The Scriptorium
"No, I don't think I agree with you Zer," Sebastian said after a moment of consideration. "I believe governments have a responsibility to those who are governed to ensure that their people are well-kept and looked after to some degree. A peasant or slave who is starving cannot reasonably be expected to contribute tithe nor tax to the common welfare of the country! It is why we have a constitutional monarchy, which guarantees certain classes of people specific rights that they gain from the power of our monarch."
"The constitutional monarchy is a farce. That constitution is but a piece of paper only as strong as the people willing to defend its laws. If you have no one who is willing to defend it, then you have no rule of law beyond the strength of a sword or spell. In the end all power of law finds it's strength in the application or threat of deadly force. Man has no inherent right to anything, it is just a political entrenchment that enables nobility to trick the lower classes into believing that they have a horse in this race!" I countered in witty reply.
Jordan jumped in quickly as she saw Sebastian begin to falter. Today in the Scriptorium Master Scholar Tika had arranged the class of scholars and recruits into two groups - nobility and non-nobility - for a debate. We were made to debate the merits of nobility versus meritocratic elevation of social classes. Tika had then made the nobility defend the views of a working class and everyone else had to defend the noble right to rule.
"It is evident that the rule of law is enforced through the grace of our nobles. The rights we gain from our constitution flows from the arms and grace of nobility and it is in providing the lesser classes these rights that the nobility proves itself as a class fit for rule!" she said hotly, finding passion for the argument.
"I think a merchant council could rule a country just as well as any landed noble today," Christoph joined in defense of the working class. "Indeed, if you look at the benefits provided to a country by the merchant classes and working classes you can see that the gears of industry and the fires of war are actually only fueled by the working class. Yes, our country has a professional noble army, but you don't see the working classes parading their service around - wasting money on pageantry and demanding unreasonable treatment for simply existing!"
Tameral was quick to jump to the defense of the nobility, "Sure the working class does have an outsized effect on the economy and industry of a country, but a man can be elevated to the nobility through superior service to the crown. It might be rare, but it happens! This enriches the noble right to rule because it creates a competitive society where the cream rises to the top!"
"That is a weak argument though Tameral when you consider that noble properties are not managed by the state or in common trust, but by hereditary lines. That means that someone could work their way into the nobility through a heroic effort only for the succeeding generations to fail to live up to the service that elevated them in the first place. A truly democratic country places the tools of the country into the common trust to be managed by elected leaders along non-hereditary lines. That would theoretically make it so that the best person for the job would become our leader!" I spat out as quickly as possible, trying to bolster our faltering defense.
"BAH! As if Zerial!" Jordan said snidely and then sniffed disdainfully, "At that point it would simply become a popularity contest and any gregarious idiot or the favorite town drunk could become the head of state!"
The class debate quickly deteriorated from that point until everyone was shouting and attempting to make themselves heard. Master Scholar Tika considered us for a few minutes. Up until the complete breakdown in communication it was an impressive feat for these nine-year-old's to hold such advanced conversations without sounding too idiotic... Tika had been involved in royal discussions and matters of policy as the former Royal Arch-mage that had less sense and cooperation... Still, it was time to end the class.
A loud bang and a bright flash of light rapidly brought the class to order, allowing Tika to assign us our homework before sending us on our way to our respective barracks and dormitories.
Gerald - Castle Town
"Right this way Lord Hart," the page lead Gerald into the mustering hall at Castle Town. Castle town served as the central mustering grounds for the county, where the levy's and professional armies of Count Murdek would assemble before moving on to the ducal capital and eventually mustering at the royal staging grounds. Gerald had accompanied his army of 1600 as they traveled upriver from the banneret's lands. "Count Murdek is awaiting you in the study.." the page finished as he led Gerald up several flights of stairs and into a recieving foyer where several knights and men-at-arms stood ready to serve their lord.
"Gentlemen" Gerald greeted his fellow knights and nobles as the page left to inform the count of his arrival. Though not even a baron, when the former Knight Commander of Hexenguard made an appearance, he was sought after for advice and company. Many considered him wise even after the falling out he had endured many years previously with the Duke of Hexenguard.
"Ah, Gerald, come join us," came a voice from the fireside and Gerald was pleased to see that Baron Aster had made the trip as well. Gerald waltzed over to the baron and the two embraced like long separated family - even though their lands bordered each other.
"Aster, you old bastard, how did they manage to drag you out of the brothels and off to war?" Gerald queried the man with a congenial tone.
"Ah, the royal's are offering bonus pay for landed nobility who come out to lead their armies and I could use the money for all the dowry's I am going to have to pay!" the baron chuckled good in good humor. It was commonly known that Baron Aster had nine children, seven of whom were women. Baron Aster had even approached Gerald to gauge his interest in marrying his daughters when Gerald had first moved to the county. Gerald had politely declined stating his intent to focus on his lands and his charity work - orphanages - before settling down. It was a convenient excuse, as baron Aster and his wife Marsha were not good looking people and the politest compliment you could give to any of the daughters was that they looked like the head of a spade.
"My lord, the Count will see you and Banneret Gerald now," the page returned and found the two men called for speaking and guffawing to each other.
"Well, lets go see what the old man wants from us now," Aster said as he and Gerald stepped past the wide double doors and into a lavishly appointed study where several older men sat by a merry fire drinking liquor and discussing politics.
"Gentlemen... Come, have a seat and let us discuss the upcoming festivities," Murdek singled out two of his retinue with a flick of his finger and they abandoned their seats for the landed nobility that had joined them. It was well known that Murdek liked Gerald due to his extensive military experience leading the ducal troops in large-scale conflicts. To someone as old as Murdek, it did not feel like that long ago when he was taking orders directly from Gerald, rather than giving them! Across from Gerald sat baron Kayer, who bordered the Hart banneret and the Aster Barony. Baron Kayer had worked hard to be included in such councils and had an extreme dislike for Gerald - a mere banneret - being included within the council. Few barons had worked directly with Gerald like Murdek had, and thus they though his reputation as a gentleman of war was over-inflated.
Murdek secretly hoped that Kayer would eventually throw caution to the wind and stop flirting with the idea of war to just launch an attack on Gerald. He would be sure to savor the news and maybe even tour the area himself since it would be the first and last time someone challenged Gerald to the greatest of games. Murdek was an old codger who had seen more summers at war than at peace at 65 years old. For those 65 years his most peaceful had been the most recent and so he was actually rather thankful for the Kings expansionary policies. But he had a very strict policy and it seemed by the look on Kayer's face he would need to remind them all of who held command and what the expectations were.
"Pull the lemon out of your ass Kayer, Gerald and I have served together in every major war the duchy as been involved in excluding the last one. Miss you in that Gerald, by the way. I will remind you gentlemen that while I allow and even encourage a little friendly competition amongst the nobles who elected me to the county seat, I will not tolerate such posturing with the duchies banners raised. All personal feuds have been put on hold by both ducal and royal edict," Kayer schooled his face carefully into compliance and Aster sneered one last time before facing the count directly. Gerald, as ever, was as placid as a pool of water. Only Murdek knew what lay beneath the surface and even he would want more than just the county behind him if it came to war against Gerald.
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No one but Murdek and Gerald understood that in this room of killers and warriors there were two tigers, not one.
"Moving on... The total muster rolling in for the county is just under twenty seven thousand. Unlike the last war, this is going to be against an enemy that has parity of numbers against us so the royal war council authorized full mobilization of all ducal forces across Pervalia. Current mage-missives put the projected royal muster at just under one-hundred twenty four thousand levies, knights, and mercenaries. With the ailing health of Knight Commander Taurius, I have been asked to take command of the ducal forces. I want those who are here to be my military council and general officers. This is an order, and I have the option to enforce ducal decree upon those who want to refuse, so don't bother. Everyone here is now under my banner for the duration of the war," Murdek looked at the eager faces of his personal retinue, the hesitant faces of the faction that baron Kayer belonged to, and the neutral factions that looked to Baron Aster and Gerald.
"Many of you have the combat experience and leadership skills I desire for this army, and I will be placing you specifically based on your talents. Danny? The list please..." Murdek held out his hand and Lord Danny, Murdek's oldest son, handed his faster a set of papers written with masterful calligraphy and containing the official orders.
"Lets see... Starting with Logistics, Baron Aster you will become the general quartermaster. Kayer, you will be in charge of transportation. Danny you will have oversight of the Mage Circle. Gerald, you will be my chief general officer and second in command as well as master strategist. Joining you will be Lord Michael and Lord Junta in the role of Intelligence Master and Chief of Tactical Deployment..." and so Murdek dispensed responsibilities and official titles, passing over the letters containing their official commissions. Each of the lords present was truly placed in their best suited positions without consideration to rank and though it pissed off Kayer's faction to have Gerald as second in command, they could not complain too loudly due to the prevalence of their faction in other important roles...
"Alright gentlemen. You are dismissed. Gerald? Stay a bit, if you would... You too Danny, Michael, and Junta." as everyone shuffled out, Danny helped haul Murdek out of his chair and they sauntered over to a table containing a masterfully depicted map of Pervalia's eastern border - including, Gerald noted, the freshly conquered and divided lands. Several pieces were already on the board and Murdek added a knight to the side of the table, indicating their location - the portion of the map containing western Pervalia hung off the side of the table - and sighed while scratching his ass. "Alright gentlemen, lets figure out the order of march. I have been advised by Kayer to avoid the main royal highway leading to the ducal capitol. His reasoning is sound, as the game is sparse in that area and if we take this southern approach it will add a day of travel while cutting off the need to spend a week resupplying. Thoughts, concerns?"
Gerald traced the route for everyone with his finger and then stopped at the western mountain range separating Hexenguard and Pervalia from the neighboring Union of City States. "This mountain range is littered with lessor and greater goblins. It should not be too much of an issue, and the likelihood of our supplies being attacked is low until we come to the pass that curves our route back around to the capitol. This pass is narrow and will stretch our line out dangerously over several more miles than I would like. It can be mitigated the day prior by altering our order of march to space our caravans out. I recommend sending a company of Knights to the other side of the pass to hold and ensure that our column is cut in half. The first half of the pass is well-guarded by sheer cliffs on one side and the mountain itself on the other. However as it cuts through the terrain levels out rapidly and our flanks will be exposed," Gerald finished.
"Is it worth the risk to save a week when we could be delayed even longer by taking casualties before the war even begins?" Murdek asked.
"Hmm.... Yes... I believe it is. Seeing combat here, while at a disadvantage, would be advantageous to us in future battles. The tribal's are a relatively lightly armed and armored group. I predict that any issues would be more hectic than deadly. This could allow us to work out the kinks in our chain of command and allow us to blood some of our green levies and recruits. We can also send a company around the long way in advance, to here..." Gerald traced a narrow trail, impossible for a wagon train but possible for men moving on foot through a marsh. "Once they get past the Wet Green here they will be able to remount and conduct flanking maneuvers enfilade against any battle lines the enemies create against us on this side. If they only attack the opposite we can coordinate a full charge through our lines to break theirs..."
The war council, the first of many, continued. Through the night the men generated contingency after contingency and plan after plan just for their march to the capital. Every man there knew that many of these plans would come to nothing, and more than likely none of the plans would succeed as expected. A good commander took the chaos of battle and mixed it with opportunity to create victory, but what it came down to was training and small unit leadership knowing what to do to carry the day. No general had control over a large battle. When the first blow was struck everything would always go to chaos.
One Week Later
"Herald, sound the call to march," Gerald called out. He would be in the van for the entire duration while Count Murdek brought up the center and Gerald's second in command brought up the rear. The rest of the general officers were spaced out between the three center points. With a bright and cheery fanfare, the column began to move and Gerald tapped the flanks of his destrier, causing the animal to start trotting gently forward.
The column ate up the miles and the men, marching six abreast on the royal highway, made good time on the first day of their journey. Spirits were high and Gerald authorized a lively marching cadence to keep their spirits up. "Beautiful day for it," commented Lord Daniel Murdek as he rode stirrup-to-stirrup with Gerald at the behest of his father - who secretly hoped that some of Gerald's experience would rub off on his heir.
"Aye, a good start to our journey. Its odd, no matter how many times I ride off to war the infantry-men still seem to come up with ditties and song's that I have never heard before..." Gerald replied, his eyes scanning the road to the side of him. There was no danger within many days of the column but habits were hard to kill. The Royal Highway was a well cobbled and mage-reinforced path with enchantments that discouraged plant growth for hundreds of feet to the left and right of the road. No enemy, even if there was one, would be capable of easily attacking their flanks.
"My father tells me you and he have served together every since you first earned your spurs and were belted as a knight.." Daniel left the comment open ended, inviting Gerald to share some stories.
Gerald considered it for a moment and then complied with the young man. "Aye. I was squired to your father directly actually, and I learned a great many things from him. Ever since then he and I have been involved in every major war since, excluding last years offensive into former Huura," Gerald said. Huura was the small kingdom that Pervalia had conquered recently and the news was that integration went well. Right. Gerald doubted the hardy people of Huura welcomed Pervalian overlords with open arms. The truth was probably that the occupying force there was putting down rebellions every month.
"Interesting. I knew you and he had a lot of history together but I never imagined you would have served your squire-hood under him. He has never mentioned it."
"Likely he keeps it to himself so that people do not accuse him of playing favorites with me. The truth could also be simpler, as I served as a squire for a very short duration and your father himself knighted me in the field roughly a year later after I lead a counter charge that shattered the Queendom of Aurelia's primary army and allowed for Duke Hexenguard's father to route the enemies and secure the land that Count Murdek now rules," Gerald remembered that grim day. He didn't mention that he also saved Murdek's life with that charge, as the initial plan had gone horribly wrong with more than half their forces being cut in half and wedged against a woodland with no room to maneuver. Gerald had to rally the men around him - a hard task for a squire - but at the time his fervor and prowess had allowed him to create a legend for himself that lent his plan gravity.
Chopping a charging horse barreling down on him in half with a great sword at fifteen tended to have that effect and even then Gerald towered over other men on the battlefield. Through out that battle Gerald found himself in the thick of the fighting with knights, squires, men-at-arms, and levies flocking to his banner until eventually he held enough men to conduct an infantry charge and breach through to Murdek, who used the corridor of safety that Gerald provided to get his heavy cavalry out and wheel about, charging and smashing directly into the reformed center of the Aurelian army.
Gerald continued to regale Daniel with stories, and Daniel considered that even if a quarter of what Gerald said was true, then his reputation was well deserved indeed. The coming days would prove how right or wrong Count Murdek was in entrusting the army to Gerald's strategies.