Turn 8--Results, B
[X] Trying to unravel where Prince Jinhai falls in all of this. Hunting down his network if he has one. But there's a good chance that this man was a patsy, a cutout that...well, if it leads anywhere, Kiralo would be shocked.
[X] Increasing security, adding a guard or two and advising his father at their meeting to add one to Yanmae's room and that of others related to her.
It was odd, how perspective worked. On the one hand, this was the first assassination attempted he'd ever faced. Yet it was also something that others were worrying about far more than he was. For him, it was the logical result of him crossing Prince Jinhai. He didn't want it to happen, but whereas the guards on Yanmae tripled, and he added two more so that he now had six at all times, in a rotating pool of a dozen men, it was far less important than the fact that apparently the Prince had a rather large pool of informants. There were many people, and not merely Basratans, who were willing to take pay to pass on messages, and while the best agents likely ran and hid from contact, there are a lot of people begging for forgiveness.
Even begging for mercy, and Kiralo, aware that war could turn on everything...didn't grant it. He didn't order them executed either.
Peace is not possible, he wrote, And war will come. Think of the world that will result from a war, and consider that Prince Jinhai is going to act. Your son is here. He acted, and has in doing so changed perhaps the future of the entire world. I ask you now, simply this: send troops. Send men, and with the men, we can end this war as fast as possible. I would rather any war be brief than any war be long, even though all people who are loyalists of the rightful and legitimate Emperor would rather victory no matter the costs than defeat.
Your son, Hiro
Kiralo paused, glancing over at Vedal standing in a corner. "Where is Arimi?"
"He's help training those idiots you call cavalry."
Kiralo started, standing up all at once, wrapping his robes carefully around him. He had practice to give them, and he hadn't ridden today and--
Vedal's hand stopped him, and he looked over at the other man, who had been with him loyally for some time. "You need to focus on what's important. Arimi knows what light cavalry is. He can train them."
"And they'll respect him?" Kiralo asked, his voice sharp, "They, who are so proud as to--"
"Arimi has it handled," Vedal said, softly. "I trust him." In Southlander he said, "Besides, he can pass as Csiritan in a bad light, and what eyes do they have?"
Kiralo nodded, rather reluctantly, and returned to writing. Time would tell, time would tell for everything.
******
War is a vast enterprise, one that cannot be rushed. And yet, it must be. There is never enough time, and there would never be enough time. On that late spring day, in between the rains, the forges worked.
Quality was something difficult, at times. The spirits of the hearth and flames could be fickle and require much coaxing, and the best armor had to be made to withstand, with the help of spirits and careful construction, anything.
A far harder task was to stand up to the rigors of campaign when you're throwing out hundreds of pieces of a particular piece of armor, let alone spears and shields, with each of them to be put in the hands of a farmer with only a few months of drilling, or with no training at all.
Compared to that, making spare armor for the Hanin, and building up the stockpile of armor for cavalry which might not truly use it well was simple.
But it meant that every day, as the army drilled rain or shine in its barracks in the city, every smith in the entire realm worked almost without sleep. The weather was no more an impediment than anything else, and Kiralo got used to riding through the city streets to check on the progress of both the marching men and the smiths.
Of the two, it was the smiths who needed the less babysitting.
******
Consider the Csiritan man of the spear. Who is he, and what does he want? The army cannot afford to rely on anyone but him, and those who stay in the army are expected, when the time comes, to stand with and lead the peasant who wears the same uniform, and has the same spear thrust into his hands.
He stands tall and proud, in sandals bought for him by the state if he did not bring his own. Some men might wonder at the foreman who hacks at his toes, but the spear wall was to be far too strong for this. And those of the Hanin, the spearman attached to protect the back wall of crossbows, boots were preferred instead.
His armor was of good steel, and silvery at its best, and in this war, at least that could be assured. It stretched down below his knees, forming careful plates that could stop arrows, though not be Tarnarin, and turn back most trouble. This itself was colored silver when the steel itself was not enough, and on the sloping shoulder-guards, careful colors were painted to show their loyalty to province, class, and commander, and each had as a weapon one spear of some length, a small shield that could be used in a pinch, though a formation was told that unity was the truest shield, and a knife, for purposes on and off the battlefield.
Some, of course, had different weapons. A few had long knives or even swords that they had bought, in case they fought without their formation, but these were few enough, and in the drill no man brought his sword.
But they did bring their helmets, simple and conical, beaten out with ease by the hundreds, with a very, very simple chin-strap.
The cost of outfitting one man from the top to the bottom was not all that expensive, and Kiralo, who had seen what it cost with the Rassit, was the last man to complain. But multiply it by thousands, and know that you'll have to train up the peasant conscripts that will wear the majority of that armor, it gets insane.
It gets ruinous, in fact. There was no war that was easily affordable, even in the Southlands where mercenaries at least had to compete to some degree.
And yet, the Empire could afford it. Had to afford it, really, because what was the other option?
It was going pretty well, all things considered. The men, when they marched in their squares and lines, looked as if they knew what they were doing, and their battle formation drills were equally stable, when it wasn't raining.
Would but that it stop long enough.
And would that the council meetings get easier, instead of harder. It was going to boil over. His enemies were looking for excuses, and thus far he'd made little headway in the matter of the logistics side of things, and the money situation was getting more and more dire with every day. It was going to come down to the simple fact that the Imperial festivals and the other follies would have to stop. This was war.
And if only the assassins had gone after the war council.
Horsetrading!
You barely, barely succeeded in the War Council roll. Thus, you have four units of political capital. You can trade things away to get things, spend things to block things, and spend Units to, you know, get what you want. A +/- number will be next to each option. Any plan that asks for more political capital than you have will be a crapshoot and better hope you're lucky or, yeah.
[] The logistics officials have been rude madman, and while some progress has been made in sorting it out, they are completely inflexible. Get them off Kiralo's back and try to improve one's standing. (Reroll Cart action) [-2]
[] The young lordlings that Kiralo has ignored, as well as other glory-hounds, have been requesting the right to purchase commissions. It would be a quick source of revenue, but might degrade the quality of the army's mid-ranking officers. However, a careful selection could definitely minimize the impact of this choice. [+1]
-[] Fuck it. Highest bidder it is for the mid-range, but not the high range, positions. [+2]
[] Ha'Dong is insisting that he be one of the generals in charge of a portion of the army, and he has the sway and power that he'll probably get it. Kiralo sees little to either his discredit...or in all honesty credit, and he could stand in the way if he thinks there is a better choice for whatever position Ha'Dong chooses. [-2]
[] Conversely, Qing'lu's rampent hostility against Kuojah has definitely won him few friends this late in the campaign, after Kiralo's triumphs have reflected back, unfortunately, on his father. But he is still one of the most powerful military men in the Empire, and seems to have some experience. Try to get him rank in the field, rather than staying 'home.' He might also appease the Southlands. [-1]
[] The city has plenty of people in it, and a preliminary sweep of them might give an extra week or two to train them. Not enough to actually change things majorly, but if Csirit the city and the surrounding areas were already recruited up from the start, it might speed things in the coming week or two. [-1]
[] The council of course is concerned with the salaries of the generals and the honor and titles that will be bestowed on them. As Envoy to the Emperor, he could certainly grease the wheels if the army wanted to cover itself in ribbons and titles. [+1]
[] Finding money for higher general salaries won't help all that much either way...except that Kiralo needs the money from his own salary as general in the field if he's going to have maneuvering room to do what he needs. Or...less room than he might have. [-1]
[] The search for skilled generals continues, and of course, emphasis could be placed on the importance of this over...other issues. [-1 to -3, +10 bonus per spend towards 'search for a general' action. Cannot create a crit roll.]
[] The army needs money, and so does the government, so does everyone. More money must be gotten from somewhere, and one of the places that it could be gotten from is...well, there are merchants in this city, are there not? Surely they are...patriotic. No? Let us come back with a few more guards, and ask them then… [-1]
[] Fire Sale starts early: Once Prince Jinhai is defeated, and surely that will be totally and completely certain and this is not arrogance, there will be many positions to be filled. Positions that can be sold off or bartered away ahead of time for capital. [+1]
-[] Sell sell sell! [+2]
[] Make sure that...Kueli's reception is all that he could ask for, even if there is not time to organize a full greeting, as Kiralo had hoped to do, but couldn't. [-1]
[] Write-in, and I'll give you a cost estimate.
******
A/N: So most rolls are doing...pretty well! Most.
