Council

The next two days went by quickly, like dew before the morning sun. Today Nissa was receiving various reports on their dwindling food supplies, on their lack of metal for repairs, on their lack of magical equipment, and on it went of their lack. She hesitated more often than once to transfer personnel to those non combat roles. A hesitation that was forcibly learned by the ravages of the war she experienced.

They had been pushed back for three years now, and the once vast country full of resources and people were reduced to her remaining soldiers, and the tired refugees, in her care. When the fighting first began, she had mustered the necessary support to end the invasion before it began. Nissa even acted on her prior knowledge of the enemy's main base of operations; which landed her army here at the newly renamed fortress city of "Dawns Hope". A name that would hopefully inspire her country and people... but sadly she had underestimated the enemy's foothold, and their reprisal.

Her actions didn't stem the flow of enemy troops, in fact her actions incensed the enemy forces. In their enraged state, the enemy was even more ruthless as they were before. They struck with savagery, disregarding the loss of life on both sides until the bulwark of defenses protecting her country crumbled; sending her armies reeling against the onslaught of enemy troops. With their borders fallen, the enemy surrounded her country and systematically squeezed them until they were forced into their current location and predicament. Dawns Hope had changed from their inspired future, to their impending tomb.

Any found in the way of their ruthless advance was slaughtered. No terms, no parley, no prisoners; It was if her people's existence was an insult to their unknown ancestors. Their barbaric tactics stimulated a deep engraved fear to never tarry in one place too long else the enemy find you and reap the lives of those not strong enough to flee. Nissa wasn't immune to that lurking fear, although it did not dictate her actions, it was ever present in the back of her mind.

It was sobering to think about their previous predicament; however now they had a divine defender from their goddess with them who told her to establish her people here, and she would try to put her confidence in his promise of assistance. Trusting in his words, Nissa snapped out of her musing and finalized the distribution of her soldiers towards the different requests.

With the last commander sent off to assist in the excavation of metals, she was free of work for the moment. Leaning back in her chair, while rubbing her eyes, she allowed herself to relax and let loose a tired sigh.

A voice sounded from her right "Any word from the wolf's master?" She opened her eyes and looked at Wynfir, who sneaked in while she was resting, before shaking her head "No, for a talkative animal he shuts up rather quickly when asked about his Boss's movements, and says he doesn't want to 'get scolded again for leaking information'." A small smirk formed on her face, it seemed Fenrir's antics were of some use to lighten the situation.

"Hmm... savvy beast." replied Wynfir as he shook his head.

However speaking of the devil, a few moments later the wolf entered the tent and addressed Nissa "Lady! I have word from Boss. He wants you to gather your underlings so the situation can be addressed properly." Roused from her tired state, Nissa stood up to gather her nearby spear while asking "When does he want it done by?"

Fenrir shrugged "When you can; preferably, the quicker the better." Nissa then looked at Wynfir and he responded with a nod "I'll send for the commanders. The Command Tent?" She nodded in affirmation "The Command Tent, and an hour from now."

'That should give them enough time to tie up their essential duties, and get their heads on straight enough for the meeting with our savior.'

Pushing aside the tent flap she moved towards the largest tent. Fenrir was suspiciously quiet as he trotted next to her. Hopefully with this meeting, she could get a better read on their savior and perhaps a few answers to the charge her goddess had sent her to accomplish as well.

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"...All present, Guardian Nissa." Wynfir had all her surviving commanders and advisors were in attendance for the impending council. Feeling a little bit of trepidation herself, she thanked him and looked at Fenrir; because his boss hadn't shown up yet.

"He'll be coming right..." At that moment a strike of lightning sounded from beyond the tent, that sent everyone to their feet as they armed themselves.

"...now." Fenrir's reply pierced through the commotion as his boss soon after entered the tent, amidst the flustered group. Nissa motioned for them to calm themselves, and they reluctantly sat back down, but she was still frowning at the grinning wolf.

'I'm going to make a tent out of his hide!' She internally raged.

Sending one last glare at Fenrir, whose eyes gleamed with mirth, Nissa then turned her gaze towards their savior. As he approached, she was able to see him more clearly this time. His hair was a mud colored red, but what stood out were his eyes. They were a light grey color, not unsimilar to the fur of Fenrir and the other wolves, and they seemed to glow; perhaps an indicator of his access to the primal magic she had felt in the battle before. His dark grey cloak's frayed edges were covering a black half plate that protected him from his boots to his shoulders.

His eyes roamed over the room until they locked onto her own for a moment. She was still unable to get any different read from him. That apathetic intent was still there, but there were whisps of melancholy like echoes from a long lost past. Breaking eye contact, he motioned towards the map that was spread across the table in front of the assembled group.

He then spoke "Tell me the situation of your world."

Nissa mentally recalled what she could and decided to start with her own country. Her hand motioned towards the small sword figurine located on the map near their eastern border surrounded by the sea. "The city we are in is called Dawns Hope, its located in our country's eastern limits and our country is called Nuriem."

"We had four main armies totaling in fifty thousand strong. Three were each assigned a border and one to support them: the northern border, the western border, and the south western border. Four months after the first year of this conflict, we lost contact with the west and south west, and six months after that the north. When the border fell any foreign communication was also lost with our neighboring countries that were adjacent to those borders. Any last reports we received, were of them also involved in heavy fighting. Since then we've been fighting ... or mostly fleeing with the reserve and our refugees until they pressed us into coming here."

She then looked at him to see if he was satisfied with the current flow of information. His eyes flickered to her and he nodded in affirmation.

"And the other nations?" he asked. Nissa turned towards Wynfir and she sent the unspoken word for him to take charge of the brief for now. Wynfir cleared his throat, stepped up to the table and utilized a stick to begin his portion of the information.

"Alright well in simple terms, its not good... Let's start from the bottom of the map. To our southwest is the Kingdom of Stylia..." Nissa folded her arms and was grateful she was standing else his soothing voice would likely put her to sleep before too long.