[hider=Lycaon Heads for Andromeda]
Lycaon was outside of his family castle, walking among his men. They were separate from Rendon’s soldiers, and Lycaon himself was separate from Rendon for the moment. As he was inspecting the condition of his men alongside his cousin, a haggard-looking messenger wearing the crest of the Holy Order of Saint Elenor upon his tunic. He ran towards Lycaon with great speed, such that Lycaon could not help but turn to him, though his serene smile never faded.

“My Grand Master,” the messenger said. “Ser Sayer has fallen, routed by the forces of the Grim Company, who now fight for Fenick.”
“Sayer?” Lycaon said, his plastic smile completely gone, having turned into a venomous scowl. “It cannot be. I loved him as a brother – no, I loved him far more than any brother of mine. This will not go unavenged. Tell me the rest, messenger, quickly.”

“The Grim Company came upon his forces unexpectedly,” the messenger said. “The battle was hard-fought. Ser Sayer, the honorable Ser Gwladis, Captain Keithan, and Captain Brandon were slain. Ser Simone-Simon now holds command. Yet it was Lieutenant Raymond who rallied the men to gather in an orderly retreat, and it was the young soldier Herona who held the mountain pass single-handedly against the Grim Company.”

“I shall give both Raymond and Herona their honors in due time,” Lycaon said. “But first comes vengeance for my friends. We shall waste no time. Meet me at the gates. I suppose this will show us if Rendon and his men are of any worth.”
 
 
The journey through Uzgob had been far more perilous than Lycaon had been hoping. He had miscalculated. During the day the only enemy was the heat, but when night came it was a different story. The first incident came when a wave of flaming arrows came that set the encampment ablaze. More than a few burnt to death, and chaos was thrown into the camps. The perpetrators were nowhere to be found. Scouts had deduced that it was probably the Grim Company. Lycaon did not need his scouts for him to have realized that, however. Perhaps they were still licking their wounds, or perhaps their numbers were not great enough to fight them straight on. Whatever the case, these were not the last attacks. Stone spears and arrows in dead of the night came. When the raids came, Lycaon did not have the men and resources to search for every tribesman and mercenary who happened to follow them in the dead of night, so the raids kept coming. It was not enough to decimate Lycaon forces, but it exhausted everyone. When the gates of Andromeda finally appeared it was such a welcome sight that the men cheered openly.
 
While his men set up camp, Lycaon himself arrived into the city. There were those who had come to gawk when they arrived, but there were few cheers. Lycaon was a foreigner here, and he could not have come at a worse time. Yet today his purpose was not to win the people of Andromeda to his side. His messengers came with him, as he approached the palace in Andromeda. Once his messengers informed him that he had received an audience with Patrick, then Lycaon entered. As he entered before Patrick, Lycaon gave a bow.

“Your Grace, it is honor to meet you,” Lycaon said. “Though it is a shame that it is under such bad fortunes. I am here to ensure that this heretic uprising is quelled thoroughly, and that its vile creed is never again uttered upon this land.”
Patrick immediately turned around and walked back towards the way he had come in expecting Lycaon to follow

“How many men did you lose journeying through Uzgob” Patrick asked bluntly, still looking ahead as he spoke. 

“The losses were minimal. No more than thirty,” Lycaon said. “The true problem was the fact that the attacks kept coming, and barring a costly scouring of the desert there is no simple way to prevent raids at night.”

“From now on set up camp in the local villages and towns, that way if Fenick wants to harass our forces he’ll do it at the expense of his own people, turning them against him”. Patrick said as he opened a door leading into the palaces war room. The room had remained largely unchanged from Andris’s rule. However, the banners of house Mandarass had been removed and replaced with that of the De Reimer’s. Two Hookah’s stood next to the table, one of which was currently being used by Lord Crawford while he gazed at the maps in front of him. Lord Gisborn was also there looking at a scroll. “Tell me, how many men have you brought with you? I understand you took significant casualties at the hands of grim company”. 

“Altogether, the forces of myself and my friend Lord Rendon du Paraquette come to six thousand,” Lycaon said.

“Impressive” he said as he looked at Lycaon “I am surprised you have been able to muster a such a sizeable force” Patrick said with a tone of respect in his voice. Even he wasn’t above giving praise where he deemed it necessary “I have, requested, that my brother demand house Wulfrick send reinforcements and assist us against these rebels. Their soldiers will be far better suited to the climate than ours ever will and won’t suffer in a drawn out battle”. Patrick walked over to the war table. “I have also made a request that the newly appointed Lord Rotsein be sent here to command the imperial armies” Patrick paused for a moment before continuing “In my absence”.

“Then you shall be departing soon, your grace?” Lycaon said.

“So it would seem and it couldn’t of happened at a worse time” Patrick replied clearly annoyed with the current turn of events “It seems I am unable to postpone my wedding to Naomi Blackwell and will be heading straight for Alenius. Furthermore certain incidents in the capital require my immediate attention” Patrick said solemnly “I am leaving the cawanorian host in lord Rendon’s hands until Lord Claus arrives”. In truth Patrick knew that Lycaon would be the one commanding the armies instead of Rendon, but he couldn’t officially be seen giving Lycaon more power than he already had. Particularly not over his own forces “Remember the Cawanorian soldiers are some of the finest fighters you will ever see and will hold the line against anything. However they are southerners and we from the south don’t fare well under such conditions, if you use them ensure they are not used to fight a battle of attrition”.

“I shall keep that in mind,” Lycaon said. “It is a shame that you have to leave so quickly. All know that Patrick de Reimer is worth more than any general. But I offer my congratulations for your marriage, and I can assure you that we shall take care of things here, as long as the Empire continues its support.”

“If you prove effective in handling these rebels then you will receive all the support you require. The empire cannot last if it’s people are allowed to openly rebel against the crown, we must end this insurgency as soon as possible” Patrick replied “I leave tomorrow morn, so if you wish to speak with me do it before then”.

“Should it become necessary, I shall,” Lycaon said. “I aim to strike at the rebels as soon as possible. I mean to ensure that Medea is liberated as soon as possible.”

“See to it that you do. I wish you all good fortune, I hope that our next meeting will be after Fenick’s head decorates the ramparts of Miserth Keep” As Patrick made his way towards the exit he pointed towards one of the servants “See too it that my hookah is delivered to Iredale” he said before turning to Lycaon “I suppose there was one good thing I was able to find in this forsaken land” He continued as he turned back around and walked out of the council room. 

[/hider]

By [@TheDuncanMorgan] & [@ZB1996]