Zeitgeist Blue
Currently Made of Metal
- Location
- Manila, Philippines, GMT +8
[X] Plan Gently Nudge The Hornet's Nest
Behind the Serpent Throne (CK2)
- Thread starter The Laurent
- Start date
- Original Fantasy
- Pronouns
- They/Them
Two hour warning!
- Pronouns
- They/Them
...well. That's what you'd call a problem.
Fix it.
By order of the Emperor.
Fix it.
By order of the Emperor.
Random Member
Gardener of Human Happiness
- Location
- Behind You
Never! Your reign of tyranny ends here today, false emperor!
*ahum*
Well, let's hope a new voter comes in or that noliar will switch to one of the other plans instead.
Random Member
Gardener of Human Happiness
- Location
- Behind You
What plan would that even give?We could always tally by line insteadIt works out neatly, I checked
- Pronouns
- They/Them
...come on.
- Location
- ?
- [X] Mage Time x2
Number of voters: 10
veekie, wingstrike96, Broken25, Random Member, mori, Gingganz, Muer'ci, Neptune, Zeitgeist Blue, noliar - -[x] Poison Proof
Number of voters: 7
Random Member, mori, Gingganz, Muer'ci, Neptune, Zeitgeist Blue, noliar - -[X] Scouting Trips
Number of voters: 6
veekie, wingstrike96, Broken25, Random Member, mori, Gingganz - -[X] Beating the Bush? x2
Number of voters: 6
veekie, wingstrike96, Broken25, Muer'ci, Neptune, Zeitgeist Blue
- Pronouns
- They/Them
Finally.
Random Member
Gardener of Human Happiness
- Location
- Behind You
Alright guys, hopefully it will be enough but let us sacrifice to the emperor and the spirits just to be sure.
- Pronouns
- They/Them
Does anyone want to roll a d100+7+2+3+5?
No pressure at all.
Absolutely none.
No pressure at all.
Absolutely none.
Last edited:
- Pronouns
- They/Them
Roll another d100.
- Location
- Somewhere!
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Rolling.
Turn 11B--Results, A
- Pronouns
- They/Them
Turn 11B--Results, A
It was a land of rivers and fields. At places, this meant far less than it did in others. Rice paddies were not enjoyable to march through, and didn't make for a good battlefield either. But there were long stretches of plains, going further north between one river and the other, and the whole ground was, more or less, flat. There were slight banks and hills in Hirand, but with few exceptions, you could see to the far horizon by staring out, and that meant that scouting capacity was vital.
It meant that finding the best place to fight might simply be a matter of getting somewhere first and fortifying it.
The rivers offered opportunities, but also the possibility of failure. If he staked his army at a river and tried to block crossing, then it was possibly Jinhai would move further south or north. It'd waste time, and it'd waste time that ultimately wouldn't change anything, since Kiralo could scout the area and force Jinhai into a confrontation, or harass him to pieces.
But every day he failed to engage with the enemy, there would be more and more call to remove him. It was a clever move, to try to turn a military question into a political one, and yet Kiralo couldn't simply ignore him. That's what he wanted to do. Ignore any games, any nonsense. As a commander, he was more than Jinhai's equal, and yet he had to be careful. Waiting for a river crossing wouldn't work, but there was something he could do. If he found the right location, he could prevent the enemy from anchoring his army against the terrain, but give a safe location to put his cannons.
Those heavy monsters had been the bane of everyone's existence for weeks, but he'd dragged them along anyways, and if he could get them near a river, then it'd take real work for the enemy to try to flank them, and meanwhile the cannons could roar out against one of the enemy's flanks. Softening it up for a breakthrough, or making it appear that that was the goal, and then hitting the other end.
And with the enemy unanchored, they'd have to struggle to stand up against the cavalry.
Prince Jinhai had better cavalry than the Imperial army usually had, thanks to having to deal with the Sea Raiders and his ties with Hari-Su, but that only went so far. Not far enough to stop Kiralo's advantage in speed (once battle began and the cannons could be parked, at least) and hopefully scouting.
There was so much that determined how any battle was won, but he felt as if he'd come in with distinct advantages that could overwhelm any slight superiority in foot soldiers.
So onward the army marched, and Kiralo listened to reports and read them, again and again. Every bit of news he could get from the Rassit scouts and the others was vital now, and he made sure that he knew the loyalty of each lord and administrator. Because it would be just like Jinhai to leave a trap here.
The supply train was vulnerable, and he had to trust that Ayila had it covered. Especially because he was faking problems. People arguing in the supply train, troops seeming to hurry ahead or fall behind the chain that now linked them to Csrae.
Bandits would come, sooner or later.
*******
They came and they died.
It was that simple when he read it. "They were former deserters that we'd given a second chance," Ayila said, looking at him as he said it. The girl clearly expected he'd have some solution other than the obvious.
"Then we must imprison all former deserters and ask for their… no. Watch them. Let them know that if another attack happens, they will be the ones responsible," Kiralo said.
He didn't need to fall into the trap of assuming that Prince Jinhai had everyone, and ultimately he needed every soldier he could get.
The spirits charged through the air now, spreading out, as agitated as the camps were after the attack that might have left them hungry.
******
"Increase rations," Kiralo said, aware that there was only so much he could do, but knowing that once the battle was won or lost, there wouldn't be anyone complaining that he was wasting money and food, and that if Prince Jinhai played an avoidance game he could always decrease the rations.
********
"Is this what war is always like?" Ji'lae asked. "The boredom… well, some of the Mages are almost dead of it."
Time was running out, if the Spirit was right, and Kiralo was smiling at Ji'lae. "It's boring now, but give it a week, week and a half at most, perhaps even less if Jinhai acts how I expect. You need to keep them together, make sure none of them bold, make sure none of them make any mistakes. Bao'ren, I've heard, has been getting antsy. Would he like to grab the local spirits and see what their mood is?"
"Maybe. I'll talk to him," Ji'lae said, the young man nodding. "You're a tough man, and this is a strong army. Hi'sen says that he's ready for the moment when all of the people he's saved will start to die."
"Ah," Kiralo said, "it does seem sad when you think about it. All of the illnesses he's fought against, and now the men are out of his hands. He's to set up a field hospital far enough back that it can be used. I'd like to see him provide a proposal for this. We probably won't be hauling any men back before the battle is over, but--"
"I understand. And thank you for giving Cs-Ayila a chance."
Kiralo started. "You would call her thus?"
She was doubly not worthy of respect by any grammatical reading of Csiritan. She was a woman, and she was a foreigner. No woman, except one of the wives of the Emperor, was ever called with the prefix 'Cs'. They were not great, that much anyone knew. Kiralo stared at the other man, wondering if there was some deeper bond that bound them together.
"I would. And I would stand with her on her mission. I hope you would too. She's told me some of what she's doing, and I think it might be best for us that she is the one that holds the object…"
Ji'lae's spirits crawled and sprawled out of him, reacting to his nervousness.
There was a long pause where Kiralo tried to think. He had never called his mother Cs-Jia. Wouldn't have imagined doing so, was too properly raised for that.
Now he wondered why.
*******
Poison tasted very rank, or at least the most natural ones did. It was as if the Gods made it so that a man would know what was harmful and what wasn't. The spirits helped, spirits trained to sniff the air, like a dog, spirits with heads that were cloud and vapour that passed through a soup, like breath upon the water of a still lake, and knew when something was wrong.
But then there was the process of eating and drinking poison so that his body could grow used to it. This was certainly a smart habit, but it was also a habit that left him sick for two days on end. Some of the poisons were particularly humiliating, even in doses too low to do much. There were poisons you could give a man so that he would seem to die of a natural death, and there was no more famous or mocked natural death on a campaign, drinking foreign water, than the Fux.
It was thus a very good way to fake a death, if you had on hand a doctor or two to claim that it was bad food, or even better, bad constitution, that led to the illness.
So, Kiralo soldiered onward, wondering whether it would pay off.
It should, perhaps, since he was dining quite a lot, drawing himself out, just waiting for the moment when someone acted. Waiting and hoping that he'd be ready, that he wouldn't die.
Death felt like a palling shroud over him, and if he didn't know how dire the situation was, he wouldn't have continued dosing himself with poisons like this. Not when it was clear that he should have started long ago to ease himself into it.
******
"You seem unwell," Na'loh said. He was one of the people Kiralo was dining with that night. A bristly, annoying man, angry and quick to judgement. He was also a stout drinker indeed.
Kiralo stared down at his soup, which he hadn't touched yet.
"Stomach bothering you?" Yun'el asked, with a grin that told Kiralo that he knew he was offering a small insult, but didn't care. "I've heard of your regime. It is paranoid, that much is obvious. Don't you agree, Pao?"
Pao cleared his throat. "I do not dare to criticize our General Kiralo, not after his success has brought him that far. Were I Jinhai…"
"You would be a sight prettier," Yun'el said. "I've heard rumors that he takes a female's role with the Governors he seduced to his side."
It was just the kind of petty rumor that Yun'el specialized in, Kiralo thought. He was clearly someone's agent, and if he were the host, then Kiralo would have just refused to drink or eat anything at all.
As it was, he glanced over at Niu, who had been silent and had also been worried lately about what Kiralo was planning and what he was doing. The man was proper and quiet and respectful, the sort of man who didn't speak up unless he was spoken to. Past forty, and a man of the court and a man of piety.
Yet it was his skill with cannons and logistics that had brought them here. He'd shepherded each of the light cannon as if they were children he'd never had.
Similarly, General Cs-Laquan was one of the most respected old-line generals, on the Council, and a very careful and respectful man of thirty and nine.
Kiralo took a bite of the food and then paused, frowning, and then took another, very, very small sip of the soup.
His stomach almost flipped himself. He knew the taste. Just barely, ever so faint. And that meant that someone here had...but who?
But it had been his own servants that had made the food. And each man had brought a servant of there's to--
Aiyistin let out a whistling sound, and all of the men looked up, shocked as Kiralo stood up and said, "This soup...it is more excellent than any I have ever tasted!"
"Really? And here I thought your cooks were horrid. Too Southlander for me," Yun'el said.
"Well, in the Southland, we have a tradition. If a person likes a dish, then they must share it around with everyone." Kiralo smiled, and added, "I would hope that you would indulge my Southlander fancy."
It was a broad, manic smile. It was a tradition, but not because of the taste of the dish.
"From the same bowl?" Yun'el asked with a raised eyebrow.
"From the same bowl?" Yun'el asked.
"Of course! Share and share alike," Kiralo said, pushing it forward.
"If he gets to have some, than I should as well," Na'loh slurred, picking up the bowl and taking a long sip before passing it to Yun'el.
"And what about you, Niu?" Kiralo asked.
"I would think not," Niu said.
If Niu had been the killer, he would have drunk deep and smiled, knowing that he had already conditioned his body to withstand such a poison. His own men had not placed the poison, he knew this because he had questioned them before this dinner, before every dinner in fact, and had carefully made known the provisions he had.
If he died of poison, then, as was traditional, all of them would be tortured and then executed as conspirators.
Kiralo knew he had not made friends in that moment, but his firmness now benefitted him.
Laquan looked at the bowl for a moment, and Kiralo saw it on his face. It was just a slight hint of the emotion.
Dismay.
Yun'el drained the whole bowl, and then blinked, "Gods, this is terrible."
"Yun'el, I must demand satisfaction." Kiralo said it calmly, even as his hand went for the sword.
"Because I insulted your cook's soup?" Yun'el smirked.
"No, you insulted Cs-Laquan by saying that his poison didn't taste very good." Kiralo drew his sword in a single motion, "When he had his servant, that shifty-eyed Natter--"
A man from Hari-Nat.
"Slip it in. As if I were so stupid as to not remember who served what."
The truth was that of all of the dishes in front of him that he'd sampled, he hadn't noticed the servants at all. But the truth didn't matter when there was the look on Laquan's face.
"You are a liar," Laquan said, but he could not help but look guilty, hands shaking.
"Am I going to die?" Yun'el said. "Was that the idea? To kill me as well?"
"Oh, I'm sure you'll live. I hope I'll live…"
The spirits were flowing over Laquan now, colors and shapes changing and flowering into other colors and shapes as they surrounded him and bound him up.
"I...I…"
"You are a traitor," Kiralo said smoothly.
"No! You are! I am loyal to the Emperor, and you are an incompetent who is clearly planning to usurp his rightful power!"
"You confess?"
"I confess nothing, I state the truth. You are a scoundrel, and once Jinhai the accursed is dead, you will turn this army on the capital and destroy the Emperor and take his place."
Yun'el looked down at the bowl, and then drew his own sword. "I don't care what he does, though what man would wish to be--"
"Mind your tongue, Yun'el," Kiralo said.
What man would want to be Emperor? That was the kind of question that could get a man looked at, questioned harshly.
Kiralo breathed in and out as his stomach began to turn on itself.
He would probably live. Probably.
The spirits that weren't holding the esteemed and respected general were sweeping across the food, chittering out poisons.
So many poisons.
And he'd eaten a little of everything.
But what was this about not serving Jinhai? Was Jinhai using a proxy for some of his murders? If so then Kiralo would have to search for people who thought they were loyal to someone other than the Prince.
Kiralo's head hurt, and he felt off-balance, furious and uncertain.
What does he do? I mean, order done, since he's going to be throwing up and almost dying for the next day of dozens of different poisons?
[] Have the servant and Lacquan tortured until they confess to being agents of Prince Jinhai, planning on assassinating the leadership and planning on overthrowing the Emperor. It should be a quick way to deal with them, and might fire up the soldiers and leaders and weaken dissent.
[] Capture and begin to interrogate Lacquan. But there might not be time to get the full story before the battle comes, and in the meantime, despite any official announcements, people might speculate. Or might try to kill him to shut him up.
[] Execute Lacquan here and begin the purges. There are disloyal elements among the leadership, who think that Kiralo is a fool, and that he is a traitor. They must be shown the error of their ways. The rest of the army will comply, out of fear and obedience, and Kiralo will win this war, even if he has to drag the ungrateful dogs across the finish line.
[] Write-in.
*******
A/N: That was...really close. You're going to get a trait by the end of the next update that will probably make you slightly ill for the next month or two, possibly. But you are alive… so far at least.
It was a land of rivers and fields. At places, this meant far less than it did in others. Rice paddies were not enjoyable to march through, and didn't make for a good battlefield either. But there were long stretches of plains, going further north between one river and the other, and the whole ground was, more or less, flat. There were slight banks and hills in Hirand, but with few exceptions, you could see to the far horizon by staring out, and that meant that scouting capacity was vital.
It meant that finding the best place to fight might simply be a matter of getting somewhere first and fortifying it.
The rivers offered opportunities, but also the possibility of failure. If he staked his army at a river and tried to block crossing, then it was possibly Jinhai would move further south or north. It'd waste time, and it'd waste time that ultimately wouldn't change anything, since Kiralo could scout the area and force Jinhai into a confrontation, or harass him to pieces.
But every day he failed to engage with the enemy, there would be more and more call to remove him. It was a clever move, to try to turn a military question into a political one, and yet Kiralo couldn't simply ignore him. That's what he wanted to do. Ignore any games, any nonsense. As a commander, he was more than Jinhai's equal, and yet he had to be careful. Waiting for a river crossing wouldn't work, but there was something he could do. If he found the right location, he could prevent the enemy from anchoring his army against the terrain, but give a safe location to put his cannons.
Those heavy monsters had been the bane of everyone's existence for weeks, but he'd dragged them along anyways, and if he could get them near a river, then it'd take real work for the enemy to try to flank them, and meanwhile the cannons could roar out against one of the enemy's flanks. Softening it up for a breakthrough, or making it appear that that was the goal, and then hitting the other end.
And with the enemy unanchored, they'd have to struggle to stand up against the cavalry.
Prince Jinhai had better cavalry than the Imperial army usually had, thanks to having to deal with the Sea Raiders and his ties with Hari-Su, but that only went so far. Not far enough to stop Kiralo's advantage in speed (once battle began and the cannons could be parked, at least) and hopefully scouting.
There was so much that determined how any battle was won, but he felt as if he'd come in with distinct advantages that could overwhelm any slight superiority in foot soldiers.
So onward the army marched, and Kiralo listened to reports and read them, again and again. Every bit of news he could get from the Rassit scouts and the others was vital now, and he made sure that he knew the loyalty of each lord and administrator. Because it would be just like Jinhai to leave a trap here.
The supply train was vulnerable, and he had to trust that Ayila had it covered. Especially because he was faking problems. People arguing in the supply train, troops seeming to hurry ahead or fall behind the chain that now linked them to Csrae.
Bandits would come, sooner or later.
*******
They came and they died.
It was that simple when he read it. "They were former deserters that we'd given a second chance," Ayila said, looking at him as he said it. The girl clearly expected he'd have some solution other than the obvious.
"Then we must imprison all former deserters and ask for their… no. Watch them. Let them know that if another attack happens, they will be the ones responsible," Kiralo said.
He didn't need to fall into the trap of assuming that Prince Jinhai had everyone, and ultimately he needed every soldier he could get.
The spirits charged through the air now, spreading out, as agitated as the camps were after the attack that might have left them hungry.
******
"Increase rations," Kiralo said, aware that there was only so much he could do, but knowing that once the battle was won or lost, there wouldn't be anyone complaining that he was wasting money and food, and that if Prince Jinhai played an avoidance game he could always decrease the rations.
********
"Is this what war is always like?" Ji'lae asked. "The boredom… well, some of the Mages are almost dead of it."
Time was running out, if the Spirit was right, and Kiralo was smiling at Ji'lae. "It's boring now, but give it a week, week and a half at most, perhaps even less if Jinhai acts how I expect. You need to keep them together, make sure none of them bold, make sure none of them make any mistakes. Bao'ren, I've heard, has been getting antsy. Would he like to grab the local spirits and see what their mood is?"
"Maybe. I'll talk to him," Ji'lae said, the young man nodding. "You're a tough man, and this is a strong army. Hi'sen says that he's ready for the moment when all of the people he's saved will start to die."
"Ah," Kiralo said, "it does seem sad when you think about it. All of the illnesses he's fought against, and now the men are out of his hands. He's to set up a field hospital far enough back that it can be used. I'd like to see him provide a proposal for this. We probably won't be hauling any men back before the battle is over, but--"
"I understand. And thank you for giving Cs-Ayila a chance."
Kiralo started. "You would call her thus?"
She was doubly not worthy of respect by any grammatical reading of Csiritan. She was a woman, and she was a foreigner. No woman, except one of the wives of the Emperor, was ever called with the prefix 'Cs'. They were not great, that much anyone knew. Kiralo stared at the other man, wondering if there was some deeper bond that bound them together.
"I would. And I would stand with her on her mission. I hope you would too. She's told me some of what she's doing, and I think it might be best for us that she is the one that holds the object…"
Ji'lae's spirits crawled and sprawled out of him, reacting to his nervousness.
There was a long pause where Kiralo tried to think. He had never called his mother Cs-Jia. Wouldn't have imagined doing so, was too properly raised for that.
Now he wondered why.
*******
Poison tasted very rank, or at least the most natural ones did. It was as if the Gods made it so that a man would know what was harmful and what wasn't. The spirits helped, spirits trained to sniff the air, like a dog, spirits with heads that were cloud and vapour that passed through a soup, like breath upon the water of a still lake, and knew when something was wrong.
But then there was the process of eating and drinking poison so that his body could grow used to it. This was certainly a smart habit, but it was also a habit that left him sick for two days on end. Some of the poisons were particularly humiliating, even in doses too low to do much. There were poisons you could give a man so that he would seem to die of a natural death, and there was no more famous or mocked natural death on a campaign, drinking foreign water, than the Fux.
It was thus a very good way to fake a death, if you had on hand a doctor or two to claim that it was bad food, or even better, bad constitution, that led to the illness.
So, Kiralo soldiered onward, wondering whether it would pay off.
It should, perhaps, since he was dining quite a lot, drawing himself out, just waiting for the moment when someone acted. Waiting and hoping that he'd be ready, that he wouldn't die.
Death felt like a palling shroud over him, and if he didn't know how dire the situation was, he wouldn't have continued dosing himself with poisons like this. Not when it was clear that he should have started long ago to ease himself into it.
******
"You seem unwell," Na'loh said. He was one of the people Kiralo was dining with that night. A bristly, annoying man, angry and quick to judgement. He was also a stout drinker indeed.
Kiralo stared down at his soup, which he hadn't touched yet.
"Stomach bothering you?" Yun'el asked, with a grin that told Kiralo that he knew he was offering a small insult, but didn't care. "I've heard of your regime. It is paranoid, that much is obvious. Don't you agree, Pao?"
Pao cleared his throat. "I do not dare to criticize our General Kiralo, not after his success has brought him that far. Were I Jinhai…"
"You would be a sight prettier," Yun'el said. "I've heard rumors that he takes a female's role with the Governors he seduced to his side."
It was just the kind of petty rumor that Yun'el specialized in, Kiralo thought. He was clearly someone's agent, and if he were the host, then Kiralo would have just refused to drink or eat anything at all.
As it was, he glanced over at Niu, who had been silent and had also been worried lately about what Kiralo was planning and what he was doing. The man was proper and quiet and respectful, the sort of man who didn't speak up unless he was spoken to. Past forty, and a man of the court and a man of piety.
Yet it was his skill with cannons and logistics that had brought them here. He'd shepherded each of the light cannon as if they were children he'd never had.
Similarly, General Cs-Laquan was one of the most respected old-line generals, on the Council, and a very careful and respectful man of thirty and nine.
Kiralo took a bite of the food and then paused, frowning, and then took another, very, very small sip of the soup.
His stomach almost flipped himself. He knew the taste. Just barely, ever so faint. And that meant that someone here had...but who?
But it had been his own servants that had made the food. And each man had brought a servant of there's to--
Aiyistin let out a whistling sound, and all of the men looked up, shocked as Kiralo stood up and said, "This soup...it is more excellent than any I have ever tasted!"
"Really? And here I thought your cooks were horrid. Too Southlander for me," Yun'el said.
"Well, in the Southland, we have a tradition. If a person likes a dish, then they must share it around with everyone." Kiralo smiled, and added, "I would hope that you would indulge my Southlander fancy."
It was a broad, manic smile. It was a tradition, but not because of the taste of the dish.
"From the same bowl?" Yun'el asked with a raised eyebrow.
"From the same bowl?" Yun'el asked.
"Of course! Share and share alike," Kiralo said, pushing it forward.
"If he gets to have some, than I should as well," Na'loh slurred, picking up the bowl and taking a long sip before passing it to Yun'el.
"And what about you, Niu?" Kiralo asked.
"I would think not," Niu said.
If Niu had been the killer, he would have drunk deep and smiled, knowing that he had already conditioned his body to withstand such a poison. His own men had not placed the poison, he knew this because he had questioned them before this dinner, before every dinner in fact, and had carefully made known the provisions he had.
If he died of poison, then, as was traditional, all of them would be tortured and then executed as conspirators.
Kiralo knew he had not made friends in that moment, but his firmness now benefitted him.
Laquan looked at the bowl for a moment, and Kiralo saw it on his face. It was just a slight hint of the emotion.
Dismay.
Yun'el drained the whole bowl, and then blinked, "Gods, this is terrible."
"Yun'el, I must demand satisfaction." Kiralo said it calmly, even as his hand went for the sword.
"Because I insulted your cook's soup?" Yun'el smirked.
"No, you insulted Cs-Laquan by saying that his poison didn't taste very good." Kiralo drew his sword in a single motion, "When he had his servant, that shifty-eyed Natter--"
A man from Hari-Nat.
"Slip it in. As if I were so stupid as to not remember who served what."
The truth was that of all of the dishes in front of him that he'd sampled, he hadn't noticed the servants at all. But the truth didn't matter when there was the look on Laquan's face.
"You are a liar," Laquan said, but he could not help but look guilty, hands shaking.
"Am I going to die?" Yun'el said. "Was that the idea? To kill me as well?"
"Oh, I'm sure you'll live. I hope I'll live…"
The spirits were flowing over Laquan now, colors and shapes changing and flowering into other colors and shapes as they surrounded him and bound him up.
"I...I…"
"You are a traitor," Kiralo said smoothly.
"No! You are! I am loyal to the Emperor, and you are an incompetent who is clearly planning to usurp his rightful power!"
"You confess?"
"I confess nothing, I state the truth. You are a scoundrel, and once Jinhai the accursed is dead, you will turn this army on the capital and destroy the Emperor and take his place."
Yun'el looked down at the bowl, and then drew his own sword. "I don't care what he does, though what man would wish to be--"
"Mind your tongue, Yun'el," Kiralo said.
What man would want to be Emperor? That was the kind of question that could get a man looked at, questioned harshly.
Kiralo breathed in and out as his stomach began to turn on itself.
He would probably live. Probably.
The spirits that weren't holding the esteemed and respected general were sweeping across the food, chittering out poisons.
So many poisons.
And he'd eaten a little of everything.
But what was this about not serving Jinhai? Was Jinhai using a proxy for some of his murders? If so then Kiralo would have to search for people who thought they were loyal to someone other than the Prince.
Kiralo's head hurt, and he felt off-balance, furious and uncertain.
What does he do? I mean, order done, since he's going to be throwing up and almost dying for the next day of dozens of different poisons?
[] Have the servant and Lacquan tortured until they confess to being agents of Prince Jinhai, planning on assassinating the leadership and planning on overthrowing the Emperor. It should be a quick way to deal with them, and might fire up the soldiers and leaders and weaken dissent.
[] Capture and begin to interrogate Lacquan. But there might not be time to get the full story before the battle comes, and in the meantime, despite any official announcements, people might speculate. Or might try to kill him to shut him up.
[] Execute Lacquan here and begin the purges. There are disloyal elements among the leadership, who think that Kiralo is a fool, and that he is a traitor. They must be shown the error of their ways. The rest of the army will comply, out of fear and obedience, and Kiralo will win this war, even if he has to drag the ungrateful dogs across the finish line.
[] Write-in.
*******
A/N: That was...really close. You're going to get a trait by the end of the next update that will probably make you slightly ill for the next month or two, possibly. But you are alive… so far at least.
[X] Have the servant and Lacquan tortured until they confess to being agents of Prince Jinhai, planning on assassinating the leadership and planning on overthrowing the Emperor. It should be a quick way to deal with them, and might fire up the soldiers and leaders and weaken dissent.
We survived!
We survived!
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That was definitely to close, but we survived and it looks like we're in a good position to to beat Jinhai. What is getting really annoying is all the political bullshit, if we didn't have to deal with meddling from the court and disloyalty from some of our officers everything would be far easier and we'd basically already have won.
[X] Have the servant and Lacquan tortured until they confess to being agents of Prince Jinhai, planning on assassinating the leadership and planning on overthrowing the Emperor. It should be a quick way to deal with them, and might fire up the soldiers and leaders and weaken dissent.
We need haste I think. Time spent sorting this shit out is time for Jinhai to take advantage
We need haste I think. Time spent sorting this shit out is time for Jinhai to take advantage
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Yay? *sigh* I'll be glad when this is over. Not that I don't like it, but the suspense is killing me!
I don't think Lacquan works for the Prince since he called him "Jinhai the accursed", he seems to be more anti-Kiralo than pro-Jinhai. Still, this might be the quickest and least dirty way to end this affair. But there might be other conspirators out there who'd simply continue to plot since Kiralo will seem to be under the false impression that Lacquan was a lone supporter of the Prince instead of part of a larger conspiracy within the army.
Possibly the best way to get everyone who's disloyal without causing too much trouble, but there simply isn't enough time. And the rumors could potentially be bad.
Purges! Blood for the blood god, skulls for the skull throne! This is definitely going to get messy and get some good men killed, but we'd probably get enough of the disloyal ones to dissuade the rest. Or it might create more plots. It's also going to cost us politically.
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Also, obvious statement: the one that involves torturing Lacquan also involves executing him without questioning him further. After all, you aren't interested in the truth, you're interested in, "I was plotting directly with my best friend, Prince Jinhai, to kill Kiralo and then the Emperor and oh I heard that Prince Jinhai also hates the Gods, happiness, and puppies."
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Gardener of Human Happiness
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*gasp* Even puppies? What a monster!
Hmm, does that option involve Lacquan making a public "confession" or simply Kiralo saying "yup, he totally confessed, believe me". And how weird will it look if we don't execute him publically?
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All of this is going to be public even if it's not public. You obviously want it known that, as a proper and civilized human being, you horribly tortured this monster before executing him in a painful, messy way.
Anything else would be barbaric.