Steel and Sorrow: Rise of the Mercenary king

Chapter -1: The ploy of Arlania

The sun beat down upon the land of Arlania, its rays blazing with an intense heat that seemed to curse the earth. It was rumored that only those who lived in this forsaken place could truly understand what hell feels like.

It was either for the hot climate or the fact that this land has known more war than any other nation on this planet.

Every couple of years or so , without fail, the emperor of Rolman would declare a campaign against the Arlanian princedom. And each time , the same events would unfold: villages would be raided, soldiers given the opportunity to release pent-up stress at the expense of the natives, and battles fought against armies sent by the prince,albeit that was as rare as a virgin girl in a brothel, most time the prince would instead prefer to flee if they failed to rally the support of foreign powers.

Eventually, the imperial army would reach the capital and accept its surrender.

In years past, the capital may have put up a fight. But now, it was a different story, too many princes with too many short reignes succeeded each other , and made it so that the nobles forgot what 'loyalty' meant , as such most time they ignored letters or requests for help from their rulers, sometimes they even helped the invader to prevent their lands from being pillaged, sometimes instead of lending men , they gave gift usually in gold and silver, ìa small bribe' they liked to say.

By the time invaders reached the city gates, they would find them wide open , the old prince either slain or fleeing and a new prince bowing before them, offering fealty, taxes and levies in exchange for their help to mantain thier position . This marked the success of their campaign - their coffers filled with stolen riches and "gifts" from the installed prince, and an imperial garrison left behind to maintain control while the army returned home.

And after two or three , sometimes even five years, had passed, a lone rider would often arrive at the gates of the capital, bearing news that a new prince, backed by the Azanians - longstanding rivals of the empire of Rolman - had sworn fealty to the eastern empire.

History seemed to be on a never-ending cycle, with each new prince merely a pawn in the game between these mighty empires. Some may have believed it was all just a ploy to fill their coffers with the pretender's riches in exchange for the throne of Arlanian. 'The Arlanian Ploy' would have a nice ring to it for certain ,but in truth, Arlania held a strategic position as the road connecting the two empires.

Its terrain, filled with shifting sands, scattered oases, and daunting hills, made it a natural barrier against invasion. And yet even with its advantageous defenses, it seemed like both empires preferred to mantain such status quo, as controlling that land would mean bringing an expensive war to their doorstep.

In the past, wars between longstanding rivals were fought with tooth and nail by each soldier. But times had changed. New nations had emerged on both sides of the continent, causing the once-mighty empires to think twice before engaging in such costly conflicts both in lives and gold , as they would find their other borders threatened . Instead, they turned to these farce which would by the end only fill the coffers of both empires.

As it had been the case for the last twenty years, the current emperor, Romulia IV, made an announcement that a new campaign toward that sand princedom was about to begin.

Letters were sent to nobles, levies were raised, and provisions were gathered from the farms and brought to the city. And as always, slaves were tasked with carrying these supplies and weapons.

The preparations were the same of the previous years, the proceedings the same, even the people leading it were. The empire of Rolman, so strong and impossible to fight on 'his' side of the continent , was so valorous and rich that the only thing that could bring it down, was Rolman itself.

And as things would show, it would be by its hand that soon many dynasties would crumble, new nations rise, and copious blood be spilled on the ground.

This was to be the year of the three emperors.