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The Northern Front 20 – 21 years AR [After Revolution]
After a year of intense fighting in the Italian peninsula’s central region, the three Navalonian Legions were able to subdue the Latin and Sabine tribes there. However, all three Legions took a beating, the 3rd Legion in particular. It nearly completely lost its 1st of 2 cohorts after it was ambushed near the town of Rome. However, the mighty 3rd fought hard and triumphed against the numerically superior opponents who also controlled the element of surprise. What was left of the 3rd Legion after that hard won victory laid a six month siege to the town of Rome (whos troops had also been depleted in the battle with the 3rd), ending only after the 1st Century, a corps of elite warriors known as Centurions, were able to scale the walls in siege towers and defeat the inferior trained, equipped, and malnourished Romans.
Annhyicus arrived in Rome shortly after it was taken, after he had led the 1st Legion victoriously against the other Latin tribes in the area. He had left the 1st Legion to occupy that land and to regroup, leaving that legion’s general in charge of reconstructing the newly gained territory and population into Navalon. Word came of the battered 2nd Legion’s victory against the Sabines and Annhyicus ordered them to do the same as the 1st.
Rome was by far the most significant settlement in that central region, and Annhyicus was hopeful at successfully assimilating its population into Navalon. While there, he showed his truly spectacular diplomacy skills. The locals were terrified of being slaughtered by the invaders, but Annhyicus assured them they would be quite safe if they cooperated. He met with their ruling governing body, and a novel idea struck him hard. He had heard of a democracy in Greece, but after it failed (due to Spartan conquest) he thought nothing more of it. This republic the Romans had was a similar idea, and all the people of Rome were very satisfied with the system. This gave the Imperator some ideas to play with; he had been experiencing more and more domestic discontent. Many of the outer towns, especially those along the Adriatic that were formerly Greek settlements, were feeling left out of much of the empire’s growing wealth and development. They felt that the Imperator was favoring certain other towns and regions over them. Annhyicus’ basic thought process was that perhaps if he gave them some representation of some sort, he could appease their tantrum.
After a few weeks in Rome Annhyicus felt he had to return to Navapolis to his seat of power. After finishing the Tiber River area’s organization and leaving instructions for all of his army to rest, relax, and refill its beaten ranks, he left alone on horse back through the sparsely populated, former, Navalonian northern frontier and returned to his home city after a two-days-ride. As he road through the countryside, through small towns, and through villages, the Navalonian folk waved and smiled, most recognizing their leader and praising his victories. News had spread fast through the country of the victory over the “barbarians” who often raided the frontier and other towns and cities too, disrupting their civilization. With their defeat, a much more stable life was hoped for by the public. Many young men had heard the stories of courageous and valorous Legionnaires who fought bravely, including the story of Corporal Garius Vasmuth, and were immediately inspired. Long lines of young men formed, eager to join up with these heroes that the soldiers became to be known as.
Immediately after returning to his keep, he went to check up on Allya, King Minos’ daughter, and to make sure she was all right and taken care of. He had only returned a handful of times during his yearlong campaign in the north to check up on the old girl that had become a young woman in his absences and to receive full updates on his ally’s war against the Greeks, though messengers would bring him news while he was at the front. Minoans had lost all but the Island of Crete itself and for a time had even lost a section of that large island, but North African mercenaries from a young Phoenician empire known as Carthage were able to repel the invaders. Some of the largest and most spectacular fleet engagements to date were fought during that year, with many Navalonians sailors and soldiers posing as Minoans. The Battle of Agea, which was fought with hundreds of warships on both sides just off Crete’s northern shore, was led by Grand Admiral Biarus, the Navalonian fleet commander. It was a fantastic Minoan victory where the fleet used catapults to launch Greek Fire with devastating results. Grand Admiral Biarus ultimately fell in battle after being struck by an arrow, but not after leading the numerically inferior Minoan fleet to victory. Grand Admiral Biarus was later buried in the Navalonian Honor Tomb with full honors for the service he had provided to his nation and its allies.
Annhyicus would spend a few months in Navapolis, spending a lot of time with Allya. He would show her places where he used to play when he was a kid, where his old home used to be, and even introduced her to some of his old childhood friends, who were now old men by those days’ standards. He grew very fond of her, and she of him. One day, only days before Annhyicus planned to return to the front to continue his campaign still further north against the Etrurians (he had received a message that a large Etrurian army had approached Rome and were standing off with the now replenished 3rd Legion stationed there. Supreme General Wilmus was handling the situation well and had began to mass all three legions to intimidate the main Etrurian force in order to stall if they planned to invade the Tiber area that they wanted back so badly, having invested as much as they had into roads, bridges, wells, aqueducts, and swamp drainage), Allya complained that a new servant that was hired had been bothering her with rough physical behavior that was making her very uncomfortable. Annhyicus said he would question the man and later that evening he went looking for him. He was told by the other servants that he was with the princess in her quarters. As Annhyicus approached, the door was cracked open a bit and he heard a terrible scream, one that sent a bone-chilling memory through his mind of his mother, so many years ago on the docks. He ran into the room and found the servant holding Allya’s half-naked body down on her bed with a dagger to her throat, blood running down her neck. With lightning speed and ferocious rage he knocked that “sadistic piece of sh1t”, as he would later refer to him as, to the floor and began to pommel him with blows. He beat him with his fists furiously for several minutes, long after he had been knocked unconscious, turning the young man’s face into a bloody mush. He only stopped after he realized he needed to see how Allya was. She was fine more or less, though in much pain. The man had cut her neck not to deeply so he could derive pleasure from her without killing her, but the wound would leave a large provocative scare that would only fade slightly in the many years to come.
The man that would become to be known locally as “The First Sadist Since Tyranicus” would not wake from his coma for several days and because of that he died from dehydration. Annhyicus had broken both his hands in his rage, but borrowed an idea from the Northern Etrurians and set the bones back into place before he used a splint and sling system to allow them to heal, which he did remarkably quick; in only a few weeks he was completely back to normal. The incident had delayed his return to the northern front by many weeks, not just due to his injuries, but also by his trial.
Shortly after the man died, the news spread quickly through the empire. Everybody wondered if their Imperator would stand trial like any other man. Though he was never arrested by the local militia (law enforcement was carried out by Legionnaires and the local militias), he turned himself in because he wanted to show that no matter who you were, no matter how rich or poor, powerful or weak, famous or infamous, nobody was above the law (in practice it would be many centuries for this to truly be the case, however). After a trial that lasted only a single day (it was held three weeks after the incident), Annhyicus was declared to have been acting in defense of the lady, and was therefore acquitted. However he did have to pay for the burial ceremony of the man for his family.
Allya wore a scarf around her neck since recieving her wound, fearing the world to think her ugly because of the large scar she now bore there. She became deeply depressed. Annhyicus tried repeatedly to get her to remove it, feeling it was his fault that he did not confront the man sooner, and that he was the source for her grief. He thought that she blamed him for what happened to her. He had fallen in love with her, and she seemed to hate him for what he had done. He too began to slip into depression. Allya in fact, however, was quite infatuated with him and had been so for quite some time; she viewed him as her savior, though felt she was now too ugly to ever win his heart. This was the true source of her depression. One night, after a quiet, solemn dinner, Annhyicus escorted her to her room and then broke down. He begged her to forgive him and pleaded for her to remove her scarf. She consoled him but refused to do as he asked, in fear that it would disgust him. Annhyicus, realizing this is what she feared, quickly removed his shirt. In the candlelight of her room he showed her the several deep scars caused from battle wounds. Most of his scars were on his muscular arms, but a few ran across his chest and along his back. He told her that he always thought of scars as a badge of sorts, a memento of the battles in which he fought. He regaled her with the stories of his bravery behind each scar, inflaming her infatuation. She felt the scars as he talked; he guided her hands along his chest and stared into her ocean blue eyes. She then reached for her scarf and slipped it off, revealing her neck and she collapsed to tears. Annhyicus held her closely and kissed and soothed her neck. Through her sobbing tears she let out a gasp and moan, a mixture of surprise, joy, and pleasure, and then he kissed her open mouth. After several minutes of their kissing embrace, they fell into her bed and finally after so long, realized their enormous and extraordinary love for each other.
After a year of intense fighting in the Italian peninsula’s central region, the three Navalonian Legions were able to subdue the Latin and Sabine tribes there. However, all three Legions took a beating, the 3rd Legion in particular. It nearly completely lost its 1st of 2 cohorts after it was ambushed near the town of Rome. However, the mighty 3rd fought hard and triumphed against the numerically superior opponents who also controlled the element of surprise. What was left of the 3rd Legion after that hard won victory laid a six month siege to the town of Rome (whos troops had also been depleted in the battle with the 3rd), ending only after the 1st Century, a corps of elite warriors known as Centurions, were able to scale the walls in siege towers and defeat the inferior trained, equipped, and malnourished Romans.
Annhyicus arrived in Rome shortly after it was taken, after he had led the 1st Legion victoriously against the other Latin tribes in the area. He had left the 1st Legion to occupy that land and to regroup, leaving that legion’s general in charge of reconstructing the newly gained territory and population into Navalon. Word came of the battered 2nd Legion’s victory against the Sabines and Annhyicus ordered them to do the same as the 1st.
Rome was by far the most significant settlement in that central region, and Annhyicus was hopeful at successfully assimilating its population into Navalon. While there, he showed his truly spectacular diplomacy skills. The locals were terrified of being slaughtered by the invaders, but Annhyicus assured them they would be quite safe if they cooperated. He met with their ruling governing body, and a novel idea struck him hard. He had heard of a democracy in Greece, but after it failed (due to Spartan conquest) he thought nothing more of it. This republic the Romans had was a similar idea, and all the people of Rome were very satisfied with the system. This gave the Imperator some ideas to play with; he had been experiencing more and more domestic discontent. Many of the outer towns, especially those along the Adriatic that were formerly Greek settlements, were feeling left out of much of the empire’s growing wealth and development. They felt that the Imperator was favoring certain other towns and regions over them. Annhyicus’ basic thought process was that perhaps if he gave them some representation of some sort, he could appease their tantrum.
After a few weeks in Rome Annhyicus felt he had to return to Navapolis to his seat of power. After finishing the Tiber River area’s organization and leaving instructions for all of his army to rest, relax, and refill its beaten ranks, he left alone on horse back through the sparsely populated, former, Navalonian northern frontier and returned to his home city after a two-days-ride. As he road through the countryside, through small towns, and through villages, the Navalonian folk waved and smiled, most recognizing their leader and praising his victories. News had spread fast through the country of the victory over the “barbarians” who often raided the frontier and other towns and cities too, disrupting their civilization. With their defeat, a much more stable life was hoped for by the public. Many young men had heard the stories of courageous and valorous Legionnaires who fought bravely, including the story of Corporal Garius Vasmuth, and were immediately inspired. Long lines of young men formed, eager to join up with these heroes that the soldiers became to be known as.
Immediately after returning to his keep, he went to check up on Allya, King Minos’ daughter, and to make sure she was all right and taken care of. He had only returned a handful of times during his yearlong campaign in the north to check up on the old girl that had become a young woman in his absences and to receive full updates on his ally’s war against the Greeks, though messengers would bring him news while he was at the front. Minoans had lost all but the Island of Crete itself and for a time had even lost a section of that large island, but North African mercenaries from a young Phoenician empire known as Carthage were able to repel the invaders. Some of the largest and most spectacular fleet engagements to date were fought during that year, with many Navalonians sailors and soldiers posing as Minoans. The Battle of Agea, which was fought with hundreds of warships on both sides just off Crete’s northern shore, was led by Grand Admiral Biarus, the Navalonian fleet commander. It was a fantastic Minoan victory where the fleet used catapults to launch Greek Fire with devastating results. Grand Admiral Biarus ultimately fell in battle after being struck by an arrow, but not after leading the numerically inferior Minoan fleet to victory. Grand Admiral Biarus was later buried in the Navalonian Honor Tomb with full honors for the service he had provided to his nation and its allies.
Annhyicus would spend a few months in Navapolis, spending a lot of time with Allya. He would show her places where he used to play when he was a kid, where his old home used to be, and even introduced her to some of his old childhood friends, who were now old men by those days’ standards. He grew very fond of her, and she of him. One day, only days before Annhyicus planned to return to the front to continue his campaign still further north against the Etrurians (he had received a message that a large Etrurian army had approached Rome and were standing off with the now replenished 3rd Legion stationed there. Supreme General Wilmus was handling the situation well and had began to mass all three legions to intimidate the main Etrurian force in order to stall if they planned to invade the Tiber area that they wanted back so badly, having invested as much as they had into roads, bridges, wells, aqueducts, and swamp drainage), Allya complained that a new servant that was hired had been bothering her with rough physical behavior that was making her very uncomfortable. Annhyicus said he would question the man and later that evening he went looking for him. He was told by the other servants that he was with the princess in her quarters. As Annhyicus approached, the door was cracked open a bit and he heard a terrible scream, one that sent a bone-chilling memory through his mind of his mother, so many years ago on the docks. He ran into the room and found the servant holding Allya’s half-naked body down on her bed with a dagger to her throat, blood running down her neck. With lightning speed and ferocious rage he knocked that “sadistic piece of sh1t”, as he would later refer to him as, to the floor and began to pommel him with blows. He beat him with his fists furiously for several minutes, long after he had been knocked unconscious, turning the young man’s face into a bloody mush. He only stopped after he realized he needed to see how Allya was. She was fine more or less, though in much pain. The man had cut her neck not to deeply so he could derive pleasure from her without killing her, but the wound would leave a large provocative scare that would only fade slightly in the many years to come.
The man that would become to be known locally as “The First Sadist Since Tyranicus” would not wake from his coma for several days and because of that he died from dehydration. Annhyicus had broken both his hands in his rage, but borrowed an idea from the Northern Etrurians and set the bones back into place before he used a splint and sling system to allow them to heal, which he did remarkably quick; in only a few weeks he was completely back to normal. The incident had delayed his return to the northern front by many weeks, not just due to his injuries, but also by his trial.
Shortly after the man died, the news spread quickly through the empire. Everybody wondered if their Imperator would stand trial like any other man. Though he was never arrested by the local militia (law enforcement was carried out by Legionnaires and the local militias), he turned himself in because he wanted to show that no matter who you were, no matter how rich or poor, powerful or weak, famous or infamous, nobody was above the law (in practice it would be many centuries for this to truly be the case, however). After a trial that lasted only a single day (it was held three weeks after the incident), Annhyicus was declared to have been acting in defense of the lady, and was therefore acquitted. However he did have to pay for the burial ceremony of the man for his family.
Allya wore a scarf around her neck since recieving her wound, fearing the world to think her ugly because of the large scar she now bore there. She became deeply depressed. Annhyicus tried repeatedly to get her to remove it, feeling it was his fault that he did not confront the man sooner, and that he was the source for her grief. He thought that she blamed him for what happened to her. He had fallen in love with her, and she seemed to hate him for what he had done. He too began to slip into depression. Allya in fact, however, was quite infatuated with him and had been so for quite some time; she viewed him as her savior, though felt she was now too ugly to ever win his heart. This was the true source of her depression. One night, after a quiet, solemn dinner, Annhyicus escorted her to her room and then broke down. He begged her to forgive him and pleaded for her to remove her scarf. She consoled him but refused to do as he asked, in fear that it would disgust him. Annhyicus, realizing this is what she feared, quickly removed his shirt. In the candlelight of her room he showed her the several deep scars caused from battle wounds. Most of his scars were on his muscular arms, but a few ran across his chest and along his back. He told her that he always thought of scars as a badge of sorts, a memento of the battles in which he fought. He regaled her with the stories of his bravery behind each scar, inflaming her infatuation. She felt the scars as he talked; he guided her hands along his chest and stared into her ocean blue eyes. She then reached for her scarf and slipped it off, revealing her neck and she collapsed to tears. Annhyicus held her closely and kissed and soothed her neck. Through her sobbing tears she let out a gasp and moan, a mixture of surprise, joy, and pleasure, and then he kissed her open mouth. After several minutes of their kissing embrace, they fell into her bed and finally after so long, realized their enormous and extraordinary love for each other.
, but I will try. May have the next part up late tonight, or maybe tomarrow night if I cant finish. In what little time I have to spend on the forum, I've been spending alot lately in the Democracy Game, I signed up a couple weeks ago but Im just now becoming active. Its pretty interesting, but again it takes up alot of my Apolyton time. Thanks for he replies.
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