The ploy of Arlania

Chapter -1: The ploy of Arlania

The sun beat down upon the land of Arlania, its rays blazing with an intense heat that seemed to curse the earth. It was rumored that only those who lived in this forsaken place could truly understand what hell feels like.

It was either for the hot climate or the fact that this land has known more war than any other nation on this planet.

Every couple of years or so , without fail, the emperor of Rolman would declare a campaign against the Arlanian princedom. And each time , the same events would unfold: villages would be raided, soldiers given the opportunity to release pent-up stress at the expense of the natives, and battles fought against armies sent by the prince,albeit that was as rare as a virgin girl in a brothel, most time the prince would instead prefer to flee if they failed to rally the support of foreign powers.

Eventually, the imperial army would reach the capital and accept its surrender.

In years past, the capital may have put up a fight. But now, it was a different story, too many princes with too many short reignes succeeded each other , and made it so that the nobles forgot what 'loyalty' meant , as such most time they ignored letters or requests for help from their rulers, sometimes they even helped the invader to prevent their lands from being pillaged, sometimes instead of lending men , they gave gift usually in gold and silver, ìa small bribe' they liked to say.

As it had been the case for the last twenty years, the current emperor, Romulia IV, made an announcement that a new campaign toward that sand princedom was about to begin.

Letters were sent to nobles, levies were raised, and provisions were gathered from the farms and brought to the city. And as always, slaves were tasked with carrying these supplies and weapons.

The preparations were the same of the previous years, the proceedings the same, even the people leading it were. The empire of Rolman, so strong and impossible to fight on 'his' side of the continent , was so valorous and rich that the only thing that could bring it down, was Rolman itself.

And as things would show, it would be by its hand that soon many dynasties would crumble, new nations rise, and copious blood be spilled on the ground.

This was to be the year of the three emperors.This chapter is updated by nov(e)(l)biin.com