A breath in.  A breath out.  

	Azzhlan had his elbows resting on the table before him, his forehead resting on his clasped hands.  Inside, Azzhlan was furious, but he was intent on maintaining his self-control.  It was one thing that the Dominion had sent ships to invade.  It was earlier than expected, but it had been expected.  The invasion upset him, but it was not what had inspired his rage.  They had used their fell magics — and the perfect timing with the invasion guaranteed it was no coincidence — to raise the Honored Dead of Hammerfell.  They had unified the two things most averred by his people to weaken them.  For the first time in years, he had seen his father walk the earth, and it had disgusted him.  It was a stroke of luck that the Ansei of old had either not been risen, or simply had not brought their mighty weapons to bear.  

	A breath in.  A breath out.

	A visiting ruler — come discuss other matters before the Dominion set their plan into motion —from Riverpoint in the east of his realm, was the first to speak.  “My Lord, what shall we do?”

	A breath in.    A breath out.

	“Every levy from every corner of the realm must be brought to bear.”

	“Is it truly wise to put all of the soldiers against the Dominion at once?”

	“They will need to establish a base of operations for their invasion.  Existing structures are the most useful, so port cities are the optimal targets. “  Azzhlan gazed down at the map before him.  The question was how far north the invaders were willing to go.  Rihad, being the furthest south, was also close to the fighting with the Res Publica, which had advantages in flexibility, but they knew the tenacity of his people from the last war, and would no risk being distracted by one of their two enemies.  Roseguard and Taneth were further north along the same coast.  Taneth, being larger, was better defended, but movement from Roseguard was restricted by the Corten mountain range.  If they traveled any further past Hnes Rex, it would be clear that their target was Gilane, but the obviousness — and lack of anything significant beyond its port and population — made that target unlikely.  They could always make landfall on the coast near Hegathe, and move to take it by land, but then they would need to move their troops through the Alik’r Desert.  Beyond that, there was only Sentinel itself.  As the historical and present capital, Sentinel was amongst the best defended cities in the realm, and the furthest distance away from the invaders, which would give htem the most time to prepare.  

	[i]Wait.  Moving over land would make Gilane more plausible, and it is close to open shore than Hegathe.  Or perhaps they think their troops fighting the Res Publica would be enough to keep those idealists busy, making Rihad a reasonable choice.[/i]   The Forebear stronghold has been taken by the Dominion in the previous war, and while restricted by the Corten mountains, was nowhere near the nightmare of Roseguard.  

	“Either Rihad, or Sentinel.”  The two most likely candidates, by Azzhlan’s estimation.  That, in turn, posed a new problem: the two cities were on opposite ends of the realm.  The entire army could stand against the Dominion, but it could not do so when split in half.  Sentinel, being the capital, was tempting, but the Dominion was sure to know that Rihad would be significantly harder to reinforce, and to funnel supplies to.

	“I consider Rihad the more likely of the two, but it cannot be certain.”  After a pause, Azzhlan continued, “There will come a point where their destination is clear.  The forces shall be marshalled at Taneth.  After they sail past Stros M’Kai, the force shall follow them; to Rihad if they sail east, to Sentinel if they sail west.”

	“What if they attempt a feint, my Lord?”

	“On a ship?  Their supplies are limited, and morale suffers on board a ship like they are.  They will not feint, it would take too long.”

	“What if they would make Stros M’Kai their base of operations?”

	Azzhlan responded quickly and sharply.  “We cannot fortify Stros M’Kai in time, and so must accept its potential loss.  Besides, while I do not doubt they will take it at some point, the port is not large enough to hold their ships, and it lacks the fortifications or supplies to house or feed an entire army.  It is a small island, after all.”  At these words, aides were sent off from the room, including Talib, to rouse the armies of Hammerfell to defend against the Dominion once again.
	“Everyone in this room has something to do.  If you are visiting, return to your home, and make ready for war.”  Standing and turning to leave, Azzhlan could not suppress a smirk.  At this moment, a full battalion of fighters had come from their homes to aid him, along with the promise supplies.  He had sent them off to aid the Ash’abah in dealing with the risen dead.  He doubted that was what they had expected, but there were far fewer options for dealing with the undead threat, even if it was less of a threat than the Dominion.  Besides, they were sapping morale and supplies throughout the realm, making the Dominion that much more difficult to deal with.

	Avik fell into step next to him.  “What would you call a chances?”

	“Good, with the gods on our side.”  Azzhlan said, “So long as Ruptga and HoonDing are with us, this long hard fight will end well.”