Phase 2: Strained Resources and Allies (Day 14-20)

14th Summertide 1061 FA

All the four seas are calm as Mineos licks their wounds. On the Sunrise Sea, the people of Telens watch as golden sails appear on the horizon.

The Iron Wall

Meanwhile, a new naval commander appears in the Great Sea as well:

The ships of the Mineosi navy are conventional: massive triremes with artillery, longships ready for quick landings. The flagship however is another monster entirely. Wreathed in seaweed and glowing an eerie blue, the lead ship of this navy is commanded by a woman upon a throne. She is ten feet in height, and her throne is made of petrified corpses. Rather than legs, she has a long snake body that is as green as she is. She shades her eyes with a golden helm. Her hair is like a nest of vipers. By the end of the battle, several of your people have become statues and sink to the bottom of the sea with so many others, not likely to be seen for thousands of years. The Argoti general reports back with this strange tale and warns of Calis and word spreads of her deadly stare.

Knowing Odoacer’s desire to one-up him, Leandro Damaskenos tasks the general with the defense of the Sickle Islands and the southern front. Odoacer’s natural reluctance to battle leads to the Argoti strategy of the Iron Wall, a naval defense against Calis’s attempts to get nearer to the Argolosi home island. Calis’s fleets break themselves against the Iron Wall and the Sickle Islands navies under Odoacer’s command goes on the offensive, pushing the enemy into the Great Sea.

The Battle of the Great Sea

Eventually, the navies of the Sickle Islands continue pushing ahead, culminating in the Mineosi defeat in the Battle of the Great Sea. The birds overhead obscure the sun for a moment, flying in a strange pattern. The enemies are blinded for long enough for the Argoti to send them back into a rout. Someone hits the jackpot at Hespero’s new casino. Calis and her fleets limp back to Zagari to raise more navies.

Odoacer, however, does not attempt a landing in Adugari or Zagari. High off his victory, he instead returns home in triumph, sending General Simon in his stead to lead the defense of the Sickle Islands.

The Siege of Kalens

The people of Kalens are desperate as the Siege of Kalens brews on the horizon from encroaching foot soldiers. It ends up being the longest engagement of the 40 Day Campaign.

The coalition forces at Sidicea begin seizing resources from the locals under the direction of General Cosmo, one of Leandro’s military allies who has been dispatched to oversee the Golden League operations. He will never see Argot again. The Sidicean soldiers under Commander Zosimo follow the orders with zeal. The people suffer as Cosmo sends word back home that they’ve just been “foraging”.

The First Siege of Telens

The people of Telens suffer for days during the First Siege of Telens as the Sunrise Fleet of Mineos batter the walls and harbor. The gate into the Golden Gulf is under threat. A slapdash naval force raised by the Archons of Telens is unable to fend them off. Countryside levees are raised for the defense of the city.

As the situations at Sidicea and Kalens grow dire, Leandro turns to Kaolina Serrat once more:

“It is to the mutual benefit of our two nations that we continue to work together. I am happy to sign off on this aid.” Kaolina smiles and rises, waiting for applause that does not come. The councilors all quietly thank her. Leandro shakes her hand at the door while Calantha whispers into General Odoacer’s ear.

But then on day 20, two miracles occur: Telens and Kalens are able to defeat the Mineosi troops, though the skirmishes near Kalens do not fully break the siege, but offer some relief and hope. A melody catches on the breeze, from a distant windchime beyond time and space. The Mineosi outside of Telens are deafened. Finding it difficult to communicate with their commanders and in their sudden confusion, the Argoti begin pushing them back and eventually turn the tide of the battle. Someone hits the jackpot at Hespero’s new casino.

Home Front

But even as word of this victory begins making its slow way home, the home front starts to deteriorate:

Treasurer Calantha Aran declares that the war has become too costly and distributes pamphlets to that effect. Meanwhile Odoacer, Leandro’s rival general, privately confides with city councilors that he could be running the war better. Nestor Domorosi, city attorney who sympathized with the Mineosi, begins griping to anyone who will listen that the Mineosi invasion is the result of a personal squabble.

Hespero’s partisans underground start getting attacked by the Bargainer’s partisans. The Bargainer, a vampire lord who lives in the Undercity, has seen this opportunity to take over the Undercity from the rakshasa. Meanwhile aboveground, Calantha’s gang has begun clashing with Armand Colodrise’s partisans as well, looting shops owned by friends of Armand and Hespero, and starting a protection racket.

Covered wagons start springing up at the edge of town as people begin to leave en masse. Fights start in the street, with deserters being called cowards.

Previous episode: Phase 1 - Emergency Powers and the Coalition - Day 1-13

Next episode: Phase 3 - Desperation and Pillaging - Day 21-30