[b]New Ghis, 110 AC[/b]

The palace's 'War Room' was a fairly large chamber of wood and brick, with thinner and narrower windows than the norm in order to ensure safety from darts and arrows. This would have made the heat sweltering if not for pipes that carrried cool water to underneath the floor - A marvel made by a privileged Myrish slave, one who now commanded slaves of his own despite his own lack of freedom.

King Grazdan the Chainbringer busied himself over preperations - Food had to be supplied, weapons forged, and armor and shields repaired for his gamble. And indeed, it was a gamble. Raising two Legions' worth of troops, including a hundred Unsullied. Getting Astapor's good offices long enough to let his army through their territory to Yunkai - His sister and her husband were useful for that purpose, but not a game-winner. And finally, actually taking Yunkai by land and by sea, with a significant portion of New Ghis' fleet being sent to arrive at the enemy's capital in order to tighten the upcoming siege with a blockade.

But the real battle will begin once the Astapori realize that his armies had no intention of departing, once a new Military Governor had been installed over the people of Yunkai. For the Good Masters of Astapor were not all willing to agree on reunifying the Ghiscari Empire - Independence was a metaphorical nacrotic. 

As King Grazdan sat in conference with his generals - He had insisted on the presence of scholar-slaves in this 'war room', so as to emphasize the importance of logistics, he can tell that a few were getting bored with discussing matters of supply and just wanted to march to Yunkai already. 

Well, they'd get their chance. As the King read a scholar-slave's memorandum about the state of the siege engines to be brought to the coming siege of Yunkai, he noticed one of his generals being less bored than the rest - Perhaps even alert. Good old Draknoz mo Rarahl, it seemed that his long-postponed promotion was for the best.

Once the discussion was done, King Grazdan said in a firm tone, "Then it is settled. We will go through Astapor, giving gifts to the Good Masters beforehand to let us through and with our diplomats instructed to give our reasons for marching on Yunkai as 'disposing of a competitor. A large detachment of our fleet will, at the same time, sail northwest, then northeast, to blockade Yunkai. The land forces will number two Legions - a total of 12,000 men, while the fleet will contain another legion of 6000 alongside the overseers assigned to keep the galley slaves in line. The army we will send over land will have a large siege train to construct catapults, ballistae, and even one trebuchet."

He paused, "Because Draknoz mo Rarahl, though a veteran of our wars, did not get bored by the discussion and the speech, he is to be put in overall command of the expedition - His word will carry the same weight as mine. Will anyone disagree with me? If so, speak up, [i]please[/i]."

The sudden sharp edge in his tone reminded everyone just why he was [i]their[/i] King - The reason was not just hereditary right. The scholar-slaves paused, even as the generals broke out into a sweat, especially the ones that were previously the most bored. Draknoz mo Rarahl, a middle-aged man whose prematurely graying hair marked years of fighting other commanders' battles for them, laughed and said, "My King, as gratitude for your trust in me, I promise you this - Yunkai will fall in less than five years!"