[X][War] Scramble what warriors are available (Sends a Sec War Mission and Mercenary Companies to the east)
[X][React] The economy, fools! (Sec Expand Econ, cannot be taken with Mass Levy active)
Uvothyn threw everything he had towards helping the People, his hair going prematurely grey and white and thin from the stress of constantly trying to make sure that everything was organized and in place to support the warriors going east, even as they tried to restore some of the productivity and trade in the fields. It was a gigantically stressful task, made somewhat harder by subordinates that were more interested in protecting local interests than obeying orders. Fortunately, the process of clawing back some of the rights of Gulvalley started by Myranyn had finally yielded results, and the influx of more warriors under the direct command of the king who could be ordered where needed without having to get foot dragging governors to comply had helped immensely.
Unfortunately, while the effort of sending warriors east and keeping everyone fed was important, it also meant that there was very little work that Uvothyn could get done on the plague itself. About all he could do was ensure that the health edicts were getting out appropriately, and countermand a few stupid decisions. Somewhat fortunately the patricians had decided to throw themselves whole hog into supporting the priests in their efforts to alleviate the disease and starvation. While there were assuredly selfish reasons of pure personal survival and even less honourable expectations of praise afterward, it did warm the heart to see that sort of support.
Unfortunately, soon after the expeditions were sent out, messages started filtering back. The Thunder Horse were under attack. The Thunder Speakers were under attack. The Txolla were under attack. The Banner Companies were under attack. Eastern Redhills was under attack. It was nearly impossible to figure out what was happening when, the enemy moving so fast that some couriers arrived after the next target had already been hit, and there were certainly gaps that indicated that couriers had been either never dispatched or overrun en route. As best they could tell, there were multiple war bands of hundreds to thousands of horsemen supported by wagon camps that were smashing through and slaughtering villages in their way all throughout the north-eastern lowlands. Morale was collapsing all over, and the slaughter was by all accounts catastrophic.
Then came the first message that Uvothyn had been praying wouldn't arrive.
The Thunder Speakers were gone.
Oh, there were assuredly still villages here or there, but the nomads had finished razing the major settlements, and the corridor between the steppes and the lowlands was now open, no doubt to allow more tribes easier access and to join in.
Uvothyn sat on the throne, clutching his chest at the pain in his heart as he openly wept, surrounded by grim faced and tear stained courtiers. Eventually he managed to pull himself together and try to figure out what he could possibly do next.
More grim news of death and destruction followed for a time further, and then the reports trickled up almost entirely and everyone feared the worst. The whole world seemed to be winding down, with the cities being massively abandoned as supplies were stretched to the breaking point and other diseases besides the Blood Cough stalked the huddled survivors. While overall this was mostly people trickling away to try to farm some of the abandoned fields, it still left the cities feeling empty and drabby.
And then, when doom seemed highest and most inevitable, a grim faced messenger arrived with a priority message from the governor of the Txolla.
One of the Sacred Clerks took the offered message and began to read it, clearly stumbling over the first line before he cleared his throat and said in a cracking, disbelieving voice, "The nomads have sent an envoy begging for help."
That caused the court to explode into noise, taking far too long for Uvothyn's liking before order could be restored and the message could continue to be read. "Apparently despite their foul practice, the nomads are not immune to the plague, and it finally caught up to them. They have suffered catastrophic losses, including that of their chieftain and his entire extended family, who all succumbed in short order. What survivors they have left are either retreating to the steppes, the former Mountain Horse territory, or are asking to surrender to us and our protective magic."
This was met with stunned silence, before some priest collapsed to his knees and cried out, "PRAISE THE GODS!"
Spontaneous cheering then broke out, and while it rapidly gave Uvothyn a splitting headache and he had to recuse himself, he didn't have the heart to get the guards to quiet them down.
Still, some of his advisors soon joined him in the quiet of the palace shrine, all clearly wondering what to do next.
"What should we do?" Someone asked. The fight was clearly gone from the nomads, but what next? There were reports that many of their warriors had been forcibly impressed from conquered territories - not the core components, but certainly a significant portion of the infantry warbands that tended to follow up after the horsemen had smashed the defenders of a place or lead them away to thoroughly torch anything left standing. And then there were the camp followers, who were probably mostly slaves of some description of another. Still, the hatred was intense, and there were many who counseled not just to let them go, but to follow up on their destruction. On the other hand...
"To some extent, I want to take them in right away to find out how the plague so abruptly spread to them," Uvothyn said. While a few obviously had the idea to do that and then murder those who surrendered to them, they kept their mouths shut. Once offered hospitality was sacred, and if the gods were displeased with humanity already then such an action would be asking for further brutal reprisal from the heavens.
Uvothyn will take over the main turn, but what to do about the surrendering nomads?
[] Whoever surrenders may join the People (-1 Stability, -1 Legitimacy, -1 RA, 2 temp Econ damage, -2 EE, +2 Light Cavalry, Additional Disease Roll, ???)
[] Camp followers and slaves may surrender, warriors may not (-1 Stability, -1 Legitimacy, 2 temp Econ damage, -2 EE, +2 Econ next phase, Additional Disease Roll, ???)
[] They're on their own (+1 Stability, ???)
[] Pursue the survivors (War does not end)
Astrological Prediction: Run the nomads down! (9)
