Story 5 - Of alliances and rebel leaders

Link to Story 4

Lord Grinsal seemed to be back. The insolent man had seen more of him in the last few days and Lord Grinsal had been taking control of his castle affairs again. The gathering might have been a good start, but most likely it had been more about his people and even other lords showing Lord Grinsal that they cared about his wellbeing. It had given Lord Grinsal the needed motivation.

While Lord Grinsals troops had done good work to clear out a lot of the lower-level rebel troops, nearly up to level 100 now, there were still a lot of the rebel leaders and rebel camps around. Those proved to be a problem. He never knew, when and if they would attack. Surely his advances against them had made them angry but for now they kept on hassling mostly the transport routes. They never attacked the castle directly or the troops marching but it was only a question of time.

Lord Grinsal had his maesters do some research to find out more on the rebel leaders and how to beat them. It was neither a cheap nor easy task. And it took time. Something Lord Grinsal did not know how much he had left, before an attack. They had to come up with a plan.

A meeting was set to form a plan of action and other Lords would take part in it. Lord Grinsal would not be able to do all the needed work himself, maybe in a few months but certainly not now.

Later in the small council chambers of Lord Grinsals castle 

“What can you offer us to help?”, was one of the first questions out of Lord Ibranduls mouth, right after the council had begun. Lord Grinsal did not like that man at all. It was quite common for people to look only for their own advantage, but this Lord seemed to be especially arrogant. No pleasantries, just right to business.

“Well, we can offer you gold for your services. You must see though, that it would be in your own best interest to keep the rebels at bay.” Lord Grinsal had said. Lord Ibrandul just looked at him. “I have no problems with defeating this rebel scum. How weak are your soldiers? You really are a shame. If our alliances were not allied, I would crush your kingdom. So how much are you willing to pay?”

The debate went on and on but in the end, they came to a conclusion. Lord Ibrandul and his allies would help clear the land of the bigger threats, but all the small ones would still be the responsibility of Lord Grinsal. And Lord Grinsal would not get any help if his castle got attacked. All that for a lot more gold than Lord Grinsal would have liked but there was no other option for him right now.

Outside the castle on their way to some rebel leaders

Lord Grinsal had sent his best commanders to fight the Oldtown Student rebel group. The commanders were all around level 50 and their pray, a mere level 1 rebel leader would surely not stand a chance against them. They still moved carefully. Each of the five commanders had around 5.000 soldiers with him. A formidable army, but they made a lot of noise too.

Reference picture of an Oldtown Student Rebel Leader. Not the one attacked!

The plan was quite easy. They would move near the enemy, scout their position and the surroundings and then attack from multiple sides so that the enemy would not be able to flee. So far so good.

On their way they had already found some rebels in small groups. They had no problem with dispatching them. So far none of them could flee and warn their leader.

They got nearer to the camp where the Oldtown Students were reported to be. Everything was ready, they had gotten into position and were ready to strike, when one of the scouts reported back and told them that there was a big rebel camp nearby. If even one of the rebels would flee, it could end up disastrous for them.

They moved nearer to the enemy group, as stealthily as possible. It still sounded like a herd of elephants to their commander. He tried to get them to be more silent but after a few minutes he gave up. It would have to be enough to surround the enemy … a sneak attack was out of the question with those kinds of troops.

As they got nearer they heard the Oldtown Students. They were having some kind of party. Loud singing, people drinking … why had they even bothered to try to be sneaky? Those rebels were more like … well students. No one of them seemed to pay any attention.

The commander gave the order to attack and the troops surrounding the Oldtown Student camp came out of hiding. The first rebels fell before they even realized they were under attack. One of them even drunkenly stumbled in the sword of one of the attackers, nearly ripping it out of the hand of the soldier.

It wasn’t a fair fight. It was not really a fight at all. It was a slaughter. The leader of the Oldtown Students had pissed himself, when he had seen what was happening and was begging for his life. The commander though had his orders and killed him on the spot. Afterwards they set up pikes with the heads of the slain enemies on their top. That would deter others for sure. Well, at least the commander and his troops could confiscate the remaining barrels with beer. And without any losses they had something to celebrate.

Maybe it was bloody work. Maybe it was bad, but someone had to do it. And someone had to destroy all that beverage so no other people might be tempted by it. Yes, it was a noble cause!

Screenrecording of a kill