Excerpt from the Hessian Histories by Illoticus Catanicus

A Quick Word from the Editor

Hello Hirschhorn Heralders, it is I Cole Hirschhorn back again with a bunch of words on a screen for you to enjoy or ignore!

This will be my first endeavor into a short story thing. So I would greatly appreciate any feedback positive, or most especially, negative about the story and its structures. If you've got somethin you would like to say send it here: hirschhorncole@gmail.com

Now I will defend myself a little here and say that this is a testing a ground for me first and foremost. This story is something I have put together in about a weeks time, so, its unpolished.

With some polishing and work I hope to continue to build upon this world and tell more stories from it in the future.

The stench of its wealth was unavoidable. From her forums and temples of marble and jade to the emerald green life that seeps through every crack in the wall, gold and silver seem to seep up through the city’s cracks, I swear it, I’ve just got to find the right crack!

-Hasikeyus Fairdamenous pg. 37

A Lie, An Apple, and the Dog, Written by Hasikeyus Fairdamenous

Galantica was a layered city, with gardens positioned prominently above the rest of the city’s buildings, placed upon the engineering spectacles, coined “terraces” by the Gallantic locals.

The city’s ancient designers had planned the city meticulously, lining all major roads in the city with trees, eighty-three of which were Col trees, trees gifted by the Colsterfinians as a gesture of goodwill between the city and the isles.

These had been planted on the city’s main road to the palace known as The Estrodikka, which had most often housed the ruler of Galantica.

The city planners had also included the famed 9 great public gardens of Galantica which took up nearly 17% of the city’s square footage. These gardens were massive and contained an astonishing variety of plant life that seemed to reverberate a greenish hue across the entire city in the Gallantic Sun.

These gardens are often accredited with earning Galantica it’s famous nickname, “The City of Emerald.

Now, as I am sure you reader, are well aware, it is important to note that Galantica is one of the 5 great Terberian port cities.

Galantica herself had claimed the Bay of Honey, named as such for the color of the water during the dawn and dusk hours, a yellowish-orange hue with small bubbles resembling sugar crystals being produced by the seabed below.

The Bay of Honey was deep and sheltered from the harsh weather of the Atrika sea, making it the ideal location for a large port city.

The city, like many of its Terberian sisters, had achieved shocking wealth during its existence. This wealth came as a benefit of the astounding strategic position of the city, sitting first in line near the Atrika Sea that faced the Colsterfinian Isles.

To top this strategic advantage off The Bay of Honey was deep and near perfectly sheltered from the harsh weather of the Atrika sea, making it the ideal location for a large port.

“She is first to be seen by a weary traveler, the first by an enemy, and the choice of the Isle Men who shit golden shits.”

– Lady Kelico Elsenara of Galantica

The Settling Ashes, by Leticus Freyn

Because of its position, business was never slow in the bustling city. Trade was constant and ships moved in and out of the city’s trading ports with astonishing speed and efficiency.

Records of handling nearly three hundred and seventy ships a day are commonplace. With days of even thousands processed a seeming regularity in the ancient records.

The city, like many of the Terberian port cities, had experienced a constant struggle for control over the lucrative industries the city and its elite profited so much from.

As a result of this turmoil, in its 330-year history, Galantica had never experienced a single ruling family, faction, or elected official that held control for longer than 23 years.

In this period of great turbulence, Galantica was sacked on average every 5 years.

A Brief and Quick History of Telemet Yholishiv

The story I wish to tell you today began on the 9th day of the Festival of Rhalika during the 23-year reign of Telemet Yugolishiv.

Telemet Yugolishiv as you may now have realized is the only ruler in the history of Galantica who successfully ruled over the city for over two decades.

To achieve this, Telemet employed the largest and most powerful mercenary company in Terberia during the period, Telefarus.

In Terberia, the cities had never been successful in creating their own armies and as a result had become incredibly reliant on the mercenary companies to do the bloody and dirty work of killing enemies.

This reliance on mercenary companies granted them extensive power in all facets, from politics to sewage management, the mercenary companies were involved.

This system as we know it today was incredibly flawed. It essentially pitted everyone against each other at all moments. The never-ending fighting between the cities and their elite, and companies both mercantile and mercenary created an environment in which no trust could ever truly be developed.

In turn, the qualities that replaced trust during this period of Terbrian history were ruthlessness, cunning, intelligence, and domination.

Betrayal was commonplace during Telemet’s time.

The only tried and true way to remain successful as a ruler in Terberia was to stay ahead of the constantly moving pieces. That is if you could truly call this method successful considering the lack of long-term rulers it produced.

Telemet was a businessman at heart and had risen to rule Galantica through his masterful management of his wealth.

Telemet rose to prominence in Galantica when he developed and perfected the fastest and safest route to the far more luxurious ports of Colsterfin, which in turn had allowed him to consistently outperform his competition in completing shipping agreements with the enriched Cols.

This consistent outperformance did not go unnoticed by the Colsterfinian elite who were lining their pockets from Telemet’s successes.

As a result of this success, The Colsterfinian elite had shown increasing favoritism towards the city of Galantica and Telemet. This favoritism launched Telemet’s popularity to new heights, granting him powerful friends in high places and strong alliances with the Cols. Alliances that relied solely on Telemet’s ability to deliver. Something he had proved himself repeatedly capable of.

Telemet maneuvered his newfound popularity and wealth masterfully.

First, hiring Telefarus in its entirety to escort his trading ships and patrol sipping lanes with ships provided by Telemet himself.

Telefarus was at that time the strongest, largest, and most reliable force available for purchase in Terberia. It was a new shining star of a company that had only recently been formed, its founding members had each been from some of Terberia’s finest and most elite mercenary bands and thus had found fast success.

This would prove to be an ingenious action in Telemet’s rise to the top seat of power in Galantica.

The mercenary companies, unless employed by the city itself, were not often granted permission to enter the city armed. In this case, however, Telemet’s success had allowed him to gain increasing influence with the then-ruling family of Galantica, the Elsenaras.

So, when Telemet came to the Elsenaras explaining to them that shipments were being lost and pirates had discovered the new route, they did not hesitate to grant his request to hire Telefarus as protection. Especially considering Telemet had essentially demanded to pay the price of hiring them on his own.

As a result of this story, historians have painstakingly searched for any mention of pirating events from Telemet’s rule and before. Searching captain's logs, scrolls, and books. No mention of pirates has ever been discovered in relation to one of Telemet’s ships.

The historical reality we have learned in the years since Telemet’s reign shows that nearly all of the Elsenaras finances were entangled in Telemet’s shipping endeavors. Meaning they had little choice but to grant any request from Telemet.

And with this one swift maneuver Telemet not only gained an army, but an army that had been granted permission by the ruling faction to move about the city as it pleased.

Telemet’s Takeover

As this is not only about Telemet’s takeover of Galantica I will briefly explain to you how it went.

The Telefarus arrived only a month after Telemet’s request leading many historians to believe he paid an exorbitant price for this haste.

The young leader of Telefarus, Adronicus Hestillien arrived outside of the gates of the City of Emerald with fourteen thousand well-trained and battle-hardened soldiers, along with three thousand mounted soldiers.

Of the seventeen thousand who arrived outside of the city walls that day, nine thousand were granted permission to enter the city from the first day.

For two years Telemet’s Telefarus remained relatively quiet with limited accusations of disturbing order in Galantica.

During the third year, however, something had changed within Telemet. The constant groveling of the Elsenaras and their associates had begun to affect Telemet’s ability to deliver on his promises.

So, feeling pressure from his Colsterfinian allies, Telemet acted swiftly in that third year. Meeting with Adronicus leader of Telefarus only once.

That was the only meeting required. Three days following the now famous meeting between Adronicus and Telemet and the takeover had been completed. (see page 417)

The Elsenara family was carefully dismantled, with the two long-standing and strong main family lines being completely distinguished within the first hours of the coup.

Many of the long-time known associates of the Elsenaras also met their end over those long three days.

The Elsenaras had long employed a mercenary company named The Lotticanics. What they had not realized was that this extended employment had completely dissolved the Lotticanics from within. No longer was it the famed company that had been so pivotal in the Elsenara family's rise.

The company  had fallen into utter disarray, with more than half of its numbers essentially unaccounted for by its leadership. A terrible result of the long-lasting steady pay and relaxed days of peace time.

When it came time for the Elsenaras to call the Lotticanics to arms they were met with the realization that the company had allowed itself to become lethargic and unprepared.

The Elsenaras had been paying wild fees to employ eleven thousand men, yet when it came time to meet Telefarus on the field, they only managed to muster two and a half thousand to defend the city.

Those poor souls who heeded the call of the Elsenaras did not leave Galantica again.

Telemet smartly realized during this chaos that the total eradication of the Elsenaras was bad for business and thus decided to leave the third less wealthy and influential branch of the family intact. Their descendants survive to this day.

And thus, Telemet’s twenty-three-year reign began as it would end. Bloody.

The Final Days of Telemet’s Rule

Telemet during the period leading up to the Silver Piece Sacking had been fully employing the entire might of three large mercenary companies. First, Telefarus, who he had employed for nearly 26 years at this point. The second was Shrouded Eye, a force of nearly eight thousand, and lastly The Traxian Company, a force of Ten Thousand.

This was highly unusual especially because the last major conflict Galantica had been engaged in had ended nearly a year and a half ago.

It was most common for the five powerful Terberian coastal cities to employ one large company and utilize it as its de facto army and protector.

Only in times of all-out war were multiple large mercenary companies employed for yearly periods.

Even then, the rules of these contracts often saw them terminated following the conclusion of the war, meaning that upon the conclusion of the conflict each city would be left with only one steadily employed company.

This deal of essentially being a de facto army with steady wages, food, and shelter was of course a fantastic deal in the eyes of the companies, who could enjoy years of steady pay and relative safety, depending on the period. Just as the Lotticanics had under Elsenara rule.

Telemet had employed the two mercenary companies Shrouded Eye and The Traxian Company following the onset of a conflict known today as The Dretariet Invasion.

The Dretariet Invasion was the largest naval invasion by a force outside of Terberia in history to that point.

The Dretariet forces came to the shores of Terberia with nearly seven hundred ships filled with eighty-four thousand soldiers, a sight never before seen at the time.

As a result of the sudden invasion, the five coastal power cities of Terberia were left little choice but to make a rare alliance to respond to the enemies at their shores.

Telemet was the richest of the rulers at the time and utilized his wealth quickly to employ the extra two companies. Telemet wielded these three armies skillfully and along with the assistance of the other four cities, ousted the Dretariets within a year.

Following the conflict, Telemet faced a serious problem. He did not have enough gold or silver on hand to pay the three companies the war bonus guaranteed to them in their contracts.

To handle this issue Telemet resolved to continue the employment of all three companies as his capital could cover the payroll, but not the lump sum to all three at once.

Telemet had bet that he would be able liquidate enough of his assets to gather the lump sum within two years to pay off the companies.

So, he gambled to continue their employment until that time.

This action surprisingly would not be Telemet’s undoing, as he miraculously won this bet and managed to collect the lump sum within the planned two years.

His undoing would come at the hands of what historians suspect to be a simple mathematical mistake, or logistical oversight.

The Silver Piece Sacking

On the 9th day of the Festival of Rhalika in Telemet’s twenty-third year as ruler of Galantica, the three companies Shrouded Eye, The Traxian Company, and Telefarus were all to be paid in full for their service during the Dretariet invasion.

Telefarus had been granted the honor of setting its camp in the Emerald Forum, a gargantuan forum near the center of Galantica with massive columns made purely from jade, accented by a pure white marble floor. This was an honor granted to all victorious armies that rode from Galantica.

Telefarus had been the obvious choice for the honor, considering its nearly 26-year association with the city and Telemet. They had accepted the offer graciously. Bringing in nearly the entirety of its forces for 5 days of celebration within the city’s center to celebrate the victory of the past war and the Festival of Rhalika.

On that 9^th day, Telemet sent out the payments to each of the three company leaders. He did so by sending out extravagant wagons covered in ornate designs of creatures found in the region escorted by Telemet’s guardsmen. Each wagon had been filled with the exact quantity of gold and silver required to pay the debt.

When the extravagant entourage arrived at the Emerald Forum, they were greeted by the now 50-year-old leader of the Telefarus, Adronicus Hestillien.

Throughout the 26-year alliance with Telemet Yholishiv Adronicus had remained a bull of a man with a cunning intelligence unmatched by any man or woman in Galantica during his lifetime.

Adronicus that day was dressed in the black and gold embroidered tunic that was the signature of Telefarus’ leadership. His was a bit more extravagant than the rest of course, with added golden chainmail that seemed to melt into the black fabric he wore. On his chest, with ornately designed golden threads, the emblem of the Telefarusian golden bull had been weaved into the fabric.

His face had changed much since the first day Telemet had met the then 24-year-old Adronicus during a visit to the southern coast of Terberia. Adronicus at the time of their first meeting had the face of any young soldier, he wore slightly more fatigue on his face than most men his age, and his eyes had sunken in ever so slightly. Telltale signs of a young and hardened soldier. His hair had been the color of The Honey Bay that Galantica lay next to, a vibrant and shining blonde.

On that fateful day, the payments were to be made, and only two things about Adronicus’ appearance had remained the same. His bullish size, and his sunken eyes.

His hair had lost its color and had now been replaced by a grey mane sprinkled with pepper from the few strands that were still defending themselves from the invading army of grey. He bore two prominent scars above his left eye, gifts from the weapons of Galantic enemies.

His fierce and somewhat defiant nature, however, had not dwindled in the slightest.

As the extravagant entourage approached with his payment Adronicus rose from his seat at a large tent set up in the middle of the Emerald Forum, he was surrounded by his generals and captains as they drank copious amounts of wine on Galantica’ dollar. Only Adronicus stood, however, and he made his way slowly toward the entourage.

To Telemet’s financiers who had prepared the extravagant parade to present the money, it must have been a great disappointment when not a single of Telefursian soldiers even acknowledged the existence of the arriving party. Instead, the parade was forced to slowly make its way towards Adronicus’ tent waiting as the celebrations of the festival cleared a path slowly for them.

This as we know now was a coached reaction from the soldiers of Telefarus. Adronicus and the leaders of Telefarus were very displeased with Telemet’s inability to pay the lump sum earlier, and as such had instructed its men to give a cold welcome to the men who delivered the payment. A part they had played perfectly.

When Adronicus had finally made his way over to the entourage he was greeted by a financier named Elios Leterius, who as the story goes, requested that Adronicus calm his men so that an announcement regarding the payment could be shared with Telefarus.

Adronicus refused this request outright and if legend can be believed his response was simply

“You may leave it here.”

Upon saying this, Adronicus turned and began to make his way back toward the commander’s tent.

Elios had not expected this reaction but had enough wit to understand the veiled words behind the statement And thus, he left the wagon there and commanded those following him to make their way out of the Emerald Forum.

Within minutes of their departure, the wagon was moved closer to the commanders' tent and Telefursian bookkeepers and moneymen began the task of counting the gold and silver pieces, a task that would take nearly six hours to complete.

In a maneuver that puzzles many Terberian historians, Adronicus then sent out the order that the wine taps were to be plugged, and the men to return to their camps. The thousands of Galantic citizens who had come to the forum to celebrate were also removed during these hours.

By the time the last three chests of gold and silver were being brought to the counting table, Telefarus had completely refocused, with cookfires burning and the men sitting near their tents as they would have during times of conflict.

It must have been a truly ominous sight to behold, a city in celebration all around them, and a quiet army in a war camp right in the center of it all.

Unsurprisingly, this maneuver did not raise many eyebrows in Galantica. Adronicus had been known to flex his muscle of power at odd times, a way of strengthening and training his men. So, it came as no surprise to many in the city that Telefarus had been removed from the party for the day.

When the final empty chest was removed from the table. The head bookkeeper of Telefarus a man named Yulo Gratentyl stood and walked towards Adronicus, who was still seated in the commanders' tent. As he approached Adronicus is alleged to have given the man a puzzled look.

Yulo leaned close to Adronicus and whispered something unknown to us, historians.

The legend goes that he said only four words “one silver piece short”.

Now, the historical account of these events from Yulo’s underling Yelsin The Tel, tells us the truth about the amount missing. According to Yelsin, Telemet had failed to deliver ten thousand pieces of silver, which then would have equated to about a chest full. Leading many historians to wonder whether a chest fell off or was stolen during the snaking route the entourage was forced to take in the Emerald Forum. Or had Telemet or his financiers simply made their final financial error?

The rare but sometimes brought up the notion that Telemet may have purposefully tried to short Telefarus, is in my eyes a fallacy. The man and the organization had been tied together for nearly 26 years, an extremely rare thing for those tumultuous times in Terberia. Hell, one might even say that a relationship based on the truly rare Terberian quality of “trust” had been developed by the two.

Now, calling this event The Ten-Thousand Silver Piece Sacking simply will not work, so we will from here on out refer to this event only as the Silver Piece Sacking as it is known in Terberian mythos and lore today.

Adronicus, upon hearing the words of Yulo the Bookkeeper, is said to have had no outward reaction, instead, he nodded his head at Yulo and smiled, slowly stood up, and walked towards the edge of the extravagant tent. He reached up and grabbed one of the ropes that had been used to keep the flaps at the entrance of the tent open and began to untie its knot. He continued to do so until one of his commanders took notice and began to assist his leader in closing the flaps of the tent.

By the time the task had been completed, the once loud and boisterous tent of the leadership had gone completely quiet. Adronicus had positioned himself at a large wooden table near the center of the tent, he had both of his fists pressed into the table's top and he was looking down at the table while he began his statement.

Adronicus, as you may understand by now, was a rather quiet leader, and most often said few words. Those carefully chosen words, however, had a powerful effect on those who heard them.

This instance was no different, for he supposedly only said this

“Telefarus’ contract with the city of Galantica has been tonight terminated. Leave her as we found her.”

Upon hearing these words, the Telefarusian commanders and generals did not hesitate a moment. No questions were asked by any of the present commanders. Almost immediately those present who had heard his words began to stream out of the tent towards the main camp of the company to inform Telefarus of its newest assignment.

Telefarus was infamous for its absolutely brutal efficiency. The entire force inside of the Emerald Forum totaled eleven thousand, so Telefarus’ commanders broke their men into three groups. The first to attack the palace, the second to attack the city, and the third to secure the gates of Galantica.

Securing the gates was the most important job, the commanders and Adronicus knew that Shrouded Eye and The Traxian Company were both still camped outside of the city walls and could very well decide to come to the aid of Telemet and Galantica. So, it was incredibly important that the gates be secured so as not to give them an easy way inside.

Adronicus’ son, Pytes Hestillien, was the man charged with securing the gates.

He was given five thousand of Telefarus’ most battle-hardened men to ensure success. Which they achieved a mere half hour after the onset of the chaos outside of the Emerald Forum.

Venetrin Basculyt was charged with leading a force of four thousand men to invade the palaces of the Gallantic rich and powerful, most importantly, the palace of Yelmet Yholishiv, with instructions to kill anyone in their vicinity.

Lastly, Weyrn Kelifos an infamously brutal and violent member of Telefarus’ elite war unit The Palyticus was chosen to lead the last two thousand Telefarus on a destruction campaign within the city.

Indiscriminate killing and brutalization were expected and hoped for by Telefarus’ leadership to cause chaos and spread fear within the city.

The onset of the chaos of the Silver Piece Sacking came quickly once the three war groups had been established.

Weyrn Kelifos and his men began by slowly encircling the streets that surrounded the Emerald Square.

These streets had remained filled with festival goers despite Telefarus’ exclusion from the celebration. This maneuvering gave Venetrin and Pytes ample time to begin to move their forces out of the Emerald Forum and towards their targets before chaos in the streets of Galantica erupted.

Once the last of Venetrin and Pytes forces had departed, Weyrn took no time to strike. Attacking the festival goers indiscriminately along with his two thousand Telefarus brothers.

The screams of terror and the sounds of killing rang, but the loud music and festivities did well to cover the noise from the rest of the city for a while.

Then the fire began.

The Emerald Fire as it is known today would end up burning nearly half of the city to the ground and kill nearly forty thousand by the time it was controlled two weeks later.

The Emerald Fire is what truly stirred the chaos in the city those following days, the high summer winds carried the fire indiscriminately wherever it wished to land, making containment impossible for days.

Venetrin managed to reach the palaces of Galantica long before chaos had spread through the city, giving him an element of surprise he wasn’t expecting. Instead of facing a force defending Telemet’s palace, Venetrin was met by a mere two hundred guardsmen all of who, upon realizing their situation surrendered immediately and were spared.

Venetrin and forty men then entered Telemet’s palace and proceeded to exterminate the entirety of the palace’s tenants.

Telemet himself met an unceremonious end, being thrown from his palace’s largest tower after attempting to hide atop it during the chaos.

Venetrin would continue this method of “cleaning the castles” as he called it, throughout the next three days of the sacking. Entrapping all those in the palace section of the city by placing his men at every exit.

By The Silver Piece Sacking’s end, Venetrin had completely erased nearly all of Telemet’s associates and many of Galantica’ prominent families.

Pytes met little resistance in his attack on the walls of Galantica, he was attacking them from the inside after all. The majority of the guards on the wall were busy celebrating the festival themselves or, perhaps they had one eye on Shrouded Eye and The Traxian Company camped outside the gates.

One thing is for certain, their eyes were not looking within Galantica.

The five thousand Telefarus who had been sent to secure the wall quite simply marched up the guard’s towers and took them, not a single man was killed during the endeavor.

The guards surrendered without hesitation and were spared their lives for their cooperation with Pytes and his men.

With the three-pronged attack complete, the only thing left to do for Pytes was to keep an eye on the companies camped outside of the gates and wait to see if they had any reaction to the chaos inside of the walls.

Interestingly, Shrouded Eye continued its departure from the city without hesitation, not even bothering to send an envoy to ask what had happened within the walls.

They departed on the second day of the sacking without issue.

The Traxian Company, however, stopped its preparations for departure upon seeing the smoke rising above the city. They sent an envoy to the city walls requesting an audience with Telemet.

Pytes refused this request and in response sent back a short message just as his father would have.

“You have received full payment, leave now.”

The Traxian Company continued to send envoys for the next two weeks but were never granted permission again to speak with any representative from Telefarus.

Finally, at the end of the second week, the Traxian Company moved its camp during the night heading to the south.

Adronicus had the force tailed during their entire journey, in the end, they were seen boarding ships departing from the southern shores of Tereberia near the abandoned castle of Vynne.

I will not give you the gory details of the Silver Piece Sacking beyond what I have already provided, just know that Telefarus used every bit of its brutal efficiency against the citizens of Galantica.

There is no accurate estimate of how many people were killed during the three-day sacking of the city, but it is known to have been at least one hundred thousand, more likely close to two hundred.

Upon the conclusion of the Silver Piece Sacking the Telefarus collected itself inside the city for nearly a month. At this time little is known about Telefarus’ actions within the city. We know they took nearly all of Telemet’s wealth and began to repair the city's gardens and pathways before their departure but beyond that we are unsure.

We do know that Adronicus and Telefarus headed south in the same direction as The Traxian Company upon their final departure from the smoldering city, but that is a story for a different day.

                                -Page 237

          Excerpt from the "Hessian Histories" by Illoticus Catanicus