Boats Approaching

 "Boats?" Lucius questioned loudly. 

"That's correct sir." Gregorios replied seriously, "We are aware of three small double oared ships heading down the river currently, they are slightly smaller and of a cruder design than the Galatea."

"Let's head to the Dock's immediately." Dom replied immediately as he stood up, "We can continue with the next steps later."

"Agreed." Lucius said as he also stood up, grabbing a handful of olives as he did so, "How have we responded so far?"

"A Rider was also dispatched to General Subutai from the Outpost, however General Xun Yan has deployed Riverside's defence forces towards the riverbank, General Liao Hua has deployed the Southern Forces on the south of the River near the bridge, to stop any crossing. General Gan Ning has put the Galatea deep in to the River as a show of force to block any advance." Gregorios commented. "I believe General Tomoe has dispatched some guards to find the Lady Meritamen for any potential political welcomes that may be needed."

"Thanks Gregorios for the detailed update." Lucius replied, heading towards the entrance. "Lord Lazarus, I'd recommend you get your armour on in case it's an enemy. Gregorios, can you get someone to notify Tomyris please, we could do with the extra warriors."

"Homer is already on his way to her." Gregorios replied.

Dom decided that was a good idea to get changed quickly and headed upstairs whilst Lucius headed towards the Heroes Hall to grab his own, a similar set of armour that the Centurions of the Roman Legionaries wore that had been prepared for him. Dom had soon donned his own black armour with the silver trim, his helmet in hand and the red cape clipped to his shoulders. He hadn't been able to do it himself though, and had reluctantly asked Gregorios to help him, who did so with a broad smile on his face.

...

They soon met back up with Lucius and marched with pace towards the docks, during the journey, Chen Lu the captain of the Tang Forbidden Guards met them on Tiger back. The small contingent of Forbidden Guards with Chen Lu flanked Dom, Lucius and Gregorios, escorting them to the Dock where they could see the Galatea in the water, three banks of oars gently pushing her up the river towards the slowly forming City wall that separated the City from the Farmlands to the east.

Dom was impressed to see many different warriors arranged in formations as they marched and were directed by his Commanders. He could see across the water that Liao Hua had arranged the Thebian Hoplites in to an intimidating formation, supported on their flanks by a century of Legionaries and a small contingent of horse archers. Xun Yan had arranged the Forbidden Guards to guard the docks and the walls, whilst trainee Legionaries were dotted around in half centuries to support the Forbidden Guards. 

They soon reached the Docks, where Meritamen and Tomoe were stood waiting, with Helena the leader of the Docks. They were also flanked by some Forbidden Guards, with Tomoe wearing her intimidating armour and holding her Naginata in hand, her two swords strapped to her waist. Meritamen on the other hand wore one of her beautiful Toga's and looked very much the Head Diplomat that she was.

"Nice to see you are back." Meritamen said with a smile, "you need to stop leaving us like that."

"It's not something I can control." Dom politely replied with a shrug of his shoulders. "Do we have any more news?"

"Nothing more as of yet." Tomoe interjected. "Gan Ning is setting up a fine blockade, if they are here for a battle, he can slow them down enough for our Archers on both side's to cause damage. They also won't be able to disembark on either side without a tough battle. I'm looking forward to seeing the Galatea in action."

"Let's hope we don't need to." Dom replied seriously as he looked downstream.

"The Galatea is a beauty isn't she." Lucius commented as they waited tensely for the first sign of the three smaller ships.

"She really is." Dom replied, nodding his head towards Helena as he knew she had been heavily involved, "Very finely crafted."

"Rider approaching!" Gregorios commented from the side, pointing in the direction of a Spartan riding a Red Hare horse towards them. Chen Lu and the Forbidden Guards parted as the rider quickly dismounted.

"News from the East." The Spartan announced. "There were 8 Medium Merchant ships following behind the 3 Warships. Head Merchant Cassius was seen waving towards us on one of them."

"Cassius is following the Warships?" Lucius questioned, before quizzingly looking at Dom.

"Crassus." Dom replied with a shake of the head.

"Talk about making an entrance." Lucius replied back with a laugh. "How far are the Warships now?"

"They do not seem to be travelling at a battle pace." The Spartan recounted, "I rode past them, I doubt they are more than 15 minutes away.

"Thanks." Lucius replied, "head to the Town Centre and get yourself some food and rest before you head back to the east. Has a rider been dispatched with this update to Subutai?"

"I shall." The Spartan replied, "a rider had been dispatched to Subutai."

Lucius nodded thankfully towards the Spartan, who remounted his Warhorse and headed towards the Town Centre as ordered. 

"I'm sure that we won't be seeing Subutai today then after all." Dom sighed with a smile.

"I'm going to kill Crassus for panicking us like this." Meritamen grumbled half jokingly.

"May I?" Tomoe asked seriously.

"No!" They all replied quickly.

"Inform Xun Yan and Liao Hua immediately." Lucius ordered Chen Lu, who quickly had two of his men grab signalling flags that had been introduced recently and head towards the waters edge. They quickly shook their flags, and received flagged responses in reply. 

"What did they say?" Dom asked Lucius.

"Friends approaching." Lucius replied, "Xun Yan and Liao Hua are both new, I don't want them overreacting.

"What about Gan Ning?" Dom asked seriously.

"I'm sure he'll want to show off." Lucius said.

Soon the three ships entered view, Dom was impressed to see that they were like miniature versions of the Galatea. Rather than being three rows of oars high, they were two. They were also smaller in height and width, but still had an intimidating bow that could easily sink an enemy ship.

"Bireme." Gregorios commented. "They are an ancestor to the Trireme, not as easy to manoeuvre and much slower. Still they look well commanded and are in formation. I wouldn't want to be in the water if those ships clash today."

"I want to know where Crassus found them." Dom replied.

"Merchant escorts or Mercenaries?" Meritamen asked.

"We'll soon find out." Lucius said, pointing at the lead ship. "The big oaf is there."

On the prow of the lead ship, Crassus stood with a huge grin waving towards the shore and the warriors that lined it, acting like a general that was returning home from a huge triumph. He calmly directed the smaller warships to move around the Galatea that Gan Ning had made steadfastly refuse to move out of the way.

The two following ships slowed significantly and pulled next to each other on the far shore, after they passed the Galatea, whilst the lead ship that Crassus was on headed towards the dock. Gan Ning stayed stationary with the Galatea, which Dom appreciated as it would show a clear sign of strength against the Merchant ships that were heading this way. It would also give the Heroes something to laugh about over a drink in the Tavern.

"Go and tell Liao Hua that he can head back to doing what he was doing." Dom ordered no one in particular, "Ask Xun Yan to bring his men to the Dock, I'm sure Crassus will have some surprises for us, and we may need for Forbidden Guards for support."

Soon Chen Lu ordered some messages to his men, who quickly dispatched to do as they had been told.

"I suppose we should wait here then." Meritamen commented, as Crassus's ship arrived and he worked out a way to depart the ship that was higher than the dock.

...

"What a wonderful welcome!" Crassus said loudly as he arrived on dry land, his arms wide as he quickly pulled Dom in for a hug. "I'm liking the new armour!" 

"Thanks." Dom replied with a chuckle, "Why didn't you send ahead that you were arriving?"

"We wasn't expecting you for another few hours." Lucius agreed, before also being hugged by the happy Crassus.

"Where is the fun in that." Crassus laughed.

"Has it been a fruitful trip?" Meritamen asked kindly, as she was also pulled in to a hug.

"Very much so, I have accomplished what I was asked and more. We also did some recon and found out some interesting things." Crassus replied, as he looked at Tomoe and decided not to hug her as well. Instead he nodded in her direction, "Nice to see you."

"We were discussing who was going to kill you first." Tomoe replied, matter of fact.

"Did you win?" Crassus teased.

"They said I couldn't." Tomoe replied with disappointment.

"I'm sure the Lord has a battle lined up for you to have some fun soon." Crassus replied confidently, before turning away from her and back to Dom.

"Did you buy any more animals for your Zoo?" Dom asked jokingly. 

"Maybe a few, I found these vey cute black and white bears called Panda's at an animal market." Crassus replied, "but that's just a little reward for myself. Cassius is following with the main successes of our trip, it seems that we are rather rich in this area and I underestimated our wealth. Either that or this is a poverty stricken area, but with the abundance of natural resources I would disagree."

"Let's head to the Town Centre and discuss then." Lucius commented eagerly.

"Of course." Crassus replied, "But first, these were my first purchase."

As Crassus said that, he spread his arms in the direction of the three Bireme's that had entered the Dock area of Riverside. 

"You purchased those?" Meritamen asked seriously.

"Of course, I needed an escort to bring back everything I had purchased." Crassus replied with a shrug. "Plus, I felt we needed a naval presence. It's a shame that there is a Trireme stealing my thunder."

"You did well!" Dom stated, "How much did they cost us?"

"Surprisingly, they didn't cost us anything." Crassus replied seriously. "I made a deal with the captain of the lead ship, Elon. They were part of a wider fleet that was recently destroyed in a storm. Lost and alone, they have been looking for a new place to call home. They are in the need of a base where they can be fed and paid."

"How did you meet Elon?" Lucius questioned, wanting to know more about their new guests.

"Crixus that you sent as a guard, I repurposed his use and sent him to gather intel, he met Elon and set up a meeting at our Inn. I quickly realised he was the kind of person who we could come to an accord with and be a great asset to Riverside." Crassus stated, "Are you happy?"

"What did you promise them?" Dom questioned.

"What they asked for, a fair wage and a home. I explained that they could have a much bigger future here and that we could equip them with much stronger warriors. All of their rowers are freemen and I know you aren't a fan of slavery."

"Thanks Crassus." Dom said, "What else did you get?"