The Journey to the West
The Journey to the West is an Elwynnese account of the Assize of the Vale of Angularis ordered by the Arandur of Alalehzamin and Utasia in the Elw Year of 1639. The Assize was unique in that it combined an inspection of estates, the confirmation of officials in their posts, the administration of justice and a campaign to eradicate the Brotherhood of Lest and the Dark Orchid Society, the latter of which, at that time, operated openly in the Barrowlands of the far west of the Vale.
Contents
Gathering of the Expedition
Thorgils Tarjeisson gathered a number of his retainers and the Emirati Riddare at the Palace of One Thousand Columns in the City of Ardashirshahr on the day of Izillare the 8th of Gevraquun in the year 1639. He was joined there by volunteers recruited from the Norse community and by Babkhi native levies. The Arandur also put out a request for volunteers from the Cudgellers, the UDF and the Vanic Temple Guard to help with public order duties and to provide security for the Arandur and his travelling retinue during their progress.
Lord Adam was also invited to attend as he had often been promised the opportunity to go hunting in the Forest of Angularis and it was judged that he was now old enough to spectate even if not quite ready to participate in a wolf hunt.
Because of their prior acquaintance with the Vale, the lie of the land and the nature of its various malefactors and malcontents, the Simrani Sisters, Isabella and Miranda were invited to participate along side Miranda's husband, Tokaray al-Osman, who had recently been granted a permit to visit Ardashirshahr in order to be with his Aunt Turandokht Osmania at her death.
Miranda's children from her first marriage; Daniyal Anders (aged 10), Frederik Anders and Royston Anders (both aged 9) were sworn to the Arandur as his pages and fostered into his extended household or Familia.
On Reire the 9th of Gevraquun a writ was served by the Arandur to his employee, Deimos Jasonides, the Secretary of the ESB-Jörmungandr Group, ordering him to to depart from Teldrin and take over responsibility for organising the logistics of the expedition and to organise their transportation across the Blue Elwynn.
That same day a skiff, carrying the Arandur's loyal henchman Daniyal Dravot, was sent across the Blue Elwynn to seek out the nearest SEKEF outpost to ask that the company send an emissary to Ardashirshahr to explain to the Arandur the nature and extend of its holdings in the Vale and along the Southron Shore.
Three Men in a Boat to Azeroth (Not counting Billy Fish)
Dravot took with him two other companions, Carnehan an acquaintance from his days in the UDF who brought with him a selection of knives, pistols and hunting rifles and Ecthgow, a Norse scout armed with a pair of throwing axes and a longbow provided by the Arandur. As far as provisions went they took with them a hamper of cured sausages, ham, boiled eggs, cheeses and water biscuits. They also found room for several bottles of dark beer and a selection of pale ales suited to Dravot's discerning pallet.
The skiff they were to take across to the western bank of the Blue Elwynn came with a low born Babkhi skivvy, possessed of a notably fawning disposition and a pair of oars, who it transpired was to be the principle means of propulsion and navigation for the voyage. This individual Dravot renamed Billy Fish on account of it being the tradition, ignoring the voluble protests of Carnehan. Ecthgow made no comment but instead silently slipped his hand into the hamper, removing one of the sausages which he sniffed suspiciously before quietly secreting it about his person.
It transpired that Billy Fish had a great enthusiasm for rowing, but a greater one for conversing with great gusto on matters of no great significance to the trio, this latterly proved to be regrettable and was resolved by Carnehan's fists a half-hour into the voyage, whereafter Billy wailed with a passion, until Carnehan showed him the flat of his hands, whereupon Billy discovered the aptitude for quietude that was desired. Dravot limited himself to remarking that it wouldn't do to be beastly to the help, causing Carnehan to remark that if Dravot knew a better way to keep a 'Wog' quiet, he was welcome to try it. Ecthgow, sensibly it must be said, kept out of this discussion and kept his eyes focused on the distant shore of Angularis. Billy Fish simpered somewhat but was otherwise very commendable in his diligent rowing.
In spite of Billy Fish's best efforts, the strong current of the Blue Elwynn was pulling the trio's little skiff a further distance southwards than it was managing in crossing the river from east to west. As Carnehan watched the grain barges leisurely drift along on their course towards Shirekeep and the ESB cargo boats chugging against the flow towards the docks of Ardashirshahr that they had left two hours previously, he had cause to wonder, and at length to ask, why it was that they had been sent out in this manner to make contact with the Storrish merchants on the opposite bank when Thorgils could have charted a helicopter for them or even dialled them up on the Elwnet himself. Dravot leaned back in his seat and glanced up into the sky. As he pondered this question, a Ryker blimp passed overhead, lingering gently in the countervailing breeze on its way to Sansabury. On reflection Dravot supposed that, if they had been dispatched in this manner, Thorgils could not be in that much of a hurry to hear the answer. That caused Carnehan to ask, in that case, what the point of hurrying to cross the river in a flimsy little skiff? Dravot supposed that there was, in fact, probably no point - except to show that an effort had been made. Ecthgow now spoke, saying that it was their duty to proceed as ordered, for they had taken the Arandur's Thaler and accepted his salt for their bread. Carnehan muttered that it was a rum business for the director of an omnipresent corporation like the ESB, as Dravot was, to be, as he charmingly put it 'pissing about on a tiddly little boat in the middle of a damned big river'. Dravot acknowledged that could be the case, but they should not worry themselves unduly since he had about his person his employer's letter of credit and a debit card loaded with Erb. Carnehan remarked how that was fine and dandy but neither a letter nor a card was much use in the middle of a crowded shipping lane unless Dravot was planning on opening a line of credit with the damned fishes. Dravot mulled that over and was obliged to concede that Carnehan did indeed have a point, and he turned to Billy Fish and gently suggested that he turn the boat about and put in to shore; there was, after all, bound to be a serviceable hotel in Babran and a better way to cross the river could be found in the morning. With that said, Dravot opened the cooler and passed a bottle apiece to Carnehan and Ecthgow, suggesting as he did so that there was no point letting the provisions go to waste. Billy Fish huffed and puffed as he exerted himself sculling the left oar whilst balancing its opposite number above the water, and slowly the boat turned.
As Billy Fish set about tying the skiff to a mooring post along the quayside, the most notable thing about Babran was that it was not Ardashirshahr. A Bailiwick with a population of 312,406, overwhelmingly Babkhi, overwhelmingly Zurvanist, the sort of place where the call to prayer still ends with a Marg bar yeh Elfinshi and a Marg bar yeh Sathrati for traditions sake. The city itself had a population of 133,384 and like all cities of a Babkhan type was surrounded by a high defensive rampart. Functionally useless in the modern age of course, but it provided a reassurance that the lords of the ziggurats dwelled within whilst those who were not, did not. The wall was itself surrounded by a circuit of tarmac that, at least in theory, served as a dual carriageway. The trio, having left Billy Fish with the care of the boat, their rifles and the chewed remnants of the hamper, found that the drivers in Babran, like any true Babkhi anywhere, treated the division of roads into lanes, and other intriguing notions of traffic management and safety, as being very much of an advisory nature. The drivers also appeared to take great delight in treating the spectacle of three pale-skinned pedestrians foolhardily attempting to cross the motorway from the harbour to the main city as though they had been presented with a moving target and an opportunity of which they now readily availed themselves. Dravot survived three roads, two green lights and a roundabout before finding himself sheltering in the comparative safety of one of the city's seven gates. Carnehan, who followed closely behind, bellowed his fury at misbegotten heathens whilst shaking his fists in an impotent rage, much to the amusement of nearby kebab vendors.
From the Harbour Gate they entered the bazaar district of Babran along a thoroughfare known in Babkhi as the 'True Road of the Broad and Straight Path'; it goes without saying that the street was narrow and winding and doubled back on itself on at least two occasions. The buildings were packed close together and lined with stalls selling spices, cloth, jewellery and ornately decorated assault rifles detailed with inlays of gold, silver and ivory in a filigree pattern. As they navigated their way along the street it was Ecthgow who first noticed the gradual change in character. The cobbles began to feel more even underfoot, the noises began to subtly fade and the stalls were replaced by glass fronted shops with neon lighting. Once they had passed under a ruined archway with a trilingual dedication to the victory of Baron Ardashir over the Elfinshi and the Boreals this change became sufficiently apparent for even Carnehan to stop muttering murderous oaths and take notice. There was a reason for this: the archway marked a spatial divide within the ethnographic hierarchy of the Babkhi community, marking the end of the Umraist part of the city and the gateway to the wealthier Ardashirian quarter at its very heart. The Ardashirians claimed descent from the settlers of the first migration and had somehow managed to connive to retain wealth and power in spite of all the travails their community had faced over the intervening centuries. The looming shadow of a ziggurat would dispel any lingering doubts in that regards. The alleys widened and the buildings became smarter, but not only that - the people were better dressed too. Buffed fezzes in vivid crimsons topped faces adorned with well trimmed goatee beards and complemented close fitting tailored suits of linen and silk. Women wore their veils carelessly or not at all and mingled freely with the men with whom they strolled companionably. It was, in short, declared Dravot, the place where they would be most likely to find a tolerable hotel for the night. Carnehan murmured his assent but croaked that they had better not pick a dry establishment. There was little chance of that, Ecthgow replied, since the Babkhi drank like fishes - even the Umraists, who just knew how to hide it better, he added in a laconic drawl.
Itinerary
All of Angularis is divided into three parts, the Southron Shores of which the Babkhi, Elw and Froyalanish inhabit, the Forest of Angularis another where dwell those who in their own language are called Amokolians, finally there are the Barrowlands, forming the third portion wherein the Tellians and those descendants of the Yehudi known in their own tongue as the Ashkenatzim reside alongside the darker and twisted beings that are the fallen men of the west who are all known collectively as Kossars. All these differ from each other in language, customs and laws. The Pale of Angularis separates the Transelwynnese from the Amokolians; Astopov's Dyke separates the Amokolians from the Kossars. Of all these, the Kossars are the bravest, because they are furthest from the civilization and refinement of Elwynn, and merchants least frequently dared to venture amongst them, there being no adequate guarantee for their safety, and import those things which tend to dull the mind and soften the vigorous spirit; and they are the nearest to the Minarborians, who dwell beyond the Imperial Republic, with whom they were once in contention over the lands since claimed and settled by the apostate worshippers of the Shrub; for which reason the Green Thunder Horde also surpass the rest of the Kossars in valour, as they contended with the forces 2nd State Arbor in unceasing strife. These disorders were however firmly repressed by the settling of the frontiers and now the border is guarded by the regiments of Minarboria and the battalions of the Union Defence Force. Prevented from continuing in their old ways the Kossars of Angularis turned their attention eastwards and inwards, paying an attentive ear to the emissaries of the Dark Orchid Society and providing sanctuary to those who know the secret signs of the Brotherhood of Lest.
[CAVEAT LECTOR: Do not panic the 3SA. This is just backstory]
[3SA note: No panic here. Crack on, old boy]
The Arandur, meaning to bring an end to this lawlessness and sedition, began his preparations in Ardashirshahr for an Assize that would seem him complete a full circuit of the entirety of the Vale. The Shores of Angularis were the most densely populated and had the longest history of association with the Imperial Republic, formerly as the Transelwynn, an Imperial Dominion ruled as a condominium by the Kaiser and the three sovereign Imperial States as equal partners. After accepting the submission of the main ports and harbours of the Southron Shore the Arandur intended that he would cross the pale and press on into the hunting grounds of the Forest of Angularis and there organise a cull of the wolf population that would be of benefit to the herdsmen and foresters of the Bailiwick whilst also sharpening the skills of his retinue. After that Tarjeisson would press on into the Barrowlands to confront the anti-regime forces that had long lingered there.
Assembling a Fleet
Deimos Jasonides was installed by the Arandur in the Arg-e bâdgir (Citadel of the Windcatcher), a fortified palace in the north east corner of central Ardashirshahr that served as the offices of the Board of Trade. Jasonides summoned the harbourmasters of the river ports along both the branches of the Blue and the White Elwynn within the dominion of the Emirate to a meeting there on the Ermure the 16th of Gevraquun and there, having reminded them of the ancient duties owed under the Elwnameh, charged them to assemble the agreed quota of boats in Ardashirshahr's dockside by Amnure the 1st of Fasmas, 1639.
With each harbourmaster Jasonides was obliged to negotiate individually for boats and crews. As he did so he was at pains to stress that this extraordinary service would not be drawn into a precedent for a permanent system of impressment. Each said what he would do and how many vessels he would bring. On behalf of the Arandur, Jasonides had it all recorded an set down in a contract, namely the ships and the crews enrolled, and the harbourmasters agreed, subject to confirmation from the mayors of their bailiwicks.
Crossing the Elwynn
To win the hearts and minds of its wood's spirits and please the Lords and Ladies Divine, this morning, on the 20th day of Nomeziooqu in the year 1639, when the forest was dark with mist, the Arandur of Alalehzamin and Utasia made his second crossing into the Vale of Angularis in order to purge that country of the Dark Orchid Society and to restore societal harmony between the human communities and nature. Once again his objective was Eribazistaan.
After being fired upon from the far bank of the river by Amokolian traitors during the first crossing of the Blue Elwynn, the Arandur returned with greater numbers this time around, consisting of seven hundred motorised Snekkjas, wooden boats of a clinker construction, the prow of which being mounted by carved depictions of snakes, wolves and other fearsome creatures. These were supported by fifty great barges, converted from their normal cargo of grain to carry men and provisions as well as each mounting a 25 pounder cannon bolted to the upper deck and row after row of unguided rockets to fire off in a salvo. The Arandur himself travelled in the ZNS Elwynn, a Duchy Class Destroyer that he had loaned to himself from the 1st Banner Fleet of the Western Armada.
When the Arandur arrived at Eribazistaan, Muluk Khan, a youth of twelve years of age, not yet knighted, and the heir to the manor of Eribazistaan, reigned. In his name, Jalal Nasser, a man subtle and courageous, had been appointed by Anousheh Batmanghelidjh, who ruled as Warden until the boy would come of age. Jalal, having long been aware of the Arandur's preparations, placed embargo on all the ships in the harbour and hired troops from the neighbouring settlements of the Southron Shore, so that when the Arandur arrived there were in the town thirty thousand fighting men and in the harbour four hundred vessels, sixty of considerable bulk, with thousand five hundred men.
By the reports of Dravot, Ecthgow and Kaðlín Quickdraw, the Arandur was not ignorant of the reception designed for him; but to show that he was not daunted, he entered that port and ame to anchor between five of their greatest ships. The captain of one of these vessels presently came on board the Imperial ship, and was received by the Arandur with civility and honour. The Arandur informed the captain that he came to fulfil the orders of the Royal Parliament and His Riverine Majesty to take the Vale into his possession and to put down the rebellions and sedition that had long been fomented there. Should the warden accept this and make the requisite submission and payment of a fee, the Arandur would be pleased to confirm him in his post. The warden would also need to hand over those Amokolians whose violent insolence had so disrupted the first crossing. If he refused, the Arandur warned, then he would take Eribazistaan into his own possession and appoint another.
The captain delivered this message to the boy and his Warden, and presently brought the answer that the city of Nomeziooqu would recognise the Arandur and open its gates to him in return for a tribute of five hundred Erb, each erb in those parts being esteemed as equivalent to a talent of gold. Night coming on, it appeared they prepared to fight, by the noise of warlike instruments, and shouts that were heard from the wall and ships. Seeing that a boon chain had been pulled up across the mouth of the harbour, the Arandur ordered the crew of the ZNS Elwynn their action stations and to conduct the drills necessary to repel boarders. The ship's 62 calibre Gun was trained on the Warden's keep overlooking the harbour. It was perhaps because of these measures that no attack occurred during the night. Searchlights mounted on the harbour bastions kept the fleet in the river Elwynn illuminated whilst parachute flares were fired at intervals throughout the night by the sailors on the Snekkjas casting a pale of flickering spectral light over the entire town.
The morning of the 21st discovered the walls, shore, and vessels, covered with armed men; the windows and tops of the house filled with both sexes and all ages, as spectators of what should ensue. The Arandur having held a council. and given the necessary orders, personally directed the firing of the first shell into the Warden's Keep, demolishing the battlements and upper stories of the structure with the force of the first direct impact. The barges out on the river joined in with a salvo of unguided rockets fired into the town, after which a furious and general firefight erupted between the fleet and the shore fortifications, upon which the 25-pounders of the barges now trained their punishing fire.
Taking advantage of the smoke and dust clouds caused by the bombardment, the small boats in the harbour attacked the ZNS Elwynn, which was obliged to rely upon the carbines and side arms issued to its crew to repel the oncoming vessels, these being now inside the traverse of the main gun. Approximately one hundred and thirty boats, well manned by Babkhi dervishes armed with rifles and machine guns, did some superficial damage with showers of grenades and fire arrows, forcing the crew to retire from the deck and 'batten down the hatches', in this case to slam shut and seal tight the blast proof compartment doors. Upon seeing this the enemy, elated, sailed in close to the ZNS Elwynn and threw up scaling ladders and climbing ropes over which they scurried onto the destroyer. Swarming aboard they were then at a loss at what to do next and began, feebly, to attempt to pry open one of the crew hatches leading to the lower decks of the vessel. Seeing the foe preoccupied by this the crew of the ship opened up a hatch on the bridge and threw down grenades into the milling crowd, killing and wounding dozens and sending the rest of the pack reeling in despair from the bloody carnage. The crew now burst forth once more from below decks and raked their fleeing assailants with automatic weapons fire. The Arandur was at this stage seen to be calmly strolling the deck, amidst the mayhem, casually using his OAH 9mm pistol to dispatch any injured foe he came across. He appeared to be the most contented that anyone had seen him to be in months.
