Well, I apologize for not posting on Saturday... Like I afore said, I was at an NCFCA speech tournament and thus was unable to post... So, we will return to posting the Arquenia Saga. We need a new prize for a new comment contest though...
Suggestions?
Part XXXX: Maneuvers
Date: Yippah 9th, 114 A.U.
“The elves have taken the Northern Crag,” the messenger said.
Freglak pursed his lips as he stood up. “How great of a force did they have?”
“We estimated thirty thousand troops have landed in the crag so far,” the messenger said. “They attacked with a couple thousand—as well as a great many aircraft. Not the Mothership at the very least, but they still destroyed the guard of five hundred goblins and any other outposts on the crag.”
“What were the casualties?”
“Nearly all of our men were lost in the attack,” the messenger said. “However, they suffered heavy casualties. Estimates are coming in that they lost more than half of their attacking force and a good many airships. A few survivors said that they nearly won out against the first wave of elves, but after the second wave came in, it was too much.”
“They have a foothold in the forest then…” Freglak mused.
“Yes sir,” the messenger replied. “Major Erken says that his troops are ready and the plans are waiting to be executed.”
“Good,” Freglak said. “You may leave.” He walked toward the large circular table, otherwise known as the Codex, in the middle of the room that had been installed two weeks ago and pressed his hand on it. As he did so, the screen on top of it lit up and moved around to portray a map of the Great Forest. With some motions, he zoomed in on the northern part of the forest and used some controls to add the elves to the northern crags at the top of the Great Forest and paused, thinking. Reynyagn had been planning for this, at least. Between some false spies to the elves and some other work, they had gotten the elves to attack in the north—just as they’d wanted them to. It was unfortunate that they had taken the crags, instead of a bit east of the crags, but it should do.
Freglak zoomed in a bit more and then jabbed at the icon of Major Erklen, selecting one of the options. As he did so, the map vanished to portray a picture of Major Erklen.
“Greetings, Lord Freglak,” a voice came in through the table, although the picture did not move. “I entrust you have received my message?”
“Yes, Major,” Freglak said. “Why did you not tell me via the Codex?”
“My apologies, sir,” the Major replied. “I had somewhat forgotten that we had put this communication in place.”
“Think nothing of it, Major,” Freglak said. “No harm done. Have any developments been made with the elves since you sent the messenger?”
“None, sir,” Major Erklen replied. “The elves seem to be waiting to see what we will do first.”
“Very well then,” Freglak said. “What ships do they have? Wait, no… Just input all the figures you know into your miniature codex device after our talk and send the information here.”
“I…” Erklen began. “I can do that?”
“Talk to one of the technicians,” Freglak said. “They’ll hook you up. I have all of your information, but if you can get theirs then that will help me fill in the battle scene here. I will relay commands via the Codex once I have your reports.”
“Yes sir,” Erklen said. “I will talk to the scouts and get a report back as soon as I can. I don’t think I’ll be able to get them in until an hour, though…”
“Very well,” Lord Freglak replied. “I’ll be waiting.” And with that he ended the communication. Freglak squinted, and rubbed his head. Reynyagn had told Freglak how Codexes like this were used for many different purposes—both concerning and not concerning their military, before the Upheaval. And so, digging into the large cluttered cellars of their palace, they had managed to find a Codex and Reynyagn had been able to give their technicians some tips about how to use it before they went. Reynyagn had been keeping up a steady stream of communication to Freglak while he was in their speeder but hadn’t much after he had reportedly found the dwarves and humans. After that, there had been no communication, though Reynyagn promised he would put him in touch with the dwarves…
Freglak suddenly looked at his watch and quickly stood up. He had an appointment with High Priest Jaine. And given recent events, Freglak did not think it a wise idea at all to keep the High Priest waiting.
“Lord Freglak.”
“Greetings, High Priest Jaine,” Freglak said, slightly bowing his head in pretend reverence.
“Please, sit down,” High Priest Jaine said as he gestured to the other chair at the oak wood table. Freglak sat down. The High Priest was silent for a few minutes as he contemplated the acorn in front of him.
“So,” High Priest Jaine said, looking at Freglak. “The elves have established a foothold.”
“You know already?” Freglak asked. “The news just came to me-”
“You know better than to ask that question,” High Priest Jaine responded. “Our knowledge goes far and wide. This attack displeases me, Freglak.”
“As it does I,” Freglak said. “But you would be glad to know-”
“Any threat the elves make is a threat to the Mothertree,” High Priest Jaine said sharply. “And it is your actions, Freglak, that have brought this attack upon us.”
“If you had a problem with my actions,” Freglak began. “You could have said before-”
“We both know that I did not need to say it,” High Priest Jaine snapped. “You seem to have a mindset that you can do things without our permission. You attacked an elven ship and brought all this upon us without our permission—and on the day of the Celebration. Furthermore, you told us nothing about the Sla’ad you had here until after he was gone.”
“You said you had knowledge of anything, did you not?” Freglak asked coolly. “I would expected you to know already that I was entertaining a Sla’ad in my quarters.”
“And we would have known, had you not hidden it from me,” High Priest Jaine said coolly. “Remember Freglak why it is that you are Lord over the Great Forest. It was not for nothing that we supported you over your opponent to be Lord.”
“And I respect that,” Freglak said. “But that was years ago. Besides which, the only reason you supported me was because otherwise my uncle said that you-”
“Who told you that?” High Priest Jaine interrupted, eyes mad with anger.
“My uncle warned me about the influence that the priests would try to exert upon me,” Freglak said carefully, treading dangerous ground. “Of course, much of what he said was folly as you are so-”
“Skip the vain talk!” High Priest Jaine snapped.
“And so he made sure he told me about most of his dealings over the years,” Freglak said. “He wanted me to know how I would be able to thwart the Priesthood of the Mothertree.”
“Heretic,” High Priest Jaine muttered. “I always knew he was, though-”
“The elves in the northern crags are soon to suffer a tremendous blow to their cause,” Lord Freglak said.
“And what then?” High Priest Jaine snapped. “You don’t mean to tell me that you think you can actually beat the Mothership, can you? The elves will not relent.”
“The Sla’ad, along with my top aide Flek have recently formed the Xavier Team,” Lord Freglak bluffed, even though he had no idea if they ever managed to form the team or not. “I am currently in league with that team to help bring down the elven empire. You respect the Prophet Xavier, do you not, High Priest Jaine?”
The High Priest opened his mouth, but no sound came out.
“Good day,” Lord Freglak said. “And take heed that you remember your place as well, High Priest Jaine. This is no time for political division, and I will be instrumental in the elves’ downfall. You may think that you control me, Jaine, but you don’t. I serve the Mothertree and Her mission to bring down the elves over any other petty squabbles that I might get myself into.” And with that, Lord Freglak left, leaving a gaping High Priest watching him leave.
Suggestions?
Part XXXX: Maneuvers
Date: Yippah 9th, 114 A.U.
“The elves have taken the Northern Crag,” the messenger said.
Freglak pursed his lips as he stood up. “How great of a force did they have?”
“We estimated thirty thousand troops have landed in the crag so far,” the messenger said. “They attacked with a couple thousand—as well as a great many aircraft. Not the Mothership at the very least, but they still destroyed the guard of five hundred goblins and any other outposts on the crag.”
“What were the casualties?”
“Nearly all of our men were lost in the attack,” the messenger said. “However, they suffered heavy casualties. Estimates are coming in that they lost more than half of their attacking force and a good many airships. A few survivors said that they nearly won out against the first wave of elves, but after the second wave came in, it was too much.”
“They have a foothold in the forest then…” Freglak mused.
“Yes sir,” the messenger replied. “Major Erken says that his troops are ready and the plans are waiting to be executed.”
“Good,” Freglak said. “You may leave.” He walked toward the large circular table, otherwise known as the Codex, in the middle of the room that had been installed two weeks ago and pressed his hand on it. As he did so, the screen on top of it lit up and moved around to portray a map of the Great Forest. With some motions, he zoomed in on the northern part of the forest and used some controls to add the elves to the northern crags at the top of the Great Forest and paused, thinking. Reynyagn had been planning for this, at least. Between some false spies to the elves and some other work, they had gotten the elves to attack in the north—just as they’d wanted them to. It was unfortunate that they had taken the crags, instead of a bit east of the crags, but it should do.
Freglak zoomed in a bit more and then jabbed at the icon of Major Erklen, selecting one of the options. As he did so, the map vanished to portray a picture of Major Erklen.
“Greetings, Lord Freglak,” a voice came in through the table, although the picture did not move. “I entrust you have received my message?”
“Yes, Major,” Freglak said. “Why did you not tell me via the Codex?”
“My apologies, sir,” the Major replied. “I had somewhat forgotten that we had put this communication in place.”
“Think nothing of it, Major,” Freglak said. “No harm done. Have any developments been made with the elves since you sent the messenger?”
“None, sir,” Major Erklen replied. “The elves seem to be waiting to see what we will do first.”
“Very well then,” Freglak said. “What ships do they have? Wait, no… Just input all the figures you know into your miniature codex device after our talk and send the information here.”
“I…” Erklen began. “I can do that?”
“Talk to one of the technicians,” Freglak said. “They’ll hook you up. I have all of your information, but if you can get theirs then that will help me fill in the battle scene here. I will relay commands via the Codex once I have your reports.”
“Yes sir,” Erklen said. “I will talk to the scouts and get a report back as soon as I can. I don’t think I’ll be able to get them in until an hour, though…”
“Very well,” Lord Freglak replied. “I’ll be waiting.” And with that he ended the communication. Freglak squinted, and rubbed his head. Reynyagn had told Freglak how Codexes like this were used for many different purposes—both concerning and not concerning their military, before the Upheaval. And so, digging into the large cluttered cellars of their palace, they had managed to find a Codex and Reynyagn had been able to give their technicians some tips about how to use it before they went. Reynyagn had been keeping up a steady stream of communication to Freglak while he was in their speeder but hadn’t much after he had reportedly found the dwarves and humans. After that, there had been no communication, though Reynyagn promised he would put him in touch with the dwarves…
Freglak suddenly looked at his watch and quickly stood up. He had an appointment with High Priest Jaine. And given recent events, Freglak did not think it a wise idea at all to keep the High Priest waiting.
“Lord Freglak.”
“Greetings, High Priest Jaine,” Freglak said, slightly bowing his head in pretend reverence.
“Please, sit down,” High Priest Jaine said as he gestured to the other chair at the oak wood table. Freglak sat down. The High Priest was silent for a few minutes as he contemplated the acorn in front of him.
“So,” High Priest Jaine said, looking at Freglak. “The elves have established a foothold.”
“You know already?” Freglak asked. “The news just came to me-”
“You know better than to ask that question,” High Priest Jaine responded. “Our knowledge goes far and wide. This attack displeases me, Freglak.”
“As it does I,” Freglak said. “But you would be glad to know-”
“Any threat the elves make is a threat to the Mothertree,” High Priest Jaine said sharply. “And it is your actions, Freglak, that have brought this attack upon us.”
“If you had a problem with my actions,” Freglak began. “You could have said before-”
“We both know that I did not need to say it,” High Priest Jaine snapped. “You seem to have a mindset that you can do things without our permission. You attacked an elven ship and brought all this upon us without our permission—and on the day of the Celebration. Furthermore, you told us nothing about the Sla’ad you had here until after he was gone.”
“You said you had knowledge of anything, did you not?” Freglak asked coolly. “I would expected you to know already that I was entertaining a Sla’ad in my quarters.”
“And we would have known, had you not hidden it from me,” High Priest Jaine said coolly. “Remember Freglak why it is that you are Lord over the Great Forest. It was not for nothing that we supported you over your opponent to be Lord.”
“And I respect that,” Freglak said. “But that was years ago. Besides which, the only reason you supported me was because otherwise my uncle said that you-”
“Who told you that?” High Priest Jaine interrupted, eyes mad with anger.
“My uncle warned me about the influence that the priests would try to exert upon me,” Freglak said carefully, treading dangerous ground. “Of course, much of what he said was folly as you are so-”
“Skip the vain talk!” High Priest Jaine snapped.
“And so he made sure he told me about most of his dealings over the years,” Freglak said. “He wanted me to know how I would be able to thwart the Priesthood of the Mothertree.”
“Heretic,” High Priest Jaine muttered. “I always knew he was, though-”
“The elves in the northern crags are soon to suffer a tremendous blow to their cause,” Lord Freglak said.
“And what then?” High Priest Jaine snapped. “You don’t mean to tell me that you think you can actually beat the Mothership, can you? The elves will not relent.”
“The Sla’ad, along with my top aide Flek have recently formed the Xavier Team,” Lord Freglak bluffed, even though he had no idea if they ever managed to form the team or not. “I am currently in league with that team to help bring down the elven empire. You respect the Prophet Xavier, do you not, High Priest Jaine?”
The High Priest opened his mouth, but no sound came out.
“Good day,” Lord Freglak said. “And take heed that you remember your place as well, High Priest Jaine. This is no time for political division, and I will be instrumental in the elves’ downfall. You may think that you control me, Jaine, but you don’t. I serve the Mothertree and Her mission to bring down the elves over any other petty squabbles that I might get myself into.” And with that, Lord Freglak left, leaving a gaping High Priest watching him leave.
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