Marching Orders [Dorian]

[Ydolus]

A Man with no solace, he falls into the abyss of despair in hopes of finding light The plans weren't complete. They were never complete. Ydolus thoughtfully poured every ounce of his focus into the maps sprawled out before him. They had seen much use in his time as head tactician and even more so before then. They were a precious collection of cartography that Ydolus had kept within his family, ensuring they were up to date. There was more information scrawled on these maps than any found in the libraries of the Ylissian capitol. A good thing too. Wouldn't want strategic information like this open to the public after all. The old man stroked at his beard, tired eyes analyzing the scrolls of paper fervently. There had to be a better way into Plegia. They had learned time and again that marching through the small valley which connected Plegia and Ylisse was strategic suicide. Forcing oneself into a bottleneck like that would give the Grimleal any number of geographical advantages. To march the knights through there would be to send them to their deaths. No, they needed to get out alive and well for the battles afterwards.  Where was Dorian? Their esteemed leader was young but should have at least had the sense to attend such an important strategy meeting. The old man grumbled under his breath, drawing a line across the passage into Plegia via Ylisse. Could they maybe go around? The Feroxi/Plegian border was a much safer option, even counting the dangers of the burning sands between the two countries. But would such a trick work twice? It was a known historical fact that an Exalt had marched his own private army through there before. Even then, would the Feroxi allow it? The northerners too were entangled in their own war. They would need to settle the disputes of the great Khans to make any progress there. The old man grumbled, recounting his history lessons and comparing them to the current situation... Where was Dorian? [ tagged: Dorian ] [ muse ]

made by nette of gs / yasna of apo

[Dorian]

Dorian knew he was running late. He was supposed to have been at the strategy meeting with Ydolus about ten minutes ago, maybe a little more. It hadn't been intentional in any way, of course. He had been perfectly on time, early even, and then on his way out of the saddle after settling a dispute in a nearby village, his horse happened to kick him right in the leg. It had aimed for his stomach, so in a way, it was a blessing that he was quick enough to only catch the hoof in crease joining hip and thigh, but the area was quite tender. And naturally, after taking such a blow, he would walk favoring that side, which brought about quite a few questions of concern from the few Knights of Cydonia that he had encountered. And he'd had to pause to reassure them that he was fine - no, he didn't need someone to use a staff to heal him when they weren't anywhere near combat and the injury would heal up just fine on its own, and no, he hadn't been engaging in any inappropriate behaviors to get that limp, he had been kicked by a horse in the hip and he would have the bruise to prove it - and in that he had lost time.

By the time he finally shook off the last of his worriers, the lord sighed and poked his head in the tent, wary of possibly angering the tactician. "I'm sorry for being so late, Ydolus," he offered immediately. "I was kicked by a horse, and the limp made me move slower... along with the crowd of people offering me healing staves."

Words. -- Tags. Ydolus Notes. Shhhh I'm not way tardy to the party here what are you talking about?

[Ydolus]

A Man with no solace, he falls into the abyss of despair in hopes of finding light Tired eyes looked up from the marked over map, glinting with the spark of knowledge and aged wisdom. Dorian stood in the entrance of the tent, quick to offer his apology for tardiness. Even quicker to offer an excuse. Were it not for the obvious favoring of his side, Ydolus would have chewed him out immediately for such behavior, but now was not the time, and despite it all Ydolus knew the difference between a child faking a wound and one who was genuinely injured. The old man took a deep breath, exhaling in a fashion that could only be resignation. "Be more careful from now on." He grumbled, marking off another area on the map he concluded as unusable. "...And at least get it looked at. Some might take such a wound as an opportunity." He continued to chide absently. He waved the young commander over, beckoning him to look over the map with him. "I've been planning our route to Plegia. None of the old routes will do, as you can see." He gestured to the marked off paths, including the valley and desert paths. "Without sea ships, we've no power against their coastal defenses either. Unless..." He took his quill and drew a path along the central lake that sat on the border of Plegia, Regna Ferox and Ylisse. "We cross the lake into Plegia and through the mountains into its center." It wasn't the best of routes for certain. The lakeside was most likely defended by Plegian border guard, but it was the least likely to be given special attention to. Ydolus looked to Dorian for an opinion. "We may not have sea faring boats but fishing ports along the lake make for an excellent disguise." The old man slid the Ylissean map to the side and revealed a map of the lake underneath it. He marked two, three potential ports from which they could set off. "Any of these ports will work, though finding a cooperative ship to ferry us will be a troublesome feat to accomplish." Not to say anything of the common folk but getting anyone to carry a war party over into enemy territory would require a certain... wildcard. [ tagged: Dorian ] [ muse ] [Note: I'm bad i'm sorry so late much to do]

made by nette of gs / yasna of apo

[Dorian]

One man's excuse was another man's explanation; Dorian felt that it were only fair to offer a reason for why he was late rather than just leave it at the fact he was late. He respected the tactician enough to give him that as the bare minimum. "You know I never do things like that on purpose, Ydolus, but if it will please you, I'll try to be more careful," he joked gently, a smile on his face as he pushed inside the tent, trying not to favor his leg too much. No need to exaggerate such a thing, after all, he would be fine with a little bit of rest. "I doubt that it's anything serious, but if you think it best, I'll ask someone to take a look at it when we finish," he stated with a nod.

The lord leaned over the map curiously, crystal eyes taking in the tactician's work. "Ah. I hadn't known you were going to do anything different than the main roads." Or even that Ydolus was putting that much thought into the matter, but he was, so Dorian was going to listen to him. The lord's eyes flashed at the movement, his mouth twisting as he looked at the route across the lake. "It'll be a difficult journey..." he mused thoughtfully. "No doubt the horses will balk at crossing the lake. And that says nothing for if we can secure enough boats to cross at one time..."

He sighed and then glanced up at the older man. "Do you think that we can do it, Ydolus?" he asked, the noble's demeanor serious. "Do you think that we'll be able to make it over the border in one piece?" He was fairly certain he wasn't supposed to rely so heavily on his tactician, that he was supposed to make his own decisions, but he valued Ydolus' input. If the man said they would make it, the noble trusted him to go for it, and if he said that they wouldn't, he would ask what they would need to do to be able to reach the point of being able to. He couldn't turn back from his path now, aye... but he wasn't quite so stupid as to mark in blind and unprepared either...

Words. -- Tags. Ydolus Notes. Pfffft you are fine hun I have been really crazy busy lately with schoolwork and projects and midterms and yeah. Not fun. *sticks tongue out* Bleh midterms suck.