nutranurse
Unlikeliest of Slash Fics
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Sphasia and Artemalces depicted side-by-side. Notice their similar features, as if they were supposed to be regarded as twins...
Trailing just behind the establishment of the Cult of Dorarities was the Cult of Sphasia-Artemalces. However, what differed between this cult and the other two was exactly who was being worshiped. Artemalces seemed to make no attempts to hide behind a god to garner the favor of the population: he was simply elevated to deity status by his worshipers. The urbanites of the republic saw such behavior as downright reprehensible, but the rural folk-specifically those north of Aros-were far from put off. For the past year they had been receiving the benefits of Artemalces' generosity and they were all too pleased to accept the Immortal as a diety, specifically as the twin of Sphasia.
Artemalces was hesitant to accept such a lauded status and for the entire year wherever he erected a temple or shrine he did so only in the name of Sphasia. Still, his most adherent followers would graffiti the statue of Sphasia in some way so that it would more resemble the Immortal. Some of the more conservative elements of the republic have noted that such blasphemy must be stopped at all costs, and because of such sentiments a few men are now dead.
Despite such resistance the cult still grew in numbers and by the end of the year much of the northern rural denizens identified as cultists of Sphasia-Artemalces in some way. The cult remains largely unorganized, though. No priests of Sphasia-Artemalces exist and beyond Artemalces himself and the Hand of Sphasia, no formal 'leader' can be attributed to the cult.
[-Artemalces Private Wealth: 70d; The Cult Is Still Too Disorganized To Be A Faction Proper]
Admists all the religious development in Aros a great temple to Ionelima was constructed by Epicurus. Overshadowed by the creation of the cults to Dorarities and Sphasia-Artemalces, the temple was completed late in the year with no great fanfare. This seemed to suit Epicurus just fine, as he did not seem to pursue the grandiose religious plans that his brethren sought.
Those who frequented the temple were mostly educated men, and the majority of them scholars from Cedros's academy. The temple was even the site of two great debates between Baskymma and some of her peers, and the young scholar won each debate with fierce rhetoric and keen intellect. Cedros himself visited the temple from time to time, but seemed much too caught up in pouring over the myths behind the Arosan Pantheon to do little more than offer small sacrifices to the goddess of wisdom.
[-Epicurus Priavte Wealth: 40d]
Xanthus' prestigious and exotic group of cavalrymen made it known to all in Aros that they would be accepting noble-blooded recruits to swell their ranks. Noble blood they did not find, but many a second and third son of wealthy merchants and artisans came forth for a chance to prove themselves in battle. At first Xanthus was uneasy accepting members of society who as the result of his old-kingdom viewpoint saw as lesser. When no other men stepped forward the decision was made for Xanthus and he held trials which resulted in his companion cavalry tripling from 46 to 142. He set each of the original companions with two retainers to train and treat as their own kin, granting the new companions small parcels of land in the north. However, the new recruits did not possess the access to the arms that the original 50 companions had gained over the course of their wanderings with Xanthus and as such were much lesser armed than the companions they attended to.
Alongside finding his core companions retainers, Xanthus appealed to the general Arosan populous to sell all that they had and join him and his Champions further to the north. Understandably such a call did not go over well and for all his charimsa Xanthus was only able to attract 100 men, and much to his chagrin, women to his side. Not deterred by the poor results, Xanthus armed these followers much ligher than the companions and began training them to throw the javelin from horseback with unerring accuracy. These light horsemen he called the Hippotoxotès.
[+Xanthus Private Wealth: 92 Light Companion Cavalry; +Xanthus Private Wealth: 100 Hippotoxotès; -Xanthus Private Wealth: 110d]
Strange black ships were sighted early in the year and as spring turned into summer their motives were learned to be as sinister as their wicked appearances. Any and all ships leaving the harbor of Sioth for Salpe were attacked by the ships and more times than not the Arosan ships were sunk after a short and vicious battle. Survivors of the attacks would come back half-crazed and telling stories of huge, muscular men with black eyes manning the ships.
Were it not for the swift efforts of Ichthyos the attacks likely would have crippled Arosan overseas interests. During late summer Ichthyos returned from the Zelotegan campaign and was angered to find the menacing ships near Sioth. Commanding the Grand Arosan Navy alongside his personal fleet, Ichthyos committed himself totally to doing battle with the invaders for the remainder of the summer.
The black ships were smaller than the Arosan triremes and it astounded Ichthyos and his sailors that they were even able to make it to Aros from whatever distant land they came from. Cruelly wrought the ships were also decorated with swirling designs that chilled the heart to look upon them, but none the less Ichthyos and his mariners battled the marauders valiantly wherever they could find them. The hulking black-eyed men who sailed in the baneful crafts fought with an unsettling fortitude. Each foreigner seemed to take ten Arosans with him to his watery grave and as the naval campaign wore on the Arosan mariners came to dread any sightings of the black ships.
In total 10 Republican ships were lost and 5 of Ichthyos' personal fleet, 1,000 Republican mariners lost their lives and countless dregs who manned Ichthyos' private ships.
[-Trade Income in Aros; -Aros Overall Income Down to: 150d; -1,000 Mariners; -Numerous of Ichthyos' Sailors]
Not long after the last of the black-eyed pirates were defeated a large white ship, much larger than any that the Arosan had ever seen before, docked in Sioth's harbor. The men who descended from the ship were initially met with curiosity and then fear. Ten massive black-eyed men, each wearing panoply made from bronze plates that cover almost their entire body. They carry large 8 shaped shields with cowhide stretched across the outer surface and on the simple, round helmets of every man is an engraving of a bull's head. Looking more like golem than men they march through Sioth virtually unmolested save for some jeers that elicit no response from the formidable group.
As word spread that the group seems to be marching for Aros the Immortals, back from their campaign against Zelotage and already perturbed by what horrors they had to witness, steeled themselves for the worst. Meeting the ten formidable warriors, the shortest of which almost as tall as the towering Immortals, outside the gates of Aros, the Immortals are surprised to see the foreigners part and from their ranks a small child with a much too-large robe draped over its tiny frame.
With blank, black eyes the child addresses the Immortals with a voice that booms far too loudly for someone so small
"Hyperians," The child pauses and looks up at the Immortals with unblinking black orbs, "We come from far away to bring you a simple demand. Cease all contact with those people you believe to be the Corians. Salpe is not theirs. It is ours. Least you evoke the wrath of the Undying Empress do not help or hinder the people of Salpe no longer."
With that one of the mighty giants suddenly raises its fist and brings it down upon the messenger-child, turning its tiny head into a ruined mash of brain, blood, and bone. The giants then simultaneously pluck out their own eyes without even the slightest sign of pain and cast the black balls at the feet of the onlooking Immortals just before collapsing to the floor, seemingly dead.
The Republican Army is Summoned!
For the third year in a row the Grand Army of the Republic was summoned, this time to do war with the last rogue Immortal Zelotage and hopefully bring an end to the war. Once again under the dual-generalship of Aristomachos and Epicurus the army this time saw its numbers bolstered only by the continued aid from Sakkema and the 50 Companions of the Champions of Light brought by Xanthus.
Spoiler Pre-Campaign Record of Republican Army & Allies :
The campaign orders were simple: march cautiously along the coastline and receive support and supplies from Ichthyos' now meager navy, scout ahead with the Hand of Sphasia, and stay wary of any foul oddities Zelotage could throw at the advancing army.
With a strategy so plain the Arosans found themselves taking more so pleasant stroll through the Zelotegan countryside rather than what was anticipated to be another grueling march. Plunder was to be had in abundance, as it seemed that the past year had been rich for the Zelotegans if not so for their Lachykan allies. Aristomachos gave the soldiers no quarrel when they descended upon strangely defenseless towns, and only Xanthus seemed to turn up his nose at the subsequent string of pillage and plunder. The general soldiers thought that Xanthus occupied a too-high horse and midway through the summer's march it was a popular rumor that Xanthus believed himself to be so high above the Arosan populace that he kissed the feet of the gods. He made no efforts to bridge the gap between himself and the masses which only served to garner more ire from the majority of the army. The other Immortals also seemed to eye their brother with unhidden suspicion and on multiple occasions Xanthus would storm out of meetings that Ichthyos was in attendance for.
Outside internal conflicts, however, no threat seemed to manifest; it appeared that Zelotage had adopted the strategy of his fallen ally. By late summer the Republican army neared Zelotage proper, well rested and fat off of the loot torn from the Zelotagan countryside. When Artemalces and his scouts first caught sight of the enemy army they were not surprised by its composition.
Its ranks were swelled with the poorly armed and black marked individuals who had mindlessly fought the Republican soldiers the past year. Officers were few and far between, and those who were spotted by Artemalces wore gangly black robes over bronze armor. Of Zelotage only glimpses were caught- the fell Immortal seemed to be too preoccupied as he flitted about his camp, leaving the overall command of his army to a particular robed man with pale skin and no nose.
The army was prepared to face Zelotage, eager even after such an uneventful march, but battle would be denied to the Arosans when they met the enemy on the field.
Just before the two armies clashed the sky seemed to darken, though to this day no man nor account seems to know exactly if this happened or not. Many cries pierced the air and two great shadows rose over the Zelotegan horde. In words unintelligible to even the Immortals the shadows spoke something just before crashing down upon the enemy army, and in a matter of seconds not a single one of the Zelotegans was alive.
Stunned by the sheer strangeness of the event it took a few minutes for the Arosans to realize that they had won a bloodless victory. However, not a single soldier rejoiced and the Immortals wore stern faces as they marched into the capitulated city.
Immediately an appeal for mercy was made by the populace of the city. They begged the Immortals to spare their city from the rapacious soldiers on the grounds that Zelotage only had the support of a few nobles while the rest of the population was cowed by the dark forces the Immortal seemed to command. Furthermore they surrender their sovereignty to the Arosan Republic totally, even going so far as to present the Immortals with laurel crowns, signifying the Zelotegan acknowledgement of the Immortal's dominance over the people.
[-Xanthus General Population; Zelotage and Its Territories Are Under Republican Control]
As the strange year wound down one last oddity reared its head in the Aros. A motley delegation of men so wild in their appearance that they hardly seemed like men made their way into Aros to address the Immortals. The brown-skinned men surprisingly spoke a broken Gamien dialect so old that even Cedros had trouble deciphering it, and were it not for Xanthus and his previous contact with a similar peoples the delegation would not have gotten their message across.
That message was one of desperation. The lead barbarian, a man dressed in garish display of bronze armor and animal skins, explained that he and his men came from the greater tribe of peoples known as the Volgar. For centuries, according to him, the Volgar occupied the area they called the Dekia Valley, just south of the very eastern edge of the Appen Mountains, and it was not until ten years ago that the Volgar's claims were contested by none other than Vorexia.
A quietness came over the barbarian as he spoke Vorexia's name and the other members of his party were visibly uncomfortable with even uttering the Immortal's name. Vorexia, they claimed, was a she-demon who clawed her way from the depths of the deepest hells. He went on to tell confusing, unsettling tales of how Vorexia and her meager kingdom sent black monsters against the Volgar, who the barbarian admits attacked the kingdom first. Now, however, they feared that all is lost.
Were it not for a seer telling the Volgar that they would find their light in the west, he claims, the Volgar would simply have taken their lives en masse rather than face what horrors Vorexia surely had in store for them. For the time being the Volgar chieftains have gained a new resolve to face off against Vorexia while the small party traveled to the west. The barbarians ask that Aros come in their aid and offer to show the Arosans ways through the mighty Appen mountains so that they may strike at the heart of Vorexia's kingdom. They say they can wait no longer than three years before being overwhelmed entirely.
Rumors
-There is talk of Aristomachos doing battle with one of his followers... and almost losing, surely such talk is facetious
-Great bear-like wolves are said to stalk the hills near to the Appen mountains and many Haplesians have reported hearing unnatural howls in the night
-Political rivalries seem to have carried over to the north where Patrician retainers have settled the land in the name of their masters; the extreme north is a perticular hotbed for conflict and even after just one year there are reports of border conflicts arising between the Sikorimos and Eluthyerus retainers.
Council of Patrician Proposals
The Following Are General Proposals
Seizure of Zelotegan Land
Regardless of what the Zelotegans may or may not have been forced to do at the hands of their black master Zelotage, the Council of Patricians have unaimously passed a bill that would see the southern half of the Zelotagean countryside confiscated and distributed amongst the Arosan Citizens.
[All Families Favor This Bill]
Acceptance of Zelotage as Allies to the Republic
The Council of Patricians in a 100-0 vote have passed a bill that would see the city of Zelotage be elevated to the status of 'Ally' of the republic. Effectively the city would act as a protectorate of Aros, paying a tribute of 50d a year, subject to change at a moment's notice. As protectorates Zelotage would retain limited political freedoms, particularly relating to domestic matters. All foreign diplomacy could not be conducted without first being approved of by Aros and no outside alliances can be made. Any trade that Zelotage is to conduct must favor Arosan interests. Furthermore the Zelotegans are expected to act as auxiliaries to the Grand Republican Army and 1/3 of every able-bodied man is required to serve with the Arosan army whenever it is summoned. These soldiers are granted no privileges and pay will either come from loot gained over the course of the campaign or paid by the Zelotegan government. Citizenship will not be offered to any Zelotegan until further notice.
[All Families Favor This Bill]
The Council & Foreign Diplomacy
Although the Patricians have no legal means of influencing foreign diplomacy, they still voice their opinions.
The Council has come to a deadlock in the matter regarding the Salpe-Corians. Exactly 50 Patricians wish to cut off all ties as the strange delegation would have it, while the other 50 would have the Republic stand by the Salpe-Corians so long as trade remained favorable.
The Council has unanimously voiced their rejection of the Volgar Barbarian's request, claiming that Vorexia is a distant problem that is not even their own. Brygima, however, advises that something be done about Vorexia at some point and brings word of the Sakkeman protectorates, the Rhabdians, facing similar horrors from Vorexia. Regardless of what the Immortals chose to do, the Sakkemans will likely march for war in the coming years.
Spoiler Update 3 Map :
