the opinion that the laws of Hama applied in its own territories excluding occupied states. Considering that the empire has no formal treaty with the Oboltans, there are no regulations governing explicitly how the two nations are to interact.

The Privy Council advised the King to negotiate a treaty with the Oboltans that would delineate fishing rights and the use of the maritime waters. It advised the King to instruct the judge at Port Isa to strike the case off the roll considering that the evidence for complicity in treason was fallacious, issue a decree that clarified the extent of the law and acknowledge that matters in Oboltans territory are to be tried by Oboltan courts in terms of Oboltan law. The King agreed to these terms and gave the Court a reply based on the advice of the Privy Council to the Court of Port Isa. The Court absolved the Oboltans of all charges and rescinded its right to try matters outside of Hamanian occupied lands. A request to negotiate a treaty with the Oboltans was immediately declined. The Oboltans would only allow the Hamanians to trade at Fawu Wama.

The King summoned the Lord Rayanu to the Red Fort. He was very angry! He said, “Lord Rayanu, you have been arrogant and careless. You have defeated the power of the courts and made any headway on relations with Oboltaland impossible. We have implicitly recognised a barbaric state and inadvertently stymied the capacity of our courts. I am attempting to distance myself from this whole matter. I shall not be able to assist you more than I already have. Your are dismissed”.

The Lord Rayanu assuaged the King’s fears, “This debacle has revealed an opportunity. River that forms the boundary between Rigavsland and Oboltaland is neutral territory. Therefore we can use it for a direct attack on the Warren capital”.

King Rashidi had more problems to deal with. The Kingdom of Laiatan filed a complaint demanding the return of the Princess of Warreland. Although he did not like to admit it, he respected the Laiatanese and was afraid to engage them. They were a large, wealthy and powerful nation. Their interest in this scenario seemed paved for disaster. He replied to Lord Rayanu, “We have bigger problems. The Crown of Hama does not recognise Warreland, but it does recognise the Kingdom of Laiatan. The Kingdom of Laiatan has filed a complaint on behalf of the Kingdom of Warreland and acts as its protector. It seems we may be drawn into war with the Laiatanese. The assets of the Royal Trade Company are property of the Crown. We are obliged to defend our people and our possessions when they are threatened in the pursuit of legitimate justice. I believe we can resolve this. If you attack the Warren City and the Laiatanese are there, the Doharian Order will be forced to release the Imperial Navy and defend you. This will bring Laiatan and Hama into a cold war over Warreland. I believe that there will not be a hot war. We might just pull this off. You are excused Lord Rayanu. I want results”.

“Yes, my Lord”

[The_Oan_Isles]

Plans to attack the city of Movu Alara
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The city of Movu Alara was the capital and largest city of the Kingdom of Warreland. It lay on the south-eastern banks of Lake Warre. It had a population of approximately 40,000 people. It was defended by walls of 5 metres and half a metre thick of stone. The city had 6 towers. It had a medium-sized port that could hold large ships. The city was defended by an army of 5,000 men. There 200 cannons on the city walls. There was a small navy of 6 ships of the line that guarded the city and 4 escort ships. They were also supplemented by a Laiatanese army that camped beyond the city walls. The point where the Lake Warre opened to the River Zadomir was called the Fjord of Zadomir. There were two great towers on either side. They could warn the city of a coming attack from the river.

The river was about 15 leagues long. It was mostly deep and large ships could easily go through. But only three ships at a time could go through the Fjord safely. The lake was about 3 leagues wide and 6 leagues long. It was at least a hundred metres in depth. The journey on land from the eastern bank of the River Zadomir was about 6 leagues long. There were three towns between them. These towns had around 5,000 people in each. They were protected by wooden walls and were protected by 700 men each with 80 cannons each. Additionally, young men were recruited from the farms to protect the city of Movu Alara from the coming attack. In total there were 18,000 men. A moat and Bailey was set up at regular intervals throughout the countryside between the border with Oboltaland and Movu Alara. There were about 20 moats and baileys and 600 men in each. They mostly used swords or metal attachments that augments their claws. Some of them were archers.

They did not, interestingly, ride horses or any animals. Artillery was only used to defend the city walls, but it was not used in combat. What they lacked in firepower and numbers, they made up for in tactics. Lupines were faster and stronger than humans. They had long teeth and claws to bit and scratch. But they were mostly hopeless at climbing trees or up vertical obstructions. They could run on all fours or on their hind legs, but they preferred to run on their hind legs. They had excellent hearing and smell. They were also strong swimmers. They were potent enemies no matter the circumstance. So the Hamanians would have to be very careful and brave when fighting them.

The Hamanians relied on artillery, horses and numbers. They typically favoured a multi-pronged attack. They attacked from multiple sides, usually to tire, draw out the enemy, get behind them or dislodge them from a strategic position. They were also very good at using guns. In general, guns were a less effective weapon in battle than in the modern day. But the Hamanians were able to develop specialised mounted musketeer formations. They also had a strong naval force. They had massive 70 to 74 gun ships-of-the-line. But the ships relied on the wind for most of their locomotion and they could not come very close to a beach, because the water was too shallow. If they were leading troops for a land invasion, they would have to drop anchor at a distance and the infantry, artillery and horses would be transport by smaller boats onto the shore if they could not moor at a port.

The Royal Trade Company Military planned to attack from the water and from the land. They planned to deposit soldiers, artillery and horses on the eastern bank of the Zadomir river to the west of the forests. They planned to use barges rather than warships to do this. Barges could carry much more men, horses and artillery than a warship and they could also get much closer to the shore without beaching themselves or tipping over. The problem is that barges were effectively defenceless so the Royal Trade Company deployed two escort ships. These were ships with less than 50 broadside cannons. They could not engage in the naval line of battle, but they were good at protecting other vessels. They would escort the barges to the banks and back home.

The Royal Trade Company Navy would attack by sea. Their plan was simple: sink the navy and demolish the city walls. They would have to be careful not to demolish the docks. The army would have to trek on land and fight their way through to Movu Alara, hopefully in time for the naval battle. There were 15,000 soldiers in total. They travelled in battalions of approximately 500 foot-soldiers and 100 cavalrymen at the flanks. 40 horses would pull artillery in front of them and supplies at the rear. They tried to camouflage themselves with plant matter. The aim was to fight on multiple fronts and scatter the Laiatanese and Warren joint forces. Let’s see how this would turn out.
[hr]
OOC: Southern Yugoslavia controls the Warrens as well from here.

[Southern_Yugoslavia]

Laiatanese Imperial Army Camp, Movu Alara

The Laiatanese Imperial Army Encampment at Movu Alara was relatively modest and lightly fortified, a defining characteristic of most minor Laiatanese army camps. Horses and cannons were brought along from the armories back in the Empire, a cavalry and artillery unit accompanying the 5,000 Laiatanese soldiers that Ivan dispatched to support Warreland. The soldiers of the Laiatanese Imperial Army physically looked quite similar to the soldiers of Warreland, but the Imperial Army was easy to distinguish due to their dark green uniforms.

The Laiatanese also had drastically different tactics compared to the Warren army. The Laiatanese Empire had embraced new technology with open arms, utilizing cavalry and artillery in combat in addition to arming their soldiers with flintlock muskets as opposed to the older matchlocks. Even with the better firearms, much of the infantry preferred hand to hand combat. It was common for commanders to order several volleys of fire before charging with bayonets fixed as they closed in on the enemy.

Cannons supported infantry at almost every opportunity while the cavalry did its best to support whenever possible. The Imperial Army was used to mostly fighting in mountainous and forested terrain, putting them at a bit of a disadvantage when it came time to fight in the open. Nevertheless, their discipline remained high enough to maintain their rank and continue fighting.

The encampment that these troops were being housed at was surrounded by a light defensive palisade, with cannon emplacements set up at the three entrances and a handful pointed out over the river to defend from gunboats. It wasn’t the most heavily defended position, but the commanders believed it would be enough. They were a little anxious that the Hamanians would attack, but they didn’t believe they would be willing to risk a war with the Laiatanese Empire over a small lupine kingdom.

It was a bit tense at the camp as Warren soldiers and officers met and talked with the Laiatanese. The mutual distrust still existed, even though the Empire and Warreland hadn’t engaged in conflict for quite some time. Even as tensions between the allied soldiers decreased, an air of uncertainty remained. When, where, and if the Hamanians would attack was still unknown to both the Warrens and Laiatanese. The two allies had sent out combined scouting parties, determined to find the Hamanians before they could sneak up on the fortified positions.

[The_Oan_Isles]

Hassassin
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The Hassassin Order was a chivalric monastic order founded and constituted in the tradition of the Abrahamic religion. It had esoteric and mystical practices that the Doharian Order denounced as pagan. Nevertheless, the order remained operational and was employed to administer the secret police and carry out reconnaissance for the military. The orders of the Hassassim and the Doharim have silently competed for political power. While the Order of the Doharim is larger, wealthier and more influential, the Order of the Hassassim is favoured by the King because it is less independent. The Order of the Hassassim carries out operations that are often unknown to the Doharim on behalf of the King, which frustrates the Order of the Doharim. When the Doharim and the Hassassim have to work together on any operation, while the two attempt to remain professional, there is uneasiness and mistrust.

Regardless, the Hassassim are some of the best scouts and spies in the world. They wear black, tight-fitting uniform and a headscarf that only reveals their eyes. They have been trained to be brutal obedient merciless killers. This frustrates the Doharim who believe that combatants who surrender willingly must be held captive instead of killed, but the Hassassim have no such qualms. They use unique weapons such as a three-pronged sword. They are highly disciplined and can endure great pain. They can climb trees and walls very quickly. They do not use the “Ram’s Head” symbol used by other Abrahamic societies but they use the desert raven. This mistrust between the Hassassim and the Doharim is so great that they have a war over it 25 years later (but that’s an RP for another day).

In the forests, a league from Movu Alara

Eight hassassins had been commanded to go ahead of the rest of the party and collect information on what they found. Their mounts, the Packilvanian dark horse, was a horse that lived in arid regions. It was wild and difficult to time. While taming it was difficult, the horse could be more loyal than any other. They were some of the strongest and fastest horses in the world. Unlike other soldiers and even commanding officers of the army, the hassassins could bring their personal horses. These horses were black and moved like shadows in the night, powerful hooves pounding on the ground and forging ahead like a train, on and on and on.

But there were wolves to contend with.

The scouts travelled through the forests searching out safe and hidden paths through the foliage. Zilu was their leader. He was a great archer. The bow-and-arrow was his greatest weapon. He led his party and they happened upon a camp of Laiatanese soldiers, distinguished by their dark green uniforms. With this discovery, Zilu ordered his scouting party to turn back and report what they discovered there to the army waiting for them. But something else was lurking in the darkness…

[Southern_Yugoslavia]

Woods surrounding Laiatanese Outpost Vasiliy

A small band of Warren scouts intending to link up with a handful of Laiatanese rangers accidentally stumbled upon a band of Hamanian scouts that got to the camp before them. They watched carefully, unsure of how to proceed. Firing from their location had the potential to send lead into the small camp of their ally, while letting the scouts slip away would give the Hamanians valuable information on troop positions. Grigory, the leader of this small group, wordlessly motioned for them to advance slowly. Closing the distance as quietly as they could, the wolves took up positions behind the trees.

The encampment this was all taking place near was meant to act as a rest point for the scouting parties and a central area for Laiatanese soldiers to support local forces at one of the several towns nearby. It was significantly smaller than the main Laiatanese garrison, numbering about 150 soldiers total with no artillery. Things were less tense here, the sentries paying the most attention to the small dirt path that ran next to the camp.

The calm in the forest was broken by the sound of muskest firing, shouting, and screaming only a short distance from the camp. Grigory had ordered his scouts to fire on the Hamanians, immediately following up with a melee assault. The camp was shook awake by the sounds of combat so close, the sentries running towards the fray while the rest of the camp grabbed their muskets to follow. They didn’t know what the scene would look like when they arrived, so they kept their guard up. Officers shouted commands, trying to organize as best they could. Nobody expected combat this early.

Grigory led his troops in the assault on the scouting party, charging forward with claws and swords at the ready.

[The_Oan_Isles]

Hamanian scouting party attacked by the Lupines

The Hassassins sensed the Lupines closing on them. They had been discovered. Zilu yelled the order to flee and instructed them to rendezvous at the camp. They scattered through the forest, trying to escape the lupines who pursued them. Zilu heard the high pitched screams of a human in pain. In the confusion, he could not simultaneously accurately locate and save his comrade without endangering his own life and the mission. The lupines seemed to be picking them off one by one, dividing them and attacking them when they were alone. Zilu realised that he had made a grievous miscalculation. Unable to call on his party to regroup and fight, he decided to abandon his horse. As it galloped he lifted his hands and grabbed on tree branches and swung himself onto the sturdy boughs. He watched as the mindless beast ran into the darkness. He heard its pitched neighing followed by a loud thud as the beast fell.

He had to get moving. He realised that most of his party must have been slain. He knew that the only way out was through the canopy. He drew a breath and brushed the palms of his glove-protected hands together. He grabbed on a bough and used the momentum to fling himself from one tree to another. He grabbed on the trunk and remained dead quiet when he sensed a lupine warrior passing underneath. He knew that eventually he would be discovered. The heightened sense of smell and hearing that lupines possessed would discover him no matter how well he hid.

He took the sap from a tree. And covered his clothes with it. The goo was sticky and repulsive. He stuck fir needles onto himself. While he did not smell “nice” by the perfumed standards of the Hamanians, he knew that was as disguised as he could be. Hopefully he would have the strength to make the day-and-a-half journey to the camp. Without his horse and moving through the canopy rather than the ground, he would eventually experience fatigue. He disciplined his mind and reminded himself of the training that he had received at the Hassasin Academy. He climbed up one of the trees to get a better view of the stars. Luckily the sky was clear and the stars were fully visible. He observed the direction of the movement of celestial figures to determine the direction he should go. He set his course and began the difficult journey through the boughs. By the crack of dawn, he had made it to a stream that they had crossed. He tried to bend the flexible young pine tree across the water the other side, but it was not tall enough. He looked behind him and saw the large forms of lupines moving roughly towards his position through cracks in the canopy.

He had two difficult choices to make. Should he get on the ground, make a dash for the stream and swim across? Should he wait here and hope that they would not find him? The lupines were closing in. He had underestimated their speed and realised when it was too late. They had arrived.

[Southern_Yugoslavia]

Outpost Vasiliy

The sun had begun setting over the territory, with cleanup underway after the surprise skirmish between the Warrens, Laiatanese, and Hamanians. Considering there were no territorial gains and minimal losses for the lupines, it could’ve been marked as a victory for them. Of course, it was more than likely that the skirmish would ultimately be considered insignificant in the grand scheme of things. For the lupine allies, it revealed Hamanian forces were likely not far behind and more bloodshed would probably follow.

A messenger was dispatched to the main army camp to inform commanders of the incursion while soldiers from the outpost were sent out into the forest to locate any stragglers. Most of the scouting party had either been killed or captured by the Warrens and Laiatanese troops. They weren’t sure if any of the scouting party got away, but in the fray the local commander assumed one or two slipped away. Taking in the scent of the Hamanians, the soldiers sent out were given the orders to capture any scout that escaped the skirmish.

The woods were home to both the Laiatanese and Warren troops. From the time that Zhana and Vuksan birthed the lupine people (according to the Mahitou religion and Laiatanese folklore, at least), they had made the forest their home. However by the 1730s, many lupines called the cities, towns, villages, and farms home and used the resources from the forest. Not all lupines in the Laiatanese Empire hunted by this point in time, so naturally not every lupine in the army knew how to use their skills to their potential. A brief training exercise was all the majority of the general military got. However the scouts received significantly more training.

As night fell on the outpost, there were still quite a few soldiers out searching for a particularly strong scent. It seemed to dissipate, being replaced with a pungent odor that none of the troops could put their finger on. Since it was getting late, they continued on for a little while longer before making camp.

When morning arrived, the lupine soldiers continued following the weakened scent. They were prepared to give up when one of the soldiers noted the scent had suddenly strengthened thanks to the shift of the wind, directing them towards the nearby stream. They hadn’t noticed the sound of the tree bending, shrugging it off and assuming it was just the wind. That was until one private noticed the outline of a man turning to flee through the branches. Shouting ensued and the Laiatanese troops took off after him, commanding him to stop in Laiatanese. A private fired off a warning shot from his musket, the others attempting to circle around and cut Zilu off.

[The_Oan_Isles]

A secret route through the forest revealed

The commanding officer in charge of the land invasion of Warreland was worried. The Hassassins had not reported for far longer than they could reasonably be expected. He was concerned that the mission had failed. He asked one of the Hassassin trackers who were still around to find the missing spies and report on their progress. The tracker got on his horse and started through the forests along the route that the Hassassins had planned to follow to find clues of their whereabouts. He dismounted his horse and began searching clues. Lupines, while powerful and heavy, were stealthy hunters who left no tracks. But they were unable to cover up the signs of the struggle that had ensued here. There were cuts on the trees, broken branches and other signs that showed that the struggle had been between creatures who were large, intelligent and used weapons.

He found something interesting, he found a mark - hastily carved into one of the trees - that was otherwise unrecognisable to someone who had not been inducted into the Hassassin Order. The mark indicated that the Hassassin had been slain or captured. It also provided essential clues to even more important information. The Hassassins had uncovered a secret route through the thick foliage in caves and narrow, secluded valleys to the city of Movu Alara. Throughout the route, the tracker predicted, they left signs to mark the path. Although the lupines had won the first battle, they had not won the war.

The tracker returned to the commanding officer and informed him of the signs he found and advised him on a way forward. The commanding officer was highly impressed and put a plan into motion. The force would split up to expedite their progress. These narrow paths would make travelling in large groups extremely inefficient. They were divided into different groups and began making the journey through the valleys and forests of Warreland, toward the great city of Movu Alara. They trepidatiously moved artillery, horses and supplies through treacherous terrain.

Unfortunately, their sojournings were not without disaster. The first group of several dozen men, a dozen horses and a few canons, had gone through a dark tunnel that led to a dead end. As darkness fell outside, there was no natural light, filtering through cracks in the cave ceiling anymore. They turned on their torches and tried to make their way through. The floor was wet and slippery and any misstep would lead to a sudden plunge into the black river that churned below. When they thought they were navigating their way out, they stumbled upon a large cavern filled with bats. The bats, startled by the light, swarmed. In the confusion, a few men were crushed by their panicked horses who fell into the river and were never seen again. Frightened, but determined the remaining few made their way through and arrived other side of the tunnel, into the forest.

Another group followed the route, as the Hassassins had marked it, but stumbled on a problem. At some point the marks vanished and there were no further instructions. They had no way of determining the course to take. The landscape made it very difficult to see a way. Their only solution was to scale a mountain and hope to find the way from a higher vantage point. To their horror, they were even farther from Movu Alara than they had been before and any way out would be difficult and long. It was clear that these men would not make it in time for the start of the battle.

Aside from a bear here, a sinkhole there and a collapsing tunnel elsewhere, the army managed to make it through a land filled with natural defences. They came to respect this land and the difficulty of living here. They were several leagues from Movu Alara and were ready to proceed through more even and tame lands. They rendevouzed at a river. One of the men, Ali Muhammadu was sitting by river dipping his feet in the refreshing water. He looked at the waters and saw something strange shining under the surface. He stood up and waded through the waters. He reached in and took out a clear stone. He gasped as he saw it, unable to fathom his good fortune. He quickly hid the stone in his pocket and kept quiet. This little discovery was the foundation upon which one of the great corporate empires would be born.

The army was 4 kilometres from the perimetre of the camp that lay beyond the city gates of Movu Alara into the hinterland that surrounded the city. Soon, the Hamanians would be discovered and the first major battle with the Laiatanese would begin.

[Southern_Yugoslavia]

Imperial Army Camp outside of Movu Alara

The initial victory over the Hassassins by the combined force of Warren and Laiatanese troops had reached an excited command, and the few prisoners taken in the attack followed shortly behind. After an initial inspection by the commanding officer of the Laiatanese contingency, General-Major Andrei Dragomirov, they were sent away to be held in the small stockade built for situations just like this. With the capture of Hamanians, the Laiatanese command knew an attack was imminent. What was not known was where the attack would come from. Would they come from the forests, the mountains, the river?

Collaborating with the Warren commanders, another scouting plan was put into place to discover the location and size of the full Hamanian force en route to attack Movu Alara. Laiatanese cavalry was dispatched to check the nearby forests while Warren foot soldiers were sent to the mountains. The General-Major had confidence in his soldiers, even if they were a little wet behind the ears. Dragomirov and his commanders had experience in conflict with smaller, more organized kingdoms that once ruled the lands the Laiatanese Empire now had domain over, but many of the young soldiers in these particular regiments had only seen very little thanks to Ivan’s aim for peace. A peasant revolt here, a border incident there - but never an open battle on the scale of what was to come.

With the news of the Hamanians somewhere in the Warreland frontier, tension in the camp was palpable. The soldiers tried to treat it like any other day at camp, but the thought that they could very well be on the battlefield at any given moment hung over their heads. The hope was that the cavalry or Warrens would find the Hamanians to give the camp time to properly prepare a defense. At the very least, the sentries posted on elevated positions around the camp and on the city walls would give the city’s defenders some warning.

The next few hours would feel like a lifetime to both the soldiers and their commanders, with most of the cavalry and Warren scouts returning with no news. That was until two riders returned home as fast as their horses could carry them, shouting about the arrival of the Hamanians. The sentries saw nothing, the soldiers hesitating a moment as the scouts were brought into the command tent to report to their superiors. The lower ranking officers began barking commands at their subordinates, the next step not immediately clear until the sentries reported they too could see the Hamanians.

The sleepy camp woke suddenly, soldiers getting their gear together as the Hamanian forces moved into position as well. The Laiatanese troops rallied outside the walls of their encampment, artillery troops setting up on their cannons surrounding the camp while the commanders took control of their respective regiments. Dragomirov’s soldiers would have to be ready, the battle was about to begin.

[The_Oan_Isles]

Attack on the camp

The commanding officer was quickly aware of the odds that they were up against and full nature of the difficulties of the battle ahead became visceral. He knew that hand-to-hand combat with the wolves would be very difficult. With their size, claws, teeth and speed, they were formidable opponents. He needed to make a serious dent at long range. The plan was to open a hole right through their fortifications and attack the city and prevent the Laiatanese from regrouping and dislodging their attack. The first goal was to make sure that the gates would open for them when they attacked them. The commanding officer decided to send spies in, who would slip in secret and open the gates. He would have to distract the Laiatanese long enough for the spies to be successful.

He sent scouts to plant explosives in the ground. Primitive gunpowder bombs were planted around the area. A small force would be sent to draw them out into the area where the bombs had been planted. A few brave souls would detonate the bombs once the wolves entered the area and hopefully blow them to Kingdom-come. The spies, wearing identity-concealing headscarves and clothes that allowed them to meld with the darkness, would scale the city walls and enter. In the mean, the commanding officer had to conceal the rest of the army and hide his full capabilities.

He asked his junior commanding officer to lead the skirmish. In the late hours of the evening, the scouts began planting these explosives over a wide area to the south of the wolves’ camp. The junior commanding officer led a cavalry of 100 horses, 300 infantry and 20 cannons. The horse-drawn cannons were in front. When they were in range, they formed a line. He drove his horse before the cannons, proudly lifting the Gold Star Elephant Flag of the King of Hama before his enemies. He blew the great horn of war. The commander ordered the cannons to fire while the rest of his cavalry and infantry were behind.

[Southern_Yugoslavia]

Within the palisades during the initial bombardment

With almost 800 Laiatanese soldiers in the camp and scattered throughout the city, a slightly larger force of 400 infantry were dispatched to engage the incoming attack. Seventy-five horsemen were to join in, as well as the 15 cannons defending the walls of the camp. This force began moving out of the camp as the Hamanian cannons started firing, shattering the wooden walls and sending splinters into nearby tents. The attack force moved a little quicker as they came under fire, and Dragomirov ordering his own cannons to return fire at the Hamanian cannons.

Under the support of their cannons the Laiatanese troops marched forward, the Imperial Flag flying high as it was carried into battle by the flag bearer. The contingent of Laiatanese forces headed straight for the Hamanian invaders, beginning to fire volleys from their muskets towards the Hamanians once they were in range. The Hamanian cannons were effective against the Laiatanese, knocking out several soldiers at a time while the lupine muskets and cannons returned fire.

[The_Oan_Isles]

Drawn to the trap

The junior commanding officer ordered his troops to hold their positions as the Laiatanese advanced on their position. The distance between the two sides became smaller and smaller until it seemed that there was no chance for the Hamanians to escape. They would have to engage in combat. The junior commanding officer ordered his troop to turn and flee as the cavalry covered them. The cannons began exploding. Packed with highly explosive and pressurized gunpowder, the cannons were set to explode as a small flame travelled along a chord. Upon reaching the inner chamber, it ignited the gunpowder, sending chunks of metal careening in all directions.

Hamanians and Laiatenese alike, did not escape the “kill zone”, but the Laiatanese were a bit more affected. the Laiatanese continued their attack, replacing their fallen just as quickly as they fell. Some foot soldiers could not out run the wolves and were slaughtered as they fled. The junior commanding officer ordered the bombs to be set off. Carefully prepared canisters of explosives were ignited. They scorched the land and plants surrounding them and singed those near them and set material, like metal fragments and dust, through the air at great speeds and over great distances. As the wolves pressed the attack, their snare tightened. What would their commanders order them to do…?

[The_Oan_Isles]

An attack from the Lake

The commanding officer of the naval force dispatched to attack Movu Alarm by sea was growing impatient with the slow progress of the land attack and worried about the diminishing opportunity available to them to take the city. He decided to go against the plan and attempt an attack on the city himself. This plan was received with trepidation and foreboding, but the men followed his orders to the letter, trusting their commander not to let them down. The commander likewise, believed that his decision was rational and well-considered. He had, after all, evaluated the facts and found no other recourse but to engage in naval combat with the Warren ships.

And so he did. The Lake presented geographical challenges the likes of which were seldom if ever encountered in open sea. Large ship could only get so close and their ability to maneuver comfortably was diminished. The big warships were primarily tools to destroy the city walls, but their effectiveness in combat against other naval vessels was greatly reduced.

The smaller warships took on a bigger role in the conflict. They surrounded the enemy dodging this way and that, exchanging canon fire while protecting the bigger warships from attack. The lateen sails and aerodynamic design of the Hamanian ships were particularly helpful in making the ships more agile and easier to control given the limited maneuverability afforded by the river. They were coming down hard on the Warren’s, sending hundreds of shells in their direction. Cannon balls flew and struck the hulls or missed entirely or hit a rudder. The ships were suffering serious damage on both sides. The outcome would be decided by endurance and the enemy’s ability to sink or at least critically damage the bigger warships.

[Southern_Yugoslavia]

Battle near Movu Alara

As the shrapnel flew through the air from the exploding Hamanian cannons, the Laiatanese forces continued their push towards the fleeing Hamanians. Pieces of metal from the cannons tore through the Laiatanese lines, but the commanding officers ordered them to push on. As the Hamanian cavalry moved to engage the advancing lupines, the Laiatanese horseman moved in to support the foot soldiers. Bayonets fixed, the lupines engaged any Hamanians in the way. Even with the destruction around them, they seemed determined to push on.

That was up until the bombs hidden by the Hamanians detonated, creating panic in the parts of the line closest to the explosions. Usually strong willed, the numerous explosions and amount of devastation they caused to the land started the collapse of some of the Laiatanese formation. The commander recognized this, ordering his troops to pull back to reorganize. He desired to push forward to continue the fight to the Hamanians, but needed to maintain the morale of the men he had. His formation moved back to the rallying point further back towards the camp, shots from their muskets and cannons still fired on towards the Hamanians.

The Lake

The Laiatanese Empire neglected to send a sizable naval fleet to assist in defending the city, most of the nation’s fleet busy at sea. A small detachment of three Laiatanese light frigates backed the Warren fleet in the lake, joining the battle as soon as the Hamanian ships arrived and opened fire. The individual ship commanders recognized how important it was to disable the larger warships sent to hammer the city, and focused their fire towards them. The Warren ships tried to do that as well, but their escort ships ended up focusing on smaller ships of the Hamanian fleet.

Both the Laiatanese and Warren ships were hammered by cannon fire, their own cannons responding in kind to the Hamanians. The Warren city had the advantage of extra artillery on the city walls with the ability to fire on Hamanian ships that got a little too close.

[The_Oan_Isles]

At the camp

As the dust settled, swirly plumes of sand and smoke slowly fading with the breath from the east, and streaks of light breaking through the fumes of ignited gunpowder, the commanding officer of the Hamanians ordered the first wave to attack while the wolves were regrouping. Three branches made for the camp. Together, cavalry and infantry charged for the camp. The first aim was to set the camp on fire. Archers fired hundreds of flaming arrows while others lit torches and burnt the grass and trees and shrubs, causing mayhem and chaos. The Royal Trading Company was so desperate for a victory and so aggressive in that pursuit that they were resorting to tearing this city to the ground and destroying the wolves.

There was a deeper specism that existed that could not be explained. While elves and Kalatians, were considered humans, the wolves were beasts which is why the Hamanians called them wolves and not lupines. They were no different from the wild animals who hunted in packs, shed their fur in the spring, bore pups in caves and gorged on the raw flesh of dead animals and were slain by the winter, disease and each other. The fact that the loyalty of the soldiers (who were essentially mercenaries) lay with the gold and land they were promised, being unskilled and uneducated and therefore unable to do much else, fighting for survival or at least for the survival of their families was their only option.

Although these men saw themselves as superior to the lupines, they were at the bottom of the food chain. They were poor bums like orphans, abandoned by the uber-sophisticated Hamanian culture and left vulnerable to the seduction of wealth. Although they possessed a moral compass, even as the most debased human does, in the fumes, and adrenaline they could not see it, in the screams and cannon fire they could not hear it. This little pride, in defeating this strong opponent and inferior being, no more significant than a workhorse in their eyes, gave them a little pride, boosted their ego enough to make coming all the way to Itur somehow less bitter and a little more justifiable.

The aim was to scatter the wolves, kill them all or push them behind the city walls. If their spies did not succeed in opening the doors for them, then they would ram the gates and knock them open.

In the City walls

Almudu held the locket that his lover had given him in his hand. He opened the golden locket to look at the beautifully painted image of his lover staring back at him. He felt the warmth return, but the grief that entered in its place, eroding that brief moment and blowing it away, leaving sorrow in its wake. He went back to the day that he lay beside his lover speaking of pretty and wonderful things like buzzing bees, and singing larks and all the things that a free mind could inhabit and an imprisoned body could wish for. They lay beside each other stealing moments like these. Almudu was a noble’s son and his lover, Bashiku, was the son of the cook.

He had entered the kitchen and had seen Bashiku chopping and lifting and kneeding and crushing and spicing. He had belittled and bullied him at first, as boys in love often do. Bashiku would remain on course, working and working even as Almudu taunted and stood in the way and made things difficult. Then one day he heard Bashiku singing as he worked. Almudu sat beside the doorway, not wanting to interrupt Bashiku’s melody. Entranced by his song, he did not notice that Bashiku had stopped and was staring at him. Almudu stood up and started yelling, trying to out-shout the embarrassment. Then Bashiku held his hand. It was rough and Almudu’s was soft. This surprised Almudu because he was the big warrior while Bashiku was the slender cook’s son. Almudu beheld him and froze. He took his hand away and walked quickly, as though he had crossed a line that he shouldn’t have, done something that there was no turning away from.

Almudu stopped coming, giving Bashiku the freedom to work. When Bashiku brought the family’s food in during supper, lunch and breakfast, Almudu would pretend not to notice him. Sometimes he would push him or tell him that the soup is too hot or the lamb is too dry. Bashiku, being a diligent servant, would apologies and do as he was instructed. Almudu would feel terrible about his actions and leave Bashiku things in his kitchen like silk clothes, delicious cupcaeks that the servants prepared, but were not allowed to eat. He would pay attention to all of Bashiku’s needs, and cater to them anonymously then pretend to be mean and disagreeable in front of everyone. Then one day he woke up in the middle of the night and came to Bashiku’s room and ordered him to open.

Bashiku did so, surprised. He was shocked. He asked what was wrong, hoping that something bad had not happened. He offered Almudu water or a chair to sit on or to call his parents. Almudu just stood in the door way and ordered Bashiku to stand still. It was as though Almudu was at war within himself, as his desires fought his beliefs. His guilt and shame about being enamoured over another man fought with his desire to be with that very man. Bashiku appraoched, carefully, as though trying not to enrage a cornered lion. He brought his hand, slowly, hoping not to trigger Almudu into attacking. He Almudu’s hand. And Almudu fell on the ground like a great statue being brought down. Bashiku called for help. A doctor was summoned and determined that Almudu had temporarily lost his mind. He encouraged Almudu’s parents to keep him from any further battles until he was calm.

This meant he was home more. Sometimes he would enter the kitchen pretending to have lost something. Bashiku would offer him a chair, make him tea and give him biscuits. He would eat them and Bashiku would work. They would simply be in each other’s company without speaking. Gradually they grew closer, laughing and smiling until one day Almudu gave Bashiku a letter explaining his feelings. Unfortunately, Bashiku could not read. So he asked Almudu to read the letter to him. Almudu read the letter, trembling and his voice quaking. His breaths became deeper and more shallow as though he was running a great distance and at the end of his strength. Bashiku came to him and put his head on his lap. Almudu cried. He did not know that he was crying, but great wet streams flowed down his cheeks. Bashiku wiped them, and he never cried again…

That was, until the night they were discovered. A knocking on the door soon followed as a group of armed men broke the door down and saw them there. There was no explanation needed to clarify what they had seen. They were both taken and beaten heavily in the dungeons. Almudu’s father lashed them and lashed them and lashed them. He ordered Bashiku taken away and told Almudu that he would no longer be his son, but his servant. He would never receive his inheritance and his position in the household was reduced to a gaffer. His father eventually sold him to a merchant who was looking for mercenaries on behalf of the Royal Trading Company for an operation in Itur. Almudu’s father gratefully accepted the gold and gave up his son to martial servitude.

Almudu was here now, looking at Bashiku’s picture wondering if he was still alive - if they had tortured him. He quickly shut these thoughts out. He had a mission now, to open up the gates. He gathered himself towards himself and crept through the shadows getting closer to the tower where the watchman rang the warning bell and controlled the portcullis, lifting up and down as commanded. Almudu’s first mission was to quietly assassinate him and open the gate. As he stepped in, the floorboards creaked loudly. He heard the lupine guard yawn and saw a pair of white dots floating in the air. He knew that the guard was awake… What would the guard do now?