Chapter III:Alea iacta est

It was the spring of 1102 and Pomerlane stood at the Feeshland border with Selenium just north of the city of Rjukan. His army numbered no more that 2,000 men, mostly cavalry. Before him, stood the Serene Republic of Feeshland, a wealthy state that had a large citizen army to call upon in times of need. Behind him, the Royal Army of Selenium was marching to destroy him completely. He had managed to evade them, even surprising one smaller group along the way, but he knew his luck would not last forever. Going back to Pomerania was out of the question, as the Pomura clan had put a bounty on his head years ago. Certainly, turning around was no option either. If he wanted to fulfill his destiny, he needed to start somewhere and that somewhere was not in Selenium. Drawing his sword, he shouted to his men. "The Die is Cast, friends. Let us ride into Feeshland and make it our own." With a thunderous roar, his army followed him across the border into Feeshland. Ninisani would never be the same again.

Pomerlane was familiar with Feeshland, having spent several years employed to the Tarquinii family as a mercenary fighting bandits and brigands from Selenium. He knew well that many of the citizens of the Republic were not happy with the current state of affairs and that many despised the Plutocrats ruling over them. The only thing that held the Republic together, at this point, was wealth, stability and civil tradition. Truly, he believed, the only reason the farmers and peasants of the land were loyal to the Patricians was due to the fact that they "protected them". Thus, he believed if he could expose the weaknesses of the Republic, show how it could not defend itself against a "marauding warlord", that it would collapse in on itself. It's citizen army, he predicted would be demoralized by the destruction of their farms and their own inability to protect them. And once this was all done, Pomerlane believed he could meet the Republics army in battle and crush it.

Furthermore, as a maternal descendant of the last King of Feeshland, Aquarius Calvus, that if he presented himself as a liberator to some parts of the population against the tyranny of the Republic, he could rally many to his cause. He knew in particular that the city of Aquileia would be perhaps more sympathetic to him than some might expect, given that he knew the Grand Mayor personally. Perhaps he could exploit this to his advantage in the coming campaign as well?

Crossing the Apollonia River, he soon set his plan into action.

To be continued.