[u]Arrival to Akki[/u]
Andreas up to this point had quite a calm and peaceful life. He had a loving family and a woman that he loved dearly he knew that after the war he would propose to her. But his mind wondered as he heard one of the crew members from up on deck shout “Land Ahoy!” Andreas quickly started to gather his belongings making sure to not leave anything behind. Once done he left his quarters. As he stepped up onto the deck he saw all the sailors attending to their tasks as the ship sailed closer to the city of Tortuga of the Kingdom of Akki. Andreas had never ventured outside of Andromeda before the war but since becoming one of Lord Andrew’s messengers he had been to several places in Formaroth, Akki was just an addition to his list. He looked at the city, it was a marvellous sight. Along the dock, he could see a prosperous market dealing in all sorts of trade. As the ship got closer Andreas could even hear the sound of drunken laughter from the numerous taverns that he could see. Then that’s when he saw it the castle that belonged to House Neptuna. The castle stood on top of the cliff looking out towards the sea and the city. The ship drew ever closer to the docks. Andreas knew that he had indeed an important task before him, he knew that he was to become a bridge for two families, it was all up to him to offer this bridge to House Neptuna.

The ship docked upon the harbour of Tortuga. As Andreas stepped onto the harbour he saw liveness of the people of Tortuga. It reminded him of Andromeda, it reminded him of home. Then suddenly Andreas noticed a soldier from House Neptuna approaching him, he noticed this due to the crest of the turtle on a blue shield. As the soldier got closer he said “You! Are you one of Lord Manshrew’s messengers?”

Andreas calmly replied “Yes I am.”

Once this was said the soldier looked at him. Andreas was not sure if the soldier believed him or not but eventually the soldier said “Lady Freya has sent me to escort you to the castle, we must be swift. She is not the type to be kept waiting.”

Andreas replied “Then lead on.” The soldier nodded and the two of them quickly paced towards the castle.

[u]The Negotiations[/u]
The soldier and Andreas who quickly followed entered the royal court room. It was there in which Andreas saw his generous hosts. Sitting on the throne was Lady Freya Neptune, Andreas knew that despite her age Lady Freya had much experience when it comes to being a ruler. Standing next to her was her son Robert who was indeed young but held himself in such a way that you would mistake him as a Lord. Then standing on the right side of Lady Freya was Captain Nicol her advisor, his age bared him great knowledge and Lady Freya confided in him greatly. To the left was Commander Elduin her elven commander, it in all his travels Andreas had barely seen any elves and it was a challenge to determine the age of any of them. Either way Andreas knew that Lady Freya’s army was ferocious and that Elduin was the spearhead of this army. 

The soldier and Andreas stopped, both bowed to show respect. As they both raise their heads. The soldier left Andreas’ side to join with the others near the throne. Freya who remained seated in her throne said “So messenger what brings you all the way from Telmarion to my humble Kingdom?”

Andreas who composed himself replied “My Lady I have come to convey Lord Andrew’s message and he would like me to tell you that he apologises that he himself could not be present as concerns in Telmarion require his needs there.”

“That is quite alright. We understand that Lord Manshrew is preparing a second strike against the Imperial Concord.” said Freya.

Andreas replied “He is my Lady. That is why he has sent me to offer to House Neptuna a hand to join the Manshrew Alliance. Lord Mansrew offers any land of choice that the Alliance gains in war if you join us.”

Robert stepped forward saying “I have heard of your Lord’s heroic deeds in battle. Like how he slayed the mad kind Heylot in battle which ended the civil war and how he has recently struck a blow against the Concord.” He turned to Freya “Mother, I believe an alliance with House Manshrew will help us greatly. If we help them in their fight against the Concord then I am sure that they will help us.”

“Silence.” said Freya as she raised her hand. Robert returned to his mother’s side.  “I understand your enthusiasm Robert but I am unsure of what House Manshrew will do to help us and I am reluctant to join this war. I am quite content with what I have here in Akki.”

“Your Lady, if I may” said Nicol “House Manshrew may be able to help us to defend our borders from any invading force and with how House Blackwell will try to claim Akki if the Concord win the war, House Manshrew could help destroy our enemies if we join them.”

“You are right Nicol.” replied Freya, she turned her attention back to Andreas “Perhaps I was wrong to dismiss your Lords offer so quickly. I will admit that alone that we could not hold off the Imperial Fleet but with the aid of the Manshrew Alliance we might and maybe we can achieve your Lord’s ultimate goal. Unity among the kingdoms. Nicol, Elduin prepare our ships and men. We sail to Telmarion. Tell Lord Andrew that he will have our ships and men to aid him.”

“Thank you my Lady.” Andreas said who was delighted to hear this.

“My man will escort you out.” said Freya.

The soldier from before led the way with Andreas following behind. Andreas knew he would have to send word straight away to Lord Andrew.

[u]A few days later: Plans for Battle[/u]
Andrew along with Humber and the Lanistark twins stood around the war table. They had been discussing for some time in terms of what to do with the problem that was at hand. Claus and his mercenaries had taken the city but however Claus had taken many casualties. Andrew and the others argued over what to do next. 

“With respect Lord Andrew. If we do not take the city soon we will have to deal with the might of the DeReimer army which we won’t be able to deal with unless we take the city. That way we will have stable ground to stand on and we can hold off the army and we can cut the head of the snake off and win this war.” Said Serala.

Andrew was getting tired from all the arguing but was willing to hear her out. He asked “And what do you propose Serala?”

Serala replied “Me and Maror propose that we rush the city before the DeReimer army arrives that way when they do arrive we can surprise them and take them out. 

Humber replied “What happens if we can’t take the city and the army arrives if they do they could easily flank us and could wipe us out with minimal effort.”

“Then what do you propose that we do then Daeron.” said Andrew.

Humber replied “We wait them out, we trap them in the city. Nothing comes in nothing comes out. Eventually they’ll have to surrender once they run out of resources. That way we don’t lose any men before the DeReimers arrive.”

“But we have no idea how long that will take he have to destroy them now!” said Maror.

“Enough!” said Andrew, the tent went quiet. “I know that all of you have your own best intentions at heart and all of you are right in a way.” He turned to Serala. “Serala I know we have to take the city but we can’t rush in blindly and risk losing most of our men in the process.” He then turned to Humber. “Daeron I understand you don’t want to lose any more men but we can’t sit around and wait for the enemy to surrender. We must act but we have to be careful.”

The twins and Humber nodded in agreement ready to listen to Andrew’s plan. 

Andrew said as he pointed to various parts of the war table “Here is what I suggest we use our artillery and our archers to fire over the wall to bombard the city. While we do that we have one of our war elephants storm the gates. We will put more armour on it so that way it will be protected from any threats that it faces. Once the elephant breaks through the gates we will send it and our men into the city hopefully the previous bombardment will destroy most of the resistance. We will capture the city district by district. Once we have the city we will prepare ourselves for when the DeReimers arrive. Does anyone have any questions?”

The others remained in silent. “Very well.” said Andrew. “Prepare your men and pray to the gods that this goes well.” The Lanistark twins left the tent then suddenly a messenger entered the tent. 

"Lord Manshrew! I have some news concerning both Orog and Coruneon."

Both Andrew and Humber turned their attentions to the messenger. “Let’s hear it” said Andrew.

“I am afraid to say that have both been lost to House Wulfrick and Greensworth.” said the Messenger.

Humber was disturbed to hear this news. “Do you know what has happened to my family?” he asked.

“We are aware that the Coruneon garrison is heading towards Telmarion with Hemala Humber leading the garrison with 1500 men.” replied the Messenger. 

“Thank the gods.” said Humber in relief. “And what about Aulus?” Humber asked. 

“We do not know Lord Humber we did not see you son with your daughter.” replied the Messenger.

Humber was concern to hear this but Andrew said “Do not worry Daeron, I am sure your son is alive and well.”

Humber replied “I hope so.” Humber then left the tent to think on the news and to prepare his men for the battle.
Andrew turned his attention back to the Messenger. “Is that all?” 

“No my lord. We have received a message from Akki saying that House Neptuna is with us and that Lady Neptune is sending her men and ships to Telmarion.” replied the Messenger.

“That’s good news indeed. Anything else?” asked Andrew.

The Messenger replied “We have news about this new mercenary group called the Grim Company. They are led by their leader called Lady Grim. This group has a variety of soldiers and equipment in this group like mages and siege equipment. We could send an envoy to offer and alliance.”

“Send a messenger to this Lady Grim and say that I request her presence. I would speak to her to better understand her and this group and to see if they could be possible allies that I can trust.” said Andrew. “Is that all?”

The Messenger replied “Yes my Lord.”

“Then you are dismissed.” Said Andrew.

The messenger left the tent leaving Andrew to himself. With the promise of more men and a possible new ally Andrew felt confident about the approaching battle.