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Post by Eadfearth on Feb 24, 2008 23:31:23 GMT -5
One of Eadfearth's four armies camped on the border of Macedonia. It did not intend to go to war, they had set up a blockade. A wooden wall had been built, keeping out trade as well. They had already turned around many trade caravans. Most of them had been angry and confused. Others were stuck in Thrace seeing they had to go all the way around the mountains to enter Greece.
The King's arrival in the camp was a great surprise, to the city. He spoke to the general who questioned if it was right to leave the siege of the Thracian capital. Eadfearth had explained, they were in a grid lock. Neither force had made a move, and Eadfearth intended to starve out the population if possible.
"I need thirty of your finest men general." Eadfearth command. He let out a sigh and regretfully spoke. "Yes sir. Tell me though what do you intend to do with them." The king grinned, "I plan to explore this land of Macedonia. I have not heard of the Greeks who are allied with Thrace. It worries my slightly. I plan to lead the scout party myself. Besides I grow bored of the siege." The General chuckled in response. "You are indeed a reckless man." "So they say, so they say." He smirked.
Thirty one horses trotted along the Macedonian road. It was the dead of night, not a single thing stirred. "We will not go to far. Just up to this hill." Eadfearth explained. His black horse nightshade was uneasy. She wanted to ride quickly. She was a horse made for speed and long distance gallops. The King patted her neck assuring her, she would eventually be able to run. "From the top of this hill, we should be able to see an approaching army. They would most likely be camped at this time, and their camp fires should be visible."
"Nothing sir, theres nothing visible from here except for that town." A young lad pointed out, to his lord who replied by letting out a humph. "This is good news indeed. The Greek Lord have apparently not heard of our invasion on their allies. Look are around men, One day this land will belong to Germania." From their position on the hill much of the Greek States could be seen. Not only Macedonia.
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Post by Olympia on Feb 25, 2008 17:08:59 GMT -5
Olympia, who had been asleep in her chambers in one of the smaller villages, was awoken by one of her guards. "I'm sorry, milady. But, there have been rumors that there is a barbarian force in Thrace." The guard said as Olympia let out a sigh. "And do you beileve these rumors?" Olympia asked, a serious look on her face. The guard lookd at the gorund for a moment before he responded. "Yes, I do. Our trade caravans have not returned." The guard said as Olympia pulled herself up so that she was sitting. "Well, it is ok if they are a few days late." Olympia said as the guard shook his head. "Those caravans we sent came back. The other ones have not come back in over a week." The guard said as Olympia stared at him in surprise. "Alright, I will go to the border and see what is going on. Your going as well. I doubt there is any invasion force, we would have known if there was." Olympia said as the guard bowed and left he room.
Olympia pulled herself out of bed and she walked to a bowl that had water in it. She splashed some over her face, to wake herself up a little more. She walked to the closet, changing into a dark dress and dark cloak, to blend into the night. She walked outside her room and down the hall, two guards following her. She walked out of the villa and she looked around for a few moments before her and twenty other men walked down to the stables. "Get your horses." She said as she pulled herself onto a dark brown horse and her and the twenty guards made their way to the gates. "I hope these rumors are wrong." Olympia muttered to herself as the gates opened.
Her horse took off into a gallop as they made their way to the border. The night air was cool against her skin. She let go of the reigns for a second, to pull her hood up over her head. She grabbed onto the reigns again as they kept going to the border. The clouds moved over the full moon, blanketing them in complete darkness. Her eyes tried to adjust, but they couldnt. After they kept going for another few minutes, she could begin to see a little better. Of course, she wasn't used to riding in the night, but aparant her guards were, because they didn't stop.
After a few moments, the clouds moved away from the moon, just as they were about to go up a hill. Aparantly, one of her guards must have noticed something she didn't, because he stopped everyone and told them to be silent. Olympia looked at the top of the hill and she could notice some people on horses. Her guards grabbed their bows and got off their horses, tieing them to trees. Olympia was handed a bow and a few arrows from a guard as she followed them as they hid along the treeline, heading to the top of the hill.
Once they got close to the top, they armed their bow with an arrow. Olympia did the same as she pointed it at the people. Olympia noticed that a guard was looking at her, obviously wanting her to speak. She could already hear the other people speaking, but she couldn't tell what they were saying. Once they were quite, Olympia spoke. "Don't move." Olympia said loudly, as her guards moved around in the trees, getting in a better position. "If you do, you will have arrows sticking out of you." Olympia added. "You have about ten seconds to tell us who you are and what is your business here." Olympia said as she pulled the bow string back, pointing it at them. They were about ten yards away and closing on them.
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Post by Eadfearth on Feb 25, 2008 17:46:45 GMT -5
Eadfearth watched from atop the hill. He had few maps of Greece, and this area had a perfect view of the northern half. "You." Eadfearth pointed to a man. "I know you, are you not a cartographer?" " Yes my lord, but I do not have any paper let alone a-" The Lord of Germania quickly shoved exactly what he did not have into his hands. "I came prepared." He said with a smirk. Both the King and his soldier dismounted their horses. "I want you to map everything you can see, with precise details. There is a full moon tonight. The moon light has made the whole country side visible" It was only a fraction of Greece, but this was one of the view entrances that the mountain chain allowed. If anything this would be one of the ideal areas to invade.
Time passed by, as The king and the Cartographer made their map. Eadfearth pointed out the areas he wished to be on the map. It would be perfect, he assured of it. If he found something to his dislike he would change it himself. "What is your name soldier?" The king asked kindly. "Kafka mi lord." He replied. "I am one of the general's captains. I know this area quite well, he had issued other scout parties previous to this one." He explained. "Really?" Eadfearth sounded slightly irritated. "Why was I not informed." Kafka shrugged his shoulders. "I do not know, maybe you did not ask." He replied. The king grinned, he liked this man.
"Sir we are being approached." A soldier spoke. Eadfearth looked up to the man, he kept a straight face. "How many?" "We've calculated about twenty maybe more. They do not appear to be bandits." "Hmm, well we are not doing anything wrong. We shall stay here." Eadfearth replied. "This is foolish sir we must-" "No we stay, if anything I am the former king's son." The king stood up, and looked around their surroundings. "I see nobody." He pointed out. The soldier stood by his king. His face went pale. " Sir I swear." He appeared foolish. "Do not worry I doubt that you lie. I shall point out, that they could of slipped into the trees." He commented. "Tell the men to surround me protectively." He commanded.
Eadfearth continued to aid Kafka in the making of the map. It was a long process, but they had gotten far for what little time they had. It was rather impressive, despite only have moon light. Deep in thought the Macedonians approached them with their bows. Eadfearth's men stood up, close enough to protect him, but not close enough to make it obvious. "We are men, and we are making a map." Eadfearth replied roughly in Greek. The soldiers gave the Macedonians room to see. Eadfearth was kneeling down next to Kafka whom was on all fours working on the map. He continued to work as if they were not there. Eadfearth glanced up at the approaching men, and then shrugged them aside.
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Post by Olympia on Feb 25, 2008 20:22:14 GMT -5
The Queen and her guard kept their distance, but they had their arrows pointed at them. She listened to who they said they were and she smirked under her hood. "Men of what country? And why are you making a map of my land?" Olympia said as she looked at the man who was kneeling next to another man, who was making the map. Her eyes went over it curiously as she lowered her bow. "I'm going out to talk to them. If they grab me, kill them." Olympia whispered to the nearest guard, who nodded and spread the word.
Olympia set her bow down and, when the moon was covered by the clouds and they were blanketed in darkness, she walked out of the trees. Her dark cloak was nearly impossible to see without the moonlight. She walked up towards them and when the clouds moved again, the area was lit up. Olympia was now standing in front of them, almost like she appeared out of no where. She raised her hand, as a sign that she meant no harm to them. The cold night air blew against her cloak as she looked at Eadfearth and his guards. She could tell that they were from the north, just by the way they were dressed and looked.
"So the rumors are true. I myself did not believe that a country from the north invaded Thrace, but it seems I was wrong." Olympia said, her eyes going to each of them. "But, you are no longer in Thrace any more, which I am sure you already know." Olympia said as she looked threw Eadfearth's men and at him. This was a perfect opportunity for her to expand their borders into Thrace. Perhaps these barbarians were reasonable enough. "Perhaps we can help each other. I know more about these lands then either you or your cartographer will ever know." Olympia said, watching them carefully.
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Post by Eadfearth on Feb 25, 2008 20:38:10 GMT -5
Eadfearth looked at the woman who spoke. Her feminine voice gave it away. He let out a sigh. "We are Celtic, and we are not making of map of your land, but the land around it." Eadfearth stopped speaking. Kafka then spoke. "My Lord has commanded of it. I know not why." He explained, he hid a grin from the group. Eadfearth glanced as Olympia approached, he continued to point out things to Kafka. "Invade Thrace? Oh yes, that will not affect your people much." One of the soldiers spoke. Eadfearth whispered something to Kafka who grinned and chuckled lightly. "Of course." He replied, to his king.
Eadfearth glanced up wards. "We know we are not in Thrace. But tell me, what type of information do you have and what do you want for it, secondly what makes you think you are the only one we can bargain with. I am sure there is a simple farmer, or hunter, or even trader who has traveled all these lands and know them better than you." The King of Germania pointed it. "I am sure that man would be willing to bargain with us for less." He then looked back down at the cartographer. Eadfearth could not read minds, but something told him she referred to them as barbarians in her mind. The Roman definition for barbarian bothered him, they were not mindless savages. The Greek term simply meant foreigner. He preferred the later.
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Post by Olympia on Feb 25, 2008 20:57:50 GMT -5
"Perhaps not, but that is still to be seen." Olympia said. She watched Eadfearth and the man called Kafka closely. When Eadfearth whispered something into the other mans ear and he chuckled, she glared at both of them. She could have easily sent a messenger to Sparta, telling them that they were here. But even that message would take days to reach them, but she could tell that these people meant no harm to their land. In fact, she found it odd that they were charting the rest of Greece more than her own land.
Olympia listened to Eadfearth speak as she let out a laugh. "Because, if you really want to know, I am the Queen of these lands." Olympia said as she looked down at the cartographer. "Perhaps he will bargain for less..." Olympia said, still looking at the cartographer. "But, he will not know the things that I do. I also have to ask this, why are you so interested in mapping Greece?" Olympia asked curiously. She had the utmost respect for these people. They were not so different, after all. Fighting for freedom and wanting to be free, even if that meant that the Germanians had to go against the Romans. It would just be like Macedonia when they will fight to get free from Sparta, if it came to that.
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Post by Eadfearth on Feb 25, 2008 21:09:52 GMT -5
Eadfearth bit his lip lightly as he stared down at the map. He had to chose his next words rather carefully. "Maybe so, maybe not." He paused. So she was a queen. Now that he thought of it, he had run into or heard of many queens recently. Something wasn't right. "I recall Macedonia does not have a Queen... Are you lying? Or is this something Sparta does not know of." He replied. It showed he wasn't completely clueless on foreign affairs. "Mapping Greece? Why may that be important?" Kafka asked rhetorically. Eadfearth answered their question anyways. " Because it is best to know the land of those near you." There was an eerie silence. "Besides why not get it of the way while we are nearby Queen." Even knowing she was queen he did not speak to her as if she was some one important. Despite the fact she was most likely. "So tell me. What may you want for this information, that may help us." Eadfearth did not introduce himself. It could prove rather dangerous and to his disadvantage. He had recently held somebody hostage, he did not want the same to happen to him.
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Post by Olympia on Feb 25, 2008 21:25:00 GMT -5
Olympia listened to Eadfearth as she remained silent for a moment. "Sparta does not know yet, nor should they." Olympia said in a dangerous tone as she looked at him. The last thing she wanted was for Sparta to find out that Macedonia was planning to break out of the alliance. Olympia heard Kafka speak again. She ignored him as she kept her attention of Eadfearth. "That is a smart move. It is better to know your enemy's land, so it will be easier if you were to fight against them one day." Olympia said as she watched the cartographer for a moment before her attention was drawn back to Eadfearth. "Well, Macedonia, once free, will want to expand into Thrace. Which is what our plan was in the first place, but you kind of beat us to them. So, we want some, if not all, of Thrace's land." Olympia said, a serious tone in her voice.
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Post by Eadfearth on Feb 25, 2008 21:40:16 GMT -5
(I'm not going to make this easy.) Disbelief crossed Eadfearth's face. He could not believe should would offer such a deal. " The Celtic will die, and fight for Germania, and you expect us to hand over some of the land if not all of it for a simple amount of information." The Celt stood up, throwing off his cloak. The large man towered over the slim woman .His tone was perhaps angry in disbelief. "Do you think we are stupid." No his tone was definitely angry. "My lord calm down." A soldier spoke in a Celtic dialect. He attempted to place a reassuring hand on his shoulder, but it was slapped away. "Please tell me you can offer more, than just that." He said. It had to be one of the worse offers, he had ever heard of. Eadfearth overreacted, and it showed as his hand reached for the hilt of his sword. "King Eadfearth!" The cartographer Kafka shouted as he reached to push his hand away from his sword.
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Post by Olympia on Feb 25, 2008 21:49:39 GMT -5
(That makes it more fun.)
Olympia took a step back when Eadfearth stood up. He towered over her, but her hand went to her own sword as he looked down at her. "I meant no disrespect to you or your people. If I thought you were stupid, I wouldn't be talking to you." Olympia pointed out as she listened to one of the soldiers speak in their own dialect and her eyes went to his sword as he grabbed onto it. She stood her ground, watching him. "I probably should have come about this another way, perhaps it is my fault. But, I don't need to remind you that you are surrounded by archers and they will fire on my command." Olympia said as she looked at the cartographer. She hated to admit it, but she was glad that he was at least trying to calm Eadfearth down. "Perhaps we can work something out so that it will benefit us both." Olympia said in a calm tone as she looked up at Eadfearth. She was brave, wanting to show Eadfearth that she was not afraid of him, hoping to gain his respect.
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Post by Eadfearth on Feb 25, 2008 22:00:21 GMT -5
Eadfearth pushed aside Kafka's hand, he gripped the hilt of his blade. "My death would not only anger Germania, but many of the Celtic tribes." He replied coldy. Did that give away his position of King. Most likely. There was also the chance she had guessed, even though that was most unlikely. A king would not aid in a scout party. Eadfearth gritted his teeth. He attempted to calm himself down. Not only did he have to chose his own words carefully, but she did as well. If she managed to anger him once again, he would most likely not hesitate to attack. Which would end up with him dying. Or at least being injured. "What does your country have, That Germania needs. Land? We have plenty. Money? What good would we have with your currency? Trade rights?" He chuckled. " I can randomly chose a country on any map and they would most likely grant me trade rights."
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Post by Olympia on Feb 26, 2008 21:24:31 GMT -5
"Trust me, I have no intentions of killing you or any of your people." Olympia said. She could tell by the way he spoke that he must have been someone of great importance, even if he was trying to hide it before. Olympia nodded as she listened to him. He was right, there was nothing that Macedonia could do that would help the alliance. "Well..." Olympia said as she looked at him. "Perhaps you do not need Macedonia as an ally, but we need you as one." Olympia said as she moved her hand off her sword, moving it back to her side. "We are the same, you and I. We both fight for something we believe in. I believe in freedom." Olympia said. "My people are trying to break free from Spartan control, but we cannot do it alone. We want to be free, but once the Spartans find out, they will send an army to kill us and stop the revolt." Olympia said as she walked closer to Eadfearth, in a non-threatening way. "Please, we need your help. We can't do this alone." Olympia said, her eyes going to Eadfearth's.
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Post by Eadfearth on Feb 26, 2008 23:02:05 GMT -5
Eadfearth stared down at the woman. As she spoke he let out a sigh, in attempt to calm himself. His body loosened up, and he let himself drop his shoulders. His hand moved slowly away from the hilt of his sword. He suddenly felt a slight pity for the Macedonians. Eadfearth would not claim, he knew the situation. He did not, at the moment his people were as free as possible. The king now appeared slightly calm. He pupils shrunk, as before they had dialeted due to andrenaline. He began to breath lighter. " I... I" He paused. " I understand the situation you are in, despite never being it." Eadfearth paused, he looked straight up at the stars. " I hear the Spartans are great warriors.... No matter what, this revolution of yours will be far from easy." The large man then faced downwards to return Olympia's gaze. In his own way, he had though of how giving Macedonia land could help him. " I will aid you, Help you against your supressors. If my war goes as planned I will grant you land." He would hope, if his country would ever meet the same fate that somebody would aid him. "In return of only undying loyalty, as an ally."
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Post by Olympia on Feb 27, 2008 17:00:46 GMT -5
Olympia listened to him, nodding in agreement when he said it would be far from easy for Macedonia to get free. "Of course, what is the point of an alliance if there is no loyalty between two factions?" Olympia asked, a smile on her face. She was glad to hear that he was going to help them fight back against the Spartans. It would be a tough battle, but hopefully the numbers of the Germanians and the Macedonian army combined would make them not want to fight, but she doubted it. "Even though our armies would have numbers on our side, they have skill. But, I am sure together we wil be able to beat them, if a fight does come to my land." Olympia said as she made a motion with her hand, her guards lowered their bows and stepped out of the trees, moving behind Olympia. "I am glad that we could come to an agreement." Olympia said, with a smile on her face.
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Post by Eadfearth on Feb 27, 2008 17:12:35 GMT -5
The Celtic soldiers all seemed to relax at one moment as the Macedonian's lowered their weapons. Eadfearth grinned. "What is the point? Betrayal perhaps." He would bet on his life that there were Nation who made alliances, just to back stab their allies. Eadfearth didn't, and he hoped this woman wouldn't. But she seemed trustworthy for the most part. Hopefully there would not be much of a fight. It would simply be easier, if Sparta understood it would be wise to let them break away. Not having to worry about their well being, it was never wise to have an angry province. " Yes they may have skill, and they may be far more renown than any Celtic warriors, at least in your culture but they have not fought the men of Germania." He replied bluntly. Eadfearth could not deny the fact, that the Spartans did have better armor and weapons; not to mention they were more tactical but they would have to see.
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