94 Surrender is Good
Approximately 24 hours since the Town of Hadrow surrendered, the Officials of Dawn are still in discussion within their conference room, only ever stepping out since receiving the ultimatum to take care of daily necessities.
"Any word from Hadrow?" the Mayor of Dawn asks.
"I've been trying to contact the scout we sent. But ever since that fog rolled in, communication going out from the town has been difficult," Harold says.
"I don't like this fog. Not only is it making things difficult it gives me this weird feeling as if someone is watching my every move," Wolfhard says.
"From what I understand this fog isn't natural and blocks communication with those from within to the outside. There might be more to it but this is all we can glean at this time, we have more pressing matters to deal with than testing out what the fog does. It isn't an immediate problem to our health so just put up with it for now," Harold says.
But what the Post Office Manager doesn't mention is that he's fairly certain they are being watched by Astur.
*Ahem* The Mayor coughs lightly to bring everyone's focus to him, "Putting the matter of the fog aside, we've still yet to come to a final decision. But at least we figured out our options. Do we offer our unconditional surrender? Do we fight back? Do we surrender with the intention to backstab? Or do we surrender and play to whatever side is winning the overall war?"
"No matter what we can not offer an unconditional surrender nor should we surrender and play to the winner! God will not permit such blasphemous acts!" shouts the priest representing the Church.
"Although begrudgingly, I agree with the priest. It would be a betrayal to the crown if we chose either of those two options. Can you all really betray the Kingdom which has treated us so well? Especially you, Delfringer, you used to work as a Minister directly under the King," Wolfhard says.
"Be that as it may, I am merely looking out for the well being of the townsfolk. Should a battle breakout, they would undoubtedly be implicated. Much of our population isn't fit for battle, many of them being close in age to me, but without the training, I've been through. They're just people living off their farms in old age, they can't possibly fight. We aren't Hadrow, we don't have a physically fit population that can fight. Wolfhard, your neighbour is an old lady living with her three grandchildren, if I recall her son and his wife died in an accident a few years back and those kids aren't even 10 years old, would you ask any of them to fight? They aren't in a position to move anywhere either, they barely make ends meet here in Dawn and the price of living here is on the low end in the Kingdom," Harold says.
"This…"
Wolfhard can't argue back. He knows that Harold is right, he even helps his neighbour with errands when he has some free time. He couldn't possibly ask them to immediately flee the city or fight, Wolfhard would rather kill himself than do something like that.
Wolfhard heaves out a heavy sigh, "Very well. I'll agree to a surrender."
The priest looks as if he wants to argue back, but even he can't find a good enough reason to do so against Harold's argument. No one can argue back. Everyone in the conference room knows people who aren't capable of fighting or fleeing, and several of the Officials aren't capable of doing either themselves, being too old to put up a fight. They come to the conclusion that fighting back is not an option.
As the discussion on how they'll surrender continues, a middle-aged man bursts into the room, the man they sent to find out the outcome of Hadrow.
"Marcus, you're back, so how did it go? What did you learn?" the Mayor asks.
"I just hope you didn't tell the people of the forest that you'll fight before I could come back," Marcus says.
"No, we've come to the decision that we would surrender. It's just a matter of unconditional surrender, fake a surrender and backstab them, or temporarily surrender and side with whoever is winning," the Mayor says.
"Great, as long as we don't fight everything will be ok. Let me tell you, what I saw was downright horrifying. I've seen the outcome of the skirmishes with the Empire and the Warband before, but neither of them comes close to the brutality that Hadrow endured. You could probaly count the people who aren't injured with a single hand, I mean, I only found a single person who wasn't injured. Even the civilians who didn't participate in the battle… no it shouldn't be called a battle, from what I heard it would be better to call it a massacre. At the very least, there weren't any civilian casualties, but none of them escaped injury."
"Tell us what happened," Harold says.
"Alright. When I arrived at Hadrow, its walls were in a state of absolute ruin. It took me a while before I found someone who wasn't completely scarred by the event and was willing to share the details. But before that, I found that Vampire Elizabeth, the number two in the Holy Oulvgar State. I heard the details from her first but I wanted to hear it directly from someone from Hadrow who had participated in the town's defence. According to the Vampire girl, when the group sent to deliver the Ultimatum arrived, they were insulted and spit on by the people of Hadrow but they endured since their Goddess wanted to settle the matter peacefully. But the people of Hadrow began to insult their Goddess and nearly tried to kill the townsfolk right there, but remembered that they were explicitly told not to engage in a fight. When the group returned to the Sea of Trees, they begged to be allowed to kill the ones who had insulted their Goddess. She tried to persuade them to engage in talks of peace, but they couldn't stand hearing their Goddess get insulted. They were eventually granted permission under the condition to not kill those who surrender and non-combatants. This is what I heard for the Vampire, although there's a good chance of propaganda and embellishment being mixed into it, the story should probably be similar."
"And what of the person from Hadrow, what did they have to say about this whole ordeal?" Wolfhard asks.
"It was one of the few who didn't want to fight from the beginning, a hunter who had witnessed the changes in the Sea of Trees, he got caught in the flow as everyone around him wanted to fight and he didn't have the will to go against them. One of the very few people who come out with no substantial injury. From what he said before even an hour had passed after the arrival of the Oulvgar troops, Hadrow surrendered. A giant bear ran through the defence line, birds dropped bombs from the sky, people were visibly decaying after being trampled by a stag, and beavers had psychic powers. The ground shook with every step the bear took, the city was nearly destroyed under the bombardment of the birds, decayed bodies filled the ground around Hadrow. The people who were still alive had their comrades innards splattered all over them, stray body parts littered the area. I could see it in his eyes, the hunter may not have had any substantial injuries, but in his mind was clearly broken, he'll likely be suffering from PTSD for the rest of his life. He clung to me with tears in his eyes, asking if I knew what it was like to have my best friends brains and guts on my chest. To have my family eaten alive before my eyes. Everything he told me was absolutely horrifying. A defence of nearly 5,000 fell to a force of a couple hundred in less than an hour."
Silence permeates throughout the conference room. One minute passes. Another minute passes. And another. As the fifth minute passes, the Mayor finally breaks the silence.
"You know, the terms they offered us was quite good. Our taxes will be significantly lower, far lower than anything the Kingdom offers. When I was going through the minor details of the terms, they were also offering us free healthcare. And the only thing we really need to do is offer up more food in replace of money."
"Hmm, now that you mention it the benefits we get for offering our unconditional surrender are quite good," one of the Officials says.
"Now that I think about it, surrender seems like a good idea," another official says.
"I believe we should surrender. The benefits are indeed good," another official says.
One by one, more of the officials agree to an unconditional surrender. The priest representing the Church tries to object, but he is swiftly ejected out from the room.
The Mayor stands up, "Alright then, we've come to a decision. Send word to the Sea of Trees. The Town of Dawn offers its unconditional surrender and welcomes its new Overlord."
