Thread: The Empire (Rosewood & AlluringEnigma)

The kingdom of Altheras had been a small but prosperous and independent kingdom. They had favored political independence, instead forging strong trade relationships and selling there many resources and products made out of those resources to other nations. There military was a combination of a traditional military with long-standing customs who were mainly put to use for guarding the trading caravans and ships and performing military parades and honor guards on ceremonial occasions like a coronation or a royal funeral. The other half were mercenary companies, hired from time to time to hunt down especially troublesome bandit groups and raiders but also to deter a potential invasion, since any would-be invaders knew that a large number of skilled and powerful mercenary companies would be bought by the Altherans to fight against any potential invaders. For this reason many people jokingly called the Altheran army the 'invisible army' since the Altherans had a powerful army and yet they didn't, at the same time. This strategy had made the Altherans very rich and very influential, completely untouchable yet by means of trade they could still influence other nations and lands into making trading deals favoring the Altherans. Many nations resented the Altherans for manipulating them and thus hadn't minded when the Empire swept in. The Empire had defeated the Altherans with an incredibly low number of casualties due to a brilliant military strategy that had crippled the Altheran military before combat even began. They had bought out all the known mercenary companies in the region, using merchants from other regions to disguise the overarching plan and on top of that, they had smuggled elite operatives into the major military bases and sabotaged them at exactly the right moment, spreading the Altheran military thin between putting out fires, tracking down murderers hunting there soldiers and citizens and a massive invasion force on the other end. In less then a month, the kingdom of Althera had been conquered with almost no casualties on the side of the Empire. The monarch had managed to flee and in the monarch's absence, the majority of the aristocracy had surrendered to the Empire. Some pockets of resistance still existed though, the Altherans were proud nationalists and resented the Empire's yoke. To maintain control, the Empire had assigned a sizeable occupacation force to crush the pockets of rebellion remaining within the kingdom. Every major city had a captain assigned to it but the Empire had assigned notable commander Adas Torlak to the capital, where most of troubles were originating from. Adas was a notable field commander, famous for his ability to turn any military engagement into a victory without sacrificing troops but by being clever and cunning. This latest assignment, to rid the capital of rebels, was one of the trickier ones Adas had been assigned. The rebels were like invisible mosquitoes, they pricked you and when you swatted at them they were already gone. Adas had begun to tackle the issue by assigning most of his troops to guard key areas and sending spies and assassins into the city, waiting for the rebels to make a move and making sure some of his men were always close by to respond immediately and capture or kill the rebels. The tactic had worked, to a degree, picking away at the rebels one by one, capturing them and torturing them for information often led to a handful of other rebels. But it was slow work that came at the cost of many lives and even more material resources and Adas was getting tired and fed up with the lack of results. Any news from our spies and informants? Any responses to our bounties for information on the rebels? Adas asked one of his lieutenants as the man gave him the daily afternoon report. The lieutenant went to inform Adas of the few minor pieces of information he had received. No one had offered any information yet and all was quiet in the taverns and inns his spies were listening to, word on the street was also quiet. Adas nodded, it made sense. The rebels were probably licking there wounds and celebrating after recently lighting a grain silo on fire. Which had cost them four men that Adas was now torturing in the dungeons under the royal palace. Ironic that the royal castle was being used to torture those most loyal to it, Adas thought with a grin. He dismissed the lieutenant and leaned back in his chair, going over his possibilities in his head. He needed more concrete information, ideally from a trustworthy source that could provide it on a regular basis. Either that or he had to get more brutal and force the people of the capital to choose between themselves and the rebels. He preferred the former option and so he rose from his chair and made a decision he had put off for a while. It was time to go see her and ask her for yet another favor.