Utterly Mad

No one else spoke up. Lyrkan looked over at Haralus, who gave a small nod. "As the King's audience has spoken their peace, His Lordship now calls this assembly to order. All tongues shall be held until the dictation of his will is complete."

Though the plans had been formed by both of them, it would have been unseemly to the King to address the group directly in such a formal session. He would sit back and allow Lyrkan to do the speaking, though he had suddenly changed his mind about a small matter that would have to be addresses shortly.

"With the formalities done, I believe all of you should be aware as to why we are here. The beasts below us have troubled us long enough, and his Lordship has called upon the willing warriors of our nation and it's allies to address this." Lyrkan summoned over an attendant, who handed him a long stick. He walked over to the maps of the catacombs, and continued:

"As you can see, there are several entrances to the underground, with the currently active ones being here, here, and here." He tapped out the locations with his stick. "While one main entry point would be beneficial to our forces, structural realities mean that we unfortunately cannot seal these three entrances. Instead, we will be assigning the Volunteer Legion to enter from these points, progress to these areas," he tapped the map again, marking the holding points, "And perform a holding action against anything the main force drives up from beneath. We will also have small numbers of the Citadel Guard posted to the entrances themselves, should anything make it past the Volunteers."

Lyrkan took a deep breath. He knew this next part would unsettle some. "The main force will be entering from the central shafts, which we will unseal shortly after this session adjourns. His Lordship is acutely aware of the risks involved in this, but I feel I speak for all those gathered here when I say that we should have little need to fear anything making it through our collective armies. Regardless, the remainder of the Guard will be posted around the shaft to insure the security of the Citadel." If there were any objections, the audience was polite enough to obey court customs and hold their tongues.

"As you can see, there are four large corridors that descend into the depths of the catacombs from this shaft. We have broadly assigned each national force to one of these - they will be responsible for pushing forward into the underground from here."

Lyrkan spoke for some length, assigning the Elves to the north passage, the Men of Harrowfeld to the south, the Imperials to the east, and the Dwarves to the west. He then touched on the rally plan: "Should your men become lost, or should you need to regroup your forces, you will simply follow the flow of air back to the central shaft. We have made provisions for a basecamp to be set up there, and our supply chains will radiate from that point." He then went on to discuss more specific tactics for each group, and make recommendations on how best they could achieve their directives and fight effectively in the tight tunnels on the lower levels.

"We will push as far as we can, and his Lordship has faith that we shall meet success in utterly eradicating our foe.

After delving into the basic plan, the topic turned to how the forces would be arranged. "While our allies are all self-sufficient in regards to their combat capabilities, His Lordship submits the following changes be made to our order of battle:

Firstly, our friends the Elves have brought many capable healers. These will be used to supplement our own medical staff, and be divided amongst all the regular forces. The Volunteers have been assigned a number of our own healers, who should be capable of keeping them alive should they encounter more serious resistance than we anticipate.

Secondly, the Men of the Empire have contributed a group of soldiers known as Rangers, and their commander has assured us that they are capable of acting independently. These men will also be divided amongst the forces, and will be responsible for giving heavy support where they are needed - their fire-throwers will compliment our axes and arrows if we meet a powerful foe.

Similarly, our mages have prepared themselves for combat, and will also be divided amongst those assembled. Their numbers are limited compared to the rest of us, and their powers can be exhausted - they are not to be used lightly. In addition to this, should the tunnels have no end, and it be determined that pushing further will only result in an unacceptable loss of life, they will be responsible for permanently sealing off the passages. To this end, we have also attached engineers to each division, so that they can decided how to most effectively accomplish this if the need arises.

As the Men of Harrowfeld, as well as our own forces, are the most numerous amongst us, we shall form a reserve from members of both parties, to be sent into combat where needed. This reserve will rotate as the campaign wears on - this should keep the soldiers from growing too weary.

Beyond this, you and your officers shall take the fight to our foes in the manner you see fit. We have placed our own officers and liasons into your forces to advise you and suggest courses of action. All of these men are veterans of this terrain, and will prove invaluable."
Lyrkan motioned for the attendant again, and was handed a long list of names.

"While the lower ranks are aware of their assignments, I have before me a finalized list of ranking officers and liasons. The following officers will be assigned to the Harrowfeld group." He rattled off some names, then repeated the process for the Elves, including his own as a strategic liason. "It has been decided that the tactics used by our Imperial allies are foreign enough to us all that they would not benefit from having low level advisors. Instead, Durrin Ironhold and the officers of his choosing shall be assigned to their command staff to make strategic recommendations and act as liason." As per Borrin's request, no mention of the Imperial mages was made, and Haralus trusted Durrin to keep their activities quiet.

Haralus knew that what was about to happen next would come as a bit of a surprise to Lyrkan. "The following Dwarves will be given responsibility for their own divisions of forces:

Aeric Cutmaker will lead the Iron Fists.

Baric Firestone will lead the Night Axes...."

He continued listing the appointments for some time, and the King noted the smiles of those chosen. He could recall his first serious appointment as though it were yesterday. It is good they realize the honor they are given. All the more reason for them to earn it.

"Slade Stoneburrow shall.." Haralus held up a hand, cutting Lyrkan off, and motioned for him to come speak in private. He spoke quietly, and directly into his second's ear. A puzzled, then concerned look crossed his face before he turned back to the other, and continued. "Slade Stoneburrow shall head the King's personal Guard, and be entrusted for his safety while he makes his inspections of the front."

This was indeed a surprise to many. Though he often spoke of his martial skill, it was widely accepted that Slade had not been tested in many actual combats, at least combats that the other nobles were aware of. Beyond this, the King usually acted as the head of his own guard, seeing little need for a go-between. And this honor, I'm not sure he knows what to do with. The King suppressed a smile. Perhaps some responsibility would be good for Slade, and this way, worst come to worst, Haralus could at least keep an eye on him.

Lyrkan finished his list, then moved on to the division of spoils. "As every Dwarf here knows, the catacombs are vast and ancient. Our ancestors dug deep, and there are many artifacts and treasures hidden below for our taking. Any artifact of magical or historical importance shall be left in place, under the normal Penalties of Theft, until they can be investigated and cataloged by our scholars. All other spoils will be retrieved by our combined support staffs, and be stockpiled for division after the campaign is completed." Lyrkan cast a serious glance around the room. "This includes any personal trophies - we do not know what dangers we may face, and we do not need our soldiers letting their guards down while trying to retrieve objects for their bragging rights." He continued on, detailing the percentages each nation, commander, division, squad, soldier (and so on) could take after the fight was over - the lion's share obviously went to the Royal Treasury, and the leaders of the respective nations were free to dictate how much of their share the troops would *actually* be able to keep, but the King felt he had been acceptably generous in making sure his allies were compensated. If we meet with success, it's very possible I've just made many men rich.

The rest of the meeting consisted of Lyrkan revisiting strategies and expounding on details, and the King found his mind wandering. He'd never been very patient for official planning sessions such as this, and spent the rest of the assembly trying to look interested while also daydreaming about what strange treasures and beasts they might discover below. "Thus ends the dictation of our Lordship's will. Any wishing to speak and contribute may do so now." Lyrkan's words brought Haralus back to reality, and he re-focused on the task at hand, ready to address any concerns or discuss any alterations.

---

((Ok, so, not actions but a summary:

- Each nation has dwarves attached to it's army on varying levels of command, as well as mages, healers, scholars, and engineers.
- The main plan is to enter through the shaft in the central courtyard, send each army in one of four directions, and then basically let them be responsible for themselves.
- The Volunteers are pretty much just in charge of keeping the other entrances secure, as are the Citadel Guards.
- There is a decent reserve force of men and Dwarves. As I wrote this all out, I realized I have no idea as to how much of the Highlands military was freed up for this.
- Slade gets to hang out with the King. Sounds fun. The King's Guard are still his handpicked men, but will nominally take orders directly from Slade.
- There is a nominal division of spoils. I don't think I explained this well up there, but it's set up kind of like a 17th century boat - captains (head commanders) get x%, ranking officers (division commanders) get x%, soldiers get x%. Of course, the King of Harrowfeld might decide that he keeps 80% of the loot assigned to Harrowfeld which means that the soldiers from there get y% instead of x%, but the King's own men will get well paid, as will the Volunteers. The King has been generous, but also isn't just giving dwarven money away, so to speak. The Highlands will get a very large percentage of whatever is pulled up - I don't have a number in mind since actual dollar values are maybe a bit irrelevant, but it's a high enough number that he doesn't expect any of his subjects will complain.
- Anything magical doesn't get touched because it might be dangerous. Anything historical (art, statues, whatever) doesn't get looted. Once that stuff is all checked out, it might get included as loot.
- Penalties of Theft mean harsh punishment, up to losing a hand.

I think that covers most of it, but I'm sure you'll catch anything I miss anyway.

Also, other people should get in on this shit. You can literally do whatever you want according to Vulnus. Hell, I get to lead a crusade into the deeps and in then end, possibly end up wrecking one of the major kingdoms if my future plans go really wrong. If Haralus dies, I could get to be some peasant dealing with whatever mess he's left. I even get to help make some lore apparently, which is cool as shit. What's not to like about this concept?))