Year 12.328 After the Founders Autumn 74

It had been a week ever since the fall of Arrianne to the Lusians, as of now, every country in the Vasconcy Region had heard of the results of the battle, each taking measures according to their own interests.

The Alaric Kingdom, a kingdom in the north-western borders of Lusian, whose interest in the Lusian territories was almost as big as those of the Oderickians, began to make plans for ““reinforcements”” for the Oderickians, analyzing the situation in their border with the Lusian to see if an invasion on their lands was feasible as well as any land grabbing.

The Eudric Realm, a council of different tribes and races, situated in the northern border of Oderick and Alaric, had begun discussions on whenever they would interfere and if so whose side to take and how far they would go in this conflict, they were, however, more inclined to help the Lusians since they desired for the lands of Alaric and their ports, for Eudric was land-locked. The reason Eudric still could not decide was that they did not know yet how good was Kniva as a commander, since this is his first campaign against a foreign enemy, and a single victory could not tell the whole story.

The Teodorico Confederation, a confederation of smaller kingdoms that nominated a Grand king, called for the Aristocratic assembly in order to gather all of its members to discuss their next move. Teodorico´s decision-making was highly decentralized even for a feudalistic system, so many expected each of its powerful Dukes to take the side of the one they believed will give them the best interest, basically resulting in them taking both sides.

Meanwhile, the Oderickian aristocracy was in fury, the lands they fought so hard for in the previous conflict were lost in less than a month. With this defeat they lost control of the Arriene River, which was important to ferry goods to the ports of Teodorico, the linchpin of the Catalunia region, Catalunia castle was in danger of attack, and to add salt to injury, their pride was hurt over two big defeats, they knew that at this moment the surrounding kingdoms were mocking them for losing the important city of Arrianne so quickly. There might even come the possibility that their own lands would be invaded if things keep deteriorating.

It was unanimous, for their pride and their wealth, the nobles of Oderick demanded a quick action of their king. They wanted to retake the city, expel the Lusian invaders and then proceed to attack their lands in retaliation.

The 75 years old Oderickian King, Gundemar, was having a great headache from all the stress of the last few days, his nobles were unleashing the military failures so far on him and demanding more action. Oderickians who settled on the conquered land were now fleeing towards Catalunia castle due to rumors of massacres in Arianne and the possibility of revolts. All the problems were now falling on the king's shoulders.

Gundemar knew that he had to take action now, otherwise he might lose face and as a consequence lose authority and control over his nobles. Oderick, just like all of its neighbors, was a highly decentralized feudal monarchy but while Kniva had to cede some of his authority in order to rule after the defeat his father suffered in the previous conflict, Gundemar obtained more leeway due to his victory, at least at the start.

Now, there was a real danger of Gundemar losing everything he managed to obtain in the last few decades, he inwardly cursed Baioric for the loss of the city, trying to vent his frustration in order to concentrate on the tasks at hand.

While waiting in his room inside Catalunia Castle, a servant arrived and knocked on the door, not opening it.

“Your majesty, the commanders and lords have all gathered in the main hall, they await your majesty.”

“Well done, tell them that I shall arrive shortly”. responded the King through the door.

The servant then bowed towards his liege in the room and left toward the main hall to relay the message, before he could truly leave however the king called him once again.

“Wait, call the envoys from both Alaric and the Teodorico Dukes.”

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“The envoys, sire? Do you mean to call them to the gathering? ”

“Yes, now go, and don't make me repeat myself.”

“Yes, sire.”

Gundemar took a look in his reflection on the mirror in the room, it was not the image of an imposing ruler, rather despite being tall like all descendants of the great Northern conquerors, the king looked tired and sickly much unlike his previous self of a few decades ago.

When he first got the region of Catalunia from the Lusians he and his nobles rather than happy they were grumpy with the results of the war. Even though they won the war they did so with the joint effort of the Alaric Kingdom and Teodorico federation, who had interests in the region. While the Teodoricos got trade concessions and tribute, Alaric got some territory on the border with Oderick in exchange for their help.

All in all, the rewards obtained from the conflict with Lusia did not compensate for the loss they suffered in order to get the territory, actually, in a way, they came off as worse than before because their merchants had to trade with Teodorico in a huge disadvantage because the Teodorico were exempt from tax and tariffs while the Oderickians were not.

To make up for all the concessions he had to give to his allies, the Oderikian king raised taxes in several places of his demesne, especially in the Catalunian region. This however made the entire region of Catalunia unstable, riddled with partisan forces and banditry, limiting the control the king had over the territory.

Still, Gundemar was unwilling to see all he obtained to go to waste, he did what he could to make the region profitable.

The Oderickian king led his men several times around the territory in order to crack down any rebellion, set up several garrisons in key locations to secure the textile industry, force migrated many of his subjects to the place and tried all he could to attract foreign merchants to the Catalunia Region. His methods antagonized most of the locals, but still with time he managed to obtain a bit of stability, and with it came an influx of trade, with trade more taxes, and finally profits, altought the same cannot be said for the locals.

Gundemar spent many years working hard in management and military campaigns in order to finally obtain profits from the new territories, yet he was about to lose everything he fought over the last decades. As a king, he was not about to see everything to waste nor to see history call him a buffoon who went on a wild goose chase only to be left with nothing. He would rather die like a lion than face an end in old age as a sheep.

The Oderickian king ordered a servant to fetch his wife´s maidservant, one who knew well how to do make-up, for he would order her to put it on him. It was shameful for him to have to do this, but he had to look strong and confident in front of his subjects, even if by faking it, he could not order a military sortie while looking feeble and tired, for who would follow a man that seems to be marching to his doom?

Gundemar had resolved himself to do everything in his power to keep his conquests and not make his last few decades a waste, even if he had to bankrupt himself in the process he wanted at least to be the one who had the last laugh.

10 days later, while overseeing the kingdom for her husband, Cassandra received a sky crow at the court, one that she immediately recognized, the one who was stationed at Oderick for spying. Since a SkyCrow was used it meant an urgent report.

After reading the letter, the Queen quickly began to act, she made an expression of hurry and worry to all those around her, showing the urgency of the situation. Cassandra called both the Constabulary and Chancellor in order to quickly take action according to the plan she revised with the king, still the situation was worse than what they imagined.

“Husband… my children...” The Queen whispered praying to the Beloved to protect them.

The Message Cassandra received revealed to her that Oderick finally began to move in full earnest. Having spent the last weeks gathering troops, the Oderickian king managed to muster a force of about 40.000 men, including mercenaries and reinforcements from both Alaric and Teodorico kingdoms, Basically outnumbering the invading Lusians two to one. While the counter-attack was expected they never foresaw that Gundemar would manage to gather such a force taking into account the Oderickian´s budget.

“What a blunder… We might have pushed them too far, too fast...” Said the Queen in prayer.

The early victories were great indeed, in such a short time they managed to defeat the oderickian vanguard and also take the important city of Arrianne, basically securing a third of the entire Catalunian region as well as access to the Arrianne river which was an important trade route for the Oderickians. To Gundemar, Kniva had essentially begun to corner him, and while he still could he would break away from this, at any cost.

Gundemar began to march in full force against Kniva, with his main vassals behind him and allied forces from the other countries plus his own retinue, with numbers both the queen and her husband could not predict.

A large army, that is rarely seen in the region due to the costs and promises that would have to be made in order to gather it, is on the move. This showed the resolve of the Oderickian King to cut his enemy before he could grow any bigger and that Gundemar was not underestimating the Lusian king.