We Wait

"We are not the first?" Dom asked him seriously, his tone getting deeper.

"We met a group of men when we were taming some goats." The Man replied honestly. "About three miles north of here. They wore grey robes, of a similar style to your doctor here."

"Any why are they important?" Dom questioned.

"It was soon after that when the Chief, my Brother, fell ill." The Man replied.

"So you suspect them of foul play?" Tomyris asked.

"Yes." He replied, "They asked us lots of questions, and seemed to have a similar starting point to us. I think it must have something to do with them. We were quite friendly at the time and possibly said more than we should have to strangers."

"Tell me more about them." Dom asked.

"They wore the similar grey robes, but they ended just below the knee rather than to the ankles." The Man replied, "They had short swords by their waist and had their hair tied in buns."

"What did they ask you?" Tomyris jumped in.

"Where we were based, how many of us was there." He replied, "Do we have warriors, are we peaceful, questions like that. They said they would send someone to introduce them to our Chief, but they never did."

Gan Ning looked to Dom and Tomyris, wanting to see if they agreed with this mans story, seeing that they both nodded along he decided to speak.

"Sorry I may have overreacted." Gan Ning said in acknowledgement. "I'm not saying I totally believe you, but it's worth investing."

"No, I understand now!" The Man said, realising himself that this was his opportunity to keep his life. "Let me know how I can help."

"I think I have an idea." Dom said, "Gan Ning, If you were to poison this settlement, with the information provided, how would you do it?"

Gan Ning stood for a few seconds to come up with a plan, whilst the group all looked at him intently. Gan Ning was a strong warrior, but his strength came with his ingenuity in attacks that were not charging from the front. Psychological warfare, fire attacks, night attacks and ambushes were his strengths.

"Knowing that they have a similar background and understanding the way the mechanics of the Tribe work. I'd know they have daily spawns, of both Villagers and possible Warriors. I would sneak in a spy during that time, who could feedback on the happenings within the Tribe." Gan Ning said. "See what opportunities I had to weaken their foundation or easy opportunities for night attacks."

"But wouldn't the numbers be wrong for the Daily Spawns?" Tomyris questioned. "We normally have individuals or family units, but it's a fixed number."

"Possibly, or I could just kill them before anyone notices." He replied seriously. "It's not hard to kill someone stealthily."

"It's a small window, but it could be possible in a place like this. Riverside it wouldn't be possible due to the location of the Town Centre." Dom agreed. "But here, amongst the lay out of the Huts and how everyone is busy."

"Then what?" Tomyris stated, trying to think of a plan herself.

"Depending on what I noticed, which here is a lot of opportunities, I would cause disruption from within." Gan Ning continued, "Killing the Chief removes the primary leadership, and then slowly poisoning the rest of the Tribe until they are weak enough to attack. If you can then cause disagreements within the top echelons such as the new Chief position being argued about, then you have an easier route. Putting the Chief's Wife and his Brother against each other is a good idea."

There was a nod of agreement from the military minds within the hut. Tomyris and Dom looking in deep thought, whilst Octavian and the Legionaries seemed impressed by Gan Ning's foresight.

"Then what is the gain from winning by such nasty tactics?" Hua Tou asked. "What is the point in conquering something if there is nothing left. Killing everyone by poison is neither honourable or rewarding"

"They may not gain civilian population, which historically is a key reason, and the resources here are poor." Dom agreed, "But if they are similar to us, the possibly perks from capturing the buildings are a big target."

"As well as the horses." Tomyris agreed, "It's not something we have yet either. Cavalry is key in successful expansion. I'm tempted to take some horses back with us as a reward."

"The other thing is Territory." Gan Ning stated, "The land around here would be classed as the Tribes territory, similar to the Silver Forest and the River to us."

"Very true." Dom agreed. "Owning these flatlands would give access for Northern Towns to access the river and the benefits of that. The Tribe could set up a choke point where merchants would have to pass through for easy access."

"Why not just kill us and take it yourself then?" The Chiefs Brother in Law asked, having kept quiet whilst they discussed and not wanting to draw attention to himself.

"That's not the type of place we want to be." Dom replied. "We will fight and conquer, but your Warriors asked for help, so we should help. If you had not asked for help, and had seemed a primary target, we would have. These are not peaceful times, I promise you that."

"Will the poisoner still be here?" Tomyris asked Gan Ning, "or would they have fled when we arrived?"

"Realistically, they had two options when we arrived, flee and report that we were here and work on a new tactic. We are definitely a wild card in the plans, but I would possibly risking sneaking back inside." Gan Ning started, "Alternatively they could stay, work out our strengths and weakness and either attempt to poison us, or pass a message back to their camp."

"What is your name?" Dom asked the Chiefs Brother In Law finally, realising they hadn't asked him as they had initially wanted to intimidate him and had been distracted since.

"Zanug." He replied sincerely, bowing his head slightly. The members of Riverside intimidated him in both stature and intelligence.

"OK Zanug, I have a job for you." Dom stated, "I need to know the names of the Tribesmen that arrived the day of and the days up to the Chiefs death from the moment you met the other people. I don't need you to alert them or pull them for questioning. I just need the names and numbers for now."

"That shouldn't be difficult." Zanug replied, "There were 6 people who arrived during that time as well as the additional horse Archers. I can point those 6 out to you. The horse archers would be to difficult to imitate due to their skill with the bow."

"Do any of them work around food?" Phoebe asked, having stayed silent up to now. "That's the easiest way to poison."

"Yes, two of them." He replied with a nod. "One man and one woman."

"Are they both still in camp?" Dom asked seriously, starting to think up some plans.

"They should be and they are both healthy, not sick." He said in thought.

"OK, Zanug, I'm going to need your help one more time." Dom said. "I need you to first point out who they are without them noticing. You can do this subtly. I think the best way would be to complain about us to them, and signal by patting their shoulder."

"I can do that!" He agreed, "I want to find who killed my brother and wipe them from this earth."

"Now be honest with me." Dom said to him seriously but calmy, making his head the same level as Zanug. "How far are you willing to go for your brothers revenge?"

"Knowing what I now think I know, I am honour stricken to avenge him." Zanug replied seriously, staring at Dom in his eyes.

"Very well, I think I have a plan for you to get your revenge. The second part of the plan though, is that you need a reason to hate us." Dom said, catching Gan Ning's attention and giving him a nod. Gan Ning looked at Dom and seemed to understand what he was thinking.

"I need to cut of a hand." Gan Ning said honestly.

Zanug looked up in shock and fear at Gan Ning, speechless for a few seconds before nodding his acceptance and putting out his left hand.

"I meant more of a beating." Dom replied quickly.

"I know." Gan Ning smiled, "I was testing if we could trust him. Zanug, I am going to take you outside and lash you repeatedly with Octavians cane. I will stop when you are bloody and sore. I need people to believe you have been mistreated so that we can trick the spy. This is a ruse known as the self torture ruse."

"OK!" Zanug replied with a nod, "Just promise me you will find the killer."

"Oh that is a promise." Gan Ning replied with a grin, "And when I do, they'll be in for a much worse time. I may even have you help me give them some punishment."

"Make it very public." Dom ordered, interrupting their conversation, "Tomyris, please tell Chief Banas to trust us."

"I don't agree with this, injuring someone who is innocent isn't right." Hua Tou commented, "But I trust you have your reasons and I'll patch him up afterwards."

"I do." Dom stated seriously, "I have a plan to draw the enemy out. I wouldn't attempt this if I didn't think it would succeed."

Soon after Dom, Gan Ning, Octavian and some of the Riverside Warriors were gathered in front of the Chiefs Hut. Zanug was stripped of his clothes down to just his pants and was knelt on the floor.

"Members of Chief Banas Tribe!" Dom shouted loudly, "I am hereby ordering the Chiefs Brother In Law Zanug to be lashed fifty times by cane."

This caused uproar within the settlement, with those who were healthy and nearby shouting in anger.

"You are here to help us!" One Woman shouted, "Why do this? Why is the Chief letting you!"

"I am doing this due to Zanug's actions. Whilst the majority of the Tribe have fallen unwell for unknown reasons, he has been working in the dark to take over control and be the new Chief."

"Outrageous!" one of the healthy Horse Archers shouted "He wouldn't do such a thing."

"The Chief has given me power, my voice is hers, and I say from what we have seen, he is guilty." Dom replied.

"Are you trying to take over?" A Man shouted angrily, trying to cause other people to stand up with him.

"Commander Gan Ning, please commence the lashing." Dom ordered regretfully, hoping Zanug could take the amount they had agreed on.

Gan Ning stepped forwards with Octavian's Centurion cane and began lashing Zanug on his back, who had some leather in his mouth. Zanug took the lashes well and on the agreed cue pretended to pass out after around fifteen of them. His back was cut and sore, but much less than it should have been.

"This weak man wanted to be your leader!" Dom exclaimed in disgust, spitting on the ground "Stop the lashing, we can finish it later, someone take him away!"

Some of the Tribesmen scurried forwards and took him away, including the Woman and Man who had shouted out against Dom earlier. Dragging him towards some of the huts designated for the healthy Tribesmen. Gan Ning looked at Dom and nodded his head before walking away towards the troops.

Some Hoplite that were stationed nearby would be watching for the signals from Zanug. Hua Xiu and Phoebe also had a mission, and that was to go to Zanug's side and complain about Dom's tyranny whilst helping him with his wounds, making it clear that Riverside wasn't unified.

Dom himself headed inside the Chiefs Hut and saw Chief Banas sat waiting for him with Tomyris.

"So now we wait?" She asked seriously, not happy with the plan but trusting that both Dom and her Brother In Law Zanug knew what they were doing.

"We wait." He replied seriously, before taking a seat.