The Next Step

"The Next Step" is a [SEASON NUMBER] thread written on [IRL DATE].
==Summary==
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==Full Text==
It had been 3 months since they left Rhenco behindand they hadn’t seen hide nor hair of the alchemist again as the bitter cold of December had begun to creep into the island. Since their first raid on Castaway Dungeon they had been preforming raids on various Central dungeons throughout the land. With each successful strike their numbers swelled. Now they were the size of a small army, and that was why Lila had called everyone here today. She stood in the center of the Great Hall at a large round table, a map of Central pinned to it. She was surrounded by the various rebels, among them were her siblings, Jari and Kettil, as well as Deo.
After Gideon wakes up from his long needed rest, he enters the Great Hall and notices a meeting taking place. He would simply linger in the back and smoke on his pipe, hand on the hilt of his sword.
Jun 16, 2020
The Warden, towering above everyone as always, was leaned up against one of the supporting columns of the Great Hall, her body a little more charred and worn after both her extreme stress after Fallfeast and the subsequent raids. Liam and Kendra both hung next to her, with Nala feeding Kendra a mental stream of the flow of the conversation within the hall. There was a sea of humans and half-breeds alike, and even a handful of those from lesser known wilds. She kept a watchful eye over all of them, but over the months, they had proven themselves to be eager, hardworking and loyal. Nala’s concern over traitors was low.
Darien stood at Lila’s left hand, his hands tucked nervously behind his back. Directly across from Lila, the remnants of the Sleipnir Squad peered over the map, having grown several members larger as they had raided and saved many soldiers from the dungeons that were there against their will. Milae was in the midst of them, bright eyes focused on Lila’s movements. 
Jun 16, 2020
Dario held himself close to Milae, not all too familiar with the cast of characters that packed the Great Hall. He took notice to a handful of faces that he had interacted with before, but the stag didn’t feel himself friendly enough with anyone to bother with initiating conversation. He’d remain content, hand in hoof with his favorite entity.
The scout stood in the far back reaches of the hall, keeping his peripheral vision as unimpeded as possible. There was no telling where he could be, and this crowd would be an attractive target for someone not of sound judgement.
Jun 16, 2020
Aria tried not to bounce in her seat, almost vibrating as she looked around the Great Hall in excitement. She sat beside her sister, near the front where the Andersons and Felmans were. She had convinced Iona to let her attend, on the promise that she will behave. Her sister was quiet and calm where she was, the complete opposite of the young healer. Her face expressionless as usual, except for the occasional glance towards Kettil.
Juro yawned where he hid himself in the rafters, leaning against a support beam and idly taking attendance in his notebook, quietly hoping that the meeting would start soon. Virion rippled once above him as they waited.
Gideon would continue to linger towards the back, mostly out of sight from the rest, as he listened to the meeting, jotting down little notes of the key points. As we would do this, he hummed to himself as he puffed on his pipe, slowly creating a small smoke cloud around him.
Jun 16, 2020
The Chief was at the head of the table at her big chair, or throne…with her husband at her right with their three children. It had been a few months since the Rhenco and Night Fury incidents, and life appeared to be significantly better for the Felman family. Grey had been learning to control her newfound plasma magic from Deoiridh, and the village appeared to be okay with their Chief having magic. She vowed that she would only use it when necessary and nothing more.
When the meeting was about to begin, she stood up holding up her hand to silence the room. “Is everyone here?” she asked.
Gideon, would hear this and speak up. “Aye.” He would raise his hand, signifying his presence.
Jun 16, 2020
After various sounds of acknowledgment Lila steps forward a bit. “Good. Then let’s get started. So many of you might be new here so let me give you a brief primer. We are the rebellion, and our mission is to do away with the opression of High Central. Over the last few months we have carried out numerous raids against their dungeons and you chose to stand with us in our cause, and for that I am eternally grateful. But now the time has come, the time to take the fight to Central and take their seat of power right from under them!” She takes a moment to let the information roll across the crowd before speaking again. “As he is our resident expert on the subject I’ll have Darien outline the defenses of the city.” She says as she steps to the side.
Jun 18, 2020
Darien set his feet shoulder-width apart and clasped his wrists, taking a deep breath and facing the crowd. He was much more at ease with speaking to them now than before. 
“High Central is a shadow of its former self,” he said, projecting his voice to the corners of the hall. “But it is not without its dangers, its pitfalls, its guards or its authorities. We no longer face a flawless monolith, but neither do we face a harmless ghost.” He squared his shoulders. “Through much scouting, previous knowledge provided by myself and the various guards we have recruited and rescued from their dungeons, we have a decent picture of what we face.” He met Nala’s eyes across the crowd, and she nodded. A pool of red energy flooded across the map before Lila and rose into the air like smoke, rolling outwards into a decently realistic three-dimensional view of what High Central appeared to be at the present. It stood strong, but the wall was damaged, including a large chunk of the northwestern front, and all of the bridges leading across the chasm that separated the city from the rest of the world were damaged except for one.
Darien pointed at this bridge, specifically at the crowds of guards, barricades, and people that held fast at either end. “This,” he said, “is Vesallgardr. Vesalls, for short. A faction determined with keeping the peace, and continuing the obstruction and oppression of their successors. They do not currently rule the city proper–not yet. That is their goal. For now, they are sieging the city, and have been for the past few years, which started with their seizure of the East Bridge. Tensions are at an all-time high. The Vesalls are growing weary. The conglomerate of mobs and banks running the last dregs of High Central are running low on supplies. This is both of their weak points, and our first chance at taking advantage of the situation draws near.”
He gestured, and Nala enlarged the section of the city they were planning to strike at. “We are facing what can essentially be considered bands of mercenaries. Waves of guards and reinforcements blocking known entryways. But that is all. They have only manpower, no dragons or griffins, and their limited knowledge of the workings of the city.” Darien held up a stack of papers with various notes on them. “Thanks to the Sleipnir Squadron and their allies, we have the location of several secure passages into the city, with the Vesalls none the wiser. We have the advantage of secrets, half-breed street knowledge, magic users, the support of those who wish High Central under proper rule–” he nodded to Dixie and his merchants in the crowd “–and, of course, demonic and draconic assistance. We have heart. We have determination. We have little consideration of when to give up or surrender.” At this, the hall rumbled appreciatively, with a few lone cheers from the back. “The city is open for the kill. We must only decide what course of action to take.”
Jun 18, 2020
Lila looks at the map and starts pacing around it. “I didn’t factor in the other faction into my initial plan. They’re going to make things a might bit difficult.”
“Is there anyway we could get them to surrender peacefully?” Kettil pipes up.
“What if we ‘ad a big fuck off army?” Deoiridh says.
“Possibly, but we don’t have a massive army.” The eldest sister said. “We barely have 700.”
“Well… Yes and no.” The red-head replied. And suddenly standing next to her was a rebellion soldier in perfect detail standing next to her. “Ah can’t make ‘em all look this good but if ye just position em far enough away they can at least look scary.”
Jun 19, 2020
The Chief listened intently to her niece, nephew, and her brother’s reincarnation as they discussed amongst themselves. If they could keep up an illusion of a large army, it could be a clever intimidation tactic. However, she couldn’t help but wonder if they would be intimidated or challenged. 
“That’s a possibility,” Grey pondered, “but what if they see it as a challenge? Or what if they somehow figure out that it is an illusion? We would need a back-up in case that doesn’t work.”
Jun 19, 2020
“I can work on negotiating a contract with as many mercenary forces that I have within my connections. The more you want the more expensive it will be, but it would give you a direct source of manpower. That could supplement your forces if an illusion fails.” Dixie mused, and then glanced at Jari. “If all goes well on the development side of things, we may even be able to set up semi portable field cannons. You also have air superiority with your dragons.” 
Jun 19, 2020
Jari nods. “Development has been going well. I’m hoping to have at least one hand canon ready to go by the time we’re set to leave… If not a handful.” She snorts at her stupid joke.
Lila sighs. “Indeed. I’m hoping your mercenaries won’t be required Dixie. From what we learned of both groups, it seems they’re both on their last legs. If we had a great display of force it might be enough for one or both of them to surrender. As for seeing through the illusion that is where the battlefield is our advantage. We would have the main force up close to the city and then have the reinforcements appear at a fair distance behind us. Close enough to be seen but not so close as to see any details.” She pauses and sighs before speaking again. “If all else fails, we engage the enemy.”
Deoiridh pipes up again. “If ah ‘ad too ah think the most ah could do that could be a close approximation of a person would be about two hundred, two fifty maybe?” She pauses for a second and then perks up. “Oh! If ah had the Warden or the Changling, or the Arbiter use me as their anchor ah might be able teh crank out a few hundred more.”
Lila nods. “We should also see if any further support could be gained from any of our allies.” She turns to Grey. “Could you send a message to the Oceans and see if they’d be willing to send aid?”
Jun 19, 2020
The Chief pursed her lips in thought at the mention of the Oceans. Back before she and Brandt even got engaged…when he revealed the truth about him and her father…and a few months after Akkey first visited Haligan Island, her uncle Einar disappeared on the trading route, and she, Akkey, and Brandt investigated and came across the Ocean Nixes. She remembered meeting the royals, and how shocked they were when they saw that a Chief was a woman and her boyfriend followed her orders. 
She couldn’t help but smirk at that. It was a tense encounter, but they parted on civil terms and met at least once a year. However…they had never been to Haligan. She sighed.
“I could try, but…Lila, it won’t be easy,” she said. “The Oceans…we sort of parted on civil-okay-guess-I-won’t-kill-you-today-terms… It may not be easy to convince them, especially when they had problems with a woman being Chief.”
Jun 19, 2020
Lila crosses her arms. “The worst they can say is no. The tide of battle can often be turned by a single soldier. I’d like to make sure we have as many as we can.”
Jun 19, 2020
Grey smirked. “Trust me, my dear niece,” she began. “Your old aunt has her ways.”
Jun 19, 2020
If the need arises I am happy to help Deoiridh. The Arbiter chimed in. He had been listening intently to the plan however had nothing really to say until now. At the worst we will have more numbers in our forces.
Jun 19, 2020
Deo nods at Fiendal's response. "Alright then. So, the plan is as follows. For the moment we wait for Grey to send the letter and for their response. Regardless of whether or not they send aid we'll march on Central. Once we make it there, we make a show of force, try to make one side or both to back down.
We use Deo's illusions to make ourselves seem bigger than we are. If neither side backs down, we'll unfortunately have to take the battle to them. This is the worst case scenario, we'll essentially be fighting two wars on one front. Hopefully it won't come to that. Hopefully the Vesalls will stand down and we will take their place and siege the bridge in their stead.
While the bulk of our forces hold the bridge, Akkey will portal a troop into the sewers and attack from the rear while we charge the gates and take the city." She pauses to let all of the info sink in.
"Now, unless there are any questions or concerns, this meeting is adjourned."
Category:BOTGD 2
Category:Events
Category:Act II
Category:Deoiridh Tuathanach
Category:Fiendal Hrothgar Hookless
Category:Firkugaan
Category:Grey Bergman
Category:Lila Ericson
Category:Jari Ericson
Category:Dixie Donz
Category:Kettil Ericson
Category:Darien Whiteland
Category:The Warden
Category:Aria Lindholm
Category:Iona Lindholm
Category:Jin Juro
Category:Kendra Arnason
Category:Liam Arnason
Category:Dario Hjort
Category:Yun Milae
Category:Vox Arnason