They were an unlikely pair at best.They were an unlikely pair at best. Cartwright was tenacious, traditional and wise. He had served the Dark Lord's father and grandfather with the same unswerving loyalty that he bore his emperor. He was of the old nobility, widely respected and as fine a fighting man as most men half his age. Garza, on the other hand, was living proof that the empire discriminated only against the weak. A towering unsightly giant of a man, in whose veins was rumored to flow the blood of ogres and trolls, as well as that of his human mother, a slave in the exotically vicious Chained Collar brothel in Ellanya, he was utterly ruthless. He commanded the southern outposts, holding them against the Ice Queen and her hordes. The spring thaw ran red with the blood of legionnaires and Winter Wizards each year since he had been posted, and through his efforts, the southern border had advanced more than fifty leagues. Unlike Cartwright who would support the Dark Lord's plans unhesitatingly, Garza would most likely voice his grievances against the upcoming campaign, since it would draw on the resources needed to keep back the Ice Queen. General Victor "Victorious," of the renowned Lightening Legion followed them, hiding his amusement at the conversation topic. He was boisterous, cunning and proud; one of the more ingenious of the military chiefs. He was able to make and execute snap decisions, based almost entirely on his unerring combat instincts. He and his Lightening Legion, the only legion that operated completely on horseback, would be crucial to the Dark Lord's ultimate designs in securing the Elven Kingdom. Warlord Toggle Fingerbiter entered and chose his seat with no ceremony and an approving glance at Phyllia posted beside his chair. He was no tactician, but he and his people would follow orders and fight to their dying breath, since death in battle was their way of assuring great rewards in the next life. He would speak for many and support anything the Dark Lord proposed. Admirals Thomas Ekert of Londarus and Charles Stout of Rima were carrying on their customary friendly feud over whose river forces were more effective at pirate hunting: Rima's, where quality troops were needed to keep the smugglers, and the ships from Lupa and Tavect in line, or Londarus' forces who clashed with river pirates and barbarian raiders, in situations where numbers were of more use than strategy. |