A Further Excerpt from Bonacorso Fidelibus’s Work: The Many Wars of the Early 25th Century.
Ravola itself, soon after the ratmen army’s departure, had been captured by a force of dwarfs and Arrabiatti, the same dwarfs who later joined with the elves to head westwards in pursuit of the ratmen. As already alluded to, Lord Totto ordered a company of his riders, Gli Audaci Arceri (the Bold Archers) to join that marching force, while he himself remained in Ravola, there to nurse its recovery just as he had done at Campogrotta.
He promised he would send word to the alliance army gathered near Trantio, requesting they move north to better assist in the war against the ratmen.
All was not well with the alliance, however. Command had been awarded in Spring to the Reman Captain Sirus Ricci, with Lord Silvano of Pavona unexpectedly acceding to the captain’s veteran, martial experience, as well as to Remas’ moral and spiritual authority as the seat of the Holy Church of Morr.
The Verezzan Captain Muzio Vanni, leading a small force of archers, and the claimant to the throne of Trantio, Galeotti de Medizi …
… possessing only two companies of soldiers yet now flying colours bearing the Medizi family’s princely arms, were both very happy to accept the Reman captain’s command. It had been Barone Iacopo of Verezzo who had demanded all agree in advance that the alliance army’s commander would be whomsoever brought the largest contingent, rather than assuming the young Pavonan lord, as the originator of the the idea of alliance, would become captain-general. Yet, it was the Verezzan Captain Muzio Vanni who had been the first to demand that stipulation be rescinded, quickly joined by Galeotti, when they both realised the Pavonan lord had the biggest force. Indeed, Galeotti found it in himself to wax lyrical regarding the qualities of the Reman captain and the pressing need that he should lead the alliance.
Some said that Lord Silvano had the hint of a wry smile upon his face as he listened to the Trantian’s oration, and others expressed surprise at his calmness, considering the supposed emnity between him and the Trantian noble.
The army moved to Scorcio, from where scouts were dispatched to scour the land to the north, east and west, including Galeotti’s loyal band of pistoliers.
The origins of Galeotti’s little force were disputed, and they themselves were not particularly forthcoming about their past.
Several must surely have been old retainers of Prince Girenzo, or the sons of such, while the rest were likely a mixture of refugee Trantians and mercenaries (including, perhaps, some who once served in the Tilean faction of the Compagnia del Sole)
The main force, meanwhile, located the tunnel mouth discovered a year or so previously by the Portomaggiorans, which Lord Silvano was very keen to collapse.
Supervised by Silvano’s own engineer, this was quickly done using black powder, first deep within the tunnel, and subsequently at the tunnel mouth itself.
Very few were injured during this operation, although much of the army’s powder supplies were consumed.
Greatly satisfied with this success, the captain general ordered that the army make its way north to the site of the second tunnel mouth found previously, east of the Viadazan watchtower of Busalla.
Upon drawing close, a disagreement broke out within the council of war, concerning the suspected conspiring of the Pavonan Visconte Carjaval, Lord Silvano’s lieutenant.
Galeotti di Medizi claimed that the visconte sought to lure him into committing a dishonourable and bloody deed (of an undisclosed nature), and that by such means the Pavonans were attempting to bring about his ruin.
What with Lord Silvano having so recently re-affirmed his authority over the state of Trantio, as ‘Gonfaloniere for Life’ (an office given to him by his father after the city’s military conquest by the Pavonan army), while Galeotti had staked his own claim to the same city state as Prince Girenzo of Trantio’s legitimate heir, then despite the temporary truce on account of the war against the ratmen, friction was inevitable, and had only been prevented thus far by the fact that the captain-general had favoured Galeotti and Lord Silvano, always the pragmatist, seemed unwilling to disrupt the alliance army’s effectiveness in the field.
The Verezzan Captain Vanni unsurprisingly took Galeotti’s side in the argument …
… while Lord Silvano seemed merely annoyed that such wrangling disputes would thwart the army’s activities. Captain General Ricci was forced to deal with the divisions as best he could, attempting to prevent open quarrels between the parties concerned.
This internal dispute, combined with the need to secure extra powder, meant the commencement of works to collapse the second tunnel mouth was delayed. With Lord Silvano’s cooperation, the captain-general was able to calm the parties somewhat, but before reconciliation could be achieved, with the matter properly investigated and settled, news came of events in Pavona which would turn the quarrelling into outright war.
…
In the south, Barone Iacopo Brunetti, Regent of Verezzo, Capitano del Popolo, had finally made his move. After several seasons of apparent indecisiveness, with much in the way of words and letters, of debated apologies and non-committal discussions, all while building up the strength of Verezzo’s army, and after sending Captain Vanni and a company of archers to join the alliance army (thus making it appear that he had accepted the need to cooperate with Pavona and put all the past grievances behind him) the barone had, at last, shown his true colours. At the head of an army which greatly outnumbered the soldiery currently garrisoned in the realm of Pavona, he appeared at the town of Scozzese, invested it and issued demands for immediate reparation payments for that which was looted from Spomanti.
The leading members of the town’s signoria did all they could to prevent their town’s ruin, rushing to Pavona city to pass on the demands. Three days later the nobleman Barone Recchia returned, visibly anxious …
… to deliver the following answer to the Verezzan lord, which he had a servant read aloud, as he did not trust his own voice.
“We are entirely unable to gratify your demands, for the only person who could do so is Lord Silvano, regent of our realm, who is (as you well know) presently abroad, serving in the alliance army sworn to defeat the uomini ratto. His father, Duke Guidobaldo, Morr’s most favoured servant, is as close to death as a mortal man can be, which means we cannot approach him for advice or instructions, for he lies delirious and fevered, clinging to life. Despite knowing that Morr will welcome him with love into the heavenly garden, the duke so loves his realm, his people, that he cannot easily yield himself to death.
“By making your threats, by razing Scozzese, by starting a war, you will fatally fragment the alliance army, thereby opening up Tilea to the ratmen’s ravaging cruelties. Lord Silvano will be forced to depart with his army, and return home, here to defend the realm and prevent your further depredations, for the sake of his most noble father and his beloved people. And ruin will thus be brought upon both our realms, as after many hundreds of fighting men die in this needless struggle, we will be unable to defeat the ratmen in the field.
“Know then that by your proposed actions, Verezzo’s name will be tarnished through history, as a realm which chose to smash Tilea’s best defences, to turn against all the lawful gods, at a time of great and dire emergency.”
To which the halfling barone laughed, and responded,
“It is the name of Pavona that has been forever tarnished, by the foul murder of our beloved Lord Lucca at Spomante. Morr will surely punish Duke Guidobaldo for that crime, but here and now, in this our mortal world, tooth for tooth, justice will be done as we take exactly that which was stolen from us.
“Only by this worthy and legitimate deed can a balance be restored and the future health and safety of Tilea be assured.”
That very day, the army of Verezzo sacked the town, seizing everything of value until at last Barone Iacopo was satisfied. None in the town were harmed, apart from those few foolish enough to complain or attempt to fight, and but two Verezzan mounted men at arms were fatally injured as they crossed a rushing stream to chase off a band of crossbowmen.
Afterwards, in both Verezzo and Pavona, a few optimistic souls wondered whether this could possibly be the final reckoning, a balancing of the books, that would lead to real reconciliation between the realms. Most, however, steeled themselves for what they believed was now inevitable – open, bloody and ruinous war.
…
A rather more unexpected war had begun in the far south, for the Luccinan Vizconde Gismondo Giacometti led his large army of mercenaries and Estalians to Capelli. There he drove out the small garrison of VMC soldiers and took possession of the town.
Those wisest in the ways of the world had known that the vizconde was surely planning an aggressive war, simply from the nature of the army he was assembling, but such was secrecy of his planning, that none could have known his intended target.
In hindsight, perhaps, considering his own history of once being the Luccinan governor of Capelli, and the general disgruntlement in Tilea regarding the VMC’s possession of Alcente, especially the steady expansion of that territory, one might suppose it should have been obvious.
As for the vizconde’s professed motives, he wasted no time in circulating an open letter to explain his actions, addressed to Captain-General Jan Valckenburgh of the Army of the VMC.
It read thus:
“This from Gismondo, Vizconde Giacometti, noble General of the army of Luccini, to his excellency Captain General Jan Valckenburgh of the army of the VMC in Alcente.
You and your army of mercenaries, employed by nothing more than a gaggle of ultramontane merchants, and thus in legal terms more akin to caravan or warehouse guards, if somewhat larger in numbers, have, as you must surely know, outstayed your welcome in Tilea. You were contracted to defend Alcente from Khurnag’s orc incursion, and you fulfilled that promise, for which you were to receive favourable trading terms in perpetuity in Alcente. But then, greedily, you chose to remain, to usurp all power, both political and military, and to seize possession of Capelli, Pavezzano, Monte Castello and Pugno. You claimed that by so doing, your aim was simply to achieve as thorough a victory as possible, so that no goblin forces might remain bordering Alcente, or even any part of southern Tilea, there to threaten further incursions and suffering. Yet, when all was taken, still you did not depart, nor disband your occupying army, instead dispersing it across all that you now held, the better to maintain your tyrannical rule.
The people of Alcente have cried out to me, their pleading made all the more urgent by their suffering at the hands of the Sartosan corsairs – for when you saw fit to dispatch your army northwards to fight against the vampires, Alcente was left undefended. Some claimed your actions were noble and compassionate, for you were assisting in the defence of all those dwelling in the whole of Tilea against the undead, but then the lie was revealed when you chose first to be distracted and thus delayed by an abortive siege of Pavona over nothing more than a matter of honour, then later turned back with more than half your army long before you reached the north. What little force eventually arrived to assist brave Lord Alessio was a meagre addition to his strength, and was entirely bereft of all artillery pieces, which was what he most earnestly desired you to bring. Shamefully, you even took the great bombard gifted to you by none other than his holiness the arch-lector of Morr, specifically intended to aid in the war against the vampires.
And so it is, that during the period of the king’s ill-health, and with his blessing, I have re-taken Capelli, which is rightfully part of the kingdom of Luccini. In my youth, I myself governed this town, awarded the office by his majesty’s father, King Ferronso II, to follow in my father Prince Valeriano’s footsteps. Then, while I adventured in Estalia, there learning the art of war, the council of Capelli took advantage of the turmoil of King Ferronso II’s death, and the infancy of his son and heir, Ferronso III, to declare independence from Luccini. This treachery was allowed to flourish during the regency of the infant king’s uncle, Duke Ercole, who was understandably ill-prepared for the burden of rule, what with his life having been spent in the deep study of arcane and magical operations, rather than matters political. Yet however long they were allowed to stray, such a rebellion is neither a sound basis nor precedent for rightful governance. And nor was the way in which your merchant army later took possession of the town, as if it were merely another asset to be written in your ledgers, or a pile of plunder to be seized by your army of privateers. Thus, I have restored the lawful and proper state of affairs by reclaiming Capelli for the King of Luccini, so that its people might know their place in the legitimate scheme of authority, from gods to princes to lords, to gentlemen and citizens, to labouring peasants, & so that they bow properly once more both to King Ferronso and all the lawful gods.
This is just the start of putting right the wrongs inflicted by your agents and brigand-soldiers, your schemes and practices, your invasions and occupations. So it is that I demand, as a Tilean born and bred, of royal blood, and for all the native people of Tilea, that you remove your armies from Alcente and the lands thereabout, to return them to the foreign places whence they came, that the true nobility of Alcente might once again wield their full and rightful authority over their estates and properties, unburdened by the dual tyranny of heavy taxation and trade monopolies intended to satisfy the money-grubbing, joint-stock shareholders of the distant city of Marienburg.
Leave, promptly and without further depredations upon the poor people, and I shall do all I can to ensure that your first and only lawful contract, freely offered by the council of Alcente, in which in return for the defeat of Khurnag’s orc and goblin armies you would be granted favourable trading terms with the realm, is honoured in future years and decades, exactly as was stipulated and legally agreed to.
If you think to baulk at satisfying my demand, know that you will find few allies among the Tilean nations, if any at all, and that even the native Alcentians you presume to rule over will turn against you. You are strangers, a long way from home, who have become unwelcome visitors in a hostile land. We and the people of Alcente fight for Tilea, for our homes and families, while you suffer for the sake of greedy merchants who care only for goods received and not for your own lives. The gods of this land hear our prayers and love us as their children, while your gods are so far-flung they can barely hear your prayers over the clamour of those who dwell in your own distant lands. If you choose to stay and make war, then not only will your masters fail entirely to profit from your stubborn foolishness, but you and your army will be defeated and ruined.
Now, depart immediately, for your time in Tilea has come to an end.”
…
Back in the city of Luccini itself, the wizardly Duke Ercole had administered his long and carefully prepared magical cure for the young king’s indisposition, and the entire court was pleased to see an obvious change for the better in the king.
Just as this new hope had begun to blossom, however, one of the king’s trusted servants attempted to assassinate the king.
The fellow approached the king as if to hand him something, which the duke was about to allow, until he saw a look of confusion in the king’s face. The servant faltered and could not conceal the flash of guilt he suddenly felt.
That moment’s hesitation wa enough for the wizard to cry, “Guards!” He knew they could act more quickly than he could summon up a magical protection.
But before they could subdue him, and thus before he could be interrogated to discover who was really behind this attempted regicide, the servant cut his own throat using a blade concealed in a hairbrush!
Just when Ercole had dared to hope a new and happy confidence was settling upon the court, what with his nephew, the king, cured and his cousin, Vizconde Gismondo, marching against Luccini’s enemies, instead suspicions abounded. The royal chamberlain (the ‘camerlengo’) Casimiro, Barone Ciccotelli, commenced an inquiry to discover the traitorous culprits behind the assassination plot.
Rumours abounded, including that the Sartosans were involved, as for several months there had been mutterings that the pirates’ ships had sailed in consort with the Estalian ships bringing goods and men to Luccini for the vizconde. Gismondo’s factor in Luccini laughed this off as preposterous and malicious gossip, for his master had clearly come to prevent any further harm caused by pirates. Other accounts circulated: the most convincing, perhaps, being the claim that the VMC was behind the assassination attempt, and that their malicious intent was exactly why the vizconde had struck against them so suddenly at Capelli.
BigSmallWorlds 