Moving on two fronts, Forces marched out from both Jesby and Sawall lands, and the citizens of Thelbane City began to barricade their homes and close their businesses. Some of those who could flee were gone in an instant, and others chose to stay and defend what they could of their property as war came for the second time in recent years to their doorsteps.
By the time Bleys’ army had reached the city, there was already an unexpected surprise awaiting them. In the last minutes before they drew up to the walls, the Citadel gates were flung wide, and the massed armies of House Hendrake marched out in close order, led by Field Marshall Duchess Lintra Hendrake herself. The Hendrake forces moved quickly with a decisive plan, and soon had divided into smaller units that occupied the cardinal points, then smaller again until the city had a full and complete garrison of Hendrakes at all points.
Then bugles sounded once more, and it became clear that Mandor was not content to have his allies sit and wait for Bleys to advance. The armies sallied forth and the plains outside Thelbane city and alongside the Abyss rang with the clash of steel on scales and the cries of the wounded and the dying.
Meanwhile news came from the backfield that further rearguard attacks had been launched by Hendrake forces directly against the Jesby and Sawall Houses that Bleys had left staffed by those of his army that could not move fast enough to keep up with his blitzkrieg attack on Thelbane city.
Thus ended the Thelbane civil war. The fates of all of the individual members of the former Merlin coalition are not yet clear, but the day was without doubt won by Lintra Hendrake and her allies. “They knew what they were facing. I had told them that the Earl of Walsingham had brokered my negotiations with King Mandor” said Lintra in a short interview with TNN contract reporter Kate Adie. “They had the option of time for the diplomats to talk. They decided to try and throw a fast ball instead. They must have forgotten that the Earl can open Trump gates in his sleep.”
Well, that was….. short and decisive.
“We don’t always join wars, but when we do, we prefer to win.” They are: the most interesting House in the Courts
And which house would that be?
I’d forgotten that we were more in tune with the memes here in the Bay Area… http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Most_Interesting_Man_in_the_World
http://www.quickmeme.com/The-Most-Interesting-Man-In-The-World/
I assure you, I’m using humor to mask my concern. Hendrake is an interesting house, but I’m rooting for TNN’s intrepid reporter to provide just a feeeew more updates as to the disposition of other people who were recently in Thelbane.
I suspect that it is far from over. It was my take that most parties in this conflict were just using the war as a chance to mix things up so that they could make their moves afterwards.
I wonder how much of what we’ve seen was planned from the beginning. I also wonder how many more shoes are left to drop. Don’t let your guards down quite yet, guys. Especially if you’re living somewhere strategic.
A difficult motto: ‘Avoid War at all costs.’
I just re-encountered a quote I’d saved out: “People who refuse to let go are becoming more common, and each case teaches us the same valuable lesson: Don’t engage in a war. Wars rarely end well because by definition someone will have to lose.”
The thing with negotiations is that both parties need not lose… Anyone know more about the Earl of Walsingham?
The Earl is Walsingham is otherwise known as Rupert Delatz.
Curiouser and Curiouser.
What is Walsingham, in terms of what the title represents? What does it signify that Lintra Hendrake uses it here?
Well, I don’t what it means in Chaos or to Rupert Delatz, but I happen to know that ‘the Earl of Walsingham’ best known in the history of St James was ‘Francis Walsingham’ who was Queen Elizabeth I ‘spymaster’ apparently.
1. The Earl is someone’s spymaster..
2. A title is used in connection to diplomatic activities.
2 seems more likely, but I am betting on 1.
I suppose the question to be asked would be who’s likely to be most at risk if this was just a preliminary to more action?