14 War Meeting and Trade (1/2)

As Galahad once again entered the opulent throne room and gave a deep bow.

The Baron simply said.

”Rise. Sir Galahad you are slightly late but it is fine in regards to your condition.”

As Galahad stood up the baron continued now, his voice entwined with dignity.

”We have gathered here to prepare for the war. Sir Galahad would be the last remaining noble in my realm as such I called him here as well. Now I would like Sir Adam von Sinor, Sir Jeroic von Heria, Sir Monert von Erfia and finally, Sir John von Ienia to tell me how many troops they will commit to the war effort, what type of equipment they have how many are horsemen how many logistics carts they have prepared and how much grain. Sir Adam as the eldest you may go first.”

The elderly knight gave a quick bow and responded slowly and calmly.

”Sire I will contribute six men at arms and twelve levies. My men at arms are armed with chain mail armor swords and shields and they are decent cavalrymen. As for my levies, four will be in charge of the supply carts and my camps needs and the rest of them are six hunters made archers they were gambeson and they are all decent shots and a couple of them are veterans. As for food, we will take enough for thirty days a mix of grains and salted meats and the rest of the basic camp supplies such as tents and so on.”

The Baron nodded and said.

”That is enough. Sir John what about you?”

A thin man in his early thirties walked up bowed and said.

”Sire rather than take both men at arms and levies. I will contribute ten men at arms and four levies for the camps needs. My ten men at arms are armed with gambeson, kettle helmets and crossbows. As for supplies we have a similar plan to Sir Adam.”

The Baron nodded and said

”Thanks, Sir John. Now sir Jeroic you talk the talk but do you walk the walk?”

The proud man walked before the baron gave a quick bow and said boisterously.

”Aye, I do Sire I will take with me fifteen of my men at arms and thirty-eight of my serfs with me. Eight of the serfs will serve as camp attendants while the rest of my serfs are armed with spears, shields, gambeson armor, and nasal helmets. As for my men at arms, they are armed with two-handed axes, mail armor with several integrated steel plates and Barbuta helmets. As for supplies, I have secured enough for two months”

The Baron scratched his beard and said.

”I see while this great contribution to the realm Jeroic. Are you sure it is wise to not leave more troops to defend your fief?”

Jeroic nodded and said.

”Yes, Sire this is my final decision.”

The Baron gave a quick nod and looked towards Sir Monert.

He quickly said.

”As for me sire, I have employed a company of sixteen mercenaries and six levies for my camps needs. The mercenaries are armed full chain mail armor and pikes. As for supplies I have enough for thirty days.”

The baron nodded and said.

”I will also send my knights, twenty-five men at arms fifteen archers and ten crossbowmen and thirty levied archers and ten camp attendants. All of them are armed with gambeson armor and nasal helmets. As for supplies I have enough for forty days. Now that this is done and dusted with you have a week to prepare your men. We are marching to the count's city next week. In other news, I decided to leave my Magos Erfiadi as the regent.”

That proposition shocked everyone inside the room.

The first to respond to this bombastic announcement was Sir Monert.

”But Sire you know full well that leaving a Magos in charge is taboo. I mean they did try to dethrone the nobility in the fight for power two hundred and fifty years ago. It is simply not wise to leave a Magos a regent.”

The Baron looked towards Monert and simply asked.

”Do you know why they Revolted?”

Monert simply said.

”No, but it is not impo.r”

The Baron cut him off and said seriously.

”Of course it is important. Does anyone of you know who are the Knights of the Realm.”

Galahad quickly responded

”I do yes.”

The Baron looked towards Galahad and then continued

”Do you know what happened before they disappeared. Why did they disappear and what role they had inside the kingdom?”

Galahad thought for a moment and said.

”Well, I thought they all died at the battle of Northern Passage after that the king to honor them didn't allow any new knights to join the order as they would be inferior to those great heroes. They used to be traveling warriors destroying the enemies of the kingdom and mankind wherever they found them. But still loyal to the kingdom the point of death.”

The Baron sighed and said softly.

”While those events are partially true, that is only half of the story. Three hundred years ago the kingdom had a different system of governance called the diarchy. Where the king wasn't the sole ruler of the kingdom, he had control only over the military, the guards, the judiciary and the external matters. He had a coruler an ArchMagos which had control over taxation, lawmaking and budget allocation as well as any other internal matters. The same applied for the Counts, Barons, and Dukes. What about the landed knights? You might ask? Almost all of them were Nobles which had full control of their realms without a coruler. In the other hand, the Knights of the realm was an elite force made out of Magoi. They were tasked with investigating the murders of Magoi all across the realm in addition to their normal knightly duties. They were the only military power the Magoi had. As such when the king stopped the order from getting new members it, later on, sparked a bloody civil war. The Magoi lost their position as equals, but they were spared thanks to their abilities. But from now rather than corulers, they became just advisors. A fief was granted to the new ArchMagos where he would train his Magoi and the rest, as they say, is history. On the topic of them gaining power I am not very worried that Erfiadis will do anything bad. After all, he is the one behind most of my economic and internal policies. ”

Jeroic then bellowed.

”First and foremost the fact that they lost the civil war proves they are inferior rulers to us nobles. Second, where did you get that history from? If it is from one of those Magos it can hardly be trustworthy and Third isn't it irresponsible to give power to the group that lost through war and might some grievances about it?”

The Baron simply said.