[Riparia] Just when you thought I was out...

[Riconus Xind'ell]

Timestamp: 1st Kalendryas, Winter of Era XIV Post Fractrum, Era II of the Regency of Milo

The last time he roamed the streets of Riparia, it was in an attempt to claim victory in a gang war fought by thugs and thieves. The Coven of Twilight was fairly successful in their endeavors, but following his call to reestablish the military in Lauryl, Xind’ell’s involvement in the war had expired… but that was then, and this was now.

No longer was he simply a crimelord trying to acquire power over the underworld. Instead, he had turned himself into an accomplished General of the Imperial Legions, and one of the highest ranking soldiers in the Allerian Empire. This time, it would not be a war to fight for blood money on the streets of Riparia, but a campaign to win over all people of the city, and establish yet another regiment in his private army.

That army was dubbed the Sapphire Guard, whose banner was fought for by more than 2,300 soldiers from all over the Empire. Nexus Prime had proven to be a successful venture, in acquiring the servitude of the people in exchange for free training and the prospect of vast riches from vast battles. Now, Riparia would hopefully become the birthplace of the second “People’s Regiment” for the SG, but rest assured, it would be no easy feat. Many questions still required answers; where will they train? Will money and training be enough to gain their support? Which big players in the city will need to be befriended in order for victory? Hopefully though, all those questions would soon be answered, by one means or another.

Riconus, once again, made his approach to the city gates in striking fashion. Twenty guards wearing the blues and grays of the Sapphire Guard flanked Riconus and the two wagons following behind- wagons that were filled to the gills with gold crowns. As the convoy came within talking distance of the gate guards, The Syl’rosyan general offered a warm smile, and explained his purpose of business.

”Serale, Soldiers. My name is Riconus Xind’ell, and I am here to spread the word of the mighty Sapphire Guard, whose goal is to see that all who are willing to defend themselves from the evil in this world have the means to do so.

I also hope that I may share my wealth with the Riparian people, if only they may hear my words. Here are the visas of myself, as well as those in my escort. May I pass?”

Riconus issued the guard a large box of Imperial Visas, one from every man in his convoy, and waited patiently for the guardsmen’s words.

[Mike]

As Riconus approached the guards, he noted that they carried themselves with an air of arrogance, as if they had nothing to fear in the lands that surrounded them. A foolish notion of course. The unwary would find themselves in a ditch before long. But arrogance might merely have been the suit they wore in unison with the Militia uniform.

There was no sight of heavy plate here, but instead a more mobile chain vest over a leather tunic. This in turn was covered with the Riparian Guard tabard, sporting a deep blue colour with a white emblem on the front of two large hammers crossing each other with a castle behind them. It was a representation of how hard-work and raw labour had blossomed here, making the citizens carved from stone. The castle itself was in fact a forge, an obvious nod to Aslan's Forge that watched over them. So it was said that the people of Riparia had been spat out of the Forge itself. Fiery tempered, stubborn and unrelenting when it came to giving up even an inch. One traveller had named it 'Imperia without pirates'.

As Riconus began with his drivel, the nearest guard looked at him with a look that might have made stone turn to water. The man's face itself looked like the side of a mountain, not one feature of it betraying his thoughts. Only his hand moved, subconsciously palming a fly away from his face. Riconus might well have taken offence to the man's lack of respect. Instead though, he handed over the box of visas for inspection.

Taking the box in his hand, the guard gave a stare at the twenty or so men in Riconus' contingent. Meanwhile, several other guards set off towards the wagons at the instructions of the man that now approached Riconus. More alarming was how yet more guards appeared, flanking the regiment of twenty men and each of them looking ready to pounce like wild lions, their hands never leaving the hilt of their fine longswords.

"Your wagons will be searched. As for your men, you may proceed with two as a personal bodyguard. Do you agree to this terms?"

As the question was asked, the first guard with the box of visas seemed to bore a hole right through Riconus, daring him to disagree. Riconus might have been a general of so many thousand men, but here, right now, he was a gnat.

ooc: Welcome to Riparia

[Riconus Xind'ell]

OOC: lol, thanks
---

A subtle grin emerged from in between Riconus’ lips, as the guard attempted to issue his conditions of entry, conditions that should have been issued to the sound of the guard drumming his chest. It did not take too long for he, his contingent, and his valuable cargo to be surrounded by the group of militiamen, who were likely oblivious to the fact that the men he traveled with were highly skilled warriors capable of putting up quite the fight against them. However, a brawl at the front gates was not what Riconus had in mind, for convincing the people to believe that they needed the Sapphire Guard for survival was hard to execute after dropping every member of their local guard to the ground.

Still, there was a concern in the inspection of his cargo, for you see, it was not simply fruit and vegetables they carried to win over the populace, it was crowns… thousands upon thousands of crowns. Underneath the salvage covers of the caravans laid the Empire’s favoured currency by the pile, roughly estimated between 15,000 gc between the two wagons. So, one could imagine that inspection by a group of poorly paid militia men, and walking into a village with only two guards to guard his cargo, was a bit of a problem.

So, with no other alternative, Riconus dismounted from his steed, to approach the lead guardsmen. He still bore that impressed smile on his face, as he looked down steeply at the guard, being the tower that this particular Syl’rosyan was. A right hand was inserted into his inner breast pocket, to withdraw a small piece of parchment, but before revealing it to the guard, he began his words once more.

”I do admit, guardsmen, you definitely have some iron sitting in between those legs of yours. That kind of attitude could be welcomed in the Sapphire Guard; remember that, just in case you’re looking for something different, savvy?

Now, let’s talk like adults for a moment. We both know that whatever I’m carrying in these wagons is very important, so to simply guard it from intruders with only two escorts would be very difficult. I’ll be frank with you, sir- what I carry in my caravan is gold, and nothing but. 15,000 crowns worth of gold sit in between those two wagons, so if you feel the need to inspect it, you may go right ahead; but, rest assured, I’ll be recounting every last coin in those wagons once you are done, and if even a single crown is misplaced, you can imagine that I might not be the happiest person in the world, yes?

But I tell you what,” continued Riconus, as he unfolded the parchment to reveal to the guard that it was a voucher of 1000 crowns. He creased into the palm of his right hand, before explaining himself. ”Last time I checked, local militia were making what, 40 crowns per cycle? Well, how about in exchange for your consideration, to allow me to bring along my entire escort of soldiers, and for you to bypass a search of my cargo, I’ll reward you by matching you’re pay for the entire cycle… and the next 24 cycles after that. Deal?”

Riconus extended his right outward, neatly keeping the voucher in his palm to hopefully be taken by the lead guardsmen with a simple shake of his hand.

[Mike]

Riparia merely a village? This of course was only one of several mistakes Riconus had made thus far. Even labelled as a town as it was, Riparia was quite literally bursting at the seams. And poorly paid militia? With such a hefty resource as Aslan's Forge was, only a fool ruler would tempt dissent among his City Guard by paying under the odds. Riconus had come to Riparia with 15,000 crowns, twenty Sapphire Guards and enough arrogance and assumption to fill both those wagons ten times over.

Perhaps the least impressed of all was the stone-face guard that stood before him right now, glancing down as the bribe was offered in a generous hand. Bribing city officials and police was of course illegal in Riparia, as Riconus was about to be schooled in.

"Seize him at once," came the simple order. Two guards approached to flank Riconus, their own hard faces looking even less impressed if such a thing was possible. And meanwhile, the other guards that had since surrounded the contingent of wagons, stood ready as if expecting a retort from Riconus' own men. It was another mistake of course to assume these guards as easily overcome. Had Riconus done his homework, he might have known the strict and highly set standards that the Riparian City Guard had for new recruits. The majority were required to have served for the Provincial Armies for at least three eras.

Indeed, this was no village where one could waltz in with their wagons and crowns. This was Riparia, home of the Aslan's children from the fiery depths of the Forge itself.

[Riconus Xind'ell]

Perhaps Riconus hadn't exactly studied Riparia as though it were a project in schola, but he always knew to keep a contingency with him, just in case. Such a contingency looked as though it required activation, for the guardsmen were anything but interested in simply looking the other way and letting his men pass. But if there was one thing the hardened general had learned over the patterns, it was that power could always been molded into respect, one way or the other.

It was indeed admirable of the guardsmen, to disallow such a significant bribe... that, or they were more interested in seizing him and his entourage so that their entire cargo could be jacked. Regardless, it had to be presented to the guard in some way that their mission here had less to do with sharing his wealth, and more to do with defending the people. As the guards neared in on him, Riconus let out a frustrating sigh, and retorted.

"Ugh, you imbicle. You couldn't just let me pass, but instead, you have to know every last detail of my purpose, don't you? Has it ever occured to you that perhaps I don't want local guardsmen knowing about a highly covert operation executed from the highest offices of the military!?

Don't believe me? Fine- Ryerson, give him the papers."

The human guard standing directly behind Riconus moved forward slowly, and almost with a slight degree of resistance, offered up a roll of parchment to the head guardsman. The papers, he would soon find out, detailed the exact reason why Riconus and his escorts were here. "I'm under strict orders to display this report to the Riparia thane, and only the Riparian thane... but because you choose to be a pain in my posterior, I suppose I have no choice but to give them to you as well..."

Secrets : HIGHLY CLASSIFIED INTELLIGENCE REPORT #CR-139-040 RE: BANDIT INFILTRATION OF WESTERN CENTRIPAX Reconnaisance operations south of the Great Mountains have indicated a growing precense of nomandic militiamen embedded in the harsh terrain roughly a brightening's march from Aslan's Forge. What was once perceived as simply a minute concern some months back is quickly transforming into a more significant threat, as known bandits from Arium and even Arakmat province have been noticed. As of the moment, whether the group has some sort of political aspiration is unknown, but prior intelligence analysis on the individuals identified within their encampment would suggest pillaging of a nearby population, such as Riparia, is more likely then an attempt to actually occupy the city for political gain. In terms of numbers, the bandit army is no more than six to seven hundred men strong, at least for the current moment. If the current influx of out-of-province militiamen continues, the group could surpass well over a thousand men by the end of the season. Demographics are fairly scattered, but the majority are those of human and vysticchi discent. Orcs and giants have been noted as well, and the precense of dorins has become more significant as Arakmatian natives swell their ranks. It is the suggestion of the 26th Legion that a covert paramilitary operation be conducted in the city of Riparia, in an attempt to train citizens in the event of a pre-emptive attack. While these bandits may indeed be a threat, it is not one we appreciate to be exposed for the present time; therefore, the Riparian Guard and Rynosian Legion's participation in this operation is to be extremely minimal, and if possible, non-existent. Members of the Sapphire Guard will be permitted to work in conjuction with our operations, but for the sole benefit of training civilians in military disciplines. Only the thane of Riparia may be alerted as to the existence of our operations in the threatre. Signed and By Order of, Cencoris Rol'thero Chief of Investigation Kestor Imperatis Riconus Xind'ell Commander of the 26th Legion, Director-General of the Imperial Intelligence Agency Imperial Marshall Blackbjorn Baktar Grand General of the Aelyrian Imperial Legions

Riconus gave the guardsmen a moment or two to read over the document. Was it authentic? Was it forged? Regardless of what it may or not be, displayed on the bottom were two of the highest names of the Imperial Army- one of which, belonging to the man this guardsmen seemed fit to imprison.

"Perhaps now, you can understand that my attempt to bribe you wasn't out of the goodness of my heart- it was an effort to keep your curious eyes away from my operation. My escorts are instructors specialized in civilian training, and the coffers I bring with me are a means of financing our mission.

If you still don't believe me, you and your entire regiment can follow me to the thane's palace for all I care- but considering one of the signatures on that intelligence report is mine, I think it's safe to say that it does not do your city any good by locking me in a gaol cell, agreed?"