The celebrations within the lord’s manor in Enrain was a happy affair. Not only were the Demihumans celebrating their first conquest of a Human territory, but Fayde was finally reunited with his wives after a couple of weeks of absence.

He was struggling to enjoy the company of his wives while under a constant barrage of attention from the sons and daughters of the various Khans.

After partying well into the night, Fayde was finally able to spend time alone with his wives in his huge bed within the manor and thoroughly enjoyed their company until almost morning.

Feeling exhausted and spent, Fayde was woken up relatively early by his servants. His wives were still sleeping peacefully in bed much to his envy, but there was considerable work to do and an invasion to plan.

After a short period of rest and some breakfast, Fayde gathered himself and prepared to meet with the Khans of each tribe in order to plan their next steps in the invasion of the North.

Fayde had gained a lot of information from Orban on the current situation within the Kingdom of La’gun and the surrounding kingdoms. The current strife being a perfect opportunity to gain large benefits.

An alliance between the Kingdom of La’gun’s two northern neighbors was what originally spurred on the conflict. They felt that with their united military, they could easily defeat the Kingdom of La’gun.

Despite their numerical advantage, they hadn’t obtained as quick a victory as they had initially hoped for. The forces of the Kingdom of La’gun had fought fiercely and delayed the invasion by a few weeks before settling into the current siege.

La’gun’s military had been whittled down to a dismal number, but they still hadn’t given up. The current situation wouldn’t last for long, but the invading nations were strapped for time. If the conflict were to drag on for too long, another nation might use this opportunity to invade their lands and then they would be forced to give up on the siege.

Of course, they would never have been so bold without the encouragement they had received from the Empire in the shadows.

Fayde found himself mulling over this information while he waited solemnly for the Khan’s to arrive in a conference room within the lord’s manor. This would be their first official strategy meeting on the Kingdom’s soil and would decide the direction of the invasion.

Surprisingly, Fayde wasn’t feeling anxious. Instead he sat calmly on his Khan throne which had already been transported to the lord’s manor and placed in the conference room the day before while the Khan’s were feasting.

All the tables and chairs which had previously decorated the room were removed and now only the throne and many floor cushions were arranged around the interior. There were also small drinking tables placed in front of each cushion.

The cushions were clearly arranged in some preordained manner that Fayde could only guess at since it had never been fully explained to him.

It had never occurred to him to ask previously and it was mostly irrelevant, but he felt he should ask about it at some point. There was still much he didn’t know about the Demihumans and their culture. Even though he had lived among them for several months, he had spent much of that time in seclusion or with only a small group to keep him company.

Fayde regretted that most of the time he lived among them was wasted in brooding and in dark thoughts. His mentality just wasn't in the right place and he couldn’t bring himself to truly care about learning, what he felt were, such inconsequential things. That had all changed, however, and he now realized that if he was going to rule over the Demihumans that he should become more familiar with them.

This was the main reason why he didn’t push away the sons and daughters of the Khans even though they had pestered him quite a bit the previous day. Fayde had finally become somewhat welcoming and most of the dark shadows that had plagued his heart had faded and given the opportunity, many of the important figures among the Demihumans were hoping to become closer to their Great Khan.

It was quite fortuitous in fact, because the Demihumans sincerely wished to know more about him. There was no malice or deceit in their desire to approach him. It was apparent to Fayde that they only felt admiration towards him and perhaps even idolized him.

What leader wouldn’t wish to have such devoted followers?

“I’m truly fortunate. I must strive to live up to their expectations, although I am not confident or arrogant enough to believe that I can do the job sufficiently. Well, at least it is a challenge worth taking on. I only hope my decisions don’t end up causing disaster to fall upon them…”

Fayde retained what he considered to be a regal bearing while the Khans began assembling within the conference room.

Each greeted him respectfully before making their way over to their assigned cushion. Fayde took note of it and realized it had something to do with their tribal ranking during the Grand Council several months back.

Once the Khans were seated, dozens of servants entered with tribal spiced wine and wine cups which they placed on the drinking tables in front of each Khan. A ceremonial toast followed and the official meeting of Khans began.

Fayde motioned towards Accadeas and said, “Accadeas, as the Marshal, please inform the Khans of our future military plans.”

Accadeas stood and respectfully bowed towards Fayde before addressing the other Khans.

“Although our journey was long, we have finally arrived at our destination. Here in this Human town, we have gained a stable foothold within the Kingdom of La’gun and it is from here that we will begin our earnest invasion of the Human kingdoms as decreed by our Great Khan. The Great Khan and I have briefly discussed the current situation surrounding the Northern Kingdoms and we have arrived at quite the opportune moment. Currently, the Kingdom of La’gun is in a precarious situation and the Kingdom will soon fall. Two neighboring kingdoms, the Kingdom of Jaspel and Quijon, have invaded La’gun and are currently besieging the capital city. La’gun’s military has mostly been shattered and only a small force remains guarding the capitol. The invading nations have put their all into this invasion and have left their kingdoms mostly defenseless. They stationed an army at the border between Quijon and Anderus in order to deter any possible invasions from Anderus but they left their heartlands completely vulnerable.”

At that point, Accadeas was interrupted by Khan Terrgen of the Rabbitkin tribe.

“That seems extremely foolish. Isn’t it too much of a risk to leave their kingdoms almost completely defenseless?”

Accadeas chuckled before answering.

“This may seem foolish, but until we arrived, there were no other threats to their security and with the urging of the Empire they were willing to take the risk. The Humans have never seen us Demihumans as a serious threat and they had certain treaties in place that would ensure they united against any foreign invasions. However, this is the perfect opportunity for us to swallow a huge chunk of the North all in one go. A united North could pose a threat to us, but with three of the kingdoms engaged in conflict, we can use this opportunity to wipe them out and then secure our borders.”

Many of the Khans nodded when hearing Accadeas’s words and the glint of ambition shown in their eyes. They weren’t aware of the situation in the North as Fayde had only discussed the information he received with Accadeas in preparation for the meeting. However, after hearing Accadeas’s words it was easy for them them to understand the excellent opportunity they had been presented with.

“With our numbers and their current weakened state, it would be a simple matter to conquer all three kingdoms. With three of the seven kingdoms in our possession, we would only have to face the united front of the other four. I doubt they would easily move against us once we are entrenched, but we would need to move quickly without drawing their attention at least until we secure the border. Our only concern then would be what the Empire’s response will be.” Khan Rhaegnar voiced with a thoughtful expression.

“Fayde and I have discussed this very point. The Empire was temporarily weakened from their war with my Demonkin and will require time to recruit and train their armies, but there is no doubt they will eventually come north. They have already sent a small force of Temple Knights to support the Jaspelian invasion, so we can already see their hand in this conflict. It won’t be so simple for them though.”

“Accadeas is correct.”

Fayde stood and motioned for Accadeas to sit. A relatively poorly drawn map was rolled out by servants showing the various regions of the Kingdom of La’gun. Orban had provided the map for Fayde to use in his planning.

“Separating the Empire from La’gun is an enormous swampy region devoid of life and there is a formidable fortress at the only pass into the kingdom there. If we garrison the fortress, it will be extremely difficult for them to force their way through. Since the fortress is currently deserted, this will be a simple issue. Send a thousand warriors to garrison the fortress for now and once our invasion is complete, we can properly garrison the fortress while improving the defenses in the pass further.”

While explaining the overall defensive strategy, Fayde continued to point out the relevant locations on the map. While the map was somewhat inaccurate, it was accurate enough for their purposes.

“This river here, this is the Empire’s only other possible route of invasion. However, there are relatively narrow regions of the river which form natural choke points we can easily exploit in several locations along the river. Our warriors have never traveled on ships before so naval battles are out of the question, but we can clog up the river by sinking any available ships in the narrower regions. This should effectively impede any possible advance along the river. We can also set up several watch towers in key positions to observe enemy vessels in case they do make an attempt. We’ll build an outpost at the now ruined port town at the mouth of the river and station response forces there to deal with any possible attacks. This should be enough for the immediate future and we can continue to improve the defenses after our initial invasion is complete.”

Fayde paused for a moment to let what he said sink in. While he wasn’t nervous, he still felt somewhat awkward explaining military strategy to the much older Khans who were all seasoned warriors and veterans.

“Initially, my strategy only took into account the invasion of La’gun and preparing for a possible conflict against a united force of the remaining six kingdoms. With the current situation in the North, I have modified our invasion strategy. Accadeas will lead twenty thousand of our warriors into Jaspel and Quijon and conquer both kingdoms while quickly securing the border between Quijon and Anderus. The largest military force they have will be stationed at the border fortress but they won’t be expecting an attack from their rear. The towns within the two kingdoms may have some small garrisons but they shouldn’t pose much of a problem. I will leave the method of conquest to you Accadeas.”

“Leave it to me Great Khan. My Demonkin heavy infantry will crush the weak Humans.”

“Don’t be overconfident. You will also require sufficient magic casters and ranged units.” Fayde warned.

“As for our remaining forces, I will personally lead them to the capital of La’gun.”