World Revolution

[Brian]

Farwell's already assembled everyone who's about to leave, and they're making their final farewells as you emerge from the tent (and the second you leave it, warriors scurry to disassemble it behind you) Liandrall is strolling around the men, asking a question here and there, but still in sight.  Everyone else appears to be gathering their things up in preparation to move.

[Dracos]

Dracos headed out towards Farwell, watching silently for the moment with approval.

Dracos

[Brian]

Farwell looks up as you approach, and nods.  "We're ready," he says.  "Luck to you, cousin.  We'll meet again."

In the distance, the moon rises, lighting up the plains.

[Dracos]

"Luck to you as well."  Dracos agreed, looking up.  "At least we'll have moonlight to light our way."

Dracos watched them depart, waiting for news back that the soldiers remaining were ready to go and gathering his own things as well.

Dracos

[Rezantis]

After Farwell has left, Rez turns back to Drac.

"So, what'd you have in mind for me to do, anyway?"

[Dracos]

"At the moment?  Not much.  We're going to just be hiking quickly until we get more information from the scouts."

Dracos

[Brian]

At this point, Farwell takes his escort and the women and children off, and they break away.  Everyone that's left very quickly gets ready to move on, looking to Phil and Nathan for guidance.

[Dracos]

"Anyhow...time for being Kingly." Dracos turned from Rez to the army before him and particularly the commanders.  "If all is ready, we march west.  Everyone, we must move quickly.  There is no time to waste.  The time for words has long since passed, and only by deeds may we yet survive to see another sunrise.  Now let's be off!"

Dracos promptly turned, leading with swift strides in the decided direction, intending to travel for until it became obvious that the men needed to rest, Liandril got back to him with the report, Nathan had something to say, or Erik returned with more information.

Dracos

[Brian]

Erik checks in once in a while to report that all is well, and none of the scouts have been lost.  You're heading roughly west, but you know when you've reached the Dreadmarch's passage.  Most of the snowy waste is hilly, which hints at the ground that lies underneath it.

But now you see something that makes you wonder if that's accurate.  The path of the Dreadmarch wore into the snow deeply -- you'd known that the snow was scraped from the ground before the keep, and you'd seen the raw stone of the mountains to your north.

But here, you can see that the wake of the Dreadmarch's passage is a wide valley in the snow, cutting clear through it, down some five meters below the average 'surface' of the waste.

What lays beneath is not soil, or stone, but a glacier, and in places, it's been worn by the passage as smooth (and clear) as glass.  This passage extends as far as you can see both north, and south, and looks to be a half a kilometer wide.

Occasionally, bits of discarded junk lie at the bottom of the valley.  Scraps of cloth, wood, or metal, nothing recognizable, and save the wood (which is at least burnable) nothing of any real value.  The men slow down at this, and realize that one way or another, the truth of the matter is that the Dreadmarch did get there first.

Liandral approaches at this point, and says, "I've got the command structure down.  I don't know about loyalty, really, since you probably should know these people better than I.  For what it's worth, though, anyone in the same clan as you supports you fully.  Anyone in Farwell's clan -- the Rabbits -- supports you almost as much, followed by those in the Bear clan -- no torc, so no leader, but they seem to favor your 'madman', after rumor got out that he destroyed the beast which slew his father, and so will do as you say.

"The biggest dissidents would be those of the Caribou clan, which is about one sixth of the forces here.  Of those, they seem loyal for the moment, but probably won't be if you appear weak, if you make any mistakes, or if their leader challenges you for rule.  Their torc-wearer was included in the force to protect the women -- Farwell's choice -- which they see as an insult and a sign that you don't trust them.  Which you probably shouldn't, since two of them tried to ruin you.

"Eagle isn't committing, or already knows what information I'm digging for, and only says that they do as you say, because you're the king.  Oxen say they won't influence anything, since that's never been their role.  Cryptic, but I get the idea they just don't want internal trouble."  Liandral shrugs after delivering this bit of information, as the men stop at the tracks to investigate things -- Erik's sent the scouts further afield to see if there's any obvious supply-lines following the valley, or running parallel to it.

"For the command structure, it goes like this:  You're the king, so you're number one.  What you say, goes.  You're the top of the food-chain in every court.  Your officers are basically one per clan, each with a different duty.  For what it's worth, everyone's a soldier.  The officer of the Bear clan is Sir Warrick Aubron; he leads the majority of the swordsmen.  The officer of the Wolf clan is Sir Harold Volter; he leads another third of the swordsmen.  The officer of the Caribou clan is currently with Farwell, so their brevet leader is Sir Edward Carst; he leads the final third of the swordsmen.  For the Rabbit clan, we've Sir Edward Durin; he manages your pikemen.  For the Eagle clan, there is Sir Erik Kethel; he takes care of your archers and your scouts.  And finally, for the Oxen, we've the esteemed Lord Roger Lowry; he manages your axemen.

"Now, the command structure is this:  Whoever's in charge, yells.  Everyone who hears them, does what they're told.  I'm thinking that you can probably improve on this." Liandral heaves a sigh.  "Anything else?"

[Dracos]

"Good job and thanks.  Any ideas on the standard tactics they are used to using?  Everyone just charge in or is there actual experience with more complicated strategy?  Additionally do we have any trained strategists on staff?"

Dracos

[Brian]

"Well, they usually form into small groups based on clan, which is good for raiding parties, or smaller groups of foe ... I'm not confident I expect the tactics to hold up well against a sufficiently large force.  And I'm guessing you're our foremost strategist at the moment."

[Dracos]

Dracos whistles.  "Well...  Time to do what I can.  Can you gather the commanders to me?  I think it's best if we start by working on maximizing our strengths.  If Erik is busy afield, do not bother him.  I can pass along orders to him later."

Dracos

[Brian]

Liandral nods, and runs off.  After a minute or two, the six commanders are in front of you (Erik being free, since the army's come to a stop).

[Dracos]

"Greetings commanders.  In consideration of the size of the foe we face and the dangers they represent, I have called you together to help organize and plan our strategies.  While I stand solid in my strength and the strength and bravery of all who are assembled here, there will be times where mere brute strength is not enough.  We will also need both cunning and strategy to deal with the foe we face and to survive.  I cannot be everywhere at once, nor can I see everything that is there.  I will be relying on you to see what I do not see and be where I am not to keep all of the men organized.  You know the men directly under you better than I, therefore I will have an open ear to your advice and knowledge.  That said, neither can you be everywhere at once, therefore I propose developing a heirarchy of organization for our clans as whole.  I would like each of you to divide your forces into groups of 100 and assign to each of them a subcommander to answer to you personally.  Pick men who you trust and who you have found to be insightful and wise to the ways of battle.  For each of these, make sure they have five runners as well in order to convey commands and status back and forth.  For each of these hundred, I want you to split them into five groups, four of 20 and one of 19.  Each of these should have a captain that is responsible for the twenty directly below them.  Everyone in that captain's squad answers and follows the commands of the captain first.  The captain, in turn, follows the orders of the subcommander, passed back and forth by runners, one to each group of twenty and one to the subcommander.  As each of you will be overseeing a group of several hundred, select several runners to carry your orders to the subcommanders you choose.  I will, prior to any fight, lay out a general plan of battle with you.  During the fight you will be responsible for handling your parts and conveying this down the order of command.  I will need a set of runners myself, one from each of your clans, to handle communications in the chaos of battle.  Remember, as we are outnumbered we must be willing to retreat or otherwise adapt to conditions swiftly.  If you find yourselves cut off, I expect you to look out for the men under you and make sure as many survive."

Dracos breathed in.  "In terms of battle, I would like to generally lead off with the archers under Sir Erik, pinning down the enemy as we approach then shifting to other parts or fading backwards in retreat once the main force.  The main force will be composed of the warriors under Sir Warrick, Sir Harold, and Sir Edward.  Your forces will make up the mainstay of our army, tackling the enemy in melee, striking hard and fast, doing as much damage as possible, and then retreating in an organized retreat.  I emphasize this, do not be fools for glory.  With the size of the enemy we face we will need to wear them down and we cannot afford to have a squadron get slaughtered just for a bit of glory.   Lord Durin, I believe your warriors would be best served by being slightly off from the main force.  In most cases I will group you with them, but in others I will want you ready to loop around, take advantage of position and make it appear as if we are more than we are.  Lord Roger, I would like your forces to handle the important business of destroying their equipment, stealing their foodstores, and getting out quickly with them.  If possible kill and destroy whatever seige equipment you can get your hands upon.  Basically be as destructive as possible.  Don't worry so much about engaging the forces directly in battle.  The main force should handle that.  Now that said...I'd like to hear your thoughts on this.  Any objections to reorganizing as such?"

Dracos

[Brian]

"I like this," Lord Roger says, the first to break the silence.  "This whole ... sub-commander thing is a funny business, but I have no problems with my orders."

The others hedge a bit, mulling it over, but ultimately accept the idea of your proposes chain of command -- though, to them it seems much more like you're telling them, "Get your successors lined up in case you die, to minimize confusion."  Unless you give them further orders, they go off to organize their troops.