[Lt. Gov Office] Transfer Of Command

[Keldon Elsdragon]

Forty-Eighth Brightening of the Fifth Cycle in the Month of Optia in the Season of Spring; Era I of the Celestine Mandate, Era XIII Post Fractum. The First Era of the Regency of Milo L'Evienne.

Keldon entered the Lt Governors Office flanked by several guards as usual. "Serale, I believe his Excellency and I have a appointment this brightening to discuss several matters of the province and Primus Gaudeo."

OOC: So I post first, works for me Ral... crap posts but we need to get this done heh

[Raliric Ered`Gard]

OOC: Cheers Keldon, I have only just been getting back into the posting regime and was shorting out some loose ends before committing some more atrocities. :P Would you be able to change that timestamp to something later in the season as Ral isn’t even Lt Gov until the 30th of Aperitus. Something close to… end of Optia would be marvelous. Like the last two cycles maybe, I’m pretty full up until then. Cheers!

Regal rose from her seat as the Lord Thane entered and inclined her head to him, ”Serale, Your Grace. Just one moment.” She moved to the door, opened it a fraction and stuck her head in, an exchange of words before she pulled her head back out and opened the door for Keldon. ”His Excellency is ready for you, Your Grace.” She turned her gaze to the guards whom, if they tried to follow Keldon into the room, would be given an almost feral look and halted immediately. Then, after a nod to the Phoenix Legion Elite soldiers guarding the inner doors, she would smile and enter the office behind Keldon, closing the door behind her.

There were more people in the room than just Raliric, his receptionist and Keldon, Lunvan was sitting on the window sill behind Raliric’s desk and Rardowia was flicking idally through a book she had taken from the shelf in front of her. Raliric himself was standing near a decanter of water pouring a few glasses, he was the first speak upon Keldon’s entry. ”Serale. Water Keldon? Or some wine?” followed by a slight glance and inclination of his head in greeting to the Lord Thane. Once his order had been taken he would deliver the requested beverage before handing Rardowia and Lunvan a goblet of water, and pouring one for himself. Regal assumed a position to the side of Raliric’s desk on a campaign table so that she could take minutes on the entire affair that brightening.

Once the beverages had been delivered the commanders of the respective forces moved to the large central table Raliric had brought in for this specific occasion. Rardowia and Lunvan sat on the same side of the table, leaving the other two seats free for Raliric and Keldon to sit next to each other. It would be easier to effect the changes in this set up as Rardowia and Lunvan would really be the ones sorting out the issues and logistics in the affair since they were the highest in command of their organizations, Keldon and Raliric were merely there to sort out any major problems and to of course get the ball rolling. Rardowia and Lunvan both greeted Keldon at the table with a simple and strangely similar "Serale Your Grace." and an inclination of their heads toward him.

Thus when everyone was seated Raliric would open his leather bound folder and checking to see if Keldon was ready, he began. ”Lets begin; Commander Nimas’ give us a report on the Hidden City and what the Phoenix Legion can spare, please.” He took up the pen and dipped it into the ink, ready to make notes on what Nimas said so that he could refer to them later if need be, even though his receptionist was taking down all that was said anyway.

Lunvan cleared his throat and withdrew a piece of parchment from a leather bound folder which appeared to be one of his reports. ”Approximately one thousand legionaries rotate through the Hidden City each brightening in a variety of different patrols and guard stations. These patrols consist of a wide range of the Legion’s resources though for obvious reasons cavalry do not feature a great deal, and currently the Nights are used sparingly. This number of active forces in the region has been cut considerably over the past eras as the gangs within the Hidden City have gone underground and are becoming better at hiding their deals, and their battles it seems. We have been able to downgrade our presence by nearly a third and still hold the region stable, though there are always reserve forces within the Phoenix Pavilion ready to mobilize should the Hidden City erupt.” He paused and took out another piece of parchment.

”As to what we can spare… Well that is debatable and the reason why this meeting was called, for both my own benefit and the Lady Rardowia’s. What we cannot spare are any Nights, Elites or Cavalry. The Nights and Cavalry suffered during the Zerdargian battle and we have yet to recoup our losses. The Elites… are simply… the Elites and thus out of the question. Of the remaining wings of the Legion we have a variety of Infantry types that we can spare, in total numbering at some five thousand soldiers, varying as to the numbers from each of the wings. That is a best case scenario.” He paused and inclined his head to Raliric and Keldon, that was his report as far as he was willing to make, now the questions would need to come.

Raliric, being more a mediator in this affair, sat back and turned his gaze toward Keldon and Rardowia to see what their questions would be.

[Keldon Elsdragon]

Keldon nodded his head to the statement. "Is there a specific type of soldier within those five thousand, as in are they a mix of Archers, ground forces and so forth?" Keldon asked with a curious tone. However Rardowia voice quickly followed. "If I may add your grace, is there a possibility of mounted men and women to be among the ranks of those who could be spared from the provincial force. As the cities mounted force is rather small, a increase in that aswel could allow for faster reaction to patrol requests outside the city walls."

Keldon agreed with a smile and turned his head back to Regal

[Raliric Ered`Gard]

Lunvan’s expression remained passive until Keldon and Rardowia had inquired into what they needed to before he replied. ”As you know the Guard of Primus is made up of Infantry, Archers and Cavalry. The Phoenix Legion is different in that our wings are split to more precise specifications, that is not to say there aren’t unique legionaries in our forces, but for the main they are standardized, much like the Imperial Legions. Those five thousand men consist of mostly Phoenix Swords, a small portion of Phoenix Arrows and an even smaller amount of Phoenix Axes.” He paused, in which time Raliric chimed in to fill in a few blanks for those who were not familiar with the Phoenix Legion, which was just Keldon, however he addressed it to all of them.

”The Phoenix Swords are basically medium armed and armoured infantry soldiers. Nothing like the Falcon Legion soldiers you may be used to, Keldon; and certainly nothing like the conventional militia… then again neither is the Guard of Primus. You’ve seen what they carry, weaponry and such, but you don’t know what their training level has been. They are considered a professional military, which means all of their skills, every private, is at least at intermediate level in their five main skills; short sword and shield, spear and pike, zinn’ka, long knife and of course fitness. The Arrows are similar but obviously differ in some ways. Their skills are; long bow, which allows them to use short bows with the same degree of efficiency, short sword, zinn’ka, long knife and fitness. The Axes are our heavy infantry and are naturally fit individuals, most of them are dwarves. Their skills consist of; the use of Axes, both single and two handed, throwing axes, short sword, zinn’ka and long knife. The Axes are the most varied of the wings in that a great deal of them don’t use axes but prefer two handed swords or hammers.” He nodded and sat back, motioning for Lunvan to continue.

”The Phoenix Legionaries have extensive experience in policing streets. Most of the Legionaries were recruited from fully trained members of the Guard of Primus and thus they know what their doing on the streets of Primus Gaudeo, and in the event that Legion needs to assist other cities they can do so effectively without any extra training. We can spare roughly five hundred Axes, one thousand Archers and the rest can be Swords; three thousand five hundred.” He then moved on to Rardowia’s question regarding cavalry.

”Unfortunately we can not spare any Phoenix Knights, however after the Zerdargian Battle we did have an influx of horses that were brought back with the Knights and have been on rotation throughout the Legions since to keep them fit and active on duty. Some of these mounts can be donated to the Guard so that you can train more cavalry. And naturally some of the men we can transfer to the Guard might have skills with horse riding or they might be trainable. It won’t happen over night though. The best bet with that, and Rardowia has no doubt thought of this, is to have a civilian mounted militia as backup for your Guard Cavalry until your Cavalry is large enough for your purposes.” Lunvan did not pry into what those purposes might be as that was not his job, however Raliric did; it was his job to pry.

”Do you need a large Cavalry division? I mean you have…” He brought out the report he had received from Rardowia on the state of the Guard of Primus. ”a little over seven hundred and fifty fully trained cavalry men. Now they wouldn’t be used within the city walls I would assume, or at least in no great number. That brings me to the conclusion that they would be utilized in patrolling Primus Gaudeo’s jurisdiction outside the city walls. Seven hundred and fifty men is a lot of men for patrolling as it stands even when broken into daily shifts. I’d just like to know your reasoning for boosting unnecessary cavalry.” He glanced from Rardowia to Keldon, wondering if it was Keldon who wanted the extra cavalry or whether it was Rardowia.

[Keldon Elsdragon]

Keldon looked to the two and smiled to Ral. "Well along with your shipments of granite to Zerd I intend to send a set amount of resources to the city every month from the cities production rate. To keep a constant flow of resources from Primus Gaudeo to the city, however to increase the safety of those merchants who wish to do business between the two cities I plan to increase patrols along the roads that Primus Gaudeo protects between the two cities with a regularity that is not present at the moment. So a small, not much increase in the mounted force would be welcome but not required."

[Raliric Ered`Gard]

Raliric groaned after Keldon had spoken about why he wished for the cavalry and he sat back and looked at the Thane with a level eye, wondering where to begin with his advising against such a course of action. It took him a few moments, in which time both Lunvan and Rardowia lent back in their chairs understanding that this was to be a small side discussion between the two politicians, or rather the politician and the general.

Finally he lent forward and rested one arm on the table whilst the rest of his body was turned halfway toward Keldon. ”Keldon… I can understand that you are eager to help Zerdargia and the dwarven people in their time of need, however…” He let it hang in the air for a few moments so that Keldon knew what was coming. ”However I do not believe this is the right way to go about it. Nor do I believe you have considered the recent developments in the province.” He paused, wanting his words to sound less harsh and blunt but knowing it was an impossibility due to his personality; thus he simply continued after a few heart beats.

”Zerdargia is presently receiving as much assistance as needed by the provincial government; now initially the aide from the rest of the cities of the province was most appreciated by the city however it is time for those cities to step back and allow the provincial government to do its work. If you are truly set upon the path of supplying these recourses for aide to Zerdargia then simply donate them to the provincial government to use for provincial aide. There are more needy locations out there than just Zerdargia which we are looking at sending aide to.”

”And as for the need for extra patrols to ensure the shipments are safe, that is not within Primus Guadeo’s jurisdiction. Provincial Roads are Provincial Concerns and as such are being looked after by the multitude of Provincial Garrisons we have set up around the province. Already outposts have been set up along the great road that spans from Primus Gaudeo to Port Alyxandrya and they are being manned by Phoenix Legion troops are there for provincial security. Adding your guards to the mix will only see jurisdictional problems occur and then we will be sitting down discussing more problems. Leave the protection of trade routes and government caravans in the most capable hands of our provincial militia. Your guards should be focusing on policing the city and apprehending criminals, not escorting trade caravans through the province. I would advise looking to your problem of manning the walls. The Guards of Primus have never been trained to do that, until now it has been the role of the Phoenix Legion, as a military organization, to ensure the walls are manned.”

He was quite simply appealing to Keldon to take the easy route in this affair and withdraw those plans of his own free will. Else it would force Raliric’s hand where he hated going.

[Keldon Elsdragon]

Keldon quirked his brow and looked over Rardowia then back to Ralaric. "I would likely have reconsidered that statement if I was aware that the guard was not the one who manned the walls of the city at a regular interval." He sighed briefly. "However if that is indeed the case then I would be forced to concer with your statement my friend. The additional force for the guard would be welcomed and I would believe they shall be the first to start routine drills for the walls and then assist in the training of the rest of the guard."

He looked over to Rardowia where she was nodded her head slowly so he turned. So he returned his gaze back to Ralaric.

[Raliric Ered`Gard]

The Lieutenant Governor silently thanked the Gods that Keldon had taken the easy route this time and then turned back to the two commanders. ”Alright, that takes care of the cavalry issue. I agree that the transferred men would be best put to use training men for the walls whilst also seeing to the Hidden City whilst the location is not as active as it was.” He turned to Rardowia and smiled, then looked back to Keldon. ”To be difficult and make you work for your wages, you won’t be getting the full five thousand men. That was a maximum amount we could give if there was sufficient reason to do so. Lunvan and I don’t think that that many is necessary. That does not mean that at a future date we won’t be able to discuss boosting the number of guards again.” He wrote down a number on a piece of paper, ripped it out and pushed it to the center of the table. The number read ’4,000’.

”You’ll receive four thousand Phoenix Legionaries in the transfer; three thousand Swords, five hundred Arrows and five hundred Axes. That is a sufficient enough number of men to rotate in three shifts a brightening with more left over to train your current guards on how to do wall duty. Within that sum you’ll receive, for a temporary basis, a number of Engineers to teach your men how to man the siege equipment on the walls. Ballistae, catapults, trebuchet, etc…” He waved as if dismissing recounting all the various pieces of siege equipment the city had, Rardowia knew of them all and thus did not need to be told.

”You’ll need to pay the men, though I’d presume their wages to be cut now that they are in the guard, something that they will not like, but most will accept. I presume that you’ll see to the uniforms and armour for the men? They all own their own weaponry, but that is a bonus of serving in the Legions. I’d advise making that one of the perks of working for the Guard as well, means that retired soldiers can be called upon to defend the city in a militia in a time of need and you won’t have to worry about arming them… or at least most of them.” He paused to flip through some pieces of paper which outlined what armour and clothing would need to be supplied to the transferred soldiers.

”The men will need the standard uniform which is almost completely different to the Phoenix Legion uniform: dark-blue cotton, sleeve-less tunic; dark-blue tight cotton trousers; dark-blue cape, with silver border and the Coat of Arms of the Guard on its back; dark-blue, leather cloak, with Coat of Arms of the Guard on its back; steel cuirass, with steel-clad leather-straps hanging from it; steel helmet, with facial-cover and plume; large, round steel shield, with Coat of Arms of the Guard.” He then placed the parchment down and looked to Keldon and Rardowia.

”Housing. Do you have enough Barrack’s space to house the extra four thousand men?”

[Keldon Elsdragon]

Keldon turned his head towards the commander who shook her head to Rals last statement. "I know the uniform my friend, I see it daily. However as to the housing at present I doubt we have enough room to house such a massive increase in one go. Thus we will need to construct new buildings or find another location to house the force. It would be prudent to transfer the troops over in incraments as required over the next season or so. As such a increase in one go could drasticly effect the cities finances."

[Raliric Ered`Gard]

Raliric merely cleared his throat after Rardowia said her first few words, glancing to Lunvan and then Keldon. It had not escaped Raliric’s notice that Rardowia was the Guard Commander, there was enough history between them for him to have an inkling of that fact; and like much of what Raliric had said it had not been for Rardowia, it was for Keldon so that the Thane understood the position they were in.

”I am glad you are aware of that Commander… It would have been worrying had you not.” He lent in a little closer and said, as if it were meant to be privately between them, though everyone in the room could hear it. ”It was meant to advise your thane, not yourself.” Then he lent back to his normal sitting position and nodded.

”I think that is the best idea thus far, though I fail to see how it will eleviate the pressure on the Hidden City. That is the goal of this is it not? To boost the Guard of Primus’ numbers so that it may cope with the strain of patrolling and enforcing law in the Hidden City; which is what the Phoenix Legion currently does. Your goal is to remove the Phoenix Legion, and quite frankly I’m happy to do so, those forces can be used elsewhere in the province. Once the jurisdiction of patrolling that area of the city changes hands the Guard will relieve the Phoenix Legionaries.” A slight grin before he continued. ”Incrementally increasing the Guard would not help much with the Hidden City, in fact it would probably leave that section of the city un-patrolled for a while until enough men can be brought together to effectively patrol it. Either that or patrols sent there will perish quickly without the necessary support of a larger force.” He paused for a moment, wondering if they understand what he was getting at. He knew Lunvan did, and assumed Rardowia did, thus the extra information was for Keldon’s benefit.

Finally he simply nodded to Lunvan to say what Raliric was hinting at. ”With the decrease in the Phoenix Legion force within Primus Gaudeo we will have a few barracks buildings unoccupied; enough to house over twelve thousand men. The Phoenix Legions would be willing to lease these barrack’s buildings to the city for the use of the transferred Guard members. If you wished for them to stay in these barrack’s on a more permanent basis than we would sell these buildings to the city, and allow labourers to move the buildings to a location outside the Phoenix Pavilion.”

Raliric picked up on the idea at that point and spoke of what he might do for the city he loved so much. ”Should you wish to take the more permanent course of action, you will require twenty barracks buildings to accommodate the four thousand guards. I would be willing to donate five of those buildings to the city of Primus Gaudeo, leaving you with purchasing fifteen. Effectively, I will donate one barracks for every three you purchase.” For Raliric, that was a very generous deal with the city of Primus Gaudeo, though uncharacteristic of the Raliric known in the past… then again, Keldon’s attitude of late had brought out a side of Raliric few had known before.

[Raliric Ered`Gard]

OOC: I have to finish this thread for two reasons, 1) it is grandfathered and needs to be finished, and 2) what was worked in this thread would be implemented in this current season. Thus I'll continue with the thread as Keldon has basically agreed to everything so far and all that needs to be done is confirmation and then Keldon leaving.

Rardowia's features broke into a slight smile as Raliric politely made his intentions clearer, though she did not bother with apologizing for she knew he needed no such thing. What she did comment on, however, was what Raliric and Lunvan brought up next. The ideas were fundamentally sound, however there was still the issue of funding which was plaguing all of these equations. ”Lunvan, Raliric, the problem that we face is still funding, whilst your offer is quite generous and sound, I believe that even so we will be unable to fund such a venture without the aide of provincial funds.”

Raliric nodded slightly and then shrugged. ”Then you shall have them, we will simply rise the levy of tax imposed upon the locality of Primus Gaudeo by a sum that will equate over a pattern to the amount of crowns you need to make the venture available. We are talking about the safety of the citizens of Primus Gaudeo, and quite frankly that means a willingness to supply the amount of funding needed to keep them safe.”

Having reached an adequate decision in the matter, Raliric and Lunvan stood, Rardowia and Keldon followed. They shook hands and then Keldon and Rardowia left. Raliric turned to Lunvan once they had gone. ”I would like a portion of the Legionaries who are being transferred to be Phoenix Elites in disguise of normal Legionaries. They are to keep you informed of any commands coming from the Thane's office and Rardowia's. Commands that seem strange or eventually turn out with odd results. I wish to be made aware of them no matter how small. Similarly those Elites are to begin gathering information about other Guards who would be willing to become eyes and ears of the Government. They will be paid well for their information and loyalty to Centripax. On another related note, I would like you to form an intelligence agency with the Phoenix Elites. Eventually they will be made separate from the Phoenix Legion and form their own organization directly under the command of the Lieutenant Governor and Governor of Centripax.”

OOC: I will leave the response of Lunvan to what Raliric asks up to you Adder as it requires a moderator's touch. This should effeectively be the last post from me in this thread, unless I need to reply to what Lunvan says; thus would you be able to give me exp for what we achieved. I believe it would be politics. Cheers!

[Adder]

Lunvan waited behind as bid by Raliric, nodding to the Commander as she left. His eyebrow twitched at the request and he paused for the words to sink before answering.

"I can see no reason why that shouldn't be possible," he answered after a moment, the words slow as his thoughts raced along the implications of what he'd just been told. The question would never have been asked had the Lieutenant Governor had just a suspicion of something amiss, though clearly he had no proof either.

"I'll have a look at the rosters and see who I can assign to this task." It was implicit between them that information gathering had long been a part of the Elites function, something that had gone beyond normal tactical information gathering, but never before had it been formalised.

[Raliric Ered`Gard]

The Knight smiled and breathed a sigh of relief. ”Excellent. My Thanks to you Lunvan.” He gave the General a friendly pat on the shoulder to further extend his relief. Though he thought he should explain himself to the man as they had been friends for sometime now. ”It is not that I do not trust the Thane and his judgments, however I have been told that he is not exactly making friends in the city. He is a friend of mine and it pains me to have to keep him under surveillance however it is necessary.” He sighed and sat back into his chair, clearly exhausted from the rigors of his role in Centripax. He was not used to having to monitor everything and solve so many problems. ”Your assistance and support is a breath of fresh air I must confess.” He said as he looked back up to the General.

[Adder]

The generals eyes narrowed as the Lieutenant Governor made an explanation as to his reasons. He smiled and appeared reassured, though something about the explantion niggled in the back of his mind, something not quite running true between the request and the explanation. He shrugged it off though as he couldn't place it and it wouldn't do to openly question the explanation.

"The Thane has a knack of rubbing people up the wrong way, it's true," he smiled as his thoughts returned to a memory of the Guard Commander complaining to him after a long darkenings drinking at a mess function. "But I'll see what I can do to keep him under my eye so that you can step in when necessary." The itch that the explanation had failed to scratch was something he would ponder later.

"But unless there is something else?...." The session, not least the end of it, had raised a number of things that he needed to get to work on.

[Raliric Ered`Gard]

Raliric shook his head and stood. ”Oh, no, no nothing else. Thank you for your time.” He waited until the General had left before sitting back down and slumping in his chair and closing his eyes. He would rest for a few moments before returning to his own work.