The War of Lilacs

[Inkwell]

After having greeted Stray, Jules walks over to take a look at the plans.

When Theo suggest running straight at them full force Jules nods. "I like that plan! Simple. And not too much to fuck up. And when it comes to coverts ops, I will honestly admit that I suck at those. The whole cloak and dagger and sneaking around.... It normally ends up in fighting anyway. But as I mentioned, I am not the best at planning stuff like this. So I am not sure you should count my vote."

 

[SpringNixie]

Avery listens to the advice of the three allies gathered and considers them all for a few seconds. "While I do think you have a point, Jules, there is always the risk that their forces are simply more powerful than our own. Charging straight at them could lead us into a situation where our forces are overpowered and lost whilst they counter and come straight at us. I think Theodore and Stray are right, we should focus on fortifying some of the surrounding lands -- especially the cities -- before marching straight into combat." She begins to mark off what she feels will be key locations on the map. [8, 10, 11, 13, 26] "If we can take these locations as quickly as possible, I think that the Court of Lilacs will struggle to break through our defenses and thus we should be able to push back against them heavily over time."

 

[Pattern-Weld]

"I would have to agree with Avery, considering the opponents we are up against." He slid his finger across the map, tapping the enemy base. "Red Hand. Former Fae and or current Fae, not big on the semantics. The Filth. An enemy known for secrecy, an enemy known for trickery, and an enemy known for infection. At the least two out of three most likely have experience with a straight forward bull rush approach, and some sort of countermeasure, some way around it etcetera. Then there's the filth. We have no way of knowing if chopping off the "head" so to speak will do much to the rest of it. If the filth spreads the same way it always does, our bee-line down the middle could make things worse. When the queen is stopped the filth could flee in the two opposite directions away from the mass of our forces, into other parts of Germany even. Our forces would have to split into either direction, chasing it down, causing it to flee further and further into possibly more populated areas. As much as I hate to admit it, the fact that the filth is organized and following directions for the moment might be to our advantage. We need to surround the problem on all sides, push it into the cliff face." He pointed to the dead end behind the enemy fortress. "Control the field, contain the filth, eliminate the threat. No chance for escape."

 

[Theo Collins]

Theo grunts in agreement with Avery and Stray, jotting down more notes in his pad, making sure to mark the areas that Avery pointed out.

"Good, good. We're starting to get a plan together. I'll make sure to write all of this down to show to Lady Bresee when she returns. In the mean time, we should probably come up with plans to prevent the general populace from getting in the crossfire, especially regarding the filth. Avery and Stray, what else could you tell me about it? I don't know much about it, outside of the rescue mission from before." Theo admitted.

Theo tapped each of the cities that lined the center of the country. "Should we make these our top priorities?" He questioned. "To protect the people, prevent the filth from infecting any more victims, and possibly starve it out of new hosts? What could be the possible consequences of that versus taking on Queen Egle?"

Theo took a quick pause, realizing he had made a fault. He turned to face Jules. "I'm terribly sorry. I haven't properly introduced myself. I'm Theodore, Knight of the Spring Court. Well, Pseudo-knight anyways. But please, call me Theo."

 

[Pattern-Weld]

"The Filth is a messy business." Stray would say as he looked around the map. "Keeping civilians safe is a good priority. Essentially it can take over the mind, and use the body to help it proliferate. Sort of like a zombie movie, except it can spread quicker than just biting." He would say. "So yes, preventing it from getting new hosts would be a boon on our side of the battle." He looked to Theo. "You might have heard about the song some of the Fae have been hearing. That's just another way it has evolved to spread. It's constantly changing, adapting even, making multiple strains. It would be impossible to create a blanket statement defining the rules for all of them. As a matter of fact the only one that seems to work is that they are all bad, and should be avoided and or killed at all costs."

 

[SpringNixie]

Avery nodded to Theodore, Jules, and Stray with a smile. The nixie's confidence was growing.

"I think we should also take into consideration what they are likely planning at the moment." She points to the plains at the far side of the map [18] with her finger. "If I know Egle, I would bet almost anything that she has the same sort of strategy as we do and will focus the majority of her efforts upon reaching the city of Erfurt [11] whilst creating a barricade using the other cities and towns nearby." She marks her thoughts with a sweeping motion across the center of the map. "With this in mind, I think we should attempt to take and fortify Erfurt [11] as soon as we possibly can by rushing in a small group of troops and then quickly reinforcing them with reserves using this river here." She points to the river which stretches throughout the western half of Thuringia. "It is for this reason that I think we should send our plains fae down through the forests of Kyffhauserkreis [5] towards the plains of Sommerda [6] rather than sending them around the long-way around through the Eichsfeld region [1]." She looks up at her gathered allies with a wry grin. "I doubt our enemies will expect that and, by sending our forest fae through Eichsfeld [1] and Unstrut-Hainich-Kreis [4] to reach the forests of Wartburg-Kreis [7], we waste no time in getting them into the forests near the lower-half of Thuringia."

"Theodore, since you are less experienced in combat, I think you should go with the Forest Fae on their march to provide them with support whilst Stray leads the plains troops into Erfurt to take the city. Jules and I will stay here for the time being but will move with the reserves when we go to reinforce the city."

She looks between them all as she begins to mark their troops' movements upon the map. "I feel we have decided upon our strategy for our first movements. I shall relay all of this to Lady Bresee upon her return and will give our troops their orders." She nods to Stray and Theodore. "You two should get some rest. We march under the cover of night."

 

[SpringNixie]

((END OF TURN 1))

Court of Spring Resources: 4
Court of Lilacs Resources: 2

 

[SpringNixie]

Avery sat close to the center of that oaken table which stood in the center of the Court of Spring's war tent tinkering delicately with a large, World War II era radio that had been lent to their war effort by the ever-helpful Council of Venice. Bite, the small pixie blacksmith, sat on the nixie's shoulder as she worked and gave her chiding pieces of advice as the courier grumbled with annoyance in response.

"Avery..." Bite began, much to Avery's dismay. "You don't know a thing about electronics, do you?"

"No," Avery grumbled in response as she tried flicking on the switch to find it produced naught but static. "I don't know the first thing about electronics and yet here I am working my tail off while you back-seat tinker. I thought you were supposed to do this kind of stuff."

"I normally would but that thing is ancient." The pixie flutters down to stand on the table and leans against the side of the radio as if it were a wall, tapping on it with the back of her fist. "I wouldn't mess with this thing if my life depended on it. It's beneath me."

Clenching her teeth together in annoyance, Avery tried rewiring the radio for the umpteenth time and got a nasty shock for her attempt. She cursed and leaned back in her chair with a huff. "Gods damn this blasted thing! We need it in order to stay in contact with our units on the field and yet the Council only gives us this piece of crud!? I thought they were supposed to be high-tech!"

 

[Pattern-Weld]

A new arrival would walk into the war tent, wearing casual work clothes, a messy tank top that showed off his metallic anima veined arms as well as some baggy cargo pants. "Hey Avery. I came a bit late?" He said, looking around the mostly empty tent. "Sorry about the delay. Had to get those grenades onto the assembly lines." His eyes went to the radio. "Having some trouble?"

 

[Inkwell]

After, a bit belatetedly, having greeted Theo back in return, Jules would keep his mouth shut, while the rest had discussed strategies. He was here to do one thing and that was keeping Avery as safe as possible. When suggested that he would stay behind with her, he had nodded his consent.

When the noise from the old radio pulled him out of his daydreaming, he looked around the place until he found Avery working on the old tech.

"You know. I normally just smack things like that a few times. Either it fixes it or breaks it totally. It's like an either or kinda thing."

He nods at the new arrival and smiles at him. "You look like a guy who can fix a radio without smashing it to bits first?"

Jules would then take a step back, giving them space to work on the old thing. Talking over his shoulder towards Avery, he paced slowly back and forward. "Sooo... any news about when we move? Cause while my main priority is to stick close to you and keep you safe. It still feels a bit strange to me to know I am actually behind the line, waiting. Instead of being ahead of the line, pushing. Crushing and.... you know. Creating a bit of chaos."

After that, Jules would find somewhere to sit. He would remain waiting here until Avery would go anywhere, at which moment he would jump to his feet and be ready to follow her anywhere she would need it.

 

[SpringNixie]

Avery grumbles some more at Jules' initial comment but then her ears perk up once Nick steps into the tent. She smiles and stands, bowing low to the inventor as she welcomes him to the campsite.

"Good afternoon, Sir Vandask. It is an honor to meet you in person once more." She stands upright and moves back to the radio, shooing Bite away from it with a wave of her hand. The pixies chuckles and flies to rest on Avery's shoulder instead. "I could actually use your help with this, I think. The Council of Venice promised to provide us with radio equipment so all of our forces could remain in contact but I cannot seem to get this darn thing to work." She looks over at Nick hopefully. "Might you be able to get it up and running?"

She would then move away from the radio so as to stand by Jules' side. "If you are itching for combat than you had best get yourself ready. You, Allie, and I will likely be marching south towards Erfurt [11] later tonight. We also need to fortify the region of Sommerda [6] so as to ensure our adversaries cannot march northwards whilst we focus on securing the city."

 

[Pattern-Weld]

"Sir Vandask huh? I kinda like the sound of that." He said with a bit of a laugh before he walked over to the radio, tilting his head curiously. "That's a ooooold one. I can definitely try," He replied to Jules, picking it up and moving it around a bit in his hands as he inspected it. "Bet I could figure out whats wrong with it though." Nick set it down with the back up, and slowly from the metal of his palm a screwdriver came out, emerging from the temporarily liquid steel. He then got to work. "Who's your friend?" He asked of the little fae on her shoulder.

 

[SpringNixie]

The pixie ogled Nick's arm, quickly buzzing toward Nick as she flew rapidly flew circles around the strange device. She stopped only for a moment to slap on her pair of goggles before continuing to ooh and aah, far too distracted to respond to the inventor's question.

Avery sighed, resting her face within the palm of her hand. "That is Bite Elacroix, the Court of Spring's head tinkerer and-"

"Blacksmith!" The pixie finished, landing triumphantly upon the top of the radio with a slightly-mad smile. "That is quite the arm you've got there! Would you mind if I took it apart to see how it ticks?"

 

[Pattern-Weld]

Nick let out an amused chuckle at her question. "You are welcome to try, I can't seem to be able to do it myself." He said, perking an eyebrow at the litttle pixie. "After I get this radio fixed, and we talk about some schematics we are going to work on for the war effort of course." He popped a panel off the back, and his fingers automatically sifted through the wires, finding any difficulties and adjusting them. Making upgrades. "It's nice to meet you Mrs. Elacroix." He said sincerely, his arms going to work on the radio without much thought needed.

 

[SpringNixie]

Bite fluttered down to watch Nick as he worked, once or twice knocking his hand aside as she hopped inside of the radio to fix some of the tougher wiring herself. Avery simply watched the pair at work with an incredulous look.

"You'll help him but you wouldn't help me?" She asked after a couple silent moments.

"What can I say, Avery? I like a man who knows his way around tools." She replies as if this were not only a good-enough reason but also quite obvious. The nixie simply finds herself facepalming once more.

 

[Pattern-Weld]

After he and Bite spent a good 5 to ten minutes most of what needed to be fixed got fixed. Last but not least, Nick removed the antenna. "After we fix this bit, it should be good as new Avery." He told her with a nod. With a gentle motion of his hand, what used to look like sculpted metal on his arm shifted open, becoming segmented like most modern machines. Just a large enough slot to slip the antenna in. He allowed the machine goddess to do her magic, and before too long he pulled it out, looking brand new. He handed the piece to bite to re attach with a smile.

 

[SpringNixie]

Bite whistled and grinned wide as she removed her goggles. "I... I think I'm in love..."

Avery shakes her head and shoos Bite away from the device once more, bowing her thanks to Nick before sitting before the radio and switching it on. The machine crackles with life and the nixie grins as she takes up the headset, placing it over her ears. She looks back at Nick and Bite -- who was now resting on Nick's shoulder with a dopey grin -- and silently mouths the words "Thank You" before speaking into the receiver.

"Come in Court of Spring. Court of Spring, can you hear me? How do things look out there?"

 

[Pattern-Weld]

A voice crackled in through the radio. "Stray here. No signs of hostiles yet. Moving along at a good pace. All is well."

Nick gave a small chuckle at Averies thanks and gave her a "you're welcome" via a nod. Deciding to let Bite show him around her smithy, Nick turned with his new friend and ventured out of the tent.

 

[Inkwell]

"Oh. When it comes to battle or fighting. I was born ready!" Jules stands quietly, a huge grin on his face. Apparently already looking forward to the fight.

When Bite and Nick started working on the radio Jules looked on, fascinated, but clearly totally lost to exactly what they were doing.

Once they both leave the area Jules turns to Avery and asks, "That little one. What is she really?"

 

[SpringNixie]

The nixie nods, marking down this information on the map.

"Stray, how do you feel about taking Erfurt [11] on your own whilst leaving your troops to guard your flank in Sommerda [6]? My Lady thinks that this would allow us to defend our camp from the south whilst still providing the city with aquatic fae reinforcements via the waterways. We have one squad waiting here in camp and are planning to bring in one more as well as another squad of forest fae to help secure the south." She bites on the eraser end of her pencil nervously before continuing. "Allie and I would likely move into Erfurt to replace you whilst you continued marching to meet up with Theodore."

Avery covers the radio's receiver with her hand as she answered Jules' question. "She really is our blacksmith. Brilliant designer and quite the mad, little tinkerer too. She had an ogre named Maurice do all of her heavy lifting."

She goes back to speaking into the radio. "Theodore, My Lady wishes you to continue marching south with your troops until you reach the forests. At that point you are to split with them and make your way towards Stray to secure as many regions and cities as possible. It will probably get pretty heated down there once Queen Karaliene figures out what we're doing so we'll do our best to provide troops when we can." She scratches at one of her antlers. "Does this sound alright?"