by Jefferson Wilson
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Lildra's Strategic Situation At the beginning of 1454 there were three forces facing the ice demons in the east. Combined forces from the Isle of Celamyr and the city of Videss were at the mouth of the Imbros. To their north and east were the forces of the nation of Tana. Strung out over a broad line from the mouth of the Imbros southward were the forces of Junder and the city of Celoa. The Ice Demons themselves were concentrated in the higher reaches of the Imbros, but had significant forces spread out southward providing lines of supply and communication. Towards the end of winter the ice demons launched a major thrust northward from their enclaves on the Imbros. This attack caught the Tana forces by surprise, and they essentially fell apart. In the aftermath the ice demons controlled the land between the Imbros and the Alra rivers and even some land north of the Alra. Launching an attack so early had its disadvantages however, and the main ice demon force needed to pause to regroup after the major assault. After the early assault, decisions about allied strategy were in the hands of the Mir-Videss force, specifically the Mirrish Warlord Riacrada. The two choices in front of her were to pursue the ice demons into Tana or cut her losses and let the demons move through Tana, possibly to meet them later in Rhudyn or on the straight. To Lars Venekson, Preceptor of the rohain, however, surrendering Tana was not an option. With the effective loss of the Tana military, and the resulting disorganization of the Tana government, any hope of performing a successful evacuation from in front of the advancing demons was lost and too many of his co-religionists would die for him to consider simply abandoning them. The strategy for Lildra is fairly simple to explain. The exquaestio forces would provide a target too tempting for the ice demons to pass by, but also a target too large to strike with a small force. By forcing a large portion of the ice demon horde to a known location, the remaining allied forces would be able to attain local superiority against the different parts of the horde and push the ice demons back. What made this process so difficult was that the allies were leaking information to the demons, not just in drops but in a flood, and should the ice demons figure out the plan they could easily turn it against the allied forces. Thus Preceptor Lars of the rohain met with Warlord Riacrada privately, and the details of the plan were kept behind wards proof against any magical espionage. The Warlord would begin moving troops, ostensibly to organize their movement north by sea, but in actuality to support Lars's forces. Lars would pretend to differ with the Warlord and gather the troops under his personal command to strike off on their own into Tana. When the ice demon forces had gathered to destroy the quaestae force Riacrada would gather her forces to strike and cut off the ice demons. Had the operation gone as originally planned Lars would have held a major portion of the demon army for a week to 10 days, allowing the other forces to move into position to destroy a greater portion of the invasion. Unfortunately, the demons decided to use more magic against the quaestae than they'd demonstrated in previous years and the force they sent was smaller, more mobile, and more capable than expected. Nevertheless, the quaestae held out for nearly six days. In this time forces under the Warlord's command managed to cut the attacking ice demon force from the rest of their troops and position themselves on the lines of travel. In the end the Warlord's forces managed to destroy the force sent against Lildra and divide the ice demon vanguard, then rushing north as fast as possible, from the rest of their forces. |
Part 1:
The young rohain came awake. The other two rohain in the tent had seized and died over an hour ago, but this one's spiritform had finally returned from his scouting mission, and Lars eagerly awaited his report.
"Sir," the rohain reported, sitting up. "I estimate about 5,000 demons out there. Maybe 3,000 effectives. Some new magic caught Ran and Sej, cut the ties to their bodies. I think it came from the spawn. There's a lot more wards out there than I'm used to seeing, and I'd be willing to bet on a lot of vamps being out there as well. They're also preparing for a night attack."
"A night attack?"
"Yes preceptor."
Lars cursed himself momentarily. He knew demons could see better in the dark than humans, and the nearly 8 to 1 odds in their favor had obviously made them decide to work within the limits of a night battle. He hadn't prepared for that. Still, some of the things he had prepared would also work against this surprise.
A few more questions from Lars clarified that scout didn't have anything new to add, and he turned to the young man standing behind him. "Sorcerer Arcas, do you have any questions? Do you require any clarifications from me about our situation?"
The sorcerer's voice was quiet and regretful. "No, preceptor, your situation and the details that make it up are quite clear to me."
"Then your work here is complete. You are to teleport to the flying city and report to the high command as soon as you may."
"Yes sir. But . . ."
"Yes?"
"Why do . . . this?"
Lars had made it quite clear over the past weeks that there were some questions that he wouldn't answer, but Arcas obviously hoped that the knowledge that everyone in the town would soon die had changed something.
Lars fixed the man with a gimlet stare. "Sorcerer, I suggest you be about your duties." Still, he couldn't help remembering . . .
Lars was astonished by the wards around the room. Most wards radiated, easily visible to his spiritsight. These were invisible, but solid as stone to his spiritform. Then he was brought away from the spirit to the material by the obviously annoyed voice of the Warlord Riacrada. "Very well, Captain, Reese assures me that these are the strongest wards in the city. Nothing is going to pass through until I release them. Now what is so important that you can speak only to me and only in a warded room?"
"Thank you Warlord. I believe I have a plan which will destroy a major portion of the demon army, but only you can say if the risk is worth the throw."
If anything, the Warlord's voice was even more annoyed as she spoke again, "Go on."
"I don't know if you were aware, but for some reason my rohain appear to have been particularly targeted by the demons. It's not that they're seeing combat more often, but the opposition that the rohain are seeing are much better led and stronger than the average, and all too often the rohain have been specially targeted."
Poised for a blistering rebuke, everyone thought their forces were seeing the worst of the war, Ria turned to Reese only to be brought up short by his response. "I can't deny that. The incidents I'm aware of tend to confirm it, but the eerith aren't everywhere." He shrugged, "It should be easy enough to check."
Unaware of Ria's hidden astonishment, Lars continued, gesturing to a map he'd brought with him. "Since the demons seem to think the rohain are a threat, I propose we use that. I think we should pull the majority of the rohain, and the forces supported by exquaestio, out of their existing forces to make a stand here, at the town of Lildra in south-central Tana."
Part 2:
No more than an hour passed between the time Arcas arrived on Annaeyana and the time he found himself speaking directly to the Warlord Riacrada. He'd been astonished by the frenetic activity that had greeted his news. Though he'd volunteered to serve against the demons, the only military training he'd had was sidelights in a few history classes before he'd donned sorcerer's robes. He'd been slightly insulted by his role as liaison to a man who, for all his religious pretensions, was basically a jumped-up mercenary captain. Seeing all the activity which resulted from his news he wondered if perhaps he had misread the situation.
Arcas stared at the map. Though he recognized the symbols for terrain and could associate the counters with various military forces, it was as if he was an apprentice looking at his first spell formula. To the strategists in the room, who'd gone from confused to excited, the map was a complete spell. One they now understood.
Finally the Warlord paused in her orders, took a deep breath, and pushed herself away from the map table. "Not at all like the Sinari war, is it Reese?" she commented.
"Not really. The large area and lack of focus make for a different strategic situation," the eerith replied.
Turning to Arcas, the sorcerer was surprised to see that the Warlord was alert as ever, and then realized that she must be using magic to keep herself that way, and likely enhance her memory as well. "Arcas! Preceptor Lars thought he could hold out for four days?"
"At least three days and maybe as many as six."
"What if he's facing two demonspawn instead of just one? That the forces opposing them suddenly display the ability to destroy rohain spiritforms could indicate their being joined by a second demonspawn."
Arcas scarcely knew what to say. "I'm sorry Warlord, but one thing working with rohain has taught me is that I'm no military man. They were certainly worried about the demonspawn, but also confident they could deal with it." He shrugged. "I suppose at worst it would mean they hold out for two days instead of three."
"Goddess! I hope not," Ria swore. "If he only holds out for only two days we're screwed. They'll be able to disperse before our forces catch up."
"Warlord?" Arcas asked plaintively. "What's going on?"
Riacrada didn't reply, lost in memory.
The conversation had gone on for hours, and Ria was almost convinced. There were still a couple of questions though. "I don't understand how you expect to get your forces out."
Lars looked at her in astonishment. "I'm sorry Warlord, I thought . . . Anyway. I don't."
"What!?"
"If we can hold a major force for a week you'll be able to move forces into position to destroy them, but by the time you're able to attack Lildra will be taken, and my force will be gone."
Denial rose up in Ria's mind. She'd sent forces against harsh odds, but she'd never deliberately sacrificed anyone.
"Tallas has told me about the coteries, Warlord," Lars continued. "You're mages first, and soldiers second. You need to realize that whatever else we are, the rohain are soldiers first. If we have to die to protect our people that's what we'll do." He shook his head, "We aren't given the ability to sense danger so that we can avoid it. We sense danger so we can meet it head on."
"But this plan also means dragging your people's reputation through the mud."
For the first time Lars looked tired. "What choice is there? We both know we're leaking information to the demons. If being able to ambush them means that my religion gets spat on, that's a price I'll pay. The anradan will make good of it somehow. It's my job to see they're alive to do it."
"And the rest of your people?"
"If I could do it with just the rohain I would; but I can't. I'll apologize when we meet in Feroze's dream."
Part 3:
The leaves were falling before Ria managed to visit Lildra in person. No one could have guessed the vale had once contained a properous market town. Exquaestio's forces had held out for five days, and by the end the demons had known they'd been duped. In their anger, they hadn't just razed the town, they'd shattered it. When the allied forces arrived they'd found nothing larger than a matchstick.
That shattering, and magics released in the battle meant that no one would ever know what had happened during the battle itself. Still, the quaestae had held the attackers for five days and killed one demonspawn in the doing. Though, as Ria had suspected, there was a second demonspawn who'd escaped even her counterattack. Because of their sacrifice she'd managed to hold the demons and even drive them back a little. They'd advanced south of the Imbros, but they were mostly foraging over old ground. With a little luck they'd be eating each other by the end of the winter.
Ria puffed slightly as she reached the top of a hill, reveling in the fact that she didn't need to use magic. She'd ordered the monument in front of her built, and was pleased by how it had come out. Builder mages had been sent from Mir to draw out and shape the native rock into a tall pillar, capped in the style of Tana. Before reaching Lildra Lars had "accidentally" misplaced a ledger describing his forces, and the 538 names of every rohain, espiri, soldier, and camp follower who'd been at Lildra were inscribed on the pillar under their military unit or specialty.
The fighting that had followed Lildra had allowed Ria to mostly come to terms with what she'd done. The fact that she'd sent men out to deliberately get themselves killed made her feel unclean down to her soul. She still felt there must have been another way, but even with the advantage of hindsight she couldn't see it. When it was clear the demons had pulled out the magics they hadn't used in previous years to use against the exquaestio force and lowered the operation's chances of success she'd considered stopping it, but she hadn't and would have to live with that.
Walking around the monument she traced one of the unit sigils. She was trying to arrange for the Council of 12 to grant battle honors in the style of Imperial Mir, but had no idea if she would be successful. An honor was needed for each of the nations of Junder, Cormenaera, and Tana, and even one honor was expensive. Still, it was the least she could do . . .
"There's one thing that bothers me," Reese said. "If the demons are so worried about the rohain, should you even be considering reducing them in this fashion?"
Lars shook his head. "It doesn't matter."
"How . . ."
Lars interrupted, "No. Wait. I admit I don't know why the demons are so set against the rohain. I admit that the rohain will be much reduced for many years. I admit that future rohain may call me a fool. But none of that will kill the order. There are rohain operating in Parglug. A couple of rohain have been too badly injured to work on the battlefield and are back to training acolytes at our preceptory. There are even a couple of rohain that shouldn't be taken from their current duties here in Tana. But even that doesn't matter."
He continued, "What matters, and what future rohain will remember, is that we did everything we could. When it comes down to basics the abilities of the rohain don't rely on martial skill or knowledge or magic. What matters is dedication. With dedication, every living rohain could be killed and new rohain will rise up and renew the order. Let our dedication fail and it won't matter how many people think they have rohain gifts, the order will be dead."
"In the past years I've seen rohain use their gifts on the battlefield, and its those rohain who are dedicated who take their gifts the farthest. A single rohain with right attitude could outmatch all the rohain we now have combined so long as memory of our dedication survives.
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The Five Hundred
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Afterword:
(From the afterword of The Lildra Campaign published by Question Press, 1505.)
50 years afterward, the Lildra Campaign remains one of the most debated military actions of all time. Questions about its success or failure, heroics or grandstanding, desperation or calculation remain hotly debated, and that debate itself has had its own effects. Before Lildra Exquaestio was a minor religion, afterward there were few in the MidSea who had not at least heard the name. The custom of keeping battle plans in magically warded containers first dates to the Lildra Campaign and was extended thereafter. The place of Tana and other nations after the war would have been completely different had Lildra not taken place.
. . .
In the end, perhaps what is most important about Lildra is not the lessons it teaches, but the questions it asks, and I can think of no better way to end this volume than with the traditional rohain toast.
"Gentlemen, and Ladies; The Quest -- and the Five Hundred!"
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