Chapter 19

"Say what now!?! you're telling me we fought against Djinn's!?!?" Conrad shrieked in terror as Aitana and Zemfina restrained him from getting up off the bed. "You're wounded, Conrad, please let me finish patching you up." Aitana healed the rogue's wounds as he laid back on the bed.

"Aye, they're not the nicest lot of people, and recently word has it that they have their eyes set on taking over Azawe and setting it as their new capital." said Giorgio, Diacrao's friend, who was seated beside Diacrao in their room. "The fact y'all survived the encounter is pure luck, Djinn's are much more terrifying foes than gnolls."

"If I may ask, Giorgio, where do these Djinns even come from?" asked Kadungon, curious of their origin. "I'm not too sure man, but the locals said they hail from the deserts of the Ayrabyan Peninsula from the north, making their way here through the Ayrabyan merchants who brought them initially as bodyguards and servants, but that's as far as my knowledge goes." Giorgio took out a canteen of water and gulped it down.

"It's not just the Djinns, other creatures such as the trolls, kobolds, and even human renegades have noticed the gnolls have been preoccupied with the war parties from the republic, and had set their eyes to reclaiming the city as one of their own. I am afraid this might lead to increased presence and a more turbulent hunting grounds for all of us" He further elaborated the situation to the rest of the party, who seemed distressed with the news at hand.

"Great, just as we thought we found a spot to gain a decent income..." the disappointed Kadungon lamented at the unfortunate warring landscape that had taken place around the ruins of Azawe. He was not alone in his sorrow, as the other party members were equally disheartened from the news.

"Hey hey hey, what's with the long faces people, you do know it's not the end of the world right? If it was I would have been getting myself drunk!" Giorgio tried lightening up the mood of the dispirited cast. "Besides, if you find it hard on yourself, y'all can always serve up as mercenaries to other parties." He continued, opening up a new insight that sparked the interest of the few members.

"That's a thing?" Diacrao questioned. "Sure it is Dia, It's been a culture here for quite a while, although the Idea was suggested by Diric, the head of the Foreign Auxiliary Corps." He answered his question, as he took another sip from his canteen of water, only to realize it was empty.

"How is the pay?" Kadungon continued the question. "It depends, sometimes it pays decent, sometimes it doesn't depends on how much the other auxiliary folks can afford. If you can't negotiate with the coin, you can negotiate with the loot. Frankly, it can get heaty, but it never gets ugly. Payment aside, y'all will benefit greatly from a bigger war group, taking down enemies wouldn't be much of a challenge and you'll have a better chance against your enemies." Giorgio got up from his seat and went to take a calabash cup containing sorghum beer, gulping it down. "Mind if I finish this ladies and gentlemen?" 

Diacrao nodded as a sign of agreement. "Thank you for the suggestion, we weren't keen on returning to the forest. Have you done mercenary work yourself?" Diacrao was curious and wanted to know if Giorgio might've done the same thing. "<|BURP |> Yes, my party and I had gave our services a few times, maybe around five to six times? <| <em>BURP |> Oh man, this beer is truly something different." He looked inside the calabash cup and continued drinking from it, much to the shock of the ladies.

"Cool, how has the experience been for you?" Diacrao prompted the question, hoping he would share some valuable experience. "Gee man you're making me sound like an old geezer by sharing my experience. <| <em>BUURRRRRP |>  Euah, pardon me ladies. Well, It was interesting, being with a crowd outside from the usual faces, and becoming friends with them was much easier considering we are too on the same boat, foreigners serving a foreign country to which we had no ties, but yet willing to risk our lives for this place." He paused and gestured that he needed to take a sip. He was a little bit tipsy and it shows from his tone and manner of speech.

"Yeah, we risked our lives for a country that we barely have any ties too, and our similar backgrounds enabled us to be pragmatic amongst each other. Sure there were heated tensions especially when it came to strategies, leadership, and most importantly, payment and loot, but agai- <|<em > BURRRRPPPPP |> it never turned violent. I too offered my services to the Manda Expeditionary Forces, but they only accepted me and my party because we were experienced, and we went for a skirmish against a large gnoll warband across the borderlands. They outnumbered us 3 to 1, but we still beat the odds. Trust me, the army of Manda are Hardcore. They fight like professionals, and are capable of taking down a large warband despite their small numbers!!" He raised his hands up high, to the point he fell from his seat, much to the shock of everyone present.

Diacrao and Kadungon helped him up and stabilized him in his seat. "<| <em >BURP |> Thank you, lads, uh what was I saying again?" Everyone paused for a moment, up until Chiasoka responded. "Small numbers defeating large warbands!" Giorgio smiled and nodded his head. "Thank you, mia buona signora. They fight with so many tactics and cohesion that it makes us feel like a rag-tag militia, which, I hate to admit it, we are! Down to their basic recruit, they are well disciplined and organized, it's perhaps the reason why they were able to repel a large force. I envy their ability so much. Not even the best of us could defeat their army." Giorgio's statement opened the eyes of the party who up until now had been oblivious of the Army of the Republic of Manda. For all they thought, they assumed the army was poorly trained, or suited for guard duty only.

"But if they're so great, why don't they do everything themselves!?! Why do they force us, or heck, even employ us to do all this shit for them!?!" The rogue complaint from his bed. It was a reasonable question. "Woahaho, you're heating up Roguester. It's because they are small, and overstretched bucko!" 

"Can't they recruit more?" Aitana added a question.

"No, they don't and won't. They function differently from any of their neighboring armies, while the Xeyrian Empire and the neighboring Vorzhica Kingdom rely on levies, the Three Zanziyin republics accept volunteers and train them extensively with the best training and the best gear they could provide. They also limit their men to 2000 soldiers, inclusive of their navy, if I'm not wrong. If you're gonna ask why, their military philosophy is quality over quantity, and their battle-hardened soldiers, despite not seeing combat, are much more capable of striking down foes with much courage and tactics despite superior numbers. A veteran told me this info if you're wondering how I even know this. <| <em>BURRRP |> Okay that's enough of beer for now." He placed the empty calabash down on the floor.

"That's quite a small number, though, and it puts a strain towards their capabilities." Aitana pointed out the flaw in their army organization.

"Again Missy, Quality over Quantity. Yes, that's a flaw, but they still manage to do a good job maintaining security in this turbulent region, and that is a great military feat." Giorgio complimented the army's accomplishments.

"Just curious, but how big can the Xeyrian and the Vorzhican armies could get?" Zemfina hurled a doubt.

"No idea about the Xeyrians, but for the Vorzhicans, the Saqari kingdom can muster up to 30000 of their warriors. But considering they were warrior slaves and have a largely martial-based culture, it makes sense why they could muster up their numbers! Though their quantity probably can't break the Quality of the Zanziyin republics for sure, thank goodness the republics and the Kingdom have a good brotherly bond among each other!" Giorgio once again blurted out a piece of information that they scarcely knew about.

"Brotherly bond?"

"Yes, the drunkard is right." An old man's voice echoed through the room, as Diric walked inside of the room. "Hello everyone, having a nice chit chat, aren't you? Mind if an old man join in for a short story session?" The group was startled by Diric's sudden presence, and Giorgio got up and gave a clumsy salute to the old officer.

"Relax, I am just here to survey." Diric took a seat and noticed Conrad by the bed. "Wounded eh? Don't worry, it's part of the experience kid." He assured Conrad about his injuries, to which the rogue, who wasn't used to responding to authority, gave a nod in response. "Aye sir!" The situation in the room was quiet since Diric's entry.

"Why is everyone tensed and quiet? lighten up everyone, let me share you the tale of the brotherly bond between the Zanziyins and the Saqaris, gather around, children." Everyone took a seat at their respective seats and on the floor, as they prepared to listen to the old man.

"The people's of the Zanzi coast are proud sailors who had sailed as fas as the northern lands beyond the Ayrabyan Sea and reached the Saqari domains. Their homelands differed in weather, sometimes it was hot, and sometimes it was frigid, but we developed a good trading relationship among one another. However, both groups too shared the fate of being slaves for the Adrasid Khaliphate. During a slave rebellion, there were many groups of people, including Allied Ayrabyan tribes, but the majority were Zanziyin and Saqari slaves who fought for freedom, and during this conflict, the Zanziyins were blacksmiths who provided weapons to the Saqari, who were more numerous. seaports were seized and many of them sailed to the former territory of the Kharash empire, then under the reign of Mountain-Warlord Valraac."

"Mountain-Warlord?"

"It's a former title for the Kharash rulers, the equivalent of emperors. As I was saying, there were already existing Zanziyin communities here, settling as merchants, employed masons, mercenaries and craftsmen, but their numbers swelled with the Zanziyin slaves and other refugees. Alarmed by the sudden influx, Valraac attempted to mitigate this invasion. But he soon found pity on the tale of the slave rebels and their cause, and for the remainder of his reign, he dedicated his life to ending the slave trade within his waters, purchased and freed slaves from polities such as the Adrasid Khaliphate, and eventually abolished slavery in the Kharash Empire, a move that will be adopted by the polities of this island. Ever since then, the Zanziyin's and the Saqari's have been integrated into the Kharash Empire, and traditionally we have been economically interdependent, just as how we were in the slave rebellion. Even during the Xeyrian civil war, we had our backs protected. It is an unspoken bond that remains strong, and though the civil war has ended, the winds of conflict still wreck the boats of peace, yet, we still stood by our words and held our backs. As they secure our backs in the hinterlands, we dominate and provide access to the coastal regions. This leads to the prosperity and cooperation between both of our communities."

"Wow....that was a pretty deep man, I'm not even gonna lie." Conrad was in awe with the tale of the old officer. It was quite an insightful background about the history of the land, even though it was most likely a small piece of Xeyrian history, it was still a big part, especially for the Zanziyin and the Saqari people. "You mentioned the Kharash empire, we have heard them a lot, but we have got no clue about them, could you tell us more about them?" asked the warrior who was seemingly excited to learn more about more background and history of the land and it's people.

"Some other time, it's already evening and I should take my leave. I bid you all farewell, and for you, rogue, take good rest, you'll need it for the next day." Diric bid farewell to the party as he took his leave from the room, and eventually the auxiliary quarters. 

"I didn't know he was this chill, he always had a hardened exterior." Giorgio remarked over their recent interaction, to which the group agreed, they were caught off guard by Diric's calm and relaxed nature. "Well, it's my turn to say goodbye, I am gonna head to bed now people!" Giorgio too was about to take his leave.

"But it's evening." Diacrao pointed out the time.

"And? Can't ya see that I'm piss drunk! I need to get some good night rest mate!" 

"Right, just don't wake me up in the middle of the night when you do wake up, else i'll smack you with a stick."

"Pffft, roger that captain! Now arrivederci everyone!" The auxiliary bid his farewell as he too took his leave from the party. Seeing that there was nothing much to do, everyone agreed it was best to relax and take a rest while they plan towards tomorrow's goals. Conrad was physically healed on the outside, but internally, he still suffers for some pain, it would need a day's worth of rest, before he could resume his duties.

The ladies retreated to their quarters, while the gents went on to perform their menial duties, that was doing the laundry and stitching up their clothes that were torn and damaged from their skirmishes.