"His Highness himself said that it is three thousand purple dragon knights, not three thousand miscellaneous troops. There are only a few cavalry in Faerûn that can rival the purple dragon knights." Karadna said with a smile. , "Although this army of conquerors is known as an army, it is essentially an immigrant army. The two previous major battles were dominated by elite battle groups, and ordinary soldiers were auxiliary.
However, the number of enemies is so large that once the elite are separated from the main body and pinned down, it will easily cause a large number of casualties to ordinary immigrants. This is probably what the leader of this army least wants to see.
Their hobgoblin army on the Giant Plains is a powerful army, but unless they have to, they will never dare to let them rush out of the Giant Plains and attack the human army on the Dragon Coast, because doing so will incur public anger and put them on their backs. The reputation of colluding with monster tribes to attack human tribes.
Therefore, it is difficult to fight this war. From the beginning, it has been a bargaining chip on the negotiation table. "
Karadna became Vongeldahast's disciple. She didn't come to him on her own initiative, but after she single-handedly wiped out an orc raiding force from Thunder Peak, she attracted the attention of the court mage. , what impressed him most was that this warlock was powerful but could live in obscurity.
Before officially accepting her as a disciple, she had rejected the invitation of the knights secretly arranged by Vongeldahast several times. She had secretly contacted her several times through changing identities. The court archmage discovered that this girl not only possessed powerful bloodline power, but also suffered the most severe injuries. Orthodox aristocratic education has its own unique features in all aspects, including economics and military affairs.
Vongeldahast, who was passionate about talent, could no longer hold back and took the initiative to reveal his identity in front of her and asked to accept her as his apprentice.
The Palace Archmage still has a certain reputation. This time, Karadnai did not refuse, and she did not disappoint Vengdahast. She was above the level in all aspects, especially under her systematic training. The growth rate is even more amazing.
Vengdahast hid a secret in his heart that he did not tell anyone. He planned to train this young female disciple to be his successor. It was also because of this intention that he took the opportunity to arrange her next to Yalusel.
Vongerdahast said with a smile: "This is a good thing for us. The difficulty for us to promote peace talks will be reduced a lot. When we enter Ivanso later, you must follow me closely and not act without authorization."
The last sentence, what the court mage mainly told Yalusel, was that Karadnai had a stable temperament and would not do anything too rash.
"You know, I'm not a child, so I won't be so careless." Yalu Sai'er muttered dissatisfiedly, but she herself was not particularly confident, because many times, once she got into the mood, she would throw everything away. Behind the head.
"Then show the flag." Vengdahast waved his hand, and a huge magic flag appeared above his head, with a purple dragon roaring vividly on it.
Dragon Bay In ancient times, there was indeed a purple dragon named Sagro, but the Kingdom of Cormyr was called the Purple Dragon Empire and had no relationship with this dragon, at least no so-called blood relationship.
Just because their knights like to wear purple armor, which looks like a huge purple dragon from a distance, they are named the Purple Dragon Legion.
Later generations of scholars also derived the implication that they would replace the ancient dragon Sagro and continue to dominate the north shore of Dragon Lake.
With this as its flag, in the whole of Faerûn, there is only one family, the Kingdom of Cormyr, and no other semicolon.
As soon as Vengdahast raised the flag, both the Dragon Coast Alliance and Ivanso's army of conquerors reacted.
The latter's reaction was undoubtedly better. In just a few minutes, there was a flash of magic fluctuations. A cavalry wearing red heavy armor appeared several hundred meters away from Vengdahast and his party. There were not many of them. There are only fifty knights, but they are all equally powerful. Picking one out at random is more than enough to serve as a mid-to-high-level commander in the Purple Dragon Legion.
"Long-distance, large-scale troop transmission."
The eyes of the three people couldn't help but condense. They were not close to Ivanso, nearly a kilometer away.
More than fifty heavy cavalry, including men and horses, is not a small number. Even if Vengdahast personally took action, he could not teleport five cavalry using advanced teleportation techniques.
The nine-ring teleportation circle can teleport on a large scale, but the casting process is long. The few minutes they showed their flags were not enough to prepare this spell.
They all have very high military literacy and are very aware of the value of this kind of magic that can quickly mobilize troops on the battlefield. It is easy to catch the enemy off guard, especially the coalition forces outside the city where countless forces are mixed together. As long as the tactics are used well, The fifty knights in front of them alone were enough to stir up the situation.
In this way, Karadna's previous judgment was a bit too arbitrary, but she did not have time to discuss it with her companions. This cavalry was led by two commanders and was close at hand.
The two commanders are a man and a woman. The man looks much younger than them, but he exudes the aura of a mature man. His face is not the kind that will shock people at a glance, but the more he looks at it, the more comfortable he becomes. The more you watch it, the more you like it, and it's hard to feel disgusted.
Just at the first glance, he matched up with the identity in the intelligence. He was the culprit of the whole thing, Gavin Nott, the initiator of the conqueror's army.
The woman next to him was wearing a blood-red sealed armor, covering her airtightly. The reason why she could tell it was a woman was because the armor on her body was tailor-made and had a concave and convex shape. In particular, the size of the chest is so majestic that a special process had to be used to forge the breastplate to support it.
This unique shape is a symbol of status. Ms. Catherine, the first choice of Ms. Stratagem, has never taken off her armor since she became the saintly body of Ms. Stratagem, and her current true appearance has been seen. It is said that it is because When she was possessed by Ms. Strategy, she made a sacred oath. As long as Ms. Strategy does not show her true appearance in front of the world, she will never show her true face again.
"Your Excellency Archmage, after half a year of separation, you are still as energetic as last time." Gavin took the lead in bowing and saluting.
He was not surprised to see Vongeldahast appear here. There was full of distrust between the conqueror army and the Dragon Coast coalition. If they wanted to make a truce and make peace, external forces must intervene.
There is only one person in the surrounding area who can play this role, and that is the Kingdom of Cormyr. As the king, Assan IV cannot leave the royal capital lightly, so he can only send the palace mage with high enough prestige and powerful enough strength to take action.
But the two people following him were a bit beyond his expectation. Although their faces were still a bit immature, he matched the information immediately.
Because these two people will play an important role in the Kingdom of Cormyr ten years later.
One is the regent with the reputation of the Iron Princess, and the other is the new court mage of the Kingdom of Cormyr who succeeded Vongerdahast.
Vongeldahast laughed and said: "I have indeed not changed at all, but my little friend's changes are a bit unexpected. Last time I felt that my little friend was not an ordinary person, but I didn't expect that he was so extraordinary."
"The Archmage is over-reputed. I was just messing around and achieved some trivial achievements. Let me introduce it to you." Gavin pointed at Catherine beside him and said, "This is the elector of Ms. Strategy, the Lord of the Strategic Battle Fortress, The first lord knight of the Yin Red Banner, Ms. Catherine Yantingduo Blood Eagle, is the court mage Mr. Vongdahast from the Kingdom of Cormyr.”
Vengdahast was the first to speak: "I have heard of Madam for a long time, and this time I came with your Majesty's entrustment. This is Princess Yalusel. She will be the first batch of students to study at your Yinhong War College. In order to support the lady, our students from the Kingdom of Cormyr, in addition to paying the normal tuition fees, will donate 100,000 gold coins to the Yinhong War College free of charge every year."
"I also ask the Archmage to thank His Majesty for your generosity on my behalf." Catherine showed a hint of joy appropriately. Such free assistance would never be too much for her.
But compared with Gavin's previous donations, the Kingdom of Cormyr is obviously petty. For the Kingdom of Cormyr, the annual donation of 100,000 is obviously just a meaning, not a big help, which also highlights Gavin's sincere.
"This is not the place to talk. If anything happens, let's go back to the city and talk about it." Gavin made a gesture of invitation to the Palace Archmage and his party.
"Okay." Vongeldahast followed suit.
Because the Dragon Coast coalition forces also sent cavalry to welcome them, the matters they wanted to discuss could not be settled in a few words.
Gavin waved his hand, and fifty red falcon knights surged up like a tide, guarding everyone in the middle, and walked toward Ivanso in a majestic manner, without any intention of using the previous collective teleportation.
It's not that it can't be used, it's intentional. It wasn't Catherine who sent them out to form the formation before, but Zalanda's. She is also in Ivanso now, and Catherine's is still reserved to deal with emergencies.
Wherever the Red Falcon Knights passed, the Dragon Coast Alliance troops had to retreat like the tide.
It's not that they are shocked by their powerful strength but their unique identity. They are the direct descendants of the Goddess of Strategy. If they take the initiative to attack them without reasonable reasons, it will be equivalent to declaring war on Ms. Strategy and all her followers.
Don't say that they didn't have the intention to start a full-scale war with the conqueror's army. Even if they did, they wouldn't dare to rashly involve a quasi-god in it.
Gavin and the others had calculated this accurately and had just sent the Red Falcon Knights out to greet them instead of other extraordinary battle groups.
Along the way, Vengdahast was still a little restrained. He only used the corner of his eyes to look at the situation of the Dragon Bay coalition forces and the army of conquerors, and evaluate their strength.
Yalusel and Karadneko were blatant. They even kept whispering. Although they had just met for the first time, they got along very well and could find many things in common.
As they gained a deeper understanding of the Conqueror's army, they discovered that they had underestimated the strength of the Conqueror's army and the chaos of the Dragon Bay coalition.
Facing a heavy cavalry force of less than a hundred men, they were so disorganized. If a large-scale raid occurred, wouldn't they themselves turn into a pot of gruel?
Moreover, now that the conqueror's army has the advantage of city defense, they only need to hold on for a while, and this coalition will have to collapse on its own.
In terms of material preparation, the conquerors' army was far ahead of the temporarily assembled coalition forces, although they had continuous assistance from major cities.
But if they were the commanders, they would definitely send out a small number of elite cavalry to harass, destroy, and plunder their supply lines.
What they can think of is impossible for those believers of Ms. Strategy to think of.
The purpose of assessing combat effectiveness and victory or defeat is naturally to prepare for the next negotiation. Whoever has stronger military strength and a greater chance of winning will naturally have an advantage and can offer a higher price.
"Is this the work of the necromancer Arms?" The court archmage stood in front of the city hall of Ivanso, his brows furrowed.
He could tell at a glance what was unusual about this place. It was clearly connected to the Shadow Plane and was a direct passage there.
"Yes." Gavin nodded and explained, "Archmage, please rest assured that we have already dealt with the problems here. We will never let those ghosts enter the material plane through this place. Using this place as an office is temporary. Here It will definitely be used for other purposes in the future.”
There is no reason to spit out the meat you eat. The Ivanso City Hall has become a sub-territory of the Vizeme Manor. Naturally, it is impossible and will not be returned.
"As long as you know the special nature of this place." Vengdahast wisely stopped meddling in other people's business.
After everyone entered the city hall and took their seats, the palace mage went straight to the point: "I believe there is no need to explain my purpose here. I just want to know, little friend, what are your plans? Is it war or peace?"
"It's not a question of whether we want to fight or make peace." Gavin complained indignantly. "We kindly helped the people of the Dragon Coast eradicate evil. Not only did these brotherly cities not appreciate it, they turned around and organized a coalition to attack us. We are surrounded, the Archmage asked us if we wanted to fight or make peace, it seems that he asked the wrong person."
This cunning little fox behaves well after getting an advantage. You are attacking a city on someone else's territory, but you still think they are surrounding you. Even if you don't attack the city directly, it will be cheap.
Vongeldahast laughed and cursed in his heart, but his face was full of kindness and said: "I know the grievances you feel. This is the main purpose of my trip, to find an acceptable balance point for both parties. If you have any requests or opinions, feel free to mention them. I will consult with the city lords on the Dragon Coast, after all, once a war breaks out, both sides may shed blood."
"Let us leave Ivanso." Gavin said unceremoniously, "First, their army has to withdraw fifty kilometers, and I want to ensure the safety of my army.
Second, Ivanso must be handed over to the rule of Ms. Yeshandara and the resistance army led by her. They have been fighting for the just cause of Ivanso's liberation, and it is most appropriate to leave it to them.
Third, they must ensure the safety of our legal industries in all cities on the Dragon Coast and cannot retaliate against them after we leave.
Fourth, they must promise not to destroy the road of conquerors we established, not to retaliate against our normal business travel here, and to recognize Blood Gorge City’s ownership of the Giant Plains. Once they attack this place, Blood Gorge City will The right to fight back.
5. Those people from the Dragon Coast who voluntarily join our migration team cannot stop them.
Sixth, they have to prepare 10 million gold coins as war compensation. After all, we helped them eliminate a huge security risk on the Dragon Coast. "
At first, the palace mage nodded slightly. Such a request was very reasonable. When he heard the last two words, even he couldn't help but look sideways.
This is not a lion's mouth, this is a dragon's mouth. It not only wants money but also people, and is ready to directly skin the dragon's bay.
"Are there any other conditions?" Vengdahast asked. He was just a lobbyist and a mediator, and it was not his turn to make irresponsible remarks on the conditions proposed by the other party.
"That's all we have for the time being." Gavin vowed, "As long as they meet our six conditions, within three days, we will leave Ivanso and hand it over to the rule of Ms. Yeshandara. By the way, they They must promise that as long as Ms. Yeshandara does not take the initiative to provoke a war, they are not allowed to use troops here. Once they break the contract, our blood goblin army has the right to enter this place to assist in defense."
"I will try my best to facilitate this matter." The Palace Archmage responded vaguely. He suddenly felt that his mission on this trip was arduous and he had a long way to go.
He found such conditions difficult to accept, let alone the Dragon Bay City Lords who were involved.
Vengdahast acted resolutely. After listening to Gavin's opinions, he appeared in the coalition commander's camp. A group of city lords and mayors had already gathered here, just waiting for his news. After listening to the requirements he brought back, The city lords and mayors quarreled directly in front of him.
"Robbery, this is naked robbery. They attacked Ivansuo on their own initiative, and they were not hired by us. Why should they ask us for money? And the asking price is too outrageous, 10 million, why didn't he rob it? ? No, even if you rob it, it can't be so fast, it's impossible, you will never, we will never pay this amount."
"Blood Gorge City is now completely managed by a group of hobgoblins. When will the monster city enjoy the territorial rights of intelligent life? Wouldn't it be a mess?"
"We are not allowed to use troops on the Giant Plains. That is an even more ridiculous request. Monster tribes breed here very quickly. If we do not clean up regularly, monster tribes will soon grow stronger and attack our city. We cannot agree to this request."
"Ivanso is our city on the Dragon Coast. The appointment of the mayor is our own business. Why should he be appointed by an outsider? We can't take the initiative to attack them. What kind of hegemony clause is this? We absolutely cannot agree to it."
(End of chapter)
