The Warlord Ch 04

WARLORD Chapter 4

I'm not sure if Peony said anything important, after she led me to the chamber they'd given me in Hyacinth. It was barely distinguishable from the one in Dahlia, and I really didn't care: I was out like a light the moment my head touched the sheet.

I woke up disoriented. One thing was for sure: I'd been asleep for a long time. I had that groggy, dry-mouthed reluctance to get up. Just five more hours, I thought...

Peony wasn't there. How could she be? I woke up in my apartment.

I was wearing my Foreigner t-shirt and my track pants, both of which smelled a bit ripe, and desperately needed a wash. I wanted a shower in the worst way - but that would have to wait.

My phone was dead. I brought it with me, went into my main room, and turned on my computer. Plugged the phone into the charger. Checked the time and date on my computer.

An hour had passed. An hour since I'd woken up, and walked through a Portal to Dahlia. See Chapter One. Damn, that was odd. It wasn't frightening, exactly. Just... strange.

My mailbox had the usual collection of work orders, messages from fellow gamers, spam, and an invitation to participate in the beta-testing for Warlord II.

That couldn't be it. Could it? I searched the title, and read everything available online about Warlord II. Then I checked out Defence of the Realm, to see if there were any recent posts announcing a new version of my now-favourite game.

Work could wait. In my present frame of mind (totally freaked out), I wasn't going to be very productive. I spent an hour or so reading about the games I played, looking for something new. A clue.

My stomach rumbled. Tea and toast, then. No - shower first. I needed a quiet moment to think, while not actively engaged in any activity that required much concentration. Showering was something I could do while half asleep.

I was definitely at home. My bath towels still needed to be washed, and it was time to buy a different shampoo and more toilet paper. Mundane thoughts like these didn't interfere with my train of thought, which was running along some kind of endless loop. Were the Hadyks real? Was it all just me, trapped inside a game? A dream? Too realistic by far, right?

Did I want to go back? I'd had dreams that had ended far too soon, or where I had far too little agency. Ever had those? Can't run fast enough to escape the monsters chasing you, or can't get back to the room where Andrea is, to continue the conversation that showed so much promise.

Tea helped. More pedestrian tasks could be accomplished while I waited for the kettle to boil. I would have liked to be Captain Picard, to be able to access the replicator, and say 'Tea. Orange pekoe. Milk and sugar.' Then 'Toast, medium - buttered.'

My mind still felt foggy. I was thinking about the weak garrison at Jacaranda, and the problem of exterior lines. Was there even the slightest chance that it had been real?

I looked up 'Decapolis'. There were ten Greek cities in Palestine, after the conquest of the area by Pompey the Great in 63 B.C.E. They included Amman (Jordan), then known as Philadelphia, and Damascus (Syria). That didn't help at all, although I chuckled a bit at the thought of a statue of Rocky Balboa in Jordan.

The names of the cities themselves didn't help much more. I looked up the flowers. I'd been right about Amaranth. Bryony was from the gourd family, with climbing tendrils and poisonous berries. Caladium (or 'Elephant Ears') had very thin leaves, with red or pink and green veins or spots. It too was toxic to humans.

Dahlias were lilies, and Eglantine was a sweet but prickly briar rose. Flax actually had flowers (of course it did, if it had seeds). I was surprised to find that they were most often blue. Hyacinth was a bright, tubular perennial - also toxic.

Jacaranda was a tree, with purple blooms, like an upturned umbrella. It grew in Southern California, Florida, Texas and Hawaii. But it was the colour that gave me the link. The ten cities were named after plants, but most had flowers, and a majority were poisonous or toxic.

Jacaranda; purple. Lady Shorr's hair was purple. Malusha had a purple tint to her black hair; her father was a Shorr. Their peons had purple hair and insignia.

The Balabans were red, the Morcars yellow. The Hadyks were blue, like flax. It was a slim connection, but otherwise the creator(s) of the Decapolis (or game designer) had simply chosen ten plant names that matched the first ten letters of the alphabet.

Did the family names make any more sense? A cavalry commander in Hapsburg service named Andreas Hadik briefly captured Berlin in 1757, during the Seven Years War. I found references to the name Hadik identifying it as Serbo-Croatian, meaning 'tame bear', or 'big, clumsy man'.

Shorr was a German name, going back to the 13

th

century. Balaban was Turkish, or possibly Croatian. Morcar was the first name of the Earl of Northumbria in 1066. His brother Edwin was Earl of Mercia. They were defeated by the Norwegian Harald Hardrada. The Saxon King, Harold Godwineson, came north and defeated and killed Hardrada. Edwin and Morcar, the ungrateful pricks, didn't join their King as he raced back south to confront another invasion, this one by Duke William of Normandy.

Morcar avoided being at Hastings, and submitted to the Normans. He rebelled in 1068, submitted again, was pardoned, and then finally imprisoned.

There was no connection between the four names that I could see. I didn't know the other six original family names, but these four seemed to have nothing in common. If there was a pattern, I was missing it.

I did a deeper dive into game designers and strategy games, older and upcoming. Many of them were historically based, using real geography and historical characters, or at least historic family names. In some cases, they'd done exhaustive research. Whoever had created or designed the Decapolis appeared to have done none.

Was that on purpose? Or had the game designer simply tagged the cities with alphabetical plant names and random family names as a temporary measure? Could this be just a first program, before the history nerds got involved? More historic or more evocative names could wait, right? It was more important, at the early stages, to make sure that the game engine worked properly.

I killed quite a few hours going down these different rabbit holes. By mid-afternoon, I was getting hungry. When I stopped for lunch, I realized that it was already three o'clock. It was a Friday, but I had done nothing even remotely resembling work, despite still being - as far as I knew - gainfully employed.

I wolfed down a sandwich, and then buckled down to get at least a little bit done. My bosses might accept the excuse that I'd been sick, but that wouldn't prevent them from dropping more work on me. I was good at my job, so of course my reward for that was just more work, including the most difficult shit that other people couldn't handle. None of that entitled me to a holiday, or even a bit of a break.

It wasn't as easy as I'd hoped. I was still thinking of Malusha and Deondra, of Lady Rona and Stephanie. If I was still there, Jashi would be in line for a promotion. Was Wantrao going to recover?

I didn't play Defence of the Realm, or Conquest, or Warlord. My mind kept coming back to the strategic situation that the Hadyks were facing. I couldn't help it. I'd met real people, with distinct looks and personalities. I'd fought in... okay, I'd been

present

for actual battles, involving considerable carnage and loss of life. The peons were people to me, at least. I didn't know any of the soldiers very well, but Peony was real, and very kind.

I was still tired, or maybe just tired again. Going to bed earlier than usual didn't help all that much, because I lay awake for a long time thinking about what I would do in Turn Two if I was in command of strategy again.

***

"I'm sorry, Dan."

I heard that pretty clearly. I also felt a persistent tugging on my sleeve.

- "Forgive me, Lord Daniel, but Lady Rona is calling for you."

- "Peony?"

- "They are waiting for you to begin planning for Turn Two, Lord."

I was back in the sleeping chamber in Hyacinth. The first thing I saw when I opened my eyes was the slightly flushed face of my favourite person in the Decapolis.

So far, I reminded myself - though that did nothing to diminish the pleasure I got from seeing her. It

was

pleasure, too. I was happy to be back in this game, or world, or whatever it was.

Peony was looking at me oddly, though. It took me a minute to work out why. I'd changed my clothes when I got up the day before. I was wearing another old concert t-shirt: this one was 'Never Mind the Bollocks' by the Sex Pistols. Perhaps not the most appropriate clothing, but I hadn't known that I would be back before the Hadyk Matriarch so soon, if ever. I was also wearing my Toronto Maple Leafs sweat pants, with a blue and white stripe down each leg. At least I had the right colour. Lady Rona might not have appreciated my Detroit Red Wings track pants.

- "It's nice to see you again, Peony." I said without thinking. What a stupid thing to say; as far as she was concerned, she'd said goodnight to me just last night.

She looked mildly confused, but covered it up by asking me a question. "What would you like for breakfast?"

- "Umm... juice? And maybe some toast. Toasted bread? With butter?"

- "Of course."

We left the chamber together. They hadn't changed my guards.

- "Hey, Nosey. Hey Pudge."

To my considerable surprise, Nosey turned her head.

- "Good morning, Warlord." she said

Peony smiled. She didn't even have to say 'Gotcha!'. I could only smile back at Nosey.

Lady Rona was waiting for me in the dining room. She greeted me with an indulgent nod.

- "Good morning, Lord Daniel. Stephanie and Deondra will be back this afternoon. Other family members will arrive by the Portal. I'd like to present at least the outline of a strategy to them. You and I can work on it this morning. I assume that you have some ideas."

- "I do. But I also have some questions. The answers to those questions may influence our plans."

- "What kind of questions?"

- "Well, first of all: what will happen to the Shorr prisoners?"

- "They are honoured guests." said Lady Rona, with a look that suggested otherwise. "I will meet with Lady Shorr, and we may negotiate a marriage or two. Then she will agree to renounce her status as matriarch of a great house."

- "So that she or any of the other Shorrs can't take control of a Touchstone?"

- "Precisely. We could hardly trust them, otherwise. That done, the Shorrs will be free to take service with one of the remaining families, as officers."

- "With the Hadyks?"

- "Probably not. Lady Shorr knows that her chances of regaining a city will be much better with our enemies."

- "Why? If you don't mind me asking."

Lady Rona lifted her chin. "They were out to destroy us, Daniel. I will not grant them a city that my family fought to capture. Lady Shorr might still benefit if our enemies triumph. As it stands now, we have five cities, the Morcars still have three, and the Balabans two. The Balabans would love to gain three of our production centres, which would make them equal to the Morcars - who obviously wouldn't want that. There is a possible scenario where the Morcars could grant one of our cities to the Shorrs, while splitting the remainder with the Balabans."

- "Morcars five, Balabans four, and Shorrs one?"

- "Precisely."

- "And then another war, with the Morcars against the Balabans, and the Shorrs choosing a side."

She nodded. I wasn't all that surprised, but it was mildly disappointing. The Hadyks were about to have more troops and more units than they'd ever handled before. That was going to make it potentially difficult to find enough family members to command armies. Deondra and Malusha were two obvious choices, but I didn't know how deep the rest of the family talent pool was. I was going to have to ask somebody - somebody other than Lady Rona.

Meanwhile, our enemies would be getting an influx of Shorr officers into their armies. Hopefully that wouldn't create too large of an advantage for them.

- "There was something else that Lady Shorr said to me." I said.

- "You mustn't believe everything she said. Lady Shorr is a master manipulator."

Interesting. "Actually, I think she was telling the truth. She said that the Gods had offered a boon to the other families as well. Just as you asked for a Warlord, or a strategist. Lady Shorr chose to conserve her choice for later. But that could mean that the Balabans and the Morcar could be granted a wish, too. What do you think those could be?"

- "I don't know." said Lady Rona. Was that the first time I'd heard her use those words? "They could ask for their own strategist. Or... something else."

- "In that case, I don't think that we can safely assume that they'll use standard builds, or follow predictable strategies. We'll have to expect the unexpected. Be prepared for almost any eventualities."

- "I see. Does that mean that your approach will now be more cautious? More conservative?"

I got the distinct impression that that was exactly what Lady Rona wanted. I had gained two production centres for her, changed the balance of forces dramatically in her family's favour, but she was uncomfortable with my 'unorthodox' methods. So much for the gratitude of Princesses.

Peony brought me juice and toast. Lady Rona sent for an infusion for herself. My breakfast quickly finished, the matriarch led me into the Map Room. She asked me to review the strategic situation for her. I suspected that she wanted to be prepared when her family gathered. That was fine; it was her prerogative, after all.

The Balabans had two field armies at Amaranth, with standard garrisons in their two cities. The Morcars had a field army at Caladium, and another at Goldenrod, with standard garrisons in all of their cities. The Hadyks had a triple-sized field army near Goldenrod, an oversized all-infantry garrison at Dahlia, standard garrisons at Hyacinth and Flax, and skeleton crews holding Jacaranda and Ivy.

- "We have the same number of production centres as they do. We're almost equal in numbers of troops. They lost three field armies, while we gained two. But we took casualties storming the Shorr cities. So there are two obvious differences in our situations."

- "Two?"

- "Yes. The first is that they have four field armies to our three. Ours are concentrated, which could be an advantage. We have quite a sizeable infantry force in Dahlia, but they have an edge in cavalry. Their greatest advantage, though, is that they benefit from interior lines."

- "You will have to explain what you mean by that." she said. I didn't know if she meant now, or later.

I pointed to the map. "Do you see how exposed Goldenrod is? We can threaten it from Hyacinth, Jacaranda,

and

Ivy. Our triple field army is already nearby, and we could bring three more forces to bear. They can only reinforce it from Caladium and Eglantine. If the Morcars sent everything they have to Goldenrod, we could still have a 6 to 5 advantage."

It took her a moment, but she saw it. Two field armies and three builds for the Morcars; three field armies and three builds for us.

"But now look at Ivy and Dahlia. Both can be threatened by two enemy cities. The Balabans can bring two field armies and a build to Dahlia, and the Morcars could add a field army and a build. The Morcars could also choose to send their field army at Goldenrod and two builds to attack Ivy."

- "But that would be foolish! It would leave Goldenrod completely exposed!"

- "Expect the unexpected, Lady Rona. What if we moved everything to defend Dahlia? They could recapture Ivy. They could try to replicate what we did."

- "We can't defend

both

Dahlia and Ivy." she said. "They're too far apart."

- "Actually, I think we can. We just have to go about it differently. We'll stuff Dahlia full of even more infantry. Just to be on the safe side, you should attune the cavalry units that were raised there to another Touchstone."

- "You think we could lose the city?"

- "It's unlikely, but anything is possible. I just wouldn't like for us to lose troops the way the Shorrs did." She nodded, so I went on. "I want to establish a mobile cavalry force to screen Ivy. We'll build a larger than average garrison, just in case, but it would be ideal to have scouts who can also harass or even attack an enemy army on the march - especially if it's entirely composed of infantry. So I'd like to try creating hobelars."

- "What are hobelars?"

- "Mounted infantry. In a pinch, they could race to a threatened production centre, and join the garrison. But I was really thinking of mounted archers."

- "There's no such thing."

- "Not yet. But what if we build a light cavalry unit and an archer unit, then put the archers on horseback? Then we convert the cavalry troopers to light infantry."

Lady Rona seemed perplexed. "I... I don't know if that would work. I don't know if it's even

allowed

."

- "We can try, at least. They wouldn't really be horse archers, of course; that's a very difficult skill to master. But they create flexibility, because they can be used as cavalry

or

infantry. And that could be a very unpleasant surprise for the enemy."

- "I will consider it." she said. That was good. I was glad that I'd had this chance to broach the idea with her alone, so that she wouldn't be influenced by any of her less imaginative family members scoffing at my idea. She would have time to think about it, first.

- "Thank you."

- "And what do you intend with our main army?" she asked.

- "That depends. We can reinforce it with field armies from here, and from Flax and Jacaranda. We could march to Dahlia, if it's threatened, or even capture Goldenrod, if it's not well defended."

- "So you intend to adopt a 'wait and see' posture." Rona sounded pleased.

- "Only partly. I want us to scout aggressively. The sooner we have an idea where our enemies are, and especially where they're concentrating, the sooner we can decide our own course of action."

Lady Rona kept me at it for another hour, but that was pretty much all I had to say, for now. I did ask for more time to review my figures, which she granted. She let me return to my room. Peony accompanied me, as always, while Nosey and Pudge followed a short distance behind.

- "You put her up to it, didn't you?" I said.

- "Her? It?"

- "You encouraged Nosey to answer if I spoke to her again."

Peony grinned. "I thought it might be amusing for all of us."

I had to grin back. "It was." I waited until we were back inside my chamber to say any more, though. First, I invited Peony to sit by the desk, which was virtually indistinguishable from the one in Dahlia. Then I sat on the bed, a good ten feet away.

"I need answers to a few questions, Peony - questions which I don't want to ask Lady Rona. I think you understand what I mean."

- "Yes, Dan."

- "Okay. I know that Deondra is the best General the family has. Stephanie seems capable. It probably doesn't matter, though, does it? As heir to Lady Rona, does she have to be given a command?"

- "Yes." said Peony. "But she

is

considered capable, as you say."

- "Fair enough. And I've seen Malusha in action. She's a leader and a fighter. I get the impression that she's about the second best the Hadyks have. Am I wrong?"

- "No, Lor - Dan."

- "So here's my question: are there any other members of the family who have any skill - or even experience - leading troops?"

Peony nodded, ever so slowly. "Lord Detsen commanded a field army in the last war. He was considered to have acquitted himself well."