Carlo's Army resumed the march north after two days to rest and reorganize in Quaterain. As they moved into Bouellia proper, they noticed that the lands changed from wooded and marshy to scrubland dotted with sheep and a few villages. A pair of ranching villages surrendered to Carlo's Army without a fight as they moved north. Neither was larger than three hundred people, but it was still denying the enemy manpower and food, both of which were worthy goals. Eventually, Carlo's Army made it to the outskirts of the town of L'haiville, a market town with actual fortifications of wood and earth protecting the town. The town also had a series of hedgerows in the other areas of the town that would be a prime candidate for ambushes. It would be a tough target to assault, even for his men. Casualties would be higher than usual. It was perhaps fortunate, then, that as Carlo's army moved to surround the town and set up siege positions, a woman exited the Town under a flag of parley, guarded by two knights. Carlo went out to meet them, and see if the town could be induced to surrender.
"You are the Count of Ijssel?" Questioned the woman, voice carrying a hint of a Brettonian Accent, though otherwise speaking in perfect Tilean.
"I am. Count Carlo Zeno, at your service. I am afraid my grasp of Brettonian is not as good as your grasp of Tilean. I will have to rectify that in the future." Introduced Carlo.
"I would not worry too much about that, I am cheating with Petty Magic. I am Lady Ygraine de Toqueville, Damsel of the Lady of the Lake. L'haiville is my responsibility. We have set up a field hospital here for wounded troops, and it is currently packed thanks to your recent victories. I wish the wounded be spared further conflict and am willing to surrender L'haiville to you with conditions to make that happen." She responded.
"What conditions?" Queried Carlo.
"The first is that your forces do not loot the Town, I know you have mercenaries with you and it may be a concern." Intoned Ygraine.
"That should be easy enough. Zwingli's Men are highly disciplined, if we forbid it, they'll listen." Nodded Carlo.
"The second is that the Hospital remains unmolested. We are doing what we can to heal the wounded and between my magic and the poultices and medicines of my nurses, we may actually succeed. It would be an affront to the Lady to jeopardize that." Continued Ygraine.
"Sensible. These lands are going to be ours after the war, we will need men with experience to defend them. What else?" Asked Carlo.
"Lastly, that you allow worship of the Lady in these lands. I understand that your populace is a mix of Marienburgers, Tileans, and Kislevites left over from Uvetosk, and as such do not worship her, but Bouellia was forged by Brettonians. If you seek to rule these lands, you must allow the populace to worship the Lady." Finished Ygraine.
"I wasn't planning on banning worship of the Lady of the Lake. I wasn't planning on promoting it either, however. I am a Myrmidian myself and Myrmidia's doctrines clash with strict adherence to the Lady such as in Brettonia. Do not expect her to be promoted above other deities." Warned Carlo.
"I suppose I can live with that." Sighed Ygraine.
"Then it appears we have struck an accord." Nodded Carlo.
"Indeed, I surrender L'haiville to you, Count Carlo." Announced Ygraine as the gates of the town opened for Carlo's Forces. As Carlo entered the town at the head of his army, he realized that it was a good thing for both sides that they had reached an agreement. The garrison was small, with around eighty professional troops of mixed yeoman longbowmen and men-at-arms provided by the local Chapel of the Lady, though they were supplemented by around three hundred emergency levies from the surrounding populace. They were constantly drilled, well equipped, and well supplied, however, and backed by the magic of Ygraine and the acolytes at the local Chapel of the Lady it would have been a bitch to take the town. On the other hand, the Town had no reasonable hope of victory. They could make an assault costly, or drag out a siege, but it would end the same either way, with L'haiville conquered by Carlo's Army.
Speaking of the Chapel of the Lady, they had set up a large field hospital right next to it containing some one-hundred-fifty wounded Bouellian troops, a mixture of professional men-at-arms, yeoman longbowmen, and levied troops. All who fought and were wounded in the service of Bouellia may seek treatment here. Carlo had a group of Shallyan Sisters following his army that had thus far not had too terribly much to do, given how lopsided casualties had been in this war. He could detail some of them to aid in the field hospital, making it a joint project that would be a symbol of his plans for Bouellia. It would show the Bouellians that he would work with them as their ruler and not against them and hopefully win hearts and minds.
"Lady Ygraine, would you be willing to accept the aid of some of the Shallyan Priestesses that have accompanied my army so far? Working together to heal the wounded would surely be preferable than dividing or efforts and I doubt that Shallya and the Lady would begrudge their faithful healing just because it meant their priestesses and damsels would need to join forces?" Questioned Carlo.
Ygraine paused for a moment to think before nodding. "I do not think that the Lady would mind so long as the Shallyans do not attempt to proselytize." She answered.
And with that, the Bouellian field Hospital became a joint field hospital. Shallyans moved in with their supplies and what few patients they had thus far and the standard of care improved as both Shallyan and Damsel combined their efforts and supplies. By the time Carlo's army headed north again a few days later, already some of those whose prognosis had been grim would see the beginnings of recovery thanks to the two orders combining their efforts. A man who had been struck by an Ijssel longsword in the thigh that was expected to be lame for the rest of his life was the first man to begin showing improvement, moving his leg a bit without pain. With both orders working together, he would be able to walk again and those like him would meet similar recoveries. As Carlo marched north with his army, a sense of hope began to spread through the army. Even crippling wounds could be healed. It bolstered morale.
As the army moved north, the scrubland turned to rolling hills and grassy plains dotted with farms and a few farming villages and vineyards. This was the breadbasket of Bouellia and it belonged to the Barons de Estang. Three farming villages of between two hundred and five hundred people were interspersed with a few scattered farming hamlets of twenty people each, all surrounding a walled castle town of three thousand souls. Castle de Estang had large curtain walls of good granite surrounding the town, dotted periodically with square towers. On a hill in the center of the town stood a Brettonian-style castle with walls of its own surrounding a keep. An earthen causeway led across a dry moat to a stone gatehouse. The word impregnable sprung to mind. Carlo realized that sales of grain and especially wine from the vineyards had paid for all this and without proper cannons, he wasn't certain how he was going to take the Castle Town. And he needed to take the Castle town to win the war because flying from the ramparts was not the bronze eagle of de Estang, but the Bull and Grapes of the Grande Duchy of Bouellia. Ferenc was in that castle. Carlo's army settled into siege positions as he pondered a way to try and take the castle town. He went to sleep that night and when he woke up, he knew what he would have to do. He would need to sneak across the siege lines in the middle of the night, climb over the wall, and open the gates for his army to pour through. His dreams had shown him a way it was possible, he just needed to train for a week or two to do it. With the siege, it wasn't as if the Bouellians were going anywhere, though he was worried about Khypris trying to take advantage of the delay to invade themselves. There was nothing for it though. He began to train in the ways of stealth his dreams had shown him, all while his forces traded potshots with the archers and yeoman longbowmen on the walls of Castle de Estang.
Two weeks later, he was ready. . .
XXXX
AN: Yeah, so he's going to try and use stealth and athletics charms to sneak over the wall and open the gates for his army. It should work out for him provided he doesn't cross paths with any heroes who actually have a chance to resist.
Of course, you know the saying about mice and men and laying plans. You'll see how it works out in practice next time.
As for what Castle de Estang looks like visually, picture something like this: Old Sarum - Wikipedia
Next up will be the infiltration attempt, stay tuned