Year 105,742: The Haesonian Dialogue

This Event was played out of sequence; it is chronologically concurrent with the Conqueror's invasion of Zefar.  For dramatic purposes, and to keep the players from unfairly using knowledge of one event to influence their behavior in another, I introduced this Event after the Conqueror handled the giants of Sathad-Zin.

Again, there was no historical document for this Event, since the players were familiar with the scene.

Alone among the people of the Delta, the Haesonai had a safe haven to which they could retreat.  The bulk of their people lived upon an island, so to there they retreated.  No one knew whether the Conqueror had a devastating fleet to match his terrible land army.  The Haesonai knew that Celestrones was from Joranne, and that the Bronze Empire was possessed of a navy, but perhaps Celestrones had not employed that navy in this conquest.  Was the navy engaged elsewhere?  Was it yet to come?

The various cities of the Haesonai did not spend idle time wondering.  They defended their waters with ships, each ship containing a sorceress who could raise a storm at need.  Winds and weather could keep the Conqueror at bay.

And the Haesonai were nothing if not adaptable.  Like the bamboo that grew in the marshes, they were flexible.  Their culture had been based upon competition, upon finding the best weapon for the job.  Unlike the Zefari, they had never relied upon one form of production.  The Haesonai believed in diversification.  Whichever was the best method would win out.  Swiftly they turned their attention to the use of iron and steel.  They had, after all, been trading partners of the Joranne, even though trade had fallen to a fraction of its previous level, so they had at least heard of steel before the Conqueror’s arrival.  And again, unlike their Zefari neighbors, their island was rich in iron.  All that was needed was time to forge a new army.  Safe behind their wall of storms, they bent iron into swords.

In defending their island against all incoming ships, the Haesonai had isolated themselves.  Even their sister cities on the mainland could not maintain contact when the seas, angry with magic, were too rough for travel.  Those cities had been left to defend themselves as best they could, wreathing their cities in illusions suitable to deflect the armies of the Conqueror.  His soldiers, the Haesonai believed, would never bother to conquer mere ruins.

But it was not merely the Conqueror with whom they had to contend.  The Zefari sent an envoy, backed by columns of soldiers, to the city of Veladis, right on the mouth of the bay.

General Drurich (M, 44) is a young for a high officer in the Zefari Army, but the constant defeats to Celestrian steel swords have thinned the ranks considerably.  He has been sent on an unpleasant but necessary task for the good of the Empire, and he has the backing of three divisions.  Drurich isn’t happy with his assignment.  Things back home aren’t going well.  The crumbling of Zefari social order is almost too far along to stop; the junior races of the Empire are wondering whether it might be time to abandon the security of the Empire and fend for themselves.  Independent city-states all along the coast are becoming hesitant to commit their support to a distant Emperor.

He addresses the Council of one such city of Veladis.  The council there is the Veladis Five, a small group of Haesonai amazon women and telepathic Boda.  The rule of the Five over Veladis dates back tens of thousands of years, back before the days when Chima and Tonta were combined into one.

“Council,” says General Drurich, “there is no use in pleasantries.  You are all painfully familiar with the approach of Celestria from the west, as are we all.  The Conqueror’s men approach, and they are bearing steel.  I need not inform you of the consequences of his arrival, so I will be brief.  The Emperor Rhees has sent me to collect your soldiers.”

“Our soldiers will remain here,” says Magister Ona (F, 58), an ex-military Haesonai woman.  “If our soldiers abandon the city, our walls cannot possibly hold.  Our people know this.  Without women to defend our walls, the people would panic and flee.  There would be chaos.  We cannot grant you the use of our soldiers.”

“The Emperor is not begging for soldiers,” says General Drurich.  “This is no request.  I am commanded to bring your soldiers to the front, where we make our stand against Celestrones.”

“That is impossible,” says Ona.  “It is a battle your army cannot win.  You cannot fight the Conqueror in an open field.  You have cavalry, and stone, and archers, but you do not have steel.  To stand up against the Conqueror in pitched battle is to march into death.  We will not authorize the Emperor their use.”

“The Emperor is descended from Chimata the Combined himself,” says Drurich, “who was set by the gods over Zefari and Haesonai alike.  That is his command, and your soldiers are to report to the battle.”

“Chimata the Combined respected Zefari and Haesonai alike,” says Magister Pleth (M, 33), a Boda telepath.  “He never would have burned one of his citizen to keep another citizen warm, as you propose to do by taking our defenses.”

“The Emperor has commanded me to observe how the Haesonai, especially of this city, did brisk business in trade with the people Bronze,” says Drurich.  “It occurs to him to wonder if perhaps the Veladians are allies more to Celestrones than to the Emperor.”

“Among the people of the Bronze Empire are merchants whom we know well,” says Magister Ona, “but of late we have traded with them little.  We are no allies of the Celestrians.”

“And yet,” Drurich says, “it is not the Haesonai whom Celestrones attacks.  He attacks Zefar’s armies only, sparing yours.  The Emperor may naturally wonder if you are in league with the Celestrians.”

“There is no collusion between Haesonai and the Conqueror,” says Ona.

“Do you call him Conqueror?” says Drurich.  “He is not yet conqueror of the Delta.  The armies of Zefar will obstruct Celestrones and his men with steel we are managing to create.  And if you of Veladis wish to earn your place in the Zefari Empire, you will send your soldiers into battle with us or be called craven.”

“We will do no such thing,” says Pleth.  “Our armies are our own to command, and our cities our own to defend.  When the Conqueror comes to Veladis we will hear his terms.”

“Then the Emperor, regretfully, declares your city forfeit.  Outside your walls I have two divisions of Zefari troops.  If you continue to obstruct the Empire we will destroy your city utterly.”

“Your Emperor,” says Pleth, “will make an enemy of all Haesonai.  They, at least, are our allies.  They are mistresses of the sea.  While your army lays siege outside our walls, the Haesonai navy may well come to our aid.  Our telepaths may even now, all unknown to you, be seeking out their vessels and calling them here.”

“The Emperor is not without a navy of his own,” says Drurich.  “If your people from the island of Amazons send their navy to assist you, they will first fight the Emperor’s own.  And still, I do not think this very likely, for your people must be concerned over their own safety as well.  Is it not more likely that your navy is occupied in defending the island?  How much of their strength would they spare to defend one city here?”

“They may send a very great force,” says Ona.  “And they may send none.  That remains to be seen.  Then, investing our city with your siege will cost you many soldiers that you can ill afford to spare from the battlefield.  Your Emperor may not find it wise.”

“The Emperor knows his people are anxious to rebel,” says Drurich.  “He does not wish to allow Veladis to go its own way, lest it give heart to other cities whose courage wavers.”

“And you propose to lay siege to Veladis, we who are not a threat, while all the while the Conqueror approaches at your back?” says Ona.  “Siege takes years that you do not have.  If your men fail to repel the Conqueror, you will be slaughtered on our doorstep.  Then, perhaps, your zombie corpses will serve better in our cause than they did in yours.”

("Oh, snap!" said Dave the Artisan.)

“If you are so desperate to hope for our destruction at the hands of the Celestrians, then you place no hope in your allies of Haesonai,” says Drurich.  “So again I say, supply your soldiers to the Zefari Army at once, to be taken into battle against Celestrones, or the city in which you live will be razed to its foundations.  The people of the Empire must see that the Emperor does not crawl away weakly when one of his subject cities resists him.”

What The Players Decided 
As one, they decided that the best result could be obtained by resisting the peremptory demands of General Drurich and the Emperor.

"I hate politics," Dave added.

"They should definitely fight," Jack said.

"Yeah, they should fight," Connor agreed.

Do you think that General Drurich has a point? I asked.

"Well, yes, but I'm not so sure if it'll stiffen the spines of the other rebellious cities," Dave said.

They realized with a certain dread that they had just prepared the Zefari Empire with spells and enchantments that could be used to fight the Conqueror, which the Zefari would now use to fight the Haesonai.

"We want the Zefari to be as strong as possible when it fights the Conqueror," Joe said.  "To be strong it has to have the united strength of all its cities.  That means we have to lose this one.  I say they have to fight."

"All right, they fight," Dave said.  "But I want it noted in the blog that I said to leave my giants alone."

Results 
I won't know the results of this round until I prepare for the next round.