Reinforcing the State

[Alexander]

Alexander Ludenhof dug his heels into the flanks of his white steed, spurning the horse to move at even greater speeds than it already was doing. The Elector Count could already see the great fortress looming over him, though it was still a distance away, and knew that speed was now of the essence. He had to reach Fort Schippel within the next thirty minutes or so and meet with the Knight-General in order to create the plan he had in mind, and since the Knight-General was due to travel to the south of the state shortly the Count needed to reach him before he left. In thirty minutes, or so. The Fort was so close, however, that Alexander felt he would successfully reach it in time. Never-the-less he spurned his horse on, faster and faster, his retinue of bodyguards doing the same in order to keep up.

It took Alexander only fifteen minutes to reach the Fortress at such a speed, where he found the Knight-General and a contingent of fourteen Knights saddling their horses, preparing to travel south. The Elector Count slowed his horse to a trot as he approached them, before pulling on the reins and halting it's movements altogether. Carefully dismounting, Alexander walked towards the Knight-General and his Knights, all of whom immediatly dropped to one knee upon seeing the ruler of Hochland. Alexander smiled, waving them to their feet. "General Bergan, it has been far too long since we have spoken." Alexander said, clapping the Knight-General on his armoured shoulder. The Knight-General nodded. "Indeed, Count Ludenhof. It has been one month and four days since we last spoke in person. My men and I were just about to head south to check that everything is okay. Is there something you need of me?" Alexander nodded, turning on his heels and beginning to walk back towards the inner-area of the Fort, followed by Bergan. The Knights stood silently, and would wait for their orders.

"I will have General Rithrin of the Militia send a contingent of men to the South, for I have need of you and your Knights. It has come to my attention that the Hochland State Army is becoming relatively low on numbers, and if we are to enter a war with Agopias we need all the men we can muster. I need you to send messenger Knights to Sokh and Krudenwald and try to muster as many men as possible. They need to then be trained and initiated into the army. Is that acceptable?" Alexander asked Bergan. The Knight-General did not reply, instead whistling. Immediatly two Knights entered the room, saluting their leader. "You shall go to Sokh and Krudenwald, and begin a recruitment drive. Every man you can muster is to be trained and integrated into the State Army. Go with haste." Bergan told them. Another salute, and they were gone, and the Knight-General nodded to Alexander. The Elector Count smiled, before clearing his throat and continuing.

"Thank you General. There is one other thing - the borders of Hochland are far more susceptible to infiltration and possible invasion than I find appropriate. I have therefore ordered that enough lumber be gathered and prepared for the construction of six watch-towers," At this point Alexander drew a map from his pocket and lay it out on the nearest table. He then pointed at the map as he spoke.

"We'll place them here, here, here, here, here and here. Strategical locations, alongside Fort Schippel and our two villages. They were have small guard camps around them, and will have a contingent of ten men at all times. Two men in the tower at any one-time, which will be rotated around the ten Guards. The wood is a good choice because the enemy won't be able to get close enough to chop them down, so if they wish to remove them they'll have to use fire - in which case we'll spot the large fire itself and the smoke. I need you to gather all the available workers and any Knights who can assist, spread them across the State to these locations, and begin the construction. Can you do this, General?" Knight-General Bergan nodded, saluting Alexander and then turning to leave the room. The Elector Count knew immediatly what Bergan would go and do - he would go and rally his Knights and have them do the task assigned to them by their leader. Bergan was perhaps Alexander's greatest and most loyal ally. General Rithrin, the head of the Hochland Militia, and Commander-General Walter of the State Army were both extremely loyal men, but not in the same league as Bergan.

So it was that Alexander went and watched with pride as numerous Knights of Schippel were gathered around Bergan, who had taken the map to show them the locations noted. The Knight-General instructed them what would be happening, and without so much as a single complaint the Knights set to work. Some would go to Krudenwald, some to Sokh, and some would head to the capital of Hergig - all would gather every available worker and split them between the six designated locations. This task would be completed for the betterment of Hochland. The Elector Count watched as, man by man, the horses left the Fort to carry their passengers to their destinations, and Alexander knew that he was making the state of Hochland that much better through his actions. Soon the State would be ready for the war that was to come with Agopias.

Sokh & Krudenwald*

Many villagers stood silently as a group of Knights rode down the paved road, saying nothing to those they passed. Some villagers were in complete awe of the Knights of Schippel, whilst some felt fear because the presence of the Knights generally meant an enemy was on the horizon. Their steel armour shone brilliantly in the sun of the afternoon, and the sun also reflected from the weapons held carefully on the saddles of the horses they rode. The white, black and brown horses whinnied as they carried the armoured Knights down the street, neither startled nor annoyed at the continual staring of the villagers. It was something both horse and Knight were used to. Eventually the Knights came to the center square of the small village, where they drew to a halt.

From the group of Knights came a Knight who had a slight differentiation to his appearance - he wore white robes over the steel armour protecting his legs, signifying his rank as one that was higher than the other Knights. As the Knights of Schippel dismounted the villagers drew closer, intrigued by what would bring Hochland's greatest fighting force to their town. After a few moments of silence the leading Knight spoke. "I am a Commander of the Knights of Schippel. I have been sent here by the command of our Lord, Elector Count Alexander Ludenhof, to speak to you of an impending threat. As many of you know we are preparing to fight the forces of Agopias in the coming days, and we need all the help we can get." The Knight paused, pleased at the angry looks that crossed the villagers faces when Agopias was mentioned. Their anger would help the recruitment drive. The Knight waited for total silence before continuing.

"To this extent we are asking for any able-bodied men between the ages of eighteen and forty four to come forth and join the Hochland State Army. Prior to your induction you will recieve training and will then be given your equipment, before being placed in a regiment of the Army. We know this is a lot to ask, but we also know that you love Hochland and would seek to preserve it, as we do - unless our army grows this cannot be achieved. We ask that you do this for your Count, for your country, for your families! Your families who, by the way, will be cared for during your absence, and you will recieve a 5% decrease on the tax you pay for your hard work and service!"

* Similar thing will happen in both towns, so felt it easier to give a description for one.

Hergig

Silence filled all but the most ignorant corners of Hergig, the capital of the Hocland State. A general call had been put out earlier that day for everyone to come to the central square of the capital, where they would recieve an important message from the Knight-General of the Knights of Schippel. The fact that it was the Knight-General giving the speech was enough to bring most people to the square, but some of Hochland's more ignorant people had chosen to come simply because others had - following the band-wagon, so to speak. Total silence was called for, and mostly achieved, before Knight-General Bergan walked to the speech platform, his steps accompanied by a round of applause and cheers from the people. He was loved for his loyalty and dedication to Hochland.

"Great people of Hergig, I come before you now not as the Knight-General, but as one of you - a citizen of Hochland. Our enemy, the Kingdom of Agopias, moves closer and closer to our borders, with numbers that far exceed our own - we must stop them! They may have numbers, but we have the skill and conviction to halt them in their foul tracks! We are the state itself - we are Hochland!" Cheers erupted once more. "But numbers are important, to a degree. We need every available man, between eighteen and forty four to join the State Army. To recieve training and equipment to do this country proud. We need you, in order to survive! By joining the State Army you will recieve a 5% decrease on the tax you pay, and your families will be provided for! We need your help!"

Watch-Tower Locations

At the six strategic locations, where the watch-towers were being built, numerous carts containing lumber and steel had been moved into positions, and the materials were being unloaded by the workers, who were preparing themselves for the difficult tasks ahead of them. They had been shown the plans by the Knights, so they knew what to do, though they were also aware of the fact that it would surely take some time and effort to complete this task. However there were numerous workers and strong Knights ready to help, and in a few hours they hoped to be able to gauge how long the project would take. Once the material was unloaded, they began their work.

[Azanael]

Sokh & Krudenwald

The citizens of Sokh and Krudenwald were indeed angry at the mention of Agopias and it did fuel their ire to hear that soon war would be breached with their distant cousins; when finally the Knight Commander had come to the conclusion of his speech the populace gave a great cheer to signify they were happy with the terms given, however not many stepped forward, at least not many at first. It seemed that although the citizens of this great Kingdom would be reimbursed for their time in service, and their family would be cared for in their absence, not many of them actually wanted to go to war. They, as their cousins from Agopias, were not a warlike people and as far as they were aware Agopias was not threatening them. Not to mention the fact that Hochland had such good relations with its surrounding kingdoms that a large army could mean only one thing; Hochland was going to war, and they were the ones making the war.

There was reluctance, however still twenty recruits stepped forward from Sokh, and a further twenty-three from Krudenwald. Their ages were dispersed between the range the Knight Commanders mentioned and their abilities varied. One in particular was a heavy built man, appearing to have origins in smithing, whilst another was more spindly and had a bow resting upon his back. They were the only two who, at first, appeared to have some skill in their areas; the others might have some skill with a bow or staff but other than that would need extensive training.


Hergig

The populace of Hergig flocked to the square to hear the words of the Knight-General, known to be extremely dedicated to Hochland, and thus this was an occasion that rarely came around and was not one to miss. The crowd was quiet for most of the speech, though they did cheer when it was appropriate given the volume and forcefulness of various moments in the General’s speech. When finally he had come to a conclusion there was another great cheer from the crowd, though it quickly died and the citizens looked around for those whom would move forward and join the ranks of the State Army. Only fifteen men moved forward, they were of an age suitable that they might have some minor experience in staves, bows or axes, but nothing more; they were after all the citizens of a city and as such their jobs were not directed to hunting or cutting lumber or anything of that sort. They were also a bunch more inclined to think on their decisions and not act upon impulse, thus although fifteen had been recruited so far there was a chance that more would come later on.

Total recruited: 56 recruits, 2 with some experience (smithy and bowman)


Watch-Tower Locations

The first day on any construction site is perhaps the slowest and hardest to achieve anything upon, even under the direction of the Knights the workers were still finding their place in such a new environment. Not only was there that, there was also the fact that each watch tower location had to be marked out, surveyed and then the land that was to transform into said watchtower would need to be leveled and the rocks removed from the soil. Then foundations would need to be dugout and filled, and then came the task of cutting the wood to size and actually building the structure. The siege workmen (those whom built siege works of which a watchtower could be considered) were confused as to whether it was only a watchtower they were to build, or whether they wanted a wooden palisade, ditch and mound also created. One of the siege workmen, a large set man with not a bit of fat upon his body, moved forward to one of the Knights and spoke, he was the least afraid of the knightly presence for the simple reason that he appeared like he could crush a Knight’s helmet with his bare hands. ”Greetings Knight, My colleagues and I wonder if we are just building these watchtowers or whether we are also meant to be building a wooden palisade, ditch and mound also… for defensive purposes. I also wonder if you require some sort of barrack house, or even a stabling location.”