The Crown Herald Town of Elaseer. Riverfront. His Eternal River Boat (HERB) Pursuit of Constance. Pleasure and Recreation Deck. Local Ti 1400 Hours.
Emma
If you’d have asked a day ago what I expected to be doing at the start of the dragon quest, then receiving the honorary rank and title of siege lord definitely wouldn’t have been on my radar, let alone on my list.
“And to you, Cadet Emma Booker, goes the masquerade title of Emirius Bokero — first of her na, Knight-Regent of Arthmilian, Grand Protector of the Realm, and last but not least… SIEGE LORD of the House of Bokero.” Lord Etale spoke, his voice echoing throughout the dod hall as he stood high and triumphantly atop a glorified stool.
The silence that followed was punctuated by the awkward clapping of the curiously nad pleasure hall’s staff. Their claps eventually filled the ridiculously proportioned ga room that dominated a good chunk of the riverboat’s central atrium.
While this questionable use of space brought about a litany of questions regarding the peculiar layout of the boat, I had neither the ti nor chance to really dig into it. Especially given how quick the twins were to drag us and our respective mounts onto the riverboat as soon as we’d agreed to their terms.
Their excitent and enthusiasm for this challenge was palpable. So palpable, in fact, that it had even caught the crew on board off guard as they all struggled to receive — let alone accommodate — the elven pair’s very particular list of requests.
But accommodate they did, which was precisely how I found myself standing awkwardly in the center of this dod room, beneath a fresco of tabletop role-playing elves staring down at us from the do above; creating an impression that it was us who were the pawns of so grand and eclectic ga of Castles and Wyverns.
The magically-imbued art didn’t really help with that assertion, as their painted eyes quite literally followed our every movent.
“And to you, rcenary prince, usurper, and savage barbarian of the Havenbrockian hinterlands, goes the masquerade title of Talnin Heavrockis — first of his na, War Chief of Rockis, and SIEGE LORD of the House of Heavrockis.” Lord Etale continued, spraying both of us in a mist of so ritualistic mana water, but not before Thalmin gave off a startling growl and a stern glare at his ‘masquerade title.’
A fine haze quickly ford around us as a result, before suddenly and quite abruptly, we found the entirety of the mosaic floor we stood upon glowing a fluorescent blue hue.
I quickly craned my head up to see that the do itself had transford from a fresco to sothing more resembling stained glass.
The reason for this was quickly made clear to , as this glass allowed for a projector-like effect to be cast upon the floor beneath its circumference.
Everything outside of the do’s light faded into the darkness at this point, after which the glowing floor beneath us started to change.
What had been flat and two-dinsional mosaics of rolling hills, grand mountains, andering rivers, and roaring seas suddenly rose upwards.
It started small, as I felt the floor beneath us starting to bubble and creak, the forrly smooth surface becoming bumpy and uneven, like the result of a shoddy DIY-er’s first attempt at tiling their bathroom floors.
Then ca the visible changes, as waves and protrusions started popping up here and there like cracks and splinters on a wood floor snapping under imnse strain.
Fissures started to form along very specific patterns, while water from so unknown source started to fill them the mont they reached a certain size.
CRACK!
Tile and grout shattered.
FWOOOSH!
While large boulders and rock formations quickly took their place.
It didn’t take long for to realize that these weren’t just any plain old boulders.
Because while we were distracted with the largest and most impressive changes, the finer details bubbling beneath our feet had just as quickly accentuated this flourishing topography.
The cracks that had been filled with water now resembled grand rivers and rapids, whilst larger fissures continued to sink even deeper, forming valleys and canyons that dominated their own region of the floor.
Eventually, the plains and rolling hills were coated with a soft and velvety surface of grass. With swathes of shrub and woodlands erging soon after; tying the whole scene together as a living, breathing simulation.
“Welco to the Realm of Israphel.” Lady Evrail spoke through a magically assisted shout. “A land of vibrant life, breathtaking scenery… and warring factions.” Her tone suddenly turned grim as the distant sound of drums echoed sowhere ‘off-screen’. “This adjacent realm is a battleground of intrigue, spilling over into outright conflict and bloodshed. All to fulfil that which is the inherent trend of all realms.” She soon turned to Lord Etale as he nodded firmly.
“To fight for dominance and primacy. To determine the rightful ruling family in this battle for the…”
The orange haired elf paused, turning to his counterpart as they raised both hands upwards, before conjuring a glowing title card that read—
“LINES OF SUCCESSION!” They both shouted theatrically.
“While we typically would provide a tutorial, we simply do not have such luxuries given the condensed nature of this ga owing to our fixed departure schedule.” Lord Etale explained.
“This will make this ga a… trial by fire of sorts.” Lady Evrail continued. “Though we are nothing if not fair in our gas.”
Soon enough, a list of basic ga rules appeared before us, hovering ominously over the landscape as the music in the background evolved.
The basic tempo of the drums was quickly joined in by a quartet of shrilly brass and andering string instrunts, creating this soft and lodic classical tune that rose and fell with the opening title crawl.
I was too focused on the rules to realize what this was, and only when the music was over did I figure it out.
This was the ga’s nu the…
However, before I was able to fully grapple with that amusing interdinsional parallel, both the EVI and Evrail quickly chid in.
The forr promptly condensed the rules into a neat little annotated list, while the latter moved on to point out the four quadrants of the map and their borders.
“Each player takes charge of their own kingdom. Each kingdom consists of a crown capital, two regional capital cities, and four towns. While a typical ga may involve the expansion of these settlents in both size and quantity, this hastened ruleset has removed that dinsion of the ga.”
The map in front of us quickly ca to reflect Evrail’s words, as a large city consisting of high walls and large towers ca to form near the very edge of the map where we stood. While two smaller cities ford further away, closer to the center of the map. Between those and the geographic center of the map were rolling farmlands, punctuated occasionally by the four aforentioned towns.
These miniature settlents, each coming up to about ankle height — save for the capital with its larger towers — were quiet and dormant at first.
That was, until little lights started appearing at each and every little window as high-pitched chatter started filling the air, most of which were confird as utter gibberish by the EVI.
“Furthermore, each player will start off with a total of ten nobles, instead of the typical five. Though it should be noted that arcane scholastics have not been fully researched. Thus the arcane developnt web will start out at its base level.” Evrail spoke informatively as yet another magical projection appeared above us.
…
I couldn’t help but to snicker at what I saw.
“A fricking tech tree…” I mumbled quietly under a muted breath to the EVI, who simply beeped in affirmation.
“Your nobles are not fixed to either the martial or civil path.” Evrail added.
“You may thus assign your nobles as you see fit.” Etale quickly chid in as yet another projection appeared in front of us.
This one… was about as un-fantastical as they ca.
It was an org chart…
Dividing up the nobles in the ga into two distinct categories, the aforentioned military path and the latter civilian path.
The forr had all the obvious callings of a typical ‘hero unit’ in an RTS ga. This ca complete with choices of specialization into frontline battle mages, and all sorts of support mages that ca with a heavy emphasis on both indirect military support, and surprisingly complex military logistics roles.
This… ga… was starting to resemble a major intel-leak on the part of the Nexus.
And it was oh so eye-opening.
However, it would be the latter that truly visualized sothing that was admittedly sowhat still murky and vague. A concept that, whilst I understood in theory, I haven't yet seen in practice. At least, not on a grand scale.
Within the ‘civilian’ side of the org chart ca a whole host of roles that Ilunor, Thacea, Thalmin, and even Sorecar had alluded to — all divided amongst three distinct trees.
Industry.
Academia.
And ‘Diplomacy.’
It was the first amongst these that truly made Nexian society click, as within that specific branch ca anything and everything from Agriculture to Mining to Weapons Industries and beyond.
I raised a hand just to confirm my suspicions, Evrail acknowledging it with a nod of her head.
“Yes, newrealr?”
“Is there a way to assign anyone other than nobles to industry? Like, Academia I get. That’s magical research so it naturally requires mages to staff it. Diplomacy… sure, that’s inherently within a noble’s political authority. But with industry? Couldn’t you have commoners, heck, even rchants participate?”
“You’re misconstruing industry for comrce, newrealr.” Evrail answered bluntly, though not dismissively. “Comrce, in both the ga and in real life, is capable of accommodating commoners. Industry, however, is entirely within the realm of the working nobility, simplified here under the umbrella unit of nobility.”
“The ans of production — or at least, production at the scale of advanced societies — relies entirely on magic. And while this magic can be extracted and then divided into niche and specific work for chosen ones, it’s only mages — the nobility — that can truly and unequivocally command mana. Ergo, the keys to industry are contingent on nobles and nobles alone.”
I couldn’t help but to stare blankly at the ten elven miniatures standing in front of the capital’s gates ready to fulfil these roles, whilst the words of one of the scientists in the IAS’ social sciences division echoed loudly in the back of my mind.
“It is worth noting that out of all dia, it is perhaps interactive and participatory dia that are the most damning out of them all. For within these interactive experiences — these gas — is a living, breathing universe. One whose very rules of reality are dictated in their entirety by equal parts objective truth, and equal parts perceived truths of the culture it belongs to. We too are not immune to this phenonon, so it is going to befascinatingto dissect this if you do encounter this on the other side, Cadet.”
Dr. Tully’s words rang loudly in my mind at this point, though I was just as quickly brought back to reality by Evrail once she’d finished her ramblings on the specifics behind the battlemage’s spec tree.
“Special martial mages such as Aethraship Skylords, Landship Landlords, and Drake Wing Lord-Commanders are likewise locked behind their respective branches within the arcane developnt web.” Evrail spoke.
“Well thank ancestors for that.” Thalmin sighed as I craned my head towards him. “What? I too dabble in the occasional Lines of Succession ga.”
“Fair enough.” I spoke, sowhat relieved that I had a veteran on my side.
“Speaking of, you said we have full points unlocked, correct?” He addressed the two elves.
“Yes.” Evrail responded.
This prompted the prince to turn towards with a nod. “This ans that you can recruit all the commoner units you want to, Emma.”
“So the points are basically population cap?”
“In a sense, yes.” Thalmin answered. “Peasant militias, adventurers, town guards, n-at-arms, and all the way to chosen ones. Though of course, the point value for each and what each unit is capable of doing and wielding varies.”
My brain started running at full speed following that. Especially after the realization that battle mages couldn’t just imdiately be specced but required ti to train.
The EVI’s summary of the ruleset clearly indicated as such, at least.
“Just so I’m clear on this, this ga also has a logistics supply line thing that reflects real life, right? As in, adventurers, chosen ones, commoners, they all need to be ard with enchanted weapons before going out?”
“And training ti too, yes.” Thalmin nodded.
I quickly turned back EVI’s condensed ruleset, noticing the not-too-insignificant gap between the production and training ti for the peasantry versus the noble’s battle mages.
It was around that point that it all clicked.
“And what’s the victory condition?” I quickly asked.
“Given the condensed nature of this ga, we’ve limited it to two options. One — the capture and/or destruction of all enemy cities. Or two — the capturing and/or defeat of all enemy nobles.” Etale responded promptly.
The gears inside my head shifted up a notch at that confirmation, as a wide grin ford beneath my poker-faced faceplate.
“Any further questions, newrealr?” Lady Evrail asked, prompting to simply nod once in response.
“Yeah, just one. How exactly do I play this ga without being able to well… interact with magic?”
“Ah, yes. That limitation. We have taken that into account!” The elf bead, as she snapped her fingers and brought in one of the many ga room attendants to my side.
“I shall act as your interdiary, my lady.” The brown-haired elven attendant spoke as he bowed deeply. “Your wish is my command.”
“Literally in this instance.” Lady Evrail noted. “Will that be all?”
“Yup!” I bead. “Let’s start.”
Local Ti 1410 Hours.
Lady Evrail
We tried to keep this as fair as possible.
This was an attempt to gauge the newrealr’s ability to plan, direct, and dictate the course of battle, after all.
Moreover, this entire venture would grant invaluable insight into this savage newrealm’s grasp of war. Testing it, probing it, and projecting it over a truly modern battlefield.
Whilst testing this on a typical newrealr would have been all for nought — as many would’ve simply fumbled at the sight of the most condensed and basic battle mage’s specialization web — the earthrealr in particular proved that she was anything but typical.
But whether this anomalous nature would extend beyond re words, presence, and physicality would be decided here. On the stage of that most civilized of high-stakes activities — contemporary warfare.
This would determine if the newrealr was as advanced as she purports and alludes to be.
The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
This would bring to light the sort of training in the art of war she received and would define so much of her realm’s capacity and competence for war.
Excitent filled , as both Etale and I stuck to our typical opening moves. Allowing us to divide our attention between the buildup of our own forces, specialization of our battle mages, and the all-important monitoring of the earthrealr’s starting decisions.
Decisions which currently proved not to disappoint, but in all the wrong ways.
We spotted a ridiculous buildup of both chosen ones and guardsn, leaving none to populate the civil path.
Conversely, all but two of the newrealr’s nobility were placed into the civil path, creating a lopsided polity that teetered on collapse.
We both turned to each other upon that realization, scoffing at it with a series of soft chuckles.
Indeed, the ludicrousness continued as we analyzed the earthrealr’s two and only martial nobles.
Both of which had been relegated to support mages.
“Neither are true battle mages.” I comnted, turning towards Lord Etale.
“Is the newrealr daft? Or does she think she’s being clever?” He responded, letting out a wispy breath as he shook his head.
“Or perhaps… due to her realm’s mana deficiency, battle mages are a foreign concept to her?” I offered, garnering a bit of a raised brow from the man. “Consider it, Lord Etale. With faint mana and weak manafields, just how could a battle mage truly function? Perhaps this limitation is coloring the way in which her realm wages war.”
“Perhaps… but this does an she lacks the true elents necessary with which to win said war, let alone wage a sustained battle.” He scoffed.
“Yes… though you must admit one thing, Lord Etale.” I spoke ominously, garnering a questioning look.
“What?”
“She’s establishing a robust industry already.” I pointed towards the complexes forming around the newrealr’s capital.
Local Ti 1415 Hours.
Thalmin
“Emma… what are you doing?” I growled in utter bewildernt at the strategies being employed that were… aberrant, to say the least.
“Trust , Thalmin. I know what I’m doing.” Emma responded cheekily.
“This is no ti to test out novel theories of war. We must focus on the tried and true. If you follow my lead, we can reach so ans of assured victory—”
“Trust in the process, Thalmin!” She once more bead out. “I’m going to insect swarm the enemy…”
My eyes narrowed as my mouth hung open at that response. My mind quickly raced back to Ilunor’s wild theories of the earthrealr’s potential insectoid nature.
“You’re going to do what, Emma?”
Local Ti 1415 Hours.
Apprentice Antisonzia the Second
I took a deep breath as I sat high upon the elegant saddle of a mighty drake golem steed.
Indeed, dressed in both fine armor and the mighty badges denoting my station, I ordered the beast beneath to prance its way forward, my head held high whilst the rabble gawked and watched on with envy and despair.
Woe be upon ye of lesser standing… you may watch, but not too closely. For the brightness of my being may blind you to your future. I thought to myself as I continued on the path set for .
This shall be a simple task. A most wondrous task! A task in which there exists no potential for failure.
Though strangely… it would seem as if this task would take on sothing of a detour, as I noted a gradual but noticeable shift in the path laid out before .
Hmm… strange… an unexpected visit into town? Hmmph. The pair must simply be reaping the rewards of their self-directed journey. Gallivanting through town when they should be questing!
I followed the path without question, slowly this ti and forging distance between their pace and my own, so as to not alert my prey…
Local Ti 1420 Hours.
Lady Evrail
“She isn’t stopping.” I pointed once again to the growing horde. Many of whom were now mounted on horseback, and many of whom were now supplied with so form of enchanted weapon.
“Neither are we.” Etale responded lackadaisically while pointing at his academies. “As I said, this truly is a bizarre path, but novelty should not be conflated with effectiveness.”
“I’m taking my battle mages out of the Academy.” I reasoned, though this only resulted in a wide-eyed glare from Etale.
“For what? We are still in the preparatory stages. Just look at Prince Havenbrock! He’s in the sa stage as us. If you open with a half-cooked battle mage, then we’re done for.”
I thought long and hard about those words before nodding in acknowledgent. “Right. You’re right. Besides, if she continues specializing all of her point count into martial commoners, she won’t have much of a base economy to support a protracted engagent.” I nodded… though I couldn’t help but to stare warily at the rapidly growing horde swarming outside the newrealr’s capital.
Local Ti 1425 Hours.
Emma
The stage was set, and my path was clear.
I didn’t need a hyper-advanced virtual intelligence to gauge what the pair’s strategy was going to be.
If anything, the intel from binge-watching hour-long video essays dissecting the intersection between ga chanics and culture had suddenly beco practical at this very mont.
It was painfully obvious how this ga was supposed to be played.
It was mage-centric, a hero-ga, a cross between an RTS, civ-builder, and one of those MOBAs.
Yet… it was the RTS elent of it that gave a unique opening, especially if my gamble paid off.
Which, given how no one had made any opening moves as of yet, was a sure-fire indicator that my hunch had indeed co to pass.
With neither party having completed their preparatory stages, this left a narrow sliver of ti before their mages were fully specced into the first-tier martial form.
anwhile, with most of my own mages specced into either industry or research, I was churning out weapons by the crate-load.
Plus, with the full pop-cap unlocked, I ignored all semblance of a sustainable economy and pushed hard into churning out ranged and advanced units; all supported by the full-on unsustainable war economy brewing in the capital.
With a deep breath, I watched as the last of the mounted cavalry were ard.
Following which, I ordered the ga staff elf to move my pieces forward.
A questioning look was shot from both them and Thalmin. However, after a solid insistence, they eventually and reluctantly acknowledged my command.
All the pieces were in place for a xerg rush as my hoards of commoner units moved up towards the center of the map, first in one solid mass, then…
Local Ti 1430 Hours.
Lady Evrail
“She’s moving.” I spoke under a dark breath.
“Hmm?” Was Lord Etale’s only answer. “Oh dear. That… that just won’t do.” He began chuckling, shaking his head as he did so.
“Are you telling you don’t see that?!” I pointed vehently, rely garnering a series of flippant hand waves from the elf.
“Yes, but look… they’re marching at a snail’s pace!” He exclaid. “Even their mounted units will arrive here far too late. By the ti they reach the second-tier cities, our battle mages will be ready to annihilate them.”
“That’s not what I’m saying…” I urged sharply, my finger pointing towards the one support mage currently leading the charge.
“Yes? She’s clearly misappropriated the position of a battle mage for that of a support mage. I do not see your—”
A fwoosh interrupted Etale’s ramblings as, in short order, we were t with the earthrealr’s armies…
At our doorstep.
Local Ti 1435 Hours.
Thalmin
“Bold.” Was all I said as I watched the disastrous scene unfolding before .
Though that was all I could manage out before the gates of infernium were unleashed upon our elven foes, as hoards of commoners flooded the frontlines through the support mage’s grand portal.
Elvaire’s scouting forces, headed by chosen ones and flanked by adventurers, were overrun in an instant as… what I could only describe as swarm tactics were brought down upon Evrail’s frontlines.
Footn and skirmishers ran forwards and encircled any and all units, while cavalry moved behind to prevent their retreat.
Finally, archers rained hellfire whenever the opportunity arose, blotting out the skies as Emma fought to defeat by detail each and every defensive formation in her way.
About half of the elf’s points were used on martial commoners, with the rest relegated to the hofront economy.
Moreover, they were spread thin whilst Emma’s forces had, in effect, condensed their numbers towards the front.
While this left her hofront utterly vulnerable, the sheer surprise and brazenness of Emma’s tactics, as well as the aggression she showed, seed to be enough of a distraction for the pair to play defensively.
Soon enough, Emma’s forces, aided by the support mage’s portal-magic specializations, raced forward towards Evrail’s towns.
At which point, another concern quickly dawned on .
Local Ti 1440 Hours.
Lady Evrail
“See that?!” Etale bead. “She’s losing the initiative!” He cackled, crossing his arms as he did so.
I hated to admit it, especially with the mounting losses on the front, but the man was right…
The mana-hungry weapons of the common foot soldier were running out, equipnt was slowly deteriorating due to heavy overuse, and what chosen ones there were simply could not sustain even their own enchanted weapons.
The advance slowed to a crawl as the encroaching hoard stopped just at the gates of my first town.
However, just before I was able to mobilize the rest of my common forces, sothing unexpected happened.
The second support mage returned.
This ti… with carts.
A trail of carts had erged, popping in and out of existence between the capital and the frontlines, forging forwards through a hastily-constructed transportium network maintained entirely by one support mage.
This was an extrewasteof a noble unit… I thought to myself. And though the tactic wasn’t unfounded, it was typically used in the late ga when nobles were plentiful and so could be relegated to such a superfluous role.
To use such a tactic during the opening stages however?
For a pure commoner army, no less?
It was madness.
But it was madness that was promptly paying off.
The hoards were resupplied in short order, as manufactoriums staffed by nobles back in the capitals churned out an overabundance of enchanted weapons and manavials.
Soon, the siege began on my first town.
…
The skies above were blotted out by an endless swarm of arrows—
SWOOSH!
—lit up only by the catapulted fireballs that followed—
CRACKLE
—before finally ending in the first town’s defense points being ground down to oblivion.
Toot…tooot….toooot.
The first town fell, and what happened next was nothing short of barbaric.
Local Ti 1445 Hours.
Thalmin
“So that’s how you’re sustaining your units.” I muttered out under a ponderous breath. “Barbaric… but practical.” I nodded slowly. “I approve, Emma.”
“Thanks, Thalmin.” The earthrealr replied as I watched on at what I could only describe as a locust swarm.
The first and second towns that had been felled… were promptly picked clean of any and all supplies. What’s more, the farms around them were looted, plundered, and sacked.
What agricultural spoils could not be processed on the frontlines were promptly funneled back to her capital, where it was promptly processed and then sent back in short order.
There were few things I could liken this to.
The savagery of nomadic conquerors… or more worryingly… the unquenchable hunger and ruthless efficiency of locusts, insects, and other such arachnous elents.
Soon enough, Evrail’s two remaining towns were sacked, their farms razed and the earth left but a barren brown wasteland.
Finally satisfied and satiated, Emma’s armies marched onwards towards Evrails’s second-rate cities, both of which proved to be a harder nut to crack.
“Do you require aid, Emma?” I asked.
“No, not yet. Hold back and keep your guys fresh, especially your mages. This is going to be a bloodbath once their mages are done baking. So I gotta press the advantage.”
“How do you expect to break through these two cities? Surely you can’t sustain—”
Emma suddenly pushed her forces forward, swarming one of the cities from all sides as her archers began pouring down arrows without rcy.
Eventually, my worst fears were actualized as much of her foot soldiers were felled by the city’s defenses.
“Emma… what are you—”
Then it clicked.
“The martial gap ans that the city’s own defenses can decimate my archers and catapults, no?” She asked with a chuckle.
“Yes.” I nodded.
“Well… since their mages are still cooking, it seems like the cities are just relying on the sa sorts of enchanted weapons we have, albeit a lot bigger. Which ans they can’t just level the land or perform big AOE attacks. All of this is to say…” The earthrealr paused, pointing at the gradual decline of the city’s health. “... they can’t stop all of us. Either they shoot the foot soldiers and allow the archers to rain hell on them, or they shoot the archers and allow the foot soldiers to start scaling the walls.”
I watched not in horror, but in abject satisfaction at the ensuing onslaught.
“And this is… sustainable?” I shot back.
“No.” Emma answered bluntly. “But this whole thing is a big gamble.”
“You’re betting on their defeat before your own fall?”
“Bingo. Either they are defeated or I starve and run out of n. It’s all or nothing.” The earthrealr spoke with a terrifying glee. “Gosh I love insect swarm tactics.”
Local Ti 1450 Hours.
Lady Evrail
I turned to Lord Etale expectantly.
However, all I saw within his eyes was the sa revulsion brewing within .
Moreover, the man was too focused, too fixated on pressing his own advantage; pushing his forces and harassing the lupinor’s.
This didn’t work.
If anything, the lupinor was simply stalling him, micro-managing his units in such a way that took his attention away from my disastrous situation.
It was only after I tugged at his sleeves did he finally turn back towards , at which point did he notice the barbarians now crowding outside my lone capital’s gates.
However, this realization ca at the sa ti that an angelic tune erged from his capital, as four battle mages now hovered triumphantly overhead.
This… was in stark contrast to my own capital, as without food and resources from the now-razed towns and cities, my battle mages were effectively trapped in academic purgatory.
Despite this, it was clear Etale still had sothing up his sleeve.
A card which he was so confident in playing that he remained undeterred by the lupinor’s own battle mages rising out of his capital.
“The earthrealr’s folly is truly a sha.” He spoke ominously. “For her tactics shall now backfire in the flas of the underworld…”
Local Ti 1500 Hours.
Emma
Evrail’s capital was sitting at half health… but my own supply and manpower situation was also looking bleak.
Still, the math showed that this tactic would work.
I just needed to—
DING… DING… DING…
What sounded like so sort of death knell echoed throughout the battlefield.
At which point… my heart quickly sank.
A single battle mage hovered ominously towards my units, my archers doing barely any damage at all, and my foot soldiers unable to even touch them.
That wasn’t the real worry here however.
Instead, it was what was forming behind my lines.
Bbuuurrrrr…. A haunting sound echoed throughout the room.
Bbbbrrrrrr… Then ca another.
Soon, I realized Etale’s whole ga plan.
And it was one that I simply had no counter for.
“BEHOLD!” He commanded loudly. “THE FOLLY OF YOUR FOOLISH AMBITIONS! WHAT WAS ONCE YOUR ARMY IS NOW MY OWN!”
“Necromancy and undead summoning.” Thalmin reasoned with a disappointed sigh. “I should’ve seen that coming.”
All hell broke loose following that proclamation, as the undead moved to swiftly battle my own forces.
It wasn’t a direct one-to-one scaling of power however, as the dead’s living counterparts seed at least twice more powerful.
However, it was their sheer number that really devastated my forces, pushing back into a pocket that was impossible to resupply.
I could see the writing on the wall at that point and so, I decided to cut my losses.
But not without a fight.
I fought tooth and nail while giving Thalmin a subtle nod, micro-managing every unit as far as I could to maximize their fighting potential, buying the lupinor ti.
anwhile, I made sure to do what was possible to fortify the hofront, but given I’d exhausted my resources… there wasn’t much I could do.
Except for one thing.
“Thalmin.” I whispered. “Take the wheel.”
With those words, I began funneling what few available resources I had left, as the lupinor now grinned widely with wild intent.
“The pleasure is all mine, Emma.”
Local Ti 1510 Hours.
Lady Evrail
It all happened far too quickly.
If anything, it was Etale’s myopic focus that led to this outco.
The newrealr’s forces were defeated. Indeed, four of her villages burned at the hands of those very n who had once hailed from them.
However, this ca at the price of the rcenary prince’s crusade.
A crusade that managed to overco the undead, and the contemporary forces Etale had left.
It was a simple matter of mathematics.
With my own inability to supply neither resources nor first-tier battle mages, the battle devolved into a one-on-one match between two competitive powers.
Though it should be noted that only one of those powers simply had more to gain, by virtue of their ally’s relatively untouched territories.
The rcenary prince made short work of Etale’s towns and cities through a series of conventional siege tactics made possible by a balanced and proper deck.
If anything, Etale’s undead deck was starting to backfire as a result of their inability to gain experience and rise in rank.
He tried compensating for this, of course, with battle mages that fought hard against the lupinor’s own.
But with both being equally matched in this dinsion of the war… the writing was already on the wall.
The rest of the battle played out like a typical ga — Etale only managing to draw things out before their ultimate end.
A SHADOW HAS FALLEN UPON ISRAPHEL… A far off voice announced, as the final ounce of health was knocked from Etale’s capital.
We both stood there… unable to grapple with what had just happened.
The lupinor… that was obvious. Nothing needed to be said about a conventional war.
But the newrealr…
Whilst ultimately a fruitless venture, the sheer audacity — the alienness — of her tactics… her first choice of tactics at that…
…
If this truly was her first inclination — her natural approach to war?
…
It was unsettling.
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