Stone the Crow

(this thread is for Sybel Tanaka )

The Marshal of Roville Uzmat Ricman sat in the corner of the Fort's war room, he'd moved his own private quarters within the same room. Perched in a dark wood chair his head was hung forward and his sharp features and dark eyes studied a map of Rodale. It was scribbled across and had looked like a few years worth of notations in fact.

Having sent his Knight to look for his Warlord, Sybel Tanaka , his closest advisor and second most powerful person of Roville; Uzmat of course saw much much more in the young warrior and despite the objections of lesser men Uzmat let Sybel grow. She flourished in fact without his guidance and that was how he was sure of the young woman.

Uzmat could hear the approaching footsteps and so he stood dropping his quill the Marshal stepped around his desk; he was dressed in a bright yellow tunic his scared yet sunkissed muscular chest exposed, three gold necklaces hung from around his neck, and he wore black tight trousers that tucked into heavy tanned hide boots. Hanging from his hip in a unique scabbard they called a grimoire holster, it held his own blood bound grimoire within.

Uzmat moved across the room to his chair at the head of the War table ordering his cup bearer, who just happened to be his youngest child but not his legit pureblooded daughter but one of his many bastard children, to prepare two cups of wine. The girl nodded and as quiet as a mouse set off about her task, Uzmat sat in his high back chair waiting for his Warlord.

She was wiping the sweat from her brow when she saw a Knight approach her. Sybel tossed the cloth on the floor and sheathed her sword. Without saying a word, she looked at him, her chin held high and het shoulders straight. "Marshal Ricman requests your presence in the war room", the Knight told her. She looked at him, then at the rag in the dirt, and walked away. Behind her, the Knight would bend down to pick up the sweaty rag to get rid of it.

Sybel's booted feet carried her through the Fort's corridors. For her height and posture, her footsteps were surprisingly heavy. The dark-haired woman put her hands on the heavy doors leading to the war room and pushed them open, without a knock. The two of them were familiar enough with each other, and all the formalities were no longer needed. If Uzmat ever thought they should return to those formalities, she would, but she saw no point in knocking and waiting when her presence was requested.

As she walked in, she saw Uzmat sitting at the head of the table, wearing a beautiful yellow tunic. It complimented his skin tone. Sybel continued to walk and grabbed one of the cups of wine that the cup bearer had just filled. She sat down in the chair on Uzmat's right and leaned back in it. "You asked for me?" she asked, her eyebrow slightly raised as she looked at him over the rim of her cup. She would wait to drink until he did, just to be polite.

"Sybel, please sit," Uzmat replied fairly low, as pleasant of a man he was, "Everyone else out," the Marshal ordered the few soldiers and the cupbearer to exit, the latter giving Uzmat his wine on her departure. On top of the young woman's promising skills as a warrior and Warlord Sybel was truly the Marshals type. Small and beautiful, she held a supportive council and obeyed Uzmat when it was wise, but questioned him when he was short sighted. He would never say but there were moments when he was alone, after Sybel departed that he fantasized about her. Thoughts of taking her right here in the war room in their armor...amongst the chaos and blood battle...

Uzmat sipped his wine, "I sent a courier to the Marshal of Mont Daegal this morning, inviting them under the law of guest right to dine with us," he played with the rim of his wine cup, "I've become quiet bored of peace..."

Her eyes lingered on the people leaving the room, the glass against her lips. She took a small sip when the last person exited and turned her attention towards Uzmat. She eyed him up and down, in a subtle and barely noticeable way. She knew how he felt about her. He hadn't told her with his words, but she knew how men functioned. She knew about his bastard children. She knew he wanted her.

And she used that to her advantage. In a way, it made her less replaceable, because Uzmat would want to keep her around. Sybel listened to his words, carefully considering them in silence. "Are you looking to form an alliance with him, or fight him?" she asked, no emotion showing on her face. As far as she knew, Uzmat was mostly focused on being the sole ruler of Rodale. Had he set his sights on Almeran, or Idrenor as a whole?

Sybel was a silent type. She didn't ask any follow up questions until he had answered her this one. In the meantime, she studied him some more. Uzmat always looked confident and relaxed. He has Roville under controle, and he knew he had the biggest city in Rodale. Uzmat was a great Marshal. She wondered if he could beat Grym in a fight.

"A temporary alliance," the war table was a giant map of Idrenor, with the map were carved pieces to represent each seat of power of each kingdom, "Clago," he rose from his seat to move a piece that was Clago setting it between it's border with No Man's Land, "They once had a good idea of trying to take it but Marshal Clarence was short sited my Father always said, I agree, but the question I propose is why Mont Daegal? It's the second largest army and economy of Rodale. With Daegal in an alliance we take Clago, force their Marshal to dissolve their Marshal title," he used the two pieces of Roville and Mont Daegal knocking down Clago's piece, "We agree to split the lands of Clago, but again temporary, the real prize," once more he pushes the pieces into No Man's Land meanwhile he adds another Roville piece on the map table pushing into Mont Daegal lands, "We take No Man's Land and claim Mont Daegal, force Gyrm to surrender and bend the knee to not Marshal Ricman," if Uzmat was a smiler he'd have controted his face into a greedy sneer, "But King Uzmat Ricman, unifier of Rodale and Conquerer of No Man's Land....," taking one last piece Uzmat knocked down the piece of Almeran.

Sybel listened, sipping from the wine every now and then. His plan was ambitious, and it could work, but there were certain things that stood out to her, things she wanted to point out. She placed her cup down and leaned forward, picking up the piece that represented Almeran. She played with it between her fingers, then placed it down on No Man's Land.

"So", she said, looking up from the map at the Marshal. "Almeran will declare war on Rodale, for disregarding the peace treaty of 1012." Sybel picked up her cup of wine again. A strand of dark hair escaped her ponytail and framed her face. "I can prepare the troops, but if Grym puts on a bigger fight than anticipated... We might lose a lot of lives."

[Spring, 1012 - No Man's Land peace treaty: all territories agree to leave NML untouched. Nobody lives here, and nobody is to seize it.]

"We must secure Rodale as a whole before we decided that the treaty is expired," Uzmat cooed before moving closer to Sybel taking in the view of the large war map from her point of view, "Almeran has played land boss long enough and waste the potienal of No Man's Land, a boon no doubt for our kingdom, but please share your thoughts Sybel...I need to hear the pros and cons from my Right Hand, am I too ambitious?"

The woman maintained eye contact with the Marshal while he spoke and asked his question. Then her eyes moved to the map once more. "Yes and no", she said. "No, an alliance with Grym might work, and could prove useful. However, it's difficult to guess how many of his people will back you up when you tell him to bow the knee. Yes, taking No Man's Land now could be disastrous. If I were you, I would focus on increasing my authority over Mont Daegal and Clago. I don't see taking No Man's Land ending well as long as Rodale is divided."

Sybel looked up from the map at Uzmat, cocking her head to the side. "Does Grym have children? Maybe a marriage could work. To unite the next generation. It would be a stronger foundation than forcing an ally to obey you." But it would take more time, and perhaps that was something Uzmat didn't like.

Uzmat was very pleased with Sybel, her every word was logical and made a great deal of sense and it opened a new channel of thought for the Marshal.

"A marriage," he was beaming without smiling, "Is actually quite brilliant Sybel, there would be no need to turn on Marshal Grym and if he's in our pocket by marriage it strengthens our cause," because there was a risk in making Grym bend a knee, his people could mutiny against him and that could steam roll through his people. Rodale needed to be a kingdom united, "Do we take Clago with Marshal Grym or find another way? Their small and with both our armies we could easily surround and starve them into surrendering with a siege or do we bring them into the fold? All three Marshal's united to take Almeran?"

The confirmation that her idea was good pleased her, but her face showed no emotion. Sybel was definitely hard to read, and rather stoic. Instead, she nodded. It would take more time, but the offspring of Grym and Uzmat's children would be able to rule a united region. It wouldn't cause a disruption between the two Marshals, and there was less risk of mutiny. "If he doesn't have children, then one of the children of his Right Hand, or anyone else he trusts. But until they have children, you will have to co-reign with him."

The thought was funny to her. She couldn't imagine Uzmat giving some of his power to someone else. "Or you keep the cities divided, you both rule your own city, and just work together when you want to seize Clago. A military alliance." She leaned back again.

"But I don't think you're patient enough for that." It was very honest, but she couldn't see Uzmat waiting eighteen years for this plan. And there was more. "Why do you want Almeran?" she asked him.

Uzmat cracked a grin, "I feel I have been pretty patient Sybel, years and years of patience has beamed from my backside like a rainbow," he drank from his cup, "Almeran is a bigger goal, a very long term goal, but Rodale must be one whole kingdom before such an achievement can be obtained. We will host our dinner and engage Marshal Grym before I make any hastey decisions, you've given me a great deal to think about which is why I will always appreciate your position Sybel," Uzmat turned so that he was squared up to Sybel, "You'll see to it personally our army looks as impressive as it really is? I want Grym to know Roville is a strong ally."

If she had been a more laid back person, his remark would have made her chuckle. Instead, he got nothing in return, but if he knew her well enough, he wouldn't take it personally. Perhaps he was right. He had been patient. There was a thin line between being patient for something, and it taking too long, though.

She nodded, satisfied with his response, and took another sip of her wine. It was now about 3/4 finished, so she placed the cup down on the table. "You're welcome, lord Ricman", she said, allowing herself to smile very briefly at him. "The dinner will certainly be interesting. It has been a while since we have seen people from the other cities."

His question was an easy one to answer. "Of course", Sybel said. "I will arrange a big training session on the day of Grym's arrival, so he can see our soldiers train as he makes his way to the Fort." The weak ones would be training out of sight. They had plenty of great soldiers, though. "I do advise you to keep your Grimoire locked away when he's here." She knew Uzmat liked to carry it with him, but it was just too easy to cut a leather strap and steal the book. "As long as he is not out ally, I don't trust him or anyone he brings." She kept her Grimoire in a safe place, locked away. She checked it every day, but didn't bring it with her.

Instinctively Uzmat reached down to touch his Grimoire, "Hmm," his eyes agreed and he wondered if Grym was such a man to attempt such a foolish thing? Sybel was right, "You are right, perhaps it will be better to play it safe," agreeing with his Warlord or listening to them didn't rob Uzmat of his power if anything it made Uzmat smarter; it instilled trust between him and his people by doing so, gave him options he over saw, and with Sybel it gave Uzmat so much more.

"Could I trust you with such a task?"

Sybel frowned, then raised an eyebrow. "I can keep yours with mine, if that's what you're asking", she responded, a bit surprised that he would give her the responsibility of looking after his Grimoire instead of just locking it somewhere in one of his own private rooms, but she didn't complain. It would maybe indeed be safer in her home, in the city, in the locker she had for it. "It's never been broken into, so it would certainly be safe." And the magic of the Grimoire would still work for him, as long as it wasn't in the locker while he needed to Rebound, but she doubted that would be the case.

"Tis exactly what I am asking," Uzmat confirmed as he stepped closer to Sybel, bold of him of course to do so, he was sure she might be unaware of other feelings her Marshal had for her, but Uzmat was bold nonetheless. They were inches from each other now, "I trust none like I trust you Sybel, even my own flesh and blood, bastard or not, I trust my very life with you."