Chapter 5: Propaganda and Plans

Chapter 5
Propaganda and plans

Breaking news!

Yesterday afternoon, our esteemed leader Noellia dispatched a diplomatic party into the Gusto forest in a last despite attempt to find a peaceful means to the disagreement that seems to have arisen between our two tribes. Noellia has herself revealed that they bore the message of a hope to open up a mutually beneficial trading agreement with which our tribe could gain the resources that our very survival depends upon and the Gusto could gain whatever they saw fit as a price.

Yet, sadly, it would appear that these noble intentions fell upon deaf or turned ears as each of these diplomatic groups were ambushed and massacred by Gusto forces. Reports are regrettably sketchy at this time but it seems as though Gusto raiders ambushed and slaughtered the Gishki representatives in the dead of night as they moved though the central road into the Mist Valley [continued on page 4]


Eria sighed heavily as she tossed the newspaper she had been reading onto the table beside her, not even bothering to turn further from the front page to read the remainder of the article as she slumped her head into her raised hands, uttering a grunt that she assumed to have been her minds vain attempt to express its stress.

"That bad huh?"

Looking up, Eria gave a grim smile in reply as Emilia gave her a sympathetic smile before turning back to the small try of noodles that she had set up across her knee. The water charmer watched in silence as her red headed friend snapped a pair of chopsticks together in mid-air for a moment, as if selecting a particular noodle in the mass of identical string like food that filled the bowl before her, before lowering them and gripping one expertly between the two sticks of wood. She blew against it for a second to cool of some of the heart before losing all grace that she had achieved the appearance of having by stuffing the end of the noodle into her mouth and making a long, exaggerated slurping noise as she sucked it up instead of simply eating. When it finally disappeared, Emilia seemed to smile at some hidden joke before repeating the procedure.

It was an amusing sight to say the least.

"Zo" the spellcaster grunted rather crudely though a mouthful, her words sounding disfigured due to her inability to actually move her jaw properly "Have yho phouht at all about what you wanna do abou is?"

"Huh?" Eria simply stared in reply, her tired brain not up to quite working out what in the world her friend had tried to say.

"Vi said" Emilia paused and rolled her eyes as she swallowed her food in a long gulp that caused even her to close her eyes in effort before giving another grin and looking back to her "I said, have you thought at all about what you want to do about this?"

For a moment, Eria just continued her stare before she found herself slowly slipping into a fit of giggling which swiftly began to prove contagious as Emilia made a point of filling her mouth again and attempting to talk, this time purely for comedic purposes. Together the water charmer and spellcaster giggled where they sat, almost seeming to lose track of the world as they dissolved into immature children for a moment before struggling to pull themselves back under control.

"Well it's nice to hear you two have cheered up a bit"

Emilia stuck her tongue out in reply as silver haired girl entered the room, smiling at the both of them as she carried a tray baring three, rather large, cups of a strangely coloured which filled the room with the very strong smell of herbs and spices with their mere presence. Handing a cup to Eria and Emilia in turn with a warm smile, she sat down in the chair on the other side of the red head from Eria and leaned backwards, cupping her own tea between her hands. With a candle light lamp flickering just beside her, Natalia seemed to be the epitome of beautiful calm.

"All joking aside" Emilia finally said, pausing as she looked down to discover that she now held her noodles and Natalia's tea in a hand each and seemed torn as to which she should put down to access the other. Shrugging, she opted for dragging a table towards herself and placing the tea at the perfect height for her to sip from it without having to even use her hands, a perfect example of lazy multitasking "What do we intend to do about all of this propaganda that seems to be slipping out from our dear tribal masters office?"

"First we need to separate the truth from fiction" Natalia muttered, shifting the cup in her hands from side to side so that she could watch the swirling of the contained liquid "We don't know for certain that she had intended the forces marched into the forest as a military expedition nor do we know if the Gusto have struck against them in such an unprovoked fashion as these reports claim they did"

"From what I've seen of our tribes leader" Emilia stated, using a noddle bearing chopstick to jab at the air as if trying to latterly pluck a thought from the air "Even if that party had been sent into the forest as a diplomatic party they would have been armed to the teeth with enough weapons to make them effectively an army. There is a chance that the Gusto just saw the armoured swords, shields, spears and gods know what else and just made the assumption that it was a war party and reacted appropriately"

"That's true" Eria muttered "But from what I know of the Gusto they would have been watching that so called 'diplomatic party' through the eyes of the forest before attacking. I cannot tell you how they could possibly see what the forest sees, whatever that means, but I know they can and I know they would have"

A silence fell upon the three when Emilia failed to make another point that could have raised question to the motivation of the two sides in the skirmish that had taken place in the forest. Eria simply curled back into the warmth of her chair whilst she watched Emilia resume her relentless attack upon her noodles again and Natalia slowly sipped at her herbal tea with a smile that revealed her happy content in being with them.

Reluctantly deciding to break the calm silence after a time, Eria brought the matter of business to attention.

"A few of those ogres that my branch has been creating in their rituals were sent out with a group of soldiers yesterday…marching for the forest. I don't know where they were going exactly but they were most definitely not a diplomatic party"

"Seriously?" Emilia rose an eyebrow "I would have thought that Noellia would have at least had the manners to tell us before she started getting people killed. Very inconsiderate"

"I'm not sure this is the time for jokes Emilia. Besides, there didn't seem to be enough men who left to be a start to the war...it was like she was sending them to look for something?"

"Look for something?" The red head frowned before looking over to where Natalia sat "Has your brother said anything about the matter?"

"No I'm afraid" Natalia shook her head slowly as she took another sip of her drink "Avance doesn't speak to me that much about what goes on in Noellia's office to be honest…he's far to business like for that. What happens in the office stays in the office and all that"

"Hmmm" Eria nodded as she leant back. Natalia's younger brother, Avance, was the effective right hand of Noellia, the one who could always be found at her side during any official meetings or events. He was her bodyguard and lieutenant, a representative for any military expedition in which Noellia herself wasn't willing to send off. Their parents had been pleased that their son had gained a position of such great importance but Natalia had been worried about the changes that the role had placed upon her brother and her own political dislike towards Noellia had led her to butting heads with him on more than one occasion. Now the two unfortunately didn't speak that much and the water charmer was less than surprised to discover that he hadn't told Natalia about the events taking place behind the locked doors of what was effectively the Gishki war office.

"Well either way" Emilia said, finally finishing with her noodles and dropping the bowl onto the floor beside her "What she sent out was hardily big enough to be classed as a military assault upon the forest and thus there isn't that much we can do about it complaining wise. She has made it so that it definitely appears as though the Gusto attacked without provocation whether she intended to do so or not"

"My worry is what she is going to do now"

All eyes turned towards Natalia as she slowly put her empty cup of herbal tea down and leaned forwards, her happy face suddenly replaced with one of utter seriousness. The silver haired girl was silent for a moment, as if struggling to come up with the correct words for what she was trying to say before sighing loudly.

"Noellia has now got evidence to back up her claims that the Gusto or initiating hostile actions against our own tribe, justified or not, and is thus free to make an announcement that she is going to strike at them before they do at us"

"The Gusto wouldn't leave the forest"

"I'm sure they wouldn't Eria, but Noellia is has to power to convince a lot of people that they will and that will scare them. She is open to start this was completely now for these resources she wants and can even quell the neigh Sayers that have been arguing against her since she made that announcement of war the other day. I usually seek to see the best in people but when I look at Noellia I see nothing but a thirst for power that being driven by something I cannot see. I think that so long as she has the power to do so, she will seek to expand her control over the Mist Valley and that she will not be doing so for the sake of the Gishki"

Eria and Emilia exchanged a look as they listened to their friend, stunned into silence. Natalia was usually very quiet whenever the three met up, simply choosing to sit and watch them talking with a constant smile, and to hear her speak to strongly on a topic felt somewhat unnerving to the two. Eria could only blink slowly before turning back towards her.

"So…what do you think we need to do?"

"As much as it pains me to say this…we may need to consider removing her from power if things get any worse…"

…

"I have lost them…"

Noellia raised a thin eyebrow as she looked over towards where the final of the three Gishki Shadows within her throne room slowly opened its eyes and spoke, its lidded eyes sliding slowly across the room as they adjusted to the lighting after being closed for the better part of the day. With a slight hiss the shrived creature rose a hand up towards the map that had been placed across the room's main wall, its magic forming a small orb of black sludge that seeped into reality upon the fabric that bore the hand drawn map of the Forest that formed the mouth of the Mist Valley, marking where it had lost contact with its charge.

When its mark had been made, the Shadow slowly walked over towards where its two comrades stood and begun hissing and clicking in the language that only they really understood and Noellia turned her attention to the map.

Three sludgy marks now stained its surface, one from each of the Shadows that had been stood in her throne room in a trance like state for nearly the full day. They had been using the mental connection that all Shadows seem to have with one another to trace those of their order that had accompanied each of the three scouting forces she had ordered to advance into the Gusto forest. She had tracked the progress of each as they marched deeper into the void that was the forest and now three marks bore symbols to where each of the parties had been attacked and slaughtered by the defences and ambushes that the Gusto had waiting.

That had been the purpose of her effectively sending those men and women to their deaths at Gusto hands in such small parties, through their deaths Noellia, and the Gishki war effort as a whole, had learned a great deal what awaited for them within the trees. The Shadows had each offered words and whispers during their trances for what they had seen through the eyes of the Shadows that now lay dead at Gusto hands, whispers of men in hooded cloaks riding upon the backs of giant green birds and wildlife that was willing to rise up against them. Noellia had no idea how deep the Gusto's bond with the forest around them ran, she simply couldn't understand why people would place a bunch of trees above fellow intelligent life forms. It was so barbaric…

"My lady?"

Looking up from her thoughts, Noellia said nothing as she watched Avance enter the room and walk up towards her throne, his cloak wrapped tight around his body as he gave a respectful bow before moving to take his place beside her. There was a moment of silence as he took in the map, his eyes narrowing at the marks that had appeared since he had overseen it being hung up the morning before and Noellia continued to watch the three Shadows as they chatted amongst themselves before turning back to her most trusted bodyguard and lieutenant.

"It is as I thought Avance" She said blankly as she waved an arm towards the map "There are only three clear paths big enough to march an army into the forest and each of those bares a great distance between the other, yet the Gusto tribe have their homeland well defended. I sent a patrol into each of these three paths and all of them were slaughtered within the hour of entering the forest, each falling under attack within ten minutes of the other and each being wiped out before the shadows here could send us anything more than snatched bits of information. That means they have defences that are independent of each other and swift enough to destroy those they targeted before they were able to react"

"It is their home" Avance said simply, his piercing blue eyes scanning the map intently as he mentally ran across each of the three paths in turn "They have had an eternity to master the art of fighting within the dense tree lines whilst we are used to combat in open spaces or cities. For any forces that we send it will be like marching into an alien world. Put simply my lady, they will always have the advantage in the forest and would be quite capable of ambushing us at every turn"

Noellia simply grunted in reply as she only half listened to him, clicking her fingers and awaiting with an outstretched hand as a small creature that seemed to have been a mix between a dog and a fish crawled across the room upon its three working limbs and used its fin like tail to hand her a glass of wine. It hovered for a second to ensure that she wouldn't demand something else of it before bolting from the room as fast as its beaten legs would allow it to when one of the Shadows licked its leathery lips with a hungry gaze in its direction.

"So" The leader of the Gishki said as she sipped from her wine and leaned back into her throne "What would you suggest we do about it?"

"My sister said that the forces you sent into the forest were slaughtered last night" Avance said with a confused frown, not replying to her question "I myself read it in the paper this morning…how could it be that the Shadows have only just now felt it and marked the map?"

"Oh that" Noellia swatted her hand at the air in a dismissive gesture as she took another sip of her wine "I announced the destruction of our patrols just after they left. There was no point in waiting for what we both knew was going to happen to happen when I could just get breaking the news over with. Besides…I think that the idea of the Gusto ambushes happening during the night instead of the day makes it so much more…dramatic. Wouldn't you agree?"

"I see…" was all Avance said, his dislike of his mistress' ploy clear upon his face. He felt the urge to question his mistress further, he wanted to know why the announced news had told of a peace convoy, not three military scouting groups and he wanted to know why she had felt that a 'dramatic' story was better than telling the truth to her people but pushed the thoughts back. He didn't know much about politics nor did he want to, he would simply have to trust that she had known what she had been doing.

"Now" Noellia said, slipping a tone into her voice that bore a warning against him interrupting her again "What would you suggest that we do about getting past the Gusto defences? I believe that once we get to their core settlement in the centre of the forest then any possible conflict would be over quickly enough"

"Perhaps" Avance nodded before pointing towards various sections of the map in turn "We know that the Gusto have minor settlements built around the forest, using these both as a way of expanding their population as well as providing early warning to their core village should any danger present itself us the same way as we would use a watchtower or moat patrols"

"I know this" Noellia snapped in irritation "We cannot send our full force into the forest without one of those outposts detecting us and calling for those air born bird riders. With their home advantage, even our ritual monsters will be under threat from them"

"So why not go under them?"

For a time Noellia was silent as she stared at the younger boy, her thin eyes narrowing as she searched him for sarcasm before leaning back and gesturing for him to continue.

"Well" Avance started to speak as he tightened his cloak and began to walk towards where the map hung upon the wall, trying to ignore the eternally staring eyes of the Gishki Shadows "One of inner Gusto outposts is built around a large lake that stands about halfway between here and their main village. It's still a big distance to travel between there and said village but the lake is on the far side of the ambush points"

His index figure pressed against a stretch of blue on the map that lay not far into the sea of green which formed the forest. Indeed the blue lay beyond where the Gishki patrols had been intercepted and deep enough into the forest that the Gusto most likely would not consider it to be endangered. Behind him, Noellia was silent for moment before giving a click of her tongue in irritation.

"What good does that do?"

"I have heard tales" Avance said simply as he turned back towards her "Tales of an old cave network that originate from the white cliffs a deep into the depths of the ground. It is from these underground routs that water spreads around the forest but, in the days of old, these caves were also used by smugglers and messengers between our tribes. It is possible that a group of soldiers could use these networks to by-pass the Gusto defences and…clear the way for our main force to march past the outposts uninterrupted.

"And you think that we could use this cave to get our forces into the forest undetected?"

"It is a possibility"

"Well then" She announced as she stood back up and began to walk around her throne towards the door at the rear of the room, the door that lead to her private quarters, as if Avance's words had brought the conversation to an end. She pushed the door open and didn't so much as look back as she called over her shoulder with a sway of her hand "It would appear you have a mission to attend to"