"How are our defenses, Robert?" A middle-aged man asked, while staring distractedly at the map of Terhi laid out on a table.
"My lord, the wall has entire sections in need of repair, and many of the beams that support the internal platforms are rotten... I'm afraid we can't keep soldiers on the entire length of the wall, or it might collapse..."
The man lifted his face and looked at the men in front of him, thought for a few moments and said: "How long to do the repairs, Sandro?"
"... It would take months to repair the entire wall, Baron. Even if we only try to reinforce the most critical parts, it would still take several days, perhaps even weeks."
"Robert, how ready are our forces?"
"We have 50 men-at-arms and 50 light horsemen, both trained and equipped. And we have a growing number of recruits in the militia, around 400 at the last count... but we lack equipment, and the vast majority of them lack combat skills..."
"What are our chances?"
A tense silence fell over the room, waiting for Robert's answer.
"If what the messenger said is true... no, even if it is a lie, we have no way of dealing with large numbers of goblins. These demons attack with almost suicidal savagery, our militia won't be able to cope. Their wolf riders are superior to most of our trained soldiers, and such a large group must have at least one war leader, perhaps a shaman... They won't surround the village, they'll simply attack at a single point, and we don't have the discipline to contain this attack. Our line of defense will break, and they'll spread through the village... I could divide our soldiers among the militia, but then we wouldn't have the strength to contain the initial attack. In the end, the result would be the same"
"Can we evacuate the village?" The baron asked after a long moment of silence.
"It's too late. We already have almost two thousand people here, and more refugees are arriving... just the time needed to organize these people would be enough for the goblins to attack the village. And even if we managed to get out of the village, we'd be chased and wiped out on the road"
"What if..." the baron looked around, studying the faces of the people in the room" The number of people is smaller? Say, a few soldiers and their families... we could use the horses, and... as most of the goblins are drawn to the village, the roads would be safe..."
…
…
Robert walked with heavy steps through the dark streets of the village where he was born, his mind caught up in a chaotic whirlwind of feelings. He reached his house, a humble dwelling for someone in his position. He reached out for the doorknob, but looked away when he saw how his arm was shaking. He leaned his body on the door, panting heavily. After an unknown time, he gathered his courage and opened the door, going straight into the room where a young girl was sleeping.
"Iris... Iris, wake up" Robert gently shook the young girl until she woke up.
"Dad..."
"We have to leave! Do you remember what I taught you?"
The sleepy young woman widened her eyes and stood up.
"Clothes, food, weapons." Iris answered automatically, running over to a chest, where she grabbed two bags, next to the chest she picked up a bow and two quivers.
"Change and meet me outside"
Robert didn't have to wait long, in less than three minutes his daughter was at his side. She was wearing light armor made from the hide of a wolf they had hunted together. The hunt was her gift for her fifteenth birthday, the armor was a gift from Nita's family, and the bow was a gift from her old friend Linus.
"Let's go!" Robert started walking immediately, but soon noticed that he wasn't being followed.
"Dad... where's your hammer?"
"I don't need it now. Come on, Iris, we don't have much time."
"Where are we going?
Robert couldn't answer because a convoy of mounted soldiers and wagons appeared on the street where they were standing. A soldier rode up to them, carrying a horse.
"Quick, Captain!" The soldier offered the reins to Robert, but his captain was in an intense staring contest with his daughter. Afraid of being left behind, the soldier threw down the reins and returned to the convoy.
"What's going on, Dad?"
Robert gritted his teeth, watching the convoy move further and further away, and finally said: "The baron has received a message from the duke. The goblins have launched an invasion of the kingdom, scouts speak of hundreds of thousands of goblins, perhaps millions, moving north. Count Einhard must have assumed it was just a normal attack and led 15,000 men to confront the goblins... his army was surrounded and annihilated, the count himself was killed, and the goblin horde spread across his lands. The duke will need every soldier he has, which is why he can't send reinforcements to Terhi..."
"Einhard is to the east... and since the goblins are spreading out..."
"It's only a matter of time before they get here. We'll have to face thousands of goblins alone... There's no chance of victory. That's why the baron ordered us to evacuate the village."
"Then why do you seem to be doing this in secret?"
"... no... we can't save everyone..."
"So here's the deal... we can't save everyone, so let's sacrifice them so that 'some' can be saved. These 'some' being the EVIL DISGRACED WHO SWORE TO PROTECT THEM WITH THEIR LIVES"
"Daughter, listen to me"
"I'M NOT THE DAUGHTER OF A TRAITOR! I'D RATHER DIE LIKE MY MOTHER THAN GO ON LIVING LIKE YOU"
—---
A new day has dawned, bringing with it alarming information.
It's been three days since little Tom and I arrived here, and the village of Terhi looks like one big graveyard. Every person I've met so far seems desperate and gloomy, and it doesn't take long to find out why.
The baron fled the village, taking all the horses and more than half the guard with him, and if that wasn't demoralizing enough, Robert, the captain of the guard, and his daughter, had an explosive argument about fleeing or fighting, which woke up half the village... The political leadership fled, and the military leadership wanted to flee, but was prevented by his daughter... How is this bastard going to organize the village's defense after that?
Some people are abandoning the village, perhaps hoping to catch up with the baron, or try their luck hiding from those hateful creatures.
I don't know what I'm going to do, but little Tom wants blood. The child shudders with fury whenever he hears anything about goblins... I can't blame him for that. Little Tommy is almost ten years old, and was forced to witness the terrible end our family met... I can't imagine what's been going through his head these last few days, let alone how he's coping.
In my case, I have the mentality of a twenty-one-year-old, not that it's a big deal, but my relationship with this family is a bit hazy. I'm saddened by everything that's happened, I also want revenge... but it's as if I've seen a sad news story in the paper, it might even shake me up for a few hours or days, but eventually I'll forget about it...
"Tommy, things are bad, we need to make a choice... stay and fight or run and hide."
"Let's fight!" Tommy replies firmly as he stares at me.
"Don't just fight, Tommy, let's fight and win!" I hold out my fist to him, who mimics me. When our fists touch, the system message appears.
[Do you want to add him to your army?]
"Yes!"
I see Tommy's eyes widen when he receives the message.
[You've added a soldier your army 01/10]
Nothing too grandiose, but you have to remember that the skill continues at level 00... Foundation offers an army model with 10,000 soldiers, divided into 2,000 elite soldiers and 8,000 superior soldiers, as well as 10 heroes and 100 champion soldiers. With each skill level, the size of the army grows, until it reaches ten thousand, with heroes appointed every 10 levels.
Now, what do superior, elite and champion mean? It's a measure of quality. A Superior soldier can reach a maximum of level 20, an Elite 30 and a Champion 40. They also receive a set of skills as powerful as their class. Heroes follow another rule.
You should know that the vast majority of people barely reach level 10 over the course of their entire lives, and even when they do dedicate themselves to leveling up, they still have to spend years training to learn a single skill, usually common skills. While Foundation allows you to turn a simple peasant into an elite soldier in a matter of seconds... sure, you'll still lack the equipment, and the skills will be at level zero, but still...
I can't change the model of the army, but I can change the units that make it up.
The default template is set to:
Commander: me
Personal guard: 100 champions.
Captains: 10 heroes
Elite cavalry: heavy cavalry (500), mounted archers (500)
Elite infantry: 2 units of 500 men
Superior infantry: 8 units of 500 men
Superior archers: 4 units of 500 men
Superior cavalry: 4 units of 500 men
…
I can take a superior cavalry unit and set it to reconnaissance, escort, transport... This is for superior options, the elite options are more specific, so to speak. I'm sticking with the standard option for now, as I have other concerns at the moment.
"Do you prefer a knight, archer or a soldier?"
Tommy thought deeply... for a second and replied: "Knight!"
[You promoted a soldier to the elite unit: Shadows of Steel]