[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/MgSj4ti.png[/img][/center]
[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/Cfx07pG.jpg[/img][/center]
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[i]"We find that the Romans owed the conquest of the world to no other cause than continual military training, exact observance of discipline in their camps, and unwearied cultivation of the other arts of war."[/i]
[color=darkgray]—Vegetius[/color]
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The next few weeks pass by in a blur of steel, horseflesh and powder smoke. The standards for a cavalry regiment in the Imperial Tagmata are exceptionally high, and thus the drilling is relentless. Day in and day out you practice sabrework both ahorse and afoot according to the [i]Equites Decreti[/i], the Imperial manual of arms for cavalrymen. You spend hours practicing dozens of different sabre strokes, sparring with your fellow Dragoons, and imitating the correct forms for modern swordsmanship. 

Sabrework is only one of the skills you are expected to be competent at, and you spend just as much time in the saddle drilling the rudimentary cavalry maneuvers expected of one in service to the Empire. The [i]Equites Decreti[/i] is thorough, too; not only do you train in basic horsemanship, but in the actions of mounting and dismounting, as well as lessons in the proper care for your steed. Additionally, you are introduced to the standard carbine of the Dragoons, and subsequently trained in its use. Loading, presenting, firing, cleaning — all become second nature to you, both on foot and in the saddle. 

The daily, relentless drilling is exhaustive work that swiftly becomes routine. You learn to recognize the clipped commands of your superior officers and NCO's, and gradually you familiarize yourself with the other members of your Bandon. It is an eclectic group, to be sure; but then, the Empire is a diverse nation, and its history is rife with peoples of all sorts. 

It is sometime in the middle of the sixth week when the day's regimen is cancelled by Captain Philolakes. Rumors immediately abound, and it is not until the afternoon of the same day that you receive an explanation.

The Holy Roman Empire has declared war, and with them are nearly all the powers of Europe.

You are to deploy immediately.

[center][b]== == One Week Later == ==[/b][/center]
The port town of Tomis is rather underwhelming, being nearly identical to the dozens of other ports found scattered throughout Imperial territory. Just south of it, in fact, is the smaller port of Istrus, which is admittedly more fort than town but shares Tomis' typical red-tiled arches, vaults, and domes which characterize Byzantine architecture.

It takes little time at all for the Imperial frigate which has served as your moira's transport to navigate into the inlet that Tomis' harbor is situated in. It takes significantly more time to unload the hundred-and-twenty-five man detachment of Dragoons, their horses, and all their luggage. Your bandon is the last to depart the ship, and unlike Nikomedia you do not have to fight your way through crowds of people to make it to the small citadel sitting on a small rise next to the harbor. 

Captain Philolakes has already requisitioned a large part of the citadel to serve as the Dragoon's main base in the town, and it is only an hour after your arrival there that orders for your bandon come down.

Tomis is a highly strategic town, unremarkable though it may seem. It serves as the largest settlement in the Empire's province of Scythia, the only area outside of Carpathia that is not bordered by the Danube river — north of which lies the enemy kingdom of Galicia. It is expected by the strategos of the Empire that a large enemy force will attempt to seize Tomis and use it as a forward outpost of sorts, in order to set up raids deeper into the Imperial heartlands of Thraecia. 

Thus your small detachment of one moira was sent in order to prepare the ground for a larger expedition out of Constantinople. And Captain Philolakes plans to do just that, by sending you and nearly every other Dragoon under his command in broad scouting missions across the area.

Of singular import to the Captain are enemy troop movements, followed by a thorough mapping of any potential outpost locations and possible supply routes. His orders are very specific concerning these three items, and he has assigned your bandon a large swath of land which would take nearly two weeks to comb through if travelled as a full unit — evidently the Captain expects your bandon to be divided even further into its component parts of omadons. 

You are to depart at dawn of the next day.

[hider=Map of the Area] 
Tomis is the larger of the two towns, with Istrus being the southernmost one. Everywhere west of the river above  Tomis is assigned to your bandon.

[img]https://i.imgur.com/0WeccrS.png[/img] [/hider]