[Mkguild] roman Part 31

[cokane8116 at aol.com]

Here is Part 31 where we learn some history of Bitt's people.

   ChrisThe Lurking Fox

   Relations between Tirontach and the empire had always been mixed. Ingood times they were allies, semi-peaceful neighbors or Tirontach was a Clientstate. In bad times there was open war between them. The majority of the timeit wobbled around somewhere in between. It made for a complex and confusingrelationship for all involved.    Itis unknown exactly who or what put the idea of conquering Tirontach into themind of Marcus Anthemius Petronius Tarquinius. Some say it was the MagnaBibliotheca using the emperor to get rid of an old enemy. Others say it wasthat he wanted to be a conqueror, like the emperors of old. He wanted his ownvictory arch.    Theinitial invasion came in April 1114 (Empire Reckoning) when three legions (the76th, 24th and 1st marched north from Moguntia. Theylooted, raped and pillaged as they went.    Theclans held a great meeting to decide what to do. There were two basicstrategies. The first was to face the legions in a full, open field battle.Army versus army. The thing legends and great stories are made of. Where awarrior can show his strength and courage in front of all. This would also seethe invasion ended quickly. An important thing for those whose lands were beinglooted. But this was putting the outcome of the whole war in the results of oneor two battles. And the Legion was master of such battles. A fact that everyonewas well aware of.    Thesecond was the complete opposite. Rather than face the Legions in one grandbattle they would wage a slow war of attrition. Fight no great battles butscores of little ones. A war of ambush and hit and run fighting. Such a battlelacked the glory of one big battle but it risked less if they were defeated.But such a fight would not be short or easy and could last for years. Thosewhose lands were closest to the border and were being ravaged by the legionsfavored an immediate fight. Those with lands more distant wanted to wait, fallback and fight a long war of harassment and ambush.   Unable to decide, after much arguing and bickering they decided to visitthe Lady of the Hills. The lady was a seer. Someone who could look into thefuture.    Bitt reached intothe pouch on his belt and pulled out a small wooden box. Inside was a metalstylus made of pewter, two more made of reed and a silver inkwell. The inkwellhad an elaborate latch to keep it from opening by accident. He picked upthe pewter stylus and after opening the inkwell dipped the point into the ink.He then started to add notes of his own onto the scroll.    Tosome she could be called a Sybil but the phrase is not a good match. And bothwould find the comparison insulting. A more accurate title would be SiulanCosain - Pathwalker but few understand the true meaning behind that title. Seeris as good a title as any. A delegation, after much arguing was decided uponand dispatched. They argued about who to send. The delegation argued all theway to the Lady’s tower. They argued about who had the right to enter first.They argued about who would state their question. They even argued as theywaited for her answer. These were things the seer herself took notice of.    Itwas a long time before she gave her answer. When it came it was oddly specificand yet vague as well. Seemingly clear and easy to understand. And yet withhidden depths.   “There are many answers to questions both asked and unasked. Some thatshould be asked. Some that shouldn’t. Others that must not be asked or that cannever truly be answered but must be asked all the same.” She intonedenigmatically.   “You have asked me ‘How do we win against the empire? How do we obtainvictory?’ But what is victory? And win what? This battle? This campaign? Thiswar? Or the ultimate struggle between your two peoples? Are you really twoseparate peoples? Are not all people connected to each other in some way?”   “The path to ultimate victory lies forward. Attack. Strike the legionsbefore they reach the city. Only that way will our people see past the empireand the coming darkness. Dark times. Black times. Gray times. Bright times.”   When I myself look beyond that simple explanation I see a deeper, morecomplex and ominous answer. Several actually. Perhaps I am thinking too hard.Perhaps I have drunk too much. Maybe not enough. But I digress. What I think ofit doesn’t matter. The Clans simply interpreted her answer as they saw fit.Oddly enough there was little argument over it. Perhaps they had already madetheir decision before arriving? It seems the long trip to the Lady had beentime well spent. The lady herself would offer no explanations orclarifications. Nor would she accept any payment or rewards. Most odd indeed.    Satisfied with his small addition he waitedfor the ink to dry before continuing to read what was already written.    Theleaders gathered all that they could, understanding that they would have onlyone opportunity. A great host was gathered and moved south to face the legions.The Great armies met on a field now known as the Plain of Sorrow.    Thecombined army of Tirontach drew itself up in good order a few miles south ofthe valley mouth.    Theimperial army was already drawn up in a battle line. Its flanks were anchoredby a wide stream and rugged terrain on one side and a deep forest and hills onthe other. A perfect place for them to fight from.   With a roll of drums and the blaring of trumpets the clans let out awild shout and charged full force at the imperial army. This massive forcerolled forward screaming and howling as they came. A seemingly unstoppableforce.    That ran into an immovable object. The legionnaires closed ranks andabsorbed the blow. The fighting was exceptionally vicious and bloody but theissue was never in doubt. The Clans had pushed and now the legion pushed back.    Theclans fought harder but they were pushed back anyway. Many saw the way thingswere going and started to retreat. Some broke and fled but a tough coreremained. Giving ground stubbornly. It was here that the Meirge Ard Rithe - High King’s bannerwas taken. Those who defended it died honorably.    Theclans were pushed up the valley to the aqueduct where it crossed the valley afew miles south of Carraigsiona. There they made their stand. Warriors climbedto the top of the aqueduct. From there they showered the imperials with adeadly hail of missiles. Below them others stood among the tall stonework piersitself. Using the massive columns to strengthen their lines.   There they held off repeated imperial attacks for several hours till twocohorts climbed the valley sides and attacked the top of aqueduct. When it hadbeen swept clear of warriors they took to showering their enemies below. Onlythen did the defense line break and the survivors fled north.    Theimperial army followed, killing and burning everything as they came.   Realizing that their options were limited the clans sent a delegation tothe Emperor to discuss terms. This was the old way of things. In the wars ofthe past this had always resulted in a treaty being agreed to and peace beingrestored.    Butnot this time. The delegates were brutally tortured and murdered. Their headssent back as the emperor’s answer.   Again the clans decided what to do. Some advocated scattering into thewoods and hills and fighting a war of ambush and raiding. Others wanted to relyon the strength of their Oppidum and city walls. A siege could last months oreven years. Eventually the empire had to give up and withdraw. There werescores of Oppidum. Even the great strength of the Empire didn’t have theresources to take all of them.   Both strategies had been used in the past with various degrees ofsuccess. But neither was a particularly good choice. Scattering to the woodsand hills would make the Legions fight a thousand small skirmishes. Somethingthe clan warriors exceled at. But it was not an easy life. It meant survivingin the wild. Freezing in the cold, sweltering in the summer. Months of meagerfood, little water and no shelter. Many more would die of the cold and diseasethan from the legion’s weapons.    Thealternative of falling back on the strong walls of their cities and oppidum wasnot much better. The defenses were strong; the ditches and moats were deep andwide and the walls tall, thick and strong. It would take months to reduce eachone. And a siege of Senaloca could take months or even all year. Long monthsthat could see a besieging army waste away to disease and starvation. But byconcentrating all their people in a few places it was allow the empire toconcentrate their forces too. And starvation and disease was a bigger threatinside a besieged city than outside.   Still the clans were not fools and eventually decided that they had bestnot rely on any one strategy and agreed on both. The weakest oppidum and townswould be abandoned. Their people moving to others to strengthen the defensesthere. Many of the strongest and fittest would scatter to the woods and hills.So while the legions attacked and besieged the cities in front of them. Theythemselves would be attacked raided and harassed by the warriors hiding behindthem.    Thelegions pressed forward bypassing the largest oppidum completely and taking thesmaller ones with frightening speed. The headed straight for the capital.    Thecity of Senaloca was well defended. It was surrounded by a moat that was wideand deep. It’s walls, the Legionnaires noted had been built with the help ofEmpire engineers. Traitors lured there by offers of gold and wealth.    Bitt stopped reading at that point and hispride got the better of him. He picked up his stylus and added his own comments. 
“Wrong! They were not traitors. They werelegally hired by Tirontach when it was a friendly, client state. Rebuilding thewalls had been seen as a good move by the empire. Which at that time was moreworried about the Mintiri to the north than Tirontach. The Mintiri are always aproblem.”    Honor and accuracy satisfied Bitilus put thepen down and continued to read.
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